So, from those quotes from a book you haven't read, the number killed would be 800,000 over a period of 30 years. And around 10 million imprisoned. Over 30 years, so on average less than 400,000 per year in a country with a population of around 150 million. And this is including much of the fallout of the civil war and overlaps with WWII.
This led to a lower incarceration rate than the United States today.
Note also that the term "political" is used to discriminate the sentences and this is presumably what is being conflated with a politically motivated "Stalinist" purge. But how do you know that it is? Was Stalin in power in 1921? What counted as political? What of the bureaucracy or the party? Or was it just all Stalin and his big evil pen signing millions of sentences?
I think the real driving force behind articles like this is that many within FRSO want to organize the US working class (e.g. they salt Teamsters) and perceive critiques that put white settlerism as "primary" as saying, "don't even bother". They need to say, "no there is a point to it and in fact it is the theoretically best grounded look I said primary contradiction" because otherwise they are doing something with no hope of success, so the logic goes. This would also explain why the discussion of white settlerism is so full of errors and oversights. It's not really about knowing the topic and analyzing it, they clearly felt no compulsion to read and understand what has been written about the topic, let alone talk to indigenous comrades to get real-world organizing analysis.
I think the core of this thinking is incorrect and gussyjng it up in the language of dialectics distracts from the real point, which is just this simple yet clearly very difficult to answer question: how could we organize the US working class into an anticapitalist force, even a revolutionary one? I would say you cannot begin to answer that question without understanding and combatting the importance, function, psychology, mechanisms of settler white supremacy, and you cannot begin to answer it without understanding and combatting capitalism and imperialism. Really, you have to think about the demographica of who joins and leaves left spaces, what they want to do in those spaces, and which forms of activism resonate with who. You should look at past formations and ask why they failed. You should look at those most similar to you and think about how they are succeeding or failing and what forces work against them.
And if you're going to write public essays, you should really think about your audience and what you hope to achieve.
I've had a torrent system behind a vpn for a long time but there used to be websites that would stream a large catalog of movies for free so long as you could out up with 720p. Maybe some comrades will know the urls.
There are also apps like popcorn time that basically turn torrents into streams, which can be pretty convenient. Use a vpn for that as well.
Looking at your phone is definitely healthier than alcohol! ADD/ADHD dovetails with constant phone checking, that would be super typical. Also it makes the habit changing I described more difficult because the brain actually gets something out of it that it otherwise wouldn't - to be sustainable it may take much more time than seems reasonable, it may work better with a substitute, or it may be a time to tackle a "root cause" via a approach recommended by a pro, which might be medication or might be trying out behavioral practices until you find one that works (e.g. silent fidget device or something). Trying to not to be overly prescriptive, I just know that workarounds and actually lifehacks can work for many folks for many situations.
What's the main goal you have? What things would you like to do less or more of?
Sounds like the main thing you want to do is read Reddit less. Basically you just need to break a habit. If you use an app, you could uninstall it. If you use a browser, you could use one of those habit-changer apps to remind you to not use Reddit every, set to 15 minutes or something, so that if you catch yourself using it you can stop.
You assume he wants to live, then suggest La Guardia!?
lmao jk. Starting in Central Park you can go anywhere anonymously easily just by doing an outfit change and wearing a mask. La Guardia woild be faster than JFK.
There is truth to the psychology you describe and its material basis. But if the Syrian government falls it will get worse. See how life is in those areas controlled by Daesh. 8 hours of power? How about half of one's family killed and no power at all for most unless they follow the exact dictates of the local reps. These are not speculative things or baseless fearmongering, it has been a daily reality for those in the parts of Syria and Iraq occupied by them.
Think of those who became so frustrated with the USSR that they began dismissing it. Yes, it had a great series of mistakes, and this contributed to their downfall, but (1) the primary enemy is the imperialists, (2) the imperialists are the main opponents of those we may want to dismiss, and (3) after the USSR fell, the world got worse and millions died during capitalist restoration anf maximum pressure by imperialists on all of thr countries that depended on that trade bloc.
Nearly every criticism of our "allies" can be correct and we will have less power and more death and a stronger imperialist bloc if they fall.
So to br clear I do not think criticizing the Syrian government is wrong, but it is incorrect to think of its hypothetical fall to US-backed forces as anything other than a disaster.
Syria is essential geographically and politically for a stronger axis of resistance. It is good for the imperialists if the government falls (which is why they are behind all of this) and bad for Iran, Hezbollah, and anyone that works with them. Breaking up and preventing solidarity between states and organizations is the entire point of the US supporting Israel. Isolated states and organizations are much less powerful than those that can work together.
Given who would be toppling the government, it would be replaced by US stooges and people in the orbit of Daesh. All kinds of horrors would be possible within Syria under such a regime and you could add Syria to the group of states that will allow Israeli and US jets and missiles through but will try to shoot down those of Iran. You could also write off the various supply lines to Hezbollah et al that go through Syria and add a new front for any attacks on Lebanon, being fully surrounded by Israel and Syria.
So, from those quotes from a book you haven't read, the number killed would be 800,000 over a period of 30 years. And around 10 million imprisoned. Over 30 years, so on average less than 400,000 per year in a country with a population of around 150 million. And this is including much of the fallout of the civil war and overlaps with WWII.
This led to a lower incarceration rate than the United States today.
Note also that the term "political" is used to discriminate the sentences and this is presumably what is being conflated with a politically motivated "Stalinist" purge. But how do you know that it is? Was Stalin in power in 1921? What counted as political? What of the bureaucracy or the party? Or was it just all Stalin and his big evil pen signing millions of sentences?