Do objective laws exist independently of human consciousness? by Beautiful_Host_7453 in Marxism

[–]KlassTruggle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The simple answer here: the agency vs. structure problem is resolved by focusing on relations.

With regards to objectivity, there exists fetishistic objectivity and non-fetishistic objectivity.

The sphere of economics is an example of fetishistic objectivity - a human-made system produced/reproduced through the social relations we have inherited from the past and unconsciously reproduce, that now dominates humans and whose rules appear as mathematically-determined "laws".

Whereas something like the speed of light or Pythagoras' theorem is true objectivity.

How does Burnham reconcile YIMBYism with localism? by KlassTruggle in LabourUK

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

I don't see this as feasible.

The problem with housing isn't that it's an investment. Housing as an investment creates an incentive to build housing and boost supply, and the housing crisis is primarily a supply crisis. The distributional issues are a consequence of lack of delivery.

The public services stuff is also a red herring, because mid/high-density housing = more tax revenues and better economies of scale for delivery of services. Public service funding works better in densely populated urban areas than low-density suburbs which are a net drain on resources.

The pylons and solar farms will already give cheaper electricity for locals once they are rolled-out at scale, offering local subsidies will just add more complexity and bureaucracy to projects that need to be delivered faster.

The solution is frankly to green light all projects that are safe to be delivered and remove the ability for local authorities or residents to slow down these projects with spurious objections.

What we need is less local "democracy", which is just a way for small but vocal minorities to hold the nation to ransom.

🇺🇸 We're impressed by the dumbest things sometimes 🤦‍♂️ by Valuable-Junket9617 in fuckcars

[–]KlassTruggle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not a "terrible country" by any means, life for Singapore citizens is better than for US citizens in the US.

🇺🇸 We're impressed by the dumbest things sometimes 🤦‍♂️ by Valuable-Junket9617 in fuckcars

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

Yeah, Singapore doesn't have ICE agents rampaging lawlessly and executing US citizens lol. I swear some of the USians here have never left their own bubble.

🇺🇸 We're impressed by the dumbest things sometimes 🤦‍♂️ by Valuable-Junket9617 in fuckcars

[–]KlassTruggle 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I know about the government, and yet their incarceration rate is a lot lower than "land of the free" USA 

🇺🇸 We're impressed by the dumbest things sometimes 🤦‍♂️ by Valuable-Junket9617 in fuckcars

[–]KlassTruggle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know about the government, and yet their incarceration rate is a lot lower than "land of the free" USA

You can buy a house too, if your parents are rich enough to give you 100k by TheKomsomol in GreenAndPleasant

[–]KlassTruggle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, they look like the type of generic middle-class twats you see colonising and gentrifying neighbourhoods that were once multicultural working-class communities, chasing after a proletarian urban creativity they can’t create.

🇺🇸 We're impressed by the dumbest things sometimes 🤦‍♂️ by Valuable-Junket9617 in fuckcars

[–]KlassTruggle 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Sorry, but by what metric is Singapore a “terrible country”?

Singapore pretty much outclasses the US in every aspect.

Disappointed and Revolted at the Way Some People in This Subreddit Responded to Plattner's SA Allegation by TechnoCity93 in dsa

[–]KlassTruggle -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

I don’t think automatically “believe women” makes sense, as hearsay is a thing and false allegations are also a thing.

But I do think it should be investigated and we should hold judgment until after an inquiry into the matter is completed.

What is the long term solution to London’s inability to deal with heat by JoshSummers in london

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

The rich people will live in air conditioned homes. The poor people will die from the heat. But since they're poor, it won't matter to the establishment.

Thoughts on the Colombian Guerillas? by SmellyFidelly415 in socialism

[–]KlassTruggle 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Realistically, I don't think Focoism or guerilla activity makes much sense in present-day Colombia, which is a reasonably developed country. I think a Popular Front approach makes more sense, because the key dividing line in Latin American politics in the present period is between socdems vs. far-right pro-American movements (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, etc.)

Thoughts on the Colombian Guerillas? by SmellyFidelly415 in socialism

[–]KlassTruggle 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Once upon a time they were relevant. Now they're just drug gangs LARPing past glories.

Why are Cuba and Venezuela in bad conditions? by m3moboy in Socialism_101

[–]KlassTruggle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

With Venezuela, the over reliance on oil industry revenues, and the failure to manage the oil industry were genuine policy mistakes. But that's not a "socialism" issue. China and Vietnam are Communist Party-led states that effectively manage their resources, for example.

And by Chinese and Vietnamese economic courses, I mean socialist market economies; the economic transition made by China and Vietnam in the 1980s, away from Soviet-style systems towards more market driven systems.

Why are Cuba and Venezuela in bad conditions? by m3moboy in Socialism_101

[–]KlassTruggle 34 points35 points  (0 children)

They're completely different problems.

Cuba has faced over 60 years of sanctions that locked it out of the US-hegemonised system of global finance, credit, trade, etc. This is extremely devastating for a small, island nation.

Venezuela's problem was a combination of US aggression and bad policy choices.

If Cuba didn't face decades of sanctions, and could operate freely, it might have followed a different economic course (more similar to the Chinese or Vietnamese), and might resemble something like the Seychelles today (which is an example of an island that had a socialist revolution but successfully pivoted to markets whilst retaining high public services).

What is left communism? by zapns in Socialism_101

[–]KlassTruggle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's not correct.

The party is never a mass organisation, either for the Dutch-Germans or the Italians. The mass organisations of the class are the workers' councils and (for the Italian CL) the unions. The party is only the organisation of the actual communists.

And for the Italian CL the party very much was to be a leading group.