darkernations

joined 1 year ago
[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Pick a youtube video where you think you are learning something... and then write a bullet point essay on it by hand from the perspective of things you are interested in (or even just general critique), with further questions for research in the margins or in parantheses.

If you wanted to make a regular thing about this then get a blank/lined/square (squared is sometimes better for diagrams and what not) notebook, leave the first two pages blank for the contents section. Every page gets a number and you title the essays - write that title in the contents page with with its corresponding page number so you have a reference - and as you write your essay you can reference other essays you have done.

This will slow down how much youtube you watch, you will be more selective about what you watch, and you will find learning/retention accelerate. And hopefully get rid of the burn out feeling.

Then you can write essays on your essays (say a theme or a new idea or analysis you have picked from parts of other essays). And if you feel any of them are good enough then upload them to say substack or medium etc. Then critique those essays you have written, let's say in 6 months time.

With stock footage and videos, and even AI (or personally shoot videos/animate), you could turn the essays into youtube videos yourself.

Or you know... don't watch youtube :)

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

(1) why may people get more reactionary as they get older in the west (let's say compared to these Indian farmers)? [Hint: it's to do with their relation with private property]. Why do you consider that the default to compare to other countries? [Especially when that fallacy was pointed out to you to for you to look up further]

(2) why then did you not bother investigating further before doubling down?

(3) you think I am being harsh? The socialist organisation in India is despite it being a capitalist hellhole with fascist hindutva normalised. They don't just protest, they are deeply networked with overground and underground political movements. They put westerners who have significant more privilege and access to way more wealth to shame. And that is the eurocentric bias I am critcising you on.

If you're meant to be an ML you should really investigate and you should also consider why you have your biases (hint it is not to do with any perceived lack of intelligence; you should be confident in your intelligence but question the systems that made you think a certain way). Someone implies you are racist? Consider the class colloboration perspectives on why that maybe the case. The only racism that matters is the prejudice with power; everything else is liberal hogwash.

I am a westerner and I have not undone being one; which means no matter what I may identify as between my ears I am a cog of racist machine that exploits the Global South - the only real hope of undoing that is through organisation. It is patronising to disparage those from the south who do socialist organising through difficult circumstances and use the lens of those more privileged (who do significantly less) to judge them by.

It is true you don't know me from Adam but you can look at my history if you want where I come down on hindutva freaks and apologists like a tonne of bricks. This, however, means jack-all with theory of political change but I thought I'd mention it for context and perspectives.

We are all learning here. You should learn from this too.

Edited: removed the gratituous swearing, if you're not a native anglo-speaker it could be distracting (or not)

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

What a pile of (racist?) nonsense. I gave you examples but instead of furthering your research you decided to call it quits after reading the samples. It's unbelievable the amount of orientalism even on an ML site. You're not really giving the impression you are worth convincing otherwise. As bad as India is westerners and their bootlickers are the worst.

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 1 week ago

I would argue they don't understand even basic science.

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Even if they take a bio-essentialist paradigm (which is unscientific and undialectical anyway) they will have a hard time explaining themselves out of genetic penetrance. They're about as scientific as so-called "race science"; it's just another vehicle to channel their insecurities as violent supremacism.

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

If the older generation is more radical than the youth, the already fascist and insane Indian society really has no hope left.

(1) Why aren't there more older folks marching similarly in the west? This should be more normal given demographic shifts.

(2) you're not looking hard enough at the extent of organisation (this was a just an example of a quick search for sources in English):

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Hw4at0DyZWM

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/28/how-a-communist-youth-organization-in-kerala-raised-usd-1-4-million-for-covid-19-relief/

Yes India has a significant hindutva fascist cesspool. But it also has some of the largest socialist organising (outside of China of course) in the world.

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

"Rachel Reeves was confronted by a mother over Labour stance on Palestine":

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zi7xTrUqPao

"Rachel Reeves just destroyed disabled people’s lives AND public services in one fell swoop":

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/03/26/rachel-reeves-spring-statement-dwp/

Absolute scum.

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

There's going to a be tipping point if that they make enough people "illegal" and desperate too quickly then there will be national militant action against the state. There will not be enough ICE agents to stop that. Unless there's another FDR to allow factions of capital to save itself from the others' shortsightedness (from a capital perspective).

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

https://lemmygrad.ml/post/8357375/6623393

The above videoer is correct in that it is a different perspective from outside of New York and Mamadani may well make the poorest New Yorkers' lives less miserable.

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Nah just the tweet.

He explicitly says he is not a communist. "Democratic socialists" are just effectively socdems no matter how much they say they don't like capitalism or the billionaires (you could argue the focus on the billionaire over capital, and with that the lack of dissection of the reactionary masses that make up Americans, is in itself not scientific socialism - though I am not necessarily saying Mamdani is doing this currently). He sounds significantly better than a lot of american politicians but that's because the bar is set so low. Unless marxist-leninsts take oppurtunity, for example using Mamdani's political campaign (or even without), to organise both over and underground then this will amount to not much. Waiting for his campaign to bleed over to ML is a lost cause and idealism.

Doesn't mean we can't enjoy the spectacle of the backlash.

(As a thought exercise consider if he becomes wildly successful FDR-style and his local movement becomes national and eradicates poverty in the US; will this then help destroy American global hegemony or help further cement it? Why scandinavian countries despite having the some of the best HDI not a threat to imperialism? Why are concessions to workers in the imperial core not a threat to global south superexploitation?)

https://redsails.org/concessions/

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

~~If this isn't just rhetoric then then it is definitely a step in the right direction despite the pitfalls of electoralism under capital.~~ (My westernism is creeping up on me again.)

[–] darkernations@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Nothing major: should be searchable on his twitter profile ("usaid") referencing the guardian article:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/04/usaid-latin-americans-cuba-rebellion-hiv-workshops

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