This community seems to be a curation of news articles, so I’m not sure if a discussion question is supposed to be here.

So anyways:


I really liked this term, but unfortunately, it has been used by authoritarians (particularly the people that call themselves “Marxist-Leninists”), so the word has a negative connotation amongst people living in countries with a democratic system, to be associated with those authoritarian regimes.

Given this negative connotation with the term, should Non-Authoritarian Socialists/Leftists use this term? Why or Why Not?

  • Yeah, I feel like it’s not a word to try to reclaim. Especially when we try to explain to people that the Soviets weren’t actually socialists and we’re trying to build a grassroots democratic movement, it seems like using terms that echo that authoritarian regime can only hurt the cause.