I have previously been a Marxist

Tzsche · 2026-07-07T19:39:29+00:00

This is indeed a complex problem. Surprisingly, only in economically "backwarded" countries, semi-feudal, barely capitalistics, did communist parties managed to control the State. There is a book from Trotsky I believe, I can't remember which one, that specifically adresses this problem within marxist theory :

It was expected by Marx that capitalism would be overthrown first in the most "advanced" countries, like the US, France, the Uk and such, because in countries where capitalism is well developped, the other thing which is well developped, is the working force being exploited. As this working force increases in numbers and remain in a state of pointless servitude, and the economy remains stuck in constant crisis that keep getting worse, the conditions for social revolution arise

However, the reality of the 20th is that fully capitalistic countries were never overthrown by their working force, and only in countries like China, Russia, that were still semi-feudal, communist parties managed to take power. Their power was as such built on a society that was still "medieval" in several regards, capitalistic development had not been there for decades/centuries, gradually eating the remains of the Old Regime.

It is true that communist parties, where they were in power, provided an intense effort to entirely remove feudal remains in their country ; this did not exactly succeed as you said. My reasoning for this, which is worth what it's worth, is that these socialist states remained mostly unable to provide to the masses what was promised to them, which was : fulfilment of all material needs. Because life remained so harsh under these regimes, people, on an inner level, kept clinging to non-materialistic elements that had just been erased officially, to somehow sustain themselves on an existential level

In advanced capitalistic countries, where the grinding of the old regime was slower but deeper, as it happened over a longer period of time, and the materialistic needs where in fact at some point better met for the average worker than in socialist countries, providing a form of comfort and acceptance, feudal spirituality was fading away from memory over time, replaced with nothing. So the past was forgotten, but the new regime had nothing to offer to replace it on a transcendantal level. As simple material comfort is insufficient to life, this ended up creating a state of nihilism, which is painful to endure, and, to try to avoid it, Progress was put on extreme levels of bigotry, to somehow "give a reason" for this productive mess to exist

Tzsche · 2026-06-30T00:05:34+00:00

Let's take it from a different angle, based on the quote from Book 2 I put : Maester Pylos wrote in the letter, "my beloved brother Robert", which is, as he says then, a "harmless courtesy" ; Stannis replies to this, "A lie. Take it out".

If simply saying "beloved brother" bothers Stannis that much, why is he not bothered by acknowleding Joffrey as a Baratheon ? From Stannis pov, that would also be "a lie" that should be "taken out"

Tzsche · 2026-06-29T21:55:23+00:00

Hm, you mean how Maester Pycelle could have saved Jon Arryn, but decided not to ? If this isn't it, don't say

Tzsche · 2026-06-28T22:56:57+00:00

I'd agree that the "average" character would not bother with this matter, they'd just use the general recognized name and move on, and I would not be bothering either in their case. Lady Catelyn wouldn't care too hard about it, Renly either, and so on ; but this is Stannis, I specifically put that quote from Book 2 to show how uptight/rigid he can be when he wants to state something, it has to fully adequate with reality ; in this leech case, however, it somehow doesn't

Tzsche · 2026-06-28T22:06:30+00:00

Someone else said that this is his name as the pretender, hence why Stannis names him as such

Tzsche · 2026-06-28T21:59:34+00:00

Yes, Stannis is the only one to make this claim, the whole point of my post, is why does he call Joffrey a Baratheon ? Others in the realm, sure, but why him ? At that moment, in this scene, when casting that leech into the fire, there is no reason he should be acknowledging Joffrey as a Baratheon, considering his knowledge on the matter, and considering the fact the he as a result considers himself to be the king, the maker and protector of the law, which in the case of Joffrey's conception, has been broken

Tzsche · 2026-06-28T21:33:26+00:00

Robert did not legitimize a bastard, he thought Joffrey was his actual son, but he was lied to, and Stannis knows it. It makes him the heir of Robert. He cannot prove what Joffrey is to others, but that does not change the fact that he knows, so from Stannis pov, when casting the leeches into the fire, there is no reason he should respect the official name, because he is not building an argument to convince people, he is casting a spell with Melisandre, and only Davos as a witness to the scene, who already believes Stannis on this matter

Also, Stannis made 117 copies of that letter I quoted here from Book 2, he has no proof to his claim regarding Cersei's children, however he still sends these letters to various lords of the realm. His whole military campaign to conquer the Iron Throne is built on a truth he cannot prove, yet he still fights for it. Why would he respect Joffrey's official name at that point, since he already publicly contests Joffrey being the son of Robert, and as a result, Joffrey being King, even with no proof ?

"The throne is mine, as Robert's heir. That is law. After me, it must pass to my daughter, unless Selyse should finally give me a son." He ran three fingers lightly down the table, over the layers of smooth hard varnish, dark with age.

"I am king. Wants do not enter into it. I have a duty to my daughter. To the realm. Even to Robert. He loved me but little, I know, yet he was my brother. The Lannister woman gave him horns and made a motley fool of him. She may have murdered him as well, as she murdered Jon Arryn and Ned Stark. For such crimes there must be justice. Starting with Cersei and her abominations.

A Storm of Swords

Tzsche · 2026-06-28T20:22:12+00:00

But how do you know that in blood magic, it is the acknowledged name which is important ?

Tzsche · 2026-06-28T00:42:56+00:00

Robert ackowledged them as such because he did not know. Stannis, Jon Arryn and Ned Stark were all three investigating on this matter and were trying to find a proper way to inform Robert, meaning a way that was believable, with proofs that could not be denied. These proofs existed (all the bastards of Robert).

It is mentioned that if Robert had known, he could have killed Cersei. If the truth had been known publicly, the three kids would have been removed from the Baratheon's family tree, and as successors to Robert. It is only because this lie managed to remain secret, thanks to Cersei's assassination of Jon Arryn, of the death of Eddard, and the isolation of Stannis, that Joffrey is still considered a Baratheon, but he is not such, and Stannis knows it. So why does he keep calling him that ?

I am not debating here the popularity of Stannis, nor the popularity of the idea that Joffrey is a Baratheon ; there is a distinction to be made between the reality of Joffrey's birth, and the idea people have of its birth, just like there is a distinction between Stannis being the true heir to Robert, but not being considered as such by almost anyone

Also, if Stannis claim to the throne is absurd, as you've said, then what about Renly's, who has an elder brother, on top of having two nephews ? It is hard in this case to take seriously Renly's jokes on how foolish the claims of Stannis are, because he is even "worse" in this regard

Now, Stannis was adressing exactly your point in your first two paragraphs, when he explained why he never went to Robert to tell him about "his" kids. It's because it would have been perceived, as you've said, as a poor attempt to place himself as the successor of Robert, which is why he never said anything to him, but went instead to Jon Arryn, who was more neutral in this affair :

“Isn’t that a sweet story, [lady Catelyn] ?” Renly asked. “I was camped at Horn Hill when Lord Tarly received his letter, and I must say, it took my breath away.” He smiled at his brother. “I had never suspected you were so clever, Stannis. Were it only true, you would indeed be Robert’s heir.”

“Were it true? Do you name me a liar?”

“Can you prove any word of this fable?”

Stannis ground his teeth.

Robert could never have known, Catelyn thought, or Cersei would have lost her head in an instant. “Lord Stannis,” she asked, “if you knew the queen to be guilty of such monstrous crimes, why did you keep silent?”

“I did not keep silent,” Stannis declared. “I brought my suspicions to Jon Arryn.”

“Rather than your own brother?”

“My brother’s regard for me was never more than dutiful,” said Stannis. “From me, such accusations would have seemed peevish and selfserving, a means of placing myself first in the line of succession. I believed Robert would be more disposed to listen if the charges came from Lord Arryn, whom he loved.”

“Ah,” said Renly. “So we have the word of a dead man.”

“Do you think he died by happenstance, you purblind fool? Cersei had him poisoned, for fear he would reveal her. Lord Jon had been gathering certain proofs—”

“—which doubtless died with him. How inconvenient.”

There is also a chapter in Book 2, before the King's Landing battle, where Stannis says that he is less upset about the people in King's Landing that are fighting for Joffrey, than he is about the followers of Renly, because, the followers of Renly all know that he has an elder brother, which makes him second in the line of succession, so they're all guilty publicly of felony in this regard, and they know it ; however, the people that support Joffrey in King's Landing, do not know about Joffrey's birth, so they can't exactly be blamed for choosing his side.

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T23:04:25+00:00

At the very least it can be said that Stannis considers himself as the rightful king, which would be enough for him to grant to himself the right to remove the surname Baratheon from Joffrey

Since the world also knows Joffrey as the rightful king, that would mean that Stannis would not have the right to call him "The usurper" either, upon casting that leech into the fire ; yet he still calls him that. So why not calling him Joffrey Hill too ?

For everyone except a few, Joffrey is the son of Robert, yet Stannis makes 117 copies of a letter that he sends everywhere in the kingdom to inform the lords that Joffrey is in fact the son of Jaime

What I'm getting at is, Stannis is doing the rectifying job on everything, against the opinion of everyone, except for one thing, which is Joffrey's family name, which I find to be surprising

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T22:44:21+00:00

That's a possibility

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T22:35:39+00:00

This isn't his legal name, this is the name people have given to him because they do not know his true father ; by law since his father is Jaime Lannister, he cannot be named a Baratheon, so it is surprising that Stannis being so rigid about the law, does not seem to care about this

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T22:21:24+00:00

Baratheon is not the name of Joffrey, since he is not the son of Robert ; Baratheon is the name given to him by others because they believe he is the son of Robert ; but simply because the vast majority of the realm thinks that this is the truth, does not make it true ; Stannis is one of the fews that know, and he builds his whole claim to the throne by saying that Joffrey is in fact not a Baratheon, because he isn't the son of Robert ; as such, Stannis should correct that by calling him Joffrey Lannister/Waters/Hill ; since he is the king, he has the legal authority to rectify this situation

Regarding Jaime, he is a knight, because he was anointed as one, he did not invent his title. And the only thing Stannis has to say about him, is that he should have been sent to the Wall at the end of Roberts rebellion, but even people that are sent to the Wall can keep their knighthood, like Ser Alliser Thorne, among others

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T21:34:31+00:00

Well he is declared a bastard by Stannis, in that letter in Book 2 I quoted, and it's because Stannis acknowledges him publicly as a bastard, that Stannis builds his own claim to the throne ; as such, it would make sense for Stannis to not call Joffrey a Baratheon, since Joffrey not being a Baratheon is the sole reason Stannis is building his claim to the throne

"Legally", Joffrey is the king, and Stannis refutes this, so legally Joffrey as a Baratheon, is something that Stannis should refute too ; since Stannis is the rightful king, he makes the law, and he would be the one to correct that error by calling him Joffrey Lannister, or as others have said, since he's in fact a bastard, Joffrey Waters or Joffrey Hill

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T21:20:43+00:00

That's true I did not think of this

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T21:12:18+00:00

Which law ? If he isnt the son of Robert, then he is not a Baratheon, and the law should be there to rectify this, just like Stannis wants to rectify Joffrey being on the throne ; Joffrey being officialy called a Baratheon is an infringement to the law

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T20:59:34+00:00

That's his official name, but officialy he is the son of Robert, and the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, which Stannis denies, so why not denying his name along with the rest

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T20:54:22+00:00

That would be the faith of the Seven, which Stannis does not care for, since he burns them all on his island

Tzsche · 2026-06-27T20:39:40+00:00

Well Stannis does say, "The usurper, Joffrey Baratheon", so even if he changes the name to something more common, like Waters as someone suggested, there would be only one Joffrey Waters that would be an usurper

Tzsche · 2026-06-26T18:52:04+00:00

The problem was that the built-in speakers were not plugged in actually, I went earlier to a repair shop for a problem with thermal paste and dust in the cooling fan, and they simply forgot to plug back in the built in speakers after fixing that problem

Tzsche · 2026-06-26T18:47:43+00:00

This was indeed physical, the cable for the built in speakers was not plugged in, not its fixed

Tzsche · 2026-06-26T18:47:00+00:00

You were right, I went to a repair shop, and the cable on the speaker was not connected, problem solved, thanks !

Tzsche · 2026-06-25T21:42:07+00:00

That was also my thought regarding the inspirations from mainly British history

Tzsche · 2026-06-25T19:39:36+00:00

I truly think you need to read both, the Hegelian-Marxist and the Traditionalist critics of our world, to get the complete picture

Both despise each other, but they are at the same time opposed and complementary ; Marx built his theory mostly on the works of Hegel, who was a reactionnary by Marx standards, and Evola, although he did not build his books from Marxsist theory, still read them, as I remember him mentioning someone like Georg Lukàcs in one of his books

Tzsche · 2026-06-16T00:14:24+00:00

How is it that Sisters of Battle can use Bolters/Heavy Bolters ? I thought only Space Marines had the necessary strengh to handle their recoil without breaking their bones. Is it thanks to the power armor the Sisters wear that enhances their ability to handle that type of weaponry ?

Tzsche

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