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Liberal vs leftist
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2025
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I second this. I enjoyed reading Lenin’s Imperialism very much, but it also felt very dated (as it should, it’s well over 100 years old now). I can’t help but think that if Lenin were alive today, he’d agree. That doesn’t mean it’s not an incredibly important work that we can’t draw from today, but we should also understand how the world has changed since.
I haven’t read John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century yet, but I’ve heard it’s a very good update.
While I understand that it's statistically likely, I can't believe some people are actually named "John Smith" lol.
Imagine all the doubting stares when you introduce yourself as John Smith (in Poland it would be Jan Kowalski which is funnily enough both literal and contextual meaning) but you're really John Smith.
Yep, Marxist-Leninists have been advancing our theory beyond Lenin. What Lenin laid out is still foundational for analyzing the imperialism of today, but we are no longer in the age of competing empires, but a dying mega-empire and the rise of the global south.
I dont currently see how the book can seem dated. I laughed when I read it a week ago how shockingly current it is. Like the fact that international banking is basically the mafia. The imf is like the number one evidence for it.
It's not that it's dated into being no longer accurate, it's that conditions have changed since it was current. Marx didn't live to see the same heights of imperialism Lenin saw. Lenin did not live to see the consolidation of all competing imperialist powers into one hegemon and several vassals. Lenin is critical and relevant to this day, but we also need to look at how imperialism has advanced.
Agreed. I might have misunderstood. I think black shirts and reds as well as washington bullets are pretty spot on in that regard.
Another one for the downloads list
Yep! No shame at all to Lenin, the highest of respects in fact, but he did not live to see the US Empire come to become an even higher stage of empire than what was going on in his day.