this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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What are the lumpenproletariat? (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by LeninZedong@lemmygrad.ml to c/asklemmygrad@lemmygrad.ml
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Seriously, I am unable to really find much about them outside of short lines from Marx and Mao about their potential destructiveness among other things, but I still do not really know what that "class" is. It seems to refer to the poorest members of society that includes unemployed, criminals, homeless, etc.. And are they really so incapable of being utilized in revolutionary activities as they are portrayed?

Edit: By "destructiveness", I refer to how Marx and Mao portrayed them as people that are not considered reliable allies in any proletarian revolution (though even this understanding might be wrong because I think the explanations about them are vague).

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[–] LeninZedong@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I really should read about the Black Panther Party more because they sound like a fascinating group (even though they failed to bring about socialism due to reasons I do not currently understand), and I think learning from their mistakes and successes is essential to any modern Marxists that wish to practice anything outside of armchairism.

Lumpenproletarians of color (and queer lumpenproletarians) are certainly easier to win to the side of the proletarian cause because they are oppressed for reasons outside of the relations of production, so taking into account their unique forms of oppression and how to uplift them must be important aspects of utilizing them. However, as someone in this comment section has made aware, the type of lumpenproletarian they are should dictate our actions towards them.

[–] Saymaz@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

even though they failed to bring about socialism due to reasons I do not currently understand

They failed because their leaders got fucking murdered by the Police and the FBI, and the white people were indifferent to it. Their mission was artificially disrupted by COINTELPRO.

[–] LeninZedong@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 week ago

Yeah I know that now after reading about their history, and judging by how severe the treatment from the FBI and police were, I am really wondering how difficult the creation of a principled Marxist party is in America.