Ive heard theres a lot of bigotry in ml spaces, particularly against women and lgbtq+. So i think sharing your experiences would allow us to learn from them. Im pretty sure this is a safe space, at least i hope so lol.
Edit: I apoligize for giving little to no profundization.(im not used to this reddit like social media, i only use discord)
I mostly asked this because i was thinking about joining Communist Party of Spain and i had heard concerning things about other communist poarties in the imperial core like the yankee one, and the british one. And i also saw this short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/poc6t6qO1VM and i was really worried about it.
Anyways thanks for answering and im glad the responses were so reassuring.
I have encountered maybe one or two prejudiced “Marxist-Leninists” (this was what they called themselves, mind you), one of whom was an old man whose theory had not developed since the Cold War and the other of whom gave off ACP vibes.
Other than that there are some comrades who struggle to abandon problematic language but that is usually out of force of habit or ignorance and not intentional malice. Marxist-Leninist spaces have, in general, been some of the most progressive and quickest to correct prejudiced behavior that I’ve ever been part of. I’ve been in liberal places, social democrat spaces, even anarchist spaces and out of all of them only anarchist spaces really come close to the hardline stance against prejudice that M-L spaces take but in my experience you’re more likely to meet an anarchist who is prejudiced (usually misogyny, paternalistic racism, or “noble savage” type racists) than an M-L.
Mind that this is purely anecdotal.
ACP peeps are not Marxist-Leninists, let us be real.
As a 5 time minority ML spaces are the ones that I’ve experienced no bigotry in, definitely leaves a positive impression when I sometimes feel like a living litmus test for bigotry just walking around, I get told a place is inclusive, go there and sooner or later prejudice comes out on the attack, that has taught me to avoid lib spaces long before I began to actively engage with theory.
All the social-chauvinists are now “Marxists” (don’t laugh!)
In all seriousness though, unfortunately you may come across some groups claiming to be ML who hold bigoted beliefs. I live on terf island so a lot of our so called communist parties seem to think that tailing the imperialist conservative and labour parties and shitting on trans people is somehow not an example of chauvhinism/oppurtunism.
It is a shame that I know what country you are talking about because the UK’s communist parties seem to be notorious for transphobia.
yeah, thankfully I’ve been able to find a good one coz it’s bleak out there.
Very good to hear!
Quote from Lenin! Funniest Marxist writer.
Ive heard theres a lot of bigotry in ml spaces, particularly against women and lgbtq+.
You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. I have not seen any of that here, and in general i find communist spaces are some of the most progressive spaces that exist, especially IRL. Of course people with reactionary views on some issues still exist because these views exist in any society and will be reflected to some degree in any group that arises out of that society, but as a percentage they are much, much less prevalent in communist spaces than they are pretty much anywhere else.
The notion that MLs in particular are somehow uniquely bigoted against this or that group is a pure propaganda narrative spread by the ideological enemies of communism and you shouldn’t fall for such cheap tricks.
Marxist-Leninists believe in the fundamental equality of all humans regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, and the liberation and dignity of all oppressed people.
Ive heard theres a lot of bigotry in ml spaces
I heard that Stalin personally killed 50 million Ukrainians and ate them with a giant spoon. Don’t believe everything you hear.
Stalin personally ate all the babies in Ukraine. I know this for a fact because I was one of the babies.
No he ate them with chopsticks personally given to him by Vladimir Marx with some liberal limbs as seasoning.
I heard that Stalin made homosexuality illegal.
He did. It was a mistake and ML’s recognize that. Nobody thinks Stalin was perfect.
I am an ML, and don’t talk to me like I am below you. My point is that Stalin didn’t make that all on his own. So what else today we are not properly analyzing that tomorrow we might recognize as wrong. It’s easy to look back in hindsight and recognize that it was wrong, but it’s another thing to properly analyse some wrongs that are currently happening in our movement or the leftist movement as a whole.
So what else today we are not properly analyzing that tomorrow we might recognize as wrong
This is not a valid question. You can’t ask “what don’t we know” because we don’t know.
I’ve been here since 2022, during the early stages of Russia’s SMO. You think Stalin wasn’t perfect, but you’re very self-assured that all MLs are perfect, and if they aren’t, you would probably claim they’re not “real” ML.
It’s impossible to have self-criticism about our movement with people like you around. As soon as someone raises doubts about something, you call them “glowies.”
This is not a valid question. You can’t ask “what don’t we know” because we don’t know.
It’s not supposed to be a question…
I didn’t call you or anyone else a “glowie.” You are being a wrecker. You are just trying to find reasons to get offended.
You need to go do some self crit, I’m done with you until you apologize for falsely accusing me.
Yes, it is true.
I’m downvoting because this is a fresh account, asking a delicate question with a clear anti-communist bent. This is a topic worth discussing, and MLs should be opposed to bigotry, I just think you’re not here in good faith.
If this was published to “Shit reactionaries say”, then this might have gotten some positive attention.
Can you please explain how the question has a clear anti-communist bent. I honestly didnt meant it. I asked this mostly because i saw this short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/poc6t6qO1VM.
Without context, “Ive heard theres a lot of bigotry in ml spaces” seems like it to me.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Marxist-Leninists are the most (not going to use progressive here) advanced when it comes to not only supporting but fighting for the rights of all oppressed peoples: Bigotry is not a problem that Marxist-Leninists have as a general problem (libservantives do, though), and I disagree with the framing this question assumes before we even get a chance to answer your question.
In my experience, Marxist-Leninists are against bigotry of any sort.
Edit: Slight mistake, but they do discriminate against fascists and chauvinists in general (libservantives are no exception).
One maybe two people ever and i am got to see everyone else immediately disavow those people immediately.
In my experience ml spaces feel incredibly safe and comforting because you can feel confident that the people around you can and are actively fighting for your rights.
I am a transfem and my partner is an enby and live in the South East United States (aka hell) and ml spaces are some of the most comfortable places I have
Glad to hear it! MLs are the only ones really capable of advancing lgbtq+ rights and feminism in a revolutionary manner (others are either against it in the case of chauvinists or are reformists that will temporarily give concessions to oppressed workers of those groups but will never liberate them).
I have had a few nice experiences with my local anarchists two but I do tend to align more strongly with the mls I have met although I can’t really call myself one because of my lack of deep theory understanding and not having read enough
I guess I did forget to include a third category: ineffective revolutionaries that are led by idealist theories.
It is ok if you are not sure! Read up on Marxist literature (Marx, Lenin, Mao, etc.) if you ever feel like learning more! You can also ask questions here!
I would like to learn but as of now I am stuck in the capitalist trap of working 12 hour shifts on top of school and being too tired to do anything else
I am trying to fit some in when I can but I don’t have much space for anything even things that I need to like blood tests and eating
You could always ask questions pertaining to certain details regarding communism, Marxism-Leninism, socialist countries, etc. I am sorry to hear that you have that long job :<
Luckily I only have about 3 months of school left before I can go back to just working and not having 3-4 days per week of school on top of it
I am happy to hear that! I do not not have a job.
there are reactionaries in every space. diamat done correctly completely stops the faulty logic that leads to bigoted beliefs like social darwinism (and the reactionary pseudosciences about race or phrenology that evolve from it) so there’s a lower incidence of marxist-leninists that believe in that hogwash. plenty (either organizations/collectives or individuals) can hold these beliefs and be self identified mls/socialists in the end but theyre surely are not doing analysis correctly if those are the conclusions drawn.
famous examples of anti-feminist/bigoted ML movements:
the ACP (“”””””””””ML”””””””””” movement)
famous examples of socially progressive (yes they have mistakes, but largely want a fairer future to the point that rightists rail against their efforts to improve life for everyone including the marginalized) ML movements
the CPSU the CPC the CPV the communist party of cuba
so on so forth. again, all of those mentioned parties have had struggles with social issues of their time! but they have had tried to move towards a better future and a fairer society and none of them have adopted a creed of “might makes right” that naturally produces unfairness does this make sense
In my experience, none whatsoever.
If you go to the more fringe “Marxist-Leninist” spaces you might find something, but they are deviations from Marxism, so I would not count them.
