Gracchvs
We cannot definitely say that communism will win over capitalism. 'There is no Hegelian law that guarantees our victory, or even the survival of the human race.' The biggest threat to humanity right now is the death-spiral of decaying capitalism, destroying the productive forces we have developed and through its anarchic, irrational system of economies constantly trying to expand beyond the nation-state, but forever trapped in a world of nation-states that creates conflict between nations that can at any moment turn nuclear. Imperialism is the epoch of the death agony of capitalism, where unable to exist with a national terrain, the various national economies fight for international dominance. Trotsky said that in this period of the death agony of capitalism the preconditions for the proletarian revolution and socialism are over-ripe. Well, we are past that. The fruit is rotting on the branch, and we no longer face the choice of 'socialism or barbarism,' but of 'socialism or nuclear holocaust.' To top it off, we do not have a workers state that is universally identified as such. Despite its Stalinist degeneration, the SU was recognised as the product of a proletarian revolution and stood as a beacon of hope and an alternative to this rotten system. We no longer have that, and to top it off all of the reformist left internationally has disavowed socialism as a desirable alternative. We need to face reality squarely, not run, and not hide: There is no other option for humanity but the forcible overthrow of this rotting system. We, revolutionary communists, future members of the vanguard of the working class, are in the fullest and most complete sense, the last, the only hope for humanity.
If you are unable to do anything else, read! Educate yourself! Do not give into despair! These are things that need to be said. Marx said that the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, but the point is to change it. Well now, most leftist ideologues divorce themselves from practical movements that face defeat consoling themselves with the thought that if we can't change the world, at least we can interpret it. Others see the apparently hopeless situation we are in and give up from politics all together, others accommodate themselves to capitalism under various pretenses. But no matter if they are giving in because they see no chance of winning or because they want to benefit while the system lasts. In the end, they are contributing to the current 'death of communism' ideology. I know many people here are in university or still in high school and may not be able to give themselves over to the common movement. I myself have a number of physical and psychological problems which are preventing me from doing the same. But you can still read. If you can, try to read one of theses works a week. Most are short and can be finished in an hour or so of reading, but many are not and will take weeks of reading. But please give it a go. Read, learn about the world, so that one day, hopefully you will be able to join the vanguard of the international working class in changing it.
A Good, Short List of Good, Short Works For Beginners
[Principles of Communism]
A draft version of the Communist Manifesto written by Engels. Considered by the more experienced members here to be superior for people new to Marxism.
[The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism]
A short pamphlet by Lenin explaining the three sources of Marxism: English economics, German philosophy, and French communism.
[The State and Revolution]
A pamphlet written by Lenin on the class nature of the state, and how the workers state is different to the capitalist state.
[The Transitional Programme]
This is the programme that Trotsky wrote for the Fourth International, detailing the world situation at the time, and the tasks of the revolutionary parties. Still very relevant.
[Value, Price and Profit]
This is a speech given by Marx on economics, transribed and printed as a pamphlet. A very good condensation of Marxist ideas on economics.
This is a list of important works in the Marxist canon, sorted by author and date. Each of the works has three features:
*I have read it
*The work is available to read online
*I find it invaluable in explaining some aspect of Marxism.
Marxist Canon
Marx:
[Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]
[The holy Family]
[Wage Labour and Capital]
[The Manifesto Of the Communist Party]
[The Class Struggles in France]
[The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte]
[Writings on the North American Civl War]
[Value, Price and Profit]
[The Civil War in France]
[Critique of the Gotha Programme]
Engels:
[Principles of Communism]
[Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany]
[The Housing Question]
[The Bakuninists At Work]
[Anti-Duhring]
[Socialism: Utopian and Scientific]
[Dialectics of nature]
[Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State]
[On the History of the Communist League]
[Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical Germany Philosophy]
Lenin:
[What Is To Be Done?]
[Materialism and Empirio-Criticism]
[The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism]
[Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism]
[Can the Bolsheviks Retain State Power]
[The State and Revolution]
[Proletarian Reavolution and the Renegade Kautsky]
["Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder]
[Purging the Party]
[Better Fewer, But Better]
Trotsky:
[Terrorism and Communism]
[The lessons of October]
[The Third International After Lenin]
[Some Results and Prospects]
[The Permanent Revolution]
[The Revolution Betrayed]
[The Stalin School of Falsification]
[Their Morals and Ours]
[The Transitional Programme]
[In Defence of Marxism]
Others:
[Mehring: On Historical Materialism]
[Plekhanov: The Materialist Conception of History]
[Kautsky: The Foundations of Christianity]
[Luxemburg: The Junius Pamphlet]
[Hill: The English Revolution]
International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist):
[Declaration of Principles and Some Elements of Program]
[Critical Notes on the “Death of Communism” and the Ideological Conditions of the Post-Soviet World]
[The Bankruptcy of "New Class" Theories]
[China on the Brink: Workers Political Revolution or Capitalist Enslavement?]
[The "N" Word in Racist America]
[Marxist Principles and Electoral Tactics]
[Afghanistan and the Left: The Russian Question Point Blank]
[The Senile Dementia of Post-Marxism]
[U.S./UN Crusade Against "Sex Trafficing"]
[Obama: Commander-In-Chief of Racist U.S. Imperialism]
[U.S. Capitalism in Decay]
[How Marx Became a Marxist]
[Feminism vs. Marxism: Origins of the Conflict]
[On Bourgeois Class Consciousness ]
[Labour and Equality: an excerpt from Marxism vs Anarchism]
Fun Posts by Me:
[Dialectics and History. Applicable anywhere]
YouTube Videos on Police Brutality:
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 1]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 2]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 3]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 4]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 5]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 6]
Legal advice: DON'T TALK TO THE POLICE.
EVER!
If you are unable to do anything else, read! Educate yourself! Do not give into despair! These are things that need to be said. Marx said that the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, but the point is to change it. Well now, most leftist ideologues divorce themselves from practical movements that face defeat consoling themselves with the thought that if we can't change the world, at least we can interpret it. Others see the apparently hopeless situation we are in and give up from politics all together, others accommodate themselves to capitalism under various pretenses. But no matter if they are giving in because they see no chance of winning or because they want to benefit while the system lasts. In the end, they are contributing to the current 'death of communism' ideology. I know many people here are in university or still in high school and may not be able to give themselves over to the common movement. I myself have a number of physical and psychological problems which are preventing me from doing the same. But you can still read. If you can, try to read one of theses works a week. Most are short and can be finished in an hour or so of reading, but many are not and will take weeks of reading. But please give it a go. Read, learn about the world, so that one day, hopefully you will be able to join the vanguard of the international working class in changing it.
--Gracchvs.
A Good, Short List of Good, Short Works For Beginners
[Principles of Communism]
A draft version of the Communist Manifesto written by Engels. Considered by the more experienced members here to be superior for people new to Marxism.
[The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism]
A short pamphlet by Lenin explaining the three sources of Marxism: English economics, German philosophy, and French communism.
[The State and Revolution]
A pamphlet written by Lenin on the class nature of the state, and how the workers state is different to the capitalist state.
[The Transitional Programme]
This is the programme that Trotsky wrote for the Fourth International, detailing the world situation at the time, and the tasks of the revolutionary parties. Still very relevant.
[Value, Price and Profit]
This is a speech given by Marx on economics, transribed and printed as a pamphlet. A very good condensation of Marxist ideas on economics.
This is a list of important works in the Marxist canon, sorted by author and date. Each of the works has three features:
*I have read it
*The work is available to read online
*I find it invaluable in explaining some aspect of Marxism.
Marxist Canon
Marx:
[Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]
[The holy Family]
[Wage Labour and Capital]
[The Manifesto Of the Communist Party]
[The Class Struggles in France]
[The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte]
[Writings on the North American Civl War]
[Value, Price and Profit]
[The Civil War in France]
[Critique of the Gotha Programme]
Engels:
[Principles of Communism]
[Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany]
[The Housing Question]
[The Bakuninists At Work]
[Anti-Duhring]
[Socialism: Utopian and Scientific]
[Dialectics of nature]
[Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State]
[On the History of the Communist League]
[Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical Germany Philosophy]
Lenin:
[What Is To Be Done?]
[Materialism and Empirio-Criticism]
[The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism]
[Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism]
[Can the Bolsheviks Retain State Power]
[The State and Revolution]
[Proletarian Reavolution and the Renegade Kautsky]
["Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder]
[Purging the Party]
[Better Fewer, But Better]
Trotsky:
[Terrorism and Communism]
[The lessons of October]
[The Third International After Lenin]
[Some Results and Prospects]
[The Permanent Revolution]
[The Revolution Betrayed]
[The Stalin School of Falsification]
[Their Morals and Ours]
[The Transitional Programme]
[In Defence of Marxism]
Others:
[Mehring: On Historical Materialism]
[Plekhanov: The Materialist Conception of History]
[Kautsky: The Foundations of Christianity]
[Luxemburg: The Junius Pamphlet]
[Hill: The English Revolution]
International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist):
[Declaration of Principles and Some Elements of Program]
[Critical Notes on the “Death of Communism” and the Ideological Conditions of the Post-Soviet World]
[The Bankruptcy of "New Class" Theories]
[China on the Brink: Workers Political Revolution or Capitalist Enslavement?]
[The "N" Word in Racist America]
[Marxist Principles and Electoral Tactics]
[Afghanistan and the Left: The Russian Question Point Blank]
[The Senile Dementia of Post-Marxism]
[U.S./UN Crusade Against "Sex Trafficing"]
[Obama: Commander-In-Chief of Racist U.S. Imperialism]
[U.S. Capitalism in Decay]
[How Marx Became a Marxist]
[Feminism vs. Marxism: Origins of the Conflict]
[On Bourgeois Class Consciousness ]
[Labour and Equality: an excerpt from Marxism vs Anarchism]
Fun Posts by Me:
[Dialectics and History. Applicable anywhere]
YouTube Videos on Police Brutality:
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 1]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 2]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 3]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 4]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 5]
[The Largest Street Gang. Part 6]
Legal advice: DON'T TALK TO THE POLICE.
EVER!
Every Major Marxist Text, and any text supporting or mentioning Marxism, that can be found in the public domain
Marxist Internet Archive
http://www.marxists.org/index.htm Note: 01/20/07 MIA will be experiencing some problems - try to find a mirror, things ought to return to normal in mid Feb. of this year.
Cheap books from Marxist Sources:
http://www.intpubnyc.com/
For the Beginner:
Vocabulary Introduction:
http://hammerandfire.proboards44.com/index.cgi?board=resources&action=display&thread=1126909961
General Policies and Social Theories: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm
Marxist Economics: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm
Political parties
Communist party USA
http://www.cpusa.org/
Communist Party of Canada
http://www.communist-party.ca/
Revolutionary Communist party USA
http://rwor.org/home-e.htm
National Bolshevik party
http://www.nbp-info.org/party/index.htm
Socialist Party USA
http://www.sp-usa.org/index.html
Socialist party "Ireland"
http://www.socialistparty.net/
Socialist party "scotland"
http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/
The Socialist Party of Great Britain
http://www.spgb.org.uk/
Community Communist Party of India
http://cpim.org/
Major Socialist International Organization
http://www.internationalsocialist.org/
Can't find your nation? List of CPUSA sister parties:
http://www.cpusa.org/link/category/1/
A list of Left, Communist, and Socialist News Sources
Cuba's official news paper
Www.Granma.cu Cuba's official news paper
A socialist paper on workers' struggles
http://www.themilitant.com/ A socialist paper on workers' struggles
Monthly CPUSA Magazine
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/
Weekly News Paper from the CPUSA
http://www.pww.org/
Analysis of the Bolivarian Revolution
www.Venezuelaanalysis.com
News site of the International Committee of Fourth International
http://www.wsws.org/
Newspaper of the International Socialist Organization
http://www.socialistworker.org/
Zmag
http://www.zmag.org
Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.com
Belarus News Source
http://www.belta.by/en
Official North Korean News
http://www.kcna.co.jp/e-news.htm
☭Gracchvs
