star_wraith

joined 4 years ago
 

This topic comes up somewhat regularly here. If you have kids, what can you do to at least give them the best shot at understanding and embracing your communist / Marxist / dialectical materialist views? We usually come up with a couple big picture ideas, but over the last few weeks I've been jotting down very specific, concrete actions you can take. This list is not meant to exhaustive - I'm hoping you all have great ideas to share, too. But this is what I've come up with so far:

(And to clarify something, I'm 100% convinced to do need to be somewhat intentional and didactic about your values and views if you want your kids to share them. To think "I'm just going to let them find their own way, I don't want to influence them" is 1,000% lib shit. I'm not even sure most liberals think that way.)

Be a good parent: This one seems obvious, but it's so important it bears repeating and should be at the top of the list. You should be a good, involved parent for a number of reasons anyway. But, if you want your kids to share your views, being a good parent is the #1 way to encourage that. Or at least, being a shitty parent is a surefire way to make sure your kids rebel against everything you care about

Get organized: Get involved in an org, even if it's something like DSA. It can be an actual org like PSL or even just helping feed homeless folks in your town. Your kids can see how you have a great grasp of reality thanks to materialism, which might make them inclined to think you know what you're talking about. But if they know you see the problems in the world, but aren't doing anything to change that world... I can see how some kids might see that as kinda hyprocritical.

Learn history, especially from a materialist perspective: This is easy for me because I love history, even long before I was a Marxist. But if you don't enjoy history, I think you should at least push yourself and try to understand at least the materialist history behind what your kids will learn in school (so for American kids, making sure you understanding things like how the constitution was formed, how African-Americans have been held down throughout history, etc.). Especially if you are American, this is easy because most Americans are dumb as shit when it comes to history, and K-12 history teachers aren't much better. If your kids see that you know what you're talking about, they will largely trust your analysis. So when your kid hears in class that "the US fought the Korean War because the Soviets wanted to take over", they will know to come to you and ask if that's true - because they know you likely have a much more thorough and accurate answer.

For little kids, read history books to them: Right now my kid loves Nelson Mandela, because we have a couple books about him. I happen to believe that fostering a love of history can definitely help point kids in the right direction (even if by itself it probably won't turn them commie). Just make sure it's "good" history and not just that crap that glazes the founding fathers.

For older kids, engage with them on what they're learning in school: Good idea for all subjects, but especially for the social sciences. Ask questions. Be genuinely interested. While like said above, you need to be didactic but older kids especially aren't going to want to hear you rant about how Stalin saved the world from fascism for 15 minutes every time he comes up. Know when to just ask and listen with them.

Stay on top of current affairs: Keep up with the News Mega! All the stuff I said above about history applies to news & current events.

Play some commie podcasts when you're in the car with them: I feel like I might get push back on this, so let me explain. When I was a kid, my parents had news radio on whenever we were in the car. And even if I didn't understand what was always being talked about, I know for a fact I absorbed a ton of information passively that way. I believe that is a big reason I'm as interested in what's going on in the wider world today. I know we're generally down on leftist podcast but the reality is there's a ton of good content out there.

Try to have answers ready for when kids ask about what you believe: I think especially for younger kids, it's good to have simple answers ready that they can understand. And don't worry about being precisely correct in your response. When your kid asks “are we republicans or democrats?” or “do you vote for republicans or democrats, keeping in mind they may have a hard time understanding a complicated response. Say something like “I vote for whoever helps poor people or immigrants or people who work for a living”. That's much better than trying to explain the drawbacks of electoralism to a 7 year old. Obviously you can be more detailed and precise with older kids.

Try and have leftist adult friends who also have kids: Believe me, I get how hard this. It's nearly impossible to find any broadly leftist parents in my area, much less those who have time for socializing. So this is more of an ideal to try and reach, not a concrete action. But I think having some friends around who share your views - and have kids who can befriend your kids - is very effective. Just hard to pull off.

Push back hard against any transphobia or homophobia: Whether you see it IRL or in media, don't hesitate to be clear with your kids what being LGBTQ is about and that anyone who against LGBTQ rights sucks. I say this because I was raised in an environment very hostile to LGBTQ people. Just the other day, my kid wanted her two Barbie dolls to get married. For a fraction of second, there was that old voice in the back of my head saying "they're too young to understand". But of course they're not, and I explained how of course two Barbies can get married. Kids DO need to understand the validity of LGBTQ identities at a very young age.

If you're white, teaching anti-racism is important: Because if you're white, it's incredibly easy to fall into the trap of "well I'm not racist and no other white people I know are racist, so racism must be over". It's easy because white society pushes this notion so hard. You absolute have to teach kids about systematic racism and how they actually do need to stand up to racist pricks, because they will encounter them.

That's the list I have so far, would love to hear your additions.

 

Well over $100k in the higher cost of living states, too. And as the article states, that’s typically about double what the median salary is for a single person in most states.

I’d like to point out that AES states - while maybe they didn’t have all the same quality or quantity of consumer goods - were able to able to to provide a comfortable life for everyone without all the predatory that US workers currently have. And don’t take my word for it, take it from the neoliberal queen herself, Angela Merkel. When asked about life in the former GDR, she described it as “almost comfortable”. Now before you mention that “almost” is an important qualifier, note that the context of her quote was her trying to criticize the former GDR but she grudgingly conceded the comment above.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I am old enough to remember Jerry Springer. He would always have these bizarre shows of the most outrageous guests, usually getting into a physical altercation at some point. But the funniest thing about the show was at the end, after the final commercial segment, Springer would have this segment called “Final Thought”, where he would look straight into the camera and attempt to say something insightful via monologue, like “we all might like to have a laugh at the adult who wears diapers for sexual satisfaction, but how would you feel if someone was laughing at you”. Just the most inane, smooth-brained, basic-ass thoughts.

We need something like that so we can end some of these multi-post struggle sessions. Maybe we can train some deepfake AI to make our own Jerry Springer “Final Thought” videos. Feed the posts into the AI and have fake AI Jerry Springer say something that attempts to bring everyone together, and we just leave it at that.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

I feel like I would really not enjoy The Poverty of Philosophy, that’s the one Marx text I’ll probably never read.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Ball golf and downhill skiing: bad and bougie geordi-no

Disc golf and cross country skiing: cool and good, sports of the people geordi-yes

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (8 children)

I’m working through the chapters in Capital vol 2 where Marx spends like 40 pages just ripping on Adam Smith and David Ricardo for not having as good of a grasp on fixed and circulating capital as he does… and jfc it’s hard to get through. This is the first time and I’ve gotten to a section in vol 1 or 2 that I really just don’t enjoy reading. Is there a payoff here? Cause right now I’m not actually getting where this is relevant, I already understood pretty well what’s fixed and what’s circulating capital from the last chapter, it’s not really complicated.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

White America sees slavery of African people as “that thing that caused the Civil War” and nothing more. Certainly not as the unspeakably evil foundation of the present society that it is (along with indigenous genocide and theft of the land, of course).

The worst is when whites are like “well askshully slavery has always existed everywhere (which is, of course, not even close to being accurate) it’s us white Americans who first ended slavery. So…. you’re welcome.”

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago (2 children)

A bit unrelated but I firmly believe that homeschooling your kids so they only hear the earth is < 10,000 years old and evolution is a lie is a form of child abuse.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 9 months ago (2 children)

https://www.socialistalternative.org/2007/11/12/cubas-revolutionary-tribunals-separating-fact-from-fiction/

TL;DR the revolutionary tribunals went after the worst of the worst - the individuals who otherwise would have gotten ripped limb from limb by the Cuban people for the atrocities they committed. Every single one of them who was found guilty got what they deserved.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I've worked with a lot of Americans and Europeans, and that exchange at the end is so indicative of other exchanges I've seen at work between Americans and Europeans:

American: "Aww, you're being negative. How about we be positive, huh? It's more fun to be positive. I don't want to think about bad stuff."

European: "I am being realistic about the situation, why would I not be realistic"

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Only good pizza in the Midwest is local “styles” - St. Louis style, Detroit style, Chicago style, etc.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

I was thinking about this when the US started bombing Yemen. Supporting Palestine - though essentially - is also “easy” in that Israel has been so monstrously barbarous, even people who have shitty opinions about stuff can’t deny that Israel is evil. I check out a lot of completely unhinged right wing Christofascist twitter accounts, and even they almost unanimously think Israel is committing a genocide.

But with Yemen, I see way more people just uncritically accept the line that they are “Iran-backed insurgents” and that bombing them is just normal and necessary to keep shipping lanes open. A better litmus test if someone is truly anti-imperialist. Even better than Ukraine was at first because Ukraine has some other political and racial elements going on. With Yemen, you just know there’s a huge chunk of white Americans who don’t know the first thing about Yemen, but they know it’s in the Middle East and Muslim and “they’re attacking American ships”; so their brain immediately goes to all the media they’ve consumed over the last 20 years about young, cool CIA agents or Delta Force operators always saving America from the evil Muslim terrorists in [Unnamed Arab or Central Asian Country], and just hand over their unthinking support to the US government.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (44 children)

You know what, I think you are right. I don’t know any Trots personally but there are plenty of them out there IRL that are cool and good (Michael Hudson and China Mieville come to mind). I’ve also read individual Trots as they often have good article and essays. They run the world’s best website, marxists.org; and IIRC they keep International Publishers going.

I feel similar about leftcoms (doubt we have any here, either). Dunk on some takes they might have, maybe allow for ACTUAL, thoughtful critique of positions, too. But no uncharitable generalizations.

I would love the rule to be that there’s no ripping on any genuine leftist movement in general, only ripping on specific takes by individuals.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Anarcho-Stalinist-Ollmanist Thought.

 

amerikkka Death to America and viva la revolucion! diaz-canel-troll fidel-bat che

Was just thinking about this since I’m wearing my Cuba WBC cap around town (from the most recent WBC when Cuba was actually “allowed” to be in charge of their own team).

 

I don’t have any myself, but thought you all might know some.

 

This is shaping up to be the thing right wing nuts get outraged about this upcoming week. I feel like this is a good litmus test… anyone who gets angry about this is probably way more of a white nationalist than they are letting on. You think these same people who be angry about a blue/white/orange tricolor, saying it’s too close to the Dutch flag?

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submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

This looks kinda fun. The trailer kind of assumes you’re familiar with the “magical negro” trope, but I’m sure the movie fleshes it out.

Of course, white folks are getting in a tizzy over it, lots of comments about “well I don’t ask any black folks to make ME feel comfortable!!!” and “this is divisive!”, entirely oblivious to both the trope and broad social implication: that in 2023, black folks are not allowed to bring up historical injustices (much less they look for them to be remedied), be angry about anything, express displeasure with the current state of this, etc lest the white folks be made to feel uncomfortable.

 

Had always been a boxers enjoyer, until a friend made a devastating insult:

“You wear boxers? What are you, like 80 years old?”

Completely bodied and no way to recover. So I decided to try out boxer briefs. I always hated that constricting feeling on my thighs, so I avoided them. Decided to buy a slightly loose, larger size and I’m liking it.

 

Never really been a huge fan of Christmas. Something has always bugged me about it, but I've never been quite able to figure out what.

I've thought about all the reasons people - especially leftists - don't like Christmas. Like, the consumerism aspect can be annoying. But tbh I don't know anyone who actually is focused on spending money on people. I really only see people I know worry about gift-giving because they want to give something meaningful, myself included. It can be stressful and overall I kinda wish gift-giving wasn't a part of Christmas, but it doesn't really bother me. Stores obviously push you to buy stuff but really, when isn't that the case under capitalism?

There are other aspects of Christmas I really don't like - the music and how long the season drags out in particular. But those are admittedly just "me" things. There are a lot of people who like that part of Christmas, and I'm firmly in the "let people enjoy things" camp. So while these aspects might bug me personally, there is something else - something social - that feels off with Christmas.

But then a couple weeks ago, I was watching another "Christmas special" kids show that emphasized "Christmas is special time with the people we love" message, and I started thinking through something: I think what bothers me about Christmas is that it seems there is this massive social effort to resuscitate a sense of social belonging that capitalism itself has killed.

In order to survive, capitalism has completely and totally obliterated our social fabric and has turned us all into individualistic atoms. It had to do this. The social fabric is what allows us to experience not only common humanity, but common struggle. We are social creatures and we need some sort of social connection. But social connections are a threat to capitalism, so it must be destroyed. We need to be mobile workers who move away from the family and social connections we form. We spend all our time working so we can't form social bonds. The single family residence is considered the only way to live if you have the means. Unionizing or even just viewing our co-workers as group that should collectively act has been demolished.

So capitalism rips apart our social fabric in order to reproduce itself. But... we are social creatures. We all know something is missing. So to help assuage that angst, capitalism has "invented" modern Christmas. Modern Christmas involves telling people that for one day or one season, yes everything is totally fine. Having social connections is good. Of course, we are not actually given anything that helps improve our social connections. But our rulers deem that for a few weeks, we can have the vibes of a functioning social life, as a treat. They take the corpse of a healthy social fabric and prop it up and pretend it's alive, a la Weekend at Bernie's.

That's really the point of the Hallmark movies. That the point of the news highlighting feel-good stories about the holidays. Of every TV show having a "Christmas special" once a season that emphasizes that caring about others is what matters. I mean, of course those things are good. But it's an effort to create something artificial in place of something real.

Christmas is capitalism's social MacGuffin. We supposed to think about our loved ones this one time of year because it's Christmas and that's what Christmas is. But Christmas I think is just what's evolved into our release valve. Put all our energy in making one day matter so we don't think about the other 364 where we are alienated from each other. It's why every time we hear platitudes about "Christmas is a special time of the year" in the media, it rings hollow.

 

I played DE for the first time a year ago. I played it pretty “straight” because I wanted to learn as much about the world of Revachol and it’s history as possible (I avoided most spoilers but I had some vague notions there was some sort of communist revolution in the past). So on my skills, I loaded up on Psyche and Intellect with a focus on Encyclopedia and Visual Calculus. I didn’t do a lot of drugs or drink, either.

So for my second play through, I’m looking for a different experience. I’m thinking about loading up on Physique and Motorics - Physique in particular. I’ve heard Shivers and Half Light can be fun. I kept Interfacing, Hand Eye Coordination, etc pretty low so I might want to try it with higher levels there.

But I wanted to ask you all and get your thoughts and suggestions.

Also, I’m torn if I should try the Moralist vision quest or go back to the Communist one. I didn’t have quite enough Communism points to get the “best” ending (didn’t internalize The Suicide of Kras Mazov) so I kinda want another shot. But the moralist one does seem kinda interesting and apparently you learn more about the Pale.

Anyway would love to hear your ideas.

1
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

While I’m generally skeptical of boycotts, BDS scares the shit out of Israel. Because I do believe if BDS becomes a global movement it really could change things. I’ll start with the list from bdsmovement.net and then add to the list as people list other companies to boycott in the comments:

Hewlett-Packard (computer hardware)

Siemens (tech conglomerate)

AXA (banking & insurance)

Puma (clothing)

Israeli fruits and vegetables (usually labeled)

SodaStream (idk that garbage home soda)

Ahava (cosmetics)

Sabra (hummus)

0
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

And you know who I also don’t condemn?

The IRA

The Viet Minh

John Brown

Haitian slaves who revolted

Native American fighters

Black Panthers

National Liberation Front (Algeria)

Nelson Mandela

The 26th of July Movement

Every one of them were called “terrorists” or something equivalent at some point. Now think about who’s on the opposite of this list. Apartied South Africa, slavers, settlers, Zionists, the US government… There is only one moral and just side to be on and it’s not even a discussion.

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