Great podcast as always, I learned a lot as always about Syria but I’m particularly finding Fred Weston’s analysis of German capitalism useful & how they’re undemocratically going back on workers’ rights there in search of GDP growth.
The Obama alliance with the SDF (YPG-YPJ-plus, "the Kurds", "Rojava") only happened in 2016 after the botched Turkish coup (which Erdogan blamed on the USA). That was Obama's last year!, a momentous one but he was previously in power for more than seven years doing exactly the opposite. It's one of those things US governments (especially the Dems) seem to love to do: arrange things in the last minute in a way that entraps their successors (not that Trump gave a damn: he certainly abandoned Afrin to the Turco-fascists).
Manbij is not "a Kurdish city", it is a mostly Sunni Arab city, yet they form one of various "cantons" of the NSF (historically, it was renamed to AANES or something like that, as part of the detente with Damascus, who was the SDF's real best ally, much better than the USA, as they had a common enemy in Turkey and its fascist proxies).
Thanks for the time stamps. Also, could you link your UA-cam to an Odysee account so I can view your content there? I don't like the UA-cam spying but I do like their reducing video quality to 144 on content that I primarily listen to as opposed to watch with my eyes. So if youtube reduces the quality and it automatically uploads to Odysee allowing me to listen without violating my privacy then it is the best of all worlds
52:48 I don't understand this analysis. Even though Germany is a complete shit show, I think it reflects well on their 'democracy' that they tried to ban the AFD, not poorly. The AFD are open fascists, and should be done away with. We as Communists understand and incorporate the principle of intolerance of intolerance. Why was this move by the Germans bad? I get it, "Banning a party isn't democratic". But they're fascists! I would hope that we Communists would do far worse to them than banning them.
They are a suspected fascist party, but I would not be surprised if it is actually one, because they have had a secret meeting with fascists in the past.
they don't want to ban the afd for the fascism, they are perfectly fine with the fascism, they want to ban it for the russia affiliation which looks bad to the other western allies, especially big papa usa
Yeah, zero tolerance to fascism! And zero illusion about the far right being any better than the extreme center (they may be the same but not any better).
"I think it reflects well on their 'democracy' that they tried to ban the AFD, not poorly.": I think the issue is the baning of uncomfortable parties instead of the leading parties (Ampel-Regierung = Green Party, Social Dems and Libertarians FPD, or previously the GroKo Koalition under Christian Democrats) trying to fix anything. Ultimately, for us working class people there is no difference between AfD and all the other parties, because all of them agree on attacks on the working class. THe only party truely standing for workers is the newly founded German party of Revolutionary Communists.
@@07Flash11MRC - The only thing that works against fascism is zero tolerance. I know for a fact because we Basques practiced it very intensely until after the surrender of our guerrilla in 2011. That's why only 1/100 Basques vote fascist (and even that I think it's too high). I was partly raised by a fascist family under a fascist dictatorship and to this very day I reject to speak with my own mother because she's an unrepented fascist. The only thing that fascists deserve is reeducation, and I'm being gentle.
Regrettably the crisis of liberalism in the west seems to be primarily being caused by the effects of policies of the Left, specifically cultural Marxism and open borders - universal citizenship movement. The policies have increased migration. Notably some elements of the Islamic communities have sought to pursue jihadist activities in the west. This has created fear and resentment. Incumbent and new political parties are taking steps to oppose the effects of these actions and prevent the migration that caused it. So far the Left has no effective response other than to seek to implement laws preventing the opposition to Islamic minorities. This is inadequate and will spur further resentment. What can and should the Left do now?
46:50 - That's exactly what they have been doing. You guys clearly don't grasp Democratic Confederalism and their post-nationalist (and against the bourgeois system of "nation-state", most of which have been created by imperialist colonialism in the region anyhow: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel or even Turkey all lack historical basis!). The Revolutionary "Kurdish" (Apoist) project is largely about dismantling the nation-state and replacing it by worker confederalism, a veritable Commune that is actually armed and organized and willing to fight. Said that, they do make attempts at "pragmatical politics" within the existing nation-states, be it Syria or Turkey or whatever, however these are not working: HDP was banned in Turkey, the arrangements with Syria-Damascus could only reach so far, etc.
What makes the SDF such extraordinary fighters? Many reasons but one is that they have Leninist roots, yet they have evolved into something else, something new that is past the point of just being worried about Capitalism and also faces class oppression since day one of the Copper Age (or whenever class society and patriarchy emerged), thus they have achieved a communist (or at least socialist) "state" (federation, it tends a lot towards Anarchism but much more pragmatic, Swiss-like in terms politic maybe -- let's not forget that Switzerland emerged as "peasant revolutionary state" first of all, not fully socialist but definitely anti-feudalist, much like the Basque Bagauda six centuries prior). The other reason is that they do have an army, with distinct organization, made up of women, who are the ones to lose the most if the fascists win, therefore they fight even harder than men. Afghanistan would probably have never collapsed to the Taliban if a similar women's militia had been formed.
A very selective "analysis". The main reason for the success of the AfD is islamic immigration. And the main drivers of german economic problems are tl - the cutting of the supply of cheap russian gas due to the german policy in the ukranian-russian war - the planned increase of the price of energy due to the german "climate-policy".
You discussed Germany quite well but you totally avoided the elephant in the room: Sarah Wagenknecht as real proletarian leadership. Then you move on to claim that Starmer leads the British proletariat without any caveats? WTF?!
![Global Capitalism: The U.S. Election and Trump 2.0 in Historical Perspective [November 2024]](/img/n.gif)
Thanks for this comrades
Great podcast, comrades!
Great podcast as always, I learned a lot as always about Syria but I’m particularly finding Fred Weston’s analysis of German capitalism useful & how they’re undemocratically going back on workers’ rights there in search of GDP growth.
Just started watching but click the thumb up as I know it's going to be great stream 🚩
The Obama alliance with the SDF (YPG-YPJ-plus, "the Kurds", "Rojava") only happened in 2016 after the botched Turkish coup (which Erdogan blamed on the USA). That was Obama's last year!, a momentous one but he was previously in power for more than seven years doing exactly the opposite.
It's one of those things US governments (especially the Dems) seem to love to do: arrange things in the last minute in a way that entraps their successors (not that Trump gave a damn: he certainly abandoned Afrin to the Turco-fascists).
Manbij is not "a Kurdish city", it is a mostly Sunni Arab city, yet they form one of various "cantons" of the NSF (historically, it was renamed to AANES or something like that, as part of the detente with Damascus, who was the SDF's real best ally, much better than the USA, as they had a common enemy in Turkey and its fascist proxies).
🚩
Thanks for the time stamps. Also, could you link your UA-cam to an Odysee account so I can view your content there? I don't like the UA-cam spying but I do like their reducing video quality to 144 on content that I primarily listen to as opposed to watch with my eyes. So if youtube reduces the quality and it automatically uploads to Odysee allowing me to listen without violating my privacy then it is the best of all worlds
52:48 I don't understand this analysis. Even though Germany is a complete shit show, I think it reflects well on their 'democracy' that they tried to ban the AFD, not poorly. The AFD are open fascists, and should be done away with. We as Communists understand and incorporate the principle of intolerance of intolerance. Why was this move by the Germans bad? I get it, "Banning a party isn't democratic". But they're fascists! I would hope that we Communists would do far worse to them than banning them.
They are a suspected fascist party, but I would not be surprised if it is actually one, because they have had a secret meeting with fascists in the past.
they don't want to ban the afd for the fascism, they are perfectly fine with the fascism, they want to ban it for the russia affiliation which looks bad to the other western allies, especially big papa usa
Yeah, zero tolerance to fascism! And zero illusion about the far right being any better than the extreme center (they may be the same but not any better).
"I think it reflects well on their 'democracy' that they tried to ban the AFD, not poorly.": I think the issue is the baning of uncomfortable parties instead of the leading parties (Ampel-Regierung = Green Party, Social Dems and Libertarians FPD, or previously the GroKo Koalition under Christian Democrats) trying to fix anything. Ultimately, for us working class people there is no difference between AfD and all the other parties, because all of them agree on attacks on the working class.
THe only party truely standing for workers is the newly founded German party of Revolutionary Communists.
@@07Flash11MRC - The only thing that works against fascism is zero tolerance. I know for a fact because we Basques practiced it very intensely until after the surrender of our guerrilla in 2011. That's why only 1/100 Basques vote fascist (and even that I think it's too high).
I was partly raised by a fascist family under a fascist dictatorship and to this very day I reject to speak with my own mother because she's an unrepented fascist.
The only thing that fascists deserve is reeducation, and I'm being gentle.
Regrettably the crisis of liberalism in the west seems to be primarily being caused by the effects of policies of the Left, specifically cultural Marxism and open borders - universal citizenship movement.
The policies have increased migration. Notably some elements of the Islamic communities have sought to pursue jihadist activities in the west. This has created fear and resentment. Incumbent and new political parties are taking steps to oppose the effects of these actions and prevent the migration that caused it.
So far the Left has no effective response other than to seek to implement laws preventing the opposition to Islamic minorities. This is inadequate and will spur further resentment. What can and should the Left do now?
46:50 - That's exactly what they have been doing. You guys clearly don't grasp Democratic Confederalism and their post-nationalist (and against the bourgeois system of "nation-state", most of which have been created by imperialist colonialism in the region anyhow: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel or even Turkey all lack historical basis!). The Revolutionary "Kurdish" (Apoist) project is largely about dismantling the nation-state and replacing it by worker confederalism, a veritable Commune that is actually armed and organized and willing to fight.
Said that, they do make attempts at "pragmatical politics" within the existing nation-states, be it Syria or Turkey or whatever, however these are not working: HDP was banned in Turkey, the arrangements with Syria-Damascus could only reach so far, etc.
And if there were a revolution in germany - which there will be not - would not be socialist, but pseudo-fascist.
What makes the SDF such extraordinary fighters? Many reasons but one is that they have Leninist roots, yet they have evolved into something else, something new that is past the point of just being worried about Capitalism and also faces class oppression since day one of the Copper Age (or whenever class society and patriarchy emerged), thus they have achieved a communist (or at least socialist) "state" (federation, it tends a lot towards Anarchism but much more pragmatic, Swiss-like in terms politic maybe -- let's not forget that Switzerland emerged as "peasant revolutionary state" first of all, not fully socialist but definitely anti-feudalist, much like the Basque Bagauda six centuries prior).
The other reason is that they do have an army, with distinct organization, made up of women, who are the ones to lose the most if the fascists win, therefore they fight even harder than men. Afghanistan would probably have never collapsed to the Taliban if a similar women's militia had been formed.
You are at best mediocrely informed about the state of affairs in germany.
A very selective "analysis".
The main reason for the success of the AfD is islamic immigration.
And the main drivers of german economic problems are tl
- the cutting of the supply of cheap russian gas due to the german policy in the ukranian-russian war
- the planned increase of the price of energy due to the german "climate-policy".
You discussed Germany quite well but you totally avoided the elephant in the room: Sarah Wagenknecht as real proletarian leadership.
Then you move on to claim that Starmer leads the British proletariat without any caveats? WTF?!