started with zinn and chomsky when I was much younger. Chomsky’s books are just list of crimes committed by the US across the world. It was really eye opening. I wouldn’t really read him now, but it was still a big influence on me at the time I eventually moved on to Marx and Lenin.
Funnily enough as I’ve gotten older, videos by the likes of Parenti and Prashad have been extremely important to my learning. And the old reddit genzedong, informed tankie, genzhou, etc. all were crucial to how I view things now.
I guess my own ideological growth would go liberal>>“libertarian socialist” (copied straight from chomsky)>>vague socialism>>marxism leninism
Some big world events influenced me as well. 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, 2008 financial crisis and the occupy movement, among others
I don’t know if you’ve read them or are interested in understanding the U.S’s imperialism even more, but William Blum’s Killing Hope and Rogue State were utterly world-shattering for me. They made me understand the sheer audacity of this empire. Reading too much into it too quickly can be enough to depress and give someone a complete mental breakdown I think, though, so I’d understand if it’s too much.
The CIA even has a pdf of “Rogue State” available for free on their website, blatantly mocking Blum and anti-imperialists. It’s disturbed as hell.
Reading too much into it too quickly can be enough to depress and give someone a complete mental breakdown I think
Very good warning to keep in mind. I’ve had to take breaks when researching certain topics because of this kind of thing. Was researching some things about the Vietnam war a couple weeks ago and had to stop, I was feeling physically ill from what I was reading/seeing, even though it’s things I “know” about already.
It’s elucidating and enlightening beyond belief, but reading about this stuff definitely made me understand the phrase “ignorance is bliss” and I get the physical sickness absolutely. All you really have to know is that NATO / the U.S. / the transatlantic empire are profit-driven, wicked, and never have the best interest of people other than shareholders and war profiteers at heart, and that you have to fight against them every step of the way. Blum et al.'s work will make you a better anti-imperialist IMO, but you’re already golden if you do and believe the above. It’s not worth understanding every facet of every misadventure and every suffering imposed by empire if it’ll kill your passion for revolution or hurt you so deeply that you lose it. I deep dove and had comrades and friends tell me that I should take a break because they saw the sheer horror overtaking me at times. I got over it, thankfully.
Agreed. I’m glad you seem to have developed some balance in dealing with the horror while also still continuing to learn things, and glad you had some friends to keep you grounded. I have a tendency to deep dive as well. I try to keep a purpose in mind when doing so (I am looking for X information for Y reason) to keep my diving reasonable.
I know who Blum is and have read some of his articles. I don’t think I’ve read his books.
If you want fucked up reading, Hidden Terrors is a book about the US’s involvement in South America, especially Brazil and Uruguay. It’s centered around the life of CIA agent Dan Mitrione, who was responsible for well, basically torturing leftists. Pretty brutal, but it gives a real picture into how the CIA works in other countries.
started with zinn and chomsky when I was much younger. Chomsky’s books are just list of crimes committed by the US across the world. It was really eye opening. I wouldn’t really read him now, but it was still a big influence on me at the time I eventually moved on to Marx and Lenin.
Funnily enough as I’ve gotten older, videos by the likes of Parenti and Prashad have been extremely important to my learning. And the old reddit genzedong, informed tankie, genzhou, etc. all were crucial to how I view things now.
I guess my own ideological growth would go liberal>>“libertarian socialist” (copied straight from chomsky)>>vague socialism>>marxism leninism
Some big world events influenced me as well. 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, 2008 financial crisis and the occupy movement, among others
I don’t know if you’ve read them or are interested in understanding the U.S’s imperialism even more, but William Blum’s Killing Hope and Rogue State were utterly world-shattering for me. They made me understand the sheer audacity of this empire. Reading too much into it too quickly can be enough to depress and give someone a complete mental breakdown I think, though, so I’d understand if it’s too much.
The CIA even has a pdf of “Rogue State” available for free on their website, blatantly mocking Blum and anti-imperialists. It’s disturbed as hell.
Very good warning to keep in mind. I’ve had to take breaks when researching certain topics because of this kind of thing. Was researching some things about the Vietnam war a couple weeks ago and had to stop, I was feeling physically ill from what I was reading/seeing, even though it’s things I “know” about already.
It’s elucidating and enlightening beyond belief, but reading about this stuff definitely made me understand the phrase “ignorance is bliss” and I get the physical sickness absolutely. All you really have to know is that NATO / the U.S. / the transatlantic empire are profit-driven, wicked, and never have the best interest of people other than shareholders and war profiteers at heart, and that you have to fight against them every step of the way. Blum et al.'s work will make you a better anti-imperialist IMO, but you’re already golden if you do and believe the above. It’s not worth understanding every facet of every misadventure and every suffering imposed by empire if it’ll kill your passion for revolution or hurt you so deeply that you lose it. I deep dove and had comrades and friends tell me that I should take a break because they saw the sheer horror overtaking me at times. I got over it, thankfully.
Agreed. I’m glad you seem to have developed some balance in dealing with the horror while also still continuing to learn things, and glad you had some friends to keep you grounded. I have a tendency to deep dive as well. I try to keep a purpose in mind when doing so (I am looking for X information for Y reason) to keep my diving reasonable.
I know who Blum is and have read some of his articles. I don’t think I’ve read his books.
If you want fucked up reading, Hidden Terrors is a book about the US’s involvement in South America, especially Brazil and Uruguay. It’s centered around the life of CIA agent Dan Mitrione, who was responsible for well, basically torturing leftists. Pretty brutal, but it gives a real picture into how the CIA works in other countries.
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yeah all of the above was big for me too.
I started young, and sort of progressed to the point where I am now. About a decade ago I would have been a Jacobin subscriber haha
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