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Want to research the Cuban Revolution — where should I start?
I'm diving deep into the Cuban Revolution and looking to build a solid base for research both the historical and ideological sides. I'm not interested in surface-level takes or simplified narratives. I want to understand the contradictions, the class dynamics, the internal debates, and the broader international context (especially U.S.–Latin America relations and Soviet involvement).
Books, documentaries, films, series — I'm open to anything, as long as it's critical, well-researched, and helps me see the bigger picture. I’m also curious about perspectives from inside Cuba vs. outside. What were the best sources that helped you go beyond the usual “Castro and Che” storyline? Also, if anyone has advice on lesser-known primary sources, I’d appreciate that too.
Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1lin88h
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What does it mean to be a socialist, or communist?
Like how much of a difference is there between the two, if there is one.
https://redd.it/1lik5be
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Why are most socialist and some communist movements involved in activism that criticize selective activism hardly mentioning minority killings in Syria?
Genuinely dumbfounded by the lack of coverage in movements on the new US-backed Syrian regime's complicity in atrocities and sectarian/pro-Israeli stances, normalizing killings and not actively cracking down on wahabbism in Syria. Druze, Christians, Shia and Alawi have been consistently kidnapped, tortured and killed in many parts of Syria for seven months straight. Now the Orthodox church bombing in the capital, Damascus. Lime this is insane.
I get it . Far-righters like to use this to sanitize the nationalistic bourgeois regime of the Ba'ath party. Still, does it really not get under their skin to see the brutality? Are most liberals and leftists seriously trusting of Al Jazeera alone for their Middle-Eastern and Levantine politics and news? Why do you all think this is happening?
I believe we should be way more vocal about these horrendous occurrences. Like genuinely mindblowing, active ignorance.
https://redd.it/1li8p8m
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Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - (June 22)
We made this because Reddit's algorithm prioritises headlines and current events and doesn't allow for deeper, extended discussion - depending on how it goes for the first four or five times it'll be dropped or continued.
Suggestions for things you might want to comment here (this is a work in progress and we'll change this over time):
* Articles and quotes you want to see discussed
* 'Slow' events - long-term trends, org updates, things that didn't happen recently
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* Discussions continued from other posts once the original post gets buried
* Questions that are too advanced, complicated or obscure for r/communism101
Mods will sometimes sticky things they think are particularly important.
Normal subreddit rules apply!
[ Previous Bi-Weekly Discussion Threads may be found here https://old.reddit.com/r/communism/search?sort=new&restrict_sr=on&q=flair%3AWDT ]
https://redd.it/1lhaggp
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book reccomendations about art and ai
I recently had an argument with a friend about the role of art and AI in a Marxist society. He claims that artists are the bourgeoisie because they own the means of production. He also claims that AI is useful because it allows those who do not have artistic skills to create art, so it makes it easier for the working class to become artists. As far as I know, yes, artists are not the proletariat, but they are not the bourgeoisie either. AI, while useful in some ways, in a capitalist society is used to exploit workers. The argument that AI's existence makes it easier for the working class to create art is at odds with the fact that it is currently exploiting workers (artists) by stealing their creations. So, I am looking for books about art and AI from a Marxist perspective. I'n not good with theory and haven't read much besides Marx so I would like to know what is the correct stance in marxist perspective about this. I would like to know if my friend is right of if I'm wrong.
https://redd.it/1lfvz7s
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Good Books/Documentaries on the History of the Iranian Revolution?
Just the title. Anything that goes into how the current regime operates too would be helpful. Ideally I'd like to watch a documentary/YouTube video that isn't just complete garbage western propaganda. Anything from a communist angle would be a bonus too.
https://redd.it/1lfjg2r
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What are we doing other than protesting and speaking amongst ourselves?
I dont want a discussion, this is just a question for you to ponder Comrade…
https://redd.it/1lfgtju
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How does one get involved in the anti war efforts to support Palestine and Iran? I’m in Texas near Austin.
Thanks in advance for any and all information and or contacts.
https://redd.it/1lf0x84
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Is it wrong to join or participate in multiple orgs with differing opinions?
I want to join the PSL, and another, smaller org near me that seems to have no respect for the PSL. From my understanding they’re both ML. Is it counterproductive or looked down upon to participate in different orgs like this? Have you guys had any experience in this regard? On the other hand, can a marxist-Leninist work with a trotskyist or are the goals too different?
https://redd.it/1le8sb9
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A few questions
How much politics philosophy and economic should i know before reading marxism?
I think i know what communism and socialism is and their differences but i have some questions:what is marxism?is someone who defends socialism first and communism after ammunism socialist or marxist? And why do some people say “im not a communist im a socialist”?
Is socialism 101 by kathlen searsa good book to start?
What to read after?
Any good podcasts?
https://redd.it/1ldn84c
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Nazariya Magazine Issue 5 "Combat Revisionism!"
https://redd.it/1ld61q8
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When is something peace policing?
I came here because I trust that there will be little liberal discourse here.
If I’m at a protest or direct action, I’d obviously never call the cops or collaborate with them to keep the action ‘safe’. I’m also aware that overwhelmingly it is the police which escalate violence, and that the goal is disruption or some specific demand / resistance rather than safety. But in your experience what happens when someone escalates beyond what those who are organizing the action think is increasing risk beyond what people had prepared for?
Is it fair to ask those people to not join you next time? Should we accept any and all action?
I’m avoiding specifics because I hope it creates more diversity in the responses and also because I’m not comfortable posting certain things online.
https://redd.it/1lck7pn
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From a Marxist perspective, how did post-soviet Russia go from being friendly to the West to it's current, more hostile state of affairs?
In the chapter "The Free-Market Paradise goes East" in Michael Parenti's Blackshirts and Reds, he describes how shock therapy and the penetration of western capital was encouraged by post-soviet neoliberalism in the early 90s under the Presidency of Boris Yeltsin and Bourgeois economist Jeffrey Sachs.
What brought me to this conclusion were the following paragraph's:
>"The Russian security minister calculated that one-third of Russian oil and one-half of Russian nickel shipped out of the country was stolen. Among those enjoying "staggering profits" from this plunder were Shell Oil and British Petroleum. In April 1992, the chairman of Russia's central bank admitted that at least $20 billion had been illegally taken out of the country and deposited in Western banks."
>"Multinational corporations are moving into Russia to exploit vast oil and natural gas reserves and rich mineral deposits at great profit to themselves and with little benefit to the Russian people. Over the protests of U.S. and Russian environmentalists, U.S. timber interests, with financial support from a venture fund sponsored by the Pentagon, are preparing to clear-cut the Siberian wilderness, a region that holds one-fifth of the planet's forests and is the habitat of many rare species"
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>"Yeltsin also benefited from multi-million dollar donations from U.S. sources and a $10 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank."
Apart from these, it seems Parenti makes the point that the reactionary elements of the west, the corporate media and then president Bill Clinton himself, praised Yeltsin for his "Democratic reform", which we Marxists know is a dog whistle for the appraisal of bourgeois friendly policy friendly to western capitalists.
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Fast forward to today and Russia seems to me to be has increasingly emerged as a formidable adversary to western imperialist aggression, engaging in its own imperialist proxy conflicts that often collide with the interests of western imperialism.
May I know from a Marxist perspective, what imperialist conflict interest of the Russia and the west have caused this sharp turn from the pro-western stance of Yeltsin to Russia's current anti-west stance?
https://redd.it/1lca49z
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Why didn't Engels publish Dialectics of Nature?
Why was such a revolutionary worldview left unfinished and posthumously published? The concept of applying dialectical materialism to nature has given me an immense sense of clarity, but I would be less inclined to make it my core understanding of the natural world if Engels or socialists at large found the work to be flawed or superfluous.
https://redd.it/1lc56e7
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How come people criticizing "just the CPC" are almost always racists?
This pattern has been like 90% with Americans, 5% are Falun gong Far-right diaspora, 5% are liberals with some minimum of decency to not be racist out right. These guys will go from criticizing the CPC to calling chinese robots and bugs within one sentence.
https://redd.it/1lbyvdp
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Pro and cons of wild cats - example: 1970 postal strike
https://industrialworker.org/power-to-the-postal-workers-the-wildcat-strike-of-1970/
https://redd.it/1lilnmt
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özgür gelecek statement regarding Isreal-Iran war
https://ozgurgelecek55.net/politik-gundem-emperyalist-isgallere-siyonist-saldirganliga-fasist-katliamlara-karsi-birlik-mucadele-zafer/
https://redd.it/1libxa1
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The Migrant Genocide: Toward a Third World Analysis of European Class Struggle
https://mronline.org/2025/06/18/the-migrant-genocide-toward-a-third-world-analysis-of-european-class-struggle/
https://redd.it/1lhgvfh
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What Was Political Economy?
https://desperatetimes914496456.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/what-was-political-economy/
https://redd.it/1lh5cou
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Online socialist groups?
I want to join some socialist and left-wing groups, but I'm pretty socially awkward when it comes to being in-person, are there socialist groups on the internet I can go on?
https://redd.it/1lfmh9h
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History of Red-Green electoral alliances
These formations seemed to be pretty common beginning in the 1980s in Western Europe but not so much anymore, is this wrong? Are there any good histories on the subject, online or in print?
Another aspect that is curious to me is that even though they appeared to be a natural outgrowth of "Eurocommunism", they were obviously were not limited to Moscow-line parties. In the fissile world of left politics this seems to be an unusual characteristic.
https://redd.it/1lfi5dw
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How does communism deal with the lack of natural selection in the market?
In short, in other systems, there is a mechanic that is naturally built in, where something that isn't efficient is destined to (economically) die, and that comes in 2 ways
Businesswise - say I produce a car, and I can create one for 5000 mesos, and the guy next to came up with a way to create the same quality car for 3000 mesos, he will sell his car for 3500 mesos, I will sell mine for 5500, and eventually the customers will only buy for him, which will force me, the inefficient business to either improve or to shut down, both of which options make the market better by either freeing up wrongfully used resources, or creating more car variety
When we look at individual workers, say there are 1000 carpenters out there, and there is work for about 800 carpenters, and there are also 1000 plumbers, but there is enough work to keep 2000 plumbers in business, the result of that would be that carpenters will have less work and earn less money, while plumbers will be able to charge twice as much as a carpenter will because of the scarcity of plumbers, that will incentive carpenters to learn plumbing and switch profession, which will fix the lack of plumbers in the market eventually
How does communism deal with that it is missing those mechanisms?
https://redd.it/1lfbc81
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Tudeh-Maki Joint Statement: Stop the Killing, End the War Now!
http://www.solidnet.org/article/Tudeh-Party-of-Iran-and-CP-of-Israel-Stop-the-Killing-End-the-War-Now/
https://redd.it/1lerpl3
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Structure of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Did the Communist Party of the Soviet Union have party congresses at the local level (republic, oblast, city, etc...)?
https://redd.it/1ldrd4u
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Why was slavery incompatible with an industrialized labor?
Im attempting to understand historical materialism and how old relations of production become fetters on new productive forces. Am i correct in understanding that the u.s. civil war was in part caused by a need to bring the southern states relations of production into accordance with the industrialization in the north, as the u.s. spread west? And if so, why wasnt it possible for the northern industrialists to simply utilize slave labor in factories in the expanding territories?
Im also wondering why european industrialized labor wasnt spread on a larger scale to slave colonies during the era of colonization? For instance , prior to banning the slave trade, why didnt britain build textile factories in the west indies and use slave labor, instead of building them in london and using wage labor? Is the answer to these questions just circumstantial, or does historical materialism posit a theory that the relations of production under slavery and incompatible with the capitalist mode of production?
https://redd.it/1ldmkkv
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Why did the soviet union fail?
Hi y’all!!! I’m getting into communism don’t know too much yet, but it sounds rlly solid and I know it has worked in some countries and in others failed due to western power interests. But I haven’t rlly dove into why the Soviet Union was deemed a failure, hope y’all can help me understand :D
https://redd.it/1ld3f0s
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What does it mean to say Israel shouldn't exist?
I'm not sure if this question is for this sub reddit or not. And I'm sure someone has asked this question before, but I can't seem to find an answer. But either way I want to ask you guys because I have respect for this community and leftists in general.
TLDR: I'm making sure my dumbass understands the phrase because I never thought to ask anyone about it.
Little bit of background. I'm from the USA, raised in evangelical Republican area. Over the years I have deconstructed a lot of American propaganda and religious rhetoric that was shoved down my throat. However, I'm still learning and relatively young. I haven't gotten my grubby little hands on books that I still need to read (I'm dyslexic so reading terrible for me). I'm not sure if I'm a socialist or communist. All I know is I HATE USA capitalism, billionaires and corps. Well I also hate fascism as well.
Anyway, like many younger people, I was unaware of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the oppression the Palestinians have faced for over 70 years. That was until October 7th after Hamas attacked Israel. At first being the dumb white American I am, I condemned Hamas. Thank god some internet person told me I had no idea what I was talking about because I absolutely did not. So I decided to look further into stuff, just about the history, and the years of ethnic cleansing the IDF has done to Gaza and the regions surrounding it. Now, feeling pretty educated, I'm very anti-Israel. Their government makes me sick. I've watched to many children being pulled from rubble and families torn apart by the IDF. I won't ever forgive, nor will I forget what Israel has done. And my own country as well.
However I came across a comment on another post. Someone was calling out AOC for being very pro Israel has the right to defend itself. Which at this point just feels racially motivated or "Israel is our puppet. I can't condemn my puppet state." Anyways, the girl said Israel shouldn't exist. My understanding by that phrase is that by "Israel" they're referring to the corrupt ethno-state Natzi regime that is terrorizing the the region. This differs from the people residing there. By saying this, she isn't saying "the people residing in what is now Israel don't have a right to exist". I commented on that video saying exactly my interpretation of the phrase and claimed that if anyone who supports the Israeli government is in fact a Zionist. I in turn was told I don't know what I'm talking about.
That leads me here. I'm now wondering if I'm misunderstanding something again. So I ask you guys for help.
https://redd.it/1lchep4
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The Time To Stand Up For Our Rights Is Now
I think as a species, we need to seriously ask ourselves: What’s worse? Working a career to make money and spending time off for leisure? Or being eradicated either by billionaire tech bros’ disregard of our well-being, or by superintelligent Skynet-esque robots? The answer is pretty clear to me. If we adopt a system of socialism/communism that doesn’t require endless growth and is sustainable, we can use AI for things that are, in the long-term, genuinely beneficial to our society and existence as a whole, not just tech billionaires or runaway misaligned robots.
But for right now, it is my opinion that we need to really put on the brakes for AI, regulate it, and push our current officials to truly represent us and elect future officials that truly hold our best interest at heart. We can have a discussion of AI’s place in the future, but right now it is being studied and implemented unethically. So don’t stop calling your representatives and senators, try to unionize NOW to protect your jobs against automation, and form groups and spread the word to come together to fight for our human rights and protest this, before we can’t anymore.
We did it to defy the evil of Donald Trump on No King’s Day, we can do it again if needed to defy what are arguably even more threatening evils in the form of tech billionaires trying to play God, who should all be arrested and imprisoned for their crimes against humanity.
Nobody wants to be replaced by automation just to be squandered and squashed by a new world order of an all-powerful tech oligarchy, which I feel like is a sentiment that will resonate with most people; and if these capitalistic billionaires wave a UBI in our face to stifle our revolutionary fervor, we must reject it and continue on our quest to reclaim power from them. UBI is a temporary solution to a permanent structural problem. It’s time to talk about this NOW. There’s no time to waste. Spread this word and sentiment to everyone you can. It’s time to come together.
United we can stand. Divided we will fall.
https://redd.it/1lc7gd2
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Recommendations for biographies of Engels?
What’s your favorite biography of Engels? What makes you recommend it? Are there particular biographies to avoid?
https://redd.it/1lc39sr
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What do socialists think about the wave of Russian disinformation and bot farms as the leftists in USA talked about them?
The general opinion I have seen is that this is genuinely an overblown problem and paranoia based (partially) in Russophobia, but in my opinion there is definite evidence for the meddling of Russian bot farms and secret service meddling in elections. However…lately, Trump’s and Putin’s disagreements do put the idea of: “Agent Krasnov!” into a: “Doubt it…” zone, I’ll admit that.
https://redd.it/1lbto6e
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