• footfaults@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    71·
    12 hours ago

    There are some things that I disagree with Finkelstein at the end of the video around puberty blockers.

    Dr. Finkelstein has had a falling out with the traditional “left” and maybe his views on gender are anachronistic. I think there’s a tendency to focus on that, rather than the 30 years of defending of the Palestinian right to exist that has cost him dearly. Let’s not condemn him. He may be wrong, but he has paid a very heavy price to defend human rights.

    This is mostly a response to what I imagine Hexbear is up in arms about.

  • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
    23·
    1 day ago

    Lots of comments saying that there’s a “perception of a strong left” but I think that’s also missing the point, alongside Finkelstein. I’m responding to them rather than Finkelstein because I don’t even see an argument worth considering in what he’s saying.

    There’s no relevant organised opposition to capital at this moment in the US, but the contradictions of capitalism are intensifying even in the core of the core.

    People are struggling to make ends meet and taking 2 or 3 jobs, going bankrupt, saddled with debt. Students are occupying universities against Israel and Black Lives Matter does the occasional protest that is significantly large. Last years had the most labour strikes in a while. A guy shot down a healthcare CEO and is being unanimously praised as a hero.

    And outside the core, the US is quickly losing its economic and cultural hegemony, which will require disciplined military action to maintain or regain.

    So yes, there’s a messy and disorganised opposition internally. It’s angry and desperate but doesn’t know how to put that hate into practice. And internationally there’s a hell of a lot of opposition that’ll require “order at home” to defeat. And fascism is useful for those things, though in the US case I believe fascism will win due to that lack of organisation.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
      9·
      23 hours ago

      I think that’s precisely the point Finkelstein is making actually. Since there is lack of organizations the fascists have effectively won already. The oligarchs control the media, the means of production, the security forces, and the military. There is pervasive mass surveillance, and any threat to the ruling class will be nipped in the bud before it even has a chance to develop into anything dangerous. So, the fascist coup that libs keep imagining isn’t necessary.

      • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
        3·
        16 hours ago

        I suppose that makes sense if the intent is to counter democrats, but I find that line of reasoning self-defeating. The bourgeoisie in capitalist society will always control those things, at least partially.

        Yes, capital doesn’t need a coup right now because they already wield state power but that state powe can become even more oppressive and allied with paramilitaries in response to this disorganised outrage. And it also presents working-class organisation as the reason why fascists rise, rather than having common origins of intensifying struggle and crises.

        That Capital in the US is still poised to win is a tragedy, and I personally feel comfortable in being more predictive about it because I have no connection to that country. But that shouldn’t apply for prominent political figures in English-speaking platforms with majority US audience who constantly point at the problem (disorganisation) but never the solutions (organisations).

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
          3·
          15 hours ago

          I think the point here is that there needs to be a serious working class movement for there to be any sort of threat to capital. Absent that, the capital owning class has nothing to worry about. The task for the people on the left is to figure out how to build such a movement.