fair-weather leftists want to huff the copium and think that socialism is more likely than barbarism in the worsening conditions because that’s less scary
Honest opinion- the west is going to head straight to barbarism, and the best we can hope for in the short term is civil war or a coup from the non-suicidal (not wanting to engage in MAD or destroy the world economy if they can’t enslave it) elements of the western regimes and capital. But look outside the west and you’ll see so, so many reasons to be optimistic- socialism is genuinely more likely than barbarism, when you consider that for 90% of humanity, the west offers nothing (oversimplification, but it covers the gist of it) but terrorism, destabilization, and exploitation, and meanwhile the other side (that of “the rest” defending themselves from the west) is building a framework for peace, prosperity, and co-operation and the sovereignty and self-determination of nations.
The path to socialism will still be a long, complicated road ahead, even after imperialism is gone. But the self-policing nature of world capital (as another way to describe imperialism) is going to come to an end one way or another, and from there nations around the world will be more empowered to chart their own course as they see fit- and in a world where the Chinese model of development and the BRICS/BRI/SCO/etc models of win-win cooperation and mutual prosperity have shown the world the beginnings of the true potential of humanity- I think it will be a very bright future ahead (provided the west doesn’t end humanity or even the biosphere altogether).
glad we agree… there is much to be hopeful for (with caveats).
I’m afraid as well, frankly I don’t even think it’s out of the question most of us here on Hexbear (as presumably, many live in the west) will find ourselves in concentration camps in due time. I’m afraid because I also don’t think it’s out of the question that that will happen to my ethnic group, or race, or other communities I’m part of (LGBT, technically being an immigrant as my family moved to the west when I was a kid, etc). I’m afraid because even if such extremes don’t come to pass (fingers crossed) the material conditions and fascism here will only get worse and worse, because that is the structure of the western regimes. Shit will get really bad. And I think the western regimes’ means of cracking down on dissent are such that revolution- while not “doomed to fail” (as by the nature of the system, it only further intensifies the need for change upon the masses, upon even those cogs within the system and all those with even a sliver of remaining human decency, etc) will be a messy and difficult process, more so than perhaps ever before. (IMO most people would be better served and also serve the cause better by fleeing the west altogether and contributing to the global majority that is increasingly forced together to resist its imperialism).
But humanity will win, perhaps if we’re optimistic even the west will come to terms without being forced to- with MAD on the table I do think it is genuinely a possibility (if the western capitalists have the sense to purge all the neocons from their number). And even here in the west, for all that things are spiraling and fast and there is little hope in sight, the undercurrent of humanity lives on and I know we all see it (as alienating and wretched as our societies are otherwise), and the roots of progress and understanding are being built which the imperialists will never be able to fully uproot (though they might try, and here in the west they might even succeed if they resort to extreme, pyrrhic measures)
It’s hard to remember that other places exist while living in one that’s going to hell.
I should remember that Burgerland isn’t the whole world; after all, even just moving out of California and to the northeast has been a drastic improvement when it comes to day to day interactions with people. The bazinga factor is near zero except the occassional ZYBERTRUKKK that for some reason wanders through my neck of the woods.
Honest opinion- the west is going to head straight to barbarism, and the best we can hope for in the short term is civil war or a coup from the non-suicidal (not wanting to engage in MAD or destroy the world economy if they can’t enslave it) elements of the western regimes and capital. But look outside the west and you’ll see so, so many reasons to be optimistic- socialism is genuinely more likely than barbarism, when you consider that for 90% of humanity, the west offers nothing (oversimplification, but it covers the gist of it) but terrorism, destabilization, and exploitation, and meanwhile the other side (that of “the rest” defending themselves from the west) is building a framework for peace, prosperity, and co-operation and the sovereignty and self-determination of nations.
The path to socialism will still be a long, complicated road ahead, even after imperialism is gone. But the self-policing nature of world capital (as another way to describe imperialism) is going to come to an end one way or another, and from there nations around the world will be more empowered to chart their own course as they see fit- and in a world where the Chinese model of development and the BRICS/BRI/SCO/etc models of win-win cooperation and mutual prosperity have shown the world the beginnings of the true potential of humanity- I think it will be a very bright future ahead (provided the west doesn’t end humanity or even the biosphere altogether).
I uncritically like and agree with your take.
I’m afraid as well, frankly I don’t even think it’s out of the question most of us here on Hexbear (as presumably, many live in the west) will find ourselves in concentration camps in due time. I’m afraid because I also don’t think it’s out of the question that that will happen to my ethnic group, or race, or other communities I’m part of (LGBT, technically being an immigrant as my family moved to the west when I was a kid, etc). I’m afraid because even if such extremes don’t come to pass (fingers crossed) the material conditions and fascism here will only get worse and worse, because that is the structure of the western regimes. Shit will get really bad. And I think the western regimes’ means of cracking down on dissent are such that revolution- while not “doomed to fail” (as by the nature of the system, it only further intensifies the need for change upon the masses, upon even those cogs within the system and all those with even a sliver of remaining human decency, etc) will be a messy and difficult process, more so than perhaps ever before. (IMO most people would be better served and also serve the cause better by fleeing the west altogether and contributing to the global majority that is increasingly forced together to resist its imperialism).
But humanity will win, perhaps if we’re optimistic even the west will come to terms without being forced to- with MAD on the table I do think it is genuinely a possibility (if the western capitalists have the sense to purge all the neocons from their number). And even here in the west, for all that things are spiraling and fast and there is little hope in sight, the undercurrent of humanity lives on and I know we all see it (as alienating and wretched as our societies are otherwise), and the roots of progress and understanding are being built which the imperialists will never be able to fully uproot (though they might try, and here in the west they might even succeed if they resort to extreme, pyrrhic measures)
It’s hard to remember that other places exist while living in one that’s going to hell.
I should remember that Burgerland isn’t the whole world; after all, even just moving out of California and to the northeast has been a drastic improvement when it comes to day to day interactions with people. The bazinga factor is near zero except the occassional ZYBERTRUKKK that for some reason wanders through my neck of the woods.