this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
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the_dunk_tank

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It's the dunk tank.

This is where you come to post big-brained hot takes by chuds, libs, or even fellow leftists, and tear them to itty-bitty pieces with precision dunkstrikes.

Rule 1: All posts must include links to the subject matter, and no identifying information should be redacted.

Rule 2: If your source is a reactionary website, please use archive.is instead of linking directly.

Rule 3: No sectarianism.

Rule 4: TERF/SWERFs Not Welcome

Rule 5: No ableism of any kind (that includes stuff like libt*rd)

Rule 6: Do not post fellow hexbears.

Rule 7: Do not individually target other instances' admins or moderators.

Rule 8: The subject of a post cannot be low hanging fruit, that is comments/posts made by a private person that have low amount of upvotes/likes/views. Comments/Posts made on other instances that are accessible from hexbear are an exception to this. Posts that do not meet this requirement can be posted to !shitreactionariessay@lemmygrad.ml

Rule 9: if you post ironic rage bait im going to make a personal visit to your house to make sure you never make this mistake again

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[–] Robert_Kennedy_Jr@hexbear.net 129 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

And no, posting a picture of me next to Hillary does not count as an argument

New site tagline?

[–] SkingradGuard@hexbear.net 52 points 2 months ago

That's a pretty good one too

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[–] ShareThatBread@hexbear.net 110 points 2 months ago (4 children)

major climate bill

Didn’t these ghouls put massive tariffs on Chinese EV’s and solar panels? How the fuck is that helping?

[–] Blockocheese@hexbear.net 57 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Well you see, Yellow Man Bad

smuglord

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[–] SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net 41 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Didn’t these ghouls put massive tariffs on Chinese EV’s and solar panels? How the fuck is that helping?

Oh, okay tankie, I guess you just don't understand how protectionist measures work, but that's unsurprising as communists never even understand Economics 101. They boost US industry by encouraging domestic prod--

Will these protectionist measures work? While the previous tariff measures did reduce the number of Chinese solar panels coming to the US (with an 86% drop over the 2012-2020 period), the billions in subsidies, from first Obama and then Biden, did not revitalise the US solar industry. On the contrary, the American global market share of the solar industry has considerably decreased since the original tariffs were placed — from 9% in 2010 to 2% today. Meanwhile, China’s share of the industry rose from 59% to 78%. There’s no reason to believe that the recent tariff increase will reverse this trend. There’s even less hope that they will help spur a domestic EV industry.

...

It is thus no surprise that while the US government tries to block Chinese EV imports with tariffs, US firms are trying to recapture the EV market by licensing the superior technology of lead Chinese firms! Ford (in Michigan) and Tesla (in Nevada) are partnering with China’s CATL to make batteries. CATL says that it has structured its licensing deal with Ford so that it is compliant with “foreign entity of concern” rules. For its part, Tesla already uses Chinese BYD cells in Germany; Ford and GM use BYD batteries. Even Trump doesn’t like the idea of a ‘great wall’ against Chinese FDI in America. Speaking at an Ohio rally in March, he signalled an openness to Chinese firms building plants “in Michigan, in Ohio, in South Carolina”—so long as they were prepared to employ American workers.

...

US manufacturing hasn’t seen productivity growth in 17 years. That makes it increasingly impossible for the US to compete in key areas, and Biden’s ‘industrial policy’ will fail to deliver unless it can end that stagnation. China’s manufacturing sector is now the dominant force in world production and trade. Its production exceeds that of the nine next largest manufacturers combined.

source

okay, well, look. it's actually very unfair to draw upon the history of uh, 14 years ago. what really matters here is that china is 1984 orwell 429,024,902 dead in tinyman square mao killed 1000 billion ughyurs.

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[–] EmoThugInMyPhase@hexbear.net 104 points 2 months ago (2 children)

A lot of words from someone who makes thousands of dollars making 1 video essay a year and hanging out with war criminals.

[–] Krem@hexbear.net 71 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

hey it's not an easy job to set up purple rim lighting and drink a glass of wine while saying "hello my pets" and then delivering a bland take over the course of 45 minutes

idk maybe she changed her game since i last watched a video five years ago

[–] Diuretic_Materialism@hexbear.net 59 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's actually gotten worse. Her old videos actually had some substance, now it's just drinking wine in, honestly impressive, costumes.

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[–] NapoleonBlownApart@hexbear.net 49 points 2 months ago

hanging out with war criminals

She said posting a pic of her with hillary-apartment is NOT an argument!

[–] Darth_Reagan@hexbear.net 92 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Why haven't the people without any power done anything as significant as the people with all the power?

[–] ryepunk@hexbear.net 43 points 2 months ago

Also the people with all the power aren't actually doing shit. They say they are, then in ten years we will learn that oops that money got gobbled up in corrupt nepotism and naive initiatives that has zero chance of working.

Their climate plan will not work, the student debt is a farce that they seem to hand out piecemeal to slowly remind us that they're trying! But not very hard it seems.

They lost abortion rights and have given up immigration policy. Conservatives are coming for trans rights next and gay rights are right behind that and the Dems have shown they won't fight for anything.

You have to be bloody delusional or connected to the money to think otherwise.

[–] Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml 86 points 2 months ago (2 children)

How the fuck is the "anti-electoralist left" supposed to accomplish anything when they neither posses state power and is constantly crushed by the state power that it does not posses? The mfing Democrats put all their power into blocking and shooting leftists, then wonder why the left isn't getting anything done.

[–] Runcible@hexbear.net 70 points 2 months ago (1 children)

look if you haven't personally accomplished as much as the office of the President in the last 4 years your ideas are clearly without merit, sorry

[–] hotcouchguy@hexbear.net 84 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I would argue we have a better record by doing zero genocides

[–] NapoleonBlownApart@hexbear.net 51 points 2 months ago

What about the 500000 gozillian dead from communism, tankies?

smuglord

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[–] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 74 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

(paraphrasing) the far left will say to firebomb a Walmart but not actually do it

We burnt down a motherfucking police station cool-zone

A major climate bill

If it does nothing to change the trajectory of climate change than how is it major?

(Paraphasing) What have the anti-electoralist left done in comparison to the democrats?

Why the fuck are you comparing the least powerful people in the country to some of the most powerful? Are you even a leftist, Contra?

Not to mention the absolute stupidity of saying the anti-electoralist left is ineffective, when I'm pretty sure both Marx and Lenin both pointed out the pointlessness of bourgeoisie elections (maybe theory nerds can correct me if I'm wrong?)

I haven't watched Contrapoints for a loooong time, but she was always my least favourite Breadtuber. She had this sort of "Trans people should try to pass if we want to be accepted" video if I recall correctly and that's when I noped the fuck away from her videos.

Skull boy is okay, the rest of breadtube can suck my enby ass. Half of them give me fed vibes anyway.

[–] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 69 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Are you even a leftist, Contra?

do you even need to ask lol

[–] citrussy_capybara@hexbear.net 64 points 2 months ago

a picture of me next to Hillary does not count

if you’re not allowed to show everything lib she’s ever done, and you squint hard, there may be a case for the moderate wing of fascism at best

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[–] Red_sun_in_the_sky@hexbear.net 50 points 2 months ago (13 children)

I haven't watched Contrapoints for a loooong time, but she was always my least favourite Breadtuber. She had this sort of "Trans people should try to pass if we want to be accepted" video if I recall correctly and that's when I noped the fuck away from her videos.

Oh yeah she has done that and more. She has the most libbed up trajectory. She did the voting video if I remember, where she opines how revolution is bad and leads to "China tiananmen square 1989 mao great leap forward 1000 billion dead". And blames tankies for trump winning prior.

Anyway she also did hillary girlboss docu and gleefully bantered with hilldawg and Chelsea. Awesome.

Apparently gaza is mega complicated for her to decide which side is bad .

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[–] Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml 47 points 2 months ago (4 children)

About the marx and lenin thing, both of them saw working class participation in bourgeois poltiics as necessary for the working class to count its own strength and put forth its political program. They saw it essentially as preparatory work for any revolution.

Neither had any illusions that participation in bourgeois politics by voting for bourgeois parties or bourgeois candidates would have any benefits. I don't know which one said it, but they even explicitly point out that it is better for the number of reactionary representatives in parliament to increase than for the working class candidates to deradicalise their program, or sell out to the bourgeoise.

That is because, again, the point is to disseminate revolutionary views within the population, to create a known alternative that could become a rallying cry if a revolutionary situation presented itself.

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[–] sharedburdens@hexbear.net 72 points 2 months ago (6 children)

The Brianna Wu arc for contra is something. And no, posting a picture of me next to an astronaut holding a gun does not count as an argument

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[–] SkingradGuard@hexbear.net 68 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

anti electoralist left

I'm not anti elections, I'm anti bourgeois "democracy." It's a farce.

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 66 points 2 months ago (1 children)

can you reassure me that there's a plausible direct action/non-electoralist means of stopping him?

Yes. stalin-gun-1 stalin-gun-2

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[–] Angel@hexbear.net 66 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I don't trust white trans liberals any more than I trust white cis liberals...

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 45 points 2 months ago

Trans liberalism is such a fucking aberration, they should be accosted by the whole community

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[–] Red_sun_in_the_sky@hexbear.net 63 points 2 months ago (4 children)
[–] mustGo@hexbear.net 72 points 2 months ago (4 children)
[–] kristina@hexbear.net 55 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah because fucking Japan or isntrael is so good for trans people 😑

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[–] What_Religion_R_They@hexbear.net 66 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Why are so many white trans liberals "contemplating which country to flee to". What's with the cowardice?

[–] citrussy_capybara@hexbear.net 59 points 2 months ago

“willing to vote for the Palestinian genocide because trump scares me” is cowardly enough even before “fleeing the country”

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 49 points 2 months ago

She'll 100% not be in danger when Trump gets reelected. Despite being trans, she's a privileged white woman with plenty of money.

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[–] ksynwa@lemmygrad.ml 62 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Two centuries of electoralism and we are barreling towards neverending wars, genocide and climate catastrophe

Uhm sweaty what has anti-electoralism achieved

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[–] CyberSyndicalist@hexbear.net 61 points 2 months ago

I planted some trees in my yard which will probably have a greater positive impact on the environment than the totality of Democrat climate bills.

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 58 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (9 children)

can you assure me there's a plausible direct action way of stopping him?

illegal-to-say idf-destroyer

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[–] Egon@hexbear.net 57 points 2 months ago (6 children)

The weekend, sick leave, maternity leave, OSHA, no child labour, civil rights, holidays, etc. all came by as a result of strikes and other direct action

[–] Tom742@hexbear.net 45 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If Biden drone strikes Clarence Thomas as an official act to save OSHA and protect lives I still won’t vote for him, but that’s a good start.

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[–] Philosoraptor@hexbear.net 50 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (20 children)

There's a concept in the philosophy of climate change called "intervention responsibility." Basically, it just involves the recognition that "x is responsible for y" is only intelligible if x has the power to intervene in a way that prevents or changes y. The upshot of this is that different kinds of agents have different responsibilities with respect to big, complicated problems in light of the power (institutional and otherwise) that they have: I have a certain set of things that I can intervene on as a relatively wealthy white guy in the Imperial Core, giving me a different set of responsibilities than a subsistence farmer in the global South. Neither of us has anything close to the kind of intervention responsibility that, say, the US President or the Chevron Corporation has though, because those sorts of agents have access to causal levers that neither I nor the subsistence farmer could possibly get near, let alone pull.

Asking "what has the disempowered, disenfranchised left done that's more effective than the wealthiest empire in the history of the world" is a category error on par with asking what the color blue has done to make itself larger than the color orange. It's nonsensical, because you're comparing totally different kinds of things with access to totally different sorts of influence, and thus totally different responsibilities.

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[–] sisatici@hexbear.net 50 points 2 months ago

Elections can stop fascists. Problem is you have to put people who really oppose fascism into power instead of people whose ideology is to collaborate with fascism and refuse to use any power given to them against fascism. How many times are you gonna be slapped by democrat party actions before you realise they are perfectly fine with fascism in power

[–] Spike@hexbear.net 50 points 2 months ago (2 children)

How long until Contrapoints is on a podcast with JK Rowling?

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[–] Hewaoijsdb@hexbear.net 49 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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[–] Zuzak@hexbear.net 49 points 2 months ago

Anything on the level of influence as a major climate bill?

Well, I can't say I've ever signed a bill that makes oil and gas drilling on public lands a legal requirement for investing in renewable energy, and I also haven't approved more drilling permits on federal land than Trump, but I can say im-vegan, unfortunately I'm just one person and it's not like I have a platform with 600,000 followers to share my thoughts on it or anything.

[–] Diuretic_Materialism@hexbear.net 49 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're a rich white trans woman living in a solid blue state, shut up!

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[–] EmoThugInMyPhase@hexbear.net 47 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It's really easy to caricature the anti-direct action liberals as real life misanthropes whose politics is "democracy will be destroyed" and then not safeguarding that democracy. It would help to dispel that myth if they were more vocal about what specifically their methods have achieved.

[–] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 45 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It's like that time Ceaser was crying because Alexander the Great did so much when he was the same age. He refuses to acknowledge that Alexander inherited an army.

Yeah, if I had the reach and money of the democrats, I'd probably do a whole lot more just by virtue of not spending it on golf courses, mansions, and corrupt military expenditures. And you know what else? Labor would probably have a lot more money, good will, and reach if the US didn't go fucking ape shit, kill a bunch of people, and threaten to blow up the world as we knew it from the second WW2 ended until the dissolution of the USSR. All the while bombing the fuck out of miners, infiltrating any leftist groups that existed, and assassinating leaders of black movements. Domestic and international labor has to build its base out of rubble so fine you'd mistake it for sand. Democrats inherited the richest nation ever known and a worldwide military industrial complex and can't feed children lunch.

[–] Kumikommunism@hexbear.net 42 points 2 months ago

Me not voting for a genocider is much more of an accomplishment than a policy that pushed the timing of doomsday back 2 hours.

[–] hamid@vegantheoryclub.org 42 points 2 months ago (2 children)

American elections lol that is a funny joke.

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[–] TomBombadil@hexbear.net 42 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Remember If you don't tell her about the illegal and cool things you do they don't count. You have to dox yourself and list all the Walmarts you've firebombed or contra won't take you seriously

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[–] milk_thief@hexbear.net 41 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ruling ideology is blaming the minorities for their misery. Girl, you were already a fascism cheerleader, you are just getting scratched

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