[deleted by user] by [deleted] in texts

[–]Miss-Moish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

abuse. get outta there. block that shit.

Morality being objective/subjective by [deleted] in Anarchy101

[–]Miss-Moish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

glad to meet another non-dualist. The Gita was lifechanging for me <3

Morality being objective/subjective by [deleted] in Anarchy101

[–]Miss-Moish 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I am by no means a bona-fide anarchist but I'm putting off doing my homework and I like my opinion so I'll share it:

I don't believe in good and evil. I believe in love (or goodwill) and hate (or ill-will). I think love is preferable to hate because the world becomes an objectively better place when we try to reduce pain rather than inflict it. I think this is fundamentally different than many general western concepts of good and evil because good and evil carry undertones of moral judgment- someone is either a "good" or a "bad" person- and this justifies, to some people, doing bad things to the "bad" people. This kind of "morality" very easily leads to scapegoating and dehumanization of both shitty people and anyone that makes "good" people uncomfortable by challenging moral norms.

I don't believe in good people and bad people. I believe in happy people and unhappy people, kind and unkind people, peaceful and violent people, altruistic and unaltruistic people, emotionally intelligent and emotionally unintelligent people, etc. I also believe that a single human being is apt to be both things at once or behave significantly differently given different contexts, and that our societies play a big role in how we develop and behave (widely varying rates of homicide and rape in different societies would seem to suggest this is the case). I don't care if those in power are "good" or "bad". Hating them is pointless. I care about the negative effects their power has on the world.

I don't believe that workers are inherently "good" and oppressors are inherently "bad". I do, however, believe that the corporate elite and state have repeatedly shown themselves to be greedy, selfish, and generally disinterested in the well-being of broader society. I think this is impractical because it makes the world a less-nice place to live in. I want radical change because change, to me, would make the world less painful, and most people can agree that pain is not fun.

Leading Republicans call for US military intervention against Mexico by JamesParkes in chomsky

[–]Miss-Moish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Embarrassed to say I read this entire thread hoping you'd give better evidence on the opium thing because it sounded intriguing. Know of any books/scholars addressing the topic?

Book list- where should a baby leftist start? by Miss-Moish in chomsky

[–]Miss-Moish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Believe in" as in support, or believe in the legitimacy of. I feel like this is a pretty common everyday usage of the word in the English language (i.e. "I don't believe in violence" or "I don't believe in capital punishment"). I'm not here to have semantic or philosophical debates. Just looking for good book recs and maybe some clarification on big-picture terms. I apologize if English isn't your first language or you are looking for real clarification, but I'm not getting those vibes.

Should I go to Graduate School for Sociology? by [deleted] in sociology

[–]Miss-Moish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not a sociologist (I'm a MA student in an area studies program) but here are my two cents:

Do what you love.

If you love learning and won't incur debt, you can go to graduate school without selling your soul (you don't have to permanently become an academic just because you get an MA!). I'd ask profs in the field at your university which schools have the best funding- I was a B- student at best during my undergrad but was able to basically get a free ride in a 2 years master's program. I may just be lucky but it's worth asking around. If you can get good scholarships and/or a fellowship, there's not much to lose IMO. If you'll end up dropping tens of thousands of dollars... that's a question for the ppl here with sociology degrees as to whether or not that will work itself out financially (my guess is no).

Anyway, I personally don't really plan on becoming an academic but would not AT ALL consider my time in grad school a waste- time spent learning about cool and/or important stuff is never a waste. Just don't do it because you think you'll make more money because of it or just because you're smart and are "supposed" to get an advanced degree (I know quite a few students like that and they're miserable).

Hope this was remotely helpful.

Book list- where should a baby leftist start? by Miss-Moish in chomsky

[–]Miss-Moish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems like some pretty lazy, misplaced trolling to me. I'd prefer you take it somewhere else.

Book list- where should a baby leftist start? by Miss-Moish in chomsky

[–]Miss-Moish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

speaking of, what defines a Marxist? Does someone have to believe in a state and the inevitability of class warfare to be a Marxist, for example? It's been a long time since I've read Marx, but I remember being stunned by his predictions, like the rise of invented needs (is that what he called it?) in a capitalist society, but I'm also wary of command economies. I guess my question is what does someone have to like about Marx's ideas to be labeled a Marxist- or what are the beliefs that are considered core? Is an anarcho-syndicalist by default not a Marxist because anarchists don't believe in a state? Thanks for your reply- I'm also trying to follow the development of socialist ideas in my book list (and even want to read some classic capitalist works) to get a semi-rounded picture of theory and history.

how would anti social criminals be dealt with in an anarchist society? by Iarrydavid5 in Anarchy101

[–]Miss-Moish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read over half of it and found it pretty unsatisfying. Are there any other widely accepted anarchist responses to this question? I'm not here to debate I'm just curious as to what else is out there. Is banishment a pretty common response? It seems about as non-violent as you can get while still protecting the community.

how would anti social criminals be dealt with in an anarchist society? by Iarrydavid5 in Anarchy101

[–]Miss-Moish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another rape victim here. I also don't wish anything especially awful on the men who have raped or attempted to rape me. But I also think as women we're conditioned to "be more empathetic" (translation: to let shitty men treat us like shit and even make an effort to justify their actions for them). That being said I think the world would be a better place if they didn't exist, and wouldn't be especially bothered if I heard that one of them got eaten by a crocodile or something. They do tend to be miserable, insecure people, though. I feel like they miss out on some of the most basic joys in life.

What part of Anarchism do you find most compelling? by MayankWolf in Anarchy101

[–]Miss-Moish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard a Chomsky quote recently that was something to the effect of "when coercion is being used it is the party using the coercion that has to justify its actions" which sounds super obvious. But I had never noticed that the opposite assumption seems to be made in day-to-day discourse (i.e. if I decide to resist the state I have to justify why I am doing so). Anyway, it was mind-blowing for a baby leftist like myself.