Proletarian Library

This library is guided by the idea that a general absence of political education (and its intentional distortion) is causing humanity to suffocate under its own creations. This is an open invitation to study for anyone who is willing to take the responsibility of constructing a progressive solution to our world's greatest collective problems.

Heavy Matters

Here we can give a brief overview of what those problems are and why we study in order to overcome them. Humanity faces two critical existential threats: the threat of extinction through climate catastrophe and the threat of annihilation through nuclear war. These are critical in the sense that there is no existing organizational force which is working to solve these problems: in fact the most dominant social forces today are making the situation worse.

The Climate

A great amount of life on this planet, humanity included, will die off if the planet's climate continues to transition in the current trajectory that is caused by human activity. The vast bulk of this destructive activity is a result of our systems of production. It is sometimes known as economic anarchy, or the absence of hierarchy: there is no overarching supervision that is controlling the world's production. The highest available controlling power is at a national level, as there is no international organizations that is able to totally overpower national economic interests.

The World War

We still exist in the era of nations and national competition. At the core of every nation is an economic way of life, and the dominant nations of the world are at their core composed of a capitalist internal market, connected to a competitive world system. The logic of this type of economy drives nations to acquiring new markets, and when peaceful means are exhausted it resorts to force of violence. It is a machine of perpetual growth and competition — the desire for world peace, even by the consensus of world leaders, will not stop it. Neither will the replacement or overthrow of "evil" or belligerent leaders. It is a system that operates independently of the will of a handful of actors.

The System

The system which produces these disasters is imperialism. It is capitalism at the level of whole-global development, in which national hierarchies are established through the use of political, financial, or military force. At the core of the system is the acquisition of private wealth, and every struggle that aims for transformation within that system amounts to a redistribution of that wealth while keeping its internal logic intact.

The Alternative

A new global economic system has to be constructed that will ultimately replace imperialism by rendering it obsolete. It will require the education, organization, and mobilization of billions of people toward this common goal. It is difficult but not impossible. We have the technology to accomplish this, but the leadership is missing largely due to ideological confusion. Leaders have to be educated while also gaining experience through practice, with the goal being the unity of the majority of the world's people.

Unity

All but the most diehard opportunistic and reactionary people can see the benefit of this transformation of world affairs in the long-term. The private acquisition of wealth is tied to the development of several social problems that effect everyone alive today: sexism, racism, classism, speciesism, national and gender oppression have all been institutionalized as part of the process for private wealth generation. Convincing others takes patience and skill. Convincing oneself takes education. As a greater systemic view of society is grasped, and as methods of unity and organization are studied, discovered, and practiced, it becomes possible to make more effective efforts toward greater goals.

Focus

What we lack in material resources, we make up for in strategy and collective action. Mass movements exist in various places at various times for various reasons. The goal of leadership is to elevate the consciousness of these movements through connection and participation, and finally to unite them so that they can develop greater solutions and strike more deeply at the root of their problems. When properly focused, the masses of people wield all the power to transform society. The leaders are primarily teachers: a central nervous system that coordinates all mass activity, with the final goal being the elevation of the overwhelming majority to the same ability to educate so that the emergent society, with its emerging way of life, reproduces itself.

The New Humanity

While it is too early to speak of what is to come, we study the history of previous attempts to establish a new economic system so that we can learn from their successes and their failures, and so we can find inspiration in knowing what is possible and what can be improved upon. As we study and we carry and continue this project, the consciousness of previous generations finds new life within us and we join the struggle with the countless others who are also striving for this common future. The inevitable failures of imperialism generate new revolutionaries every minute of the day. Our responsibility is to achieve the education necessary to guide us all together toward a bright future for humanity.

The Library

This library tries to cover the breadth of topics necessary for a general understanding of our collective problems and general methods of how to solve them. The particulars will need further study but also practice in accordance with the realities experienced by every group or individual. Reading is never enough on its own, everything must be confirmed through linking it directly to the situations that we are connected to. Likewise there is no need to take these ideas on authority alone, but they should be taken as hypotheses — only social practice confirms the validity of the ideas expressed within.

The Proletarian Worldview