Socialism

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#Welcome to /c/socialism

Socialism as a political system is defined by democratic and social control of the means of production by the workers for the good of the community rather than capitalist profit, based fundamentally on the abolition of private property relations.

Socialism is also a sociopolitical movement dedicated to the critique and dismantling of exploitative structures, including economic, gendered, ethnic oppression.

Socialism, as a movement, confronts these different systems of oppression as mutually conditioning, intersectional, and/or dialectically related within the current hegemonic order. It seeks to overcome oppression in a holistic manner without neglecting any particular axis so that it might be eliminated and genuine social emancipation may be realized. We recognize that Socialism cannot be achieved while structural oppression continues and workers are divided.

We look forward to your participation in our sub, but please be mindful of our posting guidelines.

Are you new to socialist ideas? Wondering what alternatives to capitalism exist? Please check out our educational materials and wiki further down in this sidebar.

#Posting Guidelines

Keep meta posts constructive. Avoid shitposting. This is not a sub for sharing other users' post histories or for sharing screenshots of ridiculous things liberals say.

No linking to /c/Socialism in brigade subs or participating in subs that harass our users

/c/Socialism is a sub for socialists, and a certain level of knowledge about socialism is expected. If you are derailing discussions or promoting non-socialist positions, your comments may be removed, and you may receive a warning or a ban. If you are not a Socialist but are learning about it, be polite, or you will be banned for trolling. Low effort images: powerful expressions of socialism are always welcomed in r/socialism. Expressions may vary including pictures, cartoons, comics, illustrations, and even memes. However, those expressions which lack quality (does not clearly shows a socialistic construct), or has low-quality insights (possibly for karma and/or upvotes) may not be posted. Thus, those images that do not meet these quality standards will be removed.

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GrainEater@lemmygrad.ml

Why Apple Glues Batteries and China Builds Grids (dialecticaldispatches.substack.com)

submitted 1 month ago by yogthos@lemmygrad.ml to c/socialism@lemmygrad.ml

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[–] Maeve@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

One of the great forgotten classics of the twentieth century is Vance Packard’s 1960 book The Waste Makers, which anticipates our era of consumerism with an almost haunting prescience. Modern economies, it argues, both create wants and fulfill them, in order to make a throwaway culture. It's a process that neatly frames the mindset to empty the wallet. Packard notes that the postwar economy, humming on a hair trigger, was akin to a runaway train where the only way to keep the wheels turning was by forcing people to buy things they did not need with money they did not have. The game plan was to manufacture products that were designed to fail, the so-called planned obsolescence; then, through advertising, instill a psychology of obsolescence in which people were made to feel ashamed of their outdated possessions. This two-pronged strategy became the corporate solution.

Ed Bernays shares some no small part of guilt in this with his psyop marketing techniques. His so-called "torches of freedom" got women hooked on smoking, paying for the privilege of slow, gruesome suicide. Also, clothing were no longer marketed on quality cuts and long lasting, breathable, moisture wicking natural fabrics, but on "self expression." And I'm fine with that but quality began deteriorating about the same time.

I would, however, be interested to know whose idea pink-taxing was. Why do I have to pay as much for tailoring a two-piece suit to fit my height and shape as the suit itself, which isn't inexpensive off the rack, and between the two, while not being in the same price point as haute couture, still cost several months' salary, even when I'm fully employed, while a man's equal quality three-piece is tailored as part of the cost of the suit?

[–] yogthos@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 month ago

Good question, it's been another incredible feat of marketing to charge completely different prices based on gender identity.