Late Stage Capitalism
A One-Stop-Shop for Evidence of our Social, Moral and Ideological Rot.
(It is also the official version of r/LateStageCapitalism/ on the Fediverse)
This community is for:
News, discussion, memes, and links criticizing capitalism and advancing viewpoints that challenge the narratives which act as legitimations for the status quo of modern class society. Posts need not be about capitalism specifically, whether late-stage or otherwise; we simply aim to cater to a socialist audience.
We do allow links to threads and comments on Lemmy/Reddit, as long as they are relevant to the content guidelines and follow the rules. Use NP links, or your post will be deleted.
Philosophy:
This community has its roots in broad-based anti-capitalist thought, with an emphasis on Marxist concepts and analysis and a commitment to antiracism and inclusive feminism.
When it comes to proposed alternatives to Capitalism, it is the general consensus of this community that class-divisions and alienated labour must be abolished; production must be collectively organized by the laborers themselves for the direct benefit of all. We call this socialism.
Find out more here: The Principles of Communism
Rules:
1. Lemmygrad-wide rules apply. Behavior such as brigading and harassment won't be permitted. Neither will posts that can be interpreted as explicit threats of/calls for violence.
2. Any post that makes a claim should have a RELIABLE source or explanation in the comments by OP. All claims, news articles, tweets and so forth that are an example of LSC should be substantiated with a reliable, factual and verifiable source. Any posts that egregiously break this rule will have their poster temporarily banned. If the Automoderator deletes the comment with sources that's fine, the moderators can still see and restore it.
3. No trolling. "I was just trolling" won't be accepted as a defense for breaking rules, and we will ban for intentionally disruptive behavior or attacks on our community, users, or philosophy.
4. No capitalist apologia, anti-socialism, or liberalism. This community is intended for a socialist audience, and while good faith questions are allowed, pushing your own counter-narrative here is not. We do not allow support here for capitalism or for the parties or ideologies that uphold it. We are not a liberal or (U.S.-/Social-) Democrat community; we are a socialist community.
5. No imperialism, conservatism, reactionism or zionism. This includes not just ideologies to the right of liberalism but also right-wing fixations such as national/ethnic/cultural chauvinism and military/police worship regardless of the underlying ideology. We take no side in the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
6. No "lesser evil" rhetoric. Lesser-evil rhetoric in relation to elections or current policies is prohibited. Dismissing voting third party because they are “useless” or because you are “throwing your vote away” also violates this rule. It also encompasses saying Trump is “worse” for Gaza, as that place is already completely destroyed. Trump is merely carrying out what the American ruling class started under Biden. Resorts being built and mass relocation were already happening under Biden and Kamala would’ve continued it.
7. No bigotry. No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or classism. The respect for readers who are subject to these forms of bigotry takes priority in this community over your right to speak freely.
8. Be nice to each other. Be respectful towards other socialists you disagree with, but also non-socialists who follow the rules and participate in good faith. Feel free to dunk on trolls, bigots and bootlickers to your heart’s content.
9. Bans are at moderator discretion. We reserve the right to eject users (as well as remove, lock, or otherwise moderate any content on the community) for reasons not listed if we consider it necessary to do so.
10. Don’t bother sending us personal promotion requests. We are not an advertising platform for your blog or YouTube channel.
11. Do not post content from Dan Price, any other CEO/business owner or ANY liberal politician/official.
This is regarding positive posts or posts agreeing with their statement. Negative posts are permitted but better suited to communities like /c/ShitReactionariesSay
Please note that Robert Reich or Bernie Sanders as liberals also fall under this rule.
12. Do not post NSFL content and flair NSFW posts accordingly. NSFL posts will be removed. Flair NSFW posts with the appropriate content warning flair, otherwise you will be banned temporarily.
13. This is not a debate community. Constructive questions and discussion are welcome, but our basic philosophy is non-negotiable and we aren’t interested in repeatedly having to explain or justify it. We also won’t debate about so-called “socialist” countries. There are plenty of political debate communities, so take your 'gotchas' there.
14. No AI generated content. The community does not allow for AI generated content, even if it’s pro-socialist/communist.
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Covid. It hit the U.S. in March 2020.
You're right that they will trot it out whatever the facts are, but that doesn't mean it'll stick. It didn't stick after 2016 because Bernie campaigned for Hillary after dropping out, and so far I haven't seen it stick that well after 2024 because "I won't endorse genocide" is hard to honestly oppose, especially when Trump forced Israel into a ceasefire before he even got inaugurated.
It would have stuck in 2020 had Bernie split the party, because that really would have had an impact on a Biden loss.
That's about where I am, yeah.
Oh right, I thought you were referencing a political event and got stuck in that realm of things. I also sort of blanked for a moment there that that was happening in 2020. It has been a long five some years...
But would the tradeoff in what the left might have gained been worth it, I think is the more important question. What specifically would have been the fallout I think is hard to nail down, unless you've got an extremely similar event you can compare to. But I'd certainly agree there would have been fallout. I'm just not convinced it would have been overall a bad thing. The more I think about it in detail, the more I think it would have been a good thing for someone with influence to stand up to the democratic party and might have actually forced the democrats to make some concessions in order to get re-elected. Hell, Bernie could have done a halfway thing at least and gone, "I'll support you if you adopt Medicare For All as a campaign policy. Otherwise, no dice." I'd argue part of the problem with the dynamic of democrat-republican in the US is that nobody meaningfully holds the democratic party accountable to being an opposition party, so they aren't. They know that as long as the republicans are bad enough, they can say "they are worse" and campaign on minor tweaks, and if a terrible republican is fresh enough in memory, it'll probably get them back in office for another four years.
I know it's more complex than that overall, but the total lack of anyone with power actually trying to force the democrat party's hand and instead being expected to cave immediately with no demands... it's stunning. Bernie folded for "anything but Trump." And now we have Trump again. What was that worth? And even regular voters get shamed at the idea of trying to have expectations from the democratic party and not handing over their vote like it's fealty to a king. Not saying you do that, just that's part of the dynamic that I think contributes to how easy it is for the democrats to be a big nothing. And Bernie folding so easily hits right on that wound, of simply giving up when the stakes are high.