A number of Marxists deny being racists

[Boojatta]

However, just as people who search for romantic partners via internet dating websites may claim to have no racial preferences simply as a matter of self-advertising that may or may not be accurate, Marxists might also claim an even-handedness that is not necessarily real.

If the active abuse of human rights and the economic consequences of political policies pursued by self-proclaimed Marxist governments that have existed in Angola, North Korea, and Vietnam have nothing to do with "true Marxism", then what's going to make some variety of American Marxism superior?

Is there no reason to suspect that, in the minds of American Marxists, the racial characteristics of Americans will somehow prevent such things as agricultural mismanagement leading to severe food shortages and/or actual famines, outlawing of all political opposition parties, use of criminal law to deal with political speech, government censorship of internet messages on political topics, arrest without charges, indefinite detention without trial, and torture?

[skooooo]

1. ..

:wtf:

:shrug:

[Boojatta]

2. Please identify the first word or sentence in the Original Post

that is unclear. Note: I have already edited it in an effort to make it more clear. However, it's difficult to solve a problem if no clue is given as to the nature of the problem. A doctor might ask you to stick out your tongue or say where it hurts. A veterinarian doesn't have that luxury. I can sympathize with a veterinarian.

[skooooo]

3. I don't think Marxism has anything to do with it.

This stuff happens everywhere - America, Mexico, etc.

[Boojatta]

4. Do you think that Marxism has anything to do with

the history of Angola, North Korea, or Vietnam?

[skooooo]

6. I believe the abuses you allude to...

...have more to do with totalitarianism. I also think that when most people refer to "Marxism," they are really referring to "Leninism," because Lenin was the winner of the big power struggle in Russia.

In contrast, I think countries that practice some form of socialism like the Scandinavian countries, are more advanced in their practice of human rights.

The United States imprisons more of its citizens than any other country in the world. So the question might be, what does the US share in common with Angola, North Korea, and other places that also seem out-of-balance in regards to sophistication it uses to deal with "problems."

[steelerman]

14. Totalitarianism Is The Key

I agree. Totalitarianism is at the root of inhumanity. The nazis and Stalinists were supposed to be poles apart politically, yet they both ended up slaughtering millions of people.

[Ricochet21]

18. I agree

I agree

[Borderlineanarchist]

15. Is that accurate? About our rate of imprisonment?

I never knew that, actually. Dear GOD. What accounts for those numbers?

[Boojatta]

5. Here's a thread that you might find interesting.

Why has the USA had no actual dictator and only one civil war?

[Ricochet21]

19. I agree

I agree

[AlphaCentauri]

7. The unabomber manifesto was about the same subject

I don't remember well

[KurtFF8]

8. Wow

The OP obviously has no idea what they're talking about. Marxism is fundamentally anti-racist. You can't be a racist and also be a Marxist as that would be a contradiction. Actually in Marxist theory, Nationalism and race are both social constructs that are tools to divide the working class (whether intentionally as some believe or due to the structure and reaction to Marxism).

Look at every major Marxist group in America and you'll find that some of the main things that they go against are to fight racism. For example the civil rights movement had much influence by Marxists (and even long before, look at this article about a book on the subject: http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6413 ).

Before we go into specifics, North Korea officially abandoned Marxism as an ideology a long time ago (the 70s I believe). And for the other two countries mentioned, what racist policies are you referring to exactly?

[MullenBank]

9. WTF! It's not denying their racism but admitting their marxism.

Two things the 21st century can safely shitcan:
1. Marx
2. god

[kwassa]

10. since you know little about the history of Marxism in America

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_communist.html

The Communist Party USA was founded in 1919, three years after the Russian Revolution. It started as a dual organization composed of foreign-language and native-born American groups, but the factions were ordered to merge by the Soviet Union, which helped fund the Communist Party USA. The Communists were active in promoting civil rights and racial equality for blacks. Many black writers and artists were invited to Moscow as guests of the state. When the Great Depression occurred, many Communists believed that Marx's prediction of the inevitable collapse of capitalism was coming true. The Communists became extremely active on the civil-rights front, and they found a great opportunity to act on the national stage in 1931. Nine black youths traveling on a freight train in Alabama were arrested, falsely charged with raping two white women who were also on the train. The youths were quickly tried, and all but one were sentenced to death. The Communists intervened with a two-fold strategy: They hired first-rate legal talent to appeal the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and they also staged mass demonstrations in the United States to rally public support for their campaign to free the youths. The strategy worked. The Supreme Court overturned the first trial and ordered a new one.

In the second trial, the judge himself threw out the case. Alabama reinstated it, and once again the "Scottsboro Boys" were found guilty and sentenced to death. Again United States Supreme Court overturned the verdict. Finally Alabama yielded. All nine defendants were eventually released after spending many years in prison. At the same time as the Communists were fighting the Scottsboro case, they were also organizing sharecroppers and tenant farmers in Alabama. Their goal was to force landlords to give sharecroppers and tenant farmers a fair share of their income, provide food and clothing during the winter, and pay them money that was lawfully due them.

The party found thousands of black farmers who were willing to participate. It was a dangerous business. Local organizers like Ralph Gray and Clifford James, Alabama farmers, were murdered. Others, like Ned Cobb, were imprisoned. Some just disappeared. Unidentified bodies of those believed to be organizers were found in rivers. Despite the terror, the party organized some successful strikes in Lee County in the mid-1930s. However, the agricultural situation had dramatically changed by the late 1930s and the party -- while still maintaining a strong civil rights platform -- withdrew from the cotton fields.

[Boojatta]

11. Kick

[DeadEyeDyck]

12. i'm kinda marxist and black

I have read the OP three times and still find myself saying WTF? But i had about 5 beers so WTF!

[ffellini7080]

13. A lot of capitalists are bigots

Your point is moot.

[Ricochet21]

17. I agree

I agree

[Ricochet21]

16. I agree

I agree