Juice
@Juice@midwest.social
- Comment on America could have avoided all of this with a functional justice system 4 days ago:
It is functioning as it was intended to function. A thing is what it does
- Comment on Trump says TikTok should be tweaked to become “100% MAGA” 1 week ago:
Maga should totally mess around with social media censorship, worked out great in Indonesia
- Comment on Brickshelf 1 week ago:
Occipital
- Comment on Brickshelf 2 weeks ago:
I lobe it when that happens
- Comment on Dinner is ready! 2 weeks ago:
Its funny that Italy is in 3 zones, increasing the quality of food of all three
- Comment on Can't argue that. 2 weeks ago:
I read a couple Teleb books about 15 years ago, they’re very funny. You go in thinking they’re these books about systematic collapse, but mostly its just about how he’s so smart he gets to be friends with Benoit Mandelbrot.
The theme of Anti-Fragile is “don’t be a sucker” which is really good advice tbh, but if you’re not a sucker you wouldnt have fallen for the apocalyptic framing of a book about how he’s so smart because he read some entry-level philosophy at some point
- Comment on Marketing Doesn't Work on Nerds 2 weeks ago:
Developers don’t like the tool that’s being lied about in order for like 100 rich maniacs with insufficiently precarious tech portfolios to have an excuse attack our profession, our wages, our stability. Just so they can retain the rate of profit that they experienced under covid 19 restrictions, because of us.
That’s because we aren’t idiots. We made them rich and theyre like “y’all could use a quality of life reduction.” Of course we don’t like it, it has little to do with marketing.
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
Hang in there, keep fighting
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
The way finitebanjo defines it though, as anyone who rightly opposes US imperialism as being a tankie, is what I’m arguing against. I’m arguing against conveniently abstracted generalization of messy histories that support a very very narrow view, which defines most leftists as “evil tankies.”
I’m arguing against any views, coming from tankies or progressive liberals, that statically categorize historical and political relations, which are inherently dynamic and change over time. I’m arguing against sacrificing deep understanding at the altar of some slanderous and IMO dangerous mischaracterization of most leftists.
I think its possible that you, as someone who seems to feel comfortable using the term tankie, don’t understand the way it warps actual political discourse away from radical but sometimes correct positions, and toward ineffectual online camps. I’m aware of the kind of weird super online left that takes up their own ignorant campist positions and defends them with like memes. Sometimes these people even crop up in actual organizing and can wreak havok if they get control, I can think of a few examples of real life “tankies” causing great harm to our movements. But it is very rare.
In fact if you ever meet like a “Stalinist” or as you might call them, “tankie”, from a third world country, they are completely unlike the white western online tankie that you’re referring to. They have certain questionable views which the synthetic online tankies try to copy, but their practical activity, their organizing work, is incredibly serious, well intentioned, effective and engages actual exploited people in a revolutionary way.
But the way Tankie gets defined sometimes, it seems like anyone who reads and understands Lenin is a trump supporter, which is totally wrong, but exactly how I would describe finitebanjo’s polemics. This would put people like Paulo Friere in the category of tankie because he has certain third worldist sensibilites despite being probably the greatest humanist theorist since Marx himself. Considering that this is an author and educator often taught in even christian seminary schools, as well as many secular advanced degree programs, and also studied seriously by every left tendency, the definition of tankie often completely misses the mark.
Maybe I am mis-stating that point a little, I don’t know what is in peoples hearts when they use the term. But as someone who is definitely active on the communist left and not a tankie, even anti-tankie peeps don’t call me that, that is how it looks to me. The way that I avoid becoming a tankie is by studying, reflecting and applying theory in a practical way. Arguing that I am misunderstanding the situation seems to refute everything that makes me a principled leftist. So I have a hard time with your characterization of my arguments.
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
I’m not defending tankies, I’m disagreeing with your extremely narrow categories, that would define 90% of non tankie leftists as tankies.
I’m not making a strawman when I say that support for us imperialism is support for the Palestinian genocide. That’s just like common knowledge at this point.
Flattening Sanders entire political career, which started out with him organizing as a socialist, into a narrow category is as dishonest as doing the same with the history of the USSR. There is not much worth defending about the Stalinist bureaucracy that the USSR became. Even throwing the USSR and China in the same bucket when referring to Sanders is a historical revision, since Sanders entire political life began after the Sino/Soviet split. However information about the atrocities of Stalin came from Kruschev. Trotskyists and anti-authoritarian communists, like CLR James, could see that much was wrong with the USSR, but the truth wasn’t revealed until the 60s. Other great american communist organizers like James Cannon cooperated with the Comintern, who systematically destroyed the movements in the USA that got us our new deal. Cannon and many others were eventually purged from the american socialist movement, turning it into yet another husk of the workers movement under the auspices of the "communist international.
After the Vietnam war, the USA and China both supported the Khmer Rouge against the Vietnamese communists, who were supported by the USSR. Are you a supporter of the USA’s war in Viet Nam?
Dealing with reality isn’t a strawman, unless you’re an idealist. I hope you aren’t waiting for the good capitalists to save us from our current situation, because our version of capitalism is irredeemable. We are in the late stage, which only means that we are part of the global financialized economy. An economy that enslaves the third world, and huge swaths of the first world, in order to keep its ruling classes.
If you are in favor of having a ruling class, which would still exist under social democracy, then IMO your position is closer to trumps than any leftist. And I work with thousands of leftists all over the world. Look at how European social democracies are also being taken over by fascist parties. It is not a realistic defense against fascism.
Trumps whole strategy, which is actually the strategy of the global tech elite, is to crash the US economy to force an asset bubble (recession) onto the EU. At which point, anti-immigrant fascistic parties will mobilize their message to overturn the “good capitalist” social democratic reforms and allow capitalist destruction of the welfare state.
Social democracy is falling apart in real time, and I think you can’t see it because you have no theory of change. You see things categorically rather than dynamically, which removes you from actual conditions. As much as I’d like to disabuse you of those notions, you seem pretty committed to your narrow idealist views, which is a shame as we could use more spicy fighters on our side against Trump, and less performative resistance that only contributes to mass confusion.
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
That is a total and complete lie. DSA, the largest socialist org in the USA in 100 years is unwaveringly against us imperialism and capitalism, and Trump. There are virtually no tankies in DSA, even the most ml aligned factions in DSA are not “tankies” as you try to slander.
Democratic socialism is opposed to imperialism and capitalism, none too fond of China or Russia (though I’m sure if you bad faith make certain generalizations you could make illogical connections to suit your purpose), virulently anti Trump and “tankies” when they pop up in our org usually become disengaged ineffective sectarian hyper minorities, though they rarely pop up at all.
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
Most people have confused politics. If you want to land somewhere you need to educate yourself and develop principles so that instead of not knowing where you’ll land, you’ll know exactly where you stand
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
The ACP is the only american so-called communist org that supports Trump, and virtually every other segment of the serious organized left considers them a fascist org. Don’t buy into fascist framing of issues or you are working for the fascists when you spread them
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
In many cases, I think so. People everywhere get their morality from culture. Since many people are raised conservative, and risk damaging their social connection in their community by straying from conservative values, people can be very protective of certain social conventions and perspectives, out of fear of social isolation or even alienating themselves from their actual nature in order to adhere to social convention.
Its an understatement to say that the far right/fascism weaponizes this fact. But many many conservatives are workers which means that they share lived exploitation with the rest of us. Capitalism is the force that divides the working class, and when we participate in divisive/sectarian tendencies then whatever ideology we claim, leftist or whatever, then we are carrying water for the billionaire class.
Its not always that simple though. Many people experience real trauma by having conservative values thrust upon them. Objective morality is a plague, but so is dualism. We need to think completely differently and work with others to navigate these dynamics
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
I disagree that left of center is more nuanced than communism. Most communists historically reject all forms of sectarianism, although we can fall into it anyway for a lot of reasons. I have love and admiration for many progressive liberals, and leftists that are not communists (commies are often not the most left faction, leninists tend to be more center left.) When you get to this level of analysis though, left right and center stop being useful and you have to dig into actual issues and political action.
But many progressive liberals are wrongheaded or idealist and dualist, which is not conducive to nuance. But also people are often much more deep and full of insight than their politics suggest
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
Define tankie? What is this based on?
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
Yes, you can even be a communist without being a tankie.
- Comment on Political discourse 2 weeks ago:
Literally just the most basic Marxist definition of the state. Calling this incoherent is an epic self own.
Incapable/unwilling to understand is completely district from impossible to be understood.
- Comment on Directions 2 weeks ago:
No it was a test, you failed.
Austraillia has 2 L’s and 2 eyes
- Comment on Directions 2 weeks ago:
Shits crazy
- Comment on Directions 2 weeks ago:
Why does this picture of Australia have North written all over it?
- Comment on User "threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works" is banning users for downvoting his posts. 3 weeks ago:
I see where you are coming from now, I misunderstood your intent. I took what you meant as “its good to use these buttons because that’s why the platform has them,” which I disagree with every which way!
But you were actually saying the design of the platform causes the behavior, the platforms hurt discourse more than individual users who’s understanding (or misunderstanding) of how a vote button is supposed to be used is an ambiguity that is inherent to the platform. Which, yes I agree with that also, and it is a better point to make than which user is vicious or virtuous in using the platform.
I make similar criticisms often about structural basis for social movements, but admittedly I have a blind spot for tech platforms. Not because I’m bad with tech, but because I’m pretty good with it. I do tend to think of these platforms as neutral, but that’s more of a bias than a product of analysis. I’d like to unlearn the bias.
You seem pretty advanced in your understanding, is this something that you’ve just thought about, or are you in community, or educating yourself by other means? I could use a little of that in my own work, as I am aware of this bias but still wasting time and energy because of it
Anyway, holy shit its a conversation if either of us had the attitude of “downvote and go” then I’d have missed your actual intention. Another tendency of online discourse is for people to take the dimmest possible interpretation of others opinions. I guess I also fall in this trap, at least around certain topics
- Comment on User "threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works" is banning users for downvoting his posts. 3 weeks ago:
Thanks for the heads up I’m gonna go get banned from a shitty elon musk fan community. Badge of honor as far as I’m concerned
- Comment on User "threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works" is banning users for downvoting his posts. 3 weeks ago:
This is so revealing, I always thought “why not engage with an opinion I disagree with?” Now I see that engaging with it might bring attention to it, even if it were to help us learn and teach.
Instead people want to push the punish button, to be a nameless and unidentifiable avatar of hegemony. Our role in history is to suppress the ideas of others and boost those ideas which we’ve adopted. Hide what we are uncomfortable looking at, even if it is only an opinion, and let the people who control our own opinions continue to push their own agenda without obstacles.
People actually want to remain ignorant, and not develop discourse; people want a closed discourse away from disagreement. When we create our logins, our online identities, we want to remain anonymous and detached from reality. We don’t want those who disagree with us to be considered human with differing opinions, because we don’t see our own opinions as human.
Every interaction is a conflict, and conflict is hard, so I’ll punish this other person. I’ll play my part as a silent executioner, murdering ideas by consensus without a thought as to why I disagree, or why the other person disagrees with me. I’m powerless but at least I can take away someone else’s power.
- Comment on I just beat Bloodborne for the first today, and it's probably one of the best playthroughs of a video game that i have ever had and stories of one as well. 3 weeks ago:
Lol yeah that would be nice. I’ve heard of ppl playing it on emulator, but its always a streamer or modding micro celeb.
- Comment on What is it called when you believe the U.S. political parties shouldn’t exist? 3 weeks ago:
Idealism
- Comment on I just beat Bloodborne for the first today, and it's probably one of the best playthroughs of a video game that i have ever had and stories of one as well. 3 weeks ago:
Wow how did you make that work?
- Comment on THIS JUST IN: FBI suspects Kirk was likely targeted, more info to come 3 weeks ago:
Yeah that’s about what I found too
- Comment on THIS JUST IN: FBI suspects Kirk was likely targeted, more info to come 3 weeks ago:
Wild. The video itself is getting memory holed. I found a version published by the guardian that has the section of video with a glitch cut out.
I found this one that still has the glitchy frames. Its around 1:05, “Charlie was a patriot…”
- Comment on THIS JUST IN: FBI suspects Kirk was likely targeted, more info to come 3 weeks ago:
Here’s a video of Trump today reddit.com/…/trumps_face_appeared_noticeably_droo…
Here’s a video of him yesterday. x.com/disclosetv/status/…/mediaViewer?currentTwee…
In the second video, there’s even a weird glitch at about 18 seconds, where he says “Charlie was a patriot” and if you look over his head there’s like a shift or something that is noticeable.
I noticed this yesterday, I think its at least edited, but seeing him today…he does not look quite as feisty as usual. Its not worth spending time on, proving that a video was faked is not exactly the most pressing issue of our time. But I think there’s merit to the claim