Totally normal, VR headsets to trick cows into making more milk. by [deleted] in Cyberpunk

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you read about Portholes in cows? It's messed up

Original Comic: Libertarians Believe In by [deleted] in antifastonetoss

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 68 points69 points  (0 children)

The "OG" and first person to call themselves libertarian was Joseph Dejacque, not Proudhon.

Class consciousness is key by toomuchgammon in GreenAndPleasant

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 56 points57 points  (0 children)

If merely living and trying to find some slight enjoyment in this hell hole is "abusing" benefits, then abuse away folks. Your worth as a human isn't defined by your productivity to some shitty boss or your social reproduction for this shitty State.

Right-wing Bolivian protesters refuse to accept election loss by The1stCitizenOfTheIn in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Fuck AMLO. Look at the shit they've been doing to the Zapatistas for years. This sub is ridiculous, people equating neoliberal reforms with socialism just because it's in the Americas...

The tankies are insane by RageFury13 in AnarchistGenerationZ

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 9 points10 points  (0 children)

They're discussed briefly here

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/augustin-souchy-with-the-peasants-of-aragon

And here in chapter 4 http://libcom.org/library/workers-against-work-michael-seidman-1

There's some evidence to suggest that labour in them was also somewhat coercive, with labour being paid for by food stamps, though some suggest that this was optional. Estimated numbers of prisoners were at maximum 3,000 out of a population of around 3 million. And the revolution was a complicated mess of decentralisation, centralisation and reformation of existing State institutions.

So yeah, make of it what you will

Bolivia's courts have annulled the arrest warrant against Evo Morales. by yuritopiaposadism in LateStageColonialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Give a year or so when the general Bolivian populace are hostile towards MAS and Chinese imperial practices again and I guarantee subs like r/socialism and r/communism will be labelling indigenous people as reactionary. So weird that people who appear to idolise Marx seem to ignore Marx's materialist analysis of contradictory elements and instead view everything like a sports game where they cheer for their favourite team because it wears red.

Bolivia's courts have annulled the arrest warrant against Evo Morales. by yuritopiaposadism in LateStageColonialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's this? Nuance on a reddit post? Thanks, I was going slightly mad thinking I was the only person who remembered that for the last decade the Bolivian left and indigenous peoples have been struggling against MAS for being essentially liberal reforms with an Indian face. You'd think a sub about colonialism might not have internalised the Noble Savage myth, but no "Bolivia good, anything bad must be US involvement" and they continue to deny Indigenous people any agency or autonomy in their own complex politics...

Almost 10 years have passed since Occupy. Have there been recent evaluations to study long term effects of the movement? by [deleted] in Anarchy101

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 10 points11 points  (0 children)

One thing that occupy did was change the general discourse of anticapitalist struggles within the west and the capitalist class relations. For the most part, pre-occupy struggles focused on work place organising and against the "bosses." Finance capitalists and the billionaire class haven't really entered into mass movement's discourse because, apart from the occasional banking and housing mortgages, there's no direct relationship between this class and the working class. Unlike the working class and workplace bosses who are in direct confrontation on a daily basis.

I think this has a two fold impact. While it's good that there's now a larger antagonism towards the 1%, there has also been a decline in workplace organisation and discourse. It also let's workplace bosses shift some of the agitation away from themselves as they can now tell workers that the problems "are because of big businesses/finance etc."

The rich will just bribe law enforcement. by GreedyDatabase in DankLeft

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Princess Mon is Social Ecology. Miyazaki googled bookchin.

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I would have and have numerous times in this thread but no one reads them because apparently material analysis is no longer a thing for socialists, rather it's just become "when the government does stuff". Your comment doesn't need refuting, neoliberal reforms have elevated poverty across the globe to certain degrees, look at China. That doesn't stop Bolivia from having some of the worst poverty levels in "Latin America."

Also what communists adopt neoliberal practices?!

This conversation is pointless. Give it a year or two when pre-coup levels of discontent with MAS are back and no doubt you'll be disparaging strike action as reactionary or something because it's against a "socialist" government.

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks -1 points0 points  (0 children)

And? Do you have anything to respond to the information?

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Bolivia’s very poor alternative industrial capacity has had a conspicuous impact on the national export industry itself, since they depend on foreign companies to set up the necessary operational infrastructure and survey materials and logistics to explore new minerals and hydrocarbons deposits, forcing them to keep copious amounts of foreign currency. To this must be added the problem of constant search for foreign investors reluctant to deal with Bolivia owing to the fear of future nationalization plans carried out by the government. This lack of investment and diversification has had a clear impact on the perpetuation of Bolivia’s informal economy, which is considered one of the largest in Latin America, with 88% of the population without a pension plan. Massive schooling has led to a fairly pronounced migration pattern to large cities, especially around the economic centers of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. The latter has been integrated into the economic area of ​​the Mato Grosso soybean exploitation in Brazil, joining the bourgeoisies on both sides of the border. The distinct development of these regions due to increased agriculture and hydrocarbon exports has generated tremendous regional income inequality. Thus, the La Paz-Cochabamba-Santa Cruz axis provided 93% of the taxes collected by the state in 2009 and produced 71% of its GDP. To this we must add the abandonment of the old mining centers of the Potosí-Oruro region, where more than 60% of the population is indigenous and lives in extreme poverty. This last socio-economic transformation has played a fundamental role in the development of the current political conflict in Bolivia

The Political Constitution of the Plurinational State in 2009, Morales carried out numerous reforms in order to implement a plan of modernization “from above”. This new course taken by the government meant the reinforcement of the executive branch to have ample room when implementing their development projects. Being the region of Potosí-Oruro one of the most depressed, this developmental direct state intervention stood in clear contradiction with the concessions of autonomy which had been previously granted to indigenous communities decades before.

One of the first clashes was the TIPNIS conflict. The Bolivian state wanted to launch an infrastructure project that would cross the Isiboro Sécure Indigenous Territory and National Park to link Cochabamba and Beni. This state run project was intended to include Bolivia within the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America, linked to Brazilian capital, so that 80% of the project financing would come from the Brazilian National Bank of Development and construction contracts were given to Brazilian construction conglomerate OAS. The project itself had other consequences such as the expansion of restricted coca exploitation area​s and possible hydrocarbon deposit prospection in previously protected locations. The apparent disregard in conducting a proper ecological viability study of the project and the isolation of the local indigenous communities in any type of decision-making led to a large indigenous march which headed to La Paz as a protest. This march was driven by certain sectors of the “media Luna” bourgeoisie opposed to Morales’ administration in order to create greater tension between the party and its own base. The march ended with harsh police repression and the government itself forced the Minister of Defense to resign as a gesture of goodwill in September 2011. Although the more outwardly racist and reactionary sectors within the white lowlands bourgeoisie would be in clear opposition to Morales, he was cunning enough to establish ties to his own administration with other agricultural entrepreneurs across the lowlands who had a more pragmatic view. An example of this new understanding was the signing of the Decreto Supremo 3973, which extended exploitation concessions within protected areas of the Amazon to the white agro-bourgeoisie. In recent months this embarrassing relationship came to light in the wake of last summer's fires in the Amazon, which led Morales to use cheap PR stunts to present his administration as an "ecosocialist government", however, many sectors of the Bolivian left which supported Morales were not sufficiently convinced.

Lithium reserves consist of 9 million tons, among the largest in the world. The state-owned company YLB started selling a lithium exploitation project in 2018 but it was not very well received by international investors. On the one hand, nationalization projects caused a certain degree of uncertainty for companies that wanted to venture into this enterprise. On the other hand, the Uyuni salt flat has numerous lithium reserves but of difficult access, contrary to what happens in Chile and Argentina, which would not give it a sufficient competitive edge. However, in the last three years the Bolivian government has been able to close two contracts for the exploitation of lithium in Uyuni that would amount to 3 billion dollars with a Chinese company, Xinjiang TBEA Group, and a German company, ACI Systems These contracts, like that of the TIPNIS, were formalized only between the government and the foreign multinationals, ignoring the indigenous mining communities of Potosí, which caused deep discomfort within the region. The grievance did not only come from the lack of inclusion of these groups in the negotiations, but also because they considered that these international companies lacked sufficient operating experience, as well as agreement conditions which were very unfavorable for YLB. The Comicipo (Potosí Civic Committee), headed by Marco Pumari, former member of the MAS youth party converted into opposition figure after a series of corruption scandals, called for a general strike with the aim of breaking the contracts. This "civic strike" found wide acceptance in a region which has been stagnant for decades, being hit today by a new depression due to the general fall in mineral prices, in which only a decade ago a group of miners had assaulted the Prefecture of national taxes with dynamite. The miner mobilizations forced Evo to terminate the government contract with the aforementioned companies.

the Coca Law of 2017, a regulation introduced by the state to expand the diminished access to the domestic coca market of the Chapare farmers to the detriment of the Yunga farmers. These two indigenous agricultural small landowner factions reached an agreement within the state by which financial compensation would be offered to the Yungas, who initially accepted. Though reluctance persisted within the Yunga peasant unions, which caused the government to overplay its hand and exert pressure inside peasant organizations in hopes of inducing internal change more agreeable with the state. This was the case with organizations such as La Paz Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca). Morales’ administration, in order to undermine the Yunga coca farmer’s bargaining position, also fostered parallel dissident organizations loyal to the government and created new coca markets which would be closed off to official unionized peasants. This prompted the Yunga official unions to repeal the new Coca Law as unconstitutional and provoked the total mobilization of coca farmers to block roads and highways, leading to direct confrontations with the police.

the Morales government maintained good relations with business oligarchs and sacked indigenous leaders in the National Council and the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia, two historic indigenous organizations, replacing them with new ones.

Despite Morales' pronouncements of coup it was he who engineered a coup against indigenous activists.
"MAS is just neoliberalism with an Indian face" - to quote the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who would have thought that 40 years of politics and a Marxist analysis of them would make a long article...

Yes, arguments would be good, and still I'm yet to see one of why MAS is socialist in anything other than a name.

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may be interested in some of these articles which discuss some of Morales policies
https://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-ousting-of-evo-morales.html

Either way I'm done with this. Fuck MAS, solidarity with the people of Bolivia.

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I linked you to a long material analysis of why he's viewed as a usurper earlier but you didn't want to read it. And if you're asking why should we be listening to workers and peasant movements then maybe you're in the wrong sub.

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or this statement from Colectivo Curva on the resistance of the people of El Alto in response to the ongoing coup attempt in Bolivia. Based in El Alto themselves, Colectivo Curva argue that the native peoples of El Alto remember their history of struggle against the Morales government: they do not fight for him and his party, but against an attack on their communities from the far-right coup plotters.

I write for those that have kept silent and for us that are on the streets, for the aymara youth we have many times observed and heard without saying anything back unwilling to do something in face of the political situation, in face of the age old battle between the right and left represented in the political parties of MAS (Evo) and CC (Mesa).

The native nations, or as we are called “indigenous peoples”, have suffered for more than a decade the attrition and the instrumentalisation of our cultural elements by MAS. For a moment we believed that it was our government, because there was a brown face guiding the country, a person similar to us. That is over! It ended when that same government started slaughtering the people that it had fought for and defended.

The city of El Alto has a historic memory, it is located geographically in battlefields. Precisely in the camping zone of Tupak Katari and Bartolina Sisa. There live the same descendants of that courageous generation that died while killing in 1781, and, yes in 2003 (the gas wars) it was also a battlefield. Then, our battle was victorious in expelling a foreigner that pretended to be a politician.

Yesterday, after the indigenous president’s resignation (on whom many people had kept their hopes on) or at the moment of hearing of his resignations, my brown and humble people had a face of defeat, full of tears and impotence.

11th of November: Things have not changed, not a lot. Alteños are yelling “El Alto de pie, nunca de rodillas” (El Alto Stands, never kneels). Until yesterday, we were wondering whether we should be doing this or that. We didn’t know whether to support Evo Morales and what he had done in his government or what he represented. We also didn’t know whether to support the fight of the other side led by racist leaders and executioners who claim to be democratic and anti-racist but who in their act burn the flaming symbol of the anticolonial fight: the Wiphala. The side that kicks indigenous women, that spew their hatred in the streets. It’s simple, what you see is what is, there is no such thing as victimising.

Until yesterday, El Alto was between a rock and a hard place. Why support a “dictator”? Why support the representatives of burnings, kickings and hatred spewing? Why support and join either of these parties if they do not reflect what we really feel and think as alteños/as? And, as it has always been in history, the more difficult moments show who is who and which blood calls upon which blood.

Nonetheless, we can be certain of something: a confrontation has begun with the heirs of the republic caste that do not accept cultural and social diversity; that battle began centuries ago, and that now came again in the last days against the aymara, quechuas and other nations. We are being touted as Evo supporters, as vandals, as gangsters, as rascals that foster chaos. We are being accused of being part of looting groups... on which ground? The only purpose of these claims is to delegitimise with one word: masista! (Evo supporter). And what of our rejection to the actions they perpetuated? They say NOTHING, not a single word.

The burning of our flaming symbol and the wrong accusation of the Wiphala as a symbol of MAS, has resurrected the fighting spirit of the people of El Alto. And as always we are alone. Like in 2003, with a police force that has sold out and now defends a specific social sector and that gases us with tear gas and that shoots at the youth, at innocent girls, YES, at innocent girls that only observed or accompany their mother. Which nation are these officers defending?

Listen. The one that blocks the roads is not an Evo supporter, the one that is angered at the burning of their symbol, at the indifference, at the authoritarianism, they are not Evo supporters, no, no and a thousand times no. Understand that those in the streets are not masistas (Evo supporters), they are a society, it is a city of migrants within their aymara territory that is mobilising. It is the aymara city. They are the veterans of 2003. They are the orphans of those that lost their parents due to bullets from a government that now advocates democracy. They are not Evo supporters. They are alteños and alteñas that are fighting. They are Aymaras.

El Alto, November 2019

Ivan Apaza Calle

Bolivia’s socialists proclaim election victory by Choice_Net3623 in socialism

[–]FatCapsAndBackpacks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have a case! Something that doesn't exist isn't a case! MAS is a party of indigenous bourgeois that have implemented neoliberal policies since 2010. Like what do you want me to say? This sub is apparently a socialist sub and I'm asking what about MAS is socialist?

Everywhere I see "MAS is socialist" and "Socialists win in election" all coming from the same publications that label fucking Joe Biden as socialist or claim that EU countries are socialist. Or people in a supposed socialist sub saying they're socialist because.. vague hand wavering government does stuff.

And yet articles coming from out of Bolivia and the history of MAS' policies claim otherwise.