How dare they disrespect the time-honored European tradition of racism!?

They used to use racism to drive a wedge between different groups of the proletariat. They still do, but they used to too.

Completely dogmatic way of thinking. I should remind you that you just said “Cuba and Vietnam are not engaged in combat with Nazis and imperialists currently.” to the suggestion that materially supporting those socialist countries would be more than/equally as productive materially supporting Russia. So which is it? Are there alternatives, or is “die for a country marginally less fascist than the country they’re fighting because Lenin said so”?

I support DPRK, again critically, that doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea for young DPRK men to die in this conflict. There are again, thousands of better ways to support socialism than to throw your life away shoulder to shoulder with reactionaries. That’s my two cents. Probably going to stop responding to you once you call me a chauvinist again.

Russia being the aggressor who wants to take all the territory

Fucking quote me on that. Why are you putting words in people’s mouth and ascribing them intentions you know nothing about?

I said “territorial ambitions”, and Russia is completely transparent about having designs on Crimea, and parts of east Ukraine. That it is part of a fight against NATO encroachment doesn’t suddenly change the fucking material facts of what the war is. If you go fight for Russia, you’re going to risk your life in a trench to take or hold some tiny village or hill. That’s a fact. That’s a completely coherent position to take without having to “fall back on the western narrative”.

I am, as are just about everyone else I have ever talked to on this site, happy to call Russia’s fight a fight against NATO and imperialism. It’s your insane leap from that fact to “it’s your duty as a communist to die for Russia” that everyone is reacting against.

I find the fact that you find dying in a ditch for Russia, a country that at most deserves critical support, for the reasons many others have stated here (capitalist society, persecution of minorities etc.) somehow more important or pressing than joining the fight against fascism by moving to and helping build a nation with actual, existing socialism to be an absurd set of priorities.

What the fuck. Cuba, Vietnam, China, DPRK and Laos are all fighting fascism all the time. Are you seriously suggesting that fighting on the frontlines of a deeply reactionary capitalist country is the only way to combat fascism and imperialism. Because that is delusional.

Since when does “critically supporting” Russia mean die on the front lines for their territorial ambitions?

I was about to ask why anyone would suspect foul play this long after his death, then clicked the link and immediately realized I’m dumb and that prince Andrew is very much still alive.

Just curious, why do you see NATO expansion as an overstated factor in the war? You say yourself that the war is about control of spheres of influence, and what is NATO but part of the US’s power projection?

That makes sense, I guess. I think it’s generous to Orwell to read this as any kind of meaningful criticism of capitalism, when his focus is so clearly on those who betray the revolution, rather than what came before the revolution. But I guess this reading does track with Orwell being a favourite read of Trots and other purity-obssesed western leftists who would rather support a capitalist system (or even outright fascism) rather than an imperfect socialist one. It’s essentially a cautionary tale that revolutions aren’t worth it, because they’re corruptible.

Genuinely curious how you see Orwell criticizing capitalism in Animal Farm? That would be a level of nuance that I didn’t take away from it when reading it as a kid, and certainly not one I have ever seen from anyone who considers it an important work. It has always been presented to me as a pretty straightforward critique of the Stalinist USSR.

Yeah, I should definitely have specified - I made it sound like I had an academic position lined up or something - I would be applying at PhD level if I wanted to get back in, and they don’t hand out a lot of those where I am. There are also a lot of reasons I don’t want to try to get back to academia. Terrible working conditions, publishing pressure, academic politics, no job guarantee at all, and the knowledge that the extremely specialized work you do will only ever be useful to other specialists - if even them. I very seriously considered this path when I finished my MA (had some attention, some professors nudging me to try), and all my friends who went that way are in situations I’m not envious of right now (except maybe in the sense that they get to sound “smart” and I don’t).

I’m not in the states, but I will for sure consider these kind of options. I really wish I had considered the merits of an engineering degree when I was younger. But I had the classic mathophobia and just went path of least resistance when choosing a field of study.

I didn’t really explain very well why I don’t want to work in academia (calling it “running away” kind of suggests I could get a job in academia - not a guarantee at all with my experience etc), but jumping straight to attributing my choices to “right wing brainrot” is a bit dramatic, don’t you think?

That’s probably an option. I think those fields are hard to enter without a lot of experience, at least on anything more than freelance basis, but it’s definitely a good suggestion.

It’s more meaningful than what I did before, for sure, and I feel almost ungrateful for wanting out again. But the challenges are both that it is, a lot of the time pretty mind-numbing, involves a lot of conflict and social stuff that is pretty tough on me (social anxiety) and also makes me feel I’ll never be really good at it. Add to that the fact that the field faces constant cuts by neoliberal politicians and that the hours, pay and benefits are nearly non-existent, and it just feels a bit like a dead end. Sorry for not explaining that in the OP - writing this stuff out helps me work through my own reasoning though, so thanks

I’m curious how - writing documentation seems like it would be hard without the prerequisite IT knowledge. Even if it’s not a career path, I’m also always thinking about ways to feel like I contribute more.

Thanks, lovely idea. You might have missed the part where I’m a humanist devoid of practical skills. Once the free software movement realizes it needs someone really good at analyzing modernist literature, I’m all in

Right, I get that sentiment, but working a job that I found downright meaningless broke me to the point where I had zero energy or motivation to do anything meaningful outside of work. I need to see myself somewhat in my work to not feel like I am actively giving myself depression.

Maybe I should have phrased it more in terms of asking for inspiration rather than searching for meaning. I’m essentially someone without a career saying “what careers are even viable for me at this point?”

Casual sex is very common and can be perfectly healthy. Stop it.

Falling out of love is a tragedy, not a personal failing. Sounds like that’s what’s happening, comrade.