J4LB

21 He/Him
Bi
Communist
Psych Major
Writes
Acts
D&D
Wants suffering to be alleviated

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

IRAN'S FULL "OPEN LETTER" TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:

"To the people of the United States of America, and to all those who, amid a flood of distortions and manufactured narratives, continue to seek the truth and aspire to a better life:

Iran—by this very name, character, and identity—is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in human history. Despite its historical and geographical advantages at various times, Iran has never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression, expansion, colonialism, or domination. Even after enduring occupation, invasion, and sustained pressure from global powers—and despite possessing military superiority over many of its neighbors—Iran has never initiated a war. Yet it has resolutely and bravely repelled those who have attacked it.

The Iranian people harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries. Even in the face of repeated foreign interventions and pressures throughout their proud history, Iranians have consistently drawn a clear distinction between governments and the peoples they govern. This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness—not a temporary political stance.

For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts. Such a perception is the product of political and economic whims of the powerful— the need to manufacture an enemy in order to justify pressure, maintain military dominance, sustain the arms industry, and control strategic markets. In such an environment, if a threat does not exist, it is invented.

Within this same framework, the United States has concentrated the largest number of its forces, bases, and military capabilities around Iran—a country that, at least since the founding of the United States, has never initiated a war. Recent American aggressions launched from these very bases have demonstrated how threatening such a military presence truly is. Naturally, no country confronted with such conditions would forgo strengthening its defensive capabilities. What Iran has done—and continues to do—is a measured response grounded in legitimate self-defense, and by no means an initiation of war or aggression.

Relations between Iran and the United States were not originally hostile, and early interactions between the Iranian and American people were not marred with hostility or tension. The turning point, however, was the 1953 coup d’état—an illegal American intervention aimed at preventing the nationalization of Iran’s own resources. That coup disrupted Iran’s democratic process, reinstated dictatorship, and sowed deep distrust among Iranians toward U.S. policies. This distrust deepened further with America’s support for the Shah’s regime, its backing of Saddam Hussein during the imposed war of the 1980s, the imposition of the longest and most comprehensive sanctions in modern history, and ultimately, unprovoked military aggression—twice, in the midst of negotiations—against Iran.

Yet all these pressures have failed to weaken Iran. On the contrary, the country has grown stronger in many areas: literacy rates have tripled—from roughly 30% before the Islamic Revolution to over 90% today; higher education has expanded dramatically; significant advances have been achieved in modern technology; healthcare services have improved; and infrastructure has developed at a pace and scale incomparable to the past. These are measurable, observable realities that stand independent of fabricated narratives.

At the same time, the destructive and inhumane impact of sanctions, war, and aggression on the lives of the resilient Iranian people must not be underestimated. The continuation of military aggression and recent bombings profoundly affect people’s lives, attitudes, and perspectives. This reflects a fundamental human truth: when war inflicts irreparable harm on lives, homes, cities, and futures, people will not remain indifferent toward those responsible.

This raises a fundamental question: Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war? Was there any objective threat from Iran to justify such behavior? Does the massacre of innocent children, the destruction of cancer-treatment pharmaceutical facilities, or boasting about bombing a country “back to the stone ages” serve any purpose other than further damaging the United States’ global standing?
Iran pursued negotiations, reached an agreement, and fulfilled all its commitments. The decision to withdraw from that agreement, escalate toward confrontation, and launch two acts of aggression in the midst of negotiations were destructive choices made by the U.S. government—choices that served the delusions of a foreign aggressor.

Attacking Iran’s vital infrastructure—including energy and industrial facilities—directly targets the Iranian people. Beyond constituting a war crime, such actions carry consequences that extend far beyond Iran’s borders. They generate instability, increase human and economic costs, and perpetuate cycles of tension, planting seeds of resentment that will endure for years. This is not a demonstration of strength; it is a sign of strategic bewilderment and an inability to achieve a sustainable solution.

Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime? Is it not true that Israel, by manufacturing an Iranian threat, seeks to divert global attention away from its crimes toward the Palestinians? Is it not evident that Israel now aims to fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar—shifting the burden of its delusions onto Iran, the region, and the United States itself in pursuit of illegitimate interests?

Is “America First” truly among the priorities of the U.S. government today?

I invite you to look beyond the machinery of misinformation—an integral part of this aggression—and instead speak with those who have visited Iran. Observe the many accomplished Iranian immigrants—educated in Iran—who now teach and conduct research at the world’s most prestigious universities, or contribute to the most advanced technology firms in the West. Do these realities align with the distortions you are being told about Iran and its people?

Today, the world stands at crossroads. Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before. The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come. Throughout its millennia of proud history, Iran has outlasted many aggressors. All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while Iran endures—resilient, dignified, and proud."

[riley @bumblemio]

so much of the discourse within current fandom can be tied back to people viewing art as nothing more than a product for consumption

[Lihv ✿🝡 @lihvtoutloff]

That women are up against thousands of years of male domination with no end in sight is a painful pill for women to swallow. Without an understanding of historical materialism she will assume this prolonged domination is a product of male hardwiring because the alternative is

[TDHBXG @TDHBXG]

Yes you are. Being a good person is supposed to lead to reciprocity encouraging others to do the same. That's what leads to a benevolent society. A lot of villains are created in a society where being a good person has no reward system.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

My God Israel supporters are exhausting. I've never gotten used to it.

"Wahh, Zohran wants to murder Jews!"

"Wahh, the musician hurt the IDF's feelings!"

Shut up. Shut up. Shut the whole entire fuck up. Everyone is sick of your bullshit.

There is a genocide happening. A genocide. Babies are being starved. IDF soldiers are telling the Israeli press that they're being ordered to massacre desperately hungry civilians at aid sites. There are vast stretches of the Gaza Strip that now look like the surface of the moon. Trump and Netanyahu are openly working to purge the Palestinian territory of Palestinians so the land can be permanently taken from them.

Your feelings don't matter. The world does not revolve around you and your feelings. Your emotional response to whatever made up nonsense you're choosing to have a melodramatic tantrum about today is completely irrelevant. Every single Palestinian who died today, individually, matters infinitely more than every feeling you've ever felt about every imaginary phantom you've pretended to feel threatened by.

Anyone who has had the misfortune of knowing a manipulative narcissist has seen all these patterns before. The self-centeredness. The hypocrisy. The horrific abuse, followed by collapsing into blubbering victimhood the second the abuse is called out. The aggressive efforts to control the narrative and frame all critics and rivals as evil monsters. It's a very familiar playbook.

My hope for our world is that we one day become so emotionally and psychologically healthy that such cynical manipulations stand out like a white cloud on a deep blue sky. That we become so caring, understanding and supportive of our fellow human beings that the needful get everything they require to lead a fulfilling life, while sociopathy and psychopathy become as alienating and disadvantageous as chronic schizophrenia is today. That we become so tender-hearted that genocide can never rear its ugly head on this planet again, and all the abusive dynamics which made the Gaza holocaust possible fade away like darkness in the rising sun.

[J4LB @J4LB1]

@linaposting My friends got busy. The last time I played was like a year ago. I'd be down to play with anyone in this thread though lol

[J4LB @J4LB1]

@primarycatdad Security is also a joke frankly. I don't know any orgs that communicate exclusively without our bugged devices and have the discipline to avoid any info leaks. I understand the fear though. The police state is terrifying

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

There's a growing awareness in Europe that Trump's election dramatically changes the status quo, but in characteristic European fashion they seem to draw the exact wrong conclusions about it. This post 👇 by Raphael Glucksmann - the poster child of atlantist liberal interventionists in the EU - is a good illustration of this.

He writes that Trump's election means that it's time for Europe to basically become the America that would have been if Kamala Harris had been elected: a Europe that alone goes on the warpath to defend liberal values.

His words: "The election of Donald Trump is a nightmare for democracy, human rights, and Europe. This is one of those pivotal moments that change the course of History. We now find ourselves alone in Europe. Alone facing war on our continent, alone facing Putin, alone facing the far-right and authoritarian wave sweeping across our nations and the world, alone facing the climate catastrophe. Alone. [...] Trump has already announced he would sacrifice Ukraine and negotiate European security architecture with Putin. Europe could therefore find itself in the situation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, during the Munich Agreement, waiting in the corridors while the "great powers" decide its future and very existence. Nothing guarantees that our democracies and the European Union will resist this shock. Everything depends on us, on our capacity to transform ourselves collectively and individually into fighting democrats. [...] We are now condemned to [give] our democracies the strength and meaning they have lost, the horizon of justice and emancipation they no longer produce. The weeks and months ahead will define our place in History. Democracy is not a given, it's a fight. The time has come to wage it with more vigor and conviction than ever."

One point where he's right: Europe is now very isolated. But I'm afraid the path he envisions will make it even more so.

What Trump's election means is that even the flag bearer of the liberal international order doesn't believe in it anymore: Donald Trump doesn't believe in an exceptional West whose destiny is to transform the rest of the world in its image. For Trump, there's no special distinction between the values of Europe, Russia or China, they're all competitors in the global marketplace and he wants to pursue "America First", meaning protect America's interests against its competitors, Europe included. Sure, each country has its own specificities and system, but Trump differs from other US recent presidents in that he doesn't seem to have a single liberal proselytizing bone in his body: he definitely won't pressure country X or Y to change their culture or internal affairs in order to suit liberal sensitivities.

That's what Europe needs to realize: the liberal order is dead, and if they attempt to revive this cadaver they'll be more isolated than ever before because pretty much everyone on the planet - save the West - hated that world. They only played along because they had no choice: they didn't want to antagonize the biggest of the great powers. Europe is not even a great power at all so why on earth would the rest of the world humor them on this?

This doesn't mean that Europe needs to themselves lose their values, by all remain remain liberal democracies all you want, it simply means the end of the era that started 300 years or so ago, when the West defined itself as superior in every way and duty-bound to transform the rest of the world. Not only that's over, but with Trump there isn't even a coherent "West" anymore.

So what's the right thing to do for Europe? First of all, in this new world, it is absolutely critical to re-learn to understand others and speak to them as equals instead of lecturing them from a high horse. We need to get rid of our misplaced sense of superiority: the language of "values" is not only obsolete, it is now a repellent.

Second of all, Europe has for too long been under the false illusion that America was looking out for its interests: not only was that never really the case, it will be even less so under Trump. Europe needs to learn what sovereignty means, what its interests are and how to fight for them.

Concretely this involves doing the exact opposite to what Glucksmann proposes in his post, i.e. doubling down on fighting for Ukraine. Where is Europe's interest there? Imagine for a minute that Putin and Trump indeed make peace and that Europe continues to fight for Ukraine alone: what could it achieve alone that it didn't with the US's considerable help? This is pure folly and can only end in humiliation. Also, the war in Ukraine was never in Europe's interest in the first place: besides Ukraine, Europe is the first victim of the war itself and of the sanctions. Russia itself is doing brilliantly: it's on target to achieve 3.9% growth this year after achieving 3.6% last year... It's painfully obvious that Europe's interests lie in the war coming to an end and it - not the US - being the one to negotiate a European security architecture with Russia as well as the resuming energy flows whose disruption caused so much economic damage. America benefits from Eurasia being divided ("divide and conquer"): Eurasia itself doesn't...

Same thing on China: under Biden, Europe was a faithful vassal, following the US's every move with regards to China, from semiconductors to EVs. But it's the US that wants to remain number 1, it's its fight: Europe's interests are actually better protected in a world with strong alternative powers to the US. When you have one giant, it's a tyranny, when you have several, there's balance. So Europe should develop its own independent relationship with China and stop seeing it from an atlantist viewpoint (or worse, a "values" standpoint).

Or take Israel: many countries in Europe, France first and foremost, had long had a relatively pro-Palestinian foreign policy simply because they have subsequent Muslim populations and many Muslim neighbors on the other side of the Mediterranean, or to their East. Europe's recent shift to a US-like ardent defense of Israel make just about zero sense for its interests...

Lastly, Europe needs to re-learn to pay attention to its citizens' needs and voices, which is THE big lesson of the Trump win. Kamala Harris lost because she was frightfully out of touch with what Americans wanted, a classic case of elite groupthink. Promoting a Cheney, really? 🤦 And Europe is extremely guilty of this too, as Glucksmann's post illustrates: if he thinks virtue signaling around abstract notions like fighting for values, or the prospect of war with Russia, is even remotely appealing to EU citizens he has completely switched off from reality. What Europeans want is to see their lives improve after 2 decades of their leaders basically doing not much more than managing decline and taking orders in Washington (Glucksmann himself very much included)...

I wish I could say that I have some hope that Europe will learn the lessons and finally wake up, but I would be lying: most EU leaders are Glucksmann-like I'm afraid, completely out of the step with the realities of the world we're entering and leading Europe towards the abyss. They had a fantastic opportunity with the first Trump presidency to assert their independence, find their own voice and their sovereignty, and they completely squandered it. They have the amazing luck to be given a second such opportunity and it looks like they're already on track to squander that one too...

[Daniel Denvir @DanielDenvir]

Given the absolute bottomless evil of the Gaza genocide I’ve been thinking through why the mass Israeli terrorist attack in Lebanon feels particularly horrible and revolting in the ways that it does. A few ideas: The media framing of the attack as “tech savvy, interesting!”; 1/2

[J4LB @J4LB1]

@Drkingsbruh I keep thinking how any new government would have to immediately work things out with China. If a revolution happens, the world order will change and cooperation with China will be a necessity

[CounterPointGlobal~DragonQuartzAudio~OlderMensHeal @mariocavolo]

Supporting China isn't about being pro China.

It's about having a brain that observes and makes rational judgments about what governments do and how well they govern their country.

1. The Chinese govt has created a country that now dominates world trade & mfg.

Absolutely brilliant planning and execution economically speaking. And that expansion continues.

2. The Chinese government governs for the priority of the overall society not for the benefit of the elites. This works both ways, in some respects it creates problems, such as investors finding its stock market less attractive cuz they know the US Federal Reserve will pump the western stock exchanges far more than the Chinese govt is willing to do so.

3. On the other hand, it has created the largest prosperous middle class of 500 million citizens on the planet with 10X more savings in their bank accts and far less mortgages and debt than other western country households getting wrecked by their govt policies.

4. The Chinese is killing no one on planet earth. A global superpower in peace. I won't bother elaborating. It's simply remarkable and a gift to all mankind.

5. China has done far more than any other country to improve climate change challenges installing more green energy capacity than the G7 countries combined.

6. Chinese society is incredibly safe and stable for households whether wealthy or not.

6. What's to complain about that's true? A genocide? Forced labor? Aggression in the South China Sea? Taking away righfs in Hong Kong? Threatening to invade Taiwan? Can't criticize the govt? No freedom? Oppression of religion?

Dont make me laugh with these absurd propaganda lies. Every single one of them is absurdly false. I know.

I'll see plenty of lies about these things down in the comments

7. I can't think of anything to complain about that the govt is not aware of and working on to improve, expanding healthcare, evolving the education system, hukou ID reforms, etc.

China is now the largest safe stable successful capable civil and peaceful country on the planet.

While the west is in big trouble at the hands of political leaders with the sickest twisted perverted disgraceful set of narratives and agendas I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.

That's the China story in a nutshell from me, someone constantly observing and researching while living here these 25 years with a local Chinese family.

Don't believe malevolent liars and propagandists.

#China

[laura Smith @lauraSmITH0ff]

Don’t people get it? We are ALREADY in fascism.

• The Governor of California was just filmed personally dismantling the dwellings of the destitute.

• One of the best universities in Florida just purged its library of books deemed ideologically offensive.

/1

[professional hog groomer @bidetmarxman]

Historically, “foreign policy” has been what has made basic necessities in the US cheap.

In the current era, US foreign policy hasn’t changed much, but the rest of the world has. This is largely the reason why things are becoming more expensive.

[BlackRedGuard ☭ 🇵🇸🔻⛓️‍💥 @OGBlackRedGuard]

The Chinese made a revolution because mfs were literally selling their kids into slavery to eat. The Soviets made a revolution because folks were eating bark off trees. Revolution is for people who have no other way, it’s either fight or die. I’m no accelerationist but it’s kinda silly to believe that Americans, the people who consume the majority of the world’s resources and have the highest material standard of living in the world, are going to make a revolution based solely on vibes. People respond to their conditions.

There are people who have nothing to lose in the U.S., that’s who we need to focus on.

[J4LB @J4LB1]

@hecubian_devil We're in a similar state as the Chinese communists for their revolution. Barely a factor and without power to make an impact while the Central government remains. There was a decade of warlords before the Communists made any gains. It may very well be the same for us

[J4LB @J4LB1]

@hecubian_devil I get struck by this constantly. My greatest hope is taking advantage of spontaneous mobilization like the 2020 protests. Without a central enforcing government it would be less likely to be quashed and coopted.

[Sakā Koba ☭ 🏭 🌽 @RedPrecariat]

Religions aren't defined by the beliefs of individuals, religions are defined by their institutions and how they relate to class society. This should be uncontroversial for Marxists.

If you want to change a religion, you need to change or overthrow its established institutions.

[J4LB @J4LB1]

@Backstabbr All good now, thank you!