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Thoughts on reading Non-Marxist political works alongside Marxist theory? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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So obviously it's good to read Communist works. Lenin, Engels, Marx, Stalin, Mao, etc. But I'm curious how many people have ventured out into other things? I think personally that it can be useful when you are doing a materialist analysis of the real world to have different frameworks to pull from as well. Even if they aren't communist, and at times the methods within are used as tools of oppression by the capitalist class. Some still have useful knowledge and insights, or at the very least aid you in analyzing the way an enemy might think.

Have you/would you see value in reading these sorts of texts?

Some examples: The Art of War, The Arthashastra, The Analects, Meditations, The Prince, Discourses on Livy, The Book of the Five Rings, Common Sense, Candide, etc

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[โ€“] 7 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Let me just put it this way: you can't critique what you haven't read

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  • [โ€“] [S] 1 point 3 days ago (4 children)

    Well I'm not just talking about critiquing them. Some do deserve it, but I think they also just have a lot of useful information regarding strategy, mindfulness, and tactics that transcends ideology.

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  • [โ€“] 2 points 3 days ago (3 children)

    Sounds like you already know the answer to your question, then

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  • [โ€“] [S] 1 point 3 days ago (2 children)

    How could I know the answer to my question when my question was what other peoples opinions on the topic were?

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  • [โ€“] -1 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Apologies, as a non-campist myself I should probably avoid posting on .ml boards. Because this is a .ml channel I read your OP as genuinely asking if people thought reading non-marxist takes and perspectives would be worth your time as a shortcut to you yourself deciding if they were worth your time. I was trying to say "Yes" without saying that in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Marxist doctrine (and vice versa) you should absolutely read outside the tankie cannon. When you responded with great examples of why one might read them even if they are the sincerest of tankies confused me, as they are basically a great response to how I originally read your OP.

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  • [โ€“] [S] 2 points 3 days ago

    I wanted to gauge like how much people read outside the main ML theory. I have dozens of books like this physically on my bookshelf myself. But I've never heard like an ML mention the Art of War when recomending things to read. So was curious what people thought about it. One reason I find it interesting is modern China actually does incorporate a lot of Sun Tzu and Confucian style thinking into how they do things and it works quite well for them, but it's not something I see highlighted often.

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    • [โ€“] 6 points 3 days ago

    follow your interests! add in some history along with political theory to stay grounded. you may want to read political writing from different traditions sound the same time period so you can see how they dialogue with each other and compare

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    [โ€“] 6 points 3 days ago

    Let a hundred flowers bloom.

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    [โ€“] 1 point 3 days ago

    It's all well and good, reading is wholesome.

    I've fairly recently discovered Foucault, Gramsci and Polanyi (in that order).

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