J-Bone

You do you. I still believe we are actually on the same side.

I made a good faith effort to try and explain my views and show that even if you disagree, there is a measure of nuance in what I am saying. I will note that good faith effort doesn’t mean I was agree with falsehoods.

I will just add that your abrasiveness and lack of desire to build bridges won’t lead to anything good. Mark my words.

I didn’t deny any genocide. And if you knew me better, you would understand how stupid this statement is.

I said your statement that liberal democracies have killed more people than regimes that are seen to be associated with communism is false.

To be frank with you, I think you are projecting an image of an enemy on me.

I do not like oligarchs, especially American ones because of their impact and their tendecy towards degeneracy.

I already told you I found standard US copytext around alleged differences between socialism and capitalism to be comically dumb. It’s one of the reasons why my default mode of thinking is to assume that the content of common American socio-economic arguement is gibberish (unless proven otherwise).

I think Marx is prophetic and I believe his ideas will actually be realized in the future (maybe not in our lifetimes). In contrast the theological thought leaders of US-stope oligarchy (Friedman and other “economists”) will go down in history as liars and criminal enablers; evil people.

That being said, communism as perceived by wider society is a dead end.

What we need is a new movement that reflects the dialectical materialism of the information age and offers a different mode of economic relationships to the oligarch regimes and the type of relationships that people associate with the word “communism”.

I think we agree on a lot more things than you think, with the exception of “communism” as a brand, as opposed to it’s end goals.

How am I a genocide denier? Which genocide did I deny?

Why are you putting words in my mouth?

So if there one thing I’d be happy for you take out of this convo, is that I am in no way supportive of US-style polemics about “this is such a communist shithole!” or any of the variety of standardized phrases comparing “capitalism” to “communism”.

When I lived in the US, this was extremely annoying! That being said, that doesn’t mean I am going to deny reality.

Ok. Neither did the communist revolutions of the 20th century permanently damage communism as a political system.

But they have. There are no more communist countries. The remaining countries that are marketed as communist, have long become authoritarian capitalist countries.

There is zero mass momentum towards “communist” parties. Many “communist” parties are little more than fronts for places like russia (a hyper-capitalist shithole with a majority of the population committed to genocidal imperialism).

Anarchists and communistic system have indeed existed before the USSR/CCP China appeared, but they are not functionally comparable to an ideology-focused communist government regime.

It’s like saying commerce, competition, innovation are element of capitalism, when these things have existed before capitalism and will likely exist after capitalism (in the polemical sense) becomes mostly a matter of history books.

Besides, so called “liberal democracies” have done far more evil than the USSR or Communist China. In fact, they’re doing a repeat of the Holocaust as we speak. Does that “permanently (without any chance of rehabilitation) discredit democracy as a legitimate ideology”?

This is false.

Sure, if you’re a complete dullard who has mainlined nothing but pure, concentrated cold war propaganda without any thought or consideration, without ever bothering to open a single book on political theory. Everyone else is not that stupid.

This is not cold war propaganda. I was born in the USSR, as was my family. I live in a country that was occupied under the banner of communism under the USSR.

I oppose the current oligarch regime and I have an extremely negative view of the American political system. That being said, communism is not the answer.

Communism is the past. It’s history. It’s done.

We need to build something better (often inspired by the ideals of Marx), we are wasting chasing a dead end ideology; this only makes the oligarchs and the criminals stronger.

Because the French Revolution didnt permanently damage democracy as a political system. And democratic system in one form or another existed for millennia before the French Revolution.

The USSR and China under the CCP permanently discredited (without any chance of rehabilitation) communism as legitimate ideology.

No one in their right mind would want anything to do with communism. It’s like asking for genocide, mass killings, gulags, lack of free expression and poverty. No one is going to do that.

And I not saying this in the polemical sense used by pro-crime/pro-corruption Americans (“this is such a socialist shirhole”).

How so?

If not death, or being institutionalised.

But you can also get institutionalised or killed under capitalism too if you say the wrong things (China, Russia, the Gulf States).

While you might not be killed in the US, but you can be harassed via lawsuits or deported to a foreign internment camp if you say the wrong things.

Yes, we need a “brand” that builds upon the ideals (and some of the theory) of communism/Marxism while taking in account both history (e.g. even something as simple as democratic governance being non-negotiable) and the “spirit” and challenges of our times.

That’s my point. USSR and the CCP have arguably permanently damaged the communism “brand”.

And you talked to russians, things were even worse for nations occupied by the russians.

It’s not only decades of propaganda.

Whether you like it or not, but many countries have suffered enourmosly (genocides, extermination of local language and culture) under the banner of regimes that claimed to represent communist ideals and allegedly aimed to develop a communist society.

I was born in the tail end of the USSR, so I honestly don’t really remember it. But from the stories of my parents and relatives, it was trash.

You can’t just dismiss the association between the USSR and attempts at achieving communism.

I loved the ending of Rogue One, saw it in the cinema too (I don’t really watch new Star Wars movies).

I am fan of the director, Gareth Edwards, Monsters (2010) was such a good indie sci-fi experience.

Not quiet an encyclopedia, but as a child I really liked The Top 10 of Everything books.

This was late the late 90s, we had dial-up, but internet was still in its infancy.

I definitely had the 1999 and 1998 editions:

Microsoft Encarta was also mind-blowing for its time, especially if your were a child in the late 90s and early 2000s.

I remember reading this as a child in the 90s (I was living in South Asia at that point).

Strange to think about it now.

How is this a comic strip?

This is a good. Everyone always says how cute our dog is when they see him moving about in his sleep when he is dreaming.