babalot

non cambio mai la foto profilo e quindi no, non sono quello lì ma suo zio.

[babalot @babalotto]

@RedGlow è complicato

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

The problem with liberalism is that it rests on a fundamental contradiction that cannot be resolved. It will always fail, it will always collapse, and this explains everything about our current moment.

Liberals try to hold two commitments at once: on the one hand, they are firmly committed to capitalism; on the other, they express support for principles like human rights, democracy, equality, freedom of speech, environment and the rule of law.  This duality is the core of liberalism.

But there's a problem. Capital accumulation requires cheapening labour and nature. This eventually comes into direct conflict with principles like rights and equality. And whenever this conflict appears, the liberal ruling class sides with capital, abandons their lofty principles, and throws workers and nature under the bus.  Every. Single. Time.

This results in flagrant displays of hypocrisy. They run on nice-sounding platforms but end up either betraying their promises or actively working against their stated values. They'll slash public services, bail out banks, imprison journalists, beat up students, expand fracking, coup democratically elected leaders in the global South, bomb liberation movements, fund a genocide - they'll even trash international law itself - anything that's needed to maintain the conditions for capital accumulation.

At most, they may try to negotiate mediocre compromises, a few social policies here and there - some abortion rights, a tiny increase in the minimum wage - but nothing that might pose any serious threat to capital accumulation. Thus the soul-crushing slowness of liberal incrementalism.  Ultimately they are unwilling to take any of the obvious steps that would actually resolve our urgent social and ecological crises.

This is why nobody trusts liberal politicians.  This is why they come across as so fantastically insincere, and even sneering.  This is why they feel so spineless and *empty*.

The center cannot hold.  Liberalism will always collapse, inevitably handing power to fascists, and this is not acceptable.  There is only one way to overcome this deadly impasse, and that is to mobilize a socialist alternative. A political movement that can unite the working-classes, overcome capitalism, deliver real economic democracy, and enable us to achieve rapid progress toward social and ecological goals.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

All the takes are correct and yet they also miss the point.

Yes, it was insane for the Democrats to think they could win by running a soulless candidate, without a shred of progressive policy vision, pursuing endorsements from neocon war-hawks everybody hates, while arming and funding a genocide, and belittling and crushing those who have enough morality to protest it.  It is enraging that the Democrats are so smug and blind to this.

But these are all just symptoms.  The deeper reality is that liberalism has failed, liberalism is dead, and people urgently need to wake up to this fact and respond accordingly. It is a defunct ideology that cannot offer any meaningful solutions to our social and ecological crises and it must be abandoned.

Democrats have proven over and over again that they cannot accept even *basic* steps like public healthcare, affordable housing, and a public job guarantee - things that would dramatically improve the material, social and political conditions of the working classes. And they cannot accept a public finance strategy that would steer production away from fossil fuels and toward green transition to give us a shot at a liveable future.

Why? Because these things run against the objectives of capital accumulation. And for liberals capital is sacrosanct. They will do whatever it takes to ensure elite accumulation, it is their only consistent commitment.  At home, they suppress and demonize progressive and socialist tendencies. Abroad, they engage in endless wars and violence to suppress input prices in the global South and prevent any possibility of sovereign economic development.

The Democrats have done all this purposefully and knowingly, for my whole life, not as some kind of "mistake" but in full consciousness that it is in the interests of capital.

And because liberalism cannot address our crises, and because it crushes socialist alternatives, it inevitably paves the way for right-wing populism.  They know this pattern, and yet they risk it every time - this election being only the most recent example. They did it in 2016, when they actively crushed the Sanders campaign and sent Trump to the White House. They do it because ultimately they (and I mean the liberal ruling class here) don't really mind if fascists take power, so long as the latter too ensure the conditions for capital accumulation. They 100% prefer this to the possibility of a socialist alternative.

So, progressives have to face reality. The dream of "converting" the Democratic party is dead. This is now a fact and it must be accepted. The only option is to build a mass-based movement that can reclaim the working classes and mobilize a political vehicle that can integrate disparate progressive struggles into a unified and formidable political force and achieve substantive transformation. This will take real work, actual organizing, but it must be done and that process must begin now.

[Ed Davey @EdwardJDavey]

This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world’s largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue.

[babalot @babalotto]

Middle East crisis live: UN rights chief says ‘darkest moment’ of Israel’s war on Gaza is unfolding in the north https://t.co/5g8zwkZVPo

[babalot @babalotto]

@ShivaBakta hshahahhahahaha poveri cuccioli

[babalot @babalotto]

@LucaBizzarri ma poi dove ci aspetta esattamente, in cucina?

[babalot @babalotto]

@aisai0 @disappunto Baglioni ha fatto anche buoni dischi? non lo so eh, chiedo per ignoranza.

[babalot @babalotto]

@ShivaBakta ieri bravi i fontaines. l'altro ieri allucinanti i the smile. gruppi in stato di grazia su pianeti ovviamente diversi. a marzo visti anche idles e direi totali per me, non mi serve altro.

[babalot @babalotto]

@disappunto e che mi dici di quel gruppo industrial con il cantato soul? come si chiamano, ah sì, i Terence Trent Reznor.

[babalot @babalotto]

@ShivaBakta ni. è una storia lunga.

[babalot @babalotto]

@ShivaBakta tesoro, certo che apprezzo. ma io di dischi nuovi ne ho fatti un fracco, solo che non escono.

[babalot @babalotto]

@La_manina__ arrivi al 30% sparando cazzate, poi però hai bisogno di tutto quello che elenchi per mantenerlo, nonostante le cazzate di cui sopra inizino a palesarsi come tali

[babalot @babalotto]

@disappunto 0-48 capire realmente che cazzo vuole la gente da me

[babalot @babalotto]

@sjfostersound @ATRightMovies i have such a bad memory i'm pretty sure i've forgotten that twist already (i saw it on a plane like 15 years ago or more). but i remember it was quite a sad film isn't it?

[babalot @babalotto]

@Albert_Wolframm @ildella @googlemaps but if I write an address on Bing I get a usable and very clickable Bing map so it does not make sense anyway

[babalot @babalotto]

once upon a time in a happy world you could just write an address on google and be directed to a @googlemaps map. then an evil programmer decided it was too kind and decided you could not click on the resulting map anymore. only a totally not useful directions link remained. end.

[babalot @babalotto]

@ildella @Albert_Wolframm @googlemaps ok, I can get the absurdity but why not letting me choose from different map providers in a sort of cookie choice popup once in a while? and what's the reason the directions link is ok instead?

[babalot @babalotto]

@disappunto @mrjones1981 @tudifrudi quindi secondo lui i ggiovani so' tutti democristiani? boh magari ma non lo so, non ce li vedo i diciottenni votare mastella poi oh tutto po da esse

[babalot @babalotto]

@TheCinesthetic everyone in velvet goldmine