fellagha

joined 1 day ago
[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 37 minutes ago

The US aside, this'll certainly also deal a huge blow to Europe's military industrial complex in the making.

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Late stage capitalism. Also, "people" here applies mostly to the working classes in Western countries, and to an extent, some in the Global South with more significant levels of urbanization. Alienation under late stage capitalism and the US-led neoliberal world order leads to ever increasing precarity and desperation amongst the working class all over the world, as we face crisis after crisis, which is now worse than ever (and nothing new, obviously). In the imperial core, or the Global North (Anglosphere, Western Europe, North America), the dynamic is largely different than it is in the Global South, because every single aspect of life in these countries has become almost completely commodified and controlled by capitalist monopolies or duopolies alongside the death of "localism", in simple terms, sucking the joy out of life through profit maximization more than ever before. As fewer and fewer people control more and more wealth, in addition to costs of living skyrocketing through inflation, austerity measures, economic warfare (only to be worsened as far as the US goes following the latest stupid tariffs), leading to even more price gouging, this means that people need to take up an increasing number of jobs, or simply begin working longer hours (in addition to pension and other social security vanishing), leading to prolonged burnout and severe mental health issues, which also negatively impacts social lives through atomizing social structures. There's no doubt that this results in these "mental illnesses", though I've kind of observed that this term is often used in a very bigoted and ableist fashion that lacks nuance.

In the Global South, on the other hand, these dynamics occur differently. Many of us here have only known colonialism, imperialist destabilization, and exploitation in our countries, meant to stifle our socioeconomic development for the benefit of the imperial core, the same countries now suffering this perceived "social decay" the question concerns. We aren't living through "decaying" labor aristocratic capitalism, unlike the imperial core which attained its "high standards of living" through imperialist superprofits and exploitation, meaning slight breadcrumbs could be distributed to the working class in these countries to placate them and prevent them from gaining class consciousness by offering them a nice, mortgaged house, jobs in the service sector, consumerism derived from overproduction, etc. — instead, we're living under neocolonialism. This has an adverse effect at the same time, with the primary dialectic here being that, despite us still living under capitalism and thus still being vulnerable to its internal contradictions, we still retain degrees of non-atomized social structures more "free" of alienation, as well of subsistence-based lifestyles based on cooperation — in my country, for example, the informal economy is pretty much omnipresent.

It's not a binary. It's proof that capitalism needs to go. Basically, to summarize the above: You either live in a "developed" society where you enjoy temporary privileges and economic prosperity attained through imperialist superprofits that ever so slightly trickle down to you — but capitalist decay and crisis is inevitable and will only worsen for the working class which has no material interest in this mode of production (Global North / imperial core)

..or you live in poverty, IMF-imposed SAP austerity measures meaning zero social services (privatised and sold to imperialist financial cartels), and the economic dependence of your country on imperial powers (France, US, broader West) caused by the same force that leads to the temporary material privileges of the working classes in the Global North, yet your social structures aren't atomized (meaning no or less significant emergence of hyper-individualism in society, as seen in the West), because you're literally forced to cooperate socially as opposed to engaging in competition or wage slavery in the typical sense (the norm under capitalism) not to build a better world but to merely subsist (Global South / imperial periphery).

In both scenarios, though, there are no people in power looking after you - and most importantly, your class is not in power of the state.

Also, a relevant video video came to mind about this

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 18 hours ago

Every major Palestinian political figure part of the resistance will remain jailed as all of this is, as always, on imperialist terms. Even if Hamas will try to bring negotiations to their advantage as much as possible, it will mean no more than minuscule concessions. An "erasure of Palestinian politics", to paraphrase Vijay Prashad. Regardless, "ceasefire", because it really is no more than that when we're speaking of settler colonialism and genocide. The Oslo Accords were always a joke, as history teaches us that you don't "negotiate", or "engage in dialogue" with oppressors; you resist and crush them. Yet watch the "international community" rhetorically invoke the "two state solution" again in 3....

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 18 hours ago

I didn't, really. Barely ever used Reddit to begin with. I just wanted a platform to chat and engage with every now and then, and this federated, decentralized alternative is principally superior and is a historical necessity. The reason you "struggle" is because Reddit wants to keep you trapped in its ecosystem and addicted by centralizing online communication spaces.

Already wrote this somewhere else, but might well share it here: Reddit is a cesspool US deep state cut-out propaganda and censorship platform like all of these US-based platforms are, they answer to the US state dept and empire and we all know it. Doesn’t matter if it’s META, X or Reddit (and fuck, Google and YouTube obviously) - they all follow the same line. They’ll crack down on leftist subs, even r/russia due to the official US position, yet keep racist Western subs around (like r/europe) and other liberal shitholes of all kinds I don’t give a shit to even name or remember, even fascist subs and of course the genocide apologists on r/“israel”.

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

If we do the math with the official death toll so far into this genocide, it amounts to one Palestinian killed by the Zionist entity roughly around this minute mark every hour. But I don't think there's any place for an "or" in this matter, as injury is, let's be real, pretty much constant with the relentless destruction and massacre that the settler colonial Zionist entity constantly engages in. It also doesn't even take into account gradual injury due to disease, starvation, and lack of healthcare.

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

This is an incredibly naïve understanding of how branding and human cognition work. To claim a corporate logo is a "neutral placeholder" is to ignore the entire multi-trillion dollar industry of marketing and the last century of psychological research.

A logo is not a "placeholder" but instead it's the visual distillation of a brand's entire propaganda campaign.

Every commercial, billboard, and sponsored post you've ever seen for that brand has worked to create a subconscious association between that symbol and a set of feelings, aspirations, or identities (Nike = "achievement", Coca Cola = "taste", Apple = "innovation/creativity", and whatever other crap). Seeing the logo fires that neural pathway without the "prerequisite" for a full ad. The commercial already happened in our heads, across years. And it still constantly does under capitalism, hence commodity fetishism is a thing.

The primary goal of all advertising is not to make you buy something right now, but to ensure their brand is the first one you think of when you have a need. A logo constantly flashing in your visual field does exactly that. It's a maintenance ad, whether deliberate or not, keeping the brand's presence active in your subconsciousness.

It is a territorial claim on mental space, and by arguing that their symbols have a right to exist in our public and digital spaces "just for identification," corporations are claiming a right to permanent, free real estate in our minds.

It's almost like calling a national flag of any country "just a piece of colored cloth" because it ignores the immense weight of symbolic meaning, cultural conditioning, and ideological power that whatever given symbol carries. In this case, it's a flag that flies not for a nation or people but for the empire of capital. Even if it was a defunct company, it still once served this purpose, even if now "retired."

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 21 hours ago

And it appears that some people act like this foolish ultra is redeemed because he points out the obvious.

This all boils down to one thing, and that's the phenomenon of controlled "opposition".

"...reformism, even when quite sincere, in practice becomes a weapon by means of which the bourgeoisie corrupt and weaken the workers. The experience of all countries shows that the workers who put their trust in the reformists are always fooled."

-Lenin, Marxism and Reformism.

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 23 hours ago

ماشاءالله

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 23 hours ago

They never tell you who this "freedom" is intended for. They just isolate the word and dilute it of its meaning.

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

It proves there's a difference between a war and a genocide, with said genocide being complementary to settler colonialism too.

[–] fellagha@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 day ago

The US working class has been subjected to opium addiction. The US ruling class is subjecting itself to copium addiction.

 

The song "Ween el Malayeen," in English "Where are the Millions" was written by the Libyan poet Ali alKilani during the First Intifada (~1987 - 1993). He wanted it to be in classical Arabic with well-known words that could be understood all across West Asia and North Africa. It was aimed at the leaders of these nations to condemn and question their silence on the Palesinian cause. Their silence, as we all know, has only gotten worse since then due to continued Western imperialism, Zionist divide-and-rule tactics, and US regime change operations.

Omar alJaffori, the composer and melodist, intended for the song to be performed by three singers from different West Asian and North African countries, symbolizing borderless unity and solidarity.

These are the three female singers we see here:

Sawsan Hamami from Tunisia, Julia Boutros from Lebanon, of a Christian background, and Amal Arafa from Syria

The song itself references verses from the Qur'an, specifically Surah Al-Fil (The Elephant). The verses recount the story of Abrahah's Abyssinian army attacking Makkah to destroy the Ka'bah using war elephants, but flocks of birds carrying stones of baked clay came and defeated the invaders.

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

Not really "Games" related, but besides well established Marxist channels like Hakim, Lady Izdhihar, and Yugopnik, as well as news outlets like Breakthrough news, Mintpress, Grayzone, Mondoweiss, etc.. Some of mine but far from all:

Indie Nile is pretty good. A Palestinian drag artist who makes videos talking about Palestine, the Zionist entity and Western double-standards.

This guy is very informative when it comes to the perspective of the former eastern Ukraine which were liberated, particularly Mariupol and countering Western propaganda regarding the proxy war. Not explicitly a leftist but still enjoyable to watch.

DPRK Explained for learning about the DPRK.

Another DPRK channel

A channel uploading old radio broadcasts mostly from West Asia and North Africa, but also others including Cuba The Libyan Jamahiriya uploads are of particular interest, and there are also ones from various SSRs.

Channel archiving and preserving Jamahiriya-era Libyan revolutionary media, very important.

Mostly shorts-content based news channel focusing on the AES Sahel states recommended for those wanting to keep up with the news there. Not perfect but provides a good overview for further reading.

Channel about Mahmoud Darwish poetry

Ambient videos based on historical scenes and atmospheres

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