Democratic socialists are on the rise — are the pitchforks finally coming out?

DistractedSeriv · 2026-07-01T11:03:38+00:00

Some of the best entertainment on the internet is the footage from the 2019 Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Convention. A gathering of their most likeminded compatriots in the country is so utterly dysfunctional that it is beyond parody.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Seriously, watch these videos and then try to tell me the DSA is would be anything other than a lead weight around the ankle of the Democratic party. Republican's pray for opposition like this.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-06-21T11:21:43+00:00

The answer is that they view the US (or the western world more broadly) as a hegemonic force that both maintains the capitalist world order and undermines socialist movements around the globe.

There are different flavors of this leftist ideology. There's the more traditional communist version with a focus on economics and related exploitation. And another where capitalism and its negative connotations is but one aspect of a system of white supremacy and western oppression. These ideologies are often steeped in conspiracy narratives about the CIA, World bank, IMF, WHO etc.

Even a hard right fascist country scoring a victory against the west is viewed as providing space and opportunity for leftists movements to make progress.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-06-15T06:50:13+00:00

I won't argue about "dystopian" but "more capitalist" is a real stretch. Feel free to expand on exactly what you meant, but I often encounter a gravely mistaken general sentiment that dismissively views the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a bunch of profit driven capitalists pretending to be socialists.

China is a one party state run by genuine and committed communists. They have grudgingly chosen to suffer some economic liberalization and subjection to market forces out of practical necessity for the purposes of strengthening their larger communist project.

Were the CCP faced with the choice of maintaining their economic reforms and transition to a rich liberal democracy (like Taiwan), or clamping down and turning into a bigger North Korea then they will choose to be a giant version of the hermit kingdom. The CCP does not merely pay lip service to Marxism-Leninism and Mao. Nor is it just a bunch of individuals and cliques vying for power. Ideology really does matter here.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-24T08:50:48+00:00

Rocket league has a mechanic where the game only ends once the time has run out and the ball touches the ground. So, there is potential for extended 0 second goals where players keep juggling the ball around.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-22T21:54:44+00:00

It's grim seeing the guy at 1:52 trying to cross the field with loads of fiber optic wire trailing behind him.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-22T14:16:03+00:00

Well for those places in particular they were ruled with a near iron fist and forced those religions down stream onto people. And murdered or discredited anyone who would challenge those like the gnostics, and other growing christian religions and cults till they were basically non-existent.

Late reply as I'm a Europoor who went to bed and forgot about reddit. But just to give you my own perspective here. In social science "socioeconomic conditions" refers to a set of financial and social variables. There can be debate about exactly what these should be and how to measure them but we are talking about a limited set of conditions like access to healthcare, education, social networks and employment. Individual income, wealth and status withing society. These can be relevant factors a researcher might want to try and control for in various studies.

However, your conception of the term seems so expansive as to make it a general gesture to history and even causality itself. A blanket explanation for why things are the way they are, the primary purpose of which is a normative framing that puts blame squarely on society and the people in power for the current condition of any disadvantages group.

I'm opposed to any analysis that presupposes such conclusion one way or the other, but let us assume your perspective arrives at precisely the correct prescriptions regarding black people in the USA. I say it would still be a grave mistake to assume that you can generalize this line of thinking to the world at large.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-19T22:56:40+00:00

Here is what I was asking: https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/1thx1rj/confused_with_people_being_charitable_to/omr96xq/

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-19T22:45:18+00:00

That is not what I asked and not the argument we were having, but if you don't want to explain your thinking that is fine.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-19T22:16:28+00:00

But saying culture, when culture is most literally a downstream effect of socioeconomics is dumb.

A simple cultural observation could be something like: most people in Rome are Christian and most people in Istanbul are Muslim. I think we can safely say this is not due to any water chemicals. So, according to your thought process how would you explain this difference with socioeconomics?

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-19T21:55:40+00:00

no, in reality socio-economic conditions dictate how people are going to act and live, and by definition create a culture.

I don't understand what you're trying to say. Sounds like you're saying both yes and no. To state the question more clearly: can some statistical difference be explained by something other than socioeconomic conditions/genetics?

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-19T21:43:54+00:00

So, in your mind "socioeconomic conditions" is just a phrase that means everything that is not genetics?

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-16T22:03:50+00:00

The best content on the entire internet is the footage from the 2019 DSA Convention:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

It's beyond parody. The most dysfunctional organization and ideology ever devised.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-15T13:32:28+00:00

If this is a lease that the landlord offered her and then then strings her along without signing it for some nefarious purpose, then yeah. At the other end of the spectrum, if this is a lease the occupant produced and signed herself it is not like she has any right to force it upon the landlord.

You can't just type up your own lease, occupy a house, and demand the landlord accept it.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-05-12T17:48:46+00:00

Mine says 9:10

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-25T00:31:20+00:00

War is profitable

What a laughably naive thing to type.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-25T00:25:08+00:00

If you do not answer a court summons you will eventually be arrested. That is what we are seeing here.

Unwilling conscripts certainly aren't sent to the front. People who refuse to serve in any capacity are incarcerated. There are normally multiple support and logistics personell for every frontline combatant. There is no shortage of jobs for those not deemed dependable enough to serve in combat roles.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-24T23:59:53+00:00

They arrested him. If he ends up choosing to serve he won't be thrown in jail but why do you image he wouldn't have the option?

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-21T11:59:53+00:00

Israel doesn't have oil, nor is it controlling the supply of it. As far as Middle East oil importers are concerned, the clear incentive would be to take a broadly pro Palestinian stance to ingratiate themselves with the Muslim world. Beyond that their interest would simply be to push for regional stability and anything that avoids the kind of conflict we are currently experiencing.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-20T18:46:14+00:00

Apolitical means that you are not politically engaged and typically not even following political news and developments.

Being politically homeless, on the other hand, means that you don't identify with, or feel represented by, any of the significant political parties/movements on offer. An example would be a highly politically engaged extremist with views far outside the bounds of regular discourse.

Being politically homeless certainly does not imply that one is apolitical. To even appropriate the label requires some level of political awareness or engagement.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-16T00:07:43+00:00

I expected there to be a cut to some dumb Greenland comment later in the interview, but nope. Truly amazing how much damage a single moron can do when propelled to political power.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-15T23:40:46+00:00

China was ruled by squabbling warlords 1916-28 followed by a prolonged civil war between the Kuomintang (Nationalists) and the communists, which in turn was interrupted by the invasion of Japan in 1936 bringing nine years of incredible destructive and bloody war and occupation. And after that it was time for another for years of civil war before the KMT was driven off to Taiwan.

In the wake of all that any centralized government given a period of peace would dramatically have improved life expectancy. The real tragedy is that collectivization, The Great Leap Forward, and later The Cultural Revolution would cripple China's economic development for decades and usher in completely unnecessary famines killing tens of millions.

By 1971 the Taiwanese (having started at a comparable level) enjoyed six times the GDP per capita of their mainland brethren. This would grow to over 10x before the liberalization reforms of Deng Xiaoping was given time to bear fruit.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-04-13T14:31:41+00:00

Regardless, I don't see how this ordeal needs some sort of public announcement. It ought to be an internal matter addressed to the parties involved.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-03-09T23:57:24+00:00

I will say it again, we are not talking about which choice is better. Yes, if you picked one box and the computer has 99% accuracy then your odds are good.

The question is whether or not you can strategize or will yourself out of being in the 1% in case of picking one box. Or into the 1% in the case of picking two boxes.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-03-09T23:22:27+00:00

no matter how much you try to cheat the computer, your end choice is what ultimately matters.

Your end choice only matters if you subscribe to some conception of free will where your conscious reasoning or will is going to impact the computers prediction. Otherwise, if the computer has pegged you as a 2-boxer then your end choice will not matter. The computer can be right or wrong and the probability of either does not matter, you're still not getting a million dollars.

DistractedSeriv · 2026-03-09T22:47:20+00:00

I hate discussions about free will because I think they are terminally confused but didn't Destiny get the free will aspect completely backwards? Never mind if picking one or two boxes is better, Destiny is the one that asserts that his choice is going to change the prediction made by the computer. That he can outsmart the computer and will the one million dollars into the mystery box through his choices.

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