MaoistLandlord

It is kinda subverted in Death Note.

Two Machiavellian rivals team up together and on the surface they’re chasing another enemy, but in reality they both know that it’s all a farce and they’re both the real enemy. Light infiltrates an investigation on him with fake friendship but real ego :keikaku:

When they find out who Light was and what he did, one of his own ‘friends’ immediately killed him

Monroe Doctrine and its consequences

Various CIA operations and planned operations that involved US citizens/US soil (Northwoods, drug trafficking, MKULTRA, and human experimentation in general - it goes beyond LSD)

Cuba’s MODERN literacy program and how it compares to western/capitalist programs (Cuba’s programs are being used by tens of millions of underserved people)

Superimperialism - how the US got off the gold standard and dominated the world with less overt war

Strategy of tension, GLADIO, blowback

The history of industrialization and capitalism. You can probably sneak in a little about how it’s time to find an “alternative”

Shock doctrine is post-communist states around the world

The Warlord Era of china (this one is wild)

China was a day ahead of us and didn’t warn us that 9/11 would happen

True but not all middle eastern socialists felt like atheism was necessary for their society to transition.

During the Cold War, socialism was spreading everywhere, including the Middle East. However, the US wanted to exploit the fact that socialism - on the surface - is an “atheistic” ideology. They tried pushing this aspect onto Muslim communities, making it seem like socialism is inherently incompatible with their beliefs, unlike capitalism which doesn’t care about what you believe. This meant the USSR was the biggest enemy because it was the largest socialist nation that was seeking to expand its influence

It was not just about ideology. The Middle East also produces a ton of oil which meant that if the USSR had influence there, they would control the flow of oil thus have a major advantage in war and production. The US spoke to the monarchs and secured a deal: constant oil and globally sold in USD in exchange for American military presence and weapons sales to stop socialism and SA becomes a regional power.

Various ME countries also disliked socialism and would help the US. But SA had the money and local influence to direct covert operations, and now they have every ounce of assistance available with the US.

Basically, the US helps the monarchs stay in control by keeping them happy to side with the US. Their shift towards China and the yuan is interesting. It’s opportunistic and I suspect they’ll go back to the US once they get pressured enough to satisfy SA’s demands. But right now both countries are trying to please the monarch so they continue to be propped up. They’re not phased by China’s hammer and sickle because they know China doesn’t care about regime change in the modern day. They just want the goods. However, the US wants to go scorched earth on anyone who doesn’t agree with them, and SA is wary of that as seen with its refusal to sanction Russia and getting sanctions themselves (thus going to China).

An analysis by an American Marxist professor from 1995, after reviewing the Secret Soviet Archives:

The worker - having been stripped of personal ambition and revolutionary fervor - is compelled to comfort the bourgeoisie at the expense of his home and dear mother. The bourgeoisie seeks to muddy the waters and create an identity full of illusions and fear, such that the worker conflates the happiness and goals of his boss as his own. Of course, the bourgeoisie is under no such illusion, for if the worker was happy - truly happy, that is, such that he is not starving and dreading over tomorrow’s rent - it would be the death blow to the exploitative and cruel ideology that supports his decadence and comfort.

You can easily tell if someone is truly seeking redemption by the way they react when people don't forgive them immediately just because they say "war bad, actually". Redemption is about doing the right thing to correct your past sins even if others no longer trust you, and forgiveness is up to the people you victimized and betrayed.

As for helping veterans, that's great and all, but I highly doubt the Black Panthers were just giving them free food and housing without educating them on why their actions in Vietnam were wrong and how they can atone for them.

And for the people going "we need military for a revolution." Correct, but take a look back in history. Almost all of the professional military were disillusioned with war or the state and/or starving to death. The communists won them because they promised to end pointless wars and provide food. Right now, your average soldier in the US military is quite comfortable. All they do is stand around on base, sit on a ship for 4 years, get free hot meals and play on their phones until their training session, and they WANT action because they're bored.

The ones who are disillusioned are the ones who fought and got nothing in return or wasted half a decade in service only to have 0 job training. The state isn't scared of those individuals because the majority of soldiers and veterans do fine, and if they aren't doing fine, they're still not angry enough to inspire regiment. And wrt the Black Panthers, they were doing this shit during a turbulent civil rights era where the government considered them the greatest threat - more than the Soviets - because they were uniting all sorts of marginalized people. What group or movement has that status today? Antifa? BLM? Lol.

I wouldnt mind if all conservatives moved there

During the 2020 lockdowns, there were some stores that hid empty shelves with posters of shelves with food. I came across a Reddit thread about this and some descendent of East Germans said “wow this is just like east Germany”

Then an actual ex-East German guy showed up and said “actually, it’s nothing like east Germany. There weren’t many options to choose from but no one ever starved or struggled to find a home.”

The descendent guy got upset and said “stop praising a murderous regime.”

Soviet preemptive invasion of Poland: bad

Soviet-British preemptive invasion of Iran: good

:us-foreign-policy:

It’s like being told as a foreigner that Americans are all fat and coming here and seeing a skinny guy and that makes you reject capitalism lol