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First set 1. I found ProleWiki from the creators comments on r/TheDeprogram. I am not yet very familiar with it but I have read a fair few of the articles since finding out about it and have yet to find anything I disagree majorly with. I am interested in joining because as a British communist I am very disillusioned with the communist parties in my country as they are all either revisionist or transphobic but I still want to contribute to the revolution in some capacity and this seems like a good way to do it. I am British, LGBT and autistic and as such can contribute to articles of that nature as well as others that have come up in my reading or hobbies such as video games and tv shows with anti-communist propaganda.
2. I do not identify with any more specific tendency than Marxist-Leninist at this time. I started off as a Liberal and over time my position on anti-capitalism became stronger till I began wondering if communism was truly as bad as capitalist propaganda portrayed and as I looked further into it I became more confident in my convictions until I began to think of myself as a communist and I have not wavered since then.
3. Yes I have read the principles and agree fully with all of them.
4. As is evident from my answer to question 1 I believe fully in trans rights and am in full support of the LGBT community. Gender is a social construct and as such is flexible, science has shown that homosexuality and transsexuality are naturally occurring phenomena and to deny this is anti-Marxist due to Marxism being a scientific school of thought. Transphobia and homophobia are reactionary traits that need to be fought against, the modern iterations of this discrimination along with racism has been used as a tactic by the bourgeois to divide the proletariat against itself and focus its anger on outsider groups in order to be able to rule it more easily.
5. Stalin and Mao were great leaders of their respective nations who did their best to build socialism to the best of their ability and their leadership undoubtedly improved the material conditions of their populations. Both of them were human and as such made mistakes but to call them mass murderers or anything else anti-communist propaganda likes to portray them as is just lies. Legitimate criticism could be made of both such as Stalin's homophobia but I believe they both made decisions to the best of their ability based on what information was available at the time, as shown by how homosexuality was illegal in most nations at the time and science believed it to be a mental disorder.
6. To my knowledge all 5 listed countries are socialist states working towards a communist society.
China is the legitimate Chinese state as victor in the civil war that has been socialist since its victory. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has required them to make sacrifices in that they opened up their economy to capitalist elements but crucially they have kept control of important state assets and thus not become a capitalist country. As China was a poor country at the time of its revolution, the CCP has been required to make sacrifices in order to improve the lives of their people and done what they think best and still remains devoted to socialism despite some controversial decisions. Cuba is a shining example of what a socialist state can do for its people. Despite the attempts of the USA to bring Cuba to heel, the Cuban people have resisted heroically against US imperialism and manages to provide a better standard of living than should be possible due to the effects of the embargo. Cuba is a champion in human rights and medicine, punching well above its weight for its size and all whilst managing to be significantly more democratic than the states than call it an authoritarian regime. The DPRK is the one true Korean state that has had to resist constant US imperialism since its inception with its southern half being occupied under a US satellite state. Juche ideology is not the ideal system but neither are Korea's material conditions, most criticisms of Korea would be solved if the US stopped provoking and blockading them. Their less orthodox policies are a result of a constant state of siege socialism and despite this they manage to maintain a more democratic system than the US and better conditions than the American poor for their citizens. My knowledge of Vietnam and Laos is more limited but my knowledge implies that they have followed a similar path to China in that they have had to adapt from traditional socialism in order to improve the lives of their people. Vietnam's resistance to US imperialism during the Vietnam war was admirable and I have yet to see anything to contradict my belief they a still holding strong.
7. Settler colonialism is when a foreign power invades another country and proceeds to evict the local population before planting settlers in the occupied land in order to consolidate control over this territory. Historically all nations in the Americas along with South Africa, Australia and Israel have come about as a result of settler colonialism resulting in a genocide of the native populations to the extent that very few communities of the native people still exist in these countries today. All ethnic minorities should be given full citizenship of the countries in which they reside and where applicable be given back control of their ancestral land. There is no reason why multiple ethnic groups should not be able to coexist in peace in one state, should the governance and laws be fair and balanced to account for the needs and rights of each population.
8. Palestine is currently under occupation by the fascist, apartheid, US satellite, settler colonial state of Israel. One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter and for the people of Palestine, Hamas are one of the few groups fighting for their freedom against the genocidal regime occupying their land. Over the last 75 years Israel has systematically exterminated the local Palestinian population whilst increasingly occupying more and more land. Hamas was created by Israel to fight against other Palestinian resistance groups and as such Hamas is a product of Israeli imperialism and as one of the only remaining resistance groups in the region I critically support Hamas and their right to resist occupation. I do not agree with their end goals but what is currently happening is not about their end goals, it is about stopping genocide and until Israel is abolished as a state the end goals of one organisation are irrelevant. Ideally a Palestinian state will be created where jews and Palestinians can live in peace but that will not happen until Palestinians get given back their stolen land. From the river to the sea Palestine must be free.
Second set 1. Dialectical materialism is a Marxist theory of analysis that describes how historical and societal events come about as a result of material conditions of a population. People are not inherently good or evil, their thoughts, desires and actions are determined by the conditions that surround them. To examine why an event happens one must first analyse the conditions under which the event takes place in order to understand the event itself.
4.The nuclear family is a sexist and homophobic concept centred around a man going out to work and a woman staying at home to look after the children. In order to achieve equality for all people communists must acknowledge that families come in all shapes and sizes and to force one outdated model is wrong and stems from reactionary prejudices. As feminism and homosexuality are normalised and women are empowered, outdated concepts such as this shall disappear naturally, the communist movement simply needs to keep moving forward, if a family does happen to fit that structure it must be acknowledged that just because it works for them does not mean it shall work for every family.
5. As mentioned in my first answer communist parties in the UK are absolutely awful. They are riddled with reactionary and anti-Marxist ideas that need to be removed before the communist movement can move forward. The lack of a strong left in the UK is a huge problem and has allowed neoliberalism to destroy the lives of the working class. The communist movement must focus on removing its reactionary elements whilst continuing to advocate for the people and increasing membership but in order to increase membership among younger generations the communist parties need to become more progressive on social issues in order to persuade them to join.
6. Marxism predicts the eventual formation of a communist society and uses dialectical materialist analysis in order to understand the world and why that is the logical next step of human civilization. Other movements whilst disliking capitalism either have no solution or a crazy solution that is drawn from idealism rather than material analysis. Marxism is a scientific discipline that provides a logical explanation for all human actions and gives a framework for moving towards a better society.
7. Imperialism is the practise of a country exerting power or influence over another country in order to control areas of the world outside its own borders such as through colonialism, this typically involves the belief of the country under the influence of an imperialist power being lesser usually under the context of racism. Modern institutions such as the IMF and World bank participate in neo-colonialism by forcing poor countries to accept predatory loans in exchange for adopting policy changes that the west approves of such as neoliberal reforms or by selling off state owned assets to private companies usually from western states.
Optional Questions 1. A lot of typing is required in order to fill out the form, perhaps a way of saving your answers should your connection fail etc so you do not have to start over from the beginning.
2. I am currently learning to code in C++ as a part of my goal to start working in the video game industry.