Comradeship // Freechat

Is this the real deal?

So, two and a half years ago, I was trapped by a YouTube channel named "China Insights", I was so very confused. I was also trapped by another YouTube channel named "China Observer". I didn't even know that these channels were backed by the Cult. YouTube algorithm screwed me so tight.

Now, when I started defecting from the major Western mainstream media, I also started getting rid of two YouTube channels, and I had to get rid of BS David Zhang.

Shen Yun should have been thrown out of the stage.

We're seeing something happening.

All these wealthy and powerful people who snubbed Trump now flock to him to talk. Class is now on full display as even those who disdained him now flock to be courtiers in his court. Capitalist diversity initiatives designed to paper over the exploitation of the system with carefully tested language and a few hiring preferences are being tossed out. The long, decades-old corporate push in this direction has been discarded.

This is a sea-change and a departure from the collective shrug of the powerful to his first election years ago.

The question is are they visiting Trump to kiss his ring? Or are they visiting him to make him kiss theirs and telling him what the plan is now that they're onboard with the reactionary side of the culture war and are shifting messaging and strategies a bit?

The Democrat-led but empire supported push for cracking down on "disinformation" and "misinformation" which targeted domestic problematic elements outside the grip of mainstream media as well as enemies of empire is being rolled back and in its place I think we have increasingly naked jingoistic power politics. No longer do they hide behind and clutch the supposed liberal values which they've so long used to push the agenda.

Now it's no longer talk of combatting disinfo but I think of just directly fighting Russia and China. The supreme court ruling on Tiktok shows they're open to just admitting that they don't think the values they've long said others need to embrace apply such as free speech are something they need to hide and conceal their motives behind. It's not working much more, their hypocrisy is laid bare with Ukraine, with Gaza, etc. So now it becomes discarded in favor of the same national security excuses for censorship that they've long derided China and Russia and other nations for as being undemocratic for exercising.

It I think illustrates the great possibility we do see greater pushes of control, greater censorship, breaking of encryption, roll-backs of rights granted during the good times such as the first amendment and those of privacy. The boot in other words coming down.

It also gives me pause. Though I largely think liberals are histrionic when it comes to claiming Trump is going to suspend elections and seize power, I admit all these moves have me questioning whether there isn't a small chance that the bourgeoisie and empire would at this junction be fine with a suspension of the institutions and norms in order to carry out crack-downs and to solidify their grasp on power as an empire, to prepare for the well underway cold war with China/Russia. It would give them a certain plausible deniability to carry out unpopular work and then discard certain people should they need to fall back on liberal ideals in a few years after doing most of the dirty work. I'm not saying given his age he'll necessarily last beyond his 4-year mandate, I am saying he might be allowed to wield power in ways that most would assume is proscribed by the institutions of US liberal capitalist 'democracy'.

At the very least we can say that reaction seems ascendant and there is a growing danger for the working class, for minorities, for women as all pretenses of capitalism adopted after the fall of the USSR are being discarded and if you want to war with China, if you want to win a cold war you need to ramp up the reaction at home. This goes beyond Trump's last win or a bunch of petite boug shit-heads getting together with some tea because a black guy won. This I think represents a real, and possibly enduring shift in domestic politics and perhaps international strategy to match though on that we'll have to wait and see.

This along with pushes for re-arming, for increasing "defense" spending and cutting welfare and embracing wackos like RFK jr (whose deranged ideas for the mentally ill and neurodivergent are just a new age coat of paint on old protestant 'tough-it-out' slave mentality work ethics and an excuse to bring back workhouses for cheap domestic manufacturing off the backs of the incarcerated, the differently abled, etc) the truncheon is out, the steel-tipped boots are ready to step on necks. We enter interesting and dangerous times.

I think this is one possible outcome that no-one seems to be talking about

The US might ruin XHS by using a bot/troll army to spur conflict and hate there. The US DoD has admitted to launching a disinformation campaign using hundreds of fake accounts to discredit Sinovac. So it won't be surprising if they try a similar tactic of using bots and fake accounts in XHS especially since there would be fewer qualms.

https://theconversation.com/us-military-launched-a-secret-anti-vax-campaign-in-the-philippines-heres-why-im-not-surprised-232639

This is short, but I'm just sharing my concerns...

So, like many of you I'm sure, i have been on Xiaohongshu lately. It was like a breath of fresh air. I always knew that China was there with its 1.3 billion strong population a majority of whom are extremely based. To see it first hand though? To actually talk to them? It reignited a flame of hope inside me that was getting pretty weak lately. It's easy to get lost in the horrible shit going on. Especially in the west. Where youre surrounded by fascists and radlibs constantly. Part of why i use lemmy is to get that experience of being around sane people. Who arent existing in some alternate reality created by US propaganda.

Now despite my username I'm not one of those people who thinks China does no wrong, and is a perfect utopia. It's still very much in the early stages of socialism and admits as much. One thing i heard from a Chinese comrade though was- paraphrased: "China is preparing to bring the next international socialist movement by 2050. Things are going well, and we are confident. The party brings us good news regularly, and great progress is being made." and another one asked "Are you [people in the west] prepared for revolutionary action?"

It made me think. Am i ready - If China launched a worldwide effort to support socialist movements, and revolutions as the USSR once did - tomorrow? I'm not. Not even close. I mean yeah obviously the west itself doesn't have the conditions needed for it. It's not ready at all. Me personally I'm not either, BUT I could be with some work.

So i am going to change that. I have 25 years according to that comrade; more than enough time. I'll be a bit old, but not to the point i can't fight. I've made a plan, and already started putting it into action. No more escapism in my free time. I will be learning Chinese, teaching myself math that i missed out on in school up to calculus, learning a martial art, exercising A LOT more, diving more into my radio hobby, buying a gun/learning how to shoot it well, studying up on other useful subjects, and teaching myself some advanced first-aid. Perhaps I'll even study up on modern guerilla tactics used by the axis of resistance a bit.

If that day ever comes where I am needed be it in 2050, or otherwise I don't want to even have to consider if I'm ready or not. I want to just be able to say "hell yeah" and get to work.

Just curious, because this account has had an interesting pattern. Also, 15% is the problem?

This could obviously be seen as a circle jerk post, but I'm just ranting a bit, need to get this annoyance off my chest after watching a crap video (The latest innuendo studios video, if you are curious, but that video isn't important specifically here).

Liberals (The American Democrat kind) spend a lot of time talking about how the alt-right will throw a piece of junk science in your face in order to support their racist conclusions or false medical conspiracy theories. This is all fine and dandy because the alt-right are looking for anything that back a racist or sexist or anti-trans conclusion, even when the studies conclusion doesn't really support that. I usually agree with the "American democratic liberals" in these cases.

But most social/political "studies" are pretty much junk, "we surveyed 100 young people in one city and now we think we know what the whole of American youth think"... Right.. sure you do.

Plus history is one of the most contentious topics in all of... Well history ironically. You can't just point to the winners and say "See, we won the war, so we're definitely right about the history of the country we destroyed"... Buuuut..

Then they turn around and throw a junk survey or a junk "study" that has some anti-communist rhetoric, and you explain why it is junk and how it's factually incorrect, they double down... Just like the alt-right does... Because they will believe anything that supports their anti-communist conclusions... Why does that sound familiar?

I've run through this so many times before, between anti-China "studies" and anti-Soviet rhetoric. They're so willing to just blindly accept anything that the USA says, even stuff said during the Red Scare, for which even most of them will even admit was a time of deep propaganda. Exposing CIA declassified documents sometimes works, but often doesn't anyway. How many times I've heard about "holodomor" or "Stalin killed more people than Hitler". It's just so aggravating.

End rant; have a good day

By the way, if you made it this far, I really appreciate this community because on the whole, people are willing to listen and talk to people so long as we are approached in good faith. We tend not to just spit on someone for asking an honest question (But it is totally funny to spit on someone who is clearly just an anti-commie fascist or something).

because almost nobody in the western world around you is one, so you're essentially talking to a brick wall or worse

The California National Party or Partido Nacional de California is a progressive and secessionist political party in the United States. CNP operates within California and supports Californian nationalism. CNP formed in 2015 and has 413 members.

They have a YouTube channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/@californianationalparty4066/videos

Not just allowing our political ideas, but also being robust and stable for a relatively long time

In case anyone's been following my posts, about this, I was given a 6 month course of therapy to deal with depression and anxiety. It seemed a bit pointless to me since my depression and anxiety are caused by poverty, which therapy won't fix, but if I refused the sessions it would adversely affect my benefit appeal. The therapy was shit, the therapist was shit, and today was my final session, and I'm so relieved it's finally over.

Here are some of the highlights of my sessions with her:

Said she can't give me the good treatments like EDMR, because I'm still living in the bad situation that is causing my problems, and these kinds of therapies are for after the problem has ended, to help you get over it. So she can't do anything for me other than meditation and drawing pictures.

When I spoke about traumatising things that have ended that I'd like EDMR for, such as a time I was violently assaulted, she instead tried to get my to sympathise with my attackers, and imagine what problems they have in their lives that drove them to assault a random stranger, and feel sorry for them.

Shamed and disparaged me for asking for food vouchers on here, even though she knows I have no money whatsoever.

Basically told me that me killing myself is a good idea - she said, given my issues and the fact that they can't be solved, it seems a reasonable plan that I would aim to commit suicide one day. She said she's done all she can for me and there's no point putting me forward for further therapy. I mean, I do agree suicide is the eventual answer for me but it seems a bit unprofessional for a therapist to agree.

She thinks it's no big deal that I could be homeless soon, she said she'll just give me the number of a homeless shelter. She doesn't seem at all concerned about my financial situation and even said she might tell the DWP I have missed some of her sessions, even though she knows this puts me at bigger risk of losing my appeal. I wonder if this might be retaliation for the fact I've missed some sessions with her - maybe she doesn't get paid for those sessions so she wants to punish me?

The "therapy" has consisted of nothing but meditation, drawing pictures and her writing timetables for me to stick to. Then she gets angry with me that this isn't making any difference to my life.

Told me off during a meditation that involved body movements, because my left side wasn't moving as much as the right. Even though she knows my left side is affected by the fact I've had a stroke.

Puts me in the most bleach and perfume smelling room even though I've told her it triggers my migraines.

Has often turned up late and dismissed me early so the sessions only last 3/4 of the time they're meant to.

I'm sure there's been other stuff too that I can't remember now. Anyway I'm glad I don't have to see her any more but I'm worried about her telling the DWP I've missed some sessions, they might use it against me at my appeal.

I've started to more and more recently, but I wonder if others here do the same?

It's easy to just see them as nothing more than window-dressing and just ignore them, at least at times.

I'm wondering how many people take the time to read them or at least skim through them.

After days of watching news about TikTok vs USA drama, I have finally joined REDnote. The people are cool and I had to read guidelines thoroughly.

It just prevents me from commenting or replying to people.

Thoughts?

Is there a way to use it while still being able to used Lemmygrad?

I have Bionic Reader extension for Mozilla Firefox, btw.

I am making this post on mutual aid too. However last time I made multiple requests on there, my request for help with getting shoes went unanswered and it took weeks and multiple posts on hex/lemmy to get help buying bandages, so I'm posting on here too for more chance of help.

I posted on here several times about my foot surgery. As a complication of my cancer treatment, my feet are ulcerated and infected. The surgery is free on the NHS but I have to pay for the bandages myself. The surgery was on 24th Dec. However they weren't able to clear all of it. A large area needs treatment, and they can't use local anaesthetic on such a large area all at once. Someone did kindly pay for my bandages for that surgery.

They estimate I will need two more surgeries on both feet to clear it all. My next surgery is scheduled for 23rd January. I hoped I could make the bandages I already have stretch out to last for future surgeries but it's become clear that I can't. I need 4 more packs and they are £37 a pack. I also desperately need to buy some decent sandals to wear during recovery. I made a post asking for help buying sandals before but it went unanswered. So I am wearing my usual trainers with these bandages which is causing rubbing. And it's really painful too, as well as unhygienic.

Because of the DWP I try not to ask for actual money on here (generally asking for food vouchers) but I am really desperate for these things and have no other way of getting them, so if anyone is willing to help with these costs, I would be grateful and can accept paypal or bank transfers.

I really hope someone can help, last time I had to make multiple posts before getting a response with the bandages and time is really of the essence with this.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, for those who haven't seen me before, the reason I need someone to buy these things for me is because I'm going through a disability benefit appeal and have no actual money.

BE

I feel like a boomer in my 20s with the fact that I fucking despise having to pay 30-40 dollars a month just so some guy from work can reach me and tell me I need to work extra hours. Everything and everyone else I can contact online using my work's PC or my personal laptop. It's also dogshit-garbage because it's getting to the point where most services entirely give up on their desktop/browser ports or websites because they just assume people are going to use their phone.

Instagram was like this for a long while. Indeed recently removed their "distance" feature and other filter features from their desktop version. Reddit is another example. Enshittification of the internet to put it all on a phone is awful.

There's a comrade on Twitter, a youngster, who is an extremely, extremely dedicated reader of theory, who is repulsed by fictional and entertainment media on account of it almost universally being created by and harboring bourgeois-ridden thoughts, while also fearing it on account of it being counter-insurgency much like TVs were used to pacify and distract black prisoners in San Quentin from revolutionary action.

This caused me to have self-reflection. Should she be an example to follow? Should we forsake or move towards forsaking all media consumption aside from theory as she does lest we waste our time on commodities that many of the people we fight for have don't have the privilege of enjoying? For we still have much work ahead of us. Indeed, I have seen for myself people mellowing out after fighting politically online and then focusing more on their hobbies (for better or worse, of course, many of them held poor political positions and were better off silent). But to her, her hobbies and politics are one in the same. It's all she does, and she claims to not get burnout. She condemns the use of distractions to disengage for the sake of mental health for to her, theory and being engaged with politics sustains hers. And she has the exact mental disorders I do (as far as I'm aware). Even acknowledging the both of us grew up under different circumstances, I can't help but feel an inferiority complex towards her. Perhaps that's some sort of main character syndrome, the same that drives me to speak at length about my experiences here. But life, especially organization, isn't a one-person show. I know this, that I can't be her, and that she can't be, say, Xi Jinping, but we each have our role to play.

I'm just wondering if I wasted my life. I've been playing video games since I was little and thus I thought and focused on them and other fantasy content at the expense of schoolwork that I found uninteresting and rote no matter how badly I was shamed and beaten by the school and my parents for neglecting it. I think back and wonder if I was ruined. This is a phenomenon she fears had affected her generation as she keeps becoming frustrated by her peer's inabilities to focus on anything. Given all the circumstances, this was of course the only way my life could have gone, but now I wonder if I should really attempt to forsake all my fictional media, all the ties I've made with people based on it, to try to consume yet more theory in the hopes that I'll eventually be repulsed by fiction and I'll be able to joyfully commit to theory full time as she does. I'm taking a break from media and committing to theory for the time being but I admit, though I'm able to enjoy the theory, the process still has me fearful and sad. Withdrawal symptoms, perhaps? I think about what I can do even if I'm able to be extremely well-versed in theory. As I said, our upbringing are different. She's able to operate in a big city full of potential comrades, whereas I live in a rural, deserted area where I can't easily leave and thus I'd have limited ability to spread communism or organize. I also wonder, even if I somehow commit to such a path if she and I won't actually end up eventually burning out after all. What do you think? Should we stigmatize and caution against consumption of fiction or entertainment?

I am sick of how difficult it is becoming to access medical treatment in the UK. I've spoken on here before about how, as a result of my cancer treatment, I have developed foot problems, open ulcers and infections. I've had one minor surgery to clear some of the infection as it hasn't responded to other treatment, and I have another appointment for a further surgery on 23rd Jan. Over the past couple of days, it's gotten worse. Today I woke up to find three of my toes on one foot are now extremely red, swollen up and I can hardly move that part of my foot. It feels tingly too. I'm actually scared. It's Saturday so neither the podiatrist clinic, who have been dealing with this, nor the GP, are open. In fact it's impossible to see the GP anyway, no matter what is wrong now you can't get an appointment, they'd just tell me to wait for a podiatrist appointment. I know when I phone the podiatrist when they open on Monday I'll probably have to wait ages for an emergency appointment. The only other option is going to the emergency department, but I doubt they would take this seriously either. I have enough experience to know what they're like, I'll sit there all day waiting to be seen, and then they'll just refer me back to the podiatrist.

I am so exhausted by how difficult accessing medical treatment is. Nothing is taken seriously. It took them 3.5 years to diagnose my cancer because they refused to do any tests because they thought I was just being a hypochaondriac. When I was having a stroke they left me in the emergency department, waiting to be seen, for hours. I am so tired of all this.

Yesterday, my buddy Max passed away.

Max was an unrelenting floodlight in the ocean of unfathomable darkness that is life. He would wag his tail, non-stop, when he would see you. I am not a writer or anything but it's safe to say that Max was too good for this world. Everyday I feel shame that I cannot bring about any change that would have made this cradle more deserving of him.

Max had limitless energy. I am not kidding when I say this. He loved to play fetch and I would get tired of throwing the ball at full force before he would get tired of bringing it back to me.

He always seemed extremely healthy. If he was not so goofy he would probably have been the most handsome dog you have ever seen. But he was all kindness and no ego or pretense.

Recently his health started deteriorating and it turned out he was suffering from cancer. We could have never imagined since he seemed so upbeat but it had advanced beyond intervention. From our estimates he had been burndede by it for about two years but it never showed. Treatment was tried but was found extremely wanting. In the end we had to say goodbye to Max.

I will miss you buddy.

The dishwasher wasn't rinsing properly. I found a bottle of what I thought said "dishwasher cleaner" under the sink, so I put that in the dishwasher, on a hot cycle. Well, I am partially sighted and turns out I misread the bottle. It was actually washing machine cleaner. After several cycles I managed to get rid of the suds, but not the smell. The dishwasher smells terribly of laundry detergent. And it's strongly clinging to the glasses and dishes, making them unusable. I tried putting vinegar in, but it didn't get rid of the smell. I am worried about my landlady's reaction when she finds out. She is already at the end of her tether with me because I am several months behind on the rent. She has spoken before about evicting me due to the money - I'm worried this might be the final straw. what can I do to get rid of the smell?

So, I've been playing cyberpunk 2077 and terra Invicta recently and there's just a couple things that consistently bug me. Now look, I'm not expecting them to be fair to China and the DPRK and Cuba and what not. If I did then I wouldn't be able to enjoy anything ever in this world. But then there's other things that just make me believe that Johne Locke rose from his grave to write some code for these games.

For cyberpunk 2077, it's the police. Apparently, literally 9/10 cops you meet are "the last honest cop in Night city." After the fifth time hearing this exact line I almost think there's some inside joke I'm not getting. Sure youre told the ncpd is corrupt sometimes (maybe), and in their little "safe and sound" show, the ncpd says cops may ask for bribes and that you should give them bribes. But like, that's never shown. The cops you do see are

Detective who wants to get to the bottom of hard cases the brass doesn't want solved, and to save his nephew from a serial killer

Two police officers who are definitely good and who just want to help their friend Barry, who's sad his turtle died and who is angry at the brass for covering things up

Cop who sacrifices his life in order to steal life saving medical equipment from arasaka, who only procures stolen cars for the corrupt brass

Cop who does what the brass tells him to do in order to protect himself and his daughter

[Edit was wrong on this one, didnt know there were different choices for this mission and that hes actually not a good cop. My bad.] Detective who hires you to steal bd scrolls so he doesn't have to go through the trouble of getting warrants

cop who beats you for stealing a car from a corpo, but disobeys orders from said corpo and spares you from death

You get the point. It's classic COD levels of writing for these guys. "All the problems are caused by the corrupt management and bureaucracy all the cops are really good guys at heart." Have you ever met cops? Like sure, I'm not saying literally 100% of them are sociopathic serial killers(although i think you have to be a little fucked in the head to do what they do), but the police department doesn't attract the type of people who want to help the community. It's literally almost as bad (or hell, I'd say maybe worse in some respects) than literal Dick Wolfe tier cop shows. And it doesn't help that the game is constantly telling you "man the ncpd are some bad guys. The ncpd are just another gang. The ncpd work with Tyger claws" etc. I wouldn't be as critical if my ears weren't hearing one thing and my eyes were seeing another. (Note:To be...too fair, there are essentially corpo cops who do actually get the treatment they deserve. People like Reed and Takemura aren't bad people on a personal level, but they're beholden to the interests of their capitalists and so you end up at odds with them because they do their dirty work. I don't think theres enough questioning of Reeds "for muh country" shit, but at the very least he's not given a free pass like the ncpd is. Same with Takemura, although it's never really shown how bad he can be really, opposed to just not liking Yorinobu.)

Terra Invicta is comparably smaller, but I hate their democracy vs totalitarianism crap. Looking around at the starting scores it's literally like those freedom institute maps.

Cuba, with direct democracy, free elections, accountable representatives, etc.

Grrr totalitarian nightmare

Thailand, the US, etc.

Aww, flawed democracies are still democracies

But then you look some more and it just has you asking if these people researched 5 minutes of political science before making some decisions. Like, really, south korea and Japan are "full democracies." One is a corrupt hellhole ran by megacorps who can raid and persecute anyone deemed helping North korea, and the other literally has a system to make getting rid of their one party dominance near impossible. At least give them the flawed democracy tag if it's so hard to understand anything else.

It's like, I really do enjoy playing both of these games but those two things are just constantly in the back of my mind saying "these people aren't as intelligent as you think"