Neither of those links work for me

If I killed a Nazi I’d steal his watch too

The invention of the cotton gin helped keep slavery economically viable in the U.S. for nearly a century after people thought it would eventually phase itself out.

Was the cotton gin bad? Was it good? That’s the wrong question - slavery needed to end.

As soon as the cotton gin was invented, the North should have militarily invaded the South and freed every slave by force.

Today, we are in a similar fight against AI and Capitalism. AI is a tool of Capital consolidation that accelerates the need for a Socialist revolution based on Marxist principles.

We are all in the same side opposing American military imperialism, comrade!

BrikoX becoming Chinapilled in real time

There’s probably one going on local to you (you meaning, whoever’s reading this if you’re American). just check out your local PSL branch’s page

I don’t care if it’s antisemitic to say so, but I will never take someone named “Schlomo Kramer” seriously.

The billionaires are the base, but the politicians are part of the superstructure

They’re not evil but they’re also not good. They’re Anarchist-Liberal Idealists who are more radical than you would expect given their name recognition.

They are people who believe the economic and social exploitation of animals must be ended, immediately, and totally. And they aren’t shy about saying so. I have some respect for them for that.

The problem is that they are a single-issue group. They are not Marxists. They do not have a Marxist understanding of class relations and they do not make exceptions for indigenous peoples the same way we do not make exceptions for the practice of slavery or human sacrifice or cannibalism among indigenous peoples.

Are they hypocrites, or bought out by corporate interests, are they controlled opposition? No, they’re people who really believe their stuff and are doing their best. Are they our allies? On some issues, sure - on most, I don’t think so. I’m not a vegan and I’m perfectly fine with the exploitation of animals under Socialism. I like eating meat (and honey, and eggs, and I would say milk but I’m getting old and starting to get lactose intolerant) and having pets and wearing wool. We can make limited alliances with vegan or other environmental groups to advance certain causes, but we cannot align ourselves fully with them.

There are always two answers to this question: one for organizations, and another for individuals.

For organizations, the answer is that you should be increasing your organizational capacity so you can do all of those things. Educational events, networking events, protests, meetings; coalitions with establishment forces (unions, libs), coalitions with Socialist orgs (Anarchists, DSA). You have to hit every aspect of society so that, even if one approach isn’t working today, you’ve developed your cadre’s skills and presence so that when it becomes necessary tomorrow you have the ability to act.

For individuals? Be a part of your communities. Go to church, go to City Council, hang out at the bar. But the number 1 rule is: Be Normal. But do not shy away from your politics.

Try to join an organization. I’m in the PSL and can vouch for them. I have also worked with RCA and the DSA locally and they are both very good, especially if your local DSA is MUG or Redstar dominated. The important thing is that you’re organized, not who you’re organized under. Join a fucking Indivisible branch if that’s the only thing going on near you.

Read the article. All they’re doing is getting rid of a tax exemption. The tax exemption existed because previous government policy was to reduce birthrates. Now that government policy is to increase birthrates, that exception was removed. They aren’t increasing costs by 5x or anything.

I definitely agree with this - the point of Marxism is that your exact policies should depend on your material conditions. The Bolshevik Party is a good example of this. At some points, they advanced workplace democracy; at others, they returned Bourgeois managers to the factories. At times they supported individually owned farms, and at others forcibly collectivized ones, and at still others allowed for privately owned plantations. Lenin called for the party to participate in Bourgeois elections, but the vast majority of Bolsheviks took the ultra-left position and boycotted them. Sometimes decentralization is preferable - but centralization is often necessary! These are all dialectics that cannot be resolved dogmatically.

To explain my positions:

While sometimes reform can make advancements, the important part is that a Marxist must advocate for Revolution. Participation in Bourgeois elections is necessary to build a mass movement, but Marxists should never give them the legitimacy of claiming that their power will come from winning those elections.

Utopian Socialism is infantile. Socialism must be based in scientific, Marxist principles or you are at best a progressive Liberal. When your ideology is based in utopian ideals instead of scientific processes, you will make yourself unable to take the necessary steps to shepherd a Socialist society when it sometimes requires concessions.

Centralism is necessary, at least in the developing stage of Socialism, in order to combat reaction and quickly advance productive forces. Similarly to the Utopian vs. Scientific debate, perhaps decentralized authority would be preferable in a perfect world, and may be pursued in the latter stateless stages of Communism, but spells death and inefficiency in the short term. The failure of the Spanish Republicans to effectively ensure their mutual defense is the chief historical example

I don’t believe that Nationalism or Patriotism are inherently un-Marxist concepts, and can be encouraged among the masses to increase loyalty to the Socialist state. But Communists, especially those within the imperial core, must always remember that Imperialist oppression inevitably turns inward - and that when you preserve those Imperialistic policies under a Socialist state, you are preserving systems of oppression that will eventually demand expansion back into the motherland. In other words: flags and military parades are fine, but you must also support your international brethren, at least within the imperial core.

Under Socialism there should be a dialectic struggle between trade unions and the Party. Trade Unions, being non-ideological entities, will inevitably become a reactionary force under a Socialist government. In the stage of international struggle, the needs of the party must come first. But after, they must settle into a dialectic struggle - the Party ensuring the health of society as a whole with the Unions ensuring the rights and happiness of the workers.

I do not believe in silly notions about the value of the natural world beyond what is supported by scientific principles. So long as we have parks for the people to enjoy, the climate is stabilized, and the trees are producing enough oxygen for our breath and industry, the natural world has no inherent utility. Believing that the natural world is more important than building the productive forces necessary for the victory of Socialism and the happiness of the people is Eco-Fascism, even if those who believe in it paint themselves with an Anarchist or Socialist veneer.

I won’t spend too long on this point. Social progress is good and I do not need to explain why. But, especially in the early stages, Socialists must not turn too hard against traditional ways of life that practiced by the majority of people or cultural minorities. Crush the power of religious institutions, but do not demolish the churches. Encourage secular cohabitation, but do not outlaw marriage. Create public cafeterias to end kitchen slavery, but do not ban the sale of cookbooks.

During the Russian Revolution, when the Mensheviks and Trudoviks and SRs and even revisionists within the Bolsheviks turned against the revolution, Anarchists stood with us, at least until Krondstadt. Anarchists are not all bad and I’ve met many intelligent, mature Anarchists locally.

Anarchism is not necessarily a stupider ideology than most others, it’s just an easy entry point due to its focus on Individualism - Anarchists can be very good, but stupid people are more likely to identify as Anarchists than anything else on the left.

I honestly felt that the weapon degradation was freeing in a way - that every item in the same was a consumable to be used and not an item to be collected and stashed away forever while you just use the Zweihander from the graveyard for 90% of the game. Even the unique quest items broke, but you could do another quest to unlock the ability to buy infinite versions! I thought that was great game design.

The man who did 9/11 died a couple days ago

Ding dong the Dick is dead

They should expand this to the campuses in the home Islands as well

You say this ironically, but there are several relatively recent U.S. presidents or people in their administration who have said things that would get them branded tankies today.

I’m thinking specifically of a speech Jimmy Carter gave where he said it’s no wonder North Korea ended up the way it had, considering we bombed every building over two stories into the ground.

Kissinger is also obviously evil but only because of his realpolitik - by modern ideological standards where any anti-Western power is treated as worse than Hitler by even social Democrats, his dispassionate readings would get him labeled a Marxist.

Marxism is the only valid framework to analyze the world.