ann

usiag 440 as concert pitch was, in fact, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles

there is still a middle class in america, and it is still the wealthiest class of people in human history

every once in a while I become aware of some kpop drama that's exceptional both in how inane it is and how extremely racist it is

most food is required by law to have labels in english and french

alternately: fascism is what liberalism is called when it stops pretending to be nice

and being aware that fascism is just what colonialism (particularly settler colonialism) is called when it's done to europeans

this is probably correct. I feel obligated to add (for everyone's listening benefit) that it's typical of Trane's playing at the time, and very similar examples can be found on the other three albums from the same recording session: "Workin", "Relaxin" and "Steamin"

I think "half-hearted" is still too generous to Germany but yes, the rest is correct.
specifically I consider German Empire ➡️ Weimar Republic ➡️ Nazi Germany ➡️ West Germany ➡️ contemporary Germany to be a logical progression without qualitative breaks

I think japanese propaganda around WW2 tends to function differently from US propaganda, which we're more accustomed to. they tend to fixate on the bombings and portray japan as though it was a helpless victim. Grave of the Fireflies is very much in line with that

fixating on billionaires as though they're uniquely immoral is, like other moral postulating, a dead end. it also doesn't make ordinary imperial core residents nearly uncomfortable enough. move on. if your analysis doesn't make you uncomfortable it's probably useless.

Nazi Germany was a deliberate attempt to recreate the US in Europe; that the US was Hitler's model.
or to use your framing, then: the US is a stabilized Nazi Germany that is in the process of destabilizing

in China this relation is reversed. the capitalist class is completely at the mercy of the state. this is how they're able to execute billionaires. (worth noting that the number they execute is small; a single-digit number per year. but it's still extremely clear that they're not in control)

while it is a problem that billionaires exist in the first place, the larger problem is that the state is subservient to them, and is therefore incapable of taxing them out of existence

these mass protests throughout the US will be funneled back into support for the Democrats, who will then do nothing that the protestors want them to do. they will also burn out the people who actually want things to change; reducing their capacity for their actual goals

when would you say the US stopped being a democracy?

for the countries where it it was implemented: were they better before or after it was implemented?
for the countries where it was implemented and later collapsed: were they better before, during, or after?

this assumes that Trump has done something significantly worse than actively funding, supportng, overseeing a genocide. what is it?

the error is in assuming that ICE is out of line with "Canadian values"

I suspect that that person is in fact still a dumbass

all credit to Nia Frome for saying that originally

behind every double standard is a consistent position

help to create a socialist movement from the ground up. get in touch with organizations near you, or start one yourself. educate yourselves on the relevant theory and history, including successful movements (USSR, China, DRPK, etc) as well as movements closer to home (Black Panthers)

change the way you're thinking about this; it's clearly not working. talking about what they should do creates hope that meaningful change can come from electoral politics. it cannot. the parties are fundamentally incapable of challenging the system
but also: posting on bluesky is not pressure

they're not going to do that. you know this.

I try

there's sea smoke visible from my windows. I just got back from a trip to the farmers market

I'm rereading "Imperialism" for an educational pamphlet on economics and I'm really taking in so much more than I did last time. chapter 8 is basically entirely about the Labour Aristocracy, though he doesn't use the term

yeah, in order to understand marxist theory you need to read it

that's not true at all

most americans don't. it's a labour aristocratic society