I'm looking for a book about socialism which reviews socialist countries and empires honestly and in depth. Highlighting ways they worked, why they failed (if they did), How they came to be, and what problems or struggles they encountered. It is really important to me that the book is honest about things like American Empires interference while simultaneously not pretending that socialist countries are utopias.

I want an understanding not an idealization and I don't want to feel like I'm reading propaganda but rather that I'm reading political history through the eyes of moral progressivism. The most important thing to me is an end to oppression and, it's important that the book does not ignore this, but rather explores how to combat this and create a more equitable society for marginalized communities within the bounds of socialism.

I would like to explore how we can have a socialist country which liberates LGBTQ people and treats it's indigenous communities with respect. And how different forms of revolution effected the people involved. I do not want a book that glorifies Chavism.

My deepest held beliefs are that all people deserve liberation from oppression. For this reason I do not support countries like Venezuela who treat LGBTQ and Indigenous communities poorly. I do not want a book which glorifies these countries but rather one which reviews their history and maybe considers what could be the solution to those problems. Youth Liberation is also another very important issue to me which I would love to see addressed but which I don't expect.

There is something on my mind. As we can see, athletes, actors etc. earn many times more than workers who are crushed under heavy conditions. Now, should we show our anger toward these people as well, since they are just taking advantage of the opportunities capitalism offers? Because these people might end up in a position where they can employ workers themselves tomorrow. I know they are being exploited to some extent, but seriously, the possibility of making money from money using that capital is massive. As for another topic, OnlyFans, there is no condition forcing you to follow a different system compared to the others; you produce content with your own tools whenever and at whatever hours you want. I would appreciate it if you could write down how you evaluate this as well.

i just had a discussion with a fellow communist, and they were defending that the petty bourgeoisie is still the bourgeoisie and should be treated as such. however, i was born in a family of small business owners, as in a family business, and i have been through so much struggle due to the fact that we depend on our own labor to survive, and it makes me kinda conflicted to agree with that.

we depend solely on our own labor to be able to get money to survive, we don't profit off of it, we do it for the sake of having somewhere to live and many around us too, aren't we technically also selling our own labor? how could you compare ms anne who sells her homemade cakes for a living with the owner of starbucks? if something happens that makes us have to stop opening our shop, we just don't have any survival plan anymore, we're also kinda slaves of the system? we sell on marketplaces that exploit the hell out of us, shein covered us in debt

it feels kinda... segregating to separate some kinds of workers from the working class because they work for themselves, i mean yeah I guess there's a bit of the privilege of being your own boss but it doesn't change anything if we're still gonna have to work 14 hours a day every day of the week anyway

we don't own the building of our shop and are almost always in debt with the risk of losing it, we don't own the means, im sorry im just so confused on what they meant by grouping us with the oppressor class, I don't mean to victimize myself and to be all "oh pity me too i also suffer" its not about that, but capitalism does affect us just the same so i just wanna understand

Hello all!

I’ve been working my way through quite a few marxist Leninist texts lately. Currently I’m reading Lenin’s Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution.

Living in the US, I found it applicable to the current struggle against fascism and for democracy. Especially that in these struggles we must maintain our class independence and advocate for proletarian democracy.

Am I missing anything? Have other Marxists expanded on this? Suggested readings? Are any parties adopting this line?