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Libertarian Socialism: Difference between revisions

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*[[File:Internat.png]] [[Internationalism]]
*[[File:Internat.png]] [[Internationalism]]
*[[File:LeftAntiCom.png]] [[Liberal Socialism|Left Anti-Communism]]
*[[File:LeftAntiCom.png]] [[Liberal Socialism|Left Anti-Communism]]
*[[File:Mediastocracy_flair.png]] [[Mediacracy]]
*[[File:Mediacracy.png]] [[Mediacracy]]
*[[File:Monsoc.png]] [[Monarcho-Socialism]]
*[[File:Monsoc.png]] [[Monarcho-Socialism]]
*[[File:PolState.png]] <s>[[Police Statism]] (Collaborated with)</s><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell%27s_list</ref>
*[[File:PolState.png]] <s>[[Police Statism]] (Collaborated with)</s><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell%27s_list</ref>
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*[[File:Minarchist.png]] [[Minarchism]] - Read above.
*[[File:Minarchist.png]] [[Minarchism]] - Read above.
*[[File:Reactlib-icon.png]] [[Reactionary Libertarianism]] - Come on, are you serious?!
*[[File:Reactlib-icon.png]] [[Reactionary Libertarianism]] - Come on, are you serious?!
*[[File:Mediastocracy_flair.png]] [[Mediacracy]] - Stop manufacturing consent!
*[[File:Mediacracy.png]] [[Mediacracy]] - Stop manufacturing consent!
*[[File:8ValuesBall.png]] [[File:Centrist-purple.png]] A whole load of political tests - NO, MARXISM IS NOT AUTHORITARIAN, DUMBASSES!
*[[File:8ValuesBall.png]] [[File:Centrist-purple.png]] A whole load of political tests - NO, MARXISM IS NOT AUTHORITARIAN, DUMBASSES!
*[[File:Mesocon.png]] [[Conservative Liberalism|Pragerism]] - Stop quoting me and then doing the exact thing I told you not to do in that quote!
*[[File:Mesocon.png]] [[Conservative Liberalism|Pragerism]] - Stop quoting me and then doing the exact thing I told you not to do in that quote!

Latest revision as of 07:16, 28 June 2026

Not to be confused with File:Socliber.png Social Libertarianism or File:Liberalsoc.png Liberal Socialism.

"If we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

Libertarian Socialism (Also known as Free Socialism) encompasses a wide range of ideologies, but mainly rejects the conception of socialism as a File:Statesoc.png statist form where the state bureaucracy retains centralized control of the economy. Workers within a libertarian socialist society have Direct Democratic control over the means of production. File:Libms.png Some types of Libertarian Socialism believe that Markets can exist within a Socialist society, as a libertarian form of File:Marketsoc.png Market Socialism, while others, such as File:Libmarx.png Libertarian Marxism, and Anarcho-Communism, do not. Some Libertarian Socialists wish to abolish the state altogether, like the aforementioned Anarcho-Communism, while others, such as File:Minsocf.png Minarcho-Socialism believe that a small state can exist within a libertarian socialist framework.

History

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Emergence

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Libertarian Socialism was first emerged during the Enlightenment in France. When Marxist and Socialist ideologies first became popular in Europe, Libertarian Socialism was gaining popularity as well and it formed it own faction in the First International, which became the anti-authoritarian faction. Mikhail Bakunin, leader of the libertarian socialist faction rejected the idea of a File:LibSyn.png"dictorship of the proletariat"File:Libmarx.png as he said it would make a new ruling class, which would oppress the working class, which soon lead to its ejection by the File:Karl Marx.pngMarxist factionFile:Orengels.png at the Hague Congress in 1872.

20th century

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In the early part of this period, libertarian socialism was equal in influence to both social democracy and communism. Demonstrating this influence was the formation of the Anarchist International, which drew in many anti-capitalists. Using this new organizational power, they were able to position themselves against both of their ideological rivals for the next 50 years.

Before the Russian Revolution, libertarian socialists played a crucial role in campaigning for land reform, and against Tsarist authoritarianism. These campaigns were led by the Narodniks, File:Esers.png the Left Social Revolutionary Party, and various anarchist collectives. These campaigns helped to instigate the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Unfortunately, in the latter revolution, when the File:Orthlen.png Bolsheviks seized control, they purged libertarian socialists left and right, leading to their political irrelevancy in Russia.

In the 1936 Spanish Revolution, the CNT was crucial to the subsequent creation of libertarian socialist communities and collectives within that country. These collectives allowed delegates to take charge in certain situations, with the caveat of direct recall. Unfortunately for the CNT, when File:Franco-alt.png Francisco Franco came to power in Spain, the CNT went into a rapid decline.

Post-World War II

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After the war, the ideology was ostracized from the labor movement, at least in part due to its inability to wrest control over unions from communists, social democrats, or business unionists. Additionally, because of the seeming ease at which reformist unions gained their rights, they felt no need to engage in the radical politics espoused by libertarian socialists.


File:Johnsonite.png Johnson-Forest Tendency

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The Johnson–Forest Tendency was a Marxist political current that emerged in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s. It was primarily associated with the work of C. L. R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya, and Grace Lee Boggs. The name of the tendency came from the pseudonyms used by James (“J. R. Johnson”) and Dunayevskaya (“Freddie Forest”) during their collaboration. Over time, their ideas developed into a File:Ultraprogressivism.pngdistinctive strand of Marxist theory combining libertarian Marxism, Marxist humanism, and radical critiques of bureaucratic socialism.

The intellectual origins of the Johnson–Forest Tendency lay in the revolutionary socialist debates surrounding the Trotskyist movement. In the 1930s and early 1940s, both James and Dunayevskaya were initially committed to the political program of Leon Trotsky, which sought to defend Marxist revolutionary principles while opposing the authoritarian direction of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. During this early period the group remained closely connected to Trotskyist organizations and still retained elements of File:Orthlen.pngLeninist revolutionary strategy.

However, their views evolved significantly as they reassessed the nature of the Soviet system and the role of revolutionary movements in the modern world. The Johnson–Forest thinkers began arguing that the Soviet Union should be understood not as a workers’ state but as a form of “state capitalism,” in which a bureaucratic ruling class controlled the economy while exploiting workers. This analysis led them to question traditional Leninist party structures and eventually to move toward more decentralized and File:Libmarx.pnglibertarian interpretations of Marxism.

A key element of their theoretical development was the rediscovery and reinterpretation of the early philosophical writings of Karl Marx, particularly those emphasizing human creativity, alienation, and the self-emancipation of the working class. From this perspective emerged File:MarxistHumanism.pngMarxist humanism, a framework that emphasized the central role of human freedom, consciousness, and moral agency in revolutionary transformation. Rather than viewing socialism solely as an economic system, Johnson–Forest theorists saw it as a process of human liberation rooted in everyday struggles.

The group also placed strong emphasis on grassroots movements and the political agency of ordinary people. They studied labor struggles, community activism, and cultural resistance as sources of revolutionary change. This orientation aligned them with currents later described as libertarian Marxism, which reject rigid party hierarchies in favor of worker self-organization and democratic participation.

Another important aspect of the Johnson–Forest Tendency was its engagement with struggles against racial oppression in the United States. C. L. R. James and Grace Lee Boggs in particular analyzed the Black freedom struggle as a revolutionary force capable of transforming American society. Their work helped lay intellectual foundations for currents later described as File:BlackMarxism.pngBlack Marxism, which integrate Marxist analysis with the historical experience of racial domination and resistance.

Feminist analysis also played an increasingly important role in the group’s thought. Raya Dunayevskaya developed arguments that connected women’s liberation with the broader struggle against alienation and exploitation, contributing to traditions now known as File:Marxfem.pngMarxist feminism. These ideas emphasized that revolutionary transformation required confronting multiple forms of oppression embedded in social structures.

By the early 1950s internal disagreements led to the fragmentation of the Johnson–Forest Tendency. Dunayevskaya went on to develop a distinct philosophical current centered on Marxist humanism, while James and Boggs continued their own forms of political and intellectual activism. Despite these divisions, the group’s influence endured in later radical movements, particularly those emphasizing participatory democracy, cultural transformation, and the revolutionary potential of marginalized communities.

Through its synthesis of humanist philosophy, anti-bureaucratic socialism, and engagement with struggles for racial and gender equality, the Johnson–Forest Tendency contributed an enduring perspective to twentieth-century Marxist thought—one that sought to reconcile revolutionary theory with the lived experiences of social movements and the quest for human freedom.

Letovism

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Yegor Letov (1964–2008) was a central figure of the Soviet and post-Soviet underground music scene. As the founder of the influential punk band Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Letov became one of the most distinctive cultural voices of late Soviet counterculture.

Letov grew up in Omsk during the later years of the Soviet state, a period when official cultural institutions exercised strict control over artistic expression. As a young musician he became involved in underground rock and punk circles that rejected the conformity of state-approved culture. Inspired by the international File:Punk.pngpunk movement and its emphasis on rebellion and do-it-yourself creativity, Letov developed a deliberately raw musical style that combined distorted sound, improvised recording methods, and confrontational lyrics.

During the 1980s his music and artistic activities attracted the attention of Soviet authorities. The underground rock scene often existed in tension with the government, and Letov himself faced surveillance, censorship, and forced psychiatric treatment—an experience that reinforced his deep distrust of formal political institutions. These encounters helped shape the File:Radape.pnganti-political tone that became common in his lyrics, which frequently rejected both bureaucratic authority and conventional political participation.

Philosophically, Letov’s writing drew on nihilistic themes, emphasizing the collapse of meaning and the rejection of established ideological frameworks. His work often explored existential alienation, absurdity, and the futility of rigid political systems. At the same time, his lyrics sometimes incorporated revolutionary imagery, references to historical socialist movements, and fragments of Soviet symbolism, creating a deliberately File:Contrarianism-Icon.pngcontradictory blend of influences.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Letov briefly became associated with the National Bolshevik Party, a controversial political movement that combined elements of radical nationalism and revolutionary socialism. Within this milieu, Letov expressed sympathy for forms of national communism and continued to reference the legacy of Vladimir Lenin in his artistic and political statements. However, his relationship with organized politics remained unstable and often contradictory.

Even during his involvement with the File:Limonov.pngNational Bolshevik movement, Letov retained a strong contrarian streak. His public statements frequently shifted between ideological extremes, reflecting a deliberate refusal to commit fully to a single coherent doctrine. Over time he distanced himself from formal party politics and returned to focusing primarily on music, poetry, and philosophical reflection.

In his later years, Letov’s ideas increasingly reflected themes similar to post-left anarchist thought, emphasizing individual autonomy, cultural rebellion, and skepticism toward all forms of political authority. He also expressed interest in ecological concerns and critiques of industrial civilization, themes that occasionally appeared in his later lyrics and interviews.

Throughout his career, Letov cultivated an image of radical independence. His work blended anarchic rebellion, nihilistic philosophy, revolutionary symbolism, and punk aesthetics into a cultural project that resisted easy ideological categorization. By combining these influences—ranging from underground music culture to fragments of revolutionary political thought—Letov helped shape one of the most distinctive voices of late Soviet and post-Soviet counterculture.

Beliefs

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Libertarian Socialism is a anti-authortarian and anti-capitalist ideology that advocates for social and economic equality.


Socialism

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In something that separates them from File:Statesoc.png authoritarian socialists, libertarian socialists believe in File:Synd.png worker ownership of the means of production, File:WPD.png workplace democracy, and File:Cooperative Socialism.png workers cooperatives. Libertarian socialists see state socialist concepts such as state ownership of the means of production as equal to File:Statecap.png State capitalism. Like other socialists, Libertarian socialists are highly opposed to capitalist economics, as they see capitalism as a manifestation of human greed that must be overthrown in a File:Impossible.png social revolution.

Opposition to authoritarianism

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Libertarian Socialism believes true Socialism can’t be achieved without a File:Directdem.png direct democracy, and opposes bureaucracy and File:Parl.png parliamentarianism. Libertarian socialists believe in the upholding of File:Civlibert.png civil liberties like freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Many libertarian socialists believe in a File:Minsocf.png socialist society with a reduced amount of government power.

She also believes most of former socialist governments have been corrupted by tyranny and capitalism, like File:Cball-China.png The People’s Republic of China or the File:Cball-USSR.png Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Variants

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File:Libms flag.svg
Flag of Libertarian Market Socialism

Libertarian Market Socialism (LibMarkSoc) is an economically left-wing, libertarian, and generally culturally progressive ideology who can be described as a more moderate version of File:Mutalist.png Mutualism. LibMarkSoc believes in the libertarian principle of limited government combined with the economic view that while the means of production should belong to the workers who use them, goods and services should be provided through a market economy contributed to by worker-owned businesses and co-ops. They support local direct democracy, with a limited, higher-level federal government.

File:Libmarx flag.svg
Flag of Libertarian Marxism

Libertarian Marxism (LibMarx) is an economically far-left, libertarian, revolutionary, internationalist, and progressive ideology that supports worker ownership of the means of production and eventual transition into a stateless, moneyless, and classless society as per typical Marxist thought, however, he supports a decentralized approach where the working class leads the revolution themselves as opposed to acting with the aid of a vanguard party, and strongly emphasizes the libertarian and anti-authoritarian aspects of Marx's writings, specifically in his later work. It is almost always coupled with culturally left leanings.

Personality

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The epitome of "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me". Annoys other socialists by complaining about how statist they are. Hangs out with other non-capitalist LibLeft ideologies a lot, although they frequently ignore them when they get into debates.

Really into punk rock and RATM.

Is the older Sibling of File:Libertarian.png Right-Libertarianism

Is the child of File:Civlibert.png Libertarianism and Socialism

Is also obviously autistic

How to Draw

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File:Libsoc Flag.svg
Flag of Libertarian Socialism
  1. Draw a ball
  2. Draw an alternating pattern of red and a near-black stretching from the edge and meeting at the center, with 10 segments.
  3. Draw a star with the reverse colors in the center of the ball.
  4. Fill in the star and clean up the edges.
  5. Add the eyes and you're done!
Color NameHEXRGB
 Red#FF0000rgb(255, 0, 0)
 Black#141414rgb(20, 20, 20)


Relationships

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Comrades

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Frenemies

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Oppressors

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  • File:Crapitalism.png Crapitalism - What some people don't realize is that """capitalism""" needs a state to function.
  • Authoritarian Capitalism - My exact polar opposite. The two things I hate the most combined.
  • File:Statecap.png State Capitalism - Aren't you just the same guy above you?!
  • Fascism - File:Crapitalism.png him, but without the mask of a "free market" and wants to seek power. Ignore how Silo is accused of acting like you.
  • File:Franco.png Francoism - ¡NO PASARÁN! Shit, you did pass after all. But the spirit of the Republic shall never die!
  • National Capitalism - High-functioning psychopathy as an ideology.
  • National "Socialism" - "TeH nAzIs ArE sOcIaLiStS bEcAuSE 'sOcIaLiStS' iS lItErAlLY iN tHeIr NaME." Sure. The social "Darwinistic" belief that only the so-called "strong" should survive is totally something a socialist would believe in.
  • File:Nazbol.png National Bolshevism - Oh hell yeah, two of the worst ideologies had to produce an even worse offspring. I'm not joining your gang even if you extended an invitation. And stop appropriating the name of the Interbrigades! At least we both kinda like Letov.
  • File:Statesoc.png State Socialism - Socialism is when workers–yes, the every-day working class; not the state, not unelected bureaucrats, and not some dictatorial "supreme general", control and manage the means of production.
  • File:BarrCom.png Barracks Communism - With a predecessor like this, it's hardly surprising the USSR turned out the way it did.
  • File:Blanqui.png Blanquism - You want a ruling minority elite, yet believe yourself to be bringing freedom to the masses. Curious.
  • File:LeftCom.png Italian Left Communism - Not everyone who disagrees with you is a bourgeois! At least we both dislike them
  • Marxism–Leninism - "mY File:Sralin.png dIcTAtOrsHiP iS rEAl sOciAlIsM bEcAuSe I sLaP 'WoRkErS' oN tHe NaME oF eVErYtHinG!" Special thanks for backstabbing the File:Cball-2Spainrepub.png Spanish Republic before abandoning it to Franco's tender mercies, jackass.
  • Pol Potism - You’re a danger to both your own country and to the socialist movement at large. Chomsky did not support you, he just knew that you were no different than you capitalist equivalents!
  • Reactionary Socialism - You hate them for all the wrong reasons.
  • Yellow Socialism - Oh dear... unlike the others File:Statesoc.png you don't even have anything socialist about you except the name. Where have I seen it before?..
  • Dengism - The offspring of the above and the File:Statecap.png State Cappie. Poor chinese...
  • Ingsoc - Yeah... you're not a socialist. More like the end goal of File:Stalin.png him... or him, and for that matter him as well.
    • English Socialism is the only socialism. Thoughtcriminals like you need to be unpersoned.

Further Information

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Literature

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Wikipedia

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People

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Youtube

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Channels

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Videos

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Criticism

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Online Communities

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References

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  1. Libertarian Socialism Debunked by File:Mentiswave.png MentisWave
  2. In a now-deleted tweet, he defended sexual activity during protests.
  3. From Liberal to Communist: My political 'Journey', BadMouse, YouTube.com.
  4. As he has said in his work "on anarchism" "Let me just say that I don’t really regard myself as an anarchist thinker" and anarchist File:BobBlack.png Bob Black has also criticized Chomsky for being a statist.
  5. https://deadwildroses.com/2015/08/25/noam-chomsky-on-pornography/
  6. "With all his mostly negative feelings about Israel, Noam Chomsky continues to speak affectionately about the kibbutz [...]"
  7. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sbW_jcNvSOM
  8. He called Paul Robeson, a civil rights activist, "too anti-white".
  9. Orwell called many "crypto-communists" on his list "Jewish" as an insult.
  10. "That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there."
  11. https://www.marxists.org/archive/orwell/1938/why-ilp.htm
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwell%27s_list
  13. Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and Possible Motives
  14. 1984 was one of his favorite books and he especially read it when he was in the army.
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Portraits

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Alternative designs

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Comics and Artwork

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tr:Liberteryen Sosyalizm