Walking on the Far Left

Mao's understanding of communist principles and the development of his own communist ideology appeared to have grown without him having read any of Marx and Engels' work but by observing the governance and principles of Soviet communist leaders. This form of communism clearly developed through the interpretation of Leninist principles and his setting about of the authoritarian control and dictatorship of the proletariat as with the formation of the Bolsheviks (those dictating the proletariat) to exploit the Mensheviks (the working classes who were repressed by Lenin's dictatorship and supported democratic and liberal way acknowledging the needs of all groups including the proletariat, the bourgeois so as to bring out a socialist revolution) in the Russian Revolution. Mao's values appear to be clearly resemble those of the Bolshevik with his revolution as put by Roger Griffin having been set out with the goal of "overcoming the decadence of the existing liberal demo...

While there has been limited attention paid to sexuality and the action against repression of the homosexual people in Marx and Engels' work (as well as the theory by some early leftists exploring this topic that homosexuality could be viewed as a threat to communism defining homosexuals by "the corruption and decadence of bourgeois society, while they themselves, the left, do their part to fix gays into a position of the qualunquismo" thus reducing productivity and hindering attempts at revolution), communism has, over the centuries, been instrumental in influencing perceptions on the queer community and activism amongst them, as well as in the politicisation of homosexual rights. This has been highlighted through the theories regarding gender by communist activist Mario Mieli in his work Towards a Gay Communism in which, while the promotion of sexuality had been considered as secondary to the revolutionary aims of the communist political groups as well as having homos...

“Eating from a big [common] pot breeds laziness” These were the words of Deng Xiaoping when declaring the need to dismantle the communes and intend to redistribute land and capital amongst the peasants and increase their power within society. While these principles (ignoring the anti-state and pro-capitalist ideas clearly present in the quote above) might appear to evoke an anti-feudal sentiment and aims to dismantle the bourgeoisie with the proletariat needs central to the running of society, it appears that this was the main means of paving the way for a capitalist society to remain in China and further promote the feudal system which ironically, would be run be the proletarians and serfs originally exploited by this and intending to dismantle it. While arguing that it was liberating the working classes, it was further keeping those below them within the constraints of the society repressing them. This presents the crossing of paths of capitalism and communism and the events in the ...

The notion of communism being considered as a means of corruption of authoritarian power and acting as a theory of governance by which the supposed communitarian and anti-capitalist ethos supporting complete equality of opportunities and abolishing class, state and wealth overrides against this, as well as that communists are considered to be merely power hungry dictators, always surprises me especially considering that this completely opposes the original key principles of communism. According to Engels' 1847 work, The Principles of Communism, communism is defined as "the doctrine for the liberation of the conditions of the proletariat", this definition thus clearly proving to emphasise the communitarian aspects of communism and support collective liberty as well as promoting the individual rights and freedoms of the people, particularly the supposedly oppressed proletarians (those who live to support their needs through the selling of their labour to be benefited from (...

To kick start this blog, enjoy this post featuring two of my greatest passions, left wing politics and music.                                                                        Abel Meeropol Today would be Abel Meeropol’s birthday him being the poet, New York high school teacher and socialist and trades union activist who wrote the poignant, haunting and ever powerful anti-racist poem, "Strange Fruit" in 1937. This continues to be used to shed a light on the brutality of the treatment of slaves and the racially induced violence in the southern US states having been inspired by his shock and horror at a photo the lynching of two slaves in 1930. Originally titled "Bitter Fruit", put to music and sung by Billie Holiday, this would become a timeless anthem encouraging us to solemnly reflect and question the ...