WideningGyro [any]

Completely dogmatic way of thinking. I should remind you that you just said “Cuba and Vietnam are not engaged in combat with Nazis and imperialists currently.” to the suggestion that materially supporting those socialist countries would be more than/equally as productive materially supporting Russia. So which is it? Are there alternatives, or is “die for a country marginally less fascist than the country they’re fighting because Lenin said so”?

I support DPRK, again critically, that doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea for young DPRK men to die in this conflict. There are again, thousands of better ways to support socialism than to throw your life away shoulder to shoulder with reactionaries. That’s my two cents. Probably going to stop responding to you once you call me a chauvinist again.

Russia being the aggressor who wants to take all the territory

Fucking quote me on that. Why are you putting words in people’s mouth and ascribing them intentions you know nothing about?

I said “territorial ambitions”, and Russia is completely transparent about having designs on Crimea, and parts of east Ukraine. That it is part of a fight against NATO encroachment doesn’t suddenly change the fucking material facts of what the war is. If you go fight for Russia, you’re going to risk your life in a trench to take or hold some tiny village or hill. That’s a fact. That’s a completely coherent position to take without having to “fall back on the western narrative”.

I am, as are just about everyone else I have ever talked to on this site, happy to call Russia’s fight a fight against NATO and imperialism. It’s your insane leap from that fact to “it’s your duty as a communist to die for Russia” that everyone is reacting against.

I find the fact that you find dying in a ditch for Russia, a country that at most deserves critical support, for the reasons many others have stated here (capitalist society, persecution of minorities etc.) somehow more important or pressing than joining the fight against fascism by moving to and helping build a nation with actual, existing socialism to be an absurd set of priorities.

What the fuck. Cuba, Vietnam, China, DPRK and Laos are all fighting fascism all the time. Are you seriously suggesting that fighting on the frontlines of a deeply reactionary capitalist country is the only way to combat fascism and imperialism. Because that is delusional.

Since when does “critically supporting” Russia mean die on the front lines for their territorial ambitions?

I was about to ask why anyone would suspect foul play this long after his death, then clicked the link and immediately realized I’m dumb and that prince Andrew is very much still alive.

Just curious, why do you see NATO expansion as an overstated factor in the war? You say yourself that the war is about control of spheres of influence, and what is NATO but part of the US’s power projection?

A few years ago, a Hungarian friend was educating me on the incredible corruption of the Orban regime. IIRC, he showed me a photo of the Hungarian equivalent of a supreme court justice shaking Orbans hand and apologizing - apologizing for having sentenced Fidesz (Orban’s party) to a totally symbolic fine for breaking some rules about campaign ads or something.

This seems a lot like that. Yet the same libs who would talk about how awful the Hungarian system is will surely keep telling me that the US is, despite its flaws, a beacon of democracy.

You really have such a way with words. This year more than any previous one, I felt like the political messages of the speech were thinly veiled and obvious. Although perhaps that is just a testament to my own increasing radicalization, or that I’ve felt Margrethe had a modicum of charisma and gravitas, while Fred has the personality and wit of a bag of pretzel sticks left out in the rain.

Support for you in this trying time, comrade. Also, psyllium husk supplement changed my life (specifically they changed my bowel movements from unpredictable and IBS-like to like 85% normal healthy bowel movements).

Doing God’s work, kammerat

Millions being denied healthcare and dying of preventable causes: I sleep

One capitalist pig who made his fortune on the backs of sick people getting capped: when will the barbarism end?!?

Exactly what I was going to ask. I have a lib friend who I think could be pushed somewhat away from the “correct” lib take on the war with write-up like this, but his first question is going to be about the sources.

“war is bad and should stop”, when removed from context and analysis is not a take, it’s a platitude.

The fact that he whitewashes the West’s role in the war, pretends Ukraine is not a country with a significant Russian-friendly minority, and puts the blame for the war’s consequences and continuation on Russia means that his “war is bad and should stop” ends up being an endorsement of NATO’s position - that only Russia can and should take measures to stop the war, and that any escalation from the West is justified.

I sincerely hope to one day get to tell a lib who quotes him that he was a monarchist who hated liberalism and democracy.

It’s just a nice way of saying that under capitalism “children will be left alone, to fend for themselves”.

Most pathetic press corp ever, for sure. If anyone had any doubt at that point, their coverage of Nordstream cemented that fact.

vote for Lars Løkke and talk about goddamn Mink Farms

When I heard my old boss say that the Mink-saga was the most important political event of our lives, I realized that the man was living in a fundamentally different reality than me. Then again he was a fairly rich business owner, so he had plenty of reasons not to learn fucking anything ever.

Agreed. I’m often met with the reply of “well, it’s much better here (Scandinavia) than most other places!” whenever I criticize our country, and it just makes me sad. Like, if I say “our country is part of an extremely destructive and often downright evil western imperialist bloc, selfishly sucking resources out of the global south while actively destabilizing it.”, then “but look how much material wealth we have!” isn’t a rebuttal - it’s just highlighting the problem.

Sure, it feels privileged to complain about living in one of the safest and richest countries in the world, if you ignore the context of those privileges. Any moral person’s food should turn to ashes in their mouth if they know their neighbor is starving, and likewise I don’t feel happy to live in one of the small, pampered kingdoms in the imperial core - it makes me miserable because its very existence reflects everything wrong with the system. Same applies when people here self-congratulate about our low crime (crime has been outsourced), low corruption (because corruption is mostly a legal part of our political system), social safety net (which is actively dismantled by the same people who praise it) etc. To the extent that we really have these privileges, how did we come to have them? Who suffers so that we can? It makes me go insane how little my countrymen think about this, and how many will frown at you for refusing to join in the self-congratulatory circle-jerk.

It’s good to bring him up when talking to liberals about the necessity of violence to achieve liberation (something they’ll vehemently deny). Usually, they respond by going “well Nelson Mandela was peaceful, unlike [insert unacceptable resistance movement]!”. After which you can point to all the bombings and acts of “terrorism” that uMkhonto weSizwe engaged in. That can then lead to a productive convo about how those aren’t actually blemishes on an otherwise peaceful and democratic struggle for freedom, but is itself part of the struggle for freedom (and, of course, based af).

It was talking about Trosky’s criticism of Stalin and Kruschev’s de-Stalinization and I wasn’t really into it

I’m not sure I understand why you’d be interested in a book about Stalin but not those things. They are essential for understanding why the picture of Stalin among the western left is so skewed today.