矛⋅盾

💥⋅🛡️

cio of chen weihua fanclub 👺 she/they tme

🀄💱🍔

  • 2 Posts
  • 9 Comments
Joined 26 days ago
cake
Cake day: October 31st, 2024

help-circle
  • 矛⋅盾toAsk LemmygradThoughts on overzealots?
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    10 days ago

    Don’t watch him and never heard of him before but going off on his video titles+thumbnails, this seems like average breadtuber stuff which is like some guy making ‘video essay’-adjacent videos either constantly rebutting right wingers and/or just dipping their toes into leftism while researching their video topic. Not actually familiar with any serious theory, spotty and/or dubious citations, doesn’t like AES, engages more with rightwingers (even if it is in opposition) than any ‘leftists’ because that’s the most prominent way to get views on youtube, that kind of ‘breadtuber’

    LOL I’m literally 1 minute into ’ “Socialism Always Fails”: A Dishonest Claim (3 Times It Worked) ’ he literally says “I do believe old communist states devolved into tyranny and state capitalism”. Then he echoes a bunch of common anti-communist “leftist” claims like that the bourgeoisie wasn’t dismantled and the state just replaced capitalists in subordination of the proletariat; USSR is technically bad because human rights violations; and nobody should look up to (my guess is this includes reading or studying… come on) Stalin or Mao and also throws Pol Pot in the same group as them (the insinuation I’m getting here is that he buys into the narrative of “holodomor” or kulaks or great leap forward or cultural revolution are actual genocides of which includes the Cambodian genocide). It’s somewhat disappointing but also funny that I had him pinned… these types of anticommunist “leftists” like to have this moralist/perfectionist position where successful socialism is when you never ever make mistakes, or rather, don’t survive long enough to make them because their projects were cut short due to intervention (the 3 he names as “worked in the past” are Sankara’s Burkina Faso, Arbenz’s Guatemala, and Allende’s Chile). idk, maybe come back in a few years and hope he gets serious like 2nd thought.



  • 矛⋅盾toUS NewsUS Election Megathread
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    20 days ago

    if Dems win: wow our strategy of catering to the “moderates” and conservatives estranged by Trump worked!

    if Dems lose: wow we didn’t cater to the “moderates” or conservatives estranged by Trump hard enough. Gotta go harder next time.




  • 矛⋅盾toAfricaThe real Rwanda
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    24 days ago

    As an activist, I firmly believe that the Rwandan diaspora must continue to lead efforts in raising awareness about the human rights abuses under Paul Kagame’s regime. Initiatives like Ingabire Day, which is dedicated to remembering and telling the stories of victims and exposing ongoing violations, are vital for keeping pressure on the international community to reevaluate its stance on Rwanda.

    Western governments must confront the truth and shift their policies, no longer turning a blind eye to Kagame’s violations in the name of stability. As many wise individuals have previously highlighted, in situations of injustice and oppression, neutrality is not an option, as it implicitly condones the actions of the oppressor and exacerbates the suffering of the victims. Therefore, in the case of Rwanda, Western governments must stand with the voices of the victims. It is time for a more honest engagement with Rwanda, one that upholds human dignity and champions true democratic governance. Only then can Rwanda and the region achieve lasting peace and prosperity.


    About the author: Denise Zaneza is a human rights activist dedicated to advocating for peace, democracy, and the rule of law in Rwanda and the broader Great Lakes region.


    The rhetoric here stinks the same way a NGO/think tank-sphere article does.

    Experts, activists, and concerned onlookers advocate for “some kind of action” to “humanitarian crises” which basically means sanctions or otherwise western interventions like regime change; this article explicitly calls for more sanctions of government personnel and commends reduction of aid (which yes isn’t so black and white but if neocolonial relations are established and conditions lead to reliance on aid for necessities like food, simply removal of aid always hurts the people who need it the most first). I really hate that journalism etc really comes down to this, since it really calls into question the motives of the writers and whether what they’re writing is true/accurate or exaggerated. I’m leaning into the latter when the author cites HRW or Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa and even more so when citing Freedom House.

    Like, if I was a local, I would probably agree with putting restrictions on someone whose exile placed them into the imperial core for many years, and was returning to try to make waves politically. That makes sense. Even if I knew that my current political orgs/leaders are kinda compradors, inviting more overt actors to siphon wealth from the country is a no-go. Decrying ‘human rights abuses’ for would-be western collaborators and diminishing the dignity and humanity of people who fight for liberation is the standard when it comes to agents for manufacturing consent.

    Motivations aside, reports of Rwandan activities in DRC is concerning.



  • if you want general history, there’s a relatively comprehensive docu-series produced by CCTV6 from 2013 called 中国通史 General History of China (100 episodes). However it’s in Mandarin Chinese, so not very podcast-able if you don’t understand Mandarin, but there are english subs available (on a quick search, and a brief glance they look decent) and IMO the artifacts and depictions are worth the watch. If anything it might be a good launching point if you wanted to look into more specific topics, for example, philosophy which is often intertwined with religion and civics in Chinese history, or historic literature.

    EDIT: found an english dub on youtube ^^ just search “general history of china eng dub”

    EDIT AGAIN: comrade linked it below ^^


  • Well, re:Iraq/Afghanistan, news of soldiers coming back in caskets very much contributed to Bush’s unpopularity. At the end of the day, chanting “we’re fighting for freedom! and democracy!” isn’t enough to keep 'muricans in hawkish zeal. It popped the popular perception that pointy end of the military industrial complex was only for brown people non-americans. Which is why proxy wars are the go-to now, much more secure in support from the metropole.

    edit: and less news of Americans dropping missiles on weddings


  • So, 2nd wave (western) feminism had already debated back in the 70s over whether “motherhood” is a good metric or central component of “femininity”. If anything, that debate was among the reasons for splintering of 2nd wave and radfems/political lesbianism. (If it’s not obvious: if you use motherhood/womb-having/Divine Lifegiving-adjacent hooha as a measuring stick for womanhood, you don’t just exclude trans women (who werent even in their conversations back then) but you also toss out ‘womanhood’ of infertile women and women who choose not to have children. However it cannot be denied that gender is one of if not The first class division: ie along lines of reproduction; although we should keep in mind that societal organization and associated conditions evolve and present-day gendered class division is not solely predicated on reproductive status.) Unfortunately I have a lot more familiarity with the western liberal feminism side and less of marxist/revolutionary feminism/women’s liberation movements, which I hope to rectify. But… oof. girlboss power feminism just regressing into motherhood-as-womanhood-benchmark for “progressive” pro-natalism wasn’t on my bingo card this year.

    Personally I’ve been team childfree most of my politically conscious life (reasons boiling down to my conditions are bad) but very hesitant to throw my weight towards anti-natalists. I know it’s mostly internet circlejerk when it comes to r/childfree using cringe lingo like “breeders” or “crotch goblins” but even disregarding more childish sentiments, in that sphere there’s a lot of wording of conscious objection to reproduction that leans really hard into malthusian-flavored ecofascism and doomerism; that the status quo and projections of the crumbing empire that leads to those positions are inevitable and can’t be changed. WELL. Guess I forgot about the pro-natalists. Reading this book review was an unpleasant (but I suppose needed) walk down memory lane.

    Anyway, as the author of the book review/article points out, this wave of pro-natalism in US/western liberal democracy is timed conspicuously in the wake of Dobbs (ie takedown of Roe v. Wade). Forget about abortion rights or choice, didn’t need em!

    Meanwhile, AES countries continue to protect reproductive rights and generally have better healthcare and public health policies. Cases like China that are seeking to increase birth rate, at least put effort into materially supporting local govts and families towards this goal. cgtn article 2021-5-27 | reuters article 2024-10-28 | cn gov article 2024-10-28