For the libs - read 'On Authority' by Engels. Its very short.

On a related note: If you're a lib looking to educate yourself on what exactly communism is read Principles of Communism, also by Engels. It's literally an FAQ describing the very basics, and a much better starting point than the manifesto which is what most people tend to start off with.

"It's very short", you say, oh please, how short could it possibly-- oh.

That actually is pretty short.

Huh.

I kinda had an epiphany today. Liberals use the word "authoritarian" to mean "lack of representation from a plurality of interests, instead all representation is done by a single interest"

That would mean every single socialist country by default, since communist parties represent working class interests and disenfranchise capitalist interests. Since liberals dismiss a Marxist understanding of economic class, they can only see administration by a communist party as needlessly strict and dictatorial, since they literally do not see a difference between capitalist and worker. They can only surmise a communist party takes power for no reason at all except to be evil. Authoritarian might as well just mean "bad." It's when bad things happen.

But why can't you defeat the ruling class with niceness?

You expect libs to read?

fantastic reccomemdation comrade corgi. It may keep some of us from having to repeat "all governments are authoritarian"

I do agree with the argument of the text, but I don't think it is a good introductory read for someone who doesn't already have an understanding of how historical materialism works.

I would recommend this video first since it explains a lot of the same material, along with the general basics of historical materialism, and does so in terms that should be much more familiar to someone with a more mainstream understanding of politics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nPVkpWMH9k

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no more half measures walter

Ah, again the text that willingly conflates authority with self-defence.

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Great piece, worth the reread. Thanks comrade.

on authority is only a counter to anyone who wants to abolish all forms of authority. If an anarchist believed in elected foremans for factories for example then on authority would not apply to what they believe

it's not really a counterargument against anarchism but against the stupidest subsection of anarchism imaginable

I'm locking this damn thread.

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Narration by Socialism For All (9:40)

Feel free to edit these links into the text of your post if you want to!

So do people really think politics will be over once people's economic needs are met?