Ableist ideas? Where? Report those, ableism is a bannable offense on Hexbear. Yea, there are a lot of Communists on Hexbear, same with a lot of Lemmy, so that makes sense.

The resurgent use of the word “tankie” is a very online anti-communist pejorative, akin to “commie,” “pinko,” etc. I have heard the word “tankie” maybe once in real life.

The brainwashing bit was a “if you want to learn more,” not critical to my point.

I think when you focus too much on ideology, you are missing the core reasons why humans behave the way they do, chiefly material conditions. Human actions are more based on their surroundings than any innate human “greed,” same with ideology. I think, ultimately, you are taking too much of an “ideas-focused” view of human history, which Materialists would reject. I suggest you read Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. The Mode of Production is dominant over ideological concerns. Ideology may reinforce the Mode of Production, but ideas are formed through experiencing the real world, not random phantasms beamed to your head.

In Western democracies “freedom of the press” is intended to be a counterbalance against this type of tyranny of the government.

No offense, but this is wrong. The intention is to give wealthy Capitalists dictatorial control over media, and it is working as intended. The justification for the working class is to “protect against government tyranny,” but the government in Capitalism is also subservient to Capitalists. They aren’t opposed, the system is working as intended.

While Communist democracies may have recognized the susceptibility of the “free press” to being bought up by capitalists and turned into a propaganda arm, and so has put limitations on it, it’s also removed the check against tyranny of the government. I’m not sure what its replaced it with?

Socialist systems are more comprehensively democratic than Capitalist ones. The “free press” in Capitalism is Capitalist press, bought by Capitalists. State press in Capitalism is still Capitalist press, as the State is bought by Capitalists. There are no checks. Press in Socialist countries may have controls, but this also protects against rampant misinformation, such as the “Lab Leak” nonsense or COVID denialism.

As far as “voting out corruption,” easier to do in Socialism than Capitalism, where corruption is the rule. Socialist countries must keep the mandate of the people, or else face unrest and instabilitt, the government has to do its best to uphold that.

Is this just inevitable then? That seems like it’s the trajectory of capitalism anyway.

Not quite. Nuclear war, Capitalism winning war, climate change, and more could stop it. Even then, it must still be overthrown, is isn’t a won game. Trajectory is on our side, but we cannot be complacent.

so, all a Socialist country would have to do is hold on long enough for late stage capitalism to come to roost. Then they’re outproducing the capitalists, and if the capitalists decide to wage a war its too late. They don’t have the production.

See China’s strategy, and why it has focused on developing the Global South, as a means to both gain customers and ween itself off of needing US investment. They learned from what led to the collapse of the USSR. The US offshored its production, relying on Imperialism, and now this is weakening as more countries pivot away from it.

The US is burning all its bridges, tarrifing itself for no explainable reason, and making enemies out of allies while China, they are leading the green revolution and are capable of acknowledging climate change.

Spot-on. The US is flailing to save itself from the trap it willingly walked into.

China is investing in the correct places for the future. I don’t even know if the US could win a war against them today, let alone tomorrow.

Probably not today, unless it went nuclear. Then everyone would lose. China’s long-term plan is because of its Socialist system.

Also are there any people who’ve addressed the unique need for nuclear dearmament in these late term stages? That seems to be a complicated problem.

Impossible without demolishing Imperialism, as the primary contradiction in the world today, and possibly impossible until the erasure of borders into one global system, IMO.

I think a big point to keep in mind is that both Capitalist and Socialist countries propagandize, but Capitalist countries tend to have much lower support rates despite having a more sophisticated propaganda apparatus. “Brainwashing” doesn’t exist, people’s opinions most closely coincide with what they believe genuinely benefits them. For more on that concept, Masses, Elites, and Rebels: The Theory of “Brainwashing.”

I also don’t know what you mean by “truth going against Socialist values.” Dogmatism isn’t a Socialist value, if something Socialists believe goes against truth, then the Socialist value is to correct course. This is baked-into Marxism from the outset, it’s Marx’s entire modus operandi via Dialectical Materialism.

As for the fact that Communism must be global, no worries! I much prefer to discuss Marxist theory and practice anyways. For starters, you’re absolutely on the right track, remaining Capitalist countries would see lowering rates of profit over time as they monopolize their own resources, and then would seek the resources and potential customers of other countries. The system has this baked-in, leading to war.

There’s also the notion of class. A classless society, truly, requires everyone in a system to have equal ownership over all. Either there is no interaction with the Capitalist bloc whatsoever, in which case war will happen, or there is some degree of trade, in which case the production of commodities for trade will persist and thus classes will continue. It would still be Socialist, but not fully classless, and thus contradictions would persist and it would be the job of the proletariat to resolve them until the commodity form can be abolished altogether.

“Trade” still exists in Communism, kind of, just not the kind of commodity exchange likely to happen with Capitalist bloc countries. See what the PRC looks like as an example, in order to participate in the world economy, it has to engage in its own degree of private ownership and commodity production. It’s still Socialist, but certainly isn’t the future state of Communism.

I never said you didn’t think the US was authoritarian. My point is that western media portrays other countries as “authoritarian” if they don’t play along with US economic interests, and will portray brutal dictators as defenders of democracy and freedom if they do play ball.

In the final analysis, “authoritarianism” is a matter of perspective, what matters is which class is exerting its authority, as all existing states are class states.

Of course you jump to ableism when called out.

Fair, I’ll tone it down a bit. I get frustrated when disagreements are painted as toxic manipulation on my part, as it avoids engaging with the points at hand and paints me as a deliberately malicious person. Since you made it clear that that isn’t your intent, I’ll move on from that point.

I fully understand what you’re trying to say about “authoritarianism.” My point is that the idea of “excess control” is a matter of perspective. If, as we showed in China, the speech of businesses is heavily curtailed, then this is an act of authority. It is, however, a fully justified use of authority in my opinion, as a member of the working class, but someone like Elon Musk would not be a fan and would consider it authoritarian. Trying to treat the existence of excess as an objective measure that can be applied from all perspectives equally isn’t really connected to reality, the concepts of a metaphysical “good” and “evil” like in DnD don’t actually exist. What exists are systems and people, and the Chinese system has very high approval rates.

I think we are past the point of useful conversation on bias, and we aren’t really going to see eye to eye. It’s impossible to be unbiased, so when a source with an opposing bias admits positives, I tend to place more weight there than a positive vias espousing positives.

Mussolini was handed power because the ruling class needed to protect itself, same with the Nazis in Germany. When the system decays and is under strain, it can either offer concessions like in the US under FDR, or it has to exert brutal violence to do so. Often, both are applied. I recommend reading Blackshirts and Reds, specifically the first chapter, as its about fascism.

As for class, the way to getting rid of it is via comprehensively resolving the contradictions in society in favor of the working class, until there is a fully publicly owned and planned global economy run democratically to fulfill the needs of all, without commodity production. Class should be abolished, but we can’t abolish it at the stroke of a pen, it’s a historical action, not a legalistic one. If you want to learn more about Communist theory, I can make some recommendations. Of course, those unable to work or have hampered abilities should be taken care of with unique protections.

“Authoritarian” is a meaningless descriptor. All states are authoritarian, what matters is which class is in control and thus exerting its authority. States controlled by the working class are demonized in the west as uniquely “authoritarian” because the corporate owners of the media cannot freely act as they please in the markets of “authoritarian” countries.

The US media is more than willing to praise Batista, Pinochet, even Hitler until later on, as long as they work with US Capitalists. Meanwhile, any country that attempts to assert its own sovereignty is immediately demonized and/or crushed via militant means.

Browse the news mega or other serious threads. Not everything is a joke post, though there are many of those.

I have a Hexbear alt. I use it, ironically, when I don’t want to talk politics, or if I want to keep up with the news, as the News mega is very useful.

A lot of people hold contradictory views about it, or think it’s some hyper-toxic space, but in my experience its less toxic than most other instances on Lemmy and gets into far fewer arguments. I love using the games comm and other hobby comms.

I also run a Capital weekly reading thread there, though momentum was hurt by the debacle a few months back regarding domain name.

Considering USAID has always been a system primarily for regime change and undermining other countries, the pivot away from it and towards more overt control of other countries is a signifier of the US Empire losing its grasp on the rest of the world, which is fantastic news for the Global South.

Considering international systems are currently dominated by the US Empire, any agreement, no matter how good it sounds, is going to be passed for the benefit of maintainin that Empire. Considering the people of China love their system despite feeling it has a lot of work to be done, and the people of the US hate its own system, there is a clear difference in effectiveness.

As for Joe Biden’s deliberate misquoting of Xi Jinping, you need to realize what Xi actually said. It’s no surprise that a genocidal Imperialist like Joe Biden would lie, but to take his lie at face value, rather than Xi’s own words on the subject and the people of China who view their system as democratic at higher rates than US citizens, is silly.

Xi was criticizing the Western, liberal conception of democracy, not democracy in general. Biden took that critique of western “democracy” and left it as a critique of democracy itself, despite Xi routinely expressing motive to improve democracy. Read the speech Democracy is not an Ornament by Xi Jinping to see what he means. He is specifically advocating for the Chinese democratic model, which has much higher rates of civilian satisfaction than Western models.

It’s entirely the case that the purpose and real function of Chinese laws on publication are to control private businesses and celebrities, public figures, etc. Individuals critical of the CPC exist and post and comment, but those that are backed by private corporations attempting to swap the system to Capitalist are shut down.

Western governments are demonized by Chinese media, but you are not a consumer of Chinese News, nor is the average person outside of China. My point is specifically about Western portrayal of the countries that limit Western plundering.

I am not “gaslighting” you about “authoritarianism.” The fact that “authoritarianism” is such a common talking point abused by western media against geopolitical adversaries is common even among liberals like Noam Chomsky.

The factual information is often not correct as well. Often times numbers and figures are heavily distorted, relying on anonymity of sources to cover for them. This is also well-documented.

Further, I am not “gaslighting” you about Western states not being limited, either. You are moving the goalpost. All states have limitations, things the state can’t do, in the US, China, etc. However, the US state in particular has unlimited support for Capitalists. What it doesn’t need to do, it frames as a “limitation,” but will quickly go against those if needed by Capital.

As for class dynamics, no. The “how” of authority is fundamentally determined by the class in control and the conditions the system finds itself in. Fascism is Capitalism in decay, not a unique economic system. The Working Class should be in power becayse they are the majority of people, and the ones creating value, not because they are intrinsically kinder.

As for something China has done wrong, I’m not a fan of maintaining trade with Israel, rather than sanctioning it. Maintaining a pro-Palestinian stance without supporting Palestinian liberation materially is soft.

As for the 2.8 number, it isn’t a percentage, but an average on responses 1-4, 4 being highly satisfied, 3 being moderately satisfied, 2 being moderately not satisfied, and 1 being not at all satisfied. The number of really not liking the Township is 2.3%, the number of overall not satisfied is 26%, the number moderately satisfied is 57%, and the number of really satisfied is 11%. These numbers appear to be growing, alongside continuous improvements in living conditions over time. This is for the weakest level of government, the higher you go the more satisfied with overall governance, as the CPC is highly competent and development has been rapid, but uneven, in the rural areas still lagging behind. Trends are shifting because in the last decade, there has been focus on the rural areas, which is why the number of satisfied at the Township level is dramatically increasing.

China does allow neutral parties to conduct polls, they even allowed the hostile party to conduct the polls. This is silly.

Western polling is notoriously slanted against its geopolitical adversaries. If I gave you an internal Chinese poll showing the same or better results, you’d be crying foul for it being biased.

The US was always far more evil than the USSR, and gave its citizens fewer rights. The US committed numerous genocidal invasions against Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and much more, while the USSR supported anti-colonial liberation movements in Cuba, China, Palestine, Angola, and much, much more.

Further, Finland, the Netherlands, etc are not Socialist. They are Social Democracies. Their safety nets are deteriorating, the state is under the control of capitalists, and they fund their safety nets through Imperialism. They all are reliant on the US millitarily. You cannot “control” Capitalism, Capitalism directly means the system is under the control of Capitalists. Socialism is required, meaning overwhelmingly public ownership of large firms and key industries, and power in the hands of the working class.

When the US Empire falls, the rest of the Global North will fall with it, or will have to pivot to the Global South.

Russia, China, Cuba, etc. Many such cases of successful Working Class revolutions in more dire circumstances.

Reading history and analyzing trends gives me comfort in knowing the genocidal settler colony of the US Empire can’t save itself for much longer, and a new, democratic, anti-Imperialist, de-colonial, Socialist state can take its place.

Those are all basic laws that apply to businesses, not random citizens. A Socialist State controlling the media influence of private individuals is straight from Karl Marx. Even the specific law on individuals overwhelmingly applies to public figures and celebrities, not random citizens.

I never said China is “perfect.” I said it is demonized as “authoritarian” by Western Media because the owners in Western Media can’t do as they please in Chinese markets. I’m not “gaslighting” you by disagreeing with your conclusions.

Secondly, Western States aren’t limited. They are extremely strong, the US has hundreds of millitary bases all over the world (China has less than 10 foreign millitary bases). The Bill of Rights and Constitution also don’t serve the people. What they do serve is providing freedom for Capital owners to plunder and profit as they please, and the State is under their control.

My point is that “authoritarianism” is a meaningless buzzword. All states exert authority, what matters most is which clads is in control and thus exerting its authority. In the West, that is the capitalist class, in China, it’s the working class. Both are “authoritarian,” in that sense, as all states are, but are fundamentally different in character, backed by why China has such high approval rates and the US has such low approval rates.

As for that one particular CNN article, I question it highly. Either the quality or quantity of the event is highly distorted, or important facts are obscured. This is the standard play, CNN is a propaganda outlet and the US has approved 1.6 billion dollars exclusively for anti-PRC propaganda.

You can absolutely organize, but not in a manner that goes against the public good. Private interests use such mechanisms to oppose the system that is overwhelmingly popular. The CPC frequently supports worker strikes and protests against corrupt businesses.

Further, you again pretend “very satisfied” is the same as overall approval. You’re lying. The actual approval rate at the Township level is 70.2%, which you either think is “abysmally low,” or are intentionally trying to twist very satisfied into satisfied in general, which is coincidentally a propaganda tactic used by Western Media, focusing on one aspect and omitting the more important data. Here’s the actual table:

Yes, a study by a theoretical “neutral” party would be most accurate. It’s likely the approval rate is actually higher than the hostile poll shows. By showing that even someone hostile must admit the high approval rates, other, less hostile polls showing the same or better figures are vindicated.

The US Empire cannot be reformed from within, it needs to be completely dismantled as a state. This new state needs to place indigenous Americans at the forefront as a starter for decolonization, must be Socialist in character, and comprehensively democratic with minority protections. The current US State works entirely off of Imperialism, and maintains hundreds of overseas millitary bases to terrorize the world into bending the knee. The state is not democratic, candidates are pre-approved by the capitalist class. Megacorps rule the US, and have dominance over both parties.

This does not mean “genocide against all who live in the US.” Rather, it means that the working class of the US must overthrow the state and replace it with one run by and for the working class, in an anti-Imperialist and de-colonial manner.

The reason I include it as a source is because it’s conducted by a group hostile to the CPC and interested in undermining it. The opinions of those gathering the data are already hostile to the system, yet the data absolutely points in favor of popular support. Further, the 11.3% for “very satisfied” doesn’t translate to all satisfied, only those very satisfied. The PRC is a rapidly improving country.

China does have freedom of speech. They exert more control over what corporations and billionaires can say, but they are more or less similar in speech levels to other countries. Again, the reason China is labeled “authoritarian” by the Western Media is because their corporate owners cannot do as they please. They want to foster hostility towards China among the public by exclusively showing a one-sided point of view that aligns perfectly with the views of their owners.

In conclusion, my source says exactly what I said it does. It’s reliable in that we can trust the positives admitted from someone overall hostile.

Norway will not be able to transition to Socialism through reformism. Social Democracy is incapable of swapping the balance of power from Capitalists to Workers. Norway depends on Imperialism, as does the rest of the Global North. As this weakens over time, so too will social services. The only path to Socialism for Norway, to have the public sector as the principle aspect of the economy and the Working Class in control, is revolution.

The EU is Imperialist, but thoroughly dependent on the US, and as such are tied to the fate of the US.