It's been a critique of democracy from the beginning, hasn't it? We need a modern batch of philosopher kings. Enlightened despots. Make me president and everyone gets free candy bars and an extra 15 minutes of recess!
the problem with these critiques of democracy is that they're all funded by elites and are really just about re-shuffling the organization of power (or its image, at least) whilst really only ensuring their continued elite status. trump has done nothing but denude democracy and make a mockery of it, not pose a serious challenge to its principles. it's the usual loot and free-for-all scenario in the name of 'the people'.
i read somewhere the other day that almost no body of commerce or trade/industry organization can conclusively say that trump's trade wars and tariffs have benefitted the american people. he seems obsessed with things like china tariffs which only hurt american businesses and american consumers; not to mention the huge self-wound he made to the american farmers. pretty funny stuff.
i read somewhere the other day that almost no body of commerce or trade/industry organization can conclusively say that trump's trade wars and tariffs have benefitted the american people. he seems obsessed with things like china tariffs which only hurt american businesses and american consumers; not to mention the huge self-wound he made to the american farmers. pretty funny stuff.
Last edited by uziq (2020-08-05 01:57:54)
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53702872Many countries "have a preference for who wins the election", he said, but the counterintelligence director said they were "primarily concerned" about China, Russia and Iran:
China "prefers that President Trump - whom Beijing sees as unpredictable - does not win re-election", the statement says, and has been "expanding its influence efforts" ahead of the vote
Russia is seeking to "denigrate" Mr Biden's candidacy and other members of a perceived "anti-Russia 'establishment'". Mr Evanina added that some other actors linked to Russia "are also seeking to boost President Trump's candidacy on social media and Russian television"
Iran is trying to "undermine US democratic institutions", Mr Trump, and "divide the country" ahead of the vote by spreading disinformation and "anti-US content" online. Their efforts are driven partially by a belief a second term for the president "would result in a continuation of US pressure on Iran in an effort to foment regime change"
LMAO
Fuck Israel
one of those nation’s political influence has not been like the others’
also, china might rue the trade wars and brinkmanship of trump, but there's no question that, on a wider ideological level, they are enjoying trump's deleterious effects on democracy and america's standing in the world -- even amongst her notional 'allies'. trump makes democracy look like a shit-show: time and time again i have read opinion pieces and statements along the lines of 'how can a system which is so great thrust this chump into global leadership?' etc. etc. the chinese commonly hold him in contempt and their mainstream press frequently refer to him as mentally ill, a child, retarded, etc.
his disengagement from several worldwide organizations, treaties/accords, threats to significantly reorganize NAFTA, etc, have all been giant gifts on a plate to the rising influence of china.
also, china might rue the trade wars and brinkmanship of trump, but there's no question that, on a wider ideological level, they are enjoying trump's deleterious effects on democracy and america's standing in the world -- even amongst her notional 'allies'. trump makes democracy look like a shit-show: time and time again i have read opinion pieces and statements along the lines of 'how can a system which is so great thrust this chump into global leadership?' etc. etc. the chinese commonly hold him in contempt and their mainstream press frequently refer to him as mentally ill, a child, retarded, etc.
his disengagement from several worldwide organizations, treaties/accords, threats to significantly reorganize NAFTA, etc, have all been giant gifts on a plate to the rising influence of china.
Last edited by uziq (2020-08-08 03:02:14)
https://twitter.com/ZerlinaMaxwell/stat … 1157816322
classic jay-level sperg rhetoric here about AOC. misogyny is a wonderful drug!
classic jay-level sperg rhetoric here about AOC. misogyny is a wonderful drug!
I'm honestly starting to think both jay and macbeth are dead or smth
macbeth will lurk, jay probably is going through some protracted period of disabling stress as he tries to accommodate heretofore unseen levels of cognitive dissonance. he's hitched himself to a political train that is running off the rails. he'll be back, though, in a new form, like some terrible mid-season dragonball-z villain. hatched with a new set of political beliefs, more doctrines, better dogmas!
as an intermission snack we now have shahter back, stumbling in after years in the siberian permafrost, to tell us that, actually, the answer to everything is communist revolution. have you ever heard of it? you should give it a try! capitalism is really quite bad!
i don't know if you were here during the long years when he was telling us that 'everything we heard about russia in the west was a fabrication', but it seems now he has flipped to a position of 'i never liked putin anyway and i just can't understand why russia is heading for fascism, i mean i only dismissed liberals and political opposition as puppets for most of the 2000s'.
fun!!!
i don't know if you were here during the long years when he was telling us that 'everything we heard about russia in the west was a fabrication', but it seems now he has flipped to a position of 'i never liked putin anyway and i just can't understand why russia is heading for fascism, i mean i only dismissed liberals and political opposition as puppets for most of the 2000s'.
fun!!!
Last edited by uziq (2020-08-08 03:35:49)
If any of my Russian internet buddies are critical of their country, I've yet to hear it. Shahter expressing disdain for its current state is rather a rather new one on me. The part where western media is discredited by default for any news pertaining to Russia's past or present is normal. It's probably easy to understand where the skepticism comes from: "anti-Russian propaganda pieces, stuff written by disaffected expatriates," and so on. "Here's a video of our latest military parade with surviving WW2 vets and their families occupying seats of honor." Yes, very cool but, oh never mind.
Take a look at some Americans' perception of Snowden, I suppose.
Take a look at some Americans' perception of Snowden, I suppose.
okay, so it's biden/harris against trump/pence - the shit show is go. democracy my ass.
and the best cause they found to riot about was some poor sods (and the color of their skin) getting roughed up by the police. what the actual fuck, murica?
and the best cause they found to riot about was some poor sods (and the color of their skin) getting roughed up by the police. what the actual fuck, murica?
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
Ok mr. I-willfully-live-in-a-dictatorship )))))
any modern social and political system based on economic classes - aka "state" - is a dictatorship of the ruling class. russia is no different in that regard from any so-called "western democracy".
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
shahter has been using the phrase 'so-called' since about 2005, i unironically love it.
ok, peons, enjoy your so-called freedom in your so-called democracy!
wow he's really read some good books. we are all so blind!
ok, peons, enjoy your so-called freedom in your so-called democracy!
wow he's really read some good books. we are all so blind!
getting roughed up by the police? the guy was suffocated to death until dead, with a knee still pressed in his neck for 10 minutes after he was blue and dead.Shahter wrote:
okay, so it's biden/harris against trump/pence - the shit show is go. democracy my ass.
and the best cause they found to riot about was some poor sods (and the color of their skin) getting roughed up by the police. what the actual fuck, murica?
why do you minimize the suffering of others? why do you try to make out that black people being killed in disproportionate numbers is just 'bad faith from people who are too stupid to identify capitalism as the enemy'? do you really think this makes you look big and clever? it makes you look like a very, very silly man.
why don't we talk about belarus?
has there already been an investigation and a trial? what was the verdict?uziq wrote:
getting roughed up by the police? the guy was suffocated to death until dead, with a knee still pressed in his neck for 10 minutes after he was blue and dead.Shahter wrote:
okay, so it's biden/harris against trump/pence - the shit show is go. democracy my ass.
and the best cause they found to riot about was some poor sods (and the color of their skin) getting roughed up by the police. what the actual fuck, murica?
because there is more important shit happening atm.why do you minimize the suffering of others? why do you try to make out that black people being killed in disproportionate numbers is just 'bad faith from people who are too stupid to identify capitalism as the enemy'?
because i haven't spoken to my friends who live there yet, and i won't make any comment until i have. but you are welcome to link me some shit from "unbiased and free western media" if you wish - if nothing else, it might be good for lulz.why don't we talk about belarus?
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
nice one. a female friend of mine is from belarus, living in luxembourg, and she says it's corrupt as fuck and the elections are rigged.
maybe she's a western puppet though.
maybe she's a western puppet though.
so NO news story or issue matters until capitalism is overthrown? we shouldn't discuss police murder? climate accords? brexit? you do know that human beings can focus attention on more than one thing at once, right? that multiple things go on, concurrently? that the news headlines aren't the totality of reality? what sort of stupid reasoning is this? 'the suffering of a group of people and their concerns must be postponed until we have achieved the revolution'. are you getting senile or what? this is dumb as fuck, shahter.because there is more important shit happening atm.
charged with second-degree murder, awaiting trial. no matter which way you cut it, shahter, that's more than 'roughing someone up'. the guy was killed in broad daylight. a bunch of men took his life, with malice aforethought or negligence, it doesn't matter. he was begging on his mother's life. he died. it was not 'the police roughing people up'. stop being so fucking stupid all of your russkie life.has there already been an investigation and a trial? what was the verdict?
i'm sure she can see stuff perfectly clear from luxembourg, especially that the elections are rigged. i'll wait to hear from my own friends, they are in minsk.uziq wrote:
nice one. a female friend of mine is from belarus, living in luxembourg, and she says it's corrupt as fuck and the elections are rigged.
if she's anything like yourself, that may very well be the case, yes.maybe she's a western puppet though.
regardless, some stuff can be said fairly confidently even now, if you so wish:
alexander lukashenko tried to sit on two chairs at the same time (much like yanukovich in ukraine) between russia and the west, which, understandably, dissatisfied one - or both - of the sides, and now he has an attempted coup on his hands. who plays on which side i can't really say, but the people are riled up and shit is getting out of control.
what happens next we'll just have to wait as see. unlike yanukovich though, lukashenko and his crew seem to have a pretty tight grip on the police and armed forces atm, so they may actually be able to crush all opposition. to do that they'll need to secure support of one of the sides though, which in this case could only be russia - the west's been painting him as "horrible dictator" for so long i don't think they could openly support him now. might still make somekinda deal, but lukashenko will have to go then.
of course i would like to see injustices fixed and problems addressed, but as long as you are only talking about reforms, you are leaving the core problems in place, and all the tools with which those problems were caused in the hands of those who caused them in the first place. you are not fixing this shit a little bit at a time, and right now i don't see anyone talking about this - just identity politics here, and green new deal there.so NO news story or issue matters until capitalism is overthrown? we shouldn't discuss police murder? climate accords? brexit? you do know that human beings can focus attention on more than one thing at once, right? that multiple things go on, concurrently? that the news headlines aren't the totality of reality?because there is more important shit happening atm.
so no verdict yet. then kindly shut the fuck up until there is. it wasn't a murder until a court of law decides it was, regardless of what anyone says.charged with second-degree murder, awaiting trial.has there already been an investigation and a trial? what was the verdict?
and yes i've seen the video that was posted at the beginning of this incident. i've also seen another one, more recent, which clearly shows that poor bastard was starting to suffocate before they put him on the ground and pressed a knee against his neck. he also had, if the western "free press" is to be believed, all kinds of drugs in major doses in his system, which may very well be the true cause of his death.
Last edited by Shahter (2020-08-13 13:01:56)
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
he had a negligible amount of drugs in his system, not 'major doses'. that is a stupid smear. even the 'western free press' say this. are you sure you aren't getting the 'racist russian press' version, dickhead?
he also had coronavirus at the time. maybe it wasn't the officer's knee in his neck but covid-19 that killed him?
he also had coronavirus at the time. maybe it wasn't the officer's knee in his neck but covid-19 that killed him?
Last edited by uziq (2020-08-13 13:43:27)
the court will decide. not you, not me, not any kind of press. until then, it wasn't a murder and anyone telling you it was is pushing an agenda on you. good night.uziq wrote:
he had a negligible amount of drugs in his system, not 'major doses'. that is a stupid smear. even the 'western free press' say this. are you sure you aren't getting the 'racist russian press' version, dickhead?
he also had coronavirus at the time. maybe it wasn't the officer's knee in his neck but covid-19 that killed him?
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
which brings me back to my original question: why do you want to minimise and trivialise the matter? 'police roughing people up'? you clearly have watched the horrifying video and watched a man die. why would you minimise it and use this rhetoric? what do you get out of it?
for someone who talks about 'hidden' or 'ulterior' motives, you are pretty suss yourself. i guess it makes sense to brush away people's deaths when THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION is the only true aim.
for someone who talks about 'hidden' or 'ulterior' motives, you are pretty suss yourself. i guess it makes sense to brush away people's deaths when THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION is the only true aim.
It irks me that Shahter pretends to be an ally of/for the people and their rights, but whenever an uprising happens he will side with the state. Ukraine, Belarus, BLM, Syria, etc. etc. - it's always unseen foreign powers pulling the strings, delegitimising domestic protest from day 1. The discontent among the people isn't real, it's all manufactured.
he's just another guy who has an off-the-shelf precept, the marxist 'skeleton key' to unpick all the world's intractable problems. we've all been there, reading kapital or the 18th brumaire in our freshman year of university, witnessing the materialist method, being delighted at the dialectical materialist conception of history ... but come the fuck on. to insist that every single discussion or topic boils down to 'bad faith' and 'it's the capitalist class system, stupid' is fucking inane.
these people act as if marx was a prophet and, with him, they're peering through the veils of maya to the one essential truth ... it's really fucking cringey. especially with his phraseology. your 'so called' freedom and your 'so called' free press! oh my god, quit the edgy teenager act already. as if liberalism and democracy and humanism and enlightenment and post-enlightenment and marxism and post-marxism haven't ALSO all been analysed and picked apart to death over here. nope, western people are all 'puppets' who certainly can't perceive how their media might be bias! all western people think liberalism is the global panacea! for fuck's sake.
these people act as if marx was a prophet and, with him, they're peering through the veils of maya to the one essential truth ... it's really fucking cringey. especially with his phraseology. your 'so called' freedom and your 'so called' free press! oh my god, quit the edgy teenager act already. as if liberalism and democracy and humanism and enlightenment and post-enlightenment and marxism and post-marxism haven't ALSO all been analysed and picked apart to death over here. nope, western people are all 'puppets' who certainly can't perceive how their media might be bias! all western people think liberalism is the global panacea! for fuck's sake.
Last edited by uziq (2020-08-14 01:22:17)
because in the face of real problems the world is facing atm it's trivial.uziq wrote:
why do you want to minimise and trivialise the matter?
a point of comparison in this conversation with you.what do you get out of it?
Last edited by Shahter (2020-08-14 09:51:40)
if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out.
You guys ever wonder if Shahter is one of these Russian agents sent to message boards to seed Russian interests? He's been around a while, but I don't know how long that program has been active. Some of the worldview is just too lock-step.
The shape of an eye in front of the ocean, digging for stones and throwing them against its window pane. Take it down dreamer, take it down deep. - Other Families
Ya know, I'm actually starting to think he makes some pretty good points. Maybe he is right about all of this stuff...
kidding. I'm sure he sits in a warehouse with 2000 other russians and gets paid to write pro-trump memes and post them on facebook to incite hate in the west.
He's probably got a youtube channel with a few random videos of pointless crap but tens of thousands of pro-Trumpist comments on any 'liberal' media videos.
kidding. I'm sure he sits in a warehouse with 2000 other russians and gets paid to write pro-trump memes and post them on facebook to incite hate in the west.
He's probably got a youtube channel with a few random videos of pointless crap but tens of thousands of pro-Trumpist comments on any 'liberal' media videos.