/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

A little known topic about how the basis of Vietnamesse coffee production came from their socialist era. Trade agreements that benefit the client state are rare and shows how communism can work

Militaries emerged primarily as institutions for securing wealth rather than territory. Early organized violence could have been driven by the need to protect trade routes, seize productive farmland, monopolize valuable resources, and enforce tribute, with political borders forming later as a byproduct of sustained economic extraction rather than the original objective. Militaries developed as mechanisms for managing large populations of ambitious young men whose competitiveness threatened internal stability. By channeling status-seeking, aggression, and risk-taking into campaigns against external rivals, societies reduced domestic conflict while rewarding martial success with prestige, wealth, and opportunities that might otherwise have fueled feuds or political unrest. Militaries originated less to defend against outsiders than to consolidate power within early states. A ruler with a permanent armed force no longer depended entirely on temporary loyalties from local clans or nobles, making it easier to suppress rebellions, enforce taxation, and transform personal authority into centralized government. External warfare then became as much a justification for maintaining the army as its original purpose. Militaries may have arisen as ritual institutions before they became effective fighting forces. Public displays of discipline, uniforms, ceremonies, and collective sacrifice could have served to bind otherwise unrelated communities into a shared identity, with the practical business of warfare growing out of cultural traditions that already celebrated organized violence as a marker of civilization and belonging.

How would you do it?
How would you effectuate changes for the better?
Should the EU federalize?
Should the RU create a greater Altai autonomous republic?
If the EU were to federalize, exactly what would 'counter' it?

Under capitalism, cops, scabs, criminals are all byproducts of underemployment, which is a byproduct of the reserve army of labor. Capitalists know that a 100% employed society is easily unionized and difficult to scab against, so they need a reserve army of labor of desperate unemployed people who can be brought in as scabs. They also need a churning labor market with high turnover rates. the more people ragequit their jobs and spend a few months looking for new ones, the less likely people are to deal with their problems by unionizing, since that requires a long term commitment and they'll have become used to just ragequitting jobs they don't like. Another thing is when there's unemployment people turn to crime if they can't get the money they need to pay rent and buy food. Capitalist society deals with the problem of crime not by getting rid of the conditions which lead to crime in the first place, since that would interfere with capitalism. Instead Capitalist society throws more pigs and prisons at the problem. This is why more unemployment = more scabs and more criminals = more pigs and prisons = less unions. Interestingly criminals and cops are treated as being "against" one another but this is kayfabe. Cops use criminals as informants, witnesses, and assistants in corruption. Criminals can also be brought in by cops to help scab and break strikes. Also when there is high unemployment, a dumb guy who doesn't want to become a criminal or a scab will just become a cop instead. In a really shitty society like USA one of the only only work forces left with strong unions are cops, because they are universally armed, nearly impossible to strike break, and are themselves strike breakers, so the bourgeoisie tolerates them being unionized and highly paid, since they perform a useful function. Since the prison system also supplies scabs through convict leasing, cops turn criminals into scabs by throwing them in prison. The only conclusion one can come to is that under capitalism, cops, criminals, and scabs have a mutually symbiotic relationship and their populations grow in proportion to one another, the root cause being the chronic unemployment required by the bourgeoisie as a systemic feature.

Peruvian cardinal hails $150m lead poisoning settlement for 1,300 people as a ‘historic milestone’
A Peruvian cardinal who received a barrage of death threats when he challenged the firm behind a toxic smelter has called a $150m (£111m) out-of-court settlement to more than 1,000 people who were allegedly poisoned by the plant as children “a historic milestone”. Cardinal Pedro Barreto, 82, was in Rome meeting Pope Leo XIV and other cardinals in June when he received news that the firm that ran the smelter, the Doe Run Company, a subsidiary of Renco Group, would pay $150m to 1,373 Peruvians who have suffered health impacts since childhood.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/aug/05/peruvian-cardinal-historic-milestone-150m-lead-poisoning-settlement-1300-children

Colombia’s left presents evidence suggesting De la Espriella won through fraud
Legal expert William Villanueva said that original tally sheets were scanned and subsequently reprocessed, removing the metadata that would allow them to determine whether the E14’s were uploaded or introduced digitally. “We found documents marked ‘confidential’… and others that said ‘not digitized’ on a blank page, which—and this is important—were later republished with different information,” said one of the computer scientists.
https://colombiareports.com/colombias-left-presents-evidence-suggesting-de-la-espriella-won-through-fraud/

Chile Congress approves sweeping Kast reform to spur growth, rollout to face delays
The reform — which amends 36 laws and 15 decrees — includes a gradual cut in the corporate tax ​rate to 23% by 2029 from 27% currently. Critics say there is no guarantee the measure will deliver the investment boost ‌the ⁠government expects. The package also spans a wide range of other issues, from support for areas hit by wildfires to the relocation of aquaculture concessions.
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A thread for the forgotten continent, so forgotten the thread got wiped.
Discuss anything related to:
>Algeria
>Angola
>Benin
>Botswana
>Burkina Faso
>Burundi
>Cabo Verde
>Cameroon
>Central African Republic (CAR)
>Chad
>Comoros
>Congo, Democratic Republic of the
>Congo, Republic of the
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Today most legal systems nominally reject collective punishment, emphasizing individual responsibility. It is also prohibited in armed conflict under international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. This was not always the case. The Athenian Draco is remembered for harsh laws, from which we get the word "Draconian" but one of his major reforms was to replace private blood feuds with state-administered justice. Before his code, killings were often avenged by the victim's family, leading to cycles of retaliation.

The shift from collective punishment and presumptions of guilt toward individual responsibility and the presumption of innocence was gradual rather than revolutionary. In many ancient and medieval societies, families, clans, villages, or entire communities could be held liable for the actions of one member, and accused individuals often had to prove their innocence through oaths, ordeals, or social standing. These proofs were often ritual in nature and lacked scientific rigor. Over centuries, especially under the influence of Roman legal principles, canon law, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and liberal constitutionalism, legal systems increasingly emphasized that guilt should be based on evidence against a specific individual rather than group affiliation. Thinkers such as Beccaria and Blackstone argued that protecting the innocent from wrongful punishment was more important than maximizing convictions, leading to higher standards of proof, formal rules of evidence, due process, and the modern principle that the prosecution bears the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Despite these legal prohibitions, governments and armed groups have at times been accused of imposing measures that amount to collective punishment, especially during wars, occupations, and counterinsurgency campaigns. Whether a specific case qualifies is often legally and politically disputed.

The transformation from collective punishment and presumptions of guilt to individual liability and the presumption of innocence was driven largely by changes in state capacity and legal administration. As governments became stronger, more centralized, and more bureaucratic, they relied less on kinship groups to police their own members and more on professional courts, investigators, and judges. Improved record-keeping, forensic methods, written legal codes, and standardized procedures made it increasingly feasible (but not necessarilPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>free universal healthcare
>free college
>very high HDI
>GDP increased by SEVEN times since 1990
>trade surplus without engaging in mercantilism
>low crime, high social cohesion
>only economy in EU to not suffer from 2008 financial crisis
>didn't pretend to be socialist while achieving all this

Poland is underrated.

This thread is for the discussion of cybercommunism, the planning of the socialist economy by computerized means, including discussions of related topics and creators. Drama belongs in /isg/

Reading
Towards a New Socialism by Paul Cockshott and Allin Cottrell: http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/
Brain of the Firm by Stafford Beer
Cybernetic Revolutionaries by Eden Medina
Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine and The Human Use of Human Beings (1st edition) by Norbert Wiener
Economic cybernetics by Nikolay Veduta
People's Republic of Walmart by Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski
Red Plenty by Francis Spufford
Economics in kind, Total socialisation and A system of socialisation by Otto Neurath (Incommensurability, Ecology, and Planning: Neurath in the Socialist Calculation Debate by Thomas Uebel provides a summary)

Active writers/creators sorted by last name

>Paul Cockshott
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