Socialism

I've really enjoyed both the TV show and books for "the Expanse" series. A big part is the sophisticated, mid-future (~200 years) world building. Class relationships are more developed than in most sci-fi stories (excepting 'the Dispossessed'), and makes me wonder if it's a good framework for exploring/illustrating socialist ideas.

The big class issues are depicted among the interplanetary diaspora, but there's also interesting dynamics within Earth society.

• Mars: A highly regimented society whose dominant ideology is focused on building a self-sufficient new world that leaves behind the decadence of Earth.
• Belters/Outer planets: Populated by an oppressed working class (dominated by Earth and Mars) with anarchist tendencies. Much of the economy is built around mining and hauling, often organized by corporations, but sometimes independent single-ship operations that function like little communes. The main characters are belters.
• Earth: About 1/3 of the 30 billion inhabitants survive on a social welfare scheme called 'basic' that seems to provide necessities but no cash. The economy is still fundamentally capitalist, with immensely powerful industrialists and a massive UN bureaucracy running the world. Ambitious people can take entry level jobs, which in addition to wages, provide credits that will gain them entry into free higher education, and access to more influential positions.

The Belters get a lot of attention in the series, but the 'basic' folk on earth are largely overlooked and presented as an underclass that the characters often struggle to rise above (to the point that they will even migrate off Earth). The book leaves the impression that the people on basic are idle and caught up in their petty squabbles, vices, and criminality. However, I think it could be possible to describe a rich, and even influential culture arising from the 'basic' masses. One obvious candidate would be religious movements. You could also have a vibrant arts scene, where there's freedom to develop skills without needing to serve the market. Philosophy and math could thrive. Even science and tech could thrive, to the extent that expensive equipment is not required. Anyway, I'm thinking of interesting stories to write within this environment. The belters obviously offer better options for drama and adventure, but I think there's something potentially interesting in basic too.

US conservatives have always accused liberals of being 'communist' or sympathetic towards communism, but it seems to have reached a new level in the Trump era. For a long time, I thought that hyping the specter of communism was just cynicism and ignorance, but I'm now wondering if maybe they are seeing increased interest in communism, and that's what spooking this. There are a few reasons this seems plausible to me:

1. Younger Americans are more favorable towards 'socialism' than previous generations, and less favorable towards 'capitalism'.
2. Trump's support is strongest among well-off people who live in economically depressed areas. In other words, they are rich people who are increasingly surrounded by poor people over the past few decades.

This seems like a recipe for them to encounter adamant socialists/communists, but I've heard nothing about an uptick of socialist/communist advocacy, specifically in the regions where Trump supporters live. Most of the socialists/communists I hear of are in the big Democrat-dominated cities... but that may just be that those are the locations with high enough population density to organize large events that get into the news.

Do you have any thoughts on how to get a nationwide picture of where people support socialism? I figure that the Republicans would not necessarily be seeing large expressions of support for socialism, but may get riled up by any expression of support.

even if you have zero interest in art, listen to this.

kinda bad audio quality in the beginning, but you will not regret it, promise!

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3279652

Ruehl Muller joins Breht to discuss his upcoming book, put out by Iskra Books, titled "Building a People's Art: Selected Works of Trường Chinh and Tố Hữu".

Together, they discuss Vietnamese Socialist Realism, Maoist China, Cultural Revolution, dialectics, the death drive, fascism in Germany and Israel, New Democracy, and much more!

Even afraid of real confrontation, afraid to realize your bubble is wrong, and people in the real world think and are different.

China ain't a free country!

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/15211295

After adding operatic vocals to Gojira's rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira," a song popular during the French Revolution, she went on to sing a portion of Georges Bizet's Carmen.

From NME:

The heavy metallers performed ‘Ah, Ça Ira!’ (which translates to ‘It’ll be fine’), a song that was popular during the French revolution, during a segment titled ‘Liberté’ (in reference to France’s famed motto ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’) that celebrated one of the most famous events in French history, as well as the nation’s emphasis on freedom.

Gojira appeared on the side of a castle surrounded by fire and bursts of red streamers to represent blood, with Viotti later appearing on a moving prop boat. Their performance followed a portion dedicated to Les Miserables and came just after a beheaded Marie Antoinette was shown singing.

Traditional lyrics translated at wikipedia (linked above) Gojira's lyrics translated via redditors:

"Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
Hang the aristocrats from on high!
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
The aristocrats, we'll hang 'em all.
Despotism will breathe its last,
Liberty will take the day,
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
We don't have any more nobles or priests,
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
Equality will reign everywhere,
The Austrian slave will follow him,
To the Devil will they fly.
Oh. It'll be okay, be okay, be okay,
To the Devil will they fly."

I made this community as a reaction to the July 4th general election taking place in the United Kingdoms, to mobilize my fellow comrades in the lead-up to the general elections, the group is party agnostic though there is an obvious bias due in part to my political affiliation but all leftest parties that fight for dignity and the working class are very much welcome.

By all means feel free to join where ever you may come from whether for information or solidarity.

In solidarity.

Squid.

I see many self-identified socialists imply that, in a socialist society, people would constantly be doing different jobs and would split their labour between many different jobs rather than specialize. It definitely makes sense when it comes to jobs that don't require too much specialization, but how does this work with highly specific jobs that require a disproportionately high amount of resources to become skilled in? Would they spend more time on a specialization, would they frequently rotate the same as everyone else?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/14178982

We are Leftypedia, a socialist and left-wing online encyclopedia.

If you're a leftist of any kind or considering becoming one, you've probably found truthful information about socialist ideologies and movements from websites like Wikipedia lacking at best.

These days, genuine leftist ideology can be hard to get into and learn about, between the toxic culture that dominates online leftist spaces and the many issues faced by even offline socialist organizations. Reading theory-dense works from Marx can be hard at first, and the easily-accessible guides targeted at beginners often don't even understand the work their talking about themselves!

So, what's the solution?

A dedicated socialist resource, like Leftypedia.

We aspire for new leftists to be given an environment where original discourse is encouraged on top of sourced and informative encyclopedic articles

Since are beginning in 2019, we have hundreds of articles, dozens of editors, and a growing community and base of content.

We're well on our way of reaching our goals, and welcome any leftist or incoming-leftist to view and editor our articles, carry out original discourse, and so on!

Our Discord server

Our Matrix space

Questions about us? Feel free to ask them here or on the links provided above!

I am genuinely interested how such a thing would be done. I understand that it wouldn't be as hard as with communism, but I can't think of any way to encourage companies to make better (genuinely better) products. I remember how my mother told me how in her days (she lived in the DDR) there wasn't really any reason to be better than another company, as they would all be payed equally.

I would like to preface by saying I am very sorry if this is the wrong community. This post touches on the core philosophy of Marxism, and I was hoping to get some insight.

My friend claims that the only reason companies produce things is because the working class, regular citizens, are asking for it; he does not get behind the idea of companies subconsciously persuading people to buy the items they sell. He believes that because your regular person wants a new phone, kitchen equipment, clothes, whatever - they are pushing capitalism forward and therefore it is the right / natural system.

How would you reason? I feel conflicted. On one hand, people do want things and there is almost always something to produce it for them, but on the other hand companies are steadily pushing for profit, using various tactics to drive consumerism. I would appreciate what you guys think and what you would answer, because according to him, capitalism only exists because demand exists. Whether that's true or not, I hope we can discuss. Cheers!

A very simple test of basic morality and ethics. If you think badly of comrade Aaron Bushnell in any way, you are the bad guy, end of story.

That is all.

Alt text: a screenshot of "Slow Down" written by Kohei Saito

Midwestern Marx YouTube interview: Gabriel Rockhill | Why Slavoj Žižek is Capitalism's Court Jester

Marx and Engels mention a class "below" the proletariat called the lumpenproletariat, which i understand as meaning a class that has no class consciousness, and is therefore susceptible to the influence of the bourgeoisie. but i don't see the difference between that and the proletariat proper. don't the proletariat receive propaganda to suppress their own class consciousness, and don't they have to be woken up? i don't get why the lumpenproletariat supposedly can't be woken up in the same way. besides, some examples of the lumpenproletariat given are people in organized crime, sex workers, and the unemployed. i find it hypocritical to condemn a class of people based on what they do to survive in a capitalist society (or in the case of the unemployed, the fact that the bourgeoisie won't give them a job). but more than anything, i'm just thoroughly confused by this concept. i feel like i'm missing something major.