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Unpopular opinion.
Studying Marx is a waste of time.
Focus on real world politics and what can be done right now.
An hour spent reading a book is an hour that could have been spent putting up posters for a candidate.
You aren't going to get a revolution any time soon, but the next election is coming up fast.
https://www.actblue.com/
Genuine question, why is campaigning for the Democratic Party a better use of ones time than learning Marx(or any political philosophy text for that matter). To me this claim sounds absurd, because in no other activity is it seem as reasonable to put action over theory, instead of as inseparable, but I would be curious to hear your justification for your claim.
You do understand how elections work, right? The voting booth only cares about how many votes get cast.
Maybe instead of reading theory, you should study how politics works in the real world.
Look up Jerry Falwell.
He was a televangelist with an extensive mailing list. His plan was simple. Local GOP clubs decide who is going to take job. Things like county clerks and sheriffs. Falwell would flood every meeting with his people. If there were twenty folks at the last meeting, Falwell's Moral Majority would show up with fifty. It didn't take long for the grassroots campaign to sway the higher ups in the GOP.
Look at Leftists who have actually won elections in the US. Neither AOC or Mamdani spent a lot of time talking about Marx, they talked about saving consumers money and making their lives better.
And if you need a good example of action over theory look at the transportation network. How many bus drivers or train operators can repair their machines? Not many. Or food service. Think a lot of cooks understand the chemistry of baking? An ambulance technician doesn't need to know advanced cardiology to do CPR.
Finally, if you plan on playing the 'Democrats are bad' card, think on this.
Back in the day, Frederick Douglas supported Abe Lincoln over a candidate who was 100% opposed to slavery. Lincoln was fine with the south keeping their slaves id it meant keeping the Union.
Douglas did a cold-blooded assessment and decided that it was better to help Lincoln win and be able to get close to him later, than it would be to lose and not have a chance to make a difference.
The last bit is a big deal a lot of our fellow lemms seem to miss. We really do let perfect be the enemy of good. Long term it means we don't build movements that can expand.
I honestly think most of them would rather 'win' an internet debate than get a real world win in an election.
Not gonna bud in on the "read marx vs. Campaign" discussion, but i would like to point out that politics is one of the few areas (maybe the only one?) where theory basically doesnt inform practice at all.
In for example sewing, it makes sense to look at the theory first, since it will directly inform your practice (how to get the yarn into the eye of the needle, which yarn to choose, different sewing-techniques, etc.) All of this sewing-theory is directly related to sewing-practice.
Compare that to politics: which political theory will actually inform political practice? Teach how to organize or participate in protests, found political groups, get media and public attention?
None. You can read as much marx or bakunin as you want you will not get an iota better at these things. the counterpart to "political practice" isnt "political theory", but "theory on political practice".
Imo i would say expecting political theory to tell you how to do practice is like expecting a compass to teach to you how to walk. It tells you the direction (like political theory) but not the process
Are you a democratic socialist who votes Democrat? Just asking.
imho using any political label is a giant waste of time.
When I see folks arguing over whether someone is a 'democratic socialist' or a 'Left Liberal' I just want to shake my head.
Look at the famous 1956 GOP Convention political platform. None of those people would have called themselves 'social democrats' but that's pretty much what they wanted.
I'm a pragmatist who votes for whichever major candidate seems to be best. I don't vote for Third Parties anymore because the Third Party never seems to draw votes from the GOP.