Portugal: Left-wing defeated : europe

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

I also wrote wrote in detail about the election here.

I skimmed this article (and this page on "stalinist traitors" they list), seems like the usual facile ultra-left or trotskyite critique of the left parties (ironically since one of them is rooted in trotskyism), I can even think of a handful of 1k twitter followers "organizations" that could've written it.

What I'll say is this, to claim that the problem is the lack of parties that run with programs saying "violent revolution" on the cover is just cope, especially when the communist party's program already has all the anti-capitalist, anti-nato anti-EU stuff that these people support anyway. In fact that party itself is an example of the limits of publicly identifying yourself as a communist regardless of your program, even if people don't think you're actively seeking to make their lives worse by valorizing violence.

It's like in any other country, there are plenty of ultra-left sects with no support hating the left and each other and claiming to be the "real communists", creating another one of these is not a new solution, it's something that these people would say regardless of the results and every year and I swear there's a new one of these that gets even less support

Leftists just have to acclimate to the idea that we DON'T know the real answer to effectively grow as a publicly socialist/communist organization in these current conditions, not in portugal nor anywhere similar.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Leftists just have to acclimate to the idea that we DON'T know the real answer to effectively grow as a publicly socialist/communist organization in these current conditions, not in portugal nor anywhere similar.

A large number of people worldwide aren't 'political' but support radical changes to the neoliberal capitalist status quo. They are afraid of communists because of propaganda but don't even know what they fear. It seems it could be more effective to organize a communist party simply by not calling it as such, still in policy and action be fully communist, just using different language.

Like Trump supporters in the US, they don't think of themselves as fascist or radical or even conservative/Republican, they just know he's the guy/movement that said they were going to fix the things they don't like.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

I find a bit of room engaging with "socialists" (socdems) by clearly expecting them to have read theory or pay attention to China or whatever. So many of them just don't have a viewpoint at all since the propaganda stifles their enthusiasm to research before they get going (and "it's hard"). I don't really think of myself as "M-L" and I don't brand myself that way, I do run in to a lot of "socialists" and set a good example for them.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago

It seems it could be more effective to organize a communist party simply by not calling it as such, still in policy and action be fully communist, just using different language.

If I had to start something over from 0, I would do this, but since Lefts exist in a national context it's actually something very hard to do. I think the Worker's Party of Belgium is technically a communist party (and I see them every year in the Avante Festival) but they don't assume a communist political identity.

That being said, a few years ago I did casually discuss with some comrades if the portuguese communist party should change its name or something like that, since people support pretty much everything in the party's program but don't want to vote for communists (although that's why the party runs in the broader CDU coalition), and I've always opposed doing that here, because I don't actually believe it would work without sacrificing the party's principles, like it happen with communist parties after the 90s there were attempts to "renovate" ie "get rid of marxism leninism" in the party and those people failed and left (they've since appealed for people to vote for the PS), so since the communist party already exists I think it's better to support its communist identity (so basically try to resist and hold onto what we have) rather than try to start over and possibly lose it for nothing.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

We all know we're searching for ways to prove we want to improve people's conditions, but western parties can't find a way to do that without wrecking the liberal order that countries benefitting form imperialism see as the basis of their standard of living, even if those conditions only came about through concessions due to the fear of revolution.

That historical revolutionary fervor that caused the concessions isn't present because the concessions aren't gone yet. If time wasn't so much of the essence, the strategy would be to wait until the concessions are all taken back (owning housing as an option for working people, 40hr work wee, etc) in the name of profit while teaching people about that inevitable outcome. But climate change and nuclear war are game-changers which mean that we have to find a strategy to really improve lives now (relative to the liberal order) or to convince people based on future outcomes instead of immediate outcomes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Problem with that is that wealth (and life quality) in western nations is subsidized by exploitation of the global south. Huge parts of the western working class benefit from the exploitation of the global working class. Western capital managed to align their workers' (short and medium term) interests against the interests of the rest by granting these concessions.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

That's not a problem with my claim, that's exactly my claim. So, our strategy comes to 3 options: let the global south do the revolution to the west, find a way to improve lives without imperialism and prove our position, or wait until the Imperial benefits dry up (revolutionary potential will be easier to foster) and risk the climate or nuclear war in the meantime.

The first option proves very simply the easiest for western people but is useless as a strategy.

The second is very difficult, but it's about the only way to take action now.

The last is not reasonable considering the scale of damage done every day we fail.

Realistically there is even an overlap between the first and third, because the Imperial benefits depend heavily on the global south not being revolutionary, so there's room to shift strategies depending on the global situation.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Due to the Stalinist two stage theory, the communist party keeps its propaganda moderate and not revolutionary.

Portuguese Communist Party (Partido Comunista Português PCP): moderate Stalinist

stalin-point

chad-trotsky pika-pickaxe

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago

Jesus, I hate how much you could just change names and contextual cues and you'd have a pretty good description of what will probably happen in Brazil very soon. In fact, that applies to most countries where the "left" is a bunch of neolibs masquerading, which is, well, most countries in the West.

It sucks that we're essentially stuck in this ever-repeating cycle where the left alternative is gagged and repressed. It's just an eternal repetition of right-wing psychos pillaging the state, then being replaced by the polite neolib alternative when the pressure gets too high. Nothing improves fundamentally, so the right-wing pretends to be populist and snatches power back again, promising change. Rinse and repeat. This eternal pressure cooker existence fucking sucks.

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine and the machine is bleeding to death, but if we work like really hard we can scoop up all the blood and put it back in the machine, because the machine is essentially good, we just need to make sure the right people are pulling the levers.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

a left wing party? defeated? in a liberal election? trump-who-must-go

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago

This can be applied to most EU countries.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yikes, glad we didn’t move there.

Congrats on following the USA to become a shithole country of corruption!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

"become"?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Point noted.