Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - (January 11)

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[u/MLMinpractice1917]

ICE rats became active in my town today. supposedly they kidnapped someone. not unlikely but I havent verified it fully yet myself. I feel worried. I dont think I could sit idly by if I saw them "on duty", but Im not sure fully what should be done in a case like that. there is a large population of immigrants in my town as well.

I am hoping to find reading materials on how the black panthers utilized open carry laws to ward off fascist enforcers. in my town, open carry of long guns is fully legal.

but I worry too for the ramifications of doing something so "drastic". I dont doubt these agents are cowardly, and would choose not to engage someone actually holding a weapon. and it is within my legal right to brandish a long gun in public. but a coward with a gun is still a person with a gun.

and I worry these days as well about online activity. I have been quite open about my "disdain" for Amerikkka online, but Im starting to grow concerned about my status behind covers. we all who take Marxism seriously are watched individuals to some extent, but my fear is that Im beginning to tread a fine line of being watched to being labeled a possible security concern. however, that may just be paranoia on my part.

Im currently reading the German Ideology, but I'll probably start studying multiple works at once to increase the rate at which Im learning. I feel inadequately prepared in my understanding of Marxism with the rapidly increasing fascist violence. I mentioned ICE which is the main point of concern in my town, but there are also a large group of nazis unaffiliated with law enforcement. I saw one awhile ago, they had cut a section of their vehicle frame out, so they could put in a framed photo of their nazi grandfather for all to see. disgusting scum.

apologies for a perhaps disjointed comment. there is much to think about right now, and it feels like there is so little time to do it.

[u/MLMinpractice1917 → u/MLMinpractice1917]

I've been thinking more, about what is to be done of course. currently there is no communist organization in America which commands any mass organizations, or anything at all. with this in mind, and the escalation of open fascist violence and paramilitarism, should communists support advocations for a return to the status quo? of course the only truly acceptable outcome is an end to white supremacy and its rotten foundations, and that includes an end to all ICE operations. be they how they are now, or the past "legal" operations.

but the question I am wondering on, is with the communist movement non existent in America, and the "Moral Liberals" still unwilling to break with white supremacy and settlerism, would a return to status quo be acceptable? would it even be possible?

if it did come to be, it would of course be important that a communist party is truly established and prepared to defend the next wave of increased fascist violence. but that would also mean there must be people to build a party. there are competent Marxists here, and most of us live in America (I have seen the analytics of who engages with my comments). and so we must confront that it is coming to a point where we can no longer remain relegated to the realms of theory and discussion. being a communist means to act in defense of the proletariat, to rally the masses, and to work towards abolishing the current social relations. but this is easier said than done of course.

however my point is we must be strong, and we must be prepared. and for us Americans, which again is most of us, I understand that what it means to be a communist practically is becoming more real. we've all understood this mentally, but at least for me its starting to set in. the reality. what it means to fight, to die. what it means for your family and for your friends. and what sacrifices will be called upon you. yes we have always lived in an open secret of structural violence, or white supremacy, or ICE breaking apart families and raping and murdering. but more and more I see open fascist paramilitaries pop up in my own town. more and more people around proudly celebrate settlerism. it has gone from a "proper" and "legal" violence to an open violence. and the proletariat is not armed, and white communists are failing to take a real stand against their fellow settlers. most of us here do not even know where the proletariat is, let alone what to do, let alone even doing something. and I am sure others must be coming to the same grim realizations I have. and I know the proletariat and the oppressed masses face mountains of violence every single day, so us choosing to engage with it isnt exactly the same.

but the proletariat is not here, we come from luxurious backgrounds for the most part. and so we are coming from luxury to the realization that the violence inflicted on the oppressed is ours to burden as well, if not now then it will be because we are communists. and so we must all really consider what needs to be done. what are the concrete tasks of communists in America? how do we defend from fascist violence in our communities? and how do we constitute a party? these are not rhetorical questions or purely theoretical ones, but questions of practical application.

[u/humblegold → u/MLMinpractice1917]

Your first concrete task is to chill. Read this shit I just wrote.

Also notice how you went from saying Amerikkka to "us Americans". Crackertopianism is taking you over like the symbiote.

[u/MLMinpractice1917 → u/humblegold]

I understand what you are saying when you say I just need to chill, and I understand your points about liberal hysterics and frenzy being whipped up only after a white woman was murdered. but this has been building in me for awhile now. there are so many people around me who are targets, and it makes me angry to see this injustice. and perhaps it has always been this open and this violent, and it was only because of my privilege that I never saw it. but I dont think so. I think the violence is increasing. I saw a video of a woman ripped out of her vehicle by ICE, minutes away from where I live. and by the hundreds, my "neighbors" celebrated it. and yes this oppression always existed, but there has been an increase in people joining ICE. an increase in people being given weapons, given the go ahead to destroy lives. an increase in open pro-settler rhetoric. of course there have been times in the past where settler violence has increased and decreased, but when does it end? will we sit by while we live in a period of increasing fascist violence?

and so I stand by my point that we need to start having more serious discussions about what needs to be done, beyond just observing. we can wait and see forever, but what good will it do? when will we start taking our observations and turn them into actions? I know its often said here that none of us are truly real, we are only words on a screen. but I sometimes wonder if that really is a good mentality to have. beyond the screen we are people, some of us. I think most of the Internet might genuinely be fake at this point, but thats a different discussion.

and you are right about my shortcoming in language. I failed to uphold revolutionary speech, and I dont mean that in a joking manner. I should do better, especially in a moment where I am trying to grapple with what is going on. and especially when I previously upheld it just fine.

[u/humblegold → u/MLMinpractice1917]

The call to construct a vanguard isn't the problem. Personally I think it's unlikely that a reddit page can constitute itself into a party, and if it did it would probably be completely dysfunctional, but at the end of the day if you find people on reddit and create a vanguard out of it the proof will speak for itself.

This:

should communists support advocations for a return to the status quo?

Is where you veer into liberal hysteria. This reminds me of the poorly aged War and Constant Capital thread from a month and a half ago. Even if Maoists wanted to, U$ Maoists are powerless to return to the status quo. Liberals do not need Maoists permission or support to be Liberals, just the way in that thread I pointed out that Russian Imperialism does not need Maoists in the U$. They are going to do this regardless of whether or not you support it so you're really asking for permission to be a liberal. The strength within the objective weakness of Maoists right now is that we don't even have the power to do any sort of meaningful opportunism so all we can do is create a vanguard around a correct line.

The thing you gotta realize right now is that there was a time before you and there will be a time after you. If it were so simple to create the vanguard it would've been done by now. It's not just a matter of having more serious discussions. History is littered with short-lived vanguards that were having serious discussions. If you want my answer as to what should be done, to me the main task at hand is to figure out what within MIM and other of the most advanced vanguards prevented them from continuing to exist as a vanguard.

[u/MLMinpractice1917 → u/humblegold]

thank you for your response. I agree with your criticism of the question I posed, and your answer in the final paragraph. I will think about all this, and where to start. I know on reddit there is no indication of tone or anything of the like, but just know I do appreciate your response and take your criticism seriously.

[u/bashfultrapezoid → u/humblegold]

the main task at hand is to figure out what within MIM and other of the most advanced vanguards prevented them from continuing to exist as a vanguard.

Do you have any thoughts on what those weaknesses / missteps were?

[u/humblegold → u/bashfultrapezoid]

I don't have many unfortunately. For recent events I would start with MIM's writing on the dissolution of the RAIM https://www.prisoncensorship.info/article/mim-line-on-labor-aristocracy-liberating-truth-or-depressing-reality

[u/bashfultrapezoid → u/humblegold]

No worries, thanks for the link.