Welcome again to everybody! Make yourself at home. Enjoy some musics. In the time-honoured tradition of our group, here is our weekly discussion thread.
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LMFAO libs trying to break chinese LLM alignment is hilarious
Better than ChatGPT that would probably flat-out avoid the question as it violates “the guidelines” (read: liberal “morality”)
based LLM
I hate how people just sit around shaking these stupid ai 8 balls and grok just aaaaa i hope they all die
Rare LLM W
Good day to all and don’t forget to always condemn condemning Hamas
Both sides are bad. Israel AND the US.
Mr Dibbler, never have I heard truer words
I am assuming it is still alright to mutter curses to the IOF?
This week’s picture is the cover of my copy of State and Revolution, so reminder, everyone needs to read it.
Imo it’s the most important political work of the 20th century.
Hope we’re all having a decent January so far, I’ve been at odds with my landlord for a while now and I can’t do much about it, but the grad keeps me sane in reminding me that I’m not the literal leech on society between the two of us.
Bruh the russians are talking about relinking the dprk with occupied korea which could be a huge step towards reunification also they’ve been really balls to the wall with rail traffic lately
clearly the puppy is not the sleepless one
wondering if i should cover the russia ukraine unit or israel palestine unit in my american studies course
i know more about ukraine russia, and have a good reference for info on it (thank you Yogthos). the book is by timothy Snyder, an eastern european turbolib. I want to argue with it so much.
but israel palestine is just a lot more. It would be bad to ignore it, and let liberals have a monopoly on the narrative. the unit is sympathetic but i can already sense ‘i condemn hamas’ from the unit.
I have some advice but I need more information on the situation before I just ramble for about a page and a half in a none sensical way, what do you mean Cover, as in write your final paper for or post about over here?
Also, I understand how the US plays a role in this, but and ESPECIALY in the Ukraine Russia, how in the Liberal World view are those events being justified in an American Studies Class in the Liberal Worldview.
what do you mean Cover, as in write your final paper for or post about over here?
basically the teams lead the discussion during the week we go over their specific unit. there are 4 units, the last two are russia ukraine and the genocide of Palestine.
How I see this trying to get the most correct information out, and the least incorrect information out for these 2 units. I will Preffice by saying that by far and away the more important issue, from where I am sitting is the Genocide in Palestine, however, there is a general concensous on most collage campuses that 1) this is a genocide and 2) genocide is bad, though this is not a universal truth, and if it seems like your class in specific is not of this mindset, OR, there seems to be one person who is really Pro Isn’treal, OR, you are much more passionate about this one than the other take this one without reading any farther.
YAY you have read farther, or I have typed this for no reason one way or the other its been typed. Here is what I would think about next, if liberals run the Russia Ukraine war, they will get roughly 0% of it correct, as most liberals I talk to can hardly fathem Russia as a rational actor in this situation, and as you said the text book is written by an eastern European turbo-lib, so the book isn’t even going to pretend to be giving a balanced or nuanced look at the issue. At this point, I would say, and its only so long as the class seems like they understand (even if its just a vibe check) that what is happening in Palestine is a Genocide and Genocide is bad, and there is not that 1 Student who is Really pro Isn’treal (because they will take it), I would personaly cover Russia Ukraine. Agian not because it is the more important, it isnt, but because the overall understanding is more likely to be layed down, or atleast underlying foundations for why this is wrong is more likely to be layed down, and the information is going to be more correct if a Liberal Collage Student handles it, if that at all makes sense.
TL;DR Assuming that this is made up of the general population of Collage Students, and there is not someone who is a Huge Zionist in the class, and your equaly passionate about them, go for the Russia Ukraine topic understanding its the less important one but by doing so more correct information will get out than if you did the reverse
Also either way, but especily if you go Russia Ukraine and go against the narrative CITE EVERYTHING METICULOUSLY, yes you might feel like a crazy person, but what you do not want is for the proff to say you did a consperecy theory or unfounded allegations, basicly you will have to cite step by step how you got to your conclusion… may or may not be a personal example in here
I’m currently reading, What Is to Be Done? by Nikolay Chernyshevsky. Does the title sound familiar? This novel had a considerable influence on Russian Marxists and particularly Lenin: he read the book countless times, practically knew it by heart, and even named his prominent pamphlet after it. Within the story, we follow Verochka, who escapes the clutches of a controlling mother and an arranged marriage in the pursuit of starting a sewing cooperative. It’s a great read so far!
I started it recently, but I’ve only read a chapter or two because I’m reading five other books simultaneously. I liked it so far. I like his “immature” style that seems to have influenced Lenin. I heard all the Bolsheviks knew it by heart and used it as a common language. I’m wondering what could be our equivalent.
Very interesting point about wondering what an equivalent could be, and I’ve been thinking the same as I read it. I’ve also wondered about my own writing and why everything I write about focuses on the pitfalls of capitalism instead of an attractive depiction of a socialist society. A shining beacon might be more useful than a reminder of the dark.
I’m studying Utopianism right now, so my thought is that we shouldn’t waste too much time dreaming about the minutia of a future society, but we definitely need to remind ourselves and others what we’re fighting for. This can be in the imagined future, but also in showing what AES has already achieved.
I don’t think it would necessarily be utopian, but a scientific examination into what one could foresee the transition into socialism looks like, and why it would be so attractive for someone who may not know anything other than their life under capitalism (or could provide revolutionary optimism for a downtrodden comrade). I’ll leave a quote from a red sails article by Roderic Day that might elucidate this idea better than I can:
“I genuinely think that if one can truly imagine in fiction a viable transition from our current state of affairs into a better one, that plays a huge role in mustering the conviction to assert that it can be achieved in reality. Conversely, if we cannot even imagine what a transition might look like in our wildest dreams, any “real” organization is doomed.”
After all, Chernyshevsky envisioned something that was likely absurd in his time, with a woman starting her own sewing cooperative, yet inspired revolutionaries for years to come with his foresight and vision.
I totally agree, in Half Earth Socialism they propose a sort of Scientific Utopianism. Their problem is they didn’t cover enough ground to truly call their proposal holistic. Also, they foolishly try to replace ML rather than using it in a anti-dogmatic way.
Interesting, I’ll have to check that out!
I’ve started reading it in December, and I’m also really liking it! Way ahead of it’s time compared to mainstream Russian politics and philosophy of the 1860s, and despite not coming into contact with Marx & Engels, Chernyshevsky’s own philosophy is remarkably close to dialectical materialism. It’s a book that should definitely be more widely known, especially among Marxists. A rare piece of great revolutionary literature!
Watched the ICJ ruling. Wholly disappointing IMO- they essentially gave a “warning” and requested Israel report back in a month. No mention of even the possibility of a ceasefire, no statement as to whether Israel’s acts and its government’s statements have constituted a genocide, simply a request for Israel to essentially ensure it does not.
The ruling was never going to change Israel’s actions anyways (but now it appears it cannot even bring itself to try), but if there is any little justice to be had in this, it is that the court has surely ruled against its legitimacy in all future rulings- maybe they will change their tune in time (doubt it) but there can be no justice to be had in Brussels, just another imperialist farce.
I laughed because I cought a glimps of the PBS reporting and from what I caught they make it aound the the ICJ made decisive action to stop tthe genocide
Several different businesses in Antwerp started banning Coca Cola from their shops because of their links to Israel
They are replacing them with a Belgian made cola
A Dutch news outlet posted a story on Instagram about a Dutch-Israeli terrorist joining the IDF and she died due to an infection. They disabled comments on the post lmao.
One of the rare times when the “heartwarming” stories in the news is actually heartwarming. May she rest in piss
Reminds me of the early Ukraine war propaganda were we used to get bombarded with random morons joining the side of Ukraine and then dying in 10 minutes
Ok wtf is happening in Texas right now? Apparently the feds and the state government are arguing about who can abuse migrants, and like half the US states are supporting Texas, but I don’t know more than this.
It would be funny if after weeks of European saber rattling about going to war with Russia, the US would go into an internal dispute and be a useless ally.
I’d love to see a balkanization speedrun (any%) followed by a 4K decolonization longplay
Lemme copypaste what I wrote in another thread -
Texas set up razor wire on the border. Feds want to cut some of it. Texas sued the Feds to ban them from cutting the razor wire and the Supreme Court narrowly overturned the ban that Texas sought. The Feds are being told they can take down Texas’ wires but Texas can replace them, only to be taken down again by the Feds. A lot of boba liberals are acting like the Texas Governor is standing against the Supreme Court but all the Supreme Court said was that the Feds aren’t banned from cutting wire (so long as it obstructs them? unclear because the entire decision is two fucking sentences).
In my opinion, this is little more than yet another crack in the legitimacy but a lot of people are reading this as a powder keg waiting to explode if Biden doesn’t handle this carefully, potentially leading to a secession crisis (which admittedly, would be great).
In short -
Idk
Yesterday I was finally able to apply to be a party member and today I have gotten back to work. I am really anxious regarding the geography exam I have to take before university, I feel like every minute is filled with fear until May. At least I have gotten back to reading, I’ll try to catch up to the reading group on the long run. Health is fine, thank you for the cheers.
Have a nice Lenin themed week comrades.
I made the big leap and applied to become a member of the PSL yesterday! Not sure what will happen, but the opportunity to make a positive difference in the world makes me feel very excited about the future.
I want to buy an NKVD uniform.
Just finished reading Parenti’s Assassination of Julius Caeser, and it was fantastic. I particularly loved his breakdown at the end of the book about the pitfalls of studying classical history and the barriers put in place that contribute to the narratives around it formed by “gentlemen historians” over the centuries.
