This is not new. He even stepped aside for a while 8 years ago after acknowledging he was in the wrong and only came back after a code of conduct was written.

Dude is not loveable nor a superhero, in fact he is supportive of NATO sanctions, but I don’t see how this 10 year old video is relevant now.

Seems they’re testing the waters on all sorts of leftist positions, from lowering the work week to fighting for “sovereignty”. It is partially electoral bluster, but may eventually lead to what the left actually is asking for, breaking diplomatic relations with Israel like Colombia.

I live and breath the revolutionary catechism, which might be a good read to understand your own feelings through something of a complete opposite of how you feel.

But it’s also important that there exist ordinary, self-preserving people. Those are the ones the revolutionaries seek to protect and draw their passion from. The same way you think of your mother in case you die, she might feel similar to you. To each person who is still socially connected there are other people who matter. And those, either in concrete relations (like somebody’s child) or abstract social understanding (the set of all children in a community) are what usually leads people to be willing to die.

Another important point is to consider how dire the situations are for the revolutionaries you mentioned. Imagine a genocidal imperialist country is invading your homeland, knowing full well that survival would mean slavery, exploitation, torture and all that happened in, for example, the Japanese invasion of China. In those conditions choosing death may not only seem preferable, but also just accelerating the same outcome in case of defeat.

All men must die, but death can vary in its significance. The ancient Chinese writer Szuma Chien said, “Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather.” To die for the people is weightier than Mount Tai, but to work for the fascists and die for the exploiters and oppressors is lighter than a feather. Comrade Chang Szu-teh died for the people, and his death is indeed weightier than Mount Tai.

Here.

Jokes aside, CPop does exist and could be studied comparatively. I have no idea if it’s actually any better there, but could be an interesting topic for Marxists who like that style of music, in both its merits and deficiencies.

Honestly found this post rather tame. I’ve heard many horror stories from friends who are into K-Pop about how mistreated the artists are, specially the ones that don’t get successful and flop. Stuff like getting into horrible debt, being stuck to label but unable to record or sing anymore, and having to right to one’s own life.

It always seemed like the terrible state of the US pop music entertainment industry we always knew was horrible (even Nickelodeon did a parody of it with Big Time Rush), but on steroids.

Sadly, I never got interested enough to thoroughly understand and critique it, but what you’re describing is too tame even for the US pop industry that churned out Hannah Montana and Ariana Grande through years of child abuse. It’s actually much much worse than that.

This is a bad post and all, but take this moment to both consider what “critical support” means and in which contexts you should use it.

It depends on your broader strategical goals. If you are a Venezuelan or Haitian communist/socdem for example, critical support for Russia means taking some pressure off of your back while gaining a potential ally. If you support Chinese Socialism, the war also depletes NATO before it can go against China.

If there were conditions for a revolution in Ukraine when the war broke out, it might make sense for those revolutionaries to align with either or neither army tactically for the broader strategical goal.

Morals are secondary, as they define your strategy, not your tactics.

For me the “defending it” is the line. So long as the person is honest in doing it just to pay their bills, that’s good enough. And it’s obviously better if they’re an actual comrade and do praxis some other way in their life.

I’ve also ended a friendship over a friend trying their damnedest to portray the landlord and hedge fund corporation she worked at as “progressive actually”. I think there’s this tendency to force oneself to believe one’s work is always a net positive for the world somehow.

It’s a good wake up routine for me, prevents me from falling back asleep after the alarm rings.

There’s probably a cool thesis that could be written about a contradiction within the “America First” movement by being both anti-war and USA exceptionalist in times of decaying imperialism that can only maintained through war. Tucker Carlson and Tulsi Gabbard are the best examples of this.

I’m of the opinion that the continual and prolonged defeat of NATO against Russia is much better for the international proletariat than a proper “defeat” and withdrawal. It’s better for their resources to be bogged down in Ukraine for another decade like it’s their own Afghanistan than diverted into more winnable wars.

Losing my password to the old account here actually tanked my mental health. Glad to be back!