1. There is a Chinese idiom from the Art of War, "知己知彼，百戰不殆," which translates to "know yourself and your enemy, and you won't be defeated." I think of this whenever gentrified "leftists" disregard works by those they deem ideologically impure.

2. I've seen people dismiss Marx because some of his works contain a bit of anti-Semitism, a reflection of his society. I've seen people completely dismissing past feminist writers because of some incorrect or outdated ideas.

3. I've heard upset liberals say "what will you read next? Hitler!?" And although Hitler was a terrible man who espoused ideas worse than writing skills, I do think anti-fascists should study fascism. This might come as a surprise to some, but understanding is not agreeing.

4. A lot of times, liberals like to draw comparisons between communism and fascism, seeing the two as "totalitarian" sibling ideologies, while ignoring the fact that liberalism itself is also an ideology. If a communist has a firm grasp of both, wouldn't it be easier to debunk?

5. Did the State Department not study the works of Comrade Stalin when attempting to obliterate Bolshevism and the Soviet Union? Far too often, I notice many western "leftists" view communism not as a revolutionary worldview intended to be practiced, but rather an exercise of

6. displaying ideological purity. Well here's the thing: outside of your little niche internet circles, nobody gives a fuck about your ideological purity and your refusal to consume certain works by certain people of certain ideologies.

7. If this is how you think, then you're no better than liberals who refuse to read Lenin simply because they were told not to. Read shit by fascists, and you'll understand on a deeper level WHY fascists are bastards, and not only that,

8. you'll also understand the process of middle-of-the-road people who end up falling prey to fascist ideology simply because they realize that the status quo isn't working, but haven't been exposed to other alternatives. Here's the thing:

9. Fascism is comforting for many because it is VERY compatible with the bourgeois ideology that's been shoved down our throats. Anti-fascism isn't simply a matter of punching Nazis, it's also a protracted process of steering people away from it and towards revolutionary politics

10. If you're afraid to read something because it's bad, then what it tells me is you're really just insecure about your understanding of your own beliefs. The black-and-white thinking of certain "leftists" also fails to discern the difference between studying and propagating.

11. I know some philistine is going to tell me: OMG YOU CAN'T TELL PEOPLE TO READ THIS OR THAT. I'm not saying that everyone should read these things, but don't you think a strong communist movement requires a vanguard that collectively understands everything?