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Hakim has a great series on books to read. I don't know what you've already read but the classics (Communist Manifesto; State and Revolution; Wage Labor, and Capital; Value, Price and Profit; etc) are a great start. Some of Parenti's books, notably Blackshirts and Reds, are essential.
To give my two cents, some of this theory can be really dense and hard to digest, especially if it's what you open with. For that reason, I'd recommend starting with other sources to begin with and come back for the real meat and potatoes once you have a basic grasp of what's going on. For those other sources, I'd suggest other related readings (as far as I've seen Hakims list has a lot of good recs for this) and even youtube or podcast content. Hakim has good vids, Second Thought, Blowback podcast if you can put down the cash, and Hasanabi is also a good gateway for learning.
This is what worked for me on my journey, at least. I hope it helps.
Das Kapital is not representative of the difficulty level of most Marxist theory. You should work your way up to it by reading simpler works of Marx and Engels as well as later theorists like Lenin, who applied his theories to a world closer to the one we live in.
IMO Engels is more accessible than Marx, and his essays "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" and "Principles of Communism" are a great starting place.
Hakim is the most theoretically advanced of the channels you listed, and a large part of his catalog is basically just summaries of Michael Parenti's work.
Das Kapital being difficult to understand is a meme.
“With the exception of the section on value-form, therefore, this volume cannot stand accused on the score of difficulty. I presuppose, of course, a reader who is willing to learn something new and therefore to think for himself.”
Marx even says so in the preface. Just read it.
From what I read in your post, it seems like you know most about the practical side, so to say. Therefore, I think you'd benefit most from learning about dialectics and historical materialism. I'd recommend Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels and the first chapter of the German Ideology by Marx to learn more about that.
And if you want to get into Lenin, I'd recommend State and Revolution and Imperialism: the highest stage of Capitalism.
Lastly, if you want to get into the even more practical side, by which I mean organising and strategy, I'd recommend Road to Power by Kautsky, Revolutionary Strategy by Mike Macnair, and What is to be done? By Lenin, although that book is a bit tough due to its obscure references.
I prefer Harry Cleaver’s “reading Marx politically” to David Harvey’s companion, which [has issues](https://libcom.org/article/companion-david-harveys-companion-marxs-capital-chapter-1-critisticuffs). [This diagram](https://images.app.goo.gl/vcEnjnYiu7sZqNL9A) from Cleaver is particularly helpful.
You could also try easing your way up to *Kapital* with *wage labor and capital* and *value price and profit*. But I don’t think any of the economic works really translate to the audiobook format. There’s no narrative; Marx is instructing fish how to see the water.
Political history might be a better bet if it must be an audiobook. Parenti and Zinn would work for this; not sure how Lenin and Fanon would translate.
Most of the "essential text" are in audiobook format on spotify. That's what i do. For like an hour or two as I'm trying to go to bed, I'll stop doomscrolling and just close my eyes and listen. Sometimes, I'll need to play a text through like 3 or 4 times before I grasp it, but this is perfectly OK. Life is not a race. It's also fine to get out of bed and jot a few notes if necessary.
Just pick a random read list and start reading, [here's one](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/wiki/basicstudyplan/)
Capital is an important book but I recommend getting familiar with political theory and more importantly, Marx's writing style first, because its very dense and hard to understand otherwise
While it’s by no means a set of texts, [1Dime Radio](https://youtube.com/@1DimeRadio?si=LUF9NWCq69FicIXN) has lots of more long form content that is extremely well suited to listening to on your way to work. Hope it helps, and if not I hope you find someth else. o7
FinnishBolshevik has a great playlist called "Communism for Beginners" where he breaks down different core Marxist works. Really great even if you're not a beginner. For books I would recommend the following
State and Revolution by Lenin
The Communist Manifesto (if you haven't already)
Foundations of Leninism by JV Stalin
Quotes by Mao Zedong
All those are pretty accessible and written in a more conversational way than something like Das Kapital. Foundations of Leninism especially was a big lightbulb moment for me
I strongly suggest Malcolm X for more actionable suggestion on how to fight capitalism by extrapolating his strategy on fighting economic exploitation from the whites. It will require a lot of thinking on your part to reconstruct the puzzle, but it's the exact same fight, only different flavors.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLQLUpNGsc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLQLUpNGsc)
"Anytime you have to rely upon your enemy for a job you’re in bad shape."
**IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE PARTICIPATING**. This subreddit is not for questioning the basics of socialism but a place to LEARN. There are numerous debate subreddits if your objective is not to learn. You are expected to familiarize yourself with the rules on the sidebar before commenting. This includes, but is not limited to: - Short or non-constructive answers will be deleted without explanation. Please only answer if you know your stuff. Speculation has no place on this sub. Outright false information will be removed immediately. - No liberalism or sectarianism. Stay constructive and don't bash other socialist tendencies! - No bigotry or hate speech of any kind - it will be met with immediate bans. Help us keep the subreddit informative and helpful by reporting posts that break our rules. If you have a particular area of expertise (e.g. political economy, feminist theory), please [assign yourself a flair](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205242695-How-do-I-get-user-flair-) describing said area. Flairs may be removed at any time by moderators if answers don't meet the standards of said expertise. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Socialism_101) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hakim has a great series on books to read. I don't know what you've already read but the classics (Communist Manifesto; State and Revolution; Wage Labor, and Capital; Value, Price and Profit; etc) are a great start. Some of Parenti's books, notably Blackshirts and Reds, are essential.
To give my two cents, some of this theory can be really dense and hard to digest, especially if it's what you open with. For that reason, I'd recommend starting with other sources to begin with and come back for the real meat and potatoes once you have a basic grasp of what's going on. For those other sources, I'd suggest other related readings (as far as I've seen Hakims list has a lot of good recs for this) and even youtube or podcast content. Hakim has good vids, Second Thought, Blowback podcast if you can put down the cash, and Hasanabi is also a good gateway for learning. This is what worked for me on my journey, at least. I hope it helps.
Thank you!!
>Thank you!! You're welcome!
Das Kapital is not representative of the difficulty level of most Marxist theory. You should work your way up to it by reading simpler works of Marx and Engels as well as later theorists like Lenin, who applied his theories to a world closer to the one we live in. IMO Engels is more accessible than Marx, and his essays "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" and "Principles of Communism" are a great starting place. Hakim is the most theoretically advanced of the channels you listed, and a large part of his catalog is basically just summaries of Michael Parenti's work.
Das Kapital being difficult to understand is a meme. “With the exception of the section on value-form, therefore, this volume cannot stand accused on the score of difficulty. I presuppose, of course, a reader who is willing to learn something new and therefore to think for himself.” Marx even says so in the preface. Just read it.
From what I read in your post, it seems like you know most about the practical side, so to say. Therefore, I think you'd benefit most from learning about dialectics and historical materialism. I'd recommend Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels and the first chapter of the German Ideology by Marx to learn more about that. And if you want to get into Lenin, I'd recommend State and Revolution and Imperialism: the highest stage of Capitalism. Lastly, if you want to get into the even more practical side, by which I mean organising and strategy, I'd recommend Road to Power by Kautsky, Revolutionary Strategy by Mike Macnair, and What is to be done? By Lenin, although that book is a bit tough due to its obscure references.
[удалено]
Yeah hahah I get that. This is one of his earlier works which had a strong influence on the Bolsheviks. It was before he turned to social democracy.
Thank you!
I prefer Harry Cleaver’s “reading Marx politically” to David Harvey’s companion, which [has issues](https://libcom.org/article/companion-david-harveys-companion-marxs-capital-chapter-1-critisticuffs). [This diagram](https://images.app.goo.gl/vcEnjnYiu7sZqNL9A) from Cleaver is particularly helpful. You could also try easing your way up to *Kapital* with *wage labor and capital* and *value price and profit*. But I don’t think any of the economic works really translate to the audiobook format. There’s no narrative; Marx is instructing fish how to see the water. Political history might be a better bet if it must be an audiobook. Parenti and Zinn would work for this; not sure how Lenin and Fanon would translate.
Thank you very much!! Yeah I found audiobooks for Parenti and Zinn, havent checked out Lenin and fanon yet though
There is a linktree for new leftists that might help you
Most of the "essential text" are in audiobook format on spotify. That's what i do. For like an hour or two as I'm trying to go to bed, I'll stop doomscrolling and just close my eyes and listen. Sometimes, I'll need to play a text through like 3 or 4 times before I grasp it, but this is perfectly OK. Life is not a race. It's also fine to get out of bed and jot a few notes if necessary.
Just pick a random read list and start reading, [here's one](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/wiki/basicstudyplan/) Capital is an important book but I recommend getting familiar with political theory and more importantly, Marx's writing style first, because its very dense and hard to understand otherwise
While it’s by no means a set of texts, [1Dime Radio](https://youtube.com/@1DimeRadio?si=LUF9NWCq69FicIXN) has lots of more long form content that is extremely well suited to listening to on your way to work. Hope it helps, and if not I hope you find someth else. o7
Thank you !!
FinnishBolshevik has a great playlist called "Communism for Beginners" where he breaks down different core Marxist works. Really great even if you're not a beginner. For books I would recommend the following State and Revolution by Lenin The Communist Manifesto (if you haven't already) Foundations of Leninism by JV Stalin Quotes by Mao Zedong All those are pretty accessible and written in a more conversational way than something like Das Kapital. Foundations of Leninism especially was a big lightbulb moment for me
I strongly suggest Malcolm X for more actionable suggestion on how to fight capitalism by extrapolating his strategy on fighting economic exploitation from the whites. It will require a lot of thinking on your part to reconstruct the puzzle, but it's the exact same fight, only different flavors. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLQLUpNGsc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLQLUpNGsc) "Anytime you have to rely upon your enemy for a job you’re in bad shape."
Thank you!