I thought of this question because someone joked about double-dipping their hands in the chocolate fountain at Golden Corral and boy did that invoke one of my least favorite paying-for-college memories.

Yes, someone did dip his hands into the chocolate fountain at the Golden Corral. Worse, he was a repeat offender, a man that was at least in his 30s if not older slurping it off of his fingers and all, sometimes while making eye contact with me or my coworkers. Worse, there was no enforced rule against doing so, at least at my location, so my manager just told me to let him do it, don't make a big deal out of it, and hope he doesn't bother anyone else.

That same manager once insisted on me making the place extra clean a little before Christmas, so they insisted that I use double the amount of cleaning bleach in the same bucket. I explained that's not how cleaning works or how OSHA compliance works. I got a write-up. I said that wasn't an offense that qualified for a write-up, and what they said was "thanks for the tip, I'll find something that is. Your word against mine."

That same manager punched me out early without telling me, because the place wasn't perfect enough before I left over an hour late, missing my family waiting to pick me up outside by that long to go out to do holiday stuff. I did call that in on the supposedly anonymous tip line later, but you can guess what happens when an anonymous tip about wage theft is called in on a manager that already knows who would call in that tip in a "right to work" situation.

That same manager was fired a week later for embezzlement, and not the cool kind. They were writing up and firing people for months for money missing from the register. I found out when collecting my last check and noticed someone new.

I guess I find the current obsession with russo-ukrianian conflict strange and maybe even counter productive given the tasks that are at hand right now like rebuilding the lefts organizational capacity creating local connections and services things that are more fun then watching a war you know from across the ocean or like cheer leading for brics or whatever because its not like that effects really anything unless leaders of foreign or a senator goes on hexbear which would be equally funny and maddening. I guess I don't just want to left to be a sub culture forever.

I work with two organizations in my area since they are the only to exist.

We got so much shit to do we need more people analyzing in real time and producing theory and praxis at the same time. You know walk and chew bubblegum, like I find it hard to find people besides like 3-4 American commentary that produce new Marxist anaylist on the current econmy.

If so, what did you think and is it worth picking up?

Mine's an easy pick that happened only a few days ago and it went something like this:

"Paying janitors and fruit pickers more won't actually improve their situation. I live in Germany where anyone can afford an apartment for only $800 a month. You live in the US where the GDP is much higher yet janitors and fruit pickers are still complaining because they are entitled. Your country basks in untold riches and even the poor are objectively richer there. Things are as good as they will ever be for those who do work that no one wants to do."

I could speak all day about it but I want to drive discussion, if you think a null point has been reached I also want to hear why you think capital has won and why the socialist moment past. I don't think that's the case for a variety of reasons but I want to drive some discussion.

Officially in my mid-30s and every year that goes by I realize more and more that friendships from the past, high school, university etc start to dwindle as people get older and are more set in their lives. I understand that's how life is, but the upsetting thing is realizing that these friendships are based on little more than hanging onto past experiences.

I realize that I have less and less in common with them and we generally don't share the same values. They are mostly run of the mill libs "normies" type of people. Sure that sounds obnoxious, but as I'm sure many of you understand, being a queer leftist means that you will never have the same experiences as these people. I choose the people I spend my time with and the places I go very carefully to maximize my safety and enjoyment out of hell world.

Sure it would be easy to write all these people off and just focus on my new friendships with people whom I have more in common with, but that's easier said than done. It feels wrong on some level to let these friendships go. Even if it's the other person coming to the same conclusion. It still hurts on some level.

How have you dealt with this situation? I highly doubt this is unique.

I recently read Torrey Peters INFECT Your Friends and Loved Ones and I really loved it! But I was wondering if there were other short-ish books or stories or whatever that were good, I don't really know in what vein or genre I'm looking for but I know I enjoyed this! Probably emphasis on queerness or if it's possible an emphasis on leftism and stuff.

It was a customer i had helped out at my job. They called me at my job. This seems likr some sort of scam.

I'm happy for them and want them to be happy but I have a very high risk of getting COVID at the event because my Family doesn't mask. I have health complications.

🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🔫😨🦠🕴️🕴️🦠🦠

For me the easiest tell is the up front, unprompted, and unsolicited declaration of nonpoliticalness. When someone takes the time and expends the breath to announce how nonpolitical they are, what follows is almost always a rant about how everything/everyone else is too political these days, and that of course leads into something between status quo advocacy and outright reactionary/regressive sentiments for some fabled time before those wicked politics were visible to the nonpolitical ranter.

People that are hostile to service workers. Some just want to take some ideological stand against tipping when the service worker doesn't really have a choice and needs those tips to survive in the current unjust system in a way where ideological purity gestures toward that service worker just look like being a greedy and sanctimonious asshole. The worst of such people will actually declare, shamelessly, that they believe that service workers don't deserve a living wage. The implications of that are worthy.

I may get shit for this, but I'll say it anyway: this hair and beard combo, seen on living people. I have yet to meet anyone in person with that look that wasn't a chud.

(If one of you is a comrade with that look, I am sorry in advance for the prejudice and if I ever meet you in person I will atone by buying you a drink or something.)

I'm pretty left, yada yada whatever, y'all seem to know things I wanna know. Curious where you get your info and such and so on. Idk show me stuff, I wanna depropagandize myself.

I'm not sure this happens irl. Is breakfast in bed a real thing or just tv? I don't want crumbs in my bed.

It's World Of Books for all you UK based bears - second hand books for pretty cheap. Buy 3 get one free - not outrageous I know but I like an excuse to get some books.

Anyway, I'm looking for some good leftist non-fiction book recommendations, and I trust you lot the most. Ye've never let me down on books so far.

Bonus points if they're specifically focused on C.I.A/imperialist interventions or South America. I've already decided I'm going to buy Washington Bullets by Vijay Prashad (unless one of y'all convinces me otherwise).

Cheers

Maybe I just watch a lotta vlogs, but the thoughts always come back to me. It's like my conscious mind can step back from the controls and watch my subliminal mind take over on auto-pilot. Without thinking about it, my body is taking care of my material needs, my space, keeping me fed and comfortable. That subliminal force is there all the time though, I just don't notice it. It has to be that way for everyone too right? 95% of our personal decisions throughout the day were based on subliminal thought & behavior patterns to keep us comfortable. Even the most spontaneous and erratic brain can only make a %5 sway on the ships course.

It's probably a politically self-interested affirming idea that weed unlocks the Marxism in all of us lol. But it feels nice to have a physiological experience resonate with my beliefs.

I’m in a small-ish org. There are about 60 members total, but only 10 are actually active in any way. There are another 15-20 or so who are semi-regulars, or who will sometimes attend meetings, or sometimes attend demonstrations or actions etc with us.

It’s gotten really bad over the past few years as people have sort of started fading away. People are flaky, and it routinely takes several weeks to get an answer or an update from some members for even trivial things.

Several of us have tried doing social activities of all kinds, but they always end up the same.

This gets really embarrassing when we try to do things with other groups and can’t muster the numbers to be effective.

We’ve tried to do outreach to members to see what’s going on, and we just get the same explanation - I’m busy.

Has anyone here faced something similar? Any tips to get us out of this rut?

So I got around to getting a new digitizer (screen) and replacement battery for an ancient iPhone and got them installed.

Question for those who've replaced digitizers...

Any ideas as to why the screen will behave as if its being touched in a bunch of places without actually being touched?

Its not all the time, maybe 2 or 3 times in a day. All I have to do is turn off the screen and wait a few seconds.

This is the second digitizer I've replaced but the first time I've had this issue. Mostly just curious if there someone more technically inclined/experienced with an answer other than guessing.

I assume mortgagors can't become squatters unless the bank is being negligent. But if two mortgagors swapped properties, would the adverse possession countdown start?

Edit: thanks! Y'all filled in my knowledge gaps

Got this for $10 at a flea market. I’m guessing the word in the center is “Democracy”? The guy I bought it from says he got it from a guy who emigrated from Russia in the 90s. A little googling says it’s from 1987. Just trying to figure out if it’s “pro-USSR” or given when it was made it’s not some pro-perestroika, pro-Gorbachev statement. It’s got the hammer & sickle so I think it’s the former but not 100% sure.

Basically… based or not based?

I have been noticing this tread over last couple years, I got introduced into leftistmin the 1980s various trot then weird maosist sects, now a days I could only describe my self as post left, you would have ask my postion on any topic to begjn to categorize me. I run with both the psl and dsa these days but im not married to them. To give context for me I dont want to make the new generation feel attacked in any way.

Anyhow the real question I have is: why are all the zooner seeming various Marxist leniinisims but with all the historical ml positions jumbled up into one not coherent thing like someone trying to rehabilitate stalin but in the same breath say deng is good and ok but krushchev bad and also Gorbachev bad Then they go on these really lengthy explanations about how it works because cited text out of context that im not sure they read it closely. Are young leftists reading theory togather in structured environments or is it all youtube and tiktocks? Im sorry if sound shrill and bad faith.

Most Christians will talk about "Gods Plan". Which makes sense to me, the Christian God is omniscient and omnipresent so he could have a super well laid out plan for every micro second of human history.

But like, doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of prayer? Like if a family member gets sick, what's the point to praying to God about it. Whatever happens is part of his "plan", so there really isn't any chance you're going to change his mind on whether Grannie is going to pass.

Same with things "going against Gods Plan". Gods plan should have every contingency accounted for, so it really shouldn't matter what anyone does. Is there a chance that if too many people are gay that will derail Gods plan and everything will be fucked? Or did Gods Plan account for me being a big gay commie? Is the idea that you can't fuck up Gods master plan, but if you do a bunch of weird crap God doesn't like it will throw things off slightly and God will have to compensate which he finds really annoying?

Communism has to emerge out of pre-existing social conditions. There is no point fantasising about a revolution that’s going to abolish families, for example.
Western societies are not necessarily all socially liberal, but that is the predominant culture. For centuries now, people have become progressively more tolerant. A majority of the non-boomer population at least have a strong “live and let live” attitude towards religion, drug use, sexual preference, immigration, sex work, etc. And Boomers are more tolerant than their parents generation too.
Some Western communists seem to have a disturbing enthusiasm for enforcing what they see as a good or moral lifestyle on other people. Ignoring any theoretical pragmatic necessities, the aim of a communist society is to guarantee freedom from economic exploitation, rather than impose additional moralities. And anyway, it seems an obvious strategic failure to go against the current of the time, and associate communism with social conservatism. Most social conservatives are going to be inherently anti-communist because communism is a poor vehicle for realising the kind of society they want.
Obviously personal freedoms are a secondary concern to ending exploitation and imperialism. However, it may not seem that way to liberals. Associating communism with social conservatism makes it anathema to the liberal portion of society and no more attractive to the conservative side. It is a complete own goal.