Who downvoted this? Conservatism has always been an ideology that's opposed to progress, democracy and freedom. It holds back society to preserve tradition and "family values" while promoting xenophobia, bigotry, and unquestioned submission to authority. The most conservative states in the United States are also some of the poorest, with the lowest standards of living, and also the most backwards. It isn't much different in other countries. The Nazis were conservative. Islamic countries with Sharia Law are conservative. And right now, American Conservatives are trying to implement a Christian-flavoured Sharia Law.
This isn't true, though; politics is in the driver's seat, and capital is at the mercy of government. We can see this even in the US where the Biden administration is pushing decoupling/deglobalization for geopolitical and domestic reasons, to the discomfort of US-based multinationals. On the other side of the aisle, the business-friendly cosmopolitan arm of the Republican party has lost ground to the Trumpian populist wing. You see a similar story elsewhere in the world. In the case of Russia, a lot of people thought that Putin was a tool of the oligarchs, so you can change his behavior by putting pressure on the oligarchs. Surprise, it turned out that the oligarchs have to do what Putin tells them, not the other way round.
I'm not really sure what you're trying to say, are the democrats not friendly with ANY big businesses? Is the extreme right wing of US conservatives not motivated by money (Donald Trump is often thought of as a successful venture capitalist, the amount of money funneled out during his presidency, etc...)?
Russia is one of the most inequal countries in the world in terms of wealth distribution, and for decades now oligarchs in Russia have gone hand in hand with the state in eroding any form of democracy and exploiting what freedom those citizens do have.
So, can you really say democracy can exist with money?
This is ridiculous. “Politics” cannot be in the driver’s seat because “politics” is not an entity. Domestic capital legally falls under the jurisdiction of the government, but that does not mean that it is actually at the mercy of the government. Capital since before the country was even founded has owned the vast majority of politicians and dictated the way that the government is organized and the laws it passes. That’s why people without land couldn’t even vote at first and why we still retain a senate, which is 100% just a body for checking the power of people who do not own land versus those who own a lot of land.
Speaking as a Marxist, this is false. Capitalism was once the historical progressive force against feudalism. This was already waning two centuries ago, but it was not always true.
Glad another Marxist said it. The problem isn't that capitalism was always the wrong choice, it's that we're clinging to it long beyond its best before date.
Yes, it did, though vestiges still remain. That’s what the French Revolution overwhelmingly was, the bourgeoisie claiming power over the old feudal nobility and the monarchy (as anything but a figurehead). Also the American revolution and many others.
They resemble each other because they are in all cases the “owning class” claiming the seat as the “ruling class”, just as the slaveholders of classical antiquity and the patriarchs of pre-historical agrarian/pastoral societies.
It’s kind of a tangent, but in explaining the concept of equality, Lenin discusses some of the differences between feudalism and liberal capitalism in a letter here.
There are places such as Thailand and Bhutan where the struggle is still alive between the two modes of production, but those are the very rare exceptions to the global order of liberal capitalism (in various forms) vs whatever you want to call the theocratic capitalism of Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. vs the state socialism of the PRC, Cuba, etc.
Genuine question re: US conservative states, what came first, poverty or conservativism? As in, what caused the other? If not a little of column A and B…
There are a lot of conservatives here thanks to Reddit. Tankie hysteria allows them to speak in parallel to the radlibs and anarcho-bidenists without too much dispute, so they have blended in. Funny how that works.
Vaush claims the anarchist label (in contravention of any evidence that he practices anarchist principals in his daily life), he simped hard for Biden during the 2020 election, and disingenuous Marxists use that as a box to stick practicing anarchists in.
Residents of Moscow and the Moscow region have reported receiving calls from unfamiliar numbers with messages from Wagner Group, according to journalist Farida Rustamova.
One person said the caller played the recording of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s statement in which the mercenary leader vowed to “restore justice.”
Another person heard a message from a “robotic male voice” that suggested he join Wagner Group and claimed its units were advancing on Moscow.
This is insane. I went to Rostov-on-don like 15 years ago. It was my first time out of the country, too. I had college friends from there and I stayed at their house.
I’ve really lost touch with them many years ago. I’m hoping their families are safe. I know one of them is still in the states, I’m think one went back to Rostov. I guess I hope he is not there at the moment.
Word is there was little/no fighting in Rostov. Wagner seems to have taken down a couple Ministry of Defense helicopters there.
Edit: sorry my information was outdated apparently some Chechen troops were sent in.
Russian media report on the first shots fired in Rostov-on-Don, which was occupied by Wagner PMC mercenaries. According to a RIA Novosti correspondent, at least five shots were fired at the headquarters of the Southern Military District, which has been controlled by the Wagnerites since morning.
Shooting near the Astor shopping center in Rostov is also reported - the pro-government telegram channel Mash writes about it. The mercenaries are said to be loaded into armored personnel carriers.
Another state-run media outlet, the RT television channel, reports that Wagnerites opened fire at the entrance to the Rostelecom building.
There is no information about the victims yet, as well as confirmation of the start of clashes between the PMC "Wagner" and the fighters of the Chechen battalion "Akhmat" arriving in Rostov.
Does anyone know what the chances are of Wagner succeeding? Russian's military has been thinned out greatly because of the war so a concentrad attack behind the main front-lines should be effective. Assuming Wagner has access to Russian army intelligence. This Chechen warband seems like a valid thread though but they also look like the next group to try to grab power...if they crush Wagner, that would be a display of strength that could Putin in a corner as well.
The Hypermind prediction market currently estimates the chances of Putin losing power by the end of the year at 40%. Hypermind is usually a pretty good source, and I'd say this estimate is fairly reasonable (a bit high maybe?).
Prigozhin was born in the former Soviet Union and served ten years in prison when he was younger. After he was freed from jail, he ran a hot dog stand before becoming the owner of several fancy restaurants in Saint Petersburg. His restaurants brought Prigozhin into close contact with Putin.
I feel like we missed a few steps on the way there, but it’s still an interesting origin story.
Born to a poor ethnic Georgian family in the town of Gori [...], Stalin joined the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party [...] and raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, kidnappings and protection rackets.
Local thugs/mafia-leaders raising to power in Russia/USSR is not a new thing.
I think that the mystery is cause for the news coverage, along with the unique aspect of the sub. I’d like to think that a missing submarine of migrants would get the same attention but… not sure.
It almost reads to me like he worries how much support he had in Moscow. If the Wagner group is 25k strong and 100s of kilometers away why flee? Unless there seems to be grumbles from the royal guard about killing their countrymen over 1 dude.
I hate to say I'm glad he was the pilot, but I kinda am. If he was around right now he would be insufferable. Most likely going on a damage control tour talking about how it was a freak accident, it's not his companies fault and how they can't wait to resume tours.
First from exiled former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky:
We need to help now, and then, if necessary, we will fight this one, too," Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon who fell foul of the Kremlin, wrote on social media. He said it was important to back "even the devil" if he decided to take on the Kremlin. "And yes, this is just the beginning.
Second from the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists:
In this fight between two cannibals, anarchists should stay away—let them bleed each other as much as possible. That way, they won’t be able to disturb people in the future.
Cannibal take seems accurate, kinda how it feels looking in too. Not glad about any of these people in charge, but at least they hurt each other right now.
What are the chances that the attack on Russia wasn't authorised by the Russian military, but instead was something done by Russian saboteurs? Successfully turning Russia's PMC against them.
At this point, does it really matter? Russia managed to muddy the truth so much even if it were actually saboteurs no one but the most empty minded zealots would really believe it.
I'd be extremely surprised if Wagner did it to themselves. They aren't a massively large group and if they're pulling this stunt going back into Russia, I highly doubt they want to lose any more resources going into that. They can't really afford to just cut into their resources like that like Russia could do without less of an impact. Plus, if word ever got out within the group that Prigozhin ordered the bombing of his own group, he'd probably be dead in a heartbeat. Prigozhin knows his only chance of survival is probably going to be reliant on his own men so I don't think that's a risk he'd be willing to take.
I think that Russia knows they are going to lose and knew that they were likely going to use the Wagner group so they probably thought their best bet was to try and eliminate then, use whatever excuse/scapegoat they want for doing it, and then just turn around and blame the Wagner group for what happened in Ukraine. Fortunately/unfortunately, Russia is inept and failed at taking them out and now we have an army marching towards Moscow!
worldnews
Active
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.