Damn if we're so important then maybe the democrats should try harder to win us over.
Zuzak
joined 4 years ago
Tfw your subscription-based private court rules that weapon emplacements pointed directly at your neighbor's house are not a NAP violation 
Omg that's like straight out of a movie. I've seen that "too young, too simple, sometimes naive" quote before but I had no idea that's where it's from. I love it.
I don't think we even have emotes for those guys, and we have a million emotes!
My impression was both of then were fairly boring technocrats but I'm interested to learn more about this magic toad wizard.
Yeah it's like, typing this out really drew my attention to how much conversations about China are dominated by random noise that's largely insignificant or bullshit. It's always this 24 hour news coverage level of analysis, with no actual study of history or major trends and themes. Hell I realized myself the other day that there were two leaders between Deng and Xi who I couldn't name and know basically nothing about.
I think that most people fall into certain ideological traps that allow them to simplify narratives to the point of never really feeling the need to study anything, in part because the world is just so big that it's hard to actually be informed about things. You never have to decide how you feel about specific events in China's history if you just scream "CHINA BAD" every time it comes up, and that's a whole lot of history you never have to bother learning now.
Well, on the one hand, you have an old book you might read all the way through once (but probably not) that says to be responsible stewards of the earth. But on the other hand, you have people on the TV every night telling you to support whatever makes corporations the most money.
Old ideas can have value but it's hard to compete with new ideas when those new ideas have a lot more money and can be crafted to appeal to a specific audience (regardless of what's true).
this is not an AO3 goth furry rp
Well maybe... maybe it SHOULD be!
:::spoiler I'll offer my own answers as well.
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The CPC
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I agree, though I think it may have gone too far. Allowing billionaires is a dangerous gambit due to the possibility of them gaining political influence, and allowing landlords was a mistake. However, these reforms have helped lift 800 million people out of extreme poverty and were necessary at the time.
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Land reform, the Barefoot Doctors program, Deng's reforms, and the Belt and Road initiative have all been very successful and increased the standards of living for an enormous number of people. The CPC has had a focus on improving the lives of their poorest people, and in that regard they've done a very good job.
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The Great Leap Forward, the Sino-Soviet split, the Cultural Revolution, LGBT rights, and past China's foreign policy such as supporting Pol Pot/the Khemer Rouge and invading Vietnam. A lot of the blame for the Sino-Soviet split lies with Khrushchev, but I think there's enough blame to go around. I think the Soviet policy of "peaceful co-existence" was more correct, and more in line with what China ended up doing anyway (libs will roast me for that, I'm sure). Some positive things did happen during the Cultural Revolution (such as the above-mentioned Barefoot Doctors program), but generally it was a chaotic mess and I'm not sure it accomplished very much. The GLF had a lot of factors, including the Sino-Soviet split, but there's plenty of blame to ascribe to Mao (the sparrows did not, in fact, deserve it)
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Kind of trite but one take-away is "seek truth from facts." When Mao was successful, it was because of his experience living among rural Chinese, and looking at what they needed. Where he was unsuccessful was when he got too caught up in theory, sometimes assuming something would work without paying close enough attention to whether it actually was. I consider the overall political project successful due to the improvements made in people's lives, but how the devil's bargain with the capitalists will ultimately play out remains to be seen.
Did you know that Deng Xiaoping, the leader of China during the Tiananmen Square protests, resigned from all official positions shortly after the protests? I don't recall Nixon doing anything similar over Kent State, however.
So, instead of rehashing the same old talking points for the upteenth time, would anyone be interested in discussing China's political project in a broader and more mature way? Like for example:
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Who do you think should've come to power following the fall of the Qing, through to the civil war (if not the CPC)?
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Do you agree with the direction of Deng's economic reforms and opening up to foreign investment? If not, should he have stayed closer to Mao's policies, or should he have gone further towards liberalization, or something else?
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What aspects or projects of the CPC have been good or successful?
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What aspects or projects of the CPC have been flawed or unsuccessful?
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What lessons can be learned from the successes and failures of the CPC?
Ngl I don't have high hopes for this comment but I'm tryin' over here.
You did:
"If Trump somehow manages to win 2024 from jail, it's our fault on the Left that he wins."
You bet I am. Lesser evilism is a clearly failed strategy and the country is already going to shit because of it. If your vote is guaranteed then your concerns are meaningless.
I saw where lesser evilism got us with Obama. 8 more years of war and bloodshed that accomplished nothing and brought it no closer to an end. Hundreds of thousands of innocents slain for no reason. But suddenly everyone was fine with it because "he was doing it the right way."
Fuck that, I promised myself then that I would never vote for a hawk, and I never will. Now we have one of the guys involved in perpetrating the War on Terror (also one of the architects of mass incarceration) and we have the highest military of any country of all time. Absolute non starter. I refuse to prioritize my own safety over the victims of US imperialism abroad.
It's very simple
I recieve: a hawk candidate
You recieve: a third party vote