https://invidious.reallyaweso.me/watch?v=YqIAF8uXhRA&listen=1

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3265315

Fun little biography of Marx

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5342816

Do you think that you can help bring about the revolution or do you just want a minor less risky role? What kind of role can you participate on and die with a smile in your death bed when you think about how you lived your life?

podcast well established with lots of good episodes

book in progress

interested to hear your thoughts....

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3082851

excerpt:

Due to its interconnections with imperialism, racism, and capitalism, international development needed to be thoroughly transformed. Sankara discontinued the United States Peace Corps program in Burkina Faso in 1987. A Mexican American agroecologist invited to visit rural villages at the time recalled that a small group of American volunteers had driven a 4×4 vehicle over a meticulously dug irrigation canal, destroying hours of labour. Sankara was reportedly furious. The episode revealed the duplicities embedded in the Peace Corp programme during the Cold War years: naïve, inexperienced American youth sent to various destinations across the world for personal skills and career development and a fair bit of soft power diplomacy as ‘good will’ from the anti-communist US government. But too often good intentions devolve to dangerous outcomes, and often with little accountability. Sankara requested that the Peace Corps funds be channelled into an account overseen by a Burkinabé group or collective. This suggestion was rejected, and Sankara discontinued the programme in Burkina Faso. He was convinced that “Aid must go in the direction of strengthening our sovereignty, not undermining it. Aid should go in the direction of destroying aid. All aid that kills aid is welcome in Burkina Faso. But we will be compelled to abandon all aid that creates a welfare mentality” (Sankara, “One Color: African Unity,” August 1984).

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5149526

Video: https://tv.cctv.cn/2024/07/20/VIDEURgvhNytIhzH9EIPlHJ3240720.shtml

https://english.news.cn/20240720/9db9a2e30b8e4775855f29da1c75946e/c.html

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, went to the Embassy of Vietnam in China on Saturday to mourn the passing of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong.

Praising Trong as a staunch Marxist and a great leader of the CPV and the Vietnamese people, Xi said that Trong had devoted himself entirely to the CPV and the country, to the Vietnamese people and to the cause of socialism in Vietnam, and had been deeply respected and admired by the party, military and people of Vietnam.

Xi recalled that over the past decade, he and Trong had maintained close contact and developed a deep camaraderie, and that last year they jointly announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, a milestone in bilateral ties.

"The passing of Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong has deprived us of a promoter of China-Vietnam relations and a companion for the cause of socialism, and we are deeply saddened," said Xi.

He said that Trong's outstanding contribution to the relations between the two parties and the two countries and to the cause of the global socialist movement will always be remembered.

Xi stressed that the CPC and the Chinese government firmly support the CPV in uniting and leading the Vietnamese people to develop socialism that suits Vietnam's national conditions.

It is believed that under the strong leadership of the CPV Central Committee, the Vietnamese people will surely be able to turn grief into strength and continue to make greater achievements in the cause of reform, opening up and socialist construction, Xi said.

He said he firmly believes that China and Vietnam will continue to work together to make profound and solid progress in building the China-Vietnam community of a shared future.

http://www.news.cn/politics/leaders/20240720/eff201917dba40b28fc4d30958b61c43/c.html

习近平吊唁越共中央总书记阮富仲逝世

　　新华社北京7月20日电（记者杨依军）7月20日下午4时许，中共中央总书记、国家主席习近平来到越南驻华使馆，吊唁越共中央总书记阮富仲逝世。

　　习近平来到越南驻华使馆吊唁大厅。大厅里，摆放着阮富仲的遗像。习近平、李强、赵乐际、王沪宁、蔡奇、丁薛祥、李希送的花圈，中共中央、全国人大、国务院、全国政协、中央军委以及中联部、外交部、国防部、北京市委和市政府、有关人民团体送的花圈摆放在遗像前。

　　习近平走到阮富仲遗像前驻足默哀，向遗像三鞠躬，在吊唁簿上留言并签名。

　　习近平指出，阮富仲同志是坚定的马克思主义者，是越南共产党和越南人民的伟大领导者，他把毕生精力献给了越南党和国家，献给了越南人民，献给了越南社会主义事业，深受越南全党全军全国人民拥护和爱戴。十多年来，我和阮富仲同志交往密切，结下了深厚的同志情。具有里程碑意义的是，去年我们一道宣布构建具有战略意义的中越命运共同体。阮富仲同志的逝世使我们失去了一位中越关系推动者和社会主义事业同行者，令我们非常悲痛。我们将永远铭记阮富仲同志为两党两国关系和世界社会主义运动事业作出的杰出贡献。

　　习近平强调，中国党和政府坚定支持越南共产党团结带领越南人民走符合本国国情的社会主义康庄大道。我相信，在越共中央坚强领导下，越南人民一定能化悲痛为力量，在革新开放和社会主义建设事业中不断取得新的更大成就。我坚信，中越双方一定会继续一道努力，推动中越命运共同体建设走深走实。

　　越南驻华大使范星梅表示，习近平总书记前来吊唁，中共中央第一时间向越共中央发出唁电，体现了中国党、政府对越中两党两国关系的高度重视，体现了习近平总书记对阮富仲同志的特殊感情，越方深受感动，深表感谢。阮富仲同志生前高度重视对华关系，为发展越中友谊付出巨大心血、作出巨大贡献。越方将继承阮富仲同志遗志，落实好越中两党两国最高领导人达成的重要共识，坚持将发展对华友好合作作为越南对外政策的战略选择和头等优先，推动具有战略意义的越中命运共同体建设继续向前发展。

　　蔡奇、王毅等参加吊唁活动。

I'm taking this semi seriously even though it's almost fully a joke. Like obviously Charli is not a political genius, and is of course corrupted by being way too rich, British, straight, white, cis. Idk I still believe she is a genuinely wholesome person, watch the (terrible) Hulu documentary about the making of How I'm Feeling Now if you don't believe me. And wholesomeness is one of the spirits of socialism. Not like Disney wholesome, just having some sense of what it takes to be a good person and putting some thought and effort into improving at that skill, that's wholesomeness to me.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5125651

Hey.

I put in the code, but it doesn't bring it up.

Can someone help fetch it for me?

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5079215

Here (found these on a Discord I frequent):

Enjoy.

Looks like Latin America and my time in Bolivia.

The People's Forum is hosting summer school for people interested in becoming revolutionary organizers! I think this class is incredibly important and relevant in our current moment, and I wanted to plug it here because I think a lot of you will be interested in it as well. The classes are hybrid in-person (NYC) and virtual (Zoom), and recordings of previous classes as well as other materials are available online.

Classes are Tuesday/Thursday from 6:30pm-8:30pm ET, and Saturday at a time I don't fully remember, but I think is 1pm-3pm ET. And of course, you can always review the recordings at a time that works better for you! That means the next section is tonight (Thursday, July 11th)!

I saw the first class on Tuesday, and it was immediately obvious that the content and presentation of this material are extremely valuable, and I hope you all feel the same.

Register for free at the link below:

https://peoplesforum.org/events/revolutionary-summer-school-2024/

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2921799

I've just finished reading "How Marxism Works" by Chris Harman, as part of Prolewiki's Absolute Beginner Reading List, and I wanted people's thoughts on its section about Marxism and Feminism. This edition is from the year 2000, and this section feels like the weakest section in the entire pamphlet.

It feels like a very surface-level dive into the topic, and I'm wondering if I'm simply picking up on a lack of familiarity by the author. I will admit, as well, that this is a weak topic for myself. I know that there were Bolshevik women who had to advocate for their inclusion in the state after the October Revolution. Their admission led to huge social progress and amenities for working-class women, but there is no mention of them by name in this section. There is no mention of intersectionality, either, from the 'Feminist' side of the section, but lots of focus on the "separatist ideas" of Feminism. No mention of works such as Angela Davis's Women, Race, & Class (which is on my reading list).

Queer Marxism, Feminist Marxism, often feel like an under discussed subsection of Marxist thought (to me anyway, as a cishet man, who could probably do better about seeking this information out). I have to imagine that, being a woman, being queer, being non-white, and looking at Marxism and its focus on class can feel like an alienating experience to some. To have your struggles collapsed and folded together into the "Class Struggle" with no real mention or notion of what life will look like for you and your intersection with society at large after the elimination of the class society must feel like someone telling you to "take it on faith" that things will improve for you. That somehow, in a post capitalist state, the biases and prejudices are simply washed away from the minds of the masses. You would need to take a step further, to study the history of places like the Soviet Union and its efforts in decolonization to get an idea of what that looks like. This could also be my own shallowness showing regarding theory, however.

So, what are your thoughts? What are some historical perspectives I should be seeking out that flesh out this section? What are some works of Theory within the realms of Women's Liberation, Black Liberation, and Queer Liberation I should consume to expand the foundation for my world view?

Thanks!

Separation of concerns is a basic concept in computer science. Djikstra's original explanation sounds strangely similar to dialectics, to me

I mean, it's not exactly the same (dialectics are much richer) but it is indeed interesting that we only "discovered" this in 1974. Although to be honest, the idea is probably older than Hegel.

Das Kapital basically follows this structure. Various aspects of the capitalist mode of production are viewed in isolation, from one limited perspective. Only after examining each perspective, and the interrelation between them, can one really understand the entire system.

Saw this comment on the commie side of TikTok. My gut tells me this is ultraleft bs, but perhaps my fellow hexbears can educate me on this discussion which I’m sure is not new.

I don’t see how a poor American on food stamps is responsible, even though a systematic analysis reveals that international superexploitation is a thing.

The American proletariat can and should organize in any case. I don’t see how Americans can build any sort of socialist movement if any organization at all is accused of being hypocritical.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2805670

To give a bit more detail, I've been attempting to bridge the gap (however wide or short it may be) between Queer Theory and Marxism. I feel as though the two most common views of contemporary Marxists on queer theory are incorrect.

1. Reactionaries who proclaim that Queer Theory is somehow monolithically idealist, usually having never read a shred of it, should be dismissed out of hand. No need to elaborate further on this.
2. We should be critical of those who simply combine Marxism and Queer Theory (whichever tendencies of both they most align with) like toppings on a sandwich. Queer Marxism is something that needs to be developed, yet it requires more than upholding both as distinct yet compatible entities. We must synthesize them, likely transforming both to some degree in the process.

I don't wish to fall into the trap of naïve originality, aka writing theory on a matter without studying that which has already been written. So, I'm looking for two things. Firstly, any freely accessible (I don't have the funds to buy/subscribe) theory on the question of Queer Marxism. Secondly, your personal thoughts (Brief or lengthy as they may be) on the subject.

Thanks in advance, –Zero

I regularly see trots being memed about because "they do nothing apart from writing newspapers", but to me from their viewpoint (and as an anarchist) it totally makes sense and is a sympathetic view how it should be the workers leading the fight towards a revolution and the vanguard should stand aside and take the role of advisors (hence the newspapers) rather than leaders.

I feel like i'm missing something but i don't know what.

I heard Engels gets some things wrong like applying dialectical materialism to the natural sciences (which Marx didn’t agree with) but overall it’s pretty good?

From here

A section from the overall Q&A that was held by the minister. Overall a good read.

Wang Yi: Multipolarity and economic globalization are the prevailing trends in the advancement of human society. But there are different views on what they should look like. China believes in an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

An equal multipolar world means equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules for every nation. Certain or a few powers should not monopolize international affairs. Countries should not be categorized according to their strength. Those with the bigger fist should not have the final say. And it is definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while some others can only be on the menu. We must ensure that all countries, regardless of their size and strength, are able to take part in decision-making, enjoy their rights, and play their role as equals in the process toward a multipolar world.

An orderly multipolar world means all should observe the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, and uphold the universally recognized basic norms governing international relations. Multipolarity doesn’t mean multiple blocs, or fragmentation, or disarray. All countries must act within the U.N.-centered international system, and pursue cooperation under global governance.

Universally beneficial globalization means growing the economic pie and sharing it more fairly. All nations, all social groups, and all communities should be able to take part in economic and social development and share the benefits. Development imbalance, be it national or international, should be settled properly so as to realize common prosperity and development.

Inclusive globalization means supporting countries in pursuing a development path suited to their own national conditions. No one should impose one single development model onto the whole world. Unilateralism and protectionism for selfish gains at the expense of others must be discarded to keep the global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded, and to sustain the robust and dynamic growth of the world economy.

China is ready to work with all countries to steer multipolarity and economic globalization toward the right direction as expected by the whole world, and to make global governance more just and equitable.