Mine has to be cop procederals and paper money.
A)I just like solving mysteries and problems and have a natural deference to authority figures, so I’ve watched way too many cop shows. The only one I’m not ashamed to name is The Wire, which is really good and probably is the only one with genuine substance.
B)It’s not the concept of money I enjoy, i just like having a physical thing I exchange to get another physical thing. I…“dislike” per se, using numbers on a screen to get food or something.
diet coke
You’re not the only one; there’s someone whom i won’t name (public-facing comrade who’s involved in organizing against 👮, and for prison abolition) who admitted a few years back that they love all the police procedurals; like, all the most problematic ones, too lol which i, of course teased them about.
on that note, i was really into Southland (2009-2013) (despite hating police procedural dramas);
and while it doesn’t necessarily fit into the same box, i was also hooked on The Wire, too.
Phenomenal show.
i watched it before i finally conceded that Marxist theory was important for everyone to study, and i think that it’d make an interesting re-watch and reassessment (despite the creator’s politics) through a critical, Marxist lens.that said, here’s a relevant article:
Police Departments Spend Vast Sums of Money Creating ‘Copaganda’ By Alec Karakatsanis {July 20, 2022}initially, i was compiling a lot of interesting material related to copaganda (entertainment) in bourgeois media, but i decided to cull it at the last second. maybe i’ll try to take some time and do it properly one day; (i probably won’t actually do it lol), but it’ll be a fun project for me
ifwhen i do.I enjoy strategy games, and yes, that includes paradox titles (if you know, you know). Hearts of Iron, Europa Universalis etc. I think they’re well designed games, apart from the recent releases, but the fanbase and some of the ideological fantasy, it’s… not great.
Nutella, stuff is basically imperialism destilled.
Try making your own! It’s much better without the nasty palm oil they drown it in
My partner works in the art industry so by default we have a lot of artsy friends and a lot of them live in these incredibly beautiful historical appartments in the middle of the city. We hang around there often and it is always a bit decadent. Classical music, champagne, nice clothes, etc. Through networking we (and they) also know a lot of people higher up. Politicians, business owners, whatever. We sometimes see them around and hang out with them.
Apart from that I also frequent hipster soy milk coffee bars and stuff.
I’m basically a huge hipster soyboy guy coming straight out of an Instagram influencer page except I’m a communist. I didn’t grow up like this for what it’s worth. So it always amazes me a world like this exists.
Video games. Like I’m sure in a communist utopia there would still be video games but I’d probably have less free time to game. Maybe not though. As a poor person in the first world I’m not sure where I sit on the scale of redistribution of wealth but I’m guessing its kinda middle of the pack.
One of the oldest and most recurrent communist demands is reduction of work shifts, you’d have time to play alright. Though lots of big budget video games nowadays are only possible due to massive exploitation of game workers, so games would be different due to different development cycles under socialism.
In a “communist utopia”, we’d probably have the means to require less sleep and to stop aging (with how quickly tech is advancing I wouldn’t be surprised). Thus, you’d have more time to game.
Even the early socialism of the 1936 Soviet constitution limited the working day to 7 hours with plans from Stalin to further shorten it. Everyone being guaranteed a job means less work required from individuals (and higher purchasing power because the price of goods will fall as they become easier and quicker to make). So, your free time may still go up.
The USSR also supported chess players and gave them full time salaries, chess universities and the ability to pursue it as a full time career, same with fitness sports like the olympics.
To be fair, a lot of people think that a big reason why the USSR invested so much into chess and sports is because these were ways to acquire national prestige in international competitions.
I don’t think most computer games would be suitable for this. Sure, e-sports exist, but most people play games for fun, not for any kind of serious competition.
I don’t think most computer games would be suitable for this. Sure, e-sports exist, but most people play games for fun, not for any kind of serious competition.
Their really isnt much difference between chess and e-sports tho’
The point is a state directed economy can choose to prioritize stuff that is relevant on a national stage in terms of culture, be it games, sports, music; but they can do it in a way where working class people can participate, rather than in the west where sports, games, culture, tends to be dominated by the rich or sons and daughters of the rich, as they have the free time and resources.
Speaking of sports and physical exercise under socialism: just looking at the relationship that Chinese people today have with sport, i see that in some ways it is very different from what we have in the West. You constantly see people in China, particularly elders, just exercising in public, dancing or practicing martial arts in the parks and public squares in the mornings and evenings.
And from what I understand this is not something they pay for, they are just free to participate or not as they wish. Which is so unlike the way it works here in Germany where you would have to join a sport club or a gym and pay a sizeable fee to take part in exercise groups or take classes, even if you just want to do it recreationally as an amateur.
Everything that can be commercialized is commercialized under capitalism, nothing just happens just because it is good for society and the people.
Reminds me of how some years back, there was a time I was looking into doing martial arts. Used to do them as a kid, figured maybe I’d try to do it again as an adult. Emailed some local place about pricing cause couldn’t find it on their website and instead of an email reply, got a phone call and a subsequent voice message (cause I didn’t answer the call for whatever reason) trying to get me to do like a “come see their facilities” sales kind of thing instead of just telling me what the price was. Which made it clear to me I would not be able to afford it.
And also makes me realize some people who are money poor (or hell, just trying to be frugal) probably are shut-ins more so under capitalism because of being priced out of a lot of social activities. I’m sure a determined enough person would find ways to get out and socialize anyway, but if you’re already predisposed to hiding away, capitalism puts up barriers to getting out of that. And then like in the US, the car situation makes it even worse. So much of getting anywhere is a car, unless you’re in like a big city design, so if you don’t have a car or don’t want to be spending on gas money all the time, another barrier.
Their really isnt much difference between chess and e-sports tho
Well, yes, except for the fact that e-sports are very corporatized right now and serve to generate profits for corporations which own the rights to those games in a way that chess as a public domain game never really could.
But yeah, e-sports competitions could be turned into a chess-like national cultural pastime under socialism, so i’m not really worried about e-sports; i personally don’t engage much with them anyway.
I’m more wondering what the future of single player and non-competitive games would be in a communist society.
but they can do it in a way where working class people can participate, rather than in the west where sports, games, culture, tends to be dominated by the rich or sons and daughters of the rich, as they have the free time and resources
Exactly! This is why I believe that sports are able flourish so much better under a socialist society than under capitalism, where everything is profit driven and huge barriers to entry exist for a majority of people.
Exactly! This is why I believe that sports are able flourish so much better under a socialist society than under capitalism, where everything is profit driven and huge barriers to entry exist for a majority of people.
You get murmurs of this sometimes, open source games like SS13; Games made by ex-socialist countries by leftists; Pathologic, ice pick studios, disco eleysium ect.
As far as media goes that you know is shit ideology, but you do it anyway, probably AC series for me. Now that I’m replaying some of it post-liberal-brain, it’s glaringly obvious to me how much weird stuff is going on in it. Lot of “great man theory” and that’s not even getting into the whole thing about
spoiler
reducing human history to two factions who vie for power behind the scenes and use magic items and links to a mysterious civilization to help.
I thought it was much cooler when I was younger and was oohed and awed by the mystery of it. Now I see the superhero/supervillain themes much more distinctly, along with cartoon portrayal of class divides that are common to superhero themes. But the gameplay and the power fantasy of it is fun. Not enough to buy the newest one coming out though, screw that lol. Overpriced to hell and probably the same repetitive Ubisoft gameplay formula to a forgettable degree. I’ll stick to enjoying what I already have.
It took me a while to figure out that you were referring to Assassin’s Creed instead of Alpha Centauri or Armored Core.
Lol, oops. I was gonna say the full name and then I hesitated on it cause of the A word and its use in a space like this and who could be watching in an automated way that doesn’t grasp context well, etc. In retrospect, I don’t think it actually matters, I don’t know what exactly I think would be a problem about it. As it is, I’ve probably used the word assassinate before here in reference to the empire couping other countries and their leaders.
Energy drinks. Sugar free of course.
0 calorie sweeteners are definitely bourgeois
Roblox, when I was young.
Roblox, when I was young.
when i was WHAT?!?
👴
Technically Roblox has existed since 2005 lol. It was more of a digital lego set back then.
Technically Roblox has existed since 2005 lol
i’ve only heard of it within the past few years (although i have absolutely no idea what it is). guess i’m old AND out of touch
It was more of a digital lego set back then.
just did a quick (image) search and that’s exactly what it looks like lol.
i gotta admit, it does look fun.
maybe i can get one of my grandchildren to show me how to play one day.Think I made my account around 2007 lol, it was much more fun at the time tbh. No pay to win garbage, just tycoon games, boat building obstacle course games, survive the tornado games, etc.
You’d get home from school and hop on skype to play with your buddies after doing homework
I don’t see why paper money would be bourgeois. Sure, in a socialist society i see no issue doing away with physical cash, and in fact it can help suppress black market and criminal activity, which are undesirable as they re-create bourgeois mentality and carry seeds of capitalist restoration.
But as long as we live under capitalism and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, digital transactions are dangerous since they allow the bourgeois state to track you and your activities, making physical money actually a necessity for revolutionaries once the phase of active underground resistance is entered.
Context is everything, and imo in our context paper money is not necessarily bourgeois, and it has the potential to be revolutionary.
In China you see Xi pay with cash during visits bc has to promote the use of paper cash again as many stores completely stopped accepting it in favor of alipay and other digital methods lol. But yeah, money is money. Its commodity status is the same in capitalism whether that money is paper or digital.
In China you see Xi pay with cash during visits bc has to promote the use of paper cash again
Really? Is this still happening? Do you think they want to try to bring back the use of cash? At this point the transition to digital payments seems to be so comprehensive and have penetrated so deep into the society in China that it appears to me almost impossible to reverse.
Cash is still legal tender that shops are obligated to accept, I assume millions of people in China still don’t have access to digital payment options. Though I remember seeing a grandma on the way to the highest village in China carrying an alipay QR code lol. She sells water bottles to travelers on the way up.
I know cash still technically has to be accepted, and i’ve never been to China myself, but in all the travel videos i’ve watched you just don’t really see it anymore at all, even in some of the most remote, rural locations.
I think the one occasion i do see cash being exchanged is as a gift on special occasions and celebrations. And of course when tourists use it.
Again, this is just from what i can see in videos that people share from China, i would be very curious to hear from someone who lives there how much cash is still used.
cash is not exactly bourgeois
Next you’ll tell me bed times isn’t fascism
Superhero movies, I like DC more than Marvel so I dislike MCU at least, otherwise yeah some cop movies.
And idk why would videogames be inherently bourgeois but that too if it counts.
My guess, besides the possible bourgeois themes and influences present, would be that video games often demand massive amounts of time and dedication compared to other media and may thus come at the most expense of a social life or connection to reality.
I’m a hard-core gamer myself with over 150 under my belt, have been forever. But I also acknowledge that I’m a product of a dysfunctional, isolated environment, so the pleasure wouldn’t be guilty here.
There are cheap ones, and a lot without bourgeois themes. But besides, one of the most famous games was made in USSR.
Oh right, that one. And it may be the most addictive of them all. Released literally in 1984, during Chernenko’s brief term.
Nothing wrong with watching copaganda, but paper money is an unacceptable degree of bourgeois decadence. I only ever pay for shit with quarters and dimes. Anything higher than that is reactionary and liberal.
rockin up to the gocey store cash register w/ rolls of pennies weighing down my pockets like the monopoly guy
Check-out clerks always give me these dirty looks, but it’s nothing compared to what I get from my landlord.
Technically paper/metal money is legal tender and businesses are obligated to accept it at least up to a certain amount. So yes you could pay your landlord in literal pennies.
Rap music
Here’s a Kenyan communist rap song right here: https://youtu.be/7qHtZbMp0pg
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
To expand on your comment, that entire fuckin album is a banger, as are most of his albums.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
I live and breathe video games, and I like cop and superhero-related movies and series.
I also get how you feel about money.
