“If indeed the socialist commonwealth were an impossibility, then mankind would be cut off from all further economic development. In that event modern society would decay, as did the Roman empire nearly two thousand years ago, and finally relapse into barbarism.
“As things stand today capitalist civilization cannot continue; we must either move forward into socialism or fall back into barbarism.”:rosa:
Born in southeastern Poland on 5 March 1871, Rosa Luxemburg was a towering figure of the classical socialist movement— a brilliant thinker, sharp-tongued rhetorician, and trailblazing leader of the proletarian cause. The famed socialist historian and journalist Franz Mehring once called her the “best brain after Marx”. Her comrade and dear friend Clara Zetkin described her as the “sharp sword, the living flame of revolution”. Even Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, with whom she often clashed, was compelled to acknowledge her status as an “eagle” of the Communist movement, at least in retrospect.
“Democracy is indispensable to the working class, because only through the exercise of its democratic rights, in the struggle for democracy, can the proletariat become aware of its class interests and its historic task.”:rosa:
She was, by all accounts, a truly unique figure. A Jew, a Polish woman, physically disabled and politically an irreconcilable Marxist—the obstacles to her pursuing her aims in life were legion, yet she rose to become one of the paramount leaders of the largest and strongest socialist movement in the Western world, German Social Democracy. In her short but brilliant career, she locked horns with the Prussian military elite several times and spoke as equals with Karl Kautsky, August Bebel, Victor Adler, and many other leading lights of socialism. As a political agitator she rallied masses of workers against capitalism and imperialist warfare, while also challenging Marxist orthodoxy as both a theorist and instructor at the Social Democratic party school in Berlin.
Yet since being cut down by proto-fascist thugs in January 1919, Luxemburg has been memorialized as a martyr for the revolution and a symbol of the tragic highs and lows of Germany’s twentieth century more than anything else. While her name and image remains iconic, her prodigious intellectual output and many contributions to socialist theory, have often been reduced to footnotes.
“Freedom only for the members of the government, only for the members of the Party – though they are quite numerous – is no freedom at all. Freedom is always the freedom of the one who thinks differently. Not because of any fanatical concept of justice, but because all that is instructive, wholesome and purifying in political freedom depends on this essential characteristic, and its effectiveness vanishes when ‘freedom’ becomes a special privilege.”
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Who Was Rosa Luxemburg? :rosa:
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Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Marxist organization connected to Die Linke in germany :rose-fist:
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Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg :rosa-shining:
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Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg :rosa-shining:
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
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reminders:
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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
Theory:
Yesterday I called my mother and she started talking about the "world situation". What confuses and worries me is that every time I corrected a point she made, she acted as if this was her position from the beginning. For example: She started by saying that she feared that Putin and the leaders in the west will start throwing nukes because they are mad and are just stupid people. When I tried to explain that the current situation in Ukraine is the result of a very specific strategical thinking and a reaction to economic demands, and that they are not just going to throw nukes out of spite, she said that she completely agrees and that she's glad that we are both so like-minded. Another example is when she later said that it's important to look at statistics to keep yourself informed about the world in an objective way. When I told her that this might not be a good idea and explained the flaws of statistics to her, she said that she of course knows that they are not objective and shouldn't be used in that way as if she knew all along.
To me it appears that she definitely understands the differences between our positions and then immediately tries to correct them by drastically changing hers (basically gaslighting me into thinking my response was wrong). But why does she do this? It's so irritating and when I try to point out that she changed her position, she just says that that's not true or she just quickly changes the subject.
Going from "The Ukraine war risks nuclear armageddon" to "this is a cold-blooded calculation between large geopolitical actors" would be a huge leap in perspective. It sounds like the exaggerated position was her way expressing a real concern; meaning something more like "I'm worried about this conflict, what do you think of it?" You respond with a specific analysis and she agrees with it. If she doesn't see her own perspective as changing, then it is because your analysis doesn't contradict her own understanding of the world. It sounds like she values your knowledge on these things.
Your mom respects your opinion significantly more than anyone else's even if she is horrible about how she says it. Its better than having a parent that refuses to realize that you are way more knowledgeable than them despite showing them over and over again.