Most of our fellow citizens already associate the state with "corruption" due to that agenda, unfortunately. There is a cultural barrier to be won here. Tech has always branded itself as "revolutionary" and utopianistic, we could and should use that for good.

The problem of the corruption rhetoric is that people think the government is not doing what it should, when in fact the government is actually doing EXACTLY what it was supposed to do, which is upholding the interests of the dominant class. The government under capitalism is corrupt by nature, and democracy is just a lie we are told every day.

I have saved this, but I am also commenting on it so I don't lose this gem.

I started to hate the tech industry, especially with the AI bubble/hype and the whole tech powered Gaza genocide going on. I feel I am contributing to make this shitty world even shittier.

I worked on the public sector in my home country (Brazil) and even though I worked on very important initiatives (such as the information systems behind the COVID relief package for all Brazilians during the pandemic), I do feel the public sector is too contaminated by the tech industry mentality.

The hustle culture is very present, as well as the cost cutting mentality, and a cock sucking attitude towards US tech monopolies. I have stomach butterflies just for thinking on how many discussions I had with different people, especially in the top hierarchy, for their obsession in using bloated Oracle, IBM, Microsoft or any other Gartner magic quadrant listed tech, instead of just using a simple low cost Spring or name your OSS framework with a PostgreSQL instance so we wouldn't be vendor locked in. And the same mentality of working late hours and weekends just to appease potential clients and business to increase revenue is there. I think I had a much more exploitative relationship working in one of the big Brazilian public sector tech companies than I am doing right now in a private company.

The directors of the public state-owned companies are actually indicated from outside (politicians, top level bureaucrats and executives from the private sector) based on a neoliberal agenda that seek to provide services to provide data and public information for private companies. For example, there's an initiative called "empréstimo consignado", which is a kind of loan discounted directly from all government granted benefits. So whenever someone retires and receive a pension, banks and financial institutions are notified and start to offer pensionists (often in a difficult financial situation) loan packages with astronomical interest rates which often put those people in a even worse condition. Today, Dataprev earns more revenue on the "Empréstimo Consignado" than by processing social benefits for the population.

So, I think in the end, for our own survival and for the good of our society we need to fight back. While it is good to live outside of the tech industry but in the end we have no option but fighting it. So even if we need to take a break to work on more meaningful stuff in the name of our own sanity, we cannot avoid the fight which can only be done as workers, by taking possession of the means of production, doing strikes to halt the system down and breaking this profit making machine that only cares about increasing shareholder value.

Of course, Jacobin. Let's keep doing the same thing Western Europeans did after WWII, and then socialism will be on the rise. Err... Wait? Where is socialism in Western European states? What do you mean capitalism is in crisis (again), Western democracies are in crisis (again) and Fascism is on the rise (again)?

As Marx once quoted:

Hegel remarks somewhere[*] that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.

Ah, Bernie, why are you such a disappointment...

Use the correct category, Bernie, compare fascists with fascists. Otherwise we all will be right to call you a fascist and a Zionist apologist as well.

Most people are just too optimistic about his words, even though he didn't act yet. Could be another disappointment or not. If he plays his game right, meaning, he doesn't confine his government to the traditional bourgeois institutions and instead use his position to increase organization, agitation and propaganda, then we can see our cause advance.

However, it's important that people in the left don't put all their hopes in one guy. Don't wait for him to bring any miracles, keep doing their work. If he doesn't deliver, then pressure him into doing so.

Actually, the right wing is using identity politics to create a white unity against Mamdani. He (and his campaign advisors) should be aware of this strategy and counter it. Every time the left talks about minorities the right also uses idpol in their favor. Let's keep in mind that the right wing will always appeal to identity and religion because it can't deal with popular economic policies. He can use the fact that the white rich are screwing the white poor with higher cost of living and housing speculation and create division among their ranks as well. This is better than using an anti-white rhetoric which is precisely what the right wing is trying to use in their favor.

Iran really need to upgrade its air force as it is essential for increasing their anti-air capabilities. Aircraft can both function as mobile radars and have striking capabilities to target tankers and by making enemy aircraft busy and working on defensive maneuvers instead of just dropping bombs. B2 can be vulnerable to air to air engagements, especially long range air to air and surface to air strikes, since they rely more on their stealth capabilities than maneuverability.

That said, any anti-aircraft capability is still secondary to developing their nuclear program. The game will only be over after Iran develops its nuclear arsenal.

Today, Iran is very likely to win against Israel and the US due to their strategical depth and ballistic capabilities. Let's keep in mind Iran still hasn't used their top grade missiles. However any prolonged conflict would also destroy the Iranian economy, so it would be a Pyrrhic victory for Iran and for the resistance axis. This is why it is imperative that they can reach nuclear dissuation to prevent a direct conflict.

Russia can't help Iran because they are already fully committed to Ukraine. They can't afford another front.

China, however, very likely helped Iran in electronic warfare, both helping Iran target missiles or by jamming iron dome's electronics. They will never admit this, but we might discover their capabilities in the future.

The only way the US can possibly defeat Iran is either by using tactical nuclear weapons (which opens a big Pandora box, which can lead to a mutual self destruction scenario or nuclear wars), or by regime change. Israel tried this and failed.

Azerbaijan is a known Israeli collaborator in the region, and not only that, but it holds territorial disputes with Iran.

They will be very successful at blowing up their own people, that's what they will achieve.

While I find it good news that he is talking about Marxism and Marxist philosophy/ideology, I don't like much the idea of following someone based on appearances. Is Lukashenko promoting Marxism in universities? Is he applying dialectical materialism to understand his country and that is being translated into actual policy? I find this important, because otherwise it would be much more a PR move rather than an actual change. Regardless, it's better to have a leader promoting Marxism than one who condemns it.