this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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Asklemmy

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Looking around me:

  • I started seeing people who support capitalist companies instead of non-profits.
  • People losing their freedoms everywhere at high pace.
  • No one is taking any serious steps to stop climate change.
  • A lot of non-profits had seriously down scaled their operations in the last 5 years, most probably more non-profits will get hit hard this year.
  • On a relative scale, no one is fighting to change any of this.

Do we have any hope?

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[โ€“] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

We need to have optimism, not just because it's healthier, but because it combats the inaction that comes from nihilism. Doomerism leads to inaction, revolutionary optimism takes the path of positive action. With that being said...

  1. The path to beat Capitalism is not through supporting non-profits. The accumulatory and expansionary nature of Capital necessitates its growth, we don't fight this by supporting alternatives, but by seizing the large firms via smashing the old state and replacing it with a Socialist one.

  2. Capitalism in decay will protect itself, however ugly it needs to get. Sometimes it even puts on a mask and calls itself fascism if the circumstances require extra brutal means. The silver lining is that fixing it is the same as in the first section, revolution and instituting Socialism.

  3. Some countries are doing more than others. China, for example, has invested huge sums into solar panel production and development, and has dramatically shiftef towards renewables and combatting desertification. Capitalist countries will typically lag behind Socialist countries like the PRC when it comes to addressing issues that don't have profit as the top priority.

  4. Non-profits will tend to lag behind for-profits under Capitalism as the for-profits have far more resources and support from Capitalist states to makw a better environment for them.

  5. I don't think this is true. There are Socialist coumtries that, while certainly imperfect, do place a priority on addressing these. Even within Capitalist states, there are working class organizations and parties trying to build that better future. Nihilism clouds your sight and judgement, it obfuscates the shining rays of hope we have.

Overall, I find reading Leftist theory helps me better understand the problems with the world, and what we all need to do to fix it. This keeps me grounded and hopeful. The road is nearly easy nor impossible, but hard. I have an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list you can check out if you want to.