I’m not sure if this type of post is allowed on Genzedong or not. I wanted to see more discussion on Lemmy and this is the largest community so I crossposted here. Please accept my apologies and remove if not allowed.
I want to preface this by saying that I am still extremely ignorant of Marxist theory. Currently working to catch up but I am very open minded to different perspectives. However, I also want to add that I come from a Chinese family with strong communist sympathies and I feel that I have certain insights into China and the history of communism in China that many in the west do not. My grandfather as well as my father were Marxist philosophers. My father did not push Marxist theory onto me as a child (which I appreciated), hence my late introduction to theory.
Since I grew up primarily in the West, access to Marxist theory was limited. Richard Wolff was one of the people who helped reignite my interest in Marxism. I realize Wolff has some opinions that do not align well with Marxist or ML theory, but I’ve always thought that he was a good gateway to leftist theory as most of what he teaches is rooted in Marxism.
I decided to look up what /r/communism thought of Richard Wolff and while I saw many comments that echoed my thoughts there were also many comments that were virulently anti-Wolff, some of which left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/h8mosl/what_are_your_thoughts_on_richard_wolff/ Specifically the comments by /u/ah-gou.
I don’t know enough to form an opinion on most of his comment but the part about Wolff propagating a socialist market economy as “true communism” seems damning, but I also have never heard Wolff say this before either. Another user also replied that while Wolff may not be correct on all the theory, he ultimately teaches Marxist related theory, which cannot be said for most political or economic educators in the West. I thought there was a lot of merit in that.
I previously mentioned that reading these old threads and especially u/ah-gou’s comments left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. That wasn’t because I didn’t agree with his theory based opinion, rather it was mostly because of the strong and almost hateful reaction he had against Wolff. It reminded me of the stories that my aunt used to tell me of the most radical red guards back when she was a red guard. To my understanding, these kind of bottom up radical sectarian actions are what led to most of the violence and suffering seen in the cultural revolution. My initial reaction is that people like /u/ah-gou are exactly why the cultural revolution has been completely and utterly disavowed by the CCP today. Which is interesting given that most of my family who are knowledgeable about the cultural revolution do not absolutely disavow the cultural revolution.
In my view Richard Wolff plays a very important role of educator and usher of Marxism within liberal society. He plays up certain areas that he doesn’t necessarily believe wholeheartedly (such as co-ops) in order to move liberals towards the left. I think he has been an important factor in moving Western political discourse in the past 20 years towards the real left. He may not be right in all things theory, but his impact is important nonetheless. Discussing and criticizing Wolff’s theory is absolutely necessary but the way I have seen him being criticized is too akin to the sectarianism that has plagued and hurt socialist movements around the world, and especially reminiscent of the mistakes seen in China. I think Wolff is a vital part of the socialist movement and is exactly the type of educator we need to see more of in the West. Once you have a basic understanding of Marxist theory you can move on past him, but he is a keystone figure in moving any anti-capitalist towards Marxism.
Thoughts? I am happy to be wrong. Would love to see more discussion on lemmy.
Edit: Question for those who disagree: Those who disavow this type of liberal-pandering Marxist education/communication; what is your envisioned path towards revolution in the west?
^ genuine question, not asked in bad faith.
ppffff this left unity bs will get you nowhere. study marxism properly and reject its many distortions
https://youtu.be/QkRO44P_mrk?t=4705
do not align based on diagnosis of problems but solutions. coops, “democracy at work” is not socialism nor will resolve the problems of capitalism.
We wouldn’t have saw the Long March and the CCP would have died in the cities if Mao’s faction, who deviated significantly from the accepted ML orthodoxy at the time, did not win the leadership and ideological struggle. China would not be the superpower it is today if the CCP did not open up to market reforms. I would argue that this same line of reasoning applies to the west today. 99% of the western population is so heavily propagandized that revolution is impossible no matter how well polished your theory is. Wolff has done more for Marxism (in that he has brought more people towards Marxism) than anyone else in North America that I know of. That’s not to say that there is no merit to your concerns that introducing such distorted theory may lead one to go astray later down the path, but so far I am not aware of any Marxist who suddenly went socdem or now thinks that co-ops are the answer because they listened to Wolff.
I’m also curious, those who disavow this type of liberal-pandering Marxist education/communication; what is your envisioned path towards revolution?
where do you think the 30% comes from? … plus your timeline is all over the place.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1980/08/31/deng-cleaning-up-maos-feudal-mistakes/4e684a74-8083-4e43-80e4-c8d519d8b772/
you went from this to lecturing on the chinese revolution?
it’s hilarious watching you go from wolff to maoism. total opposite strategies. lmao.
I am not lecturing anyone on anything, I was just trying to provide a historical example of deviation from accepted theory to adapt to the relevant circumstances. I am fairly ignorant of Marxist theory but I am not ignorant of Chinese history. My reference to Mao and the Long March is in regards to Mao’s focus on revolutionary praxis as opposed to ideological orthodoxy. I am referring to Mao’s ability to adapt and did not mean to lean on his ideological orthodoxy.
Just to clarify, you’re referring to Mao’s assessment of Deng being 30% wrong and 70% right? Not the CCP’s position that Mao was 30% wrong and 70% right? Or of Mao’s assessment of Stalin being 30% wrong and 70% right? Are you a Maoist then?
Can you clarify what you’re referring to?
I also want to go back to your previous comment. Of course I agree with the second half of that statement, but where has your dismissive attitude towards left unity and your grand understanding of Marxist theory gotten you and the West in the past 70 years? A few infiltrators and agitators have nearly completely neutered all of your leftist parties and have left them in splinters. Richard Wolff the “anti-communist” is taking advantage of the current anti-capitalist wave with his adapted strategy and has ignited curiosities towards Marxism in thousands of people. And so I want to ask this next question in the most sincere and respectful way possible; what have you done? Not necessarily you specifically if you don’t want to answer, but I am honestly curious, what do you think the path towards revolution in the west should be?
Democracy at work isn’t a solution, but if MLs spearhead or man the helm of such orgs then it can be used for base-building to move beyond short term solutions. In maoist terms you need a solid and stable base so that the proletariat look to the movement and not liberal institutions for solutions. IMO, it’s a mistake to throw out syndicalism and trade unionism because these ideas are ingrained in western leftism. The problem is that they’re viewed as competing strategies and not potential tools.