#VladVexler knocks it out of the park with a #YouTube video on his main channel in which he dismantles the so-called #antiimperialist#left & #AltLeft arguments against #American aid to #Ukraine & #NATO blame for #Russia's invasion. TL;DR they fundamentally misunderstand #Putin's reasons for starting the war & are thus unable to grasp how to end it:
@lindamarie
I know he likes the dramatic music for his more "produced" videos on his main channel. I guess I didn't notice it being too loud.
My main critique would be of how he characterized the #AltLeft. For me #Glemb, #Taibbi, & #TulsiGabbard are little more than grifter hacks who use #populist language & #left sounding tropes for clicks & eyeballs. I don't think any of their arguments RE #Ukraine (or anything else for that matter) are made in #GoodFaith.
"A ... feature of ... #capitalist societies is the tendency of the market to take over the production ... of goods that were previously produced, maintained, and distributed by nonmarket means. Yet, there is a wide range of disagreement regarding the proper extent of the market in providing ... goods."
@aliide
That type of thinking might be the norm in certain academic circles (and among hippie ice cream makers), but it's hardly representative of the mainstream #left in the USA. As Glemb regularly likes to point out, even #Bernie, #AOC, & #TheSquad have voted for nearly every measure that's come up in #Congress to support #Ukraine since #Russia's full scale invasion. The same can't be said of #RightWing#Republicans like the #FreedomCaucus. @brooklynman
#ableism should be against the mastodon code of conduct.
As judged by people with the relevant disabilities.
ALL bigotry should be rated from the perspective of the targeted group.
#illogical
I do not understand why individuals who benefit from inequality can believe that EQUALITY isn't going to end those benefits.
if they WANT a world without bigotry. THEY will NOT BE MAKING THE RULES.
@CatHat That tracks for #Mastodon. I’ve seen just as much #racism here as on #Twitter. And the topic of #ableism, I think I’ve seen MORE than on Twitter (that whole “anti-car movement is disturbingly very anti-disabled). #Islamophobia is about the same, except it comes more from the #left, since the #right gets #defederated.
Ukrainian forces maintain a small beachhead on the Dnipro River's left bank near the destroyed Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson Oblast, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on July 18.
We present the second part of our Common Strategy for the development of the Antifa movement in Ukraine. Unfortunately, only in UA for now.
We publish and welcome to read and discuss the second part of our Common Strategy of development of the Antifascist movement.
In this part we speak about self-governence and practice of the related skills, the role federations and confederations plays in this process.
In the end we share our perspective of the future, its challenges and possible ways to stand against the:
❌ Neoliberal approach of the government
❌ Strengthening of the state's oppressive structure
❌ Far-right empowering
The main tasks we see today:
1️⃣ Establishing of the self-govern system
2️⃣ Creation of the self-defense forces
3️⃣ Infrastructure development
4️⃣ Support of the fighters and civilian comrades
5️⃣ Strengthening of the international cooperation and consolidation of Ukrainian diaspora abroad
We call for the sharing, discussions, critics and proposals🖤
We present the first part of our Common Strategy for the development of the Antifa movement in Ukraine. Unfortunately, only in UA for now.
In this part we share our view on the individual development and it's high priority. In our opinion, all members of the movement should have: a strong political background, modern education, the ability to take care of themselves and others, defend themselves and create quality social connections.
All this is necessary to create affinity groups, and then to form assemblies - the basic units of people's power.
Cue rant: I hate the term, "single-payer" even more than #MedicareForAll
It's meaningless to most people because it's jargon. Really, it is. #Ingsoc absolutely approves it.
Informing people using clear, direct, jargon-free language is something the #Democrats, specifically, and much of the #left in general, have failed at my entire 65 years.
"#Government provided (or paid or both)" or something like that.
A lot of instances are set up explicitly so, and there are many vocal users both on those instances and elsewhere.
Dip into posts on #politics or #economics (or even as an undercurrent to a lot of other posts) and you’ll find some very extreme #lefitist and #AntiCapitalist rhetoric. It can seem like the fediverse skews far-#left the same way “#AltTech” platforms skew far-#right.
Supporting #diversity doesn’t mean treating #minority communities as homogenous groups who all say, do and believe the same thing. It means regarding them as humans not less worthy of difference, disagreement & nuance than you.
Simon Tisdall rehearses 2 old (but still problematic) Q.s for the #left:
Is the Left more interested in fighting with its allies (& itself) over the vanity of small differences, opening the door for the #Right to win #elections?
Is a move to the right (centre) merely validating the very rightest positions that the left should be fighting against?
What Tisdall, perhaps, downplays is the issue of #media ownership & its sharing of the political agenda.
"The Left Needs a Spiritual Renaissance. So Does America." - I totally agree with this. The progressive left is currently restrained by a generation of aging neoliberal centrists who are more interested in salvaging the status quo than making necessary radical changes to our failing system. I have hopes that California’s Gaven Newsom or Katie Porter will emerge as a new generation of party leaders. Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer is also an emerging leader. Contenders like Abrams & O’Rourke have had two chances each and lost. Their time is over. #politics#left#leftist#progressives#Democrats#activismhttps://www.thedailybeast.com/the-left-needs-a-spiritual-renaissance-so-does-america?via=ios
"Nato enlargement involves “a two-fold legitimation” strategy. First, Nato is rendered ordinary and unremarkable, pedestrian and everyday, and second, it is portrayed as above reproach, vital, an absolute moral good.
[...]
Following the path taken by the German Greens, major Left-wing parties have abandoned military neutrality and opposition to war and now champion Nato.
"
Fellow leftists, what are things you think the #Left in your lifetime—your own milieu—has gotten wrong?
For me, I think two obvious contenders are the embrace of #NIMBY housing approaches (which I think is a fair characterization) & of #WholeLanguage (including “balanced literacy”) approaches to #reading
I’d be interested in reading anything people have seen from a real Left perspective grappling with what we can learn from having been wrong about either of these, & in other examples
UK Defense Ministry: Ukraine maintains left-bank beachhead at Antonivsky Bridge (kyivindependent.com)
Ukrainian forces maintain a small beachhead on the Dnipro River's left bank near the destroyed Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson Oblast, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on July 18.
In Nazi diatribe, Trump calls for mass deportations of socialists and communists (www.wsws.org)