If so, was it polled somewhere?
When you guys mention the imperial core, what are you talking about? DC? Hollywood? Wall Street? Brussels? London? Paris? Berlin? The Hague? Where is this imperial core you keep mentioning?
I genuinely would like to understand what you guys at hexbear are about but every time I poke my head into that instance you guys are “dunking” every other instance with language nobody else understands. It’s very alienating.
Honestly your best bet is probably to do some reading first, unfortunately. A lot of Hexbear dialect is that way because it’s tied to concepts that come from books and thinkers we’re broadly familiar with.
If you’re more into video stuff you could try this guy. I think he’s pretty approachable.
Actually if you went into the megathreads and asked most people would probably give you suggestions too. We are fiesty but in my experience we also like to be helpful to people with questions.
We’re literally just communists. Read any introductory text to communism and 99% of what we say will make sense in context.
I genuinely would like to understand what you guys at hexbear are about
Well, I’d be more than happy to have a good faith discussion with you. No dunking, I promise 🙏
To be clear in the dunking threads folks are not usually engaging in good faith with us. When I was on another server and replied with actual questions to stuff everyone was incredibly nice to me and explained stuff super well. Can agree though that folks can see dunking as alientating. I promise though if you can get past that it’s one of the friendliest communities I’ve found on the web.
The imperial core is the countries that have been most involved in the imperialist plunder of other nations, so that would be the US, Canada, UK, France, Belgium, Germany, etcetera
Tibet was an oppressive theocratic slave society whose people China liberated.
Note that they said “Most involved” Russia, for instance, has always been the modern “Sick man of Europe” since the fall of the USSR. It’s imperial aspirations don’t extend as far. And it’s relationship to the historic Core of the US and Western Europe, is as a semi-peripheral nation trying to coalesce a regional sphere of influence with itself as the center of gravity. None of that makes it a Core country though.
Maybe if the current world system collapses, and it filled that vacuum. But that hasn’t happened.
Imperial Core refers to the World Systems Theory of International Relations, first put forward by Immanuel Wallerstien. I would suggest you read up on the topic before making half-baked responses like this.
US (see native Americans)
Spain (see Cuba/ Mexico)
Wow you just got touchdowned on.
“imperial core” isn’t a phrase we made up. It refers to World Systems Theory, a theory of international relations invented by a guy named Immanuel Wallerstein which argues that imperial “Core” countries (think the traditional “developed” or “first world” countries. Mainly the US and Europe) have a particular extractive, colonial relationship with “Periphery” countries (think poor, raw material exporting, rentier states like Kyrgyzstan or Nigeria).
Then there are semi-periphery countries which are still tied into the imperial core in some way, but have enough sway economically and geopolitically to kind of stand on their own. They have a different kind of relationship to the imperial core, compared to the periphery (these would be the BRICS countries, largely).
That’s a gross over simplification, but hopefully that answers your question.
Edit: Here’s a really good explanation of World Systems Theory that goes into more depth
Wasn’t aware of this framework, thank you for taking the time to explain it :)
To be fair, colonialism is a human trait and it’s been proven in every large society time and time again. You think the current US/UK empire is bad but if you look in your own back yard it’s the same thing with a different spin.
It is inevitable, humans are destined for this. It’s unfortunate but it’s what we do.
yeah but the thing is other countries’ policies didn’t inspire apartied and the nazis and their holocaust.
the US’s exterminationist and segregationalist The US did those thing
Hitler wrote in his diary how good america was at genociding its undesireables, and took it and ran with it
The United States: world leader in being the absolute fucking worst thing in human history since 1619
That’s just the propaganda you’ve been fed. The world doesn’t need to be xenophobic or exploitative. These are learnt behaviors.
You think the current US/UK empire is bad but if you look in your own back yard it’s the same thing with a different spin.
I don’t think any non-Western country has enslaved a continent, refused to pay reparations for enslaving an entire continent, and continue to plunder an entire continent of its resources.
Where is this imperial core you keep mentioning?
Probably start with where all the giant battleships come from: https://www.businessinsider.com/magnitude-of-us-naval-dominance-2013-11
Why does the USA need all those battleships if they’re not doing imperialism? Are they just cosmetic battleships? Just for shits and giggles?
You know how any time there’s a map where it colors countries who vote on UN resolutions, or countries where you can be thrown in jail for being poor, etc etc etc etc, you know how its usually a very similar map with US Europe and western allies on one side, and the entire rest of the world (the other 6.5 billion people) on the other?
Yeah, that teeny group that seems to always get its way controlling global politics is the imperial core.
Where is this imperial core you keep mentioning?
They prefer to be called The International Community™
Another user already explained world systems theory, but there’s also the school of global historical materialism, that analyses the relationship and structure of the imperial core/triad and the periphery/global south. Samir Amin was a leading figure in that, he also coined the term “Eurocentrism”. You can find quite a few recordings of his lectures for free on YouTube, or pirate his books (he’s dead now, so it’s not like he’d get the money anyways).
