LGBTQ+ SovereignState • 5 months ago • 97%

***Oops!*** I feel kind of silly. I spent 12-13 years knowing internally that I am a woman. I regularly "pretended" to be a woman online as a kid and teenager. I have always preferred my "feminine" features and appreciated the "feminine" side of my personality far more than the "masculine". I used the nonbinary label as a shield, protecting myself from the truth for *years*. I got out of a really rough, codependent relationship in 2023. I was told a lot of really horrible things about myself that I know now aren't true, but believed at the time. A lot of things that had me examining my supposed manhood and the more toxic parts thereof. I "came out" as cis. I created the [Men's Liberation](https://lemmygrad.ml/c/menslib) community here (and proceeded to not take an active role there due to depression and... well, this.) I read a lot about masculinity and manhood, and began using my 'maleness' as a means to get better, as a means to *do* better, to *be* better. It would allow me to more critically examine the ways I was socialized and more adequately deconstruct them. It did, for a time. In the midst of my stint with manhood, I met a couple of people who *knew* the truth. Before we had even spoken to each other beyond base pleasantries, they would talk about me using she/her pronouns. After we got to talking, I felt like I could be *queer* again, be *me* again. I have found my people and my home, and in doing so I have managed to find myself again. I am a woman. I start HRT within the week. I am so, so excited. **I am a woman.**

Party for Socialism and Liberation SovereignState • 12 months ago • 100%

www.liberationnews.org

>The PSL says: Resistance to apartheid and fascist-type oppression is not a crime! It is the inevitable outcome for all people who demand self-determination rather than living with the boot-heel of the oppressors on their necks.

Conlangs, or Constructed Languages SovereignState • 12 months ago • 86%

There is undoubtedly a ton of socialist history regarding the promulgation and study of Esperanto. https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Esperanto It does not seem like it is nearly as popular as it once was, but there are examples of it being used and even celebrated in Cuba, China, and the DPRK. I adore the idea of a *lingua universalis*. I am also aware of many of the criticisms of Esperanto, from its ostensible Eurocentricity to its difficulty with escaping unnecessarily gendered language. Is there much use in learning it, outside of personal interest or as a hobby? Do you think that there are Esperantist movements large enough to justify learning it? Enough speakers?

maoistcultexposed.wordpress.com

TW for all sorts of fucked up shit >“They gaslighted individuals with mental illness, they bullied people by harassing them, they crashed meetings they were not invited to (Tafadar and Khalil had attempted to crash gender struggle sessions, demanding that everyone surrender their phones for a search and seizure, like a hostage type of move), they threatened people with violence, and abused their leadership or popularity status as a way to avoid criticisms.” I really recommend reading this, especially to Amerikan comrades and all comrades who feel ideologically inclined towards "Marxism-Leninism-Maoism [principally Maoism]". >...a member of RGA’s Revolutionary Student Front is confronted by other members for consistent creepy, sexist, and manipulative behavior. Jared argues for him to remain a member through undergoing “rectification” through physical violence, a method that will become a feature of the cult. Carlos agrees to rectification, not believing he will actually be assaulted. **He is beaten, after which he flees the state.** It really only continues to get worse. >“*Without letters our comrade has no contact with the outside world and he continues to not receive letters from the majority of his comrades. The consistent lack of initiative has forced the PPSC to take further action against the negligible support provided to our comrade. **From now on a fine of 20 dollars will be given to those who have a personal relationship with our imprisoned comrade but fail to send out at least 1 letter monthly.** The 20 dollars will go in a collection to support our imprisoned comrade’s wife and child.*" It gets far, far worse. This is by far the most interesting, detailed, and horrifying exposé I've seen regarding the Red Guards. In reading it, I believe there may be valuable insight on how to prevent ourselves from getting swept up in the political games of narcissistic opportunists. It is also crucial to be able to differentiate democratic centralism from "democratic centralism", lest any of us find ourselves stuck in a situation like this.

>“They gaslighted individuals with mental illness, they bullied people by harassing them, they crashed meetings they were not invited to (Tafadar and Khalil had attempted to crash gender struggle sessions, demanding that everyone surrender their phones for a search and seizure, like a hostage type of move), they threatened people with violence, and abused their leadership or popularity status as a way to avoid criticisms.” I really recommend reading this, especially to Amerikan comrades and all comrades who feel ideologically inclined towards "Marxism-Leninism-Maoism [principally Maoism]". >...a member of RGA’s Revolutionary Student Front is confronted by other members for consistent creepy, sexist, and manipulative behavior. Jared argues for him to remain a member through undergoing “rectification” through physical violence, a method that will become a feature of the cult. Carlos agrees to rectification, not believing he will actually be assaulted. **He is beaten, after which he flees the state.** It really only continues to get worse. >“Without letters our comrade has no contact with the outside world and he continues to not receive letters from the majority of his comrades. The consistent lack of initiative has forced the PPSC to take further action against the negligible support provided to our comrade. **From now on a fine of 20 dollars will be given to those who have a personal relationship with our imprisoned comrade but fail to send out at least 1 letter monthly.** The 20 dollars will go in a collection to support our imprisoned comrade’s wife and child.” It gets far, far worse. This is by far the most interesting, detailed, and horrifying exposé I've seen regarding the Red Guards. In reading it, I believe there may be valuable insight on how to prevent ourselves from getting swept up in the political games of narcissistic opportunists. It is also crucical to be able to differentiate democratic centralism from "democratic centralism", lest any of us find ourselves stuck in something like this.

GenZedong SovereignState • 1 year ago • 98%

www.aljazeera.com

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/1550739 > "Gabon military officers claim power, say election lacked credibility > Television announcement comes shortly after state election body announces incumbent Ali Bongo had won a third term as president. > > A group of senior military officers has gone on national television in Gabon saying they have seized power because elections held over the weekend were not credible. > > The officers, appearing on Gabon24 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, said they had cancelled the elections, dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders. > > They said they represented all security and defence forces of Gabon. > > The announcement came shortly after the state election body said President Ali Bongo Ondimba had won a third term in office in Saturday’s disputed elections. > > “In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said. > > The Gabonese Election Centre said Bongo had secured 64.27 percent of the vote compared with 30.77 percent for his main challenger Albert Ondo Ossa, after a process beset by delays. > > Further Context: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/08/26/gabon-will-ali-bongo-ondimba-rule-for-another-five-years_6108971_4.html

World News SovereignState • 1 year ago • 98%

www.aljazeera.com

"Gabon military officers claim power, say election lacked credibility Television announcement comes shortly after state election body announces incumbent Ali Bongo had won a third term as president. A group of senior military officers has gone on national television in Gabon saying they have seized power because elections held over the weekend were not credible. The officers, appearing on Gabon24 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, said they had cancelled the elections, dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders. They said they represented all security and defence forces of Gabon. The announcement came shortly after the state election body said President Ali Bongo Ondimba had won a third term in office in Saturday’s disputed elections. “In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said. The Gabonese Election Centre said Bongo had secured 64.27 percent of the vote compared with 30.77 percent for his main challenger Albert Ondo Ossa, after a process beset by delays. Further Context: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/08/26/gabon-will-ali-bongo-ondimba-rule-for-another-five-years_6108971_4.html

shitposting SovereignState • 1 year ago • 92%

[stolen from Tony Zaret]

Star Trek SovereignState • 1 year ago • 90%

***MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF DS9 THROUGHOUT*** Okokok. This is the first post in a series I plan to make depending on interaction. I really want to delve deep into Marxist-Leninist's thoughts regarding these important issues affecting all of us in the Alpha quadrant. *Issues such as...* **The Maquis.** They're explicitly named after a French resistance group that included prominent communist leadership. They do a lil terrorism to preserve their land that was ceded to the enemy. This included their homes and farms. But like are they kinda actin' like *kulaks* rn? It's explained to us that all of the settlers were offered free and immediate resettlement. The Maquis refused on ideological grounds... in perhaps unfairly literal terms, their right to property. They could have been just as comfortable or even moreso had they took the Federation up on its offer, but their personal "connection to the land" (that was once again, a settlement or colony) is making them refuse to relocate. Refusing to relocate threatens peace for the entire Federation. Cardassians, who have fought a long and bloody war in living memory against the Federation, now have an intergalactically recognized right to the land, including from the Federation itself. There is a horrible regional conflict playing out between settlers of either side and it seems to many like the Federation is too weak or too foolish to protect its people any longer. Ben Sisko, in a chat with Eddington (IIRC), insinuates that he no longer believes that the correct choices were made when it came to the Maquis' existence or the plight of the settlers. I see a couple of things that could have happened had things turned out differently, from the Maquis becoming a paramilitary wing of the Federation (a la Azov in Ukraine, except this time it's based and not neo-Nazis), to the Federation actually affording a higher level of security in the region to protect against violence instead of letting Cardassian "peacekeepers" allow murder to occur. What do you think of the Maquis, though? I synpathize with the connection element, but when we are aware that they were offered free, comfortable resettlement it certainly demystifies their ideological foundation. I liked **Section 31** and even found myself mostly agreeing with them and supporting their existence within the universe. Starfleet Intelligence exists, of course. But intelligence can only go so far. An officially unaffiliated group that can bend the rules to defend the Federation, to defend fucking Eden, Gaia, the paradise that Earth has become is incredible! By any means necessary! Ehheheh. Then, the *attempted fucking genocide*. Oh, bother. I believe the showrunners intended to demonstrate in part how self-proclaimed "strong men who protect weak men" willing to justify the means at any cost tend not to be great, and giving these people completely unchecked power to kill and destroy is probably a bad idea. A major theme in the show is that killing and destroying is usually a bad idea anyway, so. What do you think? Section 31: based successors of their NKVD and Stasi ancestors, or disturbed feds attempting to recreate the foreign policy of a thankfully long dead Amerika? Does their portrayal as le not epic genociders rub you the wrong way at all -- a bit Kilmonger-y maybe? I wanna see some intense ass critique, comrades. I wanna see those downvotes pop off. 👎👎👎

Men's Liberation: Resisting Patriarchy SovereignState • 1 year ago • 90%

In my cashier position, I met a lovely customer. She spoke beyond the corpo facade and engaged me as a human being, and I felt smitten with longing. Not necessarily romantic, not at all sexual. Just longing. For connection. Any kind. Please. I am beginning to know and love myself, let me share. We continued talking, it was a pleasure to see one another when she shopped. I asked for and received contact details. I have been so in my head about achieving these ideas I'm so enamored with right now and growing as a person. Engaging women (and all others tbh) on equal ground as fully conscious, aware and sincere beings just as I am. Extrapolating my experience of possessing whole ass **sentience** onto others as an empathy exercise. I had decided that I will be radically open and honest to the people I seek to form connections with, and I have been. It has been so interesting seeing how I interact with other people, *so many other people* (due to my job) and just getting to know myself. So. Sososo. She's going to be out of town for a not insignificant amount of time. I like her a lot. We have a ton in common. She brought me wildflowers at work once. Of course, with how excited I am about le epic male feminist 💫 journey 💫 I'm on... Well, we talked a bit. It felt reciprocal for a little while, but she didn't respond for a few days and I got a little in my head about it. I spammed her a bit (I was so excited to share!) and then sent a message after some reflection that I was gonna cool it on the spam, but that I was still thinking about her. A few days go by without any exchange, I send her a text about how I miss my cats and I hope she's grateful for hers. She responds and we talk for a bit, then she mentions that she's interested in another guy but was afraid of hurting my feelings. **Okay.** I prepared for this. I know how to relate. I know that there are so many other interesting people who could make great partners for me. I know what it's like to be liked and to not like back. I genuinely want to be her friend if nothing else. I send back the honest truth that of course I was a little disappointed and a little sad, but those were human reactions that I would allow to pass through me without struggle. That she did not hurt me, she did not do anything but exist. I hurt me, but it's only a scratch. I asked to see her crush, she sent pics, I said he was cute (he is). Then I receive a message from her saying she's frustrated with me because I continued to pursue her romantically (or act flirtatiously etc.) when she indicated that she wasn't interested. I got a little defensive. Woah, okay. I know when no means no, and it's always. She had mentioned prior her uncertainty regarding her capacity to even feel romantic intimacy, I figured that may have been what she was indicating. I said "I can't read minds". I had added up all the indicators of her potential romantic interest in me in my head and subtracted indicators of disinterest and had concluded erroneously that I was still in the positive. I understood **now** that it was expressed to me that there was no interest. I still want to be friends, and the hurt has already passed, because of those helpful things I know. No, no. It was much worse. She screenshotted a prior conversation we had had and sent it wherein she said >I don't see you how you see me a text that I had misread a day prior as >I don't see how you see me a text that I had interpreted as >I don't see myself how you are seeing me right now (due to potential self-esteem issues) Based on conversations we had had, it'd be a fair interpretation... if I had read the original fucking text correctly the first time. >I don't **see you** how you **see me** Fuck. I am so sorry ohmygod I'm so fucking embarrased dude I literally u won't believe me b I fucking I misread omg FUCK. God damn it. I HAD PREPARED FOR THIS. I was ready to face rejection. I was not ready to face *this*, because I never wanted to be a part of anything like this! I do not continue to chase women after I become aware of their boundaries! I **do** take no for an answer, always! She told me I try to sell myself as a feminist while still partaking in the games of sexist men. I most certainly *did* continue to act flirtatiously (calling her pretty, spamming, etc) after receiving and misreading that message. Well. Part of the reason I wanted to connect with others was learning experiences. What did I learn? Read texts very, very carefully. Work on context clues and body language. Continue honing empathy and when somebody tells you something, listen rather than immediately jumping to defensiveness. I apologized profusely and probably just made a bigger ass out of myself. I did explain myself and she said she knew I was really a nice guy, just that she was frustrated. She indicated that we could still be friends, I hope she meant it. At least I know that I genuinely fucked up here without any conscious malice on my own part, and I am aware of the things I have to work on. I know and love myself, and I know I would not do such a thing consciously. I wanted radical honesty and instead I completely missed what my conversational partner was telling me. I am still quite lonely, although I am learning to appreciate myself as a roommate and friend. I am afraid to fuck up like this again. I hope this doesn't make me afraid to reach out to others. I guess if it does, I just have to work through the fear as I have been and bombard the patriarch inside me as I continue to. Thank you for reading, comrades. Do you have any experience with unrequited feelings and not "getting the hint" (perhaps even as you are told directly... like some of us). Or perhaps someone did not get the hint about your feelings? Have you ever unconsciously broken a boundary?

title, unsure of placement 😵

Men's Liberation: Resisting Patriarchy SovereignState • 1 year ago • 93%

Hello, comrades! I have created this community in no small part because I have been focusing hard on deconstructing negative behaviors and habits socialized into me from birth. I have been focusing on personal, professional and revolutionary growth. Importantly, I've been reading bell hooks' *The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love*. It's honestly brought me to tears more than a few times, and I'm only as of writing 60% of the way through it. I have not felt *seen* like this in what feels like a long time. Socialized and internalized patriarchal standards of living are actively destroying our potential as men to live, love, and achieve true self-actualization. I highly recommend it to any man seeking to dismantle their internalized patriarchy. I also highly recommend it to feminist women and other non-men who innately fear us (rightly, much of the time), as hooks is intimately familiar with both the fear of males and male fear. It is obvious that this manufactured fear cannot sustain life and love and it is up to all of us, regardless of gender or sex, to destroy the locus of this fear - as prof. hooks not-so-succinctly, yet aptly, puts it, *imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy*. I desired to create a space where I, other men, and all others interested can discuss our issues regarding patriarchal conditioning and potentially how we are working to overcome them. It can also serve as a space for women and those who do not identify with manhood to ask questions of men, and hopefully gain some insight, if they are so inclined. What do you think? I also ask graciously of you, comrades, that if, in my language revolving around gendered oppression, I fail to achieve a proper standard of trans and gender non-conforming inclusivity, you correct me. No offense will be taken, thank you.

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 96%

They asked what our starting pay is. Funny thing is, I don't even remember. I could theoretically do the math backwards from paystubs, but eh. I know how much to expect. Regardless, I said somewhere around 13 dollars, but the company I work for is unionized so the shit pay is offset a little bit by ensured basic rights like the ability to actually take breaks, unlike any of my previous workplaces. Coworkers are awesome, even management's tolerable. They said they worked for a place that was "worker-run" but then it stopped being so worker-run so they quit. Then they said *Walmart* of all places had started hiring at 17 an hour, all positions, so that was still their first choice. To see a small wage increase (not even to a livable wage) sway a worker in real time against the right to negotiate with their employer as workers collectively... *bruh*. It just sucks. I once worked for a pharmacy where I made $16.50 an hour and I consider it one of the worst jobs in the world. It was so alienating, I had intrusive thoughts like ::: spoiler unhinged *"maybe in this hellworld the only way to escape this miserable unlife is to become the slaveowner. I am a slave to insurance companies. I am a slave to Big Pharma. I am a slave to my hitlerite managers. I am a slave to ungrateful piece of shit geriatrics who are upset they had to wait 5 minutes longer for their viagra than normal because insurance is trying to charge another customer $800 for their life-preserving medication and I'm trying to convince them fucking not to. Nobody is grateful or ever will be for your labor and all of your labor is in service of capitalist slaveowners. this will never change."* ::: - - etc. etc. It's maybe a bit worrisome that I remember that feeling so intensely, I don't know. At the same time, those thoughts and my internal battle against them were instrumental in creating a fundamental understanding in me that wages are not worth your sanity, your ability to take breaks, your ability to call in, your ability to take or leave more work at your request. I am so grateful for my new job tbh, cringe as it may be. I am learning to enjoy labor for labor's sake. Making actual, meaningful connections with people. And I get to take breaks, in fact I am forced to take a break. This is because we have a union. I don't know if Walmart conditions have improved generally... but every time I've been inside a Walmart, I've thought to myself *If I ever find myself working here, I **am** going to *redacted* myself. I'll have to." I don't know. I'm having a strange time with it all. Unions are good, and I'm beholding a part of the struggle in real-time. Thanks for reading or even skimming 🫡 Don't work at Walmart if you don't have to, kids.

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 97%

Throughout the entirety of the date, everything was reciprocated. There was, uncommon for me, even unprompted active flirtation from the person in question when the present conversation was not necessarily flirtatious - random sweet things. It lasted over four hours. We talked about our intentions, our interests, our passions, our traumas. There were two hour+ phone calls prior to the date that contained much of the same personal conversation. They asked me to kiss them, prompted only by the vibe of sitting on a park bench by a river surrounded by geese enveloped in the reflections of the sun on the ripples of said river. This has never happened to me before, I have *always* been the instigator - always the asker, never the asked - it was not considered a masculine or attractive trait during my childhood to be asked. I obliged. We kissed quite a few more times the rest of the night, by my initiative and theirs. They complimented parts of myself that I hate, or at least find hard to love - my nose, my freckles, my hair. They made me feel both seen and beautiful and I did my best to reciprocate. I have not felt this way in years, I can't remember the last time I felt this way. It is only a first date, I know this. I know this. For like 50% of the date we were laughing and planning our second date, a potential third. We had talked about how things may change the more comfortable we became with one another, like hanging out at each others' houses. They talked about getting me a birthday present. Date ends. Get home. We text about how wonderful the date was, when our schedules would align well next - the sooner the better. Two hours since the last message was sent, I see: ::: spoiler ! >*Hey I’m so sorry but I’ve been thinking and I’m just not interested. Good luck tho!* ::: I am taken aback but I think, ok, sometimes these things happen. Rejection would be one thing. I wrote a message saying it was totally ok but I just wanted to know if it was possible to remain friends, and if they were comfortable telling me if I did anything wrong or could have done something better, but they had already blocked me on everything. I just don't understand. I'm starting to feel like something is seriously fucking wrong with me. We had shows we agreed to watch together, games we agreed to play, and music we agreed to share. All gone in an instant without any recourse or explanation. Am I acting entitled? Is this an extreme reaction to something trivial? I've been crying for a while. I've always considered myself an open book but I shared deeply personal things with this person. The connection was instant and nigh *tangible*. I just wanted someone or some people to talk to. Most of my friends won't care. I'm living out of a hotel for now. I returned to this horrible, disgusting room with a smile on my face. I was ready to get some rest and do what needed to be done tomorrow with that same smile. Now it's 2am and I just lie here staring at the ceiling through soaked eyes tuning out the hotel cable until infomercials become little more than meaningless gibberish. I'm trying to get better. I feel so fucking alone. They probably had a good reason for ending it so abruptly. Maybe they were scared of retaliation because I'm a man. I just wish I could know why. Is this type of hurt so fucking typical for "casual" dating? I am so drained, it's a fucked up thing to say but I wonder about chemical castration sometimes. Is there something similar for "romantic attraction", too? Because if this is at all typical, I'm ok. Count me out. I'm an adult and I still feel like a scared little kid.

Star Trek SovereignState • 1 year ago • 92%

On S4 E16, time 17:48, but I had to pause the episode to talk about this. Beware spoilers throughout. Are you KIDDING ME? Part of a small lingering complaint I've had in my head is that they have been somewhat understandably shy about using many opaquely radical terms: communism, socialism, revolution, etc. But now we're going ham into pro-union storytelling with no shame and no relent. How can this show keep getting exponentially based-er? They can't keep getting away with it!

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 95%

Yeah. I have a job, a car and a planet fitness membership - mentioning as I believe they have showers. I have a place lined up in 2 months but for reasons I won't get into (unless you're *really* interested) I have to leave my current residence soon. I am not sure when. I'm gonna get to spend my birthday homeless. 🎂 🥳

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 94%

Not only did I not get them removed as it would have cost $3,400 out-of-pocket, but I just got a call telling me I owed them $110 for the "office visit" wherein I was there for 10 minutes and they told me to fuck off. I told them they're gonna have to send it collections as I already have outstanding medical debt on actual shit and don't even have the money to pay *that*, and she told me they were gonna keep harassing me until I paid it until it *eventually* goes to collections. I am in awe that human beings, the most incredible animal to have existed on Earth, devised a system this opaquely selfish and disgusting and people just go along with it. Homo amerikanus has developed into a sick simulacrum of humanity. This country is fucking epic. Burn it down.

Star Trek SovereignState • 1 year ago • 100%

I was not aware that scifi could be this good. Only on S1 E17 ("only" as if I didn't start watching this like 3 days ago) and I'm told it only gets better. It has not disappointed me yet even with its wildest shit. ::: spoiler how I feel abt some of the characters **Sisko** is the chad Old Guard Stalinist who makes questionable decisions at times and is a hardass boss but his intent and his impact are always in service to the people, all people. **Kira** is my forever unrequited love (as she is fictional). Kira is absolutely amazing, the revolutionary who actually seized power and is now dealing with the ugly consequences of having said power. She's the forever-revolutionary and at least so far a goddamn aspirational one and a Bajoran global hero. **Julian** needs to keep his libido in check. Thirsty as fuck and has some xenorientalism to work through. Incredible doctor and is devoted the cause when it makes necessary demands. **O'Brien** is an absolute Stakhanovite and I love him for it. Wish I was raised by him instead of my dad. **Odo** is so badass. So far he only has a fleeting understanding of his species, but at least from the perspective of some, Odo is a living relic. People tell ancient myths about changelings! He is perhaps the last of his kind (idk, s1 e17) and I think he stands as a wonderful representative of his people. The People's Constable through and through. I hope **Quark** has a mindbreak and becomes a communist or he's murdered on-screen. I understand the series goes into more detail about the reasons why the Ferengi are like *that*... but to be completely honest, in the Star Trek universe at least, I would almost definitely be quite racist against Ferengi. Sisko didn't want Jake to hang out with Nog and I sympathized. I like that he came to his senses later that xenoracism is uncool, but Nog so far has only gotten worse and worse in his profit-before-people shit. Hope it changes. **Dax** is interesting. I like the Trill lore. I'm not sure if the Curzon Dax stuff has more context in earlier iterations or not, but it hasn't hampered my enjoyment of Dax's character. Old man. ___ ::: Blows my mind that this came out in 1993. It feels like communist art. Diplomacy first, always. Profiteering is disgusting and condemnable and humans should have no desire to do it, to the extent that it would be *literally* alien to us to fuck over others just for economic gain. The Bajoran politics are fascinating and, like I said, I love Kira and stan whatever carbombings she had to do to win independence. Also, the Cardassians are fucking horrifying and look like animated and decaying Greco/Roman statues. I get major Rome and Amerika vibes from them, though the Ferengi are also quite Amerikan. Can't believe I've put off Star Trek for this long. Also can't believe there was ever a freakin' debate between whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better, I'm feeling a radical difference in tone. In DS9 at least, there's rarely been le good guys and le bad guys the way there is in Star Wars especially post-Disney. I feel Star Wars also plays up the heroic fantasy to the 14th level, which is ok, but not necessarily interesting aside from visually, at least to me. Anyway, I love this show and would like to see what people wanna say about it.

GenZedong SovereignState • 1 year ago • 100%

abcnews.go.com

So they're gonna try to kill this guy, right?

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 100%

"We're sorry, we'd love to be so generous as to purchase your labor (and soul), and you have a really yummy looking soul, but we found one with more experience being devoured. Reapply, worm. Reapply, worm. Reapply, worm. Reapply, worm."

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 100%

Actually shaking and fucking crying. $3,400 for five teeth. I thought there'd be a payment plan or something but no. They really expected me to pay $3,400 in full today. I wasn't informed of payment options. I wasn't informed of the price before a week ago. I've been preparing and waiting for this for over a fucking year! Financial worker asked how much I could afford today. Said $10. Then she told me I couldn't get the surgery. Told her I guess I'm just too poor to fucking exist. Just left. So sick of it. I'm begging for wage slavery and begging for thousands of dollars in medical debt. I'm *begging* for these awful fucking things, credit cards as well. It's like I'm going around screaming *"kick me in the nuts!"* at the nut-kicking convention and nobody can fucking hear me, or worse, hears me and says they'd rather kick someone who's wasted away more of their time behind a cash register than I have in the nuts. My teeth are gonna come in crooked, penetrating my sinuses and squeezing my other teeth together so hard I don't go a day without bleeding and swelling. It's only gonna get worse. FUCK.

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 1 year ago • 100%

For anyone that doesn't know, Unitarian Universalism is considered a "liberal religion" - it is non-sectarian and pluri-religious, up to and including what they consider "secular humanists", or atheists and agnostics. They seemingly take or at least allow for inspiration from a plethora of different religious and spiritual ideas, including atheistic ones, and consider themselves a politically progressive organization. There's a church near me. I don't know. I am and will likely forever remain an atheist unless something unfathomably drastic happens. I remember looking into this "church" when I was younger and searching for a place of belonging, but I'm not sure it's the correct path to work on my own 'spiritual' growth. I feel as though Marxism-Leninism, and its many brilliant examples of theory and practice, have solidly aided what I'd consider my intellectual growth. It is taking a different kind of effort to discern what 'spiritual growth' even means to me, let alone to work on it. I think - the way I'd describe it from my own experience,- I'd reference when I first read through *Rogue State* and *Killing Hope* by William Blum. It was a transformative experience for me, the final realization I needed to have that it wasn't only domestic capitalism that needed to be utterly destroyed, nor just the state, but empire in its totality. It awakened me to international perspectives I had not been introduced to before. I am so much better informed about the world, it's likely if I asked someone to name a country I could probably rather confidently inform them (if they do not know) of how our state and our corporations have or are currently fucking over those peoples by orchestrating coups and colour revolutions and extracting those nations' wealth, or trying to. But it also utterly fucked me up. 'My spirit' felt broken. I could/can barely keep myself afloat. Now the mental burden of knowing that I am constantly standing atop a ground laden with the skulls of people my ancestors likely murdered and that those skulls have gold and lithium inlays woven with the blood of starving, overworked, underpaid, *enslaved and tortured* human beings almost everywhere in the world by people who have the fucking hubris to call those places "underdeveloped" while counting their blood money. *How the fuck do you cope with that?* I stopped eating, sleeping. Doing nothing but listening to extremely overwhelming political podcasts about the worst shit imaginable and robotically playing video games to convince myself I was doing something. Just sent me spiraling further. My 'spirit' is not strong, and I think I may want help. What I guess I consider 'spiritual growth' to mean, for me, is something like learning the ability to reconcile the mental with the physical and put ideas to work, and to resolve the lingering, insidious defeatism within me that prevents me from wanting to even try. To assess the horrific situations we find ourselves in, say "this has to be addressed", and begin addressing it, or at least trying to. In other words, I am in exactly the kind of situation I know cults love. Vulnerable and mentally malleable, confused but open-minded. Makes me wary, but I haven't heard much negative about the UUs and every one I've met has been friendly. I know they show out to Pride events in support, support BLM etc. The "liberal" in "liberal religion" is surely there for a reason (where's the materialist church tho), but I'm mostly just curious if any of you think it'd be worthwhile, even just as an attempt to meet local progressive-minded folk. Have you met any members or dealt with the church before? How do you think they'd react if I told them I was a communist? How long do you think it'd take for me to attempt to give a sermon on "The Essential Works of Kim Il-Sung", and how long would it take for them to throw me out? Thanks for reading 📚 🤓 (nerd)

GenZedong SovereignState • 1 year ago • 98%

Just weird times we live in. I didn't *not* expect this from CGTN necessarily, I guess I'm still pleasantly surprised.

www.liberationnews.org

https://www.codepink.org/march18 Nationwide protests shot off on the 18th and 19th. Did you see any coverage? The revolution will not be televised. RATWM is a fascist maneuvering and nothing more, attempting to recoup some of the brewing anti-war sentiment back into supporting capitalism and by extension imperialism. Libertarians, pedo "communists", and outright fascists? We don't fucking need them and I find it frustrating when people seem to think we do. RATWM was televised because it was backed by money. Dirty, bloody money coming from the likes of the Paul political dynasty. Their pathetic little gathering was not the revolutionary moment some people seemed to imply it was. It was a farce. The people will rise up and they won't need ghoulish demagogues to pay them to.

Islamic Leftism SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

www.tasnimnews.com

>The Islamic Republic of Iran’s 20 year Vision Plan, as a multi-disciplinary document, has set out provisions on the ways and means on enhancing social justice, legitimate freedoms, protection of humans’ dignity and rights, social and judicial security, health, welfare, food security, social security, equal opportunities, appropriate distribution of income, acceptable sound environment and strengthening the institution of family, with no poverty, corruption and discrimination. Any thoughts? I found it informative and totally contrary to the western-imposed ideas I had in my head of Iran's narrative surrounding women. Tasnim News, it should be mentioned, is fiercely loyal to the Iranian government according to their about page.

GenZedong SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

abcnews.go.com

Comrade gravity don't let us down!

GenZedong SovereignState • 2 years ago • 90%

www.dazeddigital.com

> Psyop memes are taking over social media, in particular across post-ironic meme pages, where anti-establishment currents are supercharged. In the mainstream, HBO Max’s new Velma cartoon has prompted conspiracy theories that it’s a right-wing psyop, while Fox News is convinced that the M&M girlies are a Chinese psyop meant to pedal candy-coated femininity. It’s not that we’re all collectively losing our minds, although it certainly feels that way. It’s more a reaction to our increased awareness of the propaganda and subversion that we are all exposed to every day. As the late Robert Anton Wilson said all the way back in 1980: “Anyone in the United States today who isn’t paranoid must be crazy.” I like this article.

www.kerrang.com

Went down a rabbit hole after listening to The Wonder Years' *Stained Glass Ceilings*, a song about racial injustice and police violence, which had a feature from Jason Aalon Butler that was fire as fuck. I had heard of letlive. but have never given them a chance. Saw that JAB is doing a solo rapcore project now, and it fucking *slaps*. ***Go listen to FEVER 333.*** >“This all sits on the fucking footing and pillars of a very racist and capitalist system,” Jason says. “And they’re intertwined. It’s not like we have capitalism over here and white supremacy over here and tilted policy over here. They’re all the same thing. And I don’t think a successful bridge that we can cross has been built yet, because we’ve created this enemy that we’re not willing to fight. But the one thing that kept giving me inspiration to continue trying for this fight was knowing that maybe, just maybe, there’s other parents out there having the same conversation. I teach my children about consumerism, about overconsumption, about – in a very, very, very low level – *Marxism*. And at the end of the day, when I’m teaching them, I realise how simple it can be. Everybody deserves to be housed, everybody deserves to be cared for, and everybody deserves an opportunity to fit somewhere.” >“All love to them [the members of Roadrunner, former musical project], for real,” he states, “but when it came down to what I was saying and how I was saying it, there was dissonance. And what I realised as I started to dive further into my leftist learnings, is that we’re dealing with corporations that only give a fuck about the bottom dollar. I’m not saying that about the people on our team, I’m saying that the fucking Money God they answer to is a corporation, and these motherfuckers are always going to be on top. They ain’t never going to let you be on top of that dollar – even if you made all that money, even if your labour is what brought that. You’re propping up that system no matter what. *They’re literally making money off of your fucking protest*.”

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

And I am so very tired. I have chronic pain and have been waiting on this rheumatologist appointment for like 6 months. I'm incredibly hyperflexible on many parts of my body (which causes much of the pain I experience) and my doctor suggested I may have hEDS. I don't really know what I expected. I believe fibromyalgia is "real" but its controversial status in the "medical community" makes me feel a little uneasy getting the dx for some reason. A major reason, I believe, for the claims that it is an entirely psychosomatic disorder or even that it's entirely fictional is its prevalence in women and an insidious misogyny permeating our understanding of pain. Idk. Prognosis is fine. Treatment is eating healthier and getting more exercise. It's stuff I've been doing anyway. It all feels like such a waste of time and money, doctor to doctor, x-rays to MRIs to CAT scans to CT scans and on and on and on, all to be told "your disorder makes you feel tired, in pain, and depressed all the time, and there's no remedy other than pulling yourself up by your bootstraps". Ok. I guess I'm glad to have a diagnosis. It doesn't make the pain go away, though.

[ARCHIVED] Shit Liberals Say SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

Pack it up, Maoists. Marxist-Leninists are movin' in to get this bread. 😎

GenZedong SovereignState • 2 years ago • 94%

rdln.wordpress.com

I'm not crying, you're crying. 😭  Damn moving speech. ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!

GenZedong SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

www.vice.com

Y'all see this? Nuts, I'm glad Afroman's using the situation to his advantage and spreading awareness like goddamn wildfire about this shit.  Good.

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

Was just thinking about how in-depth many of the conversations are here, often about things I haven't given much thought to personally. Then I got to thinking about how difficult it must have been 100 years ago to find like-minded communists to have these vital, illuminating discussions with. What would I have done? Gone to book stores and creeped around any of the areas with even the most mild revolutionary theories available, and confront anyone glancing at Marxist literature, hoping beyond hope that they weren't secretly a fed hoping I'd do just that? The internet can be a tool of weaponized alienation, abstracting us from our communities and preventing us from as effectively reaching out to others. It can also be wonderful, facilitating the most important discussions of the time and allowing comrades otherwise surrounded by fascists a safer place to learn, grow, and share. There is certainly something to be said about left-wingers and revolutionaries substituting actual political engagement with futile online interaction. Regardless, the reification of correct ideas a site like lemmygrad offers many of us feels quite important. It can allow for the creation of more knowledgeable and better prepared organizers. Interaction here surely has helped beat whatever residual liberalism I feel was left in me.

"Explain." No.

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

I work for people with "developmental disabilities" as it's known in the biz, and a part of my duties includes finishing online training to get registered properly in my position. I've been working at my current place for a few months, and I have a lot of overdue courses I need to finish but I keep pushing it off and pushing it off. I have 30 lessons that need to be completed, they're over two weeks past due. Every time I look at my computer screen my eyes start to get blurry and I sort of start to disassociate. Instead of doing this shit I'd rather get high and play video games, even though I know I *need* to finish it if I want to keep my job and get registered with the state. Idk. Just so burnt out from the work proper that the paperwork starts to seem insurmountable on my days off. I've been doing this kind of work for over 2 and a half years, closer to 3, but since I crossed state lines I'm deemed *unqualified* and have to redo a lot of the shit I've already done, and take lesson after lesson detailing shit I already know intimately. It's so frustrating. I even get paid for it! As if affording rent isn't enough of a motivation!

GenZedong SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

Jimmy "Juche" Carter arc?

GenZedong SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

This is actually nuts. Remember that every time the imperialist dogs call for overthrowing the CPC, they're calling for the destruction of one of the last and most important bastions against climate apocalypse that exists. The CPC is leading humanity into the future, and the oilsuckers are pissed.

Comradeship // Freechat SovereignState • 2 years ago • 100%

This system. Jesus Christ. Spend hours at work looking at other jobs tryna find something that won't make me want to *redacted* myself, come up empty. Jobs in the same field, janitorial, food service, customer service! Too disabled to do full blown manual labor. Too poor to go to school to have a 5% chance of landing a better job or learning a marketable skill. *Marketable*! Like we're fucking livestock tryna show off our plumpest bits to the highest bidding snake! Still young. I don't know how people 10, 20 years older than me in similar situations manage to hold it together without going full batshit insane. Paycheck to paycheck. Held hostage by a hostile, draining work environment and shit wages. Held hostage by landlords and other usurer scum. gAAHHH