One narrative that pisses me off until my eyelid twitches is when privileged leftists dismiss concerns of oppression, imperialism, etc. with shit like "after the revolution, there'll be no X". After the Revolution, there'll be no sexism. After the Revolution, there'll be no racism. After the Revolution, there'll be no imperialism. And so on.
The thing is though, that they have it totally backwards. While it is true that a fully Marxist system (in the opinion of, well a Marxist) is one without any oppression or social class distinctions, the entire point of the Revolution (whatever means you think are acceptable there, democratic change, direct action, violent resistance, etc. you can't really be a leftist and not think it's necessary) is to try and end oppression. It's a trivial truth that in a fully Marxist society sexism will not exist, for example, because eliminating sexism is required to have a fully Marxist society. You can't have a fully Marxist society and not have gotten rid of your racism, sexism, imperialism, anti-queer oppression, etc. It's not that we will have the Revolution and then all oppression will magically end, the Revolution IS the struggle to end oppressions. Any Revolution that does not seek to and fully strive to end all forms of oppression is not a fully Marxist Revolution, any end state that could be reached while still allowing oppression and class distinctions is no Marxism.
So don't you privileged leftists dare say that oppression will be over after the Revolution to dismiss concerns of other leftists in regards to specific types or systems of oppression. That is so absolutely backwards. Ending all oppression is the goal of the Revolution, it is the aim of the Revolution. Marxism is at its very core supposed to be a theory for dismantling oppression. Any way that you fail to do so is a failure to achieve total Revolution and total Marxism. Ending sexism, racism, imperialism, cissexism, anti-queer oppression, classism, etc. are necessary parts of the Revolution, not potential fringe benefits.
I have seen this type of dismissal directed at sex workers and people with low income, in which they're told that after some Revolution, they won't have to do whatever kind of work they do anymore. No matter how well detailed their Revolution is, however, it's always loaded with some contempt towards the person who does that type of work, as if they're somehow "lesser" why they are the "enlightened heroes" who have found a way, as if somehow the less privileged are too stupid to realize that something is wrong, or worse, that they're somehow doing it just to spite them and their "brilliance".
ReplyDeleteIt's sickening how one can act altruistic, when in reality they're masturbating over themselves being privileged enough to avoid the situations that many others have to go through.
I'm sorry for the typos. I meant, "while* they are the 'enlightened heroes'..."
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