TheOubliette
@TheOubliette@lemmy.ml
- Comment on What is it called when you believe the U.S. political parties shouldn’t exist? 2 days ago:
Nonpartisan. Though there are not really movements against this, just small nations that ban parties.
I will push back on your opinions, though. “Division” is not a moral or political quantity. It is not itself good nor bad. Trans people were universally oppressed for centuries. Now they have some protections. This is a consequence of struggle against transphobia, that struggle is inherently a division. There are transphobes and pro-trans people. The pro-trans group should win. For them to win we need to support them materially and in as effectively as possible, which means through organized work. Progress against oppression only occurs through division and struggle. And the best vehicles for this are organizations - basically parties or very similar apparatuses.
The two-party system is a symptom of deeper problems and they shouldn’t be summarized as division. The two-party system is really just a very effective way for the ruling class (business owners) to achieve their ends while still providing a venue for “the political”, often struggles and oppressions that they personally exacerbated. For example, some of the earliest institutional racism in what would become the US emerged due to worker solidarity and struggle. The ruling class decided to divide and conquer: they created a race-based system, defining a new class corresponding to “black”, who would be the most exploited, and exploiting everyone ekse skightly left. This is not theater, as the oppressed are facing actual oppression, but it is cynical: it’s really about profit maximization and controlling workers. The two-party system makes this kind of thing a constant endeavor, you can spend all of your time invested in struggles imposed by the ruling class and exemplified in the parties, and in doing so never focus on the underlying system that creates it. But of course not every oppression makes its way into this attempt at distraction, as when the oppression is bipartisan (no division in that case but still bad!). For example, both parties are in favor of the genocide of Palestinians and both actively ensure that it happens. A few decades ago both were purely transphobic and did nit evdn exhibit today’s liberal cooption of the struggle (notice that it has slowed down).
Most importantly, the two-party system prevents popular politics that runs counter to ruling class interests. Their greatest opponents are the left, so the US political system prevents left parties from functioning abd becoming popular. Want to run as a third party? Well the Dems will gladly do a last-minute change to how many signatures you need to gather to get on the ballot. They can meet the number because they will pay people to collect them, but you have to have already prepared a horde of volunteers. Organize a socialist party? They might just plain kill you.
It is not the existence of parties that is the problem, but the stifling of left parties, of those that can challenge the systemic causes of oppression.
- Comment on Do I fit into any subculture? (I'm from the UK if that helps) 1 week ago:
Ignore trying to identify and fit into some niche subculture. Instead, just make friends based on your interests. Let any subculture participation emerge naturally. There is no need to granularly define and name and restrict yourself to one thing or social group and this can actually be arbitrarily limiting and divisive.
For example, find some friends to safely go to music events with. Sounds like that’s something you’d like to do.
- Comment on The Evidence That AI Is Destroying Jobs For Young People Just Got Stronger 1 week ago:
The “researchers” in no way demonstrate that “AI” replaced any of the jobs lost. They don’t even raise the question of whether “AI” is used to discipline labor despite not being much of a productivity aid.
- Comment on Shein Hikes Prices by Up to 377% Thanks to Trump’s Tariffs War 4 months ago:
This is just pricing in the cost of tariffs for the consumer. Rather than pay a fee at customs and be surprised that your $40 order is actually $120 after tariffs and fees a week after you placed it, they estimate it and try to pay it for you. This is because the items come directly from China, cutting out the need for a
leechmiddleman to warehouse it and take profit off the top.Similar price hikes are coming for the things you buy. Or even larger ones. This is not limited to Shein at all. There eill just be a delay while the warehouses sell out all of their inventory.
- Comment on Shein Hikes Prices by Up to 377% Thanks to Trump’s Tariffs War 4 months ago:
Temu has a lot of overlap with standard, decent items you will find at large online retailers. They just cut out a few middlemen.
And they didn’t really raise prices, they just priced in the tariff costs so buyers aren’t surprised during the customs period.
PS this is going to hit all imports from China. It’s just going to take longer to be so obvious due to the need to empty warehouses first.
- Comment on USA | Trump threatens to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on first day in office 9 months ago:
American decline speedrun bby
- Comment on Microsoft fires employees who organized vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza 10 months ago:
Employers in the US often include “morality clauses” that mean they can fire you because they deem you to be harming the reputation of the company due to behavior outside of work.
More importantly than “the rules”, though, US employers can fire you for basically any reason they want and then just lie about it. Nobody is going to force them to be truthful. Not even if they are union busting. The Biden-Harris NLRB, which the president dragged his feet staffing and staffed with wet blankets, has even upheld the Trump NLRB Electrolux decision - and the vast majority of people never get to the point of launching a lawsuit that would be relevant, as it costs tens of thousands of dollars.
If you want power in the workplace you need to organize a union competently and develop capacity real leverage (direct action, community support, naming and shaming).