• Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
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    1 day ago

    The countries aren’t necessarily underdeveloped, they are over-exploited. The absolute vast majority of the resources and value they creste is taken for the Global North, the fact that the United States and other Western Powers regularly commit regime change isn’t somehow the fault of the Imperialized. This is a monstrous view of the world you have, which is why I asked you to clarify yourself several times. You claim it a lack of education, and yet don’t see the connection between that and all of the Socialist and post-Socialist countries having the highest literacy rates in the world? Under-education is the tool by which Imperialists keep Imperialized countries docile, and when they start to take control of their own resources like Burkina Faso under Sankara, they pull regime change.

    Secondly, the USSR. They didn’t go from “relatively little” to “less little,” they went from a semi-feudal backwater to the second largest economy in the world, and did so while under constant siege. Again, life expectancy doubled literacy rates over tripled, they managed to take on the vast majority of the Nazis (80% of Nazi deaths were on the Eastern Front) and took Berlin, healthcare and education was free, working hours were shorter than the US with greater vacation days, all with rapid economic growth and low inequality. Linking right-wing think tanks designed to massage narratives can’t erase the numerical facts.

    You were linked many extensive primary and scholarly sources by people like @Edie@lemmy.ml and you return with right-wing think tanks, which is rude at best and shows a lack of care. The bare minimum you could do is read Anticommunism & Wonderland, which is a subset of Blackshirts and Reds, though you really should read any of the books provided.

    Finally, again, the Nordic Model is not Socialism. The Working Class is oppressed by the bourgeoisie within the countries, and the Nordic Countries heavily exploit the Global South. Not everyone can copy the Nordic Model because it requires mass international exploitation, which you argued is the fault of the Imperialized in an earlier section, so I guess that clarifies your worldview a bit. In short: brutal expropriation and Imperialism is a good thing, more should do it even harder, and it’s the fault of the Imperialized for not picking them up by their bootstraps (despite them picking up the Global North by its bootstraps, and the Global North acting like they earned the riches they stole).

    Try to reread this comment section, and legitimately ask yourself if half-assed right-wing think tank articles are better than Primary and Scholarly secondary sources, and if you want to be that dedicated to justifying brutal exploitation and encouraging more of it.

    • nifty@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      Some of those countries don’t even have plumbing.

      Second, the best way to understand your weak spots is through your ideological opponents. I don’t care for capitalism or socialism per se, I just hate disingenuous propaganda.

      The so-called right wing platforms are simply stating historical facts from primary sources.

      • davel [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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        16 hours ago

        Some of those countries don’t even have plumbing.

        Michael Parenti: Africa is rich. Quote from a similar speech:

        The Third World is not poor. You don’t go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich! The Philippines are rich! Brazil is rich! Mexico is rich! Chile is rich! Only the people are poor. But there’s billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken. There’s been billions for 400 years! The capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries. These countries are not underdeveloped, they’re overexploited!

      • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
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        17 hours ago

        Again, I don’t know how to explain this in clearer terms, the Global South has been intentionally overexploited and looted by the Global North for centuries. It is the fault of countries you uphold as role models as well as others like the United States.

        • nifty@lemmy.world
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          16 hours ago

          I think that’s a fair point, to a degree. But again to my point, that’s a huge generalization and ignores many, many successful countries which overcame incredible odds. It’s important to understand why their success happened so similar models can be used in other countries. And no, their problems aren’t just “exploitation”, that’s just wishful and simplistic thinking. Is there exploitation, yes. Is it because of “western nations”, not necessarily. The corruption and greed is an inherent problem in many of these countries, it existed without the help of outsiders.

          • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
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            16 hours ago

            Depending on countries to “overcome incredible odds,” ie violently eject colonizers and imperialists, and tacitly supporting said system of Imperialism makes little sense. Their success happened because of violently ejecting Imperialists.

            Secondly, I am not talking about exploitation within Imperialized countries, but by Imperialist countries. Shacking up countries in debt traps and using loopholes to sieze infrastructure like ports and natural resources is how the Global North violently steals from the Global South, and maintains this with many military bases to prevent resistance.

            • nifty@lemmy.world
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              16 hours ago

              If you don’t want to admit that some of these countries are wholly disinterested in their own people, then don’t. Countries like those in BRIC, minus S, and only including the name-only ones are great examples of the kind of countries which overcame possible exploitation.

              So no, it’s not just an outside baddie exploitation problem. Do those countries have their own issues, yes. Do they have the best systems, no. Does any country? Not necessarily.

              Let’s be honest, a lot of political games make fools of us all, and it’s hard to judiciously determine the optimal system for economic development or social development outside of the context of history. Nothing has happened in a vacuum, and everything is tainted by history. The only thing we can hope for is fairness, justice and equity for everyone as best as we can provide, while not sacrificing the self-actualization of others. What really triggers me though is how people say disingenuous things about their ideology of choice, and that just makes me want to say the counterpoint, even if I agree on some aspects.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
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                16 hours ago

                Countries are made up of people. People care about their fellow countrymen, the difference here is that Africa and Latin America have been utterly looted and colonized for centuries, the colonizers setting up skeleton states to maintain imperialism and neocolonialism. This is not a culture issue, a race issue, or a moral failing, but an economic problem caused by centuries of looting and pillaging.

                As for BRICS? China had a Communist revolution to throw out the Imperialists, same as Russia (who re-nationalized after the West swooped in during the fall of the USSR, now resulting in Nationalist Capitalism), India largely has had an incomplete overthrow of Imperialists and as such has seen further impoverishment, and more.

                You actually agree with us and with Chinese Communists, who believe everyone’s path to a better society will be different. However, where we differ is that we have spent the time studying history, theory new and old, and have come to the conclusion that all of these different solutions will come in the form of Socialism with various Characteristics. Additionally, we don’t blame victims, but oppressors.

                • nifty@lemmy.world
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                  16 hours ago

                  The common thread in successful countries is not overthrowing of “imperialists”, it’s nationalism.

                  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.mlOP
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                    16 hours ago

                    Where do you think nationalism comes from in colonized and Imperialized countries? A desire to overthrow their oppressors. Read The Wretched of the Earth.