LibertyLizard

I’d actually argue that these people are right-wing, but not conservatives. This probably depends on your definitions of these terms though.

To me, a conservative is someone who fairly consistently holds the view that existing societal structures and norms are better than any proposed changes to them. But this is a very context-dependent definition—so western conservatives are largely capitalists, since that’s the dominant economic system here. Since MLism is not a predominant ideology in the West, it can’t really be conservative here, though it certainly can be in places like Cuba, Vietnam, or China. However, these people are all right-wing.

Right and left wing aren’t as well-defined but the best definition I’ve found is the rightists want to preserve or expand existing social hierarchies, while leftists want to dismantle them.

At first glance, MLism is confusing to classify under this system. Bolshevism did have some genuinely left-oriented politics in the beginning. They supported unions and workers’ councils over capitalist owners and the monarchy, they promoted gender equality, and they were even relatively tolerant of queer people for their time. However, MLs and related ideologies share an interest in an extremely strong and oppressive state, similar in its approach to fascism but usually without the focus on racism.

While you could argue that this strange combination makes them some form of radical centrists, it’s actually an outlook that many right-wing people share. They often pick the social hierarchy they think is the most righteous and argue it should destroy or dominate all other systems. This is the same reason many far-right Christians can be anti-government. It’s not oppression they are opposed to, rather it’s who is being oppressed—and whether they’re being subjected to enough oppression. But in most cases, these ideological differences evaporate once movements gain power. Consolidating control over society for the benefit of the rulers always wins out over the previous ideology. We’ve seen this quite clearly in the evolution of many initially socialist countries back towards capitalism, patriarchy, racism, imperialism, etc.

In contrast, real leftism should be opposed to all forms of oppression. That’s not to say every movement completely lived up to this standard—some failed to challenge certain aspects of it and might be more or less centrists as a result. But I think it’s fair to accept movements that are mostly liberatory as leftist even if they do fail to critically analyze some smaller oppressive elements within their society, as long as they have a clear and broad commitment to liberation. In these cases, we usually see an expansion of critiques of existing oppression into new areas as the harms of those systems become better understood over time.

There are plenty of plants that can subsist on minimal irrigation.

More indigo than rouge, really.

Comes naturally for some people I guess.

This is a classic and highly effective civil resistance strategy. Drones can simply be shot down. But doing the same to a ship full of world-famous peace activists will be much more politically costly to Israel.

I don’t think the expectation is they will get through. The goal is to create a scandal that will increase international attention and pressure to make them stop.

If they hurt Greta I predict there will be a lot of backlash due to her fame and popularity.

Ah damn that’s still cool though.

Lab-grown organs will be an incredible medical breakthrough when they are achieved. Assuming we don’t destroy our society before then.

A more serious interpretation is that men might try to compensate for their insecurity by being angry and hateful in an act of over-performative masculinity.

Also, it’s just belittling white nationalists because they’re obviously losers and it’s fun to do so.

Pressure from the Trump administration.

Wait is this real though? Because that’s pretty incredible.

The arc of history is long but it bends towards stupidity.

So what’s he trying to communicate? I can’t find any meaning that makes sense beyond the literal one, which seems extremely deranged.