Cowbee

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Imma be honest chief, pulling out DiaMat with non-Marxists is going to fall on deaf ears. I agree, but something softer might work easier.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

People are products of the environment. These influence the ideas people have, who then shape their environment which in turn further influences the ideas people have.

Being conditioned by the material conditions of Capitalism is the opposite of Idealism, it's Materialism.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Pure Communism, ie the formation of society after the contradictions within Socialism have been resolved, is not called a Utopia except by anti-communists.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

That's an astonishingly immaterial, idealistic analysis.

Communism assumes people work in their best interests, and because ideas come from material environments and not from some idea of "spirit," Humans are more cooperative in cooperative systems and competitive in competitive systems.

A Communist leader is one that is democratically accountable and production is owned by the state, therefore all "profits" are reinvested into the economy for the benefit of all, rather than an elite few. Corruption is possible, yes, but so too is legislating protections against Corruption. In Capitalism, this corruption is required to function.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Why do you believe Communism isn't achievable as envisioned? Is it possible that you don't actually know what is envisioned in Communism, just a few slogans and buzzwords?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Millions less than the previous government forms, like Feudalism. Famines disappeared quickly and industrialization allowed for life expectancy to double in the USSR and Maoist China, despite issues like Civil War, World Wars, and so forth.

Did a lot go wrong? Absolutely. Were they massive improvements? Also yes.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Communism is not anarchic. Stateless with respect to Communism refers to instruments of government by which one class suppresses another. Communism was always meant to have a world republic.

I suggest reading Marx.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Capitalists are business owners, participating in the system you must doesn't mean you're a bad Communist, lol

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Contradiction refers to the remaining vestiges from Capitalism, ie a State, Class, and Money. I suggest reading up on Historical Materialism and Dialectics.

Secondly, failing because of "the human factor" is a purely idealistic outlook and not a materialist analysis, you're arguing off of vibes.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

People move to areas with better material conditions. Assuming that is the fault of Socialism and not of countries being in different stages of development is immaterial and ignores the trajectory of nations, as well as the geopolitical landscape.

For example, in the GDR, education was high quality and free, but wages were lower than in West Germany. Many highly educated people in GDR attempted to leverage their free education for higher wages in the West.

As for Cuba, people fleeing are typically the people prosecuted during the revolution, ie plantation owners. People still flee from less developed to more developed countries, which is why people flee from Capitalist states to other Capitalist states.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Yes, you are quite literally an idealist by citing "the Human Factor" as a necessary reason for issues faced by AES countries.

Idealism proposes the idea of unchanging Human characteristics, Materialism proposes the idea that environments shape ideas. The former is undoubdtedly unscientific, while the latter is scientific.

Fighting for a goal is not what I am referring to as Idealism.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

What issues with basic logic do people who support Communism have in common?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Imma be real, chief, I don't think DiaMat is going to work on Non-marxists, even if I agree.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Depends on the dominant Mode of Production, actually. People are shaped by their environment.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Is there a Capitalist country where all people can "live in freedom and pursue happiness?" What does that even mean? What are the solid metrics by which you track that, so you can say a country passes or fails that?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Depends on Mode of Production. Roman society was still a class driven society.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

What issues with basic logic do supporters of Communism have?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

It's more that anticommunists judge Socialist states by their inability to fulfill Communist ideals at the level of development AES countries are at, as though they exist in a perfectly frozen picture absent history and trajectory.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Communism isn't a series of sacrifices for an eventual greater good, Socialism is definitely better than what preceeded Socialism in Russia and China. The idea of True Communism can only be achieved globally, sure, and in the far future, sure, but Communism is about building towards that through gradual improvements.

You're implying that any progress forward is useless if it doesn't immediately achieve a far future society, it's devoid of logic.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Real Communism, along Marxist lines, has a government. Marxism isn't anarchic, the "stateless" part is specifically referring to instruments of the government by which one class oppresses another. Marxism has always been about achieving a global Communist republic.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Condemning the USSR and PRC for not achieving a global stateless, classless, moneyless society is ridiculous. This isn't a gap between theory and practice, lol. Communism isn't anarchism.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Communism is still being built. What is the "original way?"

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

AES countries were and are legitimate attempts at building Communism. People have died in these countries, but at the same time many saw drastic increases in quality of life and industrialization. Dismissing AES is usually a sign of not understanding Marxism.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Yep, but I also understand what Communists actually advocate for and understand that countries building Communism should be judged like every society: with respect to trajectory, not as a snapshot.

Communism isn't a goal because it is stateless, classless, and moneyless. Rather, Communism is a goal because the process of getting there is to create a society benefitting all and directed for the working class, by the working class.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

What "core principles of Communism" were abandoned?

Why do you believe a country can achieve a global, worker owned republic without class, money, or a state while Capitalist states exist?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

1. There was not a new "beaurocratic class." Government ownership of the Means of Production is Socialist, as profits are controlled collectively, rather than by Capitalists. Beaurocrats and state planners were not a "new class" but an extension of the workers.

2. The whithering away of the state is IMPOSSIBLE until global Socialism has been achieved. The USSR could not possibly have gotten rid of the military while hostile Capitalist countries existed. Additionally, Statelessness in the Marxian sense doesn't mean no government, but a lack of instruments by which one class oppresses another.

3. Wage Labor did not persist for the sake of Capitalist profit, but to be used via the government, which paid for generous safety nets. To eliminate money in a Socialist state takes a long time, and cannot simply be done overnight.

I really think you need to revisit Marx. I suggest Critique of the Gotha Programme.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Yes, so I am not sure why you are criticizing AES countries for leading the effort but not achieving them yet. This is anti-dialectical reasoning, which goes directly against the philosophical aspects of Marxism.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Feudalism?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Perhaps what you mean isn't worth much?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Music. Need to perform at my best, after all.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

It will always be hilarious that Emil decided to "reveal" that Nate was one of the fascist troops on the ground executing unarmed Canadian rebels we see in Fallout 1's opening scene

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

(SARCASTIC)

"Woulda been easier if he just handed over the maple syrup, amirite Jim?" laugh track

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Noooo frank you can breathe underwater nooooo

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

League of Legends in a nutshell.

Thank goodness I got the antivirus "common sense" and deleted that malware.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

How?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Lemmy.ml is a fun little battleground, haha.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Capitalism kills millions every yesr despite a surplus of resources and production to meet everyone's needs, but some right-wingers say it isn't true Capitalism because the state gets in the way.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Communism has a better track record than Capitalism does. Why do you believe otherwise?

Secondly, what about Communism doesn't work if people are greedy and selfish? How do you think Communism and Socialism work?

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Corporations benefit from Capitalist governments. Larger Capitalists benefit when it is more difficult to compete, such as with strong IP laws or high startup costs, giving them free reign for monopoly.

They also love large militaries, as the MIC makes a ton of money off the suffering of people worldwide.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

It's a genuine drain trying to feed Lemmy.world's radlibs with any theory of any kind. Usually I try to avoid saying scary words and they will ultimately agree with the logic and analysis, which gives me hope that some can be convinced to actually educate themselves on leftism, but there's such a strong anticommunist slant on Lemmy.world that it's usually met with absurd claims with no basis in reality. Just knee-jerk vibes.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Sure, I largely agree. I don't believe the USSR was perfect, but I see it as invaluable to seeing how a large-scale socialist project can actually work, and what parts didn't. Regardless of tendency, it's one of the best examples of Socialism at work, period, for good or ill.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

You're absolutely correct. It's why I have a Lemmy.ml account in the first place, I want to reach out and feed them theory, or challenge their pre-existing worldviews in a manner that might lead to good discussion. It doesn't work most of the time, but it has worked in other instances, and that makes it more worth it to me.

That, or I'm a masochist, lol

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Full agreement, if we describe positions as vibe-based and not based on what they attempt to accomplish and how, nothing can be reasonably discussed without first defining terms.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

If you want to get into Marxism (even if it's just to learn about what people are actually talking about), Principles of Communism by Engels and How Marxism Works by Chris Harman are fantastic pamphlets that really take no time to read through, though beware, Harman is a Trotskyist and that bleeds through a bit in his writing.

Marx mostly spoke about Capitalism and while no Marxist can avoid reading Marx, he doesn't provide a great introduction to Socialism in the Marxist sense, if that makes sense. Still, Value, Price, and Profit and Wage Labor and Capital are fantastic intros to the critique of Capitalism.

Even if you're interested in learning about Marxism-Leninism, jumping straight to Lenin before even understanding Marxism would be a mistake. Lenin builds his own critique off of Marxism, as a Marxist, so it is preferable to go through Marx first.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

It really doesn't require much study to understand and promote. You can go as deep as you like, but the underlying principles are straightforward and rather obvious, like class dynamics.

Additionally, Capitalism doesn't have any "edge" over Socialism - it's in a steady state of decline, has been declining, and appears to continue to decline. Capitalism cannot be permanent, it does not have a head start, and there is no need to force everyone to understand how Socialism works.

That's really my point, you have these knee-jerk reactions because you are unfamiliar with the topics at hand, and do not appear to have tried to understand them further. The inevitability of Capitalism's decline means you don't need to be forced to understand Socialism by anyone, you'll either learn on your own or will ride the tide.

You probably won't agree with what I have said, but that's more a choice you personally make, on whether to engage or disengage, and that's fine.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

"Redfash" or "horseshoe theory" is usually another giveaway. MAGA Communism and PatSocs certainly exist, but not in any serious number, and they aren't here on the mainstream Lemmy communities.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Ohhh, nice! I love salt with chocolate, mole is a great treat too.

Cowbee , vor 2 Monaten

Lemmy has scant-few conservatives.