• Alteon@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Weeeeelllllllll. I never realized there was much of a “radical left” until Lemmy. I’m a SOLID progressive. I would consider myself a social Democrat. If you are the same then a Marxist Leninist leftist would consider you an enemy. They don’t think their policies could ever be truly enacted through gradual change and that a violent revolution is essentially required.

    I’m not a centrist, but ML leftists scare the shit out of me. Meeting them on Lemmy is when I discovered that I’m not actually a “leftist” and it made me do quite a bit of soul searching on what these political terms actually mean.

    • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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      19 hours ago

      I know a handful of communists and Marxist-Leninists irl and yes they would very much like to dismantle liberal governments through whatever means possible, but they’re also very woke on like your typical identity politics, don’t agree with sending in the tanks, believe people should get votes / control government, so I think it varies even there.

      • Soggy@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Eh, there’s Vanguardist Revolutionaries and there’s Pol Pot. I sympathize with the Vanguard because the average person has no idea what the fuck is going on and a nation like the US is simply too large (in many ways) for direct democracy, a small group of people who can devote all their time and energy to the political and logistical needs is probably necessary to transition from this nightmare to FALGSC. Without, like, a global tragedy dissolving all existing hierarchies.

        There’s lots of problems with Vanguardism, not least of which is the ease of installing a Stalin or Kim, but I think most AuthComs of that type are sincere idealogues. They’re leftists without faith in humanity.

        • Sarah Valentine@pawb.social
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          17 hours ago

          I sympathize with the Vanguard

          My condolences.

          the average person has no idea what the fuck is going on and a nation like the US is simply too large (in many ways) for direct democracy

          Exhibit A of why the US shouldn’t be a singular nation. If it can’t be run without bullshit, then don’t do that. Just don’t. Time has tested and proven that it was a bad idea.

          a small group of people who can devote all their time and energy to the political and logistical needs is probably necessary to transition from this nightmare to FALGSC

          Who says we have to convert an existing nation? The US is a failure. Do away with it. Start the FALGSC ball rolling without trying to first occupy the corpse of a failed monster.

          here’s lots of problems with Vanguardism, not least of which is the ease of installing a Stalin or Kim, but I think most AuthComs of that type are sincere idealogues. They’re leftists without faith in humanity.

          And there I disagree. If you’re okay with dictatorship of any sort for any reason, you’re not actually a leftist, you don’t actually care about the people around you or mankind as a whole. You’re still playing kiddy little political games that have failed us time and time again for as long as recorded history. We need to get over it already!

          • Soggy@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            the US shouldn’t be a singular nation.

            I agree but that’s a much bigger conversation that 99.99% of people aren’t ready for. That’s the kind of radical discourse that scares normies to the right.

            Who says we have to convert an existing nation

            Even if the political boundaries becomes meaningless there’s still 300 million people (or 8 billion+ if you’re really dreaming big) that very much do not agree on how things should be done. We don’t have to convert the government we have to convert the populace. And that won’t happen by burning everything down while saying “trust me bro”.

            little political games that have failed us time and time again for as long as recorded history.

            Every form of political system has failed up to this point, having either collapsed or inadequately caring for its people. Alternatively: everything that is currently happening “works” if you approach it Darwinianly. There’s 5000 years of “recorded history” and people bicker almost exclusively about the last 100 but there’s a lot more fighting about the path than the destination.

            okay with dictatorship

            They either don’t see it as a dictatorship or they consider it a necessary evil, much like accelerationists are rarely cognizant or concerned with the people who will die if the systems they rely on stopped functioning.

      • w3ird_sloth@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Maybe the ‘right - left’ metaphor is a bit outdated? Stuck with a 20th century take for our modern problems.

        • Sarah Valentine@pawb.social
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          1 day ago

          I think you’re correct on that. In my eyes there are people that are out for the good of all mankind, and there are people who are willing to throw some portion of their own kind under the bus to get ahead. The latter are constantly masquerading as the former to gain power and influence, and they’ll wear whatever color they think you’ll vote for to get it.