Get organized!

Like clockwork.

Sort of. There was a decent bit of naval development which enabled the initial slave trade and colonization of the Americas, but they didn’t truly leapfrog India and China until they used the spoils to reach dramatic capitalist development, industrialization, and purposefully direct research and tech into millitary and naval development so as to become uncontestable. This turned trade from being somewhat dominated to fully dominated and uncontestable.

Yep. The huge advancements in technology brought about by colonialism and capitalism in Europe compelled their naval supremacy, which allowed Europe to dominate trade routes, leapfrogging India and China who were still more of a developed feudal-sort of stage. This led to the Opium Wars, colonization of India and China, and eventually their independence movements that propelled China into socialism and India into its own capitalist system (which is a whole other discussion).

Tons.

Definitely true as well.

It’s important to recognize that a large part of why the DPRK appears to be insular is because of UN-imposed sanctions, helmed by the US Empire. It is difficult to get accurate information on the DPRK, but not impossible; Russia, China, and Cuba all have frequent interactions and student exchanges, trade such as in the Rason special economic zone, etc, and there are videos released onto the broader internet from this.

There’s also the issue of the “defector industry.” Many defectors like Yeonmi Park make money off of spinning tall tales, and many are pressured by the ROK into giving false testimony. Many citizens who flee the DPRK actually seek to return, and are denied by the ROK. Even BBC is reporting on a high-profile case where a 95 year old veteran wishes to be buried in his homeland, sparking protests by pro-reunification activists in the ROK to help him go home in his final years. A good documentary on the subject is Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul.

Finally, it’s more unlikely than ever that the DPRK will collapse. The economy was estimated by the Bank of Korea (an ROK bank) to have grown by 3.7% in 2024, thanks to increased trade with Russia. The harshest period for the DPRK, the Arduous March, was in the 90s, and the government did not collapse then. That was the era of mass statvation thanks to the dissolution of the USSR and horrible weather disaster that made the already difficult agricultural climate of northern Korea even worse. Nowadays food is far more stable and the economy is growing, collapse is highly unlikely.

What I think is more likely is that these trends will continue. As the US Empire’s influence wanes, the DPRK will increase trade and interaction with the world, increasing accurate information and helping grow their economy, perhaps even enabling some form of reunification with the ROK. The US Empire leaving the peninsula is the number 1 most important task for reunification, so this is increasingly likely as the US Empire becomes untenable.

Marxists have orgs all around the world, and some of the most powerful economies on the planet are run by Marxists. In fact, the US Empire is an area where Marxists are weaker due to McCarthyism, and are still recovering in groups like PSL and FRSO.

Failing to have a coherent understanding of how imperialism works. A lot of westerners seem to think they live in developed countries developed purely by their own industry, while not realizing how financial capital continues to plunder the global south.

You need to educate and agitate and organize. It isn’t an either/or situation, you need both so that theory and practice sharpen and reinforce each other. Ignoring one weakens the other.

These misogynistic movements are filled with incels. Just casting them as misunderstood and cast-off from society is horribly inaccurate. This political division is large and climbing:

Rampant femicide and violence against women is huge and growing to epidemic levels. The fact that there is forced conscription for men is another avenue of misogyny in a way men are also harmed, forced conscription serves as a way for men to collectively have a shared millitarized experience and separate them from the rest of society. It also harms men, yes, but is ultimately a part of the way society is increasingly divided, and is used as justification for violence against women.

Long story short, Europe was slightly ahead of Africa in terms of development when they began to really interact, around the time Europe found out about the Americas they had a bunch of new land from genocide of the natives and needed manpower Europeans could never hope to fulfill, so the slave trade started in earnest.

Europeans would only trade their goods for slaves, which started the slave industry in various African nations that wanted these goods, which stalled development in Africa while dramatically increasing development in Europe, widening the gap until the colonial era. Over time, this gap began to increasingly be seen as its own justification, and Europeans became increasingly racist towards Africans.

It isn’t about inherent evil. Europe was beginning to become capitalist while the most developed nations in Africa were developed feudal kingdoms, and the geography of Africa and Europe had more to do with that than any genetics could ever hope to cover. The narrow gap was exploited by Europeans and widened until the modern era of imperialism and neocolonialism.

I highy recommend How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney. We’re doing a readalong over in Hexbear.net if you want to join!

I’m referring to the incredibly misogynistic movements in the ROK that are largely far-right and hate women. Femicide is huge in the ROK, as well as systemic sexual assault, which women protest and these groups attack said women.

It’s more that after the fall of the USSR, the RF tried to cozy up to the west, was denied, and had a large nationalist movement to kick out the foreign plunderers. This started a large chain of NATO expansion, which has been directed to threaten Russia into opening up its capital markets back up for western imperialism. Many of the former SFSRs and SSRs had strong nationalist movements prior to the dissolution of the USSR, and these carried over into far-right movements such as in Estonia, allowing rapid NATO expansion.

It’s less about Russia not wanting “independence” from its neighbors, and more Russia not wanting to be encircled by the main imperialist army on the planet. The dissolution of the USSR wasn’t a “turn evil” button, it dramatically altered capital relations and how the west deals with Russia. It’s also why Russia has strong ties to socialist states despite being capitalist, it’s forced into alignment with them due to being strongarmed by the west, same as Iran, or even Brazil to an extent.

All good!

Fair enough, apology accepted.

For clarity, I’ve expressed skepticism that Russia genuinely cares about de-Nazifying Ukraine. Ukraine is run by those who uphold Stepan Bandera, has been since the Euromaidan coup in 2014, and has significant neo-Nazi batallions like Azov, but Russia isn’t waging some glorious anti-fascist war for the sake of fighting fascism. At the same time, it fails to meet the definition of imperialism, Russia is largely driven by its own insular production and relies on exports, typically of oil and millitary equipment. It doesn’t have the same immense financial capital or domination of the global south that the west has, and as such has no room to be genuinely imperialist.

Russia’s real goals aren’t really for plunder, but for maintaining control of the land bridge to their territory in the Donbass region. Ukraine exists, and is a real nation, but the Donbass region is ethnically Russian, and is a real seperatist movement. Russia wants the Donbass region not for love of the people, but because Ukraine has been cozying up to the west and increasingly been anti-Russian, and thus Russia wants control of the land-route into the Russian heartland.

Those are my views. I don’t hold the strawman views you claimed I did. My views are in line with orgs like PSL’s statement and FRSO’s statement - NATO provoked the war, Russia is going to win regardless, Ukraine is being hollowed out by the west on one side and losing to Russia on the either, the best outcome is an expedient peace agreement.

So you’re just lashing out and insulting me personally because I called out how useless an insult like “tankie” is, including inventing a worldview for me and calling me an incoherent Marxist? As you admit, you’re just outraged and aren’t thinking clearly or coherently, even if I wanted to discuss my views on the Russo-Ukrainian war right now there’s no reason I’d expect a good-faith response from you when you’re already inventing my responses.

Also, because I am curious at this point, what Marxist works should I read to pass your test? I’ll add em to the list. Are the various ML orgs I agree with also confused in your eyes?

Where have I said any of that? You’re deeply unserious, and deflecting. What Marxist works should I read to pass your test? I’ll add em to the list. Are the various ML orgs I agree with also confused in your eyes?

I read books, which ones do I need to read to pass your arbitrary test? My views align with the various Marxist-Leninist groups around the world, broadly, are all of them also confused?

I wonder when liberals will realize that Marxists really don’t care about being called “tankies,” just like we don’t care about being called “commies.”