darkernations
Feels like this is a good time to post some of Hakim’s primers for those who are interested/curious:
What if North Korea was a democracy? (Starts at 22 seconds if you want to skip the intro, approx 30 min; can watch in 2x speed if so inclined) https://youtu.be/1f4rKycK6Gg
Why is North Korea so weird? (Approx 12 min long) https://youtu.be/EzDhqXuELjo
What is the deal with defectors? (Again approx 12 min long) https://youtu.be/vBwZjBMbsK0
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Tangent articles
On Brainwashing (1st: 17 min, 2nd: 77 min):
I am not sure if these are currently (ongoing inflation woes aside) competitive enough from a western market perspective given the built-in sinophobia; they have to be exceptionally good value for quality or have no meaningful competition for a chinese name brand (security cameras such as Dahua as an example amongst others, and another tangent example would be Polestar which though is owned by Geely is considered “swedish” ). However, I don’t think that’s the point; like you said these may be the beginning of much more competitive products given track records in all other fields.
If one takes a less eurocentric view; the above board/cpu bundle is nothing short of amazing. A middle income country while undergoing military seige, sanctions and hybrid wars is able to produce and sell a consumer product higher in the tech-chain in a market that openly declares the producing country a national enemy is market strategy all of these MBAs could not concuct in their wildest dreams. And obviously this is not the only - let alone first - example of this.
It’s almost as if marxists know how to play in the game of capitalism better than liberals through a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the system.
Ironically one of the best investor’s handbook over the past century still remains to be Das Kapital.
Thanks for sharing; glad to see bourgois fear in a socialist country.
So much cope and weasel words in a typical liberal article.
“The large number of rich Chinese heading elsewhere could add to the strain on the nation’s fragile economy”
Fragile? Based on what?
Capital flight controls appear to be an alien concept to these kind of esteemed journalists (nevermind the labour theory of value).
I am also seeing a global theme with a lot of non-western bourgoisie there appears to be an internalised inferiority complex where the ideal is to be some sort of Honorary Aryan.
It’s probably worthwhile reading some Frantz Fanon at this stage to soothe the soul.
/edits: grammar/clarity
Options to counter the pessimism:
(1) Move to the global south (assuming one can actually save up for this, not have to worry about dependancies and sustain a living in the country of destination, and any other criterion in this speculation) and take down the imperial core from the peripheries
(2) Militant organised revolutionary agitation to overthrow the dictatorship domestically with the optimism and bravery required while knowing that more charismatic and smarter folks than oneself have been tortured and murdered. This will involve the organised accumulation and seizing of capital, while fighting reactionary and counter-revolutionary forces.
(3) capitulate; have the luck of draw to be able to become a labour aristocrat, petite-bourgoisie or even bourgoisie with the hope of mitigating the inflation knowing full well for the majority of people globally and historically this has not been successful or even a realistic oppurtunity. All this to counter inflation at retirement age and does not even solve the depression and anxiety of alienation; and the resulting inevitable chipping away of one’s own humanity not withstanding the malignancy of a system bearing down on the peoples at large.
/edited to add number 3 and clarifcation of 2
You may have already done this; to break down what one means by “we” / “us” / “american” that unless he is part of the bourgoisie (at which point one may want to invest time elsewhere to overthrow the dictatorship) that there are material differences between himself and those who dictate the policies of empire?
There’s only so much one can do though if one is in the imperial core especially if one’s father is reasonably well off. Unfortunately there are material benefits of the empire for the imperial core labour aristocrats and petite-bourgoise even if they are crumbs.
Finding common grounds or points of agreement is often the path to extrapolate towards reconciliation and exploration of meaningful enlightenment without capitulation.
Please make sure you are taking care of your mental health; this goes for all of us.
One could maybe do # 3 in a socialist country like China (ie do #1) - the selection pressures of socialism would force the output of these roles towards an overall good?
Too many folks think #2 is just organising to protest in the hope of convincing bourgois lawmakers. It is actually the process of creating the organs of a socialist state including housing, food production, education, healthcare and the means to defend it all.
Do you know any literature you could recommend please - if possible - that explores what you said? (Well before I came across ML I have long thought the flipside of the coin you are mentioning; that capitalism brings out the worst in society, the most sociopathic and malignant characteristics of what we consider the human condition is what is amplified, promoted and successful. However, I do not have a background in philosophy and I feel I have only scratched the surface of dialectics and materialism)
Thank you for posting the translation.
At no point does he explain:
- how he will defend the “revolution”
- how further coups will be prevented
- how he is going to meaningfully improve democracy if he is concerned the poor only get a democratic voice every few years during election season
- how he will prevent the imperialist forces and the bourgoisie dictating economic policy
If he doesn’t think one needs to read Marx or learn from Castro, Mao or Lenin then he giving the awful impression that he does not have a viable alternative. If one does not have an understanding of the status quo then how will one fight it? How will they understand lessons of the past of those who did fight it and was successful if they do not learn from them? Where is this new theory of successful political economic development that apparently supercedes Marx scientifically?
Critical support indeed.
Without understanding dialectical and historical materialism, without developing a socialist vanguard and without democratic centralism it feels like the seeds for capitulating towards fascism.
I forgot to add if you want to do number 2 then develop that bravery.
I do not have meaningful advice on how to do that here (I too am learning) other than to understand how others before have been successful and then to learn the lessons where they appear and to apply it your material reality.
You will need to be hungry for power, the discipline to seize it and channel it through a dialectical material lens. This is what it means to give democracy to the proleteriat and the various subjugated classes at large, and then to defend it. You have to strive for a vanguard and democratic centralism for the sake of saving the world while the wolves are at your feet. A tall order but clearly not impossible.