cimbazarov

How do y'all talk to libs about how the media is portraying Trump as subservient to Putin? For example refusing aid to Ukraine and easing sanctions on Russia. I don't really have a good answer other than the long history after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that the US and Russia would probably never be allies.

I can understand why he'd be hard on Ukraine, but even I have trouble understanding why Trump seems so friendly with Russia

Unironically, there are so many parallels with Harry potter and the way modern liberals act

Joe Rogan is the ultimate example of social being determining your conscious. As he got richer and more popular he became more right wing.

I also agree and don't think it was a deliberate long con by any of them (well maybe Tim Pool?). They are all just products of their environments. The right also understands how important it is to control the cultural hegemony. Theyre not just talking to people about politics, but all sorts of different niches.

American online right wing propaganda is way too strong, to a point where its just a self-sustaining plague on the internet. The way it turns apolitical people into right wing nut jobs is quite scary. I would bet most people in China are apolitical and that would be ripe picking for the propaganda.

I agree with you, but I also believe people can change. A change in conscious towards unionizing won't happen overnight. It happens as the workplace and job market conditions change, and that is what we are seeing right now in Silicon Valley. Tech workers have been used to rising salaries and benefits for so long, and we know that can't last forever. I think now we are going to see the decline. As the article mentions, AI is the hope for the owner class to de-skill tech workers and thus make them a more exploitable worker that won't be given a salary that is enough to live a materially comfortable life.

Perhaps one unionization can inspire another?

I mean the US rarely uses its own soldiers for expanding its imperialism doesnt it? Its about recruiting the locals from its colonies and using them to overthrow or suppress any movement of self-emancipation. Helps that they keep these colonies poor so that there are plenty of desperate people to recruit from.

They failed to do this in China though which is a problem for them

Definitely something missing imo. The right has the monopoly on violence, and even though I'd say the left can ultimately appeal to more people and have strength in numbers, a willingness to use violence can overcome that. I think it is as you said: it sounds very LARP-y until it isn't. This is probably by design though, as any leftist group that does pick up arms or does combat training will be a target for repression.

I was in a similar position. Best advice I can give is to try to find a local Marxist org if you can. Luckily there was one for me, but I know not everyone has one. I think isolating ourselves is probably the worst thing we can do right now, even though the capitalist system makes it easy to do so.

I used to think that I could convince my more lib/conservative minded friends since I read so much, but it's not that easy even if you have all the knowledge needed for making a point. I have never successfully converted someone, but I think I at least made them think a little bit more critically and even have them agree with me on some things.

Even in the context of Trump being in charge of the US right now, I still feel somewhat alone when talking to liberal-resistance-minded people about it because it’s like they’re approaching it from another universe of belief about how things work.

Yea I feel this too, and imo it's because they are not against the system but the individuals running the system.

I been getting clips of her too. I could only watch for a couple seconds before I had to stop because I couldn't stand her smugness

I feel like there's no theory behind what kind of revolution can take place in the global north, at least none that I'm aware of. We're still going off of past revolutions which happened in times where the societies were much different and the technological level was alot lower. Curious what others think could be a possible avenue for revolution.

My thoughts are that the consciousness of people are not at the level where a true proletarian revolution can take place (at least in my country in the global north). This is mainly due to neoliberal brainwashing and the fact that people don't view China as socialist. Im seeing more pull towards neoliberalism as the material conditions degrade, partly because people don't realize there is any other option. They all think it's a tradeoff between having a good economy and letting everyone have their basic needs met.

So much can change between now and 2050, I would not rely on that (plus we'll all be old or dead by then)

Eugene is great!