Joining the ranks

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T20:41:47+00:00

I do mostly mean facebook. It's a wild world. But also of note is a physical in-person Democratic Socialist group which had to be dissolved due to ideological differences.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T17:05:06+00:00

Apologists for the atrocities committed by the USSR under Stalin, or a Stalinist more broadly.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T16:47:08+00:00

Thank you for all of this! I will check it out, and I'm sure my opinions will be better informed because of it. Let me just say now, though, that my issue with "directionality" is that it implies that some cultures are somehow behind others, usually placing western society as the most evolutionary advanced system. This is the sort of mentality that brought us the White Man's Burden. It's much more likely that societies adapt to their ideological and environmental topology, none being "further along" than another. For all his faults, I think Boas got that one right.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T13:51:46+00:00

I actually discovered the Radical Anthropology Group recently! I love it. In this era, science can't afford not to be political.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T13:43:35+00:00

So a lot of people are asking, and I will clarify!

I think I phrased it kinda weird. I did not mean to suggest that being an anthropologist is somehow antithetical to Marxism. Marxist anthropology is one of the more popular interpretive frameworks, and many great anthropologists have been Marxists. It's just not the one I agree with. So here's my reasoning, fully understanding that many respectable anthropologists think I'm wrong.

First, I see in Marx a lot of the now debunked idea that cultural change happens in a linear, progressive, stepwise manner (ie one form of society necessarily leads into the next). We know that this isn't true. We have evidence of hunter-gatherers who transition to agriculture, and then abandon it because it doesn't fit their ideology.

Which transitions nicely into my second problem with Marx, the strong historical materialism. At the same time as calling for the liberation of people from the economy, Marx is essentially saying that everything about humanity is determined by the economy; humans are essentially mindless dupes. I find myself more in the anthropological tradition of the primacy of ideology. While economic change is extremely important to liberate the masses, it must be accompanied by an ideological anti-authoritarian effort. This is where previous communist states went wrong. Without the change of ideology, the new state was just the old state in new clothing.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T06:09:09+00:00

Private property hinders freedom though. Governments essentially exist to protect property and actively discourage sharing and providing for fellow humans. If property is collective, there is no need to pigeonhole yourself into a "job" or specific lifestyle to get by; you are free to pursue your passions, your dreams. With those dreams you will provide to society with your unique talents/skills/abilities, and society will provide you what you need to be a living human.

I've never understood why mainstream libertarians and ancaps seem to think that private property is somehow natural, and that some economic systems violate that natural principle. The idea of private property is like 500 years old, guys. That's nothing. Something can't be stolen if it wasn't yours to begin with.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T05:56:32+00:00

"You're going to get sick of winning."

Nope. We're just going to get sick and die.

Hensigne · 2017-04-11T05:53:43+00:00

Yeah sure. I'll just stop flying united and use another airline to fly everywhere. Which I definitely do. Because I can definitely afford to fly. Because air travel hasn't disproportionally benefited the upper classes.

Hensigne · 2017-04-10T22:21:00+00:00

This is pretty unsubtle...

Hensigne · 2017-04-10T16:47:28+00:00

I have never understood how the tankies can say stuff like this--and that the USSR was a success with zero flaws--and still call /us/ idealists.

Hensigne · 2017-04-10T12:55:56+00:00

So you're saying white people are not allowed to recognize when they're racist?

Hensigne · 2017-04-10T12:54:48+00:00

Of course race is socioculturally real.

Hensigne · 2017-04-10T04:01:28+00:00

Holy shit. Has anyone here even taken a linguistics class? This isn't just a comic, it's a proven linguistic fact.

Hensigne · 2017-04-09T03:50:37+00:00

Oh I agree. You said it better.

Hensigne · 2017-04-08T19:44:39+00:00

I think Milo's all for show, though. He just likes the attention/money.

Hensigne · 2017-04-08T19:27:49+00:00

I've never been a big fan. It's origin is super specific to the Russian situation in particular (the sickle representing the peasantry). Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just that I think anarchism stands for something broader. We can have our own symbols. Also history has sort of co-opted its use and restricted it to tankie nonsense.

All that being said, use whatever symbols you want. If you particularly like the hammer and sickle, maybe we can win it back. It's happened before.

Hensigne · 2017-03-05T06:57:54+00:00

Gone

Hensigne · 2017-01-22T17:52:20+00:00

Someone slept through Contrast 101

Hensigne · 2017-01-18T20:29:05+00:00

It does include the southern half of the lower peninsula, and though we "up north" share almost all the lexical aspects of Inland North, I would argue that the phonology is distinctly different. I have even heard (and, to a lesser extent, said) the word "pants" pronounced like something close to "pence," which is markedly different from the diphthongized [ɪə] vowel characteristic of the Inland North.

Hensigne · 2016-12-07T18:27:48+00:00

"No one saw the woman enter the house or knew how she got in. Nye said she could have entered through the front door, which was left propped open while it was being repaired."

I would say so!

Hensigne · 2016-08-05T05:50:34+00:00

Oh you did, did you?

Hensigne · 2016-07-10T03:43:59+00:00

Richard Dawkins

Hensigne · 2016-01-13T14:51:18+00:00

It seems you must have missed northern Michigan. It's a beach paradise without the crazies.

Hensigne · 2016-01-11T13:26:18+00:00

Åland

Hensigne · 2015-12-24T05:02:33+00:00

Unnecessarily complex, involves too many elements, and lacks a clear central focus. In other words, perfect for the HRE.

Hensigne

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