On May 5th, 1818, Karl Marx, hero of the international proletatiat, was born. His revolution of Socialist theory reverberates throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of Capitalism, development of the theory of Scientific Socialism, and advancements on dialectics to become Dialectical Materialism, have all played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He didn’t always rock his famous beard, when he was younger he was clean shaven!
Some significant works:
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Critique of the Gotha Programme
Manifesto of the Communist Party (along with Engels)
And, of course, Capital Vol I-III
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don’t know where to start? Check out my “Read Theory, Darn it!” introductory reading list!
Good to see! Dialectical Materialism is critical for understanding Marxism.
As for Palestine, the alternatives to being pro-Palestinian are believing the Palestinians started it and thus deserve it, or that the Zionists started it, but also condemning Hamas for fighting back. Neither of those are correct, of course.
As far as justifying violence against “enemies,” I think Dialectical Materialism will help. One can label the Working Class in the Global North as largely bribed and thus anti-revolutionary, and yet never jump to genocidal conclusions. The point is that the system is the target, analysis of different positions classes hold is to understand why they act in the way they do generally, and how best to overcome it. There is no Materialist reason to slaughter civilians, really.