• came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    9 months ago

    Most of us have the distinct pleasure of going throughout our lives bereft of the physical presence of those who rule over us.

    a banger of an opening line. and to the point of thesis, i agree 1000%. i had absolutely garbage politics into my late 20s. very much a “taxes are theft” lolbertarian idiot.

    through happenstance, i began working directly for a guy born into the 0.01% of the US. he was in his 40s. within two days, as my mind began to grasp the power and pointless waste this guy deployed with all the discretion of a drunk toddler. i remember the clear thought that would have been abhorrent to me a day earlier, “the government needs to come and take all of this guy’s money and land” because no state, no matter how corrupt and venal, would waste money like this asshole.

    i became far more open minded to all leftist thought from that purely emotional experience.

    • bazingabrain [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      hah, I remember asking my parents when I was around 11-12, why communism wasnt used, it made more sense and seemed much more humane? The look they gave me is one of the few memories I still have from that time, a mix of pain, incomprehension and confusion, followed by a bunch of hand waving “they tried and it failed, its utopian, will never work”. I spent the next few years being a good little neoliberal tool until I inevitably got interested in politics again and immediately switched back to being a disgusting little communist gremlin.

      I honestly believe that your political inclinations are forged very, very early on. I travelled a lot as a small kid and I got to see the kind of damage capitalism wrought on SE Asia, I couldnt name capitalism or communism at the time, but I could tell that all of this is wrong

      • Adkml [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        9 months ago

        This is funny how close it seems to me.

        Just from the absolute basic like 8th grade deffinition of government systems I thought “gee that communism one actually seems like it makes a lot of sense but that’s clearly just what edgy teenagers say for attention, there’s gotta be a downside I’m not seeing”

        And then everything I read about the downsides of communism was stuff like “people are greedy so they’ll missuse the system tonget more money and power, which is why we made a system that just encourages that behavior”

        The propoganda that communism was an unserious form of government had already subconsciously worked it’s way in when I was like 13, fortunately all the following arguments about why capitalism was better were pretty obviously bullshit even back then.

        • bazingabrain [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          “people are greedy so they’ll missuse the system tonget more money and power, which is why we made a system that just encourages that behavior”

          my reaction when someone says this: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP lenin-rage

          • Adkml [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            9 months ago

            That’s the internal reaction but it’s funny to watch them get defensive when you say “wow I’m not like that that’s crazy you would willingly admit your a selfish asshole and assume everybody else is just as bad”

        • Mokey [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          that’s what got me to, but i never made the conclusion that a system that encourages that behavior is good or better. i don’t think i even acknowledged that aspect, i just decided that the world sucks

      • while balking about cutting a check to me for $1200 for a month of full time work, he sent his wife on a private jet to New Orleans on a $40,000 weekend 5 star hotel stay and shopping spree.

        he would also horn in on “hanging out” with his [broke, underpaid] employees] when we went out for beers and food after work. he would order food and drinks and then “realize” he forgot his wallet and we would have to cover his share of the bill, and he would not pay anyone back.

        just a complete piece of shit that collected people in desperate circumstances and manipulate them. I lasted 3 months (I was in a real bind and had to scramble), but there were people who had been with him for YEARS and they couldn’t see how fucked up he was.

        • RyanGosling [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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          9 months ago

          he would also horn in on “hanging out” with his [broke, underpaid] employees] when we went out for beers and food after work. he would order food and drinks and then “realize” he forgot his wallet and we would have to cover his share of the bill

          Instantly reminded me of

          The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

    • SkingradGuard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      i became far more open minded to all leftist thought from that purely emotional experience.

      "Well clearly you’re just an emotional leftist who can’t handle the fax and logick that the ruling class should be wasteful, because you’re not as smart and work as hard as they do smuglord " - some libertarian chud, probably

    • Mokey [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      9 months ago

      hmmm thats weird, i am actually leftist because im just soooooo much smarter and better than everyone by virtue of how special of a little guy i am and how built more differenter i am