Starting from the assumption that European empire is hostile to Russia, that the US is a successor/continuation of European empire, that the US is hostile to Russia, and that Russia has abandoned the possibility of a peer or junior partnership with the US...

What is the current analysis of the relationship between the US right wing and Russia?

I am thinking of things like Tucker Carlson's interactions with Russia, the supposed Russian memo that Tucker's commentary is important to Russian programs, supposed Russian money entering politics, Russian social media propaganda, etc.

Obviously the US runs bot farms to produce propaganda and influence other countries, but what's the current state of analysis as to Russia's goals with their similar programs?

I am looking for perspective from members of the 'grad on this, because search results are obviously heavily skewed with liberal perspectices.

Balkanization talks begin

Liberalism started as a philosophy to oppose monarchies. While watching protests, I saw a sign with a John Locke quote on it and it clicked for me.

This whole campaign of No Kings is total philosophical cooptation of the burgeoning revolutionary energy and redirecting it to liberalism. At first I thought the slogan was catchy but stupid - we're not at risk of a king.

But seeing the quote made it click. No Kings is something both American liberals and American conservatives agree on, because they're all philosophical liberals. By focusing the energy of the moment against "kings", it at once directs the energy towards an already solved problem (there are no kings in the USA) and it directs the attention of the energized towards liberal concepts.

That level of sophistication, to me, is additional evidence that this is a dead end movement that we need to break out of or risk being herded into a cul-de-sac.

I'm finding myself needing to talk things out with people. I've never been one for writing a letter of thoughts that I'm forming and then sending it to a pen pal and there aren't any third-spaces around me where idea-formation can occur. I'm looking to have discussion with people about the possible paths the burger reich could take or what the potential consequences of certain international actions or events could be or even what the utility of certain choices by various state or world leaders could have.

I have a need for discourse and I would really like to find a way to do it while hearing other people speaking with me. Does anyone have any recommendations for where I can find this?

Just goes to a page not found page

I was recently in a conversation with a self-described MagaCommunist who held the position that the primary contradiction in the USA was that the financial owning class owned all of the means of production and that the contradictions of settler colonialism were secondary and could only be resolved through a workers' state.

I realized that I hold the position that settler colonialism is the primary contradiction in the USA, but I also found that I struggled to articulate it effectively. I'm looking for your own thoughts or writings that I can study to learn more on this topic.

Because I am self-employed, I have to buy my health insurance from the NYS marketplace. It is bonkers. Literally unfathomable.

The cheapest plan, for young healthy individuals with no anticipated healthcare needs, is $1,500/month. That is literally the cost of an apartment in many places in this state.

But wait, what do you get for $1,500/month? A deductible of $5,500 and an out-of-pocket maximum of $7,500. So you get to literally pay the equivalent of a second rent for the privilege of NOT GETTING ANY BENEFIT unless you have a major health event. It's madness. What the fuck could you possibly justify paying $18,000 a year for if every single time you go to a medical provider you have to pay the full bill anyway?!