them, doesn't matter too much
Marxist-Leninist ☭
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37m ago

What's with users of fediverse using 'Go back to reddit' as a retort to other users?
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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 37m ago
To be fair, Lemmy.ml is the dev instance, and Lemmy was made very specifically to not have the problems Reddit has.

40m ago

All according to keikaku

Once again, Geneva's normally decent political instincts end up running the wrong way, and is why Geneva should read anti-imperialist theory if Geneva wants to understand how the world works. Attacking Iran is a bipartisan project decades in the making. Trump does not need a distraction from the Epstein files, this was always intended to happen, and by shifting the blame to trying to distract from the Epstein files you miss how this is advancing very rational imperialist goals of eradicating any resistance to western plundering in the middle East.

I hate the argument of "just read theory!" As much as I believe one should read theory, just telling people to do so won't make it happen. However, there are clear limits to political instincts without solid backing in political theory and this is a prime example of it.

44m ago

Sometimes AmeriKKKan troops get what they give

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 44m ago

This is phrasemongering class reductionism. The principle contradiction in the world right now is imperialism, which the US Empire is at the head of.

1h ago

What's with users of fediverse using 'Go back to reddit' as a retort to other users?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 1h ago

Longer answer: Lemmy was originally founded by a bunch of Marxist-Leninists and socialists of similar stripes (that’s what the .ml stands for)

Technically .ml stands for Mali, and was chosen because the domain is cheap. Ended up being a bit of a funny coincedence.

2h ago

Protestation

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 2h ago

Super-Imperialism by Michael Hudson

The global south is smart enough to figure this out, which is why the west installs compradors.

3h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 3h ago

Same reason the various right wings can overlook that Trump is very obviously not interested in Christianity, free markets, the white race, or anything else that’s not about enriching Trump. They think strongman is going to bring about the world they want by destroying their enemies for them.

Even if this was true, Stalin is dead and isn't going to be doing anything ever again. No, people defend the soviet union for its progressive achievements, and part of that defense requires a more realistic evaluation of Stalin's role. Marxists don't care about "strong men," but we have to deal with westerners that have been taught that Stalin was the soviet union. There's many layers that need to be broken down.

George Orwell kept having to write books warning his fellow socialists not to fall into authoritarian thinking, it’s so prevalent.

Orwell was a sex abuser and British fed, that kept lists of people he suspected were Jewish and/or communists, that he would use to snitch. Orwell is a terrible example of a socialist, and his works are so widespread in western countries specifically because they demonize socialism from a young age.

4h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 4h ago

From the source linked:

EU membership ought to have been a boon for Poland, a country which in 2004 was still recovering from the dead years of communism. Access to Western European markets ought to have supercharged that recovery.
Initially that is what seemed to happen. Between 1992-2004 the Polish economy more than doubled in size from just under $100billion to $250billion, according to the World Bank. Between 2004 and 2008 it doubled again to peak at $500billion. But since then Polish GDP has flatlined.
Of course the global recession of 2008/09 affected all economies yet for the Polish economy to be a little smaller in 2015 than it was in 2008 is a shocking indictment of EU membership. The EU has managed to turn a high-growth economy into a stagnant one.

Why was Polish GDP flatlining? Why did millions leave Poland?

I literally send you a credible source that shows its similar to 1985 year. Are you saying that it was high during USSR occupation or ignoring the source?

Not only is the gini coefficient misleading, but it only goes back to 1985 in your source. Upon the adoption of capitalism, Poland has had unstable growth to even flatlining, is now being sold out to foreign companies, and again, has purged its left in favor of the far-right.

4h ago

Dialectical Materalism: How to Think Like a Marxist

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 4h ago

Agreed, and thanks!

4h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 4h ago

Because Paul Cockshott is an economist, and references real facts in his review. Just what I had on hand. Here's a grab from the PDF:

13h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 13h ago

No, it was not "everyone in the free Poland." Many Polish people opposed the dissolution of socialism. Further, disparity in Poland is high, and the foreign companies plundering Poland is a direct consequence of the dissolution of socialism, purging of the left, and the dominance of the far-right.

14h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 14h ago

7.7 million excess deaths in the first year. Stop minimizing millions of deaths.

14h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 14h ago

So in other words, the far-right used the standard red-scare playbook to purge communists and socialists, and now Poland has immense disparity and is entirely controlled by the far-right.

14h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 14h ago

Poland, prior to socialism, was 2/3rds controlled by foreign capital, and was severely lagging behind the rest of Europe industrially. By 1948, Poland's industrial output was 153% of what it had been in 1938. Post-war, the economy grew over 300% from 1945 to 1948.

In the 1930s, Polish life expectancy was ~46 years old. After the introduction of socialism, and improved healthcare, it reached 70. Before socialism, literacy rates were ~80% in urban areas and ~30% in rural areas. With socialism, total literacy rates were 98%. With socialism came legalized abortion and greatly expanded women's rights.

The dissolution of socialism, as I said, brought ~7 million deaths around the world. You didn't dispute that, the argument seems to be on your end that these were necessary for economic growth. What Poland could have done is remain socialist.

15h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 15h ago

Mhm. I get that your country is hostile to the world and its own citizens. I do. But that doesn’t make Stalin - or any era USSR - good.

The USSR was good based on its own progressive merits.

From your post I can see you preemptively dismiss any critisizm or argument and while you said MLs don’t idealise Stalin, it seems that you do.

I don't.

I’m from Poland. To us, to a country betrayed by the Allies and sold to Stalin, their occupation did not bring prosperity, or equality, nor socialism.

I've spoken to people from Poland that have the opposite to say. The fall of socialism in Poland brought a dramatic collapse in any kind of left, which is why Poland is so far-right today.

We were systematically robbed by the USSR from the wealth, intellect and industry (as noted by then governments and listed as a plea for USSR to stop), we were made take loans to invest in the Empire, while staying a satelite country. We did call then the Red Army - Red Locust. You need to realise that when you glorify it, you automatically dismiss our traumatic past. It is like getting told by a stupid child that if we’re hungry we should eat cake.

Again, I've heard much the opposite. That's why anecdotes are terrible measures of truth. The collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe brought skyrocketing poverty rates, prostitutuon, drug abuse, homelessness, and 7 million excess deaths.

Since USA wages war outside its territory and was never invaded, you might not know that trauma - especially from war and being a conquered nation - is transgenerational https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenerational_trauma

I'm aware.

Were they people who thrived under USSR occupation? Yes, but they are thriving currently too, both politicians and capitalist leeches. Did Poland progress under the occupation? Yes, like every damn other country in Europe. We would progress more as free people, no historian thinks differently.

And yet Poland is now in a far-right spiral with far greater disparity.

When I read your comments I can’t not see you as anything else than a guilt feeling nepo baby. Or at least someone so privileged, that they never ever thought about other people lives outside of statistics. An empty headed academic.

Cool story, you know nothing about me. Believe it or not, statistics and historical fact do outweigh simple anecdote, and the idea that I have never thought about people's lives outside of statistics is deeply wrong.

15h ago

Iranian state media confirms death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 15h ago

Haven't seen anything like that, but it wouldn't surprise me if western-backed orgs were targeted.

16h ago

Iranian state media confirms death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 16h ago

The people of Iran are rallying around Khamenei for being martyred, and Maduro was democratically elected and supported by the majority. You have a very western viewpoint.

19h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 19h ago

Statesian.

21h ago

Iranian state media confirms death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 21h ago

One can only hope.

21h ago

Iranian state media confirms death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 21h ago

Iran, or the US and Israel killing Khamenei?

21h ago

Why do you think so many people on the Marxist left defend Stalinism?

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Cowbee [he/they] @lemmy.ml 21h ago

I've spoken quite a bit about Katyn, and have not really seen any Marxist saying "the soviets definitely did it" and "that's a good thing." Katyn gets pinned on the Soviets because Goebbels reported on it and it became a useful story, but the execution method was distinctly Nazi, ie killing men, women, and children from behind into mass graves. The ammunition was German-produced in 1941, and the rope used to bind the hands of the victims was German made.

The Soviets absolutely killed Polish soldiers, but the character of their involvement was not anywhere close to what the Nazis reported.