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Every time (lemmy.ml)
submitted 10 months ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/memes@lemmy.ml
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[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 31 points 10 months ago

France is speedrunning this right now. Any time a liberal claims to be antifascist, ask them to explain why they think fascism exists and where it comes from, materially.

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml 33 points 10 months ago

To be fair, if liberals were capable of material analysis then they would no longer be liberals.

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 10 points 10 months ago
[-] kjo@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 10 months ago

What does "material analysis" means in this context? What should I search to know more? I searched the term and only came up with chemistry topics.

[-] Sagittarii@lemm.ee 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Simply put, materialism — as opposed to idealism — is the idea that everything we do and experience as a society (our history, culture, politics, etc) is shaped by the material reality around us, rather than ideas.

"Material analysis" in this case therefore means analysing politics and history through this lens. And it's a fundamental component of socialism/marxism.

Simple diagram of how our material reality shapes our society

Yogthos is insulting liberals because liberalism is an idealist ideology that always eventually gives way to fascism when a capitalist state is (inevitably) in decay.

[-] kjo@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 10 months ago

Thank you for the explanation. Hopefully I learn something from the reference you linked. I'll watch the video first before reading the literatures.

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

My original comment is meant to refer to the concept of Materialism, which contains the concepts of Marxist Dialectical and Historical Materialism. Materialism is a "reality-focused" branch of philosophy and analysis, contrasted with Idealism, which is idea-focused.

The connection to liberalism and fascism is because Liberalism is Idealist as opposed to Materialist. The Liberal answer to "where does fascism come from?" Would be "demagogues like Trump rising to power, racism, xenophobia, etc," yet when you ask why those ideas are present or not present, the Liberal cannot answer genuinely.

For Marxists, fascism is a consequence of Capitalism's decline, resulting in the Petty Bourgeois elements of society, ie the "Middle Class," sliding into worse conditions and allying with the Bourgeoisie against the Proletariat. In the Weimar Republic, Capitalism was declining and genuine Communism was gaining steam, with the KPD at the forefront and the SPD representing the moderate Socialists, so fascism gained power as a reaction. Communism and Socialism gained appeal among the Lower Classes while fascism gained power among the Liberals, ie the Middle and Upper Classes.

The other works listed by other commenters are great, but my personal favorite work on the subject is Elementary Principles of Philosophy.

[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

In Nazi Germany

Weimar Republic

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yes, misspoke. Was refering to the eventual rise of the Nazis, not their period of control. Has been corrected now, thanks.

[-] kjo@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 10 months ago

Thank you for taking the time to explain the topic to me. I appreciate it. I'll try to read the book.

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago

No problem! DM me if you have any questions, or ask in one of the Marxist communities here, on Lemmygrad, or Hexbear.

[-] GiveMemes@jlai.lu 2 points 10 months ago

You're very good at strawmanning arguments. I think most libs would just say that racism and xenophobia are inherent to tribalism, which is inherent to the human mind as an evolutionary trait. It can and should be overcome, but that doesn't change its innateness in our psyche.

[-] Sagittarii@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

"Human nature" is formed by societal norms, which are in turn formed by the present mode of production and thus material reality. Humans aren't racist by nature lmfao, such a dumb right wing assertion.

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[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

I think most libs would just say that racism and xenophobia are inherent to tribalism, which is inherent to the human mind as an evolutionary trait.

This is still Idealism. The concept of "Human Nature" is nebulous, and changes throughout history. Materialists assert that what is considered "Human Nature" is reinforced and created by Mode of Production, Liberals just claim Capitalism to be natural and the default state of humanity. The difference is that Materialists have historical evidence, whereas Liberalism stands against historical evidence.

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[-] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Aren't there dedicated communities for political memes? I blocked those for a reason. Why is politics bleeding over to here?

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml 29 points 10 months ago
[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago

Everything is political, there is no such thing as a non-political meme.

Either way, there's a comm for less political memes

[-] xor 12 points 10 months ago

If they're exclusively supporting the right wing candidate, they're not a centrist, then

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 16 points 10 months ago

Centrism within the context of an exclusively right-wing overton window is always going to functionally be right wing.

[-] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 3 points 10 months ago

The overton window shifted more left than right, unless said centrist lives in Turkey or Russia

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 9 points 10 months ago

What do you mean by that? Where is the Overton Window sliding to the left?

[-] Ummdustry@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago
[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

This is misleading. Most people do not actually know what Socialism or Communism are in the US (including people on Lemmy.world and other more liberalized instances) that think they know. What we are seeing is increasing polarization, fascism and Socialism are rising as a response to decaying Imperialism in the American Empire, as a consequence of decaying Capitalism.

Party-wise, the Democrats are running on the GOP platform of 4 years ago, while the GOP is running on overt fascism. American politics is more right-wing than ever before.

[-] Ummdustry@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago

Under the asumption I am most people, can you give me the definition of socialism you prefer?

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Socialism is, put at the most simple statement, Worker Ownership of the Means of Production. It is also, more abstractly put, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat in a transitional status towards Communism.

People often confuse Capitalist governments doing stuff for Socialism, and Socialist governments retaining Capitalist elements as the entire system being Capitalist. It requires class analysis of who is in power.

Do you have a different idea, or is this in line with what you currently understand?

[-] supertrucker@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

It ends the same way. An authoritarian dictatorship of a small group that seizes total political power. It always ends this way, and no amount of people power will change that

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago

Why? What are you talking about?

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[-] xor 2 points 10 months ago

You can't possibly make a reasonable argument that Kamala Harris is a fascist lmao

  • Authoritarian: no
  • Ultra-nationalist: no
  • Forcible suppression of opposition: no
  • Militarisation of society: no
  • State controlled economy: no
[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 13 points 10 months ago

I didn't make that point, I said she is right-wing, and is running on the same foreign policy as Trump did 4 years ago, with her promising to build the wall and strengthen border patrol.

Either way:

Authoritarian

What do you mean by this? America isn't a real democracy, if she supports the current system then I believe her to be authoritarian.

Ultra-nationalist

If you count Trump's border policy from 2016-2020 as Ultra-Nationalist, she's Ultra-Nationalist. She also wants the US military to be, and I quote from her speech at the DNC, as "the most lethal military in the world."

Forcible suppression of opposition

Democrats kicked the Party for Socialism and Liberation off the ballot in Georgia already, so while we aren't all the way there, signs of it are showing up

Militarisation of society

Not there yet, sure.

State controlled economy

Much of the US economy is state-controlled, it's just that the US State is controlled by the Bourgeoisie.

[-] linkhidalgogato@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago

except she is for all those things except the last one which is self evident since fascists fucking love the shit out of the free market.

she is literally a fucking pig

she is amerikkkan and proud

literally head pig in california when the pigs where running people over in 2020

the amerikkkan empire is already so militarized that anything short of trying to scale it back counts

just because the other ghoul is even more of a fascists doesn't make her not one.

[-] 10_0@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago
[-] Greg@lemmy.ca 7 points 10 months ago

Wingers both left and right need to get out of their bubbles. Wingers have no idea what their opposition believe. And attacking centrists is an silly approach to further you're cause. They're literally the people you should be engaging with instead of producing bubbled memes like this.

[-] tranarchist@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago

I know exactly what the right wing parties in my country want, that's why I'm a left winger

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago

You're the meme.

[-] HowMany@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago

Fascists are 'centrists' regardless how it's spun.

[-] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago

We can't afford to stay neutral on a moving train.

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[-] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

At this point, "centrist" is slang for, "I want to argue for what I believe in under the guise of being the 'Devils advocate'".

[-] Ummdustry@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

and are the enlightened centrists in the room with us now?

[-] Alsephina@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago

Down below. Learn to read maybe?

[-] supertrucker@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

Let's hear what a bunch of leftists who think that you can have a functional democracy when everyone thinks exactly the way they do lecture everyone on why political extremisn is a good idea,then start crying when they realize that the only way they can achieve their political paradise is for them to act like the very nazis they claim to despise

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

living the meme buddy

[-] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

"leftists" just want their population to be fairly represented. The system that we have now gives significantly more power to people who live in the right places.

These places are all away from densely populated areas (which are, coincidentally, the areas that are contributing the most to our GDP, also where the highest wages are and thus where the biggest chunk of taxes are collected)

What we are well on our way to, is a tyranny of the minority, and you sound like you're applauding it. As if that is somehow better for everyone than majority rule, or even the stalemate we have now.

Yeah, we want a functional democracy where not everyone, but at least the majority, thinks the same way...and also runs under the direction of a majority. You know, like a democracy should.

What we have now is a dysfunctional democracy...one which runs counter to what the majority are thinking.

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this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024
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