Should I text the Parenti unfalsifiable orthodoxy quote in a group text to all of my relatives? No, I am not currently engaged in any discussions related to capitalist media and its portrayal of the socialist world.
Edit: I'm not really gonna do this. I don't have an extended family group chat.
I find that a giant block of texts makes peoples eyes glaze over and they skip right past it. You've gotta break it down into bite-sized, conversation friendly chunks.
This. Just drop in snippets like "china lockdown economy, but also china open kill?!?"
anyone born in 20th century amerika was heavily propagandized against communism. even the fucking simpsons "in theory" quote is enough to stop any gen-x/millennial from thinking seriously about communism. send it
China's lockdowns, they just want to oppress and control. Lift the lockdowns, they just want to kill off a large segment of the population. So says my sister. She's mostly smart and kind but she still falls for the propaganda like it's hot gossip, a kind of Cause célèbre.
it must be kinda nice to go through life without object permanence
Wait until it's applicable don't just drop it randomly. Somebody is gonna link a China Bad article at some point probably.
“During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime's atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn't go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.”
:parenti:
it would be funny, and it would make for some absolutely dreary conversations at the next family function, so go for it
