I dunno, you could try pushing back and asking for a source or warn that there's a lot of misinformation out there if they're the sort of person who can be reasoned with, but I can guess how productive that would be on average. And who knows, internal travel laws aren't unheard of. It's just that the average person will probably interpret any attempt at nuance as a sign you're a tankie or the like. It's hard to engage productively.
Doubledee
joined 3 years ago
Did the person who said this to you back up their claim in any way? I'm not a Korea expert but people say the weirdest things about the DPRK without any substantiation, just regurgitating talking points they are fed uncritically.
I love that all of the guys are actually the same guy over and over again. Really makes you think.
I don't know what you mean. Democrats keep winning by the numbers. Fascism is still encroaching. It's been encroaching my entire life, and Republicans have won the popular vote once in that time. People do vote. And this still happens.
I'm not telling you not to, I keep saying it's fine to do if you feel like it. So is watching a movie or getting a snack at 3 in the morning. You do you. But don't act like it's fixing anything. It clearly isn't. That's why you get to keep doing it.
I want to understand the point of view of "anti electoralism" -- if that's the right term.
That's relatively straightforward. Elections are a distraction, they redirect energy into a form the political order can digest without changing. The more you invest in them the less you are putting into alternatives that are more useful. Vote, if you want, it might do marginal good in an infinitesimal scale, but agonizing over voting is playing into a system that exists to funnel all your energy into itself.
Did you read the article? They specifically say they won't vote for him and would organize for a candidate that was willing to stand up to US Islamophobia. He's not gonna vote for Trump.
And who exactly is simping for who? At least Donny and Bibi liked each other, Joe is the one pathetically prostrating himself for a guy who openly dislikes him.
My dad is literally this guy, I'm trying to gently ease him into a more realistic view of what's going on so he doesn't suffer a massive heart attack if Russia unexpectedly wins, it's slow going. I guess he listens to several hours of Ukrainian/NATO coverage of the war every day. He's the only guy I know who even cares anymore.
Not disputing any points but the vast majority of users on lemmygrad in my experience are true comrades and are very useful in the other instances as backup, they make it harder to accuse hexbears of being a weird abberant view because you see organic agreement from other instances in a heated discussion. It would be a shame to lose all of them because of some debatelords. In my opinion.
I know attention has shifted but is there anything going on in Ukraine? I get the impression the offensive has stalled out and there's another Bakhmut-esque grind in the north east, does anyone have anything else?
Of course! If you liked this one you might consider checking out "Work Song," "Fight My Way Out," and "Here in the Kitchen."
Dude knows how to write an earworm, for sure.
Ah dang, it's been posted before! I'm a repost bot apparently.
I appreciate your engagement, just wanted to suggest you think about this idea a little differently:
Can you define what you mean when you call something a dictatorship? I think this term gets bandied about as a way to discredit state enemies of western nations without the public having to think about what is meant.
Whatever you may believe about the CPC, what means are actually available to you to prevent your rulers from ignoring you? If you live in the US your state is likely gerrymandered to hell, your rulers are picking their constituencies to preserve their positions.
Do they have to do what the public wants? If you don't like the two parties can you actually pursue an alternative? The public overwhelmingly supports a ceasefire in Gaza, why is almost the entire government lock-step in refusing to even bring up the idea?
This isn't to say that there aren't governments in the world that aren't accountable to the public and that act in their own interest regardless of what anyone else wants. But you can have elections and do all the gesturing that western liberals expect and still be an unaccountable government with no real need for popular agreement or input.
Guess all of that is to say be careful with the word, it might be shutting down questions it would be good to ask about your own (presumably western liberal) society.