this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2025
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Idk how far left you currently are, but reading State and Revolution by Lenin is what kind of opened my eyes to the whole “the state exists solely to protect capital and the rich”
It’s relatively short (though Lenin writes like he’s ADHD and angry lol) and you can find free translated versions in a bunch of different formats online because well it’s not like marxist-leninists are going to charge you lol
I’m not a communist btw, but the book is still interesting
I absolutely love Lenin's writing, and how he always takes any chance he can to shit on Kautsky lmao
Not always, early on he respected Kautsky greatly, only when Kautsky sided with mensheviks he started to criticize him, and around 1915 when the attempts at reconciliation of socialdemocrats failed and Kautsky proven to be lead figure of the socialchauvinists Lenin goes full bag of bricks on him.
Fair! That's of course why Lenin's later works are so anti-Kautsky, but these are also some of his most important works so they seemed outsized in my head.
Yeah reading it without knowing basically any historical context or people is fun because you hear him mention names repeatedly and eventually you start going “yeah you tell him Lenin!” when you still have basically no idea who they are lol
Also just wanting to pack so much information into a single sentence to the point sentences are occasionally the size of paragraphs is very relatable.
Lenin's great, both theoretically and from an entertainment perspective. His hate is pure!