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Beginners Guide to Becoming an Anti-Capitalist

I have built this reading list with a chronological order for you to follow so that hopefully each book/pamphlet/video will give context for the next one, and so on, The idea was to create a somewhat immersive learning experience. 

Audio Companions/Video-Breakdowns for many of these works can be easily found online. I recommend checking them out as an additional resource to use along-side the texts.

Part 1~



   KEEP IN MIND: There are many ways to organize an economy. A Capitalist system is the way our economy has been organized. Two Central characteristics of Capitalism include Private property and Wage labor.

     What is Private property? It's the private ownership of all the tools, machines, computers, factories, farms, raw-materials, etc. Anything needed to do work. These are called "The Means of Production". They are owned by one or more business owners, (Capitalists). Whether you are a factory worker, a Barista, an auto mechanic, a restaurant server or, even stocking shelfs, you are borrowing the means of production from the business owner to generate some profits for their business. Any extra profits the company makes from your labor goes directly to stockholders and CEO Raises. So, under Capitalism, if you interact with any private property to work, then the owner claims the results of your labor, not the workers. 

    What is Wage labor? A capitalist will buy the means of production for their business. Tools, machines, materials, etc. In addition, they will also buy something extremely important: A worker's capacity to work (labor-power). To survive in this world, you sell your Labor-Power to whoever owns The Means of Production. They buy that labor-Power in the form of Wage-Labor, simple. But remember this: The Capitalist owns NOT ONLY The Means of Production, AND the workers’ labor-power, (which they have bought to use in production), they ALSO own any product that workers create as well, its their private property. 

    So, after paying wages, the capitalist then keeps any Surplus-Value in the form of profit for themselves. But, where did this Surplus-Value come from? Remember this: If you're a cook in a restaurant, the cost of ingredients reappear as part of the cost of the finished meal on a plate but YOUR cooking labor added value to those ingredients to create something better and worth more. So, the Surplus-Value that the Capitalist now owns came from the key commodity that creates wealth and value – Labor power.

     Human labor is the ultimate cause of economic profit, its the primary factor of production that adds value. Instead of producing directly for society, surplus value is extracted from the workers and put in the pockets of the capitalists while they sleep.

  • "The ABCs of Socialism" by Bhaskar Sunkara, and others - Originally published: 2016 (read time: ~2hr 30min) 

Part 2~






  • "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis - Originally published: Aug 2003 (Read time: ~3 hrs 30 min, about 35 min per chapter)


Warning: N word  



    KEEP IN MIND: "THE STATE"- “The state is a machine for maintaining the rule of one class over another”- according to V.I. Lenin. The state exists under slavery, feudalism, and capitalism as the tool of class oppression by a small minority of people at the top OVER the vast majority at the bottom. In a nutshell, Its the role of the police to have a monopoly on violence. The police are the hitmen of the ruling class/state. When the oppressed masses rise up against the wealthy or private property, It is the role and function of the police to suppress us through armed violence.

    The moment a cop puts on the uniform, They become "class-traitors" to protect the interest of the ruling class. The "law" can, and will disappear for the ruling class if they want it to, then, they will continue to enforce the "law" only on the poor. Their main purpose will always be to protect businesses and brutalize the marginalized.  

    During primitive communism, before society was divided into classes, there was no such thing as a state. But with the rise of slavery, the basic division of society into classes gave slaveowners all the rights and slaves no rights at all. This is where we find the historical origin of the state – a machine for maintaining the rule of one class over another.

    (If you would like to read more on this now "The State and Revolution" by V.I. Lenin - Originally published: 1918 (Read Time ~ 4hrs 30min). This book by Lenin is one of the best for this subject. I have not included it in this section of this reading list because I consider it "core Marxist theory". Core theory texts will mostly be in another area of this list. I recommend continuing along, then, come back to this book toward the end of the reading list or whenever you feel like it).

Part 3~









Trailer:
Full movie here on YouTube for free: The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
(There's a weird 38 sec pause at 21:17, you just have to skip to 21:56)


(These 2 videos above by F.D Signifier are VERY good and easy to understand. They are long but, I highly recommend them. Truly a must-watch.)

Part 4~






Note: During the 1980s, the Reagan Administration funded right-wing rebel groups called Contras (Counter-revolutionaries) In hopes of overthrowing socialist governments in Latin-America. The US-backed Nicaraguan Contras were funding their war against the Socialist Sandinista Government in Nicaragua through cocaine trafficking. By 1984, Congress had cut off all government funding for this proxy war.
Determined to fund the Contras by any means, the Reagan Administration secretly sold 2000+ missiles to Iran and used the money to keep the Contras fighting.

 At the same time, the CIA became involved in Contra cocaine trafficking operations. The CIA helped create a flood of cocaine from South America by protecting major drug traffickers and gangs in the U.S. allowing them to distribute crack-cocaine amongst poor neighborhoods. This played an important role in creating The Crack-Cocaine drug epidemic in the United States that occurred throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. More on this here and here

For more reasons why the CIA is a terrorist organization watch: The CIA is a Terrorist Organization by Second Thought






Full lecture by Michael Parenti, the famous "Yellow Parenti speech": Here


  • "Against empire" by Michael Parenti - Originally published:1995 (red time: ~3hrs)


  • "Inventing reality" by Michael Parenti - Originally published: 1986 (Read time: ~3hrs)

Warning: Some graphic scenes at 2:17 and at 16:00

Part 5~

  • "Why Socialism?" by Albert Einstein - Originally published: May 1949 (read time: ~20min)
    • Great companion video for "Why Socialism?" by NonCompete: Here


This playlist above by Marxism Today is a very good introduction on what Socialism, Marxism, and Communism really is. Outside of what bad faith arguments say they are. Its also a great resource in understanding the differences between Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. You can definitely go through the playlist at your own pace but, after learning more and more about the concepts, I recommend re-watching the videos a few times through out too see if  things make even more sense.




  • "What is Marxism?" by Emile Burns - Originally published: 1939 (read time: ~2 hrs. about 20 min per chapter)


  • "On Contradiction" by Mao Tse-tung - Originally published: 1937 (~4 hrs 30 min)

(While reading the article below I recommend listening to S4A from YouTube go over the text. His commentary gives great context for some of the topics in this article. Link: Here )

Part 6~


Trailer:
Full movie on Internet Archive for free (No download) here: The Wobblies 1979
I do recommend renting the HD version though, its great.


KEEP IN MIND: Unions are an extremely important tool for the development of class consciousness, improving work conditions, increasing pay and bettering benefits etc.

The goal of a union is to organize workers as one collective bargaining force, working together to demand better standards from employers. There's a reason why capitalists do their best to disrupt or even prevent the formation of unions and their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Capitalists use union-busting tactics that include spreading propaganda, lobbying/bribing for anti-worker laws, employing strike-breakers (Scabs) and spending thousands of dollars per employee in an effort to illegally prevent them from unionizing. Thanks to 100+ years of anti-union activities, capitalism is now able to infiltrate unions, slowly neuter their power then corrupt them. 

Like a State, unions are a tool that can be misused by capitalists. Though, in our current economic system it may be the most useful tool there is to hit capitalism where we can significantly damage its quest for massive profit. I believe we can challenge it from within by educating and promoting class consciousness through union organization. It is possible.

March 30th, 2020 Staten Island, New York
Amazon employees Chis Smalls and Derrick Palmer organized a walkout at the JFK8 warehouse facility to protest Amazon's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to the firing of Chris Smalls. Following his termination, Smalls assembled a grassroots movement in order to help organize the Amazon Labor Union. Through bus stop gatherings, barbecue’s and marches outside Amazon facilities, Smalls got people talking about their working conditions and helped lead protests for better labor standards across the board.
After gathering a large following, Chris Smalls returned to New York to finish the job of unionizing the Staten Island warehouse that fired him. On April 1st, 2022, the workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island became the first unionized Amazon workers recognized by the National Labor Relations Board with Almost 5,000 votes. source

There's a great documentary about this story called UNION.
  • Documentary: UNION 2024 (~1hr 40m) 
(This film may not be available for free yet but it is available for rent. Check out this coverage about the film including some more clips from the film: Here )


Side note: In the first few months of 2022 alone, Amazon spent millions on both Anti-Union consultants (People hired to craft and implement anti-union messaging to prevent a union election) and lobbying lawmakers on labor issues. 
Capitalist will gladly spend the money on suppressing their workers' desires if it means CEOs can still make 300 times more money a year than the average worker. source

(The Auto Workers strike is already helping non-union workers at Hyundai and Toyota: Article )

(Check out the YouTube channel “More perfect Union” for more stories and analysis on working class struggles:  Here )


Trailer:
Full movie here on YouTube for free: The Revolutionist - Eugene V. Debs





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