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Cake day: Jul 13, 2022

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Colonialism isn't a thing of the past
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Paradoxically, the phenomenon of piracy (but also theft and similar crimes) is an integral feature of the capitalist system, even though such an act is deemed illegal and damaging to the values of free market.

Now the act itself does not intrinsically possess a revolutionary character. When browsing r/piracy, for example, one can notice that users who partake in piracy rarely have emancipatory sentiments in their philosophy. They operate from within the capitalist system and genuinely believe in the values maintained by capitalism. Their identity as pirates depends on its existence. Video games and movies today are the product of the capitalist system and, I suspect, they are the biggest source of ideological diffusion. Book piracy is a bit different, because pirates relate the activity to a noble idea or cause which is the openness of knowledge and the means to accumulate it, a sentiment that gives way to social consciousness.



International Stability and its Domestic implications: a Revolutionary Perspective
*“Seventy years ago the world witnessed the conclusion of two months of intense multilateral diplomacy, with the signing of the Charter of the United Nations. In one of the defining acts of the twentieth century, representatives of 50 countries endorsed the formation of an international organization created in the hopes of preserving peace and building a better world for all.”* This is what one author [wrote](https://web.archive.org/web/20220711064200/https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/reflection-role-united-nations-ensuring-secure-prosperous-and-equitable-world) in the UN chronicles. Ignoring the occasional regional conflicts that pop up every decade or two, the world order under the aegis of the UN saw, generally speaking, long periods of peace in most places in the world. Indeed, this is a remarkable change from earlier centuries that witnessed long, brutal wars for global dominance within a fragile multipolar world. And whenever today conflicts and wars do arise, the rule of law seems to thrive as a legitimate regulatory force. This, considered by itself, is usually and predominantly seen as a positive thing. But another perspective, a problematic one, emerges when we contextualize this aspect of our contemporary world. [Fears from rising authoritarianism](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule) in the last two decades are nothing less than real. The dictatorships of the 21st century have become a constant, problematic theme in international relations. When Western thinkers thought that the fall of the USSR in the 1991 signaled the victory of liberal democracy, they soon [realized how far from the truth they were](https://thebulletin.org/premium/2022-11/its-a-different-kind-of-world-were-living-in-now-interview-with-political-scientist-francis-fukuyama/). Modern dictatorships, despite economic struggles (i.e. sanctions), are flourishing and expanding their political power on the international scene, posing problems to the utopian world order that the West professed. In fact, discontents of populations around the world are growing in proportion with authoritarianism, and this phenomenon extends to the nest of liberal democracy, [the United States](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/03/us-rightwing-dictatorship-2030-trump-canada). Popular protests against governmental oppression and capitalist inequality are noble and valid, but they are incapable of simply changing the system. That is due to a crucial fact, which is the stability of the unipolar world order. The increasing legalization of the international system has made our world less prone to change. In such a world, States can now focus on domestic issues without being bothered by foreign affairs as much as they used to. As the supreme and only legitimate power within national frontiers, the State prioritizes preserving the status quo over enhancing the living conditions of its population. To our detriment, the new world order has largely removed the role of revolts in changing this status quo. The modern State with its superior logistics and powerful military can neutralize subversive movements at ease. The cycle of governance enabled by revolutions from the bottom-up and external conflicts was ruptured at the dawn of the 21st century. Revolutionary change is harder and harder in this day and age. Paradoxically, international anarchy is the only guaranteed way to achieve prosperity. Our world is complex: progress sometimes necessitates stagnation and, inversely, progress may sometimes turn out to be regression. This is why we must analyze every step and decision and study their long-term consequences. Thus stability, in our case, is protecting the tacit dystopia that late stage capitalism is.
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Can you elaborate please, it would be a good opportunity for the community to debate and learn.





The future of dictatorships in an era of space exploration
This is my personal take on what possibilities could space exploration and colonization offer to authoritarian regimes in extending their control and consolidating their rule. Hypothetically speaking, with how space and transport technologies are progressing, we may encounter a second phase of globalization which connects planets and galaxies together within an ecosystem maintained by big intergovernmental, law-making organizations (I'd call this the international sphere/order 2.0) . Subsequently, the territories of a given State may be distributed on several planets and bodies. Now, let us assimilate this futuristic reality with more concrete elements. We've encountered in this century few examples of dictatorships' aggressive behavior in consolidating their power and mitigating revolutions. This was manifested in the construction of new capitals restrained only to the elitist classes and the governmental bodies; this is notably the case in Egypt, Myanmar and Brazil. The logical reason behind this initiative is to reduce the possibilities for popular uprisings to topple those tyrannical regimes. For instance, Egypt's new capital is located in the hit desert 45 km away from Cairo (former capital and big centre for lower class); if a popular uprising was to be born in Cairo, it would be virtually impossible for it to reach the capital. Tying the strings together, a post-space-exploration dictatorship may establish its capital on a remote body away from the revolting populace, thus squashing the phenomenon of rebellion once and for all. This is of course assuming that the lower classes would still have limited access to the outer space, and I don't see that as far fetched with the ever-increasing inequality. The same thought process, I argue, could be applied to the sphere of international affairs and politics in many respects. Access to space is like the birth and expansion of civilizations but this time it's in a wider, spatial cadre.
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I’m assuming this is exclusive to Europe


Very beneficial, thank you.


…more scientists are admitting that philosophy spawned their lifestyle…

Do you think, given the fact that philosophers (mostly known for abstract thinking, detached from the external world) have created the foundations of the Scientific method, that this impacted Science, which is praised for its empirical and practical aspect, in a bad way?

it is the individual delusions (not meant in a negative way) that are useful and fallible at the same time.

This is an interesting idea. What probably is weakening Science today is how strictly it demands a nonexistent objectivity from Scientists, who have sentiments and biases just like all other people. It forces them to supress their valid subjective aspect from their works, which unintentionally provokes more fraud to pass unquestioned.


“Trust Me, I’m a Scientist”: How Philosophy of Science Can Help Explain Why Science Deserves Primacy in Dealing with Societal Problems - r/philosophy
This thread caught my attention regarding the philosophy of science. I've read through the comments and discussions, but I want to move the arena to lemmy's philosophy community. What's your opinion on the Scientific Method? Do your perceive its usefulness in the practical world? And are the flaws in Science the result of this method or the individual causations of the scientists themselves?
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The “discovered” tribe is seeking revenge for all of the fatal diseases those Flying Gods threw at them



rimgo isn’t working for me anymore 😢

Edit: Thank god for self hosting, found another server host, https://rimgo.vern.cc/YymjS9h?r




Yes that’s the ideal goal, I should always keep that in mind. But what about the people who are looking for YOU on social media? Or what about your long lost childhood friends who you never exchanged phone numbers with? Instagram can thus be a back up; but ultimately you’re right.


Yeah no worries, but the imgur requires JavasScript and cookies so I shared rimgo, an opensource and self hostable frontend.



I can relate, but I’m that early morning runner.


I used to use both Bibliogram and Barinsta but both are not functioning anymore due to Facebook’s aggressive ratelimiting. There’s no more feeds on all bibliogram instances I tried and barinsta’s anonymous browsing doesn’t work anymore. I will look at feedsta though.


The thing is, say you meet someone for the first time irl. Next day, you’re interested maintaining some sort of connection with them but you don’t have their phone number, only their name. What do you do? Search for them on Instagram. There’s no way you will be finding them on say Mastodon or Pixelfed, especially in developing countries where for 99% of the people, Facebook = The whole ass internet. That’s the harsh truth. I use instagram only to maintain those not so close friendships and connections, and by “maintain” I mean follwing them and liking their posts from time to time. I might open IG once or twice in a week from the browser. As for Facebook, I deleted my account a while ago.


I appreciate your sportsmanship.

So you suggest twisting it with a more humorous tone?

All I’m saying is there should be some effort put into a meme; what OP made here was a low effort political statement and could have found a more suitable place to post it other than here.

Even the creator of this post has used the nonpolitical community

Of course he would, hence asserting that !memes has become a political arena.


Usually memes follow a certain template; they have an “inside joke” type of vibe. I understand the urge in defending this post because of its message, but note that this is in no way a “meme”. It’s merely a collage of two unsourced images and portrays no comedic effect (quite the opposite in fact). I find it even hard to classify it as a political meme. At this point it’s mere propaganda regardless of wether it is for good or ill. Surely there are more suitable communities for this post than here.

And c/non-political memes shouldn’t have been a thing in the first place if this community wasn’t being misused.



There’s more grey than green, what are we teaching the youth.


To give more context, there was a similar UN resolution in 2002, in which the USA also voted against

As for the 2021 resolution, the US mission to the UN explained their decision to yet again reject the right to food.