r/Marxism

Fellow Comrades I am new into Marxism Soo please can anybody of you like recommend me a book to start with? Anything like that will help me delve deeper into Marxism and help understand it deeply thanks in advance

同志们，我是一名来自中国的毛派。这里想分享一些我个人对当代中国社会的看法。我认为，改革开放以来市场机制不断扩大，私有资本和资本主义生产关系得到发展，这在我看来已经带来了明显的资本主义复辟和修正主义倾向。

社会主义不应只是保留社会主义的名义，更应体现在生产资料所有制、劳动者地位以及社会财富分配等具体关系上。我们有必要重新学习马克思、列宁和毛泽东的社会主义理论，从历史唯物主义和阶级分析的角度认识今天的问题，而不是简单用经济增长来判断社会主义性质。欢迎不同立场的同志理性讨论。

Hello people, I am relatively new to Marxism and its deviations. I’m of course fully convinced of its political aspects and its philisophicak aspects aswell. I’m just not sure if I completely understand the latter.

One thing that has always troubled me, even before learning about Marx, is counsciousness. How does it work? What is it? Where does it come from?

Obviously the question of consciousness is adress in most idealist philosophy but I wanted to know how Marxists/materialists explain it.
My only understanding would be that the consciousness is the result of material conditions/environment/nature and not the opposite

Thanks in advance for your help <3

And what if the calls to not use AI, to detect when it has been used, and to criticize it for wasting water, making people lazy, etc., is a well-orchestrated campaign to ensure that only the elite get what they need and to discourage people from using it and potentially using it against the elite?

surrogacy has always been a contentious discourse, and though I myself could apply marxism on it that the material reality pushes these women into resorting to dangerous forms of labor, I'd still like to explore more options. does anyone know a marx fem one that is best used on it?

One power can only be overcome by a stronger power. Historically, there have been times when the people held more power than the elite. Yet, historically, that power has eventually been reclaimed by the elite. Throughout these cyclical patterns, the elite realize that relinquishing a portion of their power actually yields the benefit of increasing it. The elite never yield out of morality or due to pressure; they yield only out of expediency. When the elite possess super artificial intelligence—an inexhaustible source of value—what need will they have for humans? I believe they will need humans because they will require human diversity and imagination—the wellspring of creativity—and because only humans can dream up innovative solutions.

"Demands of the Communist Party in Germany"

"1. The whole of Germany shall be declared a single and indivisible republic." - I'm neutral on this. Maybe borders should be changeable democratically and some provincial rights are good, within reason.

"2. Every German, having reached the age of 21, shall have the right to vote and to be elected,

provided he has not been convicted of a criminal offence." -Agreed

"3. Representatives of the people shall receive payment so that workers, too, shall be able to

become members of the German parliament." -Agreed

"4. Universal arming of the people. In future the armies shall be simultaneously labour armies, so

that the troops shall not, as formerly, merely consume, but shall produce more than is necessary

for their upkeep.

This will moreover be conducive to the organisation of labour." -Agreed, but it should also be voluntary in my opinion. People with a criminal record shouldn't be armed.

"5. Legal services shall be free of charge." -Agreed, within reasonable bounds.

"6. All feudal obligations, dues, corvées, tithes etc., which have hitherto weighed upon the rural

population, shall be abolished without compensation." - Probably yes, I have no knowledge of feudal law.

"7. Princely and other feudal estates, together with mines, pits, and so forth, shall become the

property of the state. The estates shall be cultivated on a large scale and with the most up-to-date

scientific devices in the interests of the whole of society." - Yes but with environmental regulations and concerns.

"8. Mortgages on peasant lands shall be declared the property of the state. Interest on such

mortgages shall be paid by the peasants to the state." - Why not just declare the lands property of the peasants? We should work towards universal mortgage free home ownership.

"9. In localities where the tenant system is developed, the land rent or the quit-rent shall be paid to

the state as a tax.

The measures specified in Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 are to be adopted in order to reduce the communal

and other burdens hitherto imposed upon the peasants and small tenant farmers without curtailing

the means available for defraying state expenses and without imperilling production.

The landowner in the strict sense, who is neither a peasant nor a tenant farmer, has no share in

production. Consumption on his part is, therefore, nothing but abuse." -- Again, for first homes, I don't think there should be any taxes, mortgages, or interest.

"10. A state bank, whose paper issues are legal tender, shall replace all private banks.

This measure will make it possible to regulate the credit system in the interest of the people as a

whole, and will thus undermine the dominion of the big financial magnates. Further, by gradually

substituting paper money for gold and silver coin, the universal means of exchange (that

indispensable prerequisite of bourgeois trade and commerce) will be cheapened, and gold and

silver will be set free for use in foreign trade. Finally, this measure is necessary in order to bind

the interests of the conservative bourgeoisie to the Government." -Agreed, but it should be legal to hold gold and silver privately, assuming all tax responsibilities are paid.

"11. All the means of transport, railways, canals, steamships, roads, the posts etc. shall be taken

over by the state. They shall become the property of the state and shall be placed free at the

disposal of the impecunious classes." - Agreed

"12. All civil servants shall receive the same salary, the only exception being that civil servants

who have a family to support and who therefore have greater requirements, shall receive a higher

salary." - Disagree, hard workers should be rewarded, maybe with up to 2x compensation.

"13. Complete separation of Church and State. The clergy of every denomination shall be paid

only by the voluntary contributions of their congregations." - Agreed

"14. The right of inheritance to be curtailed." - Curtailed yes, not eliminated. Maybe there should be a maximum wealth level?

"15. The introduction of steeply graduated taxes, and the abolition of taxes on articles of

consumption." - Agreed, things like value added tax just punish the poor.

"16. Inauguration of national workshops. The state guarantees a livelihood to all workers and

provides for those who are incapacitated for work." - Agreed, I'd go further and say that a welfare state should ensure basic dignified living conditions are met for everyone, regardless of work status.

"17. Universal and free education of the people." - Agreed

"It is to the interest of the German proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie and the small peasants to

support these demands with all possible energy. Only by the realisation of these demands will the

millions in Germany, who have hitherto been exploited by a handful of persons and whom the

exploiters would like to keep in further subjection, win the rights and attain to that power to

which they are entitled as the producers of all wealth." - this part is just fluff

Hello, I have been reading Capital by Karl Marx and the density of the material makes it much easier to comprehend if I take notes. My notes are mostly paraphrasing in the moment im reading when I feel that what I am reading is important, and I feel like I take as much time taking notes as much as I read. What are you methods of taking notes? How often do you take them? Thanks

Of course it's very strong to say that I "summarised" Marx, but I did what I could within my capacities and what I had

There are some very important things that I haven't seen specially from Das Kapital, but I did this more like for an introduction and for me to revisit it from time to time

Marx's Anatomy

I hope someone finds it useful

I have unintentionally made myself addicted to learning anything about Marxist ideas. I have no other passion for anything else, family, friends, anything. It’s hard to even try to watch a show or play a video game because all I want to do is read the history of socialism or theory. Is this healthy? I want to make myself a true revolutionary and actually fight for the working class.

Since China's reform and opening up,ChineseBureaucratic privilegeAnd the gap between the rich and the poor is becoming more and more obvious.But China.We have been working hard for these two aspects. First, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,China is fighting corruption.It can be said that it is very strict.Bureaucratic privilegeClasses are basically caught completely.On the gap between the rich and the poor, the gap between the rich and the poor in China is mainly concentrated in the gap between urban and rural areas and The gap between coastal and inland cities.In China, between urban and rural areas, the gap between the rich and the poor can be said to bealreadyWith obvious results, we have achieved comprehensive poverty alleviation, and at the same time we have been using digitalization to get rid of poverty.Encourage rural enterprisesAnd other ways to stimulate the economy.Rural economic developmentIt can be said that although the gap between the rich and the poor in China has not yet reached one.To a lesser extent, but always in this direction.Efforts and progress, and have achieved certain results.

What's up with the weird revitalization of Analytical Marxism, and GA Cohen in particular? Is it solely that Ben Burgis guy?

DSA obviously has a very eccentric bag of ideology - there's even a Maoist Caucus, but there still seems to be some milieu of which important figures WITHIN that orbit articulate a seemingly(?) coherent position. I'm talking specifically about Jacobin/Bread and Roses/and the media ecosystem aligned with those things - Majority Report, This is Revolution, etc., (there's a ton more, that's just what came to mind).

Ben Burgis has appointed himself the "people's philosopher' and philosopher in residence at Jacobin, so I'm curious just how far the analytical framework is being used to justify the current iteration of DSA/Jacobin and the insurgent electoralism we've seen the past year or so.