TC_209 [he/him, pup/pup's] @ TC_209 @hexbear.net

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5 yr. ago

Consider Joseph Sisko's restaurant, Sisko's Creole Kitchen. Joseph owns the restaurant, but he doesn't sell anything. He provides goods and services, but he doesn't make any money. Sisko's Creole Kitchen is not a business, it is a labor of love that Joseph operates for himself and his community.

Additionally, the Federation is very socially liberal but it is not economically liberal. Economically, liberalism is a pro-capitalism ideology and capitalism has been abolished in the Federation.

Given this thread is about whether or not the Federation is a communist or socialist society, Marxist definitions are the most useful, eh? Furthermore, I'd argue that the term Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie very accurately describes American (I'm an American) society, and does so regardless of one's personal beliefs.

From a Marxist perspective, all class-based societies are governed by dictatorships:

A dictatorship is the political dominance of one group of people over others. In a class society, a dictatorship usually favors the interest of certain classes over the others.

Right now, we live in the Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie

The bourgeoisie is the ruling class in capitalist society; it owns the means of production and has a decisive influence on production. It lives off of surplus value which it obtains by exploiting the labour power of the proletariat.

Most sources on Roddenberry's political beliefs are people who knew him, and they didn't open up about those beliefs until after his death. Here's an article that I've skimmed:

According to his last wife, Majel Barrett, he identified as a communist. But we know from the many accounts of his unethical business practices that he was also obsessed with making money. He preached peace and love but was infamously difficult to get along with. And he flew the flag for feminism while being a notorious womanizer.

Gene was a delightful man with great creativity and talent, but he was also a deeply flawed man who often failed to practice what he preached.

Capitalism was eliminated on Earth by the New World Economy, which was likely a Dictatorship of the Proletariat as envisioned by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Roddenberry, etc. The Federation appears to be a classless, moneyless post-DotP society that still has one primary state apparatus (the Federation itself) that oversees many smaller state apparatuses (the Federation's many member-worlds). You'll notice a contradiction, though: If a state "is a system by which the ruling class maintains and perpetuates its dominance within the social formation... by subjugating the other class(es) within class society" then how can the Federation be a classless society? I propose two solutions:

1. Star Trek is fiction and fictional worlds are often incomplete and contradictory. Everything I've said about the New World Economy, the Federation, etc. should be taken with a grain of quadrotriticale.
2. No society has established a DotP, and there are certainly no examples of post-DotP societies. Marxism is a scientific and materialist worldview -- it has evolved since the 19th century and it will continue to evolve into the 23rd century and beyond.

EDIT: My answer is "Yes, but it's Advanced Sci-Fi Communism."

You vote for the people responsible for the current Palestinian genocide.You're not just okay with it, you're cheerleading for Team Genocide. And the cherry on top is your scolding of Nakoichi, a real-life activist, while throwing a tantrum over voting for the blue face of the American Capitalism Party.

After all the Palestinian have been murdered under the watchful eyes of Biden and Harris, what ethnic or minority groups are you okay with exterminating in 2028?

You gasp for air, but all you get is a mouthful of blood -- blood from the 200,000 Palestinians killed in a genocide you support.

You are drowning in the blood of 200,000 Palestinians.

Do you condemn the violence necessary to continue the existence of the United States?

Do you condemn the violence necessary to continue the existence of America?

When is your deployment?

Go shit in someone else's punchbowl. The future can be wonderful.

I was going to vote for Biden but now I won't because you acted with such brutal incivility. This is the most important election of our lives; democracy itself is on the ballot and you are turning people away from the polls before they've even opened. You are handing Trump the keys to the White House; you are ushering in the dark tide of fascism. Enjoy the next election, you have made it our last.

2024: "Pfft, look at these scientists wasting time and money figuring out if ants count their steps. Ridiculous!"

2124: "...and that's how the Ant-Step Computational Model allowed us to build the Warp Drive!"

The current US President is committing genocide and he grew up watching Howdy Doody.

China's Orwellian Social Credit Score Isn't Real

China's Orwellian Social Credit Score Isn't Real

Edit: I can't respond to replies from the deeply unserious users of the cowardly instances that have defederated from HB, nor those instances so filled with liberalism and foolishness (but I repeat myself) that we had no choice but to defederate from them. Go read a book.

I owned a house in the past, and now I rent.

Um, grow up, get a job sweaty.