Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 04:59:23 No. 11466
I remember The Coming Insurrection being aggressively optimistic and fun, the whole thing is basically a boast. I know it's anarchist but it could be good for lightening the mood.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 05:01:38 No. 11467
>>11466 That might work and I'll add it to the list, but I'm mainly looking for something more lengthy and "scholarly".
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 05:17:31 No. 11469
Althusser?
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 05:19:21 No. 11470
>>11466 +1 for the coming insurrection
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 05:30:56 No. 11471
>>11469 I was thinking Reading Capital but Althusser might harbor a bit too close to postmodernism.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 07:14:35 No. 11472
>he believes human existence is inevitably empty and absurd
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 07:29:26 No. 11473
>>11472 Perfect! Thanks comrade.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:05:35 No. 11475
Ten Days That Shook the World
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:11:43 No. 11476
>>11465 If he denies the possibility of revolution, then he is not a Marxist. The communist project is a central tenant of Marxism. My suggestion is, put him on hold and find an actual Marxist man who shares your values.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:15:13 No. 11477
>>11475 This one sounds great too although I'm looking for a philosophy text and not really a history one.
>>11476 He's extremely clingy so he won't go for this.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:17:06 No. 11478
>>11476 From the description he sounds more like an idealist that needs to be put on his feet. Your post reeks of ideological essentialism.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:20:13 No. 11479
>>11478 That, and western Buddhism is basically copium for people who deny that any real change can be made in the world. The entire gist of it is simply to accept the fact that the world sucks and be inactive. Perhaps there's revolutionary Buddhists in China, Vietnam, Myanmar, etc, but the way it's marketed to westerners is completely reactionary.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:28:30 No. 11480
>>11479 >the way it's marketed to westerners is completely reactionary True, you might want to look at
https://buddhistsocialism.weebly.com/ Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:34:04 No. 11481
>>11480 I'm speaking more to the epistemology at hand. I'm certain there are Buddhist teachings which align with socialism well.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:36:58 No. 11482
>>11481 Westerners need a good dose of Mahanya hunh?
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 08:44:19 No. 11483
Try Lukács. Perfectly Marxist, perfectly philosophical.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 09:10:18 No. 11484
>>11465 Zizek disagrees with Buddhism vehemently, so it's a strange appreciation coming from your boyfriend.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 09:11:31 No. 11485
>>11484 My bf is just a pessimist, honestly.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 09:42:53 No. 11486
>>11484 What’s his critique? Is it Marxist or just more Hegelian blather?
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 18:01:27 No. 11492
>He believes there will never be a revolution, all narratives of a grand redemption are a lie >He's also swallowed the western Buddhist bullshit (mixed with absurdism) full force
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 18:38:43 No. 11494
I’d suggest The Wretched if the Earth. Right up your alley.
Anonymous 2022-08-23 (Tue) 22:00:30 No. 11496
>>11494 This is a good one. Thanks.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 00:08:54 No. 11497
All right, I'm only going to keep this thread up for another day. I don't want my bf to find it.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 00:13:09 No. 11498
>>11497 You can't delete your own threads on this website unless you're a mod maybe.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 02:36:43 No. 11501
>>11486 I think he says something along the lines of "Buddhism says that desire is the cause of suffering l, but psychoanalysis teaches us that we want to suffer"
God i fucking hate that guy.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 02:42:18 No. 11502
>>11501 I can't fucking stand Zizek. He's a clown.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 03:02:33 No. 11503
Chuang-Tzu, Inner Chapters
i'm 100% serious, just trust me also, Evald Ilyenkov, any of his essay-books you can get. Intelligent Materialism was good, but it's very much about Hegel and his relationship to Marxism - BUT THE PHILOSOPHY IS REALLY GOOD. I think if your bf can learn to fw dialectical materialism, he can begin to see the light of revolution, subjectivity, history/movement, etc.
Also i don't wanna interfere too much, but i think what your bf needs is tbh to dive fully into his nihilism. If he believes all this stupid spiritual moral relativistic crap, he's too full of himself. He doesn't yet see the absurdity of positing your own Individual being. He needs to split himself open. Maybe Deleuze is the remedy for this situation, so Thousand Plateaus or AO. His pomo bullshit will mesh nicely with psychoanalytic stuff, and that's just what he needs to stop being so pessimistic from what it looks like to me Maybe just show him acts of resistance. Anarchists love cataloging that shit. One thing that made me re-invigorated in a dark time recently was
https://enoughisenough14.org/2021/12/06/guerrilla-bay-area-on-the-endless-crimewave/ Just goes to show, the fire is still alive in people's hearts. This + real marxism - reading lenin, reading bordiga (and the old boar himself, ofc), finally set me straight. Communist party + people's initiative = revolution.
One final tip - affirmation is the way to change people. Lean into what they already are open to, make them expand on it. Keep in mind
identity of identity and non-identity - the opposition within the sphere of non-identity is the opposition you want. Don't focus on the parts which are not contradicted, don't focus on the contradiction between contradiction and non-contradiction (that's false) - extrapolate his worldview until you find the opposition which will drive it forward. Tbh maybe even let him pick the book you guys read. Maybe he'll pull himself out of it. I'd hazard to say that western buddhism, spiritual crap, etc. is NOT the are of contradiction within his worldview, since it's explicitly pragmatist, moral relativist, etc.; i.e. totally malleable and "lmao i dont gotta splain shit". So if he's into zizek, idk maybe get him REALLY into the zizek when you guys read. That's all i can say. I hope you take this seriously tho and not as some woo. I'm only speaking from experience.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 03:08:13 No. 11504
>>11503 (me)
btw i only recommend Inner Chapters since ur bf already likes oriental woo. This at least might subvert the way he currently uses it as a cope. It focuses on contradiction, and the intractability of it (in words/ideas), rather than smoothing over contradiction
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 04:22:57 No. 11506
>>11505 >its capacity for cooperation I should also add that i've even seen neolib author Yuval Harari (in his book Homo Deus), making this exact 'humanity is superior because of cooperation' argument (even if it was exemplified by Ceaușescu's overthrow). So there's some merit to this reasoning.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 05:32:47 No. 11508
>>11497 report it and just say its ur thread, etc. and i or someone else will delete it
actually, post in this thread too that u want it gone cause someone might just dismiss the report
i'll make sure the thread gets deleted tho
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 05:36:10 No. 11509
>>11503 Thanks. I'm a huge fan of Ilyenkov. Has his apocalyptism stuff been translated into English yet?
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 05:56:15 No. 11510
Sounds like you’re looking for a critique of fatalism.
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 12:56:43 No. 11511
>>11509 I found my people. Love Ilyenkov, hate Zizek lol. Can you expand a bit about the apocalyptism stuff you mentioned ?
Anonymous 2022-08-24 (Wed) 19:03:20 No. 11513
Protip: only learn Marxism from tankies or MLMs/anti-revisionists.
Anonymous 2022-08-25 (Thu) 02:03:49 No. 11517
>>11513 Good idea.
So who are some philosophers who are tankies and/or anti-revisionists?
The only ones I can think of are Althusser, maybe also Lukács since he supported the USSR until he died IIRC.
Anonymous 2022-08-25 (Thu) 03:19:49 No. 11518
>>11517 francisco martins rodrigues !!
good anti-revisionist
I like to read theses from congresses too. Mexico's PCM is based af. Idk, First and second congress of the comintern? Is that too old? Cause tbh read Marx, read Lenin, etc. All the cool ppl got cool from understanding and comprehensively studying the classics.
Anonymous 2022-08-25 (Thu) 04:22:19 No. 11523
>>11518 >francisco martins rodrigues Any recommendations in particular?
Anonymous 2022-08-25 (Thu) 19:00:00 No. 11532
>>11510 This.
Someone give OP a “revolution will happen” text.
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 03:47:24 No. 11537
>Western Buddhist
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 05:09:14 No. 11538
idk about western buddhism, but absurdism while pessimistic is explicitly anti-doomer. sounds like your bf is misunderstanding it, you should discuss his philosophy with him and give your own interpretation, it might help, maybe idk, people are hard.
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 07:16:50 No. 11539
>>11538 I don't know anything about absurdism except that it's pretty fucking bourgeois.
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 07:17:33 No. 11540
>>11537 >>11538 Also, I specifically made this thread to discuss book recommendations, not to hear a defense of Buddhism or absurdism.
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 08:54:30 No. 11541
except that absurdism was made by a communist turned anarchist, also if you cant pick up on which book i was trying to recommend its the myth of sisyphus and maybe the stranger. your bf has a wrong understanding of things he believes in so i was trying to be helpful not because i was trying to defend absurdism
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 08:59:25 No. 11542
>>11541 I fucking hate Camus. No thanks.
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 08:59:45 No. 11543
>>11541 >>11542 (me)
Jackass supported French colonialism in Algeria ffs.
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 09:11:06 No. 11544
>>11541 >communist turned anarchist Absolutely disgusting
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 11:25:33 No. 11545
Your bf sounds like a bad absurdist
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 21:54:20 No. 11547
Lukács
Anonymous 2022-08-26 (Fri) 22:29:55 No. 11549
>>11539 You just demonstrated identity politics. Shameful display.
Anonymous 2022-08-27 (Sat) 03:44:10 No. 11550
>>11547 I've taken note of all of them.
Might just do that.
Anonymous 2022-08-27 (Sat) 18:33:52 No. 11557
Sartre > Camus
Anonymous 2022-08-28 (Sun) 20:15:06 No. 11570
Since your bf sounds like a liberal, get him to read Liberalism: A Counter-History by Domenico Losurdo.
Anonymous 2022-08-29 (Mon) 06:50:48 No. 11574
>>11570 Does he critique postmodernism or just political liberalism?
Anonymous 2022-08-29 (Mon) 16:29:41 No. 11576
>>11501 fulfillment is not the same as happiness. in buddhism you can meditate and maybe feel better about yourself, but under capitalism you will never be properly fulfilled and sitting in some isolated room meditating is never going to change that. maybe zizek obscures this point with idealism, but it is ultimately correct. either way being a buddhist and simping for zizek is such an unbelievably cringe combination
Anonymous 2022-08-29 (Mon) 22:26:46 No. 11577
>>11576 So why does Zizek say Buddhism is good for capitalism or whatever?
Anonymous 2022-09-01 (Thu) 23:16:12 No. 11589
Why are you with this guy? Go find a man who shares your revolutionary hopes.
Anonymous 2022-09-04 (Sun) 12:21:48 No. 11606
>>11471 Why would you say that?
Anonymous 2022-09-13 (Tue) 07:13:02 No. 11638
Zizek and Buddhism are both reactionary af and your boyfriend sounds like he is too.
Anonymous 2022-09-14 (Wed) 05:53:56 No. 11649
>>11589 >>11638 I'm scared that if I leave him he'll be devastated. I can't do that to someone.
Anonymous 2022-09-16 (Fri) 14:55:16 No. 11657
>>11638 Zizek is only 'reactionary' in the same way that a 'vanguard' appears reactionary to a leftcomm, so maybe you're just a leftcomm.
>>11649 If fear is the primary reason for your being with someone, the relationship will slowly & inevitably corrode.
Anonymous 2022-09-16 (Fri) 15:29:29 No. 11658
>>11576 But would Lacanian psychoanalysis be against communism and think its undesirable/impossible?
Anonymous 2022-09-16 (Fri) 15:30:21 No. 11659
>>11658 *wouldn't
Based on that Zizek quote i mean
Anonymous 2022-09-16 (Fri) 16:17:50 No. 11663
>>11658 communism will fill the void perpetuated the Real, anon
Anonymous 2022-09-16 (Fri) 16:43:49 No. 11666
I know Zizek says some bad things and has bas takes but there's nothing wrong with liking him for the memes, zizek can be an entryway into proper marxism
Anonymous 2022-09-16 (Fri) 17:59:56 No. 11669
Zizek sets you on a path to pseudo-socialism: destination "edgy" reformism.
Anonymous 2022-09-17 (Sat) 08:29:23 No. 11670
>>11668 It was wholly prompted, but you can continue to miss the point if that makes you feel better.
Anonymous 2022-09-17 (Sat) 08:38:21 No. 11671
>>11658 Communism isn't about a pristine finality in which all matters resolve, it isn't a utopian ideal or some state of affairs… wait a minute… it's the real movement which sublates the present state of things.
Communism is todestrieb, communism is free time, communism is the socio-economized recognition of the void engendered by historical self-consciousness set into practical deliberation (the riddle of history solved), communism is an economic system which really only reflects antecedent social tendencies, a deeper primacy. Communism is drive, indefinite, delimited, empowered, no promise of a fulfillment which appends itself upon stabilized solubility (communism is NOT harmony, the idyllic return, conditions of ahistorical prescripts demanded through economy). Communism is the no-longer-estranged-condition-of-humanity for its first time since agriculture's advent, and where we go with that is the substantive ambiguity which is most definitive of communism inhered.
"Healthcare pls" etc. types are well meaning in their sincerity insofar as this relates to issues within reality, but they would be better suited to ceding into socdem territory, as they lack the theoretical base to relate their adversity.
Anonymous 2022-09-17 (Sat) 10:18:49 No. 11672
>>11670 >you're hating on a thing I like, this is just like the leftcom boogeyman in my head!! outstanding point
Anonymous 2022-09-20 (Tue) 14:18:46 No. 11685
>>11672 once again, missing the point
Anonymous 2022-09-20 (Tue) 15:53:24 No. 11686
>>11685 There is no point, it's incoherent babbling with no logical reasoning behind it lmao. "you don't like X, and Y doesn't like Z, so you are Y" with Y being the spooky leftcom ghost you have flying around in your head. And even then it still doesn't make sense because leftcoms ARE vanguardists (the slogan is "More Leninist than Lenin"), while Zizek's relationship with Marx and Lenin is more aesthetic than anything, as his politics have been picking the liberal position at every turn. He even denies being a Marxist, instead claiming his analysis comes mostly from Lacan and Hegel (which should be obvious, seeing as his books are drawn-out incoherent garbage)
Anonymous 2022-09-22 (Thu) 04:49:01 No. 11695
>>11480 Buddhism's epistemology and emphasis on "middle path" goes against Marxism entirely.
Anonymous 2022-09-22 (Thu) 22:50:01 No. 11699
>>11480 >>11695 (me)
Wanted to also add that Buddhism's main teaching is to be indifferent to the world and to focus all of your energy internally. The goal isn't to change the world but to change yourself so you can move throughout the world without being bothered by it. It's no wonder so many western Buddhists end up becoming total narcissists.
Anonymous 2022-09-27 (Tue) 07:13:34 No. 11747
>>11658 >>11659 Yes. Lacan was a full-blown reactionary.
Anonymous 2022-09-27 (Tue) 16:03:50 No. 11749
>>11747 Could you elaborate? i know jack shit about Lacan
Anonymous 2022-09-29 (Thu) 07:09:03 No. 11751
Capitalist Realism by mark fisher
Anonymous 2022-09-29 (Thu) 07:22:12 No. 11753
>>11751 He's already read that one.
Anonymous 2022-10-18 (Tue) 19:20:22 No. 11880
Give him some anarchism from the early 20th century instead.
Anonymous 2022-10-21 (Fri) 04:37:25 No. 11900
wow my bfs the exact same minus the zizek part hope u can decode him
Anonymous 2022-10-21 (Fri) 18:26:29 No. 11908
>>11900 How do you suggest doing that?
Anonymous 2022-10-23 (Sun) 12:44:13 No. 11917
>>11908 taking it a step at a time is what's working 4 me
i used to try and "convert" him over to my mode of thought but its a lot easier to just debunk what he's saying bit by bit and let him come to the right conclusions on his own
Anonymous 2022-10-25 (Tue) 08:08:42 No. 11928
>>11917 So what would be a dialectical materialist critique of the "middle path" bullshit Buddhists love to use as a means of justifying their apathy?
Anonymous 2022-10-25 (Tue) 20:04:03 No. 11930
>>11928 you need a zen solution obviously
beat your BF and if he moves or retaliates, tell him he has found a new, better path, and should give up his stupid orientalism
jk idk much about buddhism but isnt it not actually about apathy? In theory the middle path should still allow passion, activity, etc.
<Anger toward social injustice will remain until the goal is achieved. It has to remain. >I see. Should one truly continue to harbor a feeling of anger? <Of course. That anger is directed toward the social injustice itself, along with the struggle to correct it, so the anger should be maintained until the goal is achieved. It is necessary in order to stop social injustice and wrong destructive actions. https://tricycle.org/article/justifiably-angry-marxist-interview-dalai-lama/ Fr tho if he's apathetic it's a problem of the heart, not the head. "If their efforts have nevertheless remained fruitless, it is because external forces are insufficient to move the heart…. " If there's nothing rousing a comfortable person into action, there's no philosophy to help them. It's a class and personal experience thing. If they have every reason to be mad but are just beaten down, then that's a different story and ig help him to stand up tall.
Anonymous 2022-10-26 (Wed) 03:51:51 No. 11936
>>11930 Dalai Lama is CIA, bro.
Anonymous 2022-10-26 (Wed) 03:57:21 No. 11938
>>11936 ok - do you have any thoughts in your head about the rest of what I said? I didn't post the dalai lama just because i like him, i posted it because he's relevant to buddhism
Anonymous 2022-10-26 (Wed) 04:07:57 No. 11939
You need to unfuck his understanding of philosophy first, and he's not going to jump into Capital (who would without being somewhat convinced of its use first) so that leaves other philosophers and history books. Similarly there's not point throwing any serious Marxist philosopher like Althusser at him because he hasn't read Capital, it'll just go over his head. That leaves:
Anonymous 2022-10-26 (Wed) 04:09:45 No. 11940
>>11939 Oh if I were to recommend a "Marxist" book it'd be Capitalist Realism, it's kinda retarded but its a good polemic against western mental health and Fisher is a good writer.
Anonymous 2022-10-26 (Wed) 04:12:54 No. 11941
>>11505 > capacity for cooperation I tend to meme this shit hard, but if you want an actual corollary to > survival of the fittest look no further than everyone's favorite communist fanfiction author Kropotkin. He spent years in fucking Siberia showing that cooperation is just as important as competition in nature.
Don't read the bread book though, its fanfic tier.
Anonymous 2022-10-26 (Wed) 06:15:03 No. 11942
>>11939 How will reading Deleuze unfuck him?
Anonymous 2023-04-15 (Sat) 04:25:01 No. 12829
>>11505 wtf do those stirner and kim quotes have to do with each other lol
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