Morning Comrades.
The other day I was at the end of an off-the-cuff comment by a guest at work, that follows me on IG, asking why I put so much effort into talking shit about the world every day. That was interesting and we talked it out to be sure, but it made me think about one of the foundational underlying concepts behind our struggle for liberation from Capitalism and all it entails: Internationalism.
As we have so glaringly witnessed since 9/11 in our combined struggles is the “everything” is “everything” - meaning, that the world the capitalists have created is utterly and totally interconnected and thus its results, symptons and causes. Profoundly, it is precisely because of dialectic nature of Capitalism that it is global and yet local, and thus so is the struggle against.
Internationalism, thus, reflects the idea that the working class should unite across national boundaries to pursue common interests and goals. This perspective is rooted in the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who argued that capitalism is a global system and that the struggle for socialism must be international in nature. In terms of history, the idea of internationalism in Marxist thought became more prominent with the rise of the socialist and communist movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The First International (1864-1876) was an early attempt to unite workers and socialist groups across different countries. However, it faced internal conflicts and eventually dissolved.
The idea of internationalism gained renewed importance with the formation of the Third International, also known as the Comintern, in 1919. The Comintern was established by the Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia to promote world revolution and unite communist parties globally. It played a significant role in shaping the international communist movement during the early 20th century.
While the Comintern eventually dissolved in 1943, the concept of internationalism continued to influence Marxist and socialist movements throughout the 20th century and into the present day. Marxist internationalism remains a foundational principle for those who advocate for a radical transformation of the global economic and political order.
With that, a few thoughts about why we give a shit, why it is important and what isn’t.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Black Lodges to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.