Is Black Lives Matter Marxist? No and Yes.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

And there are courageous black leaders standing up and refuting the whole thing as anti-BLACK, because it attacks the nuclear family, etc...

I am bemused by some of the comments on this thread. I still fail to comprehend the American bogeyman of "Marxism/Socialism" and as for the nuclear family that is a very recent phenomenon.

Many ideals contained within Marxist thinking would chime quite well with the compassionate aspects that are to be found within Christianity.

We should help our fellows. We should have a fairer society where everyone is offered the same opportunities. We should not permit families to live on the streets, and etc.

The idea that capitalism [in its most naked form] should be espoused as the right way to run a society raises serious questions about our humanity towards other individuals.

In a purely capitalist society those who cannot survive by their own endeavours go to the wall and if they die, so be it. The English author Charles Dickens brilliantly summed up such an attitude in his Christmas Carol.

Nor would anyone be able to gainsay the "right" of one individual to exploit others for the benefit/profit of that individual. Such an attitude permits [among other things] sweatshops, dangerous working conditions, child labour, slave wages, and wanton environmental pollution with its impact on human health. Does anyone who calls themselves a Christian endorse such a society?

The fact remains that within America there are "socialist" ideas being implemented. Citizens pay their taxes and some of that money provides such things as public schools, libraries, the police force, and the other emergency services. In other words, the state provides [be that at local state or at federal level].

I do not believe I have read anywhere that the New York Fire Dept insisted on payment up front from those individuals trapped in the two towers in 2001 before the crews were sent into those buildings. Nor that a public library has refused to lend books to those who cannot pay for the loan of that volume. Or that an ambulance crew have refused to assist an individual who has been injured because they did not have their credit card on their person.

However, I am prepared to be corrected.

[Cow Poke]

I am bemused by some of the comments on this thread.

I'm bemused by your bemusement. It's like you think you're "way up there" and we're a bunch of dummies. (But it's entertaining, so....)

I still fail to comprehend the American bogeyman of "Marxism/Socialism" and as for the nuclear family that is a very recent phenomenon.

Many ideals contained within Marxist thinking would chime quite well with the compassionate aspects that are to be found within Christianity.

We should help our fellows. We should have a fairer society where everyone is offered the same opportunities. We should not permit families to live on the streets, and etc.

The idea that capitalism [in its most naked form] should be espoused as the right way to run a society raises serious questions about our humanity towards other individuals.

In a purely capitalist society those who cannot survive by their own endeavours go to the wall and if they die, so be it. The English author Charles Dickens brilliantly summed up such an attitude in his Christmas Carol.

Nor would anyone be able to gainsay the "right" of one individual to exploit others for the benefit/profit of that individual. Such an attitude permits [among other things] sweatshops, dangerous working conditions, child labour, slave wages, and wanton environmental pollution with its impact on human health. Does anyone who calls themselves a Christian endorse such a society?

The fact remains that within America there are "socialist" ideas being implemented. Citizens pay their taxes and some of that money provides such things as public schools, libraries, the police force, and the other emergency services. In other words, the state provides [be that at local state or at federal level].

I do not believe I have read anywhere that the New York Fire Dept insisted on payment up front from those individuals trapped in the two towers in 2001 before the crews were sent into those buildings. Nor that a public library has refused to lend books to those who cannot pay for the loan of that volume. Or that an ambulance crew have refused to assist an individual who has been injured because they did not have their credit card on their person.

However, I am prepared to be corrected.

Taxation with the consent of the governed for the common good is nothing like the anarchy in our Country that's being done at the direction of persons who boast of being of Marxist training.

Your argument tends to sound like, "but, hey, the trains run on time!".

[Cow Poke]

I knew you would be on top of it, my brother.

So, last night's meeting with the Sheriff went ... um.... like I thought it would, but on steroids. He's extremely concerned that the black pastors, in particular, are making this look more like "calling law enforcement to task", and "warning them" than it does "how can we keep things calm in our community".

He has the same view I do of BLM (the Marxist version) and pointed out several things of which I was not aware, with respect to persons in our community working to stir up trouble.

Next meeting is with the Police Chief.

[Sparko]

Yeah I have been trying to explain this to some of my liberal friends and family on Facecrack. That I agree with the concept of "black lives matter" but I dislike very much the organization BLM which is just a hate group bent on tearing down civilization and are anti-police, anti-American nutjobs.

I just shared your article on my page. Wonder what will happen.

[Sparko]

I am bemused by some of the comments on this thread. I still fail to comprehend the American bogeyman of "Marxism/Socialism" and as for the nuclear family that is a very recent phenomenon.

Many ideals contained within Marxist thinking would chime quite well with the compassionate aspects that are to be found within Christianity.

We should help our fellows. We should have a fairer society where everyone is offered the same opportunities. We should not permit families to live on the streets, and etc.

The idea that capitalism [in its most naked form] should be espoused as the right way to run a society raises serious questions about our humanity towards other individuals.

In a purely capitalist society those who cannot survive by their own endeavours go to the wall and if they die, so be it. The English author Charles Dickens brilliantly summed up such an attitude in his Christmas Carol.

Nor would anyone be able to gainsay the "right" of one individual to exploit others for the benefit/profit of that individual. Such an attitude permits [among other things] sweatshops, dangerous working conditions, child labour, slave wages, and wanton environmental pollution with its impact on human health. Does anyone who calls themselves a Christian endorse such a society?

The fact remains that within America there are "socialist" ideas being implemented. Citizens pay their taxes and some of that money provides such things as public schools, libraries, the police force, and the other emergency services. In other words, the state provides [be that at local state or at federal level].

I do not believe I have read anywhere that the New York Fire Dept insisted on payment up front from those individuals trapped in the two towers in 2001 before the crews were sent into those buildings. Nor that a public library has refused to lend books to those who cannot pay for the loan of that volume. Or that an ambulance crew have refused to assist an individual who has been injured because they did not have their credit card on their person.

However, I am prepared to be corrected.

Please list the Marxist countries that have lived up to the ideals you claim they espouse, where everyone is treated fairly, with homes and plenty of food, and live in peaceful harmony and offered the same opportunities.

Thanks.

[JimL]

Is Black Lives Matter Marxist? No and Yes.

On Monday night, Terry Crews was grilled over his criticism of Black Lives Matter by CNN host Don Lemon. As Gina Bontempo pointed out on Twitter: “Don Lemon did everything he could to talk over Terry and silence him as soon as they started approaching what the BLM organization is *really* about.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1280476986754957319

So what is Black Lives Matter really about?

Many conservatives insist Black Lives Matter is a Marxist, anti-police, radical organization that wants to tear down America. Meanwhile, most liberals simply view Black Lives Matter as a heroic movement and powerful slogan signaling support for racial justice and opposition to police brutality.

Both are right. There is Black Lives Matter™️, and there is “black lives matter.”

Let me explain.

In 2013, the national outcry over Trayvon Martin’s death and George Zimmerman’s acquittal sparked a national outcry over racial injustice. Amid this controversy, three activists, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, started a hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter, which soon went viral. They then founded the national Black Lives Matter organization.

Black Lives Matter as a broad sentiment and movement then gained national attention and name recognition after the 2014 deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Meanwhile, the official group expanded and many more local chapters formed.

No doubt, the organization itself was quite radical from the very beginning. Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors described herself and fellow co-founder Alicia Garza as “trained Marxists” in a recently resurfaced video from 2015.

“We actually do have an ideological frame[work],” Cullors said of her organization. “We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories.”

Meanwhile, the national organization’s official platform, published in 2015, contained a specific call to “[disrupt] the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure.”

At the local level, official Black Lives Matter chapters are essentially far-left front groups that use racial justice as a Trojan horse for leftist policy and ideology. For example, the official organization Black Lives Matter DC openly dedicates itself to “creating the conditions for Black Liberation through the abolition of systems and institutions of white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy and colonialism.”

Unsurprisingly, conservatives have bashed the radical group en masse.

“Black Lives Matter is an openly Marxist, anti-American group,” conservative commentator Mark Levin said. “There's no denying it. And it is fully embraced by the Democrat Party and its media and cultural surrogates.”

“Black Lives Matter is a Marxist movement,” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz tweeted. “Black Lives Matter is not about police, it's not about race, it's not about justice. It's about making us hate America so they can replace America.”

“You know, I know plenty of people who are for Black Lives Matter. A lot of them are nice people,” Fox News Host Tucker Carlson recently said. “I’m not mad at them. I disagree… I think Black Lives Matter is poison.”

These kinds of conservative criticisms of Black Lives Matter are widespread. And on one hand, they’re right: The official Black Lives Matter organization is Marxist, is anti-American in its values, and its views are rightfully alarming to anyone who believes in the Constitution, capitalism, and civil society as we know it. But in applying their reflexive response to all Black Lives Matter supporters, conservative critics are failing to see the forest for the trees.

A whopping 51 percent of the public tells pollsters they support “black lives matter.” Most of these people, I suspect, don’t even know that there is an official Black Lives Matter organization. And I’m sure hardly any of them could name Patrisse Cullors or Alicia Garza.

Whether it’s where I’m from in deep-blue Massachusetts or where I live now in Washington D.C., walking by a Black Lives Matter sign sticking out from someone’s yard is just about an everyday occurrence. After the death of George Floyd, more of my acquaintances, friends, and relatives than I could count posted #BlackLivesMatter. Many others changed their picture to a black square or otherwise signaled their support for the movement.

I can personally guarantee you that the vast majority of these people, while liberal, do not support ending capitalism or dismantling the family. Conservatives are led astray as soon as they apply their (valid) criticisms of Black Lives Matter™️ the organization to the Black Lives Matter movement and its supporters broadly......

Civil discussion only - no OrangeManBad or OrangeManGood.

And we should be concerned with the founders ideologies, why? The support they are receiving is for their cause concerning discrimination and police abuse not whether they are Marxist or not.

[JimL]

Please list the Marxist countries that have lived up to the ideals you claim they espouse, where everyone is treated fairly, with homes and plenty of food, and live in peaceful harmony and offered the same opportunities.

Thanks.

The U.S., thanks to progressive democrats such as FDR and LBJ. But it isn't Marxism or pure capitalism it's more like capitalism with a heart and a brain.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

Please list the Marxist countries that have lived up to the ideals you claim they espouse, where everyone is treated fairly, with homes and plenty of food, and live in peaceful harmony and offered the same opportunities.

Thanks.

Please do not attribute to me things I have not written.

[Sparko]

Please do not attribute to me things I have not written.

You said:

I am bemused by some of the comments on this thread. I still fail to comprehend the American bogeyman of "Marxism/Socialism" and as for the nuclear family that is a very recent phenomenon.

Many ideals contained within Marxist thinking would chime quite well with the compassionate aspects that are to be found within Christianity.

If Marxism's ideals are so compassionate, then shouldn't there be some examples out there of Marxist paradises? But in fact, every Marxist attempt at governing has been a humanitarian nightmare of poverty and misery. So maybe Marxist ideals are not so compassionate or good after all, or they are just empty words.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

You said:


If Marxism's ideals are so compassionate, then shouldn't there be some examples out there of Marxist paradises?

Once again where did I mention "Marxist paradises"? Your tendency towards misattribution is not overly admirable. The implementation and practise of Marxism [rather like that of Christianity] often falls short of the ideals.

However, that should not prevent us striving towards those respective ideals.

[Cow Poke]

I knew you would be on top of it, my brother.

So, today at 2 PM Central, meeting with the Chief.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

I'm bemused by your bemusement. It's like you think you're "way up there" and we're a bunch of dummies. (But it's entertaining, so....)

That was not my intention.

Taxation with the consent of the governed for the common good

And who decides what is the "common good"?

is nothing like the anarchy in our Country that's being done at the direction of persons who boast of being of Marxist training.

Is the USA really in a state of anarchy? If so it must have been omitted from the international press. As to "Marxist training" - I am not entirely sure what that phrase means.

Your argument tends to sound like, "but, hey, the trains run on time!".

That is a paraphrase of a remark attributed to Churchill commenting on Mussolini and Mussolini was a Fascist [the antithesis of Marxism].

[Cow Poke]

That was not my intention.

Some of it may be your style of writing... I do appreciate your... um..... "style".

And who decides what is the "common good"?

Apparently, as it has been through the ages - it's the secular golden rule -- whoever has the gold makes the rules.

Is the USA really in a state of anarchy?

No such claim was made on my behalf, so, like you've asked others...

If so it must have been omitted from the international press. As to "Marxist training" - I am not entirely sure what that phrase means.

I have a meeting shortly with our police chief concerning that very issue - I'll be happy to address that when I get back.

That is a paraphrase of a remark attributed to Churchill commenting on Mussolini and Mussolini was a Fascist [the antithesis of Marxism].

Yes, I'm well aware of that. What WOULD WE DO without your vast knowledge on every single topic*?


*a friendly dig, I promise.

[mikewhitney]

Once again where did I mention "Marxist paradises"? Your tendency towards misattribution is not overly admirable. The implementation and practise of Marxism [rather like that of Christianity] often falls short of the ideals.

However, that should not prevent us striving towards those respective ideals.

We just need millions more of deaths to prepare for this Marxist idealism.

[mikewhitney]

And we should be concerned with the founders ideologies, why? The support they are receiving is for their cause concerning discrimination and police abuse not whether they are Marxist or not.

How have you determined that the funding is for any general benefit to society? Communists, Marxists, and revolutionists tend to promote disruption of society so that another form of government can take over. And usually this means that it a dictator takes control. We already have many governors who had allowed the chaos to continue. Are these governors wanting the chaos or do they think the most subversive groups actually should have power?

I would like to hear from more Blacks. I don't think there are many Blacks that want revolution. There are Blacks saying that the protests have been promoted largely by crazy white women. (Okay. Maybe I added the word "crazy" in there.) Most people just want a safe environment to grow and make a decent living.