#Marxist internet archive

[xxdrowninglessonsxx]

Marxist Internet Archive, save me

[wreckitremy]

We have to understand very clearly that there’s a man in our community called a capitalist. Sometimes he’s black and sometimes he’s white.

But that man has to be driven out of our community, because anybody who comes into the community to make profit off the people by exploiting them can be defined as a capitalist

- Fred Hampton: Power Anywhere There's People

[noneedtofearorhope]

so glad for de cleyre that she got to experience having a mac to write up her final words. thank you marxist internet archive for revealing the hidden truth about our comrade. 🫡

the immortal science lives on!

[doragarciathebook]

Theory/Practice

That is why it would be most mistaken merely to assimilate book knowledge about communism. No longer do our speeches and articles merely reiterate what used to be said about communism, because our speeches and articles are connected with our daily work in all fields. Without work and without struggle, book knowledge of communism obtained from communist pamphlets and works is absolutely worthless, for it would continue the old separation of theory and practice, the old rift which was the most pernicious feature of the old, bourgeois society.

[milfstalin]

GIRLS YOU CAN HIT (original .pdf)

WHY DO FASCISTS WANT TO KILL TRANS WOMEN?

In a nine-day period between June 25 and July 3, six Black trans women - Brayla Stone, Merci Mack, Shaki Peters, Draya McCarty, and Tatiana Hall - were found murdered. The news barely made a ripple; Black trans women and trans women of color are murdered regularly - and no one is shocked, because the gender class structure is operating as usual. Liberal-individualist analysis claims that this is simply the result of amorphous personal "prejudices" -- that individual men, fearful of the unknown or afraid of change, attack trans women for personal reasons.

This is both idealist and ahistorical, a comforting fantasy that naturalizes and atomizes the oppression of trans women as a class and protects the underlying gender class structure of the empire.

In fact, reactionaries make trans women a primary target. ICE imprisons trans women in special separate concentration camps under under even worse conditions than cisgender men and women, and during protests, police subject captured trans women for especially brutal treatment. On July 25, a group of pro-police protesters outside Pittsburgh switched their chant from “all lives matter" to "kill transgenders" and "kill faggots." State power and reactionary elements target trans women specifically - but why? Because the oppression of trans women as a class is critical to the gender class structure of the empire, and by centering the oppression of trans women in our material feminist analysis, we can understand that class structure much more clearly.

WHAT IS THE GENDER CLASS STRUCTURE OF THE EMPIRE?

Fundamentally, the gender class structure is built on the domination of white men over women; white women constitute a subordinated but privileged class under the control ("protection") of white men, and reactionary white manhood is ultimately defined in terms of control of women.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF TRANS WOMEN (AND NONBINARY TRANSFEMININE PEOPLE, WHO ARE TREATED LIKE TRANS WOMEN) IN THIS GENDER CLASS STRUCTURE?

Trans women, nonbinary transfeminine people, and feminine gay cisgender men are treated as a gender underclass. Structurally, they are "girls you can hit." They are also subject to substantial sexual violence in the form of sexual assault and rape. Cisgender women from oppressed and colonized nations are treated more like "girls you can hit" if they are less acceptable as potential members of the "protected" class of potential wives and mothers.

Thus, Black and Indigenous women are treated disposably as "girls you can hit." Likewise, sex workers, who are seen as disqualified from the "protected" class of women, are "girls you can hit." The further they are from the "protected" class of women, the more disposable they are, and they are treated more and more like trans women. This develops intersectionally as well; Black trans women are often accused of sex work to justify violent treatment, and Black trans women sex workers are murdered casually.

WHY DO CISGENDER MEN OPPRESS TRANS WOMEN? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DO CISGENDER MEN BENEFIT MATERIALLY FROM OPPRESSING TRANS WOMEN?

This dynamic arises in childhood, where they are an acceptable target for violence and covert sex ("practice girls") by boys trying to enact their manhood. Men can gain status and an identity as controllers of women by hurting “girls you can hit." They "protect" (white, cis) women in the same way that the police "protect" communities: by enacting violence on the underclass, they gain control over the "respectable" class of women.

The threat to the women they control is supposed to be implicit, not enacted: "Serve me faithfully and you will never be hurt the way | hurt those sissies in middle school." But the opposite side of the coin is that any "protected" woman who refuses to comply in a serious and sustained way can be threatened with degradation to the underclass.

WHY DO CISGENDER WOMEN OPPRESS TRANS WOMEN? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DO CISGENDER WOMEN BENEFIT MATERIALLY FROM OPPRESSING TRANS WOMEN?

They get to not be treated like trans women, sex workers, and other "girls you can hit." Their respectable status is contingent on having an underclass they are not part of.

HOW DOES THE OPPRESSION OF TRANS MEN (AND NONBINARY TRANSMASCULINE PEOPLE, WHO ARE TREATED LIKE TRANS MEN) FIT INTO THIS GENDER CLASS STRUCTURE?

The greatest threat to a trans woman's life is being treated like a trans woman. For trans men and nonbinary transmasculine people, the greatest threat to their lives is being treated like a cis woman. We can see this play out in fascist fantasies of "correcting’ trans men to become cis women, and in the way that transmisogynists like JK Rowling claim that "trans activists [code for trans women] are seducing your daughters into mutilating their healthy, fertile female bodies in an impossible attempt to become men." In fascist and reactionary rhetoric, trans men are framed as deluded, innocent cis women who have to be saved from a horrible error. In the material world, this agenda often plays out in the form of corrective rape and other atrocities.

Trans men from colonized communities are treated much more violently, as in the case of the murdered Tony McDade; there is no prospect of forcing them to be "protected" women, so they are treated disposablly, like trans women.

HOW DOES TRANS WOMEN’S LIBERATION THREATEN THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EMPIRE? IN OTHER WORDS, WHY DO REACTIONARIES WANT TO WIPE OUT TRANS WOMEN?

The reactionaries are not mistaken to see the liberation of trans women (and sex workers) as linked to the liberation of cis women from colonized communities, nor is their targeting of trans women a mistake.

The liberation of trans women and "girls you can hit" in general would invert the gendered class structure of the empire and strike a critical blow to the control of "protected" women that reactionary men depend on for both social reproduction, personal exercise of power, and identity formation.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR US?

We must center the liberation of trans women, sex workers, and other “girls you can hit." This will immediately help to liberate cis women from colonized nations, remove the hierarchical power of "protected" white cis women over other women, degrade the power of white cisgender men over oppressed genders, and remove the basis for treating trans men and transmasculine people as deluded cis women.

[comradeowl]

Sharing Some Texts

Hi, everyone! Wanted to announce that I’ve a few texts scanned and uploaded onto Internet Archive.

It’s a mix. Soviet pamphlets from Progress Publishers, including some books. I’m going to continue uploading from whatever texts I find at my local bookstore. 

If something isn’t popping up: give it some time. Up to an hour and a half to appear at least from my end.

Please enjoy and spread these.

https://archive.org/details/lenin-imperialism-and-imperialists-compressed/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/leninist-standardsof-party-life_202307

https://archive.org/details/lenin-on-public-education-compressed

https://archive.org/details/adhd-punished-vo-communism-https-t.co-2-unu-8-ozvn-x-2

https://archive.org/details/lenin-party-work-inthe-masses-compressed

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

Have you read Kropotkin? I’ve heard that his works are really interesting and that he was politically oriented towards libertarian socialism so yee :)

if so do you have any recommendations from his bibliography?

No I haven't unfortunately, but I do have resources I'd like to share anyway. Education and self improvement is the key to class consciousness, so sharing your knowledge with others is important. Please like and reog for more stuff.

[communist-manifesto-daily]

Hello everyone! Thank you for your patience. I've finally finished formatting and queuing up Friedrich Engels' Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.

For this reading, I based the text mostly off of the downloadable PDF of Socialism: Utopian and Scientific found on the Marxist Internet Archive. However, seeing as this version had several typos, and even missing sentences, I supplemented it with the PDF found on Archive.org.

The Marxist Internet Archive also has an annotated web version of the text, which I find to be quite an easy read. I highly recommend this version if you have the patience to sit down and read a large chunk of it at once.

I also did my best to annotate the text in this run, mostly with Wikipedia links to relevant historical figures or events, as well as a number of economics-related definitions as well. Requests for specific annotations to be included as the sections roll out are welcome.

Serialization will begin on this Friday, August 16th, 2024, with new updates on Tuesdays and Fridays. The formatted version of the text is 38 parts, which I expect will run until basically the end of December of this year. I plan on following this up with the appendix to Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, titled The Mark, which is about 7,000 words. However, my feelings might change, and we may end up reading something else. As always, recommendations for socialist, communist, and anarchist texts are welcome. Currently we have The Principles of Communism by Friedrich Engels and Blood in My Eye by George Jackson on our suggestions list.

Once again, thank you everyone for your patience; I can't wait to reread this with everybody.

[psychotrenny]

Like I really do wish people remembered more about the Anti-Imperial struggles of Southern Africa in the late 20th century. As incomplete as their revolutions may have been, with the politically free nations succumbing to the overwhelming force of Western Imperialism and being taken over by neo-colonial comprador regimes, what they did manage to achieve was still so very impressive. A struggle for human dignity against the most openly cruel and brutish forms of colonialism, the mobilisation and education of the most impoverished and super-exploited people on the planet in the name of not only liberating their own people but with the understanding that they were advancing the interests of humanity as a whole. Nationalist in character and internationalist in spirit, seeking to build independent nations that could co-operate in solidarity with all the progressive minded peoples of the world. Introducing healthcare, education and fair exchange into the forgotten and exploited parts of their country, giving a purpose to millions who enthusiastically gave their lives to defend and advance their gains both material and psychological.

The MPLA in Angola, FRELIMO in Mozambique, the alliance of ZANU and ZAPU in Zimbabwe, SWAPO in Namibia and the ANC of South Africa. It's also worth remembering the PAIGC of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde who, despite their geographical separation, faced a common enemy and so forged deep bonds with their comrades to the south. Whatever their eventual fates after independence, triumphs and failures alike, the struggles they fought against the reactionary White Supremacist regimes of Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa were nothing short of heroic. Despite vast differences in space and time, I think these struggles hold both inspiration and lessons for progressives peoples all over the world to this day. It's truly a great shame how much they've been forgotten, these conflicts only ever brought up as a footnote to something more well known rather than as an area of interest in their own right.

If you're curious, the Africa section of the Marxist Internet Archive has a lot of good material from the period that's a good place to start learning more, even if it is rather lacking in information from the latter portion of the struggle. ARG's Race to Power gives a good overview of the general situation in Southern Africa as of 1971, while LSM has some good general collection of material collected from Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The entire LSM "Life Histories from Revolution" series provides some really interesting first hand ground-level accounts of the conditions of life under Imperialism and the movements that formed to oppose it, while their Interviews with Liberation Movement Leaders provides the views of people higher up in the revolutionary movements. I'd recommend checking them out to at least broadly familiarise yourself with these tragically neglected struggles.

[forevergulag]

if 35% of your RAM isnt being used by half-read books on the marxists internet archive at all times are you even a marxist

[queercodedangel]

This doesn't mean that there is no value at all in reforms. But it does mean that the benefits of reforms are fragile and can be reversed at any point because the fundamental power structures of class society are still the same.

You can earn as many rights as you want, as long as class society exists they are in the hands of the capitalist ruling class and can be taken away at any moment.

Read "Reform or Revolution" by Rosa Luxemburg for more on this topic. You can read it for free in the Marxists Internet Archive

[all-things-are-nothing-to-me]

[alicearmageddon]

USEFUL ANARCHIST AND LEFTIST SITES ON THE WEB

1: The Anarchist Faq: this attempts to answer any questions one might have about anarchism. (the anarchist library, which this faq is on, is also an absolutley excellent rescource and maybe the biggest collection of anarchist theory on the web)

2: the tv tropes page for anarchism (yes, im serious). this manages to be a suprisingly well done and easy to read explanation of what anarchism is, what its about, and the different types of anarchists idealogies.

3: Anarchopedia. like wikipedia, but specifically for anarchism

more resources below the cut! and feel free to add more in reblogs.

4: the iww. the iww isnt anarchist, but im putting it here as its a member-led, grassroots union for all workers of the world.

iww.org

5: Zoe Baker has a PHD in anarchist history and is one of the few well researched and well read left politcs channels on youtube

youtube.com/@anarchopac

6: Organize magazine is a good source of anarchist news in the UK

organisemagazine.org.uk

7: Freedom News is another great source of anarchist news in the UK

freedomnews.org.uk

8: Mutual Aid Hub (afaik this is US only)

mutualaidhub.org

9:Black Rose Federation (also US only)

blackrosefed.org

10: symbiosis revolution (US only)

symbiosis-revolution.org

11: Marxists Internet Archive. while this site isnt really anarchist, it is leftist and has some anarchist texts. i also think marxism is worth learning about even as an anarchist whos views do not align with Marx.

Marxists.org

12: Neighborhood Anarchists. Neighborhood Anarchists is a direct action anarchist group based in Springfield and Eugene Oregon.

neighborhoodanarchists.org

13: Anarchist News. This is a site that provides news that is relevant to or about anarchism

Anarchistnews.org

14: A-Infos. This is a multi-lingual news service by, for, and about anarchists.

https://www.ainfos.ca/en/

15: CrimeThInk. This is an international network of aspiring revolutionaries all over the world.

crimethinc.com

16: It's Going Down. This is a digital community center for anarchist, anti-fascist, autonomous anti-capitalist and anti-colonial movements across so-called North America.

itsgoingdown.org

17: Libcom. This is is a resource for everyone fighting to improve their lives, communities and working conditions.

libcom.org

18: Unicorn Riot. This is a decentralized, educational non-profit media organization.

unicornriot.ninja

19: Submedia. Submedia is an anarchist digital media collective that produces videos and podcasts

sub.media

20: Zine Library. This is a compilation of anarchist zines and booklets, imposed for easy printing, as well as a few posters. (zines can be downloaded by pressing code > download zip)

github.com/rechelon/zine_library

[read-marx-and-lenin]

Hi, I’m a 25 year old who just started my journey (truly) learning about communism.

I’m feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information and how little I know. I also suffer heavily with ADD and was wondering if you could recommend some entry level books which is easier to read? I’ve picked up a couple which had terminology I didn’t understand that left me frustrated and made this process seem a lot harder than necessary

The Communist Manifesto and Engels' Principles of Communism are very entry-level, and if you haven't read them yet you should.

I don't know what kind of terminology is tripping you up, but there's no shame in using dictionaries or Google to look up terms you don't understand. The Marxists Internet Archive (marxists.org) has a glossary of terms under their "Encyclopedia" page which can also be a useful research, although despite the site being a very comprehensive archive of works from all across the left, the editors (of the English site at least) have biases like anyone else and it often shows in the glossary. But as long as you keep in mind that the definitions they give are not always universal, that resource can be very helpful in deciphering Marxist terminology.

And as always, I thoroughly recommend finding reading groups and discussion groups to participate in when learning about communism. It is an entirely different experience reading theory as part of a group, and it will help with understanding and retention if you have people you can talk with about what you are reading.

[takemeinyrarmy]

"I never see you at the club" okay I never see you at the marxist internet archive

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

On Feb. 1, 1998, we lost comrade Sam Marcy, the founder and chairperson of Workers World Party. I’m very proud to be part of Struggle - La Lucha for Socialism newspaper and the Socialist Unity Party, a living expression of Sam Marcy’s revolutionary legacy today.

One of the great Marxist thinkers and fighters of the second half of the 20th century, he did what many thought (and still think) impossible – built a revolutionary cadre organization in the heart of the imperialist empire, directed it toward lifting up the struggles of the most oppressed workers, and helped it maintain a revolutionary communist perspective through some of the greatest setbacks for the working class in the U.S. and around the world.

A gentle, kind man who was implacable with his class enemies and fools who bent to them.

The great continuer of Lenin and Trotsky who kept the red thread of history unbroken from the Russian Revolution to today, when most of the world communist movement succumbed to opportunism of one brand or another, or had to start over practically from scratch. Who welcomed and embraced the rise of other great revolutions and revolutionaries whom dogmatists refused to acknowledge.

We continue his struggle, determined to fight for the victory of the workers and oppressed, for the triumph of socialism and communism.

Sam Marcy, presente!

—————

Further reading:

Some aspects of the life of Sam Marcy, 1911-1998

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/marcy/biography/index.html

Sam Marcy Internet Archive:

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/marcy/