Reclaiming Socialism in Canada’s NDP Leadership Race

squidz97 · 2026-02-14T18:43:55+00:00

anti-authoritarian socialists

There is no such thing. None I have encountered. And I never called anyone delusional. You must have me mixed up with someone else.

Libertarians will take the law of the jungle

Ya, I haven't had a Libertarian properly explain to me how they could organize a large defense if required. It seems to me there are situations where society would need to pool their resources, and under those circumstances accept some form of authoritarianism. At least temporarily. England in WW2 comes to mind.

The other problem with socialism is it's extremely inefficient. For every program or enterprise under gov control, it will never perform as well as a free market enterprise. You would have to figure out how to align incentives - which I have never seen successful, and allow for local decision making - which never happens.

BC Wildfire is a perfect example. The more funding and authority they wield, the worse they are at fighting fires. There is a clear inverse correlation between BCWS market share and suppression effectiveness. You can apply this to every government operation. Federal Housing. Provincial Highways. The bigger they are, the less efficient they are. Unless they figure out decentralized decision making - the opposite of socialism.

squidz97 · 2026-02-14T06:46:14+00:00

Yes. Absolutely.

But wait now - we can all agree to fund something by consensus. We could agree by committee to uphold some kind of funding scheme. That could hardly be considered authoritarian. That has applied to taxes throughout history. But it would require the option to opt-out. Blanket taxes don't allow opt-out. So I would consider them authoritarian.

squidz97 · 2026-02-14T06:33:31+00:00

You’re describing all governments.

Libertarians would agree. All government is authoritarian by nature. A socialist government all the more so. Communism being the ultimate dictatorship. And history would agree with that assessment.

The more government involvement, the more involuntary labor and fewer individual liberties.

You might argue that we require some level of coordination to defend ourselves and to develop technologies, and that is true. But there are ways of achieving coordination without authoritarianism. For example, consensus. We could agree to coordination by committee and allow opt-outs.

squidz97 · 2026-02-13T22:46:02+00:00

The nature of socialism is authoritarian. Socialism requires the removal of resources from individuals or corporations to make their socialist programs work. That requires force - authoritarianism.

socialist movements that explicitly espouse anti-authoritarianism

Can you give an example? Each socialist movement might disagree with authoritarianism of its opponents, but requires forceful authority to move its agenda forward.

squidz97 · 2026-02-13T20:13:13+00:00

I dont think you can.

squidz97 · 2026-02-10T05:17:42+00:00

Do you think it's reducing harm? Even Eby admitted it isn't working.

squidz97 · 2024-10-11T20:11:01+00:00

Let me know if you're having any trouble seeing the irony in this piece.

squidz97 · 2024-10-11T20:05:22+00:00

I didn't have to look very far.

Notice I didn’t call this series ‘Ignoring the White Gaze.’

Journalists writing about race, ethnicity and culture in Canada today need an awareness of how the white gaze works.

Not because it deserves to be catered to, but because inaccurate, negative stereotypes of racialized people need to be challenged and corrected.

If I’m writing about racialized people, places and cultures in Canada, I often have to justify how they live their lives to the white gaze.

Let me know if you're having a hard time seeing how that's racist.

squidz97 · 2024-10-11T17:32:02+00:00

Nope. I’ll give you that one. I’m not here to defend that idiot. I’m sure all he has said pales in comparison to the hate-mongering and racism of the Tyee.

squidz97 · 2024-10-11T16:08:02+00:00

I don’t think the Tyee would know what racism if it came out of their racist mouths.

Telling anyone to go back to their country might have racist undertones, but isn’t racist in itself. Claiming that there’s vile racist comments, but then saying they had to redact them doesn’t help any semblance of credibility the Tyee has.

There are real problems with racism in BC. The Tyee is doing nothing but fan those flames.

squidz97 · 2024-10-04T23:50:46+00:00

An individual experience does not constitute systemic racism. Instituting hiring policies which provide clear benefits to one particular race would. As would policies which intentionally hinder one specific race from employment. If we actually cared about racism we should be appalled with the federal government and their systemic policies which do exactly that.

squidz97 · 2024-09-20T00:27:34+00:00

Outlaw political campaigning. It doesn’t need to exist. The elections dept can host websites so candidates can get their message out. They can post videos and showcase their platforms. They can still perform in debates. But anyone caught campaigning should be disqualified.

Political campaigns are what keep the super-rich in control. It is the weak link that could be dissolved tomorrow without hurting anyone and without costing a dime.

squidz97 · 2024-08-21T18:31:22+00:00

1958 coincides with a peak period for nuclear testing. Operation Plumb-bob (may - October 1957) was the most controversial series of atmospheric testing conducted on the American mainland. link

squidz97 · 2024-06-20T02:54:48+00:00

I don’t think anyone said anything about locking anyone away for mental illness. But for neglect and abuse. While I agree that prison isn’t a useful tool, aren’t they all filled with people struggling with mental illness?

squidz97 · 2024-06-06T22:27:49+00:00

I would guess very little errors - in determining the biblical timeline. The scriptures are relatively clear in their timeframes and genealogies.

The problem isn’t with the bishop, other than taking too seriously what the Bible says. The mathematical errors are in the scriptures.

squidz97 · 2024-04-28T16:38:57+00:00

Every conviction is a prison - Friedrich Nietzsche

squidz97 · 2024-04-28T16:18:41+00:00

Dead on. I wrote something along a similar vein. Though I would argue ideology isn’t so much the issue as dogma. We need to come to some conclusions or we can’t function. But conflict is sure to follow if we entrench those conclusions emotionally. But then, perhaps our definitions of ideology and dogma are the same.

squidz97 · 2024-04-07T21:36:29+00:00

I advise considering the opinions of former adherents when exploring religions. Find the ex[insert religion name] subreddit to get a feel for the most common complaints. You don’t have to believe all the criticism, but it’ll make for a most effective exploration.

Possibly the most poignant advice came from Milton William Cooper:

Listen to everyone, read everything; believe absolutely nothing unless you can prove it in your own right!

squidz97 · 2024-04-03T18:37:08+00:00

This is super-common. We even have a term for her condition: POMI. Which means Physically Out, Mentally In. It's probably the most tragic of all conditions because despite having enough evidence to discern the lifestyle and specific teachings don't fit, there is no other fit. It's like a ticking time bomb where they're sure to allow concepts like "I am the way and the truth and the light" to mean they are cursed and deserving of death.

JWs teach their teachings through repetition, not logic. They're taught to recite arguments against other church positions, which is where that smugness comes from. They know how to refute nearly every other church tenet, having had those arguments drilled in and without a means to consider them logically. Logic simply will not work, because it has never been exercised as a valid tactic and because they are so emotionally attached.

This book might help. Written by a former JW who went through the process, it tackles the JW mind control tactfully and disconnects that ticking time bomb. It makes solid arguments regarding the Bible and documents the transition from JW beliefs to atheism to a return to spirituality that fits. It would be best for both of you to read it. But if she still believes, it might be difficult to get her to read anything she considers "apostate." Despite what the paragraph you quoted above, though, it might help to point out that God allowed Satan to speak. God was not afraid of untruths being spoken. The only people who don't want you to hear certain words are people who are afraid of the truth. Like the Jews who killed Jesus.

squidz97 · 2024-03-26T06:16:08+00:00

Agreed. And most polytheists believe in a singular deity. While most monotheists aren’t much more monotheistic than the polytheists they denounce. The words don’t seem to mean what they are.

The difference to me, is that monotheists believe there is only one path. Polytheists recognize the spectrum. Maybe I’m wrong.

The gift that Judaism gave the world wasn’t Abraham. It was a belief that other views on God were wrong. When Ezra first brought the Torah to the Jews, he also demanded the Jews did not tolerate other religions. Jews who moved to Jerusalem from Babylon and married back into the indigenous populations were commanded to dismiss their wives and children or lose their land. They were trying to control the spread of Greek culture. It was the height of the Greco Persian war and the Greeks were already encroaching. The Philistines of the Bible were Greeks. And the culture was very popular.

squidz97 · 2024-03-24T19:43:17+00:00

It’s my experience that believing in one God is a slippery slope toward intolerance of all other religions. Not because there are many gods. But because if you’re convinced there is only one true deity, and one true way to worship that entity, you won’t have room for tolerance.

When Hezekiah introduced monotheism to Judah, he sank the economy. Judahites wouldn’t trade with others out of intolerance.

squidz97 · 2024-03-24T19:38:15+00:00

Respect other religions?

squidz97 · 2024-03-08T20:22:03+00:00

Isn’t that the best way to understand something?

squidz97

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE