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Books/Reading Thread


axlrose15

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Can't remember when I last updated this. So here goes. 

Gatecrashing Europe by Kris Mole. A travelogue of one man who attempts to travel to every capital city on the EU continent without spending any money. He relied on the kindness of strangers. While the writing isn't that great, and he definitely takes the British eccentric persona, it was a fun book. 

Dominion by Tom Holland. This one I expect is right up @DieselDaisy's street.

Stealing Heaven: Heloise & Abelard by Marion Meade. It makes me blush.

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4 minutes ago, Dazey said:

Fuckin' hell! I bet you're fun at parties. :P:lol: 

 

 

 

 

 

*had to google "carceral" :lol: 

:lol::lol:

When you have a passion for freedom so strong that you reject the presence of the carceral state, you can be very fun at parties ;):axl::slash::headbang::lol:

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On January 25, 2020 at 2:41 PM, dontdamnmeuyi2015 said:

Mary Higgins Clark "Every breathe you take"

 

Oh no, dontdamenme, I just heard the news that Mary Higgins Clark has passed away at aged 92.

What sad news. I know how much you enjoy her writing. My heart goes out to you.

May she rest in peace.

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Are you tired of just pretending to know what Socialism is? (I swear I just heard the entire internet roar back its response "No, we're good pretending!" :lol:)

This is such an important and timely text. Its so accessible and accurate (lacking overt sectarian bias) by one of our times most important voices, Prof Wolff. Im reading it towards its potential use in radical youth pedagogy, but its most certainly suitable for adults.

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Im about to start Give Them an Argument as well, by Ben Burgis. If you've been a lefty or progressive for less than 5 years, this is mandatory reading s'il vous plait. And for anyone its a great way to prepare for the forthcoming book Burgis also contributed to called Myth and Mayhem which will shatter any lingering illusions about Dr Peterson.

Tnm9wq3.jpg

 

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2 minutes ago, soon said:

... Says the proud citizen of a social democracy. 

Ha, well typified though. Crazy right?

I sort of make a distinction between socialist countries and social democracies. I think most people do. Don't you? I know that to Americans this distinction is hard to find, but to them it is only about capitalism and commies, anyway :)

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Just now, SoulMonster said:

I sort of make a distinction between socialist countries and social democracies. I think most people do. Don't you? I know that to Americans this distinction is hard to find, but to them it is only about capitalism and commies, anyway :)

I wasnt speaking within he confines of dumb Murican binaries. But about Socialism as a praxis - as principles and approaches.

Note, the book is not titled "towards authoritarian communism" ;)

And that Praxis is represented in both of our States. 

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2 minutes ago, soon said:

I wasnt speaking within he confines of dumb Murican binaries. But about Socialism as a praxis - as principles and approaches.

Note, the book is not titled "towards authoritarian communism" ;)

And that Praxis is represented in both of our States. 

Still, the common definition of "socialism" is "a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole" and that is not how it is in social democracies like Norway. It was with that definition in mind I jokingly said that any attempts at socialist states have failed.

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32 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Still, the common definition of "socialism" is "a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole" and that is not how it is in social democracies like Norway. It was with that definition in mind I jokingly said that any attempts at socialist states have failed.

In social democracies the (re)distribution and exchange is regulated by the govt on behalf of the community. 

But yeah, it is funny about the flawed view that many have about Socialism, I take your joke :) 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6-2-2020 at 2:52 PM, SoulMonster said:

Still, the common definition of "socialism" is "a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole" and that is not how it is in social democracies like Norway. It was with that definition in mind I jokingly said that any attempts at socialist states have failed.

it's not a big step to go from "the community as a whole", to "the community, as defined by the government".

see "national socialism"

national socialism defined "the community" as blonde, blue eyed arians. then they went on to kill 6.000.000 people who did not fit the definition. But make no mistake: socialism was the backbone, the very foundation of the nazi ideology. it even has the word "socialism" in its name.

if I look at "socialist" demonstrations, the violent nature of them and their agressive, violent attitude towards half of the population of society (namely: right wing people), I'm very worried if those people would get a majority in the parliament.

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Initially there was a genuine working class left-wing veneer to the National Socialist Party represented by the 25-Point Manifesto, ''nationalization of all businesses'' and ''the profits from wholesale trade...shared out'', as well as the revolutionary SA brownshirts and the Strasser borthers (''Strasserism''). This proved something of an embarrassment to Hitler upon gaining power in January 1933; he promptly out-maneuvered the left, purged the party, and won over the industrialists and army.

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1 hour ago, DieselDaisy said:

Initially there was a genuine working class left-wing veneer to the National Socialist Party represented by the 25-Point Manifesto, ''nationalization of all businesses'' and ''the profits from wholesale trade...shared out'', as well as the revolutionary SA brownshirts and the Strasser borthers (''Strasserism''). This proved something of an embarrassment to Hitler upon gaining power in January 1933; he promptly out-maneuvered the left, purged the party, and won over the industrialists and army.

he did, but during his reign, he always envisioned his party as "folkish". ein reich, ein folk, ein fuhrer. As he was very focused on what he defined as his "folk", he was more socialist than right wing (though he didn't really meet any definition of right or left). He wanted to destroy capitalism from the start, replacing it with an economy of the party, but always to benefit his "folk", the "ubermenschen". He also wanted to destroy communism. So I dont think it is correct to call Hitler "right wing". There are many right wing people today, half the population votes right wing, and they have nothing to do with hitler's politics.

Hitler was a runaway socialist (with the "folk" as basis), who incorporated racist elements in his doctrine, and who actively murdered anyone who did not fit his idea of "ubermensch". But him being a mass murderer does not make him right wing. Stalin was a mass murderer too, and he can hardly be called right wing.

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2 minutes ago, action said:

he did, but during his reign, he always envisioned his party as "folkish". ein reich, ein folk, ein fuhrer. As he was very focused on what he defined as his "folk", he was more socialist than right wing (though he didn't really meet any definition of right or left). He wanted to destroy capitalism from the start, replacing it with an economy of the party, but always to benefit his "folk", the "ubermenschen". He also wanted to destroy communism. So I dont think it is correct to call Hitler "right wing". There are many right wing people today, half the population votes right wing, and they have nothing to do with hitler's politics.

Hitler was a runaway socialist (with the "folk" as basis), who incorporated racist elements in his doctrine, and who actively murdered anyone who did not fit his idea of "ubermensch". But him being a mass murderer does not make him right wing. Stalin was a mass murderer too, and he can hardly be called right wing.

I am not sure about him being a socialist, as he purged the NSDAP of its left-wing elements, ditched nationalisation and wealth redistribution from the party manifesto (or rather ignore it more to the point) and consorted with capitalistic industrialists and the aristocratic Junker class. Furthermore, trade unions were liquidated as soon as Hitler gained power in 1933, replaced with the DAF, a sort of sham Nazi union. It goes without saying that the KPD and the SDP were the first political parties to be annihilated in Machtergreifung along with their associations and media. Hitler did not even drum-up much of his voting impetus from the industrial working classes who resented Nazi attacks on their political parties, periodicals and unions and had few grievances with Jews. The core ''Nazi voter'' was the (protestant) middle classes who felt most threatened by the Great Depression and were triggered by Jewish businesses. 

There is no doubt that Hitler and the Nazis appropriated elements from socialism-communism such as welfarism, colossal state funded projects and propaganda, but Hitler was fundamentally a racialist, and it is obvious that somebody who sees history solely through race warfare, can not have much knowledge or interest in the type of class relations which inform socialism - or moreover communism. 

Socialism and Nazism/fascism both share a common lineage of course, Hegel and the paramountcy of the state as a motivator of history.

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