Reading pre-WW2 socialist history I'm astonished at how much the Left was different back then.
The Left used to have a culture. It wasn't just a declaration of principles, it was a lifestyle. Being a member of the SPD in its Marxist days was like being member of a whole separate country. People would fraternize with each other, attend events together, go to Socialist theaters, join study groups, be active in their party and its meetings. They had places to hang out and places to work at. They'd open their houses to political exiles of other Second International parties. People knew what was being debated and followed the inner-party conflicts. Before WW1 the SPD even had a school in Berlin. And obviously, after the split, Communist parties all over the globe attempted to re-create this type of communal structure, some with considerable success.
This is why Fascism has won, because we were never able to get back to that. Everywhere they destroyed a whole culture that had been half a century in the making, and since then "Socialist" refers to an atomized individual with vague left-wing preferences. But he's not initiated by a community. He doesn't learn the rites, the theory, the language, he's not taught how to organize or how to write propaganda. He's not "integrated" into something. His just reads a book or watches a video, decides Socialism makes sense, and his life carries on as it did before. They succeeded in destroying our means of cohesion and coordination, because they know Socialists isolated from each other can't do anything to fight the system.
What we must do is manage to organize in a highly alienated society.
Benjamin Harris
you literally can't do this, no one has the time or the energy for it, and if they do they're probably petit-bourg rather than proles
Adam Cook
bruh these things didn't appear spontaneously, they were designed and created by the Socialist parties precisely because they realized isolated individuals under capitalism will lack the tools to effectively fight back. They were consciously creating a community, as the basis for mass politics and international politics.
This is what we need today, more than ever. A strong socialist party that will make socialists a close-knit community again. Like the Black Panthers attempted.
Gavin Carter
Man, that sounds really interesting. But being sad over the past is unproductive. We need to focus on our future now.
Charles Gutierrez
This actually makes sense as to what the secret sauce is that leftists are missing now… We have quite a lot of ""socialists"", but they have no actual Socialists to compare themselves too without this Socialist culture around them, so they instead live in a liberal culture which contaminates them.
THEY WERE ATOMIZED AS WELL RETARD
Carter Taylor
Lol what? I'm right wing and I don't see this unless you have a loose definition of fascism
Jayden Ramirez
banned and gulag'd
Chase Reyes
THIS IS NOW A COMMUNITY BUILDING THREAD
How can the communist party help to reverse the atomization and alienation created by capitalism?
Yeah, after WW2 capitalists tried and have succeeded in breaking pillarisation which gave socialists their collective strength and unity. The socialist radio is now commercial and apolitical, the socialist sport Korfbal is a meme, the labour party cucked out in the 90s. It's all a rather sad affair and the only "leftist" parties who are gaining ground with the complete disintegration of the labour party (they lost 29 seats, a record) are the liberal-democratic D66 (who switched positions on referendums and are now against them) and the green capitalist GroenLinks (who recently evicted a terrain that has been squatted for 20 years to make place for a business park). Both of these parties who are hailed in the media for "carrying on the torch of the labour party" are even more detached from any kind of community politics. Can you even call them political parties if they're not even reflective of any particular social group with their own organizations and institutions?
Jack Young
The Marxist left is only gone in the first world. This is what Maoist-Third Worldists tell everyone everyday and they sperg out because of their first-worldism.
Kayden Perez
back then working conditions and repression of socialists was much much worse than today. infact many early social democrats were thrown into prison or executed for agitating socialist ideas, yet the (good old marxist) spd became quickly the strongest party with the most members in the country and forced bismarck, who was A LOT more reactionary than the kaiser himself by the way, to introduce the right to strike, 8-hour-workday, the world's first welfare system (including universal healthcare, guaranteed pensions and more good things). i don't know where you are living, but in germany and other eu countries there is really no excuse for not at least joining one of the big or small unions and/or organinizing otherwise. yeah the big unions parties are mostly pretty yellow these days, because a lot of the union leaders are corrupt faggots, but this won't change unless nobody dares to change it. however,it can be done, the brits have a pretty based labour party leader now.
Samuel Peterson
In a world where countries like Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Canada have proven how great a good capitalist system is for the people, peole would rather build communities for a more fruitful purpose…
James Lopez
Canada is gonna get austerity'd hard. But they will claim fags, trannies and a plethora of different identites are being represented AS LONG THEY ARE BOURGEOIS so it will be okay!
Mason Diaz
What makes you think Canada's living standards will drop any time soon?
Benjamin Wright
All the news out of Canada is them cutting their social programs, like recently with Student Aid. Of course they have a better safety net than the United States of Thunderdome, Canada is on their way down because they need to remain "competitive" with the US.
Anthony Howard
A few austerity measures isn't going to make people want a radically different system, just better politicians (or a better democracy, like the one in Switzerland).
Charles Watson
switzerland is one of porky's most important safe havens that's the only reason why the ruling class grants the plebs there a couple more nice things than usual and it is the reason for switzerlands exceptional position in world politics too. their hurr durr direct democracy is a meme anyway, anything positive it might yield for the plebs is mitigated by porky's right-wing media. also stop larping as social democrat if you think "capitalism is good for the people". it is not and you are not a social democrat. you are a liberal.
Landon Allen
Trudeau is a right wing snake and he shows it any chance he gets. The parliamentary budget review showed that he paid $1 billion more than the market value for that retarded pipeline. He also has done basically nothing to strengthen worker's rights or the conditions of the poor in Canada. t. leaf
That's only in Ontario, it was done at the provincial level by our retarded premier.
Brandon Butler
Canada had massive cuts in the 90s from the Liberal government and now the country is in horrible debt again, which will result in more massive cuts.
Trudeau is a "Liberal" which ever since Paul Martin has meant exactly what the Zig Forums idea of it is.
Jason Fisher
They succeeded in destroying our means of cohesion and coordination, because they know Socialists isolated from each other can't do anything to fight the system.
Jaxon Powell
Suburbia was nonexistent except among certain classes back then. Mass upscaling Suburbia was meant to geographically isolate working classes and increase the geographical barriers to mass resistance and organizing. Seriously how are you supposed to pressure your government by driving 20 minutes to your local walmart or stripmall to protest, followed by police teargas
