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"Leftism is defined by a goal of communism or socialism"—but that is just communism. No other ideology seeks communism as a goal, and socialism is just a steppi

"Leftism is defined by a goal of communism or socialism"—but that is just communism. No other ideology seeks communism as a goal, and socialism is just a stepping stone to communism, or at least that is what they taught me in my Soviet high school.

spencerflem 2y ago
Yeah, imo communism is a subset of leftism, which includes other ideas all of which are defined by a general opposition to global free market capitalism. I'm sure there's better definitions too, but neoliberals are not a leftist in any of them.
- AzzieElbab 2y ago
  But you defined leftism as a subset of communism. Not the other way around
  - spencerflem 2y ago
    I've tried to describe it as a general opposition to current laissez-faire capitalism, if it came out differently I'm sorry
    - komali2 2y ago
      It could come from the misunderstanding that Communism is the only alternative to global capitalism, which isn't the case.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
pixl97 2y ago
> or at least that is what they taught me in my Soviet high school. You ever stop and think that the authoritarians may have been lying to you?
- AzzieElbab 2y ago
  Of course, that is how I knew the communists wrote those books.
- contextfree 2y ago
  Lenin more or less defined "socialism" to mean that
dragonwriter 2y ago
> "Leftism is defined by a goal of communism or socialism"—but that is just communism. No other ideology seeks communism as a goal, and socialism is just a stepping stone to communism, or at least that is what they taught me in my Soviet high school. Outside of communist thought (wherein socialism is a stage on the route to communism—and the only concrete stage to which there is a roadmap in most communist thought, though different schools of communism have different maps), socialism is a thing sought in its own right by socialists who are not communists. Obviously, its unsurprising that a Soviet high school would only teach the dogma of the particular brand of communism then currently held to be orthodox in the USSR, but that's a rather limited view.

spencerflem 2y ago

Yeah, imo communism is a subset of leftism, which includes other ideas all of which are defined by a general opposition to global free market capitalism. I'm sure there's better definitions too, but neoliberals are not a leftist in any of them.

AzzieElbab 2y ago
But you defined leftism as a subset of communism. Not the other way around
- spencerflem 2y ago
  I've tried to describe it as a general opposition to current laissez-faire capitalism, if it came out differently I'm sorry
  - komali2 2y ago
    It could come from the misunderstanding that Communism is the only alternative to global capitalism, which isn't the case.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]

pixl97 2y ago

> or at least that is what they taught me in my Soviet high school. You ever stop and think that the authoritarians may have been lying to you?

AzzieElbab 2y ago
Of course, that is how I knew the communists wrote those books.
contextfree 2y ago
Lenin more or less defined "socialism" to mean that

dragonwriter 2y ago

> "Leftism is defined by a goal of communism or socialism"—but that is just communism. No other ideology seeks communism as a goal, and socialism is just a stepping stone to communism, or at least that is what they taught me in my Soviet high school. Outside of communist thought (wherein socialism is a stage on the route to communism—and the only concrete stage to which there is a roadmap in most communist thought, though different schools of communism have different maps), socialism is a thing sought in its own right by socialists who are not communists. Obviously, its unsurprising that a Soviet high school would only teach the dogma of the particular brand of communism then currently held to be orthodox in the USSR, but that's a rather limited view.