The Trouble with Student Group Communism

Most of us can agree that Marxist activism's relocation from union halls to university campuses has been a disaster, but it can feel uncomfortable and accusatory to discuss it. Although this can be awfully hard to talk about in person, I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread here on the subject. This might be annoying but I think it's genuinely important.

1) Student group activists have no interest in appealing to ordinary people. The average student group Marxist is not a dedicated revolutionary, they're a pretentious teenager looking for sex, meaning and friendship. Further, Marxist student groups (and most discussion forums for that matter) are ostentatiously intellectual. Because activists are motivated more by group acceptance than by revolutionary sentiment, they use communism as a platform to fit in and seem smart. To this end, activists fill their political writing with jargon that 95% of people would not understand. If praxis is to accomplish anything at all Marxists must make a serious effort to connect with less educated people, even if it means less theory discussion.

2) Employed adults find student activists unrelatable at best. Although many people despise working, student group Marxists are easily stereotyped as lazy whiners who expect to be taken care of, both because college is seen as a relatively cushy stage of life and because university socialists tend to be concentrated in low earning majors (film, English, sociology, etc). The most natural ad hominem socialists face are accusations of laziness and uncompetitiveness, and college kids are particularly susceptible here. This is hard to solve, and as long as group identity plays a role in politics it will be pretty difficult to get very many blue collar workers into activism.

3) Communism's association with the college campus has made it more or less continuous with "social critic counterculture", which is disastrous. By SCC I refer to that contingent stereotyped to hell and back- coffee shop frequenters, self professed "agitators", those slovenly white kids who spend their twenties packed tight into apartments in gentrifying neighborhoods. Closely related to the punk rock scene, this group has a grungy aesthetic, with dyed hair, piercings, and expensive, ratty clothes. Likely artists in some respect and obsessed with being different, these folks are almost uniformly progressive, snobbish, and whiny. If you don't hate these people you're probably one of them. A single glance at an antifa meet up reveals how infested the left is with these types. These people suck because they're chronically deficient in self awareness, professing individualism and social equality while being pathetically obsessed with trends and staying hip. As long as SCC is associated with communism, communism will seem like coupe on behalf of low income socialites, an attempt by hipsters to enslave normal people so they can smoke pot and live without direction well into their sixties. I don't know what to say here, these folks are just cancer and it's a shame there's so many of them.

Other urls found in this thread:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Marxism
libcom.org/library/eclipse-re-emergence-communist-movement
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

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Good post. Screencap.

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This. So much.

yeah nah

I actually enjoyed this post and agree with its sentiments
Marxism will never be adopted by the working class when its screeched at them by upper middle class teenagers

You've obviously never attended a sociology tutorial then

Must be hell living in America

neo-marxism is. Its the entire point OP is making. Also, these "marxist" cant really LARP as champions of the workers when they not only dont work, but hold complete contempt for the working class.

Neo-Marxism isn't real. It's just liberalism. Holla Forums is on the same side as the SJWs.

t. retard. I want you to go to any college socalist get together and tell them all that tranny stuff is retarded and see what happens.

If its not real why is it so widespread and loud?
Its entirely eclipsed traditional Marxist organizations and is the main branch touted by progressives

IT'S CALLED BEING A RED LIBERAL YOU FAGGOT. Don't call Kautsky or Berstein Marxists either.

Bullshit, Marx is barely taught in sociology, if he's taught at all. Only bourgeois ideologues like Durkheim and Weber are. You probably believe CNN is "leftist media" too.

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I knew some sociology professors who taught Marx. In fact I would consider sociology one of the only majors with a sizable percentage of Marxist faculty.

It varies from professor to professor though.

I find it funny how you are trying to defend liberals while blaming it on marxists. Really makes you think. Liberal

nobody wants your dumbass idpol around here

oh look, strawmanning again. Also, I want you to go into any student marxist group and speak about how stupid ID politics are and how retarded tranny intersectional lesbian otherkin people of colorism is and see what happens.

so why call it marxism? makes no sense

I attended sociology tutorials in Australia and it was all Marxism
Filtered to the masses via some preppy moody long haired cunt of a professor

You'd look like a massive fucking sperg is what would happen.

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and why is that user? Wouldnt everyone agree since that all liberal bullshit like you said?

see neonazism is so called because of its relation to nazism. neoliberalism is so called because of its relation to liberalism. that is neonazism and neoliberalism are similar to nazism and liberalism respectively. if "neomarxism" is nothing like marxism, how can it be called marxism?

its not though, youre just being deliberatly ignorant to it.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Marxism

ok, please direct me to the part of marx's works in which he writes "all wypipo is racist n shit"

nah, you're just a brainlet who can't follow logic. "neomarxism" is simply a farce and a convenient strawman for subhuman conservatives. please kill yourself ASAP

This is really the only part I disagree with, but only because of the fact that punk does connect with working class people. So, if people use punk to connect with a more blue collar element or if some people come out of the punk scene into leftism then that is something. Love it or hate it, I think this is a cut above student groups.

If the punk scene has produced some active portion of the working class that is willing to punch Nazis that is not nothing but there's the question of where this goes. Punk tends to produce anarchists and not Marxian communists, so that is perhaps the real trouble and not dyed hair.

I agree that a more mainstream look is better optics.

What you're underrating is the ability of these majors, especially anything arts-related, to reach people. Film, for instance, is a powerful weapon. It's not for nothing that McCarthy went after the Arts. The presence of innovative left-wing film-makers, artists, and musicians helped produce what capitalists derisively called "the red 30s" they've desperately attempted to prevent this from recurring.

If we know that a fair number of our people are clustered in these professions than we should support worker activism the entertainment industry. Same thing with grad student and adjunct unions which are some of the promising sources of labor agitation in recent years. Actually, tbf entertainment workers have better unions than retail workers.

We do need better optics but we need to do it in a way that plays to our strengths and helps work out some of our weaknesses. I've said before that right-wing governments around the world are looking to smash the humanities departments for a reason, we need to go beyond campus, punk, or art scene "socialism" without ceding too much ground to the right-wing "critique" of the Left.

They know what their doing, all that cultural propaganda about how gov workers are fat cats living high-on-the-hog was for the purpose of destroying public sector unions and much of the Left's ability to self-finance.That isn't so far off. We don't want them to succeed in other spheres including but not limited to entertainment and the academy.

"neomarxism" has nothing to do with marx or his works. ergo it should not be called "neomarxism," and honest, logical people should acknowledge that

From that article:
Fucking LOL. So "neo-marxism" is "marxism" watered down with liberalism to the point of not being marxist anymore? Why not just call it liberalism?

Also what kind of faggot gets their understanding of theory from wikipedia? Just fucking kill yourself already.

Isn't "Neo-marxism" what Kermit is always whining about?

no one said identity politics doesn't exist. the point is that it's not marxism and marxism is not "responsible" for it. not hard to grasp

brainlet

And there it is. You have to go back.

Keep digging faggot.

Did you not read what I said?

no one here supports idpol, brainlet. that's the whole point of this board

beautiful praxis in action
the mass communalization of toothbrushes is imminent

Daily reminder that Jordan Peterson is a virgin scammer and neo-marxism doesn't exist. It's just liberalism.

it means "marxism that is new." its content is not marxism, therefore it cannot logically or accurately be called "neo marxism." it is a misnomer

You don't know reality. You are a virgin. Go donate more money to Peterson. Maybe he will get you laid finally.

Apparently nothing at all, since it bears no resemblance to marxist theory.

You're gonna have to qualify what you mean by "ID politics concerning trannys" is for me to answer that. You also need to understand that even in the context of idpol not everyone is pro-trans (certain radfem groups for example).

Calling idpol "neo-marxism" makes about as much sense as calling neo-cons nazis. You're on par with those faggots that think Donald Trump is a fucking nazi.

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did they actually teach you marxism or was it just shit you disagree with that you label as marxism?

No I really don't, I'm trying to determine whether you understand what opposition to identity politics actually entails. Whether you understand that opposition to mean unification of all proletarians regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation (or if you sexually identify as an attack helicopter), or if on the other hand you're a typical Holla Forumstard that thinks opposition to identity politics entails being a raging bigot (which is ironically idpol, white straight male idpol is still idpol).

I can't really answer your question until I know.

So… did the mods just purge him or did he take his ball and go home?

Banned and posts deleted

Awwww… I was having fun.

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The problem with student activists is precisely their isolation from the struggles of the working class and the passive, overly theoretical attitude toward communism is a product of this, they should at least get actively associated with local unions or community organizations. Pic related - these guys work side-to-side with such organizations on topics such as health, pollution, etc. by applying the knowledge obtained on their major. The larger student unions (e.g. FECH) also organize yearly extension activities on the poorer localities of the country.

I'm not saying it's all like this though - campuses are definitely still full of the toxic SJW type people, the "grungy aesthetic" OP talks about in his third point.


It really depends on where you're studying. Of course you're way less likely to find Marx being taught in an actual academic course in the US or Europe, unless it's to shit on him.

I live in Chile and here any introductory course will teach you some Marx (along with Weber and Durkheim as you mentioned, plus some foundational authors like Spencer and Saint-Simon), while actual Marxism has a decent presence in academia, though still minoritary since most of it is po-mo idpol crap.


saved

In the US unions are basically non-existent so that would explain why so many student groups are so fucking crazy and disconnected from actual worker struggles.

Give us some examples of exactly what they taught.

Could the OP just delete this thread and start another? This one got shitted up too fast.

kek

I agree very much with this post.

I think the general problem is in some form caused by the fact that what constitutes the working class has changed and it is more unclear who is working class now, at least in my country.
I think that's why young people who find themselves drawn to marxist theory either get stuck in a theorethical circle jerk or turn their focus to other groups, like refugees and immigrants, who it is easier to point to as being oppressed or marginalized.
At least that's how I see it as a grad student myself.

Agree 100%. Organize people who are actually working and who are older enough to not be letting themselves be influenced by fads.

Stop keking alone and learn the meaning of words, brainlet.

Sage works like classical sage

The retreat into endless university careers might only be another symptom of avoiding the hell that is being an average wage slave. As if being the perfect ideal worker communist is somehow going to instigate the revolution. In areas where the material conditions for revolution aren't there yet, obviously any first adherents to communism are going to be on the fringes of society.
That isn't to say that the whole anarcho-liberal clique isn't absolute dog shit, but it's only a product of modern bourgeois individualism. Critique that instead of its followers. Dismissing intellectualism outright is not a good solution if you want to break through this ideology.

Saved and thanks for not being an asshole like me who never shares screenshots

I see the student groups being more common thing as more of a side effect of the increase in popularity among socialism with millennials, which is a generation where a good chunk of people are currently in college.

Maybe once more start leaving college and heading towards the workplace we can see more workplace activisn

do people who think CNN is an unbiased source actually exist

CNN is liberal to centre right, and much more right wing when it comes to foreign policy.

Messed up that OP quote, but to add to that:

Whatever the situation may have been fifty or a hundred years ago, the present revolutionary movement does not aim to bring about the conditions of communism: these have been fully created by capitalism. Our objective is no longer to further promote the development of productive forces or to maintain and support this development with coercive action by the proletariat over the petite bourgeoisie: it is the immediate communisation of society. Capital has managed to invade and dominate our lives to such an extent that—at least in so-called developed countries—we are now revolutionary because we can no longer stand our relationship to our work, our friend, our environment, namely to everything from our next-door neighbour to our cat or radio programme. We want to change the world because it becomes increasingly difficult to realise and assert oneself in it. Our most vital need: others, seems so close and so far at the same time. A human community is at hand: its basis is present, a lot more so than a century ago. Passivity prevents its emergence. Mercantile ties are both fragile and strong.
t. Dauve

We're all in this together bros

Cathy Newman is that you?

Fucking swipe texting

How is this accomplished?
How is this Marxist as opposed to communitarian?

How do you mean? In what way do they oppose each other?

I mean, what even makes it Marxist? Plenty of people want to "build community", in fact pretty much nobody would oppose doing so

Well it's a part of communization theory, which builds on Marx' writings. I don't have a final verdict on the movement yet myself, but every once in a while I read some good critique of subjects like the ones OP mentioned by them.

libcom.org/library/eclipse-re-emergence-communist-movement

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kek