Disqus - Latest Comments for Philanon

Re: Reflections On Obama's Tour

Philanon — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:28:12 -0000

Typical comment from a flaming American post-McCarthyist "patriot" who knows nothing about the true nature of communism. You hear that word and think of Stalin. Read the Communist Manifesto.

I don't support CPUSA; they are weak compromisers who support the capitalist Democratic Party.

Nice job completely ducking my point to post an inflammatory non-statement though. I detect a pattern among you reactionary conservative types. All emotion, no substance.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:36:39 -0000

"Hitler was a leftist and a communist/socialist."

Congratulations, that's the most glaringly inaccurate thing I've read on the Internet all week.

Hitler was a fascist. Fascism is anti-socialist.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:45:58 -0000

Cuba, Russia and China are not and were never communist, because communism can only exist globally. Those are/were socialist governments, although even there they fell short. Read the Communist Manifesto. Don't worry, you won't get cooties from it or turn into a pinko overnight. Think of it as "knowing your enemy." If you don't understand what communism actually means, you'll keep making these mistakes. Remember: just because you hear it from US politicians or the media doesn't make it true. No matter how many times they say "Communist China," they can never actually make it so.

Workers get shafted by the nature of capitalism itself. When you produce a product for your employer, he sells it for whatever it is worth, then pays you a fraction of that. It's called capitalism. It is the science of exploitation. It is why sweatshops exist. The goal is to pay you the lowest wage possible while working you the longest hours possible. Evil, anti-American, leftist-commie-pinko organizations called "unions" gave you things called "a living wage" and "the 40 hour week" and "time and a half."

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:34:22 -0000

Keep ducking the points being raised, and keep waving that flag, sucker.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:33:07 -0000

I like how you directly addressed my statement. Oh wait, no you didn't, you ducked it entirely, because it's true and you don't want to think about it or your head will explode.

It's called "cognitive dissonance" (Google it).

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:37:54 -0000

*shrug* It seems perfectly obvious to me. The capitalist system is built upon imperialist oppression. America is the dominant capitalist economy. Thus, America is the dominant imperialist oppressor. And since the overwhelming majority of Americans participate in the American economy, they are complicit in that imperialist oppression. Exceptions would include innocent children, subsistence farmers and the homeless.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:26:02 -0000

Yo, moron...capitalism robs you of the value of what you produce. You create a product or provide a service worth $X, your employer sells it for that much and pays you a fraction of it. Think about it for crying out loud.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:19:45 -0000

1. Communism can't have failed because it's never been tried.

2. "Keeping people poor, down, and miserable while government cronies get rich and powerful" describes capitalism.

3. I can't believe capitalism still exists. Eventually the people getting shafted by it will overthrow it (if you work for a wage or salary, you're getting shafted by it; if you own a business with employees, you're shafting others).

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:44:52 -0000

Who is this "we" you're talking about? Do you guys even realize what site you're posting at? Am I missing something? What's with the Republicans posting at the Communist Party USA web site as though they were among friends? I'm confused.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:48:15 -0000

You are absolutely clueless. The Democratic Party is avowedly capitalist, and always has been. If you think welfare equates to socialism, you are in serious need of educating. Even so-called European "socialists" are simply capitalists who favor generous benefit packages. There is no serious socialist movement anywhere that matters (serious meaning one that is actively fighting to overthrow capitalism). There are only various degrees of liberalism within the capitalist system, which is deeply entrenched and taken as a given pretty much everywhere.

If you compare the Democratic Party to any European left-wing party, they will look like conservatives (which is what I'm guessing you are; either that or a libertarian, which is just another term for a greedy, rabid capitalist who likes to party). The Democrats left of the Republicans, but the margin is increasingly slim, with both moving toward the middle.

Compare Nader's proposals to Obama's and tell me which one leans more "socialist." Obama's economic proposals are extremely weak from a left-wing perspective, while the Republicans are up in arms over McCain, even going so far as to call him a liberal RINO. There are always going to be members of either party pushing the boundaries of either party (i.e., Democrat Kucinich and Republican Paul), but the dominant wings of both parties are quite "moderate" (in quotes because they're both to the right of center on economics).

You're just another reactionary right-winger who thinks pretty much everything done with tax dollars is "socialism" (except the military, which is an amusing contradiction).

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:13:52 -0000

1) You're posting at an ostensibly extreme-left web site.

2) Of course they're not. Democrats are hardcore capitalists. Communists (and therefore true socialists) are hardcore anti-capitalists.

3) You got that backwards. The goal of socialism is communism. And communism has no methods, it merely analyzes the past and predicts the future. You're most likely thinking of self-described communist movements that have gained power, most of which were not even truly socialist, let alone communist.

4) Obama's "platform" is intentionally vague so it can please (or, rather, avoid displeasing) as many people as possible.

Re: Reflections On Obama's Tour

Philanon — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:10:03 -0000

Why should government stay out of our wallets? Bedrooms I can understand: what consenting adults do with each other's genitalia, mouths and anuses is irrelevant to the pursuit of equality. But our wallets are entirely relevant to it, since money is the primary instrument of inequality.

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:54:44 -0000

Welcome back, P17. ;-)

I'm curious: where do you think Marxist ideas were challenged? Do you mean inconsequential little ideological details, or the underlying premise that oppression sucks and must be snuffed out?

Re: First step for autoworkers: win in November

Philanon — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:01:22 -0000

The "Fair"Tax is actually semi-regressive. While it's true that the lowest earners would see a small benefit, middle earners would take a hit, while the highest earners would see a huge windfall.

So from middle to high, it's regressive. The only progressive part is at the lowest end. That would be reason enough to go for it, if it were substantial, but it wouldn't be.

Any time the rich get richer, there's a problem. Any tax system that pretends to be progressive should pinch the rich HARD.

There's a reason that scam is being pushed by rich Republicans and laissez-faire libertarian gold bugs.

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:28:43 -0000

"I'm using the words without their traditionally negative connotation... Now which one of us is reacting defensively?"

Hey now, that was unfair. You admit they have a certain connotation, then suggest I should have known you weren't using it.

"You might find this hard to believe, but I am genuinely interested in what you have to say!"

Well then, I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:28:07 -0000

"I don't believe you are 'standing back and gazing at the forest' simply because your views are much too simplistic and convenient."

The saying "can't see the forest for the trees" means you're focused on the details, or on a smaller segment of the whole. I'm stepping back to look at the broader picture. It's simplified by design: why focus on a multitude of intranational squabbles when the real problem is international?

"...it is impossible to point at America as a whole and say, 'Every one of you is guilty of oppressing the international proletariat.' Especially so when it is those owners of industry and economic forces that are the only ones capable of doing the oppressing."

I'm not going to repeat myself again after this because you are clearly trying not to understand. For the last time: If you benefit from imperialism, you are an imperialist. How can a person participating in an imperialist economy claim to be a non-imperialist? It's like suggesting that a member of CPUSA is a practicing communist, simply because that's their ideology, rather than the capitalist that they are by definition as Americans. To be American is to be a capitalist, imperialist oppressor. Not because you want to be, necessarily, but because that's part of what it means to be American.

"To say that the proletariat, working class or whatever phrase you'd rather use is agreeing to the capitalist oppression is ignoring the fact that most of the proletariat in this country is blisfully unaware of the negative aspects of capitalism, their role in society, and the role of the bourgeoisie in the devastation of the third world nations."

Ha! They need not have read Marx to be perfectly aware of their relative opulence, or to understand that the flood of Mexicans is an example of poor people scrambling for the lowest rung of jobs. Americans aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, but they can put two and two together; they know what time it is; they know how the machine operates.

"...unless they are the owners of the majority of capital and are part of the elite who actually run the machinery of industry which profits from their exploitation, they can't be said to be responsible for it."

We still have the vote in this country, don't we? When people keep voting for the same old Republicans and Democrats, that's an endorsement of the status quo. People are quite happy, indeed, to continue sucking the blood of the third world.

"It's like advocating the idea that the slaves who belong to the richest master are actually part of the elite slaveowners simply because they live in better conditions than some of the other slaves."

Terrible analogy. Slaves were regarded as little more than beasts of burden with opposable thumbs and the ability to follow more complicated commands than "Giddyup!" and "Whoa!" They weren't actively participating in and benefiting from the imperialist system.

"What is this, a Communist blog or something? LOL"

No. It's a Democratic Party blog.

"You have your views (which are actually hypocritical and a bit annoying since you're likewise American and, by your definition, an oppressor)..."

I am not hypocritical. Go back and read the thread: nowhere did I exclude myself from the oppressor class. I condemn myself with the same force as everyone else. The difference is that I am aware of it, able to admit it, and bothered by it. Small consolation to be sure, but I'm working on a better one.

"Let's simply agree to disagree and go our separate ways in trying to doing our part to try to bring about a more just world in which wealth is more evenly and fairly distributed."

Agreed! And good luck in your efforts!

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:52:42 -0000

If you don't disagree, then why are you mocking me with words like "diatribe," "rant" and "manifesto"? Why not just say: "Right on!"?

I really don't understand why you'd be reacting negatively or defensively to my comments unless they offend you somehow. All I'm doing is speaking my mind honestly and describing the situation as I see it. So what if I am "America bashing"? Does that bother you? If so, why? Do you identify yourself with America no matter what it does? I sure don't. You can take a dump on the flag and set it on fire in the middle of the street for all I care.

Forgive my paranoia, but I get the feeling you're asking for the CPUSA to chime in because you think I might be intimidated into falling in line if they disagree with me. I've never been a lackey for any party, so that won't happen. I'm paradoxically a radical individualist on matters of expression.

Anyway, it's not just me saying it, it's the CPUSA themselves. Watch their YouTube videos; they openly admit that endorsing Democrats is a means to an end. OK, so be it. I don't even disagree with it, since it is clearly their only realistic option. But that doesn't change the nature of what they're doing: going along to get along. It's not so much an insult, as a sad observation of where we find ourselves.

I'm going to duck the emigration question again, because I don't want to go where I suspect you want to lead me (into a comparison of Nation X vs the good ol' USA). I'm well aware that there are negatives no matter where you go; I'm not interested in being thrust into the position of defending actions and policies that I'm not responsible for and don't support. Maybe I'll send you postcard someday, and you can check the postmark.

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:46:51 -0000

The poor, pitiful, innocent, victimized common American is cheerfully supporting what that "elite(r) minority" does, as evidenced by their rabid, slathering, hyena-like grabs for a bigger slice of the American pie. They are fighting for a bigger share of imperialist blood money. Why is this so difficult to understand?

Let's try this: for the sake of argument, I'll grant you that the average American is a wretched, oppressed little worm, crawling on his belly through the discarded scraps of third world flesh and bone from his elitist oppressors' table, but taking no part in the feast whatsoever. Now tell me how that pitiable worm is not exacerbating the misery of his third world worm comrades when he fights for a seat at the table where their bones are ground to dust to make imperialist bread?

You see, it doesn't really make any difference whether there's an American "proletariat" or not; what's important to understand is that to rise up in America means to stand on the backs of the truly wretched poor of the world. The solution is not to squabble over our ill-gotten gains, but to bring the whole system down around our ears.

Now: how can I be "excessively viewing [the world] from outside the American box and within another"? The America box is artificially drawn on a map. When you step outside a national box, you're left with the only box that matters: the global box. That's the only real box, unless you know something I don't (have they colonized Mars already?).

"You're missing the entire point that a Socialist system can only be instituted within a fully developed capitalist and democratic system..."

"...am I just 'spewing Marxist 101 texts' ...?"

Yes.

There's no need to trot out the same old lines over and over. We've all read them. What matters is the reality all around you. Who gives a toss about "communism" or "socialism" anyway? It isn't about chest pins, it's about observing reality and recognizing that it sucks. Frankly, I think it's about time some political genius repackaged communism so we can drop that damned conversation-killer. Face it: McCarthy won. Say the "C-word" in America, and you're dead in the water. People's eyes glaze over. Go ahead, read the texts, they're brilliant, I'm not coming down on them. But if you can't say what you mean in everyday language then you're just another boring ideologue.

"You're missing the forest for the trees..."

This is simply farcical. I'm the one standing back and gazing at the forest. Remember when I stepped outside the box earlier? Yeah, that was the forest. Now I'm out here. Come join me, let's talk about global oppression and what we can do to end it, instead of how we can further benefit from it.

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:53:04 -0000

The "third world" must sell its labor to the American bourgeoisie. They are being exploited in exactly the manner you describe -- by the US. Everyone who benefits from it (which is all Americans) is complicit in it. We are the elite minority, pocketing the profits of the unpaid labor of the "third world." We are the exploiters. We are all bourgeoisie on this bus, my friend.

You're looking at it from inside the America box, rather than stepping outside that box and looking at the world as a whole. When you look at it from the proper perspective, you immediately see that America is a member of the global exploiter class.

Think of nations as individuals: America is a bully who beats up brown kids and takes their lunch money.

Your second paragraph is just you parroting back the Marxism 101 texts you've read.

Let me rephrase your last paragraph, in the voice of the "third world":

"To America, we are all the same: commodities to be exploited when convenient, and we all will share a similar fate in their system."

Understand yet?

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:28:28 -0000

I'll break the indent since this will be a long one.

I haven't been to the movies in over 20 years, and I don't own a TV, but I'm familiar with the story. Schindler didn't set out to free Jews, but to get rich on their backs. I'm glad he had a change of heart, and I admire the clever way he manipulated what he understood -- business -- to do some good. Are you equating giving back a portion of the money one has extracted from the "third world" with saving Jews from gas chambers?

You refuse to buy my premise that most Americans are oppressors because you don't like being called an oppressor. But if you step back and look at the big picture with an objective eye, you can come to no other conclusion. Not because you go around intentionally oppressing people, but because you participate in an oppressive enterprise. The only Americans I can think of who don't have bloody hands are children, homeless people and subsistence farmers. Once you grow up and get a "real job" in America, you become an oppressor.

You're right: when I condemn the US, it's because that's what I'm most familiar with, but the same can be said of all of "the West," and most of the "first world." That leaves the "second" and "third" worlds, which are more dangerous neighborhoods, but I've taken nothing off the table except theocracies or places where I'd be killed on sight (which tend to be one and the same). I don't have a short list yet, as this is a fairly recent decision (in case you couldn't tell, I've lost the optimism I once had for America).

What I'm looking for is a country...

...where the people actually choose their government.

...where the government obeys the people, not the other way around.

...where if the government launched a war of aggression, the people would literally storm the capital and drag the perpetrators out of their offices and into the courts.

...where they refuse to trade with oppressors, even if that means going without until they can produce a product themselves in a humane and equitable manner.

...where they understand that wealth only exists because society exists, so they impose a "decency ceiling" on just how rich you can become before the rest gets repossessed by society and used to oil the squeakier cogs in that machine.

...where birthright privilege (monarchy, inheritance, etc.) has been abolished, because there's no such thing as "royal" blood, and because nobody should be allowed to give their children an upper hand from birth so that they succeed while less fortunate children fail.

...where they have gotten over their primitive superstitions and state funds are not wasted on supporting official religious institutions.

...where more people "believe" in science than in bronze age myths and this is reflected in government.

...where they understand that people are a product of their environment, which is often a matter of dumb luck rather than choice, so they focus on prevention of crime by improving conditions rather than punishment.

...where they understand that a life where more than half your waking hours must be spent as a wage slave in order to feed yourself is no life at all.

...where they refuse to allow one segment of their society to spend generation after generation toiling away in hopelessness while another segment is enriched by it and gets to enjoy their one shot at life.

...where those who merely shuffle money around with computers are not allowed to pocket the billions they skim from that manipulation.

...where they have big, bold dreams for the future: dreams of using technology to provide people with their basic needs free of charge, rather than using it to more efficiently extract profits from wage slaves.

...where they aren't inculcated with propagandistic mantras like "work ethic" to make them believe that they are only valuable if they are producing wealth for their wage slavemasters.

...where they value leisure time above yoke time and don't mock people who choose not to drive themselves like beasts of burden in order to pay their "fair share" to the war machine.

...where they are encouraged to engage in creative leisure activities where they might benefit society, rather than idle, brain-rotting "activities" like spectator sports, celebrity worship, compulsive shopping, flag waving and club-hopping.

...where they don't just talk about the children being the future, but they act on those words by making children the absolute top priority in every decision they make and show as much concern for their neighbor's children as their own.

...where they don't maintain the class system by ending free education after high school while making it impossible to do anything but menial work without an expensive college degree.

...where wealth is not an indicator of health.

...where gonads are not an indicator of income.

...where melanin is not an indicator of incarceration rate.

...where all of the negatives I've listed above are not cheered as virtues.

...where I'm free to say all this and more without fear.

I could go on, but I'll spare you. There is no utopia; I know this. I used to think the US was the least worst place, but I've finally broken free of that cycle of denial. America is a terrible, shameful, nightmare of a country. And it's actually getting worse, not better. I want to escape this sinking ship before I go down with it. This is a very real risk: I have recently found myself almost wanting to give up and accept the situation -- go along to get along -- CPUSA-style. This is only natural; I'm as human as the next person. I suffer from the same burnout and desire not to be hated every time I open my mouth, as any other person with a fringe ideology. As you can probably tell, I'm fighting that weakness with renewed vigor in my critique of this hellhole.

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:29:53 -0000

What have I done? There's not much I can do from within the American imperialist system (note that the US has always been imperialist, it didn't start with the current president) without further violating my moral code. It's more what I haven't done: I've never had an income above the "poverty" level, nor had more than a few hundred dollars of savings. I'm still fantastically wealthy and enjoy a lifestyle that is far more comfortable than the overwhelming majority of people who have ever lived. This troubles me greatly, especially considering the atrocities being committed around the world in my name, in order for me to enjoy this lifestyle. I'm currently researching non-imperialist countries, with the intent of emigrating and living a simple life without bloodstained hands.

Alternately, I could pour all my energy into making as much money as possible, then give everything above the "poverty" level to "third world" charities, but that would mean taking greater part in the oppressive imperialist system, which would likely do more harm than my charitable "gifts" could offset. (Scare-quotes used because those "gifts" would have been extracted from the oppressed poor to begin with; I'd merely be giving back a fraction of what I had taken.) Still, I endorse this approach for those above the "poverty" level, and I recommend it often, although I've never gotten a response that wasn't negative -- some have bordered on violent.

I agree that there is an oppressor class in America; what I'm arguing is that we all belong to it. What difference does it make if only a subset of that class owns the means of production, when the entirety of that class supports what the owners do with it? Fighting for more control of it is to fight for a chance to actually pull the trigger on the "third world," instead of merely cheering as the firing squad pulls it.

I suppose if there were a universal poverty threshold it would be anything below the median global income, adjusted for the local cost of living. I haven't really thought about it in so much detail because it overlooks the forest for the trees. All it takes is a cursory tour of your mind's eye to see the disparity between the "first" and "third" worlds.

Re: CPUSA Online - Editorial: Eye on the Prize

Philanon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:19:04 -0000

Sure, Obama is better than McCain. But Calero, La Riva, McKinney, Moore and Nader are all better than Obama. The lesser-evil problem is never going to go away. You can't keep saying, "well, maybe next time I'll vote my conscience, but this election is simply too important," because there will always be a Republican contender (or some other right-wing party). If enough people were educated and voted their conscience, it wouldn't be the Democrats vs the Republicans (i.e., the dead-center vs the dead-center), it'd be a far-left party vs a far-right one, and the former would trounce the latter because that's where the majority would be (the far-right party would be composed of names from Forbes' list of the richest Americans, and a few wannabes).

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:46:04 -0000

You're still not getting it: there are no "oppressed working poor" in the US.

Obviously, when I say there are NONE, I'm not speaking literally. But the genuine poor are a minuscule fraction of the population. Most of what passes for poverty in the US is, in actual fact, extravagant wealth. It's a case of Orwellian doublespeak. The "poor American" I described in my last post lives a life of almost obscene opulence. This is not mitigated by the existence of even higher degrees of it, nor is it transformed into something that it is not (poverty). The "comparative" disadvantage you speak of is in fact a comparative advantage, when your sample size includes the whole planet, as it should.

This doesn't mean Americans should be happy with their situation (as long as one person has a bigger slice of the pie than another, there is an injustice; I rail against the richest among us as loudly as anyone), but the solution isn't to redistribute America's imperialist wealth among Americans (which only prolongs and exacerbates the global injustice), it is to redistribute Earth's wealth among Earthlings. Most of the American "poor" who consider themselves on the "left" want to do it the other way around, because they happen to be alive right now and stand to benefit personally from doing it that way. This will of course be true for every generation, so that none will ever do the right thing globally unless it is forced on them.

I'm perfectly happy to have it forced on me, even if it means a radical downsizing of my lifestyle. Are you?

Re: CPUSA Online - Does the CPUSA support and call for violent revolution?

Philanon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:31:22 -0000

Have you actually read the Jewish religious texts?

Re: Should the left celebrate the 4th of July?

Philanon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:04:29 -0000

Anthony, where you make your mistake is in thinking that there is an American proletariat. Even those at the bottom in America are at the top worldwide. We are all elites in this country.

Go to globalrichlist dot com and type in the current US poverty level (about $11,000 for a single person): a "poor" American is in the top 13%, richer than nearly 6 billion other people. You can adjust for PPP, or whatever else you like, but it won't change the fundamental truth that Americans are incredibly well-off, financially.

"Poor" in America typically means living in a small apartment or trailer with full utilities, driving a rusty car, and eating food that is less than ideal for optimal health (i.e., junk/fast food), but being able to afford plenty of it (often too much).

"Poor" in places where that word has meaning typically means living in a grass hut or corrugated aluminum shanty, sleeping on the ground, barely finding enough food to maintain a weight that allows you to stand without fainting, and drinking from the same water source where you relieve yourself.

If there were any sizable proletariat here, there would be vast, sweeping changes to the very structure of America, given the freedom we have to make such change if we so desire (I'm talking about real change, not a change from Bushite imperialism to Obamanite imperialism). This is not happening, because there is no such desire. What is desired, and supported, is imperialism, because that's what benefits elites, which is what we all are.