At this stage is it wrong to be glad an 'elite' rule for now?

[RadioRaheem84]

I am only saying this because of the disturbing comments I've read concerning cases involving people caught for crimes other than murder in the United States. While our justice system is fucked up as it is and clearly becoming more of a profit machine, I can help but be somewhat thankful for liberal activism which has at least stifled some of the more reactionary elements in our society that believe more in punishment than rehabilitation.

When my friend was tossed into the county jail for traffic tickets, he said that if it wasn't for the Feds in there inspecting the place, he would've languished in there for two weeks but just because of their presence he was out in 18 hours. He was able to return to work, have his record wiped clean and not lose his job. But the reaction he received from people over the zany labyrinth that is the criminal justice was, "well, should've paid your traffic ticket", "it's the law". This was in Texas, who the DOJ found the county prisons to be the worst civil rights violators in the country.

I guess I am continuing the trend of "why are Americans so conservative" to understand just how can we really depend on the people to commit to social justice when a large swathe of the population is reactionary to even mere notions of justice? Sometimes at the local level, especially in reactionary states, the State is worse than the Federal government which at least provides for more social services, education and medical attention. Yet, the Federal level is seen as the bastion of the 'elites'.

How do you reconcile this?

[Beeth]

I am only saying this because of the disturbing comments I've read concerning cases involving people caught for crimes other than murder in the United States. While our justice system is fucked up as it is and clearly becoming more of a profit machine, I can help but be somewhat thankful for liberal activism which has at least stifled some of the more reactionary elements in our society that believe more in punishment than rehabilitation.

When my friend was tossed into the county jail for traffic tickets, he said that if it wasn't for the Feds in there inspecting the place, he would've languished in there for two weeks but just because of their presence he was out in 18 hours. He was able to return to work, have his record wiped clean and not lose his job. But the reaction he received from people over the zany labyrinth that is the criminal justice was, "well, should've paid your traffic ticket", "it's the law". This was in Texas, who the DOJ found the county prisons to be the worst civil rights violators in the country.

I guess I am continuing the trend of "why are Americans so conservative" to understand just how can we really depend on the people to commit to social justice when a large swathe of the population is reactionary to even mere notions of justice? Sometimes at the local level, especially in reactionary states, the State is worse than the Federal government which at least provides for more social services, education and medical attention. Yet, the Federal level is seen as the bastion of the 'elites'.

How do you reconcile this?

Problem with Marxists is that they think in abstract terms, try to fit human behavior into nice little 'boxes', which isn't possible. Group character is sometimes different from the individuals who comprise it, which is why it is wrong to seek formulas for everything.

Theories are just general guidelines - theory of value, for instance, helps us understand exploitation in greater detail but we should understand that there are types of exploitation which may not fit into this theory at all. And since such exploitative systems go against so-called materialism, Marxists become confused and try in vain to explain it in materialist terms rather than simply realize that theories are just explanations, not magic formulas which explain every circumstance.

[RadioRaheem84]

Problem with Marxists is that they think in abstract terms, try to fit human behavior into nice little 'boxes', which isn't possible. Group character is sometimes different from the individuals who comprise it, which is why it is wrong to seek formulas for everything.

Theories are just general guidelines - theory of value, for instance, helps us understand exploitation in greater detail but we should understand that there are types of exploitation which may not fit into this theory at all. And since such exploitative systems go against so-called materialism, Marxists become confused and try in vain to explain it in materialist terms rather than simply realize that theories are just explanations, not magic formulas which explain every circumstance.

Libertarians and Liberals think in abstract terms. Marxists understand that people are individuals living in a social order, they don't put them in a box, we just say that there are certain determinate economic forces that narrow choices for a lot of working people. That helps us understand people's choices and behaviors a lot better than saying people are just evil or going deep into psychology as determinate. Marxist analysis is structural.

It's incorrect to assume that Marxists are like libertarians when talk about the abstract market and state. I've never heard of a group character in Marxism.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

I was just talking about how people in Europe are more civilised...
I am joking.

There cannot be a communist revolution if there are no communists, or there is a big anti-communist majority. If you have a country where people are liberal, or sympathetic towards the left, a small number of communists can do.

[RadioRaheem84]

I was just talking about how people in Europe are more civilised...
I am joking.

There cannot be a communist revolution if there are no communists, or there is a big anti-communist majority. If you have a country where people are liberal, or sympathetic towards the left, a small number of communists can do.

People are generally all over the map in the US. They share a mix of progressive and libertarian ideals. Sometimes I think that anarcho-syndicalism might be the best selling left leaning philosophy here in the States. If more people understood the co-op system/collectives, Spanish Civil War Revolution, then they would love it.