I'm new to Marxism. I've been reading this list for a couple of years, doing reading as well (thanks in part to some welcome recommendations by members of this list), but I'm not sure if I'd call myself Marxist, mostly because I'm still exploring the topic. Marxism is a wide-ranging topic.
For example, until this last year I didn't know there was an environmental aspect to Marxism. Of course, it was clear that capitalists are destroying the planet, but the analysis goes well beyond that. While, before last year, I agreed with the more radical side of environmentalism, I didn't know that Marxists more often than not, when they take a position, *often take that position on Marxist grounds*. So I'm learning, more and more, that I lean toward Marxism when it comes to (for instance) environmentalism. There are some ideas in Marxism I don't agree with, but I guess I'm mostly Marxist from what I know, with the qualification that Marxism isn't the medicine for all diseases. So maybe I should say that I'm mostly Marxist where I can see that Marxism is relevant. This whole journey has been facilitated by the observation that I agree with most of this list's members on specific issues: racism, environmentalism, economics, and so on. This is a mailing list about Marxism and things at least indirectly related to Marx. What puzzles me, as a newcomer, sometimes, is that I don't see the connection between Marxism and some issues discussed here. There might well be a nexus, as there turned out to be with environmentalism, between what Marx observed and the topic at hand. But what is the connection? So, while I favour "radical egalitarianism", for instance, where does that fit in with Marxism? My impression is that much inequality is due to the working class not having control over production, so if we want to increase egalitarianism we need to take control of production. It's nice to want egalitarianism and some other desirable things, but do those wants translate automatically to Marxism? One of Marx's most important insights was that the superstructure is based on the mode of production. So shouldn't there be some connection with the mode of production here? As far as I'm concerned, the "mode of sexuality" shouldn't be a basis for judging someone's worth as a human being, but why is that topic coming up here? Racism, I understand, there is a lot of analysis explaining why capitalism contributes to racism. But bias against transgender and transexuals? Is it merely an aspect of the general authoritarianism that enables current modes of production? Or is there some deeper or more subtle explanation? OK, I've started reading authors like Silvia Federici, who explain at least in part the relationship between capitalism and the more usual form of sexism (the oppression of women by men), but where is the analysis of the oppression of, say, transexuals in Marxist terms? Maybe this is new topic, and Marxists haven't gotten to it. Why is it on this list? Where is an analysis of this topic? A side note: My reading burden has led me to conclude that publishers probably believe that Marxism is one of the capitalist gods' greatest gift to the book industry. I've doubled my reading in the last couple of years, and half of it is the fault of this damned list. :-) On Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 10:19:05AM -0800, Richard Modiano wrote: > Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2021 10:19:05 -0800 > From: Richard Modiano <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [marxmail] Moderator’s note > > It seems to me that an important element of Marxism is its radical > egalitarianism, so that however tiny the minority of trans people may > be, they are included in the struggle for equality. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#6819): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/6819 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80953897/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
