cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/12656737

Edit:

• replaced YT link with Timestamp to start at: [4:07:21] Short Introduction of Participants
  • Was: https://youtu.be/RfnPgbC0CYQ updated to: https://youtu.be/RfnPgbC0CYQ&t=14841

> >Free and Equal Elections 2024 Presidential Debate Series #2 > > >Featuring Presidential Candidates: > >- Jill Stein > >- Jasmine Sherman > >- Claudia De La Cruz > >- Chase Oliver > >- Lars Mapstead > > >MODERATED BY: CHRISTINA TOBIN, JASON PALMER AND CAITLIN SINCLAIR > > >Brought to you by Free & Equal, an organization dedicated to hosting presidential debates for over 15 years, this event is a cornerstone of our commitment to fostering an informed electorate. > > >The FEBRUARY 29TH Debate criteria encompassed all candidates on the ballot in at least four states. > > >You have the power to decide who takes the stage at the next Free and Equal Elections debate! Six U.S. Presidential candidates from various parties will participate, chosen by you through ranked-choice voting. > > Timestamps: > - [3:58:24] National Anthem (Song) > - [4:03:20] Host starts talking > - [4:07:21] Short Introduction of Participants > - [4:08:30] Lars Mapstead (Libertarian Party) > - [4:10:44] Claudia De La Cruz (Party for Socialism and Liberation) > - [4:12:52] Jill Stein (Green Party) > - [4:15:07] Jasmine Sherman (Green Party) > - [4:17:30] Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party) > - [4:19:56] Question 1: Immigration > - [4:31:25] Question 2: Criminal Justice Reform > - [4:45:42] Question 3 (from the Public): Tribal Nations/Indigenous Reservation/Return Land/Enforcement > - [4:58:13] Question 4: Environmental Policy > - [5:14:47] Question 5: Economic Policy > - [5:29:19] Question 6: National Unity > - [5:53:27] Closing Remarks by hosts

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6774153

> Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion. > - BreadTube > - [email protected]

When people think of propaganda, they think of state propaganda, but they don't realise that the advertisements between their tv shows are just as much propaganda. The myth of consumers being responsible for climate change was spread through advertisements for example by fossil fuel companies. People don't realise how big of a role advertising has in trying to convince people of this status quo.

It's possible that you've all seen this and I'm late to the party, but I watched the lecture and I feel enlightened.

It's so refreshing to hear the sound of reason on a topic that's so infested with propaganda and fury from people completely uneducated on the topic or people who intentionally want to confuse others, some to the point of saying that Stalin is comparable or even worse than Hitler.

I'm honestly surprised that it's not taken down as "Russian spy propaganda or some shit", probably because he's an american proffessor that would surely cause a ruckus by being silenced.

Available on plain rss https://anchor.fm/s/e8b6108c/podcast/rss too

Also, please send me suggestions for articles I should add there, because I have no idea how to approach curation of that library.

Any other feedback is appreciated.

Edit: I just found this https://lemmygrad.ml/post/6319. Looks excellent! I'll work on getting it through.

Edit 2: and then I'll probably come this way: https://dessalines.github.io/essays/dessalines_marxism_study_plan.html

Edit 3: I'll also play with the order, because it feels like a good idea to mix introductions for multiple subjects, so that it feels a little less repetitive. Even though... can't do much about the dryness of AI speech.

What is it were missing? And how can we fit more pieces together to find out what to do?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/4377536

> Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion. > - BreadTube > - [email protected]

I don't know if you know, but the current Hammer and Sickle is from the Khrushchev era, which is considered revisionist for any communist who values Comrade Stalin's contributions. I think it is worth changing to maintain aesthetic cohesion, as it seems to be the general line of the instance and the community.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/3934309

> Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion. > - BreadTube > - [email protected]

I've been thinking about how marxism might be a reasonable guide for how to make some pretty big life choices lately, and thought I'd share.

There are three broad categories I'm placing work into at the moment: capital intensive, non-capital controlled capital intensive, and labour intensive. I'll explain each below, but the basic idea is that this is about capital accumulation and management. Most of it is intuitive, but I've found it interesting to frame it in a marxist way.

Capital intensive jobs are fairly straightforward: we know that most big companies, be they banks, tech, large manufacturers etc, are both capital intensive, and capital controlled. By that, I mean they embody large amounts of human skill in their accrued capital, and that they are managed by the capitalist class. A car manufacturer, for instance, is an example of this, insofar as they'll have de-skilled their workforce to some extent by applying Taylorist principles and embodying some skills into equipment, to automate difficult or expensive tasks.

Non-capital controlled capital intensive jobs are similar, requiring generally a larger organisation which has fixed assets or complicated enough operations that is controlled either by the state or a co-operative. It requires roughly the same skills to survive and isn't terribly interesting in and of itself, usually. Examples might be civil service departments.

The last group is fairly interesting to me at the moment, and prompted this thought. The labour intensive group is things where there isn't really capital accumulation at all, and skilled labour is the main source of "value add". Skilled builders, craftspeople, anyone who can add value to a material or process simply because they're good at something, with only very simple tools. These kinds of jobs are comparatively rare, and probably the kind of thing luddites wanted to preserve. There is an accrual of skill and experience, but not capital. I've found this group interesting because some jobs that fit this description don't have to interact with accrued capital at all.

That last part is interesting because it begs the question of whether or not there is any mileage in seeking to "decapitalise" certain kinds of work. That's to say, successfully navigating life in a capitalist economy, while eschewing the use and accrual of capital at work.

The way I'm thinking about the above, it feels like we (as marxists) can choose to either invest ourselves in capital-adjacent work that might or might not be controlled by capitalists, or we can aim to work in decapitalised industries. The requirements are, I suspect, very different, and I wonder if the embedded values might be as well.

Just a thought: I'd be keen to know what people think. It is a fresh thought, to me at least, that skilled decapitalised work might be a reasonable starting point in movement building. I suspect it is tacitly what Green minded people are up to, and although it does have a whiff of luddism, I wonder if there's a place for it.

bourgeoisie don't care that poor people die...who would have thought?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/3749617

> Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion. > - BreadTube > - [email protected]

>People’s ideas are intimately linked to the sort of lives they are able to live. Take, for instance, ‘selfishness’. Present day capitalist society breeds selfishness – even in people who continually try to put other people first. A worker who wants to do their best for their children, or to give their parents something on top of their pension, finds the only way is to struggle continually against other people – to get a better job, more overtime, to be first in the queue for redundancy. In such a society you cannot get rid of ‘selfishness’ or ‘greediness’ merely by changing the minds of individuals.

edit: read theory, comrades, it is worth it.

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Because if you spend enough time on the internet, especially the Western side, you start to hear voices of people who oppose their governments and not enough from those who support it.

Even many who are supportive tend to say that their government is authoritarian.

so that's why people don't leave DPRK!

Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion.

• BreadTube
• [email protected]
• https://lemmy.world/c/breadtube

Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion.

• BreadTube
• [email protected]
• https://lemmy.world/c/breadtube

Source : https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1689700057744916480

Part 1: NATO failed in Ukraine against Russia. Now it's targeting China (Youtube/Invidious)

Part 2: Anti-China hawks' drive to expand NATO into Asia may destroy Western military alliance (Youtube/Invidious)

Personally I found some of Escobar's comments in part 2, around @8:03 regarding DPRK to be pretty interesting. He talks about how although the Western media focuses on the military aspect of relations between Russia and DPRK, that recently, signs are showing of Russia's intention to help with getting DPRK re-integrated into international trade and especially his comments in regard to building a trans-Korean railway to link with the trans-Siberian railway and how this topic is likely to come up on the next Eastern Economic forum in September. (This railway concept isn't a new one, but I found his comments about recent events interesting) as well as potential inclusion in other trade deals/organizations, etc.

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Anyway, just sharing these. They cover a lot of topics in this discussion.

The below is a statement from the Party for Socialism & Liberation, ANSWER Coalition, and other socialist/left-leaning organizations on the increasing rhetoric aimed at destabilizing China and creating a fear-mongering culture around communists & anti-imperialists.

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Prominent anti-war organizations and individuals have just released an important sign-on letter to reject the new McCarthyism being used to reinforce the U.S. government’s Cold War agenda against China.

Add your name to the letter here!

We stand together against the rise of a new McCarthyism that is targeting peace activists, critics of US foreign policy, and Chinese Americans. Despite increased intimidation, we remain steadfast in our mission to foster peace and international solidarity, countering the narrative of militarism, hostility, and fear.

As the US government grapples with a major crisis of legitimacy, it has grown fearful of young people becoming conscious and organized to change the world.Influential media outlets like The New York Times have joined right-wing extremists in using intimidation tactics to silence these advocates for change, affecting not only the left but everyone who supports free speech and democratic rights.

The political and media establishments, both liberal and conservative, have initiated McCarthy-like attacks against individuals and organizations criticizing US foreign policy,labeling peace advocates as “Chinese or foreign agents.”This campaign uses innuendo and witch hunts, posing a threat to free speech and the right to dissent. We must oppose this trend.

Scientists, researchers, and service members of Chinese descent have been falsely accused of espionage and unregistered foreign agency, often with cases later collapsing due to insufficient evidence. Similar to the old “Red Scare” and McCarthy periods, when scores of organizations and leaders like W.E.B Du Bois, Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King Jr and others were attacked with fact-less accusations, today, prominent organizations and individuals,including CODEPINK, The People’s Forum, and Tricontinental Institute have been targeted, with smears and accusations propagated by outlets like The New York Times.

Their strategy paints a sinister image of a secret network funding the peace movement. However,there’s nothing illegal or fringe about opposing a New Cold War or a “major power conflict” with China,views shared by hundreds of millions globally. Receiving donations from US citizens who share these views is not illicit.

Media outlets have tried to scandalize funding sources of several organizations that are on the frontlines working with anti-racist, feminist, anti-war, abolitionist, climate justice, and other movements throughout the United States and globally. Meanwhile, when white neoliberal philanthropists flood the non-profit complex with significant funds to support their political agendas this is rarely scrutinized or made accountable to the communities they impact.

From The New York Times to Fox News, there’s a resurgence of the Red Scare that once shattered many lives and threatened movements for change and social justice. This attack isn’t only on the left but against everyone who exercises their free speech and democratic rights.We must firmly resist this racist, anti-communist witch hunt and remain committed to building an international peace movement. In the face of adversity, we say NO to xenophobic witch hunts and YES to peace.

Initial Signers

• CODEPINK
• The People’s Forum
• Tricontinental Institute for Social Research
• ANSWER Coalition
• Anticapitalism for Artists
• Defend Democracy in Brazil
• Families for Freedom
• Mulheres de Resistencia do Exterior
• Nodutdol
• NYC Jericho Movement
• NYC Young Communist League
• Pivot to Peace
• Radical Elders

Abby Martin • Andy Hsaio • Ben Becker • Ben Norton • Bhaskar Sunkara • Brian Becker • Carl Messineo • Chris Hedges • Claudia de la Cruz • Corinna Mullen • David Harvey • Derek R. Ford • Doug Henwood • Eugene Puryear • Farida Alam • Fergie Chambers • Gail Walker • Geo Maher • Gerald Horne • Gloria La Riva • Hakim Adi • Heidi Boghosian • Immanuel Ness • James Early • Jeremy Kuzmarov • Jill Stein • Jim Garrison • Jodi Dean • Jodie Evans • Johanna Fernandez • Karen Ranucci • Kenneth Hammond • Koohan Paik-Mander • Lee Camp • Lisa Armstrong • Manolo de los Santos • Manu Karuka • Mara Verheyden-Hilliard • Matt Hoh  • Matt Meyer • Matteo Capasso • Max Lesnik • Medea Benjamin • Michael Steven Smith • Nazia H. Kazi • Radhika Desai • Rania Khalek • Richard M Walden • Robin D.G. Kelley • Roger Waters • Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz • Ruth Wilson Gilmore • Salvatore Engel di-Mauro • Sheila Xiao • Stella Schnabel • Vijay Prashad • Vivian Weisman

I find it so disturbing and unnerving how, in famines that occurred in the socialist world, some people were in such an extreme situation that they had to resort to eating their own family members and friends. In particular, I heard this occurred during the Great Leap Forward, and the Soviet famines of the 1920s and 1930s.

What caused this to happen?

Check out c/breadtube for more left video content and discussion.

• BreadTube
• [email protected]
• https://lemmy.world/c/breadtube

MLToday

Many ancient and indigenous societies were able to function very efficiently with a communist government, I don't see why Laos, Cuba, Vietnam, and Venezuela's attempts have been so terrible in the way that they are completely authoritarian. The Iroquois Nations's democratic government was basically the foundation of the US's democratic government, and they were also a communist society. So I see many examples of primitive communism being able to function. I even found out about an Indian state called Perula that is also a successful comminist state. I don't see why we can't make communism and socialism work out in countries like Laos, Cuba, Vietnam, and Venezuela. Forgive me if anything I said is wrong.

Worker force required to change the country for the better?

Not sure anything interesting will come out of it, but the announcement post got a bit of traction here, so I thought of alerting those with bad memory like me.

For those that are unaware, ethnic violence has affected the state of Manipur in India for about the past three months.

> Manipur has been in the grip of ethnic violence resulting in the deaths of over 150 persons, displacement of tens of thousands of people and horrific crimes against women.

It has been taking place between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki community.

In an insane twist, the prime minister until very recently had been completely mum about these grotesque riots. Why? Because the state is under BJP rule and the chief minister, Biren Singh, has himself stoked this violence by making statements like this:

> Just a month before the May incidents, he had told the RSS paper, Organiser, that, “The indigenous people of the state have been reduced to the status of second class citizens after the foreigner Kuki immigrants took control of the social, political and economic affairs”. Here he echoes a longstanding propaganda of the RSS about illegal immigrants flooding Assam and the North East.

What forced Modi to speak publicly about this issue was something terrible that happened to two Kuki women.

True to his form, after expressing token sorrow, he instantly trivialised the incident and diverted attention away from it to attack his opposition parties instead:

> But he immediately sought to divert and trivialise the issue by talking about how such crimes against women must be firmly put down in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Manipur. This was the cue for BJP leaders and the party’s IT cell to take up the refrain of how women are being abused and assaulted in states run by the opposition parties like Rajasthan, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

As a side note, Modi was welcomed with open arms during his US visit while these riots were going on:

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Cheers, as we all know marxists.org is a eyesore to read for most people who are used to non full-width screens. While Firefox's reader mode is quite helpful with that it didn't quite make me happy either. So here we are with YAMDOUCSS! (Yet Another Marxists Dot Org User CSS).

The source code is hosted on GitHub and userstyles.world.

I'd love if some of you could help me with the more tricky parts of the website with tons of inline css that needs to be !important'd to death, so please feel free to open issues/pr's.

Preview

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Our community is rather small and it cannot completely express the views of the millions of Marxist-Leninists worldwide. There has to be something a lot more than just this community.

So what are the largest Marxist-Leninist internet forums, besides this one? I know for sure that they are either going to be non-English speaking or consist of non-native English speakers from non-English speaking countries, for the simple reason that Marxism-Leninism is much more popular outside of the English-speaking world, especially in China.

I would prefer to see some English-speaking communities as that is really the only language I speak, but then again, I can just use imperfect machine translation to translate other languages. I believe some other comrades would benefit from seeing these communities as well!

That doesn't make sense tbh. Seen here

Comrades, as a staunch communist, I assure you that collecting Funko Pops is not only a hobby but also a necessary part of our fight towards global communism and the revolutionary cause. While it may seem trivial on the surface, there are many ways in which collecting Funko Pops can aid us in our struggle for social justice and equality.

Firstly, collecting Funko Pops requires dedication, patience, and discipline - qualities that are essential in our pursuit of a better world. By engaging in this hobby, we develop these traits, which translate into our work towards creating a just society. Our commitment to collecting these pop figures reflects our determination to succeed in our mission, no matter how long it takes.

Furthermore, collecting Funko Pops helps us build relationships with other like-minded individuals who share our passion for the cause. Through online communities, meetups, and conventions, we can connect with comrades from all over the world and strengthen our solidarity. These connections help us share ideas, strategies, and resources, ultimately contributing to the growth of our movement.

Moreover, collecting Funko Pops provides us with a source of joy and relaxation amidst the struggles of daily life. In a world plagued by capitalist excess and exploitation, we need ways to unwind and recharge ourselves so that we can continue the fight with renewed energy and focus. Collecting Funko Pops is one way of doing so while also staying connected to our shared values and ideals.

Finally, collecting Funko Pops also serves as a form of propaganda. By displaying our favorite pop figures, we spread awareness about our cause and inspire others to join our struggle. Whether it's through conversations with fellow collectors or simply showing off our collection, we can use the popularity of Funko Pops to spread our message and attract new supporters to our cause.

In conclusion, collecting Funko Pops may seem like a frivolous activity at first glance. However, when viewed through the lens of praxis - the interplay between theory and practice - it becomes clear that this hobby is actually an essential part of our communist praxis.

Image from: https://nitter.nl/strike_dr

Marxists.org is notoriously an eyesore. Someone on GitHub by the name of ArkansasWorker made a custom CSS for the website that makes it more readable. I forked their project for some minor changes based on personal preferences (for example I prefer serif font on light mode and I remember there being problems customising the font in the settings).

• ArkansasWorker's original project
• My fork

Installation

First you will need to install Stylus for Firefox. There must be a Chrome counterpart extension as well but I am not sure.

After that click on ONLY ONE of the links below based on whether you the original or my fork:

• ArkansasWorker's style.user.css
• My fork's style.user.css

This should open the file in Stylus automatically and you can install with the install button on the left hand side.

You can also customise the layout using an intuitive menu. The instructions for that are described here: https://github.com/ArkansasWorker/marxists.org-UserCSS#customizing-user-styles

You can do this if you, for example, want to make the text column wider without having to edit the CSS by hand.

Screenshots

Original

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Custom CSS

Swiss theme

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Dracula theme

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In this article, through the critique of Cohen's work, Sayers describes in a very clear fashion the differences between mechanical materialism and dialectical materialism, and the differences between analytical and dialectical thinking in general. I think it's a great resource for people wanting to learn or better understand dialectics and dialectical materialism.