Cowbee [he/they]

The biggest thing is that, ultimately, it’s the economic forces that drive development. It wasn’t a coincidence that slavery was abolished when it was, it was driven by economic changes towards Capitalism and away from feudal and slave-driven economies, driven in turn by improvements in technology and the accumulation of the bourgeoisie. The class dynamics and economic structures at play are what makes the biggest impact on policy.

No problem! Solarpunk is an aesthetic-based social movement surrounding solar energy and climate activism, in a short descriptor. You can see the instance to see what I mean.

Here’s a tool to find instances. I recommend sorting by most active, and checking whichever looks interesting to you.

Lemmy.zip is a common broadly federated instance I think, but really, I’d suggest looking into instances aligned most with the type of content you like to see.

Sure, that’s a point I agree with, but that wasn’t how you made that point, which is what I disagreed with.

What do you mean by “authoritarian” vs “libertarian,” then? In which respect, and for which class of society? Capitalism is authoritarian for the working class, and Socialism is authoritarian for the bourgeoisie, but Capitalism is libertarian for the bourgeoisie and Socialism is libertarian for the working class. That’s my point, really, terms like “authoritarian” vs “libertarian” don’t really describe anything at a useful level.

For example, when comparing Anarchists with Marxists, Anarchists take the stance that horizontalism is necessary, while Marxists see centralization as a necessity. However, this centralization in Marxist Socialism means each worker has more of a say across society, while workers in Anarchist society have more say over a smaller area. That also is ignoring that Marxists typically break things up into local, regional, national, and international levels. These aren’t “libertarian” vs “authoritarian” decisions, but decisions about how power should be structured, not where along a scale they reside.

The Political Compass, really, is just political astrology. People like to be sorted based on quizzes, that’s it. There’s no real political theory behind it. Whenever I take the test, I land solidly lib and max left, but I’m a Marxist-Leninist and support AES. It will then say those same systems I support are max authleft or somewhere up there. It’s all a vibe check made by liberals.

1. It’s not all federated together, Lemm.ee is more broadly federated than Lemmy.world, as an example. Lemm.ee can see Hexbear and Lemmygrad, you cannot, as a quick example. Federation and defederation policy dramatically impacts the experience.

2. Many instances are specialized, like Lemmygrad with Marxism-Leninism, slrpnk.net with Solarpunk, mander.xyz with science, Hexbear as a left-unity instance, etc. Browsing locally is a fun experience for those into the instance subject.

3. Some instances have only upvotes and no downvotes, some don’t show vote totals period, or have other front-facing features. Some offer emojis, like Hexbear.net.

And more! All good reasons to put some thought in.

Marxists do not seek “domination” of others, nor do Socialist countries extract “rent.” Using a portion of the social fund to create infrastructure, social safety nets, advance productivity via new Capital, and more are not the same as a landlord extracting surplus value on the basis of owning a scarce resource like land. I think you’re confused on several areas, like what Marxists want, how Socialist states function, and what “rent” is. If you want, I have theory I can recommend for you.

Again, I repeat, “tankie” is a pejorative just like “commie” and “pinko,” it’s for Marxists. The overwhelming majority of Marxists and Marxist organizations support the PRC, Cuba, former USSR, etc, which are likely what you are hinting at as the “authoritarian regimes” Marxists support. Check all of the major Marxist orgs of note around the world, and the overwhelming majority support “AES,” or Actually Existing Socialism.

“Tankie” is a pejorative for Marxist, just like “commie” and “pinko.”

I’m not sure how you would test it, outside of looking at states through history, in different contexts. Germany is a good example. Germany in the early 20th century, after World War I, was in serious debt and had rising contradictions that led to increased worker organization. The bourgeoisie was terrified of a Communist uprising, so they employed the Nazis to purge them. After the fall of the Nazis, the system didn’t radically change, but the need for the Nazis as a sort of alter-ego to stamp out Communism was done. They remained Capitalist throughout the entire time, but each change in policy was driven by changing conditions.

Marxists posit that the Mode of Production is the base, which creates the superstructure, which is the laws, ideology, and culture, which shapes the base. This cyclical relationship shows that biggest shaper of policy is the needs of the ruling class, and the conditions they are dealing with. I am not “inventing” this stance, of course, its been here for a long while.

I think everyone who sees Chomsky in a positive overall light should read On Chomsky.

Marxists tend to be consistently correct and ahead of the curve, thanks to the analytical tool of Dialectical Materialism.

In this case, I copied and pasted a response to a comment they copied and pasted. I’m not doing it for them, but for onlookers, I don’t genuinely think psythik is going to be meaningfully convinced either way. Leaving psythik’s comment open and unopposed, though, isn’t preferable either, as bad takes should be properly elaborated on.

I tend to just link previous comments I have made, in most cases. I copy and paste responses far less now than I used to. In my defense, though, when you see the same talking points from different people, they don’t always need a unique bespoke response, and I don’t actually spend all that much time on Lemmy out of my day.

Marxists in general are in favor of controlling the speech of the bourgeoisie, as were Marx and Engels:

>6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.

Marxists are not “anti-free speech,” nor are Hexbear and Lemmy.ml. Rampant misinformation and bigotry should be removed, and is. Marxists, including .ml and Hexbear, are absolutely pro-Human Rights. Marxists do hate liberals, liberals are pro-Capitalism apologists, and thus liberalism has been a target of Socialists of all stripes since liberalism became a thing.

“Tankie” is just the terminally online version of “commie” or “pinko,” it’s just a pejorative for Marxists. The 3 instances you called “tankie” are the 3 biggest Marxist-friendly instances. Both of my 2 accounts are on Hexbear.net and Lemmy.ml, respectively, I’ve spent plenty of time.

Marxists in general are in favor of controlling the speech of the bourgeoisie, as were Marx and Engels:

>6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.

Marxists are not “anti-free speech,” nor are Hexbear and Lemmy.ml. Rampant misinformation and bigotry should be removed, and is. Marxists, including .ml and Hexbear, are absolutely pro-Human Rights. Marxists do hate liberals, liberals are pro-Capitalism apologists, and thus liberalism has been a target of Socialists of all stripes since liberalism became a thing.

My point is that there is no genuine divide between “libertarian” and “authoritarian” leftism. There are different types of leftism with different strategies and goals, different views of the state, etc, but there is no continuum between libertarian and authoritarian, period. All systems exist in context and in motion, and depending on the class character of the state will respond differently to heightened contradictions, which sharpen over time.

I commented elsewhere, but all states are authoritarian. What matters is which class is exerting its authority. In Socialist states, that class is the Proletariat against the Bourgeoisie. Marxists are not any more “auth” than other ideologies, and not any less.

States can present as more or less auth depending on the circumstances they are in, when the class struggle is a sharpened contradiction, but that doesn’t mean the state is making a choice to be more or less auth, just that it responds to different circumstances.

Marxists tend to like all 3 of those instances, those who don’t like Marxists tend to hate them. As a Marxist, they are by no means “worse instances,” I much prefer them.

Also, what do you mean by “you people?”

You can export things like your favorites, but you can’t move profiles.

Lemmy.zip was the centrist rec.