Russia always was capitalist, that’s kind of the point of Animal Farm. If you look at the company towns of the Kentucky Coal Miners historically, it’s the same structure as the Soviet Union: the company (or the state) owns everything and enslaves the workers. One used debt, the other pretended to represent the proletariat, but the ruling class extracted labor from the workers and only supplied them the minimum necessary to survive. Lenin was a reactionary pretending to be a revolutionary.
Wouldn’t really call what Putin or Xi has going on communism though, would you? They both operate stock exchanges and broadly private enterprise that systematically subjugates their working class while they constantly feel the need to expand their territory and purview of economic sway abroad. To me that sounds a lot like what we do when we talk about our capitalism.
It’s what I expect from these kind of people. Everyone in leadership is there for power, and they are all surrounded by others who benefit from them being in power. Almost all of them are not good people with good hearts.
Humble people with good hearts don’t seek these positions in life. So the conclusion must be that humanity will always be under these kind of leaders.
Join us. We have knitting circles and cookies. It’s great. You get all the existential dread of knowing what the fuck is wrong with the world, with the added full knowledge that the things that could fix it will likely never happen because we missed our chance at a revolution before the people in power had nukes, and now even if you convince everyone that it would be better that way, those in power will straight up nuke their own people before allowing them to govern themselves, destroying whole swathes of the planet, along with unreplaceable history and culture.
Plus, there’s a nifty æsthetic, and a range of really good music from folk to metal.
You’ve very helpfully put your finger on exactly what holds me back. If I found myself believing in a lost cause, I couldn’t bear to go on. I am too close to despair as it is, so I will spare myself the small indulgence of certainty.
The trouble is knowing that it isn’t likely doesn’t stop it from also being true. I’m also of the opinion that just because full communism isn’t likely doesn’t mean we shouldn’t advocate for it, because any move toward liberty, freedom, equality, and the general principles of anarchism and socialism are good things. You don’t come to the table with your compromise, you come to the table with what you know you can’t get, and negotiate to something possible.
Do I believe communism is possible within my lifetime? No.
Do I believe it possible at all? Absolutely, not only in the sense that if we did it it would work, but that we can and likely will do it, eventually, if we survive long enough.
Do I believe it’s worth fighting for, even if I’ll never see it? Yes. Because the work itself is enough to improve lives, and the more people who throw their lot in with the far left the more likely we are to see real, substantive change for the better, even if it is incremental.
There’s a sign up link. Just wondered what signing up does. I’ve bookmarked your blog and shared it with someone who also read at least the first entry. You’re really good. I’d encourage you to consider self-publishing a book or ebook, at some juncture
Lemmygrad is tankies, which is exactly the point. You can’t tell the difference between anarchists and the people who murdered them. The political compass exists to create that confusion, equating “libertarianism” (by which, they mean right wing “libertarianism”) with the original definition of libertarian socialism.
Even the choice of “libertarianism” as a name was intentionally chosen to confuse things, to steal a word and destroy it’s meaning. IIRC, Murray Newton Rothbar literally said that he was intentionally stealing the word “libertarian” for the right. The whole thing is about propaganda and confusion, and the political compass is part of that.
It’s true, but with Russia or China in charge, it would be even worse.
I hate to be the one to break this to you but the Berlin Wall fell. Russia is capitalist.
Russia always was capitalist, that’s kind of the point of Animal Farm. If you look at the company towns of the Kentucky Coal Miners historically, it’s the same structure as the Soviet Union: the company (or the state) owns everything and enslaves the workers. One used debt, the other pretended to represent the proletariat, but the ruling class extracted labor from the workers and only supplied them the minimum necessary to survive. Lenin was a reactionary pretending to be a revolutionary.
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Wouldn’t really call what Putin or Xi has going on communism though, would you? They both operate stock exchanges and broadly private enterprise that systematically subjugates their working class while they constantly feel the need to expand their territory and purview of economic sway abroad. To me that sounds a lot like what we do when we talk about our capitalism.
its a dictatorship pretendintg to be an oligarchy pretending to be a democracy. i would call it ‘captured democracy’.
but its just a dictatorship with extra steps.
It’s what I expect from these kind of people. Everyone in leadership is there for power, and they are all surrounded by others who benefit from them being in power. Almost all of them are not good people with good hearts.
Humble people with good hearts don’t seek these positions in life. So the conclusion must be that humanity will always be under these kind of leaders.
Or we could not have leaders. You know, if leaders are all bad people, let’s get rid of them
Every day I stray closer to being an anarcho-communist
Join us. We have knitting circles and cookies. It’s great. You get all the existential dread of knowing what the fuck is wrong with the world, with the added full knowledge that the things that could fix it will likely never happen because we missed our chance at a revolution before the people in power had nukes, and now even if you convince everyone that it would be better that way, those in power will straight up nuke their own people before allowing them to govern themselves, destroying whole swathes of the planet, along with unreplaceable history and culture.
Plus, there’s a nifty æsthetic, and a range of really good music from folk to metal.
You’ve very helpfully put your finger on exactly what holds me back. If I found myself believing in a lost cause, I couldn’t bear to go on. I am too close to despair as it is, so I will spare myself the small indulgence of certainty.
The trouble is knowing that it isn’t likely doesn’t stop it from also being true. I’m also of the opinion that just because full communism isn’t likely doesn’t mean we shouldn’t advocate for it, because any move toward liberty, freedom, equality, and the general principles of anarchism and socialism are good things. You don’t come to the table with your compromise, you come to the table with what you know you can’t get, and negotiate to something possible.
Do I believe communism is possible within my lifetime? No. Do I believe it possible at all? Absolutely, not only in the sense that if we did it it would work, but that we can and likely will do it, eventually, if we survive long enough. Do I believe it’s worth fighting for, even if I’ll never see it? Yes. Because the work itself is enough to improve lives, and the more people who throw their lot in with the far left the more likely we are to see real, substantive change for the better, even if it is incremental.
Also, sorry for the 4am wall of text. Haha
Hi, just checked your profile and first blog entry. How enchanting! ;-) what does joining do? Allow us a blog space?
Aww. You may be the first person to actually read my blog. Lol. What is your question about joining?
There’s a sign up link. Just wondered what signing up does. I’ve bookmarked your blog and shared it with someone who also read at least the first entry. You’re really good. I’d encourage you to consider self-publishing a book or ebook, at some juncture
Xi yes, Putin no. Both are Authoritarian on the Y axis, but Xi does actually dictate a Communist country on the X axis.
Xi kinda killed the illusionary pooch (diplomatic and economic) by shutting down Hong Kong.
Do you guys even understand XY axis over on solarpunk or do you just think that refers to sex?
I kinda wonder.
The political compass is literally a propaganda tool created by right wing “libertarians.” It’s complete bullshit.
Well that answers that at least. Found the new lemmygrad.
Lemmygrad is tankies, which is exactly the point. You can’t tell the difference between anarchists and the people who murdered them. The political compass exists to create that confusion, equating “libertarianism” (by which, they mean right wing “libertarianism”) with the original definition of libertarian socialism.
Even the choice of “libertarianism” as a name was intentionally chosen to confuse things, to steal a word and destroy it’s meaning. IIRC, Murray Newton Rothbar literally said that he was intentionally stealing the word “libertarian” for the right. The whole thing is about propaganda and confusion, and the political compass is part of that.