Ask an ex-ancom Leninist anything

First of all: I'm aware that converts from Leninism to anarchism exist. The fact that I'm the complete opposite, that is, my subjective history and its shifts in position doesn't "BTFO" any other comrade's. I'd rather have under revolutionary circumstances an anarcho-communist beside me than a complete baboons who is still stuck in a 20th century mindset, praising le DPRK.

Nevertheless, I am a communist who has turned from anarcho-communism to Leninism. I'm starting this thread because I believe that there are certain lessons to be drawn, hopefully for me as well. If you are (still) an anarchist, I'm not here to convert you. I will list my set of beliefs as they changed thru time and I encourage you to criticize me on any one of these points.

1. Even when I was an ancom (back in ~2012) I realized that all other so called "anarchist tendencies" were a complete and utter joke. Since I was already reading theory and asking honest questions on radical forums, I understood how deeply flawed anarcho-anythingisms [individualism, feminism, primitivism, etc.] were. For me, back in those days, Bakunin and Makhno BTFO'd any other tendency.

2. Since I came from a Catholic/conservative background it took a while for me to drop my "pacifism" (that is: my moralism), even after I became an atheist. I started to understand how revolutions come and go (I started studying them), yet my spontaneous and inherited ideology compelled me towards compromise. The tipping point for me was reading anarcho-nihilist texts (e.g. Monsieur Dupont), that showed me how even so called "egoists" portrayed moralistic characters. From that point on I developed critical glasses thru which I could spot moralistic tendencies from miles in every "anarchist-tendency".

3. Finally, the theorist who eventually "converted" me was Zizek. I know that some of you will sperg out by me mentioning this fact, yet it is true. He opened my eyes on topics like actually existing organizations, theory-work, and so on.

4. First, I assumed the "Leninist" attribute carefully. No wonder that I was banned from /r/communism in a week… Then, thru study, I came to understand both the flaws of Leninism and its strategic/critical/historical advantages. I was not too eager to identify with the label (given the absolute catastrophe the USSR ended up as), but I came to realize what Brecht's "fail again, fail better" slogan really meant.

In short, here I stand before you, dear comrades, an ex-ancom, who takes issue with being called an "tankie," while more and more identifying with the Leninist lesson.

AMA

Other urls found in this thread:

libgen.io/book/index.php?md5=A87ECBB483BF27F182F31626527035A6
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

Why should we care about some random dipshit's attempts at self-labeling?

Still, I should note that this tendency exists on the anarchist side as well. Unsubstantiated nostalgia toward Catalonia, appraisal for the failure that is the Zapatista movement, and so on.

It's literally "ask me anything" so tell me, what in your opinion is a good diet for a healthy leftist?

I should specify then: I'll respond to anything that relates to the topic. Otherwise: kys.

hi Badmouse

Then it's not "ask me anything" and I'm slightly disappointed you didn't answer my question about your diet.

Is there anything that you adopted from your ancom period that you still believe in today

The deeply rooting disrespect and skepticism towards hierarchies? Yes, it is true. However, I came to understand that we can not fight global capital without a state of our own. If there's a lesson I carried from my ancom past it is this: even assuming that I'd become after a successful revolution a part of the state apparatus, I'd be deeply suspicious towards it, not just on a spontaneous level, but more importantly: structurally. This latter point came to me while becoming a full blown Marxist. However true is the statement that states are essentially monopolies on [some sort/set of] power, by looking at their structural buildup we can determine not just the possible ways they can go wrong, but also how they might really serve our interests.

I already alluded to Bakunin, and he's an interesting reference to bring up in this context. As an ancom I was astounded by the fact that he actually argued for certain types of authorities! Yes, he said that he prefers the authority of a shoemaker on the topic of shoes vs. a peasant, and so on! With this in mind, still as an ancom, I started to look at contemporary anarchist movements, and realized that their program (eh) was quite different.

I eat 2 (two) children every day.

wtf do you really have to be a dick about it and can't give a non-meme answer?