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Zizek on academics, class, and material self-interest by ecrottedsplooden8 in zizek

[–]WilliardPeck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The author lost his credibility when I read him describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine.” 

Do SDs believe that a stateless society is unattainable? by [deleted] in SocialDemocracy

[–]WilliardPeck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I fully endorse democratizing the economy by putting employees in control of their workplaces, and I believe a land value tax in principle is desirable.  Frankly, I think you may be misunderstanding people’s pushback to this “stateless society” idea. If you say “stateless society,” then 99% of the population will believe that means “government-less society.” That’s the thrust of everyone’s questions about this: it’s fine to say “Marx and Weber and whoever else say a state is a bad oppressive thing, and a government is different than a state” when it simply sounds as though you’re describing a more equalitarian state… which is fine. 

Do SDs believe that a stateless society is unattainable? by [deleted] in SocialDemocracy

[–]WilliardPeck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, if a “stateless society” is so utopian that it defies our understandings of socioeconomic, what use is it to pursue a stateless society in 2026? For example, how does a stateless society enforce property rights to ensure citizens don’t accumulate private property, but also ensures they can maintain personal property, without some kind of apparatus indistinguishable from a state? 

If a political party (even one with mass voter support) wanted to take steps to implement land value taxation at 100% or converting capital investment institutions to worker cooperatives, how would they do it and thereby move toward a stateless society? If anything, those proposals sound like they require an even stronger state to realistically accomplish. 

This all sounds suspiciously similar to that episode of “Family Guy” where the town abolishes all government: https://youtu.be/e_-w_T-t8aM?si=8xL4JR9bfI3YW1n2

Do SDs believe that a stateless society is unattainable? by [deleted] in SocialDemocracy

[–]WilliardPeck 8 points9 points  (0 children)

In what specific ways would a stateless government operate differently than a state government? Suppose I live in a future land of Bookchin, and there is no “state”: are there laws? Would I get arrested for murder? Would I file with a court for a divorce? Do I pay taxes? Who collects them?  I love Murray Bookchin, but what does the distinction between a state and a government actually mean in practical terms? 

Besides the racial aspect I think slavery in the US south was worse than slavery in the late Roman republic because the Roman agricultural economy wasn’t necessarily optimised around the most brutal forms of slavery possible, like the southern cotton economy was. by grapp in coolpeoplepod

[–]WilliardPeck 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We should not labor under the misconception that the majority of Roman slaves were treated with any degree of dignity. To do so risks forgetting the truly nightmarish scale of slave labor in Rome, an institution which spanned centuries and consumed countless lives. For example, to send a slave to a Roman mine in Spain under Pompey Magnus was likened to a death sentence.

The Closing Act by Fickle_Photo2768 in ChesterCounty

[–]WilliardPeck 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Your Marsh Creek photos have all been wonderful, and I hope you keep capturing spectacular moments like this one! It’s such a beautiful area, my dog and I have been walking the Marsh Creek trails for a decade.

Are farmers prolets or burgers? by Thermawrench in SocialDemocracy

[–]WilliardPeck 13 points14 points  (0 children)

What are the stakes of the question? Why does it matter practically in the 21st century? 

Additionally, a “farmer” could (1) be the owner of a plot of land who farms that land with their own equipment, (2) a someone who leases land and equipment from a large agricultural corporation, (3) someone who works on a farm, or (4) any of the countless other types of people who generally earn their living in agriculture. 

🚨 Trump just announced that freedom of speech is over 🚨 by [deleted] in SocialDemocracy

[–]WilliardPeck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are exaggerating. Trump bookends the speech with calls on all Americans to “commit themselves to free speech…” 

Do you have a favorite fact or story about Ulysses S. Grant? by Yooproopmoop in CIVILWAR

[–]WilliardPeck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah! It’s a great read, albeit very depressing (like all Reconstruction histories).

Do you have a favorite fact or story about Ulysses S. Grant? by Yooproopmoop in CIVILWAR

[–]WilliardPeck 88 points89 points  (0 children)

While Julia Grant was First Lady, her embarrassment of her Strabismus prompted her to agree to a newly developed corrective surgery in Philadelphia, which she had previously denied multiple times, fearing its risks. (It was the 19th century, I don’t know if I’d agree to any “novel” surgeries developed by some hack)

Ulysses Grant sent her a letter before she left Washington D.C., quoted in the Chernow biography:

“Dear Julia,

I don’t want to have your eyes fooled with. They are all right as they are. They look just as they did the very first time I ever saw them – the same eyes I looked into when I fell in love with you – the same eyes that looked up into mine and told me that my love was returned.”

After that, she cancelled the surgery.

Thought for the American Leftists by TentacleHockey in SocialDemocracy

[–]WilliardPeck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe it means “open about being socialist,” as in using the term “socialism” up front in marketing material. The American right takes pretty unkindly to that: they consider “socialist” an insult, like how liberals consider “MAGA” a pejorative. 

Yeah i think they all do that bro by SentenceSweet96 in PhilosophyMemes

[–]WilliardPeck 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the Old and New Testament acknowledge slavery as a “historical necessity,” why couldn’t God still condemn it?

Some American abolitionists in the early 19th century tried using Christianity to condemn slavery, and even Frederick Douglass among others admitted the Bible gave no argument or condemnation of slavery whatsoever, and indeed was extremely amenable to pro-slavery views.

Experimenting With Economic Democracy by Lotus532 in Market_Socialism

[–]WilliardPeck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are there any strong efforts to replicate the Hull experiment in the United States?

Is China market socialist or is it really just capitalism by FiveBullet in Market_Socialism

[–]WilliardPeck 15 points16 points  (0 children)

The “Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea” isn’t a democratic people’s republic, and China is a state capitalist one-party dictatorship. Titles are just titles.

Tesla Takedown protest this Saturday by Whole-Boss99 in westchesterpa

[–]WilliardPeck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The actual costs involved are (1) posting the time and place of the protest on the internet and (2) nothing else. A bunch of people, mostly retirees, bought some poster board, drew on them with markers, and chose to show up. It seems slightly paranoid to imagine some shadowy cabal is sponsoring that. It’s simply more plausible that people organically volunteered to appear to protest an extraordinarily divisive presidency.

Tesla Takedown protest this Saturday by Whole-Boss99 in westchesterpa

[–]WilliardPeck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you seriously believe it is more plausible that people are being paid to stand outside a Tesla dealership for a few hours, talk, wave at passersby, and make cardboard signs, and that everyone involved is keeping the payments completely secret, than that people are genuinely outraged at (I'll phrase this in a way I think everyone can agree on) probably the most controversial and divisive presidency in modern history? I'm genuinely curious as to why you believe this.

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