The Evolution of Communism

[Occam's Banana]

[RELATED: Critical Theory threads]

The EVILution of Communism Workshop: All Sessions
https://newdiscourses.com/2024/12/the-evilution-of-communism-workshop-all-sessions/
{New Discourses | 17 December 2024}

Communism is a religious view that has evolved and adapted over the last two centuries, including right up to the present day. Understanding the developments and threats in our present world requires understanding what Communism really is, especially in its Marxist variants, and how it has developed and changed over the years. In response to this need, James Lindsay of New Discourses held a four-lecture workshop series on the EVILution of Communism in Dallas, Texas, at the start of August 2024.

As Lindsay discussed in his ultra-viral presentation in the European Union Parliament in Brussels in Spring 2023, Communism has evolved over time to attack different host societies. In particular, it had to undertake significant theoretical and strategic leaps to begin to conquer the West. In this workshop, Lindsay will break this process down in four in-depth lectures. First, a discussion of Marxism and Communism in its early theoretical form (Communism 1.0) will provide an overview of their way of thinking about the world. Then, in two lectures, Lindsay will explain the developments of an Eastern Industrial Communism (Communism 2.0) along with the parallel development of Western or Social Marxism (Communism 2.5), including influences of postmodernist theory. Finally, in the fourth lecture, Lindsay will outline the development of Woke and Corporate Marxism (Communism 3.0), which is what we face in the world today. To get a full understanding of how Communism has developed and mutated to attack our current world, this workshop is a must.

James Lindsay has included his personal notes that guided this workshop, found here.

	The Evolution of Communism​
PART​	TITLE​	VIDEO
1​	Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism	POST #2
2​	Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism	POST #3
3​	Communism 2.5: Social Communism	POST #4
4​	Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism	POST #6
	other related​
	Communism 3.0: The Succession of Capitalism and the China Model	POST #7
	Socialism, Communism, Marxism; What's the Difference?	POST #8
	Marxism is a Christian Heresy [& see this thread]	POST #9
	Don't Mistake Malice For Incompetence	POST #10

 

[Occam's Banana]

Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism | James Lindsay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wIWTHgnRtQ
{New Discourses | 25 October 2024}

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 1

In the first of these lectures, Lindsay outlines the basics and origins of Communism both as a practical endeavor and as a sociognostic religious movement. He begins by outlining the broader theosophical and occult-mystical nature of a broad suite of belief systems and discusses how they began to graft themselves onto social, political, and economic programs in the middle of the Modern Period. This gives them new expression, although their fundamental core beliefs remain mostly unchanged. Using this foundation, Lindsay discusses the “crude” Communism of Gracchus Babeuf during the French Revolution and contrasts it against Karl Marx’s “transcendent” Communism as described in his early writings. Discussing nineteenth century Communism sets the stage and table to discuss the evolution of this religious movement through
the twentieth and into the twenty-first century.

Notes (PDF)

The other three lectures in this series can be found here:

Session 2: Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 3: Communism 2.5: Social Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 4: Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism [see this post - OB]
​

 

[Occam's Banana]

Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism | James Lindsay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_AUQ-nfifk
{New Discourses | 04 November 2024}

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 2

The second and third lectures in this series focus on what might be considered two tracks of twentieth-century Communism, both arising in different contexts, East and West, after the failure of Karl Marx’s nineteenth century agitational evangelism. In this second lecture, the Eastern track is the focus, tracing the development of the Soviet Union through Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik Party as a vanguard. Here, James Lindsay characterizes Eastern Marxism as a broadly state-industrial project, referring to Leninism, Stalinism, and Maoism variously as “Industrial Communism” and “State Communisms” for reasons he lays bare. The general theme is turning the state into an industrial apparatus for the socialist transformation of man himself, in addition to society and nature. In the end, the Eastern model of Marxism (Leninism, Stalinism, general Sovietism, and Maoism) failed everywhere it was attempted, leading to one of the greatest tragedies of human history.

Notes (PDF)

The other three lectures in this series can be found here:

Session 1: Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 3: Communism 2.5: Social Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 4: Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism [see this post - OB]
​

 

[Occam's Banana]

Communism 2.5: Social Communism | James Lindsay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZY5tX7-Jaw
{New Discourses | 18 November 2024}

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3

In this third lecture in the series, Lindsay continues discussing the development of twentieth-century Communism along its second track: Western Marxism. The Western Marxist tradition contains many threads, virtually all of which start with either the Fabian Socialist Society in the UK or, more infamously, with Cultural Marxism elsewhere throughout the Western world. Cultural Marxism itself gives way to Critical Marxism (that is, Critical Theory) through the middle of the twentieth century, particularly in America, and informs other movements such as feminism, radical racial movements, critical education theories, and eventually the development of an intersectional “Woke” Marxism we’re dealing with today. Understanding this requires understanding the influences of many Marxist thinkers including Mao Zedong, whose most culturally destructive ideas were imported by the Critical Marxists and Critical Pedagogues. This in-depth lecture describes the development of a whole new “Social” Communism that sought to find ways to penetrate Western Civilization to make it soft to socialism and Communism.

Notes (PDF)

The other three lectures in this series can be found here:

Session 1: Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 2: Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 4: Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism [see this post - OB]
​

 

[fisharmor]

My fondness for Lindsay is limited to his role in the left eating its own.

He's basically a grown up teenage edgelord who rejects religion because he's so much smarter than you are. I'll watch these but primarily to cement my assessment that he's really only against these facets of leftism because they are also religious in nature.

It makes me sad to watch people like him spend so much time railing against religion and never being able to stop and recognize that if the balance of humanity overwhelmingly does this thing that he rejects, he might just be the one who is broken.

 

[Occam's Banana]

Communism 3.0: Corporate Communism | James Lindsay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyXc_LZtCEE
{New Discourses | 09 December 2024}

The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 4

In this fourth and final lecture in the series, Lindsay picks up the loose threads from the previous two lectures and weaves them together to describe a new Communism for the twenty-first century, a “Communism 3.0” or “Twenty-first Century Communism.” Lindsay characterizes this new model of Communism as the “Chinese model,” derived from the practical implementation by former CCP leader Deng Xiaoping in the People’s Republic of China, where it was tested first. Meanwhile, in the West, a parallel model was developed tracking not just with Deng Xiaoping Theory but also with the Western Marxist sensibilities of Herbert Marcuse, demanding a more “Sustainable” and “Inclusive” economy. Calling the model “Corporate” or “Corporatist” Communism, Lindsay explains how this model of Communism blends a Communist political theory and structure with a Fascist economic model of productive forces, creating the tyrannical hybrid that is intended to be the future for mankind both East, under the Chinese Communist Party, and West, under the United Nations and affiliates. This groundbreaking lecture provides a basis for completely changing the discourses around what’s happening in our world today.

Notes (PDF)

The other three lectures in this series can be found here:

Session 1: Communism 1.0: Theoretical Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 2: Communism 2.0: Industrial Communism [see this post - OB]
Session 3: Communism 2.5: Social Communism [see this post - OB]
​

 

[Occam's Banana]

THREAD: Communism 3.0

Communism 3.0: The Succession of Capitalism and the China Model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=246obUxmNW8
{New Discourses | 17 September 2024}

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 148

Karl Marx characterized Communism as “the negation of the negation,” which is a peculiar turn of phrase he borrowed from his theoretical predecessor G.W.F. Hegel. What that means is that propertied societies, whether slave, feudal, or capitalist, negate our innate Communist (“social”) nature, and then Communism in turn negates capitalism as the highest form of development of the productive organizational modes of society. Well, the negation of the negation experiment was run in various parts of the world through the 20th century and failed everywhere, and what we learned is that the negation of the negation is actually either collapse and then control by an oligarchy or, in other cases, Fascism. These two can be synthesized to create a negation of the negation of the negation, so to speak, that takes Communism as the theoretical ideal and “basic spirit” of historical development while utilizing Fascism as its practical mode of production, and that’s exactly what we see in China following the rise of Deng Xiaoping. It’s also exactly what we see in the West under the ESG scoring model for corporate behavior and the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals that it services. In this important episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay makes the development of “Communism 3.0,” a Corporatist Communism for the 21st century clear. You won’t want to miss it.

THREAD: China is the Model for US Billionaires, Crony Corporatists and Authoritarian Kleptocrats

 

[Occam's Banana]

Socialism, Communism, Marxism; What's the Difference?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgJ2OtLInBM
{New Discourses | 02 January 2024}

New Discourses Bullets: Episode 106

Socialism, Communism, and Marxism are clearly related ideas, but they're not identical. What's the difference? People ask all the time. In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay explains each of these concepts and how they differ from one another while offering some insights into other related concepts like Fabian Socialism and Fascism. Join him to increase your clarity on these issues.

 

[Occam's Banana]

THREAD: Marxism is a Christian heresy

Marxism is a Christian Heresy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-yAYRi8cuI
{New Discourses | 03 January 2025}

In this compelling excerpt from the "EVILution of Communism" workshop, James Lindsay responds to a pastor's insightful question about Marxism as a Christian heresy. Lindsay traces the ideological lineage from Hegel’s theosophical interpretations to Marx’s inversion of Christian virtues, characterizing Marxism as a distortion of biblical anthropology and ethics. He challenges pastors to cultivate discernment in their congregations, emphasizing the dual call for wisdom and gentleness as outlined in Matthew 10:16. Lindsay highlights the importance of confronting evil with firm conviction, while also fostering true Christian compassion that restores and redeems. This dialogue offers profound insights for anyone grappling with the intersection of faith, culture, and ideology.

 

[Occam's Banana]

Don't Mistake Malice For Incompetence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3XP6-RG_a4
{New Discourses | 06 February 2025}

In response to a question from the "EVILution of Communism" workshop, James Lindsay challenges Hanlon’s Razor as a shield against recognizing deliberate, coordinated actions from political figures and celebrities. He argues that incompetence alone cannot explain global societal shifts, urging deeper discernment to uncover intentional wrongdoing.

Full workshop: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/12/the-evilution-of-communism-workshop-all-sessions/ [see this post - OB]