SadArtemis [she/her]

Thanks! Having read it now it is- interesting. Good and unquestionably principles everyone should seek to follow, yet also of course a call to constant self-crit and what I’d call irreligious, tangible, revolutionary virtue.

I’d never really considered such behaviors liberalism, but it’s food for thought (and I don’t disagree with it). Of course, considering all that is listed, there is no one who doesn’t err or who will not err in due time, but it’s a means of bettering yourself, society, and protecting the integrity of the revolution or of any org, I suppose. It’s definitely something that will be sticking with me.

As someone who was raised in a religiously (very) abusive household, and who has seen how religion has utterly destroyed lives, IMO it’s an issue of irreligious rights as well as religious rights- the former are lacking almost everywhere, even across the west.

People should have the freedom to follow what they want, but others should have the freedom to live their own lives outside of it. This applies also and especially to the children of religious people- religion should not be an excuse for physical or psychological abuse (which many traditional religious practices are); it should not be an obligation, etc. TBH a lot of that issue comes from the fact that most societies also treat children like property, as Marx said, we must abolish the (capitalist, bourgeois- but IMO also pre-capitalist) family.

Atheist-agnostic and I think rather than “atheism being a religion,” which is obviously false, rather- western chauvinism and white supremacism is a religion, imperialism is a religion. Atheism and secularism just so happens to be a semi-common excuse tacked on (though even then I think it can be said that for the overwhelming majority of history, and still to a large degree today, western Christianity also tends to be a vanguard of liberalism/imperialism)

IMO you’re projecting the new-Atheist views not only onto all Atheism and secularism in general- but you’re using the same fallacies/assumptions you accuse atheism of having for religion, on atheism itself.

I don’t see how this contradicts my assessment, admittedly? I didn’t rule out the possibility of the ROC or any of the aforementioned states (even Ukraine, still) breaking free- and it is still a question of whether the Taiwanese bourgeoisie and military (both of which I already knew were opposed to the separatism- another of my comments in the thread notes how the US replaced the KMT with the DPP for just that) can successfully do so, as of yet the ROC is still being steered into catastrophe.

I’m aware Ukraine is far more compromised- the list of countries I described ranged from Ukraine (which still has plenty of resistance and dissent even in its government and ranks, though people are smart enough to keep their heads down) to Georgia which I noted seemed to be successfully avoiding “Ukrainization.” I’m aware that the ROC and Japanese in particular are trying to wriggle free some independence (however they use it is another question, but they don’t want to destroy themselves). I’m aware that there is a great deal of dissent and concern, and public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to Ukrainization, in almost all if not all the countries I described as facing the threat of Ukrainization.

As I described, it’s a question of whether or not the state structure, or the people (including those people who matter as you describe) can protect themselves from this destruction. I don’t see how that is an inaccurate assessment. See:

It doesn’t matter what the Taiwan Chinese or anyone else the US wants to Ukrainize wants- what matters is if they can and will act to defend their interests from Ukrainization

Can the ROC military and bourgeoisie wrest control of the state, from the boba liberals who have the backing of the US military? As-is they are in a very uncomfortable and precarious balancing act- but if the US gave push to shove, I’d expect that Taiwan would erupt into civil war (same with South Korea despite its military being supposed to be subordinated to the US in times of war, as for Japan and the Philippines they’re less immediately under the crosshairs and would intensify their attempts to wriggle free). Alternatively, it’s not out of the question that, just as the sensible ROC elements might overthrow the DPP, the US and its DPP puppets could- as with most of the articles you described- intensify the purges of all those trying to save their people from Ukrainization, steal TSMC out from under the ROC’s nose (well, with DPP support), and send the island on a one-way suicide trip to the mainland… not to say it’s likely to succeed (none of it is, even the TSMC debacle) but it is certainly what they would like to do and IMO, what they are slowly trying to do.

I haven’t read Combat Liberalism (and should), but FWIW I think I’d say Mao’s circumstances naturally were also very different in context- it’s one thing to say it in the global south, in genuinely brutalized and colonized countries where the masses can be receptive on some level, and another to say it in the heart of empire, surrounded by all those who have benefited from or see their lot as tied with that of the empire (also with a lot of colonized peoples- but even then with varying degrees of similar issues).

I’d say Mao was right, anyways. Fuck the discomfort… but then also we are all only human. We can yell all we want, I’ve stuck my neck out and gotten into arguments myself, but end of the day we know we’re swimming upstream, perhaps even trying to swim up a waterfall- not to say it can’t be done, nor to support defeatism, but our energy is finite, self-preservation on some level is valid (supporting the genocide however is wholly invalid and those who do will deserve what they get), and picking and choosing our fights is not only valid, but can be the better strategy (finding receptive audiences, using our energy elsewhere or going where we can actually contribute) than butting our heads up against a wall. If seeing industrial genocide cannot successfully appeal to someone’s humanity, nothing will- perhaps the material conditions in the future will be such that they will come to us all the same, or perhaps they will be worn down further still, but what can be said to those supporting, even if due to “lesser evil” bullshit, such atrocities?

FWIW I’d say your lib friends deserve the axe they’re voting for (not that you need to axe them off socially yourself). I get the fears, not AmeriKKKan but from another Anglo country, and as an ethnic Chinese (no PRC citizenship/ties or I’d be packing and planning to leave already lol), queer and trans, coming from an immigrant family and being a naturalized citizen (as a kid) myself, and of course being a commie… well shit’s bad. But those who want to toss others under the bus to literal industrial genocide deserve whatever they get if you ask me- and today it’s the Palestinians and now the Lebanese, eventually down the line if they don’t come under the empire’s crosshairs first, it’ll be (already is in some considerable level) you and other leftist dissent, or the various other demographics (of fellow citizens) already being stomped down/colonized within the empire…

Hopefully they can learn and become better people. I get how it is, about not wanting to cut them off fully (though also not wanting to talk, that shit is nauseating).

Based. Yes please, also the other genocidal Anglo-settler colonies

I hope you’re right- though I suppose the question then becomes whether their bullshit, or even their real economic interests and corporate pressure (since most corpos despite their infinite issues don’t tend to want WW3) outweighs US hubris, the neocon agenda, and the collective western imperialist elites’ attempts to keep the world under a “unipolar” order of western domination- one that unified and reached its zenith under the US, but could be argued to have been building for 500 years. Can the west accept Africa, Asia (south, east, west), and Latin America truly breaking free and asserting equality? I’m less optimistic than you, particularly when it comes to institutional culture and structural issues (contradictions) which mean that the west and the US in particular may not be able to afford war, but they- or rather, their political system- inherently also cannot afford peace and this equality…

I figured Trump/Vance were the less demented of the 2 competing fascist factions of the US, for what it’s worth- still do (at least when it comes to foreign policy). I know Trump had said similar (and I think there’s reason to believe him in that regard- though whether his opinion counts for anything vs. that of the blob/neocons and war lobby is another thing), but I didn’t know Waltz has said “China doesn’t have to be our enemy.” Fingers crossed, I suppose…

What the Taiwan Chinese want doesn’t matter, just like what the Ukranians, South Koreans, Filipinos, Japanese, Armenians, or Georgians (well the Georgians seem to be having success in resistance at least) want doesn’t matter. The question is whether or not their state structure can resist US usurpation (or whether it, or alternatively its people through overthrowing it, can break free of its control).

The Ukrainians wanted peace and neutrality; the US overthrew that government (Yanukovich) and installed a bunch of Nazis instead. The Ukranians once again voted in a candidate ostensibly seeking “peace” (Zelensky)- while I won’t claim to know how genuine his intentions originally were (I do think there was some honest intent- I think I’ve seen videos out there somewhere of, well before the war, him being disrespected to his face by those neo-Nazi, possibly Azov militants despite being elected head of state) obviously that went out the window. Then the Russians invaded/began their SMO to force peace- and a peace deal was on the table soon after, with those (Ukranians) who had been behind its workings now coming out and exposing how positive it would have been and how happy they were at the time- and then fucking Boris Johnson flew to Istanbul and put an end to that, as well. And now even negotiating is illegal, elections have been suspended, political oppression (which was always rampant) is only getting worse… you get the gist.

It doesn’t matter what the Taiwan Chinese or anyone else the US wants to Ukrainize wants- what matters is if they can and will act to defend their interests from Ukrainization, or if the US will succeed in their plans of using said countries as metaphorical suicide bombers for the empire.

IMO for both Taiwan and Korea, the question becomes whether the US is going to bite the bullet and actually go for open conflict with China (in both cases). When you look at what the US does to North Korea- or China- or honestly even Russia and the historical Soviet Union, etc… it really is a game of it constantly swinging its fist full force at other countries’ faces, only to metaphorically pull back at the last second.

Western media and politicians, and even military officials are not exactly hiding their plans/considerations- they expect a war with China, sooner (5~ years max) than later, because the longer the wait the further China and the rest of humanity develops (ie. the harder it will be to slaughter and enslave the entire planet and destroy China and the BRICS nations again, as the unspoken but obvious reasoning).

Whatever happens won’t be an accident- it won’t be a “chance,” basically- if it happens it will have been nigh inevitable, if it is avoided it will be through masterful statecraft/containment on China and the rest of humanity’s part upon the US to prevent the west from lighting the fuse. And it will not so much be due to the west “calling North Korea/China’s bluff,” or even giving two shits about what the comprador regimes of the RoC and South Korea have to say, much less the people- it will be a matter of the US brunt forcing the issue with full knowledge of what will come about (even up to possible MAD- not like they overly care about their own citizens, though of course they will try to keep the bulk of the destruction contained in Asia). Like with Ukraine, if the South Koreans or RoC governments get cold feet, the US will push further (and then it’ll be a matter if they succeed in that regard). If the KMT is in the way (due to not being suicidal), the DPP will be brought in their place. If the DPP is in the way, some other group of maniacs will be brought in, and so on. The same goes for South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan- they all might try to wriggle free of the control but their chances are pretty bleak, and their institutions are heavily compromised from the ground up.

Obviously as a TL,DR I think it’s already more than in the works and with full bipartisan support (the only pesky issues getting in the way are things like their “project Ukraine” being a disaster, or the Muslims getting “uppity” rather than peacefully allowing the blood-crazed Anglo-franchise of Isntreal to continue genocide as usual). It’s more likely to happen than not (unless things continue throwing major wrenches in the plan- which is likely) and everyone knows- the world knows, western citizenry knows, etc, etc… that as the opportunity to push the “terrorism/WW3” button closes in on the US, they (the neocon uniparty) will push it, unprovoked, rather than accept equality and peace. The only question is if that window of opportunity can be closed before they do (through any variety of reasons- from civil war/a coup by the non-suicidal elements of the US, things simply catching up with the US faster than they can prepare, etc)