Yeah… “Read the communist literature” is like their mantra but it must be like the bible for most Christians because it’s really not reflected in their actions.
I see this claim against Marxist-Leninists frequently, but never anything backing it up. First of all, Marxists don’t read theorists like evangelicals read the Bible. We see theory as a guide to adapt to our own conditions, not gospel to worship. Lenin saying Russia needs a newspaper for agitating among the masses does not mean we need literal physical newspapers today (sorry Trots).
I think the broader phenomena is that the Marx non-Marxists know is not the same as the Marxism actually studied and practiced. There is a “liberal Marx,” one that people maybe associate with revolutionary socialism, but not one people care to understand the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial aspects of Marxism that were expanded by Lenin.
Yeah… “Read the communist literature” is like their mantra but it must be like the bible for most Christians because it’s really not reflected in their actions.
I see this claim against Marxist-Leninists frequently, but never anything backing it up. First of all, Marxists don’t read theorists like evangelicals read the Bible. We see theory as a guide to adapt to our own conditions, not gospel to worship. Lenin saying Russia needs a newspaper for agitating among the masses does not mean we need literal physical newspapers today (sorry Trots).
I think the broader phenomena is that the Marx non-Marxists know is not the same as the Marxism actually studied and practiced. There is a “liberal Marx,” one that people maybe associate with revolutionary socialism, but not one people care to understand the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial aspects of Marxism that were expanded by Lenin.