Jerbil [comrade/them]

Anarcho-something, Buddhist, Vegan. I use Arch, btw.

  • 0 Posts
  • 9 Comments
Joined 10 months ago
Cake day: August 30th, 2023
  • Jerbil [comrade/them]@hexbear.nettohistory@hexbear.net•Battle of Poitiers - New General Megathread for the 19th of September 2023English
    12·
    9 months ago

    Just finished watching this documentary while I was searching for the most raw footage I could possibly find on YouTube of what its like in current day North Korea. Really reminds me of the time I’ve spent in China where there are definitely a few topics people were uncomfortable speaking about or would avoid, but day-to-day life just seemed normal. It’s not necessarily on my list of places to travel, but it was really neat seeing the residents talking about reunification and how they don’t really have a problem with tourists. Though they’re only seeing the tourists who choose to go there, which means they aren’t meeting the people frothing at the mouth about how they should all be destroyed. Overall, nice bit of perspective from the doc. I wonder what it’s like in the more rural areas.

  • Jerbil [comrade/them]@hexbear.nettohistory@hexbear.net•Antonio Agostinho Neto - New General Megathread for the 17th of September 2023English
    5·
    9 months ago

    For this reason Stalin for example recognized an intellectual class that was neither exactly proletariat nor bourgeoisie, important for bringing into the revolutionary fold but also not always trustworthy. This class, iirc in Stalin’s estimation, was not large enough to become revolutionary on its own.

    This makes sense to me. In today’s context, it seems like there isn’t such a clear divide since many folks such as yourself are exploited by academia and have no real power to exploit anyone else or own any sort of capital. Graduate students were definitely on my mind when I was thinking about this. At the same time, depending on the department you’re looking in (Econ, CS, Business, etc) there are many folks whose only concern is accumulating wealth or at the very least living a comfortable life and would not be inclined toward any sort of revolutionary thought. It’s probably part of my personal bias to not want to be thought of negatively, but I suppose I am inclined toward the idea of “an alliance of the proletariat and the intelligentsia”, as @Stoatmilk put it.

  • Jerbil [comrade/them]@hexbear.nettohistory@hexbear.net•Antonio Agostinho Neto - New General Megathread for the 17th of September 2023English
    5·
    9 months ago

    Petty bourgeoisie are small business owners and “mom and pop” landlords. Pretty much anyone with some capital but not enough to be able to avoid work entirely.

    This is where my confusion was coming from. I think another user helped me understand the context may have been different when Marx and others were writing. I wouldn’t at all consider students especially, but also many knowledge workers as having any sort of capital today. Graduate students and adjunct professors are exploited workers that modern universities basically run on. Since the book I’m reading is in the context of Vietnam, it also goes over the idea of Proletarian Piety, the idea that those of every social class should be united in a desire to end that exploitation, even if they are considered petty bourgeoisie. An alliance that leverages people’s social capital. I can definitely see the argument that folks in that category are essentially too comfortable to oppose the status quo when push comes to shove, or that they’re too focused on theory to be helpful when its time for action.

  • Jerbil [comrade/them]@hexbear.nettohistory@hexbear.net•Antonio Agostinho Neto - New General Megathread for the 17th of September 2023English
    14·
    9 months ago

    Clarifying question for a newbie: Who qualifies as petty bourgeoisie and what is important about that distinction in this context? Is it always intended as a negative or just descriptive?

    I’m just starting to read the Curriculum of the Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism and it stood out to me that ‘intellectuals’ are frequently in this group, sometimes specifically called out as ‘teachers’ and ‘students’ and I’m not clear how they fit in with folks like small business owners or others who own limited means of production. Is it because of their lack of solidarity with other workers in their position? Their goal of seeking upward trajectory/validation within the current system? For example, the text mentions that many ‘intelligensia’ do not directly exploit labor, but that they often have contempt for labor, do not participate in political action, etc.

    I exist within a formal academic environment and have a 4-year degree myself with aspirations for more, so I’m questioning where I fall in the greater scheme of things and how that may affect my biases as I absorb more of this material. It also just sounds like an odd grouping, since the text also includes them in the same category as doctors and lawyers, so I must be missing something important about the definition of the category.