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Catalog (/Leftist Politically Incorrect/)

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R: 9 / I: 1 (sticky)

Roulette's new theme for Feburary

Roulette is /babel/ now. The theme is No English allowed. Use it to talk about language, dialects and creoles.

/spoox/ threads were archived, but you can always start your own thread about paranormal stuff in Siberia or hobby.

>>>/roulette/2236
R: 844 / I: 270 (sticky) (full)

Reading General

Hello leftypol, we noticed an under-appreciation for the theory that upholds our political ideologies: As such, we have decided to revive the reading sticky! This thread will be dedicated to the sharing, discussing, and general banter about various leftist thinkers, theories, and political outlooks.

But, other than that, we believe there are other important reads that must be addressed, especially, for beginners and those just now getting into leftism.

Don't forget to check out >>>/edu/ for more reading and discussion!

———————
Common Right Wing Talking Points Debunks
——————–

Check out the /edu/ thread at
https://leftypol.org/edu/res/5576.html

Also see the relevant leftybooru tag
https://lefty.booru.org/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=debunk
Add topics into the tag list to further narrow down your search!


———————
Introduction to Marxism Reading List - Thanks to the /read/ matrix room (https://app.element.io/#/group/+leftyread:matrix.org)
——————–

Absolute Beginners Tier:

'Principles of Communism' by Friedrich Engels
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

'Three Source and Three Component Parts of Marxism' by V.I. Lenin
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1913/mar/x01.htm

Not a book but Halim Alrah's youtube channel is good for the absolutely basics of Marxism but obviously not a replacement for reading
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGog4JPn5-W3_XIKccENysg

——————–
Marx and Engels Reading List
——————–

Tier 1:

'Manifesto of the Communist Party'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm

'Critique of the Gotha Programme'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/

'Socialism: Utopian and Scientific'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm

Tier 2:

'Wage Labour and Capital'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/

'Value, Price and Profit'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1865/value-price-profit/

'Theses on Feuerback'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/theses/theses.htm

By this point you should have a good understanding of the basics of Marxism and are ready to branch out to other theorists and also read Capital.

Tier 3:

'Capital vol.1'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/

——————–
Lenin Reading List - By Moo (aka Zizekposter)
——————–

Lenin Essentials:

'State and Revolution'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/

'“Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/

'Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/

Petit Bourgeois Philistine Tier:

'What is to be done'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/

'The Proletarian Revolution and Renegade Kautsky'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/prrk/

'Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1905/tactics/index.htm

ADHD Tier:

'Socialism and Religion'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1905/dec/03.htm

'Zizek's Introduction to Revolution at the Gates'
https://kabirabud.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/slavoj_zizek_repeating_leninbookfi-org.pdf

'Revolutionary Adventurism'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1902/sep/01.htm

——————–
MLM Reading List
——————–

Essentials:

Why MLM?
https://why-mlm.medium.com/why-mlm-af48aba14f8a

Marxism-Leninism-Maoism Basic Course
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/S01-MLM-Basic-Course-Revised-Edition-10th-Printing.pdf

'Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain'
https://libgen.lc/get.php?md5=a00646f118a3427ec19263021b3e84e1&key=06Q5Q1W5DFK8YOHU&mirr=1

Mao:

'On Practice & Contradiction'
https://marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htm
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/N04-On-Contradiction-Study-2nd.pdf

'On Guerrilla Warfare'
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/1937/guerrilla-warfare/index.htm

'On Protracted War'
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_09.htm

China:

'Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village'
http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=00F5750256E291B678E2A0039D3CF54E

'Red Star Over China' - Edgar Snow
http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=BD54E7C5F9CDE90E30BD0CB5E91F0049

'The Unknown Cultural Revolution' - Dongpin Han
http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=2495C43CFA7395ACA45CA812A304A701

Peru:

Interview With Chairman Gonzalo
https://the-red-flag.org/en/central-committee-of-the-communist-party-of-peru-interview-with-chairman-gonzalo/

General line of the PCP
https://gplpcp.wordpress.com/

'Shining Path: Terror and Revolution in Peru' - Simon Strong
http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=4FB5D349F9D3250453C5F0525F5890DD

India:

Operation “Green Hunt” in India
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/N08-Operation-Green-Hunt.pdf

Eight Historic Documents (AZAD)
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/S18-Historic-Eight-Documents.pdf

'Urban Perspective'
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/S14-Urban-Perspective-4th-Printing.pdf

Philippines:

Araling Aktibista - Activist Study ARAK
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/S22-Activist-Study-ARAK-2nd-Printing.pdf

'Stand for Socialism Against Modern Revisionism'
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/S07-Stand-for-Socialism-3rd-Printing.pdf

'Philippine Society and Revolution'
https://bannedthought.net/Philippines/CPP/1970s PhilippineSocietyAndRevolution-4ed.pdf

Political Economy:

'Rethinking Socialism' – Deng-yuan Hsu & Pao-yu Ching
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/S11-Rethinking-Socialism-4th-Printing.pdf

'China: A Modern Social-Imperialist Power' - CPI(Maoist)
http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=F68AC84D480D41A222818D802F3AF7CA
or
https://library.bz/uploads/main/c0105702c9219cf136bdae79008daaa4.epub
or
https://why-mlm.medium.com/china-a-modern-social-imperialist-power-d5ac7a9455f7

'Maoist Economics & the Revolutionary Road to Communism' - The Shanghai Textbook
http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=8B44F61D828997487E2FDE607FCF2FEB

——————–
Leftcom Reading Lists
——————–

r/marxism101's reading list:
https://i.imgur.com/s70UUPQ.jpg

r/bruhinternational's reading list:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bruhinternational/comments/m53hon/official_rbruhinternational_reading_list/

Bordiga:

'The Democratic Principle'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1922/democratic-principle.htm

'Proletarian Dictatorship and Class Party'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1951/class-party.htm

'The Spirit of Horsepower'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1953/horsepower.htm

'Report on Fascism'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1922/bordiga02.htm

'Activism'
https://libcom.org/library/activism-amadeo-bordiga

'The Lyons Theses'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1926/lyons-theses.htm

'Theory and Action in Marxist Doctrine'
https://libcom.org/library/theory-action-marxist-doctrine-amadeo-bordiga

'Dialogue with Stalin'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1952/stalin.htm

Pannekoek:

'World Revolution and Communist Tactics'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/1920/communist-tactics.htm

'Party and Class'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/1936/party-class.htm

Herman Gorter:

'Open Letter to Comrade Lenin'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/gorter/1920/open-letter.htm

'The World Revolution'
https://www.marxists.org/archive/gorter/1918/world-revolution.htm

——————–
Bookchin Reading Lists - based off of posts by Gorm1918 (pbuh)
——————–

'The Next Revolution'
https://libcom.org/files/Murray%20Bookchin-The%20Next%20Revolution.%20Popular%20Assemblies%20and%20the%20Promise%20of%20Direct%20Democracy-Verso%20(2015).pdf

'Urbanization Without Cities'
http://188.165.199.119/files/Urbanization_Without_Cities_-_Ebook.pdf

'The 3rd Revolution'
https://libcom.org/library/third-revolution-popular-movements-revolutionary-era

'The Ecology of Freedom'
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/murray-bookchin-the-ecology-of-freedom

——————–
Links to Resources and Libraries:
——————–

More Marx and Engels:
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/sw/index.htm

Lenin:
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/

Other Selected Marxists:
https://www.marxists.org/archive/selected-marxists.htm

Classical Works Recommended To High-Ranking Cadres:
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-8/mswv8_56.htm

Many important books can be found on libgen:
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/

Libcom has some good books/documents:
https://libcom.org/library

Other links:
https://archive.is/L8uFD

Various assortment of historical and biographical works:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=uploader%3A%22kocotosi%40gmail.com%22&sort=-publicdate

The Leftist Bookshelf (4.16 GB, 600+ files)
https://mega.nz/#F!QUFQSBja!hPbmmLolJBGwSQ848nncnw
This was originally a torrent but I can't find the link anymore. Its description was: "640 eBooks, mostly in PDF format (a bunch are CHM, DJVU or ePUB), from a revolutionary Leftist viewpoint. The main subjects are politics and philosophy, history, economics, and much much more."

Political Theory (MLM) (2.64 GB, 550+ files)
https://mega.nz/#F!4M1FnTgI!CdM8WWjpBC_UHGCJk9AHzA
I found this on reddit years ago (circa 2016) Don't really remember who made it or where it came from, but this is a reading course (politics, philosophy, economics, etc) focused on Maoism. Has many books and articles on the USSR, PRC, Stalin, Mao, etc.

The Anarchist Library (669 MB, 4000+ files)
https://mega.nz/#F!gRFkQCLY!5gUkmaubpp_P_yKLZiBJ9Q
This is a complete mirror of the anarchist library with pdfs and epubs

Little Bunker of Marxism-Leninism (680 MB, 100+ files)
https://mega.nz/#F!0QtCiI7L!MJZJk-SdjyBuBZOuNJuOPQ
Unfinished project focused on M-L with more than 100 books on several topics like history, economics, politics, etc. Lots of stuff on the USSR.

Historical Materialism series (330 MB, 100+ files)
https://mega.nz/#F!9IkymYBZ!B8vB2yDP0Qv_-DPS2ro-HA
A pdf archive of over 100 books from the Historical Materialism book series. I got this from thecharnelhouse.org years ago and the website had released many marxist books from other publishers but unfortunately it's been taken down.

/leftypol/ with a slash of liberty (239 MB, 100+ files)
https://mega.nz/#F!sFMQXJ6J!JboByVCZScC6Jq2YXE0Exw
I didn't make this, just reuploading it. This is a classic /leftypol/ link, marxist stuff mixed with anarchism.

Marx & Engels Collected Works (900+ MB, 50 files)
https://mega.nz/#F!BJEmkQiZ!vylIbCWFrqIeYaLiuN2szg
The official, complete works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels organized in 50 volumes and 3 categories.
R: 172 / I: 12 (sticky)

Welcome Thread and Feedback (New Constitution Edition)

This thread is for feedback related to administration and management. For technical issues use >>>/tech/6724
Dispute bans using the ban appeal form or >>>/meta/
Search the catalog before starting a new thread to avoid duplicates: https://www.leftypol.org/leftypol/catalog.html
An FAQ including formatting and style guide and simplified rules can be found here: https://leftypol.org/faq.html & https://leftypol.org/rules.html

Old welcome topic saved at: >>>/leftypol_archive/498099

Read This Before Posting:
If this is your first visit, lurk for a while before posting. /leftypol/ is an imageboard for non-sectarian leftist political discussion. The staff aims to allow everything within these bounds. To that end there are some critical rules (for /leftypol/):
* No Spam
* No New Threads for Topics with an existing General thread (e.g. USA politics, COVID-19, online personalities, etc.)
* No Reactionary or Identity Politics
* No Explicit Images including Porn without spoiler warning
Low quality threads are subject to be anchored or locked at volunteers discretion.
More detailed rules, and rules governing staff can be found in the /leftypol/ Constituion PDF (attached)
You may dispute actions taken by the staff or offer suggestions in this thread. Alternatively use >>>/meta/

Useful Links:
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https://leftypol.org/search.php

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https://twitter.com/leftypol_org

Android app for leftypol.org
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https://tv.leftypol.org

Onion Link - Connect anonymously via Onion!
76i2c3hn55fcj5nut3tqlboqqbbh23zvphv7lefk3vftpx6wketlanyd.onion

Board Logs - Global and /leftypol/ logs
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Matrix Congress - Public Moderation Room
NOTE: Due to recent cyber-attacks, please ask for an invitation to the congress in the public waiting room: https://matrix.to/#/#leftypol-antechamber:matrix.org
https://matrix.to/#/!nTwQxlnWchxZsgDAgE:matrix.org?via=matrix.org

Matrix General Chat - Leftypol General Chat
https://matrix.to/#/#leftypol-antechamber:matrix.org
If you don't want to use matrix you can interact with the chat through #[email protected] too.

Leftybooru - To upload, tag, and organize images
https://lefty.booru.org/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=all

Leftypedia - A wiki project
https://wiki.leftypol.org

Unofficial Leftypol video channel - also posts audio and PDFs
https://archive.org/details/@the_leftypol_video_archive

New Multitude - Notes, theory and shitposts from the worldwide left via leftypol and elsewhere
Website: https://newmultitude.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/newmultitude
R: 75 / I: 6
>communists industrialized!
In just 10 years (1930-1940), the Americans created in the USSR chemical, aviation, electrical, oil, mining, coal, metallurgical and other industries, the largest plants in Europe to produce cars, tractors, aircraft engines and other products
The famous Stalingrad Tractor Plant was entirely built in the United States, dismantled, transported by 100 ships - and assembled in the USSR. "The Dnieper was built by the American Cooper Engineering Company (and the German Siemens). The first tanks were built at this plant.
The Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) was built by the American company Austin.
The current AZLK is based on a Ford design. The famous Magnitka is an exact replica of the steel plant in Gary, Indiana.
Albert Kahn Inc has designed and built 500 Soviet factories!
Albert Kahn is the industrial architect of Detroit. The reason for turning to Kahn in particular was that, having designed all of Ford's factories, he had perfected a highly productive technology for designing industrial plants. In the USA, his firm, consisting of 400 employees, could prepare working drawings in a week and construct factory buildings in 5 months. Kahn was able to demonstrate that he could do the same in the USSR: the STZ project was completed in record time; the building structures were made in the USA, transported to the USSR and erected within 6 months.
It was Albert Kahn Inc that created a school of advanced industrial architecture in the USSR.
Along with factories, cities were created for workers. Ernst May, a German architect was involved in developing the architectural projects of about 20 Soviet cities! In 10 years, the Americans have built in the Soviet Union about 1.500 plants and factories!
About 200 thousand American engineers and technicians came to the USSR and supervised an army of almost a million Gulag prisoners - plus the few remaining pre-revolutionary cadres in the Russian Federation.
American professors trained three hundred thousand qualified specialists in the Rabfaks - that is, all the personnel for Soviet industry for many years to come!

Thus, the material base of socialism was built by US capitalists plus cheap convict labour.

Lets also not forget the Soviets had all but one of their trains snagged by the Germans at the start of Germany's invasion of Russia and thus they had to beg the US for trains.
R: 500 / I: 150

/USApol/

🗽United States Politics🦅

Absolute State of America Edition

Thread for the hellish discussion related to the greatest, best country God has ever given man on the face of the Earth.

🏈💵💸🍔

State mandated propaganda livestreams:
CNN: https://www.livenewsnow.com/american/cnn-news-usa.html
MSNBC: https://www.livenewsnow.com/american/msnbc.html
FOX: https://www.livenewsnow.com/american/fox-news-channel.html
Bloomberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp8PhLsUcFEegalitarianism
R: 500 / I: 121

/ukraine/ thread #115 - Eternal Edition

Evidence of the influence and origin of neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323637
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323658
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323663
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323688
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323729
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323733
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323731
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323735
https://archive.ph/x1sRT#1323740

—————————————————–

Developments of multipolarity timeline https://www.pacemaker.global/multipolar-transition-timeline

Live maps and updates
>Nb: LiveUaMap is not to be trusted
SouthFront: https://southfront.org/category/all-articles/world/europe/ukraine/
Defense Politics Asia: https://www.youtube.com/@DefensePoliticsAsia
Andrei Martyanov: https://www.youtube.com/user/smoothieX12

Watch together
📺 News/events: https://tv.leftypol.org/r/HappeningsviaKlash
📺 Hangout/chill: https://tv.leftypol.org/r/bloodcast

Social media
>Twitter
https://nitter.net/rwapodcast
https://nitter.net/GeromanAT (DDR Anon's fav news copypaste source)
https://nitter.net/wargonzoo
https://nitter.net/plnewstoday
https://nitter.net/RALee85
https://nitter.net/MarQs__
https://nitter.net/KofmanMichael
https://nitter.net/IntelCrab
https://nitter.net/NotWoofers
https://nitter.net/michaelh992
<adding Slavyangrad, why not
< I mean why? Dude is literally schizophrenic. I dont hate him, indeed I feel fopr him cause his daughter didnt deserve to be killed for damn sure & Dugin has his based USSR boomer moments but…
>Telegram
https://t.me/milinfolive
https://t.me/hueviykharkov
https://t.me/conflictzone
https://t.me/vorposte
https://t.me/intelslava
https://t.me/grey_zone
https://t.me/AussieCossack
https://t.me/asbmil
https://t.me/Slavyangrad
R: 8 / I: 2

I got fired by my boss and filmed it was it because of politics?

I am a supporter of China and Dengism do you think my political beliefs got me fired or did the company have a good reason?
Is there anything I should be doing?
R: 500 / I: 102

/prc/ - People's Republic of China general

A general thread for all China related discussion.

Original threads:
https://archive.ph/S2XYA
https://archive.ph/Ytckv
leftypol.org archives:
https://archive.is/https://leftypol.org/leftypol/res/30501.html
bunekrchan.xyz archives:
https://archive.is/https://bunkerchan.xyz/leftypol/res/8925.html
https://archive.is/yrBUN
R: 15 / I: 2

Black Van Driving Outside House Every night Be Worried or Schizo?

For the past few months every night there has been a big black Fed looking Van driving around my house/street multiple times and doing so very fucking loudly at first I thought it was a motor cycle. It unironically looks exactly like the van in picture attached.

I could be on authorities radar due to arrests in the past on top of my communism etc

Assuming it is feds what would they even be trying to do?
Just make me paranoid until I am not a communist?

I really am fucking curios to what is going on even if you have a non communist/fed explanation.
R: 374 / I: 39

US-China war

Is it inevitable? A lot of "experts" are predicting that it will happen before 2030. Probably over Taiwan. China just has to build its military to be able to take a tiny island off it's coast, while the US would have to project power thousands of miles from it's shores, without the use of aircraft carriers which would get easily destroyed by midrange ground to ship missiles.

China's population will also peak around this time, meaning it will be at the height of its economic power. So IMO China would have to make a move on Taiwan before 2030 at the latest or they won't at all.

China can probably already defeat Taiwan and the US, just using current military strength, its likely they can actually win already. The only question is would they be willing to disrupt the world economy by doing so. China wants increasing prosperity, but they also want Taiwan back.
R: 134 / I: 24

/Happening/ Turkey-quake

>A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, toppling buildings and killing at least 568 people. With hundreds injured, the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched the rubble in cities and towns across the area.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/europe/earthquake-hits-turkey-intl-hnk/index.html

https://apnews.com/article/earthquake-shakes-turkey-b927808f6a5c54bdb669120faa40b7bc
R: 1 / I: 0

State and Local Tax Policy in the United States

The United States, due to everyone running it being a fucking idiot, has an extremely decentralized tax policy. States have pretty substantial latitude to set their own income, corporate income, capital gains, inheritance, ect. taxes, and all property and sales taxes are determined on a state (or lower) level. Depending on the state, counties can also have a fairly independent tax policy. I think that there are a lot of possible changes to taxation that could be done on these levels besides increasing income/capital gains/ect tax that would be useful both in gaining support and in improving the lives of the people if we succeed in gaining power, even just on the state, county, or city level that I'm going to list out here.

1. Complete abolition of sales taxes, except possibly on socially harmful goods such as alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, soft drinks, ect. Since sales tax is flat regardless of the income of the purchaser, and poor people tend to spend a greater percent of their income on goods compared to the rich, it ends up taxing the poor much more than the rich. The loss in tax revenues would be compensated for by increasing income, capital gains, ect. taxes that are more favorable to the poor, as well as (in some states) increasing the taxes on oil/natural gas/coal extraction. In addition to these benefits, completely abolishing the sales tax would likely be pretty popular with almost everyone, and if the first thing on a communist candidate's list of proposals is abolishing a tax, it would likely surprise people who have been indoctrinated into the "communism means everyone shares one toothbrush" meme.

2. Modifications to property taxes. This would consist of raising the property tax on buildings being rented or used for commercial uses, in combination with rent control so that landlords don't just jack up prices. Also, if it doesn't make it impossible to fund social programs, it might be possible to lower or even completely abolish property taxes on owner-occupied houses below a certain value. The latter would make homeownership somewhat easier to obtain, and prevent people from losing their house in the event of i.e. rising property values massively increasing the taxes they own, and might be useful in winning support in rural areas where there are fewer renters and more homeowners.
R: 517 / I: 107

Socialism! Not Multipolarism.

Multipolarity is not something one should be for or against, because it really isn't something you can attach yourself to like some camp or some ideology.

Multipolarity, as an existent term, is just a signifier of the current global economic conditions of the world in regards to the current dominant powers that own and transfer capital whether within their borders or without. What it means as a definition is just that instead of a singular global hegemon influencing global affairs or a dual power struggle between two superpowers, it is a condition in which the world is divided amongst multiple powers influencing global affairs/capital/the market.

To be for or against it is the equivalent of going out in the street and declaring yourself as being pro-summer or anti-winterists. Its silly. Its just like the changing of seasons and people have to adapt to it. When its freezing outside, you change into something warmer. But even the hardiest winter clothing is not going to keep one warm against the coldest winter, and we are heading into a long hellish winter. A capitalist winter twilight.

One thing many who espouse the concept of multipolarism (attaching oneself to multipolarity as if it is an ideology) tend to forget (or just outright refuse to acknowledge) that this new multipolar world we are heading towards is a capitalist-centric multipolarity. History has shown that last time this world had gone through a capitalist-led multipolar age, it had unleashed two world wars and countless dead. This not to say that having a unipolar or bipolar world is any better. During the Cold War the champion of capitalist hegemony, the United States, through proxy wars as well as actual wars, coups, and assassinations/subterfuge helped/directly committed atrocities and war-crimes that make WWII pale in comparison. During the unipolar reign of neoliberalism after the USSR fell, the atrocities did not stop, it only continued. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the list goes on and continues to this day. All to reinforce capitalism and sustain imperialist expanse.

This is why one cannot attach themselves to a concept of multipolarity, or unipolarity, or bipolarity. The problem is not how many powers there are in the world. The problem is the global economic system that those powers exist under. Capitalism. Capitalism breeds competition. Nations or precisely the national bourgeoise of that nation compete for capital. They do not grow together in peace under capitalism as many proponents of multipolarism tend to espouse as a benefit of multipolarity. They head towards conflict, because capitalism breeds conflict. There is no multipolar peace under capitalism, only the prelude to war and destruction as nations compete for power.

Multipolarism does not care for the working class of those nations. It is just a changing of task masters. Nothing more, nothing less. Any boon for the workers borne from breaking away from the global hegemon is the equivalent of a heavy boot slightly being let off their collective necks. The fact is that they are still under the boot of their national oppressors. It is up to them and we as socialists to use that slight aside to break free from under the weight of that boot.

Many Multipolarists love to reference the how many of these budding capitalist nations have seemingly good standings with the few socialist nations of this world most predominantly Cuba and the DPRK as if that is a justification that multipolarity is a net positive. They tend to forget completely the this does not wash away the fact these countries are still capitalist and oppress their own working class. If anything this does not justify multipolarity at all, it only reinforces that we still currently exist under a unipolar hegemony front-manned by the United States. This is because most of these countries are aligned due to the economic pressure (sanctions and blockades) put forth by the United States as well as the EU NATO-bloc (which is by in large an extension of American power). When that pressure eventually fades only time will tell if that alignment of those interests between worker-led nations and the nations run by power-hungry capitalists continue or (as history has shown us many times) inevitably clash.

And what of the old lion in the room? The United States. It is a waning power there is no doubt of it. Mulitpolarists love to frame their idealist multipolar world as one in which the United States is practically a nonentity. That there will be new orders that rise in its stead. That same United States that has military bases all across the globe will somehow just cease to be a relevant thing. Or if anything it will turn a new leaf and just accept the changing of seasons. Iridescent foolishness. Capitalism breeds conflict and the United States has sustained itself off conflict, colonialism, and imperialism from its inception. The capitalists who run that country will be anything but docile when their grip on global power is threatened.
We see it today with the arming of Ukraine and the powder keg that is Taiwan. Global war is brewing, a prelude to the birth of a new multipolar world. If we even survive to see it.

And all for what I ask you? Another capitalist-led world built on the ruins of the last? This is not even capitalist realism at this point. It is just capitalist reincarnation. A continual recycling of the capitalist system reinventing itself at the expense of everything; our entire existence put to flame just to try and keep the old ways alive. That is the multipolar world we are heading towards. But it doesn't have to be that way.

The global workers movement has been gutted and kept down for decades especially in the west. This has led many to adopt a form a campism to cope with lack of a united global movement. Anti-americanism, eastern/western dichotomy, and multipolarism are offshoots of this void. It allows one to feel that are apart of something bigger than themselves that, in their minds, can lead to something different. A capitalist multipolar world will not change or fix the problems that affect this world (which are born from capitalism) only the amount of hands that hold power in it (hands which are almost all attached to the arms of each respective nation's capitalist class).

This does not mean there is no global proletariat or that workers movements have gone extinct. Capitalism proletarianizes the populace. Workers currently toil in hellish conditions all around the globe and they are aware of their position. They know they are mistreated. They are striking and protesting for better conditions all around the global south. Workers are fighting against their oppressors. There is class consciousness among the working class. We must push towards socialism. Not some distant idealist dream of a multipolar world which only continues the corrupt system of the past. We should not want a multipolar world in the yolk of capitalism. We must demand and bring forth a socialist world run by the workers not the national capitalist class of warring nations.

Global polarity feels like the changing of seasons and it seems we are heading towards a deadly winter. The best winter clothing may not protect one, but if we all get together for warmth, we'll persevere. And, if there is enough organization, maybe, just maybe, we'll realize that we are actually not in some freezing wasteland and at the mercy of the elements. We are actually Inside a constructed economic bubble (or cave if you prefer Plato) and the capitalists set the AC on way too fucking high and its about time we set the temperature ourselves or better yet just pop the bubble (or leave the cave).
R: 500 / I: 147

/nordpol/ - Nordic General - Skåneutgåvan

Thread for all things Nordic. Recommended languages: Finnish, Scandinavian and English.
R: 500 / I: 131

/isg/ - /Internet Spectacle General/

A thread focused on discussing the parasocial relationships cultivated by the Almighty Algorithm to generate profit off of our atomization and society's hyper-normalization of petty internet drama.

Reminder that none of this is real!

Some digital anthropology
https://www.palladiummag.com/2022/11/04/i-do-not-want-to-be-an-internet-person/

Society of the Spectacle
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm

The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/adorno/1944/culture-industry.htm

Simulacra and Simulation
https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=A370BD9728645DF263C61C179E8B90DE

HyperNormalisation
https://youtu.be/thLgkQBFTPw
R: 47 / I: 6

Why are you all atheists?

I can understand why you would be critical of religion as institutions, considering you're marxists or anarchists. But why are you so determined to get rid of the idea of God itself? Attempts at making secular religions have all failed in my opinion, and I see the good in religion, I get most of you would rather have people be constantly devoted to ideology, but I don't think it's good for human sanity. We have to strive for something greater while also working for the improvment of material conditions, and I think that's where hegelians and their obsession with dialectics are wrong.
R: 43 / I: 20
Under what metaphysical grounds does Marxism say ownership of private property is not legitimate? Is it simply out of the linear progress view of history it has through historical materialism? If so then at what point does this ownership become illegitimate? Because clearly it was legitimate at one point. Is it when the bourgeoisie industrialize a feudal society?
R: 3 / I: 1

News 2/8/23

Danish working class opposes government’s bid to abolish public holiday to raise money for arms
The government’s decision to add an extra working day is part of its plan to raise an extra 3 billion kroner (USD 0.43 billion) for the rearmament of the country. The move has led to outrage from opposition parties and the Danish working class, who have condemned the attempt to abolish a paid public holiday for the sake of funding the military and weapons of war.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/08/danish-working-class-opposes-governments-bid-to-abolish-public-holiday-to-raise-money-for-arms/

70,000 university staff to strike again after workers reject latest pay offer, UCU confirms
ANOTHER 48-hour strike by 70,000 staff at 150 universities across Britain is set to go ahead from Thursday after the workforce rejected the latest pay offer from bosses, the University and College Union (UCU) has confirmed. With employers “in hiding” following a recent online poll which saw 80 per cent of voting members dismiss a below-inflation offer, worth 5 per cent for most workers, the massive action is needed, the union said today.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/70000-university-staff-to-strike-again-after-workers-reject-latest-pay-offer-ucu-confirms

Public anger grows as death toll in Turkey-Syria earthquake rises
Respondingto widespread protests to his government’s inaction in the face of the earthquake disaster with an attempt at intimidation, Erdoğan claimed there is “national unity,” stating: “While the state and the nation are working hand in hand to overcome this historic disaster, we are closely monitoring those who intend to pit our people against each other with fake news and distortions.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/08/fexr-f08.html

High court rules UK-based Bahrain activists' case against kingdom can proceed
Saeed Shehabi, a leading figure in Bahrain’s opposition movement, and Moosa Mohammed, pro-democracy activist and photojournalist, allege that their computers were infected with surveillance software called FinSpy in September 2011. Seven months after anti-government protests started in the island nation, the men were using the computers to communicate with other activists, journalists, political prisoners, torture victims and their families.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-bahrain-activist-case-can-move-forward-court-rules

Israel steps up Jerusalem home demolitions as violence rises
Last month, Israel demolished 39 Palestinian homes, structures and businesses in east Jerusalem, displacing over 50 people, according to the United Nations. That was more than a quarter of the total number of demolitions in 2022.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-israel-government-palestinian-territories-jerusalem-bab35518d9b80ce4c7d1513edb163e2d

Chilean wildfires spread overnight, burning up hundreds of homes
Forest fires across south-central Chile that have left 24 people dead, swallowed up hundreds of houses and left thousands injured in their wake spread into new areas on Wednesday after raging overnight. The area affected by the flames has now spread to cover 294,058 hectares (726,633.14 acres), Chilean authorities said, an area four times the size of Singapore.
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/chilean-wildfires-spread-overnight-burning-up-hundreds-homes-2023-02-08/

Brazilian Police Arrest 4 Police Officers Linked to Coup Plot
Those arrested are "Colonel Jorge Eduardo Naime Barreto, Captain Josiel Pereira César, Major General Flávio Silvestre de Alencar and Agent Rafael Pereira Martins," according to information from the Federal Police. They are accused of having facilitated the entry of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro on January 8 to the buildings of the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Brazilian-Police-Arrest-4-Police-Officers-Linked-to-Coup-Plot-20230207-0016.html

House reso seeks lifting of terror tag, return to peace table with CPP-NPA-NDF
The Makabayan bloc have filed a resolution to call for the lifting of the government's terrorist tag on communist rebels to pave the way for peace talks that, they said, will "institute social, economic and political reforms to address the roots of the armed conflict."
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/02/08/2243496/house-reso-seeks-lifting-terror-tag-return-peace-table-cpp-npa-ndf

US-backed provincial leader in Solomon Islands removed from office
The development represents a blow to the United States government, which has funnelled so-called aid money into the island of Malaita and extended political support to Suidani and his backers as a reward for their vociferous anti-China and anti-central government stance.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/08/gytw-f08.html

New Zealand’s new leader Hipkins cuts many contentious plans
Among the plans he has dropped or delayed is legislation that would have outlawed hate speech against religious groups in the wake of the deadly 2019 mosque shootings, a plan to merge the nation’s public television and radio broadcasters, a new insurance scheme to help laid-off workers, and a mandate for fuel suppliers to increase their use of biofuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-jacinda-ardern-chris-hipkins-new-zealand-d4acbf3ce259f403c95b71b0324f1da5

Taliban authorities detain professor for opposing ban on women’s education
Mashal was handing out free books to passers-by from a decorated cart when he was detained by Taliban security officials. According to Abdul Haq Hammad, director at the Ministry for Information and Culture, he was detained due to his alleged involvement in “provocation actions” and creating “chaos” against the system. Eyewitnesses, however, have confirmed to BBC that he was “slapped, punched, and kicked” during his arrest. His aide Farid Fazli told AFP news agency that the academic was “mercilessly beaten” before being taken away.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/07/taliban-authorities-detain-professor-for-opposing-ban-on-womens-education/

MP: Doctors at War With BJP Govt, Threaten Indefinite Strike from Feb 17
With slogans like "Hum Se Jo takraoge, Ilaj kaha karwao ge," (If you go up against us, how will you get treated?) a group of over 500 doctors and health workers carried out a kilometre-long march on Tuesday afternoon in Bhopal on the culmination of a 12-day-long 'Chikitsak Jagran Yatra' Yatra at Gandhi Medical College. Similar Yatras, with much glitz and fervour, were held in Indore, Rewa, Gwalior and others.
https://www.newsclick.in/mp-doctors-war-bjp-govt-threaten-indefinite-strike-feb-17
R: 26 / I: 11

lefty diffusion OC

Let's use technology to make propaganda that helps people imagine a world without capitalism. I'll take requests and prompt advice, I might be slow though.

Move this to a different board if it doesn't belong here.

Starting this thread off:
communism
Negative prompt: capitalism, exploitation, imperialism, fascism, oppression, text
Steps: 30, Sampler: Euler a, CFG scale: 10, Seed: 1380605929, Size: 512x512, Model hash: 6ce0161689, Model: v1-5-pruned-emaonly, ENSD: 31337
R: 42 / I: 2

Why is bullying so common in capitalist schools

I was bullied in nearly every stage of my life. And what surprised is that western educators often ignore the problem if not actively encourage it. There's this underlying idea that it builds character and it's a normal stage of childhood development. I know this is wrong because my self esteem is permanently fucked because of it.
It's a problem so common in American or western education it can considered to be epidemic. Not only do these problems haunt you but there is often a feeling of guilt since most people view you as a weakling when you complain about it.
R: 165 / I: 26

Thomas Jefferson

What is lefty/pol/'s opinion on this guy. I think his principles of governance are deeply flawed. His vision for a decentralized agrarian society was short sited, niave and idiotic. It opened the doors for kind of exploitative industrial capitalism and wage slavery that even he appeared to be opposed to.
R: 420 / I: 177

/auspol / - Australia General VlI

Bowls is life edition

- News/info:
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianPolitics/
https://overland.org.au/
https://arena.org.au/
https://www.greenleft.org.au/
https://www.themonthly.com.au/
https://www.crikey.com.au/
https://www.redblacknotes.com/
https://www.surplusvalue.org.au/McQueen/index.htm
https://www.auscp.org.au/militant-monthly
https://redflag.org.au/
https://marxistleftreview.org/?topic=australia
R: 77 / I: 9

PRODUCTIVE FORCES PRODUCTIVE FORCES

Degrowth is anti-marxist. Productive forces need to be developed. Deng was right.

https://www.liberationschool.org/degrowth-a-politics-for-which-class/

>Under socialism, accumulation benefits society as a whole, including even the ecosystems we inhabit. When workers are in control of the surplus, will we not develop and grow the productive forces to make life better and easier for ourselves and more sustainable for the earth and its inhabitants? Wouldn’t we especially grow green productive forces to build more (and better) schools, public transportation, etc.? Shouldn’t socialists in the U.S. strive to repair the underdevelopment of imperialism by assisting in the development of productive forces in the formerly colonized world?

>Matt Huber, a Marxist environmental geographer, argues that a “truly humane society must commit to relieving the masses from agricultural labor,” and that we cannot act as if “small-scale agricultural systems are much of a ‘material basis’ for a society beyond industrial capitalism”
R: 14 / I: 1

What differenciates Maoism from Mao Zedong Thought?

What criticisms do Maoists have of Mao Zedong? I've read on many occasions Maoist claim that MZT had shortcomings and that the purpose of Maoism was to, with the relevant data and translated information afterwards, be able to sum up the Chinese revolution leading up to the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) and move forward with what worked and discard with what didn't.
Now, what the Maoists see as positives are fairly obvious, but I have, for example, never read Maoist in-depth commentary on:
A. Lin Biao being Mao's close collaborator and dear friend since the civil war, hardline anti-revisionist and leader of the PLA, who aided the Viet Cong / PAVN dilligently in the Vietnam War in their fight against US imperialism, Lin Biao is appointed Mao's successor by the PRC constitution and is on standby, ready to retaliate if the hostile social-imperialist USSR were to invade China. All of a sudden he "attempts to murder Mao" and "defects to the USSR(!?)", but his plane crashes for no reason (PRC official narrative). A few years later, in talks with Nixon, Mao alludes to foreign policy being what differentiated him from Lin Biao.
B. After the Lin Biao happening, Mao does a 180 on the very GPCR itself and denounces / opposes the vanguard of it, the rebels, the Shanghai Commune.
C. Communication / trade with ally Albania completely breaks down.
D. Makes a rapprochement with the US while the Vietnam War is still ongoing just to the south of their border. The US is now all of a sudden an ally, against the USSR (and it subsequently deepens with Deng against Vietnam, but also Laos, Afghanistan, in Africa, Latin America, support for EU. A foreign policy that hasn't changed up until today).

Where can I read Maoist analysis of this? I read a bit of Hoxha's 1979 Reflections on China and it seems to have been prematurely published imo, didn't go into it deep enough and is mostly just him expressing his utter disappointment and disbelief (understandable).
R: 47 / I: 8

bruh wtf is this

The Anpo protests were a turning point in the JCP's ongoing attempts to revive its political fortunes after the disastrous turn toward violent revolution in the early 1950s.[17] Although the Maoists had been purged from the party following the earlier disaster, the JCP was still riven by the age-old rivalry between the Rōnō Ha (Worker-Farmer Faction) and the Kōza Ha (Lecture Faction), which dated back to the prewar era.[17] Among other disagreements, the two factions disagreed over which stage of Marxist development Japan was currently in; the Rōnō Ha believed that Japan had already achieved full capitalism, which meant that an immediate socialist revolution was possible, whereas the Kōza Ha argued that Japan's transition to capitalism was not yet complete and that therefore what was needed was a "two-stage" revolution—first a "democratic revolution" that would overthrow American imperialism and establish true democracy, and then a "socialist revolution" that would establish communism.[20] Although the "mainstream" of the JCP, led by Kenji Miyamoto, favored the Kōza Ha interpretation, as late as the 7th Party Congress in 1958 the "anti-mainstream" Rōnō Ha faction, led by Shōjirō Kasuga, still controlled around 40 percent of the delegates.[17]

The Anpo protests greatly strengthened the hand of the Kōza Ha faction.[23] During the protest, the JCP, still scarred by the backlash to its violent line in the 1950s, consistently advocated peaceful, orderly, and restrained protests.[23] This stance was highly unpopular with the radical student activists of the Zengakuren student federation, who broke decisively with the JCP as a result and began to build a New Left student movement.[24] However, the movement proved unpopular with the broader public, and the JCP was able to use its image as a "peaceful" and "positive" force during the protests as a recruitment tool. Membership in the party soared during the course of the protests, doubling from 40,000 to 80,000, and most of the new recruits wound up supporting the Kōza Ha line.[23]

Over the remainder of the 1960s, the Kōza Ha was able to purge many members from the Rōnō Ha faction, and others, dissatisfied with JCP policies, quit the party of their own accord.[25] Miyamoto was able to cement his control over the party and reigned as party chairman all the way until 1982. Meanwhile, the party's membership continued to grow rapidly, and the party began to make steady gains at the ballot box, winning more and more seats in the National Diet.[23] By the mid-1960s, the United States Department of State estimated party membership to be approximately 120,000 (0.2% of the working-age population),[26] and the party had acquired around 300,000 members by 1970.[27]
R: 9 / I: 1
Should leftists learn other languages?
Rn I know only English, with some basic knowledge of some other languages. I kinda want to learn Chinese and Spanish past a beginner level so I can actually communicate with people outside the english-sphere, but also sort of want to know a non-western perspective on some socialist topics?
Ty for any answers.
R: 49 / I: 15

DENNIS PRAGER: FUCK CITIES

Dennis Prager, American Conservative on cities:

>Remember John Lennon’s silly song, “Imagine”?

<Well, here’s my (much shorter) version.

>Imagine if some of the biggest cities in America seceded from their states. Imagine Illinois without Chicago, Pennsylvania without Philadelphia, California without Los Angeles or San Francisco, New York state without New York City, or Texas without Houston, Dallas or San Antonio.

<Those states would lose a major tax base and some of their best orchestras and other artistic institutions. But the gains in quality of life would completely offset any financial or artistic losses.

>Big cities have been and continue to be centers of destructive ideas, and the people living in them are generally coarser and often just plain meaner. Of course, there are decent individuals in big cities and obnoxious people outside of big cities. But having a greater proportion of nice to obnoxious is more likely in smaller cities and other nonurban areas. Everyone reading this knows that one is more likely to be treated warmly when entering a store or dining in a restaurant in Cooperstown, New York, than in Brooklyn, New York; in Laramie, Wyoming, than in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<As regards bad and destructive ideas, big cities almost hold a monopoly.

>What bad modern idea did not originate in a big city? And what bad idea is more likely to be believed in Laramie than in Philadelphia? Between city-dwellers and residents of small towns and rural communities, which group is more likely to embrace the belief that men give birth? Which group is more likely to believe the lie that America was “founded” in 1619 in order to perpetuate slavery? Which population is more likely to strongly advocate that people marry before having children? Which group is more likely to produce pampered, spoiled children? Which group is more likely to cherish liberty?

<The list of differences between the Laramies of America and the big cities of America is long indeed. A study by the University of Indiana Center on Philanthropy concluded, “Rural donors donated a statistically significant higher percentage of their income to charity than urban donors did.”

>It is not surprising that so many of Israel’s great prophets were shepherds, the most rural of folk. Moses, the man who brought the world the Ten Commandments, the most influential moral code in history, was a shepherd. Rutgers University professor Leonardo Vazquez wrote that the American founder, Thomas Jefferson, “was of one mind about cities: he hated them … “Though Jefferson partied in Paris and had a hand in shaping Washington, D.C., he thought cities were dens of corruption and iniquity that would spoil the young American republic.”

<Hitler learned his antisemitism in Vienna; Marx spent his adult life in London, writing his totalitarian tomes at the London Library; Pol Pot, the genocidal butcher of Cambodia, became a committed communist in Paris; Lenin engaged in his Marxist activities in St. Petersburg, Munich, London and Geneva; Stalin, born in Georgia, rose to prominence in Georgia’s largest city, its capital, Tbilisi, and spent the rest of his life in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

>The idea that the city is a source of evil is ancient. The first city ever built is attributed to Cain, the first murderer in the Bible (Genesis 4:17). The Book of Genesis contains the famous story of the Tower of Babel, a tower built to reach as high as the heavens in order, Genesis tells us, “to make the builders famous.” What is less well known is that every time the Bible mentions the Tower, it mentions “the city” built alongside it: “And they said, ‘Come let us build a city and a tower with its top in the sky.'” (Genesis 11:4).

<The biblical scholar Patrick D. Miller, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, wrote that the story should more properly be captioned “The City of Babel,” not “The Tower of Babel.” Another scholar, professor Robert Alter of the University of California, Berkeley, wrote: “The polemic thrust of the story is against urbanism … ”

>And the paradigmatic biblical places of evil are cities: Sodom and Gomorrah.

<Why are cities dens of iniquity and incubators of destructive ideas?

>One answer to the first question is anonymity: the bigger the city, the more anonymous the individual. People behave much better when they are known to their neighbors. Just think how much better people act when they wear an ID, as they do, for example, when attending a convention.

<And just as we are more anonymous in a city, so is everyone else. People feel responsible to treat those they know better than they do anonymous strangers.

>As for moronic ideas, rural people get meaning out of working with their hands and interacting with nature, which grounds them in reality and imposes pragmatism, while urban people are far more likely to get meaning, along with no consequences, from working with abstract ideas. Hence, the urban intellectual is so often a fool. Had Karl Marx been a farmer, the world might have been spared the unprecedented mass persecution and murder brought about by Marxist ideas. But Marx was the classic urban intellectual, never doing a day’s worth of labor while writing about the proletariat.

<It makes perfect sense, then, that our states would be far better without their biggest cities. I didn’t say it was practical. But it’s worth imagining.

why are rightoids so pathologically anti urban?
R: 106 / I: 13

/Climate/ #2 Uyghur polysilicon edition

This thread is dedicated to our uyghur comrades assuring us the path to energy transition, as stated by the IEA
>The world will almost completely rely on China for the supply of key building blocks for solar panel production through 2025. Based on manufacturing capacity under construction, China’s share of global polysilicon, ingot and wafer production will soon reach almost 95%. Today, China’s Xinjiang province accounts for 40% global polysilicon manufacturing. Moreover, one out of every seven panels produced worldwide is manufactured by a single facility.
https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/d2ee601d-6b1a-4cd2-a0e8-db02dc64332c/SpecialReportonSolarPVGlobalSupplyChains.pdf

As for the news, Europe's current heatwave is described as 'the most extreme event ever seen in European climatology' by Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera (see picrel)
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/4/2145284/-Europe-s-heatwave-is-the-most-extreme-event-ever-seen-in-European-climatology

Recent IPCC reports on climate change:
<Physical Science Basis
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_FullReport_small.pdf
<Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6/wg2/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FullReport.pdf
<Mitigation of Climate Change
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FullReport.pdf
Synthesis report is coming in march.

And the UNDRR report
<Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022
https://www.undrr.org/publication/global-assessment-report-disaster-risk-reduction-2022

Also posting this article for the anti-renewable schizos and nuclear cultists who will inevitably come shit in the thread
https://jeromeaparis.substack.com/p/who-hates-renewables
R: 24 / I: 5

/sls/ 2 - Night of the Human Resources

Scary Labour Stories

A thread for all your narrative needs, post your own and other workers' tales.
R: 7 / I: 0  

Trumpistan

Once upon a time, in a dimension far, far away, there existed a utopia known as Trumpistan. The people of Trumpistan were a proud and affluent group, known for their love of McMansions, Hummers, and gilded evangelical megachurches.

These citizens of Trumpistan were a narcissistic bunch, always preoccupied with their appearance and status. The men were all tanned, muscular and wore designer suits, while the women all had peroxide blonde hair and designer bikinis, in which they would lounge in poolside at the local country club.

The country club was a sacred institution in Trumpistan, where the elite would gather to socialize and show off their wealth. The club was run by a group of wealthy white men, who would sit in the boardroom, sipping on scotch and laughing at the expense of the people of color who worked as their servants. These people of color were treated like animals, and were often subjected to racist and degrading behavior.

The children of Trumpistan were sent to whites-only private schools, where they were taught to idolize historical colonizers such as Cecil Rhodes. They would spend their days writing fanfiction about these historical figures and their heroic conquests, never once stopping to consider the atrocities that were committed in the name of colonization.

The people of Trumpistan had a deep reverence for the nation of Israel, which they believed to be the homeland of their god Yahweh's chosen people. They would donate 10% of their annual incomes to Israeli death squads (who were tasked with wantonly killing Palestinian children), as a show of their unwavering support for the Jews. They idolized Israel as a shining example of how they wanted their own society to be, a society where white Christians were the ruling class and everyone else was relegated to the role of servant.

As the years passed, the people of Trumpistan became more and more entrenched in their ways, refusing to see the world through any lens other than their own. They lived in a bubble, insulated from the realities of the world around them. But as time went on, the cracks in their utopia began to show, and the people of Trumpistan were forced to confront the true nature of their society. They realized that their utopia was built on the backs of the oppressed, and that their way of life was built on a foundation of racism and cruelty. And so they set out to change their ways, to build a society that was truly just and equitable for all. But alas, it was too late, the damage had already been done, and the people of Trumpistan were left to live with the consequences of their actions.

The end.
R: 7 / I: 0

Division of the proletariat through a mindset of prioritization

The bourgeoisie divides the proletariat in many ways, but one is by inducing a mindset of artificial scarcity. It even leaks into socialist discourse, believing that the limits of our capability are much lower than they are, and resulting in a mindset of prioritization of needs for liberation.

>First world workers don't need to be liberated, third worlders are the priority because their conditions are worse
This misunderstands the dialectic between first world working conditions and the maintenance of third world working conditions. The first world workers must be liberated in order to allow the third world to be liberated. Only through liberation of first world workers can the system of imperialism be overthrown

>We don't need to help X oppressed minority group until all of the Congolese miners are liberated, you think your first world complaints matter?
This falsely creates a sequence of liberatory requirements and acts as if liberation is a finite resource that should be distributed to the most needy first, a pre-Marxist and utopian vision of socialist liberation

>The problems of X identity group don't matter, only those of the entire class of proletariat
The entire class of proletariat is characterized by unique and varying conditions, each of which require specific conditions of liberation. Every single oppressed minority group and sub-group of the proletariat must be liberated, united as a class. Downplaying individual specificity of oppression of some groups does not help other groups, it hurts them because the condition for liberation of one proletariat is the liberation of all others
R: 4 / I: 0
Why the fuck does this idiot get promoted so much. He doesn't know anything about anything, so I keep ticking "NOT INTERESTED" and "DON'T RECCOMMEND CHANNEL" but he keeps showing up!!!

Is he getting favored by the system? He does that same annoying voice other corporate journalist youtubers do where they try to sound like they're crying while they talk about uncomfortable topics— maybe he's one of them? He went from being a weird retarded columbus apologist to pretending to care about injuns, where he just exposits whatever he learned about them on reddit, and he never backtracked on anything he said he just pretended he never said any of it.

WHY WON'T HE GO AWAY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
R: 16 / I: 7

Socialism in one person, self improvement via planning

I thought we should have a thread where by we utilize our understanding of Marxism and 5 year plans to create a system for planning and development in our own lives.
R: 442 / I: 113

Hilo latinoamericano 5.0

Anything related to Latinamerica, let's unite in discussion while the CIA-funded military hasn't decide to torture us to death for the time being. Feel free to speak engl*sh. Stop voting, gringos.

Para luego buscarlo en el catálogo:
Latinoamérica, Latin America, LATAM, /lat/, latinoamérica, latino américa, hispanoamerica, /ñ/

Cómo traemos a más hispanohablantes aquí?
Inviten a gente de izquierda de facebook, instagram, twitter, MSN, fotolog, whatsapp, etc.

Hilo anterior: >>1080162
R: 139 / I: 29

CPUSA myth

Why has CPUSA been so mythologized in the past two years when they were a massive failure and sucked even in their “good days?”

American communists tried to follow the Bolshevik strategy and failed. They didn’t originally give a shit about Black people either, they only adopted the Black Belt thesis because Stalin told them to. They were way too close to the Comintern and that bit them in the ass later on. Foster was power-hungry and mad because his steel strike failed while Browder was a clout demon. The whole thing was a mess from the start. I’m kind of relieved the feds took them down.
R: 59 / I: 6

The high approval rating of the US among the Vietnamese populace

So is this post-Soviet phenomenon a consequence of the ideological bourgeois state apparatuses allowed to operate on Vietnamese soil or is this a legislative, econo-political consequence as fallout to the ongoing tensions imposed by Chinese social-imperialism on the peripheral nation on Vietnam, notably the ongoing maritime territorial disputes, in 2014 for example culminating in the China-Vietnam oil rig crisis, but still continuing today, that spontaneously lead to the Vietnamese populace conceive China as a threatening force? Or a bit of both?
I'm leaning on the fault being in the ruling bodies of all parties involved. An all-round fiasco.
R: 305 / I: 45

Antinatalism position in the left.

Serious discussion.

The right completely rejects any anti-natal ethic (see pic related). most antinatalists are overwhelmingly pessimists (or cynics) and when politically active they tend to be leftist socialists (Think Thomas Ligotti, David Benatar, Philipp Mainländer… etc). antinatalism is very underground, even more so than veganism and is mostly perceived in a negative light even by the left. it's seen as reactionary and extreme and therefore dismissed.
however, I think that anti-natal ethics have a huge potential to reduce a lot of suffering as antinatalist philosophy often asks deeper questions about life, meanwhile most of the leftist discourse is focused on social identity and capitalism. it's not that antinatalists don't think of those things as big problems that need to be overcome, on the contrary, antinatalists tend to be hardcore socialist leftists but they also recognize deeper issues that (I would argue) are even more pressing than the overcoming of capitalism.
now before you slam antinatalists as genocidal defeatist nihilists, you should understand that antinatalists are not a monolith, some are apolitical and some aren't, some have unconditional anti-life attitudes and some are transhumanists and so on…
the point im trying to make here is that I think it's a mistake to outright reject antinatalism or antinatalists from leftist discourse, and as allies, as antinatalists care deeply about suffering, something that the left is synonymous with.
R: 88 / I: 10

Eurocentric history and Greco-Roman wankery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillya_Tepe

>A high cultural syncretism pervades the findings, however. Hellenistic cultural and artistic influences can be found in many of the forms and human depictions (from amorini to rings with the depiction of Athena and her name inscribed in Greek), attributable to the existence of the Seleucid empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in the same area until around 140 BCE, and the continued existence of the Indo-Greek Kingdom in the northwestern Indian sub-continent until the beginning of our era.

>The artifacts were also intermixed with items coming from much farther, such as a few Chinese artifacts (especially Chinese bronze mirrors) as well as a few Indian ones (decorated ivory plates). This seems to be a testimony to the richness of cultural influences in the area of Bactria at that time.

So, we have a grave with mixed artifacts in them. But if greek and roman shit means that greeks and romans were the rulers of the local area, then chinese or indian influence was just *there*. Also, check the pic description
R: 7 / I: 1

recommend books about marxism and mental illness plz

anybody know a good book about marxist anti psychiatry?
R: 5 / I: 2

Yamasuke's World

His world was a mess. So-called "civilized" people there had become so consumed by money and power that they had lost sight of what truly mattered. The streets were littered with trash, the air was thick with pollution, and everyone was overweight, sluggish, and rude. The only thing that seemed to matter was how much money someone had and how much they could flaunt it.

Yamasuke was a nomad, traveling the world with nothing but a backpack and a bicycle. He lived in a transparent dome tent, sleeping under the stars and taking in the remaining beauty of the world around him. He was a man who saw the truth, that all things, from leopards to clouds to teapots, had souls that were equal and limitless in their imagination, thus limitless in terms of what they could experience in their existence with no beginning and no end.

He was determined to spread this message, and he did so in a most unconventional way: graffiti. He traveled the city, leaving messages in bold, bright colors that couldn't be ignored. He wrote things like "Take what you need, give what you can," "All souls are equal," and "Property is fake, borders are gay." People thought he was crazy, but they couldn't deny the power of his words.

As he traveled from city to city, his message spread, and more and more people began to see the truth. They realized that they had been living in an idiocracy and that they needed to make a change. They started to clean up the streets, reduce their carbon footprint, and be kinder to one another.

Yamasuke continued to travel, spreading his message and inspiring change wherever he went. He was a true visionary, and his graffiti was a reminder that the world could be a better place if only we opened our hearts and minds to the possibilities. The world may never be perfect, but with people like Yamasuke, it could at least be a little closer to a utopia.
R: 2 / I: 3

Happy Black History Month/MLK Day bullshit

Hello anons. Your local black comrade today has decided to open a thread for your best capitalist appropriation of Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr.

Post your best shit.

These were from our own black community this year for MLK Day.

Post that good ole bullshit they do every year during this.
R: 58 / I: 20
Hey remember that film about a police officer who abandons their post to stalk a (disadvantaged minority) confidence man and attempts to arrest him out of spite, then later blackmails him into slavery and commits entrapment of him to fabricate a search of an uninvolved party.
Then later their unfortunate insensitivity sparks a city-wide ethnic conflict which the new mayor attempts to turn into a genocide. Admittedly the officer does manage to reveal and incriminate the mayor after abusing mafia connections to have them torture a petty drug dealer, and recklessly detonating a drug lab in the middle of a city.

I hope it teaches the kids a thing or two about cops.
R: 599 / I: 266

/brg/ - Brazil-Brasil General

>Michel Foucault photographed moments after teleporting all May 68 protestors to their homes simultaneously. "Tu me comprends mal. Survillier et punir n'étaient pas des demandes", he was quoted as saying immediately beforehand. Paris, 1968, colorized.

Not content with emulating a painfully flopped coup attempt, Brazilian reactoids outflop it by leaving their fingerprints all over it. And film themselves leaving said fingerprints. See the previous thread for more obscene displays of full frontal stupidity: >>1318214
R: 358 / I: 116
"Chairman Xi, we have formulated the device to be sent to America. It is untraceable and will give us all information we could ever want about what is going on in America. The giant white reflective Balloon and huge panels visable to the naked eye will trick them. There is no way they will see it!"

Burgers actually believe this.
R: 500 / I: 118

/leftydeutschpol/ - Deutschland General

Letzter Pfaden wurde dank der /Pol/acken vom Brett gepusht. Deshalb ein neues Deutschland General.
R: 235 / I: 96

/SEA/ - Southeast Asia and Oceania General

7th Edition: Bolehland GE15！SEA edition.

Discuss anything on Southeast Asian politics. Elections, open orgs, People that should be dead for different reasons running in Malaysia's elections or just random shit. There are still dozens of us… hopefully! South Asia and Oceania posters can come in to discuss their regional politics too!

Matrix room: https://matrix.to/#/#!YeYeuZuLSYkegWssey:matrix.org

Last threads:
https://archive.ph/5rqox
https://archive.is/Jlc7A
http://archive.is/0NhJH
http://archive.is/nDq1K
https://archive.vn/cxwty
https://archive.is/ayshz
R: 500 / I: 143

/DPRK/ - Democratic People's Republic of Korea General

Thread for news and discussions of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, its material conditions, the status and health of its socialist tradition, disproving common myths about it, etc.

Archive of the previous DPRK thread:
https://leftypol.org/leftypol_archive/res/12395.htmldprkDPRK
R: 3 / I: 1

MN Roy

What are our thoughts on MN Roy? Who has read him? Who loves him? Who hates him?
R: 279 / I: 47

Maoists close to winning in the Philippines not bait


Someone explaining it to me I asked a couple of questions and merged their answers together.

"The Philippines have apparently advanced beyond strategic equilibrium and the armistice has been called off. Usually there are consistent ceasefires, now that Sison is dead it may seem that the Party has switched gears, and the pattern of ceasefires are not being followed. from what I know the CPP declared that they were in a state of Strategic Equilibrium a very long time ago. This was where Sison's entire policy of "accumulating forces" came from, and also why the Strategic Equilibrium didn't transform into a Strategic Offensive. This is why I see the ending of the ceasefires as their transition to a Strategic Offensive, because the ceasefires came as a result of the Party's belief that they had reached Equilibrium, and now those ceasefires are not being renewed, says to me that they are moving beyond Strategic Equilibrium."

What I would add is notice in the document that the NPA mentions using their superior forces against smaller groups of the enemy army all over the country. Also note that the Philippine's government wants the Maoists to ceasefire and the Maoists don't accept the offer. The Philippine's government is so desperate they are arresting citizens etc and claiming they are Maoists. I wouldn't be surprised if those news articles you see which can be summarized as "A few people died to Maoists, a few Maoists killed" are government created.
R: 227 / I: 126

The axis of resistance is the target

This declared war has greater dimensions than Ukraine, and its goal is to qualify Russia to lead the world and to lead the axis of resistance and to rehabilitate Putin, who has a black history of seizing power, liquidating his opponents, violating the rights of the Russians, and trading power with Medvedev for decades, qualifying him to lead the axis of resistance. Which includes Iran, the Islamic resistance, the Palestinian and the Yemeni as well.. This is how the West hopes that Putin will become qualified to lead the peoples with the right judges. And to reproduce the old polarization with the Soviet Union, which was somewhat comfortable and did not threaten Israel in terms of existence as the resistance threatens Israel. If this situation indicates anything, it indicates that the real conflict exists, even if it is not visible, between Russia and the axis of resistance over the leadership of the peoples, and not between the United States and Russia. Putin is a creation of the West, not a representative of the Russian people. And now his view of Dugin has entered the line, and the goal of assassinating his daughter may be to float his Eurasian project, which is the new incubator of Israel.
R: 43 / I: 4
>In Japanese social networks, videos multiply in which young people record homeless people being humiliated. The phenomenon generates indignation in the country and associations that support homeless people denounce the cruel practice
>In one of the videos, homeless individuals are filmed sleeping in a park. Suddenly, they are awakened by young people banging on pots and screaming. The recordings show the frightened and bewildered faces
>In another video, young people offer to buy food for a homeless elderly woman. They enter the supermarket, walk along the aisles and the woman chooses some products: a sandwich, a bag of biscuits. After passing the goods at the cashier, she says she doesn't have the money to pay, while the boys laugh at the situation, recorded through cell phones.

<Along with the videos, comments against the homeless are published, criticizing the reactions that are not always condescending in the face of humiliation. Criticisms of homeless people are reinforced by personalities and influencers :
<Back in early August, well-known YouTuber DaiGo of channel “Mentalist DaiGo” made some inflammatory statements about the homeless and welfare recipients during a livestream. The title of the offending video was preemptively titled “Super Spicy Q&A for People Who Want to be Crushed Scientifically”
<“I don’t pay taxes for it to go to paying for people on welfare. If we have money to feed people on welfare, I want them to use it to save cats. The lives of humans and the lives of cats; I don’t think human lives are more valuable at all. For me, unnecessary lives aren’t worth much. So I think the lives of homeless people are just, whatever.”
<As far back as 2003, if not earlier, hates crimes targeting the homeless have been a huge issue. These unprovoked attacks on the homeless are mostly perpetrated by “young men and boys.” When approached by the police, assailants are often heard to explain away their crimes as “disposing of society’s trash.”

How does a society become so classcucked?
R: 3 / I: 1

The Isdal woman

Was she a Soviet spy (aka /ourgirl/)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isdal_Woman

>used several fake names
>had several fake passports
>seen with mysterious men around norway
>found dead, corpse set on fire
>case investigated as possible espionage by norwegian secret police
R: 21 / I: 1
I feel like a lower caste of revolutionary.
The expectations are insane. Know both critique of political economy and the specific machinations of your own country's current economy, be able to do conjecture analysis through dialectical materialism, be informed on every single political event unfolding, know the history of your nation and of other socialist movements, and above all, being in touch with the working class. The militants that I look up to are the ones who have masters degrees in humanities and yet have their roots in poverty.
And yet here I am, a twenty-something light skin STEM student, great-grandson of a landowner parasite politician, son of a proletarized mother who still has headaches paying bills. I'm a nerd with no connection to working class pop culture of my nation, as I spent most of my life consuming imperialist media and even today mostly partake in the anglosphere while online. Not only that, but I aspire to so many hobbies it feels impossible to read theory AND apply it, while the militants I respect have been doing this as their entire lives for years.
I do not feel like I fit in my current organization. I feel like the odd one out when my comrades chant jingles and I'm dead silent pretending to distribute pamphlets to lumpens who would shoot me in the head if they had guns. I'm very, very lost. Have you ever felt like this at some point in your life as an active militant? It can't be just me.
R: 14 / I: 3

Mutualism

I personally believe that a socialist market economy based on voluntarily association , communal banking and competition among workers own cooperatives would be a good alternative to corny capitalism of today .

You may disagree whit me on this one I would love to hear your opinions
R: 64 / I: 15

/leftybritpol/ - Depressed Hitchens Edition

Once again, leftypol has come, to rise from the ashes, a thread is done. Let us now talk of strikes and rugs, as the government takes us for mugs. We will cry and shout, but mostly lout about.
R: 550 / I: 115

/canleft/ - Canadian Leftism/Politics General

Financial Grindset General =)
Moulinet Financier Général =)

Anyone happen to know a good area in Ontario to find a manufacturing job easily? Tired of lumpen hell tbh.
R: 83 / I: 23
Why is Trotsky seen as a traitor for merely being in Italy when the fascists were in power but Che is not seen as a traitor for visiting Francoist Spain in 1959?
R: 60 / I: 52

/GLSG/ - Good Looking Socialists General

Good Looking Socialists General 2 - Coffee has both risks and benefits Edition

Post the pictures and tell us who they are.

>Vizzion - German rapper.
>Camila Vallejo - Communist Party of Chile politician and former student leader. "Vallejo has been deemed the most influential communist figure in 21st-century Chile", currently Minister General Secretariat of Government.
>Álvaro Cunhal - General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party for 31 years. Fled fascist prison by diving into the ocean from a cliff.
>Marina Ginestà - Spanish communist, a member of the Unified Socialist Youth, and an iconic figure of the Spanish Civil War. The photo was taken when she was an interpreter and journalist in the 1936 military uprising in Barcelona. Later wounded and exiled, lived to be 94.
R: 56 / I: 100

/ukraine videos/ - Revived edition

Decided to revive the Ukraine videos series to post all SMO footage as the current thread is cyclical. Save them before it gets zonked!!!
R: 91 / I: 24

Taliban Fighters Experience Alienation

>A large number of Taleban fighters have moved to Afghanistan’s cities since the movement’s capture of power, many of them seeing life in the city for the first time in their lifetime.
>Their circumstances have changed entirely since the Taleban’s victory.
>For many, born into rural families and with their adult lives spent primarily on the battlefield, it was the first time they had come to the capital. They had not even been born or were still children when the Taleban’s first emirate fell.
>Even their seniors, who had experienced life in a major city like Kabul, would find the Afghan capital of 2021 a very different place to when the Taleban had last ruled there – the ruins left by the civil war had long ago been re-built, the city itself had become vastly bigger and the population increased manifold.
<How have they found the actual Kabul and its people, and what do they think about having to earn a living for the first time, keep office hours and live in a city full of traffic and millions of other inhabitants?

Some funny excerpts
>What I don’t like about Kabul is its ever-increasing traffic holdups. Last year, it was tolerable but in the last few months, it’s become more and more congested. People complain that the Taleban brought poverty, but, looking at this traffic and the large number of people in the bazaars and restaurants, I wonder where that poverty is.

>And the savageness of people against each other, in particular against women – dozens of women approach the hawza on a daily basis and register their complaints. They’re victims, subject to different forms of brutality. The head of the hawza and all other mujahedin pay special attention to solving their problems. During the first days when women approached us, many mujahedin, including myself, were hiding from them because never in our whole lives have we talked to strange women. In the days that followed, the head of the hawza instructed us that sharia does allow us to talk to them because we are now the authorities and the only people that can solve their problems.

>After the fatha, many of our friends abandoned the cause of jihad. Many others betrayed the blood of the martyrs on which foundation this nizam [the government] is built. Nowadays, people are fully busy gaining wealth and fame, more and more, in this worldly life. Previously, we were doing everything for the sake of Allah, but now it’s the opposite. The first priority of many is to fill their pockets and become famous. If you ask me why I’m unhappy in the aftermath of the fatha, it’s that we immediately forgot our past. Then, we had only a motorcycle, a mukhabira, [a type of Walkie-Talkie] and a mosque or madrasa. Now, when someone’s nominated for a government job, he first asks whether that position has a car or not.

>During jihad, you couldn’t have known the difference between a commander and a foot soldier like me. We sat together, we talked without any inconvenience, and they were sympatric towards us. Our superiors fought shoulder-to-shoulder alongside us, and we all wept together for our martyrs. It was an environment of sacrifice. We fought the war with high morale and determination. However, all that changed after the fatha. I am myself a mujahed, but now I struggle to get to see a small director, let alone a deputy minister or minister. This isn’t true of all of them, but many of the leaders have turned their backs on their comrades of the hard times.

<In our ministry, there’s little work for me to do. Therefore, I spend most of my time on Twitter. We’re connected to speedy Wi-Fi and internet. Many mujahedin, including me, are addicted to the internet, especially Twitter.

>Although now we can go everywhere without fear, the war is over, and an Islamic system is in place, it’s still difficult not to miss the days of the jihad. At that time, we weren’t under strict supervision, we weren’t curbed because the Emirate needed us, and as a consequence, they provided us with more freedom. Now, on the contrary, they don’t need us as much as they did at that time. Besides, they pay us money. There is a proverb in our area that money is like a shackle. Now, if we complain, or don’t come to work, or disobey the rules, they cut our salary. Unlike jihad, now particularly, when the battles are long gone and the risk is zero, the Emirate could find countless people to work with them in return for a salary.

https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/context-culture/new-lives-in-the-city-how-taleban-have-experienced-life-in-kabul/
https://archive.is/VhBjl
R: 4 / I: 2

News 2/7/23

French workers stage second mass walkout over Macron’s scheme to raise the retirement age
During the last walkout on January 19, unions said that more than two million workers joined demonstrations against plans to raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64. Thousands of workers again protested by joining huge demonstrations in Paris, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and many other places. The left-wing CGT union centre said that around 400,000 protesters took to the streets of Paris.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/french-workers-stage-another-massive-walkout-over-macrons-scheme-raise-retirement-age

German court rejects climate lawsuit against automaker BMW
Judges noted that German and European lawmakers, spurred partly by a 2021 ruling by Germany’s top court, have taken numerous measures to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord. As such there was no absence of laws that would warrant civil action against BMW “at last not at this time,” they said.
https://apnews.com/article/germany-government-climate-and-environment-business-lawsuits-c57346f0d4c2f9e4daa365f621b3cf0b

100,000 civil servants to strike on Budget Day
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said it was escalating its campaign of industrial action by targeting March 15. Next month’s strike could be joined by a further 33,000 PCS members working for 10 more employers, including HM Revenue & Customs, whose strike ballot results are due later this month. The PCS said 100,000 of its members went on strike last week alongside teachers, university lecturers and train drivers in separate disputes.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/100000-civil-servants-strike-budget-day

UK train tickets could be priced like airline seats in rail shake-up
Train tickets in Britain could be priced like airline seats under a demand-based system being trialled by the government as part of a wider rail shake-up. The transport secretary, Mark Harper, announced on Tuesday evening that fares on some long-distance trains run by LNER on the East Coast line will fluctuate according to availability. He said the state-run train company would also move towards scrapping return tickets across its network, as a test for whether the idea could eventually be rolled out across the wider railway.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/07/uk-train-tickets-could-be-priced-like-airline-seats-in-rail-shake-up

Aid to quake-hit Syria slowed by sanctions, war’s divisions
He called for the European Union to lift its sanctions on Syria in light of the massive destruction caused by the earthquake. Aid convoys and rescuers from several countries, notably key ally Russia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, and Algeria, have landed in airports in government-held Syria. Still, the sanctions exacerbate the “difficult humanitarian situation,” Hboubati said. “There is no fuel even to send (aid and rescue) convoys, and this is because of the blockade and sanctions,” he said.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-syria-government-united-states-bashar-assad-e1bd001643fd8386e8ccb1fcd2a922f3

More anti-gold mining protests in Sudan as cyanide poses environmental and health risk
People in Sirba in West Darfur have called on the state authorities to intervene and stop illegal mining excavations in the area in which toxic cyanide is used. In Red Sea state, people are blocking the Port Sudan-Kassala road to protest the environmental dangers posed by mining waste treatment facilities in the area.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/more-anti-gold-mining-protests-in-sudan-as-cyanide-poses-environmental-and-health-risk

Maduro negotiator says Venezuela government, opposition making progress on $3.2 billion humanitarian fund
During Mexico-based talks in November, representatives for the government of President Nicholas Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition party agreed to create the fund to support healthcare, food and education efforts needed to overcome Venezuela's long-running social and political crisis. "If (the fund) happens, and I think we are advancing on some steps in that direction, we can pass to another stage of the conversations," the government's lead negotiator and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez told television station Globovision.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/maduro-negotiator-says-venezuela-government-opposition-making-progress-32-2023-02-06/

Ecuadorians Reply 'NO' To President Lasso's Referendum
On Sunday, 13 million Ecuadorians went to the polls to elect 23 provincial prefects, 221 mayors, and 7 members of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, an institution which appoints the Attorney General and the Comptroller. They also participated in the abovementioned referendum, with which Lasso intended to consolidate his conservative political project.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuadorians-Reply-NO-To-President-Lassos-Referendum-20230207-0011.html

In a first, South Korea must compensate a Vietnam War massacre survivor
A South Korean court has ordered the government to compensate the survivor of a massacre committed by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War. It's the first time a court has found the South's government responsible for such atrocities.
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1155041985/vietnam-war-massacre

Adani sell-off continues amid protests by India’s opposition
Legislators of India’s main opposition party have kicked off protests at some state-run companies over the crisis at Adani Group, whose seven listed firms saw another sell-off that drove their market loss to $112bn in less than two weeks. Members of the Congress party on Monday protested outside several offices of state-owned insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and the State Bank of India (SBI), both of which have exposure to Adani Group companies.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/6/adani-sell-off-continues-amid-protests-by-indias-opposition
https://archive.ph/vfEZN
R: 62 / I: 11

How come the Taliban won but Maoists can't?

Let me get this straight Marxism is supposedly the greatest ideology with the greatest military doctrine's.
We have 4 maoist people wars that have been fighting along time without winning.
ML's in all country have been doing fuck all except laughable attempts and failing for a long time.
US pulls out of Afghanistan and the Taliban win just like that.

Are Marxists actually doing the right thing if we are not winning but the Taliban could?

What can be learned from how the Taliban won?

Did the Taliban unironically do Maoist protracted peoples war?
I feel this way as they drained the US/Afghan govs resources staying alive with guerrilla warfare, reached strategic equilibrium, and then went on the offensive when the US gave up.
R: 13 / I: 2

STARMER

<In his teenage years, Starmer was active in Labour politics; he was a member of the Labour Party Young Socialists in East Surrey… From 1986 to 1987, Starmer edited the radical magazine Socialist Alternatives.

>Starmer was a trotskyist

<Starmer’s youthful socialism is entertaining, and these books help to locate him in the party’s long march to electability. “We were radical anti-imperialist ecosocialists,” said Ben Schoendorff, the leader of the seven-member editorial team, including Starmer, 23, that ran Socialist Alternatives. The magazine was inspired by Michalis Raptis, a Greek former Trotskyist known as Pablo, whose faction, the Pabloites, wanted to broaden socialism to include feminism and green politics. The first issue was published in July 1986, proclaiming that its vision of socialism was “the generalised self-management of society as a whole”; it claimed to be “concretely working towards a radical extension of popular control over wealth and power” by integrating the traditional labour movement with “new social movements”.

>Starmer’s articles in the first issue proposed trade unions having control over “industry and community”, and criticised a policy document produced by Neil Kinnock, then Labour leader: “Unfortunately, by turning back to the market economy, it misses a third alternative, that of participatory socialism based on democratic planning.” Well, it’s a point of view, isn’t it? Even Tony Blair, when he was aged 29, wrote about how “the resources required to reconstruct manufacturing industry call for enormous state guidance and intervention. That, in turn, will bring any Labour government into sharp conflict with the power of capital, particularly multinational capital”. Starmer’s early politics were also evident in a Socialist Lawyer article when he was a young barrister of 32, in which he said “Karl Marx was, of course, right” about the futility of trying to bring about change through abstract declarations of fundamental rights.

<by the time he took the position of Director of Public Prosecutions, he was clearly a reformer within the establishment rather than an outsider wanting to tear it down.

WTF HAPPENED? does Britain have a Trot -> Blairite pipeline? How does someone go from being based to being a porkoid stooge?
R: 156 / I: 10
Could someone please explain why American socialists still insist on invoking Christianity (Protestant theology in particular) when America is the LEAST Christian it’s ever been?

Church attendance for all denominations is dropping steadily while the number of Americans identifying as “no religion” has gone way up in the past decade or two. It’s gotten to the point where the GOP doesn’t even appeal to fundamentalist Protestantism anymore; now they overwhelmingly appeal to conspiracy theories and short-term outrage. The last midterm elections proved abortion and other “Christian values” issues are a losing bet since the younger generations are far more socially progressive all while the older, more conservative generations are dying off with no one to replace their votes.

With that said, what’s even the point of this “Jesus was a socialist” crap? It seems like Muppet and his followers ultimately want to create some kind of cultural nationalism, like American Protestantism is the American equivalent of the ROC for Russians or Shia Islam for Iranians. But how pragmatic (or true) is that really, when less and less Americans are adhering to Christianity? It makes no fucking sense and comes off as a losing position.
R: 168 / I: 19

Why do some leftists like NEETcha?

Everything I've seen of his pop up isn't very inspiring or even that enlightening. It's nearly poetry in waxing romantically about how everyone is dumb and we need a new aristocracy. That's my impression but I haven't read anything of his directly (why would I want to?). I know the Nazis found a lot of inspiration in his writings.

So why is there a movement to treat him like a valuable philosopher with important things to say? What are those universities teaching the youth? He gives me the same vibes as Heidegger but worse. Even though Heidegger was a literal Nazi his philosophy is shrouded under phenomenology. I find his popularity sus too though.
R: 10 / I: 1

The State and Revolution

The state exists whenever and wherever there exists and exploited and exploiter class. The state is a median, the linking between class antagonisms, the resolving of them (under bourgeois understanding). The Marxists however see that whenever a state structure is being built, those with economic power can take political power and wield state power over the exploiting class. Hence the state does not resolve class antagonisms but rather subjugates one class in favour of the other.

The more capital develops so does the most state. We are at the point where the state is the most efficient yet. It is a shell of the economic system and hence is not mallable to human mistake. For the bourgeoisie, this is great for they can buy officials and similarly stop supporting them the moment they turn against the capitalist state. It is great also because it never actually shows the ruling hand of the bourgeoisie directly. These relations between the state and the exploiter class are mystified to the point where the state itself acquires these mystical properties and is the apparatus is blamed instead of the class relations. In a way, it is similar to commodity fetishism.

So there can be drawn an equivalence between the existance class relations and the existance of the state. You cannot remove class relations without destroying the bourgeois state and similarly you cannot the state without destroying class relations.

Class relations emerge out of history when one individual was able to produce surplus which wasn't necessary for the propagation of primitive communist society. With this he could've traded for extra, hired other people and so on etc. you know how class and states arose.

So the transition from capitalism to communism is done via the dictatorship of the proletariat, when the proletariat takes at the same time state and economic power and uses it to subjugate the bourgeoisie, proletarianize the farmers and establishes a classless society by liberating and developing productive forces. At the same time, the proletariat cannot simply take up the bourgeois state because that would lead back to class relations.

History has given an example of the soviets and communes. But even with these, the bourgeoisie states lingered in them and I think this is the may reason the Soviet Union was, in a way, reverted back to capitalism, because it never abolished the bourgeois state and hence classes arose.

The question I want to ask actually is: what is this dictatroship of the proletariat? Practically, I mean. Are there examples where the DotPs in two different nations differ significantly? Was the propagation of the soviet model as mistake? Because it doesn't correspond to historical realities of other countries? What about the United Front Democracies in Eastern Europe and East Asia? What about today? Where can we see an emerging proletarian state structure? Do Marxists have anything to learn from anarchist grass-root oranizing?

Discuss.
R: 377 / I: 280

OC Thread 14.0

>Thread dedicated to /leftypol/ original content.
>Post original content you've made, or OC someone else recently made which you want to share.
>Or ITT collaborate on improving content already made.

previous thread: >>1015618
>>>>/leftypol_archive/1015618

>This is the place where you can find all /leftypol/ memes n' shit:
>https://lefty.booru.org/
R: 5 / I: 1

News 2/6/23

France to be hit by fresh strikes and demonstrations over government's attack on pensions
Further walkouts and marches are planned for Saturday, while left-wing opponents of Mr Macron’s minority administration have already filed thousands of amendments ahead of the parliamentary debate which began this afternoon. Trains and the Paris metro are again expected to see “severe disruptions” according to operators, and around one in five flights at Orly airport, south of the capital, are expected to be cancelled on Tuesday.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/france-to-be-hit-by-fresh-strikes-and-demonstrations-over-government-attack-on-pensions

Workers stage largest strike in history of Britain's health service
Tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance service staff walked off the job on Monday in a pay dispute, putting further strain on Britain's state-run National Health Service with their largest ever strike. Nurses and ambulance workers have been striking separately since late last year but Monday's walkout involving both, largely in England, is the biggest in the 75-year history of the NHS.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-faces-largest-ever-healthcare-strikes-pay-disputes-drag-2023-02-05/

Severe weather hampers earthquake rescuers in Turkey and Syria
Bad weather is hampering rescue efforts after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its powerful aftershocks struck southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing thousands of people and injuring many more.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/6/severe-weather-hampers-earthquake-rescue-in-turkey-and-syria
https://archive.ph/suZhO

Israeli forces kill five Palestinians in Jericho raid
Israel said its forces killed on Monday five alleged Palestinian gunmen in a raid in the occupied West Bank, after a days-long search for suspects in a shooting near Jericho. Hamas Islamists confirmed its fighters were among the dead, saying in a statement the Gaza-based group was mourning members of its military wing killed "in an armed clash with the Zionist occupation".
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/02/israeli-forces-kill-five-palestinians-jericho-raid

Iraqi environmental activist kidnapped by gunmen, says family
Jassim al-Assadi, 65, head of the environmental group Nature Iraq, has appeared regularly in local and foreign media to raise awareness of the threats facing the country's southern wetlands, a Unesco World Heritage Site imperilled by years of drought.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-environmental-activist-kidnapped-gunmen-says-family

Left parties, VCK stage protest against power privatisation
Party workers also criticised the NDA government at the Centre and in Puducherry for providing poor-quality electricity meters to people. CPI secretary A.M Saleem, CPI(M) secretary R. Rajangam, VCK principal secretary Deva Pozhilan, former Minister R. Viswanathan and former legislator N. Kalainathan were among those who took part in the protest.
https://finnoexpert.com/2023/02/06/left-parties-vck-stage-protest-against-power-privatisation/

J&K: Political Leadership Call out BJP for 'Arbitrary' use of Bulldozers
The political leadership in Jammu and Kashmir have raised serious concerns over the demolition exercise that they claimed was being carried out through “arbitrary” use of bulldozers to “invent homelessness” in the region.
https://www.newsclick.in/J%26K-Political-Leadership-Call-BJP-Arbitrary-Bulldozers

Crisis deepens in Australia’s emergency departments
A recent survey by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) highlighted a national shortage of emergency doctors. The survey found ED directors were expecting widespread shortages in 2023, including shortfalls of 28 percent for specialist trainees, 30 percent for junior medical officers and 10 percent for senior decision-makers. The ACEM said this was a product of staff leaving due to unsustainable working conditions.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/06/czdw-f06.html

Brazil's Lula to restart housing program for low-income families
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will this month restart the federal housing program "Minha Casa, Minha Vida" for lower income people, his chief of staff said on Sunday. Rui Costa said on TV GloboNews that the announcement will be made on Feb. 14 in Bahia state as part of several trips by the leftist president until March to initiate programs that boost the economy and quickly benefit the population.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-lula-restart-housing-program-low-income-families-2023-02-05/

Leaked video footage of ocean pollution shines light on deep-sea mining
The Metals Company (TMC), a Canadian mining firm that is one of the leading industry players, spent September to November of last year testing its underwater extraction vehicle in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone, a section of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii. But a group of scientists hired by the company to monitor its operations, concerned by what they saw, posted a video of what they said was a flawed process that accidentally released sediment into the ocean.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/06/leaked-video-footage-of-ocean-pollution-shines-light-on-deep-sea-mining
R: 41 / I: 9
>Argue with a liberal about how improvement to city planning and transportation is pointless under capitalism
>In less than an hour he exposes himself as being petit bourgeoisie
Every time.
R: 156 / I: 30

UK becoming POOR

>By the end of next year, the average British family will be less well off than the average Slovenian one, according to a recent analysis by John Burn-Murdoch at The Financial Times; by the end of this decade, the average British family will have a lower standard of living than the average Polish one.
On the campaign trail and in office, promising a new prosperity, Boris Johnson used to talk incessantly about “leveling up.” But the last dozen years of uninterrupted Tory rule have produced, in economic terms, something much more like a national flatlining. In a 2020 academic analysis by Nicholas Crafts and Terence C. Mills, recently publicized by the economic historian Adam Tooze, the two economists asked whether the ongoing slowdown in British productivity was unprecedented. Their answer: not quite, but that it was certainly the worst in the last 250 years, since the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Which is to say: To find a fitting analogue to the British economic experience of the last decade, you have to reach back to a time before the arrival of any significant growth at all, to a period governed much more by Malthusianism, subsistence-level poverty and a nearly flat economic future. By all accounts, things have gotten worse since their paper was published. According to “Stagnation Nation,” a recent report by a think tank, there are eight million young Brits in the work force today who have not experienced sustained wage growth at all.

<Over the past several decades, the China boom and then the world’s populist turn have upended one of the basic promises of post-Cold War geopolitics: that free trade would not just bring predictable prosperity but also draw countries into closer political consensus around something like Anglo-American market liberalism. The experience of Britain over the same period suggests another fly in the end-of-history ointment, undermining a separate supposition of that era, which lives on in zombie form in ours: that convergence meant that rich and well-​governed countries would stay that way.

>It was of course not that long ago that American liberals looked with envy at the British system — admiring the speed of national elections, and the way that new governing coalitions always seemed able to get things done. Post-Brexit, both the outlook for Britain and the quality of its politics look very different, as everyone knows. But focusing on a single “Leave” vote risks confusing that one abrupt outburst of xenophobic populism with what in fact is a long-term story of manufactured decline. As Burn-Murdoch demonstrates in another in his series of data-rich analyses of the British plight, the country’s obvious struggles have a very obvious central cause: austerity. In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, and in the name of rebalancing budgets, the Tory-led government set about cutting annual public spending, as a proportion of G.D.P., to 39 percent from 46 percent. The cuts were far larger and more consistent than nearly all of Britain’s peer countries managed to enact; spending on new physical and digital health infrastructure, for instance, fell by half over the decade. In the United States, political reversals and partisan hypocrisy put a check on deep austerity; in Britain, the party making the cuts has stayed steadily in power for 12 years.

<Real wages have actually declined, on average, over the last 15 years, making America’s wage stagnation over the same period seem appealing by comparison. As the political economist William Davies has written, the private sector is also behaving shortsightedly, skimping on long-term investments and extracting profits from financial speculation instead: “To put it bluntly, Britain’s capitalist class has effectively given up on the future.” Even the right-wing Daily Telegraph is now lamenting that England is “becoming a poor country.”

>Rich countries could stumble, the triumphalist narrative went, but even the worst-case scenarios would look something like Japan — a rich country that stalled out and stubbornly stopped growing. But Japan is an economic utopia compared with Argentina, among the richest countries of the world a century ago, or Italy, which has tripped its way into instability over the last few decades. Britain has long since formally relinquished its dreams of world domination, but the implied bargain of imperial retreat was something like a tenured chair at the table of global elders. As it turns out, things can fall apart in the metropole too. Over two centuries, a tiny island nation made itself an empire and a capitalist fable, essentially inventing economic growth and then, powered by it, swallowing half the world. Over just two decades now, it has remade itself as a cautionary tale.

Why has this happened? Is it true? Is the UK actually going to turn into the Argentina of Europe?

>With the exception of London, this is no longer an especially prosperous country. Poland is on course to overtake us in GDP per capita at around 2030. We are now poorer than every US state, including Mississippi; and the average British household income – £37,000 – is lower than that of every single ethnic group in America, including traditionally less affluent black and Hispanic households.
R: 57 / I: 8

Convince me that Capital isn’t a cosmic horror story

Seriously, prove to me that Capital isn’t actually a cosmic horror story disguised as a critique of political economy and that capitalism isn’t an eldritch entity that appears as a socioeconomic system but is actually an abstract parasitic/predatory superorganism unlike anything that has ever existed on Earth, a living/cancerous system growing on the Earth system, feeding on human life energy and suffering, and constantly growing itself, splitting apart, and assimilating competing instances of itself
R: 14 / I: 1

what the fuck was his problem ?

>create a torture dungeon for political opponents
>standard torture going on there but also
>force dogs to fucking rape people
>forcibly insert RATS into peoples BUTT HOLE
why ?
R: 32 / I: 12

"Productive Forces" is an excuse. The REAL reason why China hasn't pressed the socialism button is

"Productive Forces" is an excuse. The REAL reason why China hasn't pressed the socialism button is…

that they’re building up their military and international relations to be on par with the West.

The military is enough to ward off a direct attack, but not enough to secure their interests abroad. Even their own waters are a contested battleground.

International Relations are important for all the minerals and resources that are required for a 21st century development that can only be secured if you have allies that can give you them and you have the military to support those allies against attacks (direct and indirect) by the enemies.

Ok, the title was click-bait. “Productive Forces” already includes all this, in addition to the industrial buildup and state development people normally look at.

But a lot of left-wing critics of China only look at the latter two and say “But China already has the productive forces!” No, they do not. They will, one day, as the world continues to become more multipolar and the West keeps losing power.

But the biggest enemy in that is the US, and particularly, the US military. The influence it has over Latin America, Africa, and Asia cannot be overstated. The 800 military bases are there for a reason, many of them encircling China, and the others in countries and regions with key minerals.

So, keep supporting China however you can. Buy Chinese goods. Yes, the money goes to a capitalist Chinese company, but those still are under the thumb of the Party.

If you’re in the West, it’ll be hard to convince people China = good. There is a lot of propaganda. But you can focus on organizing your fellow workers, or talking to your family/friends about socialism. If you have to criticize USSR or China etc, go for it (but be truthful). If they talk about about the Holdomor or Xinjiang, be honest - not genocides, still bad and tragic. And then redirect them to what the US did in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq etc. The goal is to weaken the hold of capitalism in their daily lives and get them ready for a domestic revolution (which will 100% happen).

Anyways, just a late night thought. The path to socialism is long and difficult and filled with obstacles. But it is the only path there is.
R: 500 / I: 123
QTDDTOT - Questions that don't need their own thread. The last one died, so here post your questions here.

I'll start, why is a centralized authority important to achieving communism and why is this seen a positive aspect.
R: 270 / I: 80

Vatican II

Honest question: if the Vatican II council was truly a product of communist infiltration (as tradcaths love to claim) how the FUCK did it fly under the radar of the CIA?

In the 1960s the CIA was overthrowuyghovernments around the world, manipulating leftist movements, engaging in mass disinformation campaigns, and so on. If they got word the biggest and most powerful religious institution in the world was infiltrated by communist agents who were pushing all sorts of reforms in the Church, why did they do nothing about it? Or if they did, why do we have no record of it?

Not to mention, how did all the alleged commie priests in the US fly under the radar of the FBI during McCarthyism?
R: 181 / I: 82

/ita/ - Spaghetti Communism

Edizione del tempo dei mostri

Biblioteche online
https://it.z-lib.org/
https://libgen.is

Introduzione al Capitale
https://ia600902.us.archive.org/28/items/pdfy-2ZCqM065WT7tuisv/Marx%27s%20Das%20Kapital%20For%20Beginners%20-%20Michael%20Wayne%2C%20Sungyoon%20Choi.pdf

Riviste
https://www.lordinenuovo.it
https://www.marx21.it
https://contropiano.org

Notizie sulla Cina
https://youtube.com/c/dazibao
R: 345 / I: 308

/webm/ Thread 5

First thread: >>>/leftypol_archive/9920
Second thread >>>/leftypol_archive/481354
Third thread >>>/leftypol_archive/492596
Fourth thread >>>/leftypol_archive/561028

WebMConverter by WebMBro: https://github.com/WebMBro/WebMConverter "WebM for retards."
R: 11 / I: 0

Mieville is a Shachtmanite

>Seethes and cries that another fellow Shachtmanite got done for "sexual impropriety" (whatever that means)
>Helps the formation of a petty bourgeois "Left Unity" party filled with unprincipled and non-Marxist groups
>Lives off the products of workers through academia and by selling "intellectual property" (whatever that means)
>He has never coherently identified material conditions, and his creative work actively seeks to undermine materialism and notions that life precedes consciousness, particularly in postmodern modes that themselves ignore Lovecraft's inherent scientific views.
What can be done with the Shachtmanite bane? For too long, they have tried to destroy the legitimacy of the Soviet Union and align with the American imperialists! Shachtman himself wrote terrible screeds against people who actually were in a Revolution, particularly his introductions (idealist distortionism) to Trotsky's writings.
R: 13 / I: 8

Osama Bin Laden

>A series of video games downloaded and saved onto compound computers suggest Osama bin Laden or someone else who lived on the compound was an avid video game enthusiast. The CIA files released after the 2011 raid showed the al Qaeda leader had downloads of popular games like Half-Life, Super Mario Bros., Yoshi’s Island DS, Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Ball Z, and Counter-Strike, a game where multiple players team up to fend off counterterrorism efforts.

>It’s strange to think that the mastermind behind the death of thousands of people would have Disney films in his hideout, but several were found at the Abbottabad compound, including Cars, Chicken Little and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. His four youngest children were under the age of 10 at the time of his death.

>A few items from the hideout were never released to the public, including bin Laden’s reportedly large pornography collection. According to Reuters, "the pornography recovered in the Abbottabad compound consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive.”

>Osama bin Laden’s personal library was full of surprises. He owned several books on American military and diplomatic history like Bob Woodward’s Obama's Wars, Noam Chomsky’s Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies and Robert Hopkins Miller’s The U.S. and Vietnam 1787-1941. “It was important for him to understand his enemy and their way of thinking,” Roggio says. The compound also housed books on popular conspiracy theories on 9/11, The Committee of 300, and the Illuminati.

<MFW Bin Laden was basically just a NEET coomer with /v/tard and /pol/tard tendencies

Are islamic fundamentalists just /pol/tards except replace white with arab and christianity with islam?
R: 1 / I: 1
Boojoids sincerely believe in what this image preaches while receiving billions in subsidies and low interest loans for their entrepreneurial enterprises exploitative endeavors.
R: 422 / I: 61

Actual orginising thread

This is a thread only for people who actually do IRL organizing to exchange tactics and ideas. Its time to stop whining about bullshit like Wiccans or shizo pedo rape cult conspiracies, and actually get some actual lessons out of each other, for fucks sake.

Explain your situation, ask a question on what you would like some advice on, and give insight into what you do right now and how successful you are.

Let me start off
>I am the chairman of a local chapter of a socialist nation wide youth org of a european country
>We have, on paper, 90+ youth members in our local chapter
>We have, on paper, 1000+ members nationally
>Recently formed out of a split, still very much in flux
>The real local cadre is around 10-15 people with varying levels of commitment, about 6 people at each weekly or so meeting
>The ideological and practical education of our cadre is low
>Following a broadly orthodox marxist line, as opposed to classical marxist leninist, or maoist, but also containing trotskyites and anarchists

Now the thing I would like your feedback on is explaining how you conduct meetings, how to educate cadre, how to retain cadre, how to ensure people show up, what communist youths are even supposed to do. So let me sketch out what we do now

>We meet once every 2 weeks, set time, set place, set day
>The meetings agenda is made during the two weeks by people finding interesting topics to discuss, and compiled by me, together with any things that need to be done organizational wise
>We discuss developments nearby, such as opportunities for media stunts on specific topics (such as fucking with rich fucktards), setting up protests, our involvement in activist groups and the student union/labour union protests
>We check our list of tasks we made last time, and see what got done
>We discuss the points of that week
>We formulate new points of action based on the outcome of the discussion
>End of meeting

Now, what we do not do is, but not out of any conscious decision
>educating cadre
>stands
>making or selling newspapers

I think our largest issues right now is retaining and educating our cadre, both ideologically and in terms of skills, as well as finding enough tasks to do to keep our members engaged if more people happen to show up. We have an okay influx of new members because of the media attention we have, and via direct recruitment via friend circles. The biggest issue is making sure new members keep showing up after the first 3 times.
How do your orgs handle these topics, how would you do it differently, and does it translate into tangible results? How do we (if we should at all) find work to do for our, on paper, sizable cadre, that youths (below 28, mostly highschool and student aged) find enjoyable that also contributes to the workers movement and our party?

Inb4
>Do you have a motherparty?
Sort of, but not really. Our org is the result of an entire youth wing getting expelled together with a few, but not many, older members. The youth currently dominates the amount of members, which is both a blessing and a curse.
>Go commit terrorism
No
>Doing anything actually useful is CIA, just post on leftypol about anime titties behind 4 vpns instead
Kill yourself
R: 81 / I: 48

@leftypol_org Twitter Page

Decided to make a thread for a place to post shit that the twitter page for /leftypol/ can pull from. They haven't posted anything since June, quite a while. Memes, videos (Has to be under 2 minutes and 20 seconds), informative shit, high effort green posts, funny greenposts. Overall anything that can be used to promote this place that hasn't already been posted. Am debating about making it a requirement for a watermark back to this place, but ehhh, seems kinda unfun. What do you guys think? Also if you have access to the twitter page, use a pfp that isn't saturated as fuck, the current ones blinds my eyes. Thanks.
R: 6 / I: 1

Whats happening in Atlanta

I have been trying to learn more about whats happening in Atlanta but their has been a total media blackout. Is it true that their are real demonstrations against pigs or is it just another fake story?
R: 33 / I: 5
What would happen if instead of the proletariat, the lumpenproletariat seized the means of production? Would it be akin to a proto-fascism/gangster state? Or just a failed state in general?
R: 15 / I: 2

Ukraine’s Postwar Reconstruction Has Big Business Licking Its Lips

>Ukraine is being sized up by neocolonial vultures from BlackRock to the EU for a carve-up after the war is over. On the menu is deregulation, privatization, and “tax efficiency” — measures that may have already begun.
>As unbelievable as it might sound, the invasion under which millions of Ukrainians are suffering right now will likely not be the end of their hardship. That’s because of the hand-rubbing that’s been happening the past few months over the potential business bonanza to be found in the country’s postwar reconstruction.
>In November last year, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky signed a memorandum of understanding with BlackRock that will see the firm’s Financial Markets Advisory (FMA) — a special consulting unit set up after the 2008 crash to work with crisis-stricken governments — advise Ukraine’s economic ministry on designing a road map for rebuilding the war-torn country. In BlackRock’s words, the agreement has the “goal of creating opportunities for both public and private investors to participate in the future reconstruction and recovery of the Ukrainian economy.”
>Ukrainian officials have been more blunt, with the ministry’s press release saying it would “primarily attract private capital.” The agreement formalizes a set of September 2022 talks between Zelensky and BlackRock chair and CEO Larry Fink, in which the president stressed that Ukraine must “be an attractive country for investors” and that it was “important to me that a structure like this be successful for all parties involved.” According to a release from the president’s office, BlackRock had already been advising the Ukrainian government “for several months” by the end of 2022. The two had agreed to focus on “coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants” in Ukrainian reconstruction, and “channeling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy.”
>The history of BlackRock FMA makes all of this particularly foreboding. According to an Investigate Europe dive into its activities in Europe, BlackRock is “an adviser to states on privatization” and “is very busy countering any attempt to increase regulation” in Europe. The firm used the 2008 financial crash — built on the risky mortgage securities Fink himself had pioneered — to increase its power and sway among political decision-makers, leaving a trail of conflicts of interest and revolving-door influence-peddling in its wake. In the United States, it’s been particularly controversial for running the Federal Reserve’s pandemic-era bond-buying program, nearly half of which ended up making purchases in BlackRock’s own funds.
>Ukraine is already opening up for investment. In December last year, as Kiev and BlackRock were months into their discussions, the Ukrainian parliament rammed through property developer–backed legislation that had stalled prior to the war, deregulating urban planning laws to the benefit of a private sector that has been hungrily eyeing the demolition of historic sites. It comes on top of parliament’s earlier assault on the country’s Soviet-era labor laws, legalizing zero-hour contracts, weakening the power of unions, and stripping labor protections from 70 percent of its workforce. That particular change was advised not by BlackRock, but the British foreign office under Boris Johnson, and pushed by Zelensky’s party, which charged that the “extreme over-regulation of employment contradicts the principles of market self-regulation” and “creates bureaucratic barriers . . . for the self-realization of employees.”
https://jacobin.com/2023/01/ukraine-postwar-reconstruction-western-capital-blackrock-neoliberalism
R: 18 / I: 5

The “say his/her/their name” phenomenon & raising awareness

One of the Angloid’s best-known & best-loved writers and linguistic contributors, William Shakespeare, once wrote in his play Romeo and Juliet, “what’s in a name?”

Frequently in Burgerstani discourse, we can see that whenever an innocent customer is poached by a murder pig there is an outcry for the general public to “say his/her/their name”. But is this just liberal nonsense?

These calls to action are in the name of ‘raising awareness’ and making sure the given tragedy (that is guaranteed to happen again under capitalism) never happens again. The liberal’s course of action is the direct opposite of action, however. We know that they can only sit back and speak. The only action they may perform only goes as far as the equivalent of waving their fist at a cloud.

The phrase “say her/his/their name” seems entirely Burgerstani in origin to me. Is it just another attempt to muddle discourse regarding solutions following the inevitable implosion of capitalism?
R: 40 / I: 4

66% of new wealth goes into the pockets of 1%

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2023/jan/16/oxfam-calls-for-new-taxes-on-super-rich-pocket-dollar-26tn-start-of-pandemic-davos
>the best-off had pocketed $26tn (£21tn) in new wealth up to the end of 2021. That represented 63% of the total new wealth, with the rest going to the remaining 99% of people.
>The report said that for every $1 of new global wealth earned by a person in the bottom 90% in the past two years, each billionaire gained roughly $1.7m.
Every dollar I make the boss is making 1.7 million!
>the combined fortune of billionaires had increased by $2.7bn a day
<Extreme poverty is increasing for the first time in 25 years and close to a billion people are going hungry but for billionaires, every day is a bonanza.
Dreaming of guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! guillotines!! Blood splattered against the fucking walls!!!!
R: 16 / I: 0

French Anarchism

Why does it seem like French anarchism has historically been way more extreme than anarchism elsewhere in the world?

French anarchism has been notorious for pushing the limits on every single societal convention. It's where you find a lot of emphasis on illegalism, nihilism, Stirnerite egoism, propaganda of the deed, utopianism, free love, Malthusianism (I'm not kidding; French anarchists started the birth control movement), and overall hatred and destruction of nearly everything. You don't see this kind of stuff (at least not to this particular level) in anarchist trends elsewhere. In fact, anarchism in most other regions/countries was highly moralistic.

My question is, what were the social factors which created this? From what I know, after the destruction of the Commune de Paris the French state began seriously ramping up repression against anyone on the far-left, meaning radical leftists had to put in all their work outside the political system. This is what lead to illegalism and eventually syndicalism and all that. But I want to know the complete story.
R: 9 / I: 1
A weird phenomenon that has taken hold of the internet is western young men who simp for countries who would gladly put them in an unmarked grave. They side with these countries because those countries pander to their identity politics. Russia is good because Russia hates fags, so I will support Russia no matter what. These types always grew up as cryptonazis, and funny enough most of them are too historically illiterate to know that Ukraine is the best jumping off point for their fantasized 4th Reich and that Ukrainians are indeed just as anti-LGBT and do not shed tears over communism dying like Russians do. These young men have been psyop'd and now work for free to promote things they do not understand and bash things that they have no reason to hate. They do not understand the centuries-long feuds and conflicts between different peoples, but since they do not have a people of their own to side with, they instead align themselves with people who have not yet looked upon them with disgust. If you approached a group of Russians and started praising Russia and talking about how much you hate faggots and love Putin, they would treat you like a deluded retard.
R: 483 / I: 151

/subcontinent/ general

India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan

https://nitter.net/cpimspeak
https://nitter.net/cpimlliberation
https://nitter.net/IMTPakistan
https://nitter.net/PMKPOfficial
https://nitter.net/cmprachanda
https://nitter.net/CPN_Nepal
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/N07-Critique-of-Brahmanism-2nd-Printing.pdf
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/N08-Operation-Green-Hunt.pdf
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/S18-Historic-Eight-Documents-3rd-Printing.pdf
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/S14-Urban-Perspective-7th-Printing.pdf
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/S05-Azad-Maoists-in-India-6th-Printing.pdf
https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/S02-Philosophical-Trends-in-the-Feminist-Movement-9th-Printing.pdf
https://www.marxists.org/archive/bhagat-singh/index.htm
R: 10 / I: 2
Marxism-Leninism, Social Anarchism, Democratic Socialism… which do you consider allies/comrades? Where do you draw that line?
R: 528 / I: 66

/cybersoc/ - Cybernetic socialism

This thread is for the discussion of cybersocialism, 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
https://www.patreon.com/williamCockshott/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVBfIU1_zO-P_R9keEGdDHQ (https://invidious.snopyta.org/channel/UCVBfIU1_zO-P_R9keEGdDHQ)
https://paulcockshott.wordpress.com/
http://paulcockshott.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/PaulCockshott (https://nitter.pussthecat.org/PaulCockshott)
>Cibcom (Spanish)
https://cibcom.org/
https://twitter.com/cibcomorg (https://nitter.pussthecat.org/cibcomorg)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCav9ad3TMuhiWV6yP5t2IpA (https://invidious.snopyta.org/channel/UCav9ad3TMuhiWV6yP5t2IpA)
>Tomas Härdin
https://www.haerdin.se/tag/cybernetics.html
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5fDgA_eHleDiTLC5qb5g8w (https://invidious.snopyta.org/channel/UC5fDgA_eHleDiTLC5qb5g8w)
>Victor Magariño
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJJwfW0R3Lv486AjwUWxIYw (https://invidious.snopyta.org/channel/UCJJwfW0R3Lv486AjwUWxIYw)
https://twitter.com/Victormagajr (https://nitter.pussthecat.org/Victormagajr)
https://www.patreon.com/victormagarino
>Elena Veduta
http://www.strategplan.com/en/about/veduta.php
Various videos on YouTube but no channel of her own
>Dave Zachariah
https://www.it.uu.se/katalog/davza513
One video on Paul Cockshott's channel

Podcasts
>General Intellect Unit
Podcast of the Cybernetic Marxists
http://generalintellectunit.net/

Previous threads in chronological order
https://archive.is/uNCEY
https://web.archive.org/web/20201218152831/https://bunkerchan.xyz/leftypol/res/997358.html
https://archive.ph/uyggp
>>1028529
R: 16 / I: 9

APOLOGIZE

APOLOGIZE TO THE SERBS RIGHT NOW

>Serbs have been the most compliant with the terms of the ceasefire.” Meanwhile, Izetbegovic was basing his negotiating position on “the popular image of the Bosnian Serbs as the bad guys.” Validating this illusion had a concomitant benefit – namely, precipitating NATO airstrikes on Serb areas. This was not lost on the peacekeepers:
>“Serious talks in Geneva will not occur as long as Izetbegovic believes that airstrikes will be flown against the Serbs. These airstrikes will greatly strengthen his position and likely make him less cooperative in negotiations.”
>Muslim fighters were “not giving peace talks a chance, just going hell for leather,” and very much willing and able to assist in Izetbegovic’s objective. Throughout the final months of 1993, they launched countless broadsides on Serb territory throughout Bosnia, in breach of the ceasefire.
<In December, when Serb forces launched a “major attack” of their own, a cable that month asserted that since early Summer, “most of the Serb activity has been defensive or in response to Muslim provocation.”
<Throughout the conflict, the Bosnian mujahideen worked ceaselessly to escalate the violence. Muslims from all over the world flooded into the country beginning in the latter half of 1992, waging jihad against the Croats and Serbs. Many had already gained experience on the Afghan battlefield through the 1980’s and early 90’s after arriving from CIA and MI6-infiltrated fundamentalist groups in Britain and the US. For them, Yugoslavia was the next recruitment ground.
<Estimates of the Bosnian mujahideen’s size vary vastly, but their pivotal contribution to the civil war seems clear. US Balkans negotiator Richard Holbrooke in 2001 declared that Bosniaks “wouldn’t have survived” without their help, and branded their role in the conflict a “pact with the devil” from which Sarajevo was yet to recover.
> In January 1994, one cable observed: “The Muslims are not above firing on their own people or UN areas and then claiming the Serbs are the guilty party in order to gain further Western sympathy. The Muslims often site their artillery extremely close to UN buildings and sensitive areas such as hospitals in the hope that Serb counter-bombardment fire will hit these sites under the gaze of the international media.”
<Another cable records how “Muslim troops masquerading as UN forces” had been spotted wearing UNPROFOR’s blue helmets and “a combination of Norwegian and British combat clothing,” driving vehicles painted white and marked UN. The peacekeepers’ Director General feared that if such connivance was to become “widespread” or “be used for infiltration of Croat lines,” it would “greatly increase the prospects for legitimate UN forces to be targeted by the Croats.”
>“We know that the Muslims have fired on their own civilians and the airfield in the past in order to gain media attention,” one concluded. A later memo observes, “Muslim forces outside of Sarajevo have, in the past, planted high explosives in their own positions and then detonated them under the gaze of the media, claiming Serb bombardment. This has then been used as a pretext for Muslim ‘counter-fire’ and attacks on the Serbs.”

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/12/30/declassified-intelligence-files-bosnian-war/
R: 92 / I: 21

Conservitive whips out dick in front of women to fight wokeness

A Conservative black man whipped out his dick in front of women and began pissing in a toilet stall with the stall door opened. He did this whist talking to the women and accidentally pissing on the floor. He did this to own "woke" people that support trans women in women's bathrooms.

Note right-wingers and some liberals are supporting this
R: 23 / I: 3

syngmun rhee schizo

syngmun rhee was a communist

Even as the relationship between Rhee and Korean communists deteriorated in post-liberation Korea, he continued to champion progressive social reforms. In February 1946 Rhee broadcasted a twenty-seven-point “national program” as chairman of the Representative Democratic Council of South Korea. The program included proposals to nationalize all heavy industries, mines, forests, public utilities, etc.; “to inaugurate state supervision of all commercial and industrial enterprises to insure fair treatment to consumers, traders, and producers alike”; to redistribute “all confiscated agricultural lands to small farmers in accordance with their capacity and ability to work them”; to break up “large private estates” and redistribute the land to small farmers; to control interest rates; to make the tax system, including inheritance taxes, more progressive; to implement unemployment and social security insurance; to promulgate minimum wage laws; and to establish “state control of medicine and to provide adequate public health facilities to the benefit of all workers.”[31] Many of these ideas would pass directly into the first constitution of the Republic of Korea. After reviewing the Korean constitution as it came into effect in July 1948, political scientist Paul Dull wrote that it “ostensibly makes the Korean Republic a socialistic state.” The question for Dull was what type of socialism future legislation would create.[32] The American Military Government’s own chief legal adviser, Czech émigré Charles Pergler, agreed stating that the document leaned “strongly towards state socialism” and seemed to draw inspiration from the Weimar constitution.[33]

Even as the relationship between Rhee and Korean communists deteriorated in post-liberation Korea, he continued to champion progressive social reforms. In February 1946 Rhee broadcasted a twenty-seven-point “national program” as chairman of the Representative Democratic Council of South Korea. The program included proposals to nationalize all heavy industries, mines, forests, public utilities, etc.; “to inaugurate state supervision of all commercial and industrial enterprises to insure fair treatment to consumers, traders, and producers alike”; to redistribute “all confiscated agricultural lands to small farmers in accordance with their capacity and ability to work them”; to break up “large private estates” and redistribute the land to small farmers; to control interest rates; to make the tax system, including inheritance taxes, more progressive; to implement unemployment and social security insurance; to promulgate minimum wage laws; and to establish “state control of medicine and to provide adequate public health facilities to the benefit of all workers.”[31] Many of these ideas would pass directly into the first constitution of the Republic of Korea. After reviewing the Korean constitution as it came into effect in July 1948, political scientist Paul Dull wrote that it “ostensibly makes the Korean Republic a socialistic state.” The question for Dull was what type of socialism future legislation would create.[32] The American Military Government’s own chief legal adviser, Czech émigré Charles Pergler, agreed stating that the document leaned “strongly towards state socialism” and seemed to draw inspiration from the Weimar constitution.[33]

Even as the relationship between Rhee and Korean communists deteriorated in post-liberation Korea, he continued to champion progressive social reforms. In February 1946 Rhee broadcasted a twenty-seven-point “national program” as chairman of the Representative Democratic Council of South Korea. The program included proposals to nationalize all heavy industries, mines, forests, public utilities, etc.; “to inaugurate state supervision of all commercial and industrial enterprises to insure fair treatment to consumers, traders, and producers alike”; to redistribute “all confiscated agricultural lands to small farmers in accordance with their capacity and ability to work them”; to break up “large private estates” and redistribute the land to small farmers; to control interest rates; to make the tax system, including inheritance taxes, more progressive; to implement unemployment and social security insurance; to promulgate minimum wage laws; and to establish “state control of medicine and to provide adequate public health facilities to the benefit of all workers.”[31] Many of these ideas would pass directly into the first constitution of the Republic of Korea. After reviewing the Korean constitution as it came into effect in July 1948, political scientist Paul Dull wrote that it “ostensibly makes the Korean Republic a socialistic state.” The question for Dull was what type of socialism future legislation would create.[32] The American Military Government’s own chief legal adviser, Czech émigré Charles Pergler, agreed stating that the document leaned “strongly towards state socialism” and seemed to draw inspiration from the Weimar constitution.[33]
R: 9 / I: 1

Southernism, Evangelicalism, and Conservatism

Southernism, Evangelicalism, and Conservatism in the US

Much attention has been given to how the “culture of honor” of the Southern US, has influenced US conservatism as the voting base of the Republican party overlaps quite a bit with the South.

>The "culture of honor" in the Southern United States is hypothesized by some social scientists to have its roots in the livelihoods of the early settlers who first inhabited the region. Unlike settlers with an agricultural heritage (mainly from the densely populated South East England and East Anglia) who settled in New England, the Southern United States was settled by herders from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England, and the West Country. Herds, unlike crops, are vulnerable to theft because they are mobile and there is little government wherewithal to enforce property rights of herd animals. The theory is that developing a reputation for violent retribution against those who stole herd animals was one way to discourage theft.

This culture of honor was also later accentuated by the endemic poverty of the region. From the end of the civil war up until the 1930s the south was essentially as poor as a third world nation, and even before then only the slave owning elites were truly comfortable, in contrast to the masses of poor white settlers, who were often illiterate and had to live on marginal lands unwanted by the slave-owning elite. Finally, there was the influence of evangelical christianity, and the religious revival movements of the 19th century, in particular the second great awakening, which added militant anti-intellectualism to the mix. The 19 century religious revival movements:

>Reflected Romanticism characterized by enthusiasm, emotion, and an appeal to the supernatural. It rejected the skepticism, deism, Unitarianism, and rationalism left over from the American Enlightenment

Denominations such as Baptists and Methodists in particular, used ‘circuit riders’ or itinerant preachers on horseback, who would travel from town to town, and even remote rural regions, to spread their religious message.

>On the American frontier, evangelical denominations, especially Methodists and Baptists, sent missionary preachers and exhorters to meet the people in the backcountry in an effort to support the growth of church membership and the formation of new congregations… The denominations that encouraged the revivals were based on an interpretation of man's spiritual equality before God, which led them to recruit members and preachers from a wide range of classes and all races. Baptists and Methodist revivals were successful in some parts of the Tidewater South, where an increasing number of common planters, plain folk, and slaves were converted.

<In his intellectual history of American evangelicalism, “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind”, historian Mark Noll laments, “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind” and that “modern American evangelicals have failed notably in sustaining serious intellectual life.” This failure is rooted in history, beginning with the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 40s. American Christianity was democratized as frontier revivals erupted outside traditional religious institutions, led by itinerant preachers whose authority derived from popular consent. American evangelicalism from then on assumed a unique emphasis on emotional piety and individual religious experience.

Partly as a result of this, many of the previously unchurched individuals, became congregants, and even preachers, in protestant churches. Unlike the northeastern puritan traditions which emphasized scholarship and education, many of the preachers were educated at universities such as Princeton and Harvard. In contrast many of the evangelical preachers were lay-preachers, blacksmiths or farmers who worked Monday through Saturday, and preached on Sundays. Often these preachers would be ignorant of theology or higher criticism of the bible as taught in mainline protestant theology, and would thus teach simplistic, literalist interpretations of the Bible. Often these preachers would be illiterate, and thus unable to read the bible altogether, and therefore would create odd practices not derived from the bible at all, many of which are the distinctive features of American protestantism today (ex: ‘Holy rollers’, ‘speaking in tongues’), as opposed to European liturgical denominations.

>Second, the “free market religious economy” that followed constitutional disestablishment of state churches favored the populist Methodists and Baptists whose clergy were drawn from among the people, over the Congregationalists and Episcopalians who required clergy to be educated. Third, evangelicalism became the moral common sense of the early republic and basis for a Protestant establishment that controlled the new nation’s education system… Experts were not needed to interpret the Bible; people are innately endowed with sufficient reason to read the scriptures and grasp their plain common-sense truths. Thus, the supports of public virtue were available to all.

>Holy Roller or Holy Jumper are terms originating in the 19th century and used to refer to some Protestant Christian churchgoers in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, such as Free Methodists and Wesleyan Methodists. The term describes dancing, shaking or other boisterous movements by church attendees who perceive themselves as being under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

>Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning, in some cases as part of religious practice in which some believe it to be a divine language unknown to the speaker. Glossolalia is practiced in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity.

>During the 20th century, glossolalia primarily became associated with Pentecostalism and the later charismatic movement. Preachers in the Holiness Movement preachers Charles Parham and William Seymour are credited as co-founders of the movement. Parham and Seymour taught that "baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues". It was Parham who formulated the doctrine of "initial evidence". After studying the Bible, Parham came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence that one had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

This southern and ‘western’ tradition of personal salvation (as opposed to predestination), emotionality, anti-intellectualism, and biblical literalism was in stark contrast to the northeastern calvinist traditions.

>In the newly settled frontier regions, the revival was implemented through camp meetings. These often provided the first encounter for some settlers with organized religion, and they were important as social venues. The camp meeting was a religious service of several days' length with preachers. Settlers in thinly populated areas gathered at the camp meeting for fellowship as well as worship. The sheer exhilaration of participating in a religious revival with crowds of hundreds and perhaps thousands of people inspired the dancing, shouting, and singing associated with these events. The revivals also followed an arc of great emotional power, with an emphasis on the individual's sins and need to turn to Christ, and a sense of restoring personal salvation. This differed from the Calvinists' belief in predestination as outlined in the Westminster Confession of Faith, which emphasized the inability of men to save themselves and decreed that the only way to be saved was by God's electing grace.

The second great awakening also overlapped with the emerging ‘Jacksonian Populism’ of the time which also tended to be pro-slavery, white supremacy and overlapped with the southern ‘states rights’ ideas. Jackson replaced the explicit dictatorship of propertied men with the rule of white men over 21 generally, thus transforming class categories into racial ones, in which white men had political power, and africans, natives, women, and others were merely the subjects of power.

>After a Second Great Awakening broke out in the early decades of the 19th century, three trends ensued… the second awakening adopted an Arminian theology that “whosoever will” may choose to accept Christ and be saved. In this way, the American people, who had recently taken their political destiny in hand[populism], could also control their religious destiny without recourse to institutional elites.

I say all this to say that the confluence of evangelical christianity, its attendant anti intellectualism and honor culture, all came together to produce a range of political artifacts, from pro slavery theology, to the modern conservatism of today. David French, a conservative evangelical himself, commented on this in his article “Where Does the South End and Christianity Begin?”,

>Yes, there’s a lot to say about this topic and the reasons that white Evangelicals are such outliers on a number of racial issues, including expressing less concern about racism and police brutality, and a heightened sensitivity to allegedly “woke” arguments about race. Simply put, if American Evangelicalism is disproportionately southern, then it’s more likely to carry the South’s racial baggage into broader American life. That is true, but it’s not my focus today.

<I’m going to talk about something that’s crucial to understanding race in the South but also transcends race. That “something” is southern shame/honor culture. And I submit that what we’re watching right now in much of our nation’s Christian politics is an explosion not of godly Christian passion, but rather of ancient southern shame/honor rage.

>It sometimes appears as if the bulk of the conservative media economy is built around finding and highlighting leftist insults, leftist disrespect, and leftist contempt. And yes, it exists, but there is a difference between highlighting a problem and marinating in grievance over the rejection of the left.

<This has old, old roots. In his book Desire, Violence, and Divinity in Modern Southern Fiction, Kent State professor Gary Ciuba writes that “honor meant that southerners beheld themselves as others beheld them,” and that meant that “their self-worth lived in the look of the other.”

>when we talk about American Evangelicalism in a secularizing world, we’re increasingly talking about southern Evangelicalism. American religious practice is clustering in the South.

>In the honor-shame culture of the South, allowing a perceived inferior to best or embarrass you was to experience more than personal insult. It was to witness a hole punched in the myth that undergirded antebellum and segregationist society. Maintenance of the myth was paramount: face had to be saved and respect salvaged through the use of violence and intimidation, or else one risked becoming the subject of societal violence in turn, as neighbors sought to reestablish the equilibrium, to save the myth.

<This approach represents a dramatic contrast with biblical commands to “turn the other cheek” or to “bless those who persecute.” Instead, the shame/honor imperative is to punch back, hard. Any other approach isn’t just weakness. It risks the well-being of the community.

>Online and in the streets, this intense, personalized anger and expression of group grievance are an increasingly prevalent form of Evangelical Christian expression. It’s so very important to understand that this is not new for the South. What is new, however, is the increasing dominance of Southern demographics and Southern culture within the whole of American Evangelicalism. It’s the population center. It’s the power center. And now it’s the cultural center.

In more Marxist terms, we can see that the slavery of the deep south inculcated social norms and a cultural-political hierarchical superstructure which was more similar to the societies of classical antiquity, or, during the segregation/sharecropping era, semi-feudal relations. This residual slave society and semi-feudal forms of consciousness, and their attendant cognitive baggage, continue to weigh like a nightmare on the brain of the living southern conservatives.

The anti intellectualism of modern evangelicalism also persists to this day:

>“Knowledge [does] what?” asked Pastor Lonnie, stepping to the side of his pulpit and cupping his hand to his ear to elicit a response from the audience. “Puffs up!” answered the 140 souls gathered for the Sunday morning service at Riverside Bible Church, a nondenominational and evangelical congregation located in a midsized city of the southwestern United States. Seated in my usual pew that morning, I was not surprised that Lonnie’s flock could so easily fill in the phrase taken from 1 Corinthians 8:1, “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (NIV). Though taken out of its context, the simple catchphrase “Knowledge puffs up” served Lonnie’s purpose, as will be seen, of devaluing the head to privilege the heart.

<When my fieldwork concluded, I had taken field notes on 213 sermons from Pastor Lonnie. In reviewing those notes, I was struck by how frequently he had, in fact, referenced the presumed dangers of intellectualizing biblical instructions and admonitions. Just as he related in our 2016 interview, Lonnie in his preaching had normalized a privileging of the emotional over the cerebral. In the parlance of American evangelicalism, he had raised ‘heart knowledge’ over ‘head knowledge’. The anti-intellectual strain of American evangelicalism has drawn journalistic and scholarly attention at least since the Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1925, the nation’s first nationally broadcast news event. In the aftermath of the trial—in which the American Civil Liberties Union defended a public schoolteacher prosecuted for teaching evolution—journalist H. L. Mencken excoriated religious fundamentalists as ‘homo neanderthalensis’… In the current century, numerous studies ponder why evangelicals spurn conventionally credentialed experts to embrace young-earth creationism over evolution, reject manmade climate change as a hoax, claim America is a Christian nation, portray Islam as a violent religion and practice a rhetoric that privileges values over facts.
R: 3 / I: 1

News 2/4/23

Sri Lanka marks independence anniversary amid economic woes
Many Buddhists and Christian clergy had announced a boycott of the celebration in the capital, while activists and others expressed anger at what they see as a waste of money in a time of severe economic crisis. A group of activists began a silent protest on Friday in the capital, condemning the government’s independence celebration and failure to ease the economic burden. University students also attempted a protest march later Saturday but police blocked them. Troops with assault rifles were stationed every few meters (yards) surrounding the site of the independence ceremony and riot police stood ready to prevent anti-government demonstrations.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sri-lanka-marks-independence-anniversary-amid-economic-woes-96891869

Opposition plans road marches at unions on February 11
Opposition alliances and parties on Saturday announced a road-march programme at the union level across the country on February 11 to press home their demands, including the resignation of the Awami League regime and restoration of the caretaker government system. They announced the fresh demonstration at their fourth simultaneous protest rallies as the opposition parties and alliances staged the rallies in the capital city of Dhaka and major cities across the country.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/193541/opposition-plans-road-marches-at-unions-on-february-11

BJP winning polls by perpetuating false consciousness similar to Nazi Germany, says Sitaram Yechury
The CPI(M) leader said the urgent task is to at least go back immediately to ensure what is laid down in the Constitution is preserved so that a future can be built. "The BJP has been winning elections by perpetuating this false consciousness which is similar to what happened in Nazi Germany where Hitler came to power through elections. This was largely achieved by destroying the ability of masses to think rationally," Yechury said.
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/bjp-winning-polls-by-perpetuating-false-consciousness-similar-to-nazi-germany-says-sitaram-yechury-1187904.html
https://archive.ph/RGx2J

Karnataka: Government Blinks, Huge win for Anganwadi Workers
The indefinite protest of Anganwadi workers in Bengaluru was wrapped up on February 1, when the state government provided written assurances on at least three demands. The state government has agreed to offer gratuity payments to all Anganwadi workers, fixed timings (10 AM to 1 PM) for pre-primary education, and promotions for workers and helpers in mini Anganwadi centres, including those who have only passed SSLC (10th standard).
https://www.newsclick.in/karnataka-government-blinks-huge-win-anganwadi-workers

Death toll rises as Chile reels from wildfires driven by heatwave
As of Friday, authorities were struggling to contain the many wildfires that had erupted, burning through more than 14,000 hectares (34,595 acres) of land across the country. The fires have been exacerbated by a nearly 13-year-long drought in the country, as well as a heat wave.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/4/death-toll-rises-as-chile-reels-from-wildfires-driven-by-heatwave
https://archive.ph/nEBcV

Peru: ANP Reports 153 Attacks Against Journalists During Protests
The National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) denounced that 153 attacks against journalists have been registered since December 7, when the national protests against the government of President-designate Dina Boluarte began following the dismissal of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Peru-ANP-Reports-153-Attacks-Against-Journalists-During-Protests-20230203-0014.html

Greece: Protest against the presence of USS George W. Bush in Piraeus
Thousands of protesters attended a militant rally organized by the local organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on Saturday in Piraeus, sending a resounding message against the presence of USS “George W. Bush” aircraft carrier in the country's largest port.
https://www.idcommunism.com/2023/02/greece-protest-against-presence-of-uss-george-bush-in-piraeus.html

Dutch ministry won’t appeal unlawful Afghan airstrike ruling
The Dutch government said Friday that it will not appeal a court ruling that Dutch forces unlawfully bombed a residential complex in Afghanistan in 2007, killing some 20 civilians, in a civil case brought by four survivors. The District Court of The Hague found in November that the late-night attack violated international humanitarian law. The court sided with four survivors of the attack who sued the Dutch state for compensation.
https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-politics-crime-taliban-netherlands-6aa6d5831b8115533718c1dba29ee7ee

West Bank: 13 Palestinians wounded in Israeli army raid on Jericho camp
At least 13 Palestinians were wounded on Saturday during an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp in Jericho, east of the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army stormed the Aqbat refugee camp and surrounded a house during an early morning arrest raid, resulting in a gunfire exchange between soldiers and residents, according to Palestinian state news agency Wafa. Israeli media, meanwhile, said that the army had fired an anti-tank guided missile at the camp.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-wounded-army-raid-jericho-camp-west-bank

Thousands rally for fifth week against Israeli govt reform plan
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in central Tel Aviv Saturday for the fifth consecutive week against controversial legal reforms touted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government. Crowds carrying blue and white Israeli flags braved the rain, swarming the city's central Kaplan Street, with signs labelling the new government a "threat to world peace". Another sign read "Save Israel's democracy from Netanyahu".
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/02/thousands-rally-fifth-week-against-israeli-govt-reform-plan

Sudan lawyers hold vigil to protest Omdurman ‘police brutality’
The assault on the lawyer took place during a trial session in the Ombadda Court, when the judge reportedly ordered a policeman to beat him. Lawyer Nahed Sultan told Radio Dabanga from the sit-in, that “this is a criminal offence that requires accountability”.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-lawyers-hold-vigil-to-protest-omdurman-police-brutality

Criminal syndicate within ANC benefited from defunct VBS Bank: Mapaila
‘We are quite certain as the communist party that we will find the real killers of our comrades and let them also reveal their masters like this investment in VBS what does the ANC benefit out of VBS the ANC doesn’t benefit but the criminal syndicate that hijacked the ANC benefit out of it so the VBS scandal is a major problem for us.”
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/criminal-syndicate-within-anc-benefited-from-defunct-vbs-bank-mapaila/
R: 0 / I: 0

Pic unrl

Thoughts on this group? Should can has into IWW?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Society
R: 86 / I: 18
The world cannot know peace until every priest, imam and rabbi is shot.

All religion is anticommunist. It's false consciousness, it's a hindrance to the unity and solidarity of the working class. Bronze age superstitions are incompatible with the principles of scientific socialism and the eternal science of Marxism-Leninism.
R: 50 / I: 2

Fuck Analytical Philosophy

Analytical philosophy is fucking stupid. There are people out there who have built careers on not believing in things. There's people who think there's no such thing as an electron. Sitting in fucking universities telling each other "Nobody has taken a picture of it." Now that physicists actually took pictures of it, some of them shut up. But there's some that still don't accept it. "It's a video, not a photo. It's moving." Fuck you, no shit it's moving.

Analytical philosophy found it's partners in math, with the probability goblins. The "infinite number of monkeys could reproduce the works of Shakespeare given infinite time, probability is non-zero!" idiots. No, they fucking couldn't and it's stupid to think so. Analytical philosophers are like "Is it an electron? Or is it a demon doing it all, hmmm?" First time I heard that argument I pondered the sheer stupidity of it all for a while.

I was tricked into those philosophy classes as part of my degree and never having taken contemporary philosophy classea before I didn't know better. Once I fucking did a little reading on my own, I realised philosophy doesn't have to be retarded. But by that point it was too late, so I just fucking finished the classes. So I got a glimpse into the world of analytical philosophy and how bizarre and completely useless it all is.Analytical philosophy is fucking stupid. There are people out there who have built careers on not believing in things. There's people who think there's no such thing as an electron. Sitting in fucking universities telling each other "Nobody has taken a picture of it." Now that physicists actually took pictures of it, some of them shut up. But there's some that still don't accept it. "It's a video, not a photo. It's moving." Fuck you, no shit it's moving.

Analytical philosophy found it's partners in math, with the probability goblins. The "infinite number of monkeys could reproduce the works of Shakespeare given infinite time, probability is non-zero!" idiots. No, they fucking couldn't and it's stupid to think so. Analytical philosophers are like "Is it an electron? Or is it a demon doing it all, hmmm?" First time I heard that argument I pondered the sheer stupidity of it all for a while.

I was tricked into those philosophy classes as part of my degree and never having taken contemporary philosophy classea before I didn't know better. Once I fucking did a little reading on my own, I realised philosophy doesn't have to be retarded. But by that point it was too late, so I just fucking finished the classes. I got a glimpse into the world of analytical philosophy and how bizarre and completely useless it all is.

"Anti-Realists" they call themselves. And people who believe things exist are called Realists. These people are engaged in a holy battle of such proportions it can only be compared to the Sunni - Shia split. They write treatises and respond to one another's argument. Sitting in their university halls, they sit and come up with little gotcha arguments. As soon as they come up with one they quickly go and write a paper and publish it in one of the academic journals that exist only to publish such idiocy.

The funny thing is, their argument literally doesn't matter. The argument isn't over a course of action, it's about how we should think about something. "Ooooh, they're not particles, there're probability curves!" You just want to slap them.

Bas van Fraasen, what a fucking tool.
R: 102 / I: 26

French Thread: Édition Totalitaire et Fière

"Tout est permis, mais rien n'est possible."

Pour tous ceux qui désirent la théorie d'un Clouscard et la passion d'un Marchais mais se heurtent au desert le plus hallucinant du moment politique présent.
R: 3 / I: 1

Chinese Spy Balloon -- sizzle or fizzle?

>U.S. officials say a massive surveillance balloon believed to be from China and first seen above Montana is being tracked as it flies over the continental United States.

>"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is flying over the continental United States right now," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement on Thursday. "NORAD [North American Aerospace Defense Command] continues to track and monitor it closely."

>China's foreign ministry has claimed it is a civilian balloon used for meteorological purposes, but U.S. politicians, many on the right, are already demanding President Joe Biden shoot it down.

Is this it boyos? Has the great satan finally decided to an outright attack against the people's republic?
R: 124 / I: 61

The Black Book of capitalism Beta edition

After three months of labor, I present you the current state of the translation project of the french Black Book of Capitalism from 1998.

The raw traduction is completed, the work is in the process of being proofread to enhance the general english level. So far two benevolent English speakers manifested their interest in this endeavour, one of them already corrected the Foreword and Introduction.

Gitea of the Black Book of Communism: https://git.leftypol.org/latexanon/bboc
If you download the whole deposit and run it trough a Tex editor, a whole book appears! Credits to LaTex Anon for this magic

This thread will be used as a hub to update the progressively the book with the proofreader's input, but also to sketch the specification of an enhanced edition of the BBOC, as well as gathering material in this regard, because after a few more decades of neoliberalism, some updates would be welcome. Furthermore as some people remarked, the book is far from exhaustive.
R: 43 / I: 11

Can someone explain what he meant by this?

>Get down to business, all of you! You will have capitalists beside you, including foreign capitalists, concessionaires and leaseholders. They will squeeze profits out of you amounting to hundreds per cent; they will enrich themselves, operating alongside of you. Let them. Meanwhile you will learn from them the business of running the economy, and only when you do that will you be able to build up a communist republic. Since we must necessarily learn quickly, any slackness in this respect is a serious crime. And we must undergo this training, this severe, stern and sometimes even cruel training, because we have no other way out.
R: 14 / I: 3

Create an ideal alternate history for Marxism

It has to be very realistic
You can only change events that could have reasonably gone the other way.
Changing said event may stop other things you percieve as good from happening.
e.g. Khruschevite coup fails (which is pushing the boundaries of realism) this would lead to Mao Zedong not coming up with ideas like cultrual revoltuion and setting the foundations for Maoism.
So in my ideal alternate history I will have to look for things that if changed would not impact the development of MLM or anything else that is good.
R: 8 / I: 0

European Colonialism

>Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies[4] and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their religion, language, economics, and other cultural practices. The foreign administrators rule the territory in pursuit of their interests, seeking to benefit from the colonised region's people and resources.[6] It is associated with but distinct from imperialism. Though colonialism has existed since ancient times, the concept is most strongly associated with the European colonial period starting with the 15th century when some European states established colonising empires.

What was the materialist explanation for COLONIALISM? why did white europeans conquer the planet and develop an ideology of white supremacism to justify it?
R: 6 / I: 3
Here and there I see idpol get thrown around and it's clear that people aren't talking about the same concept and I think this confusion is based off the name.

Here is the definition I found on the leftypol wiki:
https://wiki.leftypol.org/wiki/Identity_Politics
and a old(est) definition from 2020:
https://wiki.leftypol.org/index.php?title=Identity_politics&oldid=1531

With this article it makes sense of the name.
Idpol; a movement that seeks to liberate others through observing the struggles of subjective identities rather than something more concrete like beliefs or a definitive products of the system like class.

Alternative (and how I like to think of it) definition: a movement that is around dealing with the unique oppression of a group or few so that it can be equal to some other group in society without truly grasping the creation of that unique oppression and the general oppression that group faces.

An example of this is liberal feminists. They see something like the wage gap, oppressive gender roles, and etc. – and seek to end it but without the larger goal of ending private property which created and perpetrated these oppression. This limitation thus handicaps the movement and stops true women liberation.

Even further on this example: it's unsurprising that liberal feminists become terfs. They only focus on the oppression of women and see capitalism as a system that can still work, it's just they need to remove that unique oppression.
So when these liberals see the oppression trans people go through, they are alienated from their struggle since to them that trans oppression is entirely unique from them, and that alienation allows anti-trans rhetoric to enter their mind without realizing that supporting that oppression is to support that system that is doing that unique oppression towards you.

All I said makes sense, but every time I hear "idpol" the liberal in my wall goes: "isn't class an identity?".
Which then I'd have to explain to them that even if class was an identity on a technicality, the problem is not focusing on the root cause that is responsible for both the oppression of all (proletariat) identities, but also the unique oppress ions those identities deal with.
To put that clarification simply: the problem is trying to approach equality/liberation in an individualist approach rather that a truly collective approach.

Instead of having this loaded term "identity politics" or "idpol", why don't we call it individualist politics? Or maybe liberal (analysis of) identity politics? That one we can call Lidpol for short. Or whatever name in which someone more creative than me can think of.

I know some of you are thinking: "why don't we just get people to just read the wiki?", which is a great point. But we should still try to be as pithy, especially of explaining to people who don't use this site.
I don't see why you should spend time explaining your usage of a word that you use to identify a concept that you both probably already agree instead of airing confusion.
R: 182 / I: 15

Communism and Porn

Seen quite a few Mangaka sharing this around regarding the Japanese Communist Party adopting a severe policy on just straight up banning all porn.

What's the general consensus regarding communism and porn?
R: 7 / I: 1

News 2/3/23

Rail strikes could last until 2026, union chief warns
NATIONAL rail strikes over pay, jobs and working conditions could go on for years, train drivers’ union Aslef warned today as its members returned to picket lines. General secretary Mick Whelan stressed that his members have not had a wage rise since 2019, adding: “What option do we have — do we wait five, six, seven years?”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/s/rail-strikes-could-last-until-2026-union-chief-warns

Jailed leader of Greek far-right party faces election ban
Ilias Kasidiaris, 42, founded the Greek National Party two years ago. He is currently serving a sentence of 13 years and six months in prison for membership in a criminal organization as a former leading member of Golden Dawn, a political party of neo-Nazi origins linked to multiple violent street attacks. Parliament on Friday published a proposed legal amendment that would disqualify Kasidiaris’ party from election participation on the grounds that its leader has been convicted of serious offences and that the party wouldn't “serve the free functioning of (Greece’s) democratic constitution.”
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/jailed-leader-greek-party-faces-election-ban-96870826

ELN Guerrillas Killed In Colombian Military Offensive: Army
Since then, the army has killed 10 suspected ELN members, including the nine of last Friday, and captured 21, according to Giraldo, who vowed "these operations will continue." The two sides are to meet anew in Mexico next month for a fresh round of negotiations. Petro, who took office last August, has vowed to bring "total peace" to Colombia, including by offering armed groups benevolent treatment in exchange for downing arms.
https://www.barrons.com/news/eln-guerrillas-killed-in-colombian-military-offensive-army-01675117210
https://archive.ph/Y1pLO

Ecuador: Social-Indigenous Groups Call for a “No” Vote Feb. 5
"It is ratified: the eight questions established in President Lasso's consultation do not solve the most heartfelt problems," said CONAIE president Leonidas Iza. Iza said the solution lies in the 218 agreements reached last October with the government after the demonstrations carried out by indigenous organizations and popular sectors over 18 days.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuador-Social-Indigenous-Groups-Call-for-a-No-Vote-Feb.-5-20230202-0016.html

Brazil's finance ministry to back minimum wage increase starting in May -sources
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the discussions are private, said a review of government spending, including curbing fraud in the Bolsa Familia welfare program, would pave the way for the new increase to be granted. "The minimum wage is easier to accommodate. If you are going to give an increase in May to reach 1,320 reais ($257), which would be everyone's wish, it would be more or less 5 billion reais," said one of the sources.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-finance-ministry-back-minimum-wage-increase-starting-may-sources-2023-02-03/

Military places restive areas of Myanmar under martial law
State-run MRTV television broadcast an announcement by Aung Lin Dwe, secretary of the military’s State Administration Council, imposing martial law in 37 townships across eight of the country’s 14 regions and states. Eleven of the townships are in Sagaing region and seven in Chin state, areas in the northwest where fighting has been fiercest between the army and guerrillas belonging to pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces and their allies in ethnic minority militias.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-yangon-myanmar-government-violence-be175d212bcc158c14911bb948387a09

Protests against eviction drive continue in Jammu
Members of Jammu Kashmir Kissan Tehreek, led by senior leader of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, staged a similar protest in Kathua. Tarigami said that the land in question is under the occupation of people for generations and there is no justification in the eviction drive which is just to harass the public and deviate their attention from the real issues. He said, “They have taken away our constitutional rights, our statehood and are now bent upon to take away our land”. He urged the people of Kashmir to come together against the anti-people policies of the BJP-led Indian government to safeguard their land and jobs as well as the future of the coming generations.
https://www.kmsnews.org/kms/2023/02/03/protests-against-eviction-drive-continue-in-jammu.html

HPG publishes balance sheet of war for January: 31 soldiers killed
HPG Press Center stated that the fight continues at all times of the year, even in winter. The Turkish army, it said, is in a hopeless situation in the face of guerrilla resistance and has been unable to break through it even by expanding attacks and using the latest NATO technology. Nor did the Turkish state succeed in disguising its defeat through false reports and fabricated declarations of victory.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/hpg-publishes-balance-sheet-of-war-for-january-31-soldiers-killed-65269

Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said, in what the army described as an "attack" by an unarmed "suspect" on a military outpost. Abdullah Sami Qalalweh, 26 was killed by "Israeli occupation bullets near the town of Huwara, south of Nablus", the Palestinian ministry said in a statement.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/02/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-west-bank

South African rugby union withdraws invitation to Israeli team after calls for boycott
Following the invitation of the team, groups such as the South African BDS Coalition - an affiliate of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions global movement - were outraged and called SARU to disinvite the “apartheid” team. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS works for "freedom, justice and equality for Palestinians" and pressures "Israel to comply with international law".
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/south-african-rugby-union-withdraws-invitation-israeli-team-boycott

Unions call for Eswatini embassy and consulate to leave SA
Organisations representing Eswatini nationals picketed outside the offices of Consulate of Eswatini in Johannesburg on Friday, demanding the Eswatini government leave SA unless there is democracy in the neighbouring country. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), SA Communist Party (SACP) and organisations representing Eswatini nationals picketed outside the offices of the consulate in Johannesburg on Friday.
https://www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/2023-02-03-unions-call-for-eswatini-embassy-and-consulate-to-leave-sa/

Kenyan police handed heavy sentences for rights lawyer's murder
A Kenyan court sentenced three police officers and their civilian informant to decades in prison on Friday for the 2016 murder of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani and two others. The case triggered outrage in Kenya, where police face frequent allegations of brutality and extrajudicial killings but are almost never charged. ..
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenyan-policemen-handed-heavy-sentences-killing-human-rights-lawyer-2023-02-03/
R: 16 / I: 3 (sage)

I hate men

I am a man not a woman and it has reached the point where I hate men.
TLDR.
I am bombarded with rightwing autism on a daily basis e.g. pic related "Wealth Motivation…Become Islam"
No men in my life are left wing they are all rightwing schizophrenic anti communist assholes that value individualism over everything else.
R: 3 / I: 1

Let's discuss the set relations of political ideologies

Communism ⊆ Anarchism

Anarcho-communism is a misnomer, not a bad one, but if taken literally the term is redundant. The variation is not that it is anarchist, rather that it is more immediate hence limiting its viability in many situations.

Why do you agree or disagree with the above statements?
What misconceptions do you often see regarding ideological sets?
R: 0 / I: 0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzIJ25ob1aA
NED was founded by "neo-trotskyists"
19:29
Carl Gershman was a member of YPSL and then Socialist Party USA. Then he does this cringe shit
Acting as YPSL's Vice Chairman at its 1972 December Conference, he wrote a thirteen-page, singly spaced, international-affairs document which called for the Cuba's Castro regime to stop funding guerrilla movements and also for its "loosening the bonds" of repression; it was approved and an alternative document calling for the United States to recognize Cuba's government was defeated.[8] YPSL criticized the "New Politics" led by George McGovern,[9] which had lost 49 of 50 states to Richard Nixon in the 1972 election.

At the Socialist Party USA Convention in December 1972, he introduced the international program, which was approved by a two to one vote; the losing alternative, proposed by Michael Harrington, called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam, while the majority resolution called for a negotiated peace settlement.[10][11] At this convention, the Socialist Party changed its name to Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) by a vote of 73 to 34.[12] Harrington resigned from SDUSA and founded the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) in 1973. In 1975, Gershman published a monograph on the foreign policy of the American labor movement.[2][13]

Then he co-founds National Endowment for Democracy, which does regime operations the world-over by astroturfing oppositions, funding coups, funding propaganda, making actual fake news, inventing fake "defectors" from the DPRK, etc, etc.

What the FUCK is this asshole's problem?
R: 28 / I: 4
Is this an accurate depiction of a new general split in the left or a opportunist attempt to push a point of view by associating it with other "good" stances?




https://anticapitalistresistance.org/a-new-left-is-forming-it-just-isnt-in-the-same-party-yet/
R: 19 / I: 5
What does /leftypol/ think about surrogacies?
R: 500 / I: 70

Covid-19

Welp edition
Live Updates: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Global Tracker: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
The mod team asks you to please limit all covid discourse outside the mainstream media (vaccine skepticism, mask non-compliance, etc..) to this thread
R: 43 / I: 7
In the USA: Shorter prison sentences with organ donation

According to the legislative initiative, prisoners could shorten their sentences by donating their organs. In the United States, prisoners in Massachusetts may soon be able to shorten their prison sentences by donating their organs or bone marrow, if a legislative initiative in the state passes.

Behind the bill are Carlos Gonzalez and Judith Garcia, who represent the Democratic Party in the state Congress.

The purpose of the law is to start an organ donation program in state prisons. The program would offer prisoners the opportunity to shorten their prison sentence by at least two months, but at most by a year. The program would be overseen by a five-member committee whose task would be to decide on eligibility requirements and how much of the sentence could be cut with donated organs or bone marrow.

According to Judith Garcia, another initiator of the bill, the law would restore to prisoners their "bodily autonomy" by giving them the opportunity to donate organs and bone marrow.

According to him, the decision to extradite prisoners would be taken into account by shortening prison sentences.

However, not everyone is convinced that the law works. Many fear that in the name of the program, prisoners in a vulnerable position would be "preyed" and would donate their organs in order to shorten their sentences.

Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts further points out that black and brown people are unfairly disadvantaged in many ways. Although they are not as easily accepted as recipients of donated organs as whites, the service does not believe this law will solve this "serious problem".

It sees numerous ethical dilemmas in the program.

- We are concerned about the possibility that prisoners will be forced (to donate organs), as well as the impact of insufficient healthcare in prisons, says Jesse White, who heads the service.
R: 6 / I: 1

Books on cuban socialism?

What are some good books on Cuban socialism, the history of cuba, and its politics. From what I heard it's one of the last few actually socialist countries, and that it has better healthcare and education than the US.

Not just books actually, but whatever reliable source of information. But also books
R: 10 / I: 0
How much of this wider global anti-vax and anti-mask movement was (and is) just a symptom of people living in hellworld of which objectifies them and makes them feel objectified and powerless and how much was actual tin foiling about government poisoning everybody on purpose? All the actual narratives and analysis about the situations and plans to fix it like Marxism are so poisoned and unfathomable to most peoples minds because of decades of propaganda and decimation and corruption of leftist parties, unions, orgs and narratives or any real resistance. When the the powers that be say that they must wear a wear a mask and take a vaccine, they grasp to the chance to say NO because they perceive it as a chance of sticking it to the man because it at least gives them a feeling of fighting back of the machine they do not understand. The conspiracy claims and pseudoscience was just justifying to themselves that the action they took was actually meaningful act of resistance, when it actually wasn't or at least not very.

Doesn't this cover vast amounts of rightoid ""praxis"" anyway. Just be so narrative controlled and intellectually boxed in that the built up rage spills to every which way they can take a contrarian position as long as it isn't against the deep-indoctrination that they have? Then they keep chasing shadows because they have either by experience of betrayal by the left or by propaganda that there is no trusting anybody who promises improvement to their condition with some grand narrative, but they still want that change deep down, so if something makes the everybody else and the powers at be seethe they must be on a right track.
R: 10 / I: 0

What doesn leftypol think of Stalin's post-war rapprochement with the Orthodox Church?

In general, bringing back the Othodox church after everything that was done do it during and after the revolution might seem like a strange choice. What was the reason for Stalin and his successors u-turning on the issue of religion? Was it simply practicality/realpolitik, or was there a greater, more ideological reasoning for it?
R: 23 / I: 4

From Democracy to Socialism

Has any democratic state ever preceded a socialist state?

-in this context, we're including any 'representative democracy', regardless if you consider it to be truly a democracy
-a socialist state will be any state where socialists effectively had control, regardless of how long or whether they achieved any form of socialism

While substantial anarchist/socialist territories such as Municipios Autónomos Rebeldes Zapatistas are generally not considered sovereign states, it's fine to discuss them here.
R: 36 / I: 6

US cops are fucking shit and as their healthcare

>be some random civilian
>gets shot by the cops for no fucking reason
>gets sent to the hospital
>Umm sir this will cost 34857435823823 dollars
>cant afford healthcare because piggies control the government
fuck you porky cunts and your police crew
R: 98 / I: 11 (sage)

Class reductionists win again

In that "anti-trans bills passed" thread yesterday i saw some very interesting comments, the thread's been deleted now but some that stood out to me were along the lines of
"communism was the most successful in the USA in the 60s when communists were helping blacks and gays be liberated"
and
"we can use the trans movement to advance our own interests"

In regards to the first comment i have to ask, successful at what? Once American gays and blacks were given equal rights they immediately dropped any communist pretences and were rapidly integrated into the capitalist state, communist interests weren't advanced at all, which was also pointed out within the thread itself.

This leads into the second comment, the idea that by supporting transexuals we can advance our own communist interests. Given the history of communist movements propping up western minority movements only for those same minorities to dump communism like a brick once they get what they want, you kind of have to ask, who is using who exactly?

From my perspective it doesn't look like communists are using minorities to advance their interests, it looks like the exact opposite, that minorities are using communists to advance their own interests then immediately turning on the communists when they're no longer needed.
R: 52 / I: 3

Right wing podcasts

Why are right wing and conservative podcasts so popular on youtube and other social media? its like I cant swing a dead cat without seeing some rando channel I've never heard of that has millions of subscribers and hundreds of thousands of views.
R: 6 / I: 2

on christian "hypocrisy"

People often say "Jesus fed the hungry, so why don't Christians support welfare?" On a surface level this seems like a good point, but it's really too simplistic of a reading. Jesus is not meant to be taken as an example to follow. He is a messianic figure, and people are meant to put their hopes and trust in him (usually through a church as a proxy) rather than doing the things he did. This is not so much stated outright as something you can get from context clues.

First of all, while Christians claim to be a religion of peace and love, their portrayal of Jesus' acts of forgiveness contradicts this. Jesus goes around healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and saying "hey maybe we shouldn't stone people to death?" All of his behavior is characterized as super-human in his compassion - as if no regular (real) person would or could think to do these kinds of things. Jesus is regarded almost like a fucking alien in these stories for what often amounts to basic decency. And critically, most of these acts require him to use physical super powers as well. Jesus is able to feed a crowd of people on loaves and fishes because his god powers let him duplicate matter. It's not EXPLICIT, but the point of this story is to tell you that feeding the hungry isn't something you should think you are capable of. And when you actually press Christians about these kinds of things they often will make the point explicit: God decides these things, and it's not for us to play God!

The point of these stories is NOT to encourage some kind of radical mutual aid but rather the exact opposite - to teach Christians they must rely on some savior external to and above themselves as lowly mortals. All claims of "Jesus was a socialist" and such are based on the assumption of a secular reading of these stories, which is the opposite of how Christians understand them. They constantly bombard themselves with the narrative that they are lowly sinners who CAN'T rise to the level of Christ's compassion despite their best efforts. And it should be restated for emphasis here: Christ's "superhuman" level of compassion is "hey maybe don't execute people for minor offenses and uh… feed hungry people?" This is portrayed by Christianity as an UNATTAINABLE standard, so far above real human capabilities that we can only reproduce a tiny fraction of it (and should feel guilt and shame for that).

Christianity is fundamentally opposed to solving social issues. It's not just the prots or the prosperity gospel or Republican Jesus. It's fundamental to what the religion is about. People who believe Jesus was a socialist or that liberation theology is a good idea have gotten high huffing their own farts - Christians IRL do not know about let alone care about some academic's oppositional reading of the Gospels that reinterpret Christ as Che Guevara. Indeed, the ideological seeds of most anti-socialist and even anti-liberal sentiment in the west (and places it colonized) can be found in this cuck religion.
R: 42 / I: 9

Was the Cultural Revolution a good thing?

I see lots of marxists from very different sects having conflicting views about it. Was it a positive for communism in China? Should it be replicated elsewhere?
R: 62 / I: 8

The Current Condition of the Western Prolateriat

We need somewhat of a understand of what exactly has stayed the same and changed within the western proletariat within the time that marx and engels were writing to now.

Have we maintained our intrinsic solidarity from working in the same factories? the American condition would suggest not.

How do we analyze the increased willingness to riot increasing moreso in one group of western prole over an other? e.g. French more willing to riot than british more willing to riot than american, etc, the distribution of strikes.

We accept material conditions to be important beyond all else in terms of the flow of history and foresight, then what are our western prolateriats that we desire to vanguard in terms of their particular attributes?

This an important question that we must consider as an important part of marxist theory, in terms of where does our practice begin
R: 21 / I: 0

Fixed territorial administration for the Soviet Union

This would've prevented the disintegration of the country. Federations (particularly, federations trying to split the country apart based on ethnic and/or cultural grounds) are dumb as shit, they only exacerbate the problem they are trying to fix. When I look at the map of federations around the world, I see at least half of them collapsing in the future, or being at risk of collapsing.

This thread is primarily focused on the USSR but it's against self-determination in general, which is probably the most atrocious and harmful concepts devised by Marxists. Self-determination also technically does not exist, what exists is co-determination. The Albanian Kosovars didn't self-determine themselves to be a sovereign state, they were co-determined by the US.

Basically the Chinese got it right. Their model is the only one sustainable for multicultural societies (especially societies that had antagonistic relations between each culture/nation in the past). Now I'm not putting all the blame on the Bolsheviks, they were literally building something from scratch, experimenting with something new that had never happened before in history, but for the communists of the near-future, now you know to not make the same mistake.
R: 43 / I: 6

Are Marxist-Leninists the new left-communists?

Hear me out. The Soviet Union classified two different kinds of socialist republics: the soviet socialist republic, and the people's republics of East Asia and Eastern Europe. The difference was, from what I understand, that the leading party in the PR's were People's or Unified Fronts, while the SSR had the Communist Party.

But then the Soviet Union fell due to many factors one of which was this stalling bureaucracy that arose in the CP as Trotsky correctly points out.

But then also, the same thing plagued the PR's except for the East Asian ones… what was the difference?

Both China and Vietnam have shown that a transition towards a market economy was the correct move. This probably was in partial due to the fact that after the catastrophic Cultural Revolution and Gang of Four's rule, Xiaoping correctly noticed that the lack of capitalists is not giving the proper base for developing socialism. Having said at one of his speeches in 1992:

"Get down to business, all of you! You will have capitalists beside you, including foreign capitalists, concessionaires and leaseholders. They will squeeze profits out of you amounting to hundreds per cent; they will enrich themselves, operating alongside of you. Let them. Meanwhile you will learn from them the business of running the economy, and only when you do that will you be able to build up a communist republic. Since we must necessarily learn quickly, any slackness in this respect is a serious crime. And we must undergo this training, this severe, stern and sometimes even cruel training, because we have no other way out."

They allowed capitalists in the United Front because they needed them. They realize that capitalism must be overcome (Aufheben) and not destroyed like the Soviets tried.

So therefore, if the newest and now historically proven correct path is the Marxist-Leninist-Deng Xiaoping Theory, why are there still so-called Marxist-Leninists praising the Soviet model around? It is complete naivety and frankly sabotage.
R: 36 / I: 3

Soo are we not going to talk about how Germany just fucking anschlussed the Netherlands?



>Dutch Army to Merge Land Combat Units With Germany This Year

>The Netherlands is getting ready to integrate the rest of its combat brigades into the German Army as the two allies join military forces amid increased security threats in the region after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.   

>The two allies are now working on integrating the Netherlands’s 13th Light Brigade into the German Army’s 10th Panzer Division, Major Mark van de Beek, a spokesperson for the Royal Netherlands Army, told Bloomberg via phone on Wednesday. The Dutch land force has three combat brigades and two of them are already integrated into the German military.

>The merger of the last remaining 3,000-soldier brigade may come as early as April but the Dutch government has yet to make its final decision, said Van de Beek. The Dutch cabinet is “investigating” the possible integration, Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a September letter to the parliament. 

>The plan will result in a joint force of around 50,000 military personnel, with roughly 8,000 soldiers coming from the Netherlands, according to Dutch newspaper NRC. The integration plans don’t include the Korps Commandotroepen, the special forces unit of the Dutch Army. 


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-01/dutch-army-to-merge-land-combat-units-with-germany-this-year?srnd=politics-vp
R: 21 / I: 6
If you had to choose, would you pick the og German nazbols of the 1930s or the Russian nazbols of the 1990s? Do you believe one was more commited to socialism than the other?
R: 8 / I: 1

News 2/2/23

Brazil senator says he attended election conspiracy meeting with Bolsonaro
Senator Marcos do Val told a news conference that he had been invited to a meeting on Dec. 9 with then-President Bolsonaro by his associate, former lawmaker Daniel Silveira. At the meeting, Silveira asked the senator to try to get the head of the electoral court to make compromising comments in a taped conversation that could lead to the judge's arrest, Val said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazilian-senator-says-ex-president-bolsonaro-tried-coerce-him-into-staging-coup-2023-02-02/

Rodrigo Pacheco, Reelected President of the Brazilian Senate
The Senate president condemned the invasion of the Three Powers buildings by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro. In this sense, Pacheco said, "it is necessary to eradicate the toxic polarization of our country." "Events such as those in this National Congress and the Three Powers Plaza on January 8, 2023, cannot and will not be repeated," said Pacheco.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rodrigo-Pacheco-Reelected-President-of-the-Brazilian-Senate-20230201-0025.html

Peru’s legislature shoots down proposal to fast-track elections
Peru’s Congress has rejected a proposal to move elections forward to December 2023, despite nearly two months of protests that have left dozens dead following the removal of former President Pedro Castillo. Legislators will continue debating a different proposal to hold early elections, a key demand of the protesters. The first proposal – one of several motions – was rejected by 68 legislators and voted for by 54, with two abstentions.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/1/perus-legislature-shoots-down-proposal-to-fast-track-elections
https://archive.ph/4F44m

Brazil Set to Sink 'Toxic' Aircraft Carrier at Sea Despite Environmental Concerns
The NAe São Paulo (A-12), an 870-foot Clemenceau-class carrier first commissioned by the French navy in 1963 as the Foch, will be sunk using explosives about 217 miles off Brazil's coast in the country's exclusive economic zone at a depth of around 16,000 feet, Brazilian Environmental Minister Marina Silva said after a federal judge denied a government request to stop the sinking on environmental grounds.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/brazil-aircraft-carrier

US secures deal on Philippines bases to complete arc around China
The US already had limited access to five sites under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) - the new additions and expanded access, according to a statement from Washington, will "allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges", likely a veiled reference to countering China in the region.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64479712

CPP Demands Immediate Release Of Retired NDFP Consultants Arrested By PNP
We condemn the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the unlawful and baseless arrest of retired NDFP consultant, Ruben Abenir Saluta, 75 years old, literary writer and newspaperman, together with wife Presentacion Saluta and a female companion identified as Yvonne Losaria, last night in Doña Soledad, Barangay Labangal, General Santos City.
https://www.redspark.nu/en/peoples-war/cpp-demands-immediate-release-of-retired-ndfp-consultants-arrested-by-pnp/

Exclusive: Indonesia to send general to Myanmar to highlight transition, president says
Indonesia plans to send a top general to Myanmar to talk to its junta leaders in the hope of showing Myanmar's military rulers how Indonesia made a successful transition to democracy, President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday. … "This is a matter of approach. We have the experience, here in Indonesia, the situation was the same," the president, who is widely known as Jokowi, told Reuters in an interview in his offices in Jakarta.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesia-send-general-myanmar-highlight-transition-president-says-2023-02-01/

Sri Lankan student activist Wasantha Mudalige released from prison
After over five months in prison, Sri Lankan student activist Wasantha Mudalige is free. A day after he was cleared of all terrorism charges under the Prevention to Terrorism Act (PTA) by a magistrate’s court in national capital Colombo, Mudalige was also granted bail in the three remaining cases against him on Wednesday, February 1.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/02/sri-lankan-student-activist-wasantha-mudalige-released-from-prison/

Sudan to ‘move forward’ with Israel on normalising relations
Sudan said it agreed to “move forward” towards normalising relations with Israel during talks with visiting Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Khartoum. The trip to Khartoum on Thursday was part of an exchange of visits between Sudan and Israel. They include discussions on reaching and signing a normalisation agreement as well as military and security issues.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/2/israeli-fm-heads-delegation-to-discuss-sudan-normalisation
https://archive.ph/39efe

Iranian press review: MPs move to criminalise 'unknowledgeable remarks'
A group of 24 Iranian conservative lawmakers has submitted a draft law to parliament that would criminalise "expressing irrelevant and unknowledgeable remarks by celebrities and famous people", local media reported. The draft law suggested a third-degree punishment for what it labelled "unknowledgeable remarks". Meanwhile, pressure mounts on the families of those killed in protests, new measures to be set for air pollution closures, and stricter outfit regulations proposed for the entertainment industry
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-mps-criminalise-unknowledgeable-remarks-press-review

Teachers could be forced to tell heads about strike plans
TORY ministers are preparing to change the law to force teachers to inform school leaders if they plan to join national education strikes, reports suggested today. Right-wing newspaper the Daily Mail, quoting a government source, said that ministers could act to give schools time to put contingency plans in place during walkouts. The desperate threat came after Education Secretary Gillian Keegan argued that it is “unreasonable” for educators to fail to announce their intentions ahead of legal industrial action.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/teachers-could-be-forced-tell-heads-strike-plans

Massive rally in Brussels demands refinancing and more staff in health and non-profit sectors
Working class sections and other low-income households across Europe are reeling under an acute cost of living crisis. On top of that, workers in the non-profit professions in Belgium, especially public health care, are exhausted with overwork and insufficient wages. The plans proposed last year by Federal Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke to reform the organization and financing of hospitals hasn’t evoked much enthusiasm among health workers as, according to the PCB, the reforms “only focus on ‘working better’ with the existing resources, but [include] no specific plans for more recruitment, increase in wages, and better working conditions.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/02/massive-rally-in-brussels-demands-refinancing-and-more-staff-in-health-and-non-profit-sectors/
R: 72 / I: 12

Communists are running out of time to deal with how AI is handled

There is something communists are not talking about that will be a serious event who knows for better or for worse.

In May 2022 the company Deep Mind released an AI that can do hundreds of tasks rather than one task and it was really just a prototype not using too much hardware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gato_(DeepMind)

https://www.deepmind.com/publications/a-generalist-agent

In July 2022 the company quietly announced they were "massively scaling it up"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfr50f6ZBvo&t=345s&ab_channel=LexFridman


Whispers in AI circles are starting to suggest this scaled up version will be released this year and instead of learning hundreds of tasks separately it will be able to take the knowledge it learns from one task and apply it to another task. Whist AI will still have limitations I think we are about to enter an era where AI gets grows better at a compounding rate when it comes to having general intelligence the same way a human or animal thinks generally. We are not far off AI being smarter than humans and being able to radically change the world.


What should communists be doing to ensure this radical change leads to something akin to utopia instead of dystopia?

We are running out of time.
R: 147 / I: 60
Is korean culture really as fucked up as manhwa makes it look? there hasn't been a single korean comic that I've read, regardless of genre, where korea isn't depicted as the worst shithole imaginable with seemingly the worst aspects of western and eastern cultures
R: 30 / I: 7 (sage)
Worker cooperatives are more efficie–
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Corporation#Structure
oh…​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
R: 16 / I: 1
Yesterday, the italian economist Luigi Pasinetti died. May he rest in peace.

Luigi L. Pasinetti (12 September 1930 – 31 January 2023) was an Italian economist of the post-Keynesian school. Pasinetti was considered the heir of the "Cambridge Keynesians" and a student of Piero Sraffa and Richard Kahn. Along with them, as well as Joan Robinson, he was one of the prominent members on the "Cambridge, UK" side of the Cambridge capital controversy. His contributions to economics include developing the analytical foundations of neo-Ricardian economics, including the theory of value and distribution, as well as work in the line of Kaldorian theory of growth and income distribution. He also developed the theory of structural change and economic growth, structural economic dynamics and uneven sectoral development.

What are your thoughts on Pasinetti's contributions to economics?
R: 36 / I: 1

Alternatives to labor vouchers

What exactly is the alternative to labor vouchers for communism? Assuming we are doing "real communism" not partial socialism with commodity production. I mean a fully communist society - there are some leftcoms and others who criticize the labor voucher model, but the only alternative I can see is a quasi form of "barracks communism" or monastic communism where all consumption is planned in advance.

In practice this would be a bit like a cross between a military and a college campus, where single people lived in dorms/barracks, probably larger flats/apartments for families, or houses depending on the model of urban planning/development, and just as in the military the clothes they have uniforms, the selection of clothes would probably be more limited and utilitarian like a mechanic or blue collar worker's coverall (or boiler suit/jumpsuit/overall/dungaree).

All meals ingredients could be planned in advance and served at a meal hall, buffet style like the cafeteria in a military or campus setting, with containers for people to take away if they wanted. Basically it would be like the whole society was enlisted in the military, but the military did everything including organizing industrial production and agriculture.

If you know the amount of people that live in a society its possible to produce enough goods or services to serve those people, however it wouldn't result in a great deal of choice. The only reason the USSR couldn't do this is because there was a currency system (rubles) combined with political pressure to keep the prices of certain staples and essentials low, which resulted in shortages. This however didn't really impact the actual caloric intake of soviet citizens (at least after 1950 or so), just meant that people had to wait in a queue/line or wait years to get "luxury" goods like cars.

A planned-in-advance economy his is indeed possible, and would indeed abolish commodity production without the use of labor vouchers, however it would be a pretty radical shift in lifestyle from the present day.

Labour vouchers would allow more consumer choice, as opposed to the limited choice people have at a cafeteria or something.
R: 22 / I: 4

Petit bouj/libertarian hate thread

Lets hate on/debunk libertarian talking points
>Muh we need lower taxation for the market to grow
>Muh i take the risks
>Muh evil public services
R: 25 / I: 5
How do you dissuade a well meaning person from believing in far right conspiracies? Assume said person is capable of being delusional and over-talking you.
R: 84 / I: 18

HACKTIVISM

From 2008-2012ish, there were a number of hacking groups such as anonymous, lulzsec/antisec, etc. that overlapped with arguably left wing/anarchist and other social movements of the time, such as the movement of the squares, the arab spring, and occupy wall street.

However this all faded out around 2012 and even more by 2016 they basically died out completely.

why did they fail? Is there anything to be learned from these experiences?
R: 22 / I: 4

Why do some leftists try to get approval from the rightwing?

I have noticed a trend of leftists trying to impress right-wingers. Why are leftists doing this and how do we stop it?
Or can you justify this as a good thing?
R: 60 / I: 16

leftist imageboard

its kind of sucky to be a leftist who prefers social media with
a feeling of anonymity. it's understandable too why most leftists aren't too fond of places with (mostly) full anonymity between users since it tends to lead to more bigotry, or reactionary ideology, because those types feel more free to post their thoughts with impunity in these kinds of places.

why is almost every single imageboard far right? because there is so low consequences to say things like that there. a lot of imageboards purely just exist for nazis and chinlets to be able to circlejerk day in and day out.

so there are very few leftwing imageboards, only two, and the other one of them, (perhaps controversial here) the lefty is a misnomer. so one lefty chanboard.

i think it's sometimes a defense against trolls and such to have lots of checks to prevent rightoids from being able to spread their reactionism and such. but i still think there should be more leftist communities like this

i probably care way too much about this
R: 108 / I: 13

Israel-Palestine escalation

Very real chance of things going off tomorrow as the IDF raided Jenin this morning and killed 10 people and injured double that after firing an anti-tank missile into a building. PA has rescinded security cooperation (https://twitter.com/MairavZ/status/1618649365534621696), which has been in place since Oslo in the 1990s. Tomorrow is also a friday which means rallies after mosque prayers, probably including a strike (they had one today but it appears there was little catch-on due to the fact the raid was this morning).

Further context: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-raid-jenin-killed-wound-several-others
R: 7 / I: 2

News 2/1/23

Union Budget 2023: Trend of Centre’s Low Spending on Education Worsens Under Modi
The Indian government's spending on education continues to slide under Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule. Union Budget figures show that in the years since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014, the Central government’s expenditure on education ― which was already low ― has declined sharply.
https://www.newsclick.in/Union-Budget-2023-Trend-Centre-Low-Spending-Education-Worsens-Under-Modi

Irregularities, low turnout mar by-elections
By-elections to six parliamentary seats that fell vacant following the resignation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers in December were held on Wednesday amid low turnout, violence, boycott and intimidation. The ruling Awami League or the AL’s alliance partner or AL-backed candidates have been elected in all six seats, according to unofficial results.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/193251/irregularities-low-turnout-mar-by-elections

UN expert: Deaths of Bangladeshi migrants should be probed
The countries where Bangladeshi migrant workers are employed, including former World Cup host Qatar, should thoroughly investigate all cases of deaths and human rights violations, a United Nations expert said Tuesday. Asked about the reported deaths of at least 450 Bangladeshi workers involved in construction projects in Qatar including stadiums used for the World Cup, U.N. special rapporteur for the human rights of migrants Felipe Gonzalez Morales said the destination country should deal with any deaths to uphold the rights of workers.
https://www.wral.com/un-expert-deaths-of-bangladeshi-migrants-should-be-probed/20697579/

UK documents: Bush ordered CIA to find replacement for Arafat
Former United States President George W Bush ordered the CIA to search for a replacement for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the escalation of the second Intifada in 2001, the BBC said, quoting recently released British documents. The US effort came after the failure of the Camp David negotiations in 2000 between Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The talks followed the escalation of violence in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/1/bush-ordered-cia-to-replace-yasser-arafat-uk-documents-reveal
https://archive.ph/KxweG

CB workers protest tax hike as governor defends painful measures
Employees of the Central Bank have joined a week-long “black protest” campaign organised by state sector unions against a sharp hike in personal income tax, even as Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said painful measures were needed for the country to recover from its worst currency crisis in decades. President of the Central Bank Executive Association Jayadu Perera told EconomyNext on Friday January 26 that while the protesting CBSL staff were not opposed to paying taxes, they take issue with the unprecedented increase which came into effect in the new year.Perera claimed that the tax he paid in December had increased six-seven fold.
https://island.lk/cb-workers-protest-tax-hike-as-governor-defends-painful-measures/
https://archive.ph/jFawX

AMLC freezes assets of community doctor, ‘terror group’
Castro, who was arrested last year in her home in San Juan City, has helped in setting up community health centers in Mindanao. She has been red-tagged for her human rights advocacy and for her alleged active role in attaining the mission of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front. David added that the AMLC also issued Resolution No. TF-64 imposing a freeze order on the property and assets of the Al-Khobar group that was designated as a terrorist organization by the ATC through Resolution No. 36.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/02/02/2241916/amlc-freezes-assets-community-doctor-terror-group
https://archive.ph/WWouC

Cops in 'brutality' row after tasering fishmonger
Two Italian police face a brutality row after tasering and incapacitating an Abruzzo fishmonger and allegedly pushing his wife to the ground after he left his car parked in a no parking zone. The incident happened in the centre of Vasto when the two agents allegedly grappled with the couple and immobilised the fishmonger using allegedly overly heavy handed tactics.
https://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2023/02/01/cops-in-brutality-row-after-tasering-fishmonger_3d1717bf-3365-44da-abf2-b2b99d3b175b.html
https://archive.ph/BmEfE

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party regains national momentum
Nationally, the Freedom Party’s growth is even more pronounced. The party has led national polls since this fall, averaging around 27% in most surveys ahead of the center-left Social Democrats with around 25% and the People’s Party at around 21%.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-austria-government-europe-3294042df471db5b4e52bb0b38500f56

Mould complaints in England’s social housing double over two years
The number of social housing tenants in England complaining of damp and leaks is on course to more than double in the two years since a child died after living in a rented flat with chronic mould. However, less than half of landlords are estimated to have introduced policies to tackle the problem and some are still blaming tenants’ lifestyles, the housing ombudsman said.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/02/mould-damp-complaints-social-housing-ombudsman-tenants-landlords

French unions set new pension strike dates
Unions are calling on workers to stage another walkout on February 7 and 11 against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to increase the pension retirement age from 62 up to 64. According to the main French trade unions, more than 2.5 million people joined the demonstrations across France on Tuesday — even larger than the turnout on the first day of action on January 19. On Tuesday evening, France’s largest union centre, the CGT, announced its intention to continue strikes at refineries on February 6, 7 and 8, which could lead to production stoppages at some sites, TotalEnergies co-ordinator Eric Sellini said.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/french-unions-set-new-pension-strike-dates
R: 500 / I: 129

/crisis/ General

💰️DOW/Market Watch Thread💰️
monitoring the market, trends, fluctuations, etc.
🎩
👀
🐽
👄
R: 5 / I: 3

individualism and collectivism

its normal for people to be empathetic and collectivistic and be greedy and individualistic too. society cannot achieve with both collectivism sticks and creates societies and individualism can breed any sort of opportunities and chaos and with chaos forces us to adapt and progress in order to escape chaos
R: 14 / I: 6
How was Leninist Russia or Maotist China any different from slave societies of antiquity? You were forced to work as a slaves or you end up in gulag or being shot.
R: 273 / I: 68

Esoteric Hitlerism General: All Fascists Are Still Pedos

This is the thread dedicated to researching, discussing, exploring, and laughing at, that element of the far right which we have come to term "esoteric hitlerist" but more broadly a thread for documenting the extreme right.

To sum up, as it says in the title, this entire strand of thought is more or less an intelligence operation carried out mostly by pedophiles, with a strong satanic/ esoteric influence. On top of this, there are several interesting connections to these operations and operatives and Zionism.

The purpose of these operations, as are the purpose of all CIA operations, is to suppress and destroy the real movement that abolishes the present state of things, the mass movement of organised workers, the socialist and communist movement.

What follows is a series of links, references and thoughts which document this feature of capitalist hegemony.


Link to last thread archive:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220213224836/https://leftypol.org/leftypol/res/56299.html

the one before:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210109172410/https://bunkerchan.xyz/leftypol/res/1059488.html

the one before that:

https://bunkerchan.net/leftypol/res/702127.html (oh fuck this archive is dead now, how can we get it back? )
[mod edit: https://web.archive.org/web/20210124080840/https://bunkerchan.net/leftypol/res/702127.html ]

The thread from which it was born:

https://archive.fo/GSZBb
R: 20 / I: 1

Orientalism Rant

I hate the "oriental decadence" trope so much. Whether its whignats online saying shit like "temple prostitution is asiatic degeneracy and not indo-EVROPEAN traditions" or liberals saying shit like West freedumb enlightenment good East schytian hydraulic despotism.

Of course, just ignore the fact that temple child prostitution was widespread among indo aryan groups in the Mediterranean and India, that Europe spawned some of the world's most horrible fashoid regimes in the last century, things like the Hammurabi code,etc fucking hate Westoids so much whites are worse we wuzers than Hoteps
R: 54 / I: 6

Recent France News

French strikes: fizzle or sizzle?

Based News Anon reports: (Thursday)
More than 1m march in France amid strikes over plan to raise retirement age
>More than 1 million people have taken part in demonstrations across France as transport, schools and refineries were hit by strikes in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. The interior ministry said 1.12 million people protested nationwide on Thursday, with 80,000 taking part in the biggest rally in Paris. Trade unions said the figure was even higher. Police made arrests on the edges of the march in central Paris amid clashes with officers in the early afternoon. Police said 15 people were arrested before the Paris march and 15 during it, for offences such as carrying illegal weapons or throwing projectiles. Shopkeepers around the Place de la République boarded up windows and shopfronts after the authorities warned of a possibility of vandalism after the marches or black bloc-style tactics.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/19/france-hit-by-nationwide-strikes-over-macron-pension-plans

i leave for two days and this happens
R: 296 / I: 61

Give me one reason to support china

China has markets, isn't socialist, let alone communist, they're just LARPing as gommie because thats how they stay in power. We've had east asian posters here who admit viet/china aint gommie and its actually just nationalism. So if you're going to be a nationalist for a capitalist country, why not be nationalist for your own? Is there any fucking reason besides reflexive self loathing, contrarianism and aesthetics that I should become a weirdo dengist and support China over my own nation?
R: 40 / I: 5

IRAN HAPPENING THREAD

Iranian drone factories are being hit with missiles. Probably fired by Israel. Could be the expansion of the NATO-Russia war.

https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1619484673197088768
R: 0 / I: 0

Why evangelicals are so schizo

Bible reading and conspiracies: Why evangelicals are so schizo

The US-evangelical propensity for conspiracies is well known, most notably in recent history, the ‘Qanon’ and election denial conspiracies in the late 2010s and early 2020s. It has also been commented on before about why certain ways in which evangelicals read the bible dovetail into reading online conspiracy theories (e.g. Q drops on 4chan). To do this we have to examine the actual details of how Evangelicals read the bible.

>What does occupy the evangelical mind are getting into the Word through daily devotions and a daily quiet time (personal Bible reading), Bible study (attending weekly group meetings), and preaching the Word (attending a church where the Bible is taught). All three activities are premised on a plain reading of a biblical text. Evangelicals believe that the scriptures are inspired by God and provide believers an inerrant “manual for living.” Thus, the chief aim of evangelical Bible study is making applications to personal concerns of the moment.
<So long as chapter and verse are cited, applications are seen as valid appropriations of biblical authority. Nor are applications constrained by the original historical meaning intended by the author since the Bible is viewed as God’s Word for all times and all cultures.
>Taking the Bible literally thus equates to a plain reading of the text; inquiring into its literary provenance or structure, on the other hand, would hinder its accessibility and relevance. Because the Bible is regarded by evangelicals as self-authenticating and thus the best interpreter of itself, teaching and preaching typically devolve either into narrative preaching that cites a proof text and then illustrates it through a series of stories, or into expository preaching that often relies on word studies or picking out keywords in the text and then reciting other Bible verses where the same word appears.

The desire to render the bible as a source of transhistorical, inerrant truth leads to the rejection of analysis of the bible in terms of a historical-empirical, or logical context, and therefore focuses on the application of bible verses to personal (and at times political) issues. The ability to practice this apophenic, acontextual (but textually literate) form of freewheeling, politically applicative pseudo-analysis, is a source of pastoral and spiritual authority in Evangelical churches. This is seen as evidence of both hermeneutic mastery of the bible and the correctness of the pastor’s stance. This also leads to a suspicion of both the activity of the ‘intellectualizing’(i.e. historical, empirical, or logical analysis) and the intellectuals who perform said activities. This suspicion is then extended to non religious areas of life, such as politics. It’s also easy to see the similarities between evangelical bible reading and evangelical reading of, for example, Q drops, despite the fact that ‘Q’ has been proven wrong time and time again. Messages which are at times, quite ambiguous and cryptic, are applied by the interpreters of Q to various political events and conspiracies, in effect treating Q drops as co-equal to scripture.

TLDR: There is no point to analyzing the bible in its historical context or to see if it is logically consistent, if you already believe it is the inerrant word of God which is equally true for all times and places. If that’s the case, so the only thing left to do is to “apply” the literal and plain meaning of the words to current situations. Since internal logical consistency is not a factor, this takes the form of trying to map words and concepts from the bible onto whatever the speaker/writer feels like.
R: 5 / I: 1

French Protests

Thought it'd be good to have a thread on the current French protests..
Anyone know what's going on with these? Have only seen passing coverage, but it seems like a half million Frenchmen are striking. Is this the real shit, the start of the real shit or just another western political fizzler? Discuss.
R: 137 / I: 24

where are the proletarian leaders????

Marx: Bourgeois failson of a lawyer who owned vineyards
Engels: Bourgeois son of a facotry owner
Rosa Luxemberg: Bourgeois granddaughter of a timber magnate
Karl Liebknecht: Grandson of bourgeois public official
Wilhelm Liebknecht: son of bourgeois public official
Lenin: Prosperous Peasant
Stalin: Poor Peasant
Ceaucescu: Poor Peasant
Mao: Prosperous Peasant
Pol Pot: Prosperous Peasant
Chairman Gonzalo: son of a well-off merchant
Sankara: Military
Gaddafi: Military
Chen Duxiu (co-founder of the CPC): son of wealthy Qing officials
Li Dazhao (co-founder of the CPC): poor peasant
Kim Il Sung: Peasant
Ho Chi Minh: Peasant
Charles Emil Ruthenberg (founder of CPUSA): PROLETARIAT!!!!! SON OF A LONGESHOREMAN!!!! WORKED IN A BOOKSTORE!!!!


explain this??????????? WHY ARE THERE SO FEW PROLETARIATS AMONG THE MARXIST LEADERSHIP? WHY IS THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERIKKKAN COMMIE PARTY THE MOST PROLETARIAN ONE I COULD FIND????
R: 19 / I: 7

Nuremberg indicts Germans for Katyn

Suck it up, revisionists

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nuremberg-trial-proceedings-indictment-count-three

>In September 1941, 11,000 Polish officers who were prisoners of war were killed in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk.

Indictment contains full account of German atrocities for which Nuremberg judged Germans. Final sentence contains only EXAMPLES of atrocities, not the full list; sentence doesn't contain many other things - yet nobody claims that the lack of those crimes in the sentence means that Germans didn't commit those crimes

Katyn was done by Germans, and Nuremberg has said so. If you disagree, if you insist that Soviets did Katyn, you are denying Holocaust, Nuremberg, and are whitewashing Nazi crimes. Stop being retarded, please.
R: 402 / I: 81
Política de Perú.

PRIMERA NOTA: Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was arrested by the authorities after he dissolved the Congress of Peru on Wednesday. The accused as the leader of a “criminal organization” was approached in the street, in downtown Lima, by police officers when he was leaving the Government headquarters, it was reported by local media.

Cuál es el contexto de todo el desmadre que está sucediendo?

no quería postear en el hilo del namefag 🤮

Peru’s President Pedro Castillo announced on Wednesday that he will dissolve Congress temporarily and install an emergency government – hours before lawmakers were due to make an impeachment vote in congress.

In a televised speech from the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, Castillo said he will call for early parliamentary elections to work on a new constitution.

The embattled president, who has survived two impeachment attempts, also declared a national curfew from Wednesday from 10 p.m. local (5 p.m. ET) to 4 a.m. local.

Congress appeared defiant however, beginning its session on Wednesday with lawmakers singing the national anthem.

Francisco Morales, the president of Peru’s Constitutional Court, called Castillo’s action “coup d’etat” in a televised press conference, and urged Vice President Dina Boluarte to assume the presidency.

Boluarte too criticized the move. “I reject Pedro Castillo’s decision to perpetrate the breakdown of the constitutional order with the closure of Congress,” Boluarte wrote on Twitter. “It is a coup that aggravates the political and institutional crisis that Peruvian society will have to overcome with strict adherence to the law.”
R: 11 / I: 2
Been thinking about the personal experiences that would be involved in the process of revolution and have decided the following:

If I can't Rave at your revolution, I don't want to be a part of it.

That is all.
R: 24 / I: 5
vgh…
what could be

the people's res * pvblica of Cascadia would be the most based thing to happen

(also western US/Canada independence thread)
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getting organized

how are you supposed to get organized irl? do you just look online for meetings/protests or whatever? i live in a deep red (in the bad way) county so im not expecting to be able to meet with other socialists without driving a decent way.
any tips/advice appreciated desu
R: 15 / I: 1
i got bored so i decided to look up the synopsises for both atlas shrugged and fountainhead. while i expected both to be some anti-communist, pro capitalist representation of ayn rand's philosphy… most of what was described seemed to be petty squabbling between the characters? are the books actually like this? is it worth reading to see how bad the actual writing is?
R: 38 / I: 6
If patriotism truly has no place for professed American socialists, why is it that those that the radical left claims to fight for are often big patriots? It cannot be solely caused by propaganda, as even the movements of Foundational Black Americans and Native Americans hoist the flag. Can it genuinely be that fortuitous that the masses of people and every successful socialist revolution are duped or somehow Nazbols secretly, while the college campus radical with no accomplishments is the smart one, or could the Western Left have just greatly misunderstood the authentic demands of the common peoples?
R: 4 / I: 1

News 1/31/23

France brought to a standstill over attack on pensions
MILLIONS of French workers took to the streets in protest as the country was brought to a standstill in a “citizens’ insurrection” over the government’s attack on pension schemes. Workers walked out on the second day of industrial action against President Emmanuel Macron’s scheme to raise the French retirement age by two years to 64.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/france-brought-standstill-over-pensions-attack

Progressives in Ireland protest austerity and xenophobic attacks on refugees
On Saturday, January 28, activists from various community organizations and left-wing groups united in front of the Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament, under the banner of ‘Dublin Communities Against Racism’ to protest the rise in far-right attacks against refugees in the country. The protesters also denounced the pro-rich policies of the incumbent government—a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green Party—which have led to the deterioration of livelihoods of the working class.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/31/progressives-in-ireland-protest-austerity-and-xenophobic-attacks-on-refugees/

Alfredo Cospito: Hunger-striking Italian anarchist moved amid protests
A convicted Italian anarchist who has been on hunger strike for weeks has been moved to a jail in Milan amid growing fears his health is worsening. Supporters of Alfredo Cospito, 55, have torched cars and threatened officials in protest at his jail conditions. Cospito has been refusing food for more than 100 days. The new restrictions, usually reserved for mafia bosses, include one monitored visit from family members and one telephone call a month.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64467764

Activists block construction of mega prison in protest against increasing arrests on demonstrators
In the early hours, protesters set up tripods to block entrances to Full Sutton after the government awarded construction firm Kier £400 million to build 1,400 new prison spaces. ​​​​​​ The prison is the third of six sites that are being expanded as part of a new prisons programme.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/activists-block-construction-of-mega-prison-in-protest-against-increasing-arrests-on-demonstrators

Russia's Union of Journalists Faces Expulsion From International Body
The IFJ announced its decision to expel the Russian union after journalist unions from Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland threatened to withdraw from the federation in protest at what they termed the IFJ’s "corruptive activity." … The IFJ rejected the accusations, calling them "false, defamatory and damaging," despite the head of the Russian Union of Journalists Vladimir Solovyov openly admitting to opening new offices in annexed regions of Ukraine.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/31/russias-union-of-journalists-faces-expulsion-from-international-body-a80101

UP: Tribals Protest In Mirzapur, Demand Implementation Of Forest Rights Act, Allege Harassment
Amid slogans of liberty, freedom and rights, hundreds of tribal people assembled and carried out a rally at dense forest areas of Dhekwah village in Rajapur gram panchayat of Marihan tehsil under Mirzapur district on Monday, demanding implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the withdraw all cases registered against them.
https://www.newsclick.in/tribals-protest-mirzapur-demand-implementation-forest-rights-act-allege-harassment-0

Dems urge Biden to halt aid to Peru over protest crackdown
The letter, sent Monday and a copy of which was shared with The Associated Press, urges the Biden administration to halt all security assistance until it can confirm that the crackdown has ended and the Peruvian officials responsible for human rights abuses are being held accountable.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-caribbean-dina-boluarte-518fac934a1ad6209d90434030889e55

Four Killed in Colombia’s Eleventh Massacre in 2023
The attack occurred outside a public establishment in the El Santuario neighborhood, south of Barranquilla, when a group of assassins arrived on a motorcycle and one of them began to shoot indiscriminately, local sources reported. Indepaz said the victims were identified as Reinaldo José Orozco Picalúa, who was a patrolman of the Barranquilla Metropolitan Police, Javier Andrés Guevara Correa, Ever José Lizama Melgarejo and Ronald José Zabala Sarmiento.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Four-Killed-in-Colombias-Eleventh-Massacre-in-2023-20230130-0015.html

Authorities in Honduras order exhumation of land activist
Honduran authorities on Monday ordered the exhumation of the body of a land defender who died under unclear circumstances near the country’s Caribbean coast. Members of an ethnic group of mixed African and Indigenous heritage contend the death of Ricardo Arnaúl Montero was a homicide related to a long-running land dispute. Police had preliminarily considered the death Saturday a drowning, but his body was buried before an investigation was carried out.
https://apnews.com/article/crime-caribbean-tegucigalpa-honduras-homicide-459fc546ad0d4ced2ce58c47bee627d8

Egyptians struggle to afford food as Sisi says 'not end of the world'
In an attempt to keep calm - perhaps wary of how rising food prices helped spark the 2011 Arab Spring uprising in the country - the government's media machine has been trying to promote alternatives to the food products most Egyptians rely on. For example, pro-government TV talk show hosts called on Egyptians to eat chicken instead of beef. But when chicken prices soared, they advised to eat eggs, and after those prices soared they advised to eat beans.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-food-struggle-afford-sisi-not-end-world

Turkey deports 100 Syrian refugees to the region it occupied
According to the information received from sources in the region, the Turkish state deported 100 Syrian refugees to their occupied regions in northern Syria. The aim of the Turkish state is to settle these people in houses built with the financing of Gulf and European Muslim Brotherhood groups. The Turkish state deported these refugees from the Bab El Salam Border Gate in Ezaz, north of Aleppo.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/turkey-deports-100-syrian-refugees-to-the-region-it-occupied-65210

Johannesburg residents irritated by water outages
Residents of Johannesburg who are affected by water cuts say it is negatively affecting them and inconveniencing their daily lives. Power outages have caused severe shortages at Rand Water’s main reservoirs over the last few days. As a result, many areas in Gauteng have had little to no water supply. The water entity says they have started stabilising pumping at maximum capacity but full recovery will be dependent on less frequent power failures.
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/johannesburg-residents-irritated-by-water-outages/

Trial of youths accused of Sudan policeman’s murder to resume next month
Lawyer Eman Hasan, head of the defence team for murder accused Mohamed Adam, Musab El Shareef, Mohamed El Fateh, and Ahmed El Fateh, told Radio Dabanga yesterday that the court ruled that trial sessions will resume on February 12, after the court files returned from the Court of Appeal.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/trial-of-youths-accused-of-sudan-policemans-murder-to-resume-next-month
R: 1 / I: 0

On culture wars: what and why

Is there a reason as to why is America always trapped in "culture wars?" What are the purposes of instigating culture wars? Do corporations benefit much from this? It seems like America is a big fan of these kinds of retardation. Take the spokescandies controversy for example.
R: 52 / I: 18  

Katyń massacre was done by soviets

Grover Furr is not a historian, is a cherrypicking lying retard, is mocked by quite literally all historians.
German guns used in the massacre, but the soviets had easy access to them, as they both bought german weaponry before the war, and confiscated german handguns from Polish/lithuanian policemen and army officers.
The guns were used for their reliability, and possibly to also use up non-standard ammo unsuited for combat use.
There is no other significant piece of evidence that would in any way indicate german guilt, and all evidence indeed points towards Soviet guilt (eg. the fact that, according to the soviet version of events, germans killed the Poles in summer 1941, and yet the corpses all wore heavy, warm, winter clothing).
The officers (and politicians and intellectuals) were murdered without trial for being potential leaders of anti-communist resistance (the soviets wanted to, and did forcefully impose communism on Poland after the war).
R: 23 / I: 3

Uphold Marxism-Hard Scienceism!

I am making this thread as a hard line in the sand for self-described Marxists, anarchists, and anti-capitalists of all kinds to uphold the hard science, anti—science fiction line! Remember, you fuckers, colonizing Mars is probably pointless, the only time we ever did terraforming was to make our own planet uninhabitable, “FTL” is magical nonsense and unrealistic, interstellar governments will never exist due to travel time, communication speed, and time dilation; time travel is likely impossible, if AI superintelligence is somehow possible it’s centuries away, superhuman soldiers would require artificially producing living nonhumans that can somehow tank artillery rounds, and James Cameron’s Avatar is unironically more realistic and scientific than most sci-fi. FUCK SCI-Fi, UPHOLD REAL SCIENCE!
R: 124 / I: 56

Non-ironic nazbol from Moscow

Darov, lefties. The nazbol from Moscow is in touch. I noticed that anons from this imageboard have some very strange opinion about the ideology of National-Bolshevism and most perceive it more like a meme. How do the West treat the nazbol if you reject the irony? Are the books of Limonov and other NB authors translated into English? If you are interested, I can tell you about the political situation in Russia, about what opinions are popular among the people. I am not yet a full-fledged member of "E. V. Limonov's Other Russia"
party, but sometimes I attend party events, help (not much) comrades. Ask questions.
R: 7 / I: 2

Why didn't Stalin leave a successor?

I am no expert on the situation to me it looks like Stalin did not pick a successor or group of successors that would adhere to the Marxist Leninist line. Imagine if someone like Molotov or Lazar Kaganovich was publicly groomed to be the next leader.

Given he spent so much effort purging revisionists you would think he would pick a successor to prevent revisionism.

For example I believe in Mao's case he picked Wang Hongweng from the gang of 4 as a successor the youngest member of the Gang of 4 who worked as a Labor activist. The Revisionist Military and broader party apparatus threatened to use military force, forcing Mao to put a compromise candidate Hua Guofeng in power which would theoretically give the state a low chance of retaining Marxism Leninism Mao Zedong thought of course Hua arrested the gang of 4 and crushed Marxism then conceded power to Deng.
R: 25 / I: 4
Imperialism literally doesn't exist.
(not really but here's some excerpts from a libertarian critique)

Did inequality cause the First World War? Contra Hobson-Lenin-Milanovic

>In a small section in his new book, Branko Milanovic argues that the First World War was ultimately caused by income & wealth inequality within the belligerent countries, resurrecting ideas from John A. Hobson, Rosa Luxemburg, and Lenin. The basic argument: high domestic inequality => ‘underconsumption’ by the masses & ‘surplus’ savings by the elites => capital exports, i.e., search for overseas outlets for investment => the ‘scramble for colonies’ & imperialism => (a major cause of the) WAR.

>I examine each element in this chain of logic and reject the “endogenous World War I” view.

> I’ve never thought the Hobson-Lenin imperialism thesis made much sense, on its face. Why do you need “surplus savings” for colonialism and imperialism? The United States of today, which many consider the imperialist par excellence, has been a net capital importer since circa 1980. In the 19th century, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, the USA (until ~1896), Japan, and Italy were all net capital importers, and all either had empires or had just embarked on major colonial acquisitions.

>IF foreign investment did require colonies and imperialism, weren’t large gross flows enough? You can have zero “surplus savings” but still have huge gross outflows of capital. So I don’t see why there is even in principle a link between inequality and imperialism.
[…]
>The lack of “imperialist competition” for investment markets is obvious once you realise how savings actually got distributed from Europe to the rest of the world. Most European capital exports were portfolio investment in sovereign bonds or equity shares in infrastructure projects which were floated in the financial markets of London, Paris, or Berlin. There was relatively little of what we would call “foreign direct investment”. And given the near-complete capital mobility of the 1870-1914, it does not make sense to say there was competition for investment markets. 

>But IF we are to accept Weltmacht as Germany’s motivation, then the version advanced by Paul Kennedy’s The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism 1860-1914 makes more sense. The domestic economy was important, but not in any Hobsonian or Leninist sense (or even in a Fischerian sense). “Most influential Germans believed that their country should secure a large place in the world order” — first and foremost in Europe, secondarily in the rest of the world. Germany’s rulers believed the country’s political standing and national prestige was incommensurate with its sudden and dramatic rise as an economic superpower. In the political affairs of the world, Germany was accounted only a little more than Prussia had been in 1815 — as the junior member of the Concert of Powers. Imagine the chafing if Taiwan, and not the PRC, still represented China on the UN Security Council…

>I think that interpretation is most factually consistent with who actually took the decision to go to war in Germany. After all, wars aren’t waged by anonymous ‘deep’ forces. “Structural factors” still require some kind of mechanism exerting pressure on the actual actors. Electoral pressure, domestic interest groups, the colonial lobby, the militarists, whatever.

>The Hobson-Lenin theory is weak on the facts. Imperialism hardly required “surplus savings” in the first place. In historical context, income distribution was an ambiguous factor in Europe’s capital flows. Colonial outlets were not necessary for the surplus savings of the European powers. The European Great Powers generally did not compete for investment outlets. The Great War was not supported by financial interests or triggered by imperialist rivalry over colonies.

https://pseudoerasmus.com/2016/05/08/bm/
R: 126 / I: 1

primitivism

it should be possible to live in a primitivist way. the means of production should be arranged to enable it. the people must be free to take care of themselves and therefore can't be coerced by people withholding the methods of survival. furthermore, it's good exercise promoting health, it requires a strong local community which improves social life satisfaction, and results in people being stewards of the land itself. no, it does not require going without modern medicine. there are many time periods of the day, and many different people. marx said we must be able to be a hunter one day, a fisherman the next, and a factory worker soon after.

to be cut off from this nature, our very other communal self that makes up our existence, the very first division of labor after which humanity was able to rapidly advance. but the division of labor under capitalism does not allow free associative communist labor. only through building socialism and communism can that be achieved.
R: 41 / I: 19

COMMUNISM KILLED MILLIONS

COMMUNISM KILLED MILLIONS !!!!!1!!!
How do you respond to this argument against communism?

>The concept of connecting disparate killings to the status of the communist states which committed them and the concept of trying to ascribe common causes and factors to them have both been supported and criticized by the academic community. Some academics view it as an indictment of communism as an ideology, while other academics view it as being overly simplistic and they also view it as being rooted in anti-communism. Instead, some academics attribute the causes of the killings to either the political systems or the leaders of the communist states. There is also debate over whether or not the famines which occurred during the rule of communist states can be considered mass killings. Mass killings which were committed by communist states have been compared to killings which were committed by other types of states.

Basically, they say communism killed millions of people. I guess assumed in this it is implied if you ever tried communism again, it would kill millions of people as well, and that's why we can't do communism and have to stick with capitalism.
R: 247 / I: 84

Left Wing Fitness

First and foremost, this thread is about historical accounts of left wing fitness programs, movements and etc. You could debate about the merits of fitness and what the left can do about it and things like fatphobia if you want to but mainly I want to get historical accounts.
Here are some things that I already know of
>Anecdote of Lenin and fitness
>Mao's 'A STUDY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION'
>Liubers, a fitness oriented pro soviet group
>Soviet 'Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR'
If you have any stuff about above or have any other information about the topic, please share below and discuss. Want to talk about this topic because theres been a rise of fitness emphasis recently I've seen in more far right leaning circles. Figures like Bronze Age Pervert, Raw Egg Nationalist. They've been featured in a Tucker documentary, been made articles by libs on them and etc. I think of course they're reach is exaggerated but got me interested in fitness from the left.
R: 26 / I: 6  

Children make you conservative

>When the team surveyed 2,610 adults across 10 countries, from Lebanon to Japan, they found that people who were more motivated to care for children tended to be more socially conservative. In addition, parents were more socially conservative than those who were childfree. And while social conservatism increased with age, this relationship disappeared once parenthood was taken into account.

Why does having children make you more socially conservative?
R: 3 / I: 0

HEDONISM

>Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. Psychological or motivational hedonism claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decrease pain. Normative or ethical hedonism, on the other hand, is not about how we actually act but how we ought to act: we should pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Axiological hedonism, which is sometimes treated as a part of ethical hedonism, is the thesis that only pleasure has intrinsic value. Applied to well-being or what is good for someone, it is the thesis that pleasure and suffering are the only components of well-being.

What does /leftypol/ think of HEDONISM both as a philosophy and in the colloquial sense of "living only for pleasure"
R: 76 / I: 18
What is fascism? I have struggled with this question a lot, particularly because many of the things that get called fascist are quite clearly, in my eyes, not unique to fascism from both sides of the political aisle (e.g. free market advocacy, socialism etc.) So, leftypol, is fascism truly everything I don't like?
R: 7 / I: 2

News 1/30/23

Sri Lanka's president suspends parliament until policy address
President Ranil Wickremesinghe issued an extraordinary decree suspending parliament from midnight Friday. The government did not give a clear reason for the move, but Mr Wickremesinghe’s office in said a statement that his address to politicians on February 8 will announce new policies and laws, which will be implemented until the centenary celebrations of Sri Lanka’s independence in 2048.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/sri-lankas-president-suspends-parliament-until-policy-address

Protests to Continue as Talks Over Ladakh's Status hit Roadblock
The Leh Apex Body, an alliance of social, political and religious bodies from Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities formed in 2020, and the Kargil Democratic Alliance have been protesting since the Himalayan region lost its. ‘special status’. As a former part of Jammu and Kashmir, the region enjoyed exclusive rights over land and jobs for the locals under Article 370 and 35A, which were abrogated in 2019.
https://www.newsclick.in/protests-continue-talks-over-ladakhs-status-hit-roadblock

Accused spies for North Korea likely face imminent arrest
The four individuals were detained by officials from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and police on Saturday on suspicion of violating the National Security Act, which bans behavior or speech that expresses support for the North Korean regime or communism or advocates the overthrow of the South Korean government. The Seoul Central District Court rejected the prosecution’s initial warrant requests on Sunday after finding that the four people detained by counterintelligence officials were unfairly treated in the process of being taken into custody.
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/01/30/national/northKorea/Korea-North-Korea-NIS/20230130183234619.html

Chinese-owned copper mine in Peru may halt production over unrest
The huge Chinese-owned Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, normally the supplier of 2% of the metal worldwide, could halt production this week due to protests and blockades that are starting to snarl output of the red metal amid already tight global supply. The Andean nation, the world's second-largest copper producer, has seen growing social unrest since early December, with key mines hit by road blockades and attacks by protesters, mainly impacting transportation of copper rather than production.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/chinas-mmg-flags-production-halt-las-bambas-peru-due-protests-2023-01-30/

Peru Congress agrees to debate measure on earlier elections
Pressed by Peru’s embattled president to take action in response to weeks of deadly protests, Congress narrowly agreed on Monday to reconsider a proposal to move the 2026 national elections up to this October. Lawmakers approved the reconsideration with 66 votes in favor, the bare minimum required in the 130-member assembly, and well short of the two-thirds needed for final approval of earlier elections without a popular referendum.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-peru-government-caribbean-dina-boluarte-22131c3b5df8261708931eeb9122690a

Brazil's Bolsonaro applies for 6-month U.S. visitor visa
Bolsonaro is being investigated for whether he had any role in inciting that uprising. It is just one of several probes targeting the former president and that pose a legal headache upon his eventual homecoming, and which could strip him of his eligibility in future races — or worse.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazils-bolsonaro-applies-6-month-us-visitor-visa-96774313

Firefighters to join rising rebellion against government attacks on workers’ pay and conditions
THIRTY-THOUSAND firefighters and control room staff are to join the rising rebellion against government attacks on workers’ pay and conditions after an “overwhelming” vote for strike action. Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted by 88 per cent to strike on a 73 per cent turnout. The union has given the government 10 days to make a “decent” proposal on pay before announcing a programme of strikes.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/firefighters-to-join-rising-rebellion-against-government-attacks-on-workers-pay-and-conditions

Holocaust survivor quits Labour after being told not to speak at memorial day event
Stephen Kapos, who joined the Labour Party in 1997, was asked to speak about his experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust at an event scheduled for 27 January by the Socialist Labour Network (SLN). …"In the long term this period of the party’s history will be remembered with shame," Kapos said. "This was when McCarthyism was revived and imported into the Labour Party - and into the political life of the UK itself.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/labour-holocaust-survivor-quits-party-memorial-day

Tunisia opposition calls for unity after tepid election turnout
Tunisia's main opposition coalition urged a united front against President Kais Saied after just 11.3 percent of Tunisians voted Sunday in a second-round poll for a toothless parliament in the politically divided nation. "Almost 90 percent of Tunisian voters ignored this piece of theatre and refused to be involved in the process," Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front, told journalists.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/tunisia-opposition-calls-unity-after-tepid-election-turnout

Two Nigerians shot dead in renewed xenophobic attacks in South Africa
Also, the other deceased whose identity was not revealed was killed in a suburb of Johannesburg the same day after the suspects allegedly called him by name to confirm his identity. He was allegedly shot multiple times in what was a blatant xenophobic attack, according to ICIR. Recent reports of xenophobic violence and discrimination have continued to escalate in the country as migrants, refugees and asylum seekers remain at risk of attacks and hate speech.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/01/two-nigerians-shot-dead-in-renewed-xenophobic-attacks-in-south-africa/
R: 20 / I: 4
Is there a reason as to why does the US still print one dollar banknotes instead of minting one dollar coins? To an extent, two? Also, with the advent of polymer banknotes, why won't the US, as the world's superpower, adopt such technology? Even America's adversaries use it!!!

Pic 1: 100 rubles, 2018: polymer
Pic 2: 20 yuan, 2021: polymer
Pic 3: 100 yuan, 2000: polymer
Pic 4: 100,000 rupiah, 1999: also polymer

Furthermore, why is the USD's design so boring? Like it only has one motif. Compare this with the rupiah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_rupiah
You can see that notes for 1968, 1978, 1988, 1995, 1998, 2008, 2018, and 2023 ALL EACH HAS DIFFERENT DESIGNS.

When will we see the 1 and 2 USD coin and 50 and 100 USD polymer notes with a completely overhauled design?

>inb4 siberia
There's just more discussions here and I also want econopolitical explanations.
R: 26 / I: 7

There will be no revolution in America

Think about it, the conditions a communist revolution in America would be for creating a third world war rather than a revolution contained in the United States
>countries will rush to maintain the imperial core
>neutral and even antagonistic countries will support America to improve their geopolitical positions post war
>antagonistic countries will rush to accelerate americas down fall
>socialist countries and communist parties will unequivocally support the revolution
It will literally be a war zone containing any country with geopolitical ambitions, regardless if the revolution is successful or not
R: 25 / I: 3 (sage)

1923 - 2023

So in retrospective, do you think those 100 years made a huge difference? Was there any progress?
Or ever since the World War 2 ended we all got stuck in this post-war limbo for 78 years.

In my opinion the current atmosphere in the world is on par with late 20s early 30s as in:
>endless moral degradation that hits new lows
you think flappers were bad - now it's idpol insanity with people willingly cutting off gentals as a political statement
>economy is in the gutter
hard to find a job that pays well enough, education hardly matters, zoomers are mostly stuck doing delivery jobs or flipping burgers because someone though that service economy is a good idea
>the tensions in the world are high
another world war is about to break out and everyone seems to be content with it or even looking forward to it
>extreme nationalism is back
and while it often looks like a larp it's only a matter of time until rightoids will figure it out, radicalize and start burning jews and muslims
R: 42 / I: 7
Hey remember that time South Park made two episodes where they unironically and uncritically paraphrase Marxist economic class analysis throughout, lampoon the mass media's desperate refusal to engage with such ideas, and animated an [unaired] scene where a socialist union leader grows a commie beard and assassinates Bezos?

What's up with that?
R: 335 / I: 43

/career/

Talk about job/career advice and other related stuff from a leftist perspective. EX: How to get a job, promotion, skill, switch companies, resume, life hacks, etc.
R: 24 / I: 6

Can someone redpill on Kronstadt?

Im sure there someone more informed about this than me around so Id thought I would ask. Are there any valid reasons to not support the Kronstadt rebellion, it seems to be a genuine working class movement and alot of the things they said were basically true and Pertopavlovsk resolution seems reasonable.

also the fact that both Trotsky and Mensheviks didnt like them at least for me personally is a huge green flag, but im open to the possibility that im getting a very biased depiction of the rebellion cause anglo media
R: 66 / I: 12

your opinion on AI technology?

>allows you to prouduce much more content
>corporation struggle to licence AI content
I think its based, but self-proclaimed leftists on twitter have a different opinion and keep pushing their bourjois interests despite barely any financial impact
R: 5 / I: 0

News 1/29/23

Jailed Italian anarchist leader enters 100th day of hunger strike
Alfredo Cospito, an Italian anarchist leader jailed under strict isolation, entered the 100th day of a hunger strike on Friday, as warnings multiplied that his life is at risk. The 55-year-old is protesting against being held under the tough "41 bis" regime, normally reserved for top Mafia bosses like the recently arrested Matteo Messina Denaro. The regime involves solitary confinement to prevent inmates from communicating with affiliates. Prisoners are held in small cells with video surveillance in operation at all times.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/jailed-italian-anarchist-leader-enters-100th-day-hunger-strike-2023-01-27/

French Union Cuts Power to Pressure Macron on Pensions
During a nationwide strike last week, members of the far-left CGT union who work in the energy sector cut power to the office of a lawmaker from Mr. Macron’s party for more than three hours. On Monday, CGT energy workers in Marseille manipulated electricity and gas meters to cut bills for bakers who were protesting in the French port city against high energy prices. CGT’s leadership called such moves a “Robin Hood” operation and said they would continue as the country prepares for another national protest on Tuesday.
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/french-union-cuts-power-to-pressure-macron-on-pensions-11674815439
https://archive.ph/5Xjzg

Staff at British Museum to strike during half-term break
Fresh strikes have been called by the biggest civil service union in its long-running dispute over jobs, pay and pensions. Members of the Public and Commercial Service union (PCS) at the British Museum will take industrial action in February’s half-term school holiday.. More than 100 members of the museum’s visitor services and security teams will take seven days’ action from 13 February.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jan/28/staff-at-british-museum-to-strike-during-half-term-break

Tens of thousands of teachers march in Lisbon to demand better pay and conditions
Tens of thousands of public school teachers and other staff marched in Lisbon on Saturday to demand higher wages and better working conditions, putting further pressure on the Portuguese government as it grapples with a cost of living crisis. Shouting slogans like “for the banks there are millions, for us, there are only pennies,” about 80,000 protesters filled the Portuguese capital, police said.
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/tens-of-thousands-of-teachers-march-in-lisbon-to-demand-better-pay-and-conditions/

Climate activists block main road into The Hague
Hundreds of climate activists blocked one of the main roads into The Hague on Saturday, defying attempts to prevent their protest that have sparked concerns about restrictions on the right to demonstrate in the Netherlands. The protesters, many waving colored flags with the symbol of environmental group Extinction Rebellion and one holding a sign saying, in Dutch, “This is a dead end road,” gathered on the A12 road near the temporary home of the Dutch parliament. Police and hundreds more demonstrators looked on.
https://apnews.com/article/protests-and-demonstrations-netherlands-the-hague-climate-environment-54653377343b245330c95d857a9598c3

Bolivia Brings Aid to Drivers on the Border With Peru
The Government of Bolivia sent through the Ministries of Public Works, Services and Housing humanitarian aid to Bolivian drivers stranded at the border with Desaguadero, Peru, due to road blockades amid the political and social crisis in the country.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Brings-Aid-to-Drivers-on-the-Border-With-Peru-20230127-0021.html

Peru’s beleaguered president urges congress to bring 2024 elections forward
Boluarte, who has refused to step down despite furious nationwide protests calling for her to resign, said on Friday that elections should be brought forward to December in an attempt to ease the seven weeks of unrest that has claimed 57 lives – mostly civilians killed in clashes with the security forces.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/27/peru-elections-dina-boluarte-bring-forward

Netanyahu gives Israelis ‘green light to shoot Palestinians’
On Saturday, Netanyahu said he would expedite gun permits for Israeli citizens and to step up efforts to collect “illegal weapons”. His office also promised new steps to “strengthen” illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/29/more-palestinians-to-be-killed-critics-slam-israeli-gun-plans

Tunisians vote in second round of poll for defanged parliament
Polling began in the second round of elections for Tunisia's toothless parliament on Sunday, but as the divided nation grapples with economic woes, all eyes will be on turnout. A handful of voters trickled through a polling station in central Tunis on Sunday morning, casting ballots for a total of 262 candidates competing for 131 seats in the new legislature.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/tunisians-vote-second-round-poll-defanged-parliament

Iran thwarts drone attacks on Isfahan military site
Iran’s defence ministry has reported several drone attacks on a military plant in the country’s central city of Isfahan. The attacks were “unsuccessful” and there were no casualties, the ministry said in a statement early on Sunday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/29/iran-thwarts-drone-attacks-on-isfahan-military-site
https://archive.ph/GFASp

HPG: Three soldiers killed in guerrilla actions
According to the HPG statement, guerrillas struck a Turkish military unit seeking to demolish a defensive position with construction machinery near the village of Sîda on 28 January. A shovel excavator was destroyed during the action, which left a member of the Turkish invading forces dead and another injured.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/hpg-three-soldiers-killed-in-guerrilla-actions-65218

Malema threatens nationwide shutdown over power crisis, demands Ramaphosa resigns
EFF leader Julius Malema says they will shut down the country on the 20th of March to demand the return of electricity and the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa. He was addressing the media after their plenum in Johannesburg earlier this afternoon. He says their march shutdown is informed by rising cost of living and poverty, high levels of corruption and lack of service delivery among others.
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/malema-threatens-nationwide-shutdown-to-demand-solution-to-electricity-crisis-and-ramaphosas-resignation/

Russian Polar Research Vessel Docks in Cape Town Amid Protests
A small group of environmentalists waving placards gathered at the harbour in Cape Town on Sunday chanting "No more fossil fuels, hands off Antarctica! No more war!" "We saw the ship come into port at 8:41 on Saturday morning," Extinction Rebellion climate campaigner Cassi Goodman said on Sunday. Mineral exploitation is banned in Antarctica, and RosGeo has denied allegations that the firm is engaged in the exploration of the icy continent's mineral resources.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/29/russian-polar-research-vessel-docks-in-cape-town-amid-protests-a80074

PTM launches protests across Pakistan after acquittal of key suspect in Naqeebullah Mehsud’s murder
23-year-old Naqbeeullah Mehsud was a Pashtun factory worker and aspiring model in Karachi. He and three others were extrajudicially killed on January 13 , 2018. Police official Rao Anwar was the main suspect. At the time, the police had dubbed Mehsud’s death as an “encounter” by Pakistan’s security forces, alleging that he had links to terrorist groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/28/ptm-launches-protests-across-pakistan-after-acquittal-of-key-suspect-in-naqeebullah-mehsuds-murder/
R: 3 / I: 1

Japanese protestors

I made a shitpost (sorry about the watermark)


I love how Mishima just fucking killed himself when the soldiers refused to go along with his bullshit lmao
R: 25 / I: 1
>The WHO is Urging Countries to start Stockpiling Medicines and Prepare ‘Nuclear Emergencies’ after the EU’s Latest Warning on Putin

>The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued guidance on how to survive a nuclear catastrophe, just hours after the EU warned that Russia “is at war with the West”.
R: 21 / I: 3

What the FUCK was his problem

Why didn't the Strasserites defect to the KPD? Like, did they genuinely believe that Thalmann and co were unironically controlled by jews and they will exterminate all Germans and shit? If they wanted their little germanic volkstate they could've done that alongside the leftists right? Instead they choose to do it the hard way and ended up getting buttfucked along with that retard Rohm
R: 7 / I: 4

Accomplishments of white supremacy

1. The complete genocide or cultural erasure of countless indigenous groups around the world - if they weren't outright killed, they were turned into docile Christian alcoholics and drug addicts and either removed to ghettoes or forced into servitude for the white colonizers

2. The spreading of the perversion of Western Civilization so far that kids in Nepal are now drinking Coca Cola and rotting their teeth out as they watch Disney movies, on the few days that they're not forced to attend a western-style industrial school which is intended to prepare them for life as a wageslave to some transnational corporation or the next; this has gone so far that now, every single square inch of land around the world is now owned, and living off the land outside the system is universally illegal

3. The importation of millions of African slaves into the Americas, to the point where places such as the Caribbean are unrecognizable, with the indigenous population completely gone, the new inhabitants impoverished and beholden to American fruit companies, and diseases such as malaria (which didn't exist in the Americas prior to the slave trade) running rampant

4. The proliferation of hardcore materialism, consumerism, and capitalism around the world; essentially, convincing the entire planet to sell out, as the temperature rises to an uninhabitable level and the air becomes toxic to breathe

5. The establishment of societies as utterly perverse as that of the United States, where the white majority generally lives in massive plywood boxes in soul crushing suburban hellscapes, drives around in gas-guzzling SUVs among the parking lot strip malls, and does their shopping at places like Walmart for GMOs and plastic junk, all the while their kids shoot videos for the likes of TikTok where their hyperdomesticated first worlder ways of life are essentially advertised to their peers in the still less ravaged global south

6. The touristification or gentrification of many of the world's wonders and areas of outstanding natural beauty, where rich people, generally white, totally displace anything in these places that doesn't suit their tastes, all the while making it difficult if not impossible for less privileged people to enjoy what little remains of the former glory of such places
R: 8 / I: 2

Relevancy.

Who are the best socialist non-fiction authors (whether it be economists, political analysis, social professors, etc.) in terms of their published or recorded works about socialism, who were born after 1945?
R: 10 / I: 1
The best thing about punching a fascist is that there's a 10% chance you just punched a fed.
R: 11 / I: 3

Issues in objective morality and forming a society

So in recent times a question was haunting my mind, as we create the terms "bad,good…" etc. In our utopian society how will we judge people, what will be the rules… like a killers' reason to hurt someone may differ , as like in Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment , where Raskolnikov thinks killing a landlady will please and make everything better for him , and killing may be pleasing for their spirit, like if someone bullies your LOVER… you feel an ache… your lover is sad… then you find your hands in blood, you killed that person and as long as your lover is happy , you'll be divinely be happy too… So, nevermind, as there are a lot of human actions derives from a lot of sparks from one's revolt to this absurd world, I think it all returns no nothingness, why would we define killing "bad" in an anarcho syndicalist society maybe? Or how will those rules be defined and work… Like some nazi said if your anarchist utopia aims to please everyone what would you do to racists… Or why the idea of racism is "wrong", how can I define anything "wrong and bad", do u guys have an idea about that how these will work and defined?
R: 581 / I: 73 (sage)
Anti-trans bills proposed by year:

2018: 19

2019: 25

2020: 60

2021: 131

2022: 155

The first 19 days of 2023: 161

Leftists better not stay silent.
R: 48 / I: 7
What happened with some of the peoples from the USSR, what happened with the baltics, ukraine, why some of those are so rabid anti-communist or fascist sympathizers, and why people like him defend those points, what is the point of literally comparing socialism with capitalism while defending africans should adopt "traditional monarchic catholicism" as well saying "communism ruined africa more than capitalism" and the thread devolves into calling me a putin sympathizer tankie, is him a reactionary?
R: 66 / I: 7

Pretty nice knowing how much better things have gotten

Since the whole Covid fiasco has ended along with a shitload of overseas wars most developing states have been generally at peace most older colonial powers have lost a lot of their influence most notably France and the level of infrastructural development almost worldwide has led to a lot more people even if slowly being raised out of extreme poverty and being able to find some sort of comfort in actually finished homes, medical treatment or simply being given more time away from work to enjoy other things in life along with how much easier it is to find work thanks to the whole world trade thing and the internet


Feels great
R: 22 / I: 5
Why do people say that liberals would rather ally with fascists than leftists? Doesn't the Spanish Civil War, or even World War II itself, prove that wrong?
R: 127 / I: 11

Would space colonization inevitably lead to space feudalism?

If we had ftl travel and were able to colonize planets similar to Earth what would prevent each colony from resorting to planet or multiplanetary level feudalism? I mean communication between different colonies would be rendered difficult and each would develop their own culture and economic aystem wich would make it even harder for their to establish and interplanetary political system. Was dune right in demonstrating that space faring civilization are bound to feudalism?
R: 0 / I: 0

which one

Which of these flowcharts is correct? If neither is correct, which one is closer to correct? If neither of them is closer to correct, which one is more useful for agitation?
R: 5 / I: 1

Revisionism in the USSR

By the 60s the USSR had completely degenerated into a capitalist dictatorship of the grand bourgeoisie. The Trotskyite-Khruschevite clique had completely destroyed the mighty advancements made by Comrades Lenin and Stalin and put in power the remnants of the old bourgeoisie as well as the new forming bourgeoisie, leading to an imperialist path, somewhat similarly to the example of Yugoslavia, where a gang of capitalist agents already took power, leading to Yugoslavia becoming a US puppet antagonizing the socialist bloc, the difference being that Khrushchev's USSR became independently imperialist and attacked socialism from within.
People look for the roots of Khrushchevism in the prior Soviet economic base and structure of the state. But the truth is that Khrushchevism can be seemingly "discovered" there only because socialism still suffers from remnants of capitalism. Khrushchevite revisionism is not a product of Stalin’s mistakes, Khrushchevite revisionism is a product of capitalist influence, capitalist remnants.
It is fundamentally wrong to attribute revisionism to Stalin, as it would mean attributing revisionism to the opponents of revisionism, equating revisionism and anti-revisionism. In reality there were two opposing tendencies: the correct line of Stalin, and the revisionist line of Khrushchev. In reality, Malenkov and his supporters (possibly also Beria) were the ones who represented right-deviation. Khrushchev also supported Malenkov’s foreign policy and even Molotov and Kaganovich went along with it. But lessening tensions and lessening ideological struggle was exactly the opposite of Stalin. In reality it seems that Malenkov was the one who paved way for Khrushchev.
Khrushchev’s accusations against Comrade Stalin are basically fundamentally Trotskyist in nature, so I think it is rather silly to lay the blame on Comrade Stalin who waged unrelenting struggle against the Bukharinite Kamenev-Zinovievite Trotskyite bloc and ideologically annihilated them.
R: 25 / I: 5

Mao Doomed Marxism

I used to like Mao as his writings on Marxism as they were very clear. However at this point in my evolution and political education I can no longer consider him a great leader or decent Marxist.

Mao's decisions, including the hundred flowers campaign, the great leap forward, the cultural revolution and to do the sino-soviet split, call the USSR social imperialist and buddy up to the US, laid the groundwork for the downfall of socialism both globally and in China, and laid the groundwork for revisionists like Deng to take over. If Mao had simply died in 1956 he would have been considered a great revolutionary, hero, and successful applier of Marxism-Leninism to Chinese conditions. Instead he is now seen, rightly, as a failed statesman, discrediting traditional socialism and paving the way for Dengist reaction.

The brainlet take is to stan Mao and disdain Deng. The fact is that the problem actually started with Mao himself.
>Liu's work focused on party organizational and theoretical affairs. He was an orthodox Soviet-style Communist and favored state planning and the development of heavy industry
Purging Liu Shaoqi was retarded, he wasn't a capitalist roader, he probably would have been the an orthodox soviet style ML, maybe slightly revisionist like Khrushchev, as opposed to Deng who was the gorby/thatcher of China.

Liu would have been a good successor to Mao instead of Deng. Furthermore Mao's implementation of agricultural collectivization and industrialization was poorly implemented. Mao blamed this on others but the truth is he himself was to blame for a ton of it. The maoist tendency to anti intellectualism, distrust of technical experts, all lead directly to that terrible implementation of the GLF. It's possible agricultural collectivization and rapidly industrialization, at least at the rapid pace Mao wanted, would have always resulted in some deaths.

But the excess deaths are 100% due to Mao's retardation like trying to smelt farm tools into metal to do industrialization fast, meanwhile it just produced low quality shit-iron, failed irrigation projections, farming techniques influenced by lysenkoism (that one was shared with the USSR). All of this shit could literally have been avoided if Mao had just allowed more technical experts to have input and done things at a slightly slower pace. For all of his whinging about Khrushchev betraying Marxism, Mao himself's goals were influenced since the late 50s by Khrushchevite productivism. The anti-intellectualism, the reliance on the mass of the peasantry instead of the urban proletariat, all resulted in a bunch of mistakes being made that were 100% avoidable.

But then Mao had to stack retardation on top of retardation, break up with the soviets and make friends with fucking Richard Nixon of all people.
R: 7 / I: 1

News 1/27/23

Main opposition slams ruling party's push to keep NIS' authority to conduct anti-communist investigations
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Friday slammed the ruling party's push to call off the envisioned transfer of the authority to conduct anti-espionage investigations related to North Korea from the spy agency to the police. … "Yoon has revealed his snaky true intention to reverse the envisioned transfer of anti-communist investigative authority after using the NIS to noisily raid labor union offices," the DPK spokesperson said, accusing the government of returning the spy agency to that of the 1970s when there was a red scare.
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/01/356_344360.html
https://archive.ph/AhUfX

New Fiji govt suspends police commissioner, scraps China policing arrangement
Fiji's president on Friday suspended the commissioner of police after a general election saw the first change in government in the Pacific island nation in 16 years, after the military earlier warned against "sweeping changes". President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere said Commissioner of Police Sitiveni Qiliho had been suspended on the advice of the Constitutional Offices Commission, "pending investigation and referral to and appointment of, a tribunal".
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-fiji-govt-suspends-police-commissioner-scraps-china-policing-arrangement-2023-01-27/

Myanmar military announces strict new election law ahead of polls
The law, replacing legislation from 2010, bars parties and candidates deemed to have links to individuals or organisations “designated as committing terror acts” or seen as “unlawful”.Parties that want to contest the national election will also need to secure at least 100,000 members within three months of registration and have funds of 100 million Myanmar kyat ($45,500), 100 times more than previously. The money has to be deposited with the state-owned Myanma Economic Bank.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/27/myanmar-military-unveils-strict-new-election-law-ahead-of-polls
https://archive.ph/gXJi6

Thailand sentences activist to long prison term for criticising the monarchy on social media
Student-led pro-democracy protests beginning in 2020 openly criticised the monarchy, previously a taboo subject, leading to vigorous prosecutions under the law, which had previously been relatively rarely employed. Mr Mongkhon was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison for each of the other 14 posts. The 42-year total prison term was reduced by one third, to 28 years, because of his co-operation with the court.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/thailand-sentences-activist-to-long-prison-term-for-criticising-the-monarchy-on-social-media

At least 7 Israelis killed, several injured in Jerusalem synagogue shooting
Israeli police confirmed several people were killed and others injured in a shooting attack in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood in Jerusalem on Friday evening. It is unclear yet if any of them were critically wounded. They were all dispatched to a nearby hospital. With number of those killed climbing up to seven according to Haaretz, early indications suggested a terror attack.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/least-7-israelis-killed-several-injured-jerusalem-synagogue-shooting

Azerbaijan evacuates embassy staff from Iran after security chief killed
A gunman shot dead a security guard and wounded two other people at Azerbaijan's embassy in Iran on Friday, in an attack Baku branded an "act of terrorism". "The attacker broke through the guard post, killing the head of security with a Kalashnikov assault rifle," Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said. The Azeri foreign ministry said the attack was a result of Tehran ignoring concerns and calls for improved security measures at the embassy.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-azerbaijan-evacuates-embassy-staff-security-chief-killed

Doctors in Bangladesh enjoy free rein in deciding fees
The unregulated system is ultimately going against the interests of patients and affecting overall healthcare services, health rights activists said. They demanded that doctors’ fees be limited in order to bring discipline and accountability to patients. The former president of the Bangladesh Medical Association, Rashid-E-Mahbub, said that in Bangladesh, doctors’ fees are fixed on the basis of demand and supply, which is completely market-driven.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/192786/doctors-in-bangladesh-enjoy-free-rein-in-deciding-fees

Tribals Allege Officials Use Forest Rights Act to Harass, Demand Money; Picket DM’s Office
Upset with the poor implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the day-to-day intervention of the Forest Department officials on their farmlands, a group of over 4,000 tribals picketed Burhanpur collector office on January 24. Under the banner of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) – an outfit that works for the marginalised in the Nimar division of the state – over 4,000 tribals carried out a long march between the District Hospital and the collector’s office.
https://www.newsclick.in/tribals-allege-officials-use-forest-rights-act-harass-demand-money-picket-dms-office

More tension around mining in Sudan’s Red Sea state
The activists claim that the gold mining company has not obtained a permit to work from the Red Sea state government and demand the removal of the company. They are also protesting because of the company’s refusal to provide social responsibility services. The El Bishariyin Youth Secretariat further condemned the dispatch of a police force to protect a mining company in Halayeb locality, days after the miners were sent away by the people of the region.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/more-tension-in-red-sea-state-around-mining

Protests shut down Komani businesses
Protesters in Komani, Eastern Cape, have shut down businesses as part of their ongoing protest against poor service delivery and corruption. The residents are complaining about incomplete projects, and prolonged power outages which they say are caused by a lack of infrastructure maintenance. They are also angry about the dilapidated historical buildings in the town.
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/komani-residents-shut-down-businesses-amid-service-delivery/
R: 35 / I: 8

The worst anti-communist videos

I did it.

I found the worst anti-communist garbage video currently on YouTube.

PragerU doesn't even come close to being this heinous.
R: 15 / I: 1

whats the deal with post lefties?

Is there more to post-leftism other than pointing out recuperation/thermidor exist therefore we should just give up on leftism. Like some of the critiques are valid but wheres the alternative?

Anti-civ types are just braindead first worlders who should go live in the woods with no clothing for a week and see how it goes. Also I dont think I really get the whole "workerism" critique it just comes off as some bum ass wook realizing theyll actually have to work under socialism too.

I mean I fuck wit orgs like the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei and blac bloc insurrectionist types so if they count as post-left then there are some parts that are def redeemable,even if it wont lead to revolution in the near future I still have to respect fighting an urban guerilla war against the cops here and now.

I just get the impression that post leftism is for people who are smart enough to realize capitalism is screwing them over but too stupid and/or selfish for mass organizing and that Bookchin was actually being way too charitable but also super on point when critiquing lifestylism
R: 50 / I: 3

ECONOMICS

>Economics is the social """science""" that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes what's viewed as basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyzes the economy as a system where production, consumption, saving, and investment interact, and factors affecting it: employment of the resources of labour, capital, and land, currency inflation, economic growth, and public policies that have impact on these elements.

Should I do a degree in economics? is it worth it? If I learn enough bourgeois economics will I be able to refute it? Will it give me more credibility in debates with rightoids and liberals?
R: 26 / I: 5

Anti-communist(s) you got the most respect for?

Gotta be pic related for me. Chinese nationalists in general, had it not been for them the Japs would've conquered China and committed a genocide that would've made the Holocaust look like a joke.
R: 27 / I: 8

Books on the history of the Roman Empire

I'm looking for books about the history of the Roman Empire. Im not really familiar with any authors on this topic and the only book i know of is Edward Gibbons History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Also any thoughts on that ? How does it hold up today? Is there any value in reading it ?
R: 36 / I: 6

Lacan/Psychoanalysis = CIA diversionary trick?

Why is this stuff so popular among leftists? In any left-adjacent space you encounter this guy, the farther left you go the more he pops up!
Psychoanalysis is not a materialist science. It applies concepts onto matter, not derive concepts from material analysis. We end up in absurd territory talking about phalluses, the big other, the little other, Greek plays, and "in the final instance" analyzing films and movies.
R: 21 / I: 3

Serious question

If 1) USSR was really socialist, and 2) socialism is egalitarian,
Why did these regions fail to develop as much as russia and eastern europe, and are still less developed after the russians left?
R: 2 / I: 0

1st world de-industrialization aggrievement

why do so many of the aggrieved imperial core proles who lost their jobs to de-industrialization believe the bourgeois clowns who promise them they'll bring back the manufacturing jobs? Can't they see that the high-pay, good-pension, unionized, low-barrier-to-entry, manufacturing jobs of the mid 20th century were entirely a byproduct of the New Deal, FDR's war economy, and a postwar hegemony that had not yet begun to decay? Can't they see that the bourgeoisie outsourced their jobs to the cheapest labor sources? Why would the bourgeoisie ever bring back the jobs from the imperial periphery? Why would the bourgeoisie ever decrease their own negotiating power by resurrecting a highly-paid and unionized labor force in the imperial core? Why would the bourgeoisie sacrifice profit for the happiness of their civilians? Isn't it reactionary and class-collaborationist to believe these kinds of promises from bourgeois politicians? Why do some self-described "socialists" also believe these false promises? Since when has the bourgeoisie ever gone against its own interests? Even when they do limited social democracy, it's simply to prevent the collapse of the bourgeois mode of production, not to decrease their own wealth or to benefit the proletariat. Also, the threat to jobs is not just outsourcing, but also automation, and prison labor, and undocumented labor. You have a quadruple threat to people who sell their labor power, and 3/4 of those threats come from people who are also brutalized under the current system. Why not join forces with those people? Why believe the promises of bourgeois politicians who make false promises? Could it be that all of this is motivated by false consciousness, and a chauvinist ethnonationalist ideology that puts internationalism and class consciousness in the back seat?

This thread isn't a dig at Trump btw, I see imperial core bourgeois politicians of all stripes make these promises.
R: 4 / I: 3

Allied Intervention against Soviet Russia

Can we get a thread on this topic. Documents, archives, sources anything showing that Western imperialist powers wanted to stop the spread of soviet power and worker-peasant states.

I recently found out that France and England actually planned to Sykes-Picot Soviet Russia. They planned on dismembering it into occupation zones. Even the now rehabilitated Wrangel (White Russian emigree) was ready to sell out his country to French imperialists. Funny how that works.

Oh and Churchill was keenly aware of this agreement. It adds another dimension to his "tactics" in WW2.
R: 519 / I: 103

RUSSIAN THREAD

The previous thread died (is full) for our sins. >>326202
>>>/leftypol_archive/485713.
———————————————————————
Everything Russia related belongs here.
R: 33 / I: 9

Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

When did you realize that Marxism-Leninism-Maoism was the ideology of the proletariat and that People's War was universal? Maybe around 2019 for me after reading the PCP's works.

List of Communist Party of Peru works in English: https://web.archive.org/web/20131004230513/http://www.blythe.org/peru-pcp/docs_en/dlist_en.htm
R: 18 / I: 1
What are /leftypol/ thoughts on analytical marxism?

If you're familiar with the writings of G.A. Cohen, John Roemer, and other similar authors, what are your opinions on them?

I know they're controversial because they throw out basic concepts from Marx - like they think the labor theory of value is unnecessary. But I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with critically examining his ideas and, if necessary, being prepared to throw them away. He lived in a different time where mathematics, economics and philosophy just hadn't developed to the point where they have today - I think it's obvious that Capital would be substantially different if it were written after the marginal revolution, like it or not.
R: 5 / I: 0

Friendly reminder

Dear tourists: here is a reminder that 4chan has been nothing but a testing ground for anonymous bots to spout nonsense ever since m00t quit and started working for google
The reason why your website sucks so much is not because it's full of right-wing people, but because it's full of bots who don't speak coherent english, because the captchas are so incredibly tedious, because the gold pass is given to the bots for free, and because you haven't figured out that everyone you talk to is a robot.
R: 6 / I: 0
> be on workfare programme with a charity that pushes secularized crypto-protestant work-ethic values and gives trivial make-work and other bs
> have already finished two books

The clergyman makes a dollar, you make a dime
that's why you read a fucking book on company time!
R: 5 / I: 2

LISTEN TO IT

https://michael-hudson.com/2015/12/super-imperialism-in-84-seconds/
No balls you won't listen to this
No balls you'll keep making outdated arguments and (no balls) forever be mystified by the world system
No balls
R: 30 / I: 6

THE LEFT CONTROLS EVERYTHING!!

>NOOOOOO! THE LEFT CONTROLS EVERYTHING!!

Why the fuck are they like this? Liberals don't even control "everything", let alone the ACTUAL LEFT. Why the fuck do rightoids feel entitled to control more shit than they have support of, they already have way more power than their actual numbers support, it seems they wont be satisfied until they have 100% of it.
R: 4 / I: 2

News 1/26/23

Israel raid in Jenin kills nine Palestinians in 'massacre'
At least nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed in an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces shot dead nine people, while a further 20 were wounded. At least four of those were in a critical condition, it added. Later in the evening, the ministry said another Palestinian, Youssef Yehya Abdel-Kareem, was killed in al-Ram town, near Jerusalem, in confrontations that erupted after Israeli forces suppressed a march against the killings in Jenin.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-raid-jenin-killed-wound-several-others

Beirut blast victims' relatives rally for embattled probe judge
Experts have warned that the battle between investigative judge Tarek Bitar and top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, who has charged him with insubordination, will be a critical test for the faltering justice system of the crisis-hit Mediterranean nation. Bitar this week defied Lebanon's ruling class to indict several powerful figures – including Oueidat, the prosecutor general – in connection with the blast, reviving a probe that was suspended for over a year amid vehement political pushback.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/beirut-blast-victims-relatives-rally-embattled-probe-judge-0

Demand for Wasantha Mudalige’s release grows stronger
The demand for the release of Sri Lankan student activist Wasantha Mudalige continues to gather strength even as his remand has been extended. On Wednesday, January 25, the Fort Magistrates court extended Mudalige’s detention of February 8.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/26/demand-for-wasantha-mudaliges-release-grows-stronger/

China, India firms dropped by Norway fund over Myanmar weapons
AviChina delivered light aeroplanes in December 2021 to Myanmar and Bharat Electronics delivered a remote-controlled weapons station to Myanmar in July 2021, the fund said. “Both before and after the coup in 2021, the armed forces have perpetrated extremely serious abuses against the civilian population, with, among other things, combat aircrafts, according to several international institutions,” the fund said of the reason for divesting from AviChina.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/25/china-india-firms-dropped-by-norway-fund-over-myanmar-weapons
https://archive.ph/L3kZv

Intl judges reopen Philippines ‘war on drugs’ investigation
The investigation was suspended in late 2021 after the Philippines said it already was examining the crimes and argued that the ICC — a court of last resort — therefore didn’t have jurisdiction. Khan argued last year that he should be allowed to reopen the ICC investigation, saying Manila’s request for the case to be deferred to authorities there “is not warranted.”
https://apnews.com/article/international-criminal-court-philippines-government-crime-4cb890b189a7a4592299485a7123336f

Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bill, including controversial surveillance plans, moves closer to law: Insidethegames
The Bill would grant power to the authorities “on an experimental basis” for “the use of algorithmic processing on the images captured by video protection devices and drones in order to detect and report events”, the website added. “This is aimed at detecting “abandoned objects” and allowing “statistical analyses” to help manage crowd movements in transport.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/paris-2024-olympic-and-paralympic-games-bill-including-controversial-surveillance-plans-moves-closer-to-law-insidethegames/
https://archive.ph/q55wO

Asda set to axe hundreds of jobs while thousands forced to take pay cut
HUNDREDS of jobs are set to be axed at Asda after the supermarket chain unveiled a major shake-up of its store operations topday. The firm, owned by British-Indian billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, said some overnight restocking shifts at 184 stores would be moved to daytime hours, endangering 211 night-shift manager roles.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/asda-set-to-axe-hundreds-of-jobs-while-thousands-will-be-forced-to-take-pay-cut

Legislators submit motion to impeach Peru President Dina Boluarte
A group of left-wing politicians in Peru have submitted a motion of impeachment against President Dina Boluarte over her handling of nearly two months of protests following the removal of her predecessor Pedro Castillo. Some 56 people have died amid violent confrontations between protesters and the security services.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/26/lawmakers-submit-motion-to-impeach-peru-president-dina-boluarte
https://archive.ph/at6Fi

Honduran Lawmakers Don't Agree On Supreme Court Judges Election
"Since 2010, the Supreme Court has been comprised of 15 judges from conservative parties," the Libre legislators argued, stressing that their party’s proposal also seeks to promote gender equity as 8 out of the 15 Libre candidates for Supreme Court judges are women.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Honduran-Lawmakers-Dont-Agree-On-Supreme-Court-Judges-Election-20230126-0012.html

Haiti police block streets, break into airport to protest officer killings
Haitian police officers on Thursday blocked streets and forced their way into the country's main airport to protest the recent killing of officers by armed gangs expanding their grip on the Caribbean nation. Protesters in civilian clothes who identified themselves as police first attacked Prime Minister Ariel Henry's official residence, according to a Reuters witness, and then flooded the airport as Henry was arriving from a trip to Argentina.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haiti-protests-flare-after-police-officers-killed-gang-violence-2023-01-26/
R: 10 / I: 2

TURK BVLL VICTORY

Friendship ended with Rojavaite libertarian socialism

Now Neo-Ottomanism is my best friend
R: 14 / I: 4
Why do boomers have a freakout whenever somebody other then a rich mega corperation gets government help
R: 16 / I: 0

The left-right divide is obsolete: The case of Malvinas

I talked with a mod on /meta/ to get unbanned, so before any mod action see that thread before deciding anything.

I guess before I comment anything, just to clarify, the left right-divide being obsolete does not mean
>Communists and anti-communists don't exist
>Imperialists and anti-imperialists don't exist
>Fascism doesn't exist
With that out of the way, I think the perfect example in recent history that shows how useless this dichotomy is to analyze politics is the Malvinas War. As most people already know, the war was between the UK, a liberal democracy, against Argentina, a military dictatorship (that was backed by the US at its birth through a coup and right before the Malvinas conflict).

A guy named Galtieri was the Argie dictator, and by this point the military junta had killed almost 10x as many leftists as the Pinochet dictatorship did in total, btw. What's interesting is that during the war, Argentina almost received military support by Cuba and Nicaragua, in the form of soldiers and the Cubans even wanted to give a nuclear submarine to Argentina. Not only that, but the Soviet Union also gave support to Argentina, diplomatically and by providing intelligence info. Even the Communist Party of Argentina supported the military junta against Britain.

So what's the explanation for this? Was Castro a "Galtierist" for wanting to help Argentina? Was the Soviet Union "rightwing" for wanting to help as well? How about the fact that the US, which had supported the creation of the military dictatorship, gave military and diplomatic support to the UK during the conflict?

If someone where to analyze this war through the left-right dichotomy, it would be a very piss-poor analysis. Analyzing that war though an imperialist vs anti-imperialist dichotomy is already a far more correct position; it shows how anti-imperialism can't be constrained to this dichotomy, it goes beyond it (keep in mind this is only one example, obviously not all criticisms of left-right divide have to be related to imperialism vs anti-imperialism).

If anyone is down to criticize the decisions of these socialist governments of helping/wanting to help Argentina comment why, but try to give a more developed argument than simply 'helping anti-communist dictatorship=bad'. If the Soviets chose to do it, you are going to need a better argument than that.
R: 79 / I: 9

“”””supply chain issues”””””

How badly are we being lied to about the causes behind the “everything shortage?” The standard official explanation for shortages—especially in burgerland— of everything from consumer electronics to baby formula to medicines is “supply chain disruptions” during and after the covid shutdown. There was then a sudden rebound of consumer demand, but there were too many kinks in the supply chain to meet it.

Now, it’s been 3 years since the worst of it and still there are shortages, and new shortages are appearing frequently. This state of affairs either an indictment of the contemptible brittleness of capitalism’s logistics, or an utter lie masking its systemic decline and decompensation.

Covid has become a useful excuse for many actions of those in power. It does not take much convincing to make it seem plausible or in fact certain that they are lying as a form of damage control and blame evasion.

So what is behind these shortages? How will they worsen in the coming years? What is a realistic solution?
R: 52 / I: 9

500-900 million died of COVID in china. Source: Falun gong. Lmao

What is the Marxist analysis for people believing Falun gong???

https://twitter.com/jenniferzeng97/status/1614811569724035072?cxt=HHwWgMC8iaWk--gsAAAA

https://twitter.com/jenniferzeng97/status/1614811571414306817?s=20&t=D4g0USIcohAILTPQWKjrWA

1. Founder of #FalunGong: 400 million have died of #COVID in #China during the past 3 years. 500 million will die when the pandemic is over.
200 million died during #SARS. But #CCP covered it up. Later it

2.. allowed people to have 2 or 3 kids after they realized the decline of population.
I know these sound shocking and hard to believe, but they are the main points of this report by
@dajiyuan
.
R: 60 / I: 19

antifascist tips

This is a thread for sharing tactics for dealing with facists in our current society. Post your tips and tricks for fighting fascists here, even if it as something as simply as trolling/fucking with fascists it is still welcome.
R: 55 / I: 29

*ding ding* Happy new year!

A toast to /leftypol/!

Don't know what else to add, sorry. The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working Men of All Countries, Unite!
R: 13 / I: 9

anyone else here a MLA(not the format)

After reading sum theereee Ive decided that the only way to achieve socialism in our time is MARXIST-LENINIST-ANARCHISM.

Basically the only way to solve the contradiction of ML and Anarchist thought is combining the two together. This will also prevent revisionism from occuring forever.

see the Shanghai Commune or Petrograd Soviet for an example of what this would look like

U literally cant refute this here Thesis
R: 8 / I: 5

Take the bread pill

"In a world without money, everything was shared collectively. People lived in harmony with each other and with nature. Resources were abundant and everyone had everything they needed.

But the people of this world were not content with just living a simple, peaceful existence. They had discovered the secret of astral projection, and they used this ability to explore the many dimensions of the universe.

Each night, as they lay down to sleep, they would detach their spirits from their physical bodies and travel to distant realms. They would visit strange and fantastical places, meet new and interesting beings, and gather knowledge and wisdom that they would bring back to their world.

Their physical bodies were seen as nothing more than mere "meat suits" that were used only for the necessities of life. They were taken care of and maintained, but they were not seen as important.

The people of this world were free to explore, to learn, and to grow, without the constraints of money or material possessions. They lived in a state of constant wonder and discovery, and their society was one of true utopia.

As they journeyed through the vast expanse of the multiverse, they knew that they were truly alive. They were free to be themselves and to follow their hearts, and they were grateful for the gift of astral projection and the collective society that allowed them to experience all the beauty and wonder of the universe."
R: 5 / I: 2

News 1/25/23

NUMSA, other organizations seek court action to end South Africa’s debilitating power outages
“Load Shedding is destroying jobs and the livelihoods of our people and it is killing patients in hospitals,” the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the country’s largest trade union, said in a statement. . …
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/25/numsa-other-organizations-seek-court-action-to-end-south-africas-debilitating-power-outages/

Anti-junta demos halted by tear gas as strikers’ demands still not met in Sudan
Members of resistance committees in Khartoum organised demonstrations at the Republican Palace to protest against the “starvation policies” of the acting government and “demand the overthrow of the putschists” yesterday, as strikes continue across Sudan. The protesters began the march at the Jackson and Stadium bus stations, passed through the Soug El Arabi market, and ended at the Republican Palace. The security forces disrupted the demonstrators on their way to the palace by firing tear gas.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/anti-junta-demos-halted-by-tear-gas-as-strikers-demands-still-not-met-in-sudan

Protests in Iraq amid local currency devaluation, Central Bank changes
Iraqis protested in Baghdad on Wednesday against the drop in dinar’s value. The currency has lost 7% of its value since November. The protesters marched through the Baghdad, and outside the Central Bank waving Iraqi flags. One sign read, “The politicians are immersed in financial corruption,” according to posts on Iraqi social media.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/protests-iraq-amid-local-currency-devaluation-central-bank-changes

Syrian Democratic Forces arrest informers working for Turkish intelligence
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement: "Our forces arrested several agents linked to the Turkish occupation intelligence. They were involved in targeting the military and security points with IEDs and sending their coordinates to the Turkish occupation."
https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/syrian-democratic-forces-arrest-informers-working-for-turkish-intelligence-65132

Pakistan arrests senior leader from ex-PM Imran Khan’s party
The arrest of Fawad Chaudhry, an outspoken critic of the government, is a major setback for the party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, in which he serves as vice president. … Khan also denounced the arrest, claiming on Twitter that it left no doubt that Pakistan has become a place “devoid of rule of law.” He urged followers to “stand up for our fundamental rights” to prevent the country from drifting toward “a point of no return.”
https://apnews.com/article/politics-imran-khan-pakistan-lahore-islamabad-2fc5f64ca10da9a3a446fcd07db2092b

Ground Report: How BBC Documentary Screening Was ‘Blocked’ in JNU; Stone-Pelting Blamed on ABVP
Before this screening, the JNU administration had advised the students not to go ahead with the screening, but when the students did not agree, the administration cut off electricity, plunging the entire campus into darkness for several hours. The Internet was also shut down. But all this failed to stop the students from going ahead with the screening of part one of the BBC documentary. As an alternative, the students started screening the film on their laptops and mobiles instead of projectors and big screens.
https://www.newsclick.in/Ground-Report-BBC-Documentary-Screening-Blocked-JNU-Stone-Pelting-Blamed-ABVP

Journalist deaths jumped 50 percent in 2022, CPJ says
Mexico saw 13 news workers killed, according to the committee. Other media groups have put the number at 15, which would make 2022 the deadliest year in at least three decades for Mexican journalists. In war-battered Ukraine, 15 news workers were killed last year, CPJ said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/24/journalist-deaths-jumped-50-percent-in-2022-cpj-says
https://archive.ph/yamWj

Peru protesters tear-gassed after president calls for truce
“We can’t have a truce when she doesn’t’ tell the truth,” Blanca España Mesa, 48, said of Peru’s president. Even though her eyes were watering from the tear gas, España Mesa said she was “happy because a lot of people came today. It’s as if people have woken up.”
https://apnews.com/article/peru-government-protests-and-demonstrations-argentina-pedro-castillo-dina-boluarte-c5be79c353a5b87a25d2e18ad3ac29e2

Boluarte Decides to Militarize the Puno Region in Peru
On Tuesday, Peru's President Dina Boluarte ordered 500 soldiers to enter Puno and extended the curfew in this department for another 10 days. Previously, however, she called for a "national truce." … "Although the residents were frightened, they tried to prevent the troops from entering. However, the soldiers left the vehicles in the area and walked towards the regional capital."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Boluarte-Decides-to-Militarize-the-Puno-Region-in-Peru-20230125-0005.html

Colombia shifts strategy in drug war away from coca eradication
His administration has announced plans instead to offer economic alternatives to coca farmers. “We’re going to give oxygen to certain activities and to asphyxiate others: oxygen to the weakest links in the chains, to the coca farmers, and asphyxia to the traffickers, to the money launderers and mafias,” Minister of Justice Nestor Osuna said in December.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/24/colombia-shifts-strategy-in-drug-war-away-from-coca-eradication
https://archive.ph/xjgai

Amazon workers stage historic strike
AMAZON was hit by its first-ever British strike today as workers in Coventry offered a “derisory” pay rise of just 50 pence an hour took on one of the world’s biggest firms. Staff at the US-owned online retail and logistics giant “just want a decent standard of living” as inflation tops 10 per cent, their union GMB stressed.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/amazon-workers-stage-historic-strike

Strike cancels all flights at Berlin Brandenburg airport
All passenger flights at the Berlin Brandenburg airport that were scheduled for Wednesday have either been cancelled or rescheduled on due to a labor strike. … Numerous workers gathered in front of the main terminal building of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport. The strike is set to last throughout the day. Only occasional passengers who had not heard about the strike arrived at the airport.
https://www.dw.com/en/strike-cancels-all-flights-at-berlin-brandenburg-airport/a-64505808
R: 56 / I: 11

British state media insults Japan calling them poor, racist and bureaucratic

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63830490
British state-run media has released an article criticizing Japan. They say that Japan has stagnant housing prices, is xenophobic and racist, has too low birth rates, refuses to accept more immigration, is a sexist patriarchy, has too much bureaucracy, and has been praised by alt right activists and anime nerds.
Will Japan ever recover from this thorough takedown? The article was viewed by millions, reaching the number one spot for top bbc news articles.
R: 463 / I: 103

The legacy of the alt-right

>4chan traffic at an all-time low
>"Generation Zyklon" meme failed miserably and zoomers are even more left-wing than millenials
>Conservatives losing elections the world over as the center-right was replaced by a bunch of extremist lunatics, nearly all American countries have liberal or leftist and Europe isn't too far behind
Why did they fail so badly?
R: 15 / I: 8

/Sankara/

Just learned about Thomas Sankara and the 1983 Revolution in Burkina Faso. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara Holy shit this guy was cool. Massively increased education, agricultural production, and access to healthcare, said fuck you to the IMF and world bank, outlawed forced marriage and female genital mutilation, championed gender equality, and was on the cutting edge of ecological preservation and responding to the AIDS crisis. FUCK Blaise Compaoré. What a backstabbing piece of shit. He is apparently still walking around free after being sentenced to life in prison, and talking about healing divisions and shit. Burkina Faso could have been another Cuba. Instead it is one of the most underdeveloped nations in Africa. Fuck all counterrevolutionaries and the evil western empires that prop them up.
R: 63 / I: 13

Communist Israel.

Let's make a thought experiment.
Let's say, that tomorrow morning, Israel has fallen to communist revolutionaries.
>B-b-but that wouldn't happen!
Let's say for the sake of the argument they do.
What should they do?
Should they leave the country entirely and return to Europe, because they're living on palestinian land, thus returning the land to the palestinians but abandoning their communist control over the territory?
Should they stay in there and further the communist project, although they are living in colonized land?
R: 655 / I: 211 (full)

/ukraine/ thread #113

Make a new thread faster next time edition

Developments of multipolarity timeline https://www.pacemaker.global/multipolar-transition-timeline

Live maps and updates
>Nb: LiveUaMap is not to be trusted
SouthFront: https://southfront.org/category/all-articles/world/europe/ukraine/
Defense Politics Asia: https://www.youtube.com/@DefensePoliticsAsia
Andrei Martyanov: https://www.youtube.com/user/smoothieX12

Watch together
📺 News/events: https://tv.leftypol.org/r/HappeningsviaKlash
📺 Hangout/chill: https://tv.leftypol.org/r/bloodcast

Social media
>Twitter
https://nitter.net/rwapodcast
https://nitter.net/GeromanAT (DDR Anon's fav news copypaste source)
https://nitter.net/wargonzoo
https://nitter.net/plnewstoday
https://nitter.net/RALee85
https://nitter.net/MarQs__
https://nitter.net/KofmanMichael
https://nitter.net/IntelCrab
https://nitter.net/NotWoofers
https://nitter.net/michaelh992
<adding Slavyangrad, why not
>Telegram
https://t.me/milinfolive
https://t.me/hueviykharkov
https://t.me/conflictzone
https://t.me/vorposte
https://t.me/intelslava
https://t.me/grey_zone
https://t.me/AussieCossack
https://t.me/asbmil
https://t.me/Slavyangrad
R: 18 / I: 5

Pacific Tourist wanting to know

This will be a brain dead post, scroll if you want

I'm a tourist from 4chin, can you redpill me on left/schizoleft world view of the modern times? Iceberg memes, giga TL;DR infograph appreciated
R: 22 / I: 7

Karl Marx will never be ballin' -

What's up with Karl Marx playing basketball? Why is Karl Marx a mascot for a local basketball team?
R: 44 / I: 7
Esperanto will probably not get its original goal of a universal language, sadly, once the english language are, but it did had its place on the labor movement and had its place in China and the Soviet Union (at least for a time)
I personaly find it interesting and I myself am a student, but what do you guys think about it? I would love to see your thoughts on it bellow
R: 65 / I: 29

Who killed JFK, really?

>John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination near the end of his third year in office. Kennedy was the youngest person to assume the presidency by election. He was also the youngest president at the end of his tenure. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. He was a Democrat who represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to his presidency.

>On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. His vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, assumed the presidency upon Kennedy's death. Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested for the assassination, but he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby two days later. The FBI and the Warren Commission both concluded Oswald had acted alone. After Kennedy's death, Congress enacted many of his proposals, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Revenue Act of 1964.

Who actually killed this guy? Did the CIA or rogue elements of the CIA kill him? Was there a second shooter? Or was Oswald a patsy, as he always insisted? If so, does that mean a Marxist actually assassinated a president?

After all these years and all the theories, what's /leftypol/'s take on it?
R: 6 / I: 2

Idealistic to Mention Capitalism As to Blame

It is idealistic to tell someone to blame capitalism when talking about the woes of the modern day. Capitalism, back then and even more so now, is a very vague abstract concept. For some people, its their work, for other people its literally markets. So many different explanations. But whatever it is, its something that isn't tangible. That you have to build together like a puzzle. Thats why its idealistic to be talking about capitalism to workers. A much better example would be the boss. They are tangible. They exist. You can easily identify them and explain your relationship between them than you can capitalism.
>This fat pig is the one who is taking away all your hard earned money.
>They languish in your riches why you can barley make enough to keep on living.
Think of it as a more material connection to you. Also thinking back on past revolutions and uprising, capitalism wasn't exactly the leading force that would bring about it. It usually be some terrible government, or a monarch or a foreign force. Something to rally around against that was tangible. It was only after the revolution that a sense of anti capitalist sense was able to be fostered. And this is back then. Now, its even harder to explain capitalism, since so much is just plain fake, such as speculation, and trading and shit like that. And people are more inclined to like their boss since the managerial class is at least somewhat ingrained into your work, so you imagine them as "the real boss"
Overall, this post is a bit of a pseud post but this was on the mind a while back and wanted to share to discuss, since there might be some who disagree and some who agree, but overall hopefully a discussion happens
R: 26 / I: 8

Reviving the trade guilds

Are trade guilds [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild] a viable mode of worker-organized labor to form a parallel mode of production to help construct socialism? They could differ from co-ops in that they require no formal association apart from validation and admittance, and allow ad-hoc production of commodities using internally communal means of production. So in other words, similar to co-ops but they don't seek to compete in the capitalist market but simply exist for themselves, to the extent they can achieve satisfaction of their own needs in some way

Trades this could be useful for:
-Pumbers
-Smiths
-Glass blowers
-Engineers
-Architects
-Teachers

It seems this could be applicable to all sorts of jobs

Any thoughts?
R: 8 / I: 2
how true is the claim that stalin had a secret son. Is there any evidence to it.
(context: theres this claim by a soviet journalist that he was secretly stalins son. That his mother and stalin had a relationship before stalin left)
R: 23 / I: 7

Serbian El Chudisente

>The chinlet meme is real
He's a neoliberal rightoid so it checks out too. But since he's not just another American mass shooter, what physiognomic activity causes right-wingers to look like this.
R: 4 / I: 2

News 1/24/23

Ambulance workers stage another day of strike action as dispute over pay for overstretched staff shows no sign of ending
Nearly 2,000 paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff across north-west England downed tools for 12 hours from midday, their union GMB said. The walkout, which followed industrial action by thousands of GMB, Unite and Unison ambulance employees on Monday, came ahead of what could be biggest-ever NHS strike on February 6, when all three unions are due to strike alongside nurses.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/ambulance-staff-stage-another-day-strike-action-dispute-over-pay

UK: Mother collapses from hunger at South Tyneside Food Bank
On January 13, staff at the Hospitality and Hope centre in South Tyneside had to arrange for the family to be taken home and for emergency food support to be provided. The mother and partner are both working but had been going hungry so their children could eat. Rising living costs—caused by corporate price gouging—meant their wages no longer covered their needs. Hospitality and Hope chief executive Brian Thomas said, “this is not an isolated case… Working people are entering deprivation at a scale previously unseen.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/23/tpwj-j23.html

German government sued over 'failure' to meet climate goals
Friends of the Earth Germany, also known as BUND, said on Tuesday in a submission to the Berlin-Brandenburg administrative court that the government should have to put forward an emergency program for the transport and building sectors.
https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-sued-over-failure-to-meet-climate-targets/a-64500302

Extreme Israeli group takes root in US with fundraising bid
An Israeli group raising funds for Jewish extremists convicted in some of the country’s most notorious hate crimes is collecting tax-exempt donations from Americans, according to findings by The Associated Press and the Israeli investigative platform Shomrim. The records in the case suggest that Israel’s far right is gaining a new foothold in the United States.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-government-only-on-ap-yitzhak-rabin-crime-c4841ab75e6c5679081b4ca48ac446a6

Probe Demanded After 'Cold-Blooded Killing' of Eswatini Human Rights Lawyer
Unknown gunmen murdered Maseko at his home in the city of Luhleko on Saturday, just hours after Eswatini's unelected leader, King Mswati III, "warned those calling for democracy that more trouble was coming for them," according to a local newspaper. Since protests against Eswatini's absolute monarchy erupted in May 2021, dozens of people peacefully struggling for political reforms in the country formerly known as Swaziland have been killed by Mswati's security forces.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/probe-killing-eswatini-human-rights-lawyer

Khartoum resistance committees to form local Legislative Councils
The current formation of local Legislative Councils “is based on the unified charter of the resistance committees and will lead to the formation of a parallel government that derives its legitimacy from the members of the neighbourhood committees who will be organised in general assemblies,” Esmat explained. The activist added that the new councils “will restrict all the work of the tax system”.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/khartoum-resistance-committees-to-form-local-legislative-councils

Federal government to intervene in transport union’s high court fight against Qantas
The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, filed a notice of appearance on 16 January to intervene in the case, in which Qantas hopes to overturn a full federal court decision exposing it to a mammoth compensation bill for laying off staff at 10 airports in November 2020.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/24/federal-government-to-intervene-in-transport-unions-high-court-fight-against-qantas

Groups hope ILO mission will investigate labor rights violations in the Philippines
“This High-Level Tripartite Mission is important so that we can show the wretched state of the workers where their rights to organize were violated, and they are experiencing inadequate salary and lack of job security,” said Butch Lozande, Spokesperson of Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA).
https://www.bulatlat.com/2023/01/23/groups-hope-ilo-mission-will-investigate-labor-rights-violations-in-the-philippines/

China offers Sri Lanka debt moratorium, IMF help still in doubt
The Export-Import Bank of China has offered Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on its debt and said it would support the country's efforts to secure a $2.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/chinas-exim-bank-offers-sri-lanka-debt-extension-letter-2023-01-24/

Kerala's Political Groups, JNU Union Announce Screening of BBC Documentary; HCU Students Screen Film on Campus
Following that, similar announcements were made by the SFI – a left-wing student organisation allied with CPI(M) – and various wings of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), including the Youth Congress. SFI, in its Facebook post, said the documentary would be screened on various college campuses in the state, PTI reported.
https://www.newsclick.in/keralas-political-groups-jnu-union-announce-screening-bbc-documentary-hcu-students-screen-film
R: 27 / I: 4
Is there a hegelian dialectic between

>1) the idea of proletarian class consciousness
<(the idea that a proletarian in America and a prole in Cambodia have more in common with each other than they do with their respective ruling classes)
and
>2) the idea of labor aristocracy
<(specifically the idea that proles in the imperial core benefit from the superprofits extracted from the impoverished workers of the imperial periphery in several forms)

If so, how do you resolve it? What is the synthesis?

Slightly related: Does national culture or religion or ethnic consciousness often override class consciousness? If so, why? Also: How does multipolarity play into all of this? (I mean multipolarity as a geopolitical phenomenon and not a meme ideology)
R: 17 / I: 2

ADAM SMITH THE FOUNDER OF ECONOMICS

We need to have a dedicated thread about this guy because im sick of hearing about him being the founder of free market capitalism. I haven't read him but i would like some input from people who have, because i'm fairly certain that he didn't like the "free market" or the "invisible hand" at all.
R: 10 / I: 0
>Drag artist says George Santos was a left-wing Lula supporter in Brazil before going to the US and turning into 'this crazy thing'
https://www.businessinsider.com/george-santos-drag-queen-brazil-left-wing-lula-supporter-2023-1?r=US&IR=T&utm_source=reddit.com
Is he, dare I say it, /our guy/?
R: 66 / I: 15

New Multitude- 2019-2023

Hey guys, Editor. I'm sorry to say but I'm announcing the end of the New Multitude project as of today.

NM was a place for anons and non anons to write about stuff that mattered to them and we had contributions from all over the world, including Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria, UK, USA, Mexico, Norway, Netherlands, Brazil, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan, and many more.

I've been running the site since the start and at this point I just don't have the time to give it the attention it deserves.
I want to express sincere thanks to all the contributors as well as the original logo designers who generously contributed their work for the project, and everyone who supported, whether financially or just through sharing and commenting on articles. The site will remain up for a while. If you want to contact me, I'll still be on the matrix chat.

thanks -Ed.
R: 99 / I: 10

Honestly the worst thing about rightoids…

Is the fact that these worm-like invertebrate faggots can’t ever just say what they really believe about the world. I fucking hate these cowardly weasel cunts, honestly 4chinlets are better than most rightoids, at least they’re too autistic to hide their psychotic nonsense. But the average right wing dickweed? God it’s just dog whistle after dog whistle, when you point out what they’ve implicitly told you they believe in they act shocked and appalled and try gas lighting tf out of you. I despise cowards, I hate people that can’t say what they believe, I do think this infects certain sections of the left as well, but ffs even the most deranged stalinist will usually say their beliefs more or less outright. Fucking hate the cowardice of rightoids, goddamn
R: 607 / I: 159 (full)

/leftybritpol/

#BackTheBlue edition

OP pic: https://metro.co.uk/2022/11/14/police-force-investigated-for-misogyny-and-racism-after-whatsapp-group-exposed-17753542/

>Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce an extra two year freeze on the lifetime allowance on pension savings in the Autumn Statement this week.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/news/pensions-tax-raid-will-irreparably-damage-nhs-doctors-warn/
>Allies of the former Labour leader have signalled he will run for the seat regardless of whether he gets the whip restored. One said locals in his north London seat respected him for his constituency work.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/14/jeremy-corbyn-will-never-stand-for-labour-again-say-senior-figures
R: 35 / I: 10

Years of Lead

>Gladio and neo fascists started it with bloody terrorists attacks and failed coups
<Somehow people only talk about the red brigades

So leftypol what can we learn from the italian millitant left?
R: 99 / I: 34

Why are Anglo Millennials Rejecting Right-Wing Parties?

I thought this was an interesting trend considering that it doesn't appear to be occurring in non-English speaking countries, at least in the West. What's going on?
R: 15 / I: 2

fuck john nash all my homies hate john nash

>be LITERAL SCHIZO named JOHN NASH
>see GLOWIES everywhere
>need MEDS all the time
>be CUCK BOY MATH NERD for the Anticommunist US Empire
>invent GAME THEORY
>mathematically PROVE that everything is a race to be the CUTTHROAT PSYCHO ASSHOLE before the other guy has a chance
>the US government adopts your theories and turns its LOVECRAFTIAN REACTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS POSSESSED BY THE DARK GOD KNOWN AS "CAPITAL" up to 11, treating the entire planet as one giant PRISONER DILEMMA
>put NUKES FUCKING EVERYWHERE
>expand NATO
>rehabilitate NAZIS
>support STOCHASTIC TERROR GANGS
>coup DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED LEADERS and replace them with FASCISTIC COMPRADOR PUPPET REGIMES
>seek UNRIVALED PREPONDERANT UNCHALLENGABLE GLOBAL HEGEMONY
>seek PROMPT GLOBAL STRIKE CAPACITY
>single handedly cause humanity to enter the BLACKEST REACTION
>all human kind evolving slowly into MURDER COMPUTERS because this SCHIZO PRICK used NUMBERS to PROVE that you have to be LITERALLY SATAN if you want to win.
>Hollywood makes HAGIOGRAPHIC OSCAR BAIT about you named "A BEAUTIFUL MIND" starring RUSSELL FUCKING CROWE who looks nothing like you

anyone else hate this dickhead? is it possible to break the evil murder-suicide math wizard spell he has put over the minds of all strategic thinkers?
R: 1 / I: 0

No Ethical Consumption?

Is this really true? After all, the current super-exploitation happening in the 3rd world is due to uneven development of capitalism, primarily the fact that in more developed countries, active labor movements were able to secure certain privileges like better pay, which made seeking cheaper labor in less developed regions more appealing. However, the proletarianization of the 3rd world brings forth the proletarian labor struggle there. If there are various movements aimed at improving the conditions of workers in less-developed countries, doesn't supporting those movements materially help them advance? To wit, doesn't purchasing commodities produced with less exploitative practices help the workers of the world gain more victories in the labor struggle? Isn't purchasing "Fair Trade" or other "ethically" sourced goods a form of proletarian unity then?

Of course it's still capitalism but all capitalism isn't created equal. Workers who are more oppressed may have more reason to revolt but may have less means, and Marx thought (not without reason) that in order for socialism to happen, capitalism would have to more fully develop. Part of that development is the workers winning a greater share of the value they produce through collective labor struggle. Indeed, it is that organization of the working people which forms the seeds of the coming revolution. So even if it's marginal in the grand scheme, doesn't it push history forward just a bit more when you tilt the market in favor of companies that extend more privileges to the world's working poor? And is that much to ask of the 1st worlders in particular who have relatively more disposable income to spend? From a 3rd worldist perspective you could almost call that reparations, or a tax on the labor aristocracy.

It's not the only or the best thing to do, but why not do it? Not for some personal moral self-righteousness, but because it's one small effect you can have to inch the world closer to revolution?
R: 12 / I: 1

News 1/23/23

Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office releases nearly 200 people held after San Marcos University raid
Around 400 police officers broke into the university located in the country’s capital with tanks and the support of special forces, without complying with the legal procedures for detentions.
https://news360.es/canada/2023/01/23/peruvian-public-prosecutors-office-releases-nearly-200-people-held-after-san-marcos-university-raid/
https://archive.ph/IXdZX

Venezuela public sector workers march for better salaries
Hundreds of public sector workers including teachers, nurses and retired police officers took to the streets in Venezuela on Monday to demand better salaries and pensions at a time when the government of President Nicolas Maduro faces growing inflation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuela-public-sector-workers-march-better-salaries-2023-01-23/

Health unions urge Sunak to resolve pay dispute before unprecedented strike
They made their plea as about 16,000 paramedics, call handlers and other ambulance staff in England held the latest stoppage on Monday in their campaign against ministers’ imposition of a below-inflation £1,400 pay rise.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/23/health-unions-urge-sunak-to-resolve-pay-dispute-before-unprecedented-strike

Campaigners protest against arms fair in Twickenham
The local PSC group said that Israeli defence ministers were among the delegates at the International Armoured Vehicles (IAV) 2023 fair, along wth representatives of Israeli weapons giant Elbit Systems. Also among the attendees was Italian arms firm Leonardo, part of a consortium of firms producing the Typhoon jets used by Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen, according to the fair’s events programme.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/campaigners-protest-arms-fair-in-twickenham

Khan al-Ahmar: Israeli infighting threatens to 'ethnically cleanse' Palestinian Bedouin village
Earlier, two parliamentarians, Yuli Edelstein and Danny Danon, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, showed up in Khan al-Ahmar to press the government to expel the Palestinians. “This fascist government is moving so quickly with their attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the Jordan Valley,” said Jamal Juma, a coordinator of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign who had joined the protest.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-infighting-threatens-khan-ahmar-ethnically-cleanse-bedouin-village-palestinian

Turkish elections to be held on May 14 -Erdogan
Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held on June 18 but President Erdogan previously signalled that the vote could be brought forward. An official of his AK Party has previously said that an election in June would coincide with the summer holiday season when people are travelling.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkish-elections-be-held-may-14-erdogan-2023-01-22/

HPG statement on the murder of five people in Mardin
The People's Defence Forces (HPG) released a statement about the deadly attack on Wednesday night in the northern Kurdish province of Mardin. In the ambush in the immediate vicinity of a gendarmerie station, five people from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were executed with shots to the head. The victims are members of two closely related families from the Sheladize who had entered Turkey by car.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/hpg-statement-on-the-murder-of-five-people-in-mardin-65081

Sudan Framework Agreement: Justice and military reform conferences may be postponed
According to Siddig Tawer, leading member of the Socialist Arab Ba’ath Party and member of the Sovereignty Council during the government of PM Abdallah Hamdok, the current political process is “at a real impasse.” Several other politicians believe the conferences for discussing the remaining four issues will go ahead as planned.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-framework-agreement-justice-and-military-reform-conferences-may-be-postponed

Burkina Faso confirms it has ended French military accord
Armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL have taken over large swathes of land in Burkina Faso and displaced millions of people in the wider Sahel region, just south of the Sahara. The West African country’s national television station reported on Saturday that the government had suspended the 2018 military accord with France, though it still wanted support in the form of equipment.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/23/burkina-faso-ends-french-military-accord-says-will-defend-itself
https://archive.ph/J8mOh

‘They beat me with sticks’: Bangladesh opposition reels under crackdown as thousands arrested
Economic hardship and rising fuel and food prices caused by the Covid pandemic and Ukraine war, coupled with frustration at a decade of alleged corruption, human rights abuses and rigging of elections, have driven hundreds of thousands to the streets for protests organised by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and allies.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/22/bangladesh-opposition-crackdown-thousands-arrested

India bans BBC documentary on PM Modi’s role in Gujarat riots
A senior adviser for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said directions to block the documentary were issued using “emergency powers” available to the government under India’s information and technology rules. “Videos sharing @BBCWorld hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage, disguised as ‘documentary’, on @YouTube and tweets sharing links to the BBC documentary have been blocked under India’s sovereign laws and rules,” senior adviser Kanchan Gupta wrote on Twitter Saturday, adding both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the order.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/23/business-india/india-modi-bbc-documentary-twitter-youtube-censorship-intl-hnk/index.html
https://archive.ph/531vW

Take Action on Violence Against Christians in North Bastar, CPI(M) Urges Baghel Govt
Around 1,500 people had fled their homes in fear, the letter continues, but have now been made to the leave the “relief camps” created by the administration and go back home. Yet this has been impossible for many without protection, and they are still sheltering in churches or living with family members.
https://thewire.in/communalism/take-action-on-violence-against-christians-in-north-bastar-cpim-urges-baghel-govt
https://archive.ph/Bc2vg
R: 149 / I: 28

China at Davos Planned economy impossible we support private sector more "reforms" of public sector

"Some people say China will go for the planned economy. That’s by no means possible. We'll support the private sector and promote fair competition, anti-monopoly and entrepreneurship. — Liu He, Vice PM of the PRC"

"We will continue to support the private sector and "REFORM" state owned enterprises." Liu He, Vice PM of the PRC

https://twitter.com/PolitsturmInter/status/1615343691333505025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSR1FCJ5-p4&ab_channel=YahooFinance
R: 20 / I: 19

Belarus

I've heard that this country is claimed to be a continuation of the USSR. OTOH I've heard from Belarussian commies claim the opposite and that Lukashenko is just another thirdoid dictator.

>Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. It has continued a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy.

What's the truth?
R: 203 / I: 56

/HolyBible/

Wanted to stop derailing the USApol thread.

This is a thread for Christians to explain to the rest of the stuff which parts of the bible are real and which parts are bullshit and why believing in any form of Christianity isn't a form of schizoism.
R: 12 / I: 4

Communes

https://www.ic.org/

You guys ever think about joining a commune/intentional community/cult? The pull is strong. I know it's utopian and won't fix capitalism but it seems like a better life.
R: 67 / I: 10

Nationalism vs Internationalism

Despite Marxist theory being anti nationalist and for a worker international movement, almost every single communist country has been nationalist. With the USSR adopting "Socialism in one country" and communist movements in South America/ Africa and Asia always adopting Nationalism. It seems the only people that advocate for internationalism are Capitalists who seek to subjugate the world in a neoliberal hellscape.
R: 0 / I: 0

religioustolerance.org

What happened to this site? It’s a fantastic resource to see unbiased discussions on MANY social issues. It also has a great section on occultism.
The site’s been done for a while now, anyone know why or want to comment on the site?
R: 13 / I: 2

Individualist Socialism

Thoughts on the concept of individualist socialism?

Essentially the argument is that under capitalism, people are forced to toil, just trying to make enough money to survive. This means a lot of wasted potential and lost value, since it never allows people to develop themselves as artists, scientists, craftspeople, doctors, etc. Individualist socialists believe that by providing people with the basic resources they need, as well as access to information/education/training, healthcare, etc., people will live with enough dignity that they can use most of their waking hours realizing their creative potential.

I find this idea very attractive. It most obviously goes hand-in-hand with libertarian socialism/social anarchism, but I believe the thought is more widely compatible with anything from democratic socialism to certain forms of Marxism-Leninism, like Castroism, to the extent that there's room for personal expression.

The old concept of individualist anarchism has obvious drawbacks. There were great individualist anarchists in history, but I think Murray Bookchin was right to criticize many individualists as "lifestylists," since their mentality undermined any serious attempt to change society, as they were more concerned with personal philosophy than actually organizing. Another obvious issue is atomization - personal expression is critically important and really the point of individualist anarchism, but it seems to engender some level of isolation among some of its followers, which isn't good. The biggest problem with individualist anarchism is probably that many of the people who consider themselves individualist anarchists today, aren't - they're "anarcho-capitalists" with zero understanding of mutualism or worker's rights, making themselves just another group of right wing useful idiots for economic exploitation.

I like some of the philosophical values of individualism and personal expression, and I think they need to be protected and enshrined. However, in terms of economic policy I'm a complete socialist, bordering on communism. I like a lot of ideas from mutualism, but I see a greater need for social support than it often provides, and to be honest while I'm not anti-market, I'm also not completely pro-free market either, as I'm for basic things like price controls, insofar as money is used.

I'm for community and worker control, but I'm also not really devoted to complete anarchism, even if I'm sympathetic to it.

Which leads me to individualist socialism. The socialism is really the key part, defining the governmental and economic system I support. Individualism is the value or philosophy I think needs to go with it.

This is a fairly recent development, and I'm kind of sandboxing this, so I'm interested to hear your thoughts. As well as reading recommendations.
R: 62 / I: 24

It's Dengism all the way down.

Dengism. Dengism. Dengism. You are all Dengists!!! None of you are free from Dengism!!!

Lenin? Dengist.

Stalin? Dengist.

MARX?!?! DENGIST.

Humanity? Evolving into Dengbeetles as we speak.

>"but but but revisioni-"
NO. STOP. MEDS.

When a Marxist-Leninist vanguard party takes over a country, that is revolution. Revolution good. But the transition to socialism takes time. Especially if the country is underdeveloped and not yet proletarianized.

>"But that's reformis-"
FREEZE.

It is not reformist because the revolutionaries have already taken power.

>"But the promise is fake and they'll just become capitali-" TRUST THE PLAN. DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM.

>"China doesn't execute enough billionaires. and lets billionaires into their party."
THEY ARE PLANNERS. THE BILLIONS IN THEIR PERSONAL ACCOUNTS ARE NOT REALLY THEIRS. THEY BELONG TO THE PARTY. IF THEY ACT OUT. THE PARTY CRUSHES THEM.


On this blessed day we have all become Dengists. There is no such thing as society. Only different stages of Dengism between capitalism and Socialism.
R: 11 / I: 3

The EU is worse than the American Empire

And I wanna say how you nighas cope with this shit
You may think all this shit about how the US is the Fourth Reich, NATO is their design, etc, etc; in actuality the Fourth Reich is the EU and modern Krautistan, NATO is as much an imperial project of its other member states as it is America’s, and the US is more like a modern British Empire than anything else

Now, okay, maybe I went a bit overboard saying the EU is “more evil” but I needed the (You)s, basically my point is I fucking hate hate hate hate hate HATE the EU, I hate the spineless “Oh we aren’t REALLY fascists!” act by the EU German scum, the EU is proudly hunting down and slaughtering refugees and operate in North Africa, and while Northwest Euroids pretend to be good people the savages from Eastern and Southern Europe have no pretenses and openly wear the swastika just fuck them all they should be conquered and administered by an army of African proletarians
R: 20 / I: 5 (sage)

The USSR was Left Ultra

>Instead of Market reforms for productive forces the country stuck to planned economy stagnation and collapse
>Instead of a pragmatic foreign policy trading with states they supported terrorists causing the cold war and making the west not like them
>Instead of letting socialist countries do what they want imposed their views on the eastern bloc and invaded countries that wanted to reform to build productive forces
R: 11 / I: 2

GREAT BOOKS

Should all workers read the great books? or is that just elitist?

the idea of "great books" is that you can boil down the intellectual contributions of western civilization (and maybe eastern as well) to a few "great books", and that people should read them to become well rounded people?

p.s. is this list any good? its from an american university
R: 30 / I: 5
isn't america basically anarcho-capitalism? i mean there is still some government regulation but it's considerately smaller then other countries. because of this corporations have constantly fucked over the people. wouldn't it be the closest example, outside of some central american countries?
R: 34 / I: 2 (sage)
Why has the left achieved absolutely nothing in the last decades? Be it social redistribution, seizing the means of production, the expropriation of landlords, the fight against climate change and the responsible companies. Even conservatives and right-wingers have come much closer to their goals than leftists.
R: 9 / I: 2

News 1/21/23

Protests in Stockholm, including Koran-burning, draw strong condemnation from Turkey
Protests in Stockholm on Saturday against Turkey and Sweden's bid to join NATO, including the burning of a copy of the Koran, sharply heightened tensions with Turkey at a time when the Nordic country needs Ankara's backing to gain entry to the military alliance. … A separate protest took place in the city supporting Kurds and against Sweden's bid to join NATO. A group of pro-Turkish demonstrators also held a rally outside the embassy. All three events had police permits.
https://www.reuters.com/world/turkey-cancels-swedish-defence-minister-visit-after-protest-permit-2023-01-21/

Macron to hike military funds amid Ukraine war, new threats
The money would notably go to modernizing France’s nuclear arsenal, boosting intelligence spending by 60%, doubling the number of military reservists, reinforcing cyberdefense and developing more remote-controlled weapons.
https://apnews.com/article/france-government-macron-e1f6730a55d1674424e1de09b21440ea

UK junior doctors vote for strike action in England, union says
- Junior doctors in England have voted for strike action in a dispute over pay, HCSA, a hospital doctors' union, said on Friday. …The union said they will now agree the timing and shape of strike action "in coordination with other health unions." …
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-junior-doctors-vote-strike-action-england-union-says-2023-01-20/

Russia’s Labor Migrants Struggle at Sharp End of Wartime Downturn
Record numbers of labor migrants have left Russia to return to their home countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus — countries that traditionally send working-age men and women to Russia — as a result of the Ukraine war, economic recession and Western sanctions. Although some chose to ride out the storm in Moscow.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/19/russias-labor-migrants-struggle-at-sharp-end-of-wartime-downturn-a79895

Brazil police raid governor's house over capital riots
Brazil's federal police on Friday raided the house of the suspended governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, who is under investigation for failing to prevent the storming of government buildings by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. Rocha was removed from office for 90 days by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Jan. 8 hours after the invasion of the Congress, presidential place and Supreme court by a mob that ransacked the buildings.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-police-carry-out-raids-related-jan-8-brasilia-riots-2023-01-20/

Bolivian judge rules Santa Cruz governor to remain in detention
The ruling from Judge Rosmery Lourdes Pabon upholds a previous decision, made by a different judge in late December. It called for the Santa Cruz governor to be held for four months in pre-trial detention after prosecutors suggested he could be a flight risk or obstruct the ongoing investigation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/19/bolivian-judge-rules-santa-cruz-governor-to-remain-in-detention

Colombia announces halt on fossil fuel exploration for a greener economy
“We have decided not to award new oil and gas exploration contracts, and while that has been very controversial, it’s a clear sign of our commitment in the fight against climate change,” Vélez said during a panel in Davos on Thursday. “This decision is absolutely urgent and needs immediate action.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/20/colombia-stop-new-oil-gas-exploration-davos

Colombia’s FARC dissidents captured 5 soldiers during ceasefire: military
Colombia’s armed forces have said that five soldiers were “kidnapped” by guerrillas since a bilateral ceasefire took force on January 1. One of the soldiers has been released and four are allegedly being held captive by the “Southeastern Bloc,” which agreed to suspend attacks on the security forces.
https://colombiareports.com/colombias-farc-dissidents-captured-5-soldiers-during-ceasefire-military/

Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler near Ramallah
Tariq Maali, 42, was killed after "the occupation [Israel] opened fire on him" near the Palestinian town of Kafr Nama, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Israeli military told AFP that Maali had allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli civilian at the Sde Efraim farm, an illegal settler outpost, and was "neutralised" by the Israeli.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-man-killed-settler-farm-ramallah

HPG reports ongoing Turkish attacks and guerrilla actions
According to the statement released by the Press Centre of the People's Defence Forces (HPG) on Saturday, a soldier of the Turkish army was shot dead by a sniper of the YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) on Friday. During a guerrilla action in the Zap region, a grenade launcher position of the occupation forces was destroyed.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/hpg-reports-ongoing-turkish-attacks-and-guerrilla-actions-65063

Haryana Sugarcane Farmers Start Indefinite Protest Outside Mills Over Price
Sugarcane farmers started an indefinite demonstration outside Naraingarh Sugar Mills, Ambala, and Shahabad Sugar Mills, Kurukshetra, on Friday after stopping the supply of sugarcane indefinitely in Haryana demanding a hike in the state advisory price (SAP) from Rs 362 to Rs 450 per quintal.
https://www.newsclick.in/haryana-sugarcane-farmers-start-indefinite-protest-outside-mills-over-price

CPB for govt resignation
The central leaders of Communist Party of Bangladesh on Friday at a rally said that they would not accept next general elections under the ruling Awami League government. CPB organised the rally in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh in the capital to mark the 22nd anniversary of Paltan Maidan massacre where five leaders and activists of the party were killed in a bomb blast at the rally of the party on January 20, in 2001.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/192249/cpb-for-govt-resignation
R: 2 / I: 1

PUTIN EXPOSED

https://web.archive.org/web/20100616112833/http://www.anticompromat.org/putinav/felsht.html

Vladimir Pribylovsky
Yuri Felshtinsky
OPERATION HEIR
Strokes to the political portrait of V.V. Putin
CHAPTER ONE*
WHO IS MR. PUTIN
ALTERNATIVE BIOGRAPHY
On 9 March 2000, during take-off at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, a Yak-40 plane crashed, carrying nine people: Artem Borovik, President of the Top Secret Holding, Ziya Bazhaev, a Chechen by nationality, two of his bodyguards and five crew members.
The Yak-40, leased about a year ago by Bazhaev from the Vologda Aviation Enterprise through the capital's Aerotex Airlines, was supposed to fly to Kiev. The report of the commission for the investigation of accidents in air transport said that vologda aircraft technicians before takeoff did not treat the aircraft with a special anti-icing liquid, and its flaps were released only 10 degrees at the required 20 degrees for takeoff. Meanwhile, on the morning of March 9, Sheremetyevo was only four degrees below zero, without precipitation, and there was no need to treat the aircraft with the Liquid "Arktika". In addition, the Yak-40 could be lifted into the air without any problems even with flaps released at 10 degrees: the take-off would be lengthened, and take-off would become "lazy". Judging by the fact that the plane crashed approximately in the middle of the runway, which at Sheremetyevo has a length of 3.6 km, the take-off of the aircraft was normal - about 800 meters.
Immediately after the deaths of Borovik and Bazhaev, the media suggested that the crash was not an accident and that the explosion of the plane was organized by the Russian special services. The fact is that Borovik (through Bazhaev) these days was actively collecting material about Putin's childhood, and the publication of this material was to take place on March 12, 2000, before the most presidential election. What was Borovik going to publish? Why were Putin and those who promoted him to power so alarmed?
Borovik had information that Putin's real (biological) mother was not Maria Ivanovna Putina (Shelomova), born in 1911, but a completely different woman - Vera Nikolaevna Putina, born in 1926, a native of the Ochersky district of the Perm region (district center - the city of Ocher), to this day living in the village of Metekhi, the Caspian region of Georgia, about an hour's drive from Tbilisi. From the age of three to nine, the current President of Russia, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, lived in Metekhi.
Under the video, Vera Nikolaevna told the following:
I come from the Urals. There she was educated at a technical school. During my studies, I met a guy. From him in 1950 I gave birth to Vova. I don't even want to remember his father. He deceived me. I was already pregnant when I found out he had a family. I immediately walked away from him. For a whole year, Vova was actually raised by my parents. Then, when I was in practice in Tashkent, I met my [current] husband, Giorgi Osepashvili. He was in the army then. When I married him, we moved to Metekhi, and after a while my mother brought Vova here. He was three years old at the time.
But soon, when we had our own children, my husband was unhappy that Vova was here. He didn't beat him, he just didn't want Vova to be here - who wants someone else's child? Once, my husband's sister even secretly gave Vova to some childless major. I barely found him and brought him back. I had to take Vova to my parents, who wanted me to keep my new family. In fact, it turned out that I exchanged Vova for girls. After that, I never saw Vova again, although I was constantly looking for him and asking his parents where he was. No one wanted to tell me anything. I later learned that Vova, already in the KGB, forbade everyone to tell me where he was.
(…) Of course, I heard that Vova works in the KGB, and then in the Russian government. Sometimes my daughters talked about him, my fellow villagers constantly talk about him. But now his childhood is classified, and he does not want to recognize me as a mother. (…) People from the KGB came to me here, they took all my family photos and told me not to tell anyone about Vova1.
On 24 February 2000 a lengthy interview with V. N. Putin was published by the Tbilisi newspaper Alia. In its main body, it was based on the same video:
- Are you sure that acting President of Russia V. Putin is your son?
- I don't know what to say? First of all, I feel it. At the same time, he looks like me. (…) And then it leads to suspicion that the patronymic is the same, his name is Vladimir Vladimirovich.
- There, in the documents, how was the name of the father recorded?
-Nohow. I gave him my last name and everywhere he was just Vladimir. Putin.
A little later, V. N. Putin called in an interview the name of Volodya's father: Platon Privalov. Metekhi Volodya Putin received his education at the local secondary school. We also managed to talk with Putin's classmates. Thus, his former classmate, the head of the project organization of the Kaspsky district, Gabriel Datashvili, said that he was friends with Volodya and that in the class both of them were excellent students:
At school, we were both excellent students and very friendly. Other than me, he actually had no friends. (…) He was a very quiet, secretive child. After class, he often went fishing or came to me, and we played together: war, fencing, lahti played and fought. I had one picture, and he gave it to me when he was leaving here. There was an inscription: "In memory of Gabriel from Vova." (…) If Putin remembers a period of life in Metekhi, he should remember me.
The continuation of the interview with Datashvili was also published in the newspaper "Alia":
- Physically describe your classmate Vova.
- A small, weak boy, brown hair and blue eyes. (…) Then his mother, Mrs. Vera Putina, took him back to Russia to live with her parents. (…) As far as I know, the reason for this was the difficulties in the family. In addition, Ms. Vera has new children. When Vova was taken to Russia, there were already two girls: Sofia and Lyuba. Then, in 1961, a boy was born, followed by two more girls.
- So Vladimir Putin has four half-sisters and one half-brother?
- So it goes.
One of the residents of Metekhi said that during fishing Putin badly injured his finger:
- Vova stood outside the school and wept uncontrollably. There was a fish hook sticking out of the pad of my left hand's index finger. He couldn't be pulled out unless you ripped out a piece of meat. Blood flowed in a stream. "Don't be afraid, son, it will pass," I said, reassuring him, and at that time I pulled out the hook, but the wound was such that I could not help but leave a scar.
Another special sign was two obvious bulges at the corners of the forehead (covered by the hairstyle). It was said that Metekhi schoolchildren even teased Volodya with a "devil" because of this.
In a parallel class with Putin, Dali Gzirishvili studied:
- He was a small, weak child, with abrupt, like a mother's, movements. I didn't even know his name was Vladimir. She called him simply - Vova, and everyone called him by that name. And his mother called him Vovka. (…) I am sure that the acting president of Russia is our Vovka. It can't be that it's not him. Very much like a mother.
Nora Gogolashvili, a primary school teacher, recalled her student Putin:
- A quiet, sad, introverted child. Of the games, he loved wrestling the most. I was almost always unhappy with something. I didn't work physically, but I studied very well. It was very difficult in the family. (…) Vova went to school in shoes. He was called my adopted son. If anyone offended him, I was his protector. I felt very sorry for him. (…) I felt sorry for him. Like a cat sticking to me.
Sambo wrestler Oleg Iadze, also from Metekhi, met with the future president at SAMBO competitions:
- Yes, there was a case when we met. But he was sullen and introverted from the start. He greeted only if he was greeted. Imagine, he had such a relationship with the Russians. A cold personality. To come up and speak for himself, it wasn't in his nature.
- Didn't you talk to him yourself?
-No. I said, a very introverted person. Then he worked in the KGB and was silent like a grave. I've only seen him in competitions. (…) By the way, there was such a case, his half-sister called his uncle, and he said that Vova in the Russian government had become a big man. But whether Vova Putin, who is now russia's acting president, is hard to say. But Putin looks like two halves of an apple. That's what I can say.
However, there are discrepancies here. A number of publications indicate that Putin approached Iadze, greeted me and said: "There is something in common with Metekhi and me."2 The next visit of journalists to V. N. Putina fell on March 11, 2000 - the day of the funeral of Artem Borovik. Vera Nikolaevna seemed to understand that because of the information she possessed, people were beginning to die. "I am afraid that because of me, Volodya will not become president," she said. There were two dozen journalists, including from the Russian NTV. They checked the passport of V. N. Putina, the metric, the surnames of the parents, once again clarified the name of Putin's father - Platon Privalov. Everything that happened was recorded on tape by several cameras, including NTV (the NTV report was never shown).
Journalists also visited Putin's sister (on the maternal side) Sofia (Sofiko) Georgievna Osepashvili, born in 1954, a medical worker at a tuberculosis hospital in Tbilisi. Looking at a photograph of the 14-year-old Putin published by then in the book "In the First Person," Sofia said:
- Look at him and me - if it's not my brother, show me my brother. (…) I sent him telegrams to Achora (Ocher - V.P.), to his commissariat. At first, I was told that they did not have such a Putin, and then they told me not to look for him anymore. It turns out that he was already working in the KGB at that time.
So, V. N. Putina took her son to her parents: Anna Ilyinichna and Mikhail Illarionovich. They, in turn, almost immediately handed it over to their childless relative Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, who became the adoptive - according to this version - the father of the future President of Russia. Vladimir Spiridonovich took Volodya to Leningrad, and Vera Nikolaevna was told that her son was sent to a boarding school3.
In terms of education, years of study at a local Georgian school were wasted. In Leningrad, instead of the fourth grade, Volodya, who in a little over a month turned 10 years old, went to the first grade on September 1, 1960. It was then that it was necessary to change the year of his birth in the metric, from 1950 to 1952, apparently so as not to injure the child. From this moment the official biography of Putin counts down: from September 1, 1960.
After the publication of the first article about Putin's mother in the Georgian newspaper Alia, the cautious Moscow press swept up. On the one hand, the topic is quite sensational. On the other hand, he is still a future president. The first publication appeared the day after the publication of "Aliya" - February 25, 2000 In the newspaper "Segodnya" in the article "The Mother of Lieutenant Schmidt" the Tbilisi author Mikhail Vignanski described with captivating good faith how "dozens of people besiege the presidential administration and newspaper editorial offices, claiming that they are relatives of the acting President", and that even in a country such as France, "a certain person in the 80s sent long messages to various state services, claiming to be a relative of ex-President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing."
On 28 February 2000, Ima-Press reported that in Georgia, in addition to the mother of the acting Russian president living in Metekhi, Putin's sister, Sofiko Osepashvili, 48, had also appeared in Georgia.
The conscientious Vignansky responded to this article almost immediately: on March 1, 2000, he published in "Segodnya" an article "The acting President of Russia has acting sisters in Tbilisi."
I had to speak out about the kinship of Putin and the then President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze, who was besieged by journalists. He proposed giving Putin "the right to sort out this issue himself".4
On March 2, an article titled "How Many Mothers Does Putin Have?" was published by Sobesednik. The newspaper conducted "its own investigation" and "officially declared": "Vladimir Putin was born and raised in the city on the Neva." Still, the lengthy article did not imply that Putin was born and raised in Leningrad.
But first: Putin's official biography.


HES GEORGIAN
R: 342 / I: 52

Starbucks barristas and value

Does she produce value? Why or why not? If you think she does produce value then you must admit that police produce value as well.. there is no commodity being produced here, simply a service being provided.
R: 4 / I: 0
Why did Engels and Marx think that the franchise would inevitably lead to proletarian power? Obviously, poors being able to vote doesn't mean they'll elect worker's parties or even that they'll form workers parties!
Explain yourself Engelcels, this is the same type of logic that modern bourgeois economists use when they say "everyone is a rational consumer" and build models from that.
R: 87 / I: 8

Veganism

What should the communist position be on veganism?
We can say that industrial production of animals is cruel, a bad thing.
Can we say that eating animals produced from this process is bad?

If so, are we not obliged to say that using any product from capitalist production is just as bad? All capitalist production involves suffering, alienation, slavery, destruction of the environment, etc. Why not stop using an iPhone, stop driving a car, stop buying shit from Walmart. etc. Why not start up an Owenite commune to avoid all these evils?

I'm asking: what's the difference, where's the line drawn where individual consumption choices should be determined by morality?
R: 7 / I: 1

News 1/20/23

Germany: Deliveries delayed as postal workers strike
Thousands of postal workers went on strike on Friday around Germany, amid stalling negotiations for pay increases. Deutsche Post warned on Friday there would be "a delay of a few days" for the delivery of some letters and packages. It said that a total of 2.3 million packages and 13 million letters were affected.
https://www.dw.com/en/german-postal-workers-strike-deliveries-delayed/a-64471002

Sinn Fein calls for urgent summit with Sunak and Varadkar over Britain's controversial Troubles Bill
Ms McDonald also called on the British government to halt the controversial Legacy Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is opposed by all Stormont’s main parties and the Irish government, as well as victims’ groups in the region, which have denounced it as an “amnesty” for killers.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/sinn-fein-calls-for-urgent-summit-with-sunak-and-varadkar-over-britain-controversial-troubles-bill

Doctors in Kenya get ready to strike after six years of broken promises
In December 2022, doctors in Kenya warned they will go on strike if the government doesn’t address their concerns about a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2016. The agreement was supposed to address key health-related concerns in Kenya’s 47 counties, including problems with accessing essential medicines and referrals, but ended up being shelved as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/20/doctors-in-kenya-get-ready-to-strike-after-six-years-of-broken-promises/

Sudan doctors: At least 112 injured, 60 detained during Khartoum pro-democracy demo
The Socialist Doctors Association reported yesterday that at least 112 people were injured and at least 60 were detained during Tuesday’s protest in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum. The doctors stated that protesters suffered a range of injures, and at least 13 people were admitted to hospital. Eight of the cases transferred to hospitals, were hit in the head by tear gas canisters and stones.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-doctors-at-least-112-injured-60-detained-during-khartoum-pro-democracy-demo

India backs Sri Lanka to secure IMF bailout
India's foreign minister said Friday his country has given financial assurances to the International Monetary Fund to facilitate a bailout plan to help neighboring Sri Lanka emerge from its worst economic crisis, in a first formal announcement from one of the island nation’s creditors.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/india-backs-sri-lanka-secure-imf-bailout-plan-96556922

DRC police disperse protest against slow M23 rebel pullback
Police have fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma. Protesters on Wednesday were calling for authorities to enforce an agreed withdrawal of M23 rebels from occupied territory in the region.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/18/congo-police-scatter-protesters-denouncing-slow-m23-rebel-pullback
https://archive.ph/DHAGW

MP: ‘Join BJP or else CM's Bulldozer is Ready’, Minister Warns Cong Members
A video of Panchayat Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia making the remarks at a public meeting in Ruthiyai town here on Wednesday has gone viral on social media. … "Listen Congress members - join the BJP. Move towards this side (ruling party) slowly. In 2023 (when Assembly polls are scheduled in the state) too, the BJP will form a government in MP. Mama's bulldozer is ready," Sisodia reportedly said at the gathering while canvassing for Friday's Raghogarh Nagar civic polls.
https://www.newsclick.in/MP-Join-BJP-else-CM-Bulldozer-Ready-Minister-Warns-Cong-Members

India says BBC film on Modi’s role in Gujarat riots ‘propaganda’
The report of a United Kingdom inquiry showcased in the documentary refers to the events as a “systematic campaign of violence” which has “all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing”, and places direct responsibility on Modi.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/19/india-slams-bbc-film-on-role-of-indias-modi-in-gujarat-riots
https://archive.ph/1aEdt

Glencore copper mine in Peru suspends operations after another attack
Protesters set fire to the workers' area of the camp and began looting around noon local time, demanding the mine cease its operations and join the demonstrators' call for President Dina Boluarte's resignation, Glencore said in a statement. Though the situation "was under control" by mid-afternoon, the company announced the "temporary stoppage of its operations" due to the "unacceptable risk" faced by its workers. The mine, located in southern Peru and among the country's largest, was also attacked twice last week.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/glencores-antapaccay-copper-mine-attacked-fire-breaks-out-source-2023-01-20/

Search for missing activists intensifies in western Mexico
Farmers blocked roads on the border between the western Mexico states of Michoacan and Colima to protest the disappearance of lawyer Ricardo Lagunes and schoolteacher Antonio Díaz. The government announced Thursday that it has sent soldiers, National Guard and aircraft to search for the pair, whose bullet-ridden vehicle was found Sunday on a road in the area, where warring drug cartels are active.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-caribbean-mexico-73ae311b2a4420c02364e2d3388a4c66

‘Record’ 1,000 Russian Soldiers Confirmed Killed in Ukraine Since Jan. 1 – Analysis
Russia’s verifiable death toll now stands at 11,662 troops after 942 names were added between Jan. 1-17, the Mediazona news website said Thursday. The real toll of the nearly 11-month invasion is believed to be much higher.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/20/record-1000-russian-soldiers-confirmed-killed-in-ukraine-since-jan-1-analysis-a79994

Military deserter ‘liquidated’ in central Russia
According to an all-points bulletin shared by several Russian media outlets, the 31-year-old private was armed with “an automatic weapon and had five ammo magazines and grenades.” It also claimed that he had fled the zone of the military operation in Ukraine last week and had visited his mother in Voronezh, some 100 km (62 miles) south, and could be heading to Lipetsk Region.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570081-russia-deserter-liquidated-ukraine/
https://archive.ph/q8NEi
R: 28 / I: 6
What is the materialist explanation for a country with a relatively small area, mountainous territory and few natural resources being today the 3rd largest economy in the world, to the point people in the 1980s thought it could even surpass the US? I'm aware they were the first ones in Asia to industrialize and they are already in decline, but, still, what they have achieved despite these apparent odds is impressive.
R: 40 / I: 27
What are your thoughts on NATO?
General impression, hidden agenda(s), intention vs outcome; I'm trying to do a poll.
R: 9 / I: 0

The 1945 Project

>1619 Project
>1776 Report
>1836 Project
A bunch of projects looking at certain dates to discover lets say the truth on the matter. Whether what you agree with this subject or not is not important. What I think is more interesting is what I call The 1945 Project. A project (threadO that should be started on who definitively did the most to help the war. I know that this event was a very complex event with many moving parts and pieces and that this isn't something you can mathematically predict how each thing led to its outcomes. But still trying wouldn't hurt and it could be a fun project along the way. This board will obviously be biased, but there is many conflicting accounts on which side of the Allied Powers did the most. One side will point to the capture of Berlin. The other side will shout lend lease. Goes on and on. I will say do not be one sided, give evidence/credence to each side. Doesn't mean you should gargle any opposing opinion, but to be critical to their views as well as your own. Get to researching anons!
R: 12 / I: 3

News 1/19/23

More than 1m march in France amid strikes over plan to raise retirement age
More than 1 million people have taken part in demonstrations across France as transport, schools and refineries were hit by strikes in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. The interior ministry said 1.12 million people protested nationwide on Thursday, with 80,000 taking part in the biggest rally in Paris. Trade unions said the figure was even higher. Police made arrests on the edges of the march in central Paris amid clashes with officers in the early afternoon. Police said 15 people were arrested before the Paris march and 15 during it, for offences such as carrying illegal weapons or throwing projectiles. Shopkeepers around the Place de la République boarded up windows and shopfronts after the authorities warned of a possibility of vandalism after the marches or black bloc-style tactics.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/19/france-hit-by-nationwide-strikes-over-macron-pension-plans

Palestine Action activists occupy arms factory in Edinburgh
Four protesters, who are members of the direct action group Palestine Action Scotland, broke into the factory owned by Leonardo UK, a subsidiary of Italian arms giant Leonardo, in Edinburgh at 5am this morning. The group said that the activists managed to break in despite tough security, including a double fence, before spraying red paint on the walls and reportedly breaking windows and equipment.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/palestine-action-activists-occupy-arms-factory-in-edinburgh

Davos 2023: Greta Thunberg accuses energy firms of throwing people 'under the bus'
During a round-table discussion with Fatih Birol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, activists said they had presented a "cease and desist" letter to CEOs calling for a stop to new oil, gas and coal extraction. "As long as they can get away with it they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under the bus," Thunberg warned.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/davos-2023-greta-thunberg-says-energy-firms-throwing-people-under-bus-2023-01-19/

Unions raided for second day in a row
Police on Thursday raided the offices of construction unions affiliated with two major umbrella labor organizations, a day after they raided ten locations to investigate separate allegations that trade union officials collaborated with North Korean agents. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency conducted search and seizure operations at five offices of a construction union in the Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU) and three offices of a construction union in the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), officials said.
 https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2023/01/19/national/socialAffairs/Korea/20230119165428799.html

Petroecuador workers protest fall in oil output, company practices
Union workers at Ecuador's state-run oil company Petroecuador protested on Wednesday in Quito for improved salaries and against administrative practices that they say have caused a fall in crude production.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/petroecuador-workers-protest-fall-oil-output-company-practices-2023-01-18/

Santa Marta Community Leaders Are Persecuted in El Salvador
On Jan. 11, the Attorney General's Office and the Police executed an arrest warrant against Miguel Gamez, Alejandro Lainez, and Pedro Rivas in the municipality of Victoria. Teodoro Pacheco and Saul Rivas were also arrested at the ADES offices in the municipality of Guacotecti, according to a statement published by the Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (CDHAL).
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Santa-Marta-Community-Leaders-Are-Persecuted-in-El-Salvador-20230119-0006.html

Colombia extradites to US brother of powerful left lawmaker
The case was something of a minefield for President Gustavo Petro, a former leftist rebel who signed off on the extradition of his ally’s brother despite his own increasing criticism of Colombia’s role as the U.S. caretaker in the war on drugs.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-colombia-caribbean-gustavo-petro-5c91a6585bda8a8c6b1b97db88aa2a80

Turkey in talks to purchase UK's Type 23 frigates
Turkey is in talks to purchase at least three second-hand type 23 frigates from the United Kingdom, two sources familiar with the negotiations have told Middle East Eye.  The sources said Turkey is in need of frigates that have air defence capabilities as it will soon retire its G-class frigates that are over 40 years old. 
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-uk-type-frigates-purchase-talks

Israeli troops kill two in West Bank: Palestinian ministry
Israeli troops killed two Palestinians Thursday in the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said, with the army saying they responded after being fired upon. The ministry said Jawad Farid Bawaqna was killed by a bullet to the chest, while Adham Mohammed Bassem Jabareen, 28, was hit in the upper abdomen by Israeli fire.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/israeli-troops-kill-two-west-bank-palestinian-ministry
R: 48 / I: 10

Does Gorbachov prove the Great Man Theory?

Seriously. I can imagine a million different scenarios where the USSR could've survived and became a degenerated worker's state but at every point of my inquiry some retard descision by Gorbachov pops up and its like, no, historical and material reality just can't explain how much a retard he was.

>economy stagnates a bit
<reintroduce the NEP
>allow Germany to unite
<under a NATO government
>call upon more democracy
<it's all financed by the emerging bourgeoisie
Seriously. What gives?
R: 2 / I: 0
> read Capital volumes I and II, Parenti, Lenin, Stalin
> also studied property law
> studying for a real estate certificate
> Obviously a lot of the theory and soon practice will revolve around the private property issue.
> Come from miserly projects poorfags who survive by making Scrooge look like an amateur

What can a soon-to-be house salesperson do for the cause if anything?
R: 4 / I: 0

PDF request about Terror and Democracy in the Age of Stalin The Social Dynamics of Repression

It was a very interesting research and i don't find it free anymore. Does someone have a link of the PDF of "Terror and Democracy in the Age of Stalin The Social Dynamics of Repression" of WENDY Z. GOLDMAN?
R: 7 / I: 1

News 1/18/23

NHS strikes escalate with same-day action by nurses and ambulance staff
The NHS is facing a day of massive disruption next month when nurses and ambulance staff in England and Wales stage an unprecedented joint strike over pay. Health service bosses said the coordinated walkouts were “a huge concern” and Monday 6 February “could be the biggest day of industrial action the NHS has ever seen”.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2023/jan/18/nhs-strikes-escalate-with-same-day-action-by-nurses-and-ambulance-staff

Greek municipal workers stage national strike over health and safety concerns
GREEK municipal workers staged a national strike on Tuesday over health and safety concerns. The stoppage was sparked by the death of an as yet unnamed worker who was killed in the municipality of Xylokastro while working on a garbage truck on January 8.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/greek-municipal-workers-stage-national-strike-over-health-and-safety-concerns

Tesla under fire in Germany over union concerns on working hours, contracts
Tesla (TSLA.O) has come under fire from German union IG Metall and politicians over allegations by workers of unreasonable working hours and fears over speaking out at its Brandenburg plant, with some calling for inquiries into the carmaker.
https://www.reuters.com/business/tesla-under-fire-germany-over-union-concerns-working-hours-contracts-2023-01-16/

France set to come to a halt over President Macron's pension plans
The strike will mean that only one in five high-speed TGV lines will be operating, and only one in 10 local TER trains, the National Society of French Operators (SNCF) train operator said. Most traffic on the Eurostar is likely to be near normal, but other international train connections will be entirely cancelled. In Paris, the vast majority of Regional Express Network commuter trains will be cancelled, while three metro lines will be entirely shut down and many others will be disrupted, the RATP metro operator said.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/france-set-to-come-to-a-halt-over-president-macron-pension-plans

Outrage mounts after Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is raided by intelligence and police
On Wednesday, January 18, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the largest workers’ organizations in South Korea, was raided by the intelligence and the police as the government escalated its persecution of trade unions and progressive groups in the country. Multiple raids were conducted at the offices of the KCTU and its affiliates by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) along with the National Police Agency.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/18/outrage-mounts-after-korean-confederation-of-trade-unions-is-raided-by-intelligence-and-police/

Three Turkish soldiers killed in guerrilla actions in Zap
The guerrilla resistance against the Turkish invading forces in Southern Kurdistan continues to be concentrated in the areas of Çemço and Sîda in the Zap. According to the People's Defence Forces (HPG), three soldiers were killed in guerrilla actions on Tuesday.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/three-turkish-soldiers-killed-in-guerrilla-actions-in-zap-65013

Azerbaijan seeks “Great Return” of refugees to Armenia
The backers of the campaign – starting from President Ilham Aliyev – insist that the idea is for a peaceful return of refugees and their descendants to their former homes. But in the context of an ascendant Azerbaijan pushing its advantage on several diplomatic and military fronts, Baku appears to be employing a deliberate ambiguity about its intentions.
https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-seeks-great-return-of-refugees-to-armenia

Israel High Court disqualifies interior minister Deri from holding office
Ahead of the judgement, his Shas ally Yaakov Margi, who is welfare minister, told an Israeli radio station if Deri is disqualified then "there will be no government". "If the court disqualifies him, the prime minister will have to decide what to do," Margi said. "We have said all along that there is no reason for Aryeh Deri not to serve as a senior minister in Israel."
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-minister-dery-high-court-ruling

Egyptian court sentences 82, including 22 children, for participating in 2019 anti-government protests
According to the Middle East Eye, a total of 103 people were on trial in Cairo’s criminal court on terrorism charges. The court sentenced a total of 82 people, out of whom 38 were given life sentences and 44 others were given prison terms of between 5 and 15 years. 23 of the 38 who were given life sentences were tried in absentia, including businessman Mohammad Ali.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/17/egyptian-court-sentences-82-including-22-children-for-participating-in-2019-anti-government-protests/

Brazil: Supreme Court Orders Prison of 140 Bolsonaro Supporters
Judge Alexandre de Moraes determined that 140 supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro will remain in a preventive detention regime that does not stipulate a term for sentencing. In this way, the Court seeks to preserve public order.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-Supreme-Court-Orders-Prison-of-140-Bolsonaro-Supporters-20230118-0010.html

Brazil's Lula says minimum wage has to rise in line with economic growth
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that the country's minimum wage must rise in line with its economic growth, after the government approved a 7.43% year-on-year increase in monthly wages to 1,302 reais ($253.59).
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-lula-says-minimum-wage-has-rise-line-with-economic-growth-2023-01-18/

Venezuelan Talks at Risk of Collapse After Gov't Accuses Opposition of Breaking Pledge
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez warned that talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition could face an imminent end as a result of the lack of progress on the release of US $3 billion in Venezuelan funds seized by Washington.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15686
R: 138 / I: 17
What do you guys think of the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World)
They have a strong history of leftist organization but do you think they can make a come back
personally I think with a bit of organization and action the DSA and IWW can make waves in the american political scene
all it takes is a little agitation
R: 4 / I: 0

Soviet Union would have become biggest economy by 2097

I did some rough calculations which indicated the Soviet Union would have become the world's biggest economy by the start of 2096 if anti revisionists took over the government in 1987. I know the USSR was revisionist before 1987 but this is a revisionist website it would have taken longer and not changed that much on already rough estimates.

I did not pull these figures out of my ass I used IMF figures for other countries and I have personal logic over my figures. I have spent time researching the soviet union and factored in recession caused by anti revisionist take over, growth rate of planned economy correctly adhering to socialism but is developed, population etc.

I picked the year mid 1987 as that is when Gorbachev market reforms started.


The world at the start of 2096

1. USSR GDP 125.8 T
2. China 121.2 T
3. USA 93.8 T
4. India 76.3 T
5. Japan 19.8 T

If you think it took too long I myself am a communist but having a better economic system doesn't lead to instant crushing economic victory. China in second place has a much larger population as well.
R: 5 / I: 0

Competition in Communism

Comrades, how do we promote competition in a potential communist society to prevent stagnation and encourage innovation?
And how could it be used while working towards a communist one?
R: 82 / I: 31

Thoughts on Brezhnev?

I'm admittedly still fairly new to Marxism/Leninism but from my layman's glance he kinda seems (by results) the greatest leader the soviet union ever had. He didn't push the absolutely castrated CIA manufactured "De-Stalinization" line that Khrushchev did yet he didn't fall into the same genuine over abundances of repression he state under stalin did. He successfully supported socialist revolution in Africa and the middle east while also avoiding the nuclear confrontation championed by Mao. He kept the Union together and, for all the complaints of "stagnation" by capitalist economists in the west (and their lackies the world over) maintained an astoundingly high standard of living in the soviet union; one which is in many ways superior to modern American standards of living with their provision of universal healthcare and education.
Am i missing something or Brezhnev genuinely the greatest soviet leader to ever hold the office?
Why isn't he talked about more on here??
R: 310 / I: 62

Greta Thunberg says her goal is to replace capitalism

According to the activist, the economic system is responsible for the climate crisis.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has expanded her field from a climate protector to a critic of capitalism.

At the launch of her new book in London, Greta Thunberg stated that the goal is to overthrow the entire system.

According to her, there is no "return to normal". According to her, "normal" is the system that caused the climate crisis and "colonialism, imperialism, oppression, genocide" and is racist, discrimination".

Thunberg criticized the UN climate conference as a scam that facilitates the "greenwashing, lying and cheating" of those in power. She said that only "the overthrow of the entire capitalist system" would be enough.
R: 49 / I: 11
Does anyone still talk about Rojava? I feel like it's not on people radars anymore.
https://internationalistcommune.com/we-dont-look-away-these-are-our-comrades-and-friends/
R: 29 / I: 4 (sage)

NAZIS PRAISE DPRK: OFFICIAL MEDIAS PROUDLY REPORT IT

What did they mean by this? Are the nazbol memes becoming real?
Seriously, do Korean officials even know what "National Socialism" means?

http://www.rodong.rep.kp/en/index.php?MTVAMjAyMy0wMS0xOC1IMDA0QA==
R: 9 / I: 3

Resolutions for unity and strength

Leftypol ought to develop resolutions on specific topics. These resolutions being explanations of official positions of the board on things like "are baristas proletarian?" and "what is the nature of the war in Ukraine?".

These explanations can be used to educate members and visitors through a more official means. Additionally, wrecking elements in the left can be officially banned or diverted to containment threads on the basis of these resolutions, and allow for more fruitful and qualitative discussions in the rest of the board. After all, communists have long realised that allowing for endlessly regurgitating and restarting done-deal discussions is just a hindrance and wrecker tactic.

After all, what is the point of a discussion forum if nothing comes out of it? And do we really need to hold on to the unorganised libertarian idea of not having any discipline in the name of "muh freedoms"? While letting bad actors destroy the forum?

No in depth resolutions by actual groups of communists are easily available online. Communist party resolutions are either flowery or underspecified, with justifications for them being made internally. To combat wreckers and streamerism, resolutions would be a great tool.

The mods, in their ever great wisdom, would see to how discussion of already established resolutions can be contained yet facilitated, and how to establish such resolutions.
R: 13 / I: 1

News 1/17/23

Thousands of Farmers Continue Advancing Towards Lima
Telesur correspondent Jaime Herrera reported that farmers travel by truck from Apurimac, a region where the indefinite strike completed 14 consecutive days. They demand the release of former President Pedro Castillo, who was removed by Congress on Dec. 7, 2022. From the city of Cusco, dozens of farmers traveling in buses and trucks also left for Lima to demand immediate general elections and the calling of a Constituent Assembly.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Thousands-of-Farmers-Continue-Advancing-Towards-Lima-20230117-0004.html

Honduran activists demand action after killing of water defenders
Among Castro’s first moves as president was freeing a group of imprisoned Guapinol activists in February 2022. Soon afterwards, her government declared the country “free of open pit mining” and said it would cancel mining permits, though activists say there have been no cancellations since then. … “She said we were going to leave prison, and we did. But she also said she was going to eliminate the mining concessions … [The government] hasn’t done what it promised.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/17/honduran-activists-demand-action-after-killing-of-water-defenders
https://archive.ph/2o3fK

Brazil's Lula removes soldiers from guarding presidential residence
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has removed 40 troops guarding the presidential residence after expressing distrust in the military for failing to act against demonstrators that ransacked government buildings on Jan. 8. His decision was published on Tuesday in the government's official gazette.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-lula-removes-soldiers-guarding-presidential-residence-2023-01-17/

Chilean Environment Defenders Reject Dominga Mining Project
On Tuesday, environmental organizations asked Chile's President Gabriel Boric to reject the Dominga mining project as it poses a serious threat to a unique natural reserve in the world. Promoted by former President Sebastian Piñera, this project contemplates the construction of a port for the commercialization of iron and copper on the central coast of Chile next to an area in which 80 percent of Humboldt penguins live there.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chilean-Environment-Defenders-Reject-Dominga-Mining-Project-20230117-0010.html

Workers continue to protest in defense of public health in Madrid
Family physicians and pediatricians in Madrid’s primary health care system resumed the strike launched in November last year, as negotiations with the regional government balk. The health workers continued with the industrial action shortly after another mass protest in support of public health care on Sunday, January 15, and only days ahead of a demonstration planned by health workers on January 18.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/17/workers-continue-to-protest-in-defense-of-public-health-in-madrid/

Ex-MEP at heart of cash for influence scandal strikes plea bargain
In a statement, Belgium’s federal prosecutor announced that Pier Antonio Panzeri had signed a memorandum, where he pledged to make “revealing, truthful and complete statements” about the involvement of third parties and, “if applicable”, his own involvement in criminal offences.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/mep-pier-antonio-panzeri-cash-for-influence-scandal-plea-bargain

Jordan protests to Israel after envoy blocked from holy site
Jordan summoned the Israeli ambassador to Amman on Tuesday to protest a move by Israeli police to block the Jordanian envoy from entering a volatile holy site in Jerusalem. The incident quickly escalated tensions between the neighbors and reflected the heightened sensitivity around the sacred compound under Israel’s new ultranationalist government.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-israel-government-jordan-d3a9ef8547c74b5650177edc501367ee

Turkey: Far right 'sells bus tickets' to deport Syrian refugees in new campaign
Turkey’s far-right Victory Party has launched a fundraising campaign promising to spend the cash on bus tickets it says will be used to deport Syrian refugees. "Ticket sales for Zafer Tourism's one-way trips to Damascus have begun," the party's chairman Umit Ozdag tweeted on Monday. Zafer is "victory" in Turkish. Ozdag asked people to provide the name of Syrians they want deported, promising to "make the reservation".
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-far-right-bus-tickets-sold-deport-syrian-refugees

Human rights groups call on Sri Lanka to release student activist
Mr Mudalige is the convener of the Inter-University Students’ Federation and was involved in the anti-government demonstrations last year. The protesters were demanding wide-ranging reforms to resolve the economic crisis that caused shortages of essential goods, fuel and medicine after Sri Lanka defaulted on its massive debt.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/human-rights-groups-call-sri-lanka-release-student-activist

Hundreds protest against Sri Lankan president’s visit to Jaffna
President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s trip last Sunday to Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s north during the Thai Pongal religious festival, provoked a protest by hundreds of Tamils. Demonstrators chanted slogans including “Give back our missing people,”“Release all Tamil political prisoners” and “Return military-occupied land.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/17/xtrp-j17.html

Report: Myanmar arms industry growing after army takeover
Companies in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East are supporting the military supply chain, the report says, urging those businesses to ensure they are not facilitating human rights abuses. The growth of the homegrown arms industry comes as some countries have enforced arms embargoes or sanctions against individuals and companies involved in trading or manufacturing arms.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-aerospace-and-defense-industry-middle-east-europe-4819fffdb55fdefe1086a2772a698317

Indonesian nickel smelter resumes productions after deadly riot
Production at an Indonesian nickel smelter owned by China’s Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry has resumed, police said, after operations were suspended due to a protest and rioting at the weekend in which two workers were killed. An Indonesian and a Chinese worker died, while vehicles and dormitories were torched during the clashes at the PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) smelter, a unit of Jiangsu Delong, which involved protesters, workers and security guards.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/1/17/indonesian-nickel-smelter-resumes-productions-after-deadly-riot
https://archive.ph/XxEEY
R: 84 / I: 10
I'm against liberalism's end goal (Brave New World seems unavoidable) but I'm too liberal in mindset to jump to your side. I disagree with marxism's premises and anarchism's goals (no gods, no masters no borders no nations that type of stuff). Eurocommunism seems interesting to me as a tougher version of social democracy, but I can't help but see ideologies as tools rather than ends. Authoritarian communism clearly would help a place like the DRC, who cannot control its resources or have the necessary infrastructure. Libertarianism would unironically help Russia (shock therapy and neoliberalism were terrible, but that's because Russia wasn't properly decommunized). Social democracy and pro Cuba views would be good for Latam, I hate the right wing there, but many leftists too.

Above all, could you convince me that you can do stuff in a practical sense? Anarchists are a joke who can't seem to be bothered to plan manual labor, other groups just parade in the streets and that's it, no penetration at all in the majority of the population that's perfectly fine with liberalism. What would you do? Also why would eurocommunism fail in your view?
R: 11 / I: 0

What is the Left's position on CBDCs?

The idea is that CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) will replace cash eventually and physical cash would be outlawed after a certain point. This allows the government to track all transactions better and freeze or seize funds more quickly than getting a bank to freeze someone's bank account when he has done something the government doesn't like, which is what communists/socialists generally support.

You can read more details here:
https://blog.digitalasset.com/developers/what-is-a-central-bank-digital-currency-and-why-should-people-prefer-cbdc-over-bank-accounts
R: 8 / I: 0
Españoles, ¿Qué piensan de Roberto Vaquero y del Frente Obrero? ¿Militan ahi o tiene alguna experiencia allí? Siento que fue algo así como el PcAp Chileno no se porque xd
R: 27 / I: 7
What's some books to recommend for a person who is newly interested in the communist ideology
? I was thinking Maybe TANS or siemthjng from parenti what other suggestions would you guys give to convert someone into out ideology
R: 54 / I: 5

Stalin deportation of chechens and death toll

Did this happen and if it did was it justified? I saw kadyrov post about it today

Did kadyrov fall for CIA propaganda?

>The deportation of the Chechens and Ingush (Chechen: До́хадар, Махках дахар,[4][5][6][7] Ingush: Мехках дахар), or Ardakhar Genocide (Chechen: Ардахар Махках), and also known as Operation Lentil (Russian: Чечевица, romanized: Chechevitsa; Chechen: нохчий а, гӀалгӀай а махкахбахар, romanized: noxçiy a ġalġay a maxkaxbaxar), was the Soviet forced transfer of the whole of the Vainakh (Chechen and Ingush) populations of the North Caucasus to Central Asia on February 23, 1944, during World War II. The expulsion was ordered by NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria after approval by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, as a part of a Soviet forced settlement program and population transfer that affected several million members of ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union between the 1930s and the 1950s.

>The deportation was prepared from at least October 1943 and 19,000 officers as well as 100,000 NKVD soldiers from all over the USSR participated in this operation. The deportation encompassed their entire nations, as well as the liquidation of the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The demographic consequences of this eviction were catastrophic and far reaching: of the 496,000 Chechens and Ingush who were deported (according to Soviet archives; Chechen sources put the deportees at 650,000[1]), at least a quarter died. In total, the archive records show that over a hundred thousand people died or were killed during the round-ups and transportation, and during their early years in exile in the Kazakh and Kyrgyz SSR as well as Russian SFSR where they were sent to the many forced settlements.[8] Chechen sources claim that 400,000 died, while presuming a higher number of deportees.[1] A higher percentage of Chechens were killed than any other ethnic group persecuted by population transfer in the Soviet Union.[9] Chechens were under administrative supervision of the NKVD officials during that entire time.

>The exile lasted for 13 years and the survivors would not return to their native lands until 1957, after the new Soviet authorities under Nikita Khrushchev reversed many of Stalin's policies, including the deportations of nations. A local report indicated that some 432,000 Vainakhs had resettled to the Chechen-Ingush ASSR by 1961, though they faced many obstacles while trying to settle back to the Caucasus, including unemployment, lack of accommodation and ethnic clashes with the local Russian population. Eventually, the Chechens and Ingush recovered and regained the majority of the population. This eviction left a permanent scar in the memory of the survivors and their descendants. February 23 is today remembered as a day of tragedy by most of Ingushs and Chechens. Many in Chechnya and Ingushetia classify it as an act of genocide, as did the European Parliament in 2004.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_the_Chechens_and_Ingush

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grozny_Oblast

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940%E2%80%931944_insurgency_in_Chechnya

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-chechnya-khrushchev/russias-chechnya-to-honor-neglected-soviet-leader-idUSL1115742520080326

https://jamestown.org/program/chechen-government-plans-khrushchev-monument-2/
R: 12 / I: 4
I'm starting to think no government can exist perpetually and also without corruption unless every single person in any major positions of power is able to read each others minds and intentions with 100% accuracy, this may be possible with technology or maybe with some extreme evolution into psychic powers. Otherwise I feel like trying to make any government not based on that is just asking for a inevitable catastrophe. Call me a schizo I don't care. This will be how things are done sooner or later.
R: 40 / I: 16

DPRK at night

Guys what's up with these satellite pics showing DPRK almost completely dark at night compared to PRC and other Korea ? What's the context… is it because of the toll of the sanctions and war ? Or is the satellite data wrong somehow ?
R: 0 / I: 0
Vocabularic Activism - "It's the least you can do!"

ITT we suggest changes to the words we use and tolerate to influence how society analyses itself, encourage class consciousness, resist delusion, and all that rot.

Some examples could be:
- calling out anti-worker propaganda/marketing terms like 'quiet-quitting'
- using socialist/marxist terminology instead of regular words, like alienation instead of loneliness or job satisfaction
- disregarding preferred pronouns and avoiding gendered language altogether

—–
>inb4 that's not praxis BAWWW
ysosrs?
>inb4 op cant inb4
just substitute 'inb4' with 'b-but', that makes it ok
R: 12 / I: 0
Discuss the following statement:

"The richest of society benefit from socialism. Not at the expense of anyone else, nor are they the primary beneficiaries, but rather due to the mutual quality-of-life benefits that incidentally also apply to them, along with the rest of the populous."

For the sake of argument, pro-socialist governments such the USSR can be considered relevant for real case-study evidence, and if necessary, social polices unrelated to the means of production, but which resemble the implicit effects of anti-capitalism or socialism, can be used.
R: 62 / I: 10

People leaving Cuba

What's the material explanation for this? All 250,000 can't be gusanos, right? Why don't they stay where they are instead of coming to the US, is it a lack of class consciousness?
R: 21 / I: 4

Space Race

>The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II. The technological advantage demonstrated by spaceflight achievement was seen as necessary for national security, and became part of the symbolism and ideology of the time. The Space Race brought pioneering launches of artificial satellites, robotic space probes to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and ultimately to the Moon
Why did the soviet union give up on the moon in space race? What if they didn't? Who actually won the space race in the end?
R: 8 / I: 0
Everyone has a different waking up on their journey thru politics

What was the event or discovery that you came upon which finally made you see through it all?
R: 9 / I: 3

Larouchepac Gunman

https://www.abqjournal.com/2565117/solomon-pena-arrested-in-shootings-targeting-new-mexico-democratic-politicians-homes.html

>Albuquerque police on Monday arrested the man they say is the “mastermind” behind a recent string of shootings targeting Democratic lawmakers’ homes.

>The suspect, Solomon Pena, is a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for office in November, has made repeated claims that the election was rigged and appears to have attended the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.

>Around 3 p.m. APD’s SWAT team swarmed a condominium complex near the ABQ BioPark Zoo to execute a search warrant. They made announcements for Pena — who they said may be armed with a firearm — to surrender as drones flew overhead.

>Within an hour officers had arrested Pena, who is accused of paying four men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators, Police Chief Harold Medina announced Monday evening. Investigators also believe Pena was present for at least one of the shootings.

https://www.larouchepac.com/2022_larouchepac_year_in_review
>Solomon Pena was the Republican candidate for State Representative in New Mexico’s District 14, and brought LaRouchePAC’s policies to Republicans and Democrats alike, as well as traveling to Trump rallies around the country to spread the word.
R: 30 / I: 0

Great Man Theory

How does leftypol refute great man theory? You are really telling me that people like Ben Franklin, Jesus, Mohammed, Hitler, Lenin, Marx, Stalin, Gorbachev, etc. didn't singlehandedly alter the course of history to a notable extent?? Like for instance Ben Franklin pretty much secured French aid to the American Revolution which in the end may have even won the war. Speaking of France, there's Napoleon.
A rather extreme example would be the Soviet submarine captain who singlehandedly stopped a nuclear war from happening. I mean think about that for a second. The decision whether or not to obliterate entire countries can rest in the hands of one person's minute decisions. I don't see how you can deny the great influence that a single person can have when given these instances.
R: 10 / I: 1

The Labour Files

>Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has obtained the largest leak in British political history, exposing how unelected officials undermined democracy within the Labour Party. The leaked data comprises 500 gigabytes of documents, emails, video and audio files from the Labour Party dating from 1998 to 2021.

What does /leftypol/ think about these documentaries? Was Corbyn falsely smeared as an antisemite? Was it a conspiracy by the tories and right wing of the labour party to take him down?
R: 2 / I: 0  
Is One piece and Oda marxist or at the very least socialist or socialsist adjacent? I think he is clearly left wing to some capacity but I just want a general discussion and political analysis of this work.
R: 42 / I: 8

Why did communists give up after '91?

Why did so many communists either give up and/or morph into socdems, or even outright conservatives/reactionaries, after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991?
R: 17 / I: 6 (sage)
I lost a debate badly to a capitalist on omegle. so how can i refute their points about rent control and about price setting?

Give me a list of a arguments against common libertarian talking points
R: 2 / I: 4

Far Right Coup In France Foiled

It seems the cool thing for Right wingers to do these days is find a group of gullible incompetent loonies and get them arrested. I just don't see how the left can come back after this devastating string of victories in Greece, America, Brazil, Germany, and now France.

Bets on which country decides they're done playing with the chinlets faux fash farce next?


From the Article:

>Prosecutors say that members of the group, Les Barjols, conspired to engineer a putsch, which involved a plan for an attack on Macron during a public appearance in 2018. …[members are] charge[ed] of conspiring to commit a terrorist act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each offense.

>Also in 2018, France's domestic intelligence services received a tip-off saying that a far-right militant based in the French Alps region, Jean-Pierre Bouyer, was planning to attack Macron during a World War I peace treaty centenary commemoration in November of that year.

>On November 6 police arrested Bouyer, 62 at the time, and three others suspected of far-right links in the eastern French Moselle region. Searching Bouyer's car, they found a commando-style fighting knife and an army vest. In his home, they discovered firearms and ammunition.

>Police then went on to arrest other members of an extreme-right nationalist and anti-immigration group formed on Facebook in 2017. Its presumed leader, Denis Collinet, was arrested in 2020.

>One meeting held in the Moselle region marked the beginning of the conspiracy, with members making plans to blow up mosques and kill Macron as well as kidnap members of parliament and overthrow the government.

>https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230117-far-right-group-militants-go-on-trial-for-macron-assassination-plot
R: 5 / I: 0
Amartya Sen is a leftwing economist. he argued that maoist china improved living conditions and dispelled the dengist myths. economists on reddit do not like richard wolff but they like sen more and consider him more reliable. so i am taking this as a w for socialism
R: 25 / I: 4 (sage)

The twelve sexual commandments of the revolutionary proletariat

https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1924-2/revolutionary-manliness/revolutionary-manliness-texts/twelve-commandments-of-revolutionary-sex/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Sexual_Commandments_of_the_Revolutionary_Proletariat

1.There must be no premature development of sexual life among the proletariat.

2.Sexual abstinence is necessary before marriage, and marriage should be only made in a state of full social and biological maturity (that is, 20-25 years).

3.Sexual intercourse is only the final completion of deep comprehensive sympathy and affection for the object of sexual love.

4.Sexual intercourse should be only the final link in the chain of deep and complex experiences that bind lovers at the moment.

5.Sexual intercourse should not be repeated frequently.

6.The sexual object shouldn't be changed often. There should be less sexual variety.

7.Love should be monogamic and monoandric (one woman, one man)

8.With any sexual intercourse, one must always remember the possibility of the birth of a child and, in general, think about offspring.

9.Sexual selection must be built along the line of class, that is, the revolutionary-proletarian suitability. Elements of flirting, courtship, coquetry and other methods of specifically sexual conquest should not be introduced into love relations.

10.There shouldn't be jealousy. Sexual love life, built on mutual respect, equality, deep ideological closeness, and mutual trust, does not allow lies, suspicion, or jealousy.

11.There should be no sexual perversions.

12.The class, in the interests of revolutionary suitability, has the right to interfere in the sexual life of its members. The sexual must obey the class in everything, without interfering with the latter, serving it in everything.
R: 14 / I: 4

News 1/16/23

Peace banners dominate annual Rosa Luxemburg procession in Berlin
PEACE banners dominated the annual procession to lay flowers on the tombs of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Berlin today, the 104th anniversary of their murder. Crowds marched to revolutionary songs including Rote Fahne, Bella Ciao and the Internationale from the Frankfurt Gate to the monumental memorial to fallen socialists where their tombs lie. The march came a day after the biggest yet Rosa Luxemburg onference in the city, with over 3,000 people attending in person and over 20,000 following the event — themed Stop World War III, and organised by the Morning Star’s German sister paper Junge Welt — online.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/peace-banners-dominate-annual-rosa-luxemburg-procession-in-berlin

New plans to widen police powers for disruptive protests
Police could be allowed to shut down protests before they cause serious disruption, under new government plans. Downing Street said the proposals would help officers clamp down on "a disruptive minority" who use tactics like blocking roads and slow marching. It said the changes seek to give police greater flexibility and clarity over when they can intervene. But human rights group Liberty said the proposals amounted to an attack on the right to protest.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64282962

Richest 1% in the UK now wealthier than 70% of the population combined, Oxfam finds
Oxfam’s study shows that the 685,500 richest people in Britain are worth a total of £2.8 trillion, compared with 48 million people whose combined wealth totals £2.4tn. The charity’s report — Survival of The Richest — highlights widening global inequality after extreme poverty and extreme wealth both increased over the past two years.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/richest-1-in-the-uk-now-wealthier-than-70-of-the-population-combined-oxfam-finds

Boluarte’s Government Suspends Constitutional Rights in Peru
The decree, published in the official gazette close to midnight on Saturday, authorizes the military forces to intervene together with the Police to "safeguard" public order. Peru has been experiencing a series of social protests since last December 7, when the Congress dismissed President Pedro Castillo, who is in prison on charges of rebellion, and appointed in his place Boluarte, who was serving as the country's vice-president.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Boluartes-Government-Suspends-Constitutional-Rights-in-Peru-20230115-0001.html

Chilean Congress approves bill to launch new constituent process
The bill had already been approved in the Senate. On January 3, the upper house of Congress had passed it with 42 votes in favor, seven against and one abstention. Now, it must be promulgated by President Gabriel Boric in order to take effect. After it is published in the Official Gazette, the process to draft a new constitution, one of the fundamental demands of the October 2019 social uprising against inequality, will begin.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/15/chilean-congress-approves-bill-to-launch-new-constituent-process/

Japan opposition parties unite to take on Kishida over tax hike plan
Japan's opposition parties on Monday banded together against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's plan to raise taxes to cover an increase in defense spending, hoping to leverage public discontent to challenge the move.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230116/p2g/00m/0na/032000c

Ganatantra Mancha announces movement across Bangladesh on January 25
As part of the simultaneous movement to oust the government, Ganatantra Mancha, an alliance of seven political parties, has announced protest rallies in all districts across the country including Dhaka on January 25. Shahid Uddin Mahmud Swapan, general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), announced the new sets of programs from Monday's demonstration in Dhaka, protesting electricity price hike.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/politics/2023/01/16/ganatantra-mancha-announces-movement-across-bangladesh-on-january-25
https://archive.ph/JunRp

J&K: Land Order Draws Widespread Flak, Parties Term it ‘Draconian’
The government’s recent order to remove all encroachments on state land, including under the annulled Roshni Act, has drawn criticism in Jammu and Kashmir with many calling for the rollback of order that they say will make people homeless. Several political workers from Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the newly formed Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Democratic Azad Party (DAP) held separate protests in Jammu against the eviction drive that they termed was a “draconian” and “anti-people policy”.
https://www.newsclick.in/J%26K-Land-Order-Draws-Widespread-Flak-Parties-Term-Draconian

LDA demands withdrawal of power price hike
LDA, a combine of six left political parties, organised the rally in front of the National Press Club presided over by its coordinator Bazlur Rashid Firoz. He said the government had increased power price by 5 per cent at consumer level recently and it would increase sufferings of the common people to run their families.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/191806/lda-demands-withdrawal-of-power-price-hike

Afghanistan: Former Female Lawmaker Shot Dead in Kabul
Mursal Nabizada, a 32-year-old former lawmaker in the Afghan parliament before the Taliban's takeover, was shot dead in her home, police said on Sunday. One of her bodyguards was also killed in the attack, which took place overnight. A second security guard was injured, along with her brother. Police did not give details of any assailants.
https://www.newsclick.in/afghanistan-former-female-lawmaker-shot-dead-kabul

Palestinians condemn 'execution' at West Bank checkpoint
Palestinian officials Sunday condemned what they labelled the "execution" of a Palestinian man at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, while the army said he was shot during a "violent confrontation". The ministry slammed the "heinous execution" of Ahmad Kahla, 45, who was shot dead in the morning by troops near the village of Silwad north of Ramallah.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/palestinians-condemn-execution-west-bank-checkpoint

Lebanon blast relatives questioned by police after protest
Several relatives of the victims of the massive 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port have been questioned by police after they were accused of rioting and vandalism during protests over the stalled investigation into the blast. Thirteen family members answered a police summons on Monday while hundreds more relatives of blast victims, politicians and activists protested outside Beirut’s police compound, where the questioning took place.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/16/lebanon-blast-relatives-questioned-by-police-after-protest
https://archive.ph/TwCWQ
R: 47 / I: 5
The more I think of white identity and, the more I realize that one huge result of it, apart from assimilation and 'othering' others, is that it always expands. The meaning of white changes every census. Why do they force race on birth certificates instead of ethnic group, like other countries?

What is the likely hood of using ethnic identity to begin to break up the US and inspire a revolution?
For example, places ripe include Hawaii and Puerto Rico. What other ethnic groups could be leveraged?
R: 14 / I: 6

Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe

Breadpill me on Robert Mugabe. Did he have real potential to change Zimbabwe for the better? To what extent was he a good communist and where did he fail? Where lies the dissonance between his actual failures and Western propaganda to demonise native Zimbabweans liberation struggle?
R: 10 / I: 1

New Food Pyramid just dropped: Lucky Charms healthier than steak

New Food Pyramid just dropped: Lucky Charms healthier than steak
What does /leftypol/ think of this latest development in the advanced food sciences?
R: 143 / I: 47
What is America's end-goal with making up a completely fake genocide? What do they seek to accomplish with it?
R: 25 / I: 7

Anarcho-capitalism

Is there a dumber political ideology? It's literally just neoliberalism with an aesthetic ripped off from the radical left to appeal to angsty teenagers.
R: 12 / I: 1

Should communists support the war against Serbia?

Why was Serbia trying to start another invasion and genocide after they committed it in Bosnia and Croatia, killing hundred of thousand people, ethnically cleansing huge area? In comparison, the war on Serbia committed way less atrocities. Bombing and mass killing Sarajevo, Zadar, Šibenik, Vukovar, Osjek, Dubrovnik, Mostar, Slavonski Brod, Zenica, Tuzla… All that cities suffered way more atrocities then any town in Serbia, so shouldn't we as communists support the war on Serbia? After they did it also in WWII in Bosnian and Croatian areas in Bosnia - 1941 and later untill they and Germans lost war in 1945. And after they trying to do it again on Albanian's Kosovo today. Should based Putin and Zgang invade Serbia today and stop the next genocide in it's crib?
R: 243 / I: 76

Cuba thread!

Tell me about Cuba. I want to learn. I imagine it's just a spanish-speaking North Korea, which i like, but i want to learn the specific details about Cuban life and the economy. I already know that they have free penis enlargement surgery and gender transition surgery. Anybody got infographs or files?


Some useful links:

Government and mass organizations
President and Government: www.presidencia.gob.cu

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: www.minrex.gob.cu

Communist Party of Cuba (PCC): www.pcc.cu

Young Communist League (UJC): www.ujc.cu

Workers’ Central Union or Cuba (CTC): www.cubasindical.cu

Federation of Cuban Women (FMC): www.mujeres.cu

Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR): www.cdr.cu


National media
Granma, newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party: www.granma.cu, www.en.granma.cu

Juventud Rebelde, newspaper of the Young Communist League: http://www.juventudrebelde.cu

Trabajadores, newspaper of the Central Workers’ Union of Cuba: http://www.trabajadores.cu

Prensa Latina, a state news agency: https://prensa-latina.cu, https://www.plenglish.com

Cubadebate, editorial journal discussing imperialist campaigns against Cuba and defamation of Cuba in foreign press: www.cubadebate.cu, www.en.cubadebate.cu

Revista Bohemia, an old magazine which predates the Cuban revolution with commentary on various domestic matters: www.bohemia.cu


Regional newspapers
Tribunal de La Habana — Havana: http://www.tribuna.cu

Girón — Matanzas Province: http://www.giron.cu/

Vanguardia — Santa Clara: http://www.vanguardia.cu

5 de Septiembre — Cienfuegos: http://www.5septiembre.cu

Escambray — Sancti Spíritus: http://www.escambray.cu

Guerrillero — Pinar del Río: www.guerrillero.cu

Invasor — Ciego de Ávila: www.invasor.cu

Adelante — Camagüey: www.adelante.cu

Periódico 26 — Las Tunas: www.periodico26.cu

Ahora — Holguin: www.ahora.cu

La Demajagua — Granma Province: www.lademajagua.cu

Sierra Maestra — Santiago de Cuba: www.sierramaestra.cu

Venceremos — Guantanamo: www.venceremos.cu

Victoria — Isla de la Juventud: www.periodicovictoria.cu


TV and Radio
Televisión Cubana, public tv: www.tvcubana.icrt.cu

Radio Cubana, public radio: www.radiocubana.cu

Radio Rebelde, the original revolutionary radio station set up by Che Guevara in the mountains of Sierra Maestra in 1958: www.radiorebelde.cu

Radio Havana Cuba, international broadcaster: www.radiohc.cu


Misc.
Cubarte, cultural portal: www.cubarte.cu, www.cubarte.cu/en

Tourism portal: www.cubatravel.cu

EcuRed, Cuban encyclopedia: www.ecured.cu

EcuRed article on the U.S.: www.ecured.cu/Estados_Unidos
R: 500 / I: 95

Hungarian Thread for /voros/ refugees

Második felvonás!
R: 79 / I: 13
Based.

PKK/Rojava revolution is spreading to Europe. Are you ready for democratic confederalism eurobros?
R: 9 / I: 0

Conservative Billionaires

How do socialists get around the fact that rightoid billionaires fund tons of propaganda:
>Dan Howard Wilks and Farris Cullen Wilks, also known as the Wilks Brothers, are American petroleum industry businessmen. Sons of a bricklayer, the brothers established Wilks Masonry in 1995. They went on to found an early hydraulic fracking company, Frac Tech, in 2002, and eventually became billionaires. In 2011 they sold their 70% interest in Frac Tech for $3.5 billion. They reside in Cisco, Texas. They are major funders of conservative causes, including The Daily Wire, PragerU, and the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Ted Cruz.
Aren't there any left wing billionaires? Why don't we have left wing rich kids funding new media startups which have a Marxist POV? The only "left" thing we have is a bunch of liberals, not even radlibs, but mainstream liberals making wall to wall Northrup Grumman wall street flavored MSNBC/CNN propaganda. Its like the only choice is between oil porky and wall street porky.

meanwhile even socdems can't manage funding:
>After Mike Gravel's 2020 presidential campaign ended in 2019, leadership from the campaign launched The Gravel Institute in 2019 using a $25,000 donation by Tumblr founder David Karp.

Really? 25k in seed funding vs fucking MILLIONS for rightoid propaganda, plus millions more spent year after year on PragerU adspace on facebook/twitter/etc.

there's been far too little attention paid to the specific funding sources of these propaganda outfits, meanwhile you have left wing magazines going backrupt due to lack of funding and just collapsing.
R: 31 / I: 6
Why was Lenin such a weeb?
>Every war puts a strain on the people, and the difficult war against cultured and free Japan is a frightful strain upon Russia.
Cultured and free is when brutal bourgeois dictatorship warring for imperialist gains
>The main objective of the Japanese in this war has been attained. Advancing, progressive Asia has dealt backward and reactionary Europe an irreparable blow. Ten years ago this reactionary Europe, with Russia in the lead, was perturbed by the defeat of China at the hands of young Japan, and it united to rob Japan of the best fruits of her victory. Europe was protecting the established relations and privileges of the old world, its prerogative to exploit the Asian peoples—a prerogative held from time immemorial and sanctified by the usage of centuries. The recovery of Port Arthur by Japan is a blow struck at the whole of reactionary Europe.
As though Japan didn't want to exploit the Asian peoples??
>It is quite understandable, therefore, that the most consistent and staunch representatives of revolutionary international Social-Democracy, such as Jules Guesde in France and Hyndman in England, unequivocally expressed their sympathy with Japan, which is routing the Russian autocracy. Here in Russia, of course, some socialists were found to have muddled ideas on this question, too. Revolutsionnaya Rossiya rebuked Guesde and Hyndman, saying that a socialist could only be in favour of a workers’ Japan, a people’s Japan, and not of a bourgeois Japan. This rebuke is as absurd as blaming a socialist for admitting the progressive nature of the free-trade bourgeoisie as compared with the protectionist bourgeoisie.
Progressiveness is when imperialism, I guess. Same with Du Bois, what's with socialists worshipping Japan even while it engages in brutal capitalist imperialism?
R: 21 / I: 5
why did Vietnam abandon collective farming? is the privatization of farming a failure of the communist system or something that can exist within it? Are they guilty of vulgar revisionism?
R: 6 / I: 2

Balkanizing the US/ national divorce

If a group of people tried hard enough, would it be possible to split the US into smaller countries?
Looking it up it seems like some online right wingers like the idea and don't want anything to do with states that are "too liberal." If shit like qanon and storming the capital was able to get enough traction among this group as a whole, could this? Like, peacefully, basically psyopping states into wanting nothing to do with each other.
Federal politics in the US don't benefit the left much if at all, and this would basically do away with them.
R: 55 / I: 13

New Reading Group for Capital Vol. I

UPDATE 1/16/2022: NEW OFFICIAL THREAD ON /EDU/ >>>/edu/12217

Has reading Capital been on your To-Do List for too long? Are you ready to tackle Marx's magnum opus? You are not alone.
We already have a group forming but we are still looking for recruits. Scheduling will be based on when the most people are available, so if you want to read and join the discussion, speak up!

The aim of the group is to make reading Capital as accessible as we can.
We'll do
<weekly voice chat discussions of chapters as we read them
<continuous discussion in the matrix chat
<discussion in the /edu/ thread (to be created once we determine a schedule)
Not everybody does voice chats or matrix, so the thread in particular is useful for complicated questions or effortposts about the subject and as a repository for major takeaways from the other chats.

This thread is just to get people's attention and interest.
We are mainly going to be using the Penguin edition (attached), but some may read other versions, including non-English ones.

Currently the plan is to start Volume I this month (January) and read an average of 1 chapter per week, starting slower with the early chapters (perhaps 2 weeks per chapter since they are more complex) and speeding up as we progress toward the end. The pace will be adjusted according to the needs of the group.

Express interest in the thread below and/or provide feedback and suggestions for the reading.
Join the matrix room (part of the /read/ space within the /leftypol/ space) to discuss there or to join voice chats once we get started.
https://matrix.to/#/#LeftyCapital2023:matrix.org

tl;dr
Get in loser. We're reading Capital.
R: 7 / I: 0
Can someone give me context for this?
Is there a Trotskyist brigade that fought for Isis? XD
R: 87 / I: 7
Woo, let's go, baby! That's what I've been waiting for, that's what it's all about.
R: 35 / I: 8
So you guys think HK protesters really were social fascist?
Should we trust the reports on Uniqlo workers? Is china's working conditions so horrible? Or are we being propagandized by the west?


http://sacom.hk/2016/02/20/investigative-report-unveiling-the-labour-rights-violations-the-second-investigative-report-on-uniqlos-suppliers-in-china/
R: 58 / I: 12

Artifacts of Capitalism

ITT: products, services, business models, etc that would not exist in communism.
This could be because producing these commodities only makes sense under a capitalist framework.
It could also be because they are a result of "bourgeois decadence" i.e. flexing how rich you are.

This is NOT "stuff I would ban if I was on the central committee." It's things that would stop existing because the material basis would be gone.
R: 7 / I: 2

News 1/14/23

Lützerath: Protesters, police clash near German coal mine
German police clashed with climate activists at the village of Lützerath on Saturday, as the standoff between authorities and activists dragged on for a fourth day.  Police had been working to clear activists from the site to make way for the demolition of the village. … Police called on demonstrators to leave the area, or face the possibility of officers deploying water canons and using physical force.
https://www.dw.com/en/l%C3%BCtzerath-protesters-police-clash-near-german-coal-mine/a-64394019

Greek court drops spying charges against refugee rescue activists
A Greek appeals court has dropped espionage charges against 24 activists involved in rescuing people from migrant boats in the Mediterranean after recognising that the case was riddled with procedural errors. The three-member panel of judges upheld a prosecutor’s recommendation that the spying charges be dropped on the basis of being “overly vague”. The verdict was announced to the sound of applause in the courtroom.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/13/greek-court-drops-spying-charges-against-activist-migrant-rescue-team

Charge against ex-Catalan president dropped
A Spanish Supreme Court judge has dropped sedition charges against former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four other separatists involved in the region’s 2017 independence effort. Judge Pablo Llarena explained in a statement on Thursday that changes to the country’s sedition law meant it no longer applied to their actions.
https://www.rt.com/news/569776-spain-drops-sedition-puigdemont-catalan/
https://archive.ph/0HsfW

Scottish teaching union warns of further strike action unless Scottish government offers suitable pay deal
The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) said it had “no option” but to consider walkouts and other measures after pay talks between the government, local government body Cosla and teaching unions on Thursday failed to resolve the issue. The SSTA and other teaching unions, including the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and NASUWT, say that “no new offer” has been made.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/scottish-teaching-union-warns-of-further-strike-action-unless-scottish-government-offers-suitable-pay-deal

Venezuela: Metalworkers Block Highway, Protest for Better Pay
Since last Monday, hundreds of Sidor workers have walked out from their posts in the large-scale industrial complex in Ciudad Guayana, Bolívar state. They have blocked the local highway every day and urged the company to address a number of labor issues. “This is not a political protest,” spokesman Henry Quintana told local reporters. “This is a workers’ protest, and we will not back down until we are heard.” Other spokespeople stated that salaries should be set in US dollars to shield them from currency devaluation.
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15684

Audi Mexico and union avert strike in deal for 9.4% pay rise
Carmaker Audi's Mexico unit and worker representatives have agreed to 9.4% salary raises for 2023, forestalling a strike in reaching a deal for one of the highest automaker wage hikes in Mexico in recent years. The Independent Union of Audi Mexico Workers (SITAUDI) and Audi previously negotiated two options to raise wages for the plant's 4,000 unionized employees in the central state of Puebla, but workers in December rejected both.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/audi-mexico-union-avert-strike-deal-94-pay-rise-2023-01-11/

Former Justice Minister Arrested in Bolsonaro’s Government
The former Minister of Justice during the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, Anderson Torres, was arrested by the Federal Police on Saturday morning, after arriving in Brasilia on a flight from Florida, United States (USA).
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Former-Justice-Minister-Arrested-in-Bolsonaros-Government-20230114-0003.html

Tunisia: Thousands call for president's removal on revolution anniversary
Thousands of Tunisians joined a protest calling on President Kais Saied to step down on Saturday as they marked the 12th anniversary of the ousting of former autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Protesters defied police instructions, removed barricades and marched towards the central Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the capital Tunis, the traditional site of rallies, waving Tunisian flags and chanting "the people demand the fall of the regime".
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/tunisia-protests-thousands-call-presdient-removal

Blackouts and food rationing as Karabakh blockade enters second month
On January 9, the Operational Headquarters overseeing the emergency situation in Nagorno-Karabakh unveiled a coupon system to regulate the distribution of imported food supplies. The next day, the local authorities announced rolling blackouts because of damage to the cables bringing electricity from Armenia through the town of Lachin, which fell under Azerbaijani control in August 2022.
https://eurasianet.org/blackouts-and-food-rationing-as-karabakh-blockade-enters-second-month

Biden administration to ask Congress to approve F-16 sale to Turkey: Report
According to US officials, the arms sale is contingent upon Turkey agreeing to Sweden and Finland's accession to Nato. Turkey has held off on agreeing to their joining the alliance over what it claims is their support for Kurdish militants, and Sweden last week said it cannot fulfill all of Turkey's demands.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/biden-administration-ask-congress-approve-f-16-sale-turkey-report

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank: Palestinian ministry
Two Palestinians were killed Saturday during an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. The two young men were shot dead by Israeli forces "during an assault on the village of Jaba, south of Jenin" in the north of the West Bank, the ministry said.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/01/israeli-forces-kill-two-palestinians-west-bank-palestinian-ministry

Thousands protest Israeli gov’t plans to overhaul legal system
The protest on Saturday presents an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered police to take tough action if protesters block roads or display Palestinian flags. Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has made overhauling the country’s legal system a centrepiece of his agenda.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/14/thousands-protest-israeli-govt-plans-to-overhaul-legal-system
https://archive.ph/Mloeo
R: 8 / I: 0

Cold Civil War

Is this term useful to describe the state of some western countries right now? The amount of protests is increasing, even if they are directionless. Gen Z is radicalising. We see this in communist parties filled with old heads and people in their 30s or 20s. Nothing in between. And liberalism can only ignore real economical and ecologial problems for so long. Also, maybe this is a controversial take, the culture war is a manifestation of that cold civil war. Also I don't think all culture war is an export of american politics.

Long story short, I see a shift in western countries where the enemy, for good or bad, is inside the "nation" and not outside. Thoughts?
R: 560 / I: 109

Is "Multipolarism" Russian Glowshit?

I know I'll get inevitable get flamed for this, but I'm not saying that Russia bad or that we should ever side with NATO or any social chauvinist radlib shit like that. However, the ideology of "multipolarism" seems to be in contradiction to what's actually happening and is largely in the service of the geopolitical interests of one country in particular. What actually seems to be happening is not that there are multiple "poles" forming; regional powers directly competing with the global hegemonic power of the United States, but more an anti-hegemonic league of nations loosely aligned around the desire to resist American influence. What nations are actively trying to be "poles"? China? India? Brazil? South Africa? Iran? I guess you could argue that they all exhibit their own sort of international influence, but none of them are really presenting themselves as new "poles" of global power that stand in singular opposition to American global power or each other. It's really only Russia trying to position itself this way. At times, it comes across as a ham-fisted attempt at reviving Soviet internationalism without embracing communism again, replacing socialist internationalism with Duginoid schizoposting about Eurasianism and Atlanticism or whatever.

Every socialist should be opposed to the United States and NATO, and to that extent, those nations that are opposed to the United States and NATO could be viewed as the "good guys" to some extent, and we should all be exited for a "post-American" world order, but I don't know why you'd cheerlead any particular world order other than, obviously, global communism. Especially if that world order is essentially a return to pre-WWII great power competition. I could think of a few outcomes that are preferable to that even without a global socialist revolution, such as the counter-hegemonic countries remaining largely autonomous equals operating as a single political bloc against NATO, rather than forming around "pole" countries.

The whole thing comes across as trying to convince people that global liberation from imperialism isn't just in the destruction of US-NATO hegemony, but somehow requires the re-formation of the Russian Empire.
R: 200 / I: 27

Non-vegans are liberals; in favor of a Vegan-Stalin

Title.

Went to a ""vegan"" anarchist mutual aid group (Food Not Bombs)

Observations:

>Non-vegan food. was served Cow milk and ostensibly non-vegan pastries were being served. Furthermore, a member told me that meals with meat are served if they are brought in.

>Carnists are apprently welcome. Overheard a member talking with another about cooking meals with MEAT. WTF?

Knew right then and there that these were just LARPing liberals with zero actual convictions. Just a bunch of white kids thinking they're doing "praxis" while failing to meet the bare mininum of their ideals which include NOT TREATING ANIMAL PRODUCTS AS FOOD.

This goes for lefties too. If you can't do the bare minimum and refrain from stuffing your fat face with corpses and animal secretions, you are not le ebin revolutionary Lenin 2.0—you are a LARPing liberal that thinks protesting and reading Marx will effect any actual change in the world.

What we need is a Vegan-Stalin; I volunteer myself. You are racist, transphobic, homophobic, fascist, liberal, chinlet, or refuse to stop eating meat and animal products? Off to the gulag; enjoy your sterilization and 50 years hard labor. The more I interact with liberals, anarkiddies, and fake leftists, the more I sympthize with Stalin.
R: 30 / I: 7

Race Realism

Hey everyone. I just made a new blog dedicated to countering race realist pseudoscience and bad history as well. Here's the first post. If it interests you check it out.
https://sahfare.blogspot.com/2023/01/race-realism-refuting-stupid-arguments.html
R: 24 / I: 5

Porky: workers are getting lazy

https://archive.is/t4e6k

<For a growing number of professionals, the days of unpaid overtime and working through weekends are in the past. Firms add people to finish projects, close for holidays and take other steps.
>“The passion that we used to see in work is lower now, and you find it in fewer people—at least in the last two years,”
<The reduced ambition can leave companies needing more people to do the same amount of work, something that ultimately could be a drag on American economic productivity. And bosses are openly considering the ramifications. Comments by Home Depot Inc. co-founder Bernie Marcus that “nobody works, nobody gives a damn,” with possible implications for the future of capitalism, in the Financial Times spread quickly this week.
>Many workers say they see little connection between working hard and being rewarded. About half of the 1,071 respondents to a May survey by The Wall Street Journal and NORC at the University of Chicago said they don’t have a good chance of improving their standard of living, compared with 27% who said they do. The 27% figure was a 20 percentage-point drop from a year earlier. About 60% said they were pessimistic about most people’s ability to achieve the American dream. Growing up, Austin Wiggins saw his father work long hours as a manager at a regional grocery chain, without ascending to the store-director level. Doing so, his father, Daniel Wiggins, says, would have meant possibly moving to a store location further from family, which he didn’t want.
<“I know how many hours he’s put in, how much he’s given to this company,” Mr. Wiggins says. “There’s not compelling enough correlation to make me become the person that’s going well above and beyond what I need to do.”
>The list of potential obstacles to entrepreneurial success in the US today is long, according to Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot: human resources executives, government bureaucrats, regulators, socialists, Harvard graduates, MBAs, Harvard MBAs, lawyers, accountants, Joe Biden, the media and “the woke people”.
<The 93-year-old retailer and billionaire is adamant…. “I’m worried about capitalism,” Marcus says in a video interview from his home in Boca Raton, Florida. “Capitalism is the basis of Home Depot [and] millions of people have earned this success and had success. I’m talking manufacturers, vendors and distributors and people that work for us [who have been] able to enrich themselves by the journey of Home Depot. That’s the success. That’s why capitalism works.”
>Modern counterparts of Marcus and Blank are still out there, the veteran retailer believes. But there is no longer as much incentive to take the risks they took when they opened two stores in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1979, a year after they were abruptly but fortuitously sacked by the home improvement chain they headed. Thanks to “socialism”, he says, “nobody works. Nobody gives a damn. ‘Just give it to me. Send me money. I don’t want to work — I’m too lazy, I’m too fat, I’m too stupid.’”

What does everyone think of this development? will zoomer/millennial quiet quitters and NEETs starve capitalism of labor?
R: 3 / I: 1

News 1/13/23

South African power cuts worsen as Eskom extends worst-ever outages
South African power cuts worsened on Wednesday as struggling state utility Eskom said it would extend its worst-ever outages until further notice. The "Stage 6" power cuts mean six to eight hours a day without power for most South Africans and require up to 6,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity to be shed from the national grid.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/south-african-power-cuts-worsen-eskom-extends-worst-ever-outages-2023-01-11/

Further strikes to demand higher wages announced throughout Sudan
University lecturers in Sudan embarked on a strike on Tuesday to protest the Sudanese government leaving a new salary structure out of the current year’s budget, as teachers’ and tax bureau strikes continue to face the threat of arbitrary transfers.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/further-strikes-to-demand-higher-wages-announced-throughout-sudan

Thousands march in Peru capital demanding president step down
"Why are you turning your back on the people, there are so many deaths, for God's sake, stop this massacre," said protester Olga Espejo, calling on President Dina Boluarte, previously Castillo's vice president, to resign. … Protesters shouted "Dina asesina!" (Dina is a murderer) as they carried cardboard coffins, photos of the victims and anti-government slogans down the streets of Lima in the capital's first mass protest since New Year.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/thousands-march-peru-capital-demanding-president-step-down-2023-01-13/

Glencore copper mine in Peru struck by vandals, cars torched
Vandals attacked Glencore's Antapaccay copper mine in Peru on Thursday, the country's top mining official said, amid a deepening political crisis marked by violent protests that have broken out near major mines in the southern Andes.
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/GLENCORE-PLC-8017494/news/Glencore-copper-mine-in-Peru-struck-by-vandals-cars-torched-42723352/?countview=0
https://archive.ph/qCAJm

2,000 metal workers to go on strike in Turkey 
In Turkey, approximately 2,000 workers affiliated to the United Metal Workers Union (Birlesik Metal-is) have decided to go on a strike on January 23 after talks to increase wages and fix wage rate hikes with the Metal Employers’ Union of Turkiye (MESS) failed, Bianet English reported on Thursday, January 12. 
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/13/2000-metal-workers-to-go-on-strike-in-turkey/

Israel: Government MP is preparing bill to annex the Jordan Valley
The bill by Danny Danon, who previously served as Israel's ambassador to the UN, intends to achieve the "full application of Israeli law to all areas of the Jordan Valley", including industrial and archaeological sites as well as main roads, Jewish News website reported on Wednesday.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-preparing-bill-annex-jordan-valley

Oil company chief's appointment to lead COP28 climate conference sparks backlash
The Office of the United Arab Emirates' Special Envoy for Climate Change announced Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the head of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, as the president-designate for the 2023 climate change conference, which will take place in Dubai over two weeks in November and December.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/oil-executive-appointed-lead-cop28-climate-conference/story?id=96390139

Senior Russia Lawmaker Denies End to Mobilization Deferment For Fathers
A senior Russian lawmaker on Friday denied that the Russian military had canceled the right to mobilization deferment for fathers of three or more children amid ongoing speculation that Moscow could launch a second round of mobilization for the war in Ukraine. The Defense Ministry in October granted men with three or more children under the age of 16 the right to deferment from Russia's “partial” mobilization. On Thursday, State Duma deputy Nina Ostanina said that the General Staff of the Armed Forces canceled this deferment at the end of December.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/13/senior-russia-lawmaker-denies-end-to-mobilization-deferment-for-fathers-a79940

First case of ‘Kraken’ Covid variant detected in Russia
Rospotrebnadzor added that there are no plans to introduce any new restrictions in the country due to the discovery of the variant. It was nicknamed ‘Kraken’ by scientists due to the shape of the virus, which resembles the mythical sea monster.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569740-kraken-coronavirus-omicron-penza/
https://archive.ph/Bqr0L

Artists across Greece slam presidential decree degrading arts education
In the call for the protest mobilization, the Panhellenic Music Association stated that “it is hopeful that hundreds of young students will take to the streets asking for the upgrading of their studies and professional rights. Although our country has a rich and remarkable artistic potential in all forms of Art, the state and all governments are steadily promoting the devaluation of Culture and especially of Artistic Education.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/13/artists-across-greece-slam-presidential-decree-degrading-arts-education/

French oil refinery unions threaten strikes over pensions attack
The walkouts, the first of which is planned for next Thursday, would include “shutdowns of refinery installations if necessary,” said Eric Sellini, national co-ordinator of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) at energy giant TotalEnergies.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/french-oil-refinery-unions-threaten-strikes-over-pensions-attack

Woman ordered to repay employer after software shows ‘time theft’
Reach said it installed employee-tracking software called TimeCamp on Besse’s work laptop after it found her assigned files were over budget and behind schedule, a strategy companies are increasingly taking in the era of remote work. The software tracks how long a document is open, how the employee uses the document and logs the time as work.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/12/canada-woman-time-theft-tracking-software
R: 30 / I: 7
Has there ever been a revolt orchestrated by say drug dealers, drug addicts, prostitutes, pimp, criminals, prisoners etc? I feel like the american right-wing voter base have a strong lumpen demographic in some places (esp rural). I mean look at the recent Q Club shooting, it was commited by a degen rightoid neet who's father was a meth addicted porn actor. Lots of the peoples at the Jan 6 seemed to be genuine lowlives too.
Also, in a capitalist state, are Cops lumpenproles?
R: 607 / I: 147 (full)

/Climate/

Figured the climate was serious enough to warrant it's own thread.

https://bylinetimes.com/2022/05/26/un-warns-of-total-societal-collapse-due-to-breaching-of-planetary-boundaries/
https://twitter.com/ClimateBen/status/1530483829290549248

>BREAKING: new UN report warns of total societal collapse due to ecosystem destruction without radical changes

>1. Not a single media outlet picked up on the increasing probability of civilisational collapse.
>UN appears to have diluted its own findings.
>Recognising collapse risk isn't about doom-mongering, but understanding risks.
>2022-2029 is key time for action.

>2. This is the first UN flagship report to find existing global policies are accelerating us towards a collapse of human civilisation.
>- report doesn't say outcome is inevitable or specify how close to possibility we are
>- we can still act

>3. The UN continues to call for yet more economic growth whilst simultaneously releasing reports by scientists saying we must now consider moving away from GDP/growth to stop the annihilation of species and habitat.
>We're in an Extinction Economy.

>4. We're seeing abrupt changes in major ecosystems which in many cases are already described explicitly by scientists as collapses. This situation will surely impact human societies immensely as we move towards a 1.7°C-2.1°C world by the 2030s.
>See report: https://www.undrr.org/publication/global-assessment-report-disaster-risk-reduction-2022

>5 Overuse of resources by the rich during capitalism is the first extinction danger.
>Deforestation would cause mass extinction within decades not centurie even without climate change.
>We can rise up to achieve immediate economic system change action.
R: 14 / I: 6

Communism must become a religion

The question of whether Marxism/communism/socialism is a religion is not new. Lenin was categorically against such research. Moreover, he considered attempts to combine Marxism with religion an abomination. And here, as it seems to me, Vladimir Ilyich, despite all his genius, made a very common methodological mistake – he judged everyone by himself. What was Marxism to him? Teaching, science.

"Marx's teaching is omnipotent because it is true," he said.

He knew Capital like no one else. And not only "Capital". Lenin read a huge number of books during his life and had a phenomenal memory. Therefore, Marxism was a subject of knowledge for him. And where there is knowledge, there is no place for faith – the main attribute of religion. Besides, Ilyich, speaking about religion, clearly meant Christianity. And this is also a mistake. It is impossible to identify the part – Christianity, or any other cult, and the whole – religion as a phenomenon, in all its diversity and completeness.

And what, then, is "religion"? Let's figure it out. Most often, the concept of "religion" is derived from the Latin. religio – "piety, a shrine, an object of worship." Religion is usually defined as a worldview, a set of moral norms and a type of behavior that are conditioned by the belief in the existence of an "other", supernatural world and beings – spirits, gods or God, who create all material and spiritual forms of existence, as well as a set of rituals and magical actions (religious cult) that provide. the connection of a person with otherworldly forces, and the corresponding (church) organizations and associations of believers.

The key word in the definition of religion, the most essential characteristic, its essential attribute is faith.

And preferably not just faith, but a blind, fanatical belief in the existence of "something". For some, this "something" is God and Paradise, for others – Karma and Samsara, for others – A Bright Future and Paradise–on-Earth. And what is "faith"? Faith is the recognition of something as true without relying on facts or logic, only on the basis of internal (subjective) confidence, which does not need proof, although sometimes it looks for them.

Or so: Faith is the recognition of something as true regardless of factual or logical justification, mainly due to the very nature of the subject's attitude to the subject of faith. … religious faith differs from philosophical or scientific knowledge not in that it is not fully reasoned or confident in its subject, but in the way it receives and justifies its knowledge. The first builders of communism had even more faith than the first Christians. They were burned in the furnaces of steam locomotives, and stars were cut out on their bodies, and hung, and shot… and they went because they believed. Communism has its own perception of the world – atheism and a Scientific picture of the World, and a set of moral norms – the moral code of the builder of communism, and the type of behavior – a person is a friend to a person, a comrade and a brother, and rituals – admission to the party, party assemblies, demonstrations, congresses and many others, and relevant organizations uniting believers – the party and party cells. In general, communism has all the attributes inherent in religion.
R: 57 / I: 7
How does giving the state more and more power to control and plan society lead to the abolition of the state?

How does forcing every worker into becoming a landless industrial proletarian lead to the abolition of the proletarian class?
R: 23 / I: 2

Skills for Leftists

What are some good skills for a suburbanite PMC can develop if I'm not doing actual labor day to day.
I was thinking something along the lines of woodworking, gardening etc
R: 5 / I: 1
>the bourgeoisie takes power away from the aristocracy and starts frocibly replacing feudal production with capitalist production
>it becomes the extended hand of capital and does everything for it
>with this revolution humanist philosophies develop
>conscious human life is seen as the ultimate good of society because it can make descisions and hence participate in the false choices promoting liberal philosophy
>this is why suicide is seen as the ultimate evil of society
>this is why killing is evil as well

>we get to the eve of proletarian dictatorships in the era of imperialism
>the capitalist system is breaking down killing millions in this process
>the bourgeoisie have developed a different consciousness and with regards to the previous thesis they equate capitalist and liberal society with inheirently saving lives
>"If they can't choose, they are no longer human; hence socialism cannot be established, because you won't be able to live because all your needs fulfilled implies lack of choice, because choice stresses you and hence is evil"
>none of the deaths under capitalism matter because no one chooses to die under capitalism because that means that can't choose and you must be able to choose
>that's why socialist experiments are acussed of the very same thing the capitalist do, because they are choosing something which will prevent choice in total

>all of your liberal beliefs hinge on the commodity production
>without commodoties there is no capitalism
>there is no choice

bros I think I'm starting to get it
R: 11 / I: 1
Is there a Marxist analysis on neofeudalism? Any specific people to read who have a Marxist analysis on it? Are there any legitimate arguments against it?
R: 605 / I: 197 (full)  

Artists panic as new AI "Stable Fusion" shows inevitability of their jobs made obsolete

>The generated images are looking scarily good, considering how little VRAM it uses.
https://www.pcgamer.com/ai-image-generator-stability-ai-stable-diffusion/

>Stable Diffusion draws controversy on Twitter from artists who say the AI infringes on copyrights
https://www.artificialconversation.com/p/stable-diffusion-draws-controversy

>And that's completely ignoring ethical issues. And that's completely ignoring the fact that Stable Diffusion in particular will allow creation of NSFW images of all imaginable kinds (yes, even the highly deplorable kinds).
>The tools are amazing and, essentially, impossible to stop. But at the same time, imagine being a renowned artist for 20 years and suddenly people can make an infinite amount of images "in the style of [your name here]" that look just like your images. Not exactly a fair thing to happen to you.
>it's relatively simple: image-making, as a profession, is dead. people will keep doing it as a hobby, and for a while or so, there will be people able to judge art, but after that, it will be like clothing today: cheap, and no one cares about the quick and dirty sewing, because it's easier to buy new stuff than to educate yourself and seek out good quality.
https://www.reddit.com/r/StableDiffusion/comments/woej9g/stable_diffusion_draws_controversy_on_twitter/

>A new AI image generator appears to be capable of making art that looks 100% human made. As an artist I am extremely concerned.
https://twitter.com/arvalis/status/1558623545374023680

>What makes this AI different is that it's explicitly trained on current working artists. You can see below that the AI generated image(left) even tried to recreate the artist's logo of the artist it ripped off.
https://twitter.com/arvalis/status/1558623546879778816

>Last night one of the AI developers behind that project that was ripping off living artists’ styles sent me a bunch of DMs(mostly omitted for length). He blocked me immediately after I responded and called me a moralist because I care about artists rights
https://twitter.com/arvalis/status/1559274160831881216
R: 4 / I: 1

News 1/12/23

Indonesia admits historical rights violations — but shirks accountability
Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed regret Wednesday for egregious human rights violations in the country over the past six decades, including a U.S.-backed anti-communist purge that led to the massacre of some 500,000 Indonesians during the height of the Cold War. He promised to prevent similar violations from happening again but stopped short of explicitly admitting the government’s role in the atrocities or making any commitments to pursue accountability.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/11/indonesia-jokowi-human-rights-violations-communist/
https://archive.ph/Mvk23

==TN: ‘Stop Privatising Work’ Say Sanitation and Other Local Body Workers
Chennai Sanitation, drinking water, vehicle drivers and mosquito exterminator workers held protests across the state on January 10 demanding the government of Tamil Nadu stop privatising work at the local bodies. The protesters, under the leadership of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), demanded the repeal of Government Orders numbered 152 115, and 139 which take away government jobs in the Corporations, Municipalities and panchayats.
https://www.newsclick.in/TN-Stop-Privatising-Work-Say-Sanitation-Other-Local-Body-Workers

Thousands take to the streets of Bangladesh to protest against the government
THOUSANDS of protesters have taken to the streets of Bangladesh to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. People from all walks of life joined the demonstrations on Wednesday over rising food prices. University student Abu Nayem said: “Living costs have always been a headache … but people like me are dying. I came to protest [against] this careless apathy.”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/thousands-take-streets-bangladesh-protest-against-government

Iranian press review: Workers kill themselves amid economic crisis
The daily reported that the workers were all men and working without a contract or on a short-term contract.  Ten labourers killed themselves by self-immolation to attract attention to their dire situation, six men hanged themselves, three took deadly doses of pills, and two shot themselves dead.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-workers-suicide-economy-crisis-press-review

Macron will not seek Algeria’s ‘forgiveness’ for colonialism
“The worst thing would be to decide: ‘We apologise and each go our own way,'” Macron said. “Work on memory and history isn’t a settling of all accounts,” he added. He expressed hope that Tebboune “will be able to come to France in 2023”, to return Macron’s own trip to Algiers last year, and continue their “unprecedented work of friendship”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/12/macron-will-not-ask-algeria-for-forgiveness-over-colonialism

Greek opposition slams top court’s intervention in surveillance scandal
Greek opposition parties slammed the Supreme Court prosecutor Wednesday for saying the country’s telecom watchdog cannot probe wiretaps. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the main opposition party Syriza, said on Twitter that Isidoros Dogiakos’ legal opinion is unconstitutional for saying that under the new law in force, the Independent Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) no longer has the power to inform citizens whether their communications have been intercepted or monitored for reasons related to national security.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/greek-opposition-slams-top-court-s-intervention-in-surveillance-scandal/2785632
https://archive.ph/YN7Ux

Sinn Fein refuses to join round-table meeting with British Foreign Secretary after party leader banned from discussions
Mr Cleverly has called multiparty talks to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol on trade with the European Union. The Unionists have used disagreements over the operation of the protocol to halt power sharing after Sinn Fein won the Northern Ireland Assembly elections for the first time last May.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/sinn-fein-refuses-to-join-round-table-meeting-with-british-foreign-secretary-after-party-leader-banned-from-discussion

Rights Advocates Demand Probe Into Murder of Environmental Defenders in Honduras
Demands for an investigation into the murder of two environmental defenders in Guapinol, Honduras continued to mount Wednesday amid growing doubts that they were killed during what local police and prosecutors claimed was an attempted mugging. Since Aly Domínguez, 38, and Jairo Bonilla, 28, were shot dead Saturday, their family members, rights groups, and people around the world have called for a probe into whether their deaths are tied to the pair leading grassroots resistance to nearby iron ore mining.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/honduras-environmental-defenders

Peru anti-government protests spread, with clashes in Cusco
Health officials in Cusco said 37 civilians and six police officers were injured after protesters tried to take over the city’s airport, where many foreign tourists arrive to see sites including the nearby Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. Protests and road blockades against Boluarte and in support of ousted President Pedro Castillo were also seen in 41 provinces, mainly in Peru’s south.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-peru-government-protests-and-demonstrations-pedro-castillo-dc226f9881eb3fa77bd2479fdc1d93dd

Venezuelan Teachers Mobilize for Higher Wages, Demand Gov’t Answers
Hundreds of Venezuelan teachers took to the streets to demand higher wages and the restoration of collective bargaining rights, including social and medical insurance. The nationwide protests began on Monday organized by the United Federation of Teaching (Fetramagisterio) alongside unions from around 18 states. … In Caracas, teachers gathered outside the Ministry of Education to demand immediate answers to their months-long struggle for decent salaries, the full payment of stipulated bonuses as well as the reactivation of the Hospitalization, Surgery, and Maternity (HCM) services and the Institute of Social Welfare and Assistance for the Ministry of Education Staff (Ipasme).
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15682
R: 599 / I: 285

/brg/ - Brazil General

RIP PELÉ EDITION
Now that the final 48 hours of the New Republic's worst government are running out, the question remains: what will the cope be this time?
R: 2 / I: 0

Haiti Fucked

The last 10 remaining senators in Haiti’s parliament have officially left office, leaving the country without a single democratically elected government official. There is now no constitutional representation at any state level, the latest sign that the country has become a failed state (from the article).
Elections for a new parliament have failed, the current prime minister is widely viewed as illegitimate, and gangs now control vast swathes of the country, causing famine classified by the World Food Programme at the highest category usually reserved for wartime.
R: 0 / I: 0

Rent-seeking behavior, Technology, and Superprofits

As Marx explained, the profit in the price of a commodity is equal to surplus value divided by (constant capital + variable capital).

if an individual capitalist discovers a technology that reduces costs, then if he still sells his product at the prevailing price, he gets a super-profit. Until the rest of the capitalists in that industry catch on and implement the new technique.

Instead of technical innovation, what are some examples of capitalists artificially increasing the costs for competing capitalists? For example, bribing the government to:

- pass regulations that make production more expensive for competitors
- grant oligopoly/monopoly powers
- ??

So instead of DECREASING costs for himself, he INCREASES costs for the competitor.

Is the effect the same as technical innovation?

Furthermore, in Capital volume III, chapter 15 Marx says that in the long run technical innovation causes the the rate of profit to fall.

Would hamstringing competitors in any of the above ways also cause the rate of profit to fall?
R: 12 / I: 3

HOLY FUCKING SHIT LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOI

New milestone for humanity just dropped 8 billion for the first fucking sweet ass time and I’m so glad I got to live to see this event.
R: 6 / I: 0

Now that the dust has settled

Who was in the wrong here?
R: 28 / I: 2

Collaborative Theory

Idea: Write theory collectively. If you look at most modern scientific (natural science) research most papers have like 50 names on them. This can be done very simply

1. Use mdBook, the rust program that makes books out of markdown. https://github.com/rust-lang/mdBook
2. Use github for collaboration, theres a ton of technical people here who know git and use PR's etc. to contribute
3. Use markdown (obviously) to write the book. This will be broken into multiple chapters for parallel writing of theory.
4. With mdbook-mermaid and mathjax you can add mermaid diagrams and LaTeX support for mathematical formulas/diagrams where needed.

This isn't the 19th/20th century where theory and analysis is written by 1-2 geniuses slaving away their whole lives, theory could be collaborative allowing greater accuracy, also making the effort easier by part time authors, and faster to analyze more current events.
R: 3 / I: 1

News 1/11/23

Peru President Under Investigation After Dozens Killed In Protests
The inquiry is into whether the alleged crimes of "genocide, aggravated homicide and serious injuries" took place during anti-government demonstrations in the Apurimac, La Libertad, Puno, Junin, Arequipa and Ayacucho regions. Puno, which borders Bolivia and is home to many Aymara Indigenous people, has become the epicenter of the protest movement against Boluarte by supporters of former president Pedro Castillo, who was ousted and arrested on December 7.
https://www.barrons.com/amp/news/peru-orders-curfew-in-violence-hit-region-after-18-deaths-01673384109
https://archive.ph/OT8H9

Policeman burned to death amid antigovernment unrest in Peru
A police officer on patrol was attacked and burned to death by protesters in the Peruvian region of Puno as the death toll from demonstrations in the wake of the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo rose to 47, authorities said Tuesday.
https://apnews.com/article/lima-peru-pedro-castillo-accidents-caribbean-286beca28250750391d1b2c8963779b9

Assassination attempt on Colombia's vice-president foiled
COLOMBIA’S vice-president said on Tuesday that her security team found more than 7kg of explosives buried next to a rural road that leads to her home in the south-western province of Cauca. Francia Marquez posted on Twitter: “Members of my security team found a device with more than 7 kilos of explosive material on the road that leads to my family residence in the village of Yolombo, in Suarez, Cauca.”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/assassination-attempt-on-colombia-vice-president-foiled

French unions call for strikes over attack on pensions
FRENCH trade unions have called for strikes in protest at government plans to force people to work for longer before they can retire. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Tuesday that the retirement age would rise to 64, despite the move being opposed by four in five French citizens, according to an Odoxa poll.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/french-unions-call-strikes-over-attack-pensions

Police move on coal mine protesters barricaded in abandoned German village
The protesters formed human chains, made a makeshift barricade out of old containers and chanted "we are here, we are loud, because you are stealing our future" as police in helmets moved in. Some threw rocks, bottles and pyrotechnics. Police also reported protesters were lobbing petrol bombs. Climate activist Greta Thunberg plans to join the demonstration on Saturday, a spokesperson for Luetzerathlebt environmentalist group told Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/germanys-rwe-calls-end-showdown-over-coal-mine-expansion-2023-01-11/

Mobilized reservist sentenced to five years' jail
Footage shows Leshkov, who is surrounded by other men in uniform appearing to be mobilized reservists, accusing an officer of providing insufficient supplies and training to the reservists. He particularly claims that the body armor distributed among those mobilized was of substandard quality. The man can also be seen swearing at the officer on several occasions.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569719-mobilized-reservist-sentenced-attack-officer/
https://archive.ph/m6bR7

Leading Russian Environmental Group Closes After Being Deemed ‘Foreign Agent’
The Russian environmental group Movement 42, based in Russia’s Arctic Arkhangelsk region, announced that it was ceasing its activities on Wednesday just one month after being designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian authorities. “We consulted with lawyers and realized that it’s a big risk for us to continue to exist as an association”, the group said in a Telegram statement.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/11/leading-russian-environmental-group-closes-after-being-deemed-foreign-agent-a79923

Report: Arms supplied by UK, US killed civilians in Yemen
Weapons supplied by the United Kingdom and the United States and used by a Saudi-led coalition fighting in war-torn Yemen killed at least 87 civilians and wounded 136 others in just over a year, a new report said Wednesday. The report by the Oxfam charity found that the Saudi-led coalition used weapons supplied solely by the U.K. and the U.S. in hundreds of attacks on civilians in Yemen between January 2021 and the end of February 2022. Britain is the second-biggest supplier of weapons to Saudi Arabia, after the U.S.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-kingdom-yemen-government-saudi-arabia-a8dd0a5e5d2f42f1ae4b0e6d309f96cb

UK laws to blunt strikes begin journey through parliament
Trade unions have reacted angrily to the plans, arguing evidence from other countries shows such legislation forces unions to use other tactics, prolonging disputes. "This is an attack on human rights and civil liberties which we will oppose in the courts, parliament and the workplace," Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/new-british-law-blunt-strikes-be-introduced-parliament-2023-01-10/

Kerala Sets up First Welfare Board for Workers Under Employment Guarantee Schemes
In the first instance in India, the Kerala government has constituted the ‘Kerala Employment Guarantee Workers' Welfare Fund Board’ for the workers of the employment guarantee scheme. Around 30 lakh workers aged 18-55, who are enrolled in the programme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA) and the Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS), are eligible to register with the welfare board.
https://www.newsclick.in/kerala-sets-first-welfare-board-workers-under-employment-guarantee-schemes

Israel: Man arrested for driving into anti-government protesters as tensions escalate
No one was hit in the suspected attack. The driver, a 26-year-old resident of Elad, a city in central Israel, shouted “anarchists, leftists” as he drove into demonstrators who were standing at the side of the road in front of Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-driver-arrested-endangering-protesters-war-words-escalates

Egyptian pound plunges again as government makes painful IMF adjustments
Egypt's currency plunged again on Wednesday, hitting a new low against the US dollar at below 32 pounds.  The country forged ahead with the planned devaluation after winning the backing of the International Monetary Fund. As a result, the pound now is almost on par with the prices quoted on the country's black market. 
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-pound-plunges-again-imf-adjustments-painful
R: 46 / I: 5
Why did he killed himself, comrades? Was cancellation of the future really that bad?
R: 510 / I: 129

American Rail Strike

This is probably the most important strike of this decade. On Wednesday Congress is likely to block the strike but if they do it the workers might just strike anyway. Workers have basically no time off and they were offered only one extra day off in the negotiations which most workers find unexceptionable.
>inb4 >>>/usapol/
No this is really important news, if the strike occurs it could destroy the North American Economy.
If their are picket lines near you you should sow up in solidarity. This winter the weeks will be decades. History is fully alive.
R: 6 / I: 0

Cultic activities around Pol Pot's tomb

A number of cultic activities and practices have been observed around Pol Pot's grave.[473] People from Anlong Veng, but also from other parts of Cambodia, go to his grave to make offerings of food on certain holy days, including the Festival of the Dead and the Cambodian New Year. Some people make daily offerings of food, as well as more significant offerings such as a pig's head and court music sang by an orchestra.[473] Amanda Pike, an investigative journalist who has visited Cambodia, states that some of Pol Pot's supporters still cling to his memory and ideology and she also states that some fervent believers still worship him.[474] She reports that these people dig through Pol Pot's ashes and snatch up fragments of his bones to take away as talismans.[474] Cambodian villagers say that they dream of Pol Pot and afterwards they win the lottery or become cured from malaria.[475] In addition, people kneel down near his grave and start praying. They chant: "All your children are here, Grandpa. Don't say that we've forgotten you". They ask for good health and for their children to be educated, just like Pol Pot was.[475] When asked about why they go to Pol Pot's grave, some say they knew him personally. Others say that they go to pay their respects to a former leader. Most seem to perceive that some part of the world thinks of Pol Pot in a negative light, however they insist that he was a supporter of the common farmer and a defender of Cambodia.[475] There have also been cases of people dreaming of Pol Pot and sleepwalking all the way to his grave.[475] Amanda Pike talks about an old woman named Chou Kitt – a Cambodian genocide survivor that lost most of her family under the Khmer Rouge – who says that Pol Pot visited her in her dream. Pike reports:[475]

>Chou Kitt says that Pol Pot appeared to her at night, looking frail and sad. He told her he was hot during the day and cold at night. He complained that he was hungry. When she woke up, she found that she had sleepwalked most of the way to his grave So Chou scraped together most of her worldly funds and built the corrugated shelter that today covers Pol Pot's ashes. She also held a feast in his honor, slaughtering a pig at his gravesite. Later, Chou dreamed that Pol Pot came to thank her – he was finally comfortable and content.[475]
R: 5 / I: 1

News 1/10/23

At least 17 dead in deadliest day of anti-government protests in Peru
The clashes occurred in Juliaca, a city near the banks of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru's Puno region, and left 68 people injured, Henry Rebaza, a Puno health ministry official, told the state-run television channel TV Peru. The dead included at least two teenagers, according to the ministry. Some of the bodies had bullet wounds, Puno's regional health director, Ismael Cornejo, told local radio station RPP.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/least-nine-dead-anti-government-protests-near-peru-airport-2023-01-09/

Brazilian Prosecutor Asks to Block Jair Bolsonaro's Assets
On Tuesday, Lucas Rocha, the deputy prosecutor of the Public Ministry, asked the Brazilian Court of Accounts to block the assets of former president Jair Bolsonaro due to the assault on public buildings that far-right militants carried out on Sunday.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Brazilian-Prosecutor-Asks-to-Block-Jair-Bolsonaros-Assets-20230110-0013.html

Chile, Colombia call for extraordinary OAS meeting after Brazil riots
Boric, speaking alongside Colombia President Gustavo Petro outside La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, called Sunday's riots "unacceptable" and also condemned "complicit silence." "This situation is worrying for our countries, our region has to have a clear position," Boric said, adding that the meeting's goal is that the "rest of the countries in the region can take a stance."
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-colombia-call-extraordinary-oas-meeting-after-brazil-riots-2023-01-09/

Germany: Police prepare for coal mine protest clearance
Several hundred climate activists tried to prevent heavy machinery from reaching the abandoned village of Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia by constructing barricades and digging trenches to halt police in their tracks. Activists have occupied the remaining buildings in the village to the west of Cologne and near the Dutch border on the face of the opencast lignite mine — long scheduled for demolition and cleared of residents — for almost two years.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-police-prepare-for-coal-mine-protest-clearance/a-64343367

French unions disapprove of government plans to up retirement age from 62 to 65
The unions have unanimously expressed their disapproval of the proposed changes after talks with Ms Borne last week. Some are in favour of an increase in payroll contributions paid by employers instead. The country’s eight main worker unions were gathering today to set the date of a first protest day against the pension changes.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/french-unions-disapprove-government-plans-retirement-age-62-65

Greek trial of 24 rescuers who saved migrants in Med begins
A group of 24 volunteers have gone on trial on the Greek island of Lesbos more than four years after they were arrested for carrying out migrant rescue missions off Greece. Their case was denounced in a European Parliament report as Europe's "largest case of criminalisation of solidarity". Among the defendants accused of a string of misdemeanours is refugee and swimmer Sarah Mardini. A movie recently told the story of how she escaped with her sister from Syria.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64221696

Armenia refuses to host CSTO exercises
Many Armenians have found Russia’s and the CSTO’s actions wanting in the face of Azerbaijani offensives in recent months, including an unprecedented attack on Armenia in September and an ongoing de facto blockade of the Armenian protectorate of Nagorno-Karabakh that started in September. ….“These exercises in Armenia, at least this year, will not happen.”
https://eurasianet.org/armenia-refuses-to-host-csto-exercises
https://archive.ph/rXoh8

Russia's Dozhd TV Receives Dutch Broadcast License After Latvia Row
Dutch authorities have granted a broadcasting license to exiled Russian news channel Dozhd following Latvia’s decision to revoke its permit over disputed coverage of the Ukraine war. A short statement on the Dutch Media Authority’s website published Dec. 22 said it “grants permission to TVR Studios B.V. as a commercial media institution.”
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/01/10/russias-dozhd-tv-receives-dutch-broadcast-license-after-latvia-row-a79902

Turkey strengthens military positions in the border area with Syria
Turkey is strengthening its military positions in the northern Kurdish province of Mardin on the Syrian border. The Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported that preparations for an attack on the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria are taking place in the districts of Nusaybin, Artuklu and Kızıltepe. Military posts are increased in the vicinity of the border crossing in Nusaybin, which has been closed for years.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/turkey-strengthens-military-positions-in-the-border-area-with-syria-64814

Israeli spyware sold to Bangladesh despite export ban
A company run by a former Israeli intelligence commander sold advanced spyware equipment to Bangladesh last year, despite a ban on defence and surveillance exports to Dhaka, a Haaretz investigation revealed on Tuesday. Passitora, a Cyprus-based company controlled by Israeli businessman and former intelligence commander Tal Dilian, sold the equipment to a branch of the Bangladeshi Interior Ministry last year.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-firm-sold-spyware-bangladesh-despite-export-ban

Sri Lanka's government cuts expenses as economy tanks
Sri Lanka's government said Tuesday it was cutting down expenses in the latest austerity drive to help it recover from its worst economic crisis. … Sri Lanka’s Parliament last month approved a 5.82 trillion rupee ($15 billion) budget, which provides for the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, reduces subsidies for electricity, and increases taxes to boost revenues based on proposals by the International Monetary Fund under a preliminary $2.9 billion bailout plan.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/sri-lankas-government-cuts-expenses-economy-tanks-96333456

Assam: Eviction Drive in Lakhimpur Hits Over 200 Families, Mostly Bengali-Speaking Muslims
Nearly 70 bulldozers and excavators cleared 200 hectares of forest land in Assam's Lakhimpur district on Tuesday, affecting over 201 families, most of whom are Bengali-speaking Muslims. Altogether 43 excavators and 25 tractors were pressed into action, while 600 police and CRPF personnel were deployed along with 200 civil officials for the drive in Mohghuli village, officials said. They said of 2,560.25 hectares of the Pava Reserve Forest, only 29 hectares are currently free of any encroachment.
https://www.newsclick.in/assam-eviction-drive-lakhimpur-hits-over-200-families-mostly-bengali-speaking-muslims
R: 15 / I: 2
You're in the club and this six-foot-nine intellectual giant comes up, slaps your girl's ass, and says:

<The ancient Marxian contention holds that a capitalist economy suffers from an inherently limited market.

<There is, in fact, nothing to the Marxian contention. The market is not limited as Marx held; the management of aggregate demand, a possibility which he did not foresee, can be served by different types of public spending. And it has now been amply shown that, by such management, the size of the market can be increased as employment or other considerations require.

What do you do?
R: 13 / I: 0

transit as red aid

You know how certain communist organizations do free food programs, free jackets etc., like mutual aid without the anarchistic, individualistic connotations?

How could transportation play a role in a communist aid program? Should a Marxist organization drive a free bus that distributes agit prop?


Pic unrelated
R: 1 / I: 0
any other britbongs here? what do you think of the RCG, if you know of them? and what would you label yourself as politically?

debating whether to join them, i feel like most orgs are shit in this country lol

https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/americas/latin-america/6661-class-struggle-in-latin-america

https://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/europe/europe/6656-european-imperialism-and-china-germany-moves-first
R: 2 / I: 1

Marxism = idealist?

https://filosofia.dickinson.edu/encyclopedia/platonism-marxism

>Moreover, Marxism potentially proves more staunchly idealistic than even Platonism. According to Plato, the world of ideas exists in and of itself, without necessarily demanding historical embodiment. For Marx, ideas are inseparable from the material process and seek realization and implementation. In Marx’s own words, “theory itself becomes a material force when it has seized the masses” (18). The message of “militant materialism” (Lenin’s term), as realized in Russia by Lenin and his disciples, was that the power of “progressive” ideas should not be abstracted from but rather attracted to material life, even subordinating and transforming the economic base: hence, the institution of five-year plans that subordinated the entire development of the country to idealistic projections. Whereas ideas in Plato and Hegel still soared above the earth, constituting a separate sphere of Supreme Mind or Absolute Spirit, in Soviet Marxism they were grounded in the foundation of material life, from heavy industry to everyday reality, and from the rituals of Party purges to ceremonial cleansings of neighborhoods. In this view, the ruling ideology would not forgive the slightest flaw or deviation from the purity of ideas: ideas had descended into the substance of Being, and they therefore demanded the complete submission of every person at every moment of their life. Soviet materialism proved to be an instrument of militant idealism, craving ever newer sacrifices for the altar of sacred ideas.

is this nonsense or true?
R: 306 / I: 72
Brazil is having its Jan 6 moment right now. Fascists are invading congress, the supreme court and the office of the president. I'm scawed tbh, I really don't want us to lose our democracy. Fellow hue hue brs: do you think they'll be able to achieve something with this?
R: 6 / I: 1

News 1/9/23

World leaders condemn Brazil violence as US lawmakers call for Bolsonaro extradition
Joe Biden said the situation in Brazil was “outrageous” after supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the country’s congress, presidential palace and supreme court on Sunday, with some senior US lawmakers calling for the far-right figure to be extradited from the US. Biden’s words of condemnation were echoed by world leaders across the globe, including some of Brazil’s closest neighbours.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/brazil-congress-jair-bolsonaro-supporters-storm-palace-supreme-court-world-leaders-condemn-violence

Mexico may accept more migrants expelled by US
Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador said Monday in the leadup to this week’s summit of North American leaders that he would consider accepting more migrants than previously announced under President Joe Biden’s plan to turn away people from four nations who cross illegally into the United States. “We don’t want to anticipate things, but this is part of what we are going to talk about at the summit,” López Obrador said. “We support this type of measures, to give people options, alternatives,” he said, adding that “the numbers may be increased.”
https://apnews.com/article/biden-north-america-summit-mexico-updates-871328ff21fc6a87b698742f6e9ed3d4

LGBTQ activists take to the streets in New Delhi
The government is yet to legalise same-sex marriage even though the Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Most Hindu nationalist leaders claim same-sex marriage is against India’s culture. But Noor Enayat, a volunteer, is hopeful that a change will come.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/lgbtq-activists-take-to-the-streets-in-new-delhi

Over 100 Former Civil Servants Seek Action Against BJP MP Pragya Thakur for 'Inflammatory Remarks'
Over 100 former bureaucrats on Saturday sought action against Pragya Thakur, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Bhopal, over her alleged inflammatory speech in Karnataka, claiming it "fomented hate against non-Hindu communities". In an open letter, they said Thakur has forfeited the ethical right to be a Member of Parliament with her incendiary speech and repeated propagation of hate.
https://www.newsclick.in/over-100-former-civil-servants-seek-action-against-bjp-mp-pragya-thakur-inflammatory-remarks

Iranians protest in front of Karaj prison as more executions loom
Multiple videos posted online showed a crowd gathered in the early hours of Monday in front of the Rajaei-Shahr Prison in Karaj near Tehran in an effort to prevent the executions of 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou and 19-year-old Mohammad Boroughani.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/9/iranians-protest-in-front-of-karaj-prison-as-executions-loom
https://archive.ph/VMXMq

Israel revokes Palestinian FM's travel permit over UN move
Israel's government on Friday approved the steps to penalize the Palestinians in retaliation for them pushing the U.N.’s highest judicial body to give its opinion on the Israeli occupation. Rulings by the International Court of Justice are not binding, but they can be influential on world opinion. The decision highlights the tough line the current government is already taking toward the Palestinians just days into its tenure.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-police-break-palestinian-parents-committee-meet-96293402

UN extends critical aid from Turkey to Syria’s rebel north
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to keep a key border crossing from Turkey to Syria’s rebel-held northwest open for critical aid deliveries for another six months. Syria’s ally Russia — in a surprise move — supported the resolution. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after the vote that cross-border aide remains “an indispensable lifeline for 4.1 million people in northwest Syria.”
https://apnews.com/article/syria-turkey-united-nations-antonio-guterres-bb244f0a96e667fa9862cc971960a0f4

Sweden 'can't meet' some of Turkey's demands for Nato bid
"Turkey has confirmed that we have done what we said we would do, but it also says that it wants things that we can't, that we don't want to, give it," Ulf Kristersson said during a security conference also attended by Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg, AFP reported. "We are convinced that Turkey will make a decision, we just don't know when," he said, adding that it will depend on internal politics inside Turkey as well as "Sweden's capacity to show its seriousness".
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sweden-cant-meet-some-turkey-demands-nato-bid

Scottish school teachers intensify protest demanding higher wages
School teachers across Scotland are set to intensify their fight for higher wages at par with inflation. Teachers of primary and special schools affiliated to the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union will go on strike on January 10. Secondary teachers affiliated to EIS, NASUWT, and Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) unions will follow suit on January 11. EIS has also called for rolling strikes across Scotland for 16 working days from January 16 to February 6.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/01/09/scottish-school-teachers-intensify-protest-demanding-higher-wages/

‘Disappointing’ stalemate as Sudan teachers’ strike continues
The Sudanese Teachers Committee (STC) decided to continue with the comprehensive strike and closure of schools for a period of three weeks, from January 8 until January 28. In a press statement on Friday, the Teachers Strike Committee also stated they met with Jibril Ibrahim*, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, to discuss their demands the day before.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/disappointing-stalemate-as-sudan-teachers-strike-continues