Post AXxSWxcAnmUUlY27g8 by Benfell@hcommons.social
(DIR) More posts by Benfell@hcommons.social
(DIR) Post #AVaJDeWrRfSDhlSmx6 by Radical_EgoCom@kolektiva.social
2023-05-10T13:22:15Z
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"What is Communist Anarchism?", by Alexander Berkmanhttps://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/alexander-berkman-what-is-communist-anarchism
(DIR) Post #AWfgWo1RQg37HyhKHA by ablackcatstail@goblackcat.net
2023-06-14T04:26:18Z
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@Radical_EgoCom I love how the pseudo-intellectuals think they truly know what anarchy is. You and I know that it is not chaos and disorder but peaceful existence and without the need for an ever overreaching government.
(DIR) Post #AX3bJefzqnQ5F5PEWW by stevenroose@x0f.org
2023-06-25T17:44:19Z
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@Radical_EgoCom Seriously this boosting old posts on a daily basis feels really spammy..
(DIR) Post #AXxSWu5RuzX3pBhRku by Benfell@hcommons.social
2023-07-19T02:14:01Z
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@Radical_EgoCom "Communist anarchism?"Um, that's redundant. The other things claiming to be anarchist flatly aren't.
(DIR) Post #AXxSWvLRF1urj4BjJg by duckwhistle@mastodon.org.uk
2023-07-19T06:54:11Z
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@Benfell @Radical_EgoCom well, yes and no.Common perception of anarchy is that it means no social structure whatsoever. So whilst it's technically redundant,it's also a necessary qualifier to aid understanding.
(DIR) Post #AXxSWwCG4eAQMstue8 by Benfell@hcommons.social
2023-07-19T08:27:36Z
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@duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Except that when you say 'communism,' most people think of authoritarian socialism, so no, it doesn't actually help with understanding.
(DIR) Post #AXxSWwsRXnuYTidbOq by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-21T23:33:33Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom I’d go a step further wrt to USSR or China, they are state capitalist. At no time do the people control their destiny
(DIR) Post #AXxSWxcAnmUUlY27g8 by Benfell@hcommons.social
2023-07-22T00:47:54Z
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom I'm going to have to bow out on how the Soviet Union or various People's Republics should be categorized.A part of the issue is that there is no pure system. Authoritarian socialist regimes had or have capitalist elements. Capitalist regimes have socialist elements.So while I can see the argument that so-called "communist" regimes were in fact "state capitalist," I can neither endorse nor refute it. Ultimately, it hinges on how much of each you can have to categorize as either, and I haven't the first idea how to decide that.
(DIR) Post #AXxSWyHIKtNsp5Gxm4 by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T00:54:56Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Agree, there isn’t any pure system.I gravitate to an authoritarian v democratic axis. What are the social power relations between say work or gov and the people?Are the people doing the work deciding who, what, how much and why? If the answer is no, then toss it into the authoritarian bin. Exploitation will follow. State capitalist kinda runs aground of definitions like saying authoritarian communist state. Oxymoron anyone?
(DIR) Post #AXxSWyro98aieKM7ge by Benfell@hcommons.social
2023-07-22T01:05:13Z
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Properly understood, communism cannot be authoritarian. As Emma Goldman explains in https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-there-is-no-communism-in-russia , communism is egalitarian. We might disagree with Karl Marx about means to the end, but we agree on the end, which is why, for all the suffering that resulted from his ideas, I'm inclined to allow him a little grace--I think he meant well, and by the time we had the proof that Michael Bakunin was right, it was too late.Accordingly, I label these regimes "authoritarian socialist," specifically to distinguish from libertarian socialism, which along with anarchism, recognizes that both political and economic power over others is a problem (anarchists would say it's illegitimate).As to democracy, I'm not clear on why we even still talk about it. You ask, "Are the people doing the work deciding who, what, how much and why?" In any country I'm aware of, the answer is flatly no--the rich and powerful make those decisions.
(DIR) Post #AXxSWywPs0HGscVns0 by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T00:11:49Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom The more I root around in the history of Ancient Rome (when I’m not grazing some other bit of history or anthropology) is just how appalling and intrinsic slavery was to Roman culture (not that it wasn’t integral all over the classic world). Back and forth went people’s liberties over centuries. Today’s patrician class harbors a true contempt for plebs. Conditions mirror many where their grip unraveled (over a couple centuries) into what replaced it
(DIR) Post #AXxSWzVVlWLmdSvpZY by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T01:18:07Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Yet there are levels to it, right? Russia v Holland might be a good extreme contrast in tone.And perhaps obsessing just over gov is bad. How do companies operate? Compare mittelstrand to a U.S. corp or Mondragon or Ace Hardware (it’s a co-op, IIRC).What variety and distribution? The there were the communes of the 60s which I think wound down on their own.
(DIR) Post #AXxSX0Fb0BDIwOUdP6 by Benfell@hcommons.social
2023-07-22T01:25:53Z
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Don't know what happened to the communes of the 1960s and it's been a while since I heard what happened to Israeli kibbutzim, but I very faintly recall that capitalism had something to do with it.When we speak of co-ops, I think we may need to be more specific.Sure, that co-op I joined in Erie is open to the public--anyone can join.But a bunch of independent car wash operators joined forces in Pittsburgh to meet competition from a couple chains moving in--I don't know how they structured their merger, but it occurs to me they might have formed a co-op with a somewhat higher price of admission (for one thing, you'd need a qualifying car wash).Then there are co-ops in real estate, a step beyond subdivisions or "plans," but I'm failing to remember the nuances.
(DIR) Post #AXxSX11o6vmJLv38YC by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T00:14:40Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom isn’t an event or anyone one revolt. Wage labor arose in no small part because the nobles own folly threw them over a barrel. That and population crashes and wealthy peasants who managed estate affairs etc.When serfs or slaves had an out, they took it.
(DIR) Post #AXxSX14HxhlNTcD7Q0 by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T01:34:25Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom true. co-op might be consumer or worker or maybe both. Mondragon remains an the largest well known example, as are thousands of co-ops large and small. Democracy@Work Richard Wolff’s organization promotes co-ops. One mainstay activity are mom and pop operations where the owners want to retire but not sell rather turn it over to their staff. This is good stuff.
(DIR) Post #AXxSX2CpjQBz0PDSNM by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T01:40:17Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Wolff’s thinking here is good because he understands that feudalism succumbed to capitalism over centuries. We have the flexibility to be like serfs to a degree and “simply choose” to walk away from capitalism. It’s not impossible but it is also not promoted and supported.And I think climate change will be consequential as the Black Plague. It’s wrecking the ecological basis for the economic order. What emerges from it I don’t know
(DIR) Post #AXxSX2tNBGDh8L7QgK by tjradcliffe@mastodon.scot
2023-07-22T03:44:59Z
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom This is a structural problem: capitalism and state socialism are both "amoral hierarchies" in which anyone (with no "moral warrant" like aristocratic birth) can rise (at least nominally) to any position. Hierarchies are brutal, efficient, and robust. To replace them we need a better structure, which communes are not (average lifespan ~7 years). More sophisticated networks might be: https://worldofwonders.substack.com/p/understanding-the-modern-world-iix
(DIR) Post #AXxSX3ODKatEfzY3km by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T01:20:59Z
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@Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Both of us are old enough to remember the US before Neutron Jack. Company cultures varied and lacked neoliberalism or at least it didn’t dominate. SEARs etc shit changes.
(DIR) Post #AXxSX3ktyF2PoMAB7I by PereUbu@dobbs.town
2023-07-22T16:29:40Z
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@tjradcliffe @GhostOnTheHalfShell @Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom The conservative right is obsessed with hierarchies, particularly "natural" ones that we are supposedly biologically beholden to. Note that they consider the Christian hierarchy as natural: God > leaders > father > wife > children. Each tier controls and essentially owns those below it. You'll notice this explains a lot of the bugs up their asses lately.
(DIR) Post #AXxSctGFtvcN08bobg by GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai
2023-07-22T16:30:48Z
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@PereUbu @tjradcliffe @Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom It's the same one of Ancient Rome. It's funny how the Christian Right *are* the Romans that oppressed them.
(DIR) Post #AXxT8q2bPQlwHSSNrE by PereUbu@dobbs.town
2023-07-22T16:36:36Z
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@GhostOnTheHalfShell @tjradcliffe @Benfell @duckwhistle @Radical_EgoCom Philip K Dick had a personal theory that the Roman Empire never really ended and still exists today. I'm beginning to wonder.