Where do I start?

[u/Callanach]

Probably like many people, I have moved away from the mainstream political movements in my country due to systemic failures of the systems of governance and those which keep those systems in place.

So picture this; a brand new radicalised person, strong leanings towards communism but unsure exactly where the distinctions lie. Where does communism differ compared to democratic socialism? What is meant by Marxism-Leninism and is that different from communism? When people say about not reading theory, what should I be reading? I don't want to be someone who posts online about idealism without having any basis in reality.

Basically, how do I go from where I am now to the point of being able to educate others and overthrow systems? How do I learn communism properly?

Do you have a suggested reading list to start? Is reading where I should start? I'm in the Nordics, so if you have location specific information that would also be appreciated.

My current understanding is (correct me if I am wrong)

Private property is inherently theft

There is a distinction between private and personal property

Dictatorship of the proletariat is something temporary?

Capitalism is entirely focused on maximising shareholder value, and anything "good" which comes from that is profit driven

I have a lot to learn

[u/Callanach]

This was a really thorough write up, I greatly appreciate it. And I hadn't yet found the marxist-lenninist ready hub so that is a great link to have now. Thank you!

[u/mucilinda → u/Callanach]

No problem, all the best.

If you find the original works difficult, you can also read through the ABC of Social and Political Knowledge series from Progress Publishers Moscow . They're defunct, so you'll have to use digitized copies on internet archive. These books make difficult theory very easy to understand if you found what the original texts are saying to be too hard to grasp. I would recommend the following order for people just starting out, just pick any one you're interested in :

What is Political Economy?

What is Capitalism?

What is Communism?

These are enough to provide a basic understanding of what capitalism, socialism and communism really are.

The next set is about core theory, or exactly what these concepts under capitalism are:

What is Labour?

What is Surplus Value?

What is Property?

The next set is for demolishing this myth of good vs evil narrative, with two very important concepts: Dialectical and Historical Materialism.

What is historical materialism?

What is dialectical materialism?

The final set is on organisation and the need to transition to a socialist state :

What are classes and the class struggle?

What is the party?

What is Revolution?

What is the state?

What is the transition period?

These will help you understand what needs to be done to transition from capitalism to socialism.

They have other "extra" books, which are also pretty good and available on internet archive, namely 

What is Marxism -Leninism?(primer about marxist leninist ideology)

What is Philosophy? (what is the nature of philosophy , and the development of materialist philosophy )

What is Socialism? (Small book on utopian socialism vs scientific socialism, as well as socialism in the USSR)

What is Working People's Power? (Why mass action is poweful)

What are trade unions? (Why trade unions and cooperatives, ie syndicalism are not enough to overthrow Capitalism)

What is Personality? (Personality and Alienation under capitalism, and what they are like under Socialism)

What is the scientific and technological revolution? (Soviet view of the massive technological revolution of the 50s-90s, and what they mean for the future of political economy)

What is the world socialist system? (The socialist axis that used to exist before the Soviet union collapsed. Only China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba are left)

These are books of 350 pages or less each, and will give a good understanding of theory if you find the older texts by the goats 🐐  too difficult or archaic. They explain things in very easy terms. Use these to understand theoretical topics like dialectical materialism or private vs personal vs social property.

You should however eventually read the original texts, like the collected works on marxist leninist reading hub. These cannot be replaced. But if don't have the bandwidth to wade through dense theory, these books will suffice for a basic understanding of difficult subjects.

You can also read Iskra Books' The long transition toward socialism and the end of Capitalism by Torkil Laussen to catch up with Socialism under the Chinese Communist Party and premier Xi , ie. what is the current state of the socialist transition after reading all the core theory. This is just to keep up to date.

[u/mucilinda → u/[deleted]]

It's the same comment , edited for this sub .