I’ve tried the method of taking each paragraph and boiling them down in my words, but that method isn’t fun for me to do. I’ve also asked that question, and one of the suggestions I got is “watch videos on Marxism” - I fear that they might probably be too boring and too long for me to watch. In fact, I think Marxism may be boring for me to study. Are there any ways that would make it fun, exciting and engaging because that might be the one thing missing in Marxism.
Why do you want to study Marxism in the first place? Most people do that because it’s interesting to them. The chances that that knowledge will help you in your life is vanishingly small.
You don’t need to understand Marx to criticize capitalism. All you need to do is exist under capitalism.
You don’t need to understand Marx to criticize capitalism. All you need to do is exist under capitalism.
This is very true. Tho I think its still important to understand the basic critiques from Marx. Otherwise a student might get swept into thinking we don’t live in a capital dominated system.
cough ancaps cough
No.
Political theory is the exact opposite of fun and exciting.
You don’t want to learn, you want to be entertained. Those are two entirely different things.
You are basically asking how to become a well-trained athlete by sitting on the couch. That’s not how any of this works. You can’t understand something without doing the work involved in understanding it.
Learning isn’t easy and entertaining, it’s work.
I beg to differ.
A good teacher finds a way to excite the student and stir their imagination.
I’ve learned plenty of things because I associated it with something I enjoyed.
I agree! To keep with the athlete analogy that was used earlier, a teacher is like a coach.
You don’t need them really, you could put in all the work yourself and get results. But a good teacher/coach can help you set priorities, avoid common setbacks and keep you on track so you’re getting the most from your time.
Learning something new is never easy enough to not require some effort, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it way less difficult and enjoyable with the right kind of help.
No, a good teacher guides you. You still have to do the work.
If you don’t do the work, you learn nothing.
Passively consuming podcasts and youtube videos isn’t learning.
If you enjoy doing it, it’s not “work.”
I don’t want to get into a long argument over definitions of terms.
We can agree that effort is required, but effort can be done joyously.
You couldn’t pay anyone to match the efforts Olympic athletes, who happily do the work
Why are you so dead set on learning something you find boring?
Learning to do things you don’t find fun is useful for actually doing the boring chores as an adult. But I get the feeling you did enough of that at school.
There are tons of things to learn, I’m sure you’ll find one of them fun.
I listen to audiobooks while doing something mindless like cross stitching, a mindless game, or chores. It keeps my brain from drifting or going into autopilot.
It might also help to find podcasts or commentary that breaks down the books, but also read the books before or after. Those types of breakdowns will usually connect the theory with current examples, which helps reinforce the learning.
Editing to add: find a book club or socialist organizing group. Depending on how you lean, there are several different international options where you can join and learn together with others, and many offer virtual options if you’re somewhere remote.
Mark Fisher’s KPunk blog/Capitalist Realism. That and/or play Disco Elysium.
Disco Elysium
That game is $39.99 on Steam. Can free-to-play help?
If you want to learn about communism you have to participate in capitalism first.
I apologize for not directly answering your question, but I think you could benefit from this insight that helped me tremendously:
Boredom comes from within. Nothing is objectively boring. Introspection is your friend. Understand what is happening inside your mind when you find yourself bored, and you can turn it off - just that simple.
Don’t listen to people who say it’s not possible to have fun learning about this stuff. It can be. I can be boring, too, depending on your interests. Sounds like you’re worried about wading through things like Capital, Communist Manifesto, etc. Totally warranted – they were written in a different time and for a different audience. That’s not to say that there isn’t good stuff to get out of primary sources, but it’s more difficult.
I recommend listening Karl Marx: A Nineteenth Century Life to get some context as to who he was, what movements he was a part of, the state of the world he grew up and lived in, and a breakdown of the things he believed, things he changed his mind on, etc. It gives you important context. You don’t need to slog through it or do a ton of mental work. Just listen and absorb it. If you don’t understand a section, replay it and try to do some mental work to “get it,” but if it doesn’t click, move on and keep listening. Over time, you will begin to understand.
I also recommend listening to Michael Parenti’s Blackshirts and Reds. Very accessible.
Unpopular opinion.
Studying Marx is a waste of time.
Focus on real world politics and what can be done right now.
An hour spent reading a book is an hour that could have been spent putting up posters for a candidate.
You aren’t going to get a revolution any time soon, but the next election is coming up fast.
Genuine question, why is campaigning for the Democratic Party a better use of ones time than learning Marx(or any political philosophy text for that matter). To me this claim sounds absurd, because in no other activity is it seem as reasonable to put action over theory, instead of as inseparable, but I would be curious to hear your justification for your claim.
You do understand how elections work, right? The voting booth only cares about how many votes get cast.
Maybe instead of reading theory, you should study how politics works in the real world.
Look up Jerry Falwell.
He was a televangelist with an extensive mailing list. His plan was simple. Local GOP clubs decide who is going to take job. Things like county clerks and sheriffs. Falwell would flood every meeting with his people. If there were twenty folks at the last meeting, Falwell’s Moral Majority would show up with fifty. It didn’t take long for the grassroots campaign to sway the higher ups in the GOP.
Look at Leftists who have actually won elections in the US. Neither AOC or Mamdani spent a lot of time talking about Marx, they talked about saving consumers money and making their lives better.
And if you need a good example of action over theory look at the transportation network. How many bus drivers or train operators can repair their machines? Not many. Or food service. Think a lot of cooks understand the chemistry of baking? An ambulance technician doesn’t need to know advanced cardiology to do CPR.
Finally, if you plan on playing the ‘Democrats are bad’ card, think on this.
Back in the day, Frederick Douglas supported Abe Lincoln over a candidate who was 100% opposed to slavery. Lincoln was fine with the south keeping their slaves id it meant keeping the Union.
Douglas did a cold-blooded assessment and decided that it was better to help Lincoln win and be able to get close to him later, than it would be to lose and not have a chance to make a difference.
The last bit is a big deal a lot of our fellow lemms seem to miss. We really do let perfect be the enemy of good. Long term it means we don’t build movements that can expand.
I honestly think most of them would rather ‘win’ an internet debate than get a real world win in an election.
Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird’s song “The Butcher’s Sher” is a fairly quick summary of (including some quotations from) Capital with the bonus of a lil klezmer, but in general I think there’s value in just reading the text.
There Is Cafiero https://amzn.eu/d/0fuCvMBi It’s a compendium (read summary) with comments and letters. But if i Remember correctly it’s Just volume 1 but even worse i don’t know if there Is in english.
Or… Go to work see yourself 😂
Take lots of stimulants and disengage the critical thought part of your brain.
