By class traitor I don't mean a fed or infiltrator. You don't have to go out of your way to denounce leftist ideas or stop the left. You just have to have class interests directly in conflict with workers and the poor. You can let your factory unionize, and take less money. But would you choose to be that factory owner if it meant your current situation improved significantly?

I don't know what I would choose because I have no hopes of owning capital. I would love to quit my job and be free to just own stuff and make money off it. But then I would have to reckon that with my beliefs. I guess you could just accept you can't be a leftist and volunteer for the wall should the day come.

  • DeathToBritain [she/her, they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I never like questions like these, because we all very much know you can be a principled communist without being the downtrodden salt of the Earth. Engel's dad was a big time industrialist, Kropotkin was a prince, many Marxists were highly educated which was a very privileged position and showed their class background. like obviously don't be an evil piece of shit, but you do not HAVE to be proletarian to be a leftist.

    now, I will grant you, almost all of these are people born into comfort who later came to denounce that, rather than being workers with class consciousness contradicting themselves to gain private property. but it's also true that none of these guys donated all their wealth and lived as Diogenes, naked in a barrel.

    • DeathToBritain [she/her, they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      the idea of 'pure' leftism with this innate untaintedness to it just gives me real Christian morality vibes, I do not like

      • catposter [comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        well, it's all about class

        if you're not actually becoming a member of the bourgeoisie or a cop you're probably fine

          • Collatz_problem [comrade/them]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Brusilov supported Bolsheviks more out of patriotism. Better examples of aristocrats supporting Bolsheviks due to ideological reasons would be Bonch-Bruyevich brothers - radio engineer and general; general Alexander von Taube, who basically built the Red Army in Siberia, was captured by Whites, refused to join them and died in prison; Georgy Chicherin who became the first People's Commisar of Foreign Affairs; Alexandra Kollontai and many others.

      • jabrd [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The class positionality locks you out of meaningful/radical praxis but it doesn’t lock you out of sound analysis. Had this realization as a petty bourgeois failson set to inherit wealth and a business. I can’t exactly overthrow myself and refusing ownership/trying to dissolve the company would just result in another capitalist taking over rather than meaningful gain for the workers. Best I figure my pathway is to negotiate down the position of power succdem style and try to restructure as a worker coop while volunteering resources to working class movements and orgs. Oh god I’m a BMF post about PMC DSA Karens

      • Parent [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The part about how the the system works in small glimpses sounds interesting. What would be an example of that?