Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, defined by the dominance of finance capital (over industrial capital) and its export from the imperial core to the periphery.

Neo-colonialism is a specific case of a relationship between an imperial core country and a periphery country, where the periphery country is nominally independent, and the imperial core country uses indirect means of intimidation (instead of direct colonial rule). I would also note that the terms neo-colonialism and colonialism center the colony/periphery, while imperialism centers the imperialist state. So it is still the same phenomenon, the terms just focus on different parts of the relationship.

How does avoiding any diplomatic solution to the conflict and encouraging Ukrainians to sacrifice themselves for "democracy" actually stop Russia from wiping out Ukraine? It seems that the EU has only exacerbated the destruction of Ukraine, no? And no I am not a big fan of Putin.

Yeah I feel like a lot of people miss that point. Wages are still low, especially outside major cities. Not to mention the unequal distribution. Also for instance the cost of living in Turkey is also lower than the West, but it doesn't mean that the people living there can actually afford it. It only serves westerners who get to spend a cheap vacation there.

Nolan infamously cannot write women, at all. It's like he descended from a womanless planet. scary stuff

very cool! always glad to see Leslie Feinberg's writing shared around

I really like her vids. This one is a pretty good distillation of the main points from the book A Decolonial Feminism which I also recommend.

the couple of soviet posters youve been posting recently are just gold. US politics havent moved a millimeter since 1950s

Ive read a few articles about using machine learning technologies in medicine (for finding tumors for instance) which actually made me quite optimistic about using AI beyond shitty capitalist grifts

But at what cost 😔

Between 1895 and 1945 Taiwan was occupied by Japan. Mao was at one point pro Taiwan independence from Japanese rule, since back then there was a strong anti colonial workers movement. After Japan capitulated, the island was given to ROC to occupy "on behalf of allied forces" (as declared by Gen McArthur). Then followed massive repressions of all leftist opposition. The ambiguous status quo since the 90s is that Taiwan retains its self governance, but foreign policy is steered by China.

Right now there are two major political parties in Taiwan: the pro independence DPP and pro status quo KMT. The left is extremely weak and divided. Imho, an independent Taiwan only serves US foreign interests, so would be skeptical of any movement that supports it. Taiwan's presidential elections are scheduled for January 2024, it is likely that DPP will hold on to the position. Their VP candidate is a former diplomat to the US. It is very obvious that their stance for independence is a stance for cozying up with the States.

To summarize, there was a period of time when an independent Taiwan would be in leftist interests, but at the moment that is not the case.

I can answer some of these from my perspective.

2. The way I see it, it is impossible to ignore the contradictions of capital for the human psyche, so something must be used to explain them. Because of the lack of education, corporate funded media etc. etc., the blame falls on immigrants and poor people. Also because of the widespread notion of the "middle class" nobody really sees themselves as the lower class.

3. I am not born in the empire but i do live in it. And i really don't like the exceptionalist attitude. Being ML doesn't make you a "chosen one" or the lucky few. In terms of common thread, it's material conditions necessary to be dissatisfied with status quo+ interest in history/politics.

i am pro website brutalism ( pretty cool website i found that collects this aesthetic https://brutalistwebsites.com/ )