I just got done listening to ep 6 “wtf is a socialism?” 1/3 of the way through ep 7 “Ls of former socialism”
Some things I’ve learned so far: Democratic Socialism is like only doing a cancer treatment halfway - the cancer will always come back because capitalists will always find ways to roll back the progress made for the workers/people. That’s because it’s the way capitalism is built (squeezing the most money out of all resources, workers included) and the concessions they give are just to stem the progression towards revolution.
If anyone questions the violence of a revolution, remind them that there is inherent systemic violence in a capitalist state. Ex: homeless population, the way poc and poor people are treated, and police aggression at protests, just to name a few.
Questions: Socialism is Communism, just an earlier stage?
Other thoughts: I was humbled hearing Hakim’s childhood knowing my country did that to him.
I liked at the end of ep 6 where they talk about how you don’t have to be a martyr, just contribute to communist causes in whatever way you can. Maybe because I’m just really delving into this, but sometimes I’m like “I don’t think I can start a revolution, but it feels like I have to.” Maybe that’s normal idk
I think that’s very normal, there’s another thread here full of folks grappling with the same question of what praxis looks like in a time like ours.
I take solace in the reality that it’s not about me as an individual, Lenin didn’t pull off the Bolshevik Revolution because he was such a great guy. We reject great man theory, it’s about a collective struggle towards a common goal. And while we aren’t where we need to be yet, we’re a hell of a lot further than we were when the Iraq war kicked off.