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[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 68 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Anti-imperialism does not mean "anti-empire". Imperialism is a system and the belief among libs that we're talking about empires when we say anti-imperialism is caused by their complete and total lack of understanding of any leftist theory.

Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, when the financial class form international groups together and they merge together with the state to steer the entire resources of those states towards the pursuit of more capital for themselves, as a class.

The imperialists in the world are the west, with the US at its head. Anti-imperialism means that.

There is no other imperialism in the world. Could Russia emerge as the new leader of imperialism if the existing imperialist leader collapses (the US), yes it could, and it would be the most likely one to become it. But is it imperialist right now? No. It is a capitalist state with a national bourgeoisie pursuing their interests, not yet imperialist without a massive realignment of the international bourgeoisie.

Dear Blahaj user hungryphrog, please read theory if you want to understand us when we say we're "anti-imperialist", particularly Lenin's "Imperialism, the highest stage of Capitalism". You have misunderstood what that phrase means when we use it.

Lenin provides a careful, 5-point definition of imperialism:

"(1) the concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life; (2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of this "finance capital", of a financial oligarchy; (3) the export of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires exceptional importance; (4) the formation of international monopolist capitalist associations which share the world among themselves, and (5) the territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers is completed. Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital is established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun, in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed."

I suspect they will never read this due to de-federation, but I had to say it anyway.

[-] frauddogg@hexbear.net 32 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's more convenient to the worm-eaten neoliberal brain to compartmentalize imperialism down into "imperialism is when foreign military bases" so that any opposition country to them can (to them) be tarred with the same brush we tar the western neoliberals with, but for the crimes (again, to the neoliberal) of either merely establishing infrastructure to defend against constant, coup-intended Amerikan belligerence, or giving the people that Amerikans are busy draining the blood from the means to force the Amerikan ghoul off their necks.

[-] heggs_bayer@hexbear.net 24 points 1 day ago

Ah, but Lenin was le redfash tankie who established the totalitarian Soviet Empire. Why should I, a principled lolbertarian leftist, believe what he says? smuglord

[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah I don't care what Lenin was. The only people saying "anti-imperialism" in the modern context are the socialists so the only definition that matters is the socialist definition.

[-] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 19 points 1 day ago

Libs will then this isn't what imperialism means to most people and therefore shouldn't be thought of because considering things in useful terms means you can't smugly cite a dictionary definition. To the imperialism will always just mean the vague extension of power and influence by a country.

[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 18 points 1 day ago

It doesn't matter if they redefine imperialism to mean "empire" in their heads. When they attack people who say "we're anti-imperialist" like this poster has then they are discussing our definition of imperialism, not their own. We do not mean anti-empire. We mean anti-imperialism in the socialist understanding of the word.

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[-] SevenSkalls@hexbear.net 11 points 1 day ago

This is why I like the idea of the counterpropaganda community. I know this is slop, but still, just saying, I like responses like this. Good stuff.

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[-] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 71 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Blahaj deserves our eternal hatred for how they treated our trans users while claiming to be a trans-positive instance.

Edit: lmao

There really aren’t any good parts to liberalism. If you’re a liberal and the current year starts with a 2, you’re a monster. Like full on, need to be forcefully reducated kinda monster.

Not being arrested for publicly disagreeing with the government is a good thing.

Anyone who's paid attention to the ongoing actions to criminalize support for Palestine knows how absurd this is. Those who don't move don't notice their chains.

[-] frauddogg@hexbear.net 47 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Anyone who's paid attention to the ongoing actions to criminalize support for Palestine knows how absurd this is.

Or the SUCCESS in criminalizing protesting Cop Cities. They still ain't dropped RICO charges aimed at the Cop City protestors in Atlanta last I heard; Uhuru 3's still locked up over the government falsely slandering them as foreign-backed agents

[-] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 40 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Or how they merked MLK, or the HUAC, or the 1918 Sedition Act... liberal "free speech" has always ended where the interests of capital began.

[-] frauddogg@hexbear.net 25 points 1 day ago

That's the one

[-] Dessa@hexbear.net 20 points 1 day ago

What did they do to our trans people?

[-] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 26 points 1 day ago
[-] citrussy_capybara@hexbear.net 39 points 1 day ago

Getting to triple-dip into xiyuan, putinrubles, and sorosbucks was too tempting. Hexbear only accepts trans communists, so that’s what I became. While taking medical transition steps isn’t necessary to be trans, it helped with getting into character. Some people claim it’s “gender euphoria” but I attribute it to the satisfaction of committing to the bit to mislead the libs. I got along well with another pretend trans poster, and the DMs turned into a full-blow performative t4t relationship. Eventually we moved in together to stretch the botmoney further. We started a family to pass on the communist bit to a new generation. We never stopped posting. 4 kids and 12 grandchildren later, A wrecker I could not defeat came for me. Cancer. In hospice, surrounded by my loved ones, chosen family, and circle of friends, they asked me what final wisdom I wanted to pass on before handing me the morphine button.

“Haha, you all fell for it you rubes! I was faking it this whole time. I wasn’t actually fighting for the liberation of marginalised people and the working class. I hate you all!”

I mash the button while holding my partner’s hand, who congratulates me on the historic bit but calls me a lib for ruining kayfabe. I die in shame.

[-] heggs_bayer@hexbear.net 24 points 1 day ago

If this isn't already a tagline, it needs to be one.

[-] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 27 points 1 day ago

Fuuuuck, trans people aren't the political tool of the democratic party by default and you don't get to deny their identity because their beliefs don't align with yours. Speculating that people online claiming to be trans aren't because what they said bothers you is transphobia. People are whatever they say they are.

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[-] iridaniotter@hexbear.net 39 points 1 day ago
[-] urmums401k@hexbear.net 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

5$ says this guy isn't completely stupid as an adult, if he can admit to being that stupid as a kid.

Like, when I was very little I genuinely thought "antisemite" was a word for people who didn't like genocide. Because its what I got called when I said killing Palestinians seemed bad. Nearly every adult in my life I didn't hate was Jewish at the time. It was awkward.

[-] 666@lemmygrad.ml 18 points 1 day ago

That's going in the stash

[-] Rom@hexbear.net 42 points 1 day ago

https://lemmy.ml/post/22637211/15056851

They are still using wikipedia as their proof of genocide against the Uyghurs. Libs are deeply unserious people.

[-] BodyBySisyphus@hexbear.net 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

ctrl + f "zenz"
1 of 23 matches

shocked-pikachu

[-] Rom@hexbear.net 32 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Drag noticed something after the election: All the non voters say it’s not their fault, because Kamala is more to blame. They think blame is a limited resource. They think you can only blame either the DNC OR the voters, not both.

It’s the same as with China. They think if America is bad, then China has to be good. If there’s evidence of China being bad, the counterevidence is that America is worse.

Tankies think only one thing can be bad at a time. It’s the same with genocide, too. We can’t care about Ukraine and trans people and West Bank, because WhAt AbOuT gAzA.

The tankie mind only has room for one single bad thing in each subject. Only one bad genocide. Only one bad empire. Only one bad politician. They can’t conceive of two things being bad at the same time. It does not compute. When they say they understand two things being bad, they’re lying. They can only understand it in short term memory. They can’t internalise it and apply it to long term memory. Fifteen seconds after they admit two things can be bad, they forget it. It’s like clockwork. “America and China are both bad… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15… China can’t be bad because America is bad! I’m not to blame for Trump’s win because Kamala ran a weak campaign! Gaza is the only genocide that matters!”

I wish I had nothing better to do than to sit around all day and get angry over shit I made up.

[-] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 15 points 1 day ago

All the non voters say it’s not their fault, because Kamala is more to blame.

I read that sentence and my mind immediately conjured a photo montage of the last year of girlboss nazism set to the Brodyquest music.

police violenceShoutout the college kid who's shoulder socket I can still hear being twisted apart out by the weight of three large pigs

[-] heggs_bayer@hexbear.net 32 points 1 day ago

Sometimes when I see big threads of ostensibly left wing people railing against tankies, I have a brief moment where I ask myself "did I get sucked into an online cult? Are we (tankies) the baddies?" Then I see takes like this:

Tankies think only one thing can be bad at the same timehttps://lemmy.ml/post/22637211/15051668

All the non voters say it’s not their fault, because Kamala is more to blame. They think blame is a limited resource. They think you can only blame either the DNC OR the voters, not both.

It’s the same as with China. They think if America is bad, then China has to be good. If there’s evidence of China being bad, the counterevidence is that America is worse.

Tankies think only one thing can be bad at a time. It’s the same with genocide, too. We can’t care about Ukraine and trans people and West Bank, because WhAt AbOuT gAzA.

The tankie mind only has room for one single bad thing in each subject. Only one bad genocide. Only one bad empire. Only one bad politician. They can’t conceive of two things being bad at the same time. It does not compute. When they say they understand two things being bad, they’re lying. They can only understand it in short term memory. They can’t internalise it and apply it to long term memory. Fifteen seconds after they admit two things can be bad, they forget it. It’s like clockwork. “America and China are both bad… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15… China can’t be bad because America is bad! I’m not to blame for Trump’s win because Kamala ran a weak campaign! Gaza is the only genocide that matters!”

and this

Hong Kong is a CCP colonyhttps://lemmy.ml/post/22637211/15051225

without overseas military bases

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Garrison

And if you’re gonna say Hong Kong doesn’t count because it’s already been assimilated into the empire, that’s not great evidence against it being an empire.

and I realize I'm not that bad after all.

[-] BodyBySisyphus@hexbear.net 22 points 1 day ago

Tankies think only one thing can be bad at the same time

Meanwhile any criticism of Kamala Harris got answered with "but Trump worse tho"
projection

[-] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

"We have to ignore the swastika tattoos because Russians bad"

[-] BodyBySisyphus@hexbear.net 10 points 1 day ago

Many such cases.

[-] TheDoctor@hexbear.net 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I have a brief moment where I ask myself "did I get sucked into an online cult? Are we (tankies) the baddies?"

I relate to this and I think this is a healthy impulse to consider. There are high-control aspects to this community, but this is true for so many commonplace activities and communities which are more socially acceptable as well. Society in general has an interest in not teaching people to recognize power dynamics as they are and to recognize high-control organizations. Because to gain the knowledge to consent to a power dynamic is to gain the conscious ability to withdraw that consent.

Personally, I take regular breaks from here as I deem it healthy and while I’m here, I’m more than happy to concede control to admins, mods, and some more active users. They work together to create an environment I enjoy. I’d liken it to the sort of control a good coach has over their team much sooner than I’d liken it to a cult. Maybe there are people for whom the control is felt more strongly, but I’d imagine that’s more related to an inability to log off or ideological differences than it is to individual injustice.

[-] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Those moments come fewer and further between the longer you stare at the crimes these people desperately want to forget committing

[-] WittyProfileName2@hexbear.net 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

> I am aware of the terrorists sitting back while Real China 🇹🇼 tried protecting the people from the Japanese then not having the strength afterwards

Real principled anti-imperialism from the white terror enjoyers over there. Take a look tankies, this is what being actually left wing is.

[-] GnastyGnuts@hexbear.net 16 points 1 day ago

Parenti Quote"The pure (libertarian) socialists ideological anticipations remain untainted by existing practice. They do not explain how the manifold functions of a revolutionary society would be organized, how external attack and internal sabotage would be thwarted, how bureaucracy would be avoided, scarce resources allocated, policy differences settled, priorities set, and production and distribution conducted.

Instead, they offer vague statements about how the workers themselves will directly own and control the means of production and will arrive at their own solutions through creative struggle. No surprise then that the pure socialists support every revolution except the ones that succeed." - Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds

Jakarta Method Quote"This was another very difficult question I had to ask my interview subjects, especially the leftists from Southeast Asia and Latin America. When we would get to discussing the old debates between peaceful and armed revolution; between hardline Marxism and democratic socialism, I would ask: Who was right?

In Guatemala, was it Arbenz or Che who had the right approach? Or in Indonesia, when Mao warned Aidit that the PKI should arm themselves, and they did not? In Chile, was it the young revolutionaries in the MIR who were right in those college debates, or the more disciplined, moderate Chilean Communist Party?

Most of the people I spoke with who were politically involved back then believed fervently in a nonviolent approach, in gradual, peaceful, democratic change. They often had no love for the systems set up by people like Mao. But they knew that their side had lost the debate, because so many of their friends were dead. They often admitted, without hesitation or pleasure, that the hardliners had been right. Aidit's unarmed party didn't survive. Allende s democratic socialism was not allowed, regardless of the d'tente between the Soviets and Washington.

Looking at it this way, the major losers of the twentieth century were those who believed too sincerely in the existence of a liberal international order, those who trusted too much in democracy, or too much in what the United States said it supported, rather than what it really supported -- what the rich countries said, rather than what they did.

That group was annihilated." - Vincent Bevins, The Jakarta Method

[-] ihaveibs@hexbear.net 36 points 1 day ago

Don't you know empires just spontaneously arise with no structural cause? Just a completely stochastic process that we have no way of understanding!

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[-] Edamamebean@hexbear.net 24 points 1 day ago

Sometimes I have faith in the west, but then I am reminded of how many people here explicitly and openly support western imperialism because they are scared of Russia or China doing to them what the West does to the rest of the world. And none of this is subtextual or implied, everyone just says it out loud. They know it's imperialism and they love it.

[-] boiledfrog@hexbear.net 28 points 1 day ago
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[-] frauddogg@hexbear.net 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

...But I'm supposed to believe these crackers have left potential, tuh!

[-] DoiDoi@hexbear.net 27 points 1 day ago

It's gotta be so wild to feel like your opinion is worth sharing on topics that you've never read books about or studied in depth in any way. Just some kind of ignorant mental bliss I'd imagine.

[-] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 19 points 1 day ago

The real reason libs hate Mao is because they encountered his quote "no investigation, no right to speak" and could not live in such a way without spontaneously combusting

[-] ManFreakBeast@hexbear.net 26 points 1 day ago
[-] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 37 points 1 day ago

They're saying China is an empire because it has 4 foreign military bases and comparing its treatment of the Uyghurs to the Trail of Tears lmao

[-] beef_curds@hexbear.net 23 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's really weird to watch 196-adjacent spaces just completely ignore their own allies throwing trans people under the bus after this election.

But yeah, now is the time to double-down on the real threat: "tankies".

[-] lil_tank@hexbear.net 24 points 1 day ago

Anti imperialism is supporting small countries, the ultimate goal of anti imperialists is to split big countries and have international law forbid population above 1% of the world's

[-] ManFreakBeast@hexbear.net 22 points 1 day ago

I've unironically heard people on a "libertarian socialist" sub Reddit say they think the entire world should be a series of small city states.

Libertarian socialist end game:

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[-] 666@lemmygrad.ml 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Ah, yes. I too have better games of Civ when I crank up city-states. That must be how you solve the world's problems!

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[-] morte@hexbear.net 21 points 1 day ago
[-] morte@hexbear.net 26 points 1 day ago

Genuine question what do you do about this strain of online left anticommunists who dont want to confront their chauvinist brainworms

[-] 666@lemmygrad.ml 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I genuinely don't know. I've thought about that for a while.

Blue-team liberals are one thing, they can be varied in the brainworms that inhabit their skull so there is different ways with dealing/weeding them out. The process of "weeding" is important here because in the experience I had with my lib friends being around comrade peers and having different people engage against chauvinist ideologues when they pop up helps with "conversion". Lots of sources that they've never seen, evidence, etc. "Facts and logics" type of shit.

Red-team liberals I've had legitimate the best experience by just talking to them. Either they're vehement racist, transphobic garbage bigots or they're just misguided and it just takes a bit of encouragement in the right direction when they're already mad at the conditions that they exist in. Plus, you can lean into their biases and "switch them around" and eliminate them entirely with more social rapport.

Just by being close with people and actually giving a damn you seriously impact the way people think.

Leftcoms? They're dedicated true-believers in ahistorical bullshit and constant bleeding-heart tropes against authority. I genuinely don't know how to deal with them. Best way I can sum it up is outright "rejection". They just reject everything. They reject sources, they reject your ideologues entirely in some smug Stirner-style shit and have no interest in actually listening out to people. I've never managed to actually impact one.

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[-] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The worst thing these genocide supporters can imagine we are is a mirror version of them. They're desperate for our anti-imperialist positions to be as thoughtless, vibes-based and obviously hollow as their imperialist ones.

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this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
79 points (100.0% liked)

Slop.

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For posting all the anonymous reactionary bullshit that you can't post anywhere else.

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