A Wake-up Call for Jeremy Corbyn

Why the Denunciation of Marxism Matters

The threat of authoritarianism looms in the minds of British voters but depending on which side the political aisle, the type of authoritarianism differs greatly. For many, it will be a throwback to the type of xenophobic nationalism that that pushed Britain into a devastating war. Though the memories of those who can remember the horrors of era are fading into oblivion, the cinematic images of hatred still persists in our zeitgeist. The men in similar uniforms united in their goal of extinguishing certain unwanted races and lifestyles. They see Trump and his nationalistic offspring as a symptom of this disease. It ignited the support of Brexit. Its mission is to turn people against each other.
For others the type of authoritarianism is the radical left and its nefarious brand of identity politics. In similar fashion, they harp back to the past, to the great terror of communism, the supposed noble pursuit of equality faltering into oppression and genocide.

Courtesy of Aslan McLennan

In many ways, both sides are right. Both show disturbing trends of authoritarian behavior. Both on the right and left, you will see a resurgence of anti-antisemitism. On the right you will see many defenders of authoritarian icons like Vladimir Putin, one of the main engineers of this deeply polemic era. Multiculturalism is a dirty word among the alt-right. There’s talks of liberal media conspiracy. On the radical left you will find people more than willing to silence any debate when opinions or facts conflict with their world-view- in some cases violence is encouraged for the greater good.
Whatever side you’re on, when you live under a totalitarian rule, it doesn’t matter either way. Though the philosophical roots might differ, the terror is equally oppressive. Both forms need to be denounced.
While Britain doesn’t seem to be in danger of crumbing under an authoritarian rule, it’s still important, especially from our democratically elected leaders to watch out for the warning signs and to understand the philosophical roots that inspired totalitarian societies. With that wisdom and understanding, the aim is to conserve one’s democratic society and to have an absolutist stance any brand of authoritarianism, past or present.
And this means, above all else, Marxism.

The Necessary Wake-up Call

The presence of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party Leader has been met with discontent and controversy, not just from the opposition but from within the party itself. For some Labour Party members, Corbyn’s positions on either economics or foreign policy are too unfeasible, bordering on lunacy. Some have accused him to lacking leadership skill, of being too much of a buffoon- which was the subject of much hilarity in Charle Brooker’s 2017 Newswipe.
The Tories accuse him of being a radical leftists, even dangerous to the nation. His meeting with a Czechoslovakian spy in the 1980’s, prompted people to call him a communist informant. On the Andrew Mar show in 2015, he was asked whether he identifies himself as a Marxist, to which Corbyn replied that he ”hadn’t read enough Marx as he should have done.” While this is not an admission of being a Marxist, the fact that he couldn’t simply flat-out deny it is troubling, not because this means he’s hiding something, but because it betrays a deep misunderstanding of Marxism’s role in today’s troubled times.
In fact Marxism explains much of the polemic divide of the modern world. While the philosophical tenets of modern Russia owes more to Alexander Solzhenitsyn than to Karl Marx, his troubled legacy still haunts the nation. The Russian tactics of sowing ethnic and cultural divide through social-media were inspired by Soviet-tactics. In the fight against capitalism, Marx implored that deluding the proletariat, sometimes by heightening (or accelerating) the flaws of the Capitalistic system, is beneficial for the greater good. From this viewpoint, the legacy of spreading disinformation or as we now refer to it, fake news, can be found in the tenets of Marxism.
Under the guise of Marxism, liberty must be given away for the greater good. Its emphasis on the ”greater good” has all the frightening connotations. You can see the extreme-right demanding the loss of liberty under the preserving culture- instead of class-warfare the narrative becomes monoculturism vs. multiculturalism. On the extreme left spectrum, the loss of liberty means taking away the privileges of some to benefit the other- as was done in communism with property being taken and given to others. The world is a battle between two opposing forces. Marxism rids humans of their individualism and people become part of a collective- the good or the bad.
In the words of Marx himself: no great movement has ever been inaugurated without bloodshed.

Pictures of the Gulag

At the same time, we must admit the appeal of Marxism, especially in the aftermath of the Global Financial crisis. We’ve become aware of the ridiculous bonuses, the loopholes used to avoid paying taxes, the dirty financial practices used to hide massive sums of money.
Back when the horrors of the Soviet-experiment was revealed and the Labour party collapsed under the leadership of Harold Wilson, it was understandable why Thatcher’s brand of laissez-faire market economy was perceived as the only sane and humane alternative. Thatcher, like her US counterpart Reagan set the stage for the trickle-down economics that eventually showed its painful fragility in the 2007-2008 Global financial crisis.
And this is because the foundation of laissez-faire capitalism was based on a foolish dream. The idea that an unfettered free-market will cause inevitable stability and prosperity to its society and to its rightful participants- note how the emphasis on ‘rightful’ since this means this ideology means the destruction of the welfare state- is just as deluded as Marx’s dream of a communist utopia.

Reagan and Thatcher, purveyors of another false dream.

Despite what many Marxists will tell you, there has been serious attempt to making the Communist Utopia happen and not only did it fail, it has caused massive starvation and oppression unlike anything in history- and the price of ”trying” it again seems like an awful price to pay.
The point therefore is to advance a humane hybrid of both capitalism and socialism. But in order to do this, we need to learn from the past. In Marx’ Das Kapital we can read an excellent analysis and critique about the capitalist system. Much of what Marx wrote would transpire in the future. But beneath all this lies a milleniarist ideology that eventually inspired unprecedented genocide. Casual deflection on whether someone identifies as a Marxist should not be taken lightly.
There’s argument to be made that Corbyn’s refusal to denounce Marxism is purely out of political gain- to gain the loyalty of radical left voters. If that’s the case it would be just as egregious. But if anything could be said about Corbyn, is that despite his populist tendencies, there’s an authenticity to him, an idealism lacking modern British politicians. When he talks, it looks like he actually believes what he’s saying. There’s a lack of political-robotism in his presentation.
But sometimes idealism can be for the wrong thing. One could look at his weird admiration of Hugo Chavez. Chavez has been praised by left-wing-ideologues especially on the Hollywood side- if you want to see some shameful propaganda, watch Oliver Stone’s documentary South of the Border as well as mournful tribute to Hugo Chavez called Mi Amigo Hugo. Does Corbyn understand who Chavez was or has he fallen prey to ideological hubris? If one believes in one’s cause hard enough, one could easily ignore (or disbelieve) the countless human rights violations committed as a consequence of the cause.

The late Hugo Chavez: Does Corbyn understand who Chavez was or has he fallen prey to ideological hubris?

Milleniarist dreams are all about creating a brave new world- it also means destroying the old one. The forceful policies to make this happen, in the case of any communist regime in history, shows you the terrible toll this will have on human rights. The dream of Marx is dead and trying to revive it will only cause stagnation. It’s been dead for over a century now and it’s time for Marxists- if that happens to be Corbyn- to wake up.

The Redemption of Socialism

You can defend the virtues of socialism without harping back to Marxism. The only way to redeem socialism is by rejecting Marxism. You can state that you’ve grown to understand capitalism through the study of Marxism while also acknowledging that Marx’ historical materialism was wrong. You can expose wealth-inequality without espousing class warfare. The world is not divided between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. It’s not as simple as that and it’s important now as it has always been for our politicians to not divide the world in two.
In a world where large and small groups can huddle comfortably in their echo-chambers, where journalism and objective reality is in question and under attack, it’s only more important for our politicians to call out dangerous ideologies and the authoritarians that implement them.

Bernie Sanders, the U.S. Socialist populist. 

A political strain of humanitarian socialism is very effective and admittedly promising. A new form of politics is needed and some form of wealth-distribution is definitely going to be a part of it. Corbyn, like his American counterpart Bernie Sanders, has inspired many fringe voters. Whether this is due to Theresa May’s incompetence or due to the appeal of his message is up for debate, but what truly matters is that there is a definitive chance that Corbyn might be leading Britain in the next five years. And though there is little evidence of Corbyn charging the way for a violent Communist revolution, it doesn’t make his casual defense of Marxism any less revolting.
Above all its the principle. It’s about the respect for those who perished under communist rule and those who still suffer from its legacy. We should all know better by now.

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THE WACKY SERIOUSNESS 1

Introduction: The World of MEH

This story takes place sometime in the future, not far from now. The only reason for this is because I truly believe, unequivocally, that the future will have just as many stupid people as it has now.
I could set it in a present day, and in some parts it will make more sense, because I will obviously be wrong about many of its futuristic aspects. But I don’t really care about that. Maybe it’s because I’m lazy- as nearly everyone in my social circle has implied or outright stated, sometimes with urgency- because you really have to do research in order to write a decently accurate view of the future. I don’t feel like that, I got shit to do. Even then you could still be wrong. In the fifties they thought we’d be colonizing Mars already. We send robots there, send Matt Damon there but that’s about it. Nobody’s getting laid in Mars anytime soon. Then there’s jet-packs, that would have been cool- you ever seen Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451? Or better yet: The Rocketeer! So fucking bad-ass.
What I’m trying to is that if you’re going to bitch and moan about how inaccurate my portrayal of the future is, then don’t bother reading this. Read something that will make you smarter, something you can quip at dinner parties. This is not going to make you smarter. This is just fuel for cynicism and misanthropy. This book is full of delicious hate. But it’s the good kind of hate, the healthy kind. It’s ideal for very pretentious people. If you’re not pretentious but as humble and noble as I am, don’t give up yet. Read about it and maybe you’ll become more pretentious in the process- it’s like being an jolly alcoholic, you’ll annoy people around you but you’ll love yourself!
When I read science-fiction, I don’t really read for the tech aspects. I don’t care about all that. That shit is boring to me. There’s nothing wrong with it, don’t get me wrong. It’s probably fascinating for people that are a helluva lot smarter than me. I like guinea-pigs myself, I think they are fucking adorable, I can watch them for hours. I love the way they eat with that blank stare and black beady eyes. It’s fucking awesome. Other people might get bored. I like guinea-pigs better than most humans. Yes they shit on your hand if you’re careful, but unlike humans, they don’t leave such hateful comments on the Internet. They don’t depress me as much. Human beings depress me. So many of them are fucked up. So many people don’t get it. So many people are such giant assholes and so many of these giant assholes rule this planet. They take advantage of people. They lie to them. The people know they are lying but they still vote for these people. There’s history books, text-book examples of these assholes yet people ignore this because you know, fake-news! These bad people get so many good people killed and they get away with it. They always get away with it. It’s a bummer man. A real goddamn bummer…
My point being is that I read science-fiction for its portrayal on humanity. How technology AFFECTS us, rather than how cool it is. How we change or not change in time. How the future reflects the present in more ways we could have ever imagined. It’s about us, our relationship with ourselves and others. It’s about the message, it’s about making you think. My message in this story, along with other thoughts along the way which haven’t been properly thought out yet: no matter what we have, people will still be as stupid now as they will later. People will always find a way to run from themselves, run from the truth and create a world which is more comfortable for them. You can see this now even more than ever. You might have more religious nutjubs back in the day, now we have the awesome capabilities to learn everything about this world. The truth is out there. We can type in some words in (enter popular search-engine) and find out anything we need to know about our leaders, about our history, about current events. I’m not saying things are simple, I’m just saying that if people looked hard enough, they might make more informed decisions. They won’t get so riled up if some billion dollar Hollywood film doesn’t have minorities in them or if some slutty teenage girl wants to have an abortion. We can move on. We can focus on bigger, better things. We can learn from each other. We don’t have to fight all the time. Things doesn’t have to be black and white. We can work it out if only we really tried… MEH. Let’s not do that. Let’s instead seclude ourselves into our comfortable bubble and only involve ourselves with people who agree with us. That’s much easier.
Like right now: I just excused myself just I could comment on some message board because I made the ‘controversial statement’ that Stalin was an evil prick. I thought this was well established but apparently not. Apparently I’m a (and I’m paraphrasing slightly) ‘a brainwashed faggot.’ Gotta love those choice of words. This is the problem, many people can still not decide on the obvious villains. Plentiful defenders of dictators, old and modern ones, are still out there. And you can’t help but wonder, what if a politician with severe authoritarian tendencies rises up, would the people even see it? Would they see the signs? Or would they vote for them like they always do?
I wonder about this, realizing that if we are not careful, we will make the same mistakes again. Maybe we’ve already made these mistakes. The forces are already at play. We aren’t careful enough, it will be too late when we finally wake up…
Maybe I’m just a little blue. Didn’t sleep much and drank too much coffee, that combination makes me blue. But I don’t believe we will progress to a better tomorrow. We will ups and downs, beautiful victories and harrowing defeats, but the more power we receive, the more we have to lose. We will never learn, we won’t ever figure it out. We will reach that Utopian dream, because reaching for it, inevitably leads to unimaginable misery. Not enough people will listen to the scientists, not enough people will care. The economists are already talking about expendable people, they don’t know what will happen to all those people- what are they going to do? Are we going to get universal basic income or are we going to reject that because having universal basic income is a ‘slippery slope to a socialist hellhole? Is that even going to be the answer? Or are we going to take of the environment or are we going to have to face the fact that future generations will probably clone every millennial just so they can beat the shit out of them? Will we stop eating poor innocent animals? Yes you can give me shit for inserting a vegetarian message in here but come fuck it. Pigs are adorable. We still have an industry turning these beautiful creatures into hamburgers and I consider that really messed up…
Will we manage to stop a crazy person for attaining a nuclear missile or will he ride the nuke to our oblivion? These are things I think about too much. I got OCD, I’m an expert on excessive thinking but I don’t think a little worry is bad. Perhaps I should be more productive about this worry, but alas, if only I wasn’t so lazy, I could have saved the world!
I think the end is inevitable. I think there is nothing special about us. I don’t think we are in made in God’s image. I think it’s an insult to God to even imply this. The people say that I worry too much. The humanists say that we are progressing but I don’t think so. I think we are going to be just as destructively stupid….

And so, I’ve blabbed enough, let’s tell the story of Sean Reilly, a political commentator, some would call him a contrarian, but rational people would call him a hopelessly misguided individual…

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