The chewing gum phrase has a meaning that not a lot of people will understand, I saw a comment saying that it was a joke, from my point of view, he is refering to the way workers chew gum to feel less hungry, a fellow worker of mine used to do that. You'll not longer chew gum, meaning, you'll not longer suffer from hunger.
The really interesting thing to me about Trotsky's constant writings about the possibility of revolution in advanced Capitalist countries is that, while Capitalism does in practice seem to break at its weakest links first (in Trotsky's time, Russia), these dramatic breaks have shown the potential to trigger mass revolutionary movements in advanced Capitalist countries (in Trotsky's time, Germany). It really seems to me that the crisis of leadership in Germany (as discussed in "Left-Wing Communism" by Lenin) as well as in other Capitalist countries is what led to the isolation of the Russian Revolution and the resulting adaptational development of the theory of "Socialism in One Country". As the events have played out (the beurocratization and collapse of the USSR as well as the restoration of Capitalism in China), it really seems to me that as long as we learn from these events, history has given us plenty of material that we can use to avoid the same mistakes of leadership that doomed us before. The next time a worker's state is established in the place of a weak link in the chain, I think this time we will know what to do in the advanced Capitalist countries and carry the world revolution to its conclusion.
Thanks very much for this. I find audio books easier to digest and im currently trying to get back into the swing of proper studying. Although a trotskyist myself i see you have done a decent selection of audiobooks for Marx and Engels (as well as Stalin and Mao which i'll get to at some point). I didnt even know about this article by Trotsky until i saw your video. Thanks for doing this!
Very happy to discover more Trotsky on the channel & hope to see more! Regardless of the ideological divide, Trotsky still has a lot to offer. Anyway, keep up the awesome work! I really do appreciate all you do to make these works more accessible.
I have done a grand total of 2 audiobooks of Trotsky's works, this and Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It, both done in the first year of the channel.
@@SocialismForAll I understand that with the passing of time people and their opinions change. I didn't mean to come off as rude or ignorant, and I apologize if it seemed as such. I simply wanted to point out how strange it is to hear these audiobooks especially with your current opinions in mind.
I appreciate that, thank you. I never thought this one was very good, and I feel that everything in Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It is superseded by Fascism and Social Revolution by Dutt.
@@SocialismForAll it was about 16:40. He says that soviets in the Soviet Union "have been bureaucratized as a result of the monopoly of a single party." He seems to think that because America is much more prosperous than Russia was, this bureaucracy wouldn't be necessary.
The capitalists back then obv. read this and used the ideas in it to come up with a game plan to realize many of those ideas in the most capitalistic way possible. Wow. Edit: I posted this half way thru, b4 your comments
i really wish this, i dunno what you'd call it dream/prediction, had come true. Also i totally would have joined a Detroit soviet as Michigan's where i grew up
That’s one way to say it, it would fundamentally improve the world as a whole and set us on the collective course toward saving us from the impending climate disaster
Thanks for this. Even though I didn't enjoy it per se. Just the American bootlicking by Trotsky. And just, meh. I didn't really dig this. But thanks for putting it up none the less.
Maybe my angle of looking at this is wrong? Shrugs, don't know. He just seems to have an off putting tone. I can tell from how he didn't think the peasant class in Russia were worthwhile, he throws that out there in this text. Where as Lenin, wasn't going to throw out the peasantry and try to lift them up. Again, I'm just kind of rambling a bit now. As I said before, I can't actually consider myself a communist. It's not fear of people mocking me. It's for a lack of education on the subject. I mean, why call myself that if I lack the knowledge. Yes, I am for the complete and total abolishment of capitalism. Yes, I do agree a lot with what Marx said, what Lenin pushed for. The one thing you'll get from me is that I've been speaking out a lot more lately against social chauvinists. Part of it is because it's gross and disgusting. The other part is because I've been on HRT for nearly 9 years now.
The chewing gum phrase has a meaning that not a lot of people will understand, I saw a comment saying that it was a joke, from my point of view, he is refering to the way workers chew gum to feel less hungry, a fellow worker of mine used to do that.
You'll not longer chew gum, meaning, you'll not longer suffer from hunger.
That would make more sense then. I didn't get that at all the first time.
The really interesting thing to me about Trotsky's constant writings about the possibility of revolution in advanced Capitalist countries is that, while Capitalism does in practice seem to break at its weakest links first (in Trotsky's time, Russia), these dramatic breaks have shown the potential to trigger mass revolutionary movements in advanced Capitalist countries (in Trotsky's time, Germany). It really seems to me that the crisis of leadership in Germany (as discussed in "Left-Wing Communism" by Lenin) as well as in other Capitalist countries is what led to the isolation of the Russian Revolution and the resulting adaptational development of the theory of "Socialism in One Country". As the events have played out (the beurocratization and collapse of the USSR as well as the restoration of Capitalism in China), it really seems to me that as long as we learn from these events, history has given us plenty of material that we can use to avoid the same mistakes of leadership that doomed us before. The next time a worker's state is established in the place of a weak link in the chain, I think this time we will know what to do in the advanced Capitalist countries and carry the world revolution to its conclusion.
Thanks very much for this. I find audio books easier to digest and im currently trying to get back into the swing of proper studying. Although a trotskyist myself i see you have done a decent selection of audiobooks for Marx and Engels (as well as Stalin and Mao which i'll get to at some point). I didnt even know about this article by Trotsky until i saw your video. Thanks for doing this!
You're welcome. I don't do a lot of Trotsky, but I'm sure you will find other things here useful!
Very happy to discover more Trotsky on the channel & hope to see more! Regardless of the ideological divide, Trotsky still has a lot to offer. Anyway, keep up the awesome work! I really do appreciate all you do to make these works more accessible.
It's a bit surreal hearing s4a read Trotsky's works, especially now with his new anti-trotskyist playlist
I have done a grand total of 2 audiobooks of Trotsky's works, this and Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It, both done in the first year of the channel.
@@SocialismForAll I understand that with the passing of time people and their opinions change. I didn't mean to come off as rude or ignorant, and I apologize if it seemed as such. I simply wanted to point out how strange it is to hear these audiobooks especially with your current opinions in mind.
I appreciate that, thank you. I never thought this one was very good, and I feel that everything in Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It is superseded by Fascism and Social Revolution by Dutt.
Thank you. Incredibly relevant.
Sure, I am not big on Trotsky as a whole, but this was an interesting one.
Hope there’s more Trotsky on this channel one day. Thanks for the upload
This was excellent! Thank you so much for your hard work! I loved this
YW, please share our videos!
back in his time gum chewing was associated with youthful rebellion,
Would be interested in hearing about the permanent revolution or history of the Russian Revolution
I'll probably do some more Trotsky when we move on from Lenin and get more into Stalin territory in the coming months.
Yes, and the history of the tsars
4:30 only owned 5%-10% owned all the wealth back then. In 2023 it’s like 1% or less 😂.
It's interesting that he doesn't seem to think a Communist Party would have to have a political monopoly. Am I wrong about that?
You might be right, but it's been a while since I've read this. Was there a quote that suggested that to you?
@@SocialismForAll it was about 16:40. He says that soviets in the Soviet Union "have been bureaucratized as a result of the monopoly of a single party." He seems to think that because America is much more prosperous than Russia was, this bureaucracy wouldn't be necessary.
The capitalists back then obv. read this and used the ideas in
it to come up with a game plan to realize many of those ideas in the
most capitalistic way possible. Wow.
Edit: I posted this half way thru, b4 your comments
The Bush neocon administration was full of former Marxists, and here we are in the Ukraine...
21:12 he's talking about mix raced people
i really wish this, i dunno what you'd call it dream/prediction, had come true. Also i totally would have joined a Detroit soviet as Michigan's where i grew up
15:40 sus
It would be neat
That’s one way to say it, it would fundamentally improve the world as a whole and set us on the collective course toward saving us from the impending climate disaster
Not a socialist but interesting
That’s how we all start my friend it’s fascinating to see class antagonism throughout history
Thanks for this. Even though I didn't enjoy it per se. Just the American bootlicking by Trotsky. And just, meh. I didn't really dig this. But thanks for putting it up none the less.
Maybe my angle of looking at this is wrong? Shrugs, don't know. He just seems to have an off putting tone. I can tell from how he didn't think the peasant class in Russia were worthwhile, he throws that out there in this text. Where as Lenin, wasn't going to throw out the peasantry and try to lift them up. Again, I'm just kind of rambling a bit now. As I said before, I can't actually consider myself a communist. It's not fear of people mocking me. It's for a lack of education on the subject. I mean, why call myself that if I lack the knowledge. Yes, I am for the complete and total abolishment of capitalism. Yes, I do agree a lot with what Marx said, what Lenin pushed for. The one thing you'll get from me is that I've been speaking out a lot more lately against social chauvinists. Part of it is because it's gross and disgusting. The other part is because I've been on HRT for nearly 9 years now.