UniversalMonk

joined 1 week ago
MODERATOR OF
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What it would take to escape the two-party system in c/politicsunfiltered@sh.itjust.works
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 3 points 1 day ago

Germany – The Bundestag has multiple major parties: Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, Free Democrats (FDP), Left Party, and the far-right AfD. Governments are almost always coalitions.

India – Dozens of regional and national parties compete. While the BJP and Congress are the biggest, smaller parties like Trinamool Congress, DMK, and Shiv Sena hold real power, especially in states.

Brazil – Extremely fragmented system with more than 20 parties in Congress. Coalitions are mandatory for governing.

Netherlands – No single party ever wins a majority, so coalitions of three or more parties are the norm. Parties like VVD, D66, Labour, Greens, and Christian Democrats all share governance.

Sweden and other Nordic countries – Multiple parties on the left and right; coalition governments are standard.

Beacon Hill Roll Call: Tracking House party-line voting in c/politicsunfiltered@sh.itjust.works
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago

Looks like most Massachusetts Democrats stick closely to their speaker while Republicans are more split. So just another sign that party loyalty often outweighs real independent thinking in politics. Kinda like always.

John Roberts' order gives Donald Trump a Supreme Court boost in c/politicsunfiltered@sh.itjust.works
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago

Doubt it. I agree with the points you’re making here, but I don’t think policymakers in either party are brave enough to really look at themselves and ask how they contributed to this mess.

It’s easier to point fingers at the obvious cartoonish villains than to actually reflect on their own failures. Until that changes, the same shit will keep repeating. As it always has, as it always will. lol

I've been researching Xi and Putin and turns out they aren't the same. in c/politicsunfiltered@sh.itjust.works
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Hmmm, Xi may be more capable and def less clownish compared to Trump or Kim, but the system he enforces is still way too repressive. And that’s not something I can ignore just because he’s effective at some things.

As for if he's better or worse than Trump..um, that's a good question!

[Update] Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 4 points 2 days ago

Thanks for the update. Glad you stood up for yourself and glad that the people involved did the right thing. That's what's so awesome about this community!

Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The primary reason we decided you weren't a good fit for SLRPNK wasn't your ideas, but your chronic pattern of toxic behavior in advocating them.

Ok, that makes more sense. Obviously I, and the admin of this instance and other instances I'm on, don't feel I'm toxic, but you are certainly welcome to think that.

online bullying can make people disengage from a conversation in spite of arguing good points.

Agreed. And people bullied me a lot and told me to leave Lemmy. I stood up to them and didn't back down. So yeah, as a result, I can totally agree that I'm not great at de-escalating arguments. I give as much as I get. Which I feel has me wrongly labeled as a troll, but meh, if someone starts something with me, I don't back off. But you have a valid point.

you stand from the rightward-sliding political median.

Just to be clear: I'm not rightward politics. I'm a socialist. Voted socialist. (Which by the way is what caused all the controversy, because I voted 3rd party in the election) I also created and I mod socialist communities, and I've the majority of my posts are pro-socialist and pro third-party articles.

especially since you were transparent about your identity in your application, which I respect and appreciate.

Thank you. My "alts" aren't really alts as for ban evasion. I use my same name on all my instances. So ban evasion isn't really a goal since I don't hide my identity. If I truly wanted to ban evade and have an alt, I'd just come up with a different user name and sign up wherever I wanted.

But there have been multiple times when someone signed up in bad faith, using my name to create drama, and I've written to plenty of admins to let them know it wasn't me and asked them to delete those accounts. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I have no control over that.

But I DO appreciate your explanation, so thank you for going into details. Even tho I don't agree with some of your points, at least now I understand where you are coming from.

I respect you for not ignoring my questions or my gripes.

So thank you and best of luck to your instance. I still love the idea of your instance, even tho I'm no longer a part of it.

Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

How? I said I think that slrpnk has lost it's way. That was my personal opinion.

Want a quick receipt? This very thread. Most people agreed with OP and felt it was PTB against a slrpnk mod.

Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I meant, no issues as in no issues causing trouble for my instance. The admins of the instances I'm on had no issues with me.

Also, I didn't even post in most of those subs that were banning me. Please point out something that you thought was troubling and ban-worthy.

I loved the reason was: known zero-sum narcisstic troll/spam user. I added that to my user profile description. I'm not smart enough to know what it means, but it sounds badass!! LMAO

Lemmy is still way pissed that I voted for third party in the election. :)

5
UK Green Party picks eco-populist leader Polanski to take on far right (www.courthousenews.com)
2
2022 article: How Green-Party Success Is Reshaping Global Politics (www.cfr.org)
2
Green Politics: The Global Promise (greenpartyelders.org)
0
Interesting Article from 2004: A short history of the Green Party in the United States, 1984 to 2001 (greenpagesnews.org)
Banned from Lefty Memes for not agreeing with the complexity of Stalin *having* to ally with Hitler to invade Poland. in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

As for me not having receipts right now, I wasn't trying to prove anything. Just saying that it seems I have read things about slpnk not being as cool as it used to be. I mean, we are here talking about them in this comm because of it.

Others in this thread are saying that OP's situation was PTB as well, and based on the upvotes of my comments, I'm not the only one who thinks the slrpnk vibe seems to have changed lately.

I'm not a mod or admin who banned anyone in this thread, so no reason for me to have any receipts. I was just giving my personal opinion.

I'm glad OP's comment was restored.

Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

I just find it strange, though. I fit your demographic pretty well (solar power, off-grid living, anti-authority, anti-capitalist, punk, etc.) and never broke any rules on your instance, yet it still became an issue to be "associated with" me. I even had a cool-ass banner solarpunk graphic for my banner that I made just for that instance!! lol

What about my behavior caused problems for you? I’ve been on dbzer0 (https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/u/UniversalMonk
) and sh.itjust.works (https://sh.itjust.works/u/UniversalMonk
) for almost a year with no issues. I haven’t changed anything about how I act, what I post, or my attitude, and they’ve had no problems with me at all.

Even the stuff I became “infamous” for on .world was mostly election related, because I voted 3rd party (Socialist). If I made those exact posts today, they probably wouldn't cause any stir at all.

So I’m honestly curious: why can I be fine on these two big instances with no issues, yet yours had a problem with me?

I don't want you to think I'm grilling you or taking anything away from OP.

But I just find the whole thing curious, especially since I fall into what seems like one of your core demographics. No biggie tho, I found my forever home with my dbzer0 crew here.

22
'Strange noises' heard before squatter found in house with lights, TV and bed (www.bbc.com)
3
Canadian rulers prepare for wars to come, seek allies across Europe (themilitant.com)
1
Fun article from way back: Lay Off Ralph Nader! Third-party candidates are people, too. (slate.com)
Am I crazy for thinking this is power-tripping? in c/yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com
[–] UniversalMonk@anarchist.nexus 3 points 2 days ago (7 children)

They banned me out of the blue, even though I’d been on their instance for a while without breaking any rules. The reason they gave me was a variation of "you are Universal Monk." That alone makes me think they’ve lost their way.

Add that to OP’s situation and other things I’ve come across before, (though I’ll admit I don’t have the receipts right now), and it really seems like they’ve gone off course. Just my opinion, of course.

5
Workers over billionaires — this Labor Day and beyond (www.gp.org)
2
Dr. Butch Ware of the Green Party Talking Masculinity, Coalition Building and 3rd party voting (www.youtube.com)
2
Air Canada Flight Attendants Victory (internationalsocialist.net)
3
Dennis Richter: ‘Back fights by truckers, all workers!’ (themilitant.com)
 

FORT WORTH, Texas — “We need to build a party of labor for all of us workers,” Dennis Richter, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. vice president, told truck driver Patrick Edgar Brooks at the Pilot truck stop here Aug. 28, part of a three-day campaign tour in the area. Truckers Richter met described protests that fellow drivers held recently against conditions on the U.S.-Mexico border, where they’re forced to wait in their trucks for hours unpaid and without bathrooms.

“A labor party would be based on the unions, with the 14 million workers in this country who are organized, but needs to include the many millions more who are not in unions, like independent truckers,” he said.

Brooks told Richter that he and his wife are concerned that they will not be able to provide what their children need due to persistently high prices and their job options. Richter pointed to the need for a union-led fight for jobs with wages, schedules and conditions that make it possible for workers to sustain families.

He also spoke to Shawnta Hamerter, a driver from San Antonio.

“The last time I voted was for Obama,” Hamerter said. “He did nothing for us. They always say they will do things for us but they never do. We need to break from the entire government. We keep the country going.”

“Workers produce the wealth and we get wages that are not enough to survive on,” Richter said.

“The company I work for gave us a 4% wage increase but took it away by increasing other things we pay for. What can we do?” Hamerter asked.

“A lot of workers think it is just me and feel powerless,” Richter replied. “A party of labor would unify working people into a social movement to fight in our interests.”

“I have never qualified for assistance,” Hamerter added, “but yet they send billions to other countries.”

“What the government does abroad is to maintain the interests and profits of the capitalists,” Richter said, pointing to the need for the working class to advance its own foreign policy based on workers’ common class interests worldwide.

“They do to them as they do to us,” Hamerter said. She got a subscription to the Militant and endorsed the SWP presidential ticket.

Richter recently returned from campaigning in Australia. When he spoke at an area-wide meeting here Aug. 24, he explained that working people in that country follow what is happening in the U.S. because of the role the rulers here play in the world. He noted that Washington has the world’s biggest military, including tens of thousands of soldiers stationed in Asia.

Richter described how the Republican and Democratic parties have taken steps to refurbish their image. The Democrats now increasingly base themselves on the millions-strong upper middle class, a self-designated “enlightened meritocracy.” Meanwhile, “the Republican Party is trying to set itself up as the party of the working class,” he said. More and more workers question whether either of the two main bosses’ parties have anything to offer other than assaults on living standards, high prices and more wars.

“Every class struggle is a political struggle,” Richter said. “This understanding is what workers in the U.S. are finding out in their own lives and battles.

“And every political question we face in this campaign needs a class answer,” he added.

He described the picket lines of striking nurses that SWP campaign supporters have joined in many states, and also in Australia where he campaigned alongside members of the Communist League.

The SWP candidate pointed to the tens of thousands of workers in North America — IAM mechanics at Boeing, dockworkers, hotel and postal workers — in crucial contract fights, preparing to, or already on strike. Solidarity with these fights is crucial, he said, alongside support for rail workers in Canada who went on strike recently and are fighting both the bosses and the government over schedules and safety.

“The working class and our unions had been in retreat since the 1990s. But this retreat has come to an end,” Richter said, pointing to strikes and other battles waged by the unions in the last five years.

Example set by Cuban Revolution
A participant at the meeting asked why some commentators were comparing protests at the recent Democratic National Convention with those that took place there in 1968. “The anti-Vietnam War movement was different than what is happening today,” Richter said. “That movement targeted Washington’s imperialist assault and it built on the victories being won by the civil rights movement that overturned Jim Crow segregation.” Those protesting at the DNC today, he said, are supporters of Hamas, a reactionary anti-working-class outfit.

Richter noted that there were political currents in the 1960s that didn’t look to the working class, particularly Maoist currents. They influence the pro-Hamas actions today. These middle-class radicals “look to violence and ultra-left actions. They look at the masses as objects, the opposite of the course advanced by V.I. Lenin and Fidel Castro,” the central leaders respectively, of the Russian and Cuban revolutions.

Richter pointed to remarks by Asela de los Santos, a leader of the Cuban Revolution, when she was asked to summarize the Cuban Revolution in one word. She said, “participation.”

Organizing solidarity and deepening involvement in the class struggle today opens the door to advancing workers’ self-confidence, fighting capacities and class consciousness. That’s the course the SWP presents as the only road to advance the fight for workers to take power into our own hands.

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Workers discuss fight for safety after US Steel plant explosion (themilitant.com)
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