The currently alive billionaires largely didn’t design it; previously alive billionaires designed it and the currently alive ones have refined it.

Which is the way capitalism is supposed to work; it’s a society ruled by and for capitalists - aka the billionaires who own the largest units of capital

Regardless, it is this system that is to blame. The actors within the system are also contributors, obviously. But individualizing systemic issues is not an effective way at seeing the solution.

The way to solve the problem of a bad king is not to replace him with a good king; it is to abolish monarchy altogether and replace it with a system wherein the people are the ruling class

It’s like saying NFL linebackers don’t cause concussions, rather its the rules and protective gear of professional football which cause concussions

Both ways of seeing it are true - the linebacker is the one actually performing the tackle, but he would not be permitted to cause that damage were he not enabled by the inherently dangerous rules and equipment

Same thing here. Clearly the billionaires are the ones directly causing the harm. But they are only able to do so (and only able to become billionaires in the first place) because of the existing system

This is not an informed opinion on Marx or Lenin

The median American seems to disagree with this assertion based on recent election results.

Which could be because they read at a 6th grade level.

But, regardless, scolding and ostracization and negative reinforcement are not effective ways to educate children. They seemingly are also not effective ways to educate adults who possess the intelligence of children

Social accountability (meaning being called out on social media, being fired from a job, or being boycotted)

These are not effective means of achieving social progress because they result in incredible reactionary counter movements. As is evidenced by the success of Trump/Republicans/Fox weaponizing woke as an attack.

The median American hates scolds and prudes (despite, hypocritically, largely being a scold and prude themselves.)

If the goal is to achieve social progress through popular support and democracy, then these tactics of scolding and ostracization are counter productive. Other methods must be used

If the goal is to achieve social progress through more revolutionary means, then Lenin offers a roadmap. But American liberals are still seemingly opposed to that.

In any event, it seems clear given our current political realities that the “woke” tactics of the past decade have been a tremendous counter productive failure that has contributed to our present fascist regime. Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences; the consequences of 2010s social justice online scolding is the Trump regime and the collapse of American liberal democracy

Removed by mod

He’s an expert in kitchen appliances

Extremely poor taste “joke”

The above comment already explains how the intelligence agencies enforce and perpetuate western oligarchic control and exploitation.

https://a.co/d/2xNcOKi

https://a.co/d/837DzqO

For reference

Fascism is the open dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and most imperialist elements of finance capital, used as a tool by the ownership class to crush the working class and revolutionary movements when their rule can no longer be maintained through “normal” parliamentary democracy. It is capitalism in decay and crisis, resorting to extreme violence, nationalism, and repression to preserve class dominance.

The CIA and broader U.S. intelligence apparatus from George W. Bush to today function as instruments of the ownership class, increasingly showing fascistic tendencies as capitalism faces deeper internal crises. After 9/11, intelligence agencies expanded mass surveillance, covert operations, and political manipulation — not just abroad but domestically — to suppress dissent, manage working-class unrest, and defend imperialist interests. Under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the intelligence state has blurred the line between “security” and repression, normalizing extraordinary executive powers, criminalizing protest, and targeting leftist, anti-imperialist, and labor movements — all while intensifying nationalist narratives to justify it.

She is a fascist. She worked for torturers

Neoliberalism’s erosion of the welfare state and GWB’s brutal and bumbling advancement of American Oligarchy via the War on Terror are why we are currently living under outright fascism. Those who caused this current crisis must be cast out as arsonists who lit the current inferno

Anti-fascists must be united and must avoid factionalism. She is not an anti-fascist, which is why she supports our ruling class of oligarchs. Because she is not a part of our movement, but is a deceiver who literally works for the spies of the American Oligarchs, we must not accept her as on “our” side

1- I’m not who made the claim

2- How is this distinction a material difference? If she worked for torturers then she is unsupportable

just say that the party opposes ‘kings,'”

This is incredibly dangerous

It argues that a pseudo King like Trump is the problem. That is a lie. It is the oligarchs who prop up dictators like Trump who are the problem

This is an issue of systems, not of individuals. She’s intentionally trying to individualize a systemic issue. This is because she serves those oligarchs and is protecting them by attempting to scapegoat Trump.

We must reject this

First she was in the DA not DO at the CIA so she factually was not a torturer as analysts weren’t doing torture rather the spies were.

Your defense of her is that she chose to work for torturers? Why would anyone work for torturers?

Neoliberal

It’s from the declassified jfk files from last month

Also you can’t spell

It’s a primary source directly from the US government. It’s the best source possible

They’re being sarcastic

I’ve never read anything from any scholar (holding a degree in history) that has used those terms in discussing the Hungarian uprising

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/104-10110-10525.pdf

Your point seems to be that everyone must agree with you or else they are an Other.

Your behavior in this thread demonstrates the utilization of the same tactics you supposedly oppose.

Remove the beam from your eye before pointing out the splinter in another’s

You’re absolutely right to draw the distinction between criticizing systems of power and recognizing the ways those systems shape and limit ordinary people. The U.S. government, as it exists, is undeniably an imperial and extractive entity, and its global reach is felt through violence, finance, media, and tech alike. But that same system also crushes many of the people within its own borders—economically, intellectually, and spiritually.

The analogy to rabies is powerful but tricky. Yes, propaganda can infect people with hate, fear, and delusion. But if we begin to see our neighbors only as rabid dogs, we risk becoming cynical and cruel ourselves. A QAnon believer isn’t the same as a policymaker at the Fed or a war planner at the Pentagon. One is sickened by ideology; the other wields it with intent.

I fully agree that material conditions can break the spell—and that crises can clarify things. But that clarity won’t lead to solidarity unless we create the groundwork now. The far-right is already doing this—they’re building networks, feeding people, offering meaning. If we wait for collapse to act, we’re just ceding more ground.

The real task isn’t just to oppose the empire—it’s to build a counter-power that can replace it. That starts by reaching out to the people closest to us, even the ones we’re tempted to write off, and giving them something stronger than fear and conspiracy: a vision, a purpose, a role in something bigger.

We need to organize not just against, but for—for community, for care, for justice. And yeah, maybe even for a future where nobody needs to grow up inside a machine that trains them to be obedient or cruel. That’s a future worth fighting for

If the goal is to simply build towards protests and riots then that is a foolish goal because protests and riots are insufficient

If the goal is to build something larger than that, then different methods are required