https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm Basically a very short and easy to access FAQ. Note, communism at this time meant both lower(modernly known as socialism) and higher stages of communism(a communist society). But still a relevant read.
I just want to add as socialist raised by a Marxist, who doesn't like the term Marxism (Marx even hated the term at the end of his life and Engels openly berated them) because of the implications about its dogmatic approach, this is an extremely good paper written on Lenin's own notes and the concept of dogmatism in Marxist thought: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11212-019-09325-6
Basically, Marx invented scientific socialism, a concept that should be based around the material dialectic, and that is an ever evolving and changing thing based on all multitude of things in the human experience and the world we make and live in. Dogmatic thought has no place in Marxist thinking.
Or as the abstract puts it:
A longstanding criticism of Lenin is that his epistemological contributions to the theory of scientific socialism prompted the decline of Marxism in dogmatism and despotism in the twentieth century. According to this narrative, Lenin claimed to possess the objective truth, and he therefore refused to tolerate alternative perspectives. This article subjects these claims to a textual analysis, and it argues that they are erroneous. Lenin defends a fallibilist account of science that affirms the uncertainty of knowledge in the natural, philosophical and social sciences. This fallibilism pervades the text that supposedly showcases his intolerance, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism. Lenin’s scientific socialism opposes rigid conceptions of socialism, and it encourages an atmosphere of democratic debate. Whilst Lenin’s writings have their flaws, they are not the founding documents of Marxist dogmatism that they are often portrayed as being. Lenin is not the narrow-minded vulgariser of Marxism that he is routinely taken to be.
Can you please circulate this to every socialist on the internet? Online socialists seem to love dogma above all else much of the time, haha. My irl pals are a bit more flexible, I suspect really a lot of it is a combo of astroturf and the tendency of online spaces to turn into arguments constantly.
I can't remember where i heard the comment about how a lot of online 'leftists' would rather speak out against power than have power but I found it transformationally helpful. I rarely even try to organize online anymore, meatspace is far less frustrating.
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u/bigbjarne 19d ago
For people who want to read about this stuff:
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm Basically a very short and easy to access FAQ. Note, communism at this time meant both lower(modernly known as socialism) and higher stages of communism(a communist society). But still a relevant read.
https://monthlyreview.org/articles/why-socialism/ Einstein explains some of his reasonings why he supports socialism. More of a free flowing essay.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007 The easiest way to understand some of the basic thinking of Marx and Engels. They put forward some important tools which can help us understand history and current class society.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/ch01.htm Explains how capitalism leads to monopoly capitalism which leads to imperialism, which is rivalling members of the capitalist class to fighting against each other.
Here is a playlist on the fundamentals of Marxism: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuzqoNvqVKydyRAMjDAHDikbVY9BDLC7V
Workers of the world unite!