chat

I think it's ok to be a quiet lurker and only speak up when you feel like you have something to say or have a question. Questions are good. I'm a victim of spoon theory so I will sometimes go wall of text, but then rest of the day just do a shitposty comment session. They haven't kicked me yet.

As for whether you are a leftist, collectivism and healthcare reform is a good start. I can't answer that question without knowing more. Do you support capitalism? Do you think it can be reformed in favor of the working class? Do you think we can only get to a better place through revolution? I think that is probably the best starting point. At one point I was a reformist, now I'm not. But it was a journey. And I think that is important too. None of us woke up as revolutionaries. It took time to peel away the western propaganda that at least us burgerlanders were victims of.

So with that said, I do think theory is important, but the cool thing is that the books and essays aren't going away any time soon. You can take your time when you get to reading it. And please do. I've even reread stuff to further solidify concepts. The more you do read, the better understanding you will get. A key thing imo is understanding actual dialectics but don't worry about that for now. It's hard to read about at first but once you get it, you start looking at things a lot differently. This is one of the places I would unironically use the word "woke" as a description. Dialectics leads into a better understanding of the "whys" of working class liberation but also gender, queer, trans, black, and disabled liberation, among other concepts. It's a big pill to swallow so take your time.

With that said, regarding not ever having read theory, my cut and dry suggestion is to read Principles of Communism by Engels. It's short and extremely easy to read. If you seem to agree with everything, or at least a lot of what's in there then you are probably a leftist. If the content interests you then come back to cowbee's list and start working through that. But, to reiterate, please take your time.

I've only been wrong about one person I felt was a leftist, and that was actually super recent, but at that I wanna say, I think you are on the right path. You are here asking questions and that's a hell of a start.

We only bully bastards, subhuman crackers, and shitheads who side with the oppressor over the people and behave like reactionary/neoliberal scum on this website. The "standard" here is not being a bootlicker

I was questioned on whether I "actually am a leftist", by a friend.

"UR NTO A LEFTIST BCUZ I DIDNT SEE U CITE KONDRATIEV WAVES IN UR RESPONSE"

Your friend sounds like an elitist wanker who has dreams of becoming an academic.

You're here to learn, you won't get bullied. Generally when someone gets dumped on massively it's cause they came in combative and arrogant and remained so in the face of people replying with paragraphs of well written and educational rebuttals with links, if the other person proceeds to double down it's open season. This us a very comfy place to be otherwise. You're approaching with probably more humility than we'd expect let alone see often, so you're fine.

Welcome! We have a LOT of emojis and an account everyone can use if they want to pretend they're a dog!

Well don't be afraid to ask questions if you got them and if anyone chooses to behave like a little shit, report them to get swatted on the nose with a newspaper roll.

Your 'friend' sounds like an arsehole tbh

People will argue with you if you say something they disagree with but the only bullying I've seen is towards people who are being bigots or advocating for things that objectively suck

Down with purity tests.

If you want fair treatment and opportunity for all people and an end to the exploitation of the third world, you're a leftist.

Das Kapital was fundamental to my leftist awakening, don't let others tell you its scary.

Honestly I think Capital is best absorbed as an audiobook. Throw it on while you're doing something else, because it is so God damn boring until you get to the later spicy bits.

People can be pretty harsh. That's not my style. Questioning someone's commitment to their political beliefs doesn't achieve much besides creating enmity.

I prefer to have more open discussions and to invite people to develop from where they are currently to something more advanced by getting them to hash out the contradictions with themselves.

Some people here might come at you a bit strong but it depends on your tone. If you're telling others what to do, what not to do, or what to believe then that's going to attract strong negative reactions. If you tell people "You shouldn't praise Stalin - he was a vicious monster" you're inviting yourself to get roasted. If you approach it from a place if genuine curiosity with openness and honesty, and especially humility, you'll get a much better response e.g. "I guess I've only ever been exposed to people telling me that Stalin was a vicious monster so I'm kinda surprised to see someone say this about him. Can you tell me more about how you came to your understanding of him?"

You don't have to agree. You don't have to know. But if keep your ego in check and show a willingness to be humble and to learn then you'll be fine.

I don't know if this is a bit or not, but either way you're all good in my books comrade