“I often refer to myself as a radical, reminding people that the word radical comes from the Latin word radix, meaning root. I think we need to get to the roots of problems as we try to solve them. I also like the word anti-capitalist.” PeopleThinkingNeedsTryingProblemRootsSolveRadicalLatinCapitalistReminding Author:Cynthia Kauffman
“The terms socialist and communist are mostly about describing the world we want after capitalism, and I think they are both important.” ThinkingWorldWantImportantTermCapitalismCommunistSocialistDescribing Author:Cynthia Kauffman
“States can be more or less democratic, and so can socialism. I think any ideal society that exists on a large scale, which is what we most likely have in store for us as a human race, will involve some aspects of socialism.” ThinkingHumansStatesRaceAspectIdealsDemocraticStoresScalesSocialismHuman RaceLarge ScaleIdeal Society Author:Cynthia Kauffman
“In Marxism there are some very unhelpful ideas about the need to push for a revolution that will overturn all of society. Marx gets that from Hegel, and it leads to some very bad politics, such as the hope that things must get worse because that will then turn into the antithesis and get better from there. A kind of wishful thinking then grows out of not seeing a realistic path forward.” ThinkingNeedsKindIdeasTurnsGrowsPathSeeingRevolutionGet BetterRealisticMarxismWishful ThinkingAntithesisHegelBad Politics Author:Cynthia Kauffman
“I think there is a legitimate critique of reformism, as a politics that is content with making small changes in society without asking for bigger and deeper changes. And revolutionary reforms, meaning actions that we take in small ways to make the world a better place and disrupt some of the ways that capitalism is reproduced.” ThinkingWorldWayActionCapitalismBiggerAskingDeeperReformRevolutionaryBetter PlaceCritiqueSmall ChangesChanges In Society Author:Cynthia Kauffman