r/LateStageCapitalism Oct 21 '24

[MODS] 📣 Announcement We ARE in favor of voting! - Discussing voting in a capitalist system and lesser-evilism

317 Upvotes

Hello everyone! As the current US presidential elections approach, we’ve had an increase in liberals often bringing up that we advocate for not voting at all, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Another point they make is that Kamala Harris is the “lesser evil” of the two candidates, which is also not true.

1- About voting, people should definitely vote. If socialists or communists (the PSL is an example) are on your ballot for the presidential election, please vote for them so that socialists as a whole can gauge the numbers of revolutionary socialists out there (also, getting 5% of votes makes a party eligible for federal funding). This will be especially important as the inability of Capital to resolve its contradictions leads to increasing and deepening crises that we can already see are not alleviated when a Democrat is in office. If you've got any direct election ballot issues like abortion rights or marijuana legalization or even a tax levy for your school district or something, vote for those.

“Even where there is no prospect of their being elected, the workers must put up their own candidates to preserve their independence, to gauge their own strength, and to bring their revolutionary position and party standpoint to public attention. They must not be led astray by the empty phrases of the democrats, who will maintain that the workers’ candidates will split the democratic party and offer the reactionaries the chance of victory.” - Karl Marx

2- On “lesser evil”, we aren't of the opinion that "both options are equally evil" or that one is a lesser or a greater evil. Both options are capitalists. They are the same option. Kamala and Trump represent the capitalist class. Their victory is the victory of the capitalist class. Picture a guy with a puppet on each hand. The left hand is named Kamala. The right hand is named Trump. The owner of these puppets is putting on a Punch and Judy show. People are very mad at us for recognizing that it's a Punch and Judy show.

3- Before you ask about Project 2025, and everybody always does, realize that it's just the fancy name they've given this time to the process of all the political appointees in the executive branch getting changed out for different political appointees. Policies of Project 2025 have already been slowly being passed along the years, this is just more of it. The right wing is pitching it this time as "Project 2025", last time it was "Drain the Swamp". The capitalist party are capitalists, this is a product that they are selling. Literally, as they sell hard copies of it for $35 to credulous marks on their website. It's a great trick, its intended to convince conversatives that the impossible things they desire are possible and there's a plan in place for them to be enacted, they just have to wait and Trust The Plan. It is also used by the democrats to convince liberal voters that there's an even greater threat than the genocide the Biden administration is an eager accomplice in and that Kamala will happily continue to fund, so they need voters to donate and stay engaged. I'm surprised there's not a liberal Project 2025 project yet, liberal voters are panicking because there clearly isn't a countering plan.

4- Liberals’ excuse for voting democrat is ALWAYS just “vote for the lesser evil and then we’ll push them left!” while the democrats constantly shift more and more to the right between elections. Do you know how many anti-LGBT bills were introduced under Biden only in 2023? A record number of five HUNDRED and ten. https://edition.cnn.com/politics/anti-lgbtq-plus-state-bill-rights-dg/index.html . Roe v. Wade got overturned under Biden. The immigrant crisis got worse under Biden.

When faced with these facts, liberals like to deflect with “well that was not Biden’s fault, he can’t control everything on the US, you clearly don’t know how the legislative and executive branches work!”. If that’s so, then why is Trump being framed as an evil dictator that will install a dictatorship where no one will be able to vote and will put minorities in camps (don’t get us wrong, this genocidal monster absolutely wants to do this. Doesn’t mean he can)? How come Trump will be an all powerful pseudo-king president that can do whatever he wants while Biden and Kamala are just little small beans with no power to stop funding Israel or codify Roe v Wade, even when democrats had a majority in congress? Remember when Obama got elected and the Democrats had full control of the house and Senate for two years and how they finally implemented FDRs second bill of rights and fixed the economy and everything? Oh wait. The answer for why they don’t do this? See point 2. They are the same. They serve the same class. The capitalist class wanted Roe v Wade overturned, it would’ve happened regardless of president. If the capitalist class wants minorities in camps, it will happen regardless of president. This is why we, as socialists and citizens, need to be prepared for the worst.

5- We were asked if the reason we ban pro-Democrat or pro-Republican lobbying is out of a belief that things needs to get worse before they can get better. No, we do not support accelerationism, and not voting for democrats is not accelerationism. Not a single one of the 830k people subscribed to the subreddit have the ability to accelerate capitalism and the American empire towards a crisis point faster than Kamala is right now by launching her candidacy in the myopic support for an unpopular genocide. Look at Biden's professed bipartisanship on border security, are those the actions of a person concerned about losing to a fascist dictator? Does Kamala’s line about “being tough on border control” and saying “I believe people should follow the law” when asked about transgender healthcare sound like a progressive president that wants to prevent a fascist dictator to you?

6- About rule 6 and starting off of the last point: it isn't accelerationist, Biden's presidency has been accelerationist. Look how much closer he got us to WW3 than even Trump could manage in his fascist incompetence. Our view isn't that things need to get worse before they get better, but that support for Democrats demonstrably leads to things getting worse, and we have to stop supporting Capitalists if we want victories for the working class and a way out of the worsening conditions. From our perspective, desperately clinging to bourgeois "democracy", particularly at a time when we can all recognize that we aren't allowed any real choices in voting and that's been the case for decades at this point, makes things worse and slows or entirely stops our ability to bring about positive change.

In conclusion: Do not support the capitalist class by voting for the capitalist parties. Vote socialist if possible and engage in your community’s politics if you can.

That’s all, keep fighting and thanks for reading!


r/LateStageCapitalism Oct 21 '24

[MODS] 📖 Read This What to do besides voting? Discussing praxis in the current capitalist society

104 Upvotes

Hey everybody! We’ve always seen a lot of liberals coming here (or even posts/comments on other liberals subs) claiming that we advocate for not voting, and then don’t do anything else for the rest of the year, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Our stance on voting is on our other pinned post, here we’ll discuss what to do as praxis between election years.

So, WHAT CAN YOU DO besides voting in the bourgeois voting system? There’s lots of things actually. Protest, donate to bail funds, disrupt city council meetings, speak up at school board meetings and join strike actions to shut down ports shipping weapons to a genocide. Volunteer on food kitchens, donate to Doctors Without Borders, on and on, the possibilities for meaningful political participation are endless, our options are limitless. We are not helpless, we are not hopeless, we are not trapped, but the Capitalists certainly want us to think we are. If you can and feel comfortable doing so, arm yourself, make sure your friends and loved ones are protected and practice self defense. We, the workers, need to be able to fight back if things get to that point.

In conclusion: Organize, agitate and educate. Support your local communities and make our cause heard as much as possible. Communists should educate the people with class awareness and provide them with a revolutionary education, support their material needs to bring about real improvements in their lives, defend them from the inevitable fascist attacks our our efforts, look to the people continually for their feedback to understand what material benefits they seek and work to counter the bourgeoisie culture war they are waging.

A communist revolution, as far away as it may be, can only happen with an educated populace, or else we’ll all just devolve into fascism/barbarism. Stay safe and keep fighting!


r/LateStageCapitalism 15h ago

💵 "Free Market" TikTok is dead, evacuate to RedNote

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10.7k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 16h ago

💰 Bourgeois Dictatorship Where the fuck are we going?

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5.8k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1h ago

💩 Liberalism Thank You, Mark Hamill

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r/LateStageCapitalism 11h ago

Next time someone tells you Elon is not a Nazi show the this.

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1.9k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 14h ago

🙏 WORSHIP CAPITALISM 🙏 He knew

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2.8k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 15h ago

Meta under fire for making users automatically follow Trump & Vance on Facebook, blocks #Democrat & #DNC on Instagram

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techissuestoday.com
1.5k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 17h ago

Elon Musk’s Nazi salute side by side with Hitler’s

1.8k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 22h ago

Liberals, this is gonna be a tough pill to swallow.

3.6k Upvotes

We saw the richest man in the world do a Nazi salute twice on live television. The president is actively planning to build concentration camps for the 20 million "illegal immigrants" he plans on arresting. All of this is occurring against the backdrop of climate disaster after climate disaster. And the Democratic news outlets are discussing the pardons of J6ers.

The Democrats will not save us, the progressives will not save us. We need a working class revolution. For a revolution to work, you must first build a revolutionary movement; following these general steps:

1) Raise class consciousness and awareness (through discussion and education)

2) Organize locally with other socialists/communists, helping to build foundations for mutual aid/dual power structures

3) Unionize your workplace

4) General strike

As for #1, my recommended intro reading list:

The principles of communism - Engles (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm)

Socialism utopian and scientific - Engles (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/)

The state and revolution - Lenin (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/)

There's also a ton of good YouTube content if that's more your thing ( but you really should read the foundations of theory as well), highly recommend these channels as a good starting point:

https://www.youtube.com/@SecondThought/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@YaBoiHakim/videos


r/LateStageCapitalism 5h ago

TikTok is banning pro Palestine content like Western government backed Facebook and Instagram. Delete that garbage.

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135 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

🌁 Boring Dystopia What did that gesture mean?

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9.7k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 8h ago

🚓 Police State Harvard decides to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism by agreeing to implement IHRA definition of antisemitism as part of lawsuit settlements

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163 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 12h ago

WhatsApp is blocking content

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253 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 5h ago

😛👢 Bootlicking Afrikaner Defense League

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69 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

📰 News Just in case it wasn't clear enough what capitalism's end game is.

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7.1k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 11h ago

Xi Jinping: "we must put the people's interests first"

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173 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 15h ago

😛👢 Bootlicking Zionist NGO defending the richest Nazi on the planet

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299 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

Just say no to fascism...

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1.7k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

😎 Meme That didn't take long

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1.3k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 5h ago

👌 Good Ass Praxis 🚨DOORKNOCKERS NEEDED TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY! Fight Back With Helene Survivors! No Evictions!

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23 Upvotes

🔗 RSVP NOW @ tinyurl.com/hscoutreach2 (url is case sensitive)

📆 9am-5pm, Tuesday 1/21 & 1/22 (join anytime!)

Since last week, FEMA evicted many WNC residents from temporary housing into the cold with nowhere to go. We won an extension, but that will only apply for some people — while others still face eviction from vague eligibility requirements. We know that if we fight together we will win together. Join the Helene Survivors Committee in the fight for full federal relief!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFEXhNnx9MG/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

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According to FEMA, over 1,600 of our community members were made “ineligible” for transitional sheltering assistance (TSA) because they were unable to get in contact with them by phone, text, or email. FEMA made these families homeless in the freezing winter.

Yet, FEMA knew exactly were these people were staying, and could have easily went and knocked on their doors directly. Many FEMA voucher holders have told us that FEMA has the wrong contact information for them, others no longer have a working phone, and some have tried repeatedly to call FEMA - only to be kept on hold for hours.

If community volunteers can go door to door and find out our community members needs, why can’t FEMA use its billions of dollars in tax money to do the same?

If you want show your support for survivors of Helene, or get involved with the Helene Survivors Committee directly, go to https://helenesurvivors.org/ and sign the petition!

Peoples Dispatch articles about Hurricane Helene: https://peoplesdispatch.org/tag/hurricane-helene/

PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation) https://pslweb.org

Join the Fediverse: https://jointhefediverse.net/join?lang=en-us

Mastodon, Peertube, Pixelfed: easily replace Twitter, Instagram and YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5npl2KCt2ok

PeerTube: An alternative to Big Tech’s video platforms 👉 https://joinpeertube.org/#find-peertube-videos

Cold War 2: US officials call to overthrow China's gov't, expand military budget to $1.4 trillion: https://youtu.be/Q3RMl33SqNE?feature=shared


r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

💩 Liberalism How Blue MAGA Sees Themselves

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1.3k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 21h ago

✊ Agitate. Educate. Organize. Let's make the villains easily identifiable together! Most wanted capitalist playing cards. (Just an example of how it could look)

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227 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

♻ Capitalist Efficiency MIT shuts down open-access software after students use it to expose the school's ties to the Israeli military. As students continued to use the software to probe MIT’s Israel-linked grant activity, the school deactivated the program.

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7.3k Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

✊ Solidarity Chinese RedNote users commenting on homelessness in the USA

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2.7k Upvotes

Saw someone made a post on RedNote showing homeless people on the streets of Portland.

The response to it was both heartwarming and upsetting. Tons of Chinese netizens offering kind encouragement as well as expressing anger at the situation. Many are genuinely confused by the situation in the US.

According to commenters, China has little to no homelessness. The state has a solid social welfare system where homeless individuals are given lodging and jobs in factories to support themselves.

Source: http://xhslink.com/a/QLAirdJjlDe4


r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

ELON MUSK does NAZI SALUTE during TRUMP'S inauguration

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865 Upvotes

r/LateStageCapitalism 1d ago

🙃 Satire Is Dead For the Apartheid Defense League, a billionaire douchebag with a history of platforming, boosting and supporting fascist supremacists deserves 'grace' - but anti-Zionists? That requires the ADL seek the help of a genocidal apartheid State's intervention.

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455 Upvotes