Your Ideology? The Poll

[migrendel]

After quite a bit of consideration, I chose the Socialist option. While I agree with Marxist economic theory, and would be the first to hail the Soviet Union as a model of success, Communism is too reliant on authoritarian social stands to achieve its ends.

I would prefer to see some compromise on my economic stands to protect civil liberty rather than getting them in action, in toto, at the price of dissent being quashed.

[migrendel]

I find it very difficult to call Christianity and Socialism logical coalition partners. Karl Marx, the man every Socialist must ultimately acknowledge as the philosopher whose ideas are most influential towards their own (even though I'm personally more interested in Marcuse, Lukacs, and Althusser), felt that religion was an inherently capitalistic institution which gave support to an unfair hierarchy. He also identified Christianity as the worst offender. I know Realpolitik feels that the first Socialists were various dissenters who formed communal societies, but I would ask you to name any Socialist/Communist theorist outside of the Christian Socialist movement whoever claimed them to be an influence. I know Keir Hardie became a Christian at George Lansbury's suggestion, but his influence is dwarfed compared with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other members of the Fabian Society, and it's difficult to say that his views were fundamentally based upon Christianity, considering that he held them when he was secularist. Christianity and Socialism are strange bedfellows indeed.

[migrendel]

I find it very difficult to believe that Socialism could have developed without Marx. While he himself called his theory Communism, it was far from the fare offered by Stalin, Mao, or Enver Hoxha. I would consider myself a pure Marxist, ideologically. I don't wish to formally associate myself with either Socialism or Communism, because, truth be told, I wouldn't necessarily vote for either one of them down the line.

I would be well suited to form my own political organization, with a name like the Progressive Workers Party (which would be ironic, considering most of my members would be in academia), or the Liberal Communist Party. Yet, this is not viable.

I cannot vote for the Socialist ticket this year, because it was recently discovered that the Socialist candidate personally supports the ban on Partial-Birth Abortion. This is appalling to the vast majority of the party, and there is a significant movement to force a resignation. However, it is hard to say that I can in good conscience support a party that would let a mistake like this slip through the cracks.

I am sad to say that Marxism has little chance in America, considering how the power structure has brainwashed the working class to accept the petty trifles of consumerism, and exploit the issue of Atheism to turn progressives against it. We are a religious country, and a greedy one, and all of these things don't mix.

I henceforth decide to support the Democratic party, for it an established entity with demonstrated power, and if we bore from within, we can turn it into a laboratory for radical thought.