Would still be a milquetoast social Democrat if it wast for Chomsky. Love you buddy, please stick with us if you are able.
(note: No health scares with chom or anything, I just wanted to tribute him real quick, he’s fine afaik)
Same tbh. I think some of his work (Manufacturing consent I think) was part of the recommended reading in an album cover of the first CD I bought with my own money, and took me from liberal to anarchist/communist. The punk to communist pipeline is real folks.
Chomsky is fine insofar as he is actually on the left. Less fine is the fact that he's the voice in the left elevated by the bourgeoise media because he's not remotely radical and represents no threat to the bourgeoisie.
Certainly responsible for creating many in the soft-left. But the soft-left is largely ineffective. I think he can be respected as a starting point in the pipeline but should be criticised so that people do in fact advance from him further.
I’m not really a Marxist leftist, so I still agree with quite a few of his takes. He’s anti-antifa stance and things like that I heavily disagree with, but I still respect the man immensely for pulling me out of that (social democratic societies are perfect’ rabbit hole.
I’m not really a Marxist leftist
What do you mean by this? All modern anarchists, as far as I am aware, derive from Marx's work. To be a "marxist" is to believe in Marx's theory of historical materialism and dialectical analysis. It doesn't refer to being a communist in the marxist-leninist/trot/ultra/leftcom sense.
I said I lean towards anarchism, not that I am an anarchist, and I mean I just don’t really adhere to a strict ‘material only’ analysis that it seems to me like a lot of Marxists seem to employ. I’m not like super well read on this stuff. I’ll just say I’m nonsectarian left with an appreciation for anarchism.
Not shitting on anyone, I just mean when I read stuff by anarchists like kropotkin or Chomsky, I enjoy that and the ideas within a lot more than when I read something by say Michael parenti. That being said: The people on Twitter who are saying things like marx is an old white guy and irrelevant are idiots and I don’t agree with shit like that at all.Much love
I see I see. Well, just to clear it up, a "marxist" is a person that believes in historical materialism -- the theory that history is driven by class struggle, that the contradictions of class eventually drive every society towards revolution and that those societies then reorganise themselves based on the desires of the revolutionary forces. One class overthrows the other class and reorganises, played out via the exploiter/exploited relationship. For example, slaves overthrowing slavers and demanding a more equitable organisation of society. Or liberals overthrowing the monarchies.
This theory underpins almost every socialist ideology today, because almost everyone believes that capitalism will end in reorganisation into socialism caused by class struggle.
It's also possible to not be a leftist and still be a marxist. Many members of the bourgeoisie who are fighting against us are almost certainly marxists in that they recognise and understand this theory, even believe it, but are still fighting it in order to keep their wealth and power for as long as possible.
Sure, I appreciate the man immensely. Just find stuff by people who would describe themselves as anarchists (Emma Goldman for example) more compelling than things written by people who would identify as Marxists. Maybe I’m confused about the Marxists I’ve met, I’m concerned with class struggle as well as anti-racism and anti fascism. A lot of the self identified Marxists I’ve met seem to think class is the only thing worth talking about in leftists circles.
I also haven’t read much from Marx besides the manifesto and German ideology. Capitol looks cool, but I’m way too ADHD for a tome like that. If you ve read and finished capitol, major props to you.
I believe in big tent shit. We as leftists need to come together as it is to push back against this current wave of right-wing reactionaries
A lot of the self identified Marxists I’ve met seem to think class is the only thing worth talking about in leftists circles.
In the sense that all struggles need to fold into class struggle, yes. No other struggle is going to produce socialism, only class struggle is going to produce it. The other struggles need to be built in a way that they lead to folding into class struggle.
If we can appreciate Chomsky for his prior work, we should also be able to appreciate Bernie
People who completely disavowed Chomsky and Bernie over the last year are either completely ignoring their massive historical contributions to the American left or they just got involved in leftism during the Trump admin and have no idea what they're talking about. Online leftism is too reactionary. Go read Manufacturing Consent you libs.
Yes. And also, add some goddamned class analysis to your metal palet please.
Marx? Not the biggest fan, I lean towards anarchism myself. I do recognize the importance of a material analysis and I think Chomsky does as well?
Even though I don't agree with him on the grounds of voting for Biden, I can't say that I dislike chomsky because of it. He's been incredibly influencial with his works and critiques of capitalism, so while I don't enjoy his take on electoralism, I still like the guy. It would take a lot for me to turn on the man who wrote manufacturing consent
Thank you. I love the people who can disagree with him on electoralism still being useful, while recognizing the contributions he’s made to non Marxian leftism.
He also always answers my emails even for stuff that to him is by the numbers.
Kind soul he is
If he passes before Kissinger is dragged down to hell I will never forgive the universe.
Yeah Chomsky's not perfect but no one is. Plus even politics aside, his work on linguistics and computation has been so incredibly valuable.
My heart sank... but only for a millisecond. Phew, Choms-Ahoy!
