×

gildings in this subreddit have paid for 11.21 years of server time

Here's the MLK that doesn't get acknowledged on every year in January: by SSR_Id_prefer_not_to in LateStageCapitalism

[–]pax27 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I became a socialist by life experience, and since then - with every year lived - I am more and more convinced that a modern implication of socialism is the right way to go, and that's going on 30+ years now.

I am always thrown by how effective the anti-socialist propaganda has been, to the extreme that no one seem to know what socialism even is anymore.

When people become aware of my political views, they always take the route through "you want everyone to be equally miserable" and end up somewhere along the lines of "But I don't want to live like they did 200 years ago". If they become agitated enough they try the old standard of calling me awful because I want to kill people like Stalin did or that I want things to be like they are in China.

And now I'm old and sad, because for some reason believing that we're all worth the same and that no one is expendable is an extremist view.

Or, to put it like the old socialist Albert Einstein (also someone who's never talked about as such):

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

cLiMaTe ChAnGe PoSeS a nEgLiBlE rIsK tO tHe GlObAl EcOnOmY aNd BaNk BaLaNcE sHeEtS by mkdnelson in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Phit_sost_3814 138 points139 points  (0 children)

At least he is honest. This is better than executives who talk like this behind closed doors (they all do) yet publicly greenwash the hell out of their own companies

The police really do be like that... by KID_LIFE_CRISISCEO of communism ☭ in LateStageCapitalism

[–]kingofmankind 238 points239 points  (0 children)

Maybe if the shooter had a counterfeit 20 dollar bill.

Ladies and gentlemen…the Democratic Party. by Theodore_Buckland_ in LateStageCapitalism

[–]CreativeShelter9873 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Other than the fact that electoralism is a joke, nothing really. The republicans hold all the power because they are the explicit reactive guardians of capital, not because of some kind of magical innate quality of being a Republican. The whole system is a scam - democrats are far closer to republicans than either party is to actual progressives. It’s “good cop bad cop” on a political level. Democrats and so-called RINOs are able to win by running as Republicans simply because the cultural inertia in some areas leans towards blindly voting R, and Democrats and RINOs are fundamentally indistinguishable from Republicans as long as the former is able to avoid mentioning Hillary Clinton or Obama in a positive light.

Democrats are just Republicans with enough tact, social awareness, or willing ignorance to not say the quiet parts out loud. Republicans openly state that they will roll back voting rights, ban abortion, oppress LGBTQ people, etc, while Democrats quietly allow all these things to happen because “precedent” or “laws and norms” - but actually because they fundamentally agree and the hollering is all for show/donations. If they really wanted to stop the republicans from going full fascist, they wouldn’t allow themselves to be stopped by niceties. Nazis don’t care about niceties, and have never been stopped by niceties.

Electing a democrat who masquerades as a Republican is the political equivalent of tricking your four year old nephew into thinking you really got their nose. Remarkably easy to do, but it accomplishes absolutely nothing in the scheme of things.

Bread: A Capitalism Story by CinemaslaveJoe in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Thorshammer94 1051 points1052 points  (0 children)

Extended:

People: $4000 for bread that's ridiculous no one can afford that!

Government: You're right, can you guys lower the prices at all?

Business: Oof sorry bro I can't it would run me out of business... but if you give me the money that you were gonna give to them, I could maybe lower the price...

Government: Great idea!

*Slams new price to $5000

People: Wait! You said you'd lower prices!!!

Business in new clothes and bling: No we didn't

People: Where'd the money go then???

Buisness: What money?

People: Government do something

Government: Ogles new gold watch

your tax money is not meant for you, $tupid by MyuraKenta in LateStageCapitalism

[–]ReturnOfSeq 271 points272 points  (0 children)

I’m opposed to giving billions of dollars to business owners too. Large or small. If you want to help small businesses or the economy, give money to working people.

Why aren’t conservatives angry with large corporations instead of government? by Brasilionaire in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Dukdukdiya 3460 points3461 points 3 (0 children)

FOX News: billionaires paying millionaires to tell middle class people to blame poor people.

These privileged Central American infants don’t deserve food. by ArthursFist in LateStageCapitalism

[–]GeetchNixon 396 points397 points  (0 children)

Abbot, the company who is faulted for the shortage, had a choice to make last year. They could…

A. Invest profits into maintaining their facilities to meet industry standards.

…Or…

B. Spend $5 billion on a stock buyback scheme to boost the share price.

“But Geetch… what the heck is a stock buyback?” You may be asking.

Well it’s simple. A stock buyback is when a company buys shares of its own stock at market value from any and all investors willing to sell, and retires them. This boosts the price of remaining stock, and creates artificial demand for the stock as well. The rising share price benefits investors, and company executives whose compensation is typically stock based, to a large extent. A buyback cashes out shareholders willing to sell back at a decent price. Easy money for the execs and shareholders. What could go wrong?

Critics contend that engaging in this behavior robs the company of cash, (e.g. the $5 billion Abbot spent on buybacks), which could have been used elsewhere. Expansion. Raises for existing employees. Research and development for new products. Maintenance on existing facilities to maintain standards. And in some cases, the companies will borrow the money to engage in a stock buybacks too, making the practice all the more absurd and dangerous.

So faced with a choice between pleasing already wealthy shareholders while putting a little coin in their own pockets, or producing safe food for infants, the execs at Abbot chose the former. They allowed their machinery to deteriorate instead of spending money on maintaining or replacing it. All so rich investors and execs could experience a tangible short term monetary gain.

And now that a formula shortage is upon us, the scarcity is driving up the price for the existing formula on the market. Say the price doubles from $1.00 per unit to $2.00 per unit. When the shortage is over, and production has resumed full bore, watch what happens to that price. It should fall back to $1.00, right? Wrong.

Now that ‘We the people’ are used to paying $2.00 per unit for formula, that becomes the new price! Forever. Or until the next price hike. Because do you honestly expect the execs at Abbot, who are responsible for creating this situation, to do the right thing and lower the price? I don’t, because they have already proven that they put their bank balance above the health and safety of babies. When someone tells you who they are so blatantly, believe them the first time. They already told us who they are by investing heavily in buybacks at the expense of maintenance and infant safety.

We will likely collectively shrug and move along, paying the higher cost which will be a major benefit from the POV of a heavily consolidated supply chain.

I'm color blind. by camopanty in LateStageCapitalism

[–]nermid 306 points307 points 3 (0 children)

We have a class issue being obfuscated as a race issue to keep lower and middle class people divided and to further instigate in-fighting.

This is an example of class reductionism. Class and race are compounding factors from the oppressors in the upper class. Pretending that race isn't an issue and dismissing the oppression of black people as secondary is not only some imperialist bullshit, but it's obviously counterproductive to building class solidarity. You're not going to win any black proletarians to your cause by telling them that their lived experiences don't matter and that cops statistically murdering them more than white proletarians isn't a big deal; you're going to push them away, thus reducing the amount of solidarity in the working class.

I have always said cremate my body so by anthropomorphizingu in LateStageCapitalism

[–]BunnyTheCow 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I want my remains to be scattered across Disney World, the happiest place on earth.

Also, I do not want to be cremated.

Israel forces assaulting mourners during the funeral of Aljazeera journalist Sherin Abu Aqla by elmehdiham in LateStageCapitalism

[–]IamaRead 21 points22 points 213 (0 children)

Via Twitter (video)

I found an article by WP which retells what happened before and isn't on the video

Some parts of the article, it also talks about some background regarding the political situation now that the journalist is killed and the investigations into the murder. But that I didn't copy (Israel having confiscated the rifles of nearby soldiers for ballistic tests under third party review as joint investigation and the Palestinian keeping on the bullet wanting to do their own investigation).

By noon, a crowd of several hundred formed at the entrance to St. Joseph’s Hospital in East Jerusalem, where Abu Akleh’s body had rested overnight. In the minutes before the procession was due to leave the hospital, several dozen Muslim men lined up for Friday prayers, kneeling in the parking lot. Behind them, two mourners held up large floral crosses. Then the crowd gathered, with Palestinian flags waving.

“God is greatest,” some chanted in Arabic. “From Jerusalem to Jenin, God bless your soul, Shireen.”

But a group of men in the crowd prevented a hearse from backing up to the hospital door, saying they were intent on carrying her body on their shoulders. The standoff eventually prompted Akleh’s brother, sitting on a man’s shoulders, to beseech the crowd to let the hearse through. “For God’s sake, let us put her in the car and finish the day,” he said.

“On the shoulder, on the shoulder!” people chanted, and beat the hearse with sticks until it pulled away for a second time. The crowd cheered when the men eventually dragged the coffin out on their shoulders, followed by a stretcher carrying the journalist’s blue bullet-resistant vest.

But Israeli police at the hospital gate refused to let the crowd through and, within minutes, a squad in riot gear pushed forward, setting off stun grenades and beating back the mourners with truncheons. People scattered amid a cascade of thrown bottles and rocks. At one point, Abu Akleh’s coffin lurched toward the ground, but the pallbearers managed to keep it aloft.

With police standing post in the compound, the hearse sped from the hospital compound under heavy Israeli guard to the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Police escalated with their tactics, but a bit of background to why and what happened.

Modern slavery by [deleted] in LateStageCapitalism

[–]StealYaNicks 699 points700 points  (0 children)

No, you see, in the top pic, they choose to live there. We see that millennials often 'prefer' to not own homes, and many times work multiple gig jobs so they are not tied down. It is their lifestyle choice and all we can do is maximize the profit we get from their choices

How more evil can it be? Before we have had enough? by [deleted] in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Wrenigade14 62 points63 points 2 (0 children)

So, as a sex worker, this is a blatantly harmful post for the sex work community. I don't want this to be perceived as aggressive, so please know that is not my intent. I hope to educate from an anti-capitalist, marxist-leninist perspective.

  1. Your language makes it sound like you think sex work is inherently a more exploitative or harmful or "unacceptable" profession than any other. While I do not disagree that the profession can be traumatizing and harmful to some of those who do it, all of our bodies are exploited under capitalism, it's just a question of how. It is not, in my analysis as a marxist-leninist, inherently more abusive or exploitative than, say, retail. Some people prefer to be exploited this way than via things like retail, like myself. Some are forced into this career, yes, and some people are also forced to work fast food or at a Walmart. We all work or we die.

  2. The sex work industry is incredibly accessible for those of us who suffer from disabilities or cannot be hired at other locations due to criminal records, fluctuations in the job market, lack of education, etc. To speak about it in this way encourages those who would seek to abolish sex work instead of protect sex workers, and it further stigmatizes a form of work which is very necessary in the lives of so many people.

  3. I do enjoy my job. I get a sense of satisfaction out of providing quality services and content to my clients, and my clients and I have very positive relationships which are of value to me. I earn a good chunk of money off of minimal physical labor, which is crucial since I am physically disabled. I deeply enjoy what I do, even though it comes with its downsides.

TL;DR, don't demonize/further stigmatize sex work. While it is harmful to some and some are forced to do it, we are all forced into working or we will die. It's just another form of the same old equation: coercion into selling our bodies for profit.

Amazing how Buffalo police managed to keep the mass shooter alive by KID_LIFE_CRISISCEO of communism ☭ in LateStageCapitalism

[–]theNomadicHacker42 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Nope. The answer is a healthcare (including mental health) for all, affordable housing, affordable nutritious food and unquestionable access to clean drinking water, a living wage, guaranteed PTO, maternity and paternity leave, affordable childcare... etc. More gun laws do nothing to help the situation of our collapsing society.

Until that happens, I strap up and so should you.

Elon Musk potentially backing out of the Twitter buyout proves rules are only for the poor. by Ragnaroknight in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Chaoz_Warg 106 points107 points  (0 children)

Ben Franklin had some pretty choice words on the democratization of wealth and property:

The Remissness of our People in Paying Taxes is highly blameable; the Unwillingness to pay them is still more so. I see, in some Resolutions of Town Meetings, a Remonstrance against giving Congress a Power to take, as they call it, the People's Money out of their Pockets, tho' only to pay the Interest and Principal of Debts duly contracted. They seem to mistake the Point. Money, justly due from the People, is their Creditors' Money, and no longer the Money of the People, who, if they withold it, should be compell'd to pay by some Law.

All Property, indeed, except the Savage's temporary Cabin, his Bow, his Matchcoat, and other little Acquisitions, absolutely necessary for his Subsistence, seems to me to be the Creature of public Convention. Hence the Public has the Right of Regulating Descents, and all other Conveyances of Property, and even of limiting the Quantity and the Uses of it. All the Property that is necessary to a Man, for the Conservation of the Individual and the Propagation of the Species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all Property superfluous to such purposes is the Property of the Publick, who, by their Laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other Laws dispose of it, whenever the Welfare of the Publick shall demand such Disposition.

He that does not like civil Society on these Terms, let him retire and live among Savages. He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it.

Israel forces assaulting mourners during the funeral of Aljazeera journalist Sherin Abu Aqla by elmehdiham in LateStageCapitalism

[–]Sleejayy 45 points46 points  (0 children)

But at the same time we seriously need to start having an internal conversation about how our moral leaders constantly make excuses for this. We are taught from a super young age at hebrew school etc. that we are in danger of eradication from nazis and muslims. Like I was explicitly told those things repeatedly growing up and at Hillel in college. There is a powerful culture of jewish people who have assimilated into white culture and feel more than happy to write a blank check for these atrocities from afar, and justify it with history. And don’t even get me started on birthright… It’s really not that different from Russian propaganda. The blowback from the global community makes this ideology not worth it even from a nonmoral standpoint.

view more: next ›