this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024

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Leftism

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To end capitalism we need to ignore it. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/13355449

Capitalism is a game where only a few people get to win.

We have also seen time and time again that it is a game that is able to manipulate and change whatever ideology or behaviour you have to work towards its own benefit.

So the only way to actually "win" is to not play the game.

Right now that seems impossible because it is a massive collective action problem, however this whole platform is a testament to show that it's possible to overcome that kind of problem.

Reddit is a dominant platform that is starting to destroy itself. People are in turn finding alternatives such as Lemmy to satisfy the need that Reddit once did.

I view capitalism in the same way. It will never truly completely cease to exist (the same way Digg never truly died), but it can become irrelevant over time if we collectively decide to just use another system to satisfy the same needs that capitalism is satisfying today.

The one example that I can think of that tries to tackle this problem is the idea of free stores that are based on a gift economy. If more people decided to use this system instead of capitalism then capitalism will have less sway over people's lives.

And in the end it doesn't have to be specifically a free store that needs to be adopted by wider society but whatever it is does need to satisfy the same basic need that capitalism does in our current society.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Moving away from capitalist infrastructure and creating our own is certainly a step in the right direction but it's definitely not all there is to it.

There is little we can do without revolutionary action that will legitimately create a socialist society. We can make our lives better in the meantime through mutual aid, FOSS, community organization, and limiting our use of capitalist infrastructure when we can but ultimately our society is constructed in a way that forces us to engage in consumption.

No amount of subversion will allow us to separate the proletariat from the bourgeois class; they will not allow us to not consume. Laws would be put in place to prevent our attempts to undermine capital. FOSS would be dissolved, mutual aid programs are already often made illegal, community organization and collective action are infiltrated by feds and/or de-radicalized. We live under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and the laws that govern us reflect this. Only the toppling of this dictatorship can lead to a socialist society

Here's a fantastic read about this topic Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxembourg

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

limiting our use of capitalist infrastructure when we can but ultimately our society is constructed in a way that forces us to engage in consumption.

Yeah it does force us to engage but any action taken doesn't have to be a be all end all.

For example the trend of De-Googling your web experience isn't done all at once. It usually is just replacing google services with other options over time.

The same can be done with capitalism. Find other ways you can get what you need and replace capitalism with that other method.

Edit:

No amount of subversion will allow us to separate the proletariat from the bourgeois class; they will not allow us to not consume.

That is a little defeatist. Even though it seems like you still advocate for revolutionary action it seems like you think the bourgeois class is infallible which just seems to be wrong.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hey I made an edit with a book recommendation if you're interested.

I really do think reducing our use of capitalist infrastructure is fantastic so I don't want you getting the idea that I entirely disagree with you. This is praxis, it's just not enough unfortunately.

Really recommend the book, it isn't too long

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ok thx I'll take a look. Also what do you think revolutionary action would look like then?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Honestly in a place such as the imperial core I don't think it's truly possible for a long time. We will likely see revolution on the peripheries like Africa, Latin America, and some parts of Asia where it hasn't already happened. Thus weakening the power of the imperial core countries and allowing for eventual revolution in these places

It usually begins as mass protests/stikes over working conditions such as work hours and pay. You'll also see protest over the cost of goods but this is directly correlated to pay in a sense. This can eventually escalate into armed conflict given enough time, reason, and organization.

The most important revolutionary action in these times is education and radicalization. There have been plenty of revolutions that have been squashed or succeeded with very little material change to how things are run because the the revolutionaries were not organized under leftists ideology and because not enough were educated on how change was meant to be implemented. During Lenin's time he slaved away working on pamphlets and speeches as well as many other methods because he knew the importance of educating revolutionaries.

A great example of a failed opportunity for leftist revolution due to lack of education and organization is Arab spring

A great example for squashed leftist change likely due to lack of revolution allowing for a still powerful imperial presence is Allende's chile

If you're up for more reading material then book that radicalized me is blackshirts and reds by Michael parenti pdf audio

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There you are again! With that name its really easy to find you between comments! :)

I think your cautious position is great but it wont do a lot on its own. The second part to this is the driving force imo. Together they make great progress since one keeps it together and the other keeps it going. Otherwise one yells at clouds and the other one runs up the wrong hill.

I really think getting folks educated on where the world is heading and why is very important and will have huge effects over time.

Example: We‘ve had millions of people on the streets already (protesting against fascism). If each one of us educates 10 people a year, we grow exponentially. Math is our friend here.

What we need are priorities. I believe that we have many problems rn but we need to tackle the ones we can change and the most critical first.

So my personal agenda rn is:

stay healthy (body and mind)
tackle problems that endanger me
tackle problems of my neighborhood
tackle problems of my city

And so on and so forth. Things that I cant change need to take the backseat since otherwise I‘m gonna burn out and do nobody any good.

Feel free to debate me on this. Have a good one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yoooo what's up haui, feel like I see you find me everywhere lol.

No need to debate, I agree completely. Community action should start on a local scale and doing what you can to help yourself and your local community is fantastic. I personal find education to be very cathartic and I'll often talk to the friends that will listen about leftists theory as well as the current state of the world.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

That sounds awesome! I‘d really like to listen in on such a discussuon. Feel free to hit me up.

I‘m currently making myself public enemy number one somewhere because I said the terms (left, right, conservative, liberal, progressive) are actually counterproductive imo since they get misused so much and most dont know what it means anyway (or what the other person means by it). I think we should agree on policies instead of fight over terms.

Imo the real enemy are those who suck up all the value we produce and own our media corporarions to pit us against each other. And although I consider myself strongly on the left, conservatives agree with me on this, which kind of proves my point.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

docker-compose stop capitalism