Zig Forums I have a conundrum that I cannot solve. In order to get anything done you need money. Regardless if you are a ☭TANKIE☭ with his own Marxist-Leninist Party or an Anarchist Federation of your own creation. Getting members to spend their free time to do political work is really hard, worse of all people still need to feed themselves.
But I thought of an idea, though it would not be well loved and at worse hypocrisy. What if your Leftist Organization simply owns private property, like any old nonprofit entity, that it uses to fund its activities? Churches do this, holding companies do this, various capitalistic entities do this because it is a great way to make money. Imagine your very own party investing in land for members to live, work, and rent to profit the party in order so it can fund its activities.
If no, how would you get funding? Reliably that is.
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Go right ahead.
Isaac Adams
Not really viable to get funding directly through some front business, it'll just make it easy to destroy your revenue sources when the inevitable fascist crackdown comes. Better to just get money and support from sympathetic petty booj who have legitimate jobs and businesses (this worked for the Cuban revolutionaries). Needless to say everything should be done by direct commodity donations or cash. There are way too many idiotic "communist parties" right now with PayPal accounts or taking credit card donations.
Elijah Lee
What is the intrinsic difference between getting money from people who have jobs in businesses versus just owning the businesses themselves?
If Fascist crackdown of leftist owned businesses, they will crackdown on left leaning people working in businesses.
This place is an endless goldmine of retardation, I wish I would have found you morons sooner.
Anthony Cruz
It also fits right into our consumerist society. It's like Starbucks, rent our housing and 10% goes to revolutionary action that you're too lazy to do yourself.
Parker Rivera
the Bolsheviks and the IRA did it probably not feasible anymore though, what with modern cameras and all that
Brandon Flores
Why would this be 'not well loved'/hypocrisy? How can you be a Marxist and have such a moralistic approach to capitalism/socialism? Have you not learned shit?
Also to answer OP's question, you do whats absolutely necessary to achieve your goals in the most pragmatic matter possible. The realpolitk of it is that any capitalists and competing political movements that can engage in activity that will benefit them or hurt their opposition while remaining clandestine will do so and anyone that doesn't is an outlier and/or falling behind. The person playing dirty behind the scenes who never gets found out always trumps the person playing fair who ends up denounced, defamed, or at worst dead.
Jeremiah Rivera
Zizek was indeed my reference for that post.
Nicholas Carter
Easier to trace. A business owner who doesn't go to the meetings, rallies, or combat training sessions is not going to be as easy to connect to militant communism as someone who does do all those things. Moreover, someone who already has an existing business or profession (professionals are basically petty booj) will probably be better at it than a bunch of communists trying to set up fronts, and will not be diverting/splitting the attentions and efforts of cadres.
Zachary Thompson
Selling drugs doesn't work for communists because it is a propaganda failure.
I agree on this. The FARC sold drugs and received adequate profit from it, but shot themselves in the foot by having to ally with groups which the working class found unsavory or at some points a risk and becoming entrapped in the business of it. They also ended up capitulating to the government and other entities regardless of those actions all while having to continue to deal with the after effects of their actions. Contrast that to the ELN who at the time of FARC operations never dealt in the drug trade and were better popularity wise for it while retaining their "agency". Unfortunately that's coming to an end however, as ELN forces have to deal now with fending for themselves and are now getting stuck in the same position the FARC were in.
Daniel Cook
Like labor vouchers, you get was is equal to what you mine.
I think you may want to reframe what you mean What you are describing is your organisation having cooperatives. The cooperatives operate to make profit, as any entity within the capitalist system does, and this profit is given to the party, generating income.
Maybe another idea is to copy what the Socialist Party in my country does. You can donate money to them, and because the party is a registered charity, if you do your gift tax-correctly, you can subtract 100% of your gift from the tax you have to pay. So you don't lose out on anything, and the party basically gets fucktons of money that would normally go to funding killing syrians and NOT FUCKING PAYING FOR MY EDUCATION ANYMORE.
Christian Harris
Nm I was wrong. You can deduct it from your taxable income, meaning that you still have to spend money.
Daniel Thompson
Did the FARC sell drugs or not, I’m curious now, always assumed they did.
William Lee
This is a good Zizek thing where he talks about getting money for communist conferences:
Cobra is an elaborate pyramid scheme that uses legal front businesses and scams to fund their activities. They also have health benefits and are unionized, unlike those GIJoe scabs. They aren't even terrorists really, their main concern is the bloated military industrial complex and its hired thugs.
Already posted, but yes, indeed Zizek at his best.
Caleb Watson
Easier said than done. The problem with making money as a capitalist is that you actually need to start out with a capital. That's the hard part, not any moral qualms about whether this is the right thing to do.
Jose Campbell
Bullshit yes there is, class struggle is socialism which is what ethical consumerism is.
