Join whichever party is active where you live and study theory and history.
this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2024
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Joining a party sounds scary though wa ;~; I don't think i'm smart enough to join a party
Most parties have a candidate period when you first join where they teach you things, but you can also learn a lot by reading (or listening to audiobooks/podcasts/videos) beforehand.
Why are you so insecure about your smarts? O.o
You can shape it!
There's lots of reading theory and economics but I'm not very smart :(
You are human. You can learn. :)
It frees you to choose which leader to follow.
It's less about economics than it is about history, about understanding and communicating the problems of the people close to you. Of being organised in a party and working collectively.
It's not the easy way out, but it's the meaningful way out. Watch the videos, follow the left wing you tubers, that's a reasonable start. That's what got me intrigued. And now I'm here. :)
I have to pick one leader to follow, can't i follow multiple leaders?
Sorry, my bad.
I meant leaders plural. Based on your own judgement, not someone else's.
I also struggle to self read. If you have a Marxist reading group, it would potentially be helpful. If there aren't any in your area, the Marx Madness podcast is pretty solid (Season 1 is a bit rough as they were learning how to podcast, Season 2 and onwards really improves).
omg can't I just use ask lemmygrad for all my Marxist questions? That's so smart!
That's a lot of reading too. And sometimes contradicting, also. :D
hmm, well that is okay, i guess the most important thing rn is to help out with the palestine cause rn so joining a local group maybe? but there are podcasts out there that do some funny talkings with a socialist leaning that you might like?
YouTube URL without the tracking parameter:
ty ty ty edited my comment
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
On a side note how good is Hakim, an old ultra friend of mine watches him a lot after i introduced him to leftist theory but he became an ultra
What does ultra mean? I remember reading something Mr. Mao wrote not being 'ultra democracy' but he didn't explain it in the text
'Ultra' isnt just a marxist term, you find it in football fans as well.
It basically means 'ultra dedicated', its not a good thing in the context of Marxism, as Marxism is a scientific ideology that wants to be criticized and adapated, evolved in line with its scientific thinking.
An ultra basically treats Marxism like a bible and refuses to budge or adapt there ideological position.
he does the podcast the deprogram, so i don't think he is an ultra, i am pretty sure they like china just a straight ml
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Top of my head, brainstorming/freeflow:
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make video games or animated movie shorts with revolutionary socialist narratives (yes you can make the next Disco Elysium)
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learn mandarin move to China and use your skillsets there (to begin with become a "digital nomad", for example, in China)
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discover and learn how to organise a vanguard to build pro-social sectors; this will involve the organised accumulation of capital which you cannot do alone
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learn theory as you attempt to solve problems; for example you may want to develop an art to educate others on socialism and you may use the narratives of historical figures such as Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh to do so - this will involve educating yourself of their history, reading their literature etc
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branch out from your skillsets; video game building may lend itself to other app building. You may for example able to build the beginnings of a Wechat equivalent that could be side loaded to android that comrades could use to subvert the capitalist state with its own communication and trading protocols
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intelligence and knowledge is developed; they are skillsets like any other
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cross the river by feeling the stones :)
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if you find theory overwhelming then to begin with go to redsails.org pick an article that takes your fancy, go through it slowly and may be read one or two references that peaks your interest at the bottom of each article. If you haven't read one already here is something to start you off: https://redsails.org/why-marxism/
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join a real life socialist group outside of the internet (they will inevitably have their own failings and contradictions, may be as a litmus test they should understand why a dictatorship of the proleteriat is important and not be reactionary, and should have actual plans on how they may help out the local community with tangible benefits); if / when you do this make sure you have a separate phone with a separate email/online identity for this if possible
Edits: clarity
Addendum - I may have misunderstood when you said "video games" as a skillset (ie developing them as opposed to playing them) and used that as a jump off for the above. I will leave this post here instead of deleting in case someone else finds it useful.
How do I build an art form that sounds fun, but I have no idea how to do that, it seems a lot of art forms have already been discovered
Completely up to you:
- writing; long or short stories (Stephen King's On Writing if you wanted a starting point), maybe set up an account on Medium (for example) and start posting? Maybe link it to your own patreon page when you feel comfortable?
- drawing; from short form comics to graphic novels (lots of youtube channels but a jump off point for structured lessons could be drawabox.com)
- music (again multiple youtube series and music tab sites, may however cost more buying an instrument and even more if you wanted to set up some sort of production suite - computer/software/audio equipment)
- video; wouldn't know where to start here for actually learning the skillset but the outlay for equipment could be potentially expensive though a smartphone with a camera could be sufficient to begin with (if you want inspiration look up a youtube series on video essays called Every Frame a Painting). If you develop drawing as a skillset you may want to veer into animation instead.
- video games; not sure where to start - again searching youtube though I found this for inspiration: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-make-a-video-game-create-your-own-game-from-scratch-tutorial/
The simplest I think is material support, work normally and support when you can.