https://i.imgur.com/FYeoXx4.png
anti communist propaganda and misinformation about virtually every communist revolutionary leader and movement throughout history has always been one of the most serious impediments to leftist growth in the west. It has created such a deeply ingrained rhetoric that anti communist propaganda has also been actively used by libertarian socialists to coopt movements and take advantage of this deeply ingrained hatred in the west by acting as a surface level alternative. The fact that there is so little pushback against anti communist rhetoric and propaganda among these leftist spaces is telling enough to its usefulness and the rhetoric largely centering around it.
In media you only ever see communism portrayed as the evil Russians that need to be killed and anarchism as the cool defiant and rebellious crowd fighting back against the oppressing government. Its dishonest to dismiss it as nothing important when this continual peddling of misinformation pushed by imperial media at the behest of capitalist interests always finds its way into the left and isn’t only not actually pushed back against, but also actively embraced opportunistically in many cases. I've seen it in many mainstream places including anarchist subs, dsa groups, iron front type antifa groups irl and online, and general "leftist unity" spaces. Its by far the most pervasive narrative on the western left today, and therefor the most harmful.
I'm tired of it being defended, brushed aside, normalized, and rationalized away as just "difference in tendencies", and I find it deeply dishonest to actively enable and not call this out in the name of some presumed "leftist unity". Where is this so called unity exactly? I see only antagonistic and opportunistic use of this anti communism and never any push back against it because its been such a useful rhetoric for this brand of western leftism. How are people still not understanding that this state department pushed rhetoric is an immense impediment towards any large leftist movement?
This is not sectarianism or anti whatever, no one has to be a communist, i have no problem against other tendencies even if we disagree strategically on what the best way forward is. This is just a call for leftists to do better and learn to deprogram themselves and be more critical of their own biases and understand that having grown in a world that has declared war on communism and has engrained in the collective consciousness of the west a deep seethed hatred that they themselves are also exposed and influenced by this. Its everyone's duty on the left to fight back against this petty reactionary rhetoric and get people to stop peddling state department approved narratives.
Hey look, it's someone else who thinks that online "leftist" spaces are even remotely indicative of how people in real life who want to build communism (whether the anarchist or ML or Maoist flavors, etc etc). This is not a "serious problem" outside of online spaces, and when bad takes come up IRL they are handled way better, and don't devolve into screaming matches and name calling, and is normally something people correct when called out on
I mean people are also just less directly antagonistic in person. I've gone to protests and events and meetings with people who i've then seen post really cringy shit online. Not sure how the two are distinct, and i'm not sure literally throwing the entirety of online discourse on every platform and the large prevailing ideology in these spaces as "not real life" is conducive towards anything useful. People harbor different anti communist ideology, both online and irl and it would be nice if this changed among western leftists. not sure how this is a controversial thing to say.
Sorry, let me pull back on my snarkiness, that's not helping at all here. The part that made me want to reply was this-
" i have no problem against other tendencies even if we disagree strategically on what the best way forward is"
The point I was trying to make is in my experience this is exactly what happens, in real life, especially when you start looking at mutual aid groups or pro-union orgs, etc (I think protests or other looser movements get a mix bag of people).
And as those people build connections, and doubly so if these groups are reading theory and discussing/challenging each other, reactionary sentiments drop away, the intensity of wanting your hyper specific tendency to be the "winning" one falls away, and you wind up engaging in praxis that in theory is building that communism everyone is seeking.
Do I still need to deprogram people or help newbies see things in a different way? Sure! But have I've never had a "Stalin wasn't a real communist" or "anarkiddies are all CIA libs" conversation with anyone who actually stuck with the praxis, you know?
The best way to create actual left unity and resolve the issue you're talking about is to get people to log off and do shit, imo. You forget real quick about what happened in Catalonia or whatever when you're actually engaged in shit. Idk I'm rambling now
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lol i was really expecting the response to this post to be more like "yeah there's a lot of reactionary elements among a lot of western leftists and we all need to do better to promote more self criticism" or something idk why ppl find this controversial
Yes I agree with that. All i'm saying is that anti communist rhetoric has been hugely prevailing in the west and idk why all leftists assume it hasn't also affected them too. When you're out doing things it absolutely goes away, but it really doesn't mean people still can't harbor anti communist ideologies. I just find a reluctance to engage honestly with this as a real problem among the western left as something that can have serious consequences down the road.
So, you're definitely right about anti-communist rhetoric on lefty spaces on reddit, but I've seen more anti-anarchism stuff on here so I guess ymmv.
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i didnt even mean to create drama lol i wasnt even expecting people to actually be offended or something. literally just saying a lot of people in like dsa and anarchist spaces (broadly libertarian socialists) dont engage honestly with countering their own propagandizing which leads to large infighting and damages the overall leftist movement. how is that even controversial to say?? not saying anything about specific tendencies, just the general prevailing rhetoric
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