Ask the Anarchists on Hexbear why they’re fine with Marxists.
In my experience, Hexbear is a much less toxic instance due to the anti-sectarian rules. Someone described it as “less like a Communist Party and more like the bar Communists hang out at after the meeting,” which is both cute and accurate. It’s a nice atmosphere if you aren’t a liberal.
Doesn’t sound like it would have a nice atmosphere for socialists or anarchists either
Edit: Also that place allows coordinated attacks against non-tankies, and the most troubling users from blåhaj ran to that place, so I’m not super impressed.
Doesn’t sound like it would have a nice atmosphere for socialists or anarchists either
Like I said, you can ask the anarchists and socialists there yourself. I’m a Marxist-Leninist, it’s a nice atmosphere, and I get along with the Anarchists there as well.
Edit: Also that place allows coordinated attacks against non-tankies, and the most troubling users from blåhaj ran to that place, so I’m not super impressed.
Mind explaining what you mean by “coordinated attacks?” And what do you mean by “troubling users from blåhaj?” People leaving one instance for Hexbear isn’t necessarily indicative of Hexbear being bad.
Hexbear has been problematic from the start. I would love to find some sources, but that would require effort that I’m not willing to expend right now. Basically hexbear has done a lot of brigading and bullying in the past, with blessings from their moderators.
I do not consider tankies socialists, as socialism is inherently anti-authoritarian, and I honestly have little respect for socialists and anarchists that hang out with them. History has seen the regimes the tankies defend ruin attempts at socialism and anarchy countless times, especially considering that these regimes are often military takeovers of actual socialist revolutions.
Hexbear has been problematic from the start. I would love to find some sources, but that would require effort that I’m not willing to expend right now. Basically hexbear has done a lot of brigading and bullying in the past, with blessings from their moderators.
I would love to see sources.
I do not consider tankies socialists, as socialism is inherently anti-authoritarian, and I honestly have little respect for socialists and anarchists that hang out with them. History has seen the regimes the tankies defend ruin attempts at socialism and anarchy countless times, especially considering that these regimes are often military takeovers of actual socialist revolutions.
Are you genuinely making the argument that Marxism isn’t Socialist? Marxism isn’t Anarchist, correct, but Marxism is fundamentally Socialist. It’s the largest and most significant strain of Socialism, historically and presently.
I dunno where to find sources on hexbear being bad, but please stop using marxist and tankie as if they are synonymous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie
You’re using them synonymously, you denied the Marxist states as “not Socialist,” and have claimed the Marxists on Hexbear are “tankies.” Can you meaningfully explain the difference between Marxism and “tankies?” Engels himself even wrote On Authority because Anarchists constantly accused him and Marx of being authoritarian, it isn’t a new concept, because Marx advocated for centralization of the Means of Production Anarchists stood firmly opposed.
I’m not going to spend too much time debating a tankie, but I think most of these regimes kinda by definition are not socialist given how little power the workers had. When unions are suppressed and the military and the dictatorship are essentially the same thing, how could they be socialist? Socialism requires that workers own their workplaces, that they run them. This was not the case in the soviet union nor is it the case in china today, where businesses are either organized by the state (like in the soviet union) or mixed (CCP). The state organizing businesses or whatever you want to call them would be fine if the people owned the state, but again these were/are dictatorships.
The people don’t control anything at all in your so called marxist states, and so therefore they are not marxist. Centralization is not something that I’m opposed to, but what does it matter how decentralized or centralized something is if it’s not also democratically owned?
I would probably call myself a marxist if tankies hadn’t so thoroughly stained the term.
Edit: I am also well aware that there were unions in the soviet union, hence the name. However they had little power, and mostly could only ever push for worker safety regulations.
I would probably call myself a marxist if tankies hadn’t so thoroughly stained the term.
So you’ve read Marx and Engles and agree with them?
Edit: I am also well aware that there were unions in the soviet union, hence the name
No actually. The Soviet Union was a union of national republics, hence the name.
I want to “throw” Soviet Democracy at you, but I haven’t finished my epub of it yet… I should get on it.
Oh, I have This Soviet World. Doesn’t go into as much detail, but does go over it.
I’m not going to spend too much time debating a tankie, but I think most of these regimes kinda by definition are not socialist given how little power the workers had.
Using the USSR as an example, the workers had far more power and democratic participation in the economy. They couldn’t have had much more, unfortunately, because democratic participation requires planning, and planning requires development. The USSR was underdeveloped, so it could not have been more democratized than it was.
When unions are suppressed and the military and the dictatorship are essentially the same thing, how could they be socialist?
They had a publicly owned and planned economy, drastically reduced wealth disparity, centralized production, and had universal free healthcare and education.
Socialism requires that workers own their workplaces, that they run them.
Incorrect. You are referring to cooperatives, which is not the same as Marxism. Engels actually wrote against such a system in Anti-Duhring, as cooperatives without central planning and ownership begets accumulation and competition, serving as a breeding ground for Capitalism. Cooperatives are not Marxist, because it transforms the proletarians into petite bourgeoisie.
This was not the case in the soviet union nor is it the case in china today, where businesses are either organized by the state (like in the soviet union) or mixed (CCP).
You’re describing Marxism and saying it isn’t Socialist, I am not sure what your point is. State planning is Marxist.
The state organizing businesses or whatever you want to call them would be fine if the people owned the state, but again these were/are dictatorships.
The people don’t control anything at all in your so called marxist states, and so therefore they are not marxist.
Oh, but they did. You can read the linked sources.
Centralization is not something that I’m opposed to, but what does it matter how decentralized or centralized something is if it’s not also democratically owned?
They were and are, though, this is a point you just assert over and over again without anything backing it up.
I would probably call myself a marxist if tankies hadn’t so thoroughly stained the term.
I encourage you to read Marx. I understand that you likely won’t agree with what I am saying in this comment, but if you want reading recommendations I can give suggestions. In particular, I think you should study Historical and Dialectical Materialism, a thorough understanding of each helps place AES countries and their successes and failures into context.
I’m an anarchist and I agree with what you’re trying to say, but marxist-leninists are going to jump all over you with semantics arguments because of your unorthodox use of the word socialist.
I’ll admit my perspective may be skewed because I spend a good amount of time debating marxist-leninists, but I really don’t like arguing semantics unless it’s important to the discussion at large. For that reason I’ll often avoid using words in a way that will start semantics arguments that derail the discussion.
It’s also why I typically avoid calling people I’m currently debating tankies, because I think that makes them defensive and is bad for outreach. Maybe I’m wasting my time trying to change people’s minds, but if that’s the case then people who argue aggressively are definitely wasting their time.
If you’ve had bad experiences with anarchists before I’m sorry, but in my experience anarchists have been much kinder and more welcoming than marxist-leninists, especially in person. Characterizing anarchists as the angsty atheists of the political world is a bit hurtful, but I can see where you’re coming from. In the same way atheists sometimes lash out against religious folks, anarchists sometimes lash out against marxist-leninists because of bad experiences in the past. A lot of anarchists I know went through a similar political development where they started being curious about socialism and were met with pretty harsh responses to questions about the more authoritarian aspects of marxism-leninism.
Ask the Anarchists on Hexbear why they’re fine with Marxists.
In my experience, Hexbear is a much less toxic instance due to the anti-sectarian rules. Someone described it as “less like a Communist Party and more like the bar Communists hang out at after the meeting,” which is both cute and accurate. It’s a nice atmosphere if you aren’t a liberal.
Doesn’t sound like it would have a nice atmosphere for socialists or anarchists either
Edit: Also that place allows coordinated attacks against non-tankies, and the most troubling users from blåhaj ran to that place, so I’m not super impressed.
Like I said, you can ask the anarchists and socialists there yourself. I’m a Marxist-Leninist, it’s a nice atmosphere, and I get along with the Anarchists there as well.
Mind explaining what you mean by “coordinated attacks?” And what do you mean by “troubling users from blåhaj?” People leaving one instance for Hexbear isn’t necessarily indicative of Hexbear being bad.
Hexbear has been problematic from the start. I would love to find some sources, but that would require effort that I’m not willing to expend right now. Basically hexbear has done a lot of brigading and bullying in the past, with blessings from their moderators.
I do not consider tankies socialists, as socialism is inherently anti-authoritarian, and I honestly have little respect for socialists and anarchists that hang out with them. History has seen the regimes the tankies defend ruin attempts at socialism and anarchy countless times, especially considering that these regimes are often military takeovers of actual socialist revolutions.
I would love to see sources.
Are you genuinely making the argument that Marxism isn’t Socialist? Marxism isn’t Anarchist, correct, but Marxism is fundamentally Socialist. It’s the largest and most significant strain of Socialism, historically and presently.
I dunno where to find sources on hexbear being bad, but please stop using marxist and tankie as if they are synonymous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie
You’re using them synonymously, you denied the Marxist states as “not Socialist,” and have claimed the Marxists on Hexbear are “tankies.” Can you meaningfully explain the difference between Marxism and “tankies?” Engels himself even wrote On Authority because Anarchists constantly accused him and Marx of being authoritarian, it isn’t a new concept, because Marx advocated for centralization of the Means of Production Anarchists stood firmly opposed.
I’m not going to spend too much time debating a tankie, but I think most of these regimes kinda by definition are not socialist given how little power the workers had. When unions are suppressed and the military and the dictatorship are essentially the same thing, how could they be socialist? Socialism requires that workers own their workplaces, that they run them. This was not the case in the soviet union nor is it the case in china today, where businesses are either organized by the state (like in the soviet union) or mixed (CCP). The state organizing businesses or whatever you want to call them would be fine if the people owned the state, but again these were/are dictatorships.
The people don’t control anything at all in your so called marxist states, and so therefore they are not marxist. Centralization is not something that I’m opposed to, but what does it matter how decentralized or centralized something is if it’s not also democratically owned?
I would probably call myself a marxist if tankies hadn’t so thoroughly stained the term.
Edit: I am also well aware that there were unions in the soviet union, hence the name. However they had little power, and mostly could only ever push for worker safety regulations.
So you’ve read Marx and Engles and agree with them?
No actually. The Soviet Union was a union of national republics, hence the name.
I want to “throw” Soviet Democracy at you, but I haven’t finished my epub of it yet… I should get on it.
Oh, I have This Soviet World. Doesn’t go into as much detail, but does go over it.
Using the USSR as an example, the workers had far more power and democratic participation in the economy. They couldn’t have had much more, unfortunately, because democratic participation requires planning, and planning requires development. The USSR was underdeveloped, so it could not have been more democratized than it was.
They had a publicly owned and planned economy, drastically reduced wealth disparity, centralized production, and had universal free healthcare and education.
Incorrect. You are referring to cooperatives, which is not the same as Marxism. Engels actually wrote against such a system in Anti-Duhring, as cooperatives without central planning and ownership begets accumulation and competition, serving as a breeding ground for Capitalism. Cooperatives are not Marxist, because it transforms the proletarians into petite bourgeoisie.
You’re describing Marxism and saying it isn’t Socialist, I am not sure what your point is. State planning is Marxist.
They were and are not dictatorships, from Soviet Democracy to whole-process people’s democracy, there are democratic structures in place. It isn’t liberal democracy, but it is democratic.
Oh, but they did. You can read the linked sources.
They were and are, though, this is a point you just assert over and over again without anything backing it up.
I encourage you to read Marx. I understand that you likely won’t agree with what I am saying in this comment, but if you want reading recommendations I can give suggestions. In particular, I think you should study Historical and Dialectical Materialism, a thorough understanding of each helps place AES countries and their successes and failures into context.
I’m an anarchist and I agree with what you’re trying to say, but marxist-leninists are going to jump all over you with semantics arguments because of your unorthodox use of the word socialist.
It’s really not unorthodox in leftist spaces, only in tankie and non-leftist places :/
I’ll admit my perspective may be skewed because I spend a good amount of time debating marxist-leninists, but I really don’t like arguing semantics unless it’s important to the discussion at large. For that reason I’ll often avoid using words in a way that will start semantics arguments that derail the discussion.
It’s also why I typically avoid calling people I’m currently debating tankies, because I think that makes them defensive and is bad for outreach. Maybe I’m wasting my time trying to change people’s minds, but if that’s the case then people who argue aggressively are definitely wasting their time.
Here’s me discovering socialism, new to the (actual) ideas but vibing with them pretty well.
Start talking about it online.
Anarchist: fuck you you stupid fucking tankie.
I had no idea what a tankie was, but I figured out real quick that anarchists are the angsty atheists of the political world.
If you’ve had bad experiences with anarchists before I’m sorry, but in my experience anarchists have been much kinder and more welcoming than marxist-leninists, especially in person. Characterizing anarchists as the angsty atheists of the political world is a bit hurtful, but I can see where you’re coming from. In the same way atheists sometimes lash out against religious folks, anarchists sometimes lash out against marxist-leninists because of bad experiences in the past. A lot of anarchists I know went through a similar political development where they started being curious about socialism and were met with pretty harsh responses to questions about the more authoritarian aspects of marxism-leninism.