Co-Founder of the BLM is a proud Marxist.

I’m seeing Marxist and overthrow capitalism language with increasing frequency, usually masking under a different cause. I hugely support the call for equality under justice for all, but this is -very- different now. Have our schools stopped teaching what Marxism and communism are really like, and why they’ve failed everywhere they’ve been bloody tried? I’m an immigrant from a former communist country and it’s obvious as day to me. Wtf is happening?

In a newly surfaced video from 2015 that she and her fellow organizers are “trained Marxists” – making clear their movement’s ideological foundation, according to a report.

Cullors, 36, was the protégé of Eric Mann, former agitator of the Weather Underground domestic terror organization, and spent years absorbing the Marxist-Leninist ideology that shaped her worldview, Breitbart News reported.

“The first thing, I think, is that we actually do have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers,” she said, referring to BLM co-founder Alicia Garza.

“We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories.

 
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I was not even aware BLM had founders. I can’t say I’ve heard a peep about these “founders” from Fox, CNN, or MSNBC, which makes me inclined to believe they are of little importance. However, it is quite clear that highlighting them serves Breitbart’s agenda of discrediting the movement by ascribing the ideology of these supposed “influential founders” to the movement as a whole.

 

there is a small group of founders, but their aim was for it to be a decentralized movement so that it would grow rampantly, but the con is that the message takes on new forms. the WSJ podcast, The Journal, had a podcast recently with one of the founders

 
Aerfally1:
Have our schools stopped teaching what Marxism and communism are really like, and why they’ve failed everywhere they’ve been bloody tried?

Overwhelmingly yes. Recent HS grad here from MA, which is known for its public education and pretty much tied for 2nd most liberal with NY under Cali. The word "marxist" was never uttered in my 4 years, and teaching of past socialism/communism was largely glossed over

 
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I'm also immigrant, specifically from Latin America who's had family killed by communists, and as a result, am very much anti-communist; I arrived here at the age of 10. I want everyone who is American-born to understand a few things, partly so they can stop worrying and partly for awareness. Once practice comes into play, theory is always thrown out the window and ignored; the legion of young (17-25) upper middle class white girls, who for some reason have become the poster-child of 'battling racism' or feeling pity for black people (or whatever they are telling themselves at this point) are simply lost and a victim of their own ignorance. Allow me to elaborate: anyone who has lived outside first world countries will know that it is literally a living hell at worst and exceedingly uncomfortable at best, many of these liberal college students can only throw their theory and rhetoric on the offensive against capitalism, but their arguments falter in practice. What this group of liberal white women (I address it as this because it is the most overwhelming and visible group that opines this) have is a deep and intrinsic form of guilt that is inexplicable by most accounts to the naked eye, they are truly doing what they do out of 'fear of missing out.' They are aware of their staunch projection when they go against white men and tell them that they are 'white and privileged' while largely ignoring their own irony, as comedian Bill Burr says 'you are in the Jacuzzi with me.' I have good reason to believe that they have little true sympathy for minorities (including myself) and it is more an act of 'trying to fit in.' Take this analogy: they want to experience the heat wave, but only if they have air conditioning. My second message goes to those Americans who are balanced and are aware of the fact that extremism is not the answer to anything, I say this is as a political independent who has had thorough experiences in his life with many of the ideas being pitched as 'functioning but incorrectly applied.' Once more, theory is a victim of practice; a mother can be sending her child to a horrible school where many kids have been attacked and assaulted and there is plenty of crime, however, until the day her child is directly affected she will tell you that it is a 'great school that is misunderstood.' However, the day that her child trips and falls, even if by no fault but his own, she will renounce and make you think the school is hell on earth, but only upon it impacting her directly. Things will get better and this chaos will eventually organize itself, I myself have had my eyes opened up by the protests and the rioting and have had my views change a bit, so in that sense they achieved their goal. But I promise you that things will get better, as they always end up; never underestimate the common sense of the American people.

 

My grandparents narrowly fled communists and still don't understand to this day how they were preaching one message one day and the next decapitating all the nobles. Unfortunately, those that suffered the atrocities of communism will soon perish, and the younger generations are bound to make the same mistakes and repeat history.

 

My great grandfather's family was deported from the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution (1917), had everything taken away from them, and then killed by communists later. My great grandfather was the only survivor and he was hiding for several years from the communists. Their only "guilt" was that they were a little richer than average and didn't have to die from hunger in harsh times. I also know other people in my country who's ancestors were killed, repressed or sent to another end of the Soviet Union in 1920s-1930s.

Communism has failed every time, every time it was totalitarian, and if you don't agree with that, you can try living in one of the few remaining communist paradises, like North Korea.

 

Great post.

That said, things don't get better by themselves. It's an uncomfortable truth. Common sense is actually a) not that common and b) takes a lot of hard work to maintain and instill. It's even harder to maintain when sh*t like Marxism is packaged within an otherwise laudable equality movement. It gives those doing the packaging a beautiful platform to call anyone in opposition racist. Sounds surreal, but here it is.

 

I think this is simply the pendulum swinging the other way. Think of everything that happened pre 2008 — tech boom which was an illusion (and material, to some extent) creation of wealth. Rapidly evolving consumer tech. 9/11 , which brought about patriotism and, inherently, the feeling of pride in our capitalist system. Sure, the Iraq war brought about some friction, as the world is not a vacuum, but by and large it seems people were proud to be American and appreciated the free market economy. Then the GFC happened, people began to lose trust in ‘the system.’ Fast forward, we have a controversial president that has exacerbated the polarization political views. On top of this, you have media which plasters sensationalist headlines, pushing people to the extremes on the political spectrum. I actually presented an “embracing capitalism” PowerPoint for one of my com lectures my first or second year of college, dispelling the myths of the closeted-Marxist narrative. People have forgotten how to use their fucking brain. In this climate, emotions supersede logic.

 

The saddest thing about all of this is that people are ashamed to be American. If only they knew how many things had to happen for us to live this well. Worst of all, I JUST got to this country and it's a shame that it is being eaten from the inside.

 

more than that, if you go to donate to BLM (the organization) you get redirected to ActBlue charities, a political superPAC supporting every dem nominee, congressperson, and other dem PACs. you can look at their financial disclosures (all public record), they're not trying to hide what they are from what I can tell.

look, we can argue all day long whether democrats are better for black people or not, I realize I'm one of the few guys out there who can check the black box (I'm mixed, so I check white too) and doesn't vote dem most of the time. so I may be the minority of the minority here.

the point is, if you're donating to a black cause, I feel it should be more direct to help black people, not to get nancy pelosi re elected for the 50th time. UNCF, NAACP LDF, things like that. I'm not saying marxists can't have correct views on how to solve for equal opportunity across racial lines, but what I am saying is that an organization that's no more than a political funding vehicle masquerading as a racial justice initiative is shameful and dishonest.

BLM the movement is important, BLM the organization is deceitful.

 

What’s even more disturbing than the Marxism is their desire to get rid of the nuclear family. With two-thirds of Black babies born out of wedlock, and all the stats showing how children growing up in one parent households have significantly higher rates of everything you can imagine (eg suicide), there couldn’t be a policy more ignorant. And for all the idiots who say born out of wedlock doesn’t necessarily equal one parent household, I know, but we all know black kids today are disproportionately likely to not have a father present.

 

MMbanker may have a different answer, but thomas sowell talks about this. I know he's a controversial figure, but from what I remember, the welfare system is more financially advantageous to single mothers rather than families with both a mother and a father. so the rent seeking behavior would be to have children out of wedlock, for maximal financial gain from the system.

whether or not sowell was right, that's an unknowable answer, but his argument is compelling

 

It says right on their website:

"We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable."

While I don't want to get into a discussion over what they mean (and the notion of a Marxist extended family, or more appropriately a "forged family", versus the traditional family model), the underlying idea is to move away from what is considered traditional - having a stable home life and two parents to raise a child - to a more collectivist approach to child rearing. There was an article in the Atlantic that discusses why the nuclear family isn't going away that's worth a read. There are also tons of studies done about the impact of a single parent, extended family, and two parent household on a child's wellbeing.

I will point out the choice of language is quite unusual... the BLM Organization specifically says mothers and parents, but makes no mention of the word fathers. It strikes me as odd that they exclude the male figure explicitly. While I don't have any good guesses as to why, it stands out when you read it.

 

the problem I have with this kind of post is that there is no push to win hearts and minds, only a hand wringing and dismissal of these people as stupid and naive. You’re right, the fact is that an embrace of true investor based capitalism would benefit the poor many times more than top-down Marxist measures (e.g. if the poor owned their home in the gentrifying neighborhood, instead of rented it, they would benefit and be given the agency to stay or move by virtue of the value generated).

But people turn to Marxism and revolution when they can’t see any other options- how could someone born into abject poverty know or learn about the benefits of capitalism? Empathize for a second - all they know is that they must spend to their last dollar just to survive, they can’t afford to take an investment risk because the downside isn’t just lost money, it’s literally food out of their children’s mouths. To them, a redistribution if wealth is obviously the most fair thing because the rich can afford food and they can’t, end of story.

You always get one-off stories about “boot straps” and the like, but these success stories had to work many times harder than I did just to get to the same place. I don’t think there is a silver bullet to fix poverty but I sure as shit detest this armchair quarterbacking - if you want people to move to your way of thinking, convince them. Brainstorm some ideas about how to show them how capitalism, not Marxism, is the best way to increase their wealth, because all they see now is a rich guy telling them that they know not what they do.

Array
 

I agree with you in part, and I think you may have misunderstood where I’m coming from. And I very much empathize because...I’ve been there. I am also not rich nor do I come from family money.

History has shown, clearly, that capitalism is far superior to Marxism. Multiple times over. It has its drawbacks, but it is still head and shoulders above anything else. It’s the best bad system we have. We’ve stopped teaching that because...we forgot how bad other systems are in comparison?

To your point on working harder than someone else to get to the same place - capitalism never promises that you won’t have to work harder. All it does is provide more opportunity than any other system. As long as people have the opportunity to work hard and reap the benefits, that’s great. Some people will always have a head start - that’s a fact of life. Marxism does not provide this opportunity in practice.

I’ve worked much harder than a lot of people I know born into ‘privilege’ to get to the same place. Do I hold grudges? No. I wouldn’t have had this opportunity in most other places in the world.

You are right - we need more ideas on how to better show people, aside from the clear historical examples, that capitalism is far superior to any other system.

I’m all ears.

 

I mean, what do you expect? Uphold a system that was literally designed to institutionalize brutal enslavement on the basis of race, or pie in the sky ideal that is foreign and not of this country, but also comes with a set of completely opposite ideas to the formerly deemed oppressive society?

Make no mistake, this current administration and the way things are done in this country by "the majority" will only add further kindling to grow this rebellion. Unless there is a Civil War, I don't see how aggression will change course. This country is officially a ticking time bomb.

 
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I mean, what do you expect? Uphold a system that was literally designed to institutionalize brutal enslavement on the basis of race, or pie in the sky ideal that is foreign and not of this country, but also comes with a set of completely opposite ideas to the formerly deemed oppressive society?

Make no mistake, this current administration and the way things are done in this country by "the majority" will only add further kindling to grow this rebellion. Unless there is a Civil War, I don't see how aggression will change course. This country is officially a ticking time bomb.

If you’re equating capitalism to slavery, or saying that capitalism is based on slavery, then...remember, slavery is actually detrimental to effective capitalist systems.

Do we need changes in equality of treatment? Yes! Can Marxism do it? Haha, no. That sh*t always leads to totalitarian regimes and much worse outcomes. My point is if you want to replace the current system, social or economic, how does Marxism even come up? It will literally make everyone worse off than they are even now.

 
Aerfally1:
If you’re equating capitalism to slavery, or saying that capitalism is based on slavery, then...remember, slavery is actually detrimental to effective capitalist systems.

Did you not remember what you said? Your post is conflating the BLM movement with an ideological stance on Marxism. The system can be capitalism, it can be false equality, it can be fake liberty, whatever floats your boat. You can look at empirical data and see America is broken, especially with regards to black Americans. Clearly, people must feel that Marxism gives them the tools to oppose what they view as an oppressive, broken system. Also, don't say slavery is detrimental to capitalism unless you first establish that America could not have been founded as a capitalist society.

Aerfally1:

Do we need changes in equality of treatment? Yes! Can Marxism do it? Haha, no. That sh*t always leads to totalitarian regimes and much worse outcomes. My point is if you want to replace the current system, social or economic, how does Marxism even come up? It will literally make everyone worse off than they are even now.

I don't agree with Marxism. Hell, Bernie's proposals sound so absurd, I have to laugh to myself all the time whenever I think of it. But this weird notion that oppressive systems, especially with regards to race in this country, do not exist, it is frustrating at best, scary at worst. If it's going to be an uphill battle to convince people that the history of race/racism in this country exists, I don't see success, especially for black people, attainable without some major eruption of demonstration.

 

Highlighting that black lives matter, and that there is systematic problems with how black people are treated in interactions with police, has nothing to do with Marxism. We should not conflate the two, especially since this is a decentralized movement. One can be for fair treatment of people of color AND capitalist / anti-Marxist.

 

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