General Discussion Thread - Juche 114, Week 16

At risk of sounding like a "I'm 14 and this is deep" kind of statement, I was thinking like, "If you were in hell, would the devil really say 'mwahaha, this is hell, suffer' or would he insist to you the whole time that it's heaven and you're taking it for granted."

I don't mean it as a literal theology question for people who believe in that stuff, but I think about it in relation to the US. I know there are worse places to be in terms of quality of life, such as some of the most imperialized nations, but the US may have the most intense contrast between propaganda that says "we're the best" and what the day to day is actually like. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck but are told it's the greatest country or the like. People's options are narrowed by the limits of transportation (heavy reliance of cars), the intense competition of jobs, etc., while having a vast industry and culture of motivation "if you believe it, you can achieve it" kind of hype that is almost never about utilizing logistics or working together or leaning on each other (presumably cause that stuff is a bit too close to scary socialism, wooo). A lot of people are lonely and struggle to make friends outside of work, college, etc., but are told be an island unto themselves (in whatever variety of words you can think of).

In short, although USian people are broadly, as far as I'm aware, not starving _yet (not saying there isn't anyone who is, just in the broader sense), they are probably broadly emotionally starved, communally starved, and other such forms of basic human needs that are less immediately obvious, but nevertheless part of any healthy society. But the solutions to these things would no doubt threaten the dam of anti-communism, so people get gaslighted about how good they have it instead and get fed constant narratives about how to be a better individual. Like imagine if you were actually literally starving and the ones with power over food, who can bring in an abundance of it, were telling you that you need to do these certain rituals to improve your appetite, so you can be strong with less food. It's such a bizarre "country" when you put it in perspective.

Edit: I feel like I posted something very similar to this in the past and I don't know if I'm actually remembering, or if it's just that the same general criticisms are very familiar. Maybe I need to touch grass lol.

It's funny how gender neutral bath- and restrooms are such a problematic thing for some while I have been going to them at campings for forever. Everyone has the same toilet and shower building, everyone uses them together and it works just like it is.

Feels like things have been getting more and more unhinged lately.

Happy Zimbabwe Independence Day, everyone

edit: also, this is my first post. hello, my name is Violet.

Sadly mainstream lemmy has fallen to fucking crackkkers and fucking libs, but it warms my heart that they're getting fucked w/ 0 lube by MAGA while China is more relevant than ever

Fuck RFK Jr.

That's all I have to say.

Bit of a vent post. I tend to have a thing where (with very few exceptions) I avoid anything that has MTX in it because: 1) I know they tend to operate on exploiting impulsive spenders, 2) I know the design of a product nearly always necessitates being made worse to accommodate them, so that people have an incentivize to buy them, and 3) I know they can get in my head, personally, in spite of being overall frugal.

And I also got into a hobby of learning languages with the help of gamified language apps. Those with any familiarity with them can probably guess where this is going. I've had more than one time I liked an app and then it added MTX so, due to the above, I had to quit. And even when I can find more that don't have them at the offset, it's getting to the point where I don't feel like I can trust any of them in the long-term. Or in some cases, the apps are just silly overpriced for what they offer.

I still have one that I use for helping to learn Chinese, TalkMe, but I don't know if that will eventually go the same way as the others. It's just very frustrating. Oh and this isn't even getting into other kinds of changes that I've seen happen, like UI overhauls that make a unique app look like a Duolingo clone. Or revamps of achievements that mess with what you already had, trivializing the point of it being gamified to motivate you. And this is on paid products too, not free stuff where you'd expect the "you're the product if it's free" capitalist thing. These are subscription-based apps that it keeps happening to me and they all want to be Duolingo I guess. It just hits home how frustrated I get with capitalism in general and the nauseating behavior (that seems worse in the digital space) where companies can never sit still with a consistent profitable business model and have to "keep growing" to "be competitive". But if they happen to ruin things for existing customers along the way, I guess that doesn't matter as long as the God of Profits is fed.

God almighty, why was I cursed with the geopolitics autism?

I've decided, after some thinking, that Marxist Rifle Association are probably NOT PatSocs or MAGA coms.

I don't know about the Red Rifle Collective.

I find it funny that the people in a country, who couldn't be arsed to mask up or follow basic safety rules during a global pandemic, deem themselves fit enough to fight an actual war

Vijay Prashad will come to my city in two weeks, excited to see what he will say.

Starting up a fire within the Union to strike against the new government plans affecting my job. Let's not have them have any rest 🔥

I finally had my first Seder yesterday. It was also the first time that I had matzah, matzo ball soup, wine, and gefilte fish, all of which I enjoyed having. I tried to imagine myself being an ancient Hebrew who hastily escaped chattel slavery, but it was difficult when there was so much commotion in the room.

Above all, the Seder was about mourning the situation in Gaza, how they have little to eat and only salt water to drink. We took turns reading from a pamphlet about the situation there and why we could not in good conscience have a celebratory Seder like most other Jews would normally have. We weren’t miserable during the event, but being conscious of Palestinian suffering made the Seder very different: we all knew that Gazans were still going to be in agony after the Seder was over.

Despite the noise in the room (in between and after reading from the pamphlet), I managed to have a couple of conversations with the other guests. The one to my right was taciturn, but we talked a little about the Spanish State and the Jewish history there and in Morocco.

The one to my left was more energetic, and we talked about modern history, like the status of gay Jews in the Third Reich. I told him that I may well have written the first article specifically on the subject, and I wrote on a napkin where he could find the topic—https:lemmy.ml (I wish that I had been more specific)—and my telephone number. Later he agreed to take me home and we talked about historical conspiracies and other events in modern history, like the Fascist invasion of Ethiopia and how Imperial America forgave most of Fascist Italy’s WWI debt, which amazed him. He hasn’t tried to contact me yet, but I wish that we could speak again.

While I don't make much money and can't afford to move out, I sometimes still feel guilt for not coming from a very poor background, even if my family isn't that rich, because then I tell myself that I can't be a true socialist. Does anybody else feel something similar?

I feel this way because my parents have a middle class income and they own their own house. My dad is a lower manager in healthcare, what is the marxist vision on that type of work? My mom also works in healthcare but as a worker.

What are some alternatives to Reddit that are more popular than lemmy?

Everyone make sure to wish a great week to Oppo.

Btw, anyone familiar with millenial.chaos from TikTok? Or maybe anyone in his Discord? If not, maybe we could let them know we exist, because they seem to be a cool bunch.

Other than that, last saturday I attended the 31st congress of our party, which was overall a positive experience, even if just slightly tipping the scale. I'd appreciate other autistic people helping me with tips how they do fieldwork, being on the streets, talking to people, being observed and judged and so on. As well as, I'm wondering if there is anyone here, who can not do any type of party work like this, because if they'd do, they'd lose their jobs or be hated out of their local community. Cause these are the things I'm facing, but obviously I'm expected to perform and work for the party.

After the drought we are seeing rain finally, be it ever so slightly. But the drought and the winter did make me forget what a humid hell it can be here, in the swamp. The gym is a nightmare and it's not even summer yet.

Question for Londoners and people who've been to London, is it actually that much of a piss-smelling shithole? That's basically all I've heard coming from friends who have gone there, which as someone from a fairly dirty third-world city, is surprising.

I hope you all have a nice week :D

Hello, all

Could someone please refer an article or something to me so I can understand what is going on with Chinas youth unemployment?