• Cowbee [he/him]
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    8 minutes ago

    Excellent questions.

    Lenin isn’t a divergence from Marxism, Lenin is an application of Marxism to the era of Imperialism, with more clear analysis of Monopolist syndicates based on empirical evidence. The NEP isn’t a divergence from Marxism. Critically, Marxists believe that Capitalism gives way to Socialism because markets coalesce into Monopolist Syndicates over time, prepping themselves for central planning and public ownership. Russia was underdeveloped, it did not have these monopolist syndicates, the NEP allowed markets under State control to exist and naturally form these syndicates. Arguably, Stalin ended the NEP too early, which is an entirely different nuanced argument.

    Why Public Property? as well as Productive Forces are two excellent essays on the subject of Scientific Socialism.

    The PRC is Marxist-Leninist, or more accurately Socialist with Chinese Characteristics. The PRC “traps” its private sector in a birdcage model and, following the previous statements, increases ownership as monopolist syndicates form. Half the economy is publicly owned and centrally planned, with a tenth in the cooperative sector.

    Socialism Developed China, Not Capitalism is another fantastic essay on the subject.

    “Without Revolutionary theory, there can be no Revolutionary Movement.”

    It’s time to read theory, comrades! As Lenin says, “Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle.” Marxism-Leninism is broken into 3 major components, as noted by Lenin in his pamphlet The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism: | Audiobook

    1. Dialectical and Historical Materialism

    2. Critique of Capitalism along the lines of Marx’s Law of Value

    3. Advocacy for Revolutionary and Scientific Socialism

    As such, I created the following list to take you from no knowledge whatsoever of Marxism, and leave you with a strong understanding of the critical fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism in an order that builds on itself over time. Let’s get reading!

    Section I: Getting Started

    1. Friedrich Engels’ Principles of Communism | Audiobook

    The go-to FAQ of Communism. Quick to read, and easy to reference if you ever want to clear up a misconception you see or have.

    1. Michael Parenti’s Blackshirts and Reds | Audiobook

    Breaks down fascism and its mortal enemy, communism, and their antagonistic relationship. Understanding what fascism is, where and when it rises, why it appears, and how to banish it forever is critical. It also helps debunk common anti-Communist myths, from both the “left” and the right.

    Section II: Historical and Dialectical Materialism

    1. Georges Politzer’s Elementary Principles of Philosophy | Audiobook

    By far my favorite primer on Marxist philosophy. By understanding DiaMat first, you make it easier to understand the rest of Marxism. Marxist states have historically taught Dialectical and Historical Materialism before Political Economy for that very reason.

    1. Friedrich Engels’ Socialism: Utopian and Scientific | Audiobook

    Further reading on DiaMat, but crucially introduces the why of Scientific Socialism, essentially explaining how Capitalism itself preps the conditions for public ownership and planning by centralizing itself into monopolist syndicates.

    Section III: Political Economy

    1. Karl Marx’s Wage Labor and Capital as well as Wages, Price and Profit | Audiobook

    Best taken as a pair, these essays simplify the most important parts of the Law of Value.

    1. Vladimir Lenin’s Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism | Audiobook

    Absolutely crucial and the most important work for understanding the modern era and its primary contradictions.

    Section IV: Revolutionary and Scientific Socialism

    1. Rosa Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution | Audiobook

    If Marxists believed reforming Capitalist society was possible, we would be the first in line for it. Sadly, it isn’t possible, which Luxemburg proves in this monumental writing.

    1. Vladimir Lenin’s The State and Revolution | Audiobook

    Excellent refutation of revisionists and Social Democrats who think the State can be reformed, and not replaced.

    Section V: Intersectionality and Solidarity

    1. Vikky Storm and Eme Flores’ The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto | (No Audiobook yet)

    Critical reading on understanding misogny, transphobia, and homophobia, as well as how to move beyond. Uses the foundations built up in the previous works to analyze gender theory from a Historical Materialist perspective.

    1. Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth | (No Audiobook yet)

    Decolonialism is essential to Marxism. Without having a strong, decolonial, internationalist stance, we have no path to victory nor a path to justice.

    Section VI: Putting it into Practice!

    1. Mao Zedong’s On Practice and On Contradiction | Audiobook

    Mao wrote simply and directly, targeting peasant soldiers during the Revolutionary War in China. This pair of essays equip the reader with the ability to apply the analytical tools of Dialectical Materialism to their every day practice, and better understand problems.

    Congratulations, you completed your introductory reading course!

    You are now educated on the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, and are equipped to do your own Marxist-Leninist analysis, comrade! Don’t think you can stop here, though. To be a revolutionary is to be a constant student, to be industrious, to have solidarity, to test theory and meet it with practice. Our struggle is a winnable one!

    Next, I would continue to read intersectional theory. Leslie Feinberg’s Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue, J. Sakai’s Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat and Juno Mac and Molly Smith’s Revolting Prostitutes are all excellent next steps in your journey.

    “Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent.”

    • Mao Zedong
      • Cowbee [he/him]
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        5 hours ago

        Thanks! I take theory seriously, and if you check my history all I have been doing is trying to lead people to Marxism, haha.

        I want to point out that I just modified it, adding The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto.

    • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
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      6 hours ago

      That’s incredible - thanks. The idea of the ultimate endgame of capitalistic monopolies looking suspiciously like communism always confused me as it seemed they were just doing the communist legwork before the state intervenes. I’ll probably have a go at section 2, Engels / DiaMat, fairly soon.

      • Cowbee [he/him]
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        6 hours ago

        Critically, Revolution is required to achieve Socialism, the Means of Production, once developed, need to be siezed by the Proletariat, and the only way is through struggle. Marx puts it especially well in Manifesto of the Communist Party:

        The essential condition for the existence, and for the sway of the bourgeois class, is the formation and augmentation of capital; the condition for capital is wage-labour. Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the labourers. The advance of industry, whose involuntary promoter is the bourgeoisie, replaces the isolation of the labourers, due to competition, by their revolutionary combination, due to association. The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable.

        I do recommend starting with Politzer, philosophy may seem boring but in AES states they teach Dialectical and Historical Materialism first, because it makes understanding the rest of Marxism far easier. Politzer is clear and extremely easy to understand, and his work is immensely practical, though I won’t decry Engels’ work on Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, it’s in my list for good reason. It’s essential.

        Let me know if you have any questions!