r/socialism • u/isawasin • Jun 07 '24
Activism Cap seen at a pro-Palestinian student protest outside the graduation ceremony of Hunter College, NY, USA
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u/SalviaDroid96 Libertarian Socialism Jun 07 '24
That's a really neat redesign of the hammer and sickle.
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u/xrat-engineer Jun 07 '24
Revolutionary Communist International / Revolutionary Communists of America!
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u/Ecio00 Jun 08 '24
Trots, remember the pickaxe ⛏️⛏️
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u/xrat-engineer Jun 09 '24
Not only do we remember the pickaxe we're probably the first to make jokes about it because while it absolutely was a tragedy the fact that Stalin felt he had to murder an old guy in exile proves just how powerful the ideas are.
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u/Zygoatindustry Jun 10 '24
Trotsky-mandated reminder that Stalin died in a puddle of his own piss!!!
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u/xrat-engineer Jun 10 '24
Couldn't have happened to a nicer traitor.
I'm not sure if it's apocryphal but I've heard it was hard to find someone to properly treat him because all the doctors were afraid. And that's just great.
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u/il_corpo Vladimir Lenin Jun 07 '24
those are the revolutionary communists right? the trots
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u/xrat-engineer Jun 07 '24
Revolutionary Communists of America, not to be confused with the RCP, who are the Avakian people
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u/bradleyvlr Jun 07 '24
Could be, that is definitely the version of the Hammer and Sickle that we use, and I know we have several members at Hunter College.
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u/EternalPermabulk Jun 08 '24
Can someone ELI5 how trots are different than other commies?
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u/LeninMeowMeow Jun 08 '24 edited Jun 08 '24
Trots are a split that occurred when Trotsky disagreed with Stalin over how the Soviet Union should be run.
The principle difference between Stalin and Trotsky was that Stalin believed in building "Socialism in One Country" whereas Trotsky wanted to do "Permanent Revolution". Trotsky's position was less popular because it would have fundamentally meant subjected the Soviet people to endless war and conflict as a global revolutionary base to push for international revolution as quickly as possible. Stalin's position was more popular because it meant simply building up the Soviet Union and making the people's lives better while waiting for the conditions elsewhere to reach the correct situations in which revolution would occur. I should also add that they had just had WW1 followed by a bloody civil war and fought off the invading forces of capitalism from dozens of capitalist countries, the people and the revolutionaries themselves were very tired of war (sadly WW2 followed). Post WW2 The Soviet Union under Stalin and future leaders did still go on to opportunistically support socialist revolutions that looked feasible elsewhere around the world but did not intend for it to be the be-all-end-all of the existence of the first socialist state.
That's what the two meant originally anyway, but this is nearly 100 year old history. These days the difference is that Marxist-Leninists don't believe Stalin was an evil boogieman and that he should be judged appropriately as a historical figure with positives and flaws within the context of the time (much like you would Churchill or any other figure), MLs also do not think that the USSR was not a Socialist state while Trots generally still do. Trots also generally criticise AES (actually existing socialist states) to a very large degree and often do not support them very much, while Marxist-Leninists support AES tooth and claw even with various criticisms or flaws.
I've attempted to make this as charitable and judgement-free of the two positions as possible but I'll add on here that I am a Marxist-Leninist residing in the UK and you can use that knowledge to filter what I've said through an appropriate lens. Hopefully the candidness I've laid out here means this won't earn me any ire for sectarianism which I assume is not allowed here - left unity.
EDIT: Oh and all ML parties follow Democratic Centralism whereas while most Trot groups do I have seen some that do not.
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u/Zygoatindustry Jun 10 '24
just a side note for this the RCI (the trots we are talking about) do follow democratic centralism
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u/Rokossvsky Joseph Stalin Jun 25 '24
Not all MLs support china. We usually add the label anti-revisionist to distinguish that quality.
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u/LeninMeowMeow Jun 25 '24
Which ML party does not support China?
The ones that don't are trots and gonzaloites.
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u/Rokossvsky Joseph Stalin Jun 25 '24
Many actually such as the KKE. In India it would be maoists. Dengist parties have mainly fallen to social democracy and reformism as seen with the CPIM in india. Calling them ML is a disservice.
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u/LeninMeowMeow Jun 25 '24
The KKEs primary issue is with their foreign policy and not following a strictly socialised economy. They're fair criticisms but the one that matters is whether the proletariat are in control or not and they clearly still are. KKE wouldn't maintain fraternal relations with them through the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties if it didn't acknowledge that it was such a party.
Worth keeping in mind the KKE started that meeting too. They invited them.
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u/CaptaiinCrunch Jun 08 '24
The uncharitable description is that they're the one true communism and all the others are fake. I'll let the RCA people here give the more nuanced explanation.
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Jun 07 '24
I hope once the elderly politicians start dying out we can make change. Millenials need to start now and push on with Gen Z
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u/Obi1745 Marxism-Leninism Jun 07 '24
You're not gonna score any wins in the US through the political system lol
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Jun 07 '24
Maybe not by voting. But I think that by starving corporations we can. Well it has to change or we are going to be the next Gaza. Capitalism comes for everyone, we are in the belly of the beast. And once it’s done eating its tail it’ll eat its belly.
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u/xrat-engineer Jun 08 '24
I'm in this party and we have no faith in official political channels to really change things. We're Leninists.
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u/isawasin Jun 08 '24
I say this not to oppose your general attitude, I share it overall. I love in a country which calls itself a democracy but isn't. That sham is entirely propped up by brutality in response to any criticism, let alone resistance, but also by the US military. The country hosts one of the largest US naval bars in the world.
I don't think the US is a democracy either, but I'd qualify that by making the (admittedly abstract) distinction that while I live in a democracy that isn't, the US is a democracy that doesn't.
Your presidential elections are a sham, but political engagement shouldn't be scorned or shunned to the point of ignoring or accepting that fact. On top of that, I'd certainly encourage USAmericans to be highly engaged politically in their local elections, up to the state level.
You should care who ends up as sheriff/police chief, DA, comptroller; who is on your school boards, and local councils. Those avenues of engagement don't exist to me at all, and they affect you as profoundly as who ends up in the white house.
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u/Yamuddah the class war is on Jun 07 '24
Palestine is located on planet earth. It is filled with humans. Why would their cause not be the cause of socialism?
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u/kingbro715 Jun 07 '24
Liberation movements of anti-colonialism anti-imperialism are fundamental to socialism. Israel is an appendage of the American Empire. For socialism to be built, people must have self determination
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u/TTTyrant Marxism-Leninism Jun 07 '24
The PFLP is a Marxist Palestinian group fighting for Palestinian Liberation.
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u/millernerd Jun 07 '24
Have you not read any theory?
Maybe try the PFLP's "Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine".
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u/LOW_SPEED_GENIUS Marxism-Leninism Jun 07 '24
They're actively fighting for an Islamist theocracy.
lmao who told you that? They're literally fighting for liberation from a fascist state that is currently engaged in a genocide against Palestinians.
Their victory would deal a blow to the entire imperialist system (not to mention it would end an actual ongoing genocide), this is like, basic socialist theory for over 100 years.
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u/LizzySea33 Marxism-Leninism Jun 07 '24
There are factions within Hamas that are fighting for a Marxist-Leninist State. PFLP for example is fighting for it. The reason they joined hamas is because it's for the self determination of the Palestinian people via a united front.
If I remember correctly, Mao Zedong had laid this out in his writings for third world countries such as those in the middle east.
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u/LeninMeowMeow Jun 07 '24
Palestinian resistance was historically organised for most of its existence by socialists. It is only a recent development that Hamas became the primary leading faction of the resistance, for most of its history it was led by PFLP. Currently the PFLP are one of the 5 factions that share a war room, the other 4 are Hamas, PFLP:GC, DFLP and Al Quds.
3 of these 5 organisations are socialist.
You only hear about Hamas in the news because the media does not want emphasis on the fact that 3 of the 5 resistance organisations are socialist.
Here is Nelson Mandela speaking in Palestine: https://youtu.be/dC52sKaJPgU
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u/MRTA03 Marxism-Leninism Jun 07 '24
But, but muh… horseshoe stuff
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u/LOW_SPEED_GENIUS Marxism-Leninism Jun 07 '24
They call it horseshoe theory because you have to have been kicked in the head by a horse to believe it.
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