They'd be less homophobic/misogynistic, that's for sure. They still aren't substitutes for a point, though, considering you've made up strawmen and started lashing out at people for disagreeing with you.
Cowbee
joined 2 years ago
Not a single one of them praises “China and Russia for their ability to control their people.” You're inventing ghosts and strawmen to fight.
I've given you far more than just one documentary, though. It's like you ignored everything from Nodutdol, and are again insistent on the idea that if they vet press then they don't let "the free press" in. I have no idea what "the free press" is. You never define it. It's true that news from Russia, China, Cuba, and occasionally more come to visit. KCNA is fairly accurate as well, and there are other news agencies than just KCNA.
They do restrict internet access, yes. They do rely on their own intranet, and few have access to the internet. I never disputed that.
The reason I'm confident in what I'm saying is because I've done a good deal more reading than just random internet searches. I know my knowledge has limits, and I know what I can't know for sure. Your point seems to be that because you aren't as confident, that I cannot be either, on the basis of your short internet searches.
Yea, I guess that checks out.
It's a loaded term by design. It started as a pejorative and morphed into a strawman pejorative, you can see many people throughout this thread describing people that don't exist.
Socialism and communism seem to be very misunderstood outside of places like Grad, Hexbear, Lemmy.ml, etc. Some thing social programs are socialism, others think the Marxist conception of communism is incompatible with administration, some think any form of market or private property has to be eradicated for socialism to exist, some think it's about worker/employer relationships, etc. I think it would be a decent idea to form a better understanding.
For clarity, socialism is best described as a transitional status between capitalism and communism, by which public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy (controls the large firms and key industries at a minimum) and the working class is in control of the state. This fits cleanly with socialism in practice and with Marxist conceptions of socialism.
Fascism is the violent, merciless face of capital it reveals when it takes off its liberal mask. It's when property relations have decayed and are in crisis due to the unsustainability of capitalism, and the state needs to violently assert itself. It comes from the small business owners that are most at risk of becoming working class during these crisis, who then gang up on marginalized groups and working class organizations to protect and affirm themselves.
Oh, homophobia/misogyny, I was wondering when you'd pull that card.
I am extremely open and honest with my views. Nobody believes "any means are justified" in order to create "a state run society." Communists believe revolution is necessary to implement socialism, not that any means are justified nor that just any state run society is acceptable. We also don't believe in supporting "dictatorships" in the sense that one person or an elite few control everything. We support the working class having control.
You are making up ghosts and strawmen to fight. These "tankies" as you describe them do not exist.
Nobody praises "China and Russia for their ability to control their people." These people do not exist, they are ghosts and strawmen you are fighting.
What is Lemmy.today like? Isn't it just a generalist instance?
21
PSL Statement: Hands off Venezuela! Hands off Latin America! - Liberation News
(liberationnews.org)
On May 5th, 1818, Karl Marx, hero of the international proletatiat, was born. His revolution of Socialist theory reverberates throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of Capitalism, development of the theory of Scientific Socialism, and advancements on dialectics to become Dialectical Materialism, have all played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He didn't always rock his famous beard, when he was younger he was clean shaven!
Some significant works:
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Critique of the Gotha Programme
Manifesto of the Communist Party (along with Engels)
And, of course, Capital Vol I-III
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don't know where to start? Check out my "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory reading list!
On April 22nd, 1870, Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov "Lenin," hero of the Russian Revolution, and architect of the world's first Socialist state, was born. His contributions to the Marxist canon and to the revolutionary theory and practice of the proletariat throughout the world carries on to this day, in increasing magnitude. Every passing day, he is vindicated. His analysis of imperialism, the right of nations to self-determination, and revolutionary strategy have played a key role in the past century, and have remained ever-more relevant throughout.
He also loved cats!
Some significant works:
Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism
The Right of Nations to Self-Determination
Materialism and Empirio-Criticism
Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don't know where to start? Check out my "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory reading list!
For good fun, here are a few of Lenin's most important contributions to Marxist theory, I highly recommend all of them (but Imperialism especially).
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (must read for any Leftist wanting to understand modern Capitalism, Anarchists included!)
Dr. Michael Parenti 1986 Lecture "Yellow Parenti"
Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
But that expropriation of the Third World—has been going on for 400 years—brings us to another revelation—namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich—only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken—there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries—these countries are not underdeveloped—they're overexploited!
Interested in Marxism-Leninism? Check out my "Read Theory, Darn it!" introductory reading list!
Dr. Michael Parenti 1986 Lecture "Yellow Parenti"
Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
But that expropriation of the Third World—has been going on for 400 years—brings us to another revelation—namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich—only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken—there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries—these countries are not underdeveloped—they're overexploited!
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I'm telling you that you're running into extreme absurdities. I have more personal freedom in a socialist society, where my needs are more assured, than I do in capitalist society, even if said capitalist society was more of a nightwatchman state. By making "authority" purely about how the state treats anyone, and removing all economics from the equation, you create absurd contradictions. That's why class analysis is important.
The political compass makes no sense. It's sole purpose is to affirm liberalism by pretending there's a spectrum of libertarian to authoritarian, when such terms are utterly meaningless when looked at without understanding class. What matters is who is the state serving, how, and why, not if the state is mean or if the state is nice.