Hello!
I’ve been lurking in Lemmygrad for awhile and I decided to finally bite the bullet and join in. The main reason I joined was to learn more and ask questions about the movement. As well as get book recommendations!
I would probably describe myself as a Marxist-Leninist.
I don’t have any particularly crazy takes that I can think of. Perhaps I think American food is far worse than British food. But I can hardly cook despite my best efforts so I can’t talk too much. 😄
I’m still learning frankly, but I have always loved history. After moving more left (that’s an understatement) I feel the need to examine everything I’ve learnt again under a more materialistic lens. Despite that, my main focus was the first world war. I got depressed reading about that and instead decided to explore other areas, such as Weimar Germany. My love for history and paired with learning about the period of the Weimar Republic - particularly about Rosa Luxemburg- I began to slowly question my political beliefs and slide further left.
Generally I don’t feel like I know enough. There’s so much to learn and so little time to do it. I’m open to exploring all avenues of Marxist thought and stealing all of your book recommendations. I’ve accumulated quite the reading list and I’m more than happy to add to that collection.
Other than that I love cooking despite it not loving me back. I’m a bit of a caffeine addict and I have a tendency to ask too many questions. I’m very interested in learning about and exploring different cultures as well.
Otherwise I’m happy to be here and I wish you all a pleasant day!
Hi!
History recommendations: 10 Days that Shook The World is a personal account of the Bolshevik take over. Its not very long but its a lot of fun and has one of my favorite quotes. “The way I see it there are 2 classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and whoever isn’t on one side is on the other”
The Jakarta Method is not fun. I think it is important because it details the methods of anti-communism. It strengthens resolve and hardens the heart against liberalism and shows exactly why fascism must be opposed. It is a bit of a slog.
Justin Podur’s podcast Civilizations Scramble for Africa, and World War Civ. Is history covering from late 1400s to WW1 (so far) Justin is a self avowed tankie. His co-host is Dave Power, his highschool history teacher, and it is fun listening to Justin slowly chip away at his liberalism.
Theory: The Proletarian Revolution and The Renegade Kautsky is a scathing rebuke of a revisionist. It exposes pitfalls that a Marxist might fall into and explains why they are wrong.
What is To Be Done needs some adaptation to become a good model for today but the ideas about agitation, propaganda, and organization are key. Taken together they form a good base of What to do and what to avoid as a revolutionary communist.
I still haven’t gotten through Capital. The historical bits in there are good. Talking about factory conditions and learning about the process of Enclosure is really important but I glaze over when Marx starts explaining P=(C+V)÷S or PP=k+p⋅(C+V)
Hello!
That’s great I was looking for a book just like “10 Days that Shook the World”, thank you for the recommendation! I have heard of the Jakarta Method in passing but have not actually added it to my reading list yet. After highlighting it’s importance I will definitely give it a go.
Haha yes that does sound like Marx. I sometimes find myself rereading the same page just to decipher it ^^
Thank you for all the recommendations, always appreciated. Definitely adding all of those to the list.