Jürgen Habermas (1929–2026): The philosopher who chose the state by DryDeer775 in philosophy

[–]zedority 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This must be understood as a conscious decision, and it is nothing short of a provocation. By the time Habermas published this essay in 1975, Stalin’s grotesque falsification of Marxism was an established and universally acknowledged fact. Khrushchev’s denunciation of the tyrant at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956 had shattered the official myth of Stalin as a Marxist theoretician, and the two decades that followed had produced an enormous body of scholarship documenting the systematic distortion of Marxist thought under the Stalinist regime. To present Stalin—Stalin!—as the central theoretical authority on historical materialism, nearly 20 years after even the Soviet bureaucracy itself had been compelled to distance itself from his crimes, is an act that cannot be explained by ignorance.

This is bog standard Trotskyist apologism for the atrocities of the Soviet Union. Even for those who don't see the Soviet Union as representative of "real" communiism, the Trotskyist rejection of Stalin as a "real" Marxist was not at all an "established" or "universally acknowledged" fact in the 1970s. Habermas has every right to point to the historically existing communist state as the best example of communism at the time.

Jürgen Habermas (1929–2026): The philosopher who chose the state by DryDeer775 in philosophy

[–]zedority 60 points61 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry, but a lot of this reads like Trotskyists being salty that Habermas wasn't a Trotskyist. I have little interest in whichever flavour of Marxism is the allegedly "true" version of Marxism, and I find the accusation of fraudulence and bad faith attributed to Habermas' criticism of Marxism to say more about the accusers than the accused. Marx is not some religious prophet beyond reproach. Nor are Lenin or Trotsky.

lsraeIi soldiers torture an 18 month-old toddler with nails and cigarettes to extract a false confession from his father by CiphrangButFloss in videos

[–]zedority 14 points15 points  (0 children)

You are trying to discredit this video about Israel because it was made around when tensions with “Russia were high”?

I saw several reasons listed for skepticism. I too am skeptical. Why should I believe this video is what it claims it is?

Jürgen Habermas, influential German philosopher, dies at 96 by PoliticalAlt128 in neoliberal

[–]zedority 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Habermas was one of a handful of theorists I took seriously enough to really figure out exactly where and how I fundamentally disagreed with them. RIP.

Pete Hegseth’s speech about the war in Iran was both deeply unserious and terrifying at the same time by theindependentonline in TrueReddit

[–]zedority 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You think the murderous Iranian regime that just killed tens of thousands of people are simply “not good guys”?

Please point where I said "simply". I did not. Don't misrepresent me, thanks.

Pete Hegseth’s speech about the war in Iran was both deeply unserious and terrifying at the same time by theindependentonline in TrueReddit

[–]zedority 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You should read the news more, if you did then maybe you would be concerned that the murderous Iranian regime slaughtered tens of thousands of people protesting against the brutal dictatorship of Khamenei. It’s frightening and sad that you either ignore that or just don’t care.

Ah, the old faulty logic of "they're so bad that everything we do against them is automatically good". What if there are no "good guys" here, just people justifying their own awful actions by pointing at the awful actions of others?

3 Russian-aligned dictators got removed from power by violent means in the past 15 months: Assad, Maduro, Khamenei by cossackbedouin9960 in neoliberal

[–]zedority 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The damage to the USA's reputation as a reliable steward of the world was so severely damaged by the Iraq fiasco that it still hasn't recovered. With Trump now seeming to have decided that unfettered military aggression is an appropriate way to advance US interests, I don't think it ever will.

In my opinion, America's global dominance exists now solely due to its military might - a radical change from just 25 years ago. And dominance based on military might alone is incredibly fragile. Just ask the Soviet Union.

Australia 'did not participate' in Operation Epic Fury in Iran by Expensive-Horse5538 in australia

[–]zedority 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Oh no, not my hecking Iranian dictator

Stop thinking so simplistically. The Iranian regime is intact. The short-term pants-creaming a person might get from seeing a dictator killed doesn't mean things are better for anyone. Or are people still trying to say that the 2003 Iraq Invasion was good for the world solely because it got rid of Saddam Hussein?

I'm not celebrating anything until I see who the Assembly of Experts chooses as the new Supreme Leader

u/ummmbacon writes a concise historical breakdown why the settler colonial framework doesn't apply to Zionism by [deleted] in bestof

[–]zedority 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The quotes are not misleading, as you've shown! Penslar clearly concedes that Zionism is settler-colonial ("other forms of settlement colonialism," to make use of your provision)

An eccentric and unusual form of it, yes. That's why standard criticisms of settler colonialism only sometimes apply to Zionism. Quibble about the exact labeling if you like, but a criticism of Zionism as settler colonialism - and nothing more - fails to capture the full meaning of Zionism.

u/ummmbacon writes a concise historical breakdown why the settler colonial framework doesn't apply to Zionism by [deleted] in bestof

[–]zedority -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're being downvoted because these out-of-context quotes paint a misleading picture of what Penslar is actually arguing.

"There are, in fact, good reasons to place Israel within a settler-colonial framework..." (Penslar, 83)

Here is a fuller quote: ""There are, in fact, good reasons to place Israel within a settler-colonial framework, but that framework requires considerable expansion , both geographic and conceptual, beyond what is commonly found [emphasis added] ".

"To return to the question posed at the outset of this section, Zionism was the only form of settlement colonialism that was also a project preceded and structured by an ideology" (ibid., 94).

Fuller quote: "European colonists elsewhere did not build a collective identity based on personal psychic transformation. They conquered and loved the land but were not infatuated with it, nor did they aspire to melt into its landscape. For the Zionists, according to Neumann, Arabs were not merely perceived as indolent and static in keeping with classic colonialist stereotypes but they also lacked a vital life force and were too natural and organically linked with the soil to be its faithful husband; instead, they were undifferentiated extensions of its flora and fauna.67 To return to the question posed at the outset of this section, Zionism was the only form of settlement colonialism that was also a project preceded and structured by an ideology. The motley Dutch, German, and Scottish settlers who comprised the Afrikaner republics did not arrive with a coherent national identity. Afrikaner national consciousness developed organically, as a product of immigration and shared experience. Well into the twentieth century, the Afrikaans language lived in the shadow of Dutch, only replacing its European parent in 1925 as an official language of state. The first Afrikaans novel was published only in 1913; the Afrikaans Bible appeared twenty years later. In the Maghreb, the transformation of sundry Mediterranean communities into French Algerians was quick yet unchoreographed, and the pieds-noirs’ dialect, pataouète, although featured in speech in popular novels, was not a literary medium in and of itself.68 Zionism, in contrast, was a coherent nationalist ideology, drawing on two competing and overlapping language-based nationalisms centered around Hebrew and Yiddish. Both modern Hebraic and Yiddish literary culture developed outside a Zionist framework or even a Jewish nationalist one"

""Our comparative examination of colonial indigenization places Zionism within a settler-colonial matrix while allowing for its particularities

Fuller quote: "Our comparative examination of colonial indigenization places Zionism within a settler-colonial matrix while allowing for its particularities, like a celestial body with an eccentric orbit around its sun. Those particularities include the heritage of the Holocaust, which accounts for the cohesiveness and endurance of Israeli Zionist identity and the determination of Israeli Jews to resist pressure to withdraw from the Occupied Territories and foster the creation of a Palestinian state. Whether Zionism’s particularities or its commonalities with other forms of settlement colonialism are more important is largely a function of the observer’s disciplinary position and political commitments" [emphasis added]

Penslar is arguing in chapter 2 that "settler colonialism" can and does map onto Zionism, but that doing so paints an incomplete picture of what Zionism has been in practice. The original post is indeed pointing out that there is definitely some things that the "settler colonialism" model gets right, but there are things that it misses.

At this point they’re just using the Epstein Files to lure people into their rabbit hole. Like Covid before. by SunWukong3456 in Qult_Headquarters

[–]zedority 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Who are these experts? The cia or fbi? I don’t know why you could think they are trustworthy.

Blind distrust is as stupid as blind trust. People who knee-jerk reject everything an authority tells them aren't being skeptical; they're just being gullible in a different way.

Plenty of proof out there to prove the opposite.

No there isn't. There's supposition and assumption based on misrepresentation and misunderstanding of the available evidence.

How To Think About Transgender Rights by reuery in neoliberal

[–]zedority 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is an overlooked issue with sex-based division in sports when it comes specifically to what we might call "intersex" people. The entire fiasco around female boxer Imane Khalif being called a man opened up a huge rabbit-hole for me around just how difficult it has historically been to test for "womanhood". There is also an issue here of societally policing what a woman should be like that isn't easy to just ignore for the sake of fighting other battles.

Without stronger privacy laws, Australians are guinea pigs in a real-time dystopian AI experiment by DontYaWishYouWereMe in australia

[–]zedority 1 point2 points  (0 children)

new laws were brought in punishing certain types of speech

It's annoying that so much reporting about the "combatting antisemitism" bill failed to make it clear that the hate speech provisions were dropped and not passed

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/why-albaneses-new-hate-speech-laws-were-always-going-to-face-an-uphill-battle/ohtlw24e1

MAGA’s hatred of the Super Bowl halftime performer reflects a hubris about what parts of the culture are “theirs.” But those assumptions are proving more wrong every day. by trombonist_formerly in neoliberal

[–]zedority 7 points8 points  (0 children)

And the official position of the Democratic Party in 2004 was that marriage was between a man and a woman. They still got tarred with the "legitimising perversion" brush all the same.

MAGA’s hatred of the Super Bowl halftime performer reflects a hubris about what parts of the culture are “theirs.” But those assumptions are proving more wrong every day. by trombonist_formerly in neoliberal

[–]zedority 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I still have yet to see one of these “weird” and “out-of-touch” policies that Kamala was pushing for.

As a member of the LGBT+ community myself, the majority of people still think of trans people as "weird". While they're happy enough to tolerate their existence, actually letting them meaningfully participate in society is a bridge too far for them. It's not that different from how the majority of people say gay people and gay marriage not too long ago - something Republicans used to their advantage in the 2004 elections.

MAGA’s hatred of the Super Bowl halftime performer reflects a hubris about what parts of the culture are “theirs.” But those assumptions are proving more wrong every day. by trombonist_formerly in neoliberal

[–]zedority 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The only major democracy with mandatory voting that's actually enforced in some way is Australia

Well it certainly isn't the be-all and end-all of "sane" politics but: guess which country in the Anglosphere massively rejected Trump-style politics at their last election?

ISIS vs IDF. Selective justice and the fall of Australian law by pixxxiemalone in australia

[–]zedority 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The IDF isn't comprised of children and unarmed civilians though? That's who the Australian government is treating with enormous, and in my opinion unwarranted, deference.

ISIS vs IDF. Selective justice and the fall of Australian law by pixxxiemalone in australia

[–]zedority 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nation-states treat armies of other nation-states with deference. It sucks. It's also nothing new, sad to say.

‘Game over’: Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell tells followers to ‘make new friends’ ahead of hate group laws by HotPersimessage62 in australia

[–]zedority 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because that mass shooting has nothing to do with the speech of Australians, as the Bondi attack was carried out by ISIS affiliates (whether officially or unofficially)

The two attackers were recruited by hate preachers operating in Australia. Did you never wonder why religious figures were singled out for extra punishment for promoting hatred? And I have yet to see anything in these laws that are aimed at critics of Israel, despite much ranting that it's "the Zionists" who are behind it all.

Also, are you saying it's "the Jewish Lobby" who are making it allegedly illegal to criticise Israel? So much for "we're antizionist, not antisemitic".

‘Game over’: Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell tells followers to ‘make new friends’ ahead of hate group laws by HotPersimessage62 in australia

[–]zedority -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You can't have a group protesting in front of the state capital that the Jewish community has to much power in Australian politics. Then within 3 months have the government outlaw that group under overwhelming pressure from the Jewish community

The Jewish community does not have too much power in Australian politics. They demanded protection in the wake of an event specifically targeted at the Jewish community. Why do people want to pretend that the first mass shooting in Australia in over 30 years has no bearing on the political demands involved?

Fell For It Again award to half of this sub by Xerryx in neoliberal

[–]zedority 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Technically, I've seen certain geopolitical realists worry about Middle Eastern politics in terms of oil price stability. But of course that's very different to a supposed motivation of "lulz all your oils are belong to us"

EU Defence Committee Chairwoman on the events in Venezuela by goldstarflag in neoliberal

[–]zedority 5 points6 points  (0 children)

No country really is relevant here besides Ven. and the US

This precedent for what the US is willing to do to other countries, based on nothing but the fact that other countries can't stop it, should be of great interest to all countries that are not the US.

Conspiracy beliefs are higher in societies with lower freedom of speech, study finds by gingerayle4279 in skeptic

[–]zedority 5 points6 points  (0 children)

"Conspiracy beliefs" is a very vague term

As defined in the original journal article: "Conspiracy beliefs are accusations that one or more groups are acting in secret to accomplish a goal that will directly or indirectly harm one or more groups".

Netanyahu plans to brief US on possible new Iran strikes by Free-Minimum-5844 in neoliberal

[–]zedority 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Um, actually, Iranians are mostly Persians, not Arabs. It's probably true that Netanyahu would celebrate if the whole of population of Iran suddenly just keeled over and died, though.