53 points
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Literacy is dropping due to erosion of the education system, as Imperialism eats itself alive. It isn’t out of pride, necessarily, that’s a post-hoc justification.

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35 points

mfw the base shapes and maintains the superstructure and the superstructure maintains and shapes the base

Death to America

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25 points

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48 points

This is not a well developed take from me, but I think that Amerikkka is doomed to fascism because of the abundance of petit bourgeois people, bourgeois centred attitudes, and settler history and mentality. I’m sure that illiteracy is a part of it, but IMHO it’s not in the top 5. I’m worried that this might be ableist, but I’m not exactly sure.

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26 points

More like classist, as illiteracy and poverty tend to go hand in hand

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After their revolutions China and Cuba both made major reforms and have some of the highest literacy rates in the world.

I don’t know what the literacy rates were for revolutionary Cuba, Russia, or China, but I’m willing to bet they weren’t great. Something tells me Batista and the Czars were not running efficient public education systems.

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1 point
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48 points

I could be wrong since I wasn’t there…but I have a stinking suspicion that the majority of successful leftist movements in history didn’t happen on account of a highly literate populace who all individually read karl marx and decided they needed to do a revolution at the same time.

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37 points
Removed by mod
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18 points

i grew up poor surrounded by poor people. first time i landed in the west we lived in public housing among asylum seekers. my conditions led to my own decision to educate myself of alternative ways to live/take a step away from western programming.

no one around me grew to become radicalized by living condition. they either took the punches and continued to play the game, or turned to crime (i don’t blame them). i think it’s also why i find it difficult to fully integrate into leftist groups; the loudest voices are often from the most privileged

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11 points
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Now, we’ve been radicalized by living conditions and theory just pointed at the real cause.

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15 points

It is both, both are necessary. Material conditions set the stage for struggle but it requires political education and organization to create radicals. The political education itself also emerges from conditions and history. They are co-creating.

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37 points

Blaming people’s personalities as though it is and will remain the prime mover is not very materialist.

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31 points
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1st third: Yep

2nd third: lmao what

3rd third: lmao what

Material conditions? Never heard of them.

Basically every successful Communist revolution immediately instates major literacy programs after the initial victory to empower the populace. It isn’t a prerequisite.

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