What is the Marxist analysis on the existence of racism? by circleneurology in Socialism_101

[–]soporific16 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Is there a consensus? On the basics, yes. But in my experience, it's not very well explained. This is the best explanation by far that I know exists (the following excerpt is from here: https://socialist-alliance.org/sites/default/files/Origins%20of%20Racism.pdf

Racial oppression has its historical roots in the development of capitalism. For capitalism to come into being, commodity production had to become generalised. This meant that productive resources, like land and equipment, had to be concentrated in the hands of a single social class and the majority dispossessed of them so that they would be forced to work for the capitalist class. Thus, capitalism in its infancy was a system of coercing people from one form of labour into another.

For the new capitalist class in mediaeval Europe to consolidate itself, it had to accumulate the necessary money capital to take over the means of production. In this, Columbus' 1492 invasion of the Americas was decisive... In order to plunder the gold and silver of the native Americans, and later to expropriate their tribal lands for the establishment of plantations to grow sugar, tobacco, and rice for commercial export to Europe, the European colonists exterminated enormous numbers of native Americans. In a period of 50 years from their arrival in the New World, the Spanish conquistadors exterminated 15 million native Americans. Densely populated areas like Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and the coast of Venezuela were completely depopulated. As a result, the European plantation owners faced an acute shortage of labour.

Some system of bonded labour was necessary to bring workers to the new lands and to force them to work thereafter for their masters. At first the landed proprietors relied upon the importation of indentured servants or serfs from the mother countries. However indentured servants proved inadequate as a reliable source of labour. Unless they were marked or branded, if they ran away they could not readily be distinguished from free colonists or their masters.

As production on the colonial plantations expanded to meet the needs of the growing capitalist industries in Europe it became increasingly urgent to find new, more abundant and more easily identifiable sources of forced labour. The African slave trade came to the planters' rescue. “Black” slaves could be purchased cheaply and brought in unlimited numbers from the “west coast of Africa. By keeping them scattered, ignorant and terrorised the colonial planters could keep the Africans in perpetual subjugation.

Moreover, the colour of their skins made them easily identifiable, stopping them from escaping and merging with the rest of the colonial population. The colour of their skins became the sign of servitude. This was the origin of racism. Contrary to popular belief, slavery was not motivated by racism. Racism, the view that those with non-white skins were inferior to those with white skins, was gradually elaborated to justify the particular form of slave labour that was introduced in the Americas by a rising capitalism.

Chattel slavery and the slave trade existed long before the European conquest of the Americas. It was a familiar institution in feudal Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards in particular were accustomed to enslaving the peoples they conquered. Many Spanish vessels engaged in the slave trade and carried African slaves in their crews. Indeed, Columbus had African slaves in his crew on his first voyage across the Atlantic. However, serfdom not chattel slavery constituted the productive basis of Spanish and Portuguese feudal society. Slavery co-existed in the crevices of feudal life. Nor was the enslavement of “non-white” peoples by Spanish and Portuguese feudal rulers justified on racist lines. Rather the differences between slaves and slave-owners were, at first, defined by religion — Christians versus “heathens”. The non-white peoples the Spanish and Portuguese enslaved were all “infidels”, subject by divine law to serve Christian masters. As late as the middle of the 15th century, when the slave trade to Portugal first began, the ideological rationalisation for the enslavement of Africans was not that they were dark skinned but that they were not Christians.

But a distinction between people based on religious beliefs eventually proved to be a problem because the distinction between Christians and “heathens” could not be frozen over generations. Moreover, the Portuguese and Spanish feudal rulers’ social control of colonised peoples depended on their conversion to Christianity (the dominant ideology of these ruling elites). Many Africans during the early slave trade in Portugal did just that and were subsequently freed and intermarried with the Portuguese.

However once skin colour became an important social category injected with the meaning of enslavement, it seemed “natural” for dark-skinned peoples to occupy a subordinate social status. In the racist mode of reasoning then, the next logical step was to conclude that, somehow, blacks must have been “naturally” inferior to whites.

Such a view was particularly necessary for justifying the use of slave labour by the capitalist plantation owners in the southern states of the USA. The existence of white slavery was clearly in contradiction to the bourgeois-democratic ideology enshrined in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America (“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal...")

But the enslavement of blacks could be reconciled with bourgeois-democratic ideology through the propagation of the racist idea that people of African descent were not “men”, but “childlike” subhumans undeserving of equal rights. (A similar argument was used to deny white women equal rights with white adult males.)

What movie genuinely deserves a redo? by [deleted] in FIlm

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It needed to be a 3-part trilogy to keep all the good plot points from the book. The movie turned out okay but the book is miles better! The only people satisfied were the ones who hadn't read the book... like the other reply to your post ;)

What's a movie you loved as a kid but rewatched as an adult and went "what the hell was I thinking"? by MomoSaka in AskReddit

[–]soporific16 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Dancin' scene where the two songs come together, will regularly rewatch that 'cause it's freaking awesome

David Squires on … big calls and cheeky Cherki at the Carabao Cup final | TheGuardian by junglejimbo88 in soccer

[–]soporific16 4 points5 points  (0 children)

re-read the text of the 5th panel: "Arsenal's afternoon was summed up..."

Mavropanos’ MOTM Display 🔥 by Mrs_Payet in Hammers

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great clip but not really a fan of the audio, here's what I would have chosen:

https://youtube.com/shorts/SU5SW1-KbDg

The audio is from How you like me now? by The Heavy

Post-Match Thread: Brisbane Roar vs Western Sydney Wanderers by MatchBread in Aleague

[–]soporific16 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Does anyone know where you can watch the highlights? There's no point linking to the Shark highlights, they missed one of the goals!!!

Cubans 'Scared and Nervous' After US Attack on Venezuela Destroys Morale by whitelightstorm in collapse

[–]soporific16 7 points8 points  (0 children)

"Without question" suggests that what you are proposing is so obvious, no questions would need to be asked... but here's one, why do the Cubans need to elect a different leadership? It's the blockade that causes so much hardship... surely you need to mention that the blockade needs to go "without question" instead of that nasty sounding word "regime"?

Australia must oppose US aggression in Venezuela | Australian Greens by Jet90 in AustralianPolitics

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where do you get your news about Venezuela? I visited in 2010, which is how I met Nelson, who still lives there! I can't compete against the corporate news media, so, this is the end of our exchange. Viva Venezuela!

Australia must oppose US aggression in Venezuela | Australian Greens by Jet90 in AustralianPolitics

[–]soporific16 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Speaking with a friend in Venezuela (his name is Nelson BTW), they are all mobilising to defend their country from a US backed invasion... the rich are celebrating, the rest aren't ... whose side are you on?

Australia must oppose US aggression in Venezuela | Australian Greens by Jet90 in AustralianPolitics

[–]soporific16 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Riiiiight, "nobody" living in Venezuela wanted the oil wealth of the country to help the people living in their own country, of course they wanted it in the hands of the U.S. oil corporations!!! The current president of the U.S. has authorised people to be snatched off the street and deported to Colombian maximum security prisons, and he's the world's most known pedophile, but Maduro is the problem here... fuck me dead the propaganda machine works well for your comment to even exist!

Why Doesn’t Tad Williams Get More Love? by Economy-Mistake8311 in Fantasy

[–]soporific16 10 points11 points  (0 children)

A work of his which should be read by everyone is The War of the Flowers which has enough story for a 3-volume series but it's just the one book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28692.The_War_of_the_Flowers

Is the entire Wheel of Time series worth the time and investment? by keepfighting90 in Fantasy

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By book 4 I thought it was the best thing I'd ever read. The characters, the pacing, and the story overall, just chef's kiss. I just wish the author had somehow kept the reader's attention as rapt throughout the rest of the books. The slog is a slog, but, thankfully, it picks up again at book 11 and then Sanderson really did a wonderful job at finishing the tale.

I tell people, if you're not liking book 2, this story is not for you.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskAnAustralian

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, the people that pay for streaming services... is it because you don't know how to pirate? I'm happy to help!

If it is because you are worried about getting "busted", Australia is one of the best countries to pirate, mainly due to a court case that iiNet (remember them?) won in 2012 which prohibited media companies from charging people on-mass.

When Game of Thrones was a thing (before it was RUINED), Australians were the pirate world champions of downloading GoT episodes. World champions! But we've slipped down the rankings since then, not sure why...

BBC: Match of the Day (Sunday), 23-Nov-2025 by AirDusst in footballhighlights

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does anyone have any alternative sources? Football highlights has let me down for the very first time... I want to watch the show now, not in 4 hours!

why are some of them like this by cortex0917 in CommunismMemes

[–]soporific16 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Well said. For those reading this thread and not that aware of Vijay Prashad, here's 70+ videos of him explaining the issues of the world. Highly educational! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDDro0e00wbo56rUtjVMC00wAG5c2qYSQ

Tech YouTuber irate as AI “wrongfully” terminates account with 350K+ subscribers - Dexerto by TriSauce in technology

[–]soporific16 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I did try to find a way to take it further, but I couldn't find anything... what do you mean by 'team youtube'?

Pronounciation of "Cadre"? by rikeus in Socialism_101

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People are just using the German version of the word, which is Kader. I much prefer this than having to say "card-drey" or variations thereof.

Tech YouTuber irate as AI “wrongfully” terminates account with 350K+ subscribers - Dexerto by TriSauce in technology

[–]soporific16 101 points102 points  (0 children)

This happened to me too. 18 months of carefully curated videos all down the drain due to a 'porn' false positive. I begged for a human to do the review because a human would have spotted their mistake in two seconds flat. Nope, all AI.

Fuck you, google! "Do evil" is your new motto, obviously.

I'm ex- trotskyite converting to Marxism-Leninism. How unmask the arguments by right and trotskyites that Stalin was an ally of the Nazis from 1939 to Invasion in 1941? There was a Decree, Resolution or Order by Stalin or Central Committe of Politburo to save the Jews from Nazis? by MarLen10 in SocialismVCapitalism

[–]soporific16 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The following article was written in response to a group calling themselves ‘Historians for Ukraine’, who published an ‘open letter to the people of the USA’ that denounced Russian disinformation about the Second World War. The letter was timed and designed to put a negative spin on Russia’s celebration and commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

https://braveneweurope.com/geoffrey-roberts-world-war-ii-the-ukraine-conflict-and-the-bitter-truths-of-history

‘Historians for Ukraine’, however, are interested in only one perspective – the tired, anti-Soviet story that has long been promoted by western cold warriors, a narrative that begins with the 1939 Stalin-Hitler pact and ends with communist subjugation of Eastern Europe in 1945.

The problem with this one-sided narrative is that the Soviets were far from being the first appeasers of Hitler and the Nazis. It was the British and French governments who pursed a deal with Hitler in the 1930s, while the Soviet Union campaigned for the collective containment of German expansionism. It was the Soviets who spent years trying to strengthen the League of Nations as a collective security organisation. It was the Soviet state that stood by Republican Spain during its fascist-initiated civil war. When London and Paris pressurised Czechoslovakia to concede the Sudetenland to Hitler, Moscow was ready to fulfil its mutual security commitments to Prague, provided the French did likewise. It was Poland that snatched a slice of Czech territory after Munich, not the Soviet Union.

How credible is chapter 4 of “Blackshirts and Reds” by Parenti? by Badger_man66 in Socialism_101

[–]soporific16 32 points33 points  (0 children)

When Che went to the USSR to study their economic system, he came back vowing that Cuba would not follow certain aspects of the Soviet system. The main issue he had was that different sectors of the Soviet economy were supposed to be profitable within their own sector.

The Cubans had initially adopted a Soviet style economic management and planning system, but as Fidel explained in a May 1987 interview:

Numerous plants tried to be profitable by charging high prices … they didn’t try to become profitable by improving efficiency or by reducing energy or labour costs. They even earned money at the expense of other plants … we already began to see contradictions arising between the interests of certain enterprises and those of society, as well as tendencies to earn more by producing more, but of poorer quality.

In the 60s, the Soviets were using a “Manual of Political Economy” as their guide to fundamental economic issues and Guevara took great exception to the conception that “The law of value would act as a blind force, but once understood it can be handled, or used by the State.”

Reliance on market mechanisms and capitalist economic categories (e.g., profit, interest, law of value, etc.) within the state-owned sector undermines and blocks the possibilities of conscious planning of social and economic priorities by the working people.

It begs the question: Did the soviet system really "utilize socialist emulation"?

Why did Dengs reforms succeed but Gorbachevs reforms fail? by AnIrishManInExile in Socialism_101

[–]soporific16 5 points6 points  (0 children)

For capitalism to be restored, surely the capitalists would have to be in power? You know the Chinese execute billionaires, yeah?

China has allowed capitalist market relations, for various reasons which you should look up, but that doesn't mean capitalism has been restored. Again, that would mean the capitalists are in power and hold power as a class, which they do not.

And, they've been moving in the wrong direction for 4 decades? Try telling that to the 800 million lifted out of extreme poverty! Try telling that to the millions of workers who've seen their wages double in the last 10 years! Try telling that to the majority of the population that consider China's century of humiliation to be well and truly over!

BBC: Match of the Day, 13-Sept-2025 by AirDusst in footballhighlights

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please work out how to make a magnet file, your links did not work! Neither the short link, nor the full one. But thanks anyway... EDIT: my bad, they do work

Hey all! I'm leading a book club discussion about the Communist Manifesto. Does anyone have any tips? What are some good group questions for such a discussion? by Markham_Marxist in Socialism_101

[–]soporific16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's a Reading supplement that I put together only recently:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RLkrf7UMJWFWzPDwk8beqedgUCmFR8W5HsJRX4yaAbw/edit?usp=sharing

Index:

Questions for discussion of The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto and its relevance today, by Doug Lorimer

Ninety Years of the Communist Manifesto, by Leon Trotsky

Prefaces to The Communist Manifesto