askchapo

I may have a website project at work coming up where I might be having to work with a tribal police department of an indigenous tribe to “present themselves in a better way.” My gut reaction is absolutely not, I don’t want to be part of helping an PR initiative of an oppressive institution. But I don’t actually know much about tribal police and how they may differ. US police of course serve the role of capitalist spearhead against those affected by the consequences of capitalism. Do tribal police serve the same role, but just specific to indigenous tribes? My assumption was they’re a settler colonial institution imported to tribal groups as a means of control and conditioning. But is that true? Or are they more integrated into their communities and don’t really serve as a capitalist vanguard because of the unique material conditions etc of indigenous tribes? How should I feel about working with them?

That was pretty funny

Well?

This is what I'm starting to think. She obviously can't win a primary, even with her experience at VP. This is their only shot. They tried really hard to make her a thing in 2020.

What do y'all think?

For example, if you believe people living in a capitalist society should be allowed to own firearms for self defense, would that change for you under AES? Why?

Currently in the capitalist west, people who have a large sway over how society is run display a disturbing lack of competence.

I mean, Trump and Bidens teams have both been in control of the most expensive military in the world. So they understand the long term impact of launching a nuke? I doubt it.

Elon Musk is in control of a huge electric car company. Doe he understand (or care) how to safely manage lithium? Mining? Is he even an engineer? He also controls the largest social media platform in the world, yet it's pretty clear he doesn't know (or maybe care) how to responsibly manage it.

What do you think? Should people have to be well educated in what they're in charge in? Should they have to display competence or be fired?

In a capitalist society, it might be elitist to say it, but in a society where education is free and everyone's needs are met? I think peoples competentcy in a wide range of disciplines should be highly scrutinized if they're going to be in control of something that affects everyone.

You wouldn't want someone operating on you if they weren't a certified surgeon, right?

What do you think? What should the prerequisites for power be?

I’m not even American, so it doesn’t affect me directly, but I am scared to death of a Trump presidency.

I am one of those people here who think that Biden is a far more competent executor of imperialist policies compared to Trump, but what I am even more afraid of is the early death of nascent left wing movements in America.

I am reminded of how the KPD getting its leaders murdered by Freikorps thugs during the Spartacist uprising (mind you, a much stronger party than any leftist movement in America today), and how its continued suppression paved the way to Nazi Germany.

Project 2025 will effectively embolden fascist thugs in America to do the same to the left wing movements, many of which are still in their cradle, and the death of leftist movements in their infancies will inevitably pave the way to a fascist America and undo many of the progress that had been made over decades.

The world cannot afford a fascist America. Imagine Hitler with nukes. The world will have to pay a much, much larger price as a result.

On this reasoning alone, I believe that Trump needs to be stopped at all cost. But many here have disagreed with me, and I need you to persuade me why I shouldn’t be afraid of Project 2025 at all. Even if the chance of that happening is 10%, I’m still not ready to gamble with it.

(I’m not saying we have to support Biden, I believe it is somewhat inevitable, I’m saying that we have to buy ourselves as much time as possible, even if it means strategic voting, to build a resilient leftist movement while delaying the inevitable for as long as we can.)

Who are some people that started out as ghouls and made a turn for the better? Bonus points if it came suddenly and from their own realization.

I thought about this for a while and the ones I could come up with aren't really that good.

• Emperor Puyi.
• Jeffrey Sachs went from doing shock therapy to Russia to defending their right to defend against NATO expansionism on a lib news show, but that's been his only good moment to my knowledge.
• Jimmy Carter but he never changed course when he needed to, not much he can do to undo the harm he did as president.
• Patty Hearst but she really wasn't doing anything bad, just came from a wealthy and powerful family much like Puyi.
• Pat Tillman was deployed when he had a change of heart and contacted a bunch of reporters, sadly he was killed by another troop before he got to make much of a difference.
• Peter Daou but he's largely irrelevant
• That natsec ghoul that wrote the article about quitting her job because she doesn't want to be complicit in genocide.
• Whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning? I don't know off the top of my head how involved she ever was with the war on terror, but she was a troop.
• Malala and Greta were never ghouls, but did grow from lib media darlings to over time so honorable mention to both of them.

I guess the most obvious example that does satisfy my criteria is Kissinger, who really popped off when he died.

edit: You do not, in fact, have to hand it to Puyi before he was re-educated.

Help find similar quotes? related: Voters upset choosing between the two US oligarch partys "get over yourselves" said Hillary.

I thought this would make a good post if I could find 3 or 4 quotes from modern autocrat leaders, and also historic autocratic leaders. Iconic like Bush's "mission accomplished" and other poigniant sound-bite sentences that boils down the very essence on out-of-touch dictator lackeys just spewing utterly inane nothings at a time of historic social change.

Before we begin, here's a few that I've been workshopping, but I'm trying to think of something really catchy that can catch on in greater public discourse that really describes Israeli atrocities, particularly in Gaza. I personally think this kind of language virus is really helpful in changing minds and bringing people to rethinking positions.

• Infant Destruction Force
• Infant Decimation Force
• Infant Decapitation Force
• Invading Democidal Force/Functionaries/Fuckers

I've just been going with Infant Destruction Force for accuracy and brevity, but in my mind I've reached the point where it's time to get some help and input from the greater collective.

is it because of the Israel lobby, or because Israel serves some sort of strategic purpose?

Mearsheimer seems to think that it's mostly because of the lobby. I think I agree with him; I really can't think of any unique strategic purpose that Israel serves for the US. if Israel disappears tomorrow, the US still has colossal military bases in the Gulf states, it still has friendly governments in Jordan and Egypt, it occupies Syria and Iraq, it has ISIS to stage crazy terrorist attacks, etc. what exactly does Israel do that's worth all the negatives for the US?

I watched Finkelstein's recent interview on Al Jazeera and he mentioned he disagreed with Mearsheimer. just curious what everyone here thinks.

So how do I start a vegan diet and actually stick to it? Mostly looking for starter vegan foods that I can use to wean myself off from my carnism while studying at university.

recently the glue bonding it to one of my teeth came loose and then fell off entirely and now another spot of bonding is starting to break down. i don't have the money to go and get it removed by an orthodontist and i'd rather not wait however long for the rest of the bonds to fail. is there a safe and effective way to completely take it off at home? do I just have to slowly work the glue with my fingernail or something until it eventually comes off?

I can't get paid for shitting on company time since I never really need to shit at work, but I'll be damned if I don't kill the same amount of time while on the clock. Thank god restroom breaks are mandated by OSHA and they don't count toward our normal 10 minute paid breaks. Over the course of an 8 hour shift, I try to spend at least 30 minutes total in the restroom.

This is something that deeply fascinates me. Didn’t Lenin say something about the message

Why do people here really not like Trotskyists? Is it just because of his beef with Stalin and not an actual criticism of his views? Do people really not think a global movement would be superior for the betterment of all people?

Edit: Thank you to everyone who provided context and history, y’all are a wealth of knowledge.

Just this ,I am asking cause I feel like I wanna keep an alt account just in case ,but I’m not sure if it’s allowed

With the intentional killing of the 7 aid workers and the bombing of the Iranian embassy on the same day, did Israel show their genocidal warmongering ass a little too much?

I believe Iran will retaliate against either US interests in the region, Israel, or both. If the Biden administration wants to make it seem as if it is not their own fault, but Iran's for this escalation, they would need Israel to pump the brakes temporarily. I believe this is the only reason Biden asked nicely for a ceasefire.

Even if Israel agrees (will be empty words), I still think Iran will retaliate, and of course this will give the war hawks in Washington another reason to supply Israel and take more direct action against Iran and their proxies.

Between Palestine and Ukraine, does anyone else feel we're getting closer to true international conflict? The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day in a year yesterday, which I think is telling.

We will ban you if you insult, demean or harass anyone. That is not welcome behavior. This is distinctly different than ribbing or grilling someone.

This second part sounds a lot like "we can pretend to be your friends and insult you as much as you want, but retaliation is forbidden"

Can you explain the difference between actually upholding the first statement and what I've seen this turn out as, which is you insulting and demeaning anyone site regulars who know each other don't want to feel welcome for whatever reason?

I want Hexbear's answers, too