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Liberal Professor discovers ONE WEIRD TRICK to wresting power from the ruling class. Socialists hate him! Can you think of any social struggles that were won this way, by trying to outspend the rich, rather than with protests, strikes and riots? Why buy into their ideology at all and pretend you can fix the broken system using the broken system?
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May 15, 2014 09:18
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 15:48 |
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Regarding #1, do you believe people like Adelson who want favors for their industry will allow someone to remove their ability to get those favors? That sounds like an existential threat to capitalists, and something for which they'd be willing to spend as much as they needed to spend. And yes, it is one potential solution, but unfortunately people with limited resources can only contribute to a finite number of potential solutions. Why should I think this is a better use of my time and money than, say, strike funds and community centers or organizing protests and boycotts? By the way, "Opportunity" is misspelled on your website. Edit: If it feels like everyone jumped you it's not because your ideas/policies are no good, but because of how you laid out (or didn't lay out) a real argument. It felt less like the prelude to a discussion than a announcement of your wonderful idea. Usually people try to anticipate simple arguments and objections and address those concerns within their initial post. Another simple, predictable argument: the people who want this policy are the people who can't donate, and the people who can donate don't want it. Obviously you'll have an exception here or there but data consistently shows very strong correlation between wealth and political alignment. OwlBot 2000 fucked around with this message at 10:19 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 10:04
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Speaking of May Day, today there will be 230 strikes at fast food restaurants in over 30 countries.
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May 15, 2014 17:14
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Eh nothing wrong with that.
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May 15, 2014 17:37
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I think we should all donate $5, it's only fair.
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May 15, 2014 21:57
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You people are very mean. I'm a shamed of you.
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May 15, 2014 23:06
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karlor posted:this is too much fun NEWMAN! 
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May 16, 2014 00:15
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You know how when you join MS13 you have to get kicked in the head by 13 people for 13 seconds? SA's kind of like that.
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May 16, 2014 21:56
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Sheng-ji Yang posted:hes not a bad photographer actually This reminds me so much of Portland it's not even funny. Except fewer pea coats.
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May 16, 2014 22:31
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May 17, 2014 06:30
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Brian we miss you, please come home.
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May 17, 2014 08:42
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Please keep this thread open, there are so many fantastic GIF ideas.
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May 17, 2014 18:51
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Don't do this.
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May 18, 2014 04:24
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Ignatius J. Boyko. Goddamn.
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May 18, 2014 08:33
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Ignatius J. Reilly was a character in the book A Confederacy of Dunces who is Wikipedia posted:something of a modern Don Quixote—eccentric, idealistic, and creative, sometimes to the point of delusion. In his foreword to the book, Walker Percy describes Ignatius as a "slob extraordinary, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one."
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May 18, 2014 09:01
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We did it, everyone! Now with this $5 million we can convince rich people to donate more to get money out of politics.
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Jul 5, 2014 02:48
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Everyone's bashing this idea but I don't see what they've got that's any better. Some have even said that "taking money out of politics" doesn't do enough, but that seems like precisely the solution.
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Jul 5, 2014 02:53
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But Fischmech, I don't have the marketing savvy of Boyko. How can I raise $5 million to send?
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Jul 5, 2014 19:18
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Yikes. I thought I was being pretty clearly sarcastic, and even if you couldn't tell I was the guy who did this: and I'm also the fifth reply in the entire thread OwlBot 2000 posted:Liberal Professor discovers ONE WEIRD TRICK to wresting power from the ruling class. Socialists hate him! But I understand, because this "MayDay" thing makes me furious as well.
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Jul 7, 2014 00:09
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Mister Fister posted:You know, reading this depressing thread, i think i understand why conservatives are able to elect tea partiers (sometimes against all odds) and liberals can't do poo poo. You've got a ways to go before you can make a convincing troll. Tone it down to 65% and you might be believable, and spread it out over several pages.
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Jul 8, 2014 01:38
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Mister Fister posted:Too some extent, yes, but the overwhelming majority of millionaires and billionaires aren't happy that the tea party got elected. "Chamber of Commerce" CEO's want mainstream Republicans to win, not a bunch of rag tag extremists who shut down government or threaten to end handouts, it's not good for business. The rich aren't homogeneous. Locally powerful millionaires in southern states often support the Tea Party (along with the Kochs), and multinational corporations and billionaires usually support more mainstream republicans. http://www.salon.com/2013/10/06/tea_party_radicalism_is_misunderstood_meet_the_newest_right/ quote:The Tea Party right is not only disproportionately Southern but also disproportionately upscale. Its social base consists of what, in other countries, are called the “local notables”—provincial elites whose power and privileges are threatened from above by a stronger central government they do not control and from below by the local poor and the local working class. OwlBot 2000 fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Jul 8, 2014 |
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Jul 8, 2014 02:09
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It's only harmful because it moves things farther right.
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Jul 8, 2014 03:30
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Samurai Quack posted:Lol lookit all the wannabe revolutionaries itt Look at all the people willing to stand by and do nothing while we subject our planet to an entirely avoidable yet devastating and irreversible catastrophe and let millions of children starve to death just so a small handful of people can have hundreds of of billions of dollars they could never spend itt
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Jul 9, 2014 03:31
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BBJoey posted:What are you doing to start the peoples' revolution, comrade? No such thing on the horizon, just organizing for workers rights and wage increases for now. Samurai Quack posted:No revolution in human history has ever occured without thousands, hundred thousands, even millions of deaths, and widespread suffering for the innocent. People calling for the violent upheaval of the system always seem to cast themselves as glorious leaders of the new age, but this is just as dumb as believing yourself to be a Randian Captain of Industry. Chances are the violent overthrow of the system will have you up against the wall as likely as anyone else. And yet most people agree there's a point where no change is far more violent and unjust and deadly than any revolution could ever be. I don't think there will need to be any significant level of violence in the west, but if there is it will be initiated by security forces and not the poor people tired of being pushed around. Venezuela's not a great example for a lot of reasons and has been very poorly governed, but there was no major civil war of the scale of the French Revolution. Chile voted in a radical leftist without any violent struggle. You can acknowledge the absolute, pressing need for major, fundamental change (which you can call a revolution) without hoping or expecting extreme violence or upheaval. Violence isn't anybody's goal.
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Jul 9, 2014 04:46
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Samurai Quack posted:The problem with "a Tea party of the left" is that the tea party is insane. Like, totally detached from reality insane. If were taking about a radical group willing to protest and strike and organize resistance to government actions pushing against the common good, then yeah, I'm all for it, but the last thing we need is more ideologically brainwashed idiots pushing for policy decisions without actually understanding what tge problems or solutions to our issues are. Well you've already obviated that problem by calling them a tea party of the left, by definition having a better understanding of real issues like science, the environment, poverty, DEBT and racism. The tea party aren't crazy because they're uncompromising, they're crazy because they're right wing and uncompromising.
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Jul 9, 2014 05:20
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Samurai Quack posted:The goal of progress has to be the driving force, not the goal of taking down capitalism at all costs. A radical left like that is just as possible (in theory at least) , and just as dumb, as the tea party is. The reason more and more people are supporting socialism, in addition to the very obvious crisis of capitalism the world is still experiencing, is a growing recognition that capitalism itself cannot abide by fair pay, environmental regulations, socialized healthcare or the taxation needed to fund such things for very long. The social welfare state of the post-WWII era is being rapidly dismantled, and people who don't have billions of dollars to throw at politicians have no means of fighting back within the system. Getting rid of capitalism is not an end in itself, it's a means to make possible a reduction in human suffering and wanton environmental destruction and an increase in human freedom. It's not support for communism along the lines of the USSR or Cuba (which developed in those specific ways as a result of their low development and inability to otherwise defend themselves from far more advanced countries) but a new, democratic kind of socialism. People don't want to "take down the system" because they want violence or revolution, they feel it's an unfortunate necessity if they want to make any lasting progress.
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Jul 9, 2014 06:02
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Samurai Quack posted:It may very well be, but don't set out calling for it, because that is exactly what will push most people away. Don't start with the mind set that it has to happen because no one will want to follow you into turmoil for the off chance of things maybe getting better when they could also get a lot worse. They're not trying to open up the conversation with scary radical rhetoric, left activists are campaigning for concrete improvements to the lives of poor people like better wages, public transit and more funding for education. And they genuinely hope they can win. But if it turns out that the rich are able to undo all of their progress and prevent any disagreeable candidate from being elected, people in general will take notice. People see that the gap between rich and poor is growing, that their bosses are taking home more and more while they get less. They notice they can't afford healthcare, housing, education or even food. And as things continue to decline, despite our best efforts, people will start asking "why is this happening?" Uncompromising but practical leftism is working up here in the Northwest, and it may be spreading to the Midwest before too long. That's why "centrist" "solutions" like MayDay and AmericansElect are beyond useless, they take away resources from things that can actually make difference.
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Jul 9, 2014 06:26
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 15:48 |
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Sunday is for church, you heathen.
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Jul 9, 2014 08:39
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