Even ignoring the hundreds of millions of Chinese Marxists, Marxist-Leninist consensus is that the PRC is Socialist, and Marxism-Leninism is by far the most common subset of Marxism globally. In the West, Trots and Maoists are more common due to their anti-AES stance and thus lack of material threat to the status quo, but Marxism-Leninism is still the most common subset!
What I want to ask is what you believe Socialism to be, because there’s a clear Marxist answer to that question.
Check the party lines of Marxist-Leninist parties. Even if you take the (fairly chauvanistic) stance that we can’t trust Chinese Marxist-Leninists, FRSO, PSL, the CPUSA, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, all consider the PRC to be Socialist. I would be surprised if you could find an ML party that goes against that consensus.
So the majority of party lines explicitly accept China as socialist? There’s a big difference between that and saying the majority of individual Marxists accept it, which is what you originally claimed.
There are plenty of geopolitical reasons to flatter China outside of actually thinking they’re socialist.
Most Marxists are members of parties, if they aren’t then they aren’t really Marxists. Marxism isn’t an intellectual fascination, but a means to change the world, if you abandon the crucial element of it then you abandon its purpose.
But individual Marxists don’t need to conform to the party line. And do the party lines explicitly call out China as socialist, or is that your interpretation from other tenants? Could you link a section?
“Individual Marxists” is a bit of an error. Marxism is a social theory, and posits that in order to truly know something you must put it to practice. The opinion of a Marxist that does not organize is generally inferior to one who does, because organizing informs truths about application of theory to practice. Either way, here is FRSO celebrating the PRC as a quick example.
The vast majority of Marxists globally see the PRC as Socialist.
That sounds like you’re taking about the vast majority of individual Marxists, not the majority of Marxist parties. If you meant that, I would recommend rephrasing to say
The vast majority of Marxist parties globally see the PRC as Socialist.
Even ignoring the hundreds of millions of Chinese Marxists, Marxist-Leninist consensus is that the PRC is Socialist, and Marxism-Leninism is by far the most common subset of Marxism globally. In the West, Trots and Maoists are more common due to their anti-AES stance and thus lack of material threat to the status quo, but Marxism-Leninism is still the most common subset!
What I want to ask is what you believe Socialism to be, because there’s a clear Marxist answer to that question.
Source for that Marxist-Leninist consensus? Is there a poll or something?
Check the party lines of Marxist-Leninist parties. Even if you take the (fairly chauvanistic) stance that we can’t trust Chinese Marxist-Leninists, FRSO, PSL, the CPUSA, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, all consider the PRC to be Socialist. I would be surprised if you could find an ML party that goes against that consensus.
So the majority of party lines explicitly accept China as socialist? There’s a big difference between that and saying the majority of individual Marxists accept it, which is what you originally claimed.
There are plenty of geopolitical reasons to flatter China outside of actually thinking they’re socialist.
Most Marxists are members of parties, if they aren’t then they aren’t really Marxists. Marxism isn’t an intellectual fascination, but a means to change the world, if you abandon the crucial element of it then you abandon its purpose.
But individual Marxists don’t need to conform to the party line. And do the party lines explicitly call out China as socialist, or is that your interpretation from other tenants? Could you link a section?
“Individual Marxists” is a bit of an error. Marxism is a social theory, and posits that in order to truly know something you must put it to practice. The opinion of a Marxist that does not organize is generally inferior to one who does, because organizing informs truths about application of theory to practice. Either way, here is FRSO celebrating the PRC as a quick example.
That sounds like you’re taking about the vast majority of individual Marxists, not the majority of Marxist parties. If you meant that, I would recommend rephrasing to say
Parties are made up of people, so yes, the vast majority of individual Marxists hold that opinion, indicated by party lines. This is semantics.