Cowbee [he/him]

Incredibly evil. Actual warcrimes.

Perfect! Essentially, to wrap it around, the Republican party exists because the conditions for it exist. The idea that we can “vote blue until the Reps are no more, then a left party will take its place” is wrong, because they won’t remove the conditions for a fascist party. The new party will be fascist as well, or permadem rule for right wing Dems, like California.

Haha, I said as much in my original comment, but edited it in case it would be seen as sectarian, decided to play it safe.

For starters, what theory have you read to begin with? What’s informing your views on reform vs revolution, and on centralization vs decentralization? Assuming you’re a Marxist, these are “answered questions,” which is why these views are unpopular here.

Secondly, don’t take much stock in the results of LeftValues. It places me at Eco-Marxist, for example, despite me being a Marxist-Leninist. Additionally, “Democratic Socialism” is a bit of a misnomer, all Socialism is democratic, including Marxism-Leninism.

As for what I recommend you read, this is my favorite reading list for getting a thorough understanding of Marxism-Leninism. I would, in your particular case, perhaps skip ahead to The State and Revolution, which definitively answers both why Revolution is the only answer, and why Centralism is correct for a Socialist society.

I don’t have any good reformist texts or DemSoc texts, if that’s what you were wanting.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!

Wait, again?

That’s a reasonable critique that I generally agree with, though Anarchism has had a lot of growth over the years in terms of theory and practice.

I will say though, based on your answers, the list I linked would be great. It starts you off on simple terms and concepts, then goes in-depth, then expands it to the modern era, then it moves to organizational theory and practice. I’ve read more works than are just in this list, but it really does serve as a great guided experience for the basics.

Then, you can branch out to Feinberg, Fanon, Losurdo, Parenti, or swing over to Anarchists with Goldman, Kropotkin, etc. Don’t refuse to read theory “across the aisle,” there’s a lot to learn from everyone.

This is the list I am working through! It’s definitely Marxist focused. What do you lean, Marxist, Anarchist, undecided?

Good idea!