What even is “authoritarianism”? I never got it. Does it fit into a consistent theory of society somewhere? I’m forced to go to work everyday, they force me to pay rent etc. but somehow that’s not authoritarian?

That’s it. What they’re saying with this law is, that the US needs more landlords.

Same

Not saying it’s always a great tactic, but here are some answers to your questions: It’s usually for prisoners. If you’re a prisoner, you could easily be killed. If you’re still alive, that means they want you alive. Usually for ideological reasons. To showcase their “justice”. A hunger strike prevents your enemies from using you for their propaganda. By starving yourself publicly, you gain an opportunity to publish your reasons and spread your own propaganda in turn

Another thing is, that you make a credible case to the target audience of your enemies propaganda, that their “justice” is not just at all. It becomes credible, because your suffering acts as an “honest signal” (that’s a term from biology for a costly action, that’s hard to fake). It’s meant to suggests strong commitment to higher ideals on your part. Your enemy will have a harder time arguing you only did your “crimes” for personal gain. It’s hard to argue you don’t believe in things, if you’re willing to starve for your convictions.

Yes, I realize how idealist this whole argument sounds. Again, I don’t really know, how to tell when this is actually a good idea. Just answering the questions.

I love them, but almost never cook with them, because they are slightly more effort than other carbs.

But what if they aren’t white, though? /s

My communists can make mistakes sometimes, as a treat.

Didn’t they only get the revolutionary new sanitation technology of “trash cans” this year?

Yes, I think we need to make an important distinction here. The word “control” is used for two valid, but distinct things: Sometimes it’s used to argue about moral responsibility. Sometimes it’s about strategy in our struggle. Like if one side “controls” the other, are there nodes of control that can be exposed and targeted politically? I think in both cases, the word “control” simplifies the complex relationship, so I won’t use it any more in this. But luckily it’s not needed to answer either question.

About moral responsibility, I think it’s really important to recognize, that powerful people in the US (politicians, generals, billionaires, etc.) are equally responsible for the genocide, just like the ones in Israel. Both can be morally responsible at the same time. The same goes for state institutions. Morally, the ones in the US do have the freedom to withdraw support and that would stop the genocide. It’s not important for moral consideration, that they won’t do that for material reasons. To face this moral truth is important for our propaganda and also a question of respect and solidarity for Palestinians.

The other question is about our strategy. Here, a materialist perspective is needed. From inside the imperial core, pushing for BDS is the obvious strategy, which targets Israel directly. But because of the “tangled web of connections”, which you mentioned, there are also important sides of struggle in the US. And many center around trying to sever at least some of those connections: the ones between universities in the US and Israel for example. US firms with close ties to Israel are another. There are others and these sides of struggle can be understood as an extensions of BDS.

Politically targeting legislature, think tanks, members of congress with ties to Israel is another logical strategy. It’s best to concentrate on few targets instead of spreading our efforts out. Like snipping one strang of a complicated knot at a time instead of trying to rip it all apart at once.

This strategy does not mean, that we believe a complete severance of the connections between the US and Israel is possible. It is not. Even, if Israel was magically destroyed tomorrow, the US would invent a new one. But similar to a labor struggle in which a single strike can’t abolish capitalism, anti-imperialist actions can still gain wins, even if the whole of imperialism isn’t abolished yet.

So the article doesn’t mention how word got out about who donated, right?

If I could upvote it more, I would <3

Yes. The contradictions of capitalism are only getting worse. Workers, care givers, nature, social institutions, racialized people and countries, all can only be exploited and expropriated so much. But capitalism demands more and more. So it will continue getting worse until successful revolutions. But you don’t have to feel detached about it. You can try to understand it, tell others about it, look around for awesome people struggling against it, maybe even find ways to help them. I started reading Nancy Fraser’s new book “Cannibal Capitalism” it’s short, tries to be accessible and it explains how all those areas of struggle I mentioned above are connected.

Everything is political.

Palestinians actually have an exceptionally high rate of education. You’re right, that the fascists what to destroy that.

Yeah. “Doverflowing with ideology”?

This is probably a stupid question, but if your browser accepts cookies, wouldn’t they simply track you through those regardless of account or VPN? Same with app data.

It works for shapes that are also pretty close to a sphere. It works for a soccer ball and for a D120. This is the first counter example found.

people from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies

That’s a great abbreviation though! (not sure about democratic, but what else starts with D?)

Yes, that’s literally what is happening.

That might be why I felt so good in Lebanon - it’s on the opposite side of Germany. Wish those rational, disciplined and oh so trusting people (when is comes to imperialist institutions at least) wouldn’t sell weapons to the ones that are destroying Lebanon right now.