How do you respond to this? It’s not something I’ve done a lot of research into, but it seems like one of the few critiques where you just say “critical support for the USSR, we need to learn from the past mistakes the soviets made and do better the next time around.”

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[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Think she fell for the power corrupts train of thought

It does, but informal power corrupts just as well, and anarchists are pretty silent on that.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nah, power doesn't corrupt. Corrupt people chase positions of power, even petty ones, like middle management.

[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How do these "corrupt people" come into being? That sounds like essentialist, idealistic thinking to me.

There's a sizable body of psychological work, to say nothing of empirical evidence, that suggests that when people have opportunities to give themselves disproportionate rewards compared to others, in the absence of social taboos they will do so more often than not, and this will become habitual and shape their thinking.

Saying "there are some people who are immune to corruption" is like saying there are people who are immune to propaganda and advertising.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You're putting a FUCKTON of words in my mouth there and I don't appreciate it. I'm not going to bother actually discussing the topic if your first response is this bad faith.

[–] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 1 points 1 day ago

Not saying anything in bad faith, the only thing I'm doing is examining the phrase "corrupt people" that you used verbatim, after denying my position without evidence. But I'll back up a step.

What are "corrupt people"? Where do they come from that they can chase after middle management and other positions of power?

Do you agree with the anti-entryist tenet that "you can't change the party from the inside; it will change you long before you change it"?

Do you believe that people's attitudes to the world are shaped by their material conditions/incentives, where for instance someone who owns lots of stock in a highly profitable petroleum company might over time decide that climate change is not such a big menace?