I am thelitcritguy, a youtube essayist, horror writer, and co-host of the leftist film podcast, Horror Vanguard., here for a spooky season AMA!
I am currently working on two books, one on the Utopian philosophy of Ernst Bloch and the other is a book on Gothic Marxism called "Capitalism: A Horror Story"
You can find me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLitCritGuy Listen to Horror Vanguard: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500
EDIT: Thank you folks -- that's it from me, but please do get in touch if there is anything else you would like to ask.
If I remember right you are in academia, or at least your co-host is. Since I started going to university I perceived it as pretty monolithically in it's liberal ideology (with very few exceptions) . Does being a communist cause any problems for you in academia? Where I live I think it might actually be illegal to be a member of a communist group and be working in public education, how is it for you?
I like researching stuff, but I don't like the feeling that being an open (and especially organized) communist would likely cause big problems for me.
My interest in Marxism was not just political but intellectual as well -- those two were inseparable. It didn't cause me problems on a day-to-day apart from when the university management tried to alter my conditions of employment! I think in some ways I was very fortunate but the liberal ideology you write about is very much a real thing that has to be constantly interrogated. As for organizations, my IRL comrades in the trade union were essential but I think it is vitally important to not place oneself in a position where you are at legal risk (if organizations are illegal I would be cautious as whatever organizations exist are almost certainly monitored or infiltrated) but the internet can be a great resource. I also think a certain degree of intellectual independence is not the worst thing in the world as all too often organizational fidelity can come at the cost of your own thinking.
Thanks for the answers. Yeah, the orgs are all being observed and everyone knows that as well. Being a communist is not illegal(which is good, I am not good at hiding what I think) , but marxist philosophy has been ruled as unconstitutional and as such all orgs that are marxist(actually just anyone left of center) are also unconstitutional and all their members barred from working for the goverment. And most education is still public.