I don't always become a hypocrite on great man theory, but when I do...
Sometimes an individual becomes a lightning rod for a collective conscious to drive history in a way that would have been very different without that individual. Mandela and Lenin also come to mind. The dialectic between historical processes and historical leaders is very real
Oh that's a really good way to put it. For as much as I watch the cushvlogs it's fascinating how much good shit I miss
Ludwig: Marxism denies that personalities play an important role in history. Do you not see any contradiction between the materialist conception of history and the fact that you, after all, do admit the important role played by historical personalities?
Stalin: No, there is no contradiction. Marxism does not deny that prominent personalities play an important role, nor the fact that history is made by people. In The Poverty of Philosophy and in other works of Marx you will find it stated that it is people who make history. But of course, people do not make history according to their own fancy or the promptings of their imagination. Every new generation encounters definite conditions already existing, ready-made, when that generation was born. And if great people are worth anything at all, it is only to the extent that they correctly understand these conditions and know how to alter them. If they fail to understand these conditions and try to change them according to their own fancies, they will put themselves in a quixotic position. So you will see that precisely according to Marx, people must not be contrasted to conditions. It as people who make history, but they make it only to the extent that they correctly understand the conditions they found ready-made, and to the extent that they know how to change those conditions. That, at least, is the way we Russian Bolsheviks understand Marx. And we have been studying Marx for a good many years.
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1931/dec/13a.htm
Lightning rod
Great way to frame it imo. That feels like the perfect metaphor to explain the significance of individuals in a greater movement.
an individual might be a flea on the back of the dog of history... but sometimes fleas do have Epic Swag :fidel-cool:
They did develop a vaccine for lung cancer. I wonder if smoking will become popular again if it ever becomes standard and proven reliable enough
Smoking is so awful for you in way more ways than just causing lung cancer. That's like one of 100 ways it might kill you lol.
God I wanna get the lung cancer vaccine so bad so I can be a pretentious hipster loser and hang out in a hookah bar downtown every day.
This is not to say that hookah/shisha is wholly for losers, but when burger americans such as myself do it, it's pretty lame. Is so yummy and nice though.
Absolute King Shit. He always remembered the importance of solidarity with all workers, regardless of nationality.
:red-fist:
"I hate the government, not the people" but it actually makes sense given polling lol
Really, though, I was expecting something snarky (which would be well-deserved) but Fidel only has love for the global working class :fidel-salute:
my collection of based castro footage continues to grow :fidel-cool:
It's still baffling that from childhood, we were taught to see this man as evil.
No matter what he's said or done, or what happened in Cuba under his leadership, there is nothing about him that ever seemed deliberately malicious or hateful. Every single interview, speech, witness account, document, or literature about him I've seen - western or otherwise - clearly shows his warmth, compassion, and genuine desire to help those in need. Try as they might, even the most critical accounts I've seen of him can't hide that. He was clearly just as concerned as his comrades and Cuban citizens by the problems they faced, and felt honest regret and frustration knowing his ability to solve them was limited. But he spent most of his life doing whatever he could to address those issues, no matter how exhausting or demoralizing it became. Even so, he held onto hope for a better world until the very end. He had an undeniable love for humanity, and his anger only manifested when that love was challenged.
Fidel was one man out of millions in a constant struggle, but did as much as one man could, and for that I admire him. I think he's earned his recognition as a role model for communists everywhere, and for anyone looking to fight injustice or simply help others. As someone else here put it, he was a "lightning rod" for the energy of a greater movement. The fact that despite all this, he and his country have been villainized and attacked at every opportunity by capitalists and the people they indoctrinate, breaks my heart. The cruelty that's been shown towards them - by selfish, hateful, and abusive people who insist they know better and want what's best for us - is absolutely criminal. When I see how regular people have been taught to describe Cuba, I want to scream. Hearing platitudes about "freedom, opportunity, and democracy" with no actions or improvements seen in anyone's lives to justify them, from the same "leaders" who try to suffocate real change, fills me with indescribable rage. I want to lash out, grab them by the throats, and force them to look at what they've done until the same tears stream from their eyes. No one should accept this. None of this is fair or even acceptable. Fidel didn't accept it either, and proved that millions of people see the injustice I'm seeing. He showed me that I'm not alone, and that there will always be a way forward, even in the face of so much casual greed and abuse. And for that, I thank him. There are countless others like him, and I think we should all aspire towards that with every act of kindness and resistance.
If you're still reading, do something for someone in need today that exemplifies your revolutionary spirit. Anytime you feel hesitant, remember that in 90 years of life, Fidel never backed down, only changed his approach and kept moving forward.
:red-fist: :hammer-sickle: :PCC: :juche-WPK: :ancom-heart:
End the blockade against Cuba, and end capitalism in all its forms. This is not the end of history.
dehumanizing workers is not the amazing leftist strategy you may think it is
Doesn’t match any of my experiences, but alright. Sorry you’ve been surrounded by nazis, that must suck.
doesn’t match your experiences lol how many people in the US do you know who are racist as shit? Who’d call a cop on a minority at the slightest instant? 80%-90%?
It’s a nazi fucking country Im sorry it’s hard to tell for you
I legitimately don’t surround myself with people like that.
There are deep reactionary brainworms present in many Americans, but those are distinctly different than someone being a committed fascist.
If what you’re saying is the American government is effectively fash, then I agree that the country is absolutely a settler-colonialist apartheid state.
Not a single person in this thread would object to that, because it's a completely different thing and you know it.
they’re right. The US government and American people are made for each other.
The American capitalist oligarchy and their puppet government make the conditions that make the people, and to write off the people as morally irredeemable for the outcomes of their immutable circumstances is unmaterialist. A ton of Americans fucking suck, but the masses of people struggling to survive under the increasing weight of the ghoul's boot absolutely do not deserve this.
Golems programmed by rich people.
antisemitic as fuck my dude
i mean, you're also American. this comment has supreme "white person: ughh white people are sooo annoying and racist amirite haha!" energy.
well i for one am honored to have The One Good American (as identified by himself) posting among us :rat-salute-2:
Recursive shitty logic go brrrrr
The takeaway from understanding internationalism is not “everything is doomed” it’s “we have a lot of work to do”.
Go be doomer and strange somewhere else. Defeatism is boring and the views you’re espousing are pointless.
