nohaybanda [he/him]

I can think of exactly one thing Brandon should do like Lincoln. Bezos too, actually

Good

US counter-terrorism initiatives in the Sahel

BEEEG BEANIS

We’re developing types of guy previously considered impossible!

There’s people looking to drink raw H5N1 infected milk. I don’t think we even need to go to the Middle Ages for unmitigated dumbassery

They’ll be extra sad at brunch probably

My comment was more of a riff on libs clutching their pearls about saving democracy

Listen, if Trump winning is the default outcome of your democracy, I guess he’s the most democratic option. Sounds like a shitty democracy if you ask me but who am I to judge

the same opinion of US supporting Israel for 75 years as “unnecessary, dangerous, and costly”.

Also don’t forget cruel and unconscionable

Back then peace could be negotiated. This time it will be dictated. Everything else is Western cope

Critical support for struggling academics trying to grift some brainless tech bro billionaire out of his money

Oops my bad I mess read who’s the phd and who’s the sentient clipart

Yes I am talking about democracy. A subset of democratic governance is representative democracy, in which political functionaries and leaders are elected by way of popular* elections and given some* power to govern. Electoralism then is the practice of engaging with electoral politics using a variety of tactics - agitation, propaganda, canvassing, organised voting, voter suppression - in order to empower delegates who will in turn attempt to advance a political agenda. The “transfer of power from the few to the many” is one such agenda that may be pursued electorally. It is wrong to equate the goal with the political practice, they are different.

Now, within socialist tradition there exists a strain of politics, which centers electoralism as the primary mode of political struggle towards the empowerment of the working class, to the exclusion or suppression of more active forms of struggle. That is called reformism. I challenge every one of you arguing with me here to show me where I have advocated for reformism.

• I know these vary a lot, don’t @ me

You got a patreon or something?

Yeah my apologies. I’ll take a step back and cool off.

Eat my entire ass. I very explicitly rejected the idea that liberal electoralism is the only possible kind and gave a reason why we should not default to capitalist societies as the sole or default carriers of the democratic tradition.

While we’re on the subject. good faith approach: hey what do you mean by electoralism here?

Bad faith: your aggro bullshit

EDIT: I’m being aggro as well. My apologies, I’ll take a step back and cool off

Cuba’s pivot on LGBTQ rights is a direct result of electoral politics? Or do we take the CIA line that all communist societies are autocratic systems where a single man makes all decisions?

I’ve linked an example above. Are you already familiar with the concept but disagree with my thesis that this is a form of electoral politics? If I proposed that Soviet council power was a form of electoral politics (as opposed to direct democracy or autocratic rule), would you disagree or expand on that?

Or are you doubling down on you in initial knee jerk reaction and refusing to engage critically and seriously? The first step of a good faith attempt to engage with ideas is to ask for clarification.

Liberal electoralism is not the only kind there is. I would argue that the Chinese conception of Representational democracy is a form of electoral politics. The devil’s in the details.

Considering @Rooskie91@discuss.online explicitly listed revolutionary action as a valid strategy, I think they deserve a good faith attempt to engage.

I want to call on my comrades to read critically and not just dunk reflexively. This is a meme so of course it’s simplified, but the Rooskie makes a good point that a key part is missing here.

Violent unrest is not by itself revolutionary violence. Without an organised vanguard, with an ideologically coherent political agenda, and enjoying the support of a class conscious activated base, violence is mere adventurism.

And while many here will react at the inclusion of electoralism in the list above, I urge you to be precise in your thinking and analysis. We rightly make fun of liberal electoralism around here, it is not the only kind possible. The imperialist powers have (and still do) relentlessly propagated the lie that communism is antithetical to democratic rule and decisions are taken by autocratic diktat. That has never been the case and we should not concede that bigger point so we can score a point dunking on a stranger.