In English, I wrote a short paper debating that a community would be more successful if wealth was shared, using points and quotes from Capital and the Communist Manifesto, and he wrote on my paper “See me about Marx.” When I approached him, he asked, “Are you a Communist?” I was scared and said no and he replied, relieved “okay, good.” He started to explain the bad things communists have done in the past and I just replied, “I know, I’ve taken history,” and said that I just wanted to challenge myself with a difficult topic. In reality, I do agree with plenty of Marx and Engel’s ideas and I’m still trying to gauge where I sit on the political spectrum. I just want to know if high school teachers are allowed to ask that…? I lowk didn’t appreciate it. 👀

There is a certain American Communist “Party” (I think we know which group I’m talking about), who seems more eager to post memes bashing on other communist/socialist groups than how they themselves are progressing the communist movement in the US. How do we combat populism and sectarianism? How do we reach these kinds of people to show that they’re actually hindering the movement more than anything?

I think it should be noted that, early on in my political development (especially since the rise of MAGA and right-wing populism), I definitely would’ve been considered someone like this. But I cannot for the life of me understand what got me out of that frame of mind.

(Please note that this post was written using an English translator.) Hello, comrades and dear friends. I am happy to join this community and write my first post! I would like to share some of the struggles of living as a communist in South Korea. When you ask South Koreans to think of communism, most of them immediately think of North Korea. To them, "communist" is synonymous with "North Korea sympathizer." Many also mistakenly believe that socialism and communism are exactly the same thing. There are also countless people who wrongly assume that democracy is the direct opposite of communism. Recently, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law. One of the ostensible justifications for that martial law decree was the "eradication of anti-state forces aligned with North Korea." Fortunately, unable to withstand the united opposition of the public, he lifted the martial law after just six hours. However, a motley collection of individuals—including anti-leftists, adherents of far-right historical views, certain Christian factions that have fused far-right ideology with their faith, far-right misogynists, Sinophobes, and extremists who justify their every action by invoking the "North Korea threat"—have rallied to defend former President Yoon’s martial law, using the occasion to brazenly and rudely propagate their own beliefs. These extremists now delude themselves into thinking they are heroes. They glorify the Japanese Empire’s colonial rule over Korea, labeling it a "historical perspective free from emotion," while dismissing those who hold different views as having been brainwashed. Claiming it is God's will for South Korea to become a far-right state, they enforce rigid standards regarding "normal" families and gender roles. They continue to stage open protests on major streets, singing derogatory songs filled with slurs against Chinese people. If anyone voices even the slightest progressive sentiment, they are branded a traitor trying to turn South Korea into North Korea. In this climate, South Koreans are subjected to ideological scrutiny by these people; it has reached the point where everyone avoids discussing politics altogether for fear of the repercussions of expressing their own convictions. In fact, those who do talk about politics are dismissed as tiresome or socially oblivious. This is the kind of country I live in. And I am a communist. Living in a country like this, I have no choice but to remain a communist. Thank you for listening to my story.

I used to be a staunch conservative and an anarcho-capitalist, with a deep hatred for liberalism and communism. However, over time, I began to realize that Western conservatism justifies sexism, bigotry, and racism under the guise of “tradition,” and that anarcho-capitalism enables the ruthless exploitation of the poor and working class.

In the spirit of open mindedness, I’ve decided to learn more about communism, but Idk where to start.

Searches related to Communist manifesto increased by 50% compared to last 3 months, 250% compared to same period last year and over 5000% in last 5 years which indicated a clear and continious growing trend.

Support rate of Socialism in America is on all time highs and in Eastern Europe governments hastily ban promotion of Communism while in in western Europe openly Communist parties like KPÖ win on local elections.

Riots are errupting in France, Spain, Belgium, Brazil, New York, India and many more, while protests are scheaduled all over the world.

According to the dialectics, quantative change preceeds qualitative change.

One thing is clear, crisis of capitalism has brought back the Marxist ideas onto the table.

It is time for us to burst out of the Communist dominated spaces and stoke the flames of rising class consciousness.

To be clear, I am not asking you to go from door to door. Right now, we are in a phase of quantative change. Make class conscious posts in non-communist subs, start with simple concepts like material class antagonism, don't use big words, apolitical people won't hear you out when you try to explain what Communism really is, but they will hear you out when you explain how their landlord benefits from higher rents while they suffer from them.

Make a class conscious meme or two abd post them on meme subs.

Start a tiktok channel and create content without your face or voice neccesarily exposed.

(As I do, Victims of Capitalism, if you want examples).

Communicate with the people from your social circle starting from easy concepts.

The change is already on it's way, now it just needs a little push, keep the ball rolling.

edit: My ban is in r/communism. Sorry!!!

A vent beyond just a ban — Account of a Maoist

In a comment on a post, I wrote: "the ruling class's ideals and actions are present from a person's earliest years—starting in school—and some of these are reactionary ideas that hinder workers' understanding of Marxism (such as anti-communism), which is prevalent in many countries."

The moderator simply asserted, with absolute conviction, that I was a social-fascist masquerading as a Maoist and that I was supporting reactionary ideals. 🤮😂😂😂

The best response to a false accusation is to tell the guy to go fuc* himself. — Sorry!

On top of him making false accusations against me, I fired back by calling him a sectarian and a weakling—someone who wouldn't last a single day doing grassroots or revolutionary work in Brazil.

Something I learned as a child is not to take false accusations seriously. However, my biggest mistake is that I *do* sometimes take false accusations seriously—even though I would never falsely accuse someone without scientific evidence. That’s what social media is for: wasting time, including with your own allies in the struggle.

I sent this to modmail: "Here’s a lesson, brother: if you don't even take the trouble to understand or acknowledge people's cultural and linguistic barriers, this sub is going to get emptier and emptier. Reducing small things to your own interpretations is terrible—especially for beginners or those using translation tools to communicate."

Anyway, the end of my rant: Learning things on the internet is very interesting, but there is a barrier, a limit. There is even a limit to one's patience regarding these recurring events that happen systematically. Real-life experience is very different, which is why we need connections with our comrades that go beyond just online ones.

This—and many other reasons—drives me away from the internet, and especially from trying to get new communists organized online, because this stuff is exhausting.

Don't waste your time on this sub and certainly not with false accusations against you.

If you want to learn about the revolutionary struggle in Brazil, read the newspapers *A Nova Democracia* and *A Verdade*.

I am absolutely disgusted with our current fascist state. Taking away minority rights, injecting Islamophobia and racism, becoming a puppet state of the West and the US. Yet, our situation is so much underrated on the global stage. I solemnly request you guys to spread this message. #FreeIndiaFromFascism

Because, when i read or some of y'all read the files, i noticed a pattern that there were no mention for leftists. and the main invited people were rightists and capitalists.

The only thing I can think of for why they banned me is I mentioned considering joining an ML party that is critical of Mao, but it’s a very small one that I’m not even sure many people are aware of. Wild to get banned for that.

I am going to try to explain this to the best of my abilities. My anger is so fervid that I personally find it hard to articulate, but I think it can be traced back to the gentrification of the word "leftist." Leftist used to be a sociopolitical umbrella term used to describe someone who holds the belief in dismantling capitalism, along with the redistribution of power and wealth to achieve a society within the state of social egalitarianism. Whether that be anarchy, communism, or syndicalism, leftism is and always has been an anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist movement about challenging and changing the status quo.

Nowadays, the word "leftist" can be boiled down to someone who simply believes in human rights or "le hecking basic human empathy." Leftism has degraded from a term used to describe various socioeconomic movements to a vague description of someone who believes in specific cultural or social issues, completely cleansed of any economic relevance. I’ve seen so many people call themselves leftists, but when asked what type of leftist they are, meaning what is their specific ideology, they look at you confused. They act as if being a "leftist" is an ideology on its own. 100% percent of the time, these people are saying this because they view "liberal" and "leftist" as terms that can be used interchangeably. which is soo annoying and shows a complete lack of understanding of politics to me.

However, my anger and hatred toward the modern left is not exclusive to just the gentrification of the word. It extends to the inability of the left to actually produce meaningful or useful change, largely because the modern left believes that simply participating in decentralized protesting is enough to combat the current political status quo. And no, I’m not talking about the "no kings" protest; I’m actually talking about the current protests happening in France. Don’t get me wrong, I think what’s happening in France is great and a wonderful step for a working class that has been contained and quiet since the start of the 21st century.

However, my frustration comes with the fact that I do not believe these protests will actually lead to meaningful change or a full-scale revolution because of two factors: the lack of a cohesive ideology behind the protests, and pure spontaneity. When your riots, attacks, and protests rely entirely on spontaneous action rather than organized structures, and when they are founded merely upon current systemic failures such as the cost of living, the defunding of schools, or low wages, the movement easily falls into the trap of reformism.

The second these immediate issues are resolved through minor concessions, all anger towards the capitalist class shifts away. It goes from "this is an issue caused by the system we live in" to "this is an issue caused by the president we elected." This shift in blame away from capitalism and onto individual politicians is the perfect way for the ruling class to pacify the working class and shut down revolutionary energy.

My anger also stems from the fact that the modern left (specifically Americans) treat the revolution the exact same way Christians treat the rapture. Nobody has any plan for when or how because everyone is just waiting for if it happens. No one has a strategy for how to actually go about it, either. They treat the revolution as something they want, something they need, but not something they are actually willing to organize and fight for. It is more so just something they are willing to wish for someone else to do.

Before anyone comments asking what I have done to help the revolutionary movement, I want to clarify that I’m currently too young to go out and do anything on my own. I also live with far right parents who would never support the mere idea of allowing me to attend a protest. However, I have been doing my best to be as active as I can by participating in leftist spaces online, and I have spent a lot of time reading theory and educating myself as much as possible.

If anyone feels the same way about this, or has any thoughts and opinions, I’d love to hear them in the comments.

(Note: I posted this on R/ Ultraleft not realizing it was an exclusive left com anti call to action space so i’m reposting this here)

So I am Cuban, born and raised there for 10 years then immigrated to the United States with my family.All my life my grandparents that lived through the revolution and parents as well have told me that Fidel was awful and so was Che Guevara but praise Batista.All my life I grew up thinking communism was horrible and that Fidel and che were dictators that ruined cuba but as I get older and do my own research I find that Batista was actually an awful guy and that Fidel and che sound a lot better than he did.Now I just want to know why is it that Cubans hate Fidel but love Batista and why do they hate communism so much even tho when I do research I see many people saying that Fidel saved Cuba from a dictatorship.And if many Cubans say that Cuba was awful while it was ruled by Fidel why do others say that it was great?I think communism is great but I am cautious of calling myself a communist because of how many bad things I have been told about it by my family.

The core premise behind our ancestors inventing complex societies was to elevate ourselves from the dangers and uncertainty of individual wilderness survival.

Capitalism, by its nature, rejects that premise. It is not a civilization, it is the neo-wilderness. Survival of the fittest within concrete jungles, an existential competition created and curated by human will.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how everyone’s radicalization story seems different and I honestly think that’s really interesting so I wanted to ask what led to your radicalization

For me I didn’t start out on the far left at all I was a centrist for a while then shifted into social democracy and over time moved further left as I kept asking questions that didn’t really have satisfying answers within that framework

What pushed me in that direction wasn’t theory at first it was my interest in health fitness nutrition and the environment I started looking into how our food system is shaped by profit instead of human health and how that connects to things like obesity chronic illness and environmental destruction That led me to healthcare and then other industries and I started noticing the same patterns over and over again different industries same logic profit being prioritized power being centralized and harm being pushed onto regular people

That realization is what really pushed me toward radical politics

I’ve also seen people radicalize through completely different paths racial violence labor exploitation war environmental collapse Different starting points but often similar conclusions

So I’m genuinely curious what was your entry point What made you start questioning things more deeply and where did that path take you

Edit: Please don’t take offense to me using the term radical it’s not meant in form of chaos and violence like how it’s weaponized radical means addressing a problem at the root nothing else

A worker approaches to fellow communist and asks a question:

-What is the surplus value, I don't get it?

Communist:

-Exactly🥀☹️

soy estudiante de psicología del penúltimo semestre, y últimamente he tenido muchas discusiones con un pariente que es de ultra derecha (ama Milei, bukele, Trump entre otros), y una vez en uno de sus comentarios fuera de lugar en la cena familiar soltó el comentario

"estudiar psicología y tener un pensamiento comunista, marxista, socialista etc es la más grande hipocresía porque hablas sobre luchar contra el sistema pero estudias una carrera donde "arreglas personas" [lo pongo así porque esa es una falacia en la psicología] para que sigan funcionando en el sistema"

yo en su momento no le respondí por respeto al momento familiar, pero me puse a reflexionar, honestamente yo cuando ingresé a la carrera no pensé entrando en "arreglar a la gente" ya que en la psicología no "arreglamos personas" ni "curamos" si no que entre en la carrera porque yo amo mi ciencia y amo mi vocación.

¿les ha pasado algo similar?

Honestamente no refute sus comentarios porque por los términos que uso (que demuestran su poco conocimiento de esta ciencia) me quedé con que solo eran los comentarios del familiar conservador de derecha, del capitalista sin Capital.

¿ustedes que opinan?

Bogdan, a 27-year-old Trotskyist and leading member of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), was convicted of “high treason under martial law.” No evidence of espionage, sabotage or collaboration with the Russian military was produced against him. He was sentenced for six political articles published by the World Socialist Web Site in which he opposed both the Russian invasion and the US-NATO war against Russia, the rehabilitation of Nazi forces in Ukraine and called for the unity of Russian and Ukrainian workers against war. The court also ordered the confiscation of his property and the destruction of socialist books, leaflets and programmatic documents seized from him.

The wave of opposition to this political frame-up has continued to broaden.

Ukrainian Holocaust historian Marta Havryshko, who has extensively documented the role of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and other far-right and pro-Nazi forces in horrific atrocities during WWII and in contemporary Ukrainian politics, signed the petition on Monday.

“Bogdan is a victim of political repression in Ukraine under Zelensky,” she wrote. “We must protect him.”

Volodymyr Ishchenko, a Ukrainian political sociologist at the Osteuropa-Institut of the Free University of Berlin, commented Tuesday that the prosecution “looks like a typical case of fabricated evidence and framing against Syrotiuk.”

Ishchenko noted that one of the sensational claims originally circulated by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU)—concerning a Russian military uniform and epaulettes allegedly found during the search of Bogdan’s home—“did not even make it into the main part of the verdict. Even the prosecutor did not use it.”

His comments underscore the fraudulent character of the prosecution. When Bogdan was arrested in April 2024, the SBU publicly portrayed him as an agent of Russia. More than two years later, the court convicted him without establishing any act of espionage or concrete collaboration with the Russian state. A 65-page expert report by leading Ukrainian criminologist Yuri Irkhin found no propaganda in Bogdan’s writings supporting the Russian invasion. Even a subsequent state-commissioned examination found no calls for overthrowing the government, seizing power, committing subversive acts or altering Ukraine’s borders.

...

Further statements of protest have also been sent directly to the WSWS.

Italian artist Costantino Ciervo, whose exhibition COMUNE—The Paradox of Similarity in the Middle East Conflict has itself faced attempted censorship on false allegations of antisemitism, declared his support for Bogdan.

Ciervo stated that if Bogdan was being prosecuted for exposing “Ukraine’s historical culpability in abetting the Nazi advance during the Second World War,” this was “not a crime, but a plain historical truth.”

“To be incarcerated for articulating what every pre-eminent historian has repeatedly affirmed in public is nothing short of criminal and scandalous,” he wrote.

Berlin author, publicist and songwriter Wolfgang Herzberg sent a protest letter to the Pervomaisk City District Court, with a copy to the WSWS. He called on the court to “immediately overturn the harsh sentence against Mr. Bogdan Syrotiuk.”

“He merely exercised his right to freedom of expression, which is constitutionally protected in Western democracies, including Germany,” Herzberg wrote. “Ukraine wants to become a member of the EU. It therefore cannot issue such a miscarriage of justice when there is apparently no evidence of concrete, conspiratorial—that is, military—collaboration with Russia.”

Herzberg wrote that he, too, is a staunch opponent of war and stressed that opposition to the war “against both sides” was entirely legitimate and covered by the democratic right to freedom of expression.

The Partisan Defence Committee (Britain), which had already protested Bogdan’s arrest, signed the petition Monday. “The Partisan Defence Committee (Britain) protested Bogdan’s arrest and will strongly add our voice to the growing chorus of protest at this outrageous sentence,” it stated. The organization subsequently issued an appeal on social media: “Free Bogdan Syrotiuk! … sign and circulate it today.”

The Communist Party of Sweden has now also covered the case in its newspaper Riktpunkt. While explicitly noting its political differences with Trotskyism, the article insists on the fundamental democratic principle involved. “Political texts, criticism of the government or demands for international workers’ unity cannot in themselves be equated with high treason,” it states.

...

German supporter Gustav Kemper noted that August 19 marks the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the First Moscow Trial, in which the Stalinist bureaucracy began the public show trials that provided the judicial framework for the extermination of the leaders of the October Revolution and socialist opposition.

“The verdict against Bogdan,” Kemper wrote, “is an attempt by the ‘Western democracies’ to revive the politics of the Moscow Trials because they fear the growing influence of the Fourth International.”

The expanding international response demonstrates that the attempt by the Zelensky regime and its NATO backers to isolate Bogdan and suppress knowledge of his case is breaking down. It stands in ever sharper contrast to the guilty silence of the major Western media, which continue to conceal the imprisonment of a socialist opponent of war while presenting the Ukrainian regime as a defender of “democracy.”

Intensify the campaign

The International Committee of the Fourth International and WSWS will intensify the campaign for Bogdan’s freedom.

We call on workers and young people, critical intellectuals and academics, artists and journalists, trade unions, civil liberties organizations and anti-war groups throughout the world: Take up Bogdan’s defense. Sign and circulate the petition. Pass resolutions demanding his freedom. Send protest letters to the Ukrainian courts. Break the media silence surrounding his case.

Write to the Pervomaisk City District Court at [email protected] and the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal at [email protected], with a copy to [email protected], demanding that Bogdan’s conviction be overturned and that he be released immediately.

The defense of Bogdan is inseparably connected to the fight against war, dictatorship and fascism. His freedom must be won through the mobilization of the international working class and all principled defenders of democratic rights.

Sign the petition at wsws.org/freebogdan and join the fight to free Bogdan Syrotiuk.

Hello everyone I’m not a communist but I want to make a character who is. So I want to know where can I go for research? I don’t want to accidentally come across bias views or misinformation on communism.

It’s my first time getting into politics so I hope I don’t come across naive, and I don’t want to blindly choose sides as I’m figuring out what I am myself.

Edit since people are asking: My story takes place in 2016 totalitarian Russia that is built on predicative governance, managed stability, and systemic control. My main character main goal is to fight for freedom.

If it doesn’t match anything about communism for my main character then I will change it since his views lie between socialism and communism from little research I have.

Another edit: I am loving this discussion, learning things I didn’t know and making my story better to fit with the views I want it to have. Communism and other left views to me sound so interesting to learn and to eventually get into

I've been working my way through Karl Marx's 《Das Kapital》and honestly… I'm starting to feel like I'm losing my mind.

Why did Marx write in such painstaking, almost exhaustively granular detail? I understand that he's trying to build a scientific analysis of capitalism from the ground up, but sometimes it feels like he's explaining every concept five different times........ I keep asking myself: Was all of this necessary?

How did you cope with the level of detail?

El comunismo es hermoso en su sistema; es lo único que me hace querer vivir un día más. Todos los demás viven "normal" hasta que se les acaba el tutorial de la niñez y ahora sí adoran el comunismo. ¡Viva el colectivismo, los amo! Si tuviera que dar mi vida por un mundo comunista, la daría. ¡Viva el maldito comunismo! Mi odio hacia los capitalistas es irracionalmente demencial (^-^)/