Tag: Oppression

Lenin: Socialism and Religion

Ms. CatLeave a comment

Lenin: Socialism and Religion

The economic oppression of the workers inevitably calls forth and engenders every kind of political oppression and social humiliation, the coarsening and darkening of the spiritual and moral life of the masses. The workers may secure a greater or lesser degree of political liberty to fight for their economic emancipation, but no amount of liberty will rid them of poverty, unemployment, and oppression until the power of capital is overthrown. Religion is one of the forms of spiritual oppression which everywhere weighs down heavily upon the masses of the people, over burdened by their perpetual work for others, by want and isolation. Impotence of the exploited classes in their struggle against the exploiters just as inevitably gives rise to the belief in a better life after death as impotence of the savage in his battle with nature gives rise to belief in gods, devils, miracles, and the like. Those who toil and live in want all their lives are taught by religion to be submissive and patient while here on earth, and to take comfort in the hope of a heavenly reward. But those who live by the labour of others are taught by religion to practise charity while on earth, thus offering them a very cheap way of justifying their entire existence as exploiters and selling them at a moderate price tickets to well-being in heaven. Religion is opium for the people. Religion is a sort of spiritual booze, in which the slaves of capital drown their human image, their demand for a life more or less worthy of man.

Read More »

A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction

Ms. CatLeave a comment

A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction

The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. 

Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. 

The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.

Rant: WTF Happened?

Ms. Cat

Sometimes, I wonder WTF happened to some of the people that I used to follow. Did coronavirus rot their brains or something? I guess that I haven’t been paying much attention.

Caleb Maupin, who just three years ago interviewed a former Moonie and rightly pointed out the Moonies’ CIA connection (the video is now private, ‘coincidentally’). Maupin is now colluding with them to reunify the Korean Peninsula because he hates blue hair or something? Rainer Shea now endorses LaRouchites and MAGA Communists, who both have their own connections to US intelligence agencies. Tulsi Gabbard is turning into a right wing neoreactionary (although she was probably always a PsyOp). The whole thing reminds me of COINTELPRO, to be honest. Even if it’s not a COUNTELPRO op, MAGA Communism stinks like a cult.

The worst are the dolts who stick up for these people, when they’re homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic (not to mention the ‘Leftists’ who won’t stick up for the oppressed and need to grow a pair)! They’re just as bad as the MAGA Communists who think that Donald Trump is an Anti-Imperialist!

FYI, I was working on something else regarding the PatSocs for a future post. I’ve been going through some Marxist-Leninist writings (someone already did Mao) and statistics. While looking at statistics, I found that only 7.6% of Americans identity as LGBTQ+.

Previously:

How it started: The Brahmins of Democracy: Communists vs. Patriotic Socialists

How it’s going: Drama: PatSocs, CPUSA, and Mao

The Fascist Mimicry of Anti-Imperialism

Ms. Cat

A little more than a century ago the world’s superpower was the British Empire. Despite being a constitutional monarchy where the aristocracy and monarchy still retained significant power, the British Empire was arguably the birthplace of the industrial revolution and it played a significant role in spreading capitalism around the world through colonialism. From around the 19th century until the early 20th century, many saw the British Empire as quite possibly the most affluent and powerful capitalist-colonial empire in the world. The British Empire as the capitalist-colonial hegemon extracts resources from its colonies, transforms them into commodities, and sells them for a profit that would go into the pockets of capitalists and royal colonizers alike. There were other competing colonizers such as France, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Japan, and the U.S., but none of them (except the U.S. in the late 20th century) could quite surpass the British Empire. The British Empire was the largest epicenter of world capitalist imperialism and being an anti-imperialist was almost (though not quite) synonymous with being against the British Empire. The geopolitical status of the British Empire is roughly or loosely analogous to the geopolitical status that the U.S. enjoyed since the late 20th century. Both the British Empire and the U.S. enjoy the status of being a hegemonic empire due to their overwhelmingly powerful military (especially their navy) and almost unparalleled economic power.

The Fascist Mimicry of Anti-Imperialism

[2019] Is Russia imperialist?

Ms. Cat
Source

Russia is said to be an imperialist world power, one in conflict with the imperialist superpower, the U.S. Russia has been characterized in this manner both during the period of the Soviet Union, and after the Soviet Union collapsed and separate states were formed. Russia has said to be imperialist both when it was a socialist state and now as a capitalist state.

Is Russia imperialist?

Related:

Georgia started war with Russia: EU-backed report (archived)

Russia and China Are Not Imperialist

With Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades, four other armed Palestinian factions are fighting Israel in Gaza

Ms. Cat

To support Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and despite any ideological or political differences, thousands of fighters from four other Palestinian factions have been fighting against the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza since last October.

…

“Currently, we are all facing the same catastrophe(…) The Israeli enemy does not differentiate between a Palestinian who follows Fatah and another who belongs to Hamas. For him, everyone is a target. The Israelis want to eradicate the Palestinian people, without exception,” the officials said.

…

“Although the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades are the strongest on the ground, fighters from other factions joining the fight has created a balance not only on the field but also politically, especially since Israel has always bragged since the beginning of its war that it is only fighting Hamas, which it described as similar to ISIS, to justify its crimes against all the Palestinian people,” Wasef Erekat, a Ramallah-based Palestinian military expert, told TNA.

“The presence of diversity in the fighters’ ideological and political backgrounds and tactics in confronting the Israeli occupation prevents Israel from being able to commit even more crimes against the Palestinians and debunks their claim that they are only fighting ‘extremists’ and Hamas,” Erekat said.

…

“Israel and the United States have long tried to stamp out Palestinian armed resistance and hold Hamas fully responsible for the 7 October attack. They ignored the violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza for decades and considered the 7 October attack a ‘crime against humanity’ and mobilised international and, unfortunately, some of the Arab opinion against Hamas,” remarked Iyad al-Qarra, a Gaza-based Palestinian analyst. 

With Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades, four other armed Palestinian factions are fighting Israel in Gaza

Related:

Not Only Hamas: Eight Factions at War With Israel in Gaza

Regarding the ‘Belligerents’ in the Israel–Hamas war and Hamas in Syria

The Palestinians’ inalienable right to resist

Why doesn’t Amnesty recognize Palestinians’ right to resist?

China tells ICJ: Palestinians have the right to use ‘armed force’ against Israel

The Foreign Policy of the Russian Revolution

Ms. Cat
Source

No idea could be more erroneous or harmful than to separate foreign from home policy. The monstrous falsity of this separation becomes even more monstrous in war-time. Yet the bourgeoisie are doing everything possible and impossible to suggest and promote this idea. Popular ignorance of foreign policy is incomparably greater than of home policy. The “secrecy” of diplomatic relations is sacredly observed in the freest of capitalist countries, in the most democratic republics.

The Foreign Policy of the Russian Revolution