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Post by Admin on Feb 28, 2020 15:13:03 GMT
Fully automated luxury communism A Communist perspective on technological advancement How can we transition towards sustainable energy, feed a world of nine billion, leave work behind, transcend the limits of biology, and establish meaningful freedom for everyone? Aaron Bastani sets out his vision. The Speaker Political commentator Aaron Bastani is the co-founder of Novara Media and Silke Digital, and the author of Fully Automated Luxury Communism. iai.tv/video/fully-automated-luxury-communism-aaron-bastani
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Post by Admin on Mar 6, 2020 20:51:20 GMT
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Post by Admin on Mar 8, 2020 10:59:01 GMT
A Decade on the Left An interview with Leo Panitch Tribune speaks to Leo Panitch about the lessons learned from the last decade on the Left – from Occupy Wall Street to Syriza, Podemos, Corbyn and Bernie Sanders. tribunemag.co.uk/2020/03/a-decade-on-the-left
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2020 13:21:14 GMT
Social-Democratic Denmark Shows How to Respond to Coronavirus BY BUE RÜBNER HANSEN The US and UK responses to coronavirus have failed miserably. But Denmark has moved swiftly to help workers by protecting wages and preventing layoffs — showing yet again, in the midst of a pandemic, that we’d all be better off living in a social democracy. jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-denmark-social-democracy-layoffs
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2020 13:22:11 GMT
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2020 13:30:45 GMT
The Coronavirus Crisis Is Political BY GRACE BLAKELEY In 2008, they told us not to “politicize” the crash. We ended up with a decade of austerity. The coronavirus crisis will reshape the economy in profound ways — now is the time to make socialist arguments about how to respond. www.jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-crisis-political-politicize-austerity-stimulus"The last time we faced an economic crisis anywhere near as severe as the one we are about to encounter was in 2008, when the global banking system began to collapse under the weight of its own excesses. When the US government’s decision to allow Lehman Brothers to fail sent financial markets into freefall, world leaders realized it was time to step up. At first, they provided trillions of dollars worth of short-term liquidity (effectively short-term loans) to the world’s biggest banks, but they soon realized that the banks were not simply illiquid (out of cash), but insolvent (completely unable to pay their debts). At this point, they threw their weight behind their financial systems with bailouts that saw states becoming significant shareholders in many of the world’s largest financial institutions. In the several years that followed, many countries adopted fiscal stimulus measures aimed at limiting the impact of the financial meltdown on the real economy. Initially, the United States and the UK both implemented large stimulus programs aimed at absorbing job losses and preventing the kind of Keynesian downward spiral in demand that gave us the Great Depression. But it was China that saved the global economy from another depression, with a stimulus package worth nearly 20 percent of GDP at its peak. Huge state investment protected both the Chinese economy and the economies of its major trading partners."
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2020 19:38:45 GMT
January 16, 2020 A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR SOCIALIST REVOLUTION www.hamptonthink.org/read/a-modest-proposal-for-socialist-revolutionBy Chris Wright "At this point in history, two things are clear. First, Marx was right that capitalism is torn by too many “contradictions” to be sustainable indefinitely as a global economic system. In its terminal period, which we’re entering now (and which we can predict will last generations, because a global economic order doesn’t vanish in a decade or two), it will be afflicted by so many popular uprisings—on the left and the right—so many economic, political, and ecological crises causing so much turmoil and dislocation, that only a permanent and worldwide fascism would be able to save it. But fascism, by its murderous and ultra-nationalistic nature, can be neither permanent nor continuously enforced worldwide. Even just in the United States, the governmental structure is too vast and federated, there are too many thousands of relatively independent political jurisdictions, for a truly fascist regime to be consolidated nationwide, in every nook and cranny of the country. Fascism, or neo-fascism, is only a temporary and partial solution for the ruling class."
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Post by Admin on Mar 21, 2020 19:36:38 GMT
Engels' Marxism March 20, 2020 Written by John Rees Published in Engels 200 www.counterfire.org/articles/history/281-engels-200/20994-engels-marxismIn the second of our series on the revolutionary Frederick Engels, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, we are republishing this piece by John Rees which first appeared in the International Socialism Journal in 1994 A strange thing has happened to the reputation of Frederick Engels in the 100 years since his death. For the vast majority of that time both Engels’ allies and his enemies agreed that he was Marx’s alter ego. Indeed, the very expression ‘alter ego’ was Marx’s own description of his relationship to Engels. Most commentators and virtually all Marxists thought that a lifetime of common work, the undeniable and almost undisturbed years of close personal and political co-operation, spoke for themselves.[1] But by the 1960s that easy certainty was faced with a sustained challenge. The first cracks in the Cold War consensus were beginning to appear. The growth of CND, the rise of the New Left and, later, opposition to the Vietnam War inevitably produced an enormous increase in interest in radical ideas in general and Marxist ideas, or what passed for Marxist ideas, in particular. This process necessarily led to a reaction against the stifling conformity of reformism and the oppressive legacy of Stalinism. Much of what was said and written marked a rebirth of interest in the genuine Marxist tradition and delivered a long-delayed blow to the reformist and Stalinist traditions.
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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2020 3:47:58 GMT
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Post by Admin on Mar 26, 2020 19:56:17 GMT
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Deleted
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Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 10:16:28 GMT
Today I woke up with a theory on why you and other socialist proponents criticize capitalism so harshly.
Perhaps to a socialist, capitalism and greed are synonymous.
In my mind they are separate. There is wealth disparity under capitalism. But many who start out with nothing are able to do well--- including members of my family.
To me capitalism is a series of risks and opportunities but also the system that allows the least amount of corruption for the government.
A friend once said Jesus was a socialist. Well, the early church certainly were, in a sense. In the book of Acts, I just read how they sold their possessions and had all things in common, distributing based on need.
I see no issue with this and suspect that Christians will practice this more as persecution increases.
This voluntary socialism and generosity, I think is excellent.
However, I do take issue with a government forcing this to happen.
In the case of countries like Venezuela, socialism becomes a corrupt system where a few rich and powerful group of people benefit while the rest suffer under their absolute control.
Under capitalism, the government does not control the market, and while this allows wealth disparity and greed, it also allows less government corruption and regulation to take place.
That is my main reason for not supporting government socialism. When a government forces you to share your wealth--- that is stealing. Sharing should be voluntary.
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Post by Admin on Mar 27, 2020 10:46:35 GMT
But many who start out with nothing are able to do well--- including members of my family. That is why you support Capitalism / the system - you have done / do well out of it all. That's Not genuine socialism. To be honest genuine Communism has never really been tried. i'm Not convinced.
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Post by Admin on Mar 27, 2020 11:14:43 GMT
Today I woke up with a theory on why you and other socialist proponents criticize capitalism so harshly. Literally the entire teachings of Christ is at odds with your own position.
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Post by Admin on Mar 27, 2020 11:16:12 GMT
MEXICO'S PRESIDENT HAS NO INTEREST IN BAILING OUT BIG COMPANIES AND BANKS, SAYS THE POOR MUST BE RESCUED BY JASON LEMON ON 3/24/20 www.newsweek.com/mexicos-president-has-no-interest-bailing-out-big-companies-banks-says-poor-must-rescued-1493956"Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has ruled out the idea of bailing out big companies and banks as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on his country, arguing that the government must instead focus on supporting the poor. While Mexico thus far has only 367 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the country is already feeling the economic impact of the global pandemic. López Obrador discussed this publicly on Monday, saying his government's efforts to address the crisis would focus on supporting the economically disadvantaged, not wealthy businesses. "If we have to rescue someone, who do we have to rescue? The poor," the Mexican president said, Reuters reported. He said he would reveal more specific details about his government's plan on Tuesday. "No more rescues in the style of the neoliberal period, that provided for banks, big companies. They shouldn't even be thinking that there will be tax forgiveness or other mechanisms that were used before," López Obrador said."
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Post by Admin on Mar 27, 2020 11:44:17 GMT
How Capitalism Kills During a PandemicBY NICK FRENCH "Critics of socialism often point to the mass deaths that occurred under dictators like Stalin and Mao. Such deaths were abhorrent, of course. But one problem with this line of attack is that it selectively ignores the numerous examples of mass deaths that occurred under brutal capitalist regimes, while also overlooking the everyday deaths that are a matter of course under capitalism, caused by grinding and utterly unnecessary poverty. Both of these realities are or soon will be confronting us under the unfolding coronavirus pandemic. The virus will likely kill millions of people in the United States alone. Many of these fatalities could have been avoided if we had a social order that placed the needs of people over profit. Make no mistake: we’re facing a pandemic that could produce one of the worst mass deaths in human history, and capitalism will be responsible for many of them." www.jacobinmag.com/2020/03/capitalism-pandemic-coronavirus-covid-19-single-payer
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