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Cowbee [he/they]

@ Cowbee @lemmy.ml

Posts
67
Comments
16235
Joined
2 yr. ago

Actually, this town has more than enough room for the two of us

He/him or they/them, doesn't matter too much

Marxist-Leninist ☭

Interested in Marxism-Leninism, but don't know where to start? Check out my Marxist-Leninist study guides, both basic and advanced!

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

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  • I'm sorry comrade, didn't mean to call you into here, if anything just treat it like slop to view and dip!

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

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

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  • Sure. Sure, I’m orthodox, and yet out of two of us I seem to be the only one willing to be convinced I might be wrong or missing information.

    I'm willling to be convinced with compelling enough evidence.

    Like talking to a wall.

    Bankrupt country. Forced to repay old loans to be able to make new ones. The poverty rates skyrocketed for 5 years. Then it became lower than during most of USSR occupation.

    Go fucking grab a Polish source from the USSR occupied Poland.

    Poverty rates lowered as Poland integrated into the imperialists, and was heavily flooded with EU support to serve as a "shining example" of capitalism fixing socialism. Further, I did, Dorothy Douglas lived in Poland for a time during socialism.

    Dude. That was outside USSR. We were inside. The sources from that era I cited were from inside the USSR.

    You're repeating the same dogma, though. Strikes are evidence of supporting overthrowing socialism, whereas if they hadn't striked then you would say that was due to oppression. You proceed from "soviets bad" and twist everything to fit your narrative. I've spoken to Polish communists like @PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml and have read enough on the subject to know that you aren't painting a complete picture.

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

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  • The USSR was socialist, public ownership was the principle aspect of the economy and the working classes controlled the state. The fact that you claim that they were "pretending" to be socialist just calls the rest of your points into question. The dissolution of socialism resulted in the far-right taking hold of Poland, purging the left, and selling the country out to the west.

    The instability of growth I dismiss as immaterial. Why is growth supposed to be stable?

    Growth being unstable points to problems with the economy, slumps, overproduction and other inefficiencies.

    Skyrocketing poverty rates - refuted as loan repayment and bankrupcy under USSR - please note that your data points same poverty as 1.5% vs (vastly more during multiple decades under USSR occupation).

    Poverty skyrocketed after the dissolution of socialism. Poland then sold out to the west, and joined the imperialists in Europe. Poland's economic gains as of late are primarily due to being folded into the western Empire.

    Financed on loans Poland was forced to make that made sure the Poland was not self sustainable.

    Poland and the USSR were both devastated by war. There were certianly economic problems, but this is not a case of colonialism.

    If the Dorothy whatever bases her theory on Polish development under USSR based on the wrong data (like critically wrong), and your unable to provide other sources, you’ve made false claims, not a point.

    Given how you've misread most of my sources, it's unsurprising that you're misreading Dorothy showing the drastic difference between socialist Poland's chemical production and pre-War.

    I doubt that we agree on facts, as the what you quote as facts doesn’t always seem to be… anchored… in reality. And yet not once you said “you’re right, bad source”. I did a few times?

    I could say the same of yourself. You constantly misread what I write, taking several comments to correct your misconception, and the same applies to sources I link.

    Oh, that’s no longer something I think is possible. Now I genuinely wonder if there’s a fact, or an argument, or smthing, that could make you change your wrong opinion that USSR occupation was good for Poland (against will of Polish worker class might I add, as proven by the multiple strikes - you also need to understand that the strikes were not necessarily against socialism system, but against being forced by USSR into subserviency)

    Strikes in Poland does not equate to an absolute desire to erase socialism in Poland. As Parenti said:

    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.

    You genuflect to orthodoxy.

  • Trump: ‘We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain’

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  • Freedom Fries 2: Spanish edition incoming? Lmao

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

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  • I didn't give you an excuse, I refuted your point.

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

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  • I gave you more than just those sources, it's like you forgot that we had an entire conversation days ago. The USSR was not colonizing Poland, and socialism worked dramatically well for Poland. Of course, it wasn't perfect, but at the same time it doesn't mean abandoning socialism was the correct move.

    I gave you sources on instability of growth, on skyrocketing poverty rates, on real industrial development, and more. You're taking the wording of Poland having "no" chemical industry in the context of a broader point on development of industry, which Poland was lagging behind in prior to socialism, as an excuse to dismiss the entire point.

    Can you imagine an argument that would convince you that you’re wrong? What would that argument be?

    If you were willing to actually read my points instead of brushing them away and spiraling into endless tangents then perhaps I would be able to be swayed by you. However, on the things we can both agree on as fact, we utterly disagree on interpretation.

  • I didn't join the revolution to read

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  • There are some Marxists that don't put theory to practice, true, but the solution isn't to not read, but to do both. As a side-note, Marxist practice is less focused on mutual aid and more on organizing the working classes for revolution, though some ML groups like the Black Panther Party use things like free breakfast programs and such.

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • The cracks were already there, if we are to think dialectically, just growing.

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

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  • Thanks!

    And from a western perspective, a huge amount of why Japan gets a pass even though we are aware of the abysmal working conditions is because anime is so popular here. It has a cultural strangehold among younger generations. The ROK has similar cultural exports. Media from the PRC is gradually becoming more popular, but it takes time for that to actually develop to a higher stage, development isn't something smooth as we both know, it works in leaps once the new overpowers the old.

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • Don't be too sure, Iran is extremely important for both.

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

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  • They were categorized as front-line workers and farmers' representatives, not as though the remainder were capitalists. Administration is not a class in and of itself, the state is the extension of the ruling class in society, its political force. In China, they have direct elections for local representatives, which elect further "rungs," laddering to the top. The top then has mass polling and opinion gathering. This combination of top-down and bottom-up democracy ensures effective results. For more on this, see Professor Roland Boer's Socialism in Power: On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance.

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

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  • Awesome, thanks for letting me know! I knew it was on the decline, but solid evidence on material movements like declaring it illegal are great to see. I myself once worked a similar schedule for a while, here in the States.

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

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  • Poland trading with other socialist countries during its socialist period makes sense, no? Poland depended quite heavily on the USSR and was integrated into socialist trade, which worked remarkably well for developing Poland. As you point out, Poland is getting actually colonized by the west right now. Poland's nationalists have historically been strong, and now they have essentially purged all opposition.

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • EU seems pretty split now itself, with the Spain/Germany spat. I'm not getting my hopes up for that to manifest anything at the present moment though.

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • I don't really want to think about that. Tens of millions of people would likely die in the process and World War III may get kicked off.

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • Just One More War

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • Yep! This coupled with Europe's pivot to Russian LNG is going to be pretty huge for deteriorating US/EU relations.

  • Iran to Allow Only Chinese & Russian Vessels Through Strait of Hormuz, Citing Beijing & Moscow's 'Support' in Ongoing Conflict

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  • It's the nuclear option, right now Iran wants to stay on Russia and China's good sides.