I'm going to write a bit about the trend known broadly as left communism. It seems to me that left communism has now basically become this newest trend in opportunism. Back in the day, there were barely any left communists - there still aren’t many - but every now and then you see one. I’ve seen lots of opportunists retreat from their previous positions (whether they were anarchists, Trotskyists, or what-have-you) and switch to left communism. I suppose it is appealing to some people.
It’s basically an anti-Leninist trend and against any historical form of socialism - any kind that has ever existed. So what exactly is left communism? It is an anti-Marxist, revisionist trend that capitulates under the pressure of anti-communist propaganda. It’s not the only trend that does this, but that is its most characteristic feature.
Left communism likes to present itself as theoretically genuine Marxism. People who aren’t well-read theoretically or lack a firm grasp of Marxism’s core principles seem to fall for it. In reality, though, it’s just revisionism and a vulgar distortion of Marxist ideas - especially Marx’s message and the essence of Marxism. In particular, left communism is the most extreme defeatist trend in revisionism and opportunism. It sees literally all socialist revolutions and socialist countries as “not real socialism.” This includes all Marxist-Leninist countries, other socialist experiments, and even anarchism.
Left communism has never had major historical or theoretical relevance. It is entirely isolated from real political action and only appeals to petty-bourgeois-minded opportunists. Some people - and by this, I mean left communists - might find that insulting, but it happens to be the case on purely theoretical grounds. These seemingly negative traits are actually left communism’s strength. Why? Because left communism is on a crusade against reality. It crusades against any socialism that has ever existed or will exist. Since left communists themselves have never had (and never will have) political relevance, their ideas will never become reality.
Left communism relies on abstract theoretical arguments out of touch with reality - meaning none of its conclusions ever need to be proven. If left communism did become reality, it would implode. Left communists would attack it as “stalinoid.” Left communism doesn’t exist on its own terms; it only exists as a parasitical opposition to actual socialism. That’s th
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