Being nominated for mayor in NYC is not a 'success' why.  I have not done that, and neither have you.

Quote from: K-Dog on Sep 05, 2025, 09:36 AMBeing nominated for mayor in NYC is not a 'success' why.  I have not done that, and neither have you.

Well, because being elected is a popularity contest....as opposed to a "success" contest. Now, he has won another election, New York State Assembly? So he started off as like...a local prom queen popularity winner. Success? Knowing the qualities of a prom queen or two in high school....eh.

And true, neither of us have been nominated for Mayor. Neither of us were born in Uganda. Neither of us picked a college degree in our ancestral history as opposed to technical fields. Both of us had careers in our speciality.  Both of us did well financially in our careers, achieving signifcant net worth. I might call that a success.

If he had already won the election than that would be a political success. What does that mean though? That kissing babies, telling lies and making promises one can't keep though is something we should all aspire to? 

Marx said, one thing he knew for sure was that he is not a Marxist.  Jesus knew he was not a Christian too.  Jesus had different values.  Jesus died on a cross.  He did not wear one around his neck.

Chris Hedges says that he is not a Marxist.  When I heard that the first thing that went through my mind was -- "don't be so chickenshit" --, which instantly made no sense.  Chris takes risks.  Lots of them.  Listening to him more, I get it over my nonsense and agree.

Marx new to base his analysis in real material conditions, but he was an idealist in his own way.

The state can't wither away,  it must exist in an appropriate form of power, existing to restrain inappropriate bourgeois power.  Men like Donald Trump will always come along with their elite bourgeois perversions of state power.  They must be restrained.

If the state withers away, evil fills the vacuum.  This is what happened in America.  The state withered away by discarding its social function, transmuting itself into an arm of rich and powerful business interests shrinking to an elite core.  Now evil fills the vacuum.  The state is a tool of class rule, but it is also an essential protector against anarchy and individual predation.  Angry people forget this, and only see one side of the coin.  The very abuses of power that Marx sought to eliminate demands an enduring, organized political power.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/24/young-men-democrats-us-elections

Why did young men move left in this month's US elections?

😁😁😁

RE