cfgaussian @ cfgaussian @lemmygrad.ml

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3 yr. ago

the anti-China ones always say there can't be socialist advancement while the bourgeoisie exist, or while there are market relations

This is un-dialectical thinking. It is effectively the same as saying that there can't be progress while contradictions still exist. But progress is achieved precisely through the confronting and resolving of contradictions. Marxism-Leninism has always maintained that class struggle does not end overnight when the working class takes power.

Intense class struggle continues all throughout the process of building socialism. For a socialist state to pretend as if class struggle has ended is to fall into the same trap the USSR did, as the vanguard party is lulled into a false sense of security and begins to make existentially dangerous mistakes. For what is the alternative to reform if not stagnation?

Excellent article. I hope this is widely circulated in western leftist and communist circles, because I have seen way too often well-meaning but severely misinformed comrades parrot the talking point that the PSUV should not be supported because some Venezuelan communists said so.

As we all know, just because someone calls themselves a communist doesn't mean that all their takes are automatically correct, or that they are actually on our side. You have to pay attention to what people do and who they align themselves with more than what they say or claim to be.

If you see "communists" align themselves with right wingers and imperialist proxies against an anti-imperialist government, even if said government is not necessarily a socialist or communist one, alarm bells should start going off and having you question what their real agenda is.

Look at the evil CCP using unpaid forced labor to harvest cotton!

I guess it depends whether you're just looking at the damage caused by western imperialism or if you also include the Japanese occupation. China was never completely colonized like India but it's still going to be an astronomically large amount of wealth that they were deprived of by the imperialists. I mean just look at the relative wealth between China and Europe in the pre-colonial era, and then compare that with where China and the West were at in 1948. There was clearly an enormous transfer of wealth that took place in those few centuries, not just from China but from the entire global south to the imperial core. A big chunk of that stolen wealth came just from India and China.

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Exactly! Always approach sources with a known history of operating as vectors of disinformation and psychological warfare with extreme skepticism. Always look for evidence and corroboration from reliable sources before taking anything they say at face value. And I would also like to add that this same skepticism and caution should be extended to so-called "OSINT" as well.

The OP has written an excellent piece about this subject. I've been disappointed to see some folks in anti-imperialist circles base geopolitical and military analysis on data put out by these so-called "OSINT" sources with insufficient skepticism as to whether they are really what they claim to be, or why this information in particular has been made available and what narrative those who control the flow of this information are trying to shape.

Too many people still haven't grasped this basic truth: if it's in a pro-Zionist or pro-imperialist publication, it is likely, in some way or another, bullshit. It doesn't necessarily need to be all lies, but it can and very often is a case of twisting half-truths, misleading framing and intentionally deceptive choice of language. The same applies to analysis derived from so-called "OSINT" sources, which can sometimes appear trustworthy but very often are a tool of Zionist and imperialist psychological warfare. It is easier to be deceived than most people think.

I also think some people are just so paranoid about "their side" not being pure enough that they will jump at any opportunity to have their fears validated, because it feels good in a sort of masochistic way to wallow in negativity than risk later disappointment or embarrassment. In my opinion it is the same emotional mechanism that leads to the toxic cycles of alternating defeatism and triumphalism that we observe sometimes in anti-imperialist circles which is not productive but feels more emotionally cathartic than maintaining a sober and level head.

Indeed.

Either this was some fash on fash violence or the Russians finally did something based. I'm leaning towards the former. Either way, the world is a better place now.

An outstanding piece! This really is the perfect case study to illustrate how the mainstream media function as an imperialist disnformation laundering network on a systemic level.

I think that some right wingers are closer to "getting it" than a lot of liberals are.

And actually when you think about it it's not really that surprising, because the biggest determinant of how likely you are to develop class consciousness is your class, your actual material conditions. Poor, working class people are severely brainwashed with reactionary propaganda precisely in order to keep them from developing class consciousness. Racism and bigotry are used to prevent them developing solidarity with other sections of the working class. And yet still, many of these people are closer to seeing through the lies of the capitalist system than the relatively well-off "back-to-brunch" type of liberal, because of their lived experience of being exploited by capital every day.

In many ways right wingers are also incredibly naive of course and they constantly fall for the most obvious of lies when they are packaged in a way that plays on their prejudices, but at least they have an instinctive distrust of the mainstream media, while so many liberals basically worship establishment propaganda outlets.

You also see this in the almost paradoxical phenomenon where instead of being more likely to be critical thinkers, a certain type of university educated people are actually some of the least critical thinking and most group minded people you will ever meet, convinced that they are immune from indoctrination even as they completely uncritically parrot the imperialist line on almost every single geopolitical issue (Palestine being perhaps the one exception where the evidence is so grotesque and so obvious that the liberal establishment is forced to try and co-opt and shift blame rather than outright paint the imperialist proxy as the good guys).

How about "Buy Yummy Deserts" or "Balloons Yelling Danger"?

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They are definitely not state aligned media if that's what you're asking.

Of course, now that the Zionist-puppet terrorists are in charge the West is ok with Syria again. It couldn't be more transparent why they wanted Assad out.

This was very entertaining to read. Also completely unsurprising. This is pretty much what i expected. Basically a normal, diverse society with diverse viewpoints and varying levels of historical, scientific and political literacy. As communists we should not expect that everyone in a socialist society is going to be a Marxist. It was not the case in the USSR and it is not the case in any of the AES states today. You're always going to have a certain percentage of wackos. What matters is that support for the socialist project has sufficient critical mass (which has a lot to do with the performance of the government in delivering tangible material results for the people) and that there are still enough people being properly educated in Marxism-Leninism to form the next generation of vanguard cadres.

Yeah they just haven't been the same since Ben Norton left. He really was keeping the whole thing sane and grounded.

On the plus side though, Ben is apparently doing really well and is just living his best life in China. I'm happy for him.

I can't believe we are having to rehash the Kautsky debate in the year 2025. What is the point of digging up strategies and ideologies which have been proven by history to be failures? It's like western leftists have a fetish for defeat and doing anything except that which actually works and has a track record of success. This shit was already settled over a hundred years ago. Lenin's ghost right now is like: "How many times do I have to dunk on you old man?!"... Seriously people, Kautsky and his theories are dead and buried. Let them rest. In the meantime, just go and read Lenin: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/prrk/

Lenin lived. Lenin lives. Lenin will live.

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One thing that i forgot to mention is that a lot of this is closely related to the Kosovo issue. The EU wants to expand until it includes every European country, but Serbia is a thorn in their side and can't be accepted into the EU until they accept the theft of their Kosovo province.

The EU is pushing extremely hard to try and get them to renounce their claims to Kosovo but so far this has been a step too far even for this semi-comprador government. It would incur massive backlash from the Serbian population, so the EU need a Serbian government that would be totally and exclusively subservient to Brussels and not their own people. That's what this is really about.

It would take a government like the one they imposed on Ukraine after the Maidan coup that would be willing to deploy brutal force against their own people to crush any protests, labeling them "Russian funded", "nationalist extremists", "terrorists", etc. for not accepting to have their country being sold out like that. The European media would all work in complete alignment to legitimize this national betrayal and to demonize the opposition, telling everyone that this is the only way into "Serbia's European future" and that anyone against it is "working for Putin" and "trying to hold Serbia back". This is in my opinion the real ulterior agenda of those behind funding the protests, even though most of the protestors are not aware of it.