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  • 777 [none/use name]
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    4 years ago

    the GOP is on track to retain the senate and has a supreme court majority - in theory these are things that would help trump but you're also seeing GOP leadership coming to the conclusion they don't necessarily need trump (or at least trump-in-power) to harness his populism or to completely hamstring an incoming biden administration that is already playing the suck-up "bipartisan" game for them anyway. like, are any of them really ready to balkanize the US over donald trump (or more specifically to stop joe fucking biden? of course not).

    and even from trump's perspective - this is a guy who is dumb as fuck and his reputation for taking his ball and going at the slightest sign of adversity is legendary - when the rubber hits the road, what do you think is more attractive to him? risking life and limb and an actual military action for 4 more years? or negotiating some immunity/pardon as a goodwill measure and then fucking off to make tons of money running Trump TV for 10 years or more?

    i genuinely thought shit might pop off on election day and it didn't - in fact the opposite happened and despite both sides converging during a tense moment Philadelphia ended up turning into a mini-dance party. it's hard to visualize anything that could be incendiary enough to generate enough popular support (even among chuds) to galvanize a coup. i guess if i'm wrong you can screenshot this and be like "lol u thought" but - nah.

  • TheWM_ [she/her,they/them]
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    4 years ago

    No lol, he's just throwing a temper tantrum. Trump is too stupid to actually pull off a coup.

      • emizeko [they/them]
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        4 years ago

        he fell into it ass-backwards because he's a savant at being famous, but it won't help him pull off a coup

        • InnuendOwO [she/her]
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          4 years ago

          yeah i'm still increasingly convinced he just did it to bolster his name so he could spin up a right-wing media empire to challenge Murdoch or something but somehow fucked up spectacularly and ended up here

          • Pezevenk [he/him]
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            4 years ago

            When he ends up not doing a coup, are you gonna take the lesson and stop making hyperbolic predictions or are you gonna keep doing it anyways? Because I don't see many of the "leave America while there is time, there will be mass violence and war after the election" really taking to heart the lesson. There is literally 0 reason for a coup to happen other than "Trump wants it" which isn't good enough.

            • anthm17 [he/him]
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              4 years ago

              He's transparently trying to do a coup and mocking him as incompetent instead of taking it seriously is how you end up with him winning again.

              I don't think he can do a coup. I don't think he has the support. He's still trying, and that's still a really fucking bad thing.

              Is Bill Barr just a savant at being famous?

              • Pezevenk [he/him]
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                4 years ago

                He's not "trying" to do a coup. That's not how you "try" to do a coup. It's not a serious effort and it's absolutely nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter if he is competent or not. A coup does not happen just because some moron wishes it, even if they are president. Trump probably knows it. That's not why he is doing all the noise.

                • anthm17 [he/him]
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                  4 years ago

                  No a coup takes planning. Moving your peple into position. Drumming up support. maybe manufacturing a narrative to try and give it some legitimacy.

                  • Pezevenk [he/him]
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                    4 years ago

                    Lmao that is literally 100% ahistorical.

      • TheWM_ [she/her,they/them]
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        4 years ago

        Trump getting elected was somewhat a miracle. 2016 should have been an easy win for Hillary, but she somehow managed to lose to Donald fucking Trump.

        • phimosis__jones [he/him]
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          4 years ago

          2016 should have been an easy win for the democrat, there could never have been an easy win for Hillary because almost everyone who doesn't live in New York, DC or San Francisco hates her fucking guts.

        • joshuaism [he/him]
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          4 years ago

          Same for 2020? or were both teams trying to throw the game?

      • DasKarlBarx [he/him,comrade/them]
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        4 years ago

        On almost complete accident, though. He was (reportedly) not trying to win and (reportedly) wanted to parlay the run at president into a news network.

      • Libleaningleft [none/use name]
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        4 years ago

        So did Bush 2. I don't think you need to be smart to do that. You just need someone smart to run shit. Bush had Rove and Trump had Conway.

          • Libleaningleft [none/use name]
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            4 years ago

            True. But what he doesn't have is the backing of capital or the media. There just isn't enough to get the bourgeoisie and the general PMC to go along with it.

            • anthm17 [he/him]
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              4 years ago

              What he probably doesn't have is enough control over the military.

              You're talking about media while his supporters are soaking up OANN on facebook (and worse for the younger ones).

              • Libleaningleft [none/use name]
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                4 years ago

                Those are both fair points but if the BLM protests and the right wing reactions to them taught me anything it's that most trump supporters are to fat and lazy to do the boogaloo. They would get in board if it's done for them but we're talking about his most devoted and those willing to take to the streets for nights on end. Without capital, a larger media support, and the military I don't see it happening. Then again, I thought Hillary would win in 2016 so there's no reason to think I'm right but that's my guess.

          • Libleaningleft [none/use name]
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            4 years ago

            Honestly, the newest Ep of TMBS got into this a bit but I think capital will find more opportunities without Trump, especially while giving some suggestion of stability amid the pandemic and coming economic crash. I'll link it here. It's worth a listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsACy2PDDLI

  • D61 [any]
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    4 years ago

    Trump is such a wild card that its really hard to tell how much is just "show and spectacle" and what might be an honest attempt at a coup.

    I've never given Trump much credit for actually wanting anything beyond attention and adulation, so like, how much work would he want to have to do to get a coup going?

    It doesn't really seem like there is a block of behind the scenes power brokers wanting him to stay as a figurehead either. The long game right wingers already got more Tax Cuts and the Supreme Court packed so they don't really need him any more. Biden is a calm conservative which might be better for the stock market and business deregulation projects.

  • ProfessionalSlacker
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    4 years ago

    He'll be removed from the White House but spend the next four years insisting to his supporters that he's the legitimate President in exile after the Deep State performed a coup for Joe Biden, and the hogs are going to become even more like Mad Max characters. He'll have his own cabinet of loyalists, probably a lot of Q anon supporters, and like others said he'll basically be the anti-President.

    • TomCotton [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      America's Juan Guiado, just declaring himself president

      • SoyViking [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        In a stroke of irony the government of Venezuela is going to recognise him as the legitimate president and hand over the US embassy in Caracas to him.

  • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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    4 years ago

    Capital wants Biden

    It wants a retrenched empire for the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie whereas Trump represents the local booj. They seem him as a liability

    However if Trumps coup gains traction they will switch quite quickly to supporting Trump because if Trump absolutely hunkers down they won't want Biden pushing "too far" to discredit bourgeois democracy

    In all honesty I'm excited :sicko-yes:

    • DasKarlBarx [he/him,comrade/them]
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      4 years ago

      Yeah can't wait for people to die over which braindead boomer oversees the last days of the worlds largest pyramid scheme. Real exciting.

      • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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        4 years ago

        Revolution ain't a tea party

        Under Heaven there is chaos - the situation is perfect

        Revolutions are the locomotive of history

        The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains

        You cannot make a revolution in white gloves

        etc. etc. ad infinitum

        And honestly, if you end up dying for either Biden or Trump who cares

        • DasKarlBarx [he/him,comrade/them]
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          4 years ago

          This isn't a revolution, there will be no change in who holds power in the United States over this.

          You can keyboard warrior all you want, and quote whatever revolutionaries you want while you're checking your phone on the toilet but even though you may not be actual people are affected by this.

          And honestly, if you end up dying for either Biden or Trump who cares

          Yeah who cares about innocent people caught in the crossfire. Fuck them, right?

          • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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            4 years ago

            Yeah who cares about innocent people caught in the crossfire. Fuck them, right?

            If they're democrats or republicans why do I care?

            They've cheered for the slaughter of peoples across the entire globe and in the case of Dems wouldn't even promise to give people healthcare during a pandemic

            Fuck them, right?

            Yes.

            • Bedandsofa [he/him]
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              4 years ago

              Edgy.

              If they’re democrats or republicans why do I care?

              150 million people voted for either the Dems or Republicans in the last election. A majority of the adult population of the United States. If you want to be a communist in any sense other than internet posturing, a big chunk of that number is the working class you need to engage with politically.

              The Democratic and Republican parties, as state-aligned political vehicles, are not interchangeable with the millions of people who vote for them because they are effectively the only two options available in bourgeois elections in the US. They aren't even parties in the sense that membership is available, and it's not like voters' preferences actually determine the vast majority of what those parties do when in power (case in point: healthcare).

              • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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                4 years ago

                150 million people voted for either the Dems or Republicans in the last election. A majority of the adult population of the United States. If you want to be a communist in any sense other than internet posturing, a big chunk of that number is the working class you need to engage with politically.

                150 million members of the labour aristocracy that have long ago decided that their material wealth is tied to US imperialism which manifests (far outside the realm of political parties) in putting dead animals on the porch of the soldier that stopped My Lai massacre in the Vietnam invasion (while decorating the soldiers that did it) right up to telling half the population their "unamerican" for protesting the Empires Wars

                Edgy.

                You can call it edgy all you like but if you ever pointed out to the majority of Americans how the US has turned the rest of the world into a slave labour camp to satisfy they're endless material greed they're general sentiment is "sucks to be them".

                If you or me were ever to point out to the average American that 12 million Russians died during the 1990s of capitalist restoration helped on by the US - do you think the average American would respond with empathy?

                Or do you think they'd respond with "sucks to suck"

                No, then why should I?

                Do I think the US empire can ever decline in such a nature to avoid a catastrophe like what the Russians went through?

                No - then, sucks to suck

                If you want to be a communist in any sense other than internet posturing, a big chunk of that number is the working class you need to engage with politically.

                Not american so sucks to suck. And even if I was I'd accept that my role as a communist in America is to bring the Empire to its knees - not organise for higher wages on the Death Star

                • Bedandsofa [he/him]
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                  4 years ago

                  To bring the empire to its knees is going to require a massive organized force, like say the US working class organized in its own class interest.

                  Your analysis of imperialism and labor aristocracy is absolute trash. Is the astronomical wealth generated by US capitalism flowing into the hands of the more than 40% of Americans who can't afford a $400 emergency expense? Does it lie with the 1/4 American households that have faced food insecurity in 2020? The objective majority of American workers who live paycheck to paycheck?

                  Or has it been reaped by the capitalists, the class whose interests give rise to imperialism and who own the apparatuses of imperialism and who pocket the profits of international capitalist exploitation?

                  You bullshit your way into the idea of a 150 million person "labor aristocracy," obscuring class divisions during what is probably the most intense period of class differentiation in US history: the period after the postwar boom where living standards for the US working class is declining, while the capitalists hoard wealth in historic quantities.

                  Are you so terminally online and disconnected that you think most working class Americans celebrate the My Lai massacre, or even know what that was?

                  If you or me were ever to point out to the average American that 12 million Russians died during the 1990s of capitalist restoration helped on by the US - do you think the average American would respond with empathy?

                  Yea I'm pretty sure I could get quite a few empathetic responses from pointing that out. I'm a trot, so I literally and routinely have friendly conversations about socialism with strangers on the street and at protests, and it helps that more than 50% of people under the age of 30 in the US are sympathetic to socialism. Being that you're not from the US, did you miss that 25 million people protested against racism and police brutality in the US this summer? Quite a few of those people are looking for a way out of a racist capitalist status quo.

                  You on the other hand, hold American workers responsible for the crimes of their ruling class in a way that 1) is bullshit, not grounded in conditions or consciousness as they actually exist, and 2) isn't going to win anyone to your position. So I can see how you might struggle to build a connection.

                  not organise for higher wages on the Death Star

                  Yikes. In retrospect, I'd actually like to see you explain to folks who are legitimately struggling to provide a comfortable life for themselves and their families that, by virtue of being born in the US, they work on a project equivalent to the death star and do not deserve basic improvements to their quality of life.

                  • Nuttula [comrade/them]
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                    4 years ago

                    You bullshit your way into the idea of a 150 million person “labor aristocracy,” obscuring class divisions during what is probably the most intense period of class differentiation in US history: the period after the postwar boom where living standards for the US working class is declining, while the capitalists hoard wealth in historic quantities.

                    Your argument here is not an answer both things are true from a Marxist perspective.

                    There is a labor aristocracy in the west compared to the rest of the world, while simultaneously it doesn't mean the person lining up to get their food stamps are part of the PMC or aren't exploited workers. Yes America is a heavily class divided country, but on a relative analysis America is also the imperial core profiting heavily from it. Nobody is "obscuring" anything by pointing out exactly who and where the imperial core is. At the same time nobody(at least nobody arguing in good faith) is "blaming" the American worker for simply being born there and benefiting from it. Yet it seems pointing this out is an incredible offense...

                    In general Americans do enjoy benefits from imperialism and this is a very important part to understanding their material interests, Sanders voters want healthcare but you aren't going to convince them we should be building hospitals in Africa first, Sanders himself is a disgraced imperialist and that is the farthest left you got for over 50 years or whatever, the most you'll get is some non-answer like "we can do both(just don't ask with what money and who is going there). In general the American "left" just wants to redistribute the share of the spoils of imperialism, which to them is just reduced to something something big corporations and billionaires blah blah. There is no understanding that the majority of these profits come from direct foreign operations or rely heavily upon it.

                    You on the other hand, hold American workers responsible for the crimes of their ruling class in a way that 1) is bullshit, not grounded in conditions or consciousness as they actually exist, and 2) isn’t going to win anyone to your position. So I can see how you might struggle to build a connection.

                    The thing is people on this community don't always want to hear the hard truths about what a revolution means, I am not American so my view is certainly biased, however from a global perspective we shouldn't blame ourselves or our ideology for the results of the absolute destructive mentality of capitalism. The harsh response to his point of view is proof of this. Everyone here memes about revolution and change and death to Amerikka and all that but the moment someone seriously defends civil war or balkanization regardless of the consequences then he is being petty or cruel.

                    Alas just arguing that there will be innocents who suffer is a meaningless construct, who is innocent, from what perspective and based on what metric? A revolution is an explicit statement of the end justify the means and if you don't accept this premise then you are not realy ready to fight for it, or any sort of meaningful change realy. You'll always be at the mercy of the fascists who threaten you with killing innocent children or woman or worse, "Capitalism/America is too big to fail".

                    Ultimately if there is Balkanization or anything like it will be because at every single step of the way, both the American population and the capitalist ruling class have taken steps(sometimes very wrong steps) towards it. It is not the socialists/communists fault for realizing this and planning for this and ultimately unironically supporting it.

                    Our task is to use the opportunity towards our own goals not to be a nanny of the fascist capitalist state trying to stop it from destroying itself. Our duty is to the masses and ensuring we can make the least amount of people suffer while working towards our goal. If at some point you replace the goal with just being scared of the consequences then you already lost.

                    • Bedandsofa [he/him]
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                      4 years ago

                      New account, first post halfway down a thread--forget to sign out of your alt?

                      Nobody is “obscuring” anything by pointing out exactly who and where the imperial core is

                      In general Americans do enjoy benefits from imperialism and this is a very important part to understanding their material interests

                      ^^ This is obscuring class divisions in a blatant and obvious way. Obviously there is no "in general" with respect to the spoils of imperialism. The profits of capital investment go to the capitalists doing the investing, everything else is just table scraps.

                      Sure, many american workers enjoy a relatively higher quality of life than they would if they lived on the receiving end of imperialism, by virtue of higher levels of development and higher profits for american capitalists. Turns out that's not actually enough of a lift to provide an adequate quality of life for a large percentage of the US working class, especially as wages have been stagnant for 40 years while the costs of housing, transportation, education, and other fundamentals, continue to rise. It is not an exaggeration that more than 25% of US households with children have faced food insecurity in the past year.

                      (And since you lot always bring up healthcare paid by the spoils of imperialism--did those voters actually get health care? Or any other meaningful reform? Or is there still austerity for US workers and unfathomable wealth for US capitalists? )

                      On the flip side, because the level of development of the productive forces is relatively higher in the US, American workers stand to gain considerably more in the event of working class ownership and control of production. This is the class interest of the US working class, and just like in every other nation, the class interest of the working class is fundamentally opposed to that of the exploiting class. The workers of the US objectively stand to gain in overthrowing US capitalism, and to pretend that the material interest of american workers is aligned with continued imperialism, is to pretend that our class interest is identical to the capitalists who draw profits from the exploitation of workers domestically and abroad.

                      The thing is people on this community don’t always want to hear the hard truths about what a revolution means

                      From your analysis, I'd say you know basically nothing about revolution is, and even less about the material conditions for workers in the United States. If you think balkanization of the US, along the lines of sectionalism pushed by the ruling class, is progressive, you don't have a Marxist understanding of historical development, much less revolution. That process, which is not even likely to happen, is not revolutionary; there is no change to the productive or social relations.

                  • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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                    4 years ago

                    Your analysis of imperialism and labor aristocracy is absolute trash.

                    No it's not. Even the least class conscious American understands at a material level (though they may not be able to put it into marxist terminology) that they benefit from US imperialism and extending US tentacles worldwide. It's why when US goes to war it does so with an outright majority (50%+) against whatever country the US declares the new enemy.

                    Yea I’m pretty sure I could get quite a few empathetic responses from pointing that out. I’m a trot, so I literally and routinely have friendly conversations about socialism with strangers on the street and at protests, and it helps that more than 50% of people under the age of 30 in the US are sympathetic to socialism. Being that you’re not from the US, did you miss that 25 million people protested against racism and police brutality in the US this summer? Quite a few of those people are looking for a way out of a racist capitalist status quo.

                    The BLM movement represents Social fascism as outlined by Stalin - ie. Social-democracy as the twin pillar of fascism. The BLM movement under this context is an oppressed group seeking to enter the Labour Aristocracy. There is zero internationalism in this movement

                    Firstly, it is not true that fascism is only the fighting organisation of the bourgeoisie. Fascism is not only a military-technical category. Fascism is the bourgeoisie’s fighting organisation that relies on the active support of Social-Democracy. Social-Democracy is objectively the moderate wing of fascism. There is no ground for assuming that the fighting organisation of the bourgeoisie can achieve decisive successes in battles, or in governing the country, without the active support of Social-Democracy. There is just as little ground for thinking that Social-Democracy can achieve decisive successes in battles, or in governing the country, without the active support of the fighting organisation of the bourgeoisie. These organisations do not negate, but supplement each other. They are not antipodes, they are twins. Fascism is an informal political bloc of these two chief organisations; a bloc, which arose in the circumstances of the post-war crisis of imperialism, and which is intended for combating the proletarian revolution. The bourgeoisie cannot retain power without such a bloc. It would therefore be a mistake to think that “pacifism” signifies the liquidation of fascism. In the present situation, “pacifism” is the strengthening of fascism with its moderate, Social-Democratic wing pushed into the forefront. - Stalin, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/09/20.htm

                    Black Lives Matter indeed but nothing is said about the 27 million Yemenese that are starving due to US blockade or the slave markets in Libya due to US foreign policy. Ad inifiitum for the entire continent of Africa. BLM is not a revolutionary movement but a liberal movement seeking a greater share of the imperial pie

                    Are you so terminally online and disconnected that you think most working class Americans celebrate the My Lai massacre, or even know what that was?

                    I gave one example of how the American public treats both war criminals and those who stop war crimes.

                    I can name a million others though...How about Chris Kyle celebrated in American Sniper?

                    I’m a trot

                    So we don't have to worry about socialist revolution anytime soon then eh? (Just kidding!)

                    Yikes. In retrospect, I’d actually like to see you explain to folks who are legitimately struggling to provide a comfortable life for themselves and their families that, by virtue of being born in the US, they work on a project equivalent to the death star and do not deserve basic improvements to their quality of life.

                    People say abolish the police because the US police is very similar (though not on scale) as the SS. You can't work in the SS and make the SS more of a "public good". It needed to be abolished.

                    US needs to be abolished. I didn't even think this was that controversial a point on this site.

                    • Bedandsofa [he/him]
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                      4 years ago

                      “The BLM movement represents social fascism as outlined by Stalin,” is hands down the worst take I’ve read on this website, and in and of itself demonstrates that you are literally incapable of applying Marxist analysis to a concrete social movement, an expression of rage and discontent shared by millions.

                      The protests this summer were largely spontaneous mass protests against police brutality and racism that involved tens of millions of working class people. Because it did not spontaneously generate flawless class consciousness among its participants, which is literally never something that happens with mass movements of any sort, you rush to categorize it as “social fascism.”

                      If mass movements spontaneously generated internationalist, Marxist perspectives, there would be no need for communists, as any effort would be redundant. But because that literally never happens, we use Marxism to analyze these movements, not for the purpose of categorization, which is what you’re doing, but for the purpose of comprehending and intervening in those movements to bring a Marxist perspective.

                      “an oppressed group seeking to enter the Labour Aristocracy”

                      That’s your explanation of the struggle against racism in the US? Lol.

                      Social fascism was a trash theory in the 20th century and is a dumpster fire of an approach when you retrofit it to “explain” a large protest movement against racism.

                      You’re honestly one of the least competent, “Marxists” I’ve ever come across.

                      • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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                        4 years ago

                        Aight

                        Let's see what a subreddit of actual well-read communists think on the US situation

                        https://old.reddit.com/r/EuropeanSocialists/comments/jmzsjm/on_the_us_elections/?sort=top

                        Versus someone that's been suckered into trotskyism - an opportunist trend in Marxism that hasn't produced a revolution in it's entire existence

                          • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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                            4 years ago

                            Oh no...

                            Apologies sir, I'll get to reading trotskyite theory pronto

                            https://hexbear.net/post/24919

                            • JuneFall [none/use name]
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                              4 years ago

                              That is a fun read, good you know it.

                              In case it is supposed to insult Trotski for fucking around (instead of splittering stuff again and again e.g. in terms of the namesake movements) some people with favoritable views of Staling might want to be cautious, since Stalin was basically a libertarian who fucked underaged people, hit and abused them.

                      • JuneFall [none/use name]
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                        4 years ago

                        I would like to add that labour aristocracy ("Arbeiter_innenaristokrat_innen") is a term that has plenty of history. It got a tradition before Lenin's Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism, it got a new finding of the term in it (which if you read it reduced, is every core worker benefits from imperialism - even in a sloppy reading as every single individual worker, instead of structurally by higher wages, hegemony etc.). After Lenin's establishment of the term there was also an evolution of the term in parallel paths which are not integratable (one is the Stalinist tradition of it used internally in the Soviet Union).

                        The reading of the term here is in my opinion a sloppy populist variation of a mix of a close readin gof Lenin's term with a lot of Stalinist sloppyness in it.

                        The other general thing I would like to add is that while I support longer analysis the transfer of theoretical frameworks to specific historical settings, events and groups is often not as easy as one thinks and without lot of data might lead to misunderstandings. In this situation the view of BLM is skewed since theoretical means are stretched beyond their usefulness and there is not even a goal to separate what exactly is going on.

                      • JuneFall [none/use name]
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                        4 years ago

                        In case of reductionist to useless class analysis of Steel you are also right, however in the way you present the way I would disagree.

                        Capitalism will always lead to shitty situations in the US, the problem is not the disparity in wealth in the US, the problem is capitalism, which naturally has become global.

                        Steel's position amounts to: Nothing in the US is good, since nothing in a core can be good, so no group that does anything there can be good and any group that is there is labour aristocracy which means that they can't be good and do no good. Which is kind of a silly position, but it is fair to be a Third World Revolutionist. There is no law anymore against that.

                        In my opinion it is a bad take partially cause the US will have productive forces and wealth and power and all that including well established military that might side with the Counterrevolution and Reaction aka the Fascists when push comes to shove.

                        • Bedandsofa [he/him]
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                          4 years ago

                          Bringing up the wealth disparities was more to point out that you have to ignore both class differentiation in the US and conditions as they actually exist to arrive at the conclusion that the entirety of the US working class are labor aristocrats, receiving some special privilege for cooperation with the bourgeoisie.

                          • JuneFall [none/use name]
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                            4 years ago

                            I get what you say, Steel's term of "labor aristocracy" is separated from those facts, as he uses them in a reduced Leninist sense, so that there doesn't have to be specific benefit as being part of the core is enough.

                            In terms of materialist analysis your point is in my opinion strong as it holds up that it can't be enough for us to have a term from one interpretation of theoretical framework that categorial contains the group we talk about, but doesn't allow us to differentiate farhter (if at all that is your goal).

            • DasKarlBarx [he/him,comrade/them]
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              4 years ago

              You realize it's going to be more than just Democrats and Republicans who get caught up in this, right? This isn't a movie where only those involved in the storyline get hurt.

              • JoeySteel [comrade/them]
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                4 years ago

                And do you realise when we post a flag of US on fire its not to be an edgelord?

                I wish balkanisation process could be peaceful (which is more than what USians gave Yugoslavia, iraq syria libya)

                Unfortunately it could never be peaceful - doesnt mean i dont still want US to balkanise

                • DasKarlBarx [he/him,comrade/them]
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                  4 years ago

                  And do you realise when we post a flag of US on fire its not to be an edgelord?

                  Then I hope you're out doing something about it, putting your own life on the line. Because otherwise that's all you are.

        • Libleaningleft [none/use name]
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          4 years ago

          Hey dude, Foucault might have been on some lib shit but he was right that power and the state just reassert themselves. I don't think he's doing a coup. He's not that invested and he's need media to get on board with capital to back him.

    • Pezevenk [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      Jesus Christ stop with the terrible analysis, when will you people learn?

    • anthm17 [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      Capital wants Biden.

      Trump sends in a team of marines to beat a single digit billionaire to death.

      Capital is fine with Trump.

      • anthm17 [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Oh what's that the most self serving of capitalists is going to exhibit class loyalty when he has an advantage?

        Oh well I guess I'm wrong then.

    • NeoJuliette [she/her,comrade/them]
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      4 years ago

      You are surprised to find me so calm in the midst of crime? Let me then say a few words apropos. I fain would have you become as apathetic as I—and I think you soon shall. I noticed yesterday that you were struck, even startled, by my equanimity in the thick of the horrors we were committing and I seem to remember that you accused me of lacking pity for the men our debauchery sacrificed.

      Oh, Juliette, banish all doubt thereof: Nature has arranged everything, informed everything, hers is the responsibility for all you see and all there is. Has she given equal strength, equal beauty, equal grace to all the creatures wrought by her hand? Of course not. Since she desires that each particular thing or constitution have its particular contour or hue, so also she wills that fates and fortunes be not alike. The luckless ones chance puts in our clutches, or who excite our passions, have their place in Nature’s scheme as do the stars in the firmament and the sun that gives us light; and ’tis as certain an evil one commits in meddling with this wise economy as ’twould be were one to confound cosmic operations, were that crime within the scope of our possibilities…

  • Pezevenk [he/him]
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    edit-2
    4 years ago

    Nah he knows he's gone. He'll go eventually but he'll keep pretending he is the legitimate president after he is gone and his fan base will lap it up. That's who all the noise is for, the crazed chuds.

    • Runcible [none/use name]
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      4 years ago

      To be fair I've also been looking forward to calling him "president in exile Trump"

  • Leon_Grotsky [comrade/them]
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    4 years ago

    I would not be surprised to find out he's on a coke and burger bender and is flailing. I really don't see how they can pull off an actual coup with no ground support and against the interest of capital.

      • Leon_Grotsky [comrade/them]
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        edit-2
        4 years ago

        -2018

        -wake up feeling sick after a late night of playing video games

        -excited to play some halo 2k19

        -"xbox on"

        -...

        -"XBOX ON"

        -"Please verify that you are "annon332" by saying "Doritos™ Dew™ it right!"

        -"Doritos™ Dew™ it right"

        -"ERROR! Please drink a verification can"

        -reach into my Doritos™ Mountain Dew™ Halo 2k19™ War Chest

        -only a few cans left, needed to verify 14 times last night

        -still feeling sick from the 14

        -force it down and grumble out "mmmm that really hit the spot"

        -xbox does nothing

        -i attempt to smile

        -"Connecting to verification server"

        -...

        -"Verification complete!"

        -finally

        -boot up halo 2k19

        -finding multiplayer match...

        -"ERROR! User attempting to steal online gameplay!"

        -my mother just walked in the room

        -"Adding another user to your pass, this will be charged to your credit card. Do you accept?"

        -"NO!"

        -"Console entering lock state!"

        -"to unlock drink verification can"

        -last can

        -"WARNING, OUT OF VERIFICATION CANS, an order has been shipped and charged to your credit card"

        -drink half the can, oh god im going to be sick

        -pour the last half out the window

        -"PIRACY DETECTED! PLEASE COMPLETE THIS ADVERTISEMENT TO CONTINUE"

        -the mountain dew ad plays

        -i have to dance for it

        -feeling so sick

        -makes me sing along

        -dancing and singing

        -"mountain dew is for me and you"

        -throw up on my self

        -throw up on my tv and entertainment system

        -router shorts

        -"ERROR NO CONNECTION! XBOX SHUTTING OFF"

        -"PLEASE DRINK VERIFICATION CAN TO CONTINUE"

  • star_wraith [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    I think it's as simple as: Trump plans to hole up in the white house, and he thinks if he has a couple of his guys in senior leadership positions in the military, they won't physically remove him so he gets to be president forever.

    It's kinda like in Forgetting Sarah Marshall when Jason Segel refuses to get dressed because once he's dressed his gf is gonna have the conversation with him where she says she wants to break up.

    • TomCotton [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      I too expected far more violence, but as it turns out Trump is too incompetent even to turn his fanatical supporters into helping him forcefully hold power.

  • Rodentsteak [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    Of course he's not gonna pull off a coup. The military has no reason to support a Trump coup, and while the police might want to there's nothing to suggest it's going to happen, half his own staff are openly calling for him to concede, and if anything was going to happen we'd know about it by now because the Trump administration has more leaks than a collander.

  • bilb [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    Those two things are not mutually exclusive, but I agree with mister Carter.