star_wraith

This is great advice, I don’t actually disagree at all. You have to be smart, and there is a balance. Don’t walk away the first time someone doesn’t agree with you, but also know when to walk away if it’s gonna be hopeless.

“Yes, organizing in the imperial core is pointless. You’re better off staying home and posting memes on Hexbear instead.” -

You know how I finally got involved in an org? I had a vision of the rest of my life. Spend my free time reading theory for the next 50 years or so. I could probably get pretty smart at this Marxism thing. Then I die. That big Marxist brain shuts off and I will have left the world not making even the slightest impact on it. Well, some people online knew I was a commie and some family members, but that’s it. I developed all this knowledge - devoted my life to it - and in the end it didn’t mean a thing. I couldn’t handle that, I had to do something.

You know why people like Zizek have such shit takes? I think it’s largely because he (and frankly, most Marxist academics) aren’t involved in even the slightest bit of real praxis. He would rather jerk off other Marxist philosophers with his pettifoggery bullshit than help some homeless folks down the street. Being a commie isn’t about having the right takes. It’s about changing the world (with the right takes). Being right on the internet, now THAT is pointless.

Faith without works is dead, comrades.

Yeah, of course, those of us in the imperial core have our work cut out for us. The conditions aren’t there right now. The conditions aren’t close to being there right now. But you know what, things can change on you fast. Maybe it’s all pointless but if you’re not involved and doing something, then you’ve already given up and we may as well just wait while this whole planet just cooks. And even if it is pointless, do it for yourself. Do it so you can feel that you’re at least trying and doing what you can.

People here whine and moan about DSA and PSL. I promise you, their chapters in your city aren’t anywhere near as bad as you’re probably afraid of. Yeah, sure, maybe some folks there will say things like “China is state capitalist”. But if that’s enough to keep you from organizing then I’m sorry, you’re definitely showing me you have never engaged with other leftists outside of this website. There’s a lot of opinions out there, and a lot of leftist IRL who have a lot of potential are gonna have some shitty takes when you meet them. WHY NOT BE THE ONE WHO HELPS THEM NOT BE SO SHIT?

Both orgs I mentioned are desperate for good, knowledgeable, passionate comrades. A lot of you here are more than capable of doing great things in an org. You would be shocked, if you put the work in, how willing people will be to follow your lead.

I grew up kinda sheltered, but me and my friends all got into sports. Because... idk sports were fun to watch, especially our home teams? It wasn't until I got a job and into the real world that I realized the sheer number of sports "fans" out there who are into sports mostly just for the gambling (especially the NFL).

Great example of the base informing the superstructure, IMO. "Original sin" was always a concept in Christianity, but with the Protestant Reformation developing alongside capitalism - and the development of a "bourgeois religion" - you get ideologies like "total depravity" and the idea that humans are by nature corrupted by sin and can only do bad thing other than by the grace of God.

And guess what?! Seeing humanity as completely fallen and "sinful" means that any hope of a better future on earth will ultimately be futile. So don't even try... because "muh human nature".

You also have to imagine the world in the 1980s. Pre-internet, acquiring information was really difficult, even in the "free" USA. I was like 13 when we first got the internet, and before then what I could learn was limited to what I heard on TV and what was on the shelf in my local library. So finding out about the horrors of capitalism was a lot harder - even in a communist country. Not to mention in the 80s global neoliberalism hadn't fully taken hold, capitalism genuinely looked a lot "friendlier" to people back then.

And IIRC South Korea forbids defectors from returning to the DPRK.

w/r/t consumer goods... I have no data that backs this up, but I wonder about the divide between the "labor aristocracy" and the working class in the GDR (for purposes here, I'll define labor aristocracy as those whose material conditions would be better under capitalism versus socialism - so a lot of doctors, lawyers, middle managers, etc). In the GDR I imagine you would have a sizeable "labor aristocracy" - a group of people that saw the capitalist West and thought correctly that their material position would be better with capitalism. However, I believe the working class would still be larger. What we know about capitalism is that the labor aristocracy is given a MUCH larger say in society. For example, consider TV and movies. How often are protagonists portrayed as struggling working class folks? And how often are they portrayed as professionals making good money and no real material concerns - if not outright petite boug or capitalists? When watching the news, how often are crimes that affect the labor aristocracy shown versus crimes against the working class? So I admittedly have no hard evidence, but I wonder if there was a significant divide in GDR society: enough people who could benefit from capitalism (but still the minority) versus a larger working class that wanted socialism and liked the system they had (but certainly wanted some changes). The working class being larger but having significantly less say over how history was written post-unification. So the story now is "we didn't like how little consumer goods we had", which is certainly true, but not the whole story as working class of the former GDR is forced to be mostly silent.

Haha I'm only aware of the banana thing because a German exchange student friend told me about it in school. Personally I would much rather have bananas than shelling out $1,500 per month for my kids' daycare.

Haven't seen it in the news recently but there was a Texas bill that would criminalize a parent allowing their under-18 child from receiving any kind of medical treatment for gender (i.e. a trans teen taking hormones). So a parent would face jail time and/or have their children taken away by signing off on puberty blockers for their kid.

Over such a long timeframe, that actually seems pretty stable.

It's because C.S. Lewis is a hack. It's the British highbrow version of a PureFlix movie. Lewis started with "how can I make an allegory about Christianity into a book series?" and then made a really ham-handed, over-the-top version of it. It cracks me up that him and Tolkien were friends, because Tolkien is not only an epically good writer, but he specifically and clearly hated allegory. He hated allegory like we hate the libs. And he's got this buddy here who's like "JRR do you like my story? See Aslan is actually supposed to be Jesus!" I don't know how Tolkien didn't laugh in his face.

I actually think Lewis can be an ok writer at times. His logic is appalling and he's on a Jordan Peterson level of philosophical understanding... but there are times when he can string some very beautiful words and thoughts together. But that's about it.

star_wraith [he/him]

@ star_wraith @hexbear.net

Posts

11
Comments

11
Joined

6 yr. ago

star_wraith [he/him]

Let's talk actual tactics for how to raise commie kids

On it’s worst day, Cuba is a better country than the USA will ever fucking be

CPUSA condemns Hamas, praises zionist "communists," aligns with settlers

CPUSA condemns Hamas, praises zionist "communists," aligns with settlers

Americans are absolutely convinced their narratives about Soviet history are correct despite never actually learning anything about Soviet history

I'm at a relative's watching some NBC show where a couple of early 20-somethings are giving people sports betting tips and it makes me sick to my stomach

If you use the words "human nature" in an argument I am ignoring everything you say after that point

Were the bombings of Tokyo and Dresden in WW2 roughly as evil as the US bombings of Cambodia and Laos in the 60s/70s?

If you ask US Americans what was "evil" about East Germany, they'll almost always say "the Berlin Wall"...

If you ask US Americans what was "evil" about East Germany, they'll almost always say "the Berlin Wall"...

If you ask US Americans what was "evil" about East Germany, they'll almost always say "the Berlin Wall"...

If you ask US Americans what was "evil" about East Germany, they'll almost always say "the Berlin Wall"...

If you ask US Americans what was "evil" about East Germany, they'll almost always say "the Berlin Wall"...

Megathread: Leftist-friendly TV shows or YouTube channels for kids

I think the election results from last night are solidifying something for me

Supreme Court allows Texas' six-week abortion ban to take effect

Supreme Court allows Texas' six-week abortion ban to take effect

Nice to see a leftist celeb who doesn't think socialism is "when the government does stuff" or "what they have in Sweden"

A Brief Guide to The Grateful Dead

I appreciate all of my anarchist comrades here

Very realistic ending for once

I've been thinking a lot about American Christianity and climate change recently...