parenting star_wraith • 1 month ago • 97%

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.

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 5 months ago • 100%

www.cnbc.com

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.

parenting star_wraith • 6 months ago • 100%

I’m white. My daughter is also white. She’s 3 years old, almost 4. Up to this age, my approach to teaching her about race has been to focus exclusively on skin *color*. Meaning, we talk about how people can have all different colors and tones to their skin. Talking about skin color on a spectrum. But always emphasizing that people are all the same and that everyone should be treated the same. In isolation, this all sounds lib. I of course want to get all into structural and institutional racism et al. But… she’s 3. Up until a few months ago she was still pooping and pissing in a diaper. My thinking is that emphasizing this more lib understanding of race is more age-appropriate now, and we can get into the real stuff a little later on when she has the mental and emotional maturity to handle it (that said, I have told her that the cops aren’t very nice to people who don’t look like us. Whatever, the daycare has pigs come over and talk to the kids even at her age, so fuck em I’m gonna counter that shit now). Is this the right approach? Is there more I should be doing? If you all have any age-appropriate books on this topic you can recommend, definitely let me know.

history star_wraith • 7 months ago • 100%

(Specifying “post-NEP” since think the war communism economy and the NEP should be viewed as it’s own thing) Trying to get into the real fine details regarding the Soviet economy - either the total period from Stalin to Gorbachev, or segments of that period. Really want to understand what went wrong, and what went right. The problem I’m having is when I go to the bourgeois economic historians, they unsurprisingly shit on the economy under Stalin (or rather, emphasize the unsustainability of it long term) and praise Khrushchev and Gorbachev. Obviously that’s a biased route I’m not interested in going down. However, whenever I go in the opposite direction, I feel like I’m reading sources that are maybe a bit too uncritical of the Stalin era economic policies. And you know what, maybe Stalin *did* actually get everything about the economy right. I’m open to that possibility. Obviously the track record is there. But idk, I haven’t found one source yet who has sufficiently shown their work on that (that I’m sure is due to me not finding the right sources yet). Like, when it comes to economic history, I don’t feel an overwhelming need to defend Stalin or criticize Khrushchev and Brezhnev, just trying to find a sober analysis from a Marxian source. I have a background in econ so I would feel comfortable handling something that’s a bit more technical, if such a resource exists. Any suggestions welcome!

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 9 months ago • 99%

 Death to America and viva la revolucion!    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).

askchapo star_wraith • 9 months ago • 100%

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

askchapo star_wraith • 9 months ago • 100%

I’m not a native German speaker obviously, but doesn’t “Das Kapital” translate to “THE Capital”? Also, English-speakers should call it just “Capital”. Calling it “Das Kapital” is just propaganda to make the title sound more menacing than it is.

askchapo star_wraith • 9 months ago • 100%

Liberals will point to how improvements in quality of life have occurred in capitalist countries in recent centuries (debatable, and certainly not true for the entire world, but let’s assume they are correct for now). What is usually implied is that it’s all thanks to capitalism that we have the quality of life that we do, thus capitalism should be allowed to continue. The thought I had was, do most of the quality of life improvements come down mostly to how agriculture and medicine developed? Meaning, famines were a harsh reality of life for much of human history, and modern agriculture has allowed us to now be in a position where globally, we can produce more than enough food consistently for the whole planet. Likewise in regards to medicine… in the past just getting sick could be a death sentence. People had to live with incredibly painful conditions their whole life that we now have cures for. Honestly modern medicine is the one reason why I would rather live in 2023 than any other time. What I’m getting at is… though these advances did occur under capitalism, I don’t think I would give capitalism the “credit” for them. Obviously socialism was not possible 200 years ago. I’m not denying standard Marxist historical progression. What I am doing though, is trying to attack the liberal narrative of treating capitalism as some god who has bestowed his mercy on us - that everything good we have is from Him, and thus we must give Him our praise and continue on His economic system into eternity. The Soviet Union and China were/are both able to be incredibly productive in agriculture and ended their historic, periodic famines. The Soviet Union (and Cuba!) were/are renowned for their advances in medicine. I think the only things you can give capitalism “credit” for is developing the productive forces, allowing for high levels of commodity production, and increasing levels of wealth (though not equally shared).

movies star_wraith • 9 months ago • 100%

m.youtube.com

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.

chat star_wraith • 9 months ago • 100%

Wherever he is, I hope he’s doing good. I don’t remember if he was an open communist when he was in the Virginia legislature but probably the least lib politician in America in a generation. Seemed like a pretty genuine dude, too. Feels like he dropped out of politics and has been pretty quiet since.

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 10 months ago • 100%

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.

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 10 months ago • 100%

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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.

marxism star_wraith • 10 months ago • 100%

It seems highly regarded and well reviewed. Reading some synopses of it, seems like it would be something I’d be really interested in. However I’m also pretty allergic to philosophy, it usually goes over my head. But then again, a lot of reviewers say Mau keeps things very “practical”? (Also, being respectful of my Danish comrades with the ø, which I have always liked anyway because I thought it looks cool).

askchapo star_wraith • 10 months ago • 100%

I’m curious about the experience of reading Marx from our users for whom English is their second language. For me as a native English speaker… I love reading Marx but the language feels so arcane at times. I mean, he rarely uses words I don’t understand, but the context in which he uses them often eludes me. It’s almost like he uses to many words when a briefer sentence would be more effective, at least to a modern audience. It’s nowhere near the experience of say reading Shakespeare, which I can’t do without some sort of modern guide. But I feel like the language is challenging enough that it’s a barrier to some people. So I’m curious if the experience is similar in other languages (especially curious about German).

games star_wraith • 10 months ago • 100%

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.

podcasts star_wraith • 11 months ago • 100%

pca.st

Our beloved Large Adult Son went on the Age of Napoleon podcast and gave his thoughts about Marx’s *The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte*, which I saw somewhere that Matt said it was his favorite book. It’s a pretty great rundown of the book; I especially enjoyed the insight he had into Marx’s “sack of potatoes” comment. Happy Eighteenth Brumaire, comrades!

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 11 months ago • 99%

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)

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 11 months ago • 100%

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.

podcasts star_wraith • 11 months ago • 100%

cosmonautmag.com

First 13 minutes is the introduction. From about 13:00 to 23:00 they cover the extensive bibliography, discussion follows after that. More about the economics of the USSR in the 1920s than just the NEP.

history star_wraith • 12 months ago • 99%

If you grew up in the United States, it's likely that you have often heard Americans - when referring to conflict in Palestine - say something to the effect of: "Well, Jews and Muslims have fighting over that land for thousands of years. They hate each other and there's no way we'll ever have peace there." I think you all be surprised to learn that Americans are complete dumbasses when it comes to history, because this notion of Jews and Muslims struggling in eternal conflict over a piece of land is an absolute myth. Up until the last hundred years or so, then stretching back to Roman Empire times, Jews and Muslims (and Christians) have lived together in Palestine. From the third or fourth century CE until the emergence of Islam, Jews and Christians both lived there (oftentimes it was Jewish people who converted to Christianity). After Islam emerges then you had three groups living there, in various proportions, with the Muslim proportion steadily getting larger over the centuries; and there really doesn’t seem to be intra-group conflict beyond a sort of baseline for humans. Of course there was conflict and war. You had Turks and Crusaders and others fighting plenty of wars in the area. But it doesn't seem to me like there was any *more* amount of war in Palestine during that time than there was, say, in the Rhine Valley. And also, just because there are wars doesn't mean that there is conflict between groups of people. In general, it seems like for centuries, Jews, Muslims and Christians occupying the same space in relative peace seems to be the norm. Even up until before the Balfour declaration, there were a number of Jewish people living alongside Muslims in Palestine. But importantly, the Jewish people in Palestine didn't seek to dominate, but to either mind their own business quietly in their community, or even with a sort of shared Palestinian identity with their Muslim neighbors. Co-existence has been the historical norm there, not conflict. As best as I can tell, this whole notion of "they've been fighting forever" comes from one specific source: Evangelical Christians. It's because that group believes that roughly 4,000 years ago, the only humans alive were Noah and his family. Then in a few generations, Jacob and Esau fought over a birthright and then those two literally became the first ancestors of Jews and Muslims, respectively. There's some verse in there about "always struggling against each other" or something. These Evangelicals then go on to believe everything else in the Old Testament - despite the overwhelming historical evidence - is literally true. That the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt and then conquered Palestine (there's no evidence for Jews being slaves in Egypt and most historians believe the Jewish people emerged out of the larger Canaanite people, not as something separate from them). These Evangelicals can then excuse genocide if not encourage it since it’s inevitable anyway (and in that they side with Israel, because they’re all racist pieces of shit). Once again, Evangelicals making the world worse for everyone.

music star_wraith • 12 months ago • 100%

m.youtube.com

Sigur Ros is so good, my go-to band (along with Sea Power) for just playing their entire catalog for hours on end. Listening to them while driving around Iceland was an incredible experience.

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 12 months ago • 100%

Who wants in? We can talk about what is was like to write a letter to your grandma or having no other way to ask someone out other than by calling them on the phone. Or checking out movies at Blockbuster or whatever your national equivalent was (we usually checked out videos at the grocery store, actually). We’re cool because we can actually remember the USSR and “East” Germany. Although not as cool, I can remember when homophobia and transphobia was so much more widely accepted and the “default” position for most Americans. Not as cool.

askchapo star_wraith • 12 months ago • 97%

I was chatting with an acquaintance earlier today. I said something to the effect of “I would consider it the worst parenting fail if my daughter became a cop”. This acquaintance then asked why that was, probably with about 50% indignation and 50% genuine curiousity. Honestly, I kind of drew a blank. Like, I know how to explain it in a long post or like a missive, but I really couldn’t think of how to explain to someone who probably isn’t a leftist in just a quick comment. So I just went with: “Well all they do is beat up on black kids” Which… is of course correct. But tbh I fell that answer is just missing a lot. A beat later I almost said something about how cruel they are to homeless folks around here but by then moment had passed. **How would you all explain - in the span of a single one-liner - why cops are bad?** I’m not looking to knock someone over with my impressive rhetoric or whatever. Not looking to convince them. Just so I can feel I articulated my position correctly. Just got my own sense of pride. Help me out here.

chat star_wraith • 1 year ago • 98%

I’ve spent the last few years devouring Soviet history. Books, papers, blog posts, podcasts, all of it. I can’t get enough. Not to brag, but I do feel as though I’ve achieved a certain level of understanding about the USSR, its history, and eventual collapse. But I’ve also put the work in. And yet, whenever I engage people I know IRL or online, I’m amazed by how doggedly people will defend what they just inherently “know”: that the Soviet Union was an evil totalitarian authority dictatorship that killed 100 million of its own people and eventually collapsed because communism never works. None of these people (at least the people I know IRL) have learned anything about Soviet history beyond maybe a couple days of lectures and a textbook chapter in high school history classes. Like, I get that this is the narrative that nearly every American holds in their heads. The fact that people believe this isn’t surprising. But what is a little surprising to me is that, when confronted with a challenge to that narrative from someone they know has always loved history and has bothered to learn more, they dig their heels in and insist they are right and I am wrong. This isn’t about me, I’m just sharing my experience with this. I’m just amazed at how Americans will be completely ignorant about a topic (not just the USSR) but will be utterly convinced their views on that topic are correct, despite their own lack of investigation into that topic. This is the same country where tens of millions of people think dinosaurs and humans walked around together and will not listen to what any “scientist” has to say about it, after all.

history star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

Since I’m an American, I never learned one bit of history about the 1848 revolutions in Europe in school. Are there any good Marxist histories of those revolutions you all could recommend? Preferably something written well after the events to give some more historical perspective than someone like Marx may have had.

podcasts star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

If so, how was it? Would you recommend listening to it? I know Mike has some liberal brainworms that come out at times but from what I’ve listened to, I feel like he mostly sticks with the facts. I liked his series that came before this one (English Civil War, French Revolution, Haiti, etc).

askchapo star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

Got this for $10 at a flea market. I’m guessing the word in the center is “Democracy”? The guy I bought it from says he got it from a guy who emigrated from Russia in the 90s. A little googling says it’s from 1987. Just trying to figure out if it’s “pro-USSR” or given when it was made it’s not some pro-perestroika, pro-Gorbachev statement. It’s got the hammer & sickle so I think it’s the former but not 100% sure. Basically… based or not based?

urbanism star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

Take a moment to consider all the resources used in the United States regarding automotive transportation since 1945. Think about all that metal that’s used on something that becomes obsolete and junked after only a decade or two. Think of all the labor involved in manufacturing them. And think of all the time individuals must spend on long commutes where they can’t do anything other than drive (because our time is a resource too). Think about [how many more automobiles are needed than trains and buses](https://www.core77.com/posts/8015/car-bus-bicycle-taking-up-space-in-the-same-place-8015). And then think about all the oil that’s needed to run those cars. Now think about how little resources are needed for public transportation vehicles. How they last a lot longer, are more fuel efficient, and allow you to spend your time doing other things. It’s truly amazing how *wasteful* automobiles are. The automobile is the product of the free market and “individualism” run amok. A socialist country run by central planning wouldn’t dream of creating a society that’s based around the car because it’s so needlessly inefficient. Let’s expand this a little further. The modern capitalist culture around cars is largely a post-WW2 invention. Look at a map of where you live. Try to figure out what your metro area looked like in 1945 and what it looks like now. I know for my hometown, the post-1945 part is several times larger than what was there before. And that all was built around automotive infrastructure. It boggles the mind the resources involved in that. All the concrete used for highways. All the land paved over for parking lots. All the inefficient single-family homes and strip malls. It’s hard to wrap your head around how much resources were used to build that. Now think about the alternative: how few resources would be used in building housing for need with space efficiency in mind. How you need so much fewer roads and how you can connect cities with rail instead of highways. Think about how much less commercial areas you need under socialism. The later is just so much more efficient. But in the debate of free markets versus central planning, all this seems to get skipped over in favor of “but socialism means no bananas in the winter” or “how will I be able to get the exact color iPhone case I want if it’s all centrally planned?” But the sheer waste of capitalism is overlooked because there was profit made the whole time. People never consider how those resources could have been better used. I think if you took the US post-WW2 and made it socialist with central planning, we’d truly be living in a post-scarcity society by now. Even acknowledging how much of a “boost” the capitalist US economy gets from imperialism and environmental destruction, with socialism and just the resources within the US, we’d have so much that our society would have no choice but to massively reduce work hours. How wasteful capitalism is gets ignored because the waste is dealt with by a willing buyer and willing seller at a market clearing price (ignoring overproduction, I mean). The anti-communists don’t want to think about in terms of finite resources, and how those resources are used. Idk, just something to think about.

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

This was posted by Chapo producer Chris Wade.

chapotraphouse star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

A few years ago, you tweeted out how your friend worked on “The Slap” TV show, and how he was responsible for coming up with a list of fake jazz artists albums for the show. That list you tweeted was some of the funniest shit I’ve ever seen. But when I go back through your twitter account I can’t find it. Please retweet. Thank you kindly.

music star_wraith • 1 year ago • 100%

Song is blowing up in popularity. Of course the media is just uncritically referring to it as a “working class anthem”, because of the fundamentally reactionary nature of this country. It’s not “working class” in the true sense. It just reinforces the idea that conservative white men with jobs in the trades *deserve* a good life because of the settler mentality and white supremacy. Capital has always “taken care of” these white men - they buy off their allegiance in exchange for exclusive economic and social privilege. Now that capital has been less generous to them under neoliberalism, they’re big mad they’re not getting the same deal (at the expense of others) as they used to. Some selected lyrics: >It's a damn shame what the world's gotten to / For people like me and people like you Right out of the gate, Anthony is making his screed exclusionary. For a country music song, already the audience is gonna skew white and reactionary. The rest of the lyrics of this song just highlight how the world sucks now for “people like him”, and fuck everyone else. >These rich men north of Richmond / Lord knows they all just wanna have total control Of course politicians suck. But notice how capital isn’t the target. The target isn’t even say corrupt politicians who take bribes. It’s the politicians who want to “control” you. In conservative circles, this always means things like “they want to force you to accept that LGBTQ folks are valid” or things like that. >’Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end Sure, inflation and taxes suck but I’ve never known anyone outside of the top 10% of earners who complains about taxes who wasn’t doing so from a deeply anti-poor reactionary stance. >I wish politicians would look out for miners Ahh, the beloved white miners of conservatives dreams. The mining industry employs way fewer people than Walmart, but funny how a “working class anthem” from a white man doesn’t include any solidarity with retail workers… >And not just minors on an island somewhere *Sound of Freedom noises intensify* cw: fatphobia ::: spoiler spoiler >Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds / Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds Wow, a regular ol’ working class man taking time in his song to slam the racist Reagan-era notions of welfare queens. Just wonderful. ::: This song sucks but it really captures white grievance politics and how they steal our correct notions of class to further their own agenda.

parenting star_wraith • 2 years ago • 100%

Because once you have kids and they become mobile, it will be *years* before you get to take a private, undisturbed poop at home again.

parenting star_wraith • 2 years ago • 100%

With my kids, we tend to stick to more gender-neutral toys, wood blocks, that sort of thing. Get a lot of toys from Hapé, that sort of thing. Went to a kid's birthday party today. Family has 2 boys. Played with the toys in the basement. And jfc, damn near every toys was heavily masc-coded. i swear to god, there was a toy fire engine that had literal muscles on it. Every vehicle had big chunky wheels and seemed to be designed with a certain masculine aesthetic. There was this cop car designed like a tank that shot out discs. Every toy just seemed overly aggressive and bought specifically to signal MY SON IS NOT GAAAAYYY! Like, I was raised with "boy toys" like Tonka trucks. But those just seemed more like realistic representations of real thing. Even something silly like Transformers, their vehicle forms were like boring-ass sedans and shit. So many toys today seem like they have to crank up the gender coding to 11 (boys and girls); while at the same time there are a ton of toys that aren't problematic at all. I feel like this says a lot about the social reproduction of gender and capitalism.

parenting star_wraith • 2 years ago • 100%

Maybe an odd question, so I'll unpack it a bit. Back during the time of the Michael Brown shooting, I remember hearing about how black parents often have "the talk" with their kids about the pigs. About how they aren't there to help, about how to stay safe around them, etc. I'm white, my kids are white, and I realized I need to have my own ACAB talk with them eventually. This weekend, my older toddler said to me "the police keep us safe". I'm guessing she picked it up from day care teachers because I don't let her watch any TV that glorifies pigs and I live in a kinda reactionary area. When she asked, I kinda fumbled and just said "not really, the police don't keep people safe". I knew that wasn't a great answer but she's little so she just sorta heard it and then moved on to her next unrelated topic. I've been thinking about it. I have some time, but at some point I need to talk to her and tell her the truth about cops. **Do you all have any advice about how to explain the reality of policing in America to white kids?** I'm making that "white" qualifier for a reason. In white spaces and communities, the copanganda kids face is *intense*. The cops are portrayed as these kind, benevolent peacemakers who are only there to help. And frankly, the cops themselves do a great job propagandizing white kids. They make sure to have all these positive interactions with them when they're young. That's what I have to fight against. I know because that was my experience as a white kid growing up. I never really had negative interactions with cops myself. Shitting on cops was very much socially forbidden among my Mayo-American social circle. And the last mental domino to fall in me becoming a leftist was realizing how absolutely shitty cops are and their real role in the system. I really want my kids to be able to see the cops for who they are, even though I know how much of an uphill battle that's going to be for me.