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Cowbee Cowbee @lemmy.ml

Actually, this town has more than enough room for the two of us

He/him or they/them, doesn't matter too much

Posts 6
Comments 3.1K
Protestation
  • So of we just keep people poor... issue solved. Like someone in Africa or North Korea, they are not going to need more resources than what can be regenerated. Simply because they lack the means to do so.

    You're missing the mark, here. I am specifically referring to things like fast-fashion, trinkets, new phones every year, and other goods pushed on consumers not for their convenience, but to satisfy Capitalists.

    If we assume a communism with the same level of technology, comfort, ... how would we avoid the exact same issue? Why would people suddenly not drive their own car mostly alone? Heat their homes in winter, causing a big portion of global CO2 emissions by doing so?

    Socialism and Communism would be more focused on public transit and urbanized environments.

  • Protestation
  • The "end" result did align with the intent. The USSR, for example, never tried to jump straight to Communism. They were Marxists, they opted to go through Socialism.

    Communism isn't "doing Socialism for a while then collapsing into magical Communism arbitrarily." It's a long, drawn-out process of building towards Communism. Socialism wasn't a temporary sacrifice, but a drastic improvement on previous conditions.

    The states we have today have never identified their conditions as Communist, but as Socialist, with a stated goal of moving towards Communism.

    Communes are Anarchist, not Marxist, so pretending only Communes have managed to accomplish what Marxist states set out to do is a drastic misunderstanding of Marxism, Communism, and Anarchism.

  • Protestation
  • This is also greatly a misconception, redefining Communism to be anti-Marxist and pro-Anarchist is silly. Marxism is the largest and most historically relevent strain of Communist thought, denying that is pointlessly sectarian.

  • Protestation
  • There have absolutely been true and authentic attempts at building Communism, just via Socialism. Denouncing these Socialist states for not being able to yet achieve global Communism is anti-Marxist idealism.

  • Protestation
  • Because consumption greases the wheels of profit.

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • I am a Marxist, yes.

    Hexbear doesn't praise Putin, but they do praise Xi, quite a bit.

  • Protestation
  • What Dialectical and Historical Materialism does to a MF

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • Ah yes, if a Communist is young, they are naiive, and if a Communist is older, they are cyncial and regressive.

    The double-think is strong with you.

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • On the other hand it's been about 20 years since I read the work of Marx and Weber. I had classes on social stratification, feminism, materialism, and conflict theory. I'm pretty rusty.

    Critique of the Gotha Programme is a quick read on how Marx envisions the transition to Socialism and eventually Communism.

    How do we put the genie back in the bottle when we released it so very long ago? Let's try looking at children. Education would certainly help, but can you teach empathy without the help of the parent(s)? Even if the parental figures teach empathy and structured education enforces these teachings, we come to secondary groups. This would be groups like the child's friends or peers.They are considered more important to childhood development after a certain age (12? Not the same for everyone of course maybe an average). If the members of these secondary groups do not value empathy, the child who was taught it by their parental figures and enforced by education will begin to value it less.

    This is a very ideas-focused view of society. Largely, culture and values are shaped by Material Conditions amd Mode of Production. This is the concept of Base and Superstructure, the base being the material conditions and mode of production, and the superstructure being ideology and culture.

    We move beyond class society through collectivization and Socialism. This society then moves on to Communism.

    I don't know the answers. Believe me I want fully automated post-scarcity space communism. I really want it. I just can't see the way there.

    Believe me, everyone wishes we could jump hundreds of years to higher-stage Communism. Anarchists even think we can approximate that now, which is a whole other school of thought. However, Socialism is a drastic improvement on Capitalism, and lower-stage Communism is a drastic improvement on Socialism as well. Progress should not be impeded because the target is far away, especially if the process of building it is itself progress.

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • Some instances on Lemmy are going through a Red Scare, I doubt they can explain.

  • [Serious] What's your hot take?
  • Lemmy.world and Lemmy.ca tend to be right-leaning even if they have some Leftist comms. The fediverse still appeals to leftists, but liberals have their own enclaves.

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • According to Harvard in 2020, 95.5% do. That certainly isn't 100%, but it's pretty high, I would say.

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • You are the perfect person to ask, because you claimed Communism cannot work because "power corrupts" and "human nature." I am not saying you are a Capitalist. Your ideas regarding Marxism are immaterial and vibes-based, which is why I am trying to get you to take a Materialist stance.

    Why does power corrupt? How can representatives be held accountable? What determines "human nature?"

    1. Power itself does not corrupt. People generally act in their material interests, and in Capitalism, this is dominated by the profit motive, like all class society. The bourgeoisie are focused on making profit, no more and no less. The Capitalist State is molded by the class in power, ie the bourgeoisie, and thus serves the interests of Capital. In an alternative, collectivized system, these same dynamics would be abolished, with a different set of challenges taking their place, such as the question of allocating labor.

    2. Representatives can be held accountable via democratic measures, ie a representative democracy. Worker councils and parliaments can handle coordination and check against corruption.

    3. Human Nature is determined by material conditions. Humans are thought to be competitive naturally because Capitalism is competitive, even though the average worker does not care, only the bourgeoisie do. In different Modes of Production, "Human Nature" appeared very different. In primitive Communism, for example, Human Nature was cooperative and communal, class society arose from technological advancements like the agricultural revolution.

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • You need organization, yes. What is "fair?" Why can't there be democratic processes keeping these people in check? What does "human nature" have to do with this, does the local post office go rogue?

    I understand that the basis of Capitalism is that it isn't fair in any way, shape, or form, but why does that mean it's better?

  • On the Internet, what is a dead giveaway that someone is actually a kid?
  • Why would "power corrupts" mean Communism can't be fully implemented? What on Earth are you talking about, specifically?

  • Protestation
  • Did the workers own their means of production? No. In fact, a lot of worker's cooperatives were not only nationalized, but turned into the same kind of exploitative enterprises they were made to escape the corporate world, but this time it was in the hands of the state, and the factory had "this factory belongs to the workers" written on it.

    The Workers did own the Means of Production via a Worker State. It was fundamentally not "the same kind of exploitative enterprises" because production was not done in service of profit and accumulation in the hands of the few, but for and by the workers. We see the effects of this with high housing rates, free healthcare, education, and extremely low poverty rates.

    Those are often done under more "human-faced" capitalist states. These states are just social-autocracies: all the social benefits of social democracies, without any democracy, unless you call liking a dictator and their pet projects at gunpoint a "democracy".

    Every Socialist state has been democratic to some degree, believing the state is simply structuted entirely due to the whims of "powerful people" is laughably oversimplified. Social Democracies should be analyzed based on how they gained their resources. Social Democracy in the Global North is Imperialist, Social Democracy in the Global South is progressive, though not sufficient.

    Running a worker state takes many cogs and many democratic movements, as compared with Capitalism where the bourgeoisie and the managers they employ have absolute say. It is a given that Capitalist employment is antidemocratic, when you measure only the State in Capitalism with the entirety of the economy and state in Socialism, without also acknowledging the utter lack of any democracy in the Capitalist economy, you are cherry picking.

    Would my far-right government be considered a socialist country, because it boasts about record-high employment boosted by emmigration and the humiliating public employment program (work full 8+ hours at a state institute or street cleaner for half the minimum wage, so car makers don't have to pay taxes), and about higher and higher wages that are nearly completely offset by inflation? Is stuffing the prime minister's childhood friend with so much money he became a billionaire at the cost of smaller businesses going bankrupt a socialist move, just because he happens to be Hungarian (and also doesn't have "berg" in his family name, nor has a "suspiciously large nose" as some insiders told me why a Hungarian business needed to go)? I guess critical support for Viktor Orbán then, since he hates the west and its human rights...

    Unsure of what this tangent has to do with the topic at hand.

  • What's stopping him?
  • What's stopping him is "civility politics," even when he's been handed a path to thoroughly purge corruption and fascism from the supreme court, he won't.

    The GOP has shown they do not care at all about civility, and will abuse this rule.

    To not play by the same rules when people's lives are at stake is a deep moral failure, and shows that politics are simply a game for the DNC when faced with a GOP that doesn't care.

  • America is in danger of Fascism
  • Lefty Memes sees heavy Liberal traffic, in my experience.

  • hi im new to lemmy, some intro and questions
  • Lemmy is a federated Reddit-style Social Media platform like Mastadon is to Twitter/X.

    Your instance should be one focused on that which interests you, like Lemmy.ml for FOSS and Privacy, or programming.dev for programming, etc. Shop around and find one with a good community you like that is federated with instances you also like. This means your Local Feed will have your interests.

    You want one that is federated with other instances you want to see, so you can browse All for general content.

    Finally, you can manually create your own feed by subscribing to communities you want, and browsing by Subscribed.

  • Which Character Build Suits Each Game Best?

    Ranking by themes, enjoyment, and how well these builds are actualized, what general build is most fun in each game? An ideal case, "fun maximized" run. What are your thoughts?

    12

    What are your favorite albums from the 2020s?

    I've always held the belief that music wasn't better in the past, people just have survivorship bias. What are your genuine favorite albums of the last few years?

    Personally, I'm loving The Rime of Memory by Panopticon, Ants from Up There by Black Country, New Road, and Hellfire by Black Midi.

    84

    Which Fallout Game do you go Back to Most?

    Just what the title says. I know New Vegas is the fan favorite (and it's mine as well), but what do you personally like replaying the most? Is it Fallout 1, with its tight narrative and quick replay value? Is it 2, with its massive expansion on Fallout 1's formula? Is it 3, with the most atmospheric Wasteland to explore? Is it New Vegas, with the best roleplaying and replayability in the series? Is it Fallout 4, with the best gunplay and survival mode? What are your thoughts?

    19

    What's your Favorite Mod Guide/List?

    Could be wabbajack, a guide, or even a list from a YouTuber. What curated mod list is your favorite? I'm partial to Viva New Vegas and like some of the Mojave Express Guide, but lists like Lost Liberty and The Sands, which have very clear visions in mind, have been a ton of fun as well. Especially looking for any for Fallout 4, I haven't played 4 in years.

    0

    What Large-scale Mod Project are you Looking Forward to?

    Everyone knows about Fallout 4: New Vegas, but what about the other projects? Fallout: London, Nuevo Mexico, and other large scale mods are on my radar. What's on yours?

    0

    Fallout London - Official Release Announcement

    A huge new mod looks like it's actually coming out! I know many are wary after The Frontier, but what are y'alls thoughts? Looks fun at the very least! I like the new Vault Boy stand-in, and love the river/boat setting.

    7