• tiredturtle@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    In the PRC, the Communist Party leads the state, but Marxism tells us to go beyond labels and focus on material reality. The ruling class is defined by who holds and uses economic and political power. If the Party and state genuinely reduce exploitation, improve living conditions, and build socialism, they fulfill a proletarian role. But if they prioritize maintaining power or allow inequality to grow, they act as a ruling class.

    For the proletariat in China, their actions depend on their material conditions. If the system serves their interests, they should work to strengthen and improve socialism. But if exploitation exists, workers must organize, critically engage with the Party, and demand reforms that align with Marxist principles of dismantling class oppression.

    It’s difficult to fully understand the proletariat’s sentiment in a context where opinions may need to be hidden and opportunities for agency could be limited. This makes critical analysis even more important to ensure that socialism actually serves the people.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      This isn’t an answer to my question, though. You’re just vaguely gesturing at an imagined issue without doing any of the “critical analysis” you claim is important.

      If you’re genuinely a Marxist, you should be following the adage “no investigation, no right to speak,” because all you’re doing is signaling that this could be a problem without doing the materialist analysis to prove it.

      If you’re not a Marxist, why are you trying to lecture Marxists on Marxism?

      • tiredturtle@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        I’m not sure I understand the disconnect. I don’t see my discussions as being lecture. I’ve only thought to participate and hope I haven’t broken some taboo.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          1 day ago

          Your initial comment questioned how the PRC’s focus on education will look based on “entrenching compliance” as opposed to “liberating the working class.” This fundamentally presupposes that the PRC isn’t Socialist, yet without doing any legwork to bolster that claim. When pressed, you were even more vague, just saying we need to discuss it.

          The PRC is Socialist, ergo educating the Working Class isn’t out of “compliance,” but because it is useful for the Working Class in steering the revolution that already gave the Working Class supremacy over Capital.

          • davel@lemmy.ml
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            21 hours ago

            Tell me how that wasn’t frustrating & exhausting work 🎖️

          • tiredturtle@lemmy.ml
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            18 hours ago

            The PRC being socialist would require that it aligns with the Marxist principles of worker control, class abolition, and revolutionary progress. Evidence suggests that the PRC’s actions often prioritize state control and compliance instead of working-class emancipation. We shouldn’t fall to beliefs, religion is the opiate of the masses after all

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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              13 hours ago

              Why are you drawing a line between government ownership and central planning, and Proletarian Control? Government ownership and planning is the form of proletarian control, along with massively expanded worker protections and influence.

              This is not analysis that you’re doing. You’re again being more vague, not explaining how government control is bad for Marxism or what “evidence” you have suggesting anything. As a consequence, your comments don’t genuinely offer any clarity, but ask more questions than they answer. Same with your vague assertion that “falling to beliefs” is “religion” when the only one making unbacked assertions here has been you.

              What of Marx have you read? What do you think a Socialist economy looks like?

              • tiredturtle@lemmy.ml
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                11 hours ago

                In Marxist theory, socialism isn’t just about government ownership or central planning, it’s about proletarian control. For a state to be socialist, the working class must actively manage production and society, rather than being ruled by a separate elite or bureaucracy acting “on their behalf.” State ownership can be a tool for socialism, but only if the state is democratically controlled by workers at all levels. Otherwise, it risks becoming state capitalism, managing production from above without true worker empowerment.

                As for beliefs, Marx’s critique of religion as “the opiate of the masses” doesn’t dismiss ideas but warns against illusions that obscure material reality and class struggle. Critical analysis means questioning whether a state truly represents the working class or functions as a new ruling class. A socialist economy would feature collective ownership of the means of production and democratic planning to meet human needs. The key question is whether the PRC fulfills this vision of socialism or prioritizes state power over worker control.

                As for the spammy demands for credentials or a reading list, Marxism doesn’t hinge on gatekeeping or appeals to authority. Marx emphasized praxis, to analyze material conditions and power structures. The “true Marxist” argument doesn’t address the substance: does the PRC align with Marxist principles of worker control, class abolition, and emancipation, or does it serve a centralized state elite? The answers requires evidence, not dismissive rhetoric or an insistence on orthodoxy.

                • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                  10 hours ago

                  See, this isn’t Marxist analysis, though. AES states have proletarian control at all levels, you simply change to calling them “elites” with no backing or class analysis.

                  As for the rest of your comment, you don’t provide any of what you say is necessary, like evidence. This isn’t a “true Marxist” argument, rather, it’s you that’s taking an ultraleft dogmatic interpretation claiming every application of Marxism is “false.” I ask you to clarify what kind of Marxist you are because your analysis is divorced from the overwhelming majority of Marxists worldwide, and haven’t provided any analysis.

                  • tiredturtle@lemmy.ml
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                    10 hours ago

                    One of the key aspects of Marxism isn’t just about state control or central planning, it’s about the active involvement of the working class in managing production and society. If a state is controlled by a small elite, even if it calls itself socialist, it risks becoming a form of state capitalism rather than true worker control.

                    This isn’t about rigid, dogmatic labels which I can’t help but notice in your assumptions of me. What is interesting is understanding material conditions and power structures. Discussing any state, does it give the workers control or whether it serves a centralized elite.

                    I’m not claiming that any state is “false” without evidence. It’s an examination of how power operates in those states and whether it matches the idea of socialism where workers are in control. Doesn’t Marxist analysis require questioning these things, not simply accepting a label?