I think we are transitioning to a place where a sizeable minority are seeing that governments are corrupt and only pretend to care about us.
"As traumatic transformations go, the covid operation is up there with industrialisation and de-industrialisation, and for time compression it is out on its own."
"And as for the rabbit hole trope โ well, I don't think weโre going down the rabbit hole at all. Weโre climbing out of it into the light."
Remember that because of the industrial revolution, we got labor and safety laws. After covid, we are going to get medical freedom laws. They can't hide the catastrophe they caused!
I call this the sequel to 1984. The party lost the trust of the masses. Look how they're trying to make us scared of war with China and Russia.... Meanwhile the oil and money still flows.
What a joke.
To use the Alice in Wonderland analogy, we were hallucinating in wonderland and now waking to real land which is much less insane.
An excellent essay on a topic I have strongly supported. There is no government today standing up for working people. But we can form our own global partnerships to overthrow the disgusting public-private consortiums that govern us
Not to disagree, but there are principal and secondary contradictions. When overtly fascists are actively slaughtering members of the working class (Palestine and Ukraine) THAT becomes the primary contradiction, not the internal one of working class vs billionaire rule. Of course it is true that resolving the latter would ALSO eliminate the former. But until enough can be mobilized to accomplish that, the first takes priority. But history is accelerating as we speak and the latter seems to be on the historical agenda before long.
I wrote an article about why I support the Russian soldiers in Ukraine but not Putin in Russia. Have you noticed that the dialectical anti-imperialists only write about why they โsupport Russia.โ See the problem here?
Jon, If you were commanding an army in a military battle then it might make sense to use the kind of reasoning you expressed here to decide whom to attack and whom not to attack, whom to defend and whom not to defend at a given time. But you are not commanding an army in a military battle, nor are any of the other readers of this Substack or the larger number of people to whom my words are addressed.
The problem is that these people (the ones who are not commanding armies) are typically absolutely ignoring the fact that the primary conflict in the world is between the have-nots in all nations versus the oppressors of the have-nots in all nations. The "principal and secondary contradictions" mode of reasoning that you expressed here is exactly the rationale they use for ignoring the CLASS war and for failing to use their words to strengthen the have-nots' CLASS struggle in that war. Instead they act as cheerleaders for the oppressors in the "anti-imperialist" nations. They do this all in the name of "dialectical principal and secondary contradictions."
Hmm, Globally, yes, I would say the principal contradiction (and dialectical analysis is very helpful) is as you would agree, between the haves with their oppressive governments, and have nots. But within the specific contexts of Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine, the immediacy of war requires a more localized analysis, which I just cited. I saw tonight that Russia is now sending huge numbers of flyers into contested areas telling the Ukrainian forces to either surrender (and how to do so) or prepare to die. Good move, to save lives if possible, while weakening the enemy side.
Great article! All governments are anti working class. Governments exist to protect the wealthy from us.
Yep, nationalism is a cult behavior.
I think we are transitioning to a place where a sizeable minority are seeing that governments are corrupt and only pretend to care about us.
"As traumatic transformations go, the covid operation is up there with industrialisation and de-industrialisation, and for time compression it is out on its own."
"And as for the rabbit hole trope โ well, I don't think weโre going down the rabbit hole at all. Weโre climbing out of it into the light."
From https://realleft.substack.com/p/no-conspiracies-please-were-reality
Remember that because of the industrial revolution, we got labor and safety laws. After covid, we are going to get medical freedom laws. They can't hide the catastrophe they caused!
I call this the sequel to 1984. The party lost the trust of the masses. Look how they're trying to make us scared of war with China and Russia.... Meanwhile the oil and money still flows.
What a joke.
To use the Alice in Wonderland analogy, we were hallucinating in wonderland and now waking to real land which is much less insane.
Speaking of which, here's something I wrote awhile back:
Franz Kafka and George Orwell were strolling through Topeka Kansas, most
perplexed.
They came across a local young girl named Dorothy and asked her "What is
happening in your country, and what is the insanity pervading the Green
Party?"
Dorothy spoke up: "There's a bunch of little wizards trying to run things
now.ย I keep my distance, but go ask Alice, I think she'll know. When logic
and proportion . . .
"Where can we find Alice?" Orwell said impatiently.
"Oh, she went down the rabbit hole, I can take you, but if you go there,
you won't be in Kansas any more."
Kafka scratched his head and said, "Where will we be?"
"In Wonderland," she replied, "where reality is not only backwards, but
upside down and inside out!"ย But it will give you some insight to what is
going on."
An excellent essay on a topic I have strongly supported. There is no government today standing up for working people. But we can form our own global partnerships to overthrow the disgusting public-private consortiums that govern us
Thank you. I agree with your words here.
John gives the kaleidoscope of world events a slight turn to reveal the unifying, true motive for their occurences. Brilliant article as always.
Thank you again.
Not to disagree, but there are principal and secondary contradictions. When overtly fascists are actively slaughtering members of the working class (Palestine and Ukraine) THAT becomes the primary contradiction, not the internal one of working class vs billionaire rule. Of course it is true that resolving the latter would ALSO eliminate the former. But until enough can be mobilized to accomplish that, the first takes priority. But history is accelerating as we speak and the latter seems to be on the historical agenda before long.
I wrote an article about why I support the Russian soldiers in Ukraine but not Putin in Russia. Have you noticed that the dialectical anti-imperialists only write about why they โsupport Russia.โ See the problem here?
https://johnspritzler.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-egalitarianism?r=1iggn
Jon, If you were commanding an army in a military battle then it might make sense to use the kind of reasoning you expressed here to decide whom to attack and whom not to attack, whom to defend and whom not to defend at a given time. But you are not commanding an army in a military battle, nor are any of the other readers of this Substack or the larger number of people to whom my words are addressed.
The problem is that these people (the ones who are not commanding armies) are typically absolutely ignoring the fact that the primary conflict in the world is between the have-nots in all nations versus the oppressors of the have-nots in all nations. The "principal and secondary contradictions" mode of reasoning that you expressed here is exactly the rationale they use for ignoring the CLASS war and for failing to use their words to strengthen the have-nots' CLASS struggle in that war. Instead they act as cheerleaders for the oppressors in the "anti-imperialist" nations. They do this all in the name of "dialectical principal and secondary contradictions."
Haven't you noticed this problem yourself?
Hmm, Globally, yes, I would say the principal contradiction (and dialectical analysis is very helpful) is as you would agree, between the haves with their oppressive governments, and have nots. But within the specific contexts of Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine, the immediacy of war requires a more localized analysis, which I just cited. I saw tonight that Russia is now sending huge numbers of flyers into contested areas telling the Ukrainian forces to either surrender (and how to do so) or prepare to die. Good move, to save lives if possible, while weakening the enemy side.