We are constantly told that solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing poor and working class people in the U.S. do not exist. Meanwhile, billions taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the genocide of Palestinians.
That very money could have ended homelessness in the United States.
Money for our needs, not the U.S.-Israeli war machine!
That's a complicated question. The short answer is that, until Socialism is established world-wide, states are necessary, along with millitaries to defend them. All AES states have had to defend themselves, the USSR was invaded by 14 Capitalist nations right after the October Revolution.
Additionally, Socialism is not "the same place as before." Establishing Socialism through revolution has fundamentally changed who has the reigns, the bourgeoisie vs the proletariat.
Have you read any Marxist theory? I can give some reading lists, either a "full course" or I can recommend specific works going over the Marxist theory of revolution and the state, but that may raise more questions than it answers.
Honestly, as an American, I’ve avoided diving into Marxist ideas because they tend to carry a lot of ‘baggage’ here and are seen as a touchy subject by many. That said, the more I learn, the more I realize that I probably align with some aspects of Marxist theory, having arrived at similar basic concepts on my own, though I’ve always been puzzled why we don’t embrace these ideas. I haven’t really read any Marxist theory directly, mostly because of the negative bias around it, but I’d love to start somewhere. If you could recommend some beginner-friendly resources to help me get my feet wet, I’d really appreciate it. I also assume that there are resources here on Lemmy? Thanks!
Really cool!
Maybe you'll find you disagree with most or all of what you read, that's fine, you don't have to agree. I don't think Litvinov^[foreign minister of the Soviet Union in the 30s] agreed with the nazis when he "[i]n 1928 [...] had read and re-read Mein Kampf until he almost memorized it"^[The Cold War and Its Origins, Denna F. Flemming, p.60]. But reading even the books of our enemies is necessary to learn and grow.
I'm the creator of comlib (see some of the links in Cowbees comment), I've been thinking of giving someone that did what you did, to ask and learn, a.. "coupon" for an EPUB. So if you use EPUBs and you have some book you'd like made into one, come tell me and I'll prioritize it.
100%