What do you mean by “that it means the US iscollapsing?” Because just looking at the general state of the US indicates it is. Could you be more specific about what you mean?

RIP Assata

Oh I agree with that. They aren’t inseparable. Material circumstances influence outlook, whether consciously or unconsciously.

This is a good breakdown. And a reminder that these large scale demonstrations and movements have multiple conflicting factions, liberatory AND reactionary. And unfortunately it’s the factions that are backed by Western capital that historically have ended up rising to the most visible platform.

I agree. To clarify, I’m just saying that you can’t use yiur ideology as the litmus test to deem whether a piece of media is worthy of your enjoyment. Well, you can, but youre probably not gonna be able to enjoy much, especially if you’re a Marxist living in the West.

A more pragmatic perspective is to just enjoy things and also find joy in the opportunity to sharpen your lens.

Right. If people are putting all of their media through an ideological purity blender, theyre gonna have a bad time enjoying anything in this day and age. Instead of using a Marxist lens to be a hater, we can try to find joy in our analyses of the art we engage with.

It’s dumb that salons gender haircuts to indicate length. My stylist’s salon does this too. I signed up for male haircuts for months. However, they eventually told me to sign up for woman’s cuts so that they could better organize their time, so that’s what I do now. They charge me the male price still, which is cheaper.

I would just keep signing up for male cuts until they tell you otherwise.

Seriously. People gotta stop putting these major states on pedestals, even when they should be supported.

The Boycat app has been very helpful for questions like this.

Israhell’s on fire right now lololol

For real though, as a gig worker in the US who is trying their damndest to pay off debt and save for retirement so that I have a marginally less chance of being homeless and bankrupt when I’m a senior citizen, is an IRA still a recommended move? How are other comrades investing for old age or is the plan just for us all to work crushing jobs until our bones give out and then we die?

How tf is anyone supposed to plan for this hellscape of a future?

I volunteered for his campaign and actually have a picture with the ghoul. I feel your pain.

I get that we gotta be tactful in the way we try to convince their sincerely-minded fans away from their grift, but at the end of the day in discussions among communists, they deserve nothing but venom.

They’re sheepdogs. They could use their platforms to support revolutionary parties and figures. Instead they’ve individualized the US-Zionist sins to Trump/Netanyahu and offered Democratic politics as the only solution for naive young people once more. They had their uses years ago, but their current role is apparent. Fuck them and the immense damage they continue to do to the revolutionary left.

The amount of “BuT her EmAiLs” comments I’ve been hearing from shit-lib co-workers…

They care more about optics than the Yemeni cancer center that doesn’t fucking exist anymore.

Reminder that Russia tried to join NATO in the late 90s (under Putin as a PM too). Russia is currently an anti-imperialist power because of circumstance, not out of principle.

You engage them as human beings. Agree with them when you agree with them. Challenge them when they get reactionary. Be open about your politics but don’t make your entire relationship with them about politics. This is how you build trust.

Their experience will inform their ideology. And if they trust you as a person, one day they may be curious about communist thought.

Developing consciousness is a long-term battle, not an overnight one.

Idk. Yes, not disagreeing with your take on liberals. But it still is pretty alarming what Musk is doing. Even if we know the US state operates on behalf of the ruling class, it’s still unprecedented how one unelected billionaire is circumventing the modest levers of resistance the state apparatus has in order to slash public programs. In person, we shouldn’t poo-poo on people’s anxiety about it, but help them realize that this was always the end game of capitalism.

I’m so tired of working. 3 jobs and I’m still wondering if I can make my rent this month.

Ready to watch major sections of the Western left who have been calling out the media’s dishonest coverage of Gaza once again take the media bait and damn Trump for assisting the end of the Ukraine War.

Not that he’d be pursuing it for anti-imperialist reasons, like Biden pulling troops out of Afghanistan. But a positive development is still a positive development. And the Western liberal left won’t be able to recognize that.