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  • 95 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: July 20th, 2023
  • Zyansheep@lemmy.mltochapotraphouse@hexbear.net•**MAYBE** we can be a bit nicer to Lemmy leftists and libsEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    is this democracy? Can you vote to stop ExxonMobile from drilling more oil wells? If you really believe that choosing between two pro-business parties is “democracy”, you’ve been progandised

    I personally probably can’t stop Exxon from drilling more oil wells, but I am confident that if a significant portion U.S. population suddenly decided to not drive cars anymore and lobbied the government for more investment into clean energy and walkable cities, that Exxon might have to slow its operations significantly… this is all to say I do believe the US has a democracy, if the majority really wants something, they don’t need to fear retaliation by an authoritarian government, they can call their representative, or vote for one that reflects their perspective. Sure, democracy is slow, and vulnerable to political “superstructures” (non-codified systems like parties or coalitions) which cause distortions (i.e. the 2-party system in the U.S.). But I’d rather have a system that at least allows for grassroots change than a system that is scared of its own populace.

    I kinda shocked that people aren’t more mad. You are aware that our planet is dying, and that we have maybe a decade before complete climate collapse happens.

    People are mad, I’m mad at the way things are too! I think some people don’t express it much because being mad all the time is tiring and many feel helpless to try to change things which is a miserable feeling. Even so, words and ideas are cheap, convincing others to act using those words, or acting yourself, that is what changes the world.

  • Zyansheep@lemmy.mltochapotraphouse@hexbear.net•**MAYBE** we can be a bit nicer to Lemmy leftists and libsEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I wrote some comments below, but before you respond to that if you don’t mind, could you write a comment with your answer to the question: Would you prefer that the president of the United States not be elected by a direct popular election, and if so, what would you prefer instead?

    Now that you’ve answered that. Here are my replies to your comments:

    “authoritarian” as it refers to liberal geopolitics is a completely frivolous word with absolutely no useful meaning.

    For the purposes of this conversation, my definition of the word is as follows:

    “a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.”

    I don’t believe communism or socialism are inherently authoritarian ideas, but I believe they have had notable examples of authoritarian implementations. Technically most “liberal democracies” today do some socialist things (depending on which definition you choose): e.g. the welfare state and public management of infrastructure.

    look into how the democracy of China works. look into how the democracy of Cuba works

    I have, and if wikipedia is to trusted, I don’t like what I see. For a democracy to work, decisions should reflect the approximate desire of an informed populace. This requires the freedom of speech and press which neither the governments of China or Cuba allow. Cuba has elections, but they are a formality since no one else but the ruling party can actually run for any given seat. I didn’t see much about the

    State And Revolution is an incredibly insightful reading on the historical development and understanding of the state

    I tried to start reading it, but the terminology is unfamiliar and I don’t think I could comprehend it properly (or at least not as well as I’d like to). Do you perhaps know if there is a more modern resource that conveys the same ideas but with simpler language? (Perhaps a recently written summary with pertinent examples for how the ideas might apply to modern situations like how this book review comments on Henry George’s book Progress and Poverty)

  • Zyansheep@lemmy.mltochapotraphouse@hexbear.net•**MAYBE** we can be a bit nicer to Lemmy leftists and libsEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I do not support imperialism, neither do I assume any system of power (political or economic) to be inherently fair. I do however prefer democracy (flawed it may be) to a more authoritarian system when it comes to changing systems for the better. Whatever “better” looks like for the systems in question.

    I think the other answer is that a lot of us see a lot of genuine bullshit irl, and “dunking on a lib” is a small way to vent about all the unfair shit we’re exposed to. I’m sorry if it’s stressful in the short term, but try to remember that people are really hurting right now. I’ve definitely been dunked on by a marginalised person before, I’ve even been wrong. But I try to take the grown-up road and realise my privilege

    So… tribalism? That is understandable i guess.