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Hello! I'm mitzo. I'm a transfem marxist-leninist and I plan on editing mistakes and writing essays.
Admissions Answers
1. Where did you find ProleWiki from? How familiar are you with it? Comment what made you want to join ProleWiki and what areas you are interested in contributing to.
I originally found prolewiki while trying to research... something, I can't remember what, must not have been important I guess. However, i've since used it quite a lot, either to get a quick overview on a subject I didn't fully get or to read articles, works, etc hosted on site. My main reason for wanting to join prolewiki is twofold. One, I want to help clear up any misconceptions I may find while looking through the site. And the second option, which is my primary reason, is to help archive works and make them more easily accessible.
2. What current of Marxist thought do you uphold? Describe as thoroughly as needed your path towards your current political perspective.
Marxism-Leninism. I firmly support nations such as Cuba, China, Vietnam, etc who continue to develop socialism in the modern world and continue to progress the liberation of the proletariat. While criticality is important, what's more important is progress.
3. Have you read our principles? Comment your agreements or objections to their points.
I agree with all of it. Not much to say here honestly
4. What is your understanding of gender? Should Marxists support the LGBT community?
I'm transgender so I may be a bit biased... but yes, 100%. No workers liberation without queer liberation, and vice versa. You can't support building socialism without supporting social progress. Fuck nazbols, patsocs, etc etc who distort marxism to justify their personal biases.
5. What is your position on Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong? How would you describe their historical role? Share any comments or critiques you have regarding them.
While the idea of "great men" pushing history forward is false, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong were... well, great men. They helped China and the USSR develop during some of the toughest times in their history. They made mistakes of course, but they were dedicated to the cause of building socialism and they should be remembered as such.
6. What are your thoughts on China, Vietnam, Cuba, DPRK and Laos? Do you believe any of these countries is socialist? Why or why not?
I mentioned it earlier but, yes, they are socialist. Seems counterproductive to claim to be socialism in a capitalist world if you just want power. "If communists only want power, why do they side with the powerless?" - Michael Parenti
7. What is settler-colonialism, are there any countries that still fit that description and what should be done regarding them? Further, what is to be done about the decolonization and liberation of indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, and immigrant groups in your country?
Settler-Colonialism is the act of one country, usually a more industrially developed one (but not always) forcibly violating the self determination of another nation, usually for land/resources/political reasons. In modern times, this is done through imperialism (the world system of capitalism in decline dominated by finance capital and cartels) and neo-colonialism ("technically" not controlling the other country, but keeping them economically dependent on you in order to keep them in line)
8. What is your analysis of the situation in Palestine? What do you think of the 2023 October 7 events and the groups involved from both sides of the conflict?
Palestine is occupied by "Israel", a neo-colony of America (and the imperial core as a whole) built on the principles of "zionism" which is a national-chauvinistic ideology that isolates jewish proletarians from the international struggle of the proletariat. Hamas is a national liberation group, not anti-semitic terrorists, and october 7th was a brave mission that the government of "israel" used to push for further repression of the palestinian people. Israel, and zionism as a whole, are not indicative of judaism or jewish people as a whole, it's a lunatic fringe of these people.
1. In your own words, how would you describe dialectical materialism?
Dialectical Materialism is part of the wider science of Marxism as a whole. It's a system of studying and understanding the world and how it works. Everything new comes from the old, in a sense. when the contradictions of the old become unstable enough, it synthesizes into the new. While Hegel (and further, Marx) never used "Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis" I think it's an easy, albeit flawed, way of visualizing the process of dialectics. Materialism, the second part, is what differs Dialectical Materialism from Hegelian Dialectics or Fichtean Dialectics. Idealism is a fundamentally flawed philosophy, and Marx took the dialectical view of Hegel and synthesized it with the correct materialist understanding of philosophy. The materialist understanding, then, is that the material world is what is "real" in a sense, and that influences our thoughts. Idealism is backwards. "The objects of his [mankind] instincts exist outside him, as objects independent of him; yet these objects are objects that he needs – essential objects, indispensable to the manifestation and confirmation of his essential powers" - 1844 Manuscripts, Karl Marx
2. What are your thoughts on national liberation or the concept of land back (either one)?
Land Back is impossible without socialism. Capitalism will inevitably progress to imperialism and settler-colonialism, it's foolish to think any reform of capitalism can solve this. Under socialism, this IS possible, as the need for expansion and continued profits are done away with.
5. What do you think is the most pressing issue for communists in your country? What is your opinion of communist parties there?
The primary concern of american communists should be anti-imperialism and pro-national liberation. Class consciousness is at an all time low in america and while spreading it is an indispensable task of the communist movement, I believe the most pressing issue is the continued imperialism overseas. Without this, american communism falls to national-chauvinism and reactionary thought as seen by the American "communist" party [gross])
6. What do you believe is the main difference between Marxism and other anti-capitalist movements?
Anti-Capitalism is too vague of a term to mean anything concrete. Marxism, however, IS a concrete worldview. It analyzes capitalism through the lens of dialectical materialism, and concludes that it will inevitably fall to a proletarian revolution. Lenin, later on, wrote on the tactics of organizing in works such as "What is to be Done?" while Mao elucidated how to build a socialist society in a semi-feudal or fully feudal nation in his works. These all make up an important whole that helps us understand WHY capitalism is flawed, how to move forward, and the future that lies ahead of us.
8. Have you read works from Marxists, pertaining but not limited to those from historical or existing socialist states? Please note some that stood out to you and what contributions to Marxist thought that they added and why you liked them.
Yes, I think reading theory is the most important thing a communist can do outside of organizing. My favorite works that i've read are, so far, "State and Revolution", "On Authority", and "Dialectical and Historical Materialism". State and Revolution builds on Marx's and Engels' work regarding the state and its function as a weapon of class antagonism, responding to the anarchists and kautskyists of the time. On Authority, too, is a work against the anarchists of the time such as Bakunin that destroys their arguments so well that I haven't seen anyone make a coherent comeback to it that doesn't wildly misconstrue the arguments given. Dialectical and Historical Materialism shows how Stalin could make even the most complex topics easy to understand. Dialectics are complicated and can take years to fully understand, and DaHM makes it clear that Stalin understood them clearly. I've heard it said that a true master can make complex things sound simple, and amateurs can make simple things sound complex, and Stalin proves this true.