Old to New- Marxist renewal.
An old 'commie' gives a current perspective on what's possibly (?) driving much of the current dissent and division in society.
I received a most interesting phone call last week ‘out of the blue.’ It was from an ‘old commie.’ He’d been sent one of my Substack posts on Modern Marxism by a friend of his. He was animated and excited as he gushed forth with the history and strategies of the Communist/Socialist/Marxist movement post World War II. It was fascinating. He was delighted that someone had bothered to deep dive into the re-emergence of the Marxism in Australia after it’s 1990’s major decline.
As I’ve explained in my posts, my interest has been triggered by the obvious rise of the modern Marxists as an Australian political force. This became majorly apparent at the 2022 Victorian state election where the Victorian Socialist Party (formed in only 2018) scored an average of 8 percent of the first preference vote across 11 seats. Impressive! Dovetail that with, The Greens being openly socialist and the Australian Labor Party across Australia being dominated/control by the Left factions and it’s clear that something major is afoot.
I’ve deep dived into the modern incarnation of Marxism by attending Marxism Conference 2023 and 2024 each for 3 days during the respective Easters. And I’ve reported on what I’ve discovered.
But to receive an historical perspective, from an ‘inside operative’ is really valuable! I thought you might be interested. He’s sent me a fascinating explanatory background that’s he’s happy for me to share with you and for the backgrounder to be attributed to him.
I’ve called him (affectionally) an ‘old commie’ but he’s described himself differently. Mark Blair is his name and here’s his description of himself.
Mark on Mark
‘I’ve never been a Marxist or a socialist. I did my political apprenticeship with anarcha-feminists in the mid-80’s (In Newtown, Sydney). They are consensus-democracy hyphenated anarchists. I was also active with anarcho-syndicalists.
So, a left-wing revolutionary, but from a tiny consensus-democracy corner of the arena. These folks loathe party commies as much as everyone else.
You may also recall that I mentioned making a point of interacting with all manner of political models. Well, I have, over 43 years, done that: had first-hand interactions with a very wide range of social models (including Airborne Infantry in the late 1970’s).
I remained on the left, watching the craziness unfold across the 2000’s, then the 2010’s, until the BLM declared I was a racist (‘cause I’m White).
And I’ve since ‘crossed the floor,’ to the hard-core right, which is – as ‘middle ground’ is now forbidden – the only place left from which spirited opposition to the looney left can muster for action.”
You’ll note from Mark’s description that there’s an entire ‘insiders’ language to grasp if you are to deeply understand what the broad ‘Left’ movement is on about. It’s clear even from Mark’s description of himself, that there are deep divides in the movement, and this is reflected/expressed in their ‘insiders’ language. I experienced this firsthand at the Marxism conferences!
But frankly the nuances of the various Marxist/Left divides wash over me. I’m interested in what is the core Marxist agenda. And that’s quite clear from what the Marxists say. It’s the stirring up of revolution to achieve the destruction of capitalism with the accompanying collapse of society into class warfare. And that’s not me regurgitating some sort of propaganda from the ‘Right.’ It’s what the Marxists’ openly (and proudly) state!
But back to Mark. Here’s his historical backgrounder that gives context for the current Marxist movement. And thanks Mark. I appreciate the education! Most helpful!
“Understanding The Twenty-First Century Left
Those who wish to combat contemporary ‘Marxism’ do well to understand a little of its profound transformations since party communism petered out last century. These notes are a very brief introduction.
Firstly, we’ll ‘bracket off’ postmodernism, technology, and Singer’s expanding moral circle.
Secondly, we’ll note the centrality of utopianism to left-wing programs. Whether it was the U.S.S.R. or it is pink-haired people teaching kindie, the left feels empowered to seize control of the human race because (a) only they understand the world, and (b) only their model can fix it. The touchstone here is the complete denial of human nature (except sometimes). Utopia can be achieved by completing re-programming the human race.
And this is where readers begin to benefit from a little left-wing history. Anarcho-primitivism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcha-feminism, reformist Labor Parties and reformist trade unions (like Australia’s last century), Stalinism, Trotskyism, Maoism, Gonzalo Thought, the Khmer Rouge – these are all just different political ‘vehicles’ headed towards the same utopian goal.
About thirty years ago, however, a profound change occurred. In the western nations. Very quietly. And explaining this change is the point of this article. So, deep breath:
Think about Gough Whitlam. You may think his government was radical, but it worked within the bounds of the existing Australian governmental model. This is ‘reformism.’
The other political model of the era was the discredited revolutionist model whereby guys with guns seize control of the state apparatus – a la the Bolsheviks.
But what if you ‘grafted’ certain standard old-school revolutionist ideas – like the destruction of the state and the biological family – onto a country’s existing ‘reformist’ governmental model? Let’s call this ‘devolution.’ Devolution is a form of revolution. Revolution is its goal. But the revolution happens slowly, bit by bit, from within the existing reformist model.
Who knows who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is? Correct. She’s an American politician. Does she see herself as a public servant, serving her American constituents? Not at all! She’s a communist, a member of the U.S. Democratic Socialist Alliance. If she says, ‘No one is illegal,’ she isn’t kidding. She wants an end to immigration controls, which means, of course, an end to the U.S.A.
But how come these devolutionists aren’t always talking about ‘the working class’? Good question! The other profound change has been the ‘swapping out’ of class politics for identity politics (although there’s still class politics ‘in the background’).
This brings us to postmodernism and Singer’s expanding moral circle. Postmodernism is an abandonment of objectivity. This is how a transgender woman becomes a ‘real’ woman. In a science-oriented society, it would be biological markers that denote sex; but in a postmodern/poststructuralist society, you are ‘really’ a woman if you say that you are a woman. (This is a reprehensibly inadequate definition of postmodernism!)
And Singer’s expanding moral circle? The human race has become far, far more willing to help those in need in recent decades. This is how a ‘trans-abled’ person – a person who can walk but has a psychological aversion to walking – might be eligible for a disability pension. (Classical Marxism assumes ‘super-abundance of resources.’ Historically, you seized it from the rich. In the devolutionist model, you tax the rich.)
Postmodernism and the expanding moral circle have a lot to do with how ‘trans’ and ‘Deaf’ and ‘Fat’ and ‘Mad’ became more productive areas of radical political organization than the oppressed working class, many of whom now own two cars and a weekender.
Let’s recap: the radical left has remodelled and relaunched itself this century; but so quietly that many people didn’t notice. Many of the policies of Twentieth-Century party communism – disdain for democracy, utopianism, the habit of suppressing dissenting voices, brazen lies, targeting children, the enforcement of pseudo-science, stripping the individual of agency – have been quietly ‘transferred across’ to this new model. Technology, particularly the Internet, has helped enormously.”
Wow! A bit breathtaking Mark! But it makes sense when we look around at the seeming chaos, anger, bile, violence, and enraged divisiveness hitting the headlines daily. There’s a pattern in what you say that emerges and that explains much.
Wake up commies, wake up capitalists. There is no such thing as the left or right anymore. You are all being controlled by the Rothschilds et al. One way or another they are going to wipe out most of the human race. You are all useless eaters to therm. We don't need ideologies, we need action. Destroy these evil bastards or become a digital slave in their system.
That’s a great discussion of postmmodernism, thanks.