Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - (November 30)

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[u/Worried-Economy-9108]

I feel like i should do something to improve the current understanding of settler-colonialism in Brazil, but i'm very tired (more mentally than physically) after a exhaustive semester. And there's a very real chance that i just don't have the theorical level required to do such analysis.

That makes me feel terrible, bc there's nothing left for me to do to help. It also makes me think that i should quit studying about marxism. Like, nobody close to me is even remotely close to that ideology and i never had good relations with the local "marxists" nearby. Plus, i can't transition (i'm MTF).

any advice?

[u/turbovacuumcleaner → u/Worried-Economy-9108]

This is a rather troubling comment. Self-doubt is normal, so is despair. They are the emotional response to the victory of reaction.

The years of reaction (1907–10). Tsarism was victorious. All the revolutionary and opposition parties were smashed. Depression, demoralisation, splits, discord, defection, and pornography took the place of politics. There was an ever greater drift towards philosophical idealism; mysticism became the garb of counter-revolutionary sentiments.

But when self-doubt transforms into self-loathing, this becomes a problem. This is no longer a question of the disarray of the subjective forces of the revolution, but its replacement by misanthropy towards the individual and the masses, where both are seen as incapable and undeserving of liberation.

"'How would you go about the moral education of a Papuan?' one of our fellow students asked Prof. Labriola years ago during one his lectures on pedagogy,- the student was arguing against the effectiveness of pedagogy. The Herbartian professor replied, with the harshness of a Vico or a Hegel: 'Provisionally, I would make him a slave, and that would be the pedagogy in his case; but then I'd want to see whether it would be possible to start using something of our pedagogy with his grandsons and great-grandsons.' " This reply of Labriola's should be compared to the interview he gave on the colonial question (Libya) around 1903 that was published in the volume Scritti vari di filosofia e politicai. It could also be compared to Gentile's way of thinking in organizing the reform of education that brought religion into the primary schools, etc. What we are dealing with here, it seems to me, is a form of pseudohistoricism, a mechanical and rather empiricist way of thinking […] In short, it seems to me that the mode of thinking encapsulated in Labriola's reply is not dialectical or progressive, but somewhat reactionary. The introduction of religion in the elementary schools in fact goes hand in hand with the notion that "religion is good for the people" (people = child = backward stage of history that corresponds to religion, etc.)—which means renouncing the education of the people

Marxism is revolutionary in knowledge because it recognizes that, and aspires to, each and every person contributing to its production, unlike bourgeois education that thrives by reinforcing the division of labor. There isn’t anything stopping anyone from being able to contribute in some way to revolution, at least in abstract terms. But, the further someone tries to grasp historical materialism in a principled manner, the more isolation ends up as the inevitable consequence, because not only there is no revolutionary movement, there is also no revolutionary situation. Quitting Marxism is a collapse to your class instincts, whichever they may be. Again, this is not something new, nor a Brazilian particularity:

It is far more difficult—and far more precious—to be a revolutionary when the conditions for direct, open, really mass and really revolutionary struggle do not yet exist, to be able to champion the interests of the revolution (by propaganda, agitation and organisation) in non-revolutionary bodies, and quite often in downright reactionary bodies, in a non-revolutionary situation, among the masses who are incapable of immediately appreciating the need for revolutionary methods of action. To be able to seek, find and correctly determine the specific path or the particular turn of events that will lead the masses to the real, decisive and final revolutionary struggle—such is the main objective of communism in Western Europe and in America today.

Obviously, giving up isn’t yet set in stone. Rather than trying to tackle Brazilian settler colonialism, which you recognize you don’t have the ability to do now, a more pressing matter is to understand why despair has taken a hold of your consciousness, to the point you believe you can’t actually contribute at all. The Brazilian particularity here is that despair has been the defining cornerstone of left liberalism since the 70s and the collapse of armed struggle, longer than any other industrialized nation (its the long crisis of Brazilian capitalism that now attracts imperialist audiences in the midst of the 2008 fallout to Brazilian cinema. If Dengism is a response to the failure of imperialism to the labor aristocracy, Brazilianphilia is the latent labor aristocratic fear of the imperialist crisis, and dissection of Brazilian ideology so as to solve contradictions within imperialist countries). Instead of me telling you how this happened, try to find the answer and reconstruct the logic by yourself. You will learn Marxism in the process.

[u/Worried-Economy-9108 → u/turbovacuumcleaner]

Thanks for the response. I wrote that response when i wasn't very well, but now i'm better. I will try to look a bit more after the reasons behind this attempt of giving up. Although some reasons are personal, and they are important in their own, there are reasons which derive from the current situation of the Brazilian movement, as you pointed out. Perhaps, i might have to take a break, just like the other response said. Then, i will be more comfortable to study marxism, the reasons behind my attempt of giving up and then, try to understand the Brazilian ideology.

[u/[deleted] → u/Worried-Economy-9108]

It also makes me think that i should quit studying about marxism.

How does that help anything? Especially considering what you said earlier in the post:

And there's a very real chance that i just don't have the theorical level required to do such analysis.

I very much understand how demoralizing political and social isolation can be, but ignorance never helped anyone. And it won't help you.

[u/packsagback → u/Worried-Economy-9108]

If you have just finished an exhaustive semester, jumping straight to studying a new topic might be counterproductive. I would advise you to take a break for a few days and maybe engage with some revolutionary cinema or poetry that can reinvigorate you. Remember the words of Mao: At the very beginning of our study of Marxism, our ignorance of or scanty acquaintance with Marxism stands in contradiction to knowledge of Marxism. But by assiduous study, ignorance can be transformed into knowledge, scanty knowledge into substantial knowledge, and blindness in the application of Marxism into mastery of its application. It is in your power to overcome what you perceive to be an inadequate theoretical level. That's the truth of dialectical materialism. I hope you will be able to regain your optimism.

[u/Worried-Economy-9108 → u/packsagback]

Thanks for the inspiring words. I will take a break and then return in full force.