the_abecedarian
@the_abecedarian@piefed.social
- Comment on What’s the difference between communism and socialism? 11 hours ago:
socialism: workers control the means of production (the factories, the farms, the freight trains, etc). there is no separate owner. this is usually considered a key step on the way to communism.
communism: a society without any classes (no capitalists, no working class, no one in poverty, everyone is on the same level of society); without money (everything ppl need is provided for free and fairly, there are no capitalist markets); and without a state (government is not a separate group of people who command others, the people make decisions on things that affect them).
Even those communists who believe the right strategy to reach a communist society requires them to take control of the state first believe that the ultimate goal is for the state to “wither away” as it becomes less necessary over time. other communists disagree that it is a possible to reach a communist society by taking control of the state, rather the people have to build their own non-state power that eventually defeats it.
- Comment on How come some Corporation or some Business don't sponsor a protest? Like McDonald's sponsoring that No Kings protest. Or a hotel giving free room and board to protestors and so on? 1 week ago:
because then they would be punished by the trump administration. he would have govt agencies cone up with reasons to investigate them, take away their tax breaks, etc.
the point of a company is to make money, that’s it.
- Comment on They cannot see the things that will hurt them 1 week ago:
it’s hard to keep your brand new society when the tanks show up immediately. this is not a weakness of anarchism or any political system.
you can look to rojava and the zapatistas for an example of defense that has worked for years despite long odds.
- Comment on They cannot see the things that will hurt them 1 week ago:
they did it for years in a significant territory. the state had no power there during that time. that was a success, even if it was rolled back by a nationalist military (supported by nazi Germany) and undermined by authoritarian communists.
also, again, there’s rojava & zapatista Mexico currently, plus other historical examples.
- Comment on They cannot see the things that will hurt them 1 week ago:
the point of anarchism is not to control the state, but rather to stop having one. for the territory that made up anarchist Spain, that was successfully achieved. it’s no weakness of anarchism itself to be defeated militarily; all kinds of societies have been defeated militarily.
- Comment on They cannot see the things that will hurt them 1 week ago:
anarchism rejects nations, so why should its success be judged based on national borders? a successful society is av successful society
- Comment on They cannot see the things that will hurt them 1 week ago:
read some of the links OP helpfully posted to clear up the misconceptions about anarchism you display in your comment
- Comment on The Hidden System Shaping Reality: Alexander Dugin, AI, and the Collapse of the Old World 2 weeks ago:
it simply describes their ideas, without criticism or even taking the time to explain “hey these are dark enlightenment thinkers whose ideas are driving the far right, so beware that esoteric fascism is what all this theory is leading to”.
for example, it simply names Julius Evola as an influence without noting that he was an esoteric fascist. only a few seconds of broader context is provided in the middle of the video. not only that, it takes dugin at his word about “rejecting” fascism.
i guess someone already pretty well versed in this stuff would be able to see what’s being described, but videos@lemmy.world is a place for general videos. Nearly no one in it will know a ton about the so-called ‘dark enlightenment’. it’s irresponsible to post this outside of a community that is already studying this stuff because it effectively platforms their ideas uncritically.
- Comment on The Hidden System Shaping Reality: Alexander Dugin, AI, and the Collapse of the Old World 2 weeks ago:
Dugin is a fascist whose ideas are given inflated importance by the right wing and the Russian regime. https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/just-call-it-fascism
- Comment on Is it the American way to complain about the US, or is it that other countries aren't worth complaining about? 2 weeks ago:
easier to complain about what you know. Americans do complain about other places when they’re not simply on vacation there
- Comment on Why do some racist, classist, homophobic ect people do "good" things sometimes? 3 weeks ago:
it’s a tv show, it was written to be that way because it’s part of a copaganda machine
- Comment on How would you actually tax the ultra wealthy? 3 weeks ago:
the only sure way is to abolish private property and give the businesses to the workers
- Comment on People who partaked in "ludes" or qualudes what were they like? In today standards? Is it really like The Wolf of Wall Street protrays them or what? I also heard sometimes prescribed? 3 weeks ago:
it’s a movie, it’s not real
- Comment on If Tyler Perry is a billionaire with his own successful movie studio then why are his films so bad? 5 weeks ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpgqWZyAJtM it’s long, but f.d. signifier is good at this kind of analysis. he discusses your question directly
- Comment on How does Chuck Schumer still have a job? 3 months ago:
because the capitalists like him there
- Comment on Anyone in the US also feeling extra suicidal after hearing the news today? 3 months ago:
https://988lifeline.org/ please reach out to people who can help if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts
- Comment on you're doing ReSeArCh rong!! 3 months ago:
so… you’re blaming children?
- Comment on Is it possible to be a leftist, but still really enjoy capitalism? 5 months ago:
To be any kind of leftist at all, you have to believe in equality in society, in providing for all, and opposing hierarchy. There are many interpretations of how to get to such a place, though socialism encompasses the biggest ones.
You can enjoy the things you have access to in the current system, but enjoying the system itself, which forces us to enrich billionaires, destroys the planet, pushes us into poverty, and wastes our time and potential working on what the market wants instead of what we want, is fundamentally anti-leftist.
- Comment on Why do so many hand dryers not dry hands? Am I doing something wrong? 5 months ago:
They just don’t work well. There’s no technique
- Comment on Why is blue and pink traditionally associated with men and women? 8 months ago:
It's basically because gender rules and sexism were being pushed onto children at an ever younger age.
- Comment on How does a guy become his most confident around women? 8 months ago:
If the confidence you want is for dating purposes, you need to get comfortable with:
- figuring out what situations you're comfortable in where single women are present: not one for clubs and bars? What about pickleball or ceramics or a book club? Try new things that have some chance of having people you want to date.
- figuring out what specifically makes you uncomfortable, then facing it. Is it fear of rejection? Fear of being vulnerable? Certain kinds of social situations? Understand that rejection is part of learning and vulnerability is required (in appropriate amounts based on context) to connect.
- don't hyperfixate on any one woman or one event. Spotted a baddie? Go for it if she seems open to interaction, but don't make getting her contact info into a make or break for your whole night.
- learn to spot cues and hints that someone is or isn't into having or continuing an interaction: is she trying to put effort into conversion with you or shutting it down (even politely)?
- Stay a million miles away from the toxic "manosphere" and their incel fuckery. There is nothing of value there. - Comment on Why is so hard for musicians to have a good living and be famous? 9 months ago:
Agreed, its just a bit of a different structure now
- Comment on [deleted] 9 months ago:
We deserve an internet that is not merely a surveillance farm for billionnaires and governments.
- Comment on Why is so hard for musicians to have a good living and be famous? 9 months ago:
It's not the musicians' fault. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/5006-new-hegemonies-streaming-platforms-and-music-production
Nothing under a capitalist economy is rewarded for merit, only profitability for the business owner or shareholders
- Comment on Which ia better etiquette? 9 months ago:
Do whatever your hosts do with theirs
- Comment on It really fucks with my recommendations, but fuck em™ 9 months ago:
Spotify wants this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sNsrwokPSY
- Comment on [deleted] 9 months ago:
Cool yeah I need to look into liquid democracy more.
I'm sorta ambiguous about the law -- it is always a blunt tool in that it can't possibly cover every situation (despite judicial contortions) and every person's particular circumstances. It ages badly and can be hard to keep it up with changing times.
At this point, though, I'm willing to accept laws written and passed by community assemblies, covering their community. It'd be a huge step forward anyway.
- Comment on [deleted] 9 months ago:
I don't exactly know what it'd mean to merge the judiciary and executive. If we're just tinkering with the system, the most democratic parts of the system are the US House of Representatives, UK House of Commons, and similar population-based representation, so I'd want to expand them at the others' expense.
I don't believe that will solve much, though. In a hierarchical society, those on top will use any existing govt structures to their benefit, having more control when there is less democracy. In general, I believe in spreading power so thinly that it effectively disappears. Instead, people affected by a decision should be the ones to make it, not merely to vote for those who promise to do right by them.
- Comment on [deleted] 9 months ago:
Disagree in general that it can empower the marginalized -- it is at most a reflection of the power that the marginalized can sometimes use, either because they did things like strike or organize in the past, or because they have access to powers won by less marginalized people.
- Comment on [deleted] 9 months ago:
The law is just an expression, more or less up-to-date, of the existing balance of power between those who have power and those who don't