Marx argued that capitalism had built in contradictions that would eventually make it unsustainable. He basically predicted capitalism would collapse under its own weight, but didn’t specify how long it would take to finish dying. Things like falling rates of profit, ever worsening crises, and the immiseration of the working class are all precisely the things we see unfolding around us today. At some point all these problems must reach a breaking point where the system as a whole can no longer function.

Arguably, Marx underestimated the ability of the capitalist system to adapt and it ultimately proved more flexible at kicking the can down the road than he gave it credit for. Marx also thought the crisis would hit the most advanced industrial nations such as Britain and Germany first. Instead, capitalism fueled imperialism exporting its worst exploitation to the Global South. The core countries got to enjoy relative stability partly because the worst human abuses and extraction happen elsewhere.

Lenin followed Marx’s logic and argued that Western capitalists used superprofits from colonies to bribe their own working class with higher wages to buy off revolutionary potential. Basically, the system managed to survive this long by making the Western working class comfortable enough to not want to burn it all down.

The fact that it’s not pure altruism isn’t the gotcha you seem to think it is. And of course, Iran isn’t helping Palestine out of pure altruism either. Why do you think Iran just sat by while the genocide was happening for over a year. They could’ve closed Hormuz any time. The reason they are taking action now is because they’re being threatened by the empire and its outpost in Israel. Iran is also trying to improve its position in the region. It’s frankly incredible that you don’t understand this.

Who cares about them, the polls I linked show that there’s already a critical mass of people who support socialism. These are the rational people to focus organizing efforts on.

Once again, since you keep ignoring the elephant in the room, the only reason Iran is able to engage in international solidarity is because of the solidarity Russia and China have with Iran providing them with weapons, technology, economic aid, and diplomatic support. Evidently the concept of any support outside direct military action is just too difficult for you to comprehend.

Similarly, the whole context for this thread is China providing Cuba with the material means to deal with the energy crisis. But hey, why engage with reality when you can just confidently spew idealist nonsense. Once you’ve done better then you get the right to screech, but until then kindly sit the fuck down.

our whole society is inherently a social construct

It’s important to note that liberalism is fundamentally a right wing ideology which consists of two main parts. First you have political liberalism which focuses on all the wholesome ideas we hear about such as individual freedoms and democracy. But the second part is economic liberalism which deals with free markets, private property, and wealth accumulation. These two aspects form a contradiction. Political liberalism purports to support everyone’s freedom, while economic liberalism enshrines private property rights as sacred in laws and constitutions, effectively removing them from political debate.

As a result, liberalism inevitably justifies the use of state violence to safeguard property rights, over supporting ordinary people, which directly contradicts the promises of fairness and equality. Private property being seen as a key part of individual freedom under liberalism provides the foundational justification for the rich to keep their wealth while ignoring the needs of everyone else. Thus, all the talk of freedom and democracy ends up being nothing more than a fig leaf to provide cover for justifying capitalist relations.

If you genuinely don’t understand that Iran is only able to step up because of support from Russia and China, what else is there to say really.

Maybe in the bubble you live in that’s the case. This is very much standard usage by Marxists to criticize idealists who consistently fail to do actual material analysis of the world.

The only reason Iran is able to step up to the plate is because of material support from Russia and China. I guess actually being able to understand how things are interconnected is too much to ask here.

That along with rapidly changing climate and increased droughts throughout the US.

My hands down fav part of the article is here though, like are they implying that Iran did not, objectively speaking, prevail in the war?

Even after an initial ceasefire was announced in April, Iran has demonstrated that it remains willing to resume its use of military force, an aggressive stance that has helped it extract key economic concessions from the United States and allowed the regime to craft a narrative at home that it prevailed in the war.

The word ultra is used to refer precisely to what Lenin is talking about, it’s equivalent to pointing out that you are a deeply unserious person who doesn’t engage with material reality we live in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-leftism

My angle of refutation is that I will never cease to be amazed just how idealistic western left is. I suspect this largely stems from the fact that there is very little actual organizing happening, and most people are just LARPing being a communist online without having any understanding of the complexities involved in a genuine struggle. It’s always easy to criticize real work other people are doing.

nice find

Go read up on the concept of the commanding heights of the economy. Not to mention the fact that the party owns the golden share in all major companies, and has members on the board. You could watch an explanation of how the economy in China actually works here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E89qUXTX-k

Or even better, actually read a book https://redletterspp.com/products/the-east-is-still-red or two https://1804books.com/products/chinas-great-road would be a new experience for you.

The word ultra is used to refer to idealist leftists who are divorced from the real world and can’t understand the concept of having to make compromises. It’s the people Lenin wrote this book for, specifically this chapter https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch08.htm

the root cause is capitalism

nice

please stop smoking crack, it’s not good for you https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/2024/chinas-private-sector-has-lost-ground-state-sector-has-gained-share-among

sure hope so