Let's see if we can have a healthy, respectful conversation. This is a conversation about economics and sociology, not politics. Inevitably, some amount of political discourse will arise, as it takes political movements to build socialism. But the focus is truly on how the system works, and what it does/is supposed to do. Let's chat, please be respectful.

As long as you aren't mean to me, and are arguing in good faith, I promise that, regardless of how much I disagree with you, I will be respectful and hear you out :)

What is socialism and a socialist? Can you explain in the most simplistic way possible?

Why don't yall move to a socialist country

What type of socialism do you subscribe to and why?

I know that could take a book-length reply to adequately answer, but if it's possible to give a brief overview, I'd be interested to read it. I think it would be useful to establish that for those less familiar with socialism and its different versions.

Follow up: Do you think your brand of socialism or one similar enough will arise in your lifetime? In which country? Or does it already exist?

What would be your approach to making middle Americans realise some degree of socialism would drastically improve their lives?
(Instead of believing propagandised boogeyman tales)

Also, do you see a way that people would accept a QoL or lifestyle or that could be achievable, that isn't reliant on exploitation of the global south?

Bot asss s*** going down

Mfw socialism is just capitalism for ngas who ain’t get p**** in high school

Socialism = workers control the means of production and produce based on need, rather than for profit. It's a gradually built form of production that may, especially in underdeveloped countries, include a protracted period of engaging with market forces to build it safely.

A socialist is someone who thinks the above is a good idea.

There's only 5 socialist countries on Earth, 3 of which are more nominally socialist than structurally. The other 2, North Korea and Cuba, are real socialist states. I would not want to live in the former due to culture shock, I would love to live in the latter but I am banned from moving there.

I'm what is known as a Marxist-Leninist. This was the ideology that led 20th century socialist movements around the world, and is still the official ideology of the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cuban governments. North Korea also blends it into their government as well.

I support Marxism-Leninism because it's the most practical socialist ideology with the best track record of surviving capitalist aggression. It's a practical, measured, and empirical approach for constructing a socialist society.

I honestly think most middle Americans would need to see their living conditions seriously deteriorate to win them over for socialism, especially white middle American men. You can and overall should try to win them over, but don't expect much.

I think most middle Americans would see a small but noticeable drop in their material standard of living upon a socialist revolution. The American Dream is fundamentally diametrically opposed to socialist construction. You can't have it and have either poverty elimination or grinding the global south into dust. Fortunately, the middle class is dissolving due to capitalism's own dysfunctions, so maybe a few folks can be won over as things worsen.

A socialist doesn't want to see working people suffer per se, but we anticipate that they will, and need to be able to spring into action to win folks over to the cause once they "snap out of it". I don't say that in a condescending way, I say this as someone who became jaded to capitalism and the American way of life, and had socialists swoop in to nurture those raw feelings into class consciousness.

Nah bro I just can't figure out how to get an avi set up

you got any good book recommendations for anything that helped shape your world view or was otherwise exceptionally interesting?

I honestly feel bad for you if this is genuinely how you think lol, all due respect. Get your money but there's actual legitimacy to socialist economics. Even lots of capitalist countries have enacted policies inspired by socialist economic theory that have drastically improved and stabilized their national economies and the QoL of the common man. What's not to love brother?

I'll start simple. Not out of pretense, but just as a gradual but firm introduction to socialist thought:

1) The Jakarta Method (Vincent Bevins)
2) The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
3) Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution (Peter Kropotkin)
4) Blackshirts & Reds (Michael Parenti)
5) The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels)

The first book is a historical a***ysis about the tragic downfall of Indonesia communism. Indonesia was poised to be the first communist state to come into power through a liberal democratic election. The only reason they didn't was due to a US-backed genocide in Indonesia, to effectively kill off the communists and their supporters. Killed roughly 3 million people.

The New Jim Crow exposes in a digestible but powerful way the horrors of the American prison industrial complex. It is the furthest thing from rehabilitative justice and is almost entirely existent due to exploiting superprofits from overexploited slave labor.

Mutual Aid debunks a lot of bogus "human nature" arguments about humanity's natural capacity for cooperation and usufruct, and explains not just why such a social structure is not just morally good, but existentially beneficial for our long-term survival.

Blackshirts & Reds debunks a lot of myths about the Soviet Union and lays bare how much working people lost due to the fall of 20th century communist states, both in terms of people that lived there, and workers around the world.

The Communist Manifesto is a classic. If you are truly jaded to capitalism and have a basic grasp on class structures, this book will light a fire inside you that is unparalleled.

AI thread?

dawg

Just start with Ernest Mandel’s Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory as a newbie

Join the ktt communist discord @op

rip parenti

U know what i always say who needs marx when u can read mandel

jk jk

I've never read Mandel but if you want a really really basic and easy-to-read Marxist book, check out "Capital Illustrated". It's a graphic novel interpretation of the basics of Marx's classic "Capital". The real book is worth a read but is extremely daunting, so Capital Illustrated is a cool primer.

most people want to see change in their home countries and not start a completely new life far away from their families & friends, on top of having to learn a new language, trying to adapt to a completely new culture & it’s different struggles and so on, if you’re a self proclaimed activist or whatever your main job is to do your best to fix s*** at home anyways unless the situation is so terrible that you have to flee

also socialists are internationalists, they realize that all the issues of the capitalist hegemony won’t be magically fixed by one random country turning socialist. capitalism is a global system, you have to change the world order for people to actually progress from it. any isolated socialist project in a country today with no heavy global influence or power will be heavily embargoed & geopolitically crushed by the US, it’s allies / or other imperialist powers, so people within these global powers will have to work towards revolution & more benefiting reforms too ofc

Can’t tell a first grader to calculate double integrals

f*** yall commies