Post AXRnETmes2z2bns9PE by koteisaev@mastodon.online
(DIR) More posts by koteisaev@mastodon.online
(DIR) Post #AXRjDRGuKFPMiAGmJ6 by koteisaev@mastodon.online
2023-07-07T07:53:51Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Are communists a radical left thingy?https://medium.com/@kote_isaev/are-communists-a-radical-left-thingy-bbe940bac308TL/DR: Communists are far-far-right political force, even more far-right than classic ultra-conservatives or white supremacists and fans of unlucky artist from Austria.#politics #communism #politology
(DIR) Post #AXRjDRtY0aJge0LdXE by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T08:17:47Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@koteisaevI’m not sure what you mean here. By definition, communists are far-left.Perhaps you’re referring to the reality of communist regimes following Marxism-Stalinism, which are just as totalitarian as fascist ones.There’ve always been both parallels and cooperation between these two extremes. That’s why we talk about horseshoe theory and the red-brown alliance.#politics #communism #fascism
(DIR) Post #AXRjHew3SyP6FMWpBA by koteisaev@mastodon.online
2023-07-07T08:27:10Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TruthSandwichThe claims that communists are far-left comes from politology teachbooks for universities, wikipedia, and it is widespread in media across the globe. I find horseshoe theory too post-modernistic. It essentially displays left and right equally bad and not very different from each other. Moving communists from far-left chamber and place them at right from fascists allow again use linear scale where far right = max pressure on person, while anarchists become far-left = zero pressure
(DIR) Post #AXRjHfnaFxDovNZZc8 by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T08:46:43Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@koteisaevHorseshoe theory doesn’t say the two extremes are equally bad; it says that, as you go further away from the center, they become indistinguishable except by their rhetorical flavoring.The far left and far right are opposites in one dimension, but the ends curve together in the populist dimension until they touch. It is this shared populism that unites what might otherwise be incompatible views.So, for example, Tulsi Gabbard went from far-left – a member of Bernie Sanders’ org – to far-right but very little has actually changed. Some of the rhetoric, maybe, but the substance is the same, as is her allegiance to Putin, and Modi, and Assad.Anarchists come in many flavors. Libertarians are right-wing anarchists, for example. Hans-Hermann Hoppe is more of an anarchist than Ayn Rand, and even further to the right.In addition, the anarchist left is heavily populist. Sanders, to use him again, claims inspiration from Eugene Debs.In contrast, the moderate left is radically different from, and deeply opposed to, the far right. I’d say something about the moderate right, but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
(DIR) Post #AXRjXZjQa5lGk1DB1k by koteisaev@mastodon.online
2023-07-07T09:04:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TruthSandwich It sounds for me, as "Horseshoe theory doesn’t say the two extremes are equally bad; it says that, as you go further away from the center, they become equally bad except by their rhetorical flavoring.".Little difference between far-right & far-left in deeds is why I decided to actually ditch both standard left-right division and horseshoe theory as not helpful enough and use "measure of pressure on person" instead.Collapse of moderate right in US ended with that chamber empty.
(DIR) Post #AXRjXaNq9q5UlM7S1A by edgeoforever@mastodon.world
2023-07-07T09:09:35Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@koteisaev @TruthSandwich you’re looking for democracy vs authoritarianism distinction. Most useful nowadays.
(DIR) Post #AXRjgcX5XKEA2CkkBE by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T09:11:13Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@edgeoforever @koteisaevPopulism is fundamentally antidemocratic, whereas commitment to democracy is only seen near the political center.This makes sense, given that extremists are perennially snubbed by democratic processes.
(DIR) Post #AXRkXi7NV7i6hm2h9M by dcjohnson@mastodon.cloud
2023-07-07T09:20:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@edgeoforever @koteisaev @TruthSandwich "Left" is always about degrees of democracy. "Far left" is We the People decide everything. Govt provides healthcare, water, food, everything."Right" is always about the opposite. Monarchy, dictatorship, plutocracy, etc.
(DIR) Post #AXRnBRNfLhHmHqjXLk by koteisaev@mastodon.online
2023-07-07T09:19:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TruthSandwich I don't agree that absolute center means absolute democracy. Even in classic left-right split, centrism means lack of specific principles and therefore being flexible up to spineless, including being a dictator "when necessary".#Anarchy is the most democratic that can happen with humanity one day. Even if today it just direction, not a "place". (anarchy is not chaos from movies, it is people getting wise enough to no need for government due ability to self-organize).
(DIR) Post #AXRnBS24vRc0JBdoLA by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T09:21:51Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@koteisaevDemocracy requires cooperation, so there has to be overlap. You find this overlap near the center, not the edges.Centrism isn’t lack of principles, just a rejection of extremism. I’m an American liberal, so I’m center-left. This means I’m left-wing but not so far left that I’ve lost all contact with reality. I reject Marxism and populism.
(DIR) Post #AXRnETmes2z2bns9PE by koteisaev@mastodon.online
2023-07-07T09:25:38Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TruthSandwich Interesting that your position (center-left) stays same in all coordinates (classic far-left split, with or without horseshoe, "measure of pressure on person").
(DIR) Post #AXRnEUNAgIBsR2xJJo by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T09:30:48Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@koteisaevWell, horseshoe distortion only kicks in at the extremes, and while I’m on the left end of center-left, I’m no extremist.The irony is that the far left isn’t consistently left-wing. So, for example, the American left favors gun control, but the far left doesn’t. The left cares about systemic bigotry, but the far left uses class reductionism to explain away why bigotry can be safely ignored.
(DIR) Post #AXRnO0UgcmlmfD0dwe by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T09:28:25Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@dcjohnson @edgeoforever @koteisaevIt’s complicated. The far left is generally defined by Marxism. But Marxism in real life is Marxism-Stalinism, which is just totalitarianism with left-wing rhetoric.The far right is fascism, which ought to be completely different from the far left, only it’s not. It’s likewise totalitarian.
(DIR) Post #AXRnmlhWlG6y1Xp4ZU by edgeoforever@mastodon.world
2023-07-07T09:57:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@koteisaev @TruthSandwich could be that, we do actually have principles? (Democracy, civil rights, justice) All these to become real, require laws (equal protection under them). It’s where we diverge from anarchism.
(DIR) Post #AXRo5YCHC2KtdzA46S by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T10:00:32Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@edgeoforever @koteisaevAnarchism is yet another one of those ideas that appeals to idealists but doesn’t work in reality.Worse, it’s a cover for some of the nastiest ideas. For example, Hoppe (mentioned earlier) used it to justify racist cities.
(DIR) Post #AXRoAuaBOKjAWGtqSW by koteisaev@mastodon.online
2023-07-07T09:56:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@TruthSandwich Today word communism used too vague, so I have to clarify that I was talking about any practical tries to implement communism it always end up with Gulag, KGB, and all these other "perks" of Soviet Union. If someone promise to expropriate the private property or forbid it, grab land from rich by force, give factories to state - as if you forbid private factories they land in tentacles of state bureaucracy. Some who want federation of communities, mistakenly labeled as communists
(DIR) Post #AXRoAvCp4fdUS6yhge by edgeoforever@mastodon.world
2023-07-07T10:01:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@koteisaev @TruthSandwich Agree. In US, republicans call healthcare and education “communism “, but your definition is closer to reality. Although, if you want to be rigorous about it, the countries that implemented those horrors were “socialist l. Communism by the book never happened in real life (and I hope it never will)
(DIR) Post #AXRoDt9f9kRCxaumJ6 by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T09:59:05Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@koteisaevLike I said, there’s Marxism, which is the theory, and then there’s Marxism-Leninism, which is the practice.There are people who recognize this gap but insist that Marxism is still possible. These people are gullible fools.I wrote something recently about this: https://truth-sandwich.com/2023/07/05/real-red-magic/#communism #politics
(DIR) Post #AXRoJqdXQoaYt6jLbU by TruthSandwich@qoto.org
2023-07-07T10:03:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@edgeoforever @koteisaevAll communist countries called themselves socialist, because socialism is the hypothetical precursor to communism, but communism is impossible.(See that essay I just linked to for details.)