As someone who used to identify as one; calling yourself a “Libertarian Marxist” is the stupidest shit.
To label yourself a Marxist is to imply that you have adopted Marx’s scientific method of socio-economic analysis, Historical Materialism.
If you believe that Marx was a Libertarian, the term “Libertarian Marxist” would be redundant.
If you believe that Marx was too “authoritarian”, “Libertarian Marxist” would be an oxymoron.
The term is a contradiction, which is why the only people who call themselves Libertarian Marxists today are Liberals who wish to adopt the aesthetics of radicalism; but are unable to escape from Bourgeoise propaganda surrounding actually existing Marxist revolutions, and Marxist States.
Eh, there are legit Libertarian Marxists, De Leonists being the prime example. Of course they use Libertarian as meaning anarchy-adjacent rather the American usage of the word. They also resolve the contradiction you bring up by believing that Libertarian Marxism is the dialectical synthesis of Anarchist and Marxist thought.
How does this represent an actual development of Marxism to new conditions and new information, which represent the genuine conditions for adding to the theory, and not just some desire to create another ultra-left sect of Marxism by injection of an idealist rejection of “authoritarianism” (which is alien to Marxism and its method)?
edit: To make the angle of my question clearer, I would posit that between Marxism and anarchism, there is nothing to “synthesize,” no contradictions to resolve. It is very much like saying " I have resolved the contradictions between Marxism and liberalism;I call it Democratic Marxism" or whatever but it essentially just boils down to another right-opportunist trend
Biases: I’m a ML, talking about a tradition that predates Lenin, this may affect the way I relay information. I’m also slightly drunk.
I’ll talk about De Leonism because it’s what I know the most about in terms of Libertarian Marxism. Let’s start off with the fact that it arose before and independently of Marxism Leninism. It posits that there should be two institutions, a state (a dictatorship of the proletariat) and the industrial union, and that upon the successful establishment of both and the destruction of the bourgeois class the state would be destroyed by the industrial union, thus achieving Communism.
In response to your edit, as best as I can tell the main required synthesis according to De Leon was as such; Marxism requires a period of socialism afterward the state will wither away, while anarchism requires the immediate removal of the state, as the state won’t wither away on its own. De Leonism attempts to bridge this gap with the solution of the industrial union.
http://www.deleonism.org/deleon.htm
This site has some good information on it. Honestly, just googling is your best bet to learn about these rather obscure ideologies.
To be fair it’s explicitly a rejection of Leninism rather than any development of Marxism, though if they actually read a book they would identify with left-communist ideas or just as the anarchists they are.
The more accurate term for libertarian Marxist is an ultra. Someone who supports ML shit but is totally removed from the real world implications around governing.
MLs and Trots sometimes take the inverse position as neocons do against them. Anything less than that is foolish in a world where neocons still exist.
This post has to be trolling because it reads exactly like a shitpost I’d read here.
Nope, this is what actually happens when dipshits get addicted to v*ush.
The western “left” is sooo fucked.
With all respect for ya’ll overseas, at this point I concider all english-speaking crackerbarrel countries to be unofficial member-states the United States with how similarly fucked up your countries are. But with better healthcare.
Plus I’ve never heard anyone call Bernie a tankie unironically. Even far-right loons just stick to “He’s a communist/socialist”
I absolutely have seen people call Bernie a tankie. I went to the neoliberal subreddit a few times during the primary, including that time when the news cycle was Bernie giving a mild defense of cuba.
Ok. This vaush shit needs addressed. This post is not funny.
