Semjeza

Zionism, especially it’s modern incarnation: sure.

But there was a struggle for Israel’s soul that fascism won, due to that Zionist influence. But it needn’t have necessarily won.

It was fascist in its paramilitary early days, too. But that also predated the state.

Do I need to point at the so “North Korea is a democracy because it has democracy in the name” sign again?

Yes, the Nazis had some socialist leanings in the early days - but they were all eliminated once the Nazis came to power cementing them with Hitlers more pro-capital and anti-socialist side of the party rather than the more economically socialist Strasserites. So weren’t the government of the Nazi Reich, and out of the way long before the Second World War.

Mussolini’s PNF are a more interesting and murky choice, as Mussolini came from and had some more left wing views, and even though they crimibalised strikes they did at least give more heed to resolving class conflict - albeit as fascists do by conquest.

Israel is a good shout, and it was much more socialist back in its early days. Sadly, since the economic reforms of 85 with its privatisation of state services, cuts, and general adoption of neoliberal economic policy I don’t think counts as Socialist… And it only really got full fascy after then, the assassination of the leader in the 90s for the Oslo Accords and following elections makes a good mark for Israel turning unapologetically fascist I think

Nah, privateers kept the heriarchies of home, only attacked and stole from permitted targets, and those who captained ships came from the elite of society - such as Sir Walter.

Pirates were much more socially accepting, allowing women and people of colour in to crews, and even to positions of authority. They didn’t pay homage to a nation or work for empire. They saw a chance to get rich quick by not playing by nascant capitalisms rule.

Of course many pirates did start out as low levels on privateers’ ships, but unlike their landed gentry captains didn’t see a point in staying loyal to a crown and we’re happy to mutiny for their own benefit when the chance came along.

Eh, I don’t count privateers as pirates.

That’s just a form of international economic warfare, and has homage to a nation/crown rather than full on piracy.

Maybe I’m too romantic about it all.

But he wasn’t a pirate?

At most a privateer, but has none of the pirate stuff. A more nationally aligned mercenary. The page seems pretty poor and sensationalist if I’m honest. =(

I was hoping for more free from all law, not just that of their geopolitical rivals pirates, rather than privateers who aren’t much different from an informal navy.

Sadly unsurprising.

After Israel worked with the US to screw Britain and France over with the Suez Crisis our government has done everything it can to kowtow to both Israel and the US.

We’re happier with their scraps than working for a better world.

Love pirates and history!

Tell me more!

Really? I’ll bite. Name 3, and please note that:

1. Fascism and authoritarian are different
2. I’ll need your definition of socialism, and “because the PRC said so” doesn’t change the material conditions of the nation. Just as the DPRK being called that doesn’t make it democratic.

Sulphuric Acid acts on trousers and carpets. Wooden desks seem remarkably immune.

Found out after getting an actual chemical and chemistry set from a deceased relative. Parents didn’t check what was in it, just “chemistry is educational, good he’s learning”.

I was either dropping magnesium or potassium into a beaker of sulphuric acid as both of them were in the set too. And I was either a butterfingered lummox, or the act of dropping the metal into unbalanced the beaker knocked it over and the sulphuric acid cascaded onto my jeans eating through them and making my leg itchy, and bubbling the carpet into a stinky white then grey foam. I can still picture-ish that sight; and I’m normally not very visually minded, a testament to the deep impression the experience left on me.

Was much more sensible after that: just burning magnesium and chucking potassium into tub of water in the garden like you do in Chemistry class from time to time.

I mean, he’s a former lib dem not the second coming of Rosa Luxembourg and Simone Weil.

And in response to your other one, politicians who aren’t right wing tend to get much more flak for these behaviours.

Compared to MPs expenses scandal, or Farage’s undeclared £5 million (plus his dodgy house buying tactic) and their denial of wring doing or even why people might have an issue each step of the way him owning up, accepting responsibility and paying what’s owed and the fine is very much “paying his fair share”.

Could he do better? Yes, of course. Is he doing better that most non-Green national level policians? Seems to be.

I usually download Eurovision, as the politics isn’t new… Just more apparent.

Maybe find a Eurovision community and ask about alternate viewing methods? I’m sure there are other ways to watch live, which if you’ve got a gathering is the way to do it.

SOAS is an amazing community of students, often organising amazing speakers and events - even when university administration is rallied, as is almost universally the case, againt them.

It’s that “after” that makes it weird.

“will be summoned as the two men were found guilty” is much nicer.

If you’re using “Tragedy of the Commons” as a synonym of Holocene Extinction, and are not talking about the way common land (i.e. The Commons) in Medieval and Early Modern Europe was managed, then sure I’ll concede the point.

But that was pre-Captialist, and similar things can be seen when we look and the surviving indigenous societies in the world. It would, indeed, be harder in areas that have been living under capitalism for the last five to six hundred years.

You seem to be analysing from a fairly traditional Marxist-Leninist lens, albiet with a novel definition of state. No bad thing, but there are other Left wing frameworks that bring interesting, alternate understandings.

I think the first runs afoul of the Tragedy of the Commons.

The real “Tragedy of the Commons” is that it’s a myth made up by Capitalists to justify their enclosure of common land and divesting those without land from their rights to self-sufficientcy and access to resources.

The Commons were generally well managed for hundreds of years by convention and local communities.

If you don’t have a state, or local proto-capitalists, with the violence to take possession of the commons, they remain well shared and not over-exploitated.

Better than the US is not a high bar to clear.

The PRC has gotten better in the last 15 years, but was also pretty poor before that, and still enacts environmentally catastrophic colonial extractavist projects in South East Asia, similar to Europe and North America in Africa and South America. (Though none as catastrophic as my homeland has been in West Africa.)

I hope that the PRC can keep to it’s trajectory, while reducing the harm done in South East Asia, and then in a few years can be better environmentally than all 1st World Nations.

Yup, competing factions in power on both sides of the relationship could knock things about.

Vikings were amazing, we (or at least I) still often underestimate or forget their reach. The idea of Vikings in the Middle East and North Africa trading and marrying, and generally being part of the flow of goods, people, and ideas always seems wild.

Anyhow, it’s been lovely set of exchanges and I’ve learnt things and: thanks.

We always used colonisation for European imperialism in my history classes, but I can see how the word doesn’t fully jive with expected meaning.

And we tend to use “neo-colonial” at least in my experience of British education for the US imperialism, too.

Crossed wires, eh?

I learned thermodynamics before I learned economics, so it didn’t escape my notice that GDP looks more like a measure of heat than a measure of work. It gives an overall “operating temperature” of the economy

That’s a really good analogy for it, thanks for sharing.