On May 5th, 1818, Karl Marx, hero of the international proletatiat, was born. His revolution of Socialist theory reverberates throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of Capitalism, development of the theory of Scientific Socialism, and advancements on dialectics to become Dialectical Materialism, have all played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He didn't always rock his famous beard, when he was younger he was clean shaven!
Some significant works:
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Critique of the Gotha Programme
Manifesto of the Communist Party (along with Engels)
And, of course, Capital Vol I-III
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don't know where to start? Check out my "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory reading list!
I think a big point to keep in mind is that both Capitalist and Socialist countries propagandize, but Capitalist countries tend to have much lower support rates despite having a more sophisticated propaganda apparatus. "Brainwashing" doesn't exist, people's opinions most closely coincide with what they believe genuinely benefits them. For more on that concept, Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of "Brainwashing."
I also don't know what you mean by "truth going against Socialist values." Dogmatism isn't a Socialist value, if something Socialists believe goes against truth, then the Socialist value is to correct course. This is baked-into Marxism from the outset, it's Marx's entire modus operandi via Dialectical Materialism.
As for the fact that Communism must be global, no worries! I much prefer to discuss Marxist theory and practice anyways. For starters, you're absolutely on the right track, remaining Capitalist countries would see lowering rates of profit over time as they monopolize their own resources, and then would seek the resources and potential customers of other countries. The system has this baked-in, leading to war.
There's also the notion of class. A classless society, truly, requires everyone in a system to have equal ownership over all. Either there is no interaction with the Capitalist bloc whatsoever, in which case war will happen, or there is some degree of trade, in which case the production of commodities for trade will persist and thus classes will continue. It would still be Socialist, but not fully classless, and thus contradictions would persist and it would be the job of the proletariat to resolve them until the commodity form can be abolished altogether.
"Trade" still exists in Communism, kind of, just not the kind of commodity exchange likely to happen with Capitalist bloc countries. See what the PRC looks like as an example, in order to participate in the world economy, it has to engage in its own degree of private ownership and commodity production. It's still Socialist, but certainly isn't the future state of Communism.
(I'm sorry I keep pestering you with questions, I just keep typing)
I can read that, but I assumed it was understood I wasn't talking about literal brainwashing but simply the fact that propaganda is effective.
I think the fact we're in agreement the system needs to go regardless of opinion polls so this is sort of a moot point.
I mean that interactions between humans can not fully be understood through ideological motivations alone, but there are more basic ones like human greed, laziness, or incompetence that can find their way into even the most good faith movements.
Looking at the ideology of Jesus and then looking at the Catholic Church tells me ideology alone is not enough, but that accountability and anti corruption measures need to be formalized as legal processes into the state as long as it's a seat of power.
The ideology itself may promote Dialectical Materialism, but does the bureaucracy/system have mechanisms to produce accountability?
If moderators meant to inspect would be scientific publications or books grow bored, lazy, incompetant or corrupt, they might end up censoring something that is needed for the next transition and according to the principles of Dialectical Materialism could become a new conflict (between state Socialist bureaucrats and developing classless communists) that requires a new theory to progress beyond.
I'm not intending to unfairly critique socialism, corruption and conflict is a problem for all existent governments and states.
In Western democracies "freedom of the press" is intended to be a counterbalance against this type of tyranny of the government.
While Communist democracies may have recognized the susceptibility of the "free press" to being bought up by capitalists and turned into a propaganda arm, and so has put limitations on it, it's also removed the check against tyranny of the government. I'm not sure what its replaced it with?
If people are intended to vote out corrupt governments, that relationship breaks down if the corrupt government has sole control over the narratives. You'd be relying on the government to accurately report on its own corruption to be properly informed and that seems problematic, and could potentially be a sticking point on the further transition.
Is this just inevitable then? That seems like it's the trajectory of capitalism anyway.
If so, all a Socialist country would have to do is hold on long enough for late stage capitalism to come to roost. Then they're outproducing the capitalists, and if the capitalists decide to wage a war its too late. They don't have the production.
The US is burning all its bridges, tarrifing itself for no explainable reason, and making enemies out of allies while China, they are leading the green revolution and are capable of acknowledging climate change.
China is investing in the correct places for the future. I don't even know if the US could win a war against them today, let alone tomorrow.
Also are there any people who've addressed the unique need for nuclear dearmament in these late term stages? That seems to be a complicated problem.