The term Tankie has a clear definition that Cowbee likes to ignore:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie Tankie is a pejorative label generally applied to authoritarian communists, especially those > who support or defend acts of repression by such regimes, their allies, or deny the > occurrence of the events thereof.
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Posting? Instead of reading? (More reading = group sooner)
((This is of course a joke and I don’t want to force you or anything. But I am excited))
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Haha, fair! Honestly we could probably ask for one of us to mod c/soviet and then start a This Soviet World reading group, I’d just have to juggle it with what I’m presently reading. That’s not really a problem, I’d just finish my projected set of reading later while moving those up in priority.
(Picked This Soviet World mostly because it seems like best place to start)
c/soviet? It’s closed. Though I think they’ll let us have it if I ask.
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Oh, didn’t realize that! I think c/history might be a good place too, c/theory doesn’t mesh well IMO but I already mod it so we can use that if we can’t get it on c/history.
c/soviet is open and we’ll get mod if we make a post/comment there. Uh… How do I structure a reading group post? I guess I should start with one to just figure out who wants to be part of it. Also, do you think I should call it ComLib reading group, or just [book] reading group?
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Just make a fun little post there to get the ball rolling and you can go from there
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Oh, fun questions! I’ve thought a decent bit about this, actually.
Assuming it will be you doing the reading group posting (and I think it should be you, after all, ComLib is your project!), I would first make a post gathering interest and advertising the upcoming group, and getting a first wave of notifications. The notifications are critical for longevity.
Each reading post, IMO, should have the title of the book, chapters, and week number in the title. The post body should have links to the previous weeks, ComLib, and an overview of what the chapters are about.
Each week should be no more than 1-2 chapters, easily caught up in an hour of reading or so if needed. Being easy to commit to is critical for maintaining the critical mass for a “living” reading group (see how the Capital groups died).
Another great topic. In my opinion, you have a choice. Do you want a ComLib reading group, a Soviet reading group, or general reading groups? In my opinion, having a Soviet reading group would probably start with History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (B), Short Course even though it isn’t on ComLib. This gives the context for This Soviet World, as well as the other soviet-related works on ComLib. If you want to do a ComLib reading group, I would go by whatever you most want to share! It’s your site and your work, so this doesn’t need to be as structured.
I yapped a lot here but I hope it helps! I’d be very up to start reading next week, and I think you should strike while the iron is hot and you’re most motivated. Also, if you want me to lead the reading groups or help in any way, that’s also fine!
I need to actually also read it myself, so I think I might just start out with 1 chapter.
I do kinda wanna make it a ComLib reading group, and actually get round to Cornforth at some point (I’ve been reading it while working on it and it’s pretty good)
I like your yapping, and it helps.
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Alright, so we have our answers! I was kinda hoping you would say 1 chapter per week, as it’s very easy to commit to. You can always change it up mid-way, there’s no iron law against adjusting (and in fact you should adjust it if you feel it’s too slow).
As for being a ComLib-focused reading group, you can name it as such! My sorting-ass wants to put theory in c/theory though so if you want, we can run through the soviet works on c/soviet and then do the theory on c/theory.
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