Posts by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
(DIR) Post #AijC7naUQ8Vuwglx2m by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-08T19:52:29Z
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@AnarchoKitty I don't really believe that gun control measures will ever lead to structural change either, that isn't really what bandage solutions do.Perhaps an example of my perspective could be found in charities? I very strongly dislike them. They are at best bandage solutions to larger societal issues, and at worst predatory on the very issues they claim to address. They are not causes that you "donate" to so much as they are a commodification of morality of ethics, treating these concepts as though they can be listed on a receipt. The product you purchase from them is moral and ethical gratification (and also tax breaks).With that being said, for all their flaws, and for however much I may dislike them, I still recognize that they do material good. They are flawed solutions for flawed societies; I think it could be argued that their flaws are characteristic of the flaws in the societies they are produced in. You would never find me saying that charities for humanitarian aid for Palestinians are a waste of time, despite my overall feelings on charities, for instance.I suppose I understand your frustration with the issues of gun control measures and other bandage solutions though, even if I disagree with the notion that they are pointless.
(DIR) Post #AijCifT5ZStYTitJsu by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-08T18:15:56Z
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@AnarchoKitty I care about more than just shootings, and more than just violent crime as a whole. I care about people, right now in our current conditions, not being killed or injured. Temporary bandage solutions are useful until the larger structural issues are able to be addressed. To dismiss them as pointless is to choose not to use a tourniquet on someone losing blood at a life-threatening pace in an isolated area because they should be in a hospital instead where the source of the issue would be treated.I should think it is not necessary for me to provide statistics on the amount of mass shootings in areas with adequate gun control compared to those with lax gun control. I believe you are well aware of the fact that these statistics would show a high correlation with areas that have lower amounts of gun violence and higher amounts of gun control--even if you disagree with the notion that these regulations are the causation of that reduction in gun violence.Regarding the smoking example, I am mainly speaking in regards to public health and safety--ex. regulative measures to prevent smoking in public areas that would expose people to second hand smoke, and the associated health concerns resulting from that. I did not mean this as a personal offence, and should have considered how it would come off (I did not see the cigarette in your pfp, and had not made the connection until after my post. I apologize if it seemed like a personal attack).
(DIR) Post #AijCjJp7WyHlddVTmK by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-08T17:44:50Z
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@AnarchoKitty This isn't true. We have observed in a number of countries where smoking was previously extremely common, dramatic declines due to laws and regulations aimed at addressing safety and health of the public. Were these laws a bandage solution to the actual reasons someone would choose to smoke? Yes. Were they still useful despite their flaws? Also yes.Forgive me if I am misinterpreting you, but by this logic it would seem that we should also do away with laws to wear seat belts, follow speed limits, abolish anti-discrimination laws, not support mask mandates, etc.
(DIR) Post #AinSc1fJ1JlzC2IfVA by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-10T21:16:39Z
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@Radical_EgoCom A nice allegory; however, fishing and the exploitation of fish may feel free to rot in the empty waters it has helped to create.
(DIR) Post #Aixo1uunKhBhyJTlgG by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-15T21:00:10Z
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@bytebro @Radical_EgoCom Lets say that you allow a fascist to run for candidacy on this basis of "that's how a democracy should work". When the fascists get elected--and they will--would you just accept it because they were democratically voted in? Are we just going to let them exact extreme amounts of harm on marginalized communities because "that's what the democracy decided"? Of course not! Any decent person is going to fight against those fascists anyway, even though they were democratically voted in, and even if the majority agree with their policies--"democracy" be damned.
(DIR) Post #AjCgLnCg0HgcVlGn0i by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-23T01:18:21Z
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@Radical_EgoCom I recall reading through the RCI's manifesto after seeing one of the posts you had boosted about them, and found myself a bit put off by their comments on "identity politics".I do not even necessarily like it myself, but I have found a lot of the time that the very words "identity politics" are often used to undermine struggles that marginalized people go through. Whenever I see a complaint about "identity politics", it's almost always about how these movements are dividing us, when we should be focusing on ending capitalism.I think that an anti-capitalist stance is very important in any social movement, but the way the RCI seems to treat the struggles that certain marginalized groups are going through as though they are distractions to a larger goal came across as highly ignorant to me. The movements are not obstacles nor distractions. It is important that they are here. The end of oppression and exploitation is intersectional.
(DIR) Post #AjChRbZkFU5A8iOZd2 by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-06-23T01:30:37Z
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@Radical_EgoCom I am not a fan of liberal identity politics either. Perhaps it is possible I simply misinterpreted their words, but their is something about the phrasing to me that signals certain alarms I have developed from people who seem to look at intersectionality as nothing but a petty bourgeoisie construct.If I happen to find evidence in the future that justifies these feelings more concretely, I will get back to you.
(DIR) Post #AjXTEhrIzziNHt6mtE by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-03T02:00:19Z
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@Radical_EgoCom @h_ackerman The rhetoric of "intelligent, wise, and strong" comes across to me as rather dated and elitist. If all you mean to describe is those who have a well developed class consciousness, a well grounded understanding of the direction that society must go to further communist goals, and a strong passion for achieving communism, then I feel it would be more appropriate to just say so.
(DIR) Post #AjXUWBzsIahVdX1DQO by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-03T02:13:44Z
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@Radical_EgoCom @h_ackerman I don't agree that it is merely semantics when the application of concepts like intelligence, wisdom, and strength--concepts that, candidly, are all flawed and worth dismantling--being applied in this way have a history of reinforcing the marginalization of vast groups in society.
(DIR) Post #AjXXiYQh1LPQY09HcG by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-03T02:50:34Z
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@Radical_EgoCom I was debating whether or not to update you with this, but this is what I found on the RCI's stance regarding intersectionality: https://www.marxist.com/marxism-vs-intersectionality.htmAside from a handful of fundamental misunderstandings about what concepts like structural oppression and privilege are discussing, it is not as ostensibly problematic as I was expecting--and even if I disagree with their analysis and conclusion--I appreciated their attempts at nuance. I was worried that I would find something much more scathing, like the views found in organizations like Red Youth (https://redyouth.org/red-youth/against-intersectionality-a-warning-to-young-communists/)
(DIR) Post #AjXYuj1XYaw0pmkdPc by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-03T03:03:58Z
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@Radical_EgoCom @h_ackerman I think you have misunderstood my perspective. The context you were applying these words in is the issue. I would not have brought it up as dated and elitist rhetoric otherwise. I digress, however, if you do not also see how this application of these concepts is problematic.
(DIR) Post #Ajh1HhkkzfDKh1HndY by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-07T16:34:11Z
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@Radical_EgoCom If you are comfortable with answering, could I ask why you specifically have adjusted your political views to marxism-leninism? It seems as though you've been doing a lot of rapid change in your political positions recently. I wonder why bother with identifying your political beliefs under a label at all beyond "communist", when you still seem to be going on some sort of personal journey through a learning/educational phase. From an outside perspective, it seems like a rather restrictive approach to the learning process.
(DIR) Post #AjhCBoAfJmseM7nNhI by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-07T18:36:27Z
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@Radical_EgoCom I see, I appreciate you letting me know your thought process. I very strongly disagree with your conclusion that it is "useless/meaningless" to simply recognize one's self as a communist, and I do not like the sectarian philosophy that many marxist-leninists seem to adopt as being the only true communists, but I appreciate you sharing your perspective nonetheless.
(DIR) Post #AjqWR6BUNGWC4ZO9C4 by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-12T06:35:43Z
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@Radical_EgoCom I feel like a lot of people just don't like the way the word "authoritarianism" sounds, seeing as many are led under capitalism to have a rather skewed idea of what "liberty" actually is. I am being a bit over simplistic, but most of my experiences so far with people who label any "authoritarian" strategies being used to achieve communism as immoral have felt this way.
(DIR) Post #AkA4ciq9564SDlbaDY by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-21T16:58:16Z
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@Radical_EgoCom While this video itself doesn't seem that bad (although I do think the word ideology is being used rather strangely in a way that I have some issues with), and I can't comment on the content of this particular work that Zizek wrote as I have not read it, I think it's just important to bring up that Zizek is a rather problematic figure, on account of having many nonsensical criticisms of Lenin and the USSR, anti-radical or anti-revolutionary leftist rhetoric, problematic views on trans people, and a handful of other things--at least as far as he presents himself to the public in interviews and debates.
(DIR) Post #AkAgXNhS36rtSxQ25Y by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-07-21T23:47:42Z
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@alan @Radical_EgoCom you can encourage strategically voting for individuals which leftists will be able to organize more easily under than they otherwise would have under a person like Trump without hailing those individuals as heroes against fascism. It is perhaps a bit nit-picky, but nonetheless very frustrating seeing people treat the democrats in this way, when they are very much part of the same system giving rise to fascism in the America. Fascists sentiments in America have not been increasing because of Trump--fascist sentiments have been rising because they are a very natural emergence of capitalism, and because fascism is a survival strategy/asset of capitalism: a strategy that the US is currently moving towards.Yes, vote against Trump (which likely means voting for the democrats) but understand that the reason to do so is because you are voting for an enemy that you can more easily fight against, and not because they should be respected as leaders for any meaningful causes.
(DIR) Post #AkWtsA61ObVoEoGjtQ by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2024-08-01T17:16:10Z
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@Radical_EgoCom You are very correct lol, but I think that generally people understand classism as a descriptor of the oppression against the working class. I don't know if classism is really an adequate term for describing justified apprehensive sentiments towards the people benefiting from your oppression.
(DIR) Post #AtlCiv49gQ7PKo0Cxc by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2025-05-04T19:42:15Z
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@stux that's so clever
(DIR) Post #Au4CcqNdsouh4HSVfc by facsimile_willows@veganism.social
2025-05-13T21:53:45Z
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@breadandcircuses It seems that they are also rather avoidant about addressing the impacts of animal exploitation/agriculture on the planet--arguably the most significant contributor to climate change and environmental/ecological destruction, in addition to contributing to other severe issues like antibiotic resistant bacteria and pandemics (not to mention the exploitation of the animals themselves)--which most people are in a position to act on immediately and easily by going vegan.Realistically, although capitalism is clearly the primary issue--as you have pointed out--I don't see its place as the dominant global economic system being challenged in the near future. I'm sure that even if the sky itself were to begin burning tomorrow, capitalism would find some way to commodify and exploit the resulting suffering, no matter how many people die. It is a very flexible system with dangerous survival strategies. With that in mind, I think it's important that we act on any immediate measures that we can with respect to reductions in global warming, environmental, and ecological harm.I agree though, that an anti-capitalist foundation is essential. Deep change theory seems to attempt to target the "roots" where systematic change is needed--but it seems clear that capitalism is the seed from which these roots have sprouted from.-----Animal Ag, Not Fossil Fuels, Is The Leading Cause Of Climate Change, Says New Study-----Advances in accounting of greenhouse gas emissions shifts the bulk of responsibility for the climate crisis away from fossil fuels onto animal agriculture, according to a new analysis.Burning fossil fuels for energy is widely accepted as the leading cause of global warming. But in a peer-reviewed paper published in Environmental Research Letters, Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop argues that animal agriculture is actually the primary driver of climate change, responsible for 53 percent of global average temperature rise between 1750 and 2020. That equates to 0.64ºC of warming. In contrast, he claims that fossil fuels are responsible for 19 percent of warming, equating to 0.21°C.[...]There are three advances in climate science that Wedderburn-Bisshop applies to arrive at his conclusion. First is the use of consistent carbon accounting. His paper explains that emissions accounting rules of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have meant that full emissions are counted for fossil fuels and all other sources, with the exception of deforestation.[...]How to account for the warming potentials of different greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide and methane, has been the subject of much debate. Global Warming Potential over a 100 year period (GWP100) has been the IPCC standard metric, but recently there have been efforts, pushed particularly by high-methane emitting sectors like animal agriculture, to use others such as GWP*, which accounts for the shorter lifespan of methane compared to CO2.Instead of GWP, Wedderburn-Bisshop argues that Effective Radiative Forcing (ERF) should be used. “ERFs are the best science available on warming caused by each gas. They are calculated in very complex atmospheric and spatial models, and are fitted to observations, so they are the most accurate metric we have,” he said. Using ERF to measure the climate impact of different gases reveals that methane’s impact, understood cumulatively, has been vastly underestimated.[...]The third advance that changes understanding of the main sources of climate change is for all emissions, both warming and cooling, to be counted. While animal agriculture emits mostly warming gases, fossil fuels emit gases that have both warming and cooling effects. The cooling gases have masked the warming impact of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. This inclusive accounting reveals that while fossil fuel warming accounts for 0.79°C, there is 0.59°C cooling from co-emissions. By contrast, agriculture as a whole has caused 0.86°C warming but only 0.13°C cooling.-----➡️ https://plantbasednews.org/news/environment/animal-ag-leading-cause-climate-change/#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #AnimalAgriculture #Veganism