YoungBelden [any]

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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: December 24th, 2022

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  • depression is an understandable reaction to living under capitalism, but it doesn’t have to be inherent to being communist or understanding the structures of exploitation around us

    in fact i find the more theory i read, and the more i agitate among coworkers, the less depressed i am

    like instead of everything being a hopeless problem that’s just a personal issue or “just the way it is” i can start to see the mechanisms at play and envision ways to interact with them to build a better future

    You must realize that I am far from feeling beaten…it seems to me that… a man out to be deeply convinced that the source of his own moral force is in himself — his very energy and will, the iron coherence of ends and means — that he never falls into those vulgar, banal moods, pessimism and optimism. My own state of mind synthesises these two feelings and transcends them: my mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic. Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to overcome every obstacle.

    gramsci-heh


  • i suspect a fast death for the democrats would in theory be preferable, so they stop existing as a crippled placeholder for leftish energy to coagulate around and dissipate while republicans entrench their power and dismantle protections. a new political party could then potentially arise without half of the dissipation mechanisms, ideally an actual progressive party with teeth. and without the establishment faux left party taking up space, passively political people opposed to republicans will vote for the new progressive party by default.

    unfortunately we’re probably doomed to a slow trudge into worse and worse gerontocracy and a slide rightwards.

    but yeah regardless the best we can do within the bounds of electoralism is play on the representatives’ material interests: as long as they feel their seat is secure, they have no reason to give up corporate money at the behest of workers. there has to be an actual threat that faux left politicians won’t get elected if they don’t follow through on progressive policies. lesser evilism in this context just lets them get away with being milquetoast and ineffectual

    meanwhile we can organize outside of electoralism so that hopefully in a few years there’s leftist power structures that can seize opportunities, be they electoral/political or economic.