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Being rude to service staff is #1 indicator that someone is garbage

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Honest question, where can i start to educate myself in economics and such?

I've been very anticapitalist for many years but where i live the educational system took out Ethics, Philosophy and social studies from the Schools programs so you can only access to them through private universities (oh the irony)

I know there is no shortcut but im willing to take the whole trip but have no idea where to start, also, english is not my first language but i think im good enough and im pretty fluent in spanish so can read in both.

Sorry to bother, im just very lost and there's so much information i don't know where to start

Hey! I'm on the exact same journey and it warms my heart to hear from other people that are too, so thank you for reaching out. There’s such a massive corpus of anti-capitalist literature that it really is difficult to know where to begin. I got over that hurdle by doing exactly what you just did: simply asking other comrades for their advice and suggestions. It really is the best way to learn and I’m so grateful to all the people that have helped me this far.

I’m also glad you narrowed it down to economics for me! This list is an intro to socialist economics rather than to socialism in general (although I’ll do a more general list in the future). I’ve uploaded the ebooks where I can find them.

Intro-level theory:

Wage Labour and Capital by Karl Marx. Just 39 pages long. Links to webpage, pdf and audiobook.

Value, Price, and Profit by Karl Marx. 107 pages. Webpage, pdf.

Other intro-level books:

The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx by Alex Callinicos. pdf (*the author is still alive, so you might prefer to pay for his book if you can afford it)

Economics for Beginners by John Keracher. Webpage. 

An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory by Ernest Mandel. The ‘heaviest’ of these books. Webpage. 

Why Marx Was Right by Terry Eagleton. Pretty light. HIGHLY recommend. This is broader / less economics-focused than the other books but a really enjoyable entry-level book with some quick wit. pdf  (*the author is still alive, so you might prefer to pay for his book if you can afford it)

Youtube series:

Reading Marx’s Capital with David Harvey. HIGHLY recommended. Link.

Introduction to Marxian Economics by economist Dr Stephen Resnick. This is an online university course by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Link.

Youtube shorts: 

Any vids by Prof Richard Wolff. Here’s one on surplus value to get you started: link 

“Wage Labour and Capital” Explained, Part 1: What Are Wages?. Link.

Podcasts:

Although I’ve only listened to a few episodes thus far, Revolutionary Left Radio make chores much more enjoyable. 

Economics-focused episodes include: “The Fundamentals of Marxism: Historical Materialism, Dialectics, & Political Economy” (link), “Challenging Capitalism: Envisioning a Socialist Workplace (link) and “Estranged Labor: Karl Marx on Alienation” (link).

(Caveat: while they present things from a broadly leftist perspective, I’m pretty sure the hosts are ML or MLM, so be aware that this might influence their views sometimes)

Other resources:

r/socialism_101 is a great place to ask your own questions and see the answers to questions you never knew you had. It helped me get into socialism in the first place. 

Acknowledgments: This was a collective effort

Some of these recommendations are from @creeping-socialism​, who is more well-read than me and posts some great snippets of theory.

@everyone else, please feel free to add any suggestions, I’d love to have them!

One last note

I’ve found reading literature / learning theory to be really rewarding and I hope you find that same satisfaction. I still remember how mind-blown I was at Marx’s explanation of globalisation in The Manifesto, and how relevant it felt despite having been written in 1848. While the human experience is what made us anti-capitalist, theory directs that energy into something coherent. Makes it all make sense. 

Enjoy!

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Green capitalism just means that wars for oil become wars for lithium.

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here’s  Inspirational Quote/text  that matches the first letter of your name:

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Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.

— Meša Selimović

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ways to see life in a softer light ✨

jump into puddles when it’s raining

draw and paint without needing to be “good” 

find a cookie recipe and do your best

collect weird rocks, thinking they’re gems

fall in love with sunsets, misty mornings, snow and rainbows

borrow a big stack of books from the library 

be excited for small things, like seeing a butterfly or pretty bird or a cat

do ‘embarrassing’ things without a care in the world if it makes you happy

go on your own adventures and plan new adventures for the future in a book

create detailed life stories of random strangers you see on the train

make a wish when an eyelash falls out, when you see a shooting star or ladybug, at 11:11pm, or invent your own superstitions for luck

have a rich world of imagination. create a beautiful strange world or thing to go to when you’re sad and need an escape, or just before you fall asleep so you can dream of this world.

be kind, gentle, loving and helpful without expecting anything back. make tea and sweet treats for people you love

believe in magical creatures, and make ordinary things and people magical in your own way.

learn to be alone and enjoy the silence and peace, but also care deeply about others, and make others feel loved and special like they deserve

find your signature scent, aesthetic, handwriting, songs, quotes, clothing and colors like you’re a protagonist in a movie

learn to smile instinctively at people you make eye contact with. be a person that radiates warmth. be the friend you’ve always needed and wanted

see the good side in everything. don’t hold grudges or let small things affect your happiness

when you catch yourself dreading something, keep telling yourself “it will be nice”, the worst case scenarios almost never happens

make playlists for your moods, your favorite people, places, moments and things you want to experience

invent games for mundane things, like raindrops having a race rolling down the window

go swimming and pretend to be a mermaid, grow flowers and make jam and apple pies and pretend you’re in a fairytale

explore places aimlessly. walk without a purpose so you find nice surprises and places that become special to only you

notice beauty in things that you usually don’t pay much attention to

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This is your local Scandinavian telling y’all that Norse mythology has a goddess called Lofn who is a goddess of love and bringing together those ‘for whom marriage was forbidden or banned’, and I’m not saying she said gay rights, but she totally said gay rights.

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Um der Todessehnsucht aus dem Weg zu gehen, muss der Mensch einen Sinn im Leben finden. Er muss sich Ziele setzen, täglich aufs Neue. Sein Leben kann chaotisch, aufregend und auch stressig sein, aber es muss lebendig sein, vibrieren, deshalb sollte der Mensch stets den Kontakt mit anderen suchen. Sobald er nur mit sich selbst beschäftigt ist, verliert er sich in seinem Ich wie in einem weiten See, der immer tiefer und unergründlicher wird. Am Ende geht er unter.

Hello Paris, Catharina Geiselhart (via honigimohr)

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