On Joe Clark
aka @ScottishCommie
This is a huge resource thread, all pulled from twitter user Joe Clark, @ScottishCommie. So, first and foremost - thanks to Joe for making these threads in the first place. These are just getting backed up in case twitter explodes.
Also this is the first article of 2023 rn so wow happy new years! go read all 60 of the books linked below to celebrate :4)
Tweets
These are just dumps from twitter threads of resources. Many are taken from his Thread of Threads.
Thread one: Foundational texts - Jun 28, 2022 (src)
Gonna make a thread here on foundational texts to do with Marxism that are absolute must reads for any Marxist. This list will give a comprehensive but still detailed understanding of Marxism, the nature of Capitalism, Imperialism and DiaMat. Audiobooks will also be provided.
Number one, nice and easy for an introduction - Principles of Communism by Engels
Number Two - The State and Revolution by Lenin.
Number 3 - Foundations of Leninism by Stalin
Number 4 - Wage Labour and Capital by Marx
Number 5 - Value, Price and Profit by Marx
Number 6 - Dialectical and Historical Materialism by Stalin
Number 7 - On Contradiction by Mao
Number 8 - Left Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder by Lenin
Number 9 - What is to be done? by Lenin
Number 10 - Imperialism the Highest stage of Capitalism by Lenin
Number 11 - Neo-Colonialism the last stage of Imperialism by Nkrumah
Number 12 - Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels
Number 13 - On Practice by Mao
Number 14 - Marxism and the National Question by Stalin
Number 15 - Critique of the Gotha Programme by Marx
Thread two: Marxist lectures, videos, documentaries, etc - May 25, 2022 (src)
Gonna make a thread here of videos, lectures, documentaries etc you should all watch🧵
Thread three: texts on dialectical and historical materialism - Mar 10, 2022 (src)
Dialectical and Historical Materialism by Stalin
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels
On Contradiction by Mao Zedong
Elementary Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politizer
Thread Four: Other Marxists texts which should be read - Mar 18, 2022 (src)
Going to make a thread here that will probably get expanded upon in the future of Marxist theory recommendations outside of the 5 heads. These are works I've either read myself or has been recommended to me by comrades. Unfortunately free links for these books I cannot find
1: Blackshirts and Reds (via drive.google.com) by Parenti. Essential readings. Dispels a lot of anti communist propaganda and highlights the horrors of Capitalism.
2: Washington Bullets by Vijay Prashad. Outlines the history of CIA coups and assassinations around the world
3 & 4: Another View of Stalin by Ludo Martens and Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo. Both books dispel a lot of the myths and propaganda around Stalin
5: Africa Must Unite by Kwame Nkrumah. It highlights the cause of the Pan-African movement, the movement to unite Africa under scientific socialism
6: Neocolonialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Kwame Nkrumah. Speaks on a new stage of imperialism. This book cause a massive outrage in the US for obvious reasons
7: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney. It goes into great detail on how Western Capitalist nations are the reason for Africa's lack of development
8: Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire. Highlights the horrors of colonialism and rejects the "justifications" for it
9: Black Marxism, the Making of the Black Radical Tradition. Unfortunately I haven't read it yet so I cannot describe it but it has been recommended to me by a lot of Comrades1
10: Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis. It covers Marxist feminism and the history of the slave trade and other Black and Feminist movements thought a Marxist analysis.
Some drive links to more resources, shared by sophie (@mrxstlesbian) here:
This Google drive n reading list have a huge amount of free pdfs of them too including some of the ones you couldn't find! I've also included a doc list too :)
Thread 5, Essential Lenin Texts - Aug 14, 2022 (src)
Thread🧵 on what is in my opinion, essential Lenin texts. Links to the books will be provided as well as audiobooks and pdfs if those are avilable. If I leave off any text you think should be on here, let me know :)
Books One: The Three Sources and Three component parts of Marxism
Book Two: What is to be done?
Book Three: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Book Four: The Right of Nations to Self-Determination
Book Five: Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism
Book Six: The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution
Book Seven: The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution (April Theses)
Book Eight: Lessons of the Revolution
Book Nine: The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It
Book Ten: The State and Revolution
Book Eleven: The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government
Book Twelve: The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky
Book Thirteen: Economics And Politics in the Era of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Book Fourteen: "Left-Wing" Communism, An Infantile Disorder
Book Fifteen: Role and Functions of the Trade Unions Under The New Economic Policy
Book Sixteen: Materialism and Empirio-criticism
Castro Stuff - Aug 26, 2022 (src)
For anyone wanting to learn about Fidel Castro or read his works, speeches, etc this website is a goldmine: http://fidelcastro.cu/en
Democratic Centralism - Sep 8, 2022 (src)
Short thread of short texts to help people understand Democratic centralism. I've found all of them useful.
Comprehensive ML Reading List - Oct 15, 2022 (src)
A thread on what I consider a comprehensive reading list of Marxist-Leninist theory that includes works to do with the state, imperialism, feminism, fascism and other areas.
Introductory Texts:
Principles of Communism by Engels
The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism by Vladimir Lenin:
Combat Liberalism by Mao Zedong:
On Authority by Friedrich Engels:
On having a correct understanding of Nationalism by Kim Il Sung:
Freedom to Criticise and Unity of Action by Vladimir Lenin:
Anarchism or Socialism by Joseph Stalin:
What is to be done? by Lenin
Foundations of Leninism by Stalin
On Practice by Mao
Black Shirts and Reds, Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism by Michael Parenti:
Texts on the State:
The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Friedrich Engels:
The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels:
The State and Revolution by Lenin.
Texts on Dialectics:
Dialectical and Historical Materialism by Stalin
On Contradiction by Mao
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels
Elementary Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politizer
Dialectics of Nature by Friedrich Engels:
Texts on Capitalism/Political Economy (Please know that when it comes to the capital texts, it's better to read these in a group):
Wage Labour and Capital by Karl Marx
Value, Price and Profit by Marx
The Conditions of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels:
Capital Volume One by Karl Marx (Note, better read with a group of people):
Capital Volume Two by Karl Marx (Note, better read with a group of people):
Capital Volume Three by Karl Marx (Note, better read with a group of people):
Marxism Feminism (Note, not my strongest subject but I’ve found all these texts extremely useful):
The Woman Worker by Nadezhda Krupskaya:
Lenin on the Emancipation of Women by Vladimir Lenin
The Social Basis of the Woman Question by Alexandra Kollontai:
Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis:
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Centre by bell hooks:
Texts on Imperialism/Colonialism:
Imperialism the Highest stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin
Neo-Colonialism the last stage of Imperialism by Nkrumah
The Imperialist Partition of Africa by Walter Rodney:
The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon:
A Dying Colonialism by Franz Fanon:
Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire:
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney:
Texts on Western Imperialism/Intervention/Colonialism
Rogue State by William Blum
Washington Bullets by Vijay Prashad:
Killing Hope by William Blum:
Against Empire by Michael Parenti:
The Blood Never Dried a People's History of the British Empire by John Newsinger:
Marxist analysis of Fascism:
The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International in the Struggle of the Working Class against Fascism By Georgi Dimitrov:
Fascism and Social Revolution by R. Palme Dutt:
Blood in my Eye by George Jackson:
Miscellaneous Texts (Wasn’t sure where to put these):
Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR by Joseph Stalin:
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels:
Liberalism, a Counter History by Domenico Losurdo:
The Right of Nations to Self Determination by Vladimir Lenin:
Marxism and the National Question by Joseph Stalin
"Left-Wing" Communism, An Infantile Disorder Vladimir Lenin:
An incomplete list of US interventions in the world from 1945 - 2001 part 1 - Oct 14, 2022 (src)
I recommend viewing on twitter if possible, there are images I'm not copying here with sources.
China 1945 - 51:
- Backed Chiang Kai-shek against the communists even using recently defeated Japanese troops, the ones that committed unspeakable atrocities in China, to fight the communists. Continued to back nationalist rebels abroad to fight the PRC
France 1947:
Pumped money into rival political parties and gave guns to gangs to fight the communist party.
Blackmailed the French government to remove communist ministers from power to recieve aid
Marshall Islands 1946 - 58:
- Used the Islands as a nuclear testing ground, displacing thousands and destroying the habitability of many islands
Italy 1947 - 1970s:
Again like in France, blackmailed the Italian government to dismiss its communist ministers to receive aid.
Also rigged elections to make sure the popular communist party never won elections
Greece 1947 - 49
- Backed Greek fascists against the Greek communists who fought to defeat the nazis. Then gave further support to this fascist regime that ruled Greece with an extreme brutality
Philippines 1945 - 53:
- US military fought against the leftists even when these leftists were still in the middle of fighting the Japanese imperialists. After defeating the leftists the US set up and backed a fascist dictatorship
Korea 1945 - 53:
- Backed a fascist dictatorship in the South that slaughtered thousands and fought a war against the North to stop Koreas reunification. Side note, the US is responsible for over 2 million Korean deaths in this war
Albania 1949 - 53:
- Tried to overthrow the communist government of Hoxha by using monarchist supporters and Italian fascists and Nazis as guerrilla fighters against the government.
Germany 1950s:
- Launched a campaign of sabotage and terrorism against the GDR. Used communist and socialist traitors to commit terrorist attacks around Europe to then drum up fear of an impending Soviet invasion of Western Europe
Iran 1953:
- US and UK overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran after its prime minister tried to nationalise British owned oil fields. They replaced him with a brutal fascist dictatorship that was eventually overthrown
Guatemala 1953 - 1990s:
- Overthrew elected leader Jacobo Arbenz and installed a fascist dictatorship that committed unspeakable horrors such as running death squads and torture programmes. All for the "crime" of nationalising the lands of United Fruit Company
Costa Rico 1950s - 1970s:
- Tried to overthrow the Liberal president Jose Figueres and tried to assassinate him twice because he wasn't "tough enough with the left" and he sometimes critiqued the US
Indonesia 1957 - 58:
- Backed a fascist dictatorship against the democratically elected government and the extremely popular communist party. The fascists killed an estimated 1 million people in Indonesia, most of whom were communists (More details on this in the Jakarta Method)
Haiti 1959:
- US trained the troops of the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier
Guyana 1953 - 64:
- Eventually forced the elected leader Cheddi Jagan from office for his neutrality during the cold war.
Iraq 1958 - 63:
- Overthrew leader Karim Kassem in a coup, he was then executed due to his neutrality in the cold war and his "inconsistent" handling of the Iraqi communist party
Vietnam 1945 - 73:
- Sided with French colonisers against the Vietnamese people and tried to stop the reunification of the country while waging a war against Ho Chi Minh and the communists. The US killed over a million people in Vietnam
Laos 1957 - 73:
- Tried to rig elections and disrupt the largely peaceful leftist movement in Laos. Eventually they moved to more overt methods and bombed Laos killing hundreds of thousands. To this day Laos still remains the most bombed country on Earth
Thailand 1965-73:
- Used Thailand as a base while bombing Vietnam and Laos. While in Thailand they also fought and killed the revolutionary forces there trying to remove them.
Ecuador 1960-63:
- The CIA infiltrated the government and ousted president Jose Maria Velasco because of his opposition to the US policy towards Cuba as well as not clamping down on the Ecuadorian left.
The Congo 1960-65, 1977 - 78:
- Was involved with the overthrownment and later the execution of Patrice Lumumba and backed the dictatorship of of Mobutu. Later gave aid to mobutu to fight off rebellions to his fascistic rule
Algeria 1960:
- Backed the French military in their coup of the Algerian government and hoped the repercussions would topple French leader De Gaulle. They later tried to but decided against assassinating him
Brazil 1961-64:
- Opposed president Joao Goulart for his neutrality during the cold war. Financed and backed a military coup against him and supported this dictatorship while it committed atrocities in Brazil such as mass killings, torture and death squads
Dominican Republic 1963 - 1965:
- US did nothing after a military coup against the first elected leader of the Dominican Republic ousted them. A later rebellion against this dictatorship was crushed by 23000 US troops
Cuba 1959 - present:
- Repeated attempts to overthrow the Cuban Revolution and assassinate Castro. Also a failed invasion of Cuba
Ghana 1966:
- Backed the military coup that overthrow Communist and Pan-African leader Kwame Nkrumah
Uruguay 1969-72
- Trained the police force in assassination and torture techniques as well as provided intelligence for deaths squads fighting against the Robin Hood like Tupamaros Guerrilla fighters
Chile 1964 - 73:
- Funded and supported the fascist dictatorship of Pinochet who Overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende. Pinochet was brutal, executing communists en mass and training dogs to rape Liberal women
Greece 1967 - 74:
- The US backed a military coup two days before Greek elections out of fear that the Liberal candidate would win. Followed by 8000 killings in the first month of the coup
South Africa 1960s - 80s
- Backed the apartheid government against Nelson Mandela. Later provided the Intel that caused his arrest.
Bolivia 1964 - 75:
- Backed the military in its coup of President Victor Paz. Later worked with this regime and former SS officers to track down and murder Che Guevara
Australia 1972 - 75:
- Tried to rig the elections to stop the Labour Party winning. Later helped to overthrow this government
Iraq 1972 - 75
- Sent money to Kurish forces, not to help them fight for autonomy but to weaken themselves and the Iraqi government who were enemies of the Shah of Iran, the dictator that the US put into power
Portugal 1974 - 76:
- CIA did everything it could to stop the leftists reforms taking place after the Fascist dictatorship of Portugal was overthrown. Eventually the CIA succeeded and CIA funded candidates won the elections in Portugal
East Timor 1975 - 99
- US funded and backed the Indonesian invasion of East Timor who had recently gained independence from Portugal. Almost a third of East Timors population was killed
Angola 1975 - 1980s:
- US supported UNITA during its war with the MPLA. Over 500 000 people were killed
Jamaica 1976:
- US tried to stop the reelection of Prime Minister Michael Manley
Honduras 1980s:
- US turned Honduras into a colony and set up bases to help itself in the war against the guerrillas in El Salvador and Guatemala. Also served as a staging area in the US war against the Socialist government of Nicaragua.
Nicaragua 1978 - 80:
Funded the Contras in their war against the socialist government of Nicaragua.
Later interfered in elections to stop the sandinistas from winning.
Philippines 1970s - 1990:
- Poured millions into the Philippines to help the fascist government defeat the leftist and communist insurgencies/revolutions being waged against it
Seychelles 1979-81
- CIA funded a mercenary invasion of the Island
South Yemen 1979 - 84
- Backed paramilitary forces trying to overthrow the socialist government.
South Korea 1980:
- Helped put down a student led protest. Killing thousands
Chad 1981 - 82:
- The US and France helped overthrow the government of Chad, leading to the brutal executions of tens of thousands and the torture of hundreds of thousands
Grenada 1979-83:
- The US tried to destabilise the socialist nation of Grenada under the New Jewel Movement. Later invaded the Island after the murder of Maurice Bishop at the hands of the Grenadian military
Libya 1981-82:
- Tried to assassinate Gaddaffi many times as well as shooting down two Libyan planes flying over Libya.
Fiji 1987:
- CIA and NED backed the coup that Overthrew the elected government of Timoci Bavrada
Afghanistan 1979-92:
- Funded reactionary forces to overthrow the Marxist government in Afghanistan killing 1 million, disabling three million and displacing 5 million
El Salvador 1980-92:
- Funded the corrupt government to circumvent democracy. Eventually provided arms and later boots on the ground to support the government against a popular revolution
Haiti 1987 - 94:
- Backed the fascist dictatorship there. Later, under pressure, helped restore the democratically elected government of Aristide with the promise he would not help the poor at the expense of the rich.
Bulgaria 1990-91:
- NED helped stop the extremely popular Bulgarian socialist party from winning the election. But they won so the US helped destabilise the nation and forced a new election. This time the socialists lost
Albania 1991-92:
- Same thing that happened in Bulgaria. Socialists won the election, the US destabilised the nation, funded the opposition, forced a new election the Socialists lost.
Somalia 1993:
- The US used the excuse of providing aid to heavily involved itself in Somalian politics. The US killed over a thousand Somalians in its fight against Mohamed Aidid
Iraq 1990s:
- First gulf War. US manufactured consent for an invasion of Iraq during its war with Kuwait. 50,000 Iraqis died
Peru 1990s - 2000s
- US backed the fascist dictatorship of Fujimori, responsible for mass killings and the mass sterilisation of indigenous peoples
Mexico 1990s - 2000s:
- Backed the Mexican government in its war against the Zapatistas in the name of fighting the drug trade something the Zapatistas are not involved in
Colombia 1990s - 2000s:
- Backed the corrupt government against popular uprisings in the name of combating the drug trade. 200,000 Colombians were killed during this period
All information in this thread was taken from the book "Rogue State" by William Blum which you can read for free here: Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower by William Blum (via archive.org)
Apr 7, 2022 (src)
Dialectical Materialism is just so interesting and once you grasp it's meanings and fully understand it, it's impossible to see things without it. I think for an introduction, Stalins "Dialectical and Historical Materialism" is a great read.
In the first Chapter "Marxist Dialectical Method" he mentions four principal features. The first being "Nature Connected and Determined"
The point here is that all of nature is connected to one another. You cannot understand things as isolated from one another. Everything is effected by one another. For example, a tree dying maybe due to a lack of rain or a lack of sunlight due to surrounding plants.
It is not dying on its own. Furthermore the tree cannot grow on its own, it relies on the nature around it (water, soil, sunlight, etc).
The second part is "nature is a state of continuous motion and change". What this means is things are not stagnating, everything is constantly changing. Plants grow and change throughout the years and throughout the seasons.
Another example is you as a person. You do not stay the same, your mind and body changes as time goes on even at the molecular level. The cells constituting your body now are not the same ones you had at birth. Old cells die and new cells grow.
It is the nature of all things to grow and change. To be born and to die. Nothing stays the same.
The third point is "natural Quantitative change leads to Qualitative change" What this means is as more and more things occur (Quantitative change) a new Quantitative change occurs.
An example would be water boiling. As the temperature increases (Quantitative change) this leads to a Qualitative change of the water boiling. Likewise a decrease in the temperature would lead to the Qualitative change of water turning into ice.
A bigger example would be the Quantitative change of Strikes, Protests, Riots, etc leading to the Qualitative change of a change in legislature, president or even the Qualitative change in the mode of production via a revolution from Capitalism to Socialism.
The final point is "Contradictions Inherent in Nature". This refers to how Contradictions exist within all things, there is a constant struggle between the old and the new, a struggle between opposites. Progress is driven by these Contradictions.
New things grow out of the old. Feudalism was born out of antiquity, Capitalism was born out of Feudalism and Socialism was born out of Capitalism.
To end off Stalin says that slow Quantitative changes leads to faster and abrupt Qualitative changes such as revolution resulting in the change of the mode of production. Therefore Capitalism can only be overthrown via Quantitative changes leading to a revolution.
One must be a revolutionary, not a reformist if their goal is to overthrown Capitalism. The contradictions inherent in Capitalism will lead to its eventual overthrow at the hands of the Proletariat and the Peasantry. Class struggle must be driven to its final conclusion.
Tankies - Apr 14, 2022 (src)
Propaganda teaches you that Stalin was a bloodthirsty dictator that hungered for power and was just as bad if not worse than Hitler. Reading Stalin and actually studying his life/history/achievements teaches you that he was an incredibly smart man and an incredible Marxist.
I hold firm in my belief that no Marxist has been as propagandized against as Stalin. He has been attacked by the bourgeoisie, by Trots, by Nazis & by revisionists.
I dont glorify Stalin he made mistakes and bad decisions at times but most of what you hear about him is propaganda
Tankies pt. II - Jul 20, 2022 (src)
You don't need to kiss the ground they walk on, or even like them all that much. But this narrative that Stalin and Mao were mass murdering lunatics akin to or worse than Hitler just shows you've done 0 analysis of their works, both theoretical and practical.
Did they do some shit that personally I don't like? Of course, no one will agree with 100% of someone's actions. Did they also leave their mark on the world that was a net positive? Absolutely. One must only look at their nations before they came to power to see the good they did
And not just their nations. On the world stage their actions and the actions of their nations had profound effects mostly positive. If not for the USSR, the Nazis would have won WW2.
It's also just extremely embarrassing to see this binary good or evil, and the narrative that Stalin and Mao were evil from self described Marxists. Gotta start gatekeeping the term Marxist until we figure out wtf is going on
Good related reading from @NiaFrome at "Tankies" (via redsails.org).
Apr 23, 2022 (src)
Upon looking into it I realized just how good the Cuban Healthcare system is and how much it contributed to the high life expectancy of the nation.
Before the revolution, Cuba was led by a fascist comprador leader known as Batista who was eventually ousted by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the Cuban people.
Under Batista there was at its height, 88 hospitals in Cuba, 9.2 doctors per 10000 people, and the country was ravaged by corruption, crime, and capitalism. The transformation that has occurred Post-Revolution is nothing short of fantastic.
By 2019, Cuba had 150 Hospitals, 436 Community Polyclinics and 15,000 regular clinics. There is now 84.2 doctors per 10,000 people meaning that Cuba employs over 97000 physicians. Cuba also has 5.3 hospital beds per 1000 people, compared to the United States number of 2.87.
Life Expectancy in Cuba sits at 78 years, and Infant morality is 4.2 per 1000 people (the lowest in North America). By 2025, they will have the highest proportion of people over 60 in all of Latin America.
Cuba has not kept it's healthcare at home either as it currently has over 30,000 doctors working overseas. In 2004, Castro along with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela launched "Operation Miracle" which provided free healthcare for all illnesses affecting the eyes in Latin America.
This led to 3.5 million people within Latin America having their eyesight restored free of charge. Cuba also started "LABIOFAM" in Africa, a chemical and biopharmaceutical research institute which is working to vaccinate Africans against Malaria which kills 630000 annually.
They also set up ELAM, The Latin American School of Medicine which has graduated 20,000 doctors from over 123 countries. Ban Ki-Moon, former secretary general of the UN said it is the "World's most advanced medical school"
Margaret Chan, Former Director-General of the WHO said in regards to the Cuban Healthcare System "Cuba is the only country that has a healthcare system closely linked to Research & Development. This is the way to go, because human health can only improve through innovation".
They also congratulated the leadership of Cuba for "having made health an essential pillar of development". and further said "We sincerely hope that all of the world's inhabitants will have access to quality medical services, as they do in Cuba".
In the face of Covid Cuba has made great strides. They have developed 5 separate vaccines for Covid one of which when combined with the booster vaccine Soberana Plus (also cuban made) was 91% effective. Transporting these vaccines elsewhere has been difficult due to the sanctions
Cuba has fully vaccinated 9.94 million people in their country, or 87.7% of the population, one of the highest's in the world. They have also sent doctors around the world, particularly Africa to help fight covid such as sending 200 doctors to South Africa.
Speaking of vaccines, Cuba has developed a lung cancer vaccine. Information is limited but it is said that it has greatly increased the life expectancy of people with Lung Cancer, even those with an advanced case.
In clinical trials, those with an advanced case of Lung Cancer whom had been granted 9 months to live ended up surviving an extra 3 months with the vaccine. An increase of 25%. Again due to the embargo and sanctions, it has not left Cuba.
Jack West MD, the clinical executive director for AccessHope and a medical oncologist at City of Hope who specialises in Lung Cancer said in regards to the vaccine "It seems to provide a very modest survival benefit".
To end this off I shall leave you with two videos speaking on Cuba and its healthcare. One by Kwame Ture and one by Michael Parenti.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I subbed similar youtube videos for the twitter clips linked, watch on twitter for the originals if the website still exists.
Just to add in regards to Covid in Cuba, Cuba has had 8500 deaths from Covid, Belgium, a country with the same population size as Cuba has had 31000 deaths despite being "more developed" and richer than Cuba
May 16, 2022 (src)
The mass normalisation & love given to the Azov battalion in Ukraine by Western leaders & media outlets should deeply concern us. Its no secret that the west is friendly with Fascism but to openly parade nazis as heros is extremely dangerous and we've already seen consequences of this. The right is organised, the right in many nations is armed. And decades after decades of red scare propaganda has left the western communist movements in unfavourable positions to this. All I can say is get organised and if you can, arm yourself.
I see the libs arrived under this tweet seemly wanting to prove how liberals uphold Fascism seeing as how they're all doing nazi apologia rn
Jun 29, 2022 (src)
Some so called Marxists seem to be trying to move away from any kind of social progressivism whether that be towards LQBTQ+ rights, women's rights, etc. The justification for this is that liberals, etc and by extension the capitalist system also "fights" for these things.
First off this idea that social progressivism is somehow disconnected from the class struggle under the capitalist system rather than attached to it is deeply flawed. But secondly they're ignoring the fact that the right has historically always tried to coopt leftist movements.
A big thing within Fascism is the use of leftist (mainly Marxist) language to gain popularity within the masses while quietly actually working against the pro working class agenda they talk about.
Marxists do not need to distance ourselves from these struggles because they can be and have been coopted. What we should do however is to bring these struggles back to a Marxist base, to talk about them and fight for them through the proper analysis, a Marxist one.
Things such as women's rights can be used as a means to justify western imperialism, we've seen this with Afghanistan and the fake outrage Western media had for how women will now be treated there. The truth is they don't care, its just a justification for the US to go back.
But does that mean women's liberation is somehow bad? Of course not. Marxism from its inception has fought for women's liberation, we see this in the writings of Marx and Engels. Further writers, both male and female have continued this struggle.
Do not abandon the working masses just because a part of their struggle has been coopted by the capitalist system, but instead drag it back to its proper place. A place of being attached to the class struggle and use it to fight against the capitalist system.
The Grenadian Revolution - Jun 29, 2022 (src)
The Grenadian Revolution, a thread
Grenada is an island in the Carribean. It became a French colony where the Native Carib and Arawak people were exterminated by French colonialists. African slave labour was brought over and the island became an agricultural colony. Eventually Britain took control of the island.
In 1974 Grenada won its independence and its new leader was a man named Eric Gairy, who began a process of selling out the country. Businesses were sold off, profits landed in the hands of a select few and the nation was dependent on Canadian, British and US finance capital.
Gairy used his power in the government to fight businesses that opposed his own interests, enriching himself and a select few. He also passed many measures to suppress the masses and formed a gang, trained in Pinochets Chile to harass and kill the masses and opposition parties.
The mongoose gang in Grenada were notorious and brutalised the people even killing the father of Maurice Bishop, the eventual socialist leader of Revolutionary Grenada.
To fight back against Gairy, two organisations, the Movement for Assemblies of the people under Maurice Bishop and the Joint Endeavour for Welfare, Education and Liberation under Unison White an came together to form the New Jewel movement, a Marxist-Leninist party.
The New Jewel Movement spoke on why it took a Marxist-Leninist path and said they were inspired by the Black Power movement in the US, the anti colonial struggles in Africa and most importantly the Cuban Revolution which allowed them to see Scientific Socialism up close.
The New Jewel Movement (NJM) showed an ability to mobilise the masses such as demonstrations with tens of thousands of people, working closely with the proletariat, unions and becoming the main opposition party.
Gairy feared there'd take over and planned to assassinate them while he was in the US. However the NJM managed to seize power while he was away, mobilising the masses and seizing the Blue Army Barracks, and nations only radio station. They also arrested the mongoose gang.
The revolution was bloodless. The NJM smashed the state machinery and formed a new one, a People's Revolutionary Government and formed the Peoples Revolutionary Militia to protect the nation.
Grenada was a very poor and underdeveloped nation however so Maurice Bishop took inspiration from Lenins NEP. He nationalised what he could and allowed limited capitalist development supervised by the new government to build up the nations productive forces.
Under the NJM, Grenada progressed and the life of the masses greatly improved:
- all of Gairys oppressive laws were removed.
- businesses would now recognised and respect unions and the right to strike
- organisations such as the national women's organisation grew in numbers
- councils were formed in neighbourhoods, workplaces and villages to get the people involved in the governance of the nation and to raise the political consciousness of the people
- GNP grew by 5.5% in the first year of the rev and 14% in the second year.
- real wages grew by 10%
- unemployment fell from 50% to 12%
- massive land reform programmes were ushered in. Government had 10, year leases on unused land over 100 acres for agricultural uses.
- low interest loans for farms expanded
- four new agricultural universities were established
- benefits for unemployed workers introduced
- medical and dental care became free
- new clinics and modern hospitals were built
- secondary school became a right, free books, uniforms and hot lunches were introduced.
- price controls on essential food items
- 75% of families eligible for interest free loans and low cost materials to fix their homes
- a housing plant was built to produce 500 prefab houses a year
- 30% of workers tax exempt
- retirement, sick pay, disability pay, maternity leave and pay introduced.
- women guaranteed equal pay
- laws to stop the sexual abuse of women introduced and enforced.
Revolutionary grenada received support from many nations such as the USSR, Libya, Syria, Eastern Europe, the DPRK and most importantly Cuba who helped Grenada with its construction of a brand new modern airport.
However Grenada was subjected to imperialist propaganda by the US. Reagan claimed the New Airport was going to be used as a staging base for a Cuban and Soviet invasion of the US and accused the government of human rights abuses.
Despite the good work being done by the NJM, a group of ultras under a man named Bernard Coard, head of the military accused Maurice Bishop of Revisionism and of being a Cuban Puppet. They arrested Bishop and put him under house arrest.
The masses outraged, marched and freed Maurice who along with other NJM members marched to Fort Rupert to confront Coard and try and repair the damage. When they arrived however, the military opened fire, killing many people
Maurice and the NJM members surrendered to stop the bloodshed. They were taken inside the Fort and executed. To this day, no one knows where their bodies are.
The US used this political instability as an excuse to invade. They killed 69 people including Cuban workers at the airport and overthrew what was left of the revolutionary government. The US laid the final nail in the coffin of the Grenadian Revolution.
However do not despair as the work of Maurice Bishop, the NJM and the Grenadian masses lives on and shall inspire new generations to take up their struggle.
If you'd like to learn more about the a Grenadian Revolution I recommend these two videos and this book.
- MAURICE BISHOP SPEAKS (via youtube.com)
- Grenada: The Future Coming Towards Us (1983) (via youtube.com)
- Maurice Bishop Speaks: The Grenada Revolution and Its Overthrow, 1979-83
Much more detail and context for what happened between Coard and Maurice Bishop and the eventual end of the revolution
(quotetweeting @freiresdaughter, here) great thread but this isn’t why bishop was arrested…
CC meetings voted on a joint leadership resolution which would have maurice as the face/spokesperson and bernard as the ideological driving force (he was always seen as more orthodox) maurice was hesitant at first but then accepted this
the problem came when maurice went to hungary and czechoslovakia and rumours from there came that he was having second thoughts about this decision. his security guards claimed that he said there was a power struggle since “no state had joint leadership” this
somehow got to grenada which annoyed the CC as they took a vote and he should respect the vote. even worse there were RUMOURS that he wanted to overthrow the leadership/decision/CC. there is a big chance that these were false/exaggerated but that’s what isolated him.
Aug 19, 2022 (src)
Had to delete my tweet on rent prices in the USSR cause it turns out their rent + utilities, when adjusted for inflation and in USD was not $240 a month for a two bedroom flat. Its $68.75. Almost $70 or ÂŁ60 A MONTH for rent, electricity, heating, water, etc.
The average UK salary is 2000 pounds. After taxes you have 1600. That means you'd have 1540 left over each month for food and commodities.
Sep 25, 2022 (src)
An openly fascist party has won the election in Italy and I fear that this will become the trend in the Western world. As capitalism is in crisis, our nations will move from covert fascism to that of overt fascism. It is our duty to oppose this by any means necessary
Oct 4, 2022 (src)
Putin is a direct result of the illegal dissolution of the Soviet Union and the propping up of far right dictators in the post soviet nations such as Yeltsin in Russia or Havel in former Czechoslovakia. The West is a main reason for all the misery that has happened since.
A big part of liberal thinking is that things simply just exist in a vaccum. That putin just magically became leader of Russia one day and then years later just got mad and decided to invade Ukraine. They refuse to dig into the roots of conflicts.
Oct 13, 2022 (src)
Sometimes I think people shy away from George Jacksons definition of Fascism because it would mean contending with the fact that for many of us, we are already living under Fascism and that would call into question all of our analyses of our own countries.
This thread is useful
(quotetweeting amir (@MustBeTheHero), here) since “fascism” is getting thrown around so much I wanted to share some of George Jackson’s thoughts on it, since I found them so intuitive
as you read these, think of the situation that we have in the US today
there are lots of different definitions to the term but GJ emphasizes the two key aspects: capitalist and anti-labor
it’s important to understand what it is so that we may be successful in our fight against it.
“The ultimate aim of fascism is the complete destruction of revolutionary consciousness.”
“The essence of a U.S.A totalitarian socio-political capitalism is concealed behind the illusion of a mass participatory society. We must rip away its mask.”
this is what was really illuminating to me: the 3 faces of fascism
- out of power: here it looks like populism
- in power, insecure: violently oppressive fascism
- in power, secure: all revolutionary spirit is defeated, protests are allowed since they will never succeed
fascism out of power will complain about “parasitic capitalism” or maybe, crony capitalism. Parenti said populism on the right is always fascism
fascism allows the ruling class to disguise their interests as “national interests”
“Fascism is always a response to a threat to the establishment.”
“the marriage between the political elite and the economic elite becomes more apparent”
“Monopoly capitalism is the central objective of corporative fascism.”
hope this helps you assess whether this country is fascist. and looking at history, you cannot vote out fascism.
But you can also read his work for free which you can find by googling "Blood in my eye pdf"
I do agree that fascism can be hard to pin down (some Jackson also argues) so I would argue to read more beyond this. Dimitrov also writes on fascism, as does Parenti (to a more limited degree)
Oct 14, 2022 (src)
One thing about the CIA I remember reading was that if they tried to infiltrate Eastern Europe/ the Soviet Union, the average life expectancy for an agent was 24 hours.
The KGB were no joke
Reply from @IrishRed_83:
Considering the incredible achievements of the world's first self-sustaining, besieged workers' state in history, facts like this just make me sad. Imagine what they could have achieved - still - if they weren't perpetually concentrated on this level of self-preservation.
Reply from @ScottishCommie:
Yep. That's why I really like how Parenti talks about siege socialism. How these nations were in a constant state of defense due to western imperialism and yet they still made incredible achievements. Once capitalism is gone they'll be no stopping human achievement
Oct 16, 2022 (src)
Haiti has been punished for over 200 years because it fought back against the Western Powers. Haiti was the first free country in the world because it banned slavery. Haiti was a nation built by slaves that freed themselves and the West has never "forgiven" them for that.
(quotetweeting @mL_Nkrumaism, here): Kwame Ture's analysis importance of Haitian đź‡đź‡ą history to ALL OF US.
stop neocolonialism means no allowing 🇺🇸 policy of coup followed by backing a Juan Guaidó type compliant to 🇺🇸 corporations interest.
all peoples from Haiti to Korea know this.
Oct 18, 2022 (src)
One of the beautiful things about Marxism is that the laws of Marxism could have been "discovered" by anyone. Marxism was born out of Capitalism and class society, anyone who analysed Capitalism would have come to Marxs conclusion. It just so happened to be Marx who did it first
This Is why Marxism will always exist.
Every Marxist text could be burned, everyone who knows Marxism could be killed but so long as Capitalism and class society exists, Marxism will come back for it is a science
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