Yes, the problem is that everything I’ve talked about could happen suddenly, for example, after wars. I don’t know exactly when it will happen, but I have a bad feeling about the future, a very bad one. But I’m glad to hear your criticism; it helps much more than kind words. Thank you.
I want to stress that I’m not trying to be mean, I genuinely think you’ll feel more comfortable by trying to get a better handle on how society functions. Much of what you talk about is more speculative fiction than an actual likely course of events. That doesn’t mean the capitalist world isn’t headed towards crisis, but the way in which it reaches said crisis is going to look a lot more like the Great Depression or Russian revolution than it would 1984 or the Hunger Games. This fundamentally changes how we prepare so that we can better alleviate the problems coming in the future. I mean this with all kindness, a better world is possible, and it takes educating, agitating, and organizing.
I see Hunger Games metaphorically like all mythologies, poetry, court jesters, Shakespearean plays, etc. And like myself, reactionaries tend to take things literally, rather than get a handle on their passions and channel them in more creatively appropriate ways, when opportunity presents. Something about luck means preparation meeting opportunity. But part of preparation is knowledge and understanding. It’s a long, hard, frustrating process for we who are conditioned into expectations of ease, comfort, and drive-thru results. There will be the five stages of grief accompanied by bitterness and many of our comrades will get stuck in the five stages, bitterness, and the way things were/could have been. I think those who are able to see and move beyond these things, accept there will be hardships and work through them to move beyond will be the ones shaping the future. The choice is yours. The choice is mine. The choice is our comrades. Choose ye this day whom you shall serve. A spirit of defeat serves the enemy, regardless of where our loyalty lies.
You’ve been such a reassuring, steady influence as I work through my issues. I’m ever grateful for it and proud to acknowledge it.
Thank you, that’s extremely sweet of you to say, comrade! And very well-put. One thing interesting about the “prepper” community is that it often is filled with right-wingers convinced the world will collapse, rather than organizing for revolution. They see no way out, and this turns them inwards to try to save themselves and maybe their family and friends. Understanding the world is the first step needed to find the way out!
No thanks needed. It’s a decades long process of seeking, for we who are conditioned from birth by the well-meaning who were also conditioned from birth, for centuries. But that protestant work ethic will become a useful tool, rather than a weapon of destruction, for those who join us.
Not by much, IMO. It is true that non-renewables are being used up, but AI isn’t the answer, and certainly not suicide. The answer is organizing, and moving onto socialism so we can coherently and collectively plan society.
It’s just that recently the risk of a third world war has appeared. I have many different theories, but I can’t confirm every one of them.
Okay, we’ll see what happens next, but it’s best to be prepared for any horror, even a sharp rise in food prices. I’ve seen videos and read articles predicting an imminent catastrophe, and corporate greed tells me that this catastrophe is just around the corner.
A third world war is not that likely. The US Empire cannot win an outright war against China, either China would win or both would lose. What’s more likely is the US Empire going the way of Rome, continual decay until eventual collapse. It does help to be prepared for anything, though, I agree.
… I’ve seen videos and read articles predicting an imminent catastrophe, and corporate greed tells me that this catastrophe is just around the corner.
my own doomerism had me believing this as well, but then learning about texts like the ones cowbee has shared w you has shown me that our situation was predicted a century+ ago and I found it reassuring.
The most wild part is that it was never just some fringe leftist prediction; even liberal & conservative scholars from a century ago also predicted it like Keynes, or Polanyi, or Roosevelt (yes the president). It turns out that almost a century ago americans and other westerners just stopped paying attention to all the warnings from all of the scholars that they used to listen to and now we’re in this doom filled future because all the people who benefit from the status quo have successfully created an environment where the future is seen as either more status quo or nothing but abject horrors to scare us into drinking the kool-aide of inescapable climate change and perpetual oligarchy.
Once I developed a rudimentary media literacy because those texts; the mainstream media became transparent and it became clear that everyone, but the people of ruling class, are kept ignorant of reality because ignorant people are easier to manipulate into all the unnecessary asshattery that we’ve been doing for the last five generations.
I can attest to this as well. These days I’m scared by the immediate possible horrors of American fascism but I’m actually hopeful for the future beyond that. I also think now I’m much better prepared for escaping the worst of the acute fascism than I was before.
the us empire is about to demonstrate to the world that my other country of citizenship is still a helpless vassal state despite the incredible progress at self determination they’ve made in the last few decades and my recent career change has proven that savings were a thing of the past despite earning the american average salary.
i wish canada were an option for me, but the best chance that canada would consider me for permanent residency status is if i went back to the old career field that was giving me anxiety, depression, and the perpetual need to disregard reminders that i was helping the ruling class further fuck over the entire world.
You have good experience, and you’re right about a lot of things. And yes, ignorant people are easy to manipulate, especially if they’re poor and desperate enough.
in other words: make them so worried about trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table that they’re don’t have the energy & time to think about why they have to do this when there are litterally billions of other people on this planet who don’t have to worry about doing the same thing.
We own nothing, nothing is ours
Not even love so fierce* that burns like baby stars
But this poverty is our greatest gift,
The weightlessness of us as things begin to shift…
I think it’s important to discern capital voices, reactionary voices (regardless of sincerity), and level -headed voices, regardless of whether they manage to get money or not, in what amounts, although sources should be scrutinized. No one is perfect, but we need to evaluate motivation.
Here’s Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber, I believe this is what you’re referencing. Capital isn’t too difficult, IMO. It’s long, but the first 3 chapters are the most complex, after that it’s fairly smooth sailing, and Marx is actually a pretty witty writer. Just in case anyone was too scared by its reputation to read it!
It’s not that its hard, but Marx–while capable of very good and engaging writing–was trying to be a respectable 19th century intellectual for that one, so it’s kind of a painfully dry slog. That was the style at the time.
I’d actually say that applies more to volume 2 than it does 1. 1 has lots of literary references, metaphors, and fiery writing, while volume 2 is far more straight and academic. Lenin on the other hand was always spicy with his writing, haha.
Can’t agree with Lenin slander, he’s one of the greatest heroes the working class has ever had and one of the greatest theoreticians of all time. That being said, at least we can agree that he was a hell of a writer!
I think even among ML’s there are better candidates for all that. Castro’s entire set, for one.
I think he absolutely meant it and was a gifted administrator(putting aside killing all the other communists for a moment), but he made the same mistake all the French revolutionaries made–centralized power too much taking it from the soviets, so it fell apart when anyone less capable of filling those extremely large shoes stepped in.
He made the classic ‘great man’ mistake, and didn’t trust the people he meant to save, so his success began to die the moment he did. It’s hard to blame him personally, but god dammit he could have done so much better with a little sacrifice in initial efficiency to help the people be a bigger part of the revolution.
Lenin was one of the earliest theorists, organizers, and eventually the leader of the first explicitly Marxist revolution in world history. Any one of these accomplishments would make him one of the most important and admirable Marxists ever, but all three?
Lenin’s worst mistake was giving too much of his health to his nation. Sorry, but your reading is not supported by the historical data, even though it is so often repeated by the western left.
That’s not really an accurate view of the Soviet Union. Lenin didn’t take power away from the soviets, they were still the driving force of decision-making. Thanks to achieving a socialist system, life expectancies doubled, literacy rates tripled, healthcare and education were free and high quality, working hours lowered, vacation days increased, housing and employment were full or nearly full, and they went from feudalism to space in half a century.
Lenin didn’t “kill all of the other communists.” The vast majority sided with the bolsheviks, and others fought against them and lost in the civil war. It wasn’t like Lenin pushed a “kill everyone who disagrees with me” button, there was an active civil war with people killing bolsheviks and the Red Army as well.
The Soviet Union also didn’t really fall apart simply due to Khrushchev, Gorbachev, or Yeltsin alone. They contributed by undermining the socialist system and introducing parts of government meant to work against each other, but the soviet union still functioned well until it was illegally dissolved.
All in all, you have a very inaccurate view of Lenin and the Soviet Union, I’d say. It was the single most progressive force in the world throughout its existence, and figures that you list like Castro directly owe at least some of their success to Lenin and the Soviet Union.
Emotions are important and allowing them, feeling and working through are important. And so is not reacting from the emotional storm, or immediately after it’s passed. Give the invisible charge in the air to pass, metaphorically.
Yes, the problem is that everything I’ve talked about could happen suddenly, for example, after wars. I don’t know exactly when it will happen, but I have a bad feeling about the future, a very bad one. But I’m glad to hear your criticism; it helps much more than kind words. Thank you.
I want to stress that I’m not trying to be mean, I genuinely think you’ll feel more comfortable by trying to get a better handle on how society functions. Much of what you talk about is more speculative fiction than an actual likely course of events. That doesn’t mean the capitalist world isn’t headed towards crisis, but the way in which it reaches said crisis is going to look a lot more like the Great Depression or Russian revolution than it would 1984 or the Hunger Games. This fundamentally changes how we prepare so that we can better alleviate the problems coming in the future. I mean this with all kindness, a better world is possible, and it takes educating, agitating, and organizing.
I see Hunger Games metaphorically like all mythologies, poetry, court jesters, Shakespearean plays, etc. And like myself, reactionaries tend to take things literally, rather than get a handle on their passions and channel them in more creatively appropriate ways, when opportunity presents. Something about luck means preparation meeting opportunity. But part of preparation is knowledge and understanding. It’s a long, hard, frustrating process for we who are conditioned into expectations of ease, comfort, and drive-thru results. There will be the five stages of grief accompanied by bitterness and many of our comrades will get stuck in the five stages, bitterness, and the way things were/could have been. I think those who are able to see and move beyond these things, accept there will be hardships and work through them to move beyond will be the ones shaping the future. The choice is yours. The choice is mine. The choice is our comrades. Choose ye this day whom you shall serve. A spirit of defeat serves the enemy, regardless of where our loyalty lies.
You’ve been such a reassuring, steady influence as I work through my issues. I’m ever grateful for it and proud to acknowledge it.
Thank you, that’s extremely sweet of you to say, comrade! And very well-put. One thing interesting about the “prepper” community is that it often is filled with right-wingers convinced the world will collapse, rather than organizing for revolution. They see no way out, and this turns them inwards to try to save themselves and maybe their family and friends. Understanding the world is the first step needed to find the way out!
No thanks needed. It’s a decades long process of seeking, for we who are conditioned from birth by the well-meaning who were also conditioned from birth, for centuries. But that protestant work ethic will become a useful tool, rather than a weapon of destruction, for those who join us.
Well-said again!
Hopefully those who have ears to hear will.
This post is better? – https://lemmy.world/post/36167196
Not by much, IMO. It is true that non-renewables are being used up, but AI isn’t the answer, and certainly not suicide. The answer is organizing, and moving onto socialism so we can coherently and collectively plan society.
It’s just that recently the risk of a third world war has appeared. I have many different theories, but I can’t confirm every one of them.
Okay, we’ll see what happens next, but it’s best to be prepared for any horror, even a sharp rise in food prices. I’ve seen videos and read articles predicting an imminent catastrophe, and corporate greed tells me that this catastrophe is just around the corner.
A third world war is not that likely. The US Empire cannot win an outright war against China, either China would win or both would lose. What’s more likely is the US Empire going the way of Rome, continual decay until eventual collapse. It does help to be prepared for anything, though, I agree.
my own doomerism had me believing this as well, but then learning about texts like the ones cowbee has shared w you has shown me that our situation was predicted a century+ ago and I found it reassuring.
The most wild part is that it was never just some fringe leftist prediction; even liberal & conservative scholars from a century ago also predicted it like Keynes, or Polanyi, or Roosevelt (yes the president). It turns out that almost a century ago americans and other westerners just stopped paying attention to all the warnings from all of the scholars that they used to listen to and now we’re in this doom filled future because all the people who benefit from the status quo have successfully created an environment where the future is seen as either more status quo or nothing but abject horrors to scare us into drinking the kool-aide of inescapable climate change and perpetual oligarchy.
Once I developed a rudimentary media literacy because those texts; the mainstream media became transparent and it became clear that everyone, but the people of ruling class, are kept ignorant of reality because ignorant people are easier to manipulate into all the unnecessary asshattery that we’ve been doing for the last five generations.
I can attest to this as well. These days I’m scared by the immediate possible horrors of American fascism but I’m actually hopeful for the future beyond that. I also think now I’m much better prepared for escaping the worst of the acute fascism than I was before.
i’m expecting it to smack me down hard since i already was not having a great time under non-fascist capitalism.
you should teach a class on how to prepare for it. lol
Not much to teach. Just lucky to have another citizenship and some savings. Then theory just helps with answering questions like:
with a “yes,” “no” and “probably yes.” Previously I might have answered those with “no,” “yes” and “no.”
the us empire is about to demonstrate to the world that my other country of citizenship is still a helpless vassal state despite the incredible progress at self determination they’ve made in the last few decades and my recent career change has proven that savings were a thing of the past despite earning the american average salary.
i wish canada were an option for me, but the best chance that canada would consider me for permanent residency status is if i went back to the old career field that was giving me anxiety, depression, and the perpetual need to disregard reminders that i was helping the ruling class further fuck over the entire world.
You have good experience, and you’re right about a lot of things. And yes, ignorant people are easy to manipulate, especially if they’re poor and desperate enough.
aka the yin to the fascist yang.
in other words: make them so worried about trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table that they’re don’t have the energy & time to think about why they have to do this when there are litterally billions of other people on this planet who don’t have to worry about doing the same thing.
Yes, that’s the problem.
Added missing words
Well, yes…
I think it’s important to discern capital voices, reactionary voices (regardless of sincerity), and level -headed voices, regardless of whether they manage to get money or not, in what amounts, although sources should be scrutinized. No one is perfect, but we need to evaluate motivation.
David graeber has some good stuff on the nature of money and debt, if you want something a little easier than Marx’s ‘capital’.
Here’s Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber, I believe this is what you’re referencing. Capital isn’t too difficult, IMO. It’s long, but the first 3 chapters are the most complex, after that it’s fairly smooth sailing, and Marx is actually a pretty witty writer. Just in case anyone was too scared by its reputation to read it!
It’s not that its hard, but Marx–while capable of very good and engaging writing–was trying to be a respectable 19th century intellectual for that one, so it’s kind of a painfully dry slog. That was the style at the time.
I’d actually say that applies more to volume 2 than it does 1. 1 has lots of literary references, metaphors, and fiery writing, while volume 2 is far more straight and academic. Lenin on the other hand was always spicy with his writing, haha.
Fuck that guy–but anyone who says he couldn’t write clearly doesn’t know how to read.
Can’t agree with Lenin slander, he’s one of the greatest heroes the working class has ever had and one of the greatest theoreticians of all time. That being said, at least we can agree that he was a hell of a writer!
I think even among ML’s there are better candidates for all that. Castro’s entire set, for one.
I think he absolutely meant it and was a gifted administrator(putting aside killing all the other communists for a moment), but he made the same mistake all the French revolutionaries made–centralized power too much taking it from the soviets, so it fell apart when anyone less capable of filling those extremely large shoes stepped in.
He made the classic ‘great man’ mistake, and didn’t trust the people he meant to save, so his success began to die the moment he did. It’s hard to blame him personally, but god dammit he could have done so much better with a little sacrifice in initial efficiency to help the people be a bigger part of the revolution.
Lenin was one of the earliest theorists, organizers, and eventually the leader of the first explicitly Marxist revolution in world history. Any one of these accomplishments would make him one of the most important and admirable Marxists ever, but all three?
Lenin’s worst mistake was giving too much of his health to his nation. Sorry, but your reading is not supported by the historical data, even though it is so often repeated by the western left.
That’s not really an accurate view of the Soviet Union. Lenin didn’t take power away from the soviets, they were still the driving force of decision-making. Thanks to achieving a socialist system, life expectancies doubled, literacy rates tripled, healthcare and education were free and high quality, working hours lowered, vacation days increased, housing and employment were full or nearly full, and they went from feudalism to space in half a century.
Lenin didn’t “kill all of the other communists.” The vast majority sided with the bolsheviks, and others fought against them and lost in the civil war. It wasn’t like Lenin pushed a “kill everyone who disagrees with me” button, there was an active civil war with people killing bolsheviks and the Red Army as well.
The Soviet Union also didn’t really fall apart simply due to Khrushchev, Gorbachev, or Yeltsin alone. They contributed by undermining the socialist system and introducing parts of government meant to work against each other, but the soviet union still functioned well until it was illegally dissolved.
All in all, you have a very inaccurate view of Lenin and the Soviet Union, I’d say. It was the single most progressive force in the world throughout its existence, and figures that you list like Castro directly owe at least some of their success to Lenin and the Soviet Union.
Emotions are important and allowing them, feeling and working through are important. And so is not reacting from the emotional storm, or immediately after it’s passed. Give the invisible charge in the air to pass, metaphorically.