I was just perusing the modlog when I noticed something interesting. Apparently posting news about Gaza/Palestine is not allowed on !worldnews@sh.itjust.works. I decided to check the side bar and didn’t see anything. The only pinned post also does not indicate that this is not allowed
edit: the mod in question is @Eyekaytee@aussie.zone . sorry for not originally tagging. i hadn’t realized it was a rule that this must be done. i thought it seemed inappropriate since i was trying to initiate a conversation about a community’s rules and culture rather than start drama about an individual
Ah, why is it you defend Russia? Russia is an oligarchy that finds its riches in oil and fossil fuels. They’re not at all socialist.
I don’t think Russia has a good economic model, nor would I want to live there. I do think it’s forced strategically into trade with socialist countries, which is why it has a good relationship with countries like Cuba, and is working against western imperialism, which is the largest obstacle in the way of socialism worldwide. Additionally, support for socialism is rising over time:
So no, I don’t somehow think Russia is socialist still, but at the moment socialist countries benefit massively from Russian trade and from temporary alliance against the west.
Again with this stat? Maybe you should look for polls on how many Africans want to be back under colonial rule and see how wack this is
Are you still doing the thing where you equate two entirely different and incompatible things like doing Mad Libs is acceptable logic? Like, someone could say “solar energy is a good thing” and your rhetorical response would be “what if I replaced solar energy with ‘racism?’ Then wouldn’t you be saying racism is good?”
My point is that Russia has a rising socialist sympathy among the populace, which is true. We can point to their reasons being that capitalism has, by and large, been devastating for Russians, while socialism worked well. Colonialism, on the other hand, has been disastrous for its underdevelopment of Africa, and many of these liberated countries are under neocolonialism or imperialism to this day.
You really need to check your rhetoric, you were called out for this faulty “Mad Libs” logic already.
These things aren’t different wtf?!?
You’re talking about people that hold nostalgia to past regimes. This is the case in many African countries today. I’m trying to point out the idiocy of your statistic.
If you’re using that as a justification of return to the USSR, i can equally use it as justification of return to colonialism in Africa
what does it even matter, this has nothing to do with anything, cowbee supports socialism?
what exactly is your argument, that its bad that they’re supporting socialism because some people support colonialism?
cowbees argument is essentially they are bad but they help socialists and they may become socialist again, how is it relevant in any way that africa supports colonialism?
They didn’t even back up that claim, it looks like they made it up specifically as a counter-example for rhetoric.
Not at all. I don’t care what his aims are whether it were in justification of Nazism or feudalism. I’m saying it’s wrong to use nostalgia polls as evidence that anything should be pursued, because that would be lending credence to Africans who reminisce about the easy times under colonial masters and actively vouch for a return to said system
But he didn’t do that so…?
quote the part where he said we should do socialism because of a nostalgia poll?
Are you being intentionally obtuse?
That is the entire point of him citing that poll
No, these are entirely different things. You’re essentially saying that it is useless to take public opinion polling on whether they prefer socialism or capitalism because some people would say they prefer colonialism over neocolonialism or imperialism. Citing the fact that Russia has increasing support for socialism as proof of Russians having increased support for socialism is perfectly valid.
Taking your logic at face value, if someone said “I like chocolate,” your equivalent counter would be asserting that that’s the same as saying “I like fascism.” It doesn’t logically follow, the point is about Russians supporting socialism, which is increasingly true.
Citing the fact that Nigeria has increasing support for colonialism as proof of Nigerians having increased support for colonialism is perfectly valid.
This is your argument but for colonialism.
It’s quite impressive the mental gymnastics you’re using to avoid debating my actual claim which is clear as day to understand. The point is Nigerians supporting colonialism which is increasingly true
I’m not arguing for colonialism, I’m arguing for socialism, and the stat I gave was in the context of other points. Secondly, you gave no source on Nigerians wishing to return to colonialism, you made that up for your Mad Libs argument. You’re caught up in trying to point out hypocricy and false rhetoric that doesn’t exist.
I don’t need a source. Go to any African country and ask them whether they wish to return to colonialism.
I’m telling you using nostalgia as evidence to return to a system is faulty due to those that revere harmful systems as well. Hence my citing of Nigerians who revere colonialism.
Don’t know why it’s this difficult for you to grasp this point
Oh, Cowbee, you and your statistics! How disingenuous you are.
For starters, that sample size is minuscule at only 1000.
And unsurprisingly, more countries think the dissolution was a bad thing than a good thing. Of course, Russia thinks the USSR was good, they were the oppressors. Life under the Soviet Union was grossly oppressive for the peasants, and especially if your country was the victim of Russian imperialism. You couldn’t speak ill of the leaders, you had zero representation, and you faced the risk of your livelihood being ripped from you at any point. Your indigenous culture was even suppressed because it was considered anti-Soviet behaviour. There you go defending imperialism again, Cowbee.
And mind you, this is a survey before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine!
You’re right, that data is from before the Russo-Ukrainian war. It’s even higher now.
Over four years, more than 63,000 people have become party members, with most of the new recruits being young people under 30 and “people of prime working age.”
“We are now seeing not just nostalgia for the past, but a conscious choice by millions of citizens in favor of the socialist path of development,”
KPRF restored all ties with the Communist Parties of China, Vietnam, the DPRK, with Latin America, with Cuba, with Venezuela, with Nicaragua..
The expansion and astronomical growth of grassroot movements like the Inmortal Regiment. This movement grew so large that plenty of countries around the world organized a similar march. It started small until it grew in a international movement.
The imperialist siege intensified and forced Russia to look elsewhere which lead to their economy into allying with plenty of the global south. This allowed more cultural/ideological exchanges with China , Belarus, Cuba, Vietnam and the DPRK.
There are now Russian grassroot movements that boost programs such Youth exchange with Cuba and the DPRK.
Further, the USSR wasn’t imperialist. It had a publicly owned economy, and didn’t base its economy on international extraction. The peasantry saw dramatic material improvements, it was the kulaks, bourgeois farmers, that were oppressed. For the peasantry, they saw a doubling of life expectancy, massive development, free and high quality education and healthcare, a tripling of literacy rates, and more. National identities were preserved and strengthened, while trying to develop an internationalist “soviet” identity compatible with all.
Overall, the majority regret the dissolution of the USSR.
What are these sources, my man? You gonna link to RT News next? Am I gonna need an antivirus to check these out?
And again, no shit, Russia would want more soviet union, they were oppressors and imperialists. And the majority of countries do not regret the dissolution. And hey, glad you mentioned the DPRK. You must hate North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine, yeah?
Do you think the communists are in power in Russia? No, absolutely not, so why would they be lying about verifiable information on the strengthening of opposition movements to the current nationalists? Further, information on trade increasing with countries like Cuba, etc is backed up by non-Russian sources.
The USSR was not oppressive nor imperialist. You keep claiming this, but it’s wrong, the USSR did not run on international plunder, nor did it export capital, nor was it under the control of a financial oligarchy. Further, the vast majority of people, non-Russian included, regret the fall of the USSR.
I like to comfort myself by imagining that both of you are paid actors who make a living sowing discontent on Lemmy to prevent any chance of mainstream success for the platform.
Sadly, my rational assessment of the human condition compels me to believe that you are both entirely genuine, and just extremely confused and solipsistic. If you are indeed engaging in good faith, then I would pose the question of what you hope to accomplish by engaging in these idiotic, endless faux-debates.
Realistically, there is no arbitrator here; you are both entirely able to move the goalposts, recruit spurious evidence, ignore counterpoints, and generally make a mockery of a legitimate debate. Furthermore, you have a miniscule audience on this platform, greatly limiting the possibility of influencing third parties. Therefore, the only possible outcome of this interaction would be the outcome which has already been repeated ad infinitum on Lemmy and social media in general, namely the mutual exchange of insults, poorly constructed arguments, and badly sourced data.
What an interesting way to spend one’s life. As I said initially, it would be less painful to witness if I believed that you were accomplishing something such as the general suppression of Lemmy as a social media platform by creating a climate of negativity and conflict (even though I oppose that goal).
But realistically you are probably like the vast majority of people in that you are hopelessly incapable of judging the impact of your actions on the world and/or yourself, and you simply prefer to follow your baser instincts rather than take a step back and consider if there might be a more efficacious method of achieving your purported goals. Gives major punching a brick wall energy.
It’s much simpler, I’m a communist, and I try to do what I can to create more comrades. Many people have thanked me for helping change their minds, so I know it isn’t worthless.
Communism isn’t a deus ex machina that would make all human beings instantaneously happy if they were to simply accept it unquestioningly. For that matter, communism isn’t a comprehensive ideology at all, it’s more of a collection of theorems regarding the socioeconomic development and structure of society, many of which contradict one another.
It’s like a Christian who thinks they are inherently doing good by converting others to Christianity. You are taking a handful of decent theoretical ideas and imbuing them with the significance of divine revelation. Furthermore, you are arrogantly presuming that your flawed understanding of communism is the real communism, and discounting the possibility that other “communists” can easily interpret the ideology in such a way as to justify killing you due to your flawed understanding of communism. It’s an incredibly naive position that doesn’t withstand the most basic scrutiny.
Think about it like liberalism. The American and French revolutionaries claimed moral authority because they were overthrowing the hierarchical structures of feudalism and replacing them with republicanism, democracy, free trade, etc.
In retrospect, we can easily observe that these ideas and political movements, despite nominally being constructed to protect and enhance the freedom and equitability of human beings, have in reality created conditions which have massively infringed on the self-declared natural rights of human beings in ways that a feudal hierarchy could never have dreamed of accomplishing.
Likewise, even if society were to globally transition to communism, that would simply raise new problems and abuses of power that would need to be combated. In conclusion, “creating more comrades” is a futile and naive goal.
Additionally, there is a very convincing argument to be made that you have potentially pushed more people away from communism than drawn people towards communism, and you would obviously have no way of knowing whether or not that is true. From where I’m sitting, I see a lot more users who have blocked you and your ilk than those who have joined you, and my personal opinion of communism has grown significantly less favorable since I began encountering you people on Lemmy a few years back. But what do I know, I’m a dirty non-communist so therefore all of my thoughts and actions are clearly incorrect and evil in comparison to the enlightened and ethical behaviors of any individual who happens to adopt the moniker of communist.
God, ignorance really is bliss. What I would give to be simple-minded enough that I could ascribe a positive ethical value to something as utterly meaningless as “creating more comrades”.
So what’s your end goal here? What’s the communist endgame?
What do you expect instead? You can’t have a discussion with extremists.
I would just block and move on if I were you. Although I don’t hold myself to that same standard because sometimes I can’t resist interacting either, so I guess I can’t really criticize you too much.
Usually I try to just speak my piece and dip though, whereas you tend to get fully drawn into discussions with extremists much more frequently and extensively than myself, and indeed seem to seek such interactions out. Just seems like a waste of energy and not particularly beneficial for your mental well-being.
Which you never linked.
Aw nice! A source from 2013. Let’s have a look at a more up-to-date source and…
And notice how Cowbee is avoiding the question? He knows it’s not a good look – You must hate North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine, yeah?
I gave you sources, your only counter is that they are Russian so they can’t be trusted, despite verifiable evidence being within them. It’s all easily found on google, here’s an article from Reuters talking about Russian-Cuban trade increasing.
As for posting the same source on countries like Estonia opposing socialism, that doesn’t override that the majority of people support socialism. Countries like Estonia that celebrate Nazi collaboration of course have a reason to oppose socialism.
As for avoiding the question, no, I’m not. Russia and the DPRK have a mutual defense agreement, why wouldn’t the DPRK send its support? Trade with Russia helped the DPRK reach 3.7% GDP growth in 2024 as estimated by the ROK, it’s an immensely useful relationship for them.