flipshod

flipshod wrote

Reply to comment by hogposting in Blasphemer! by ziq

But they really are.

Many years ago when I was a fresh new lawyer who did a lot of insurance defense work, I was hired by a cop union liability carrier to shield some racist cops from a wrongful arrest case and used the qualified immunity defense all the way up to no cert. at SCOTUS. I did the immoral thing and cut ties with the client after being disgusted by them even in simple conversations. (you can't just drop a case midstream)

That alone is enough to make them a big part of the problem.

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flipshod wrote (edited )

That's the answer. They represent the interests of capital, so whatever they think or don't think, they get their electoral marching orders from capital.

A party against capital can't possibly find itself in that same situation.

That's said, I'm one who thinks that the differences amongst us can be easily synthesized. But it's not about what to think but what to do, and regarding that, we're all at a loss.

A revolution depends on the circumstances, and we don't have enough societal-wide misery for it to rise from the bottom, assuming it wouldn't just be a bloodbath.

All we can do is move and organize where we can and be ready for when.

(sorry if I sound defeatist)

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flipshod wrote

I agree with you except I think that now that we (US) has been shown that we can't break into the Dem party, all efforts beyond simply voting have been given up.

As to using Lenin, I'm normally the person trying to explain why he's a bad example for myriad reasons. I used his example only because it carries weight in this crowd. I guess to differentiate between people who have "read theory" and the rest. (and I don't even think reading "theory" means at all what it meant back then for the cause.)

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flipshod wrote (edited )

You are right, but in the general sense he was practical and took advantages where he found them. And we have to think in the general sense because our circumstances are so different.

There's a quote of his, and I'm not sure if it's from his work or Trotsky (who quoted him a lot) where he's talking about cooperating with Kerensky and he says he'd balance his rifle on K's shoulder to aim at the tsar and then next aim it at him.

I think that's where we find ourselves now. Use the election to get rid of Trump and then work on getting rid of the Dems.

Edit: And I'm not suggesting that we pour scarce resources into it. Just if you are in a swing state, vote and maybe bring a friend. It does no harm but is also good for the working class esp the most oppressed.

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flipshod wrote (edited )

Reply to by !deleted26641

Excellent list. Under the violence and pacifism heading, let me suggest Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You.

It's a powerfully written case for anarcho-pacifism and is the book that set Gandhi on his mission. (Also of course Tolstoy is kinda famous for being an enjoyable writer.)

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flipshod wrote

All rules about something as complex as speech have to be purposefully vague and generalized.

We have to rely on people to make judgment calls. Large swaths of the law are based.on this concept.

Looking at the set of rules as a whole gives you an idea of the spirit and intent of the rulemakers (and thus the people making the judgment calls) and here, I would bet that criticizing Israel's treatment of Palestenians won't fall under anti-semitism.

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flipshod wrote

I'm one of those folks who signed up here months ago, but now that the sub is banned, I'm gonna be here every day hoping that the rest will follow.

(I'm an older guy and thus don't like technological change, but I'll cope somehow because the left has to have a place to congregate.)

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flipshod wrote (edited )

Except the left knew that even if Bernie had won, the fight would just be beginning.

So now the fight is still just beginning, but the question is which party we want in power while we fight.

There's a difference between voting and pinning all our hopes on electoralism.

Even Lenin was in favor of using electoralism as one of the tools in the fight for revolution.

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