@[email protected] gave an excellent reply so rather than reiterate what they said, I recommend their comment to understand why you can’t just pop off capitalists and expect change.

Really truly, although it might feel counterproductive the best way forward is to sit down and read.

There’s a really good reading guide in the sidebar of this community, and Cowbee has their own here: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/6218252

I recommend reading through them, because they will cover everything you’re thinking about.

As a quick answer, though:

For those of us living in the USA discussing theory won’t change anything.

Marx himself said “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” and virtually everyone here will agree. However, if you don’t understand the theory then how on Earth can you challenge capitalism? You will be doomed if you do not understand how to apply dialectical materialism to your own country. Marxism isn’t a dogma, that’s why theory is so important.

How should we unite all of the different leftists under one leader so that there can be a united opposition.

You will never get everyone to agree fully, but you can get most people on board by talking about the problems and showing how Marxism can be a solution. If you want to unite people, go spread the word.

Currently we need far more comrades like Luigi to remove the bourgeoisie with violence.

Randomly popping off a capitalist doesn’t actually fix anything you know? They’re just replaced by another capitalist. The system itself needs to be removed. That can only happen when the working class achieves sufficient class consciousness.

I will preface this by saying I am a novice and only started reading theory a few weeks ago and could be way off, but this is my current understanding.

I read Parenti’s Blackshirts and Reds, and two quotes stood out to me:

What distinguishes fascism from ordinary right-wing patriarchal autocracies is the way it attempts to cultivate a revolutionary aura. Fascism offers a beguiling mix of revolutionary-sounding mass appeals and reactionary class politics. The Nazi party’s full name was the National Socialist German Workers Party, a left-sounding name. As already noted, the SA storm troopers had a militant share-the-wealth strain in their ranks that was suppressed by Hitler after he took state power.

Fascism is a false revolution. It cultivates the appearance of popular politics and a revolutionary aura without offering a genuine revolutionary class content. It propagates a “New Order” while serving the same old moneyed interests. Its leaders are not guilty of confusion but of deception. That they work hard to mislead the public does not mean they themselves are misled.

As I am British, I have been applying these ideas to the UK. It aligned perfectly with Reform.

'cause the thing is, fascists, more often than not, do actually see and talk about real problems, but then they misplace the blame to further their own interests. See the short snippets from this BBC Question Time where the Green party leader Polanski replies to Zia Yusuf, a higher up of the fascist Reform party: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2025/10/10/zack-polanski-bbcqt/

The capitalist Tory government spent the last decade and a half gutting public services in the name of private profits, but instead of blaming current problems on that, Reform blame immigrants because they have no interest in fixing the problem, they just want to be the one to profit from it.

TLDR: The same factors that drove you to communism drives fascists too, the difference is communists want solutions but fascists want to profit from the problems.

In the UK we call them gammons, because their puffy red faces resemble gammon (ham).

Interesting how they’re all food related!

I absolutely understand where you’re coming from, but one upside to it is it makes it harder for the right to frame these protests as “look at these ruthless, aggressive leftists!” when there’s a dude dressed like a frog frolicking about.

On the other hand it does undermine the seriousness of the protest too so it’s a double edged sword.

Personally I see value in these sorts of policies not because I actually want it, but because it highlights the present hypocrisy and gets people thinking about what it means. Policies like this could indeed get people demanding the law change.

Wow you weren’t kidding it really is just a shitty looking 3d clone of vampire survivors

No and I think I need to step up my game on it. When I first started reading theory I was doing it on my computer, and if something jumped out at me I’d paste it into a big doc I have of quotes, and then write a little something to accompany it.

But reading from a computer screen felt limiting, I couldn’t do it for long, so I’ve since switched to physical books. I don’t record quotes or thoughts because I’m usually reading away from my pc, like the living room sofa, and I don’t like making notes on my phone. I ought to get a physical notebook and keep that on me!

The last week of news has made me so angry. The UK going even more authoritarian on the right to protest, the treatment of the activists Israel illegally detained, the brownshirts of America waging war against civilians.

I wish I could do more but I am also really struggling to find a group in the UK with their shit together.

It has really been infuriating to witness and feel so powerless!

When I mentioned Lenin saying it begins to wither immediately, I was referring to this part of The State & Revolution:

“The proletariat needs the state — this is repeated by all the opportunists, social-chauvinists and Kautskyites, who assure us that this is what Marx taught. But they “forget” to add that, in the first place, according to Marx, the proletariat needs only a state which is withering away, i.e., a state so constituted that it begins to wither away immediately, and cannot but wither away.”

Which comes from here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch02.htm

Within one country, the state couldn’t begin to wither away immediately because of the international threat that remains. But I suppose, if we are talking about the proletariat worldwide, then I understand how it would begin immediately.

I can’t believe how delusional I was last year, thinking that finally Labour were in charge and this shit would end. Lmao. I have never been to a protest before, but I’m looking out for the next one nearby. So grats Starmer, you’re having the opposite effect.

Isn’t this evidence that the UK is a ridiculous police state rather than evidence that Russia isn’t a dictatorship?

One thing that I learned here is that imperialism has a much stricter definition than what we’re used to in general parlance among liberal places you might have discussed before. This too threw me, I think sometimes people get bogged down on correcting the definition and not the meaning behind it though.

From the outside it looks like russian apologia, but I think it’s about keeping the meaning of the words and not diluting them until they’re meaningless.

People will say that Russia is not imperialist, because by the definition used here, it’s not. And to a layman that sounds like they’re saying Russia didn’t invade Ukraine. Of course, they did. It’s just by the definition used, the invasion wasn’t imperialism.

I think Putin, maybe Russia in general, genuinely considers that land as belonging to Russia. I disagree personally. They invaded and made excuses for it but ultimately, he thinks it belongs to Russia. It’s aggression, it’s invasion, but not necessarily imperialism because it’s not about robbing the place blind but about claiming a land and people that he thinks belongs to Russia.

Meanwhile the US wants to make sure Ukraine doesn’t side with Russia, because the US wants to plunder the natural resources of Ukraine for their own profit. That’s imperialism.

Unfortunately quite often when you say Russia is imperialist the response will be “no they’re not” but doesn’t explain why they’re still bad even if it’s not imperialism. They’re still a bourgeois capitalist state and despite what they might say their interests are not in the working class’ interests.

Also for what it’s worth, if the US, and NATO, and all it’s influence disappeared overnight, being a bourgeois capitalist state Russia would almost certainly try to fill that imperialist void. It just hasn’t got the money or power to do so with NATO active. I guess you could say the war is imperialist Vs wishes they were imperialist.

I know it’s not exactly what you’re asking for, but I do want to say - to anyone new, like I am, I understand it’s a little disconcerting stepping out of the bubble you’ve been in, I am in that process myself.

For my entire life, I’ve been educated and informed inside a NATO nation. You have to acknowledge that in such a scenario, you are victim to propaganda whether you know it or not.

Stepping out of that bubble naturally means learning about a lot of things you probably wish weren’t true. The truth is often hard to swallow after all.

This doesn’t mean Russia gets a free pass. Acknowledging the flaws of NATO doesn’t mean Russia has never committed a crime. I still don’t like the Russian government, that’s not a controversial statement. I think nearly everyone here would say the same thing.

What matters most of all in this conflict is the wellbeing and safety of the people suffering in Donbas and other parts of Ukraine. They deserve better than this.

If you read all the links everyone has shared, and come out of it feeling confused and angry, then you’re probably on the right path. Reality is a mess.

I didn’t know about Syria, but it doesn’t surprise me. It’s not the first time the US or UK armed al Qaeda!

In fact there are a lot of similarities between the US and UK arming the Afghan Mujahedeen and these Ukrainian paramilitary groups. After the Ukraine war is over, I wonder what these armed and trained Nazis will do…

I’m afraid that changing leadership won’t change Labour. As a party, it does not speak to or for the working class, it is ruled by career politicians just the same as the Tories are. They could never understand what it means to be working class because most of them were never part of it, and the ones that were have betrayed the working class (cough Rayner cough).

Exactly this. Recognising the Palestinian state means nothing if the UK government don’t change their relationship with Israel.

Hey everyone, I’m also new so thank you for having me!

There’s a crazy amount of learning when you accept that capitalism doesn’t hold the answers. It’s overwhelming at times, but we must remember that we deserve better and keep going.

You’re absolutely right. There’s a lot I don’t know, your response and the others have given me a lot to read about. Thank you!

Thank you! I had no idea about the Azov movement or its brigade. The links to Naziism are undeniable, I don’t know why this isn’t a bigger deal to the West. I tried seeing if Starmer had ever commented on Azov, but I can’t find anything.

To be honest that really threw me, I don’t know how the Ukraine government can defend not only allowing Nazi groups to exist, but to actually bring them into the military? I think I understand where people come from now - it reminds me of the old saying about “if four people are sat at a table and a Nazi joins them, there are five Nazis at the table”. If the Ukrainian government oppose Naziism, and any decent person should, then they need to take a hard stance on these groups instead of allying with them.

I’m going to need more time to think and read, but I appreciate your response. The issue certainly isn’t a simple one.