The social contract goes. Only those that are tolerant are tolerated. If you break it you only have yourself to blame.

It wouldn’t even have to be something that radical. The fact is the problems with Israel and Palestine have more to do with Congress than they do with biden. If they decided to not run Biden they would most likely choose a congressman in a safe seat. Likely from a blue state. With large Jewish population and AIPAC funding. And now we’re right back where we started. Well right back where we started at best. The candidate could be even more pro-israel than Biden is. And the party will end up weaker, with actual decent Democrats struggling even harder to accomplish something. As the unified fascist front votes for whoever they are given as candidate.

If Biden’s age were actually an issue. They would be hitting Trump almost exactly as hard on his age. They are not. If Biden’s stance on Palestine were the problem they would be hitting Trump harder on Palestine they are not. The truth is while presidents or individuals. They are ultimately the sum of their administration.

While Biden was one of my least favorite Democrats in 2020. He’s far outpaced my expectations for him. And the fact that a number in his administration have resigned in protest. Gives me hope and confidence enough to go forward. Because I know there are others still there who feel the same.

It’s accelerationist. You and I can openly talk about America’s failures and discuss the disasters objectively. The fascists at the levers of power that run roughshod over the United States government for the last century. Precisely because we actually want to improve things and to help people.

Accelerationist don’t. Or at least they think they do in a warped and twisted way where the only way to do it. Is to destroy the west, to destroy its governments, to injure the people. And then only once everything has collapsed can they build them back up into a system. Which objectively has been shown to be no better than the system they currently have. But in their eyes would magically somehow be better.

It’s manic, cultish Behavior. As an actual leftist in a red State I definitely don’t see that type around here. But I’m sure in more liberal areas they exist. Really though more than anything it’s just a demonstration that even those of us on the left are acutely vulnerable to propaganda and radicalization as well as being indoctrinated into cults.

Yes that’s the guy! If anyone hasn’t seen the video. Even if you generally hate debates. Even if you generally can’t stand to hear republicans. It’s absolutely riveting. I don’t think most people have actually seen what a real debate looks like. And that’s by design. If they were all like that. I think things would be a damn sight better. They’re also used to being pampered, going overtime, and talking over each other. He just cuts them the fuck off as it should be. In the middle of trying to answer questions other than the ones he asked.

I would pay good money if CNN brought in that local news anchor and debate moderator from colorado. My man was fucking savage and to the point. No Nonsense hardcore moderator. I would make a point to watch the debates if they were moderated by someone like him. Bobo and all the other candidates looked like deer in the Headlights. Fucking clowns. Just as they should. As long as he did it to Democrats as well when they deserved it I’m completely on board.

Because money is speech. Those with money are the loudest. Nothing more, nothing less. Running for office is unaffordable to the average person. By Design. The system could work. If campaigns were only publicly funded.

Gaza is a valid point

Is it though? Congress approves and funds aid. The minimal and inadequate push back Biden has given on the genocide. As paltry as it was. Was already lauded by house Republicans and their leader as an issue they will campaign against Democrats on. Doubly ironic given how minimal the push back was, and the fact that plenty of congressional Democrats are all in for Israel regardless of what it does. And the fact that Congress is the party responsible. So another side of irony.

I’m not sure how myopically focusing on Biden who couldn’t actually cancel the aid even if he wanted to. While ignoring the Congressional Republicans and Democrats who are actually eagerly funding this. And assisting weather intentional or unintentional the re-election of a fascist and victories for his party. Is going to help anyone. In Gaza or the US. It all seems strangely, suspiciously counterproductive.

Well then, either capitalism is a thing that’s never existed. And never will. Or it has and it does. After all. Dictators have private ownership too. There’s nothing incompatible about the two.

That really depends on how you define fascist and capitalist I guess.

Here’s a definition of facism from Webster:

severe economic and social regimentation

That’s not the complete definition. And your ignoring a lot of the disambiguation that comes along with the full definitions. The small piece you quoted is so ambiguous it could apply to any authoritarian group under any economic system. It really seems you’re not engaging in good faith.

both definitions of capitalism say it involves private (non-government) control. When you get too much government control, it stops being capitalism

That’s just absurd. Whether it’s private or public it’s still government. Capitalism as you said is about private non democratic control.

I almost up voted you reflexively because Second Thought often trends towards Marxist Leninist propaganda. But I didn’t have to read far before the ignorance started to gleam through.

In fact, fascism is anti-capitalist

That’s false on the face of it. Fascism is definitionally capitalist. Go check Wikipedia or an encyclopedia of your choice. Any reputable one will tell you that. If you don’t understand that, it’s likely you don’t actually understand what capitalism is. Which would be very on brand for most people educated in America. The indoctrination and propaganda has been very heavy here.

The rest of your “critique” could best be described as disingenuous misrepresentation or flat out misunderstanding if one was generous. I’m not going to rebut it line by line as I generally have no desire to defend Second Thought. But despite them often being misleading and even propagandic. They get far more correct than this critique.

I was literally mentioning that to people yesterday too. Unfortunately I think it’s a matter of when not if.

What if we took the CEO/middle management tax off every step in the process. Or made use of economies of scale to cheaply and efficiently provide people with a desirable comfortable standard of living. That could be guaranteed to them. Basic shelter, food and education completely taken care of. Empowering them to further themselves as much as they want to. And being free to work where they want to as much as they want to. Not forced to persist in a toxic environment for a paycheck that is still inadequate.

But, but, but our false appearance of neutrality!/ S

Choosing a point in the center of two other arbitrary points will never be neutral or balanced. At this point they have been for a long time and just confirmed that they are still a propaganda outlet.

One might think that Chinese authorities, having quashed the pro-democracy protests that erupted in 2019, would ease up. After all, they’ve shuttered all free media, neutered judicial independence, destroyed civil society and suppressed all political opposition. But since last year, the Chinese government has ramped up its effort to snuff out Hong Kong’s autonomy and Hong Kongers’ rights, even

Such tolerance! Much acceptance! Granted it is a complex and nuanced situation. But squash, is that something tolerant groups do?

Someone should tell Hong Kong. I’m sure that will make them feel much better. Considering everything that’s been happening to them lately.

And I’ll give you this much. Liberals disingenuously use ml as their main foil against any sort of leftism/socialism. To the point it seems to many uneducated people like ml might actually be the left as you claim. It’s bs, there are lots of other types of leftists. But this is part of the problem with many ml. Denying and alienating all other leftists. And everyone else with the no true leftist schtick. That and the oppressive totalitarianism.

It was a rhetorical question. It didn’t require an answer. I can see what instance you’re from. And even what instance this is posted to. And I know that even by saying the T word. Even though I refrain from using it personally. Only using it as others would slur you. Because you use liberal as such. All in furtherance of trying to point out the bad faith and hypocrisy on display.

I’m 50, from the US. Raised in a traditionally liberal family. Goth since the 80s, and absolutely a black sheep. I’ll criticize liberals all day every day when they deserve it. No love for them here. I got nothing to hide. And frankly who you’re close to. That’s a red herring. You will almost never find someone who attacks ml power structures on countries more often and more viciously than people formerly from them.

Respectfully, I get that you have a lot of people disingenuously attacking your ideology as much as you do theirs. But people can and do have valid criticisms and problems with it. Despite being generally down for Marxism. I don’t see any reason for anyone outside of my machine shop to own the means of production there. Only people from the shop should. Not some Baker who will never set foot in it. Not some politician in some politburo thousands of miles away.

Frankly we have huge issues here with not having enough parties actually able to represent people. I don’t see how having less parties is going to fix that. Nor do I see the benefit of having a party in charge that would seek to jail me for life, possibly kill me, or brainwash me for dissenting with the state. There is no re-education. Only education and brainwashing. I will gladly take people ignoring me or looking at me incredulously over that sort of s*** any day.

Ideologically narrow? Have you been to lemmy.ml‽

I’m not going to say liberals don’t go there to shitpost like ML do here. But the admins on world haven’t been summarily banning people for “tanky shit” like the ML admins have been banning for “liberal shit”. The hypocrisy of your critique is why they rightfully call out those from there. You. Making them.

To be clear, I agree that world trends centrist to right. But as an anarcho communist anti Leninist I feel much more welcome here than ML. Though there definitely is nothing more on brand than ml hypocritically criticizing liberals and liberals hypocritically criticizing ml.

It’s been happening since the 1930s. It’s far too normalized to get the response it should.

Economic systems themselves don’t produce anything. They’re economic systems. That’s the whole point. Anything produced under capitalism could be reasonably produced under socialism, etc. It is simply a different way of doing things. But you do make a good argument against your own argument.

No it isn’t. It’s a product of human ingenuity. People invented things before capitalism. And they continue to invent outside it. In order for things to be a product of capitalism, you have to show how they couldn’t be made outside of it. And yet those very same phones are made outside of capitalism today. Not to mention their precursors were made even in Soviet, Russia in the '70s and '80s.

The one that truly unique thing you might be able to attribute as a product of capitalism. Is the unavailability of affordable housing in general.

Wow! And the rest of your spiel. It’s like you have no idea what you’re talking about. Trade went on for thousands of years before capitalism. Things were manufactured in Russia all throughout the 19th century without capitalism… oh now I remember your name. You posted this exact same heavily debunked bullshit response in another reply to me once before. Well I’m sure you post it to a lot of people. I was going to say no one could be as hilariously wrong as you are without trying to be that wrong. And it turns out I was right. You are trying to be wrong.