Level 1: America, the Class Struggle, and Marxism
If America Should Go Communist – Leon Trotsky
In this brief article, Trotsky analyzes the high level of the productive forces of the USA and compares them to the backward situation in Russia in 1917, which contributed to the bureaucratic counterrevolution lead by Stalin. Trotsky points out that the USA will not have to worry about many of the problems Russia experienced, due to the high development of the productive forces and the fact that the working class makes up the vast majority of society. He goes on to explain that the workers will control society when they consolidate their rule, and that the bourgeoisie will not be able to stop the mighty American working class once it mobilizes to seize power. This short article makes for very good reading, as it explains many of the doubts people have when they first hear the word “communism”: i.e., bureaucratic control over society, lack of democracy for the masses, a low standard of living, etc.
Marxism and the United States – Alan Woods (and Part Two, Part Three, Part Four)
Level 2: American Events and American Labor
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 – Josh Shelton
Lessons of the Post-WWII US Soldiers’ Movement: The Strikes of 1945–46 – David May
Adventures on Crook Street – Rob Sewell
Level 3: American Issues
Which Way for Blacks in the USA? – Rob Sewell
Black Struggle and the Socialist Revolution
Level 4: Trotsky and America
My Life: Chapter 22: New York – Leon Trotsky
Europe and America – Leon Trotsky (and Part Two)
Some Questions on American Problems – Leon Trotsky
Level 5: Karl Marx on the Civil War