Hello everyone!

[Rogue Fox]

Hello, my name is Marie and I am a seventeen year old high school student.  Politically, I consider myself a monarchist.

I am interested in learning about how you guys came to be Communists.  First of all, how old is everyone?  What initially attracted you to Communism/Socialism?

For me, as someone with unorthodox political beliefs myself, a lot of it comes from being influenced by historical works I have read and my studies of the French Revolution.

But, to be honest, I am someone who enjoys being controversial; I am not one to jump on the bandwagon.  Though my views are well-reseached and I genuinely believe in them, I'd say that at least a small part of the reason I chose my political beliefs was due to the fact that it would make me different - a rebel ;), a throwback to an earlier time, born in the wrong era.  I'm sure that if many others thought similarly I would still believe the way I do, but perhaps not so enthusiastically, for I cannot bear agreement.  Was it the same way with any of you? :)

[T.K.A.-Denmark]

Hi :)
Well im 24 and have been active for like 9 years.
What attracted me was a thing I think is pretty clear. This world is fucked up! While some rich people are extreme rich other people live of garbage. That was the sorts of things that got me active. But at that time I was pretty confused as most young people are.
Later I have gotten a more clear perspective and became marxist.
You should check out http://www.marxist.com if you don't already know it. It explains alot of things and have articles from all over the world

[Shredder]

I'm 18 and I was first attracted to communism when I realized that a (properly) planned economy would obliterate the chaos of the market. At first I floundered around avoiding communism, thinking that it was all about altruism and evil, but eventually I saw the light and realized it was about individuality and freedom and stuff.

And now, to get to the point:

I consider myself a monarchist.

What the hell?

Is that monarchy as in kings and queens, divine right, royal blood, etc.? Or is it the more literal interpretation of monarchy ="one ruler"?

In the latter case, perhaps you could elaborate on exactly what you believe.

In the former case, do you really want to throw us back to the feudal system? Or do you simply want to eliminate parliaments and the like in favor of inherited rule, keeping the capitalist system and everything else the same?

[igor_r]

I'm 20. Active 5 years. First i just came to the demonstration. Then read marxist books and joined organiztion. After crushing of USSR there is a really bad situation here.

[petrel]

If you are a monarchist in the US, you don't have to do anything. The Bush dynasty is already ending earlier republican constitutional freedoms and establishing monarchical tyranny.

[igor_r]

"as someone with unorthodox political beliefs myself" and "I consider myself a monarchist".  Do you see any contradictions?

[Miestermatt]

15 and im a soicalist.  After sept 11 i relized that there was something seriously wrong with the world. so i looked a little deeper and in 2002 i became a marxist.  Monarchy is an outdated and useless idea.  What can a king acolpmish pales in comprasion to what a soicty working together for the better good.  The way i see it you are terribly misguied,  and I mean it in the best possible way.

[P.O.U.M]

im 18 and have been involved with socialism on some level for about 2 to 3 years. i had a teacher tell me alittle about communism and some theories of marx such as dialectics and historical materialism and others. but he mostly only had time to discuss evils of capitalism and ever since i have hated it. i became intrested in communism alittle after that class but then just sort of stopped reading and kind of stopped caring. then a friend relit the spark after half a year and from there im been reading everything i can about communism, even anarchist refutations of communism (some are really remarkable, there just so stupid and wrong its amazing)

[styrken]

I have called my self a socialist since i was 13 years old, but I wasnt much involved in activities before I turned 16. I became active because it seemed clear to me that what is on the agenda every day for every people is wars, povertry and misery. Capitalism is horror without an end - I think before people laugh about people calling them self communists or marxists they should try to figure out what marxism really is. Because it is very far away from what you learn in school and what the public medias tells you!

[Volkov]

Originally posted by Rogue Fox
Hello, my name is Marie and I am a seventeen year old high school student.  Politically, I consider myself a monarchist.

I am interested in learning about how you guys came to be Communists.  First of all, how old is everyone?  What initially attracted you to Communism/Socialism?

For me, as someone with unorthodox political beliefs myself, a lot of it comes from being influenced by historical works I have read and my studies of the French Revolution.

But, to be honest, I am someone who enjoys being controversial; I am not one to jump on the bandwagon.  Though my views are well-reseached and I genuinely believe in them, I'd say that at least a small part of the reason I chose my political beliefs was due to the fact that it would make me different - a rebel ;), a throwback to an earlier time, born in the wrong era.  I'm sure that if many others thought similarly I would still believe the way I do, but perhaps not so enthusiastically, for I cannot bear agreement.  Was it the same way with any of you? :)

I am an 18 year old student who will be finishing up high school this June.  I live in the US state of Minnesota.  My real name is Zach.  

Well, at first, when I was in elementary school, I was a war monger.  I did not care about politics and economics, for I just wanted to conquer the world.  I used to make all of these war drawings in elementary school, and some teachers were not too fond of the violent drawings.  Later on, as a teen who was pissed off at the entire world, I became a Stalinist (commonly mistaken for Communism).  After realizing that Stalinism cannot work, I became more of a pre-1848 traditional Utopian Socialist;  I rejected Capitalism, but I did not really know how it worked.  At the age of 17, I started looking into Marxism, and I continue to study it to this day.

Rouge Fox, the French Revolution was a Bourgeois revolution that was against Feudalism.  Therefore, if it influcenced you so much, why do you support Monarchy?  The blight that is Capitalism is much more advanced than Monarchy, and Capitalism is horrible.  Why support the dead bones of Monarchy?  We cannot restore what has died in the past, Rouge Fox.  That is why we are Marxists. I agree that Monarchy was justified for a time, and that we had to go through Monarchy to progress beyond it, but Monarchy is dead, and it cannot be restored.

You are indeed an opponent of ours, but it is nice to see that you do not go around and spout out Bourgeois nonsense like Reality Check and Dsprox did.:)

[Rogue Fox]

Originally posted by igor_r
"as someone with unorthodox political beliefs myself" and "I consider myself a monarchist".  Do you see any contradictions?

LOL.  Here in the US of A, anything other than 'Democrat' or 'Republican' is considered highly unorthodox. :)

[Rogue Fox]

Originally posted by Volkov
Well, at first, when I was in elementary school, I was a war monger.  I did not care about politics and economics, for I just wanted to conquer the world.  I used to make all of these war drawings in elementary school, and some teachers were not too fond of the violent drawings.

I was the exact same way; I have retained many of my sadistic tendancies. :)

Rouge Fox, the French Revolution was a Bourgeois revolution that was against Feudalism.  Therefore, if it influcenced you so much, why do you support Monarchy?

Perhaps I should have clarified a bit:  I was strongly influenced by the French Revolution because I am strongly anti- French Revolution.

The blight that is Capitalism is much more advanced than Monarchy, and Capitalism is horrible.  Why support the dead bones of Monarchy?  We cannot restore what has died in the past, Rouge Fox.  That is why we are Marxists. I agree that Monarchy was justified for a time, and that we had to go through Monarchy to progress beyond it, but Monarchy is dead, and it cannot be restored.

First of all, I think you are confused about something:  the Monarchy I refer to is a political system with little to do with economic system.  It is possible for Capitalism and Monarchy to exist at the same time.  Though economic system is highly important to Communists it is of little importance to me; whether the economy of my ideal Monarchy is capitalistic or completely controlled by a single ruler is of little relevence.

I know I can be strongly idealistic at times, especially when it comes to longing for the past.  I know that a return to the  pre- French Revolution Old World Order is impractical, just as pure Marxism/Communism is impractical.  When I try and force myself to think realistically (which can be very hard for me), I think that a Constitutional Monarchy would be more practical.  Yet in my ideal world pure monarchy would be possible.

You are indeed an opponent of ours, but it is nice to see that you do not go around and spout out Bourgeois nonsense like Reality Check and Dsprox did.:)

I would not do that on your own forum; that would be silly unless, that is, you had an "opposing viewpoints" forum.

However, I am not bourgeois: I am an elitist.  The bourgeois class was that which strongly supported the French Revolution for their own gain; I am anti-French Revolution, remember? ;)

[Rogue Fox]

Originally posted by Shredder
What the hell?

Is that monarchy as in kings and queens, divine right, royal blood, etc.? Or is it the more literal interpretation of monarchy ="one ruler"?

In the latter case, perhaps you could elaborate on exactly what you believe.

In the former case, do you really want to throw us back to the feudal system? Or do you simply want to eliminate parliaments and the like in favor of inherited rule, keeping the capitalist system and everything else the same?

As I have stated before I am an idealist; an ideal world, for me at least, would return to the Old Order (feudalism with a Divine Right of Kings as described by Hobbes, Royal blood, etc).  However we do not live in an ideal world; and the second option you describe is basically what I think of when asked to translate my beliefs into practicality. :)

[P.O.U.M]

QUOTE]I know that a return to the pre- French Revolution Old World Order is impractical, just as pure Marxism/Communism is impractical.[/QUOTE]

And its impractical why? Oh and Marxists are not idealists so we do make our ideas practical for real world situations. Marx, Engels, and even Lenin were far from trying to create a "utopia." they were just trying to make a better society.

Oh, and the Marxian version of socialism is also called "scientific socialism."

[Shredder]

I see, basically you long for the middle ages, but will settle for a totalitarian capitalist state.

Now that I understand more precisely what you idealize, I have to ask: Why do you idealize it? What is so great about feudalism or monarchy? Is it because you're religious? You wrote about "longing for the past." But that is a useless longing. Time only goes in one direction, I'm afraid :(

I long for the future. I can understand being entertained by history. But why is it not enough to simply romanticize it? Why must you take a part of history that is sentimental to you and model the present after it? Would that make it any more sentimental?

Also, as you might have anticipated, I dispute your claim that "pure Marxism/Communism is impractical." I think I could give an oversimplified version of  the marxist order of society thusly: In capitalism, there are those who work for a living, and those who own for a living. It is in the mutual interest of those who work for a living to rid themselves of those who merely own. There is a 'higher phase' of communism, where people would hypothetically have such advanced technology that they would never have any reason to do anything but share freely. The higher phase is somewhat 'impractical," but as Lenin states:

...it has never entered the head of any socialist to "promise" that the higher phase of the development of communism will arrive...(The State and Revolution, chapter 5: part 3)

We will remove the bourgeoisie by force, and by force prevent them from sprouting up again. Anyone who wants to live will do so by contributing to the creation of a product or service. There will not be real estate agents making fortunes buying and selling houses, just workers building and living in them. The higher phase is merely a phantom that we will constantly be pulled toward as a natural result of man making life better for himself. I'd love to hear how that is 'impractical' as long as you don't use the terms 'corruption' or 'human nature.'