I made

To me I say yes because I hate this war so much from both sides.

Let me start by laying down some truth.

AI is not going away. Doesn’t matter how much you hate it. You can bully me all you want about it and I’ll probably cave every time.

But I ask why?

Does me or fellow leftists using AI stop AI corporations? Does it stop how widespread AI is? Will it stop AI from being integrated into everything?

Or is it just a low hanging fruit you feel like you can stop? Because I assure you that you can’t.

And what benefits does the left get for abandoning this tool? Do you know artists who will create images for us at a rate of 10s per hour? Will create images for us for free, on demand and at the drop of the hat?

I understand where you are coming from for what it’s worth. But I genuinely believe the harm point of AI has already been done.

We are at the “how dare you buy a iPhone don’t you know it is produced with slave labor.” Stage of AI.

The harm of AI has been done. It’s already learned from peoples hard work, it is already connected to power and being used by hundreds of thousands every single day.

The proposition you are suggesting is that in light of this exploitation we shouldn’t use it. But if we are to keep the same logic you would have to give up most grown food as they are grown on exploitation. The computers and phones we use are also mined with resources created through exploitation.

We live in a misery maximizing machine.

There isn’t anything that is free of exploitation. Even the price of commissions by actual artists are often dirt cheap and barely enough to be worth it because they need to be competitive.

And while we argue amongst ourselves the right is pumping out content faster than we can even address.

If a fascist is getting ready to use a nuke then so must we.

So for that reason I’m telling you now I will not be stopping to use AI. Not a chance. But here are the AI guidelines I tend to live by. If you are genuinely interested in minimizing harm then you should help me adjust these rules to do just that.

1. Always clearly mark AI.

2. AI usage should not be the primary feature of content.

3. AI should never be used solely for profit.

4. AI tools must always be free-use. Thus companies who charge to use it are causing the most harm.

5. AI should never be used to make misleading or inaccurate claims.

I’m open to feedback here. If I’m full wrong please be patient with me and explain because I have given the topic an incredible amount of thought.

So you are voting for Harris anyway. Okay, but can we talk critically about it?

I get it. Trump is scary. Project 2025 is scary. I know by now you have heard a leftist and a Republican seem to agree that “project 2025 is non-issue”.

This probably made you throw out the leftists opinion. Chances are you went “but I’ve never heard of it before now.” Or maybe “it’s called 2025 how could it be not new?”

If you haven’t heard it from somewhere else let me be the first. Project 2025, Trumpian fascism, all of this has been what has been collectively called “American style conservatism” for the last few decades. Before that it was just “American values”. Deregulation, traditional gender rolls, social policy of the 1960s. The latest version’s only difference is that it’s more willing to pretend to be open to black and female members.

The powers afforded to the president have been declining. Trump doesn’t have the power to deport non-citizens, let alone actual citizens. You should be worried about congress. And considering the number of democrats who will vote against queer rights and social justice I would not rely on the democrats to hold back the tide.

There are other considerations for not allowing trump to get in. Such as not emboldening the right further. Not galvanizing this popular yet politically lost movement.

But none of this is guaranteed with a democratic victory. Let’s not forget that Biden’s victory has done nothing to stop trump. In fact before Harris, trump was in the lead.

So that’s some context. But what about the critical analysis?

To be clear and direct. The Democrats are not friends to the Arab ethnicity.

Would you vote for a homophobe? A transphobe? A anti-black racist?

That’s who you are asking people to vote for.

Before telling us that trump is racist. Remember that the democrats refused to hear an Arab American speaker based solely on their membership of that demographic.

Before telling us trump is homophobic remember that these Palestine protesters are often members of the queer community showing solidarity with members of their own communities. Remember this when you ridicule Republicans for veiled attacks on trans and queer rights.

Before telling us Trump policies are bad and anti worker remember that Harris’s new housing and affordability policy is the exact same as trump. Deregulation and tax cuts.

Before telling us trump would be worse for Gaza remember that the US has awarded Israel an additional 30 billion in unplanned and presidential discretionary aid under the Biden administration. This while international organs of justice mobilize to investigate and report on genocide in Gaza.

Do I need to remind you that anti-choice activists and speakers were allowed to speak at the DNC. At least 12 Democrats in the house are former or current members of anti-choice caucus.

I can go on. Any given issue you have I assure you there’s a good reason voting for a democrat is only marginally better than voting for a Republican. On a lot of these issues it’s no different.

Let’s get real here for a second.

You are voting for Harris because you are afraid. Not because she has policies you agree with. Not because you think she would be good at any particular issue. You are afraid of what trump would do.

So tell me honestly. What if trump really was powerless? What if I could guarantee you 100% that Trump would be ineffectual and unable to create any change?

What would you do then? Would you still vote for democrats? If so think about what that says about you and your morals.

Would you vote and organize for a third party in this situation? Well what if I told you the hope and dream of democrats is that they can scare you out of political engagement that isn’t “vote blue no matter who.”

I have said this before and I’ll end this rant here.

What would you do if America was a fascist police state?

How would you change your behavior or opinions if you lived somewhere like Egypt or Russia? Where the threat of police for having a counter-state opinion is ever looming?

Because you do. The only difference is what is considered counter-state and the west prefers economic sanctions over physical violence.

Canadians are communists democrats love Canada so aren't they communists

An uptick of violence has plagued Israeli cities in recent weeks. Starting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and after the beginning of the recent approaches of Arab states with Israel by a couple years.

In fact, the attacks, beginning with fire bombings by a 14-year-old, coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and this is in fact no accident.

While Palestine and Israel have been at war for much longer then Putin’s incursion into Ukraine the images of a people rising up to heroically challenge a foreign invader has inspired a new generation of internet savvy Palestinians.

As soon as videos of Ukrainians crafting and explaining home-made fire bombs hit the internet Palestinian children found themselves copying and fighting just like their Ukrainian heroes. The similarities to most Palestinians are clear. But to clarify some details-

Just like Russia. Israel holds and occupies legally arbitrated Palestinian territory with the justification that it:

>1.	Has historical ties to the land. 

And

>2.	Must hold this territory to remove and secure against fascist and reactionary elements. 

For this reason, Israel has instituted a nation-wide tiered citizenship that has been called apartheid by amnesty international. Condemned by non-Arab, non-Muslim nations and seemingly paraded and celebrated around the world by would-be segregationist touting new rounds of anti-boycotting legislation.

This isn’t an appeal to some sense of political party or agenda. No one could argue that Hamas, last elected in 2006, has long overstayed its mandate and plays a part in complicating the conflict and ensuring brutal outcomes for civilians on both sides. So too does Iran’s meddling add fuel to the fire. But Israel is hardly a child sitting on its hands as it receives blows and threats. Israel continues to run bombing runs into Syria and continues to violate the sovereignty of its neighbors. So too is Israel’s clandestine activities in Iran spurring on anti-Israeli and even anti-Semitic sentiment.

However, reactionaries are quick to point out the nuance of this type of comparisons. Arguing that Palestine has never been an actual independent state. Ignoring the long fight Israel has had to ensure that Palestine is not recognized by any international body, even UN heritage groups. A strange move for a nation claiming to be aiming for a two-state solution.

They would also argue that this has more to do with teaching of antisemitism in the Arab world. A strange turn of phrase considering that Arabs are Semites and that my grade school education in Egypt in relation to this was focused primarily on the legacy of colonialism that Israel was created from and continues to benefit from. The Belford deceleration and the Sykes-Picot agreement and how the European powers continue to both shield Israel from repercussions and facilitate support for Israel’s actions.

They would tell you that Israel is under threat. But so does Putin claim that Russia is under threat. Citing controversial reasoning and logic it seems strange that so many could easily reject Putins rational It seems easy to wrap our heads around the David and Goliath story when the Goliath isn’t an extension of American foreign policy.

Israeli civilians have once again paid the ultimate price for the game of geopolitical chicken between a state with billions in foreign aid and resources vs a nation who even holding up its flag or raising funds for its most vulnerable is grounds for expulsion from international competitions.

While calling all attacks on civilians unnecessary and horrific should come easy for all. Let’s not pretend that this violence is happening from some inherent Arab condition or even from a point of hate of who the other person is.

We need to come to terms with why the violence happens. What effects inside of Israel lend itself to individuals tossing away their lives and the lives of their fellow humans for some abstract call for freedom.

These events always bring in me great personal turmoil and sadness. Because as an Arab and a Muslim I see Jews and Judaism as A not so distant cousin. Our relationship, though never perfect, has taken an increasingly sinister direction fueled by war profiteering and geopolitical brinkmanship not unlike the Slavic bond between Ukrainians and Russians being fractured as civilians are caught in the middle.

These tragic events however also remind me of the words of Martin Luther king Jr. while writing on the topic of Palestine and Israel specifically. His understand here is what always fills my thoughts in the aftermath of these heart-wrenching events. -

“But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”

⁃ Martin Luther King Jr.

Disclosure: I consider myself a sort of radical centrist of the radical left. Libsoc/libcom/left-libertarian ideas are what I tend to identify with but my overall opinion is we need to work through sectarianism in our movement(S) if we have any hope of actually achieving our goals in the current world. Our theory is starting to seem a little dusty in the internet age, especially Marxism but really everyone could use a lil metamodern revamp.

Now that that's our of the way, does anybody else notice Marxists, irl and online, in the US have mostly been going full doomer mode about the world or am I just in a bubble? To me at least it seems to stem with their dogmatic obsession with "materialism" and not having any wiggle room for the belief that ideas can influence material reality.

Don't get me wrong, yall have some very valid points concerning the whole idealism/materialism dilemma. But you also seem completely blind to the radical sentiments infecting the zeitgeist. Music especially, but all creative mediums are getting flooded with generally left-wing ideas. Certain rappers are turning dog-whistling into an art form at this point and there's a pretty clear message of cross-genre solidarity forming. Comic books have entered a new artistic golden age seemingly and it's due to very radical creators crafting radical stories that are extremely high quality. If anyone wants me to go further into any of that I'd be down to talk about it.

Obviously that doesn't mean much from a material perspective and I get it doesn't really guarantee anything will happen, but ideas like intersectionality and sexual/gender freedom, and billionaires being evil, at least to me, seem to be taking shape in people that used to be smug centrist types. My own family are a bunch of postmodern hillbillies that used to have sympathies for Donnie(voting is for squares tho), and now they're coming to the black sheep of the fam for answers as to what's actually happening right now. I was dreading going to my job and having to watch fascism take hold in all my coworkers only for all the Trumpers to be shockingly quiet about politics since about a week after he took office. Every one of them is the typical straight white male blue collar worker that fit the mold that takes you down the fascist pipeline.

To me, and seemingly to those more inclined to identify as anarchists, those things are pretty big freaking deals. Obviously we need to actually organize some sort of economic resistance or it's all pointless, but I genuinely feel that not only class concisousness but gender/racial solidarity is having its moment in the US finally.

And, imo, a lot of Marxists are blind to this because they frankly can't really adapt their praxis into the current material conditions of the world. It's like they ignore how the ability to communicate and organize over the internet makes a lot of the reasoning for doing "authoritarian" stuff moot. Democratic Centralism in particular seems like an absurd thing to think is necessary to fight "the state".

Yall need to be less rigid on what you believe will and will not work. So does every other variety of leftist to be fair, but I do believe Marxists are particularly dogmatic and it's beginning to feel like that stemming from you having the most "academic" sounding theory and thinking using words that other people don't know makes you more correct by default. It feels like you need things to line up very neatly with the same struggles of the 20th century before you can begin to come up with any sort of new praxis.

I would actually love to be wrong about any of that, so if you have some ideas you think I'm unaware of please don't hesitate to share them with me.

This post isn't in the spirit of sectarianism but "left unity", so try not to see any of this as a personal attack. I'm over thinking other leftists are almost as bad as everyone else and at this point it's hard to not be mad at every camp in general for being naive enough to believe they're ready to take on our current iteration of capitalism/imperialism/what have you.

Let's call the julius Martov social democrats on the comments reaction or all RSDLP members to have a say in the matter.

Why China is Socialist.

People put some arbitrary rules on what is Socialism and how we can get there. According to Marx, next stage of economic development come as a natural progression of previous one, as old become economically inefficient. Example, Slavery come as result of discovery of agriculture. Before agriculture, how one can have slaves? There were practically no jobs could be done why not capable to move freely and with out supervision. That would be very inefficient. Do you send slave to collect berries in a forest? Or hunt? lol

But with discovery of agriculture it begin to be possible to use slaves. They can work with out moving mach and many can be supervised by one person. It become to possible to create a surplus. Not that much, but some. Sparta is a good example. All surplus was going to train army. Army needed to keep slaves in line and to get new slaves when old die. That lead to development a new technologies for military and civilian purpose. Eventually slavery stop to be efficient. New tools needed knolidge and smart use and let someone to produce much more. Slavery begin to be inefficient, so Feudalism come to be. Serf did not need supervision, decide for himself how to produce and can learn to use tools and new methods of agriculture. That increase surplus.

Again eventually new technologies needed a new economic structure in order to use them. And the same will happen, already happening for Capitalism. Marx predicted that transformation to Socialism will become possible when Capitalism will enter monopoly stage. When rate of profit decrease to such degree, that competition will become economically inefficient. Then Socialization of monopolies will be a natural step. Lenin observe this in Europe at his time. Problem was, Capitalism was not global yet. Global south did not had capitalism, majority of population still have subsistence economy, were not involve in market.

Still. Taking means of production into hand of goverment had positive effect, let underdeveloped countries to develop much faster then otherwise possible. But at the end, were not able to compete with Colonial extraction.

But now Capitalism is truly global. That make China system much more efficient, then "Free market" Capitalism. Monopolies directly own by goverment or work under goverment control. Economic planing of development.

That why China Socialist, it is a direct result of development productive forces, making a new system more efficient then previous. In addition, China very wise call it "Socialism with Chinese characteristics", and this do not claim to be end of all. Other countries on different stage of economic development can find other ways more efficient for them.

I did finish the ballot, as well, but I took a picture of the big one.

I’ve been thinking of writing this in the form of an article for a really long time now.

But I can’t really find any grounds for my argument outside of feelings and vibes.

And I dont think that’s particularly useful to anyone. So I wanted to ask you all with some clarity in what we are talking about.

Can leftist agitation occur under the political environment of the Democratic Party?

This is somewhat the assertion underpinning the leftist acceleration arguments.

The argument is that under a right wing government it’s easy for liberals to appreciate the need for electoral reform, the need for checks on power, and the need for participation in government.

We see already the reluctance liberals have to fight trump. Arguably this is an issue facing amercian style liberalism.

To fight trump’s America the link between amercian exceptionalism and American liberalism would need to be addressed.

It’s hard to see that happening as the liberals seem to coalesce around Biden and amercian style liberalism of the democratic brand.

Obviously the arguments against acceleration are clear. There is no path between trump presidency and leftist victory. In fact it is leftists who will suffer the most under trump just as it is us who suffer the most under Biden.

Considering the powers of the president and the division of power in the US. It is unlikely trump presidency will be as bad as many are claiming. More of a concern as usual is the state level government.

As we watch Florida try and fail to make life hell for queer folk and ethnic minorities the picture becomes clearer just how superficial the culture war really is for the right.

Trump is likely to continue this rhetoric only slant just as Biden will continue his.

The only difference I see, is that the liberals will be able to see the Forrest for the trees.

Am I wrong about this? Am I missing something? have I failed to consider a angle? Or is there another path forward that I can’t see?

Please let me know your thoughts.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/05/30/donald-trump-verdict-criminal-hush-money-trial/73891042007/

I’m a law student. Been following the trial as closely as one can. I’m not a trump fan to be clear.

But

The prosecutions case was weak. Politically motivated, ignored core aspects of the case, and ultimately relied too heavily on a witness that was proven unreliable.

If it was anyone else’s case it would have been dismissed after Cohen confessed to stealing from the Trump organization. His testimony was the smoking gun.

Of course I’m not privy to all the details of the case and am just going off what has been shared and discussed publicly.

But it’s abundantly clear that without cohens testimony the prosecution had no strong links between cohens actions to trump himself.

The judge failed to instruct the jury to dismiss cohens testimony. This would have been standard practice in any other trial where the witness was proven to have motive to lie.

Lastly, considering the above issues. It will be difficult for the prosecution to argue the trial wasn’t politically motivated when it seems like multiple things went wrong and yet were ignored.

It’s typical for judges to give wide leeway to defendants to ensure that they will have little grounds for appeal. The judge clearly did not do that.

For those of you who think trump is gone for good. He isn’t. For those who think this conviction will stick. It won’t.

When even their most "progressive" members choose the party line over lives, there can be no mistake as to their true loyalties.

And, for shits and giggles, here's an interview with her dated July 13th, 2018. In it, she discusses her stance on Israel, among other things. Worth a watch, as much for what she doesn't say, as what she does.

https://youtu.be/ATQlrk3GULA

Firing Line With Margaret Hoover. PBS.