What's Ur Opinion On The Venezuela Situation. And While We Are On That Why Do No Leftists Here Talk About

What's ur opinion on the Venezuela situation. And while we are on that why do no leftists here talk about it

I think people are quiet because it is better not to speak about things you haven’t read much about. This will be short for the same reason.

The situation is this: Venezuela has been subject to assault on its attempts to build socialism from the early days of Chavez, from attempted coups (you can watch “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” which is free on YouTube, for an understanding of the 2002 US-backed coup to depose democratically elected Chavez) to collusion between the US and its allies to lower the price of oil specifically to weaken the Venezuelan economy. The current economic crisis is the result of a multitude of factors, but the intentional lowering of oil prices by the US and its allies is one of the most important, as well as the failure of the Venezuelan government to diversify its exports such thst its entire economy wasn’t tied so strongly to the price of oil. The resulting economic crisis (resulting, again, not from -socialism- in the generic, but from specific attempts to undermine the Venezuelan government) has, of course, resulted in widening anti-government sentiment, especially among classes whose ability to consume has been limited.

That last part is important- many of the most impoverished in Venezuela still support the government because their ability to eat, to go to school, etc, has been directly provides by Chavista policy. In some papers this will be talked about as buying votes, or bribing those without privilege. In reality this is the relationship between a government not of bourgeois character and those among its people who most need help and empowering- that these people’s livelihoods have been so tied to the government is evidence of the good work being done by its government, not indicative of bribery.

This crisis has been worsened by hoarding and price fixing by Venezuelan companies which are privately owned. The Venezuelan government, contrary to what many people assume, does not control all production and distribution within its borders, and many private companies seem to be able to produce some products and not others, intentionally stirring up discontent. In a recent Telesur video (which is propaganda and should be seen as such, but this merely means that it is supposed to teach you something specific and not that everything or even anything it claims is false on its face) explained that there seemed to be a shortage of toilet paper, but no shortage of other paper products like paper towels, paper plates, etc, suggesting that the problem was in production and distribution rather than lack of demand for products (who does not want toilet paper?) or lack of access to raw materials. There have also been numerous claims of things from toys to food being hoarded by the wealthy.

In response to this crisis (again, one intentionally wrought upon the country), the government of Venezuela has made several moves which I do not support in and of themselves in an attempt to combat the opposition and maintain its power, including the potential dissolution of the one governing body in which the opposition has a meaningful voice, and crackdown on protesters using means of violence I consider overkill for the tactics being used in those particular moments. But leftists need to understand that we don’t pick sides based on good guys and bad guys- and, even if we did, the opposition has committed its own unseemly and unnecessary acts of horrific violence as well, including literally burning people- but based on the class character of the actors involved. That, and that alone, is the basis of solidarity. The “opposition” is first and foremost a euphemism and a misnomer because it includes a number of elements from social democrats to the most extreme elements of the far right, but its hodgepodge of demands includes austerity, increased privatization, etc- the class character of the opposition is decidedly bourgeois, and the class character of the Venezuelan government is decidedly not bourgeois, even if you don’t want to go so far as to call it proletarian in character. That alone ought to tell us who we maybe not support but eye with more suspicion, see as the greater threat, etc. The class character of the actors involved is very clear, and it is on this basis that, whether you “support” the Venezuelan government or not, you should certainly not “support” the bourgeois opposition. Solidarity is not about good feelings and liking who we work with and so on, but about defense against right wing antisocialist and anti proletarian policy, and advancement of the goals of socialism. I do not think that Venezuela ever achieved socialism. I do not think that Venezuela is a perfect or even very good model for future socialist projects.

To be very clear here, what is being attempted by the opposition is the 2002 coup by other means and by counterrevolution as opposed to outright military coup- the goal is to unseat a democratically elected leader and to impose the will of the bourgeois and right wing elements of Venezuelan society on the people of the country. Regardless of how I feel about the decisions made by the government in the fact of this crisis, of course I do not support a mishmash of right wing elements attempting to undo the work of building something like socialism. I am no Chavista, but “Viva Venezuela” ya es el té, and I do not take kindly to seeing support for right wing elements passed around like it means nothing.

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[ID:

1 : "I, in my corner, with my monstrous needs.", underlined in red

2: "I need you to love me more / Love me more, love me more / Love enough to fill me up / Fill me up, fill me full up / I need you to love me more / Love me more, love me more / Love enough to drown it out / Drown it out, drown me out". Dark red text on red background.

3: "You’re exhausted because [highlight-start] you’re looking for love every second of every day, in everything you do. [highlight-end]". Black on white; gray highlight.

4: Photograph of a ceramic sculpture of an anatomical heart. There is a big, roundish hole in its center. The heart is painted red and white to resemble the color of flesh; it darkens nearing the edge of the hole, which are black. The background is black.

5: "I don’t know what I want, only that I’m desperate for it, that I can’t stop asking." . The pic is a screenshot of an indented tumblr textpost, background set in dark mode.

6: It’s a manga comic strip that reads from right to left. It opens with a quadrangular text box: “Every part of me started going cold.”. In the middle of the strip are drawn three scenes of life, which depict a shivering woman with a bob cut (the protagonist) struggling to warm herself up: she hugs herself in a blanket near a heater (1), she bathes in hot water (2), she buries herself under a futon dryer (3). Near each scene there’s written, in order,: “HEATER” (1), “BATH” (2), “FUTON DRYER” (3). Over the third scene, with an arrow pointing to it, there is an additional text that reads: “APPARENTLY, YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THIS…”. The strip closes with another quadrangular text box: “No matter what I did, I couldn’t warm up”. The blanket, the hot water and the futon, all in pink, are the only colored parts of the strip.

7: “It is thus impossible for the grandiose person to cut the tragic link between admiration and love. In his compulsion to repeat [underline-start] he seeks insatiably for admiration, of which he never gets enough because admiration is not the same thing as love. It is only a substitute gratification of the primary needs for respect, understanding, and being taken seriously —needs that have remained unconscious. [underline-end]”. After a line of blank space, the text continues: “ [...]If his success the previous night only serves as the denial of childhood frustrations, then, like every substitute, it can only bring momentary satiation. [underline-start]In fact, true satiation is no longer possible, since the right time for that now lies irrevocably in the past. [underline-end]The former child no longer exists, nor do the former parents. The present parents—if they are”. Black on white.

8: “[highlight-start] I need something bigger than the sky /Hold it in my arms and know it's m

ine [highlight-end] / Just how many stars will I need to hang around me / To finally get somewhere I can be all done / Somewhere like heaven”. Black on white; pink highlight.

9: Photograph of a ceramic sculpture of the nude upper body of a woman. She has pale skin, black length shoulder black hair with bangs and closed eyes. Her expression is one of resignation, sorrow and hopelessness. Like in the heart before, there is a big roundish hole through the middle of her chest. It’s edges are red, though, and the color slowly fades on the skin. It’s the same shade of red of her cheeks (that goes up to her eyes, making her look like she has just finished crying), mouth, nose and chin. The background is black.

10: “I broke what you gave me / But you kept giving more / And I'm sorry for taking / [highlight-start] But I keep wanting more, more, more, oh [highlight-end]”. Black on white; dark gray highlight over white text.

/END ID]

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There's something so tragic about someone who has nothing sacrificing themself for the one who gave them everything.

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least favorite genre of post on here has gotta be "having mental illness doesn't excuse bad behavior" from people with depression/anxiety, who mistakenly believe everyone with psychosis is simply suffering from distorted thinking like they are. i have the kind of bipolar that causes psychosis under the wrong conditions and it is radically different from the distorted thinking i have when manic or depressed. "distorted thinking" is "there's nothing wrong with stealing those groceries from a stranger's car, they won't catch you and you need it more than them". "psychosis" is "you're not stealing those groceries in that stranger's car, they belong to you and those people are just holding them". (never mind that "i haven't eaten in days and they can afford a car" morally complicates either situation for a moment.)

i have been in a state where i earnestly believed things that were radically untrue and they lead me to cause harm to others. these were not minor distortions in an otherwise accurate picture of the world, they were fundamentally incorrect pictures of the world. some of them were fairly innocuous and are largely water under the bridge. some of them were serious and i still feel shame about them now. but i have also seen people hounded to the ends of the earth over shit they did in a delusional state which would be utterly out of character while compos mentis and it feels cosmically unfair.

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You know that Ada Limón poem where she’s like “i can’t help it i love the way men love”? my dad recently confessed to me that he became a shoemaker because they buried my grandma shoeless

oh…………………………………

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violence is the appropriate response to oppression btw

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