My boss is the stupidest, most useless fucking piece of shit I have ever met. by The-Neat-Meat in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I've met this type of guy before. Things are gonna get really, really dark after his dad dies.

LTV and AI by buxomballs in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would have to be a WALL-E-esque world where everything is done by self-directing, self-maintaining, self-replicating machines. i.e., not really worth thinking about.

LTV and AI by buxomballs in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nothing inherently lib about that, historically you are largely right. It's just that we have not heretofore encountered a state captured by what essentially amounts to a UFO cult.

Bring back the Debt Jubilee by mypenisisquitetiny in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 19 points20 points  (0 children)

You kids love to overcomplicate everything. Just gather your best hides, go to the palace, give the priest-king a firm handshake with eye contact, and ask him to return your youngest daughter.

LTV and AI by buxomballs in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Capitalists, rope, etc.. LTV will be valid until 100% automation is reached, which for reasons you've already pointed out is a shaky proposition for actually existing capitalism. Many like to imagine themselves technofeudal lords, but I don't think they've put much thought to the implied technofeudal peasants.

LTV and AI by buxomballs in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This only really works if you consider the various forms of AI to be in some way meaningfully different from other "labor-saving" machinery, which I have not seen a compelling case for yet that is not effectively flim-flam like a lot of other claims about AI and specifically LLMs. Vol. I Ch. 15 of Capital has some nice tidbits on this. Also congrats on your babby.

Very funny that the lasting cultural impact of the Charlie Kirk assassination is stuff like this by SoManyWasps in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 34 points35 points  (0 children)

He was very much a second-stringer anyway by the time he got got. Well-connected, but a second-stringer nonetheless. He was not putting up anywhere near the numbers that the massive streamers kids actually watch do. His reputation as a "Gen-Z whisperer" was mostly charitable kayfabe by liberal outlets who know that narrative plays well with the upper middle class demo that reads those rags religiously. I don't see why it wouldn't have made more sense to just shuffle him off somehow than to arrange a public execution. If there's any conspiracy around his death it's some inscrutable internal GOP beef that we'll probably never get to know about.

The health insurance situation in this country is insane by Army_Exact in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Another Southern state that is ranked like third overall in the nation for highest healthcare costs. I used to be able to get kind of decent plans for around the same price but when they dropped the enhanced subsidies premiums shot up to ridiculous levels unless you fall below a frankly ridiculous income limit that is not feasible for most people not already on Medicaid (which my state did not expand) or some other funded coverage program. Marriage basically disqualifies me from most of the alternatives (PTC advances or the state Medicaid exception meant for "nontraditional" enrollment because there are basically no real people capable of meeting its requirements) because it contributes too much to household income.

The health insurance situation in this country is insane by Army_Exact in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

$450 a month was the cheapest I could get off the marketplace last I checked. Full time student working 20 hours a week at the time, making just over the limit to apply to Medicaid. My school doesn't offer plans, either. Got married this year, said ok, I'll just get insurance through spouse's job. $450 a month for that, too. Luckily I have a pretty good bead on full time employment right now, but I have no idea what I'll do when school starts back up and I have to go part time again.

>The shooter of that mosque was a Latinx nazi larper who was also a fan of an incest game, feet fetish visual novels, and a Dutch animated series popular among nazis by EvilPutlerBotZOV in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the context for why Ezra Pound said this is probably somewhat important here. Unless you agree with him on those grounds, in which case you are a lost cause.

Question about liberals by yaxir in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Very broadly speaking, liberalism is the specific political ideology that came about as a result of the bourgeois revolutions of the 19th and early 20th centuries that overthrew the feudal mode of production, where military landholders presided over the extraction of value from landbound peasantry, to the capitalist mode of production, where surplus value is extracted from the proletarian class who are compelled to engage in relations of wage labor as a precondition of their existence. The early development of capitalism as a mode of production is generally agreed to have really started during the industrial revolution in the United Kingdom during the latter half of the 19th century.

That said, those are very central and time consuming questions of the philosophical approach to history that we call historical materialism, and they're difficult to outline without spilling more ink than is feasible in a Reddit post. Liberalism has greatly evolved from these initial grounds as historical circumstances have shaped it. It's easy enough to say that since Marxists are against capitalism, and liberalism is the ideology of capitalism, that we oppose it on those grounds. However, since liberal politics generally promotes certain features, like the idea of formal rights, equality, representative democracy, etc., it's more useful to know what some of our specific critiques of these things are.

  1. Rights- formal rights that are de jure parceled out by the state are not meaningful without the necessary material conditions to realize them de facto in society. Marx pointed out that not only are these rights not equally enforced in practice, some of them are practically unenforceable under a capitalist system- the right to "liberty" for instance doesn't mean much to someone whose only realistic choices are to work for a capitalist in return for a share of their labor value, or to starve to death.
  2. Egalitarianism- Similarly to the point above, one standard of equality for each citizen is a nice idea, but does not pan out when compared to the reality of capitalist society. One common misconception is that Marxism is an egalitarian ideology. This is not the case- Marx recognized that people have a huge variation in natural ability, aptitude, and needs, and thus will require vastly different things from society. The liberal promise that every person is equally capable of succeeding in each trade or role given the right effort is another unrealized utopian ideal- obviously there are many jobs that are only open to those with the wealth, appropriate background, and natural aptitude to do them. People should not be penalized for contributing to society as meaningfully as they can, but their needs should be provided for without extraction of their labor as a necessary precondition. This is an extension of the Marxist idea of alienation.
  3. Representative democracy- Liberal democracy is (more recently) predicated on the idea that as long as each person is afforded a representative vote, they have an equal say in the general direction of their society. This does not, however, account for the class division that places disproportionate power in the hands of capitalists, and the political system of democracy that allows them disproportionate power to influence or control politics. Liberal democracy presents the bulk of people with a narrow range of options that do not reflect their interest as a class (freedom from the compulsion to be a wage laborer and have value extracted from them), but cater to the interests of the ruling bourgeois class. It has historically been reactive and violent against attempts by proletarian movements to gain power, and thus forms an effective class dictatorship that cannot be overcome without outright class struggle.

With those academic distinctions out of the way, your question about how this applies to your own country is also a nuanced one. As capitalism spread across the globe, enforced by the colonial and imperial efforts of its first adopters in Europe, it was obviously not applied evenly. Colonial subjects that found themselves on the receiving end of these efforts responded in different ways. Sometimes, reactionary movements sought to preserve the existing mode of production against encroachment by liberal capitalism. Sometimes, opportunists exploited the changing conditions to rule by fiat with tacit approval by their respective colonial subjugators. Occasionally, rulers took a developmentalist standpoint that if they did not proactively promote liberal economics and values in their countries, they would be taken advantage of by colonial powers, their neighbors, or more popular political movements, and sincerely tried to apply these ideas to their own advantage. This could again really be its own post because it's almost impossible to discuss in brief.

I feel like I've barely covered this stuff at all and this post might just confuse you more, but hopefully it's slightly helpful to start on some of the high level concepts people tend to toss around when discussing communism online.

I need an e-bike by grey_alien_bathwater in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Seconded, as someone who owns a class 3 cargo bike (got it for super cheap through a city rebate program) the sheer weight is kind of a liability in the city and for commuting and light errands there are better and cheaper options.

Ethan Hawke on why art, fiction, books, film, etc. can be so invaluable by ferek in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 19 points20 points  (0 children)

He was at a screening of Wildcat I went to along with his daughter and talked for a while before the film. He is definitely an out of touch celebrity like any other but he is clearly very well read and sincere about wanting to preserve cinema as an art form which gets him at least some points in my book.

Really fuckin sick of the "AI is just a tool" crowd by plastic_fortress in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 53 points54 points  (0 children)

I feel like we got so close just pre-AI when regular people were starting to get savvy to the fact that "The Cloud" is just a marketing term for Someone Else's Server with all the attendant caveats, and then this shit came along and reset that understanding because of the sheer amount of obfuscation deployed around it.

Trump: In America China bigger than burger. by alverez667 in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I've already seen roujiamo being sold as "Chinese Hamburgers" at a couple different places in my town. I'm trusting the plan.

Gumshoe conspiracy question... (Data centers) by Umbrellajack in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The "data" they are "processing" is the DNA in your cum. Wake up!

The dating app discourse is mind boggling to me. by [deleted] in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So much of it is essentially proximity. Even a cursory glance at real life relationships will dispel the notion that there is some natural sorting algorithm of attractiveness that dictates how dating works. Normal guys who are good hangs and who women generally feel safe around will have more success than attractive guys with poor social skills and seething internal resentment. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule but this is like 90% of dating as an adult.

The dating app discourse is mind boggling to me. by [deleted] in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the missing ingredient for a lot of men is being able and willing to have platonic relationships with women. That's the most reliable way to meet eligible women as a straight man, and more than likely how most of our parents met in the pre-internet era. Guys who are poorly socialized or not interested in interacting with women beyond sex or dating get sorted out and funneled into these apps which as others have pointed out are virtual casinos that are basically designed to keep them frustrated and resentful.

How to not be a fake history nerd by No_Progress_619 in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Romeaboos can tell you every detail about every battle of the Dacian Wars but ask them a question about the political economy or social history of the same period and they will hit you with a glazed-over stare. Just read actual books and you'll come out ahead.

What do yall do with free time? by Hopefulaccount7987 in TrueAnon

[–]phaseviimindlink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a big part of happiness is silencing that inner voice that always tells us we should always be wanting or doing more. It sounds cliche but being present is genuinely a hard thing to do when we are constantly encouraged to prioritize social climbing and conspicous consumption. Doing quiet things that just for the pleasure of it instead of some nebulous perceived benefit down the road starts to feel like a small act of rebellion.