neoliberalism is always a hard sell and has to be forced on people and I think the punitive/authoritarian/austerian side (the culture war stuff) is always at least implicit- and people get to pretend they're fighting power when they make that stuff explicit (trump brexit etc etc) instead of rejecting the logic altogether which would be too hard and might have actual consequences
the thing that leapt out at me from putin was the what I thought of as duginist and eurasianist touches- I don't know enough to know if this is the actual core of putinism or if it's more like a dogwhistle to a certain faction but it's striking anyway
― your original display name is still visible (Left), Saturday, 1 October 2022 15:36 (one year ago) link
unfortunately it will resonate to some extent- anyone who knows anything about syria knows how bullshit the anticolonial stuff is from russia - sadly that doesn't include a large proportion of the western lefts (and dissident rights) he's reaching out to here
― your original display name is still visible (Left), Saturday, 1 October 2022 15:43 (one year ago) link
Right maybe Syria isn’t so clear to some because it was recent whereas the West has centuries of colonialism to attack. Except that Siberia was basically a colony of Russia initially, wasn’t it? And attacking the West for slavery — yes atrocious, but. What exactly was the difference between slaves and serfs? Was it just skin color orAnyway I came to say neoliberalism was not a hard sell in the USA in the late 20th century and it doesn’t seem like the corporate co-option of progressive politics in that era was a uniquely American issue — Labour, SPD in Germany and I’m sure others were glad to benefit from the largesse of the 1%.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Saturday, 1 October 2022 16:29 (one year ago) link
"Is it that bizarre? LGBTQ is an expression of western imperialism."
Is it?
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 1 October 2022 19:06 (one year ago) link
Well to those bozos it is
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 1 October 2022 19:10 (one year ago) link
It is beginning to look that way, if I'm understanding him correctly
― anvil, Saturday, 1 October 2022 19:39 (one year ago) link
to who, exactly?
― sleeve, Saturday, 1 October 2022 19:49 (one year ago) link
The right wing in Europe is casting LGBTQ as a corruption, a malign (outside) influence to be resisted.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 1 October 2022 19:51 (one year ago) link
sure, I was just calling anvil's phrasing into question as it appeared to give legitimacy to the argument, which I don't think it deserves
― sleeve, Saturday, 1 October 2022 20:00 (one year ago) link
There is no legitimacy to that argument whatsoever. Unlike anti-colonial discourse.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 1 October 2022 21:25 (one year ago) link
Of course not. It's pure reactionary politics.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 1 October 2022 21:30 (one year ago) link
Well anvil is stating it's not bizarre or strange to see transphobia being called upon but usually reactionaries don't care for both anti-colonialism or trans rights.
This isn't about Putin but the two issues being spread out like this in the same speech.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 1 October 2022 21:40 (one year ago) link
reactionaries do care for stories of national victimhood
― difficult listening hour, Saturday, 1 October 2022 22:21 (one year ago) link
Opportunists going to opportune.
― i need to put some clouds behind the reaper (PBKR), Saturday, 1 October 2022 22:30 (one year ago) link
fascism's whole shtick iirc is getting a guy up there to be like "too many solid things have melted into air lately (because of the jews)-- but don't worry we've invented a murder ritual to bring them all back" and then just continuing to accelerate ultraviolent gangster capitalism while yelling on tv about god and dad; so it's not too weird to find it also willing to say there has been too much colonialism lately (because of the gays).
― difficult listening hour, Saturday, 1 October 2022 22:38 (one year ago) link
when the supply chain started breaking down i gave up.
I know I’m about a week behind but just wanted to comment that this post and the next one were lovely pieces of writing.
― o. nate, Saturday, 1 October 2022 23:34 (one year ago) link
dlh - thanks. I get it now.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 2 October 2022 12:15 (one year ago) link
I see it as an attempt to fuse ‘western neoliberal imperial hegemony’ with ‘western cultural degenerate globalism’, and these are manifestations of the same thing, and they are done by the same people using different tools. The West is invading, with their NATO, and their LGBT, and their UEFA, and their so-called color revolutions (which, like Maidan, are in fact CIA coups), meddling where they’re not wanted, who needs them?.
It doesn’t seem bizarre because its not even original, its been pushed for years, in the west too, Galloway, Greyzone types. In the west we might get diluted versions for certain audiences tweaked a little, away from explicit ‘LGBT is bad’ to a more flexible ‘LGBT is cynically weaponised by elites’.
Not a million miles away from trying to fuse 'Corporations are bad' people with 'Corporations are bad because they are woke' people. Or using 'the west' for one audience, and 'globalists' for another
― anvil, Monday, 3 October 2022 07:38 (one year ago) link
I've been watching this guy's videos talking to Russians, mostly in Moscow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1420channel
― nashwan, Monday, 3 October 2022 11:05 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1420channel
not me trying to link to the channel '1420'
― nashwan, Monday, 3 October 2022 12:52 (one year ago) link
Very good thread on nuke talk of the last few days.
Haven't yet heard a compelling case as to why, for the west, Putin's use of tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine turns Ukraine from its status now - a cause worth a proxy war - with limited some risk into a major war with significantly elevated risk of the worst outcome. 1/— Patrick Porter (@PatPorter76) October 3, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 3 October 2022 13:05 (one year ago) link
A much bigger Russian collapse will unfold in the coming days.— Francis Fukuyama (@FukuyamaFrancis) October 3, 2022
― o. nate, Monday, 3 October 2022 19:19 (one year ago) link
always so prescient is this lad, give him a tenner and the lottery numbers for Wednesday are all yours.
― calzino, Monday, 3 October 2022 19:25 (one year ago) link
If he's looking at open source data then he needs to say more. If he's dropping hints based on a classified briefing or a leak than he needs to say less.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 3 October 2022 19:28 (one year ago) link
History is over... NOW
wait
NOW
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 3 October 2022 19:34 (one year ago) link
Wanda Jackson’s Fukuyama Mama
― sweating like Cathy *aaaack* (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 3 October 2022 19:43 (one year ago) link
It does seem a fairly safe bet, just based on momentum, that Russia will continue to see setbacks on the battlefield in the coming days, though Fukuyama's tweet seems to imply something bigger than that. Not sure what information he has, other than Putin's evident desperation.
― o. nate, Monday, 3 October 2022 20:01 (one year ago) link
I think people are underestimating the extent to which Fukuyama operates on pure vibes.
― death generator (lukas), Monday, 3 October 2022 20:02 (one year ago) link
Not sure what information he has
Does he have information or a desire for people to pay attention to him?
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 3 October 2022 20:05 (one year ago) link
The latter. I think his comparative advantage is supposed to be an ability to recognize emerging patterns more quickly in data that everyone has access to.
― o. nate, Monday, 3 October 2022 20:14 (one year ago) link
in the chicago academic scene a lot of people are into post-history
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 October 2022 20:24 (one year ago) link
I don't really have any view on whether his "End of History" thing was wrong or just early. But I do know it was a hugely successful and durable meme that he dined out on for years and parlayed into various comfortable sinecures. So not necessarily evidence of incompetence.
― o. nate, Monday, 3 October 2022 20:34 (one year ago) link
One of his predictions from February:
* The collapse of their (Russia's) position could be sudden and catastrophic, rather than happening slowly through a war of attrition.
― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 3 October 2022 20:44 (one year ago) link
More predictions.
happy october everyone pic.twitter.com/Dhq7DOO0MZ— isi litke (@isilitke) October 3, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 3 October 2022 21:05 (one year ago) link
Mr. Fun At (Halloween) Parties.
― nickn, Monday, 3 October 2022 21:14 (one year ago) link
Joyce Carol Oates did it better
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 3 October 2022 21:15 (one year ago) link
Yup.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 4 October 2022 08:46 (one year ago) link
at worst a war crimes
― “uhh”—like, this is an insane oatmeal raisin cookie “uhh” (President Keyes), Tuesday, 4 October 2022 16:14 (one year ago) link
Any thoughts on why the US has released to NYT info that it believes Ukraine was behind the Dugina assassination?
I didn't think Ukraine was behind the assassination (and this particular release doesn't necessarily mean it was either). No idea why this was release (and released now), or even if it was intentional release
anyone with a hot take?
― anvil, Thursday, 6 October 2022 11:01 (one year ago) link
Letting Putin know that we're not in the business of assassinations on Russian soil? Gotta be on his mind.
― death generator (lukas), Thursday, 6 October 2022 16:59 (one year ago) link
yeah, we're too busy sabotaging pipelines to assassinate his cronies' children
― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 6 October 2022 17:13 (one year ago) link
I'm trying to get my head around the large numbers of torture sites in Ukraine that we're still probably only scratching the surface of. Particularly the seemingly unco-ordinated and purposeless nature of them. Is this ingrained in some way, an extension of Dedovshchina?
Its difficult to imagine going from zero to hundred so quickly, from regular life in Russia to this, unless it was already part of life to some degree. And if it wasn't...a lot of the torturers will be going back to everyday life in Russia eventually
― anvil, Saturday, 8 October 2022 13:47 (one year ago) link
They might be not be "going back to Russia" though. There's anecdotal evidence that some of the worst behaviour has been by separatists from Russian controlled areas of Ukraine.
― Fronted by a bearded Phil Collins (Tom D.), Saturday, 8 October 2022 14:28 (one year ago) link
Even if thats the case, the fact these sites seem to be all over and in places where the separatists aren't deployed (or are they? not sure) suggests its across the board, or at least fairly standard
That being said, I'm not all that clear who the separatists are, or what the dividing line between separatists and little green men is, or how much that line has changed between 2014 and 2022
― anvil, Saturday, 8 October 2022 14:49 (one year ago) link
This is a really weird line of thought, the notion that abhorrent behaviour in war and justifications for it is linked to national origin or whatever is not supported by most of recorded history.
― barry sito (gyac), Saturday, 8 October 2022 20:21 (one year ago) link
Yeah, maybe, I'm not sure what to think either really. It might be that in other wars this is standard too, I know there was Abu Ghraib and others so maybe its just being reported more with the unprecedented level of access we have?
― anvil, Saturday, 8 October 2022 22:30 (one year ago) link
I mean, to pick one example from about a million in history…we know about some of the atrocities committed by the British in Kenya before independence because there were survivors and there are some surviving documents. But before leaving the country they dumped huge amounts of documents in the Indian Ocean rather than handing them to the new Kenyan government. What do you think was so bad that they couldn’t risk it being discovered?The difference is whose torture is considered torture, and whose is considered an unfortunate if understandable cost.
― barry sito (gyac), Saturday, 8 October 2022 22:38 (one year ago) link
I think the thing they couldn't risk being discovered was evidence of atrocities. Quite possibly directly ordered but maybe unfocussed and random as is seemingly the case today in Kharkiv and other oblasts
I'm not sure there is a difference, but if there is it would be the role of conscripts, regular Russians that weren't even troops a few months ago. How does one go from working in a cafe in January to torturing people in March?
You may well be right, that this is something intrinsic, that the exception isn't Russians, its Ukrainians - and the story isn't "why are Russians torturing?" at all, but "why aren't Ukrainians torturing? (unless of course they are too and we're not seeing the reports)
― anvil, Saturday, 8 October 2022 23:01 (one year ago) link
I will say this as nicely as I can.A while ago I was unfortunate enough to encounter a free soldier F event in central London. All around me were men on motorbikes being cheered by huge numbers of people. Ordinary people cheering for the right of a British soldier to kill Irish civilians and walk free, because to kill us in cold blood in the streets is less of a crime than to be held accountable for it. How do you think I feel that I live somewhere where people voted for a government that included that as part of their policy agenda?
― barry sito (gyac), Saturday, 8 October 2022 23:06 (one year ago) link