I’m not sure what “left unity” is, other than a slogan which i’ve never seen clearly defined. What i am talking about are tactical alliances. In my previous example, communists and anarchists could work together to create a union in a specific workplace. For that its not necessary to agree on ideology or long-term goals (which would be a strategic alliance). Exactly because anarchists and communists are such small groups would it be useful to work together where possible (and do things seperately where it is not).
Combating dishonest portrayals of USSR is important precisely because the negative image of USSR is used to scare people away from communism.
It would probably be more effective to explain that USSR and communism are not synonyms. Again, the USSR is in the past, and any future communist state would be quite different. People are probably also discouraged when they when they notice that others see discussions as a “combat”, instead of a way to understand each other better. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and thinking that your opinion is the only “correct” one which others have to follow will get you nowhere.
Climate change might be a problem, but i think its also used to distract from a much bigger event on the horizon, which is the collapse of the US empire. The country is close to going bankrupt, and is trying to solve that by picking wars with China and Russia (which it would most definitely lose). When the US collapses, the changes will be at least as big as those after World War 2. So yes, the severity of climate change is overstated.
Yeah, I completely support tactical alliances. It just makes sense to work with people if you can find common ground. My experience is that it’s typically anarchists who tend to be more hostile to working with MLs as opposed to the other way around. At the same time I don’t think these online debates translate into the real world either. If you’re in a workplace setting and you want to unionize, then you’re not going to squabble over finer points of ideology that your coworkers have.
The problem with saying that USSR is in the past and new communist states will be different is that you have to explain why they would be different. Anarchists believe that having a central authority, such as a vanguard party, creates an unacceptable level of centralization. This is what they refer to as authoritarianism.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion of course, however it’s important to discuss whether opinions are based on historical facts. Many critiques of USSR that I encounter are utterly divorced from reality of the USSR that I actually lived in. Frankly, I find such caricature portrayals of my country offensive. This is a personal issue for me because these people are basically saying that my way of life was wrong.
Climate change is actually playing a big role in the collapse of the US empire is already. I would go as far as to argue that it’s one of the primary driving factors in the collapse. A river in Colorado that around 40 million people rely on is drying up while California is running out of fresh water as well. Heatwaves resulted in massive crop loss this year. Then there were megafires, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events like Texas cold snap. All of this is putting stress on the failing infrastructure and straining supply chains to the breaking point. As a result there are already shortages of essential goods.
We’ll see more extreme weather events and of greater intensity each and every year going forward, and it’s clear that US lacks the capacity to react to these problems in a coordinated fashion. All it will take is a single extreme weather event, such as a heat dome that lasts a few weeks, to cause a famine. And historically that tends to be the breaking point. People can put up with a lot, but there’s really nothing left to lose when you’re literally starving to death.
Yes there are definitely people who are not capable of collaborating. In my experience its best to ignore them, and leave them to their ignorance. Much better to focus on those who are actually interested in learning something. But of course thats your decision.
The problems you attribute to climate change, I would say are caused by underinvestment in infrastructure over the last decades, and an overcentralization on few critical points, which leaves no room to deal with unexpected problems. Like just in time manufactoring caused trouble for car makers, as they didnt have enough chips in storage to keep production going. Another factor is the overexploitation and exhaustion of natural resources, which will need time to recover. Plus a government thats unable or unwilling to deal with these problems.
Its pretty telling that all of these things are happening in the richest country in the world, while nothing similar is really happening in poorer countries. Of course there are natural disasters here and there, but they get overexaggerated by media to distract westerners from the collapse thats happening near them.
Historic lack of investment in infrastructure and other necessities obviously sets the stage, but climate change acts as a catalyst. You’re absolutely right that the underlying problem is lack of resilience, and inability to deal with unexpected problems. The reason I highlight climate change is because it ensures that there will be a constant crisis going forward. Every megafire, tornado, or a flood translates into billions of dollars in infrastructure damage, and thousands or even millions of displaced people. At this point, it’s not even clear how US will be able to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
It’s also worth noting that the effects of the collapse are not evenly distributed. While many working class people experience significant effects personally, nothing has really changed for the policy makers. This creates a lag between problems occurring and the leadership becoming aware of them. Thus things have to degrade significantly before people in power become aware of the severity of the problem and the need to act.
The further along collapse of the empire progresses the more difficult it becomes to arrest it. Halting and reversing current trends requires honestly acknowledging root causes of the problems in order to take corrective action. However, existing political climate precludes this from happening.
So, I definitely think that US collapse is locked in at this point, and there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. The real question is how things will play out. US could descend into civil unrest, there could be a civil war, states could secede, and so on. It’s an incredibly volatile situation, and it’s hard to predict how it will play out.
Indeed, although being in Canada I’m somewhat concerned how things will turn out here when the inevitable happens. On the bright side, I did start learning Chinese this year, so hopefully can immigrate to China at some point before everything falls apart here. :)
I’m not sure what “left unity” is, other than a slogan which i’ve never seen clearly defined. What i am talking about are tactical alliances. In my previous example, communists and anarchists could work together to create a union in a specific workplace. For that its not necessary to agree on ideology or long-term goals (which would be a strategic alliance). Exactly because anarchists and communists are such small groups would it be useful to work together where possible (and do things seperately where it is not).
It would probably be more effective to explain that USSR and communism are not synonyms. Again, the USSR is in the past, and any future communist state would be quite different. People are probably also discouraged when they when they notice that others see discussions as a “combat”, instead of a way to understand each other better. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and thinking that your opinion is the only “correct” one which others have to follow will get you nowhere.
Climate change might be a problem, but i think its also used to distract from a much bigger event on the horizon, which is the collapse of the US empire. The country is close to going bankrupt, and is trying to solve that by picking wars with China and Russia (which it would most definitely lose). When the US collapses, the changes will be at least as big as those after World War 2. So yes, the severity of climate change is overstated.
Yeah, I completely support tactical alliances. It just makes sense to work with people if you can find common ground. My experience is that it’s typically anarchists who tend to be more hostile to working with MLs as opposed to the other way around. At the same time I don’t think these online debates translate into the real world either. If you’re in a workplace setting and you want to unionize, then you’re not going to squabble over finer points of ideology that your coworkers have.
The problem with saying that USSR is in the past and new communist states will be different is that you have to explain why they would be different. Anarchists believe that having a central authority, such as a vanguard party, creates an unacceptable level of centralization. This is what they refer to as authoritarianism.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion of course, however it’s important to discuss whether opinions are based on historical facts. Many critiques of USSR that I encounter are utterly divorced from reality of the USSR that I actually lived in. Frankly, I find such caricature portrayals of my country offensive. This is a personal issue for me because these people are basically saying that my way of life was wrong.
Climate change is actually playing a big role in the collapse of the US empire is already. I would go as far as to argue that it’s one of the primary driving factors in the collapse. A river in Colorado that around 40 million people rely on is drying up while California is running out of fresh water as well. Heatwaves resulted in massive crop loss this year. Then there were megafires, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events like Texas cold snap. All of this is putting stress on the failing infrastructure and straining supply chains to the breaking point. As a result there are already shortages of essential goods.
We’ll see more extreme weather events and of greater intensity each and every year going forward, and it’s clear that US lacks the capacity to react to these problems in a coordinated fashion. All it will take is a single extreme weather event, such as a heat dome that lasts a few weeks, to cause a famine. And historically that tends to be the breaking point. People can put up with a lot, but there’s really nothing left to lose when you’re literally starving to death.
Yes there are definitely people who are not capable of collaborating. In my experience its best to ignore them, and leave them to their ignorance. Much better to focus on those who are actually interested in learning something. But of course thats your decision.
The problems you attribute to climate change, I would say are caused by underinvestment in infrastructure over the last decades, and an overcentralization on few critical points, which leaves no room to deal with unexpected problems. Like just in time manufactoring caused trouble for car makers, as they didnt have enough chips in storage to keep production going. Another factor is the overexploitation and exhaustion of natural resources, which will need time to recover. Plus a government thats unable or unwilling to deal with these problems.
Its pretty telling that all of these things are happening in the richest country in the world, while nothing similar is really happening in poorer countries. Of course there are natural disasters here and there, but they get overexaggerated by media to distract westerners from the collapse thats happening near them.
Historic lack of investment in infrastructure and other necessities obviously sets the stage, but climate change acts as a catalyst. You’re absolutely right that the underlying problem is lack of resilience, and inability to deal with unexpected problems. The reason I highlight climate change is because it ensures that there will be a constant crisis going forward. Every megafire, tornado, or a flood translates into billions of dollars in infrastructure damage, and thousands or even millions of displaced people. At this point, it’s not even clear how US will be able to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
It’s also worth noting that the effects of the collapse are not evenly distributed. While many working class people experience significant effects personally, nothing has really changed for the policy makers. This creates a lag between problems occurring and the leadership becoming aware of them. Thus things have to degrade significantly before people in power become aware of the severity of the problem and the need to act.
The further along collapse of the empire progresses the more difficult it becomes to arrest it. Halting and reversing current trends requires honestly acknowledging root causes of the problems in order to take corrective action. However, existing political climate precludes this from happening.
So, I definitely think that US collapse is locked in at this point, and there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. The real question is how things will play out. US could descend into civil unrest, there could be a civil war, states could secede, and so on. It’s an incredibly volatile situation, and it’s hard to predict how it will play out.
Yes fully agree. Its gonna be interesting to watch, I will stock up on popcorn.
Indeed, although being in Canada I’m somewhat concerned how things will turn out here when the inevitable happens. On the bright side, I did start learning Chinese this year, so hopefully can immigrate to China at some point before everything falls apart here. :)