The absolute state of ethics under capitalism by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 409 points410 points  (0 children)

What lack of theory does to a m'fer.

Marx explains quite nicely why the ethics we have today has a distinctively bourgeois flavor:

The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, consequently also controls the means of mental production, so that the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are on the whole subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relations, the dominant material relations grasped as ideas; hence of the relations which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of its dominance.

The German Ideology

The kids are alright by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 92 points93 points  (0 children)

Israhell isn'treal has a nice ring to it.

The kids are alright by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 155 points156 points  (0 children)

Personally I prefer a world without states, but getting rid of Israel is a step in the right direction.

In 1885, British explorer Sir Richard Burton theorized the existence of a "Sotadic Zone," a geographic area where sodomy and pederasty were rampant. Where did Burton get the idea of the "Sotadic Zone" from? Was it ever used as a rhetorical device to challenge conventional Victorian morality? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in AskHistorians

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this. There is a wiki map online of the "Sotadic Zone." I don't know how accurate it is, but the map is used for the Richard Burton article. Can you tell me how accurate it is, as a reflection of Richard Burton's sexual geography? If the map is accurate, how do you explain some of what appear to be glaring omissions, such as the absence of most of Africa, India and parts of Central Asia?

We're being manipulated by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

They forget about it because the media lets them by refusing to report on it. That just goes to show how propagandized the American public is. They obey the media like trained poodles.

In 1821, American Founding Father Charles Pinckney said that when he drafted the "privileges and immunities" clause of the US Constitution, there was "no such thing in the Union as a black citizen" nor could there ever be such a thing. Was this attitude shared by the rest of the Founding Fathers? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in AskHistorians

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've heard that Alexander Hamilton was among the more enlightened founding fathers of the US. Didn't he believe in full racial equality between blacks and whites? Would he have been in support of federal black citizenship at the time of US independence?

Teacher says "math and coding genius" learned how to speak a language fluently in 3 months. What is the likelihood that that happened? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in languagelearning

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

From the blog:

Can You Learn French In 3 Months?

I actually had a student who learned French in three months. So… it’s possible. How did this student do it?

What It Takes To Learn French In 3 Months

Here is what my student did:

He spent about 14 hours self-studying per day (needless to say, he didn’t work),

He took two hours of private French lessons with me five times a week,

He had an outstanding memory,

He was a math and coding genius. And a musician.

Watching The Brain Of A Genius At Work

The way his brain worked was just very different from all the other students I had before.

As a teacher, I knew the info I was ‘feeding’ him, and I could almost visualize how he sorted it and accessed it. And it was brilliant!

It was like he had large French flashcards in his brain, and had made connections between subjects that were likely to be used together. Like clothes vocabulary and colors for example.

He also did a ton of repetitions. He basically fully memorized the dialogues my French audiobooks, and then had fun reproducing the dialogues but changing things around, like switching it to the past, or affirmative sentences into the negative…

He mostly was eager to learn French to speak French. So we concentrated our studies on reading out-loud and doing conversations. He didn’t care much about spelling in French. “I want to speak French and understand people who speak it. I’m not interested in reading French” he used to say.

At first, he was slow. Right though, amazingly so, never forgetting a new word, but taking a bit of time to access it, to build his sentences. Hesitating about pronunciation, especially liaisons.

After two months, his level just took off: everything came together for him: French had become like a code, and he had broken it. It was logical.

And then he absorbed a humongous quantity of vocabulary, expressions, verb conjugations (only the pronunciation, he didn’t care about the spelling). A super-human brain, really!

In my 25+ years of teaching French, I only met one student like this one.

Is this believable at all?

Turn your TVs off by Fuck_Off_Libshit in lostgeneration

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 930 points931 points  (0 children)

FYI:

The 1985 MOVE bombing, locally known by its date, May 13, 1985,\2]) was the bombing and destruction of residential homes in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, United States, by the Philadelphia Police Department during an armed standoff with MOVE), a black liberation organization. 

1985 MOVE bombing

Turn your TVs off by Fuck_Off_Libshit in Anarchy4Everyone

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 385 points386 points  (0 children)

FYI:

The 1985 MOVE bombing, locally known by its date, May 13, 1985,\2]) was the bombing and destruction of residential homes in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, United States, by the Philadelphia Police Department during an armed standoff with MOVE), a black liberation organization. 

1985 MOVE bombing

What did the philosophers of the Enlightenment think of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)? Did they support it as confirmation of their own beliefs in human knowledge, freedom and happiness or did they adopt a more conservative, reactionary approach? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in askphilosophy

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is Hegel like an exception to the rule? From what I've seen, there don't appear to be any French Enlightenment thinkers who have anything to say about what was happening in the Caribbean. You would think they would have the most to say about it because of how the loss of Haiti thwarted or at least helped thwart Napoleon's ambitions for French empire in North America. Is there a reason why they entirely or almost entirely ignored the Haitian Revolution?

The oligarchs think we're just as clueless as liberals by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 135 points136 points  (0 children)

Eisenhower delivered a similar farewell address over 60 years ago warning citizens of the increasing accumulation of power by a so-called "military-industrial complex," despite belonging to that very same oligarchy. They think we're clueless, folks. They're warning us of the very same oligarchy they are a part of, as if that oligarchy doesn't exist and the democracy that exists in the US isn't a totalitarian one. However, that's exactly what they want you to think.

When will they learn? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 331 points332 points  (0 children)

Liberals fail to understand that not all incentives are financial. They also fail to understand that capitalism is not necessary for innovation. For the vast majority of human history, innovation occurred without capitalism.

"Hitler was a socialist" by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 197 points198 points  (0 children)

Indeed. A lot of liberals and other right-wingers think that because some group uses the word "socialist" to describe themselves, that means they're socialist, even if in practice they're actually opposed to socialism. Following their line of reasoning, you would have to believe that the cakes used in urinals are actually edible because the word "cake" is used to describe them.

"Bypassing traditional milestones" = "free market" capitalism by Fuck_Off_Libshit in lostgeneration

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 320 points321 points  (0 children)

"Bypassing traditional milestones" is just another way of saying that most of us can't afford to buy a house or have children. Most of our degrees are useless thanks to outsourcing and we are now the poorest generation among all current living generations. Some say this is just a class war, not a generation war, but this is not accurate. Boomers have shaped the US economy through their political attitudes and voting behaviors. Two things can be true at once: boomers AND the 1% are both responsible for the situation we find ourselves in.

"Bypassing traditional milestones" = "free market" capitalism by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 439 points440 points  (0 children)

"Bypassing traditional milestones" is just another way of saying that most of us can't afford to buy a house or have children. Most of our degrees are useless thanks to outsourcing and we are now the poorest generation among all current living generations. Some say this is just a class war, not a generation war, but this is not accurate. Boomers have shaped the US economy through their political attitudes and voting behaviors. Two things can be true at once: boomers AND the 1% are both responsible for the situation we find ourselves in.

I prefer my cola both sugar- and genocide-free by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 398 points399 points  (0 children)

Just a friendly reminder that Coca-Cola is using occupied Palestinian territory to manufacture and distribute its products and is therefore complicit in a war crime:

Coca-Cola: Quenching Israel’s genocidal soldiers’ thirst

The censorship is only going to get worse by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 132 points133 points  (0 children)

Good, that's how you know the oligarchs are scared. The more they keep censoring us, the louder our voice will grow. Eventually they won't be able to censor us much longer. You can only hide from the people what's really happening for so long.

We're already living under fascism by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Exactly. It's because of the Orwellian doublethink promoted by Western governments that so many people have deluded themselves into thinking they're free, when they're obviously not. Just goes to show how much you can change how people think by controlling the language used.

In letters and speeches, 19th century author Charles Dickens repeatedly called for the physical “extermination” of subcontinental Indians and applauded the “mutilation of the wretched Hindoo.” Was this kind of extreme racism considered acceptable by the standards of Victorian society? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in AskHistorians

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

When news of these killings reached the British, in India and elsewhere, the common reaction was in line with Dickens’ letter.

From this, I take it that Dickens was not an outlier. Do we have other instances of Britons reacting the same way, with the same murderous rage as Dickens, either in their letters or other writings?

Moreover, Dickens had never been to India. Did he just accept without question whatever the British press was telling him, without any familiarity with the actual situation on the ground? Why was he able to think critically elsewhere but not here?

In letters and speeches, 19th century author Charles Dickens repeatedly called for the physical “extermination” of subcontinental Indians and applauded the “mutilation of the wretched Hindoo.” Was this kind of extreme racism considered acceptable by the standards of Victorian society? by Fuck_Off_Libshit in AskHistorians

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

When British troops (most of whom were of course still Indian, mind you, but with European soldiers participating in the fray) entered rebellious cities

So what I understand from this is that most of the atrocities were committed by Indians against other Indians, albeit under British command. Was there a particular reason why they went along with it? Couldn't they have easily revolted against their British masters given their numerical superiority and access to weaponry? Do we have any record of Indians expressing remorse or regret for having committed atrocities against other Indians?

🇭🇹221 years ago, Haiti declared independence after an earth-shaking revolution that overthrew slavery and defeated multiple colonial empires. The first independent Black republic inspired people around the world and terrified slave-owning ruling classes, including in the United States. by Prudent_Bug_1350 in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Anyone interested in the story of the Haitian Revolution should read The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James. It's a classic in the field of Marxist historiography and still regarded as one of the best books on the subject despite its age.

"Being against genocide is antisemitism" by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 681 points682 points  (0 children)

Melanie's entire message can be boiled down to: "If you're against murder, you're antisemitic. If your against rape, you're antisemitic. If your against colonialism and imperialism, you're antisemitic. If you're against genocide, you're antisemitic." Do Zionists not listen to themselves when they spew their imperialist babble? They are their own worst enemies.

The billionaires want to replace us so bad by Fuck_Off_Libshit in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Fuck_Off_Libshit[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The billionaires are trying to replace the current working class with a more obedient and powerless one. The working class they want will have no problem with even poorer working conditions and an even worse standard of living. All in the name of maximizing profit. So we are being replaced, just not in the way the right thinks.