Let’s add “stop being so goddamned credulous”.
Reports of 15k people per day killed in Iran when the IOF couldn’t post even half those numbers while bombing refugee encampments with white phosphorous.
If you read something, and it makes a claim, use some critical thinking skills instead of just thinking it must be true because the vibes feel right to you.
It’s 30000 now.
In my experience*, vibes-based politics can have a distinct western form (which is not to say it’s exclusive to westerners).
Repeating patterns I see look something like:
- Giving an answer even if one does not have a well-investigated answer to provide (being afraid of looking ignorant, uninformed, or incapable of doing political analysis and/or feeling a need to demonstrate one’s intellect for the sake of it).
- Being quick to be judgmental, hateful, or dismissive toward those in other countries (racism), or the flip side of this, toward those in western countries (self-hating).
- Elevating debate as having intrinsic importance that it doesn’t have and acting out debate as a game of winner/loser with elation for the winner and humiliation for the loser (rather than viewing debate as a means of testing and sharpening perspectives from the same side).
- Getting caught up in “pet issues” over a more holistic perspective on change. Whatever one feels most passionate about becomes the driver rather than an analysis of contradictions (which can be difficult to do, to be fair, and may require multiple people to work out properly along with experimental practice to understand better - and that’s if you understand dialectical materialism in the first place, which itself may not be straightforward).
- Assuming universality of things that aren’t universal (such as faulty views on “human nature” that leads people astray).
*Part of it’s from me, now or in the past, and part of it’s from looking at patterns in others. Not excluding myself from being susceptible to this.
I always hate writing anything like this because I don’t want it to come across like I’m trying to be holier-than-thou judger person (which goes back to the third point and how winner/loser perspective can cause so many problems). But anyway, that is what comes to mind when I reflect on the subject.
To add on: I hate it when people don’t have definable ideological throughlines.
I’m not saying you need to have a online brainrot “I’m a Marxist-anti-engels-maoist-Hu Jintaoist-Hoxcaist with Turkish characteristics,” but simply having a theoretical backing to what you’re talking about.
I’m mainly referring to people here who are basically Marxist, maybe…? Like…I think they are, but they don’t dicuss their theory, their marx and their philosophy of praxis. They’ll critique things but don’t really present how those critiques fit into their dialectical worldview.
A couple examples off the tip of my head would be 1dime, Hasan [don’t watch too much, correct me if I’m wrong], and maybs rguably Orwell (idk, he was just vaguely a socialist. I know he liked Catalonia a lot but was he a full fledged anarchist? Idk, thats my point)
rguably Orwell (idk, he was just vaguely a socialist. I know he liked Catalonia a lot but was he a full fledged anarchist?
I think he was actually pretty consistent. He thought anarchists were commendable but naive, MLs were evil authoritarians, all proles were fools who needed to be herded, and no one but white British gentlemen could be trusted to lead a truly enlightened socialist project.
Reading the manifesto in a vacuum has to be the worst advice ever.
Not as bad as reading Capital for your first contact with theory.
…or your second or third. That thing is a slog for those of us in the center of the bell curve and not immersed in theory. I’m actually okay with people who are attracted to the communist/socialist vibe; we don’t all have to be a part of the vanguard. (Note: the Liberation School has a podcast called “Reading Capital With Comrades” that really helped me with my understanding.)
Indeed. It’s ok to just be a communist sympathizer. Not everyone has to or can be a cadre.
The only thing i would say i don’t like is when people who haven’t put in the work and haven’t studied try to act like they understand socialist theory better than those who have. It’s fine if reading theory isn’t for you, but then at least be humble enough to recognize that and listen to those who have done the reading.
It is important to remain open to learning regardless of the medium that you learn through. Books are just one medium. Your comrades are another.
within the context i’d say it isn’t too bad
like if the person has only the vaguest idea of what communism even is it isn’t the worst thing to make them read
I dunno know man your ruining vibes
i’ll stop my vibes based politics when i stop being right about everything
Congratulations on developing such a keen intuition, but I hope it’s quite visible that this skill you’ve acquired come from somewhere, right? You weren’t just born with this.
Someone who thinks they’re flawless is incredibly easy to manipulate and I’m sorry to break this to you, but you can’t read anyone’s mind, you don’t know what’s going in my head, just because most people follow the “rules” doesn’t mean I will. Unfortunately that’s just life. That’s what this post is trying to get across. I think.
If you’re always right, you’re probably not very brave and keep yourself safe within the predictable parameters. I know this may come off as harsh and I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but I’m just being honest here. Honesty is something you should always value highly, that’s why it’s something we need to ration carefully.
You weren’t just born with this
shows what you know
I’m just glad we have you here to serve us all as an example. This is the wonders of community learning, everyone gets to participate, indiscriminately. Thank you for your contribution.
Having some intuition and figuring out patterns is not “vibes” imo.
I think the OG poster is talking about having an ideology without having an idea about it. That’s most liberals i think.
Me, not having any idea about Iran at all, seeing an Iranian model from new york on instagram talking about the evil regime and how we should support the “protestors”; going “nah i think there is more to it than she says. The vibes are off with her” is not just “vibes based”. My reading of books and having conversation with y’all here informed my vibes reading and i am pretty confident in that now.
Says the person who thinks only europe uses celsius
