Updating crash_course_socialism.

crash_course_socialism.md

@@ -33,13 +33,10 @@
   - [Podcasts](#podcasts)
   - [Channels](#channels)
 - [Organizations](#organizations)
-  - [Parties / Groups](#parties--groups)
   - [Online Communities](#online-communities)
 
 <!-- tocstop -->
 
-_If this is too long to read right now, I recommend /u/thedashrendar's [excellent summary of Capitalism](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/a0mwut/what_exactly_is_capitalism/eaj3b4a/), then coming back to this._
-
 # Crash Course Socialism
 
 ## Surplus Value
@@ -48,11 +45,11 @@ _If this is too long to read right now, I recommend /u/thedashrendar's [excellen
 
 The [means of production](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Means_of_production) are non-human inputs that help create economic value, such as **factories, industrial machinery, workplaces, large tracts of land, stores of raw materials**, etc. The means of production are the means of life. Socialists refer to the means of production as _capital_, or [private property](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_ownership), i.e., the things which give the people who own them power over those who don't.
 
-Private property in the socialist context shouldn't be confused with [personal property](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_property#Personal_versus_private_property), such as your home, car, computer, and other possessions, which would be protected. Private property is in actuality another word for _absentee property_, whose ownership is claimed through title only (and not use), for the purpose of extracting rent from the _actual_ users, occupants, or workers.
+Private property in the socialist context shouldn't be confused with [personal property](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_property#Personal_versus_private_property), such as your home, car, computer, and other possessions, which would be protected. Private property is in actuality another word for _absentee property_, whose ownership is claimed through title only (and not use), for the purpose of extracting value from the _actual_ users, occupants, or workers.
 
 In a Capitalist society the means of production are owned and controlled privately, by those that can afford them (the Capitalist, aka those with Capital). Production is carried out to [benefit the capitalist](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/a0mwut/what_exactly_is_capitalism/eaj3b4a/) (production for profit). Workers are paid a wage, and [receive that amount regardless of how much value they produce](https://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1979/marxism/ch04.html).
 
-This price of labor power ( called the wage ) becomes a commodity like any other, whose value isn't determined by how much real value the worker adds, but by the absolute minimum amount required for workers to sustain themselves and raise the next generation of workers ( called the cost of social reproduction ).
+This price of labor power ( called the wage ) becomes a commodity like any other, whose value isn't determined by how much real value the worker adds, but by the minimum amount required for workers to sustain themselves and raise the next generation of workers ( called the cost of social reproduction ).
 
 Socialists call this difference the [surplus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surplus_value), profit, unpaid labor, exploitation, or **wage theft**.
 
@@ -64,7 +61,7 @@ Unlike workers, Capitalists make their living, not by clocking in and being paid
 
 For example, a Copper mine owner neither physically mines the copper, and (living thousands of miles away) likely delegates day-to-day operations to a hired manager. Yet, **because they have a piece of paper that says they own it, they get a large cut of everything that was mined**: the ultimate free lunch.
 
-A 1983 report by England national income and expenditures found that on average, **26 minutes of every hour worked** (or 43% of labor value added) by English workers across a wide range of industries went to various exploiting or unproductive groups, with workers receiving only _57% of their pre-tax productive output as wages_<sup>[1](http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/new_socialism.pdf)</sup>. In other words, at least **40% of the work you do every day is stolen by Capitalists.**
+A 1983 report by England national income and expenditures found that on average, **26 minutes of every hour worked** (or 43% of labor value added) by English workers across a wide range of industries went to various exploiting or unproductive groups, with workers receiving only _57% of their pre-tax productive output as wages_<sup>[1](https://users.wfu.edu/cottrell/socialism_book/)</sup>. In other words, at least **40% of the work you do every day is stolen by Capitalists.**
 
 Capitalists use the surplus to [push out competitors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-competitive_practices) and gain market share, leading to the destruction of most small businesses, with [just a few companies](http://imgur.com/a/xgnEp) controlling our food, media, [news](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6U2Un5kEdI), energy, transportation, and finances.
 
@@ -127,6 +124,8 @@ In the table below, both capital and surplus value are controlled by a company's
 
 Technological advancements, instead of benefiting workers, result in decreased or stagnant wages, worsening bargaining power, or **mass layoffs**. For example, a machine that replaces 10 workers _leads to their firing_, resulting in a benefit for the machine owner, and an economic hardship to the fired workers.
 
+Socialist states may choose to accumulate a surplus (to pay for things like health care, research and development, and defense), but [this surplus is socialist-owned and controlled](https://youtu.be/C-T-Fr6DvFw). Rather than benefitting a minority of capitalists, [it goes to benefit workers.](https://www.globalresearch.ca/left-anticommunism-the-unkindest-cut/5502859)
+
 **Increase in profits due primarily to automation**
 
 ![The difference between these two lines is the surplus](http://i.imgur.com/FPr1mCB.png)
@@ -141,7 +140,7 @@ Markets likewise were rare, since communities tended to be self-sufficient. Ritu
 
 In the modern day, there is the **communism of the family**, in which family members share freely with one another. There are community welfare organizations, food banks, as well as thousands of undocumented and unpublicized acts of kindness which show that cooperation endures even in spite of the individualism of the current dominant economic system. Popular phrases like, "Money is the root of all evil", hint at our societal dislike of selfishness, and persist alongside the capitalist myths of the "self-made man", and, "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps" (which shows the power of capitalist indoctrination: in a nonsensical world, _the impossible becomes possible_).
 
-Capitalism evolved historically out of [feudalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism) and [slave societies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery), all three being examples of _class society_, with a dominant [ruling class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruling_class) receiving the surplus of a subordinate class.
+Capitalism as a system is less than 400 years old. It evolved historically out of [feudalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism) and [slave societies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery), all three being examples of _class society_, with a dominant [ruling class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruling_class) receiving the surplus of a subordinate class.
 
 Socialism as a diverse philosophy arose out of a criticism after the French revolution, in which a capitalist class (the [bourgeoisie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeoisie)) seemed to merely replace [feudal lords](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism) to become the new ruling class. At the same time, the exploited serfs were moved off the land ([enclosure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure)) and forced into the cities to become wage-workers.
 
@@ -155,9 +154,7 @@ Nor does [capitalism spur innovation](https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateCommunism/c
 
 [The labor theory of value (LTV)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value) recognizes that our most valuable resource is time, specifically **socially useful/necessary** labor time. There is after all only a **finite number of hours of work humanity can perform in a given day**; and at least half of that value is going to a few absentee owners.
 
-The labor theory was commonly accepted in the 19th century ( especially by Smith and Ricardo ), but fell out of favor as capitalist states began to cement economics as a discipline to justify the new status quo.
+The labor theory was commonly accepted in the 19th century ( especially by Smith and Ricardo ), but fell out of favor as capitalist states began to cement economics as a discipline to justify the new status quo, and support ruling-class ideas.
-
-Most capitalist economists treat value like magic fairy dust: it can be created and destroyed with a thought. [Many modern economists and economics professors serve a role akin to the priests during feudalism](https://truthout.org/articles/economic-theorists-the-high-priests-of-capitalism/): treating value and rewards in idealist terms, rather than as scientific concepts, justifying capitalism's immense inequality ( whilst often getting paid to promote it ), and demonizing other theories ( such as LTV ) as heresy.
 
 Coming down to reality from idealist and subjective experience, value, like any other scientific concept, such as energy, **is preserved** in a closed system.
 
@@ -165,6 +162,8 @@ The labor theory of value [has been proven empirically correct in recent decades
 
 Under capitalism, [the subjective theory of value](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjective_theory_of_value) is based almost entirely on the [supply and demand curve model which is unscientific](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmbm3u2r_Cs), [2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGYzhoYK2I) since it presupposes more unknowns than knowns, and as such is useless at making any predictions. Capitalist value theories are based around [utility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility), IE joy, which isn't quantifiable, measurable, comparable, or falsifiable, and as such is _useless_ as a scientific concept. Its greatest use is to allow the mega-rich to justify owning [thousands of lifetimes](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/comments/4wxdnb/how_many_lifetimes_of_labor_has_bill_gates_stolen/?ref=search_posts) of stolen labor.
 
+Most capitalist economists treat value like magic fairy dust: it can be created and destroyed with a mere thought. [Many modern economists and economics professors serve a role akin to the priests during feudalism](https://truthout.org/articles/economic-theorists-the-high-priests-of-capitalism/): treating value and rewards in idealist terms, rather than as scientific concepts, justifying capitalism's immense inequality ( whilst often getting paid to promote it ), and demonizing other theories ( such as LTV ) as heresy.
+
 [The planned economies](capitalism_doesnt_work.md) such as that of the USSR, while imperfect, often provided [better social outcomes](https://gowans.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/do-publicly-owned-planned-economies-work/) than its Western equivalents. Its publicly owned, planned economy brought it from feudalism to a world superpower, with the [fastest growing economy of the 20th century](https://artir.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/captura-de-pantalla-de-2016-05-26-10-15-23.png), despite starting out at the same level of economic development as Brazil in 1920.
 
 This video by [Paul Cockshott - Going beyond Money](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI01-5zhwdA), illustrates how it is currently possible to go beyond money, and to build a democratically planned, labor-time based economy **for human needs, rather than private profit.**
@@ -177,7 +176,7 @@ Risk also isn't proportional to reward; Big Capitalists risk much less, and gain
 
 Slavemasters took financial _risk_ in buying slaves, but that risk doesn't negate the harm done to their slaves, or entitle them to their slaves' labor output. Capitalist risk likewise doesn't entitle them to a portion of their workers' output.
 
-The socialist argument is not that individual passive investors should still bear all the risk, it's that they never should have been in a position to bear that risk to begin with, and only got there by exploiting workers. **Society and workers should bear the risk**, make the decisions, and own the means of production that their labor made possible.
+The socialist argument is not that individual passive investors should still bear all the risk, it's that they never should have been in a position to bear that risk to begin with, and only gained control over production via exploitation. **Society and workers should bear the risk**, make the decisions, and own the means of production that their labor made possible.
 
 ## Conformity
 
@@ -189,7 +188,9 @@ Socialists view democracy under capitalism to be an unrealistic utopia, better l
 
 [Bourgeois democracies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_democracy#Dictatorship_of_the_bourgeoisie) are in reality [Capitalist Dictatorships](https://i.imgur.com/8vDYw17.jpg), resulting in legislation favorable to the wealthy, regardless of the population's actual preferences. [The Princeton Study, conducted in the US in 2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu32CCA_Ig), found that the preferences of the average US citizen exert a near-zero influence on legislation, making the US system of elections and campaigning little more than political theater. **Multi-party, Parliamentary / representative democracy has proven to be the safest shell for capitalist rule**, regardless of voting methods or differing political structures, for countries as diverse as Australia, Japan, Sweden, the UK, the US, South Korea, or Brazil.
 
-Examples of restrictions include a [media and news monopoly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership), [2](https://swprs.org/the-propaganda-multiplier/), the [First Past the Post](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo) voting system (which enforces capitalist two party domination), [gerrymandering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering), long term limits with no way to recall unpopular representatives, restrictions crafted to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, bills directly crafted by lobbyists and bourgeois lawmakers, voter suppression, electoral fraud, unverifiable closed source electronic voting systems, capitalist campaign financing, low voter to representative ratios, inconvenient voting locations and times, and most pervasive, _candidate stacking_. **Most elections are performed before we ever get to the polling booth**. In short, political democracy can't exist without economic democracy.
+Ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle defined Democracy as [rule by the poor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHN0foV4Ntk), and they considered states based on elections to be anti-democratic Aristocracies, since only the wealthy and ruling families have the resources to finance elections. They contrasted this with [random selection / sortition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition), and citizen's assemblies, as being the defining features of democracy, both of which are non-existent in the countries listed above. Today, liberal / parliamentary "democracies" are [dominated by wealthy candidates, and entrenched political families](https://www.quora.com/What-kind-of-democracy-does-the-China-have/answers/81676052?share=0ac8c628&srid=JMzz), with Capitalists standing above political power.
+
+Examples of restrictions include a [media and news monopoly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership), [2](https://swprs.org/the-propaganda-multiplier/), [gerrymandering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering), long term limits with no way to recall unpopular representatives, restrictions crafted to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, bills directly crafted by lobbyists and bourgeois lawmakers, voter suppression, electoral fraud, unverifiable closed source electronic voting systems, capitalist campaign financing, low voter to representative ratios, inconvenient voting locations and times, and most importantantly, _candidate stacking_. **Most elections are performed before we ever get to the polling booth**. In short, political democracy can't exist without economic democracy.
 
 The impossibility of Capitalist democracy to make a transition to working-class democracy is best shown by the phrase: **Capitalists will not allow you to vote away their wealth.** Pacifism, and elections have [never been an effective means of disenfranchising the ruling class.](https://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/08/11/pacifism-how-to-do-the-enemys-job-for-them/)
 
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@ Communists propose building alternatives alongside of bourgeois democracy, with
 - Replacement of bourgeois parliamentary bodies with broadly inclusive workers organizations, such as unions, councils, or syndicates.
 - Seizing land, productive facilities, and housing and putting them under democratic control.
 - Elimination of all debts, suppression of all private banks and stock markets.
-- Direct democracy in as many decisions as possible, often called [cyber communism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI01-5zhwdA). A site called [Simplevote](https://simplevote.tk/), a direct democracy voting platform.
+- Direct democracy in as many decisions as possible, often called [cyber communism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI01-5zhwdA).
 - A democratically planned economy for human needs, with open participation.
 - Low-level workplace democracy.
 - Elimination of the standing army, and the substitution for it of armed workers.
@@ -241,7 +242,7 @@ Private ownership of the means of production was established through force and [
 
 The State, under capitalist society, which protects private property and upholds the capitalist mode of production, is an instrument wielded by the bourgeoisie to _suppress the proletariat_. **So long as there are classes in society, a State (or any organization that uses force in the interests of a class) must exist.**
 
-Marxists aim to replace the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, with a transitional [dictatorship of the proletariet](https://theimmortalscience.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/the-state-and-revolution-an-overview/), smashing the presently existing bourgeois state apparatus, and replacing it with a new state, constructed on the basis of worker power, destroying all the elements which exist to oppress workers, and safeguarding the ones that help workers. Once the proletarian state possesses political power and controls the means of production, it will _wither away_ over time as it suppresses the bourgeoisie and moves toward a classless, egalitarian society. Eventually, the use of force _is no longer necessary_ to suppress class antagonisms, because there _are no classes_, and the oppressive elements of the proletarian state wither away.
+Marxists aim to replace the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, with a transitional [dictatorship of the proletariet](https://archive.is/khO7R), smashing the presently existing bourgeois state apparatus, and replacing it with a new state, constructed on the basis of worker power, destroying all the elements which exist to oppress workers, and safeguarding the ones that help workers. Once the proletarian state possesses political power and controls the means of production, it will _wither away_ over time as it suppresses the bourgeoisie and moves toward a classless, egalitarian society. Eventually, the use of force _is no longer necessary_ to suppress class antagonisms, because there _are no classes_, and the oppressive elements of the proletarian state wither away.
 
 Socialism as an economic system is distinct from [neoliberalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism), as well as [social democracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy)/Welfare [state capitalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capitalism), which aims to band-aid the ills of capitalism while leaving the exploitation inherent in [wage slavery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery) intact. Social services provided by the capitalist-controlled state have nothing to do with socialism.
 
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ These achievements were possible due to efficient use of resources resulting fro
 
 The famines and economic hardship typically associated with communism in Russia and China, were partially a result of the painful process of [industrialization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialisation), and the transition from agriculture to industry. It would be the case whether capitalists, communists, or enlightened rulers were in power. During England's rapid industrialization, life expectancy in some cities was less than 30 years. This is the case with every country in the process of industrialization. [Lysenkoism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism), and [a period of droughts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine) made the problem worse. The scale of famines were also exaggerated by capitalist historians, whose brinkmanship in quoting higher death counts is contradicted by the **massive population growth** of those countries. Even in spite of this, a look at a [drastic increase in the life expectancy in the USSR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Soviet_Union#Life_expectancy_and_infant_mortality) should put to rest the notion of socialism as contributing to starvation.
 
-Exaggerated death counts blamed on _communism_ and usually attributed to Stalin or Mao are often due to Western historians attributing **all deaths** to the economic system (One stark example, is the US-state-run organization "victims of communism", which counts German WW2 casualties as communist victims). This would be the equivalent of attributing deaths from the [Dust Bowl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl) to FDR. Yet [UNICEF](http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/pdfs/sowc06_chap1.pdf), [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and [Bread for the World](http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html) estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are [children under the age of five.](http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/08/crimes-against-humanity-01-poverty-murder-over-400-million-people-since-1995-more-than-all-wars-in-recorded-history.html)
+Exaggerated death counts blamed on _communism_ and usually attributed to Stalin or Mao are often due to Western historians attributing **all deaths** to the economic system (One stark example, is the US-state-run organization "victims of communism", which counts German WW2 casualties as communist victims). This would be the equivalent of attributing deaths from the [Dust Bowl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl) to FDR. Yet UNICEF, [RESULTS](https://web.archive.org/web/20080527011602/http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=241), and Bread for the World estimate that **15 million** people die **each year** from preventable poverty, of whom 11 million are children under the age of five.
 
 Even if we were to fully accept the Western propaganda that socialist regimes have killed 100 million people, then within 10 years, **capitalism kills more children under the age of 5 than socialism did in 150 years**.
 
@@ -343,7 +344,7 @@ Past and present socialist societies include - The [Paris Commune](https://en.wi
 
 ### Marxian economics
 
-- [Cockshott and Cottrell - Towards a New Socialism (pdf)](http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/%7Ecottrell/socialism_book/new_socialism.pdf) [epub](http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/TNS.epub) [audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjHCPWs5sl4&list=PL0-IkmzWbjoZNiItBbuVvKQBdE80tsyhx)
+- [Cockshott and Cottrell - Towards a New Socialism](https://users.wfu.edu/cottrell/socialism_book/), [audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjHCPWs5sl4&list=PL0-IkmzWbjoZNiItBbuVvKQBdE80tsyhx)
 
 ### History books
 
@@ -428,7 +429,7 @@ Past and present socialist societies include - The [Paris Commune](https://en.wi
 - [Revolutionary Left Radio](https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/)
 - [Citations needed](https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded)
 - [Probably Canceled Podcast](https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08JJN7MHK)
-- [David Harvey's anti-capitalist chronicles](https://www.democracyatwork.info/acc)
+- [David Harvey's anti-capitalist chronicles](https://www.democracyatwork.info)
 - [Economic Update with Richard Wolff](https://economicupdate.libsyn.com/)
 - [Eyes Left](https://soundcloud.com/eyesleft)
 - [Red Menace](https://redmenace.libsyn.com/)
@@ -436,35 +437,18 @@ Past and present socialist societies include - The [Paris Commune](https://en.wi
 
 ## Channels
 
-- [Anticonquista](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1bDSVi34xE65YzreytVxQ)
+- [Comrade Hakim](https://youtube.com/channel/UCPPZoYsfoSekIpLcz9plX1Q)
 - [Empire Files](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG29FnXZm4F5U8xpqs1cs1Q)
 - [Paul Cockshott](https://youtube.com/channel/UCVBfIU1_zO-P_R9keEGdDHQ)
 - [Richard Wolff - Democracy at Work](https://www.democracyatwork.info/)
-- [Comrade Hakim](https://youtube.com/channel/UCPPZoYsfoSekIpLcz9plX1Q)
 - Vijay Prashad
 - Micheal Parenti
 
 # Organizations
 
-## Parties / Groups
-
 ## Online Communities
 
-- [/r/capitalism_in_decay](https://www.reddit.com/r/capitalism_in_decay/)
+- [Lemmygrad](https://lemmygrad.ml)
-
+- [Hexbear.net](https://hexbear.net)
-- [/r/socialistRA](https://reddit.com/r/socialistRA)
-
-- [/r/socialistprogrammers](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialistprogrammers/)
-
-- 101s
-
-  - [/r/GenZhou](https://www.reddit.com/r/genzhou/)
-  - [/r/asktankies](https://www.reddit.com/r/asktankies/)
-  - [/r/communism101](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/)
-
-- Memes
-  - [/r/GenZedong](https://www.reddit.com/r/genzedong/)
-  - [/r/FULLCOMMUNISM](https://www.reddit.com/r/FULLCOMMUNISM/)
-  - [/r/ShitLiberalsSay](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/)
 
 _Credit to [/u/gab91](https://www.reddit.com/u/gab91), [/r/socialism](https://www.reddit.com/r/socialism/), [/r/socialism_101](https://www.reddit.com/r/Socialism_101/), [/r/communism101](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/)_

socialism_faq.md

@@ -378,7 +378,8 @@
 ## On Liberalism
 
 - [Why do communists dislike liberals?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/4uaxjf/whats_the_deal_with_communists_hating_liberals/), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/me_irl/comments/cccf31/meirl/etnbaxx/)
-- [What is liberalism? (Olly from Philosophy Tube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlLgvSduugI)
+  - [Liberalism - The tyranny of wealth](https://orgrad.wordpress.com/articles/liberalism-the-two-faced-tyranny-of-wealth/)
+  - [Losurdo - Liberalism - A counter history (audiobook)](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0-IkmzWbjoZsDdCDgfVRmKCV-GmtCEuI)
 - [What about free speech?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/c9ee36/comment/et0a5tc/)
   - [How do communists feel about free speech? Are they okay with suppression of free speech in places like China?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/c9ee36/why_do_i_see_so_many_people_on_the_communism/et0a5tc/)
   - [What does free speech really mean?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/8onmz2/free_speech_under_communism/)
@@ -389,7 +390,6 @@
   - [Can't we change the democrats from within?](https://socialistworker.org/2005-1/533/533_13_TwoParties.php)
   - [What about "moderates" like Jimmy Carter? Can't we push them to change?](https://socialistworker.org/2006-1/572/572_09_Carter.php)
   - [Can't we use voting to solve our problem? Is violence really necessary? What about Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi?](https://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/08/11/pacifism-how-to-do-the-enemys-job-for-them/) [audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxrO7p-6w_k&list=PL0-IkmzWbjoZ5IIhnzFBOImzySh827FyK)
-- [Malcolm X on liberals.](https://twitter.com/redfishstream/status/1349144127615676418?s=20)
 
 ## On Leninism
 
@@ -444,6 +444,7 @@
 - [Did Stalin really try to resign 4 times?](https://socialistmlmusings.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/stalins-four-attempts-at-resignation/)
 - [Why were there prison labor camps in the USSR and were they justified?](http://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/2hkn8r/why_were_there_prison_labor_camps_in_the_ussr_and/)
 - [Did the USSR really make an alliance with the nazis? (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/148o4x/1939_sovietnazi_partition_of_poland/c7azkz9/), [2](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3223834/Stalin-planned-to-send-a-million-troops-to-stop-Hitler-if-Britain-and-France-agreed-pact.html), [3](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/8mg59o/why_did_the_ussr_aid_nazi_germany_in_invading/), [4](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/4t1p4j/why_did_the_soviet_union_sign_the/), [5](https://i.imgur.com/cAMvQ1O.jpg)
+  - [Einstein on the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.](https://hexbear.net/comment/3582146)
 - [Did the USSR supply the Nazis with raw materials and weapons in the years before WW2?](http://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/a5r9sx/-/eboru9r)
 - [How many Jews escaped from Poland to the USSR in WW2?](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/escape-of-jews-from-poland-to-the-soviet-union)
 - [What about the Katyn Massacre?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/148o4x/1939_sovietnazi_partition_of_poland/c7azkz9/). [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/71gikf/nkvd_and_soviet_crimes/dnalyrr/)
@@ -707,7 +708,6 @@
 - [China’s Social Credit System, and how it isn't actually Black Mirror and how you should stop using facile pop cultural references to demonize countries you haven't bothered to understand.](https://mobile.twitter.com/isgoodrum/status/975536363364696064?lang=en)
 - [The US has more CCTV's per capita than China.](https://aithority.com/news/top-10-countries-and-cities-by-number-of-cctv-cameras/#:%7E:text=The%20United%20States%20has%2015.28,the%20United%20Kingdom%20with%207.5.&text=Russia%20has%20around%20196%2C000%20CCTV,Petersburg.)
 - The US's credit score system is vastly more influential and detrimental to a majority of its population than China's social credit system, [which largely doesn't even exist](https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-score-isnt-real/), and where it does exist it is [only used to target businesses](https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/15/china-social-credit-system-authoritarian/).
-- [Nathan Rich - the US is lying about Huawei 5g.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfxfdHJ3k9Y)
 - [numuves - How the US dominates tech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgzB4_Zw3RE)
 - [On the great firewall, and china not allowing US taech companies. ](https://mobile.twitter.com/Mango_Press_/status/1423263749302067202)
 
@@ -1021,6 +1021,7 @@ https://web.archive.org/web/20221222165322/https://www.mkgandhi.org/mynonviolenc
   - [Votes with the rest of the US senate to send $40B in weaponry to Ukraine.](https://mobile.twitter.com/mtracey/status/1527359801746853902)
   - [Supports drone bombing: "They have, at times, been effective."](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-people-responding-message/story?id=33413601). Another interview: ["Drones have done some good things. They've been selective; they've taken out people who should be taken out"](https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bernie-Sanders-Drones-Have-Done-Some-Good-Things-20160330-0006.html)
   - Staunchly supports Israel in their displacement of Palestinians (while blaming hamas for the conflict). [Says he will not move back the US embassy in Israel back from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, after Trump moved it the previous year.](https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-bernie-sanders-still-encouraging-israels-crimes)
+  - In the 2023 Israeli attacks on Gaza, [Bernie stands against a cease-fire](https://nitter.net/zei_squirrel/status/1721316148350701936#m), and blames Hamas for the violence.
   - [Supports GW Bush](https://i.imgur.com/tHN9DzG.png). [Supported warmonger John McCain after his death.](https://i.imgur.com/R3cAhdC.jpg)
   - [Claimed that the 2016 election of Maduro in Venezuela "wasn't free", and called for more "US Aid".](https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/bernie-sanders-tells-chris-hayes-why-he-s-running-1446465091782) Called Maduro a "vicious tyrant" in 2019 Democratic primary debate.
   - [Goes back on his 1985 semi-pro-cuba statements: "The Cuban economy is a disaster. No, I do not praise Fidel Castro."](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/11/27/sanders_on_cuba_of_course_their_economy_is_terrible_but_they_have_good_health_care.html)
@@ -1206,6 +1207,7 @@ _Much credit to [this post.](https://politijohn.tumblr.com/post/186036319237/get
 - [Zizek - Capitalism's court jester](https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/01/02/capitalisms-court-jester-slavoj-zizek/)
 - [He's anti-USSR, anti bolivarian revolution, supported the coups in Ukraine and Libya](https://alphonsevanworden.tumblr.com/post/146430343445/the-protocols-of-the-learned-lacanian-of)
 - ["The left must embrace law and order".](https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2023/07/age-of-anarchy-slavoj-zizek)
+- ["Isreal and Hamas are the same"](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/israel-palestine-hamas-and-hardliners-against-peace-by-slavoj-zizek-2023-10)
 - [More here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Marxism/comments/dlz8me/zizek_criticizes_european_leftists_who_reject/f4yl11f/)
 
 ### What's wrong with Barack Obama?
@@ -1450,7 +1452,7 @@ Much credit to [David Kinder's current affairs article, the rise of the Ruth Bad
 - [Omar](https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/ilhan-omar-backs-israel-lobby-campaign-against-iran) [2](https://twitter.com/hansalexrazo/status/1258473006419959808?s=20), [3](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ilhan-omar-says-her-political-role-model-is-inspirationally-bold-margaret-thatcher), [4](https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1362154968883503106?s=20)
 - [Bordiga](https://libcom.org/forums/history/bordiga-leninist-who-put-his-hopes-axis-27122017)
 - CPUSA [1](https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/bidens-crisis-presidency-and-potential-for-transformative-change/), [2](https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/biden-and-sanders-establish-task-force-to-unite-party-on-progressive-agenda/), [3](https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/a-clear-shot-shows-diversity-on-police-forces-a-good-thing/)
-- [Ziq](https://web.archive.org/web/20180405002453/https://raddle.me/f/lobby/28422/i-m-stepping-down-as-admin-because-of-some-shit-i-did-emma) [2](https://archive.is/THMIk) [3](https://www.hexbear.net/post/272574)
+- [Ziq](https://web.archive.org/web/20180405002453/https://raddle.me/f/lobby/28422/i-m-stepping-down-as-admin-because-of-some-shit-i-did-emma) [2](https://archive.is/THMIk) [3](https://www.hexbear.net/post/272574), [3](https://hexbear.net/comment/3531442)
 - [Robert Evans](https://twitter.com/hegellacan1/status/1536090225092374528?t=gOVNa1-sKTgihX4OnDEw_A&s=19), [2](https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1288116233133424648) [3](https://lemmygrad.ml/pictrs/image/XwBw0R0M59.jpg)
 - Paul Morrin - [China is imperialist](https://twitter.com/LurkerUntamed/status/1372732445146165251?s=20), [Cuba, China, the DPRK, and the USSR are "social imperialist".](https://twitter.com/ANTICONQUISTA/status/1375213633186193413)
 - [Blackredguard](https://twitter.com/BlackRedGuard1/status/1383849476863844359?s=20)