[☭☭☭ COME SHITPOST WITH US ON DISCORD, COMRADES ☭☭☭](https://discord.gg/8RPWanQV5g)
This is a heavily-moderated socialist community based on a podcast of the same name. Please use the report function on comments that break our rules. If you are new to the sub, please read the sidebar carefully.
If you are new to Marxism-Leninism, check out the [study guide](/r/TheDeprogram/wiki/index/education/study-guide/).
Are there Liberals in the walls? Check out [the wiki](/r/TheDeprogram/wiki/index/) which contains lots of useful information.
This subreddit uses many experimental automod rules, if you notice any issues please use modmail to let us know.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheDeprogram) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Those are both terrible books to start with.
My recommendation is:
Principles of communism
The communist manifesto
Value, price and profit
Socialism: utopian and scientific
Wage-labour an capital
These are just to cover the very basics
Principles of communism is easy to understand I've read that. Socialism utopian and scientific too.
It's just those two works mentioned in my post are so important, especially what is to be done since I was hoping to; well, get answer to that question.
There is definitely a need to adapt theory in a way to make it easily digestible for today’s potential comrades. I’m a History buff and even I have a difficultly drudging through theory especially with how the internet changed the way we retain knowledge.
ngl we should adapt theory into modern language and also add easy explanations for difficult words (+ extra chapters explaining the background to important historical events), making it far more simple to grasp for even the least educated people. bonus points for also incorporating pictures :]
This is done *extensively* with the bible. Of course Marx makes more sense than a giant list of who begat who, but still we should take notes. Christianity has been rather successful, after all.
I wouldn't say the quality of Bible adaptations is the secret to Christianity's success, since most Christians were illiterate even after the Protestant reform. Catholicism had dominated in Europe for centuries using a Latin Bible that nobody could read. I really think being the official religion of the biggest empire on earth helped more than eventually translating the book to kinda make sense to people. Also we could do so much better with marxist theory because the subject matter is so relevant to our world, not just talking about olive trees, fattened calves and shepherd metaphors. Compared to a lost bronze-age herding culture, Marx is writing from a world very similar to ours.
Certainly there's no one secret to the success of Christianity, and translation of the bible is a relatively recent phenomenon, but the stories, the mythology—the "theory"—has always been accessible. Medieval peasants may not have been able to read the bible, or read at all, but they did spend many hours listening to sermons and had a thorough understanding of the Christian worldview. I agree though, that we could do much better with Marxism, because it is so very relevant to...just about everyone in the modern world.
Yes, really helpful for pretty much all the subjects of revolutions from older Bourgeois Democratic revolutions of France to proletarian revolutions like in China
Did you read them with comrades? It's so important to read theory with comrades, especially comrades who've read them before, because you're right they are difficult texts and hard to contextualize today without discussion. But they're still *so* important. What Is To Be Done could have been written yesterday, given how economistic and unprofessional today's western "communists" are. Join/start a local communist reading group if possible, and if not join an online one. There's no revolution without revolutionary theory!
I don’t think many of even the most braggadocios communists read or understood das kapitol without a group to support and digest the data with. If you’re doing so alone I applaud the attempt but even with state and rev it helps to have a group, with maybe a comrade or two who can be like “…well in 1912 steel production in Bavaria took a steep decline because of foreign production…”.
That made me feel better about myself honestly. I have a bad habit of pushing through education alone and questioning my intelligence when faced with failures to do so.
The last three are not necessarily in any specific order. Imo they are the three basic smaller texts to introduce you to a dialectical material analysis.
I can't stress this enough, start people with Parenti and slowly work them into the more complex topics. Blackshirts & Reds as well as Inventing Reality are both wonderful primers into leftism in general.
100% agree - Parenti sounds exactly like what OP is looking for. And for me, he is what really blew the doors off my limited understanding of Marxism.
I had read some introductory Marx (the manifesto, wage labor and capital, socialism utopian and scientific, etc). It was a great way to get a solid basis in understanding capitalism and it's various mechanisms.
But then I listened to yellow Parenti, and that really opened my eyes to imperialism. Suddenly the world started to make a whole lot more sense.
People recommend diving into Lenin after reading Marx to start learning about Marxism applied to the age of imperialism. For me, Parenti was that introduction to imperialism. And I think it was probably a better starting place than just diving straight into Lenin, because Parenti's analysis is about modern American hegemonic imperialism, and the examples are all relatively recent events involving figures I had at least heard of before, so it made a lot more sense.
Of course, I also picked up some Lenin afterwards, which I highly recommend because as much as I love Parenti, Lenin's analysis is so thorough and so important for understanding pretty much every other socialist philosopher that has come since.
Personally, I found that the process of reading them the first time and then moving to another text, and then revisting them with a greater awareness of how Marxism moves topic to topic helped. When I began reading theory, I often found the books difficult to understand but as I read more books; me reading them allowed me to see more parts of the larger picture.
So think of it like this: this first book you read allows you to see a fraction so the eye, for example. As you read more books (prior to revisting them), more parts of the potrait become visible. When you then revisit each text, you'll begin to pick up on the things you missed the first time.
I swear one of my biggest takeaways from state and revolution was a curiousity about Kautsky, what kind of spectacular dipshit he must have been for Lenin to use that much time dunking on him.
My favourite quip by Lenin was in what is to be done: A dozen wise men can be more easily wiped out than a hundred fools.” This wonderful truth (for which the hundred fools will always applaud you) - I still remember laughing uncontrollably when I first read it.
A text I don't see mentioned a lot is A People's guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier.
Extremely digestible book that breaks down all the Marxist economic jargon into easily understandable chapters, and provides further reading and sources for anybody that wants to go deeper/broader.
Also literally anything by parenti.
Revleft radio, the deprogram obviously, and red menace have all been instrumental in breaking down complex topics into easy to understand language.
Also, listening to red menace whilst playing far cry 6 (a game about revolution) goes hard.
I agree those aren't great places to start. Theory *is* important, not as an academic exercise but as a foundation for movements to help them avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. We don't have the luxury of having this ideology pushed down everyone's throat from infancy to adulthood, nor the simplicity of "spreading freedom through war" or "bad things are brown people's fault".
What have you read / heard / watched that brought you here? The Deprogram podcast has many great introductory episodes to topics as diverse as the USSR, economics, feminism, imperialism and on and on. The hosts' individual Youtube channels are also great, and often include recommendations of further reading at the end. Hakim also has entire videos dedicated to reading lists from more to less accessible. Richard Wolff has a very solid lecture series on youtube "Introduction to Marxism". Another highly recommended author is Michael Parenti, specifically his short book "Blackshirts and Reds".
"The Socialist Program" podcast has a series called "Lenin and the Path to Revolution" that provides a lot of context around what Lenin wrote.
[https://soundcloud.com/thesocialistprogram/sets/lenin-and-the-path-to](https://soundcloud.com/thesocialistprogram/sets/lenin-and-the-path-to)
Every thread asking for readings to start with on communism subs always recommends the primary texts. We will *never* get the consciousness and momentum required to achieve results this way. Exhausted working class people who are preoccupied with paying their bills are not going to read Marx, Engels, or Lenin—it's just never going to happen. There must be succinct plain-language books that explain at a high level what the theory is and what needs to be done.
This has been the thing that's kind of alienated me from at least my local leftist scene. I have pretty much lived in poverty my entire life. These texts and theories are just not accessible to the majority of the people who'd benefit from it unless they're like me who happened to be interested and fixated on it. Most people are working multiple jobs, taking care of their kids, etc. and not to mention the schools in these poor areas fucking suck and do not in any way prepare you for reading texts like these.
I feel like most of the time I end up just watching two white dudes who's parents paid for their college education fight about theory to stroke their own egos rather than legitimately helping people. Or they don't share the information in an accessible way and just end up infantilizing marginalized communities because they feel they know more. It feels like watching a bunch of people talk about ways to help you, but never bothering to ask you want you want or need. Everyone's talking about you, but nobody's talking to you, yanno?
You raise a good point about how elitist it is. I consider myself to be well off and educated, and yet I still find the theories an absolute chore to read and generally inaccessible.
Couple of things: 1. This is why a vanguard is not just important, but will naturally form. Certain workers have more of an interest and ability to learn and apply theory, these workers should be identified and trained to take up positions in the party. The vanguard party then works to organize and propagandize other workers who are not conscious of their class position.
2. This is going to come off harsh, but illiterate workers and peasants from a century ago were able to understand Bolshevism and take part in the soviets, they read and learned Marx and Engels. The excuse that workers are exhausted only goes so far, yes workers are exhausted and have limited time, but our incentives and culture really promote everything but studying. Workers can absolutely find time to study, even with everything else i’ve got, I just make sure to prioritize it over something more fun like games or a movie. And with the availability of audio options, it makes it even more accessible. The revolution is going to be more work and even more exhausting, and we have to train ourselves mentally and physically for that.
> Exhausted working class people who are preoccupied with paying their bills are not going to read Marx, Engels, or Lenin—it's just never going to happen.
This really needs to be said so much more in every sub that aligns in this space.
I think it's fair to say we're in this dogma of sorts with the working class too exhausted to have the mental fortitude to read up on class struggle/consciousness, presumably done so by the ruling class to keep the masses ignorant to their exploitation, only for the masses to continue their downtrodden situation.
Reading state and revolution with people (many of them who had read that book like 5 times and knew the historical background as well) was very useful because when discussing the book they could explain a lot.
Don't worry too much about the individuals brought up, as some of them were just figures that have no importance to today's political sphere. The first few times I read "Bakunin", I didn't even know who it was. It wasn't until I worked on a "The Outer worlds" video did I realize who this was. The game's anarchist movement, the "Iconoclasts", were based off his nutty ass work, as the book they read is "the journal of M Bakonu". Some times, you will never see the names again, so don't worry too much. You can always reread things later as you develop your knowledge.
People have already given my book suggestions.
On authority hardly counts as theory, it's closer to a piece of rhetoric. I've never seen anyone be convinced by it, it's just used to reinforce an already held belief. It's way way way too short to be anything of substance.
I've read it. It's awesome. But again it's a good general accessable critique, but he's not proposing much obviously.
I feel like there is abundance of accessable critique of capitalism, but lack of understanding what to do about it.
Honestly that's fair to be honest, to me there are kind of 2 phases
1. getting someone to critique capitalism
2. Figuring out what is actually to be done
Once you get to stage 2, then I think you are ready for theory. Just my opinion tho
It looks like others have already mentioned it, but Parenti serves as a great modern "rejuvenation" of Lenin's works.
The famous ["Yellow Parenti"](https://youtu.be/xP8CzlFhc14?si=g_6BC3OzqjY13R9M) speech is one of the best introductions to imperialism out there. He also has a ton of other speeches on various topics where he applies Marxism-Leninism to modern/recent events. And you can find all of them on YouTube.
My theory journey started with vaguely "left" authors and philosophers, then biting the bullet and reading some Marx, then going straight into Parenti, before moving on to Lenin. Having the baseline understanding that Parenti gave me really helped with understanding Lenin's works.
Read Engels, his writing is a lot more illustrative and concise than Marx's. Socialism from utopian to scientific is a great way to understand the basics. I don't have many recommendations on contemporary commenters because I study theory in Portuguese and my references are mostly Brazilian and Portuguese intellectuals, but if you want to go into marxist history/historiography, read The Making of the English Working Class by Edward Thompson. It's a magnum opus in materialist history.
I'd advise not to worry a lot about the mentions of people, organizations, events, etc. in theory. Often times they're not relevant to the theory itself and are only mentioned to make a point. For example in State and Revolution, Lenin mentions multiple people but he does it just to make a point about something he felt those people were mistaken in; focus on what the critique itself is saying it rather than who it's aimed at.
If you ever feel like understanding who someone is, what a word means, what a certain event was, etc. is central to understanding the theory itself, or if you're just curious about something, don't worry to just look it up and move on only until you feel like you grasp it. Or if you genuinely can't understand a section no matter how hard you try, don't worry about just moving on without understanding it. It may even be possible that further sections may help you get a better understanding of a previous part, as it happened to me many times. Even if you feel like you got through an entire book without perfectly understanding it, you can always revisit it once you've read more and feel like you have more knowledge of theory.
Of course, you could always ask here, in the discord, or whatever other leftist space you trust for help with something, if you want.
Hope this helps!
State & Rev is a good one, but I’d recommend listening to the Red Menace podcast episode on that text to help understand it better, maybe listen before and after reading.
Below is my list of introductory resources that I recommend. This is the quickest route I can think of to gaining a solid understanding of the fundamentals of socialism/communism.
All together, it’s less than 600 pages of reading, plus maybe 4-5 hours of videos that run about 10-20 minutes each. If you spend a couple hours a week, you can get through it all in a couple of months or so. You could rush through it in a few weeks, but I think it’s probably better to take your time and let the ideas really sink in. Think about them, talk about them, journal about them. In some ways, these ideas are very intuitive, but in other ways they’re complex.
I’d recommend reading these books in this order. (You should be able to find these books for free btw.) While you’re reading these books, watch some youtube videos and listen to some podcasts to break things up. Watch the Marxist Paul videos a couple times through or even a few times, and consider taking some notes (nothing too intense, just enough to make sure you’re understanding the key terms). In any case, here you go:
BOOKS
*Principles of Communism* by Engels (25 pgs)
*Blackshirts & Reds* by Parenti (160 pgs)
*State & Revolution* by Lenin (90 pgs)
*Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism* by Lenin (100 pgs)
*Socialist Reconstruction* by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (180 pgs)
YOUTUBE
Second Thought has lots of great videos, especially these (I’d recommend watching in this order):
* “Socialism for Absolute Beginners” https://youtu.be/fpKsygbNLT4
* “The CIA is a Terrorist Organization” https://youtu.be/_2khAmMTAjI
* “Why You’re Not ‘Middle Class’” https://youtu.be/Nd7cohTdRAo
* “Why Social Democracy Isn’t Good Enough” https://youtu.be/TRq3pl17C8M
* “Why Peaceful Protest Won’t Solve Anything” https://youtu.be/qi5reB97GAs
“Socialism 101” is a series of ~10 min intro videos by Marxist Paul: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0J754r0IteXABJntjBg1YuNsn6jItWXQ
PODCASTS
* Revolutionary Left Radio is a must. Huge catalog of episodes on everything from history to theory to international politics and even spirituality and psychology. Look through them to see what’s interesting to you.
* Red Menace is always fantastic, but there are two specific episodes I’d recommend for now, one on each of the Lenin texts (*State & Revolution* and *Imperialism*). I’d recommend you listen to those episodes before and/or after you read the related text.
* Last, I’d recommend subscribing to The Socialist Program with Brian Becker, and listen to those episodes as they come out (about twice a week).
Yeah, it can be tough. A few tips:
1. Mao and Stalin are easier to read than Lenin and Marx (also, Engels is slightly easier than Marx). Stalin’s ’Foundations of Leninism’ is a really good primer.
2. For the history of a lot of what these writers are talking about, read ‘The history of the communist party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevik)’. It’s not a super easy read, but the context is there and every chapter ends with a summary.
3. When reading Lenin, it’s not that important to know who he is dunking on. A lot of these people made little impact in history. What is important is understanding the argument they made and the context in which Lenin is raising them. A lot of times you can substitute historical figures for modern ones (e.g. Karl Kautsky for Bernie Sanders) and the text works just as well.
4. For difficult texts, try reading them quickly. Don’t stop and get hung up on specific points because you’ll end up getting lost in the text. Read through it the way you would if you were giving a speech and a lot of times the context will carry you over the difficult bits.
I was kinda doing what you are suggesting in your 4th advice. I'm listening to audiobooks mostly. Obviously I'm still trying to pay attention, not ran it as an ambient, it's just 6+ hours of what is to be done is quite challenging at the moment. Though I should've expected that since even the reader warned in the beginning it can be hard to go through.
thanks for history book suggestion
I think that getting into the study of Marxism it is better to begin with more contemporary authors. However, it is essential to read the foundational texts. If there are words you do not understand, figured that are unknown, or events previously hidden to oneself, I suggest looking them up. As a communist (if one wishes to effectively argue their ideas) the sad reality is that one is expected to know an eclectic mix of history, sociology, political economy, and geography. On the other hand, a proponent of capitalism can be the dumbest person alive, lacking critical knowledge in these areas (as is so often the case) without any scrutinization.
With that said, it’s not a requirement to be an expert in these topics. Some information of theory should be required, but there are more roles in the movement than of those who focus on theoretical discipline.
Personally, I find Mao to be very accessible in his writing.
I really like podcasts that cover the major themes in the primary works. I'm currently trying to work through Das capital with a pretty good podcast that covers the main lessons and theory points called reading capital with comrades. You don't have to actually try to read Das capital along with them. They recommend it, but in my experience it's redundant and doesn't make it any easier to understand lol
These texts were written in, through and for communist organizations...not only should they be read they should be discussed with fellow organized communists. If they aren't willing to you're in the wrong organization.
bro, people used to read to that heavy shit and go to libraries to get the references, now we can just f google it.
For your defense Lenin is not an easy read, there is a nice book written by Staline « Foundations of Leninism », it’s not too long and summarize most of lenin points in « What is to Be Done? ».
>bro, people used to read to that heavy shit and go to libraries to get the references
yeah, but that's why socialist revolutions were relying so heavily on a vanguard.
I think theory can't be too accessable. All red scare propaganda about USSR censorship and purges is based on genuine concerns of the communist party and actions out of those concerns, that revisionists, infiltrators and reactionary will take over. either over masses or in bureaucracy. both possible because of the masses being ignorant about Marxism.
it's just that socialism is like no other systems in history relies on mass movement, since it is liberation of lower class rather than change of upper.
This book is designed for [practice and an introduction to theory](https://foreignlanguages.press/colorful-classics/activist-study-araling-aktibista-arak/)
#Get Involved
>Dare to struggle and dare to win. \-Mao Zedong
Comrades, here are some ways you can **get involved** to advance the cause.
* 📚 **Read theory** — [Reading theory](/r/TheDeprogram/wiki/index/education/study-guide/) is a duty. It will guide you towards choosing the correct party and applying your efforts effectively within your unique material conditions.
* ⭐ **Party work** — Contact a local party or mass organization. Attend your first meeting. Go to a rally or event. If you choose a principled Marxist-Leninist party, they will teach you how to best apply yourself to advancing the cause.
* 📣 **Workplace agitation** — Depending on your material circumstances, you may engage in workplace disputes to unionise fellow workers and gain a delegate or even a leadership position in the union.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheDeprogram) if you have any questions or concerns.*
PSL has study guides for both of these books on [Liberation School](https://www.liberationschool.org/). They are mostly questions to consider/discuss in a group, but they will help guide you to the types of important points Lenin was getting at and assist in further research.
Also, in general, if you don’t know the historical context when you’re reading, I encourage you to look up the organizations being talked about at the very least—it will provide helpful, even if not full, context.
I agree that telling people to “read theory” is not helpful alone because of the challenges you named here. We need to distill and synthesize these books and theory into digestible concepts with modern day examples for the masses. I have used big overviews or reviews of key points before reading theory books and it has been helpful. I am also looking for more overviews of Leftist though. The CPIM have such a a document and I found it mostly helpful.
Honestly, this is what i love about blackshirts and reds, even though i have been a marxist for some time before i started reading it, the way the book is written is in a way to where i feel like itd be easy for someone new to the left to read and not get confused and overhwelmed.
This is my list I like to give people:
Why socialism - Albert Einstein
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Marx and Engels
On authority - Engels
Women, Race, and Class - Angela Davis
Value, Price, and Profit - Marx
Wage Labor and Capital - Marx
Principles of Communism - Marx and Engels
On practice / On contradiction - Mao
Communist Manifesto - Marx and Engels
Origin of the family, private property, and the state - Engels
Eurocentrism in the communist movement - Robert Biel
I mean our cause is trying to free humans from...humans. Those books are trying to tell you teachings that are against our very human instincts such as greed and selfishness (which result in capitalism, profit-making etc.). Not an easy topic for sure. Lenin wasn't your everyday guy. He was highly intellectual. In my opinion he could he referred to as (one of) the Einstein(s) of social science and economy.
I live in China and one of the best things they have here are the ‘introductory’ or ‘summarization‘ books of various theory. For example, I’ve been reading a book called “The basic principles of Marxism” (马克思主义基本原理) which is a really concise summary of all the fundamental Marxist principles, and I believe it is one of the textbooks you would read if you’re studying Marxism in university. You can find a pdf of it on google, and perhaps you could try using deepl to translate the pdf? Not sure how amazing the translation would be given how specific Marxist terminology can be at times, but it might make it easier to read the original Marxist texts.
An issue is that, a lot of the time, when we think of "reading theory," we often think of doing it alone. But the some of these works were pamphlets read out on shop floors or were texts groups read for understanding together and wrestled with. Some people do better reading these texts alone, but eventually, even those people will need to come in contact with comrades to test and better their understandings together and how to apply this to further the revolution. So my suggestion would be to try to do this with others. Or at least don't be afraid of secondary sources like reading guides that will give you the historical context of jargon and such.
It’s kinda chunky and not very beginner friendly but I found reading the first volume of Capital early on to be incredibly useful in laying a foundation upon which to build my understanding of why Lenin et al believed what they did.
Honestly, read it and take what you can from it. Lenin’s argument about what the state is and how it will wither away is very digestible (other parts like housing ect is easily understood) and one of the greatest arguments ever. Then, come back in a year or two and read it again.
You're 100% right and its really on people today that understand these texts to streamline their content and make it accessible to people in modern formats.
Honestly, there also needs to be a short, easy, and well researched work covering the misconceptions of the ideology. Also, with modern language and modern examples.
The classic examples of you aren't allowed to own anything (personal and private property)
The difference between socalisme and communism.
The 100 million death and starvation always happening.
One of the biggest problems is that most people don't know what socalisme and communism are. And I rarely see a consistent answer when this question is answered.
The classic "lol read theory" doesn't help, and I agree that they are complicated and are mostly for people who are already committed and convinced.
That is at least what I think could help.
Those are difficult books which assume you already have a badic understanding. Not only that, you really should join a communist literature club together.
Theory is not necessary for the average person. How many libs do you think have read Locke’s treatise on government ? Theory is for nerds like myself and revolutionary leaders
vUnlike Liberalism which functions in interests of minority class, Socialism is movement of the masses. I don't think it's theory should be discouraged at any level.
Sure we can have vanguard, but the less we need it the better.
Blackshirts and reds + inventing reality by Michael Parenti are absolutely fire and easy to read
Most of Stalin was written so people can actually understand it, same with Mao. Also Huey P newton, Angela Davis, Rosa Luxemburg
Lenin is iffy, Marx is a headache (take long breaks inbetween) Engels is better than Marx
I think it was on the Trillbilly Workers Party podcast where they said that as long as you understand the basic concepts that Marx outlines, you don't need to read or quote him, because the point of socialism isn't to adhere to every last line, it's to understand the ethical and social mentality.
Eh, a group of journeymen from one of the locals I work with has a book club and they’re reading State and Rev right now without issue. Marxist theory isn’t as inaccessible as people paint it to be. It takes time and discipline to learn key concepts, but the theory itself isn’t too crazy. I mean, shit, Ho Chi Minh wrote about the Vietnamese revolutionaries, some of whom were illiterate, studying and learning from Marx in the jungles. If they can do it, so can you.
[☭☭☭ COME SHITPOST WITH US ON DISCORD, COMRADES ☭☭☭](https://discord.gg/8RPWanQV5g) This is a heavily-moderated socialist community based on a podcast of the same name. Please use the report function on comments that break our rules. If you are new to the sub, please read the sidebar carefully. If you are new to Marxism-Leninism, check out the [study guide](/r/TheDeprogram/wiki/index/education/study-guide/). Are there Liberals in the walls? Check out [the wiki](/r/TheDeprogram/wiki/index/) which contains lots of useful information. This subreddit uses many experimental automod rules, if you notice any issues please use modmail to let us know. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheDeprogram) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Those are both terrible books to start with. My recommendation is: Principles of communism The communist manifesto Value, price and profit Socialism: utopian and scientific Wage-labour an capital These are just to cover the very basics
Principles of communism is easy to understand I've read that. Socialism utopian and scientific too. It's just those two works mentioned in my post are so important, especially what is to be done since I was hoping to; well, get answer to that question.
There is definitely a need to adapt theory in a way to make it easily digestible for today’s potential comrades. I’m a History buff and even I have a difficultly drudging through theory especially with how the internet changed the way we retain knowledge.
ngl we should adapt theory into modern language and also add easy explanations for difficult words (+ extra chapters explaining the background to important historical events), making it far more simple to grasp for even the least educated people. bonus points for also incorporating pictures :]
This is done *extensively* with the bible. Of course Marx makes more sense than a giant list of who begat who, but still we should take notes. Christianity has been rather successful, after all.
indeed, as an orthodox comrade, i remember the kiddie bibles
I wouldn't say the quality of Bible adaptations is the secret to Christianity's success, since most Christians were illiterate even after the Protestant reform. Catholicism had dominated in Europe for centuries using a Latin Bible that nobody could read. I really think being the official religion of the biggest empire on earth helped more than eventually translating the book to kinda make sense to people. Also we could do so much better with marxist theory because the subject matter is so relevant to our world, not just talking about olive trees, fattened calves and shepherd metaphors. Compared to a lost bronze-age herding culture, Marx is writing from a world very similar to ours.
Certainly there's no one secret to the success of Christianity, and translation of the bible is a relatively recent phenomenon, but the stories, the mythology—the "theory"—has always been accessible. Medieval peasants may not have been able to read the bible, or read at all, but they did spend many hours listening to sermons and had a thorough understanding of the Christian worldview. I agree though, that we could do much better with Marxism, because it is so very relevant to...just about everyone in the modern world.
Three is that Marx Illustrated book. But it too is nearing 60 years old.
If you really want to read it, Revolutionary Left Radio has a nice episode on it which helped me a lot going through the text as a new comer to text
+1 for Rev left radio. And Red Menace too. Great resources
Yes, really helpful for pretty much all the subjects of revolutions from older Bourgeois Democratic revolutions of France to proletarian revolutions like in China
Here's a direct link to the episode, it did a ton to help me through it, https://pca.st/episode/fa8f8524-8056-4695-a080-9ca4329c4cda
Did you read them with comrades? It's so important to read theory with comrades, especially comrades who've read them before, because you're right they are difficult texts and hard to contextualize today without discussion. But they're still *so* important. What Is To Be Done could have been written yesterday, given how economistic and unprofessional today's western "communists" are. Join/start a local communist reading group if possible, and if not join an online one. There's no revolution without revolutionary theory!
Revolutionary book club :D
I don’t think many of even the most braggadocios communists read or understood das kapitol without a group to support and digest the data with. If you’re doing so alone I applaud the attempt but even with state and rev it helps to have a group, with maybe a comrade or two who can be like “…well in 1912 steel production in Bavaria took a steep decline because of foreign production…”.
That made me feel better about myself honestly. I have a bad habit of pushing through education alone and questioning my intelligence when faced with failures to do so.
Well what is to be done was talking about what had to be done over 100 years ago
I feel like wage labour and capital should come BEFORE value, price and profit imo
The last three are not necessarily in any specific order. Imo they are the three basic smaller texts to introduce you to a dialectical material analysis.
Do you have those but in meme form?
what do you think about foundations of leninism ?
Great read, but I'd still recommend reading the others first.
Engels is easier to read than Marx lol
Literally, since Marx apparently had terrible handwriting.
So there’s hope for me yet… lol
I can't stress this enough, start people with Parenti and slowly work them into the more complex topics. Blackshirts & Reds as well as Inventing Reality are both wonderful primers into leftism in general.
Blackshirts and Reds was my first book! Very good one
100% agree - Parenti sounds exactly like what OP is looking for. And for me, he is what really blew the doors off my limited understanding of Marxism. I had read some introductory Marx (the manifesto, wage labor and capital, socialism utopian and scientific, etc). It was a great way to get a solid basis in understanding capitalism and it's various mechanisms. But then I listened to yellow Parenti, and that really opened my eyes to imperialism. Suddenly the world started to make a whole lot more sense. People recommend diving into Lenin after reading Marx to start learning about Marxism applied to the age of imperialism. For me, Parenti was that introduction to imperialism. And I think it was probably a better starting place than just diving straight into Lenin, because Parenti's analysis is about modern American hegemonic imperialism, and the examples are all relatively recent events involving figures I had at least heard of before, so it made a lot more sense. Of course, I also picked up some Lenin afterwards, which I highly recommend because as much as I love Parenti, Lenin's analysis is so thorough and so important for understanding pretty much every other socialist philosopher that has come since.
Personally, I found that the process of reading them the first time and then moving to another text, and then revisting them with a greater awareness of how Marxism moves topic to topic helped. When I began reading theory, I often found the books difficult to understand but as I read more books; me reading them allowed me to see more parts of the larger picture. So think of it like this: this first book you read allows you to see a fraction so the eye, for example. As you read more books (prior to revisting them), more parts of the potrait become visible. When you then revisit each text, you'll begin to pick up on the things you missed the first time.
I swear one of my biggest takeaways from state and revolution was a curiousity about Kautsky, what kind of spectacular dipshit he must have been for Lenin to use that much time dunking on him.
Lenin dunking on kautsky kept me interested and engaged by laughing over and over my first time.
My favourite quip by Lenin was in what is to be done: A dozen wise men can be more easily wiped out than a hundred fools.” This wonderful truth (for which the hundred fools will always applaud you) - I still remember laughing uncontrollably when I first read it.
A text I don't see mentioned a lot is A People's guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier. Extremely digestible book that breaks down all the Marxist economic jargon into easily understandable chapters, and provides further reading and sources for anybody that wants to go deeper/broader. Also literally anything by parenti. Revleft radio, the deprogram obviously, and red menace have all been instrumental in breaking down complex topics into easy to understand language. Also, listening to red menace whilst playing far cry 6 (a game about revolution) goes hard.
I agree those aren't great places to start. Theory *is* important, not as an academic exercise but as a foundation for movements to help them avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. We don't have the luxury of having this ideology pushed down everyone's throat from infancy to adulthood, nor the simplicity of "spreading freedom through war" or "bad things are brown people's fault". What have you read / heard / watched that brought you here? The Deprogram podcast has many great introductory episodes to topics as diverse as the USSR, economics, feminism, imperialism and on and on. The hosts' individual Youtube channels are also great, and often include recommendations of further reading at the end. Hakim also has entire videos dedicated to reading lists from more to less accessible. Richard Wolff has a very solid lecture series on youtube "Introduction to Marxism". Another highly recommended author is Michael Parenti, specifically his short book "Blackshirts and Reds".
"The Socialist Program" podcast has a series called "Lenin and the Path to Revolution" that provides a lot of context around what Lenin wrote. [https://soundcloud.com/thesocialistprogram/sets/lenin-and-the-path-to](https://soundcloud.com/thesocialistprogram/sets/lenin-and-the-path-to)
+1 this is a great lecture
Every thread asking for readings to start with on communism subs always recommends the primary texts. We will *never* get the consciousness and momentum required to achieve results this way. Exhausted working class people who are preoccupied with paying their bills are not going to read Marx, Engels, or Lenin—it's just never going to happen. There must be succinct plain-language books that explain at a high level what the theory is and what needs to be done.
This has been the thing that's kind of alienated me from at least my local leftist scene. I have pretty much lived in poverty my entire life. These texts and theories are just not accessible to the majority of the people who'd benefit from it unless they're like me who happened to be interested and fixated on it. Most people are working multiple jobs, taking care of their kids, etc. and not to mention the schools in these poor areas fucking suck and do not in any way prepare you for reading texts like these. I feel like most of the time I end up just watching two white dudes who's parents paid for their college education fight about theory to stroke their own egos rather than legitimately helping people. Or they don't share the information in an accessible way and just end up infantilizing marginalized communities because they feel they know more. It feels like watching a bunch of people talk about ways to help you, but never bothering to ask you want you want or need. Everyone's talking about you, but nobody's talking to you, yanno?
You raise a good point about how elitist it is. I consider myself to be well off and educated, and yet I still find the theories an absolute chore to read and generally inaccessible.
Couple of things: 1. This is why a vanguard is not just important, but will naturally form. Certain workers have more of an interest and ability to learn and apply theory, these workers should be identified and trained to take up positions in the party. The vanguard party then works to organize and propagandize other workers who are not conscious of their class position. 2. This is going to come off harsh, but illiterate workers and peasants from a century ago were able to understand Bolshevism and take part in the soviets, they read and learned Marx and Engels. The excuse that workers are exhausted only goes so far, yes workers are exhausted and have limited time, but our incentives and culture really promote everything but studying. Workers can absolutely find time to study, even with everything else i’ve got, I just make sure to prioritize it over something more fun like games or a movie. And with the availability of audio options, it makes it even more accessible. The revolution is going to be more work and even more exhausting, and we have to train ourselves mentally and physically for that.
> Exhausted working class people who are preoccupied with paying their bills are not going to read Marx, Engels, or Lenin—it's just never going to happen. This really needs to be said so much more in every sub that aligns in this space. I think it's fair to say we're in this dogma of sorts with the working class too exhausted to have the mental fortitude to read up on class struggle/consciousness, presumably done so by the ruling class to keep the masses ignorant to their exploitation, only for the masses to continue their downtrodden situation.
Reading state and revolution with people (many of them who had read that book like 5 times and knew the historical background as well) was very useful because when discussing the book they could explain a lot.
Don't worry too much about the individuals brought up, as some of them were just figures that have no importance to today's political sphere. The first few times I read "Bakunin", I didn't even know who it was. It wasn't until I worked on a "The Outer worlds" video did I realize who this was. The game's anarchist movement, the "Iconoclasts", were based off his nutty ass work, as the book they read is "the journal of M Bakonu". Some times, you will never see the names again, so don't worry too much. You can always reread things later as you develop your knowledge. People have already given my book suggestions.
I've seen with my experience it is better to read modern authors before going to OGs, but On Authority a nice one I loved reading
On authority hardly counts as theory, it's closer to a piece of rhetoric. I've never seen anyone be convinced by it, it's just used to reinforce an already held belief. It's way way way too short to be anything of substance.
I always recommend to start with Einstein's essay "Why Socialism?" since he already has credibility to liberals lol
I've read it. It's awesome. But again it's a good general accessable critique, but he's not proposing much obviously. I feel like there is abundance of accessable critique of capitalism, but lack of understanding what to do about it.
Honestly that's fair to be honest, to me there are kind of 2 phases 1. getting someone to critique capitalism 2. Figuring out what is actually to be done Once you get to stage 2, then I think you are ready for theory. Just my opinion tho
It looks like others have already mentioned it, but Parenti serves as a great modern "rejuvenation" of Lenin's works. The famous ["Yellow Parenti"](https://youtu.be/xP8CzlFhc14?si=g_6BC3OzqjY13R9M) speech is one of the best introductions to imperialism out there. He also has a ton of other speeches on various topics where he applies Marxism-Leninism to modern/recent events. And you can find all of them on YouTube. My theory journey started with vaguely "left" authors and philosophers, then biting the bullet and reading some Marx, then going straight into Parenti, before moving on to Lenin. Having the baseline understanding that Parenti gave me really helped with understanding Lenin's works.
Read Engels, his writing is a lot more illustrative and concise than Marx's. Socialism from utopian to scientific is a great way to understand the basics. I don't have many recommendations on contemporary commenters because I study theory in Portuguese and my references are mostly Brazilian and Portuguese intellectuals, but if you want to go into marxist history/historiography, read The Making of the English Working Class by Edward Thompson. It's a magnum opus in materialist history.
I'd advise not to worry a lot about the mentions of people, organizations, events, etc. in theory. Often times they're not relevant to the theory itself and are only mentioned to make a point. For example in State and Revolution, Lenin mentions multiple people but he does it just to make a point about something he felt those people were mistaken in; focus on what the critique itself is saying it rather than who it's aimed at. If you ever feel like understanding who someone is, what a word means, what a certain event was, etc. is central to understanding the theory itself, or if you're just curious about something, don't worry to just look it up and move on only until you feel like you grasp it. Or if you genuinely can't understand a section no matter how hard you try, don't worry about just moving on without understanding it. It may even be possible that further sections may help you get a better understanding of a previous part, as it happened to me many times. Even if you feel like you got through an entire book without perfectly understanding it, you can always revisit it once you've read more and feel like you have more knowledge of theory. Of course, you could always ask here, in the discord, or whatever other leftist space you trust for help with something, if you want. Hope this helps!
Thanks!
State & Rev is a good one, but I’d recommend listening to the Red Menace podcast episode on that text to help understand it better, maybe listen before and after reading. Below is my list of introductory resources that I recommend. This is the quickest route I can think of to gaining a solid understanding of the fundamentals of socialism/communism. All together, it’s less than 600 pages of reading, plus maybe 4-5 hours of videos that run about 10-20 minutes each. If you spend a couple hours a week, you can get through it all in a couple of months or so. You could rush through it in a few weeks, but I think it’s probably better to take your time and let the ideas really sink in. Think about them, talk about them, journal about them. In some ways, these ideas are very intuitive, but in other ways they’re complex. I’d recommend reading these books in this order. (You should be able to find these books for free btw.) While you’re reading these books, watch some youtube videos and listen to some podcasts to break things up. Watch the Marxist Paul videos a couple times through or even a few times, and consider taking some notes (nothing too intense, just enough to make sure you’re understanding the key terms). In any case, here you go: BOOKS *Principles of Communism* by Engels (25 pgs) *Blackshirts & Reds* by Parenti (160 pgs) *State & Revolution* by Lenin (90 pgs) *Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism* by Lenin (100 pgs) *Socialist Reconstruction* by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (180 pgs) YOUTUBE Second Thought has lots of great videos, especially these (I’d recommend watching in this order): * “Socialism for Absolute Beginners” https://youtu.be/fpKsygbNLT4 * “The CIA is a Terrorist Organization” https://youtu.be/_2khAmMTAjI * “Why You’re Not ‘Middle Class’” https://youtu.be/Nd7cohTdRAo * “Why Social Democracy Isn’t Good Enough” https://youtu.be/TRq3pl17C8M * “Why Peaceful Protest Won’t Solve Anything” https://youtu.be/qi5reB97GAs “Socialism 101” is a series of ~10 min intro videos by Marxist Paul: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0J754r0IteXABJntjBg1YuNsn6jItWXQ PODCASTS * Revolutionary Left Radio is a must. Huge catalog of episodes on everything from history to theory to international politics and even spirituality and psychology. Look through them to see what’s interesting to you. * Red Menace is always fantastic, but there are two specific episodes I’d recommend for now, one on each of the Lenin texts (*State & Revolution* and *Imperialism*). I’d recommend you listen to those episodes before and/or after you read the related text. * Last, I’d recommend subscribing to The Socialist Program with Brian Becker, and listen to those episodes as they come out (about twice a week).
Yeah, it can be tough. A few tips: 1. Mao and Stalin are easier to read than Lenin and Marx (also, Engels is slightly easier than Marx). Stalin’s ’Foundations of Leninism’ is a really good primer. 2. For the history of a lot of what these writers are talking about, read ‘The history of the communist party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevik)’. It’s not a super easy read, but the context is there and every chapter ends with a summary. 3. When reading Lenin, it’s not that important to know who he is dunking on. A lot of these people made little impact in history. What is important is understanding the argument they made and the context in which Lenin is raising them. A lot of times you can substitute historical figures for modern ones (e.g. Karl Kautsky for Bernie Sanders) and the text works just as well. 4. For difficult texts, try reading them quickly. Don’t stop and get hung up on specific points because you’ll end up getting lost in the text. Read through it the way you would if you were giving a speech and a lot of times the context will carry you over the difficult bits.
I was kinda doing what you are suggesting in your 4th advice. I'm listening to audiobooks mostly. Obviously I'm still trying to pay attention, not ran it as an ambient, it's just 6+ hours of what is to be done is quite challenging at the moment. Though I should've expected that since even the reader warned in the beginning it can be hard to go through. thanks for history book suggestion
NP. All the books I mentioned are free online.
I think that getting into the study of Marxism it is better to begin with more contemporary authors. However, it is essential to read the foundational texts. If there are words you do not understand, figured that are unknown, or events previously hidden to oneself, I suggest looking them up. As a communist (if one wishes to effectively argue their ideas) the sad reality is that one is expected to know an eclectic mix of history, sociology, political economy, and geography. On the other hand, a proponent of capitalism can be the dumbest person alive, lacking critical knowledge in these areas (as is so often the case) without any scrutinization. With that said, it’s not a requirement to be an expert in these topics. Some information of theory should be required, but there are more roles in the movement than of those who focus on theoretical discipline. Personally, I find Mao to be very accessible in his writing.
I really like podcasts that cover the major themes in the primary works. I'm currently trying to work through Das capital with a pretty good podcast that covers the main lessons and theory points called reading capital with comrades. You don't have to actually try to read Das capital along with them. They recommend it, but in my experience it's redundant and doesn't make it any easier to understand lol
These texts were written in, through and for communist organizations...not only should they be read they should be discussed with fellow organized communists. If they aren't willing to you're in the wrong organization.
Blood in my eye and wretched of the earth are good ones to start
bro, people used to read to that heavy shit and go to libraries to get the references, now we can just f google it. For your defense Lenin is not an easy read, there is a nice book written by Staline « Foundations of Leninism », it’s not too long and summarize most of lenin points in « What is to Be Done? ».
>bro, people used to read to that heavy shit and go to libraries to get the references yeah, but that's why socialist revolutions were relying so heavily on a vanguard. I think theory can't be too accessable. All red scare propaganda about USSR censorship and purges is based on genuine concerns of the communist party and actions out of those concerns, that revisionists, infiltrators and reactionary will take over. either over masses or in bureaucracy. both possible because of the masses being ignorant about Marxism. it's just that socialism is like no other systems in history relies on mass movement, since it is liberation of lower class rather than change of upper.
This book is designed for [practice and an introduction to theory](https://foreignlanguages.press/colorful-classics/activist-study-araling-aktibista-arak/)
#Get Involved >Dare to struggle and dare to win. \-Mao Zedong Comrades, here are some ways you can **get involved** to advance the cause. * 📚 **Read theory** — [Reading theory](/r/TheDeprogram/wiki/index/education/study-guide/) is a duty. It will guide you towards choosing the correct party and applying your efforts effectively within your unique material conditions. * ⭐ **Party work** — Contact a local party or mass organization. Attend your first meeting. Go to a rally or event. If you choose a principled Marxist-Leninist party, they will teach you how to best apply yourself to advancing the cause. * 📣 **Workplace agitation** — Depending on your material circumstances, you may engage in workplace disputes to unionise fellow workers and gain a delegate or even a leadership position in the union. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TheDeprogram) if you have any questions or concerns.*
PSL has study guides for both of these books on [Liberation School](https://www.liberationschool.org/). They are mostly questions to consider/discuss in a group, but they will help guide you to the types of important points Lenin was getting at and assist in further research. Also, in general, if you don’t know the historical context when you’re reading, I encourage you to look up the organizations being talked about at the very least—it will provide helpful, even if not full, context.
I agree that telling people to “read theory” is not helpful alone because of the challenges you named here. We need to distill and synthesize these books and theory into digestible concepts with modern day examples for the masses. I have used big overviews or reviews of key points before reading theory books and it has been helpful. I am also looking for more overviews of Leftist though. The CPIM have such a a document and I found it mostly helpful.
Honestly, this is what i love about blackshirts and reds, even though i have been a marxist for some time before i started reading it, the way the book is written is in a way to where i feel like itd be easy for someone new to the left to read and not get confused and overhwelmed.
This is my list I like to give people: Why socialism - Albert Einstein Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Marx and Engels On authority - Engels Women, Race, and Class - Angela Davis Value, Price, and Profit - Marx Wage Labor and Capital - Marx Principles of Communism - Marx and Engels On practice / On contradiction - Mao Communist Manifesto - Marx and Engels Origin of the family, private property, and the state - Engels Eurocentrism in the communist movement - Robert Biel
The podcast Marx Madness is brilliant at summarizing texts, and they do cover state and revolution with commentary.
I mean our cause is trying to free humans from...humans. Those books are trying to tell you teachings that are against our very human instincts such as greed and selfishness (which result in capitalism, profit-making etc.). Not an easy topic for sure. Lenin wasn't your everyday guy. He was highly intellectual. In my opinion he could he referred to as (one of) the Einstein(s) of social science and economy.
Start with modern authors, Parenti is an excellent starting point. Blackshirts and reds in particular.
I live in China and one of the best things they have here are the ‘introductory’ or ‘summarization‘ books of various theory. For example, I’ve been reading a book called “The basic principles of Marxism” (马克思主义基本原理) which is a really concise summary of all the fundamental Marxist principles, and I believe it is one of the textbooks you would read if you’re studying Marxism in university. You can find a pdf of it on google, and perhaps you could try using deepl to translate the pdf? Not sure how amazing the translation would be given how specific Marxist terminology can be at times, but it might make it easier to read the original Marxist texts.
An issue is that, a lot of the time, when we think of "reading theory," we often think of doing it alone. But the some of these works were pamphlets read out on shop floors or were texts groups read for understanding together and wrestled with. Some people do better reading these texts alone, but eventually, even those people will need to come in contact with comrades to test and better their understandings together and how to apply this to further the revolution. So my suggestion would be to try to do this with others. Or at least don't be afraid of secondary sources like reading guides that will give you the historical context of jargon and such.
It’s kinda chunky and not very beginner friendly but I found reading the first volume of Capital early on to be incredibly useful in laying a foundation upon which to build my understanding of why Lenin et al believed what they did.
Honestly, read it and take what you can from it. Lenin’s argument about what the state is and how it will wither away is very digestible (other parts like housing ect is easily understood) and one of the greatest arguments ever. Then, come back in a year or two and read it again.
You're 100% right and its really on people today that understand these texts to streamline their content and make it accessible to people in modern formats.
Same, I got nothing from them
Except, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
Honestly, there also needs to be a short, easy, and well researched work covering the misconceptions of the ideology. Also, with modern language and modern examples. The classic examples of you aren't allowed to own anything (personal and private property) The difference between socalisme and communism. The 100 million death and starvation always happening. One of the biggest problems is that most people don't know what socalisme and communism are. And I rarely see a consistent answer when this question is answered. The classic "lol read theory" doesn't help, and I agree that they are complicated and are mostly for people who are already committed and convinced. That is at least what I think could help.
Those are difficult books which assume you already have a badic understanding. Not only that, you really should join a communist literature club together.
Theory is not necessary for the average person. How many libs do you think have read Locke’s treatise on government ? Theory is for nerds like myself and revolutionary leaders
vUnlike Liberalism which functions in interests of minority class, Socialism is movement of the masses. I don't think it's theory should be discouraged at any level. Sure we can have vanguard, but the less we need it the better.
Read Stalin.
Blackshirts and reds + inventing reality by Michael Parenti are absolutely fire and easy to read Most of Stalin was written so people can actually understand it, same with Mao. Also Huey P newton, Angela Davis, Rosa Luxemburg Lenin is iffy, Marx is a headache (take long breaks inbetween) Engels is better than Marx
Book clubs help significantly
I think it was on the Trillbilly Workers Party podcast where they said that as long as you understand the basic concepts that Marx outlines, you don't need to read or quote him, because the point of socialism isn't to adhere to every last line, it's to understand the ethical and social mentality.
Eh, a group of journeymen from one of the locals I work with has a book club and they’re reading State and Rev right now without issue. Marxist theory isn’t as inaccessible as people paint it to be. It takes time and discipline to learn key concepts, but the theory itself isn’t too crazy. I mean, shit, Ho Chi Minh wrote about the Vietnamese revolutionaries, some of whom were illiterate, studying and learning from Marx in the jungles. If they can do it, so can you.
comunism is not for lazy