Everyone in Europe knows really well that there is a reactionary wind blowing through the lands. Historically, this has been conducive to conflict and war. The conditions are different right now than then, but I fear not enough.

I would love a different world order based on international cooperation in lieu of exploitation, but I do not see this as a probable outcome of tensions rising and reactionaries taking power.

It is definitely worth keeping an eye on the protofascist and overtly fascist movements gaining traction, since they pretty much tell us exactly how they are going to fuck things up.

Yes. Germany and many other European countries had little to none political support for investing in their militaries. Now they do, and it is going to be a problem later on. Capitalists want return on their investments, after all.

The EU is very much on the top of the global neocolonial food chain, but they were mostly (looking at you France) not doing like super a lot (looking at you UK and US) of “interventions” to secure their interests all over the world.*

* Most Western powers are part of NATO, which is its own can of worms. Still, Russia invading Ukraine has made support for NATO much more popular (see Sweden and Finland as case studies), and now the bloc is more consolidated than ever. The timing could not be worse with respect to the overtly fascist leaders gaining traction in the very same countries.

The European countries bordering Russia, i.e. the Baltics, Nordics and Eastern Europe, contribute a far bigger percentage of their GDP to aid Ukraine than the others (if you ignore the new policies of Slovakia and Hungary). The US and UK gives/sells the most weapons, but Ukraine is pretty much bankrolled by the EU/EEA.

The point is that the EU has sustained big economic losses from cutting ties with Russia, leading to movement of industry and production away from Europe and over to the other biggest economies.

People forgot quickly how hesitant the European countries were, and still are, to send equipment to Ukraine. Germany didn’t send anything but helmets for a long while. They also cancelled North Stream, leading to increased inflation and lessened economic competitive viability. If anything, the proxy war is exhausting both Russian and European economies, with the US and China ready to scoop up the scraps in preparation for their intensifying trade war.

I do not tap into culture wars at all because that is some manufactured bullshit meant to take away focus on class struggle in the US, a country I am not even from. Feminism is not a product of this, but rather of the very same ideals that lay the foundation of socialism. Men abuse women in a multitude of ways all the time, and it is not close to symmmetric, which of course does not mean I refute the very real consequences of the converse.

Having the right positions^TM on the issues you bring in at the end, does not make me respect your disjointed post above.

Oh my, I guess you just love the approval of someone consenting :) you dirty :)) consent-horny :-) slut :)

I am baffled by how humanity has managed to survive this long when so many men suck so fucking much. Then, when I think of it further, large portions of it was probably due to the women having no fucking choice, exemplifying one of many important ways in which men suck.

Most of us, who are not disempowered, are afraid of losing privilege and not doing enough because of that, or just from plain laziness. The self-esteem comment was probably on point, though. Can almost not help but feel bad for someone who hates themselves so much that they project it on women.

I appreciate that I am not alone in having a better take

Yeah, don’t know about that, buddy. “Leftists are male-exclusive subtle fascists” reeks of “I have no clue about left wing ideology and my analysis of the world around me is based on a total lack of knowledge and a total lack of actual analysis”, but sure. Could be that leftists just do not respond well to you in particular.

For me anything short of ending capitalism is not pro labour, but I will not mistake you for being pro genocide for disagreeing. Have seen @brain_in_a_box@lemmy.ml around a few times, and sometimes they do keep their brain somewhere else than their head, sometimes not. The above seems to be one of the former.

Both are true. Some educations create skillful workers, just like anyone practicing a trade over time acquires skills with regards to their tasks. That being said, many degrees are just manufacturing diplomas for middle class and bourgeoisie kids who want to feel superior (and have an excuse to be rewarded as if they were).

Only “talking back if experienced” is the reason for poverty wages. If they are willing to let us starve for profit, why can’t we burn down their homes for bargaining power? Why let them put their value on us in the first place and accept what we are given?

Yeah, I did actually feel bad for the Stegosaurus in the comparison and chose to mention them only because they are so cool! :(

Sure, but harm reduction does not need to infringe on critique of the current executive branch. If criticizing Biden is enough to make Trump win, then he has already won. Biden does not need to be more than a union buster for me to detest him, and still he is more crappy than that. I am not saying he is the worst, but I do not hate myself or my comrades enough to aim that low for the role of the most powerful man in the world.

I am not. Not voting is statistically the same as voting for the candidate you like the least. However, I don’t both eat shit and lick arse.

Participate in collective action: protests, unions, strikes, socialist political parties and so on. Tell your friends they are uncool if they like fascism and very dope if they like increasing their bargaining power with solidaric unity.

Also recognize that violence is inherent to any system of government and that disobedience is a tool, like any other, to fight back at what is unjust. It is also important to recognize that the disenfranchised are bearing the weight of the inadequacies of the staus quo and that being in position to be patient is a privilege.

Stegosaurus to be exact.

Right on! Fuck everyone who dare imagine a better world than a literal dinosaur making extinction worthy policy since the alternative is straight-up going to murder us all themselves.

I think you misunderstood. We just want to make capitalists and their usual fascist collaborators into victims of mass empowerment. If we can serve them their own balls, that is a bonus.

To be clear, leftists are proles refusing to be victims of exploitation.

Should we make a club?