If we discarded every source that had a liberal or capitalist slant, we would effectively have to stop reading 99% of Western media, and we’d be blinding ourselves to the narrative of the ruling class. We are adults with functioning brains and the capacity for critical analysis. We should be able to read a piece of liberal slop, identify the ideological framing, strip it away, and analyze the material conditions they are reporting on or trying to obscure.

You need to read the Wall Street Journal because it is the mouthpiece of the ruling class that tells you exactly what capital is thinking, what they are afraid of, and how they are strategizing to protect their interests. You cannot effectively dismantle an argument if you refuse to understand its internal structure and logic.

Running away from information because it doesn’t align with their worldview is what liberals do when they retreat into their MSNBC bubbles. We should be secure enough in our own position to read sources we abhor, understand them, and approach their claims from a position of knowledge. Ruthless criticism of all that exists includes reading sources like the wsj.

the dripping racism really is a cherry on top

Ah yes, me a famously rich person.

That’s not hyperbole by the way, the military in the south is literally under US command. In September 1945, the US Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) took over the southern half of the peninsula. It ruled for three full years, outlawed local people’s committees, and kept using the old Japanese colonial bureaucracy. That is a textbook military occupation. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the US provided 90 percent of all combat forces and placed the South Korean military under the operational control of an American general. There weren’t even any elections under the occupation until the late 80s. It was a literal dictatorship.

That control has never truly gone away. Today, South Korea is under de facto US military occupation. The US runs Camp Humphreys, the largest overseas US base on the planet, with its own postal service and currency. More importantly, the US controlled Combined Forces Command holds wartime operational control over the entire South Korean military. If fighting resumes, Seoul’s army does not answer to Seoul, but to a four star American general. And a US dominated UN Command still publicly dictates what South Korea’s parliament can legislate near the DMZ.

Under the current Combined Forces Command structure, if war breaks out tomorrow, every South Korean soldier would automatically answer to an American commander without Seoul’s consent. It is a 70‑year‑old military subordination that the US has repeatedly delayed transferring. As of May 2026, the US insists on “conditions‑based” transfer and opposes a “politically convenient” timeline. South Korea’s president himself is pushing back against this delay. A foreign general holding final command over a sovereign nation’s military in wartime is, by any definition, continuing military occupation.

My expectation is that most people would be productive even if they didn’t have to work. People like making things, it’s in our nature. Imagine a society where you had minimal work, but you had things like community workshops, and places where you can get together with people to build whatever you want. Like even public access to labs, factories and so on. I think we’d see incredible things getting made because people would get ideas, find like minded people and work on projects together just because they find them interesting. We actually see this happen with software and the whole open source movement already. Plenty of people write large software projects just because they find it interesting, they don’t make any money off them, and the goal is purely to make something interesting. The reason it works for software is because anybody with a laptop can do it, but I think it would work exactly the same for building physical things if tools were readily available.

It’s always concerning when you get religious nuts close to the levers of power.

And yeah, the whole busification thing is basically to create single use units. They basically get thrown at the artillery in attempts to take some ground, and they’re not expected to survive. I’ve always been amazed how freely the regime wastes people given the demographics problems.

I told you trip to China didn’t go well. They also just published this https://www.state.gov/pax-silica

But, I can’t overstate just how fucked Americans are here. China produces both rare earths and silica needed to make chips. They have a monopoly and cannot be replaced. So, there’s no trick Americans can pull out of their hat here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKUkgjNaMDE

so edgy

Exactly, this is something most people in the west don’t seem to grasp. Putin is as pro western as it gets in Russia, and the main criticism of him is that he’s not pursuing the war hard enough. If he somehow did get ousted, it’s almost certain that he’d be replaced by somebody far more hardline.

The article literally answers this:

At the anode outlet, the high-purity carbon dioxide generated by the reaction is captured in situ and catalytically converted into valuable chemical feedstocks such as synthesis gas or mineralised into compounds like sodium bicarbonate.

Yeah, Russell is the quintessential British liberal, hence the disdain for the working class in all his work. But he does get at the irrationality of capitalism here where the goal is simply to maximize profit with no regard for anything else. I also very much agree with your point that overwork turns people into zombies.

My view is that required work should be minimized as much as possible, and people should have the ability to choose how they spend their time.

Also agree that’s precisely how religion is being used right now, hopefully that fails.

As I keep saying, it does not make sense for Russia to escalate until elections in France and Germany happen. If Russia escalates against Europe then that will burn any bridges going forward. If the current regimes fall in either France or Germany than the whole European war effort will collapse. Given the growing energy crisis in Europe, it’s very likely that there will be change in direction going forward.

Unfortunately, I also expect there’s going to be a lot more impact on civilians now. Also, with the talk of Budanov replacing Syrskyi it seems like the plan is to transition to doing terrorism instead of conventional warfare. Budanov has no experience commanding anything, but he specializes in special forces and working behind enemy lines. So, if he is put in charge it’s clear what the focus is going to be going forward. Also notable is that it appears to be American decision. Blumenthal came to talk to Zelensky, and seems like this came as a directive from the US.

I present exhibit A

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-turn-to-its-asian-past-1530889247

ha

hard to ignore bottom line

You may not like it, but this is what peak freedom looks like in a liberal capitalist society.

probably Europeans buying from the US and reselling https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/use-of-lucas-drones-in-iran-puts-focus-on-affordable-fast-moving-acquisition/

There is a big reserve Russia hasn’t committed yet, and people have been wondering why for a long time. I’m also not really sure Ukraine can overwhelm anything with drones. While you get pictures and videos with lots of fire, there’s no systemic effect from this. The whole drone campaign is just meant to produce propaganda videos to keep the money flowing.

The fact that capitalism made life worse for the majority of people is why I think it will fail once again. And the war is absolutely the catalyst here. It’s what severed relations between Russia and Europe forcing Russia to look to Asia. There wouldn’t be free travel to DPRK right now if it wasn’t for the war, I can tell you that. A lot of people go there and they’re nostalgic because they see echos of USSR there. The war also hurts the domestic economy, so people are much more aware of the contradictions as a result. On top of that, the west has discredited itself, and shown it’s true face. I don’t think there’s any going back from that. So, eastern model of development is the one that will be the one that Russia will likely emulate.

it’s definitely a real thing you can do using docker, but don’t have the larger context of how it came to this :)

you could probably do a whole PhD thesis on the cultures developing around different instances in the fediverse :)