Except it is the specific idea that compels them to resist their occupiers. Because they say it is. Saying otherwise is doing literally exactly the same thing that white Americans did that caused indigenous native Americans to have to change their practices, which they did not see as religious, to fit into the western white European understandings of the word ‘religion’ in order to receive government funding. Even if a Marxist or materialist analysis of the situation says in general that oppressed peoples ‘usually’ or ‘always’ react a specific way because of a specific force, you’re missing the point that that is a scientific theory. It is an abstraction. That does not mean it is reality or the only way of viewing a situation.

Your understanding of the situation and how it fits in with your worldview is different than the point of view of the Palestinians actually experiencing the situation. Again, I want to point you to the broad literature of the study of religion that shows just exactly what happens when dudes with white, western ideas of how the world works try to impose those on native indigenous populations.

Your point of view of how the situation works, or your understanding of the powers at play, is not reality. That is your interpretation of reality, a very useful abstraction that is very usually right. But that abstraction has contexts where it is appropriate to apply it, and contexts where it is inappropriate to apply it. And trying to apply it to deny the very real primary motivation that Palestinian people say is motivating them is not a great place to apply that abstraction.

I mean no, it’s not. The main anti-colonial group left in Gaza, which is massively popular, is an organization whose primary driving force is Islam. Religion is an incredibly important cultural force that is a key driving factor for Gazans and other Palestinian people in this fight. That is a materialist analysis of the situation lol because that is what the Palestinians themselves are saying. Just look at the wording used by the people there: the dead aren’t the dead but ‘martyrs’, and this isn’t just a conflict but a ‘jihad’ (righteous fight).

Hakim is very correctly noting the obvious here in that a vast majority of the Palestinians are Muslim and that their faith is a primary driver of this conflict for them. Painting in broad strokes isn’t denying that there aren’t any secular Palestinians, but talking about how Palestinians are fighting back and resisting in aggregate / at a zoomed out level.

The only anti-colonial group left in Gaza that is actively fighting back against colonialist oppression is Hamas, an Muslim organization whose religion is their primary guiding force. If you read their 2017 charter they very much have demands and a strategy that agree with a materialist understanding of the situation (as close as it matters). As a people and an organization indigenous to the area, it is important to understand how they specifically think, and their religion and religious thought is an important part of that.

Just because something “isn’t materialist” doesn’t mean that “it doesn’t work”. I would highly recommend you take a course or two on the study of religion, because that kind of phrasing and thinking has been used to ignore, oppress, and extinguish very useful and valid cultures, traditions, and ways of viewing the world from native indigenous populations. I don’t have the book name on me, but I did a course on the medical and religious traditions of various African cultures and how those indigenous traditions solve shortfalls that allopathic medicine even today is still struggling to fix. For example, one tradition had a very big emphasis on understanding the person as a whole, within the community they interacted in. This stands in stark contrast to allopathic medicine’s view of “solving medical problems as they come up”, and we’re realizing now that that has limits.

What I’m trying to say is you can come to the same answer through different means. We have lots of historical examples of native indigenous people coming up with something without ‘science’ or materialism that white European settlers wouldn’t come up with until centuries later. A materialist analysis of history proves this is the case. Materialism may be more likely to come to a correct answer, but it’s reductionist and frankly just asshole-ish to be like “hurr durr religion is when ur dumb” when religious traditions are so much more rich that than. Materialism and Marxism are a single way of looking at and analyzing the world. If you are dismissing any other method of analysis solely because it does not agree with western European notions of what ‘materialism’ is, you are going to miss a lot of beauty and nuance in the world, and frankly people just aren’t going to want to talk to you.

Too much reading /j

North Korea’s is like… significantly better than this lol. 15 days paid leave for workers, 2 months leave for students.

The ‘capital’ in ‘capitalism’ means nothing and is there for no reason

Seconding Blowback, I’m six episodes in and went from “Hmm I feel icky about Cuba” to “Holy fucking shit I can’t believe we would do that to them, I unequivocally support Cuba”

Trying to think this through out loud. I cannot forgive Biden for the way he treated the rail workers. But at the same time the shift left with the NLRB is something I feel like is worth protecting at the minimum? Idk I’m not going to put any effort into campaigning for anyone or doing anything really beyond the primary vote, but if it’s down to Trump vs Biden I feel like I’d vote Biden, just for the NLRB. Thoughts?

Why do you argue so fucking far past the point it’s obvious you’re wrong? You’re an entire branching comment tree in this post. You never give up on a single point but you’re getting bodied left and right.

I’m laughing so hard I almost shat my pants reading this thread

Is this written by ChatGPT

Hi, I’m new to the community and just wanted to say I fucking love it here so far. Everyone is so fucking nice and understanding while being honest and authentic, I genuinely have learned so much and love coming back to this site. This thread is the perfect example lol.

Doing pretty great. Starting a new job in two weeks I’m excited for! Questioning whether I have autism. Went out and had a good night socializing and shit. Life is doing pretty good rn.

I don’t think this is a bad thing though. Books like the bread book or The Dispossessed can help open people up to a leftist POV by showing them that there are very realistic alternatives to a capitalist system that, while utopian, would be so cool to live under. I feel like we should push people less towards “gloom and doom” books as their first book.

Listen to Teach Me Communism! It’s the podcast that turned me into a leftist.

It’s a nonbinary person and their brother basically doing a book club every week and explaining a different piece of socialist literature or socialist history. They start from square zero (the manifesto), work their way through stuff like The State and Revolution, and do a toooon of history. Also they’ve done the podcast for the past 3 years, do it entirely for free, and donate all of the money from their Patreon to a local Dallas mutual aid fund. I have such an unhealthy parasocial relationship with them but I’m an ML now and love them (though they do a lot of anarchist stuff too).

Really wish more people would suggest them more!!

What I was trying to ask though was what’s hexbear’s thoughts on Democratic socialism as a concept

I’m new here, but from my understanding we’re a leftist unity instance! So folks will have opinions across the spectrum. Communists and anarchists generally do not like democratic socialism, or think that it isn’t a viable way to achieve socialism. Most Hexbear users from my understanding and experience seem to fall into one of those two camps, but you’re still welcome :)

that the rich and powerful are like the Jurassic Park T. Rex, they can’t see you if you move slowly enough

LMAO I fucking love this comparison

I hate to be this person, but I would highly highly highly recommend listening to Season 2 of the Blowback podcast if you haven’t yet. It goes over the Cuban revolution and explains some of the ‘bloodshed’ that was necessary. It also gives you an idea of what a real revolution looks like (hint: it’s more boring and tame than you’d think). I just started listening to it and it’s literally blowing my mind. Making me feel like a lot of this is more achievable.

One of the things that pushed me into leftism about seven years ago was the realization that there even WAS something to the left of me.

Yeah the same is true for me being anti-car. When I first heard of European congestion taxes when I was car-brained I was like “that is literally insane, how are you going to restrict poor people’s right to get into the city”. But after learning about other forms of transit and the fact that it’s affordable and cheap and objectively better than private vehicles, I realized that just realizing that other transit options exist makes me move further ‘left’ lol.

Genuinely cannot tell if this is serious or not lol

I don’t hate philosophy tube etc to be clear, I just find their videos to be self indulgent slop

I don’t disagree, but I think she and contra hold a special place in my heart cause they were really the start to my radicalization. Contra’s earlier videos really got me thinking outside of a capitalist mindset and got me to think “oh, there’s alternatives to capitalism, and gender, and blah blah blah”, then I read the manifesto, then I started listening to Teach Me Communism, and then I became a chronically online tankie lol. I feel like I’m not the onlyyyy one that did this (I have friends who I think consider themselves socialist and anticapitalist who still like some of Contra’s newer stuff), but I definitely feel like the vast majority of her fanbase is annoyingly liberal to a fault. In her recent ‘anti-JK Rowling’ lane she’s been pretty decent I think except for when she steps even slightly out of it.