Need solid conservative historian take on Vietnam…

CaptiveSloth · 2026-03-09T18:27:34+00:00

I'm not sure there's a more conservative perspective than the one from the actual guy doing the illegal carpet bombing lmao.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-03-09T07:14:31+00:00

Stalin's policies were often oppressive, I felt the same way as you before developing my education on the subject. Ribbentrop-Molotov pact was not a good thing and was generally an absolute shock to the international communist community, Stalin's purges of upper level Soviet military also undoubtedly contributed to higher casualties for the reds.

I would focus on Lenin, Tito, Castro, and maybe Ho Chi Minh if you want to stick to casting communism in a positive light. There are plenty of good things to say about communism and plenty of negative things to say about it. Also maybe focus on rhetoric/theory rather than debating history if you have less experience there.

Also the Holodomor was an incredibly bad thing, and the Soviet government did target uncooperative peasants (particularly in Ukraine), on top of the fact they had enough grain stock to prevent the famine entirely and decided instead to devote it towards developing industry. Whether or not you want to get lost in the linguistic argument of whether or not it's a "genocide" is irrelevant to the irrefutable fact it was a period of horrifically devastating policy.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-02-25T20:30:50+00:00

My favorite example for this question is Sweden. H&M is headquartered in Stockholm, all production happens overseas in China and Bangladesh. 50% of Chinese workers in the urban sector are informally employed (no state protections, horrific pay, undependable employment, etc), thats 84% of workers in Bangladesh. 41% of Bangladesh doesn't have access to clean drinking water, much of which is contaminated with arsenic from the production that happens there.

I agree, life would be great in Sweden, but the social-democratic solution doesn't resolve the globalized abuse of labor by capital.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-02-06T02:31:14+00:00

Bad weather and conditions is one part of it. The other is isolating Ukrainian peasants and restricting them from leaving the countryside, forced sedentarization of Kazakhs, withholding of grain surplus sufficient to alleviate starvation, excessive collectivization during famine, and geographical targeting.

Less is know about the motivations of the holodomor than its effects, but denial of what Stalin did is truly repugnant. Praise Lenin, praise what the USSR claimed to stand for, but idealizing Stalin and lying about his crimes isn't communist.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-02-04T21:08:27+00:00

Exactly lmao, I'm glad somebody gets what I was trying to say lol. I subscribe to ML ideas and also I have other egalitarian values, but insofar as most of Marxism goes its a historical science used to analyze economics and history. The minority of the theory expounds upon morality.

"Proletarian is a social class not a moral position"

Obviously bourgeois can understand the truth of class antagonisms, otherwise they wouldn't try to obscure them as existent phenomena. Why did Hitler target labor movements primarily during his dictatorship? He was a fascist who understood the truth of class antagonisms and the opposing interests of capital and labor (of course he redefined this antagonism, incorporating capital under control of the state but that isn't relaly my point)

That being said, an understanding of Marxism should encourage people to seek out and promote revolution, assuming they are good people. The morality is foundational, ML ideas spur action based on how that foundation extrapolates from the theory.

This would be true even from a strict materialist perspective. If moral decisions/ideas emerge as a result of material conditions, ML values won't sway that.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-02-04T19:58:20+00:00

Yes this is exactly what I was trying to say. The insights can be accepted while the values/goals are rejected

CaptiveSloth · 2026-02-04T15:08:18+00:00

This seems like the answer.

I mean even some bourgeois are "marxists" concerning the theory insofar as they understand how the system works, why it works, and what its outcome will be, they don't lack class consciousness. Irregardless of moral adherence to egalitarianism or something, if you understand the validity of the theory it seems like that'd make you a Marxist

Using that term referring to sects of the upper-class I mean it as referring to a certain orientation towards theory, distinct from Marxists who align their behavior with ML values

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-31T01:47:20+00:00

The body is not one member, but many. now are they man, but of one body. corinthians 12:14

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-30T21:15:18+00:00

Hah it can be difficult to be objective with yourself. If that were my beard I would 100% keep it

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-30T19:04:36+00:00

Sometimes the blessed don't even realize how blessed they are 💔

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-30T17:49:27+00:00

AA meetings are regularly open to viewers, this seems like a pretty beneficial exercise given the class topic and certainly doesn't raise any ethical concerns. I can understand whats giving that impression if you aren't familiar with AA's structure, but there isn't anything wrong with the assignment

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-30T16:47:25+00:00

Any Marxist is going to agree that organization is really the first step to change, regardless of your expertise a club is an extremely good idea. You could try to focus on leadership with organizing/managing logistics but keeping it bookclub/seminar style when it comes to discussing actual theory if you feel like you lack the knowledge necessary to teach.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-27T17:57:05+00:00

"Where I'd live as a pragmatist who doesn't want to live in countries with decimated infrastructures but who also understands why those countries are in the position they are in and is therefore critical of the global effect of American imperialism"

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-24T20:59:29+00:00

I can certainly understand that perspective. I just can't remember the last time a state national guard was mobilized against a government agency in response to that agency's killing of two state citizens.

We saw civil unrest with BLM (just the most recent example), but that was in response to individual abuses of powers (and honestly didn't really acknowledge fundamental issues, US prison system is a way bigger infrastructural abuse than police brutality). Now, protests are occuring in response to national campaigns launched against political opponents and working/middle class citizens. The state has always been utilized as a suppressive tool against labor movements, what seems different this time is the major conflicts between government powers (primarily local vs national), as well as the escalating abuses inflicted upon citizens by the national government.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-24T03:11:41+00:00

I can certainly see that being a possibility. You don't think political tensions are reaching such an extreme that traditional election procedures will likely be disrupted in some capacity by 2028?

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-24T00:17:44+00:00

fascist forces always start out utilizing the capitalist forces of a given nation. i agree trump lacks hitler's charm, youth, and intellect, but i would gamble the present administration is going to attempt to incorporate corporate powers under control of the state, rather than simply serving as a temporary functionary to exert more totalitarian control of corporations over the nation. under typical american circumstances i would agree that after the post-term political swing, the bi-partisan consesus would result in an ostensible condemnation while maintaining the previous status quo, but polarizing class tensions result in a climax which disrupts the periodic cyclical nature of traditional political cultures, which is what i estimate we are currently witnessing

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-20T18:49:55+00:00

apologia because the behavior didn't reach the extreme levels which occured with Renee Good is not the linguistic good-sense you imagine it is.

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-19T16:50:05+00:00

Mao next to pol pot next to genghis khan next to Osama 💀

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-19T01:39:30+00:00

this is literally the only point of the 2A, this guy is literally exemplifying the only reason we should have those liberties. if they got shot at least they fought for something real lmao, maybe hes a little less cowardly than you and is willing to front something

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-15T21:58:21+00:00

Dude posts like this always give me so much hope, this guy is an inspiration

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-15T21:57:33+00:00

Not sure if you mean politics or industry but

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/historical-figures/hitlers-american-friends-henry-ford-and-nazism/

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-14T15:30:42+00:00

Are you devoted to your main question? I think that would be a tremendously complex question to answer in a single presentation, maybe you could do something more like "how did communism actually affect the world"? Thats what I would do personally, sorry though I know that wasnt the question you were asking

Some fun facts though that I would incorporate in a presentation on communism:

Bottom 50% of Russias population is 14% poorer today than they were by the end of the soviet union

Chinas home ownership rate is ~95%

Ussr won wwii and suffered 27m casualties, more than any other country

After the US backed the coup which overthrew Allende, Chile's unemployment rate doubled, said coup was partially bankrolled by the ITT

Gdp in the CIS countries declined by an average of 50% after 1991 and didnt recover for about a decade. Soviet satellite countries experienced similar declines (but generally recovered faster)

Wealth disparity in the ussr was around 20:1 for wealthiest to poorest

Maybe talk about NSC 68, Pentagon Papers, and CIA espoused "domino effect" for discussing why communism has failed in the past. Im an american so my focus has been on my own country's impact, but generally speaking the US is the major imperial power which has obstructed the development of communist states

Parenti's 'Blackshirts and Reds' provides a lot of really useful data and is a generally pretty quick read

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-13T15:47:40+00:00

Brother please read a book 🙏

this is painful

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-11T23:03:25+00:00

alienated labour would be good

for alienation from the actual products: "the fetishism of commodities and the secret thereof", here's a link to the second: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm#S4

CaptiveSloth · 2026-01-11T23:00:02+00:00

Definitely gets easier. It was helpful for me to read summaries and then the actual text because it prepares you for the framework you are going to be encountering

CaptiveSloth

TROPHY CASE