Cowbee [he/they]

Socialism has a better track record than capitalism, but either way, my point is that necessary systemic changes need socialism for them to happen. Socialism isn’t a promise, it’s a mode of production. Further, countries like the PRC are rapdily electrifying, at the top of solar panel production and infrastructure initiatives, and combatting desertification, that’s the power of a publicly driven economy.

I really don’t think we are. You propose we push for change within the system, as it’s better to have a tweaked current system than a non-tweaked current system. My point is that the reason the current system lacks those popular and necessary tweaks is because its built to resist anything that risks lowering profits, so our strategy should focus on changing to a system that allows us to make those tweaks in the first place.

You may not agree with me, but I don’t think we are having different discussions.

I’m focusing on capitalism because we can’t let the progress we can imagine be the enemy of the progress we can actually achieve in the real world. Just like going up to Elon Musk and asking him nicely to not be a Nazi isn’t a viable solution to systemic issues, so too is trying to use regulations against the system they are meant to solidify and protect. Socialism is necessary because without it, we can’t get these well thought-through taxes and regulations to begin with, we are utterly at the mercy of profits.

It’s more that under capitalism, regulations and taxes only serve the bourgeoisie. It isn’t that the concept is being undermined, it’s that those are sold to the working class as a viable solution to avoid actually solving the problem.

Yep, but for systemic changes socialism is necessary. We should do what we can right now, but we can’t cause systemic change without socialism.

DSA is the Democratic Socialists of America, it’s a reformist socialist party. PSL is a Marxist-Leninist (technically Marcyist but the vast majority of members are ML) party with roots as a split from the IWW, and is thus more based on party building, revolution, and practices democratic centralism. The DSA gets a lot less done per member due to its lack of democratic centralism and its big-tent methodology, but it isn’t the worst org in existence if there’s no other options.

Check the party programs to see what the difference looks like in aim.

Sure, I can see that hypothetical, but we can’t get to that hypothetical in capitalism. Profit drives and steers the system, not humans.

Well-regulated markets, under capitalism, just means comfortable monopoly. You can’t work against the system of voracious demand for profit within said system. You can’t just pray for taxes abd regulations, the only ones that get passed are ones in the interests of the largest capitalists.

Sure, it wouldn’t be easy, but it’s nearly impossible under capitalism. What would realistically happen is the state would heavily subsidize plant based food and develop economies of scale, and increase requirements on animal products for more “humane” treatment, until gradually animal products are phased out culturally. A top-down command for animal liberation would be commandist if the masses don’t want it, so raising political consiousness would be a key part of that struggle.

Socialism will not automatically create vegan world, it hasn’t done so anywhere socialism exists. However, it does swap from profits as the end-all, be-all of how society is organized, to one where humanity can better plan production and meet people’s needs. If capital is in the driver’s seat, then the meat industry will continue to perpetuate said brutality and environmental destruction unimpeded. If humanity is in the driver’s seat, then we can actually work against what would be assured in a profit driven model.

The swap to veganism will never be instant, but it will be largely impossible without human supremacy over capital.

The DSA is okay if there’s nothing else around you, but PSL has a much better party platform and is growing rapidly.

Veganism is good, necessary even, but more than voting we need to actually overthrow capitalism and replace it with socialism. Profit will destroy the planet unless we take control of the reigns from capital.

Sure, nobody can deny the Chinese Miracle. What’s important is recognizing why it works correctly, they call it Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. It’s dominated by public ownership of large firms and key industries, and has private ownership and cooperative for smaller and medium firms that are heavily guided by state planning. It goes against liberalism, because it’s based on Marxism-Leninism.

Here’s a study guide for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and here’s a shorter article on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

Deng didn’t move away from state control, really, he opened up the economy more to the foreign market. The economy still had a private sector under Mao, it wasn’t a fully planned state economy. People often see the shift from Mao to Deng as larger than it actually was, Mao wasn’t a hyper-accelerationist Communist and Deng a hyper-Capitalist.

To a degree, the “pruned market” strategy of Deng helped accelerate growth, but the impact was marginal compared to the stability it brought to growth. See Socialism Developed China, not Capitalism.

Mao’s economic policies were actually generally positive, and represented rapid growth. Towards the latter stages, policies like the Cultural Revolution, however, ended up as an overall failure, and the Gang of Four was even more ultraleft. The Reform and Opening Up period did add growth, but only slightly, what it really accomplished was stable growth. The ability to course correct and consistently apply Marxist-Leninist analysis has been their key to success, adopting Reform and Opening Up during Mao’s period may have led to damaging the economy more than helping it, new policies were needed in new stages of development.

That entire history was clearly written as a Leftist frustrated with Reddit’s censorship of Leftists and pro-US slant, it’s because the devs are Communists.

As for China, they are not “doing the exact same shit.” Same with the USSR, and the DPRK is insular, how could it exploit the Global South even if it wanted to? You don’t know what you’re talking about.

As for 1-5…

1. What do you mean by saying Russia “has a claim to Ukraine?” I don’t even think Russia is saying they want to annex the entirety of Ukraine.

2. A DotP is a term that originates with Marx, referring to a Proletarian government that suppresses the Bourgeoisie. The DotP is democratic for the proletariat. This is Marxism 101.

3. Can you tell me who my “favorite Communist is,” and how they “killed millions?” Politics isn’t a sports game, but if I had to pick a “favorite,” it would be Lenin.

4. More than 80% of all combat in World War II was on the Eastern Front. The Soviets never sided with the Nazis, they had in fact tried for years to convince the Western Powers to join the Soviets in a pact against Nazi Germany, as they hated each other. The West said no, preferring the Soviets and the Nazis to kill each other.

5. I have never once denied that there was a famine in the 1930s, just pointed out that the idea that it was intentional is seen as bogus even by western historians.

Experience has shown that when others try, they stumble significantly.

The devs run Lemmy.ml, and do so as a necessary test server. Supporting the devs supports Lemmy, and by extension Lemmy.ml. The devs can say that only those happy with Lemmy.ml’s money will go to that, while food, water, rent, gaming, whatever else all goes to the “non-Lemmy.ml” fund, but that’s symbolic at best.

It’s an invented solution, and I’m not convinced people wouldn’t find some other reason not to support.

The devs can do that if they want, but that’s not really going to change the fact that the fees for Lemmy.ml are so small that it doesn’t matter.

Lemmy came about because Communists wanted to create an anticapitalist answer to Reddit. People can use it how they wish, including defederating from every Communist-adjacent instance and banning every Left winger if they want.

Secondly, Russia is no longer Socialist since the fall of the Soviet Union, I don’t speak Korean and don’t even think I can move to the DPRK even if I wanted to. I’d be down to move to China for a few years, but I have family where I am. When people say the Global North is Imperialist, they aren’t saying it sucks to live there more than everywhere else, but that the Global North only exists as it does through brutal exploitation of the Global South.

For your final round:

1. Sees propaganda as truth - Depends on if the propaganda is genuinely true or not. News can be propaganda depending on how its shown.
2. Is okay with dictatorship - a dictatorship of the proletariat, perhaps, but not an anti-democratic structure
3. Is fine with regimes murdering millions - nope.
4. Okay with gov offing people they disagree with - killing fascists is a good thing, the Soviets killed 90% of the Nazis that died in World War II.
5. Likes to wash history - nope, demystify and clarify it instead