Some random thoughts about the psychology of ETIM exiles, Venezuelan/Cuban "expats," QAnon folk, HK rioters, Ukrainian Nazis in Canada, etc.
@moghilemear13's latest thread debunking a @guardian "long read" about the "Uyghur Gulag" got me thinking about it.
@moghilemear13's latest thread debunking a @guardian "long read" about the "Uyghur Gulag" got me thinking about it.
So, the woman who was supposedly sent to the gulag previously had a job in PetroChina, in what @moghilemear13 describes as an oil boomtown.
It seems like the pool of people who get radicalized isn't "the bottom of society," but the "upwardly mobile."
It seems like the pool of people who get radicalized isn't "the bottom of society," but the "upwardly mobile."
https://twitter.com/moghilemear13/status/1351397536305729537
I was reading a (bad) essay on Mao Zedong by Zizek a while back, and this bit from him by it always stuck with me.
Zizek is literally quoting *Robert Conquest* (lol), but what made an impression was that the idea of the "subkulak" was so easily dismissed:
lacan.com/zizmaozedong.h…
Zizek is literally quoting *Robert Conquest* (lol), but what made an impression was that the idea of the "subkulak" was so easily dismissed:
lacan.com/zizmaozedong.h…
Like, what American in 2020 has *not* heard the mocking expression "temporarily impoverished millionaire" in reference to those poor souls who spend their days defending Jeff Bezos, ineptly imagining they are defending their own future hoard of money?
The Soviet Union was collectivizing the farms for a very good given reason, and they faced stiff opposition from the elite of society, who had no concern for the well-being of the country as a whole and looked out only for its own interests.
And the wannabe-elite!
And the wannabe-elite!
I didn't mix up my Venezuela and Ukraine resources, I'm making a simple point: far from a very region-specific, dated, and difficult-to-understand phenomenon, when you strip away the term "kulak," you find something that you're already very familiar with!
There's few billionaires out there, but there's a big stratum of "upwardly mobile" people all over the world.
People who seem themselves as more deserving than their peers, local übermen.
The US seems to recruit from this core for Regime Change efforts.
People who seem themselves as more deserving than their peers, local übermen.
The US seems to recruit from this core for Regime Change efforts.
https://twitter.com/RodericDay/status/1346875263750180864
I'm Peruvian, and the elite from which I'm from largely does not give a damn about the fate of the country.
They're narrowly focused on their own gain, and any inconvenience provokes jokes about moving to Miami.
Read this Bolivia account to get an idea:
mondediplo.com/2020/07/06boli…
They're narrowly focused on their own gain, and any inconvenience provokes jokes about moving to Miami.
Read this Bolivia account to get an idea:
mondediplo.com/2020/07/06boli…
Far from this being a unique, quintessentially Peruvian experience, impenetrable to outsiders (not only to Peru, but to its upper crust)... I see it absolutely everywhere.
Venezuelans I met in university, Canadians I met throughout, Chinese and Desi people, etc.
Venezuelans I met in university, Canadians I met throughout, Chinese and Desi people, etc.
What I'm saying here is *the exact opposite* of what Cultural Anthropologists like Wilfred Chan and Claire Wordley are saying.
They insist "don't compare two countries, don't pretend you can understand Bolivia or Hong Kong."
I think we can, though?
They insist "don't compare two countries, don't pretend you can understand Bolivia or Hong Kong."
I think we can, though?
https://twitter.com/RodericDay/status/1351401979067641856
Like, don't be chauvinistic and pretend you've seen it all before. We need to appreciate historical, geographical, cultural, linguistic differences always.
However, other societies aren't alien and opaque to us. A lot of dynamics are universal, just express differently.
However, other societies aren't alien and opaque to us. A lot of dynamics are universal, just express differently.
Of course!
I think the goal of the wealthy "expats" is to use sanctions to destroy the quality of life of those who stayed behind, in order to radicalize them and recruit them into regime change operations.
It's documented!
history.state.gov/historicaldocu…
I think the goal of the wealthy "expats" is to use sanctions to destroy the quality of life of those who stayed behind, in order to radicalize them and recruit them into regime change operations.
It's documented!
history.state.gov/historicaldocu…
https://twitter.com/willowgraphy/status/1351545589855612929
The way I understand Marx and Engels' project, they were following the natural sciences in trying to come up with basic rules undergirding the dynamics and evolution of all human societies.
Academic elites insisting you cannot understand another country are the opposite of M&E.
Academic elites insisting you cannot understand another country are the opposite of M&E.
Anyway, that's it for thoughts! Thanks for reading.
I will append interesting posts as they come along:
I will append interesting posts as they come along:
https://twitter.com/daninava/status/1351549747534946304
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