Am I the only anarchist that has read Marxist and Leninist theory? I'm an anarchist because of the abuse of power structures and "reforms" post revolution in my country (South Africa).
I am confused as to how people will be able to desolve the state under caputalism without first using the state to end capitalism.
The capitalists will just continue to be the state.
I agree that we should continuously exami e hierarchies and aboloshing them as they are unjust or no longer needed. But going straight from wgere we are into abolishing the state, won't keep the state away.
It's the same end goal, just different means to get there, and I do not see how we acheive that goal without a proletariat state.
I mean ML projects can definitely work, I mean look at Burkina Faso and Thomas Sankara for example. My problem is who will be in charge of the state/ the party that is the dictatorship of the proletariat while using the state to end capitalism. If it's a party that has the values of or elects a leader like Thomas Sankara, Lenin or even Nelson Mandela then I think it can work. The problem is if the dictatorship of the proletariat is led by someone that's corrupt or irrational and they only get voted in "because there is no better alternative" I don't see it working. For example in my own country I don't trust that the EFF, the largest "leftist" party, to be able to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, even if they win an election or participate in a revolution, as their leadership is extremely corrupt and money hungry. And people vote for this leadership, so it's not as if they're tyrannical dictators of the party. I believe they would endlessly exploit their position in power if they were to get it.
Yeah it's all about the material conditions present at the current location and time for me. I've said in previous comments that I've voted and supported ML parties in the past, and will probably do so in future, but my general distrust for authority and personal experience with government corruption and incompetence is why I'm an AnCom personally
Literally almost non existent. The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) are all aligned with the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), which has massively improved the lives of millions of people, is extremely corrupt and can be downright incompetent at times (2 ex presidents were some form of HIV/AIDS denialists). The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) tried to form their own ML party, which I voted for in the last election, but they got too little votes to be part of parliament. The largest "leftist" party would be the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which aim to be some form of ML party but their retoric approaches nazbol territory at times. They are the 3rd biggest political party in parliament. Also the EFF meet the definition of champagne socialists, their leader, Julius Malema, who apparently believes strongly in black liberation, lives in a mansion in a security estate and sends his black kids to an Afrikaans school "for the discipline". Also known for doxxing journalists he disagrees with and wearing a Bertling watch with his "workers overalls". The only good organisation seems to be Abahlali baseMjondolo which do actuall paraxis and are not lead by money hungry hipocractes http://abahlali.org/node/17029/
No, not really. The ANC will sometimes appoint their leaders to positions, which led to the terrible irony of a SACP official who was the head of education at the time arguing against free university during the fees must fall protests. They may speak out sometimes, but they always cave to the will of the ANC eventually, especially considering the current leader of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, was a CEO involved in the Marikana massacre of mineworkers.
As I said NUMSA has split from them and has formed their own Marxist Leninist political party, the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party. Unfortunately it was a massive failure because they have 0 seats in parliament on a national and provincial level (despite me voting for them :-( )
Am I the only anarchist that has read Marxist and Leninist theory? I'm an anarchist because of the abuse of power structures and "reforms" post revolution in my country (South Africa).
I'm an anarchist. I've read Marx and Lenin. I've even read some Mao and Stalin.
Both in argument, in practice, and in analyzing history I find anarchist ideas more compelling.
I am confused as to how people will be able to desolve the state under caputalism without first using the state to end capitalism.
The capitalists will just continue to be the state.
I agree that we should continuously exami e hierarchies and aboloshing them as they are unjust or no longer needed. But going straight from wgere we are into abolishing the state, won't keep the state away.
It's the same end goal, just different means to get there, and I do not see how we acheive that goal without a proletariat state.
What am I missing?
I mean ML projects can definitely work, I mean look at Burkina Faso and Thomas Sankara for example. My problem is who will be in charge of the state/ the party that is the dictatorship of the proletariat while using the state to end capitalism. If it's a party that has the values of or elects a leader like Thomas Sankara, Lenin or even Nelson Mandela then I think it can work. The problem is if the dictatorship of the proletariat is led by someone that's corrupt or irrational and they only get voted in "because there is no better alternative" I don't see it working. For example in my own country I don't trust that the EFF, the largest "leftist" party, to be able to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, even if they win an election or participate in a revolution, as their leadership is extremely corrupt and money hungry. And people vote for this leadership, so it's not as if they're tyrannical dictators of the party. I believe they would endlessly exploit their position in power if they were to get it.
Oh alright, that i can see for sure.
Yeah it's all about the material conditions present at the current location and time for me. I've said in previous comments that I've voted and supported ML parties in the past, and will probably do so in future, but my general distrust for authority and personal experience with government corruption and incompetence is why I'm an AnCom personally
Can you give any resources on communist movements in post-Apartheid SA?
Literally almost non existent. The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) are all aligned with the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), which has massively improved the lives of millions of people, is extremely corrupt and can be downright incompetent at times (2 ex presidents were some form of HIV/AIDS denialists). The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) tried to form their own ML party, which I voted for in the last election, but they got too little votes to be part of parliament. The largest "leftist" party would be the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which aim to be some form of ML party but their retoric approaches nazbol territory at times. They are the 3rd biggest political party in parliament. Also the EFF meet the definition of champagne socialists, their leader, Julius Malema, who apparently believes strongly in black liberation, lives in a mansion in a security estate and sends his black kids to an Afrikaans school "for the discipline". Also known for doxxing journalists he disagrees with and wearing a Bertling watch with his "workers overalls". The only good organisation seems to be Abahlali baseMjondolo which do actuall paraxis and are not lead by money hungry hipocractes http://abahlali.org/node/17029/
Do the SACP and COSATU have real influence? What’s their approach going forward?
No, not really. The ANC will sometimes appoint their leaders to positions, which led to the terrible irony of a SACP official who was the head of education at the time arguing against free university during the fees must fall protests. They may speak out sometimes, but they always cave to the will of the ANC eventually, especially considering the current leader of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, was a CEO involved in the Marikana massacre of mineworkers.
So they aligned with the national bourgeoisie for national liberation, and now are stuck playing electoral politics with them.
What about the NUMSA? What’s their approach?
As I said NUMSA has split from them and has formed their own Marxist Leninist political party, the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party. Unfortunately it was a massive failure because they have 0 seats in parliament on a national and provincial level (despite me voting for them :-( )