Do you know any literature you could recommend please - if possible - that explores what you said? (Well before I came across ML I have long thought the flipside of the coin you are mentioning; that capitalism brings out the worst in society, the most sociopathic and malignant characteristics of what we consider the human condition is what is amplified, promoted and successful. However, I do not have a background in philosophy and I feel I have only scratched the surface of dialectics and materialism)

Thanks for sharing; glad to see bourgois fear in a socialist country.

So much cope and weasel words in a typical liberal article.

“The large number of rich Chinese heading elsewhere could add to the strain on the nation’s fragile economy”

Fragile? Based on what?

Capital flight controls appear to be an alien concept to these kind of esteemed journalists (nevermind the labour theory of value).

I am also seeing a global theme with a lot of non-western bourgoisie there appears to be an internalised inferiority complex where the ideal is to be some sort of honorary aryan.

It’s probably worthwhile reading some Frantz Fanon at this stage to soothe the soul.

/edits: grammar/clarity

I am not sure if these are currently (ongoing inflation woes aside) competitive enough from a western market perspective given the built-in sinophobia; they have to be exceptionally good value for quality or have no meaningful competition for a chinese name brand (security cameras such as Dahua as an example amongst others, and another tangent example would be Polestar which though is owned by Geely is considered “swedish” ). However, I don’t think that’s the point; like you said these may be the beginning of much more competitive products given track records in all other fields.

If one takes a less eurocentric view; the above board/cpu bundle is nothing short of amazing. A middle income country while undergoing military seige, sanctions and hybrid wars is able to produce and sell a consumer product higher in the tech-chain in a market that openly declares the producing country a national enemy is market strategy all of these MBAs could not concuct in their wildest dreams. And obviously this is not the only - let alone first - example of this.

It’s almost as if marxists know how to play in the game of capitalism better than liberals through a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the system.

Ironically one of the best investor’s handbook over the past century still remains to be Das Kapital.

Feels like this is a good time to post some of Hakim’s primers for those who are interested/curious:

What if North Korea was a democracy? (Starts at 22 seconds if you want to skip the intro, approx 30 min; can watch in 2x speed if so inclined) https://youtu.be/1f4rKycK6Gg

Why is North Korea so weird? (Approx 12 min long) https://youtu.be/EzDhqXuELjo

What is the deal with defectors? (Again approx 12 min long) https://youtu.be/vBwZjBMbsK0

=====

Tangent articles

On Brainwashing (1st: 17 min, 2nd: 77 min):

• https://redsails.org/brainwashing/
• https://redsails.org/masses-elites-and-rebels/

Feels like a “feature not a bug” of orientalism… which reminds me of another book on my long list to read (Edward Said).

Interesting; thank you!

Thank you - epigenetics? If you have reading material to share on rethinking Lysenkoism in the 21st century I would be grateful.

You are right in that I should clarify with regards to limited resources; I mean developed infrastructure (both “soft” and hard eg people and buildings) in the context of an underdeveloped country like India and the uneven development in wealthier capitalist countries taken as a whole.

Furthermore we should also consider a privatised system can include “public” infrastructure systems in a capitalist country (there are myriad ways one could analyse this from the financialisation of tuition fees to the contracting out of education materials and infrastructure that is overwhelmingly dictated by the private sector).

My argument is not really for or against entrance exams (this should be determined through peer reviewed research and may be discipline specific) but there are other loci of focus that are of greater importance to avoid higher education just reflecting wealth demographics and bourgoisie sensibilities including the artificial scarcity of higher paid labour.

I also tend to lean towards Paolo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed on a more enlightened path for education.

Addendum: I should add that I actually agree with your initial premise that medical schools should have neither entrance exams nor lower degrees; there are places in the world (geographical/historical) where this is/was the reality. However, we should work towards overthrowing the systems that generate the constraints that you have outlined. We shouldn’t just treat the injury of a fallen patient but also question why the patient collapsed in the first place.

The comments in this thread has made me realise I need to read the following:

• In Defence Of Materialism by Plekhanov
• Dialectical Biologist by Lewontin and Lewin

And re-read the Red Sails articles:

1. https://redsails.org/what-is-dialectics/
2. https://redsails.org/dialectics/
3. https://redsails.org/on-dialectics/

I agree current systems disproportionally favour wealth over merit but given limited resources how would one filter candidates efficiently to select those truly motivated and disciplined to study? If one approaches the problem by eliminating privatisation of education you can then work towards a more meritocratic system with or without entrance exams?

I wonder how the sangh will spin this to blame “urban naxalites” (if they do).

“Truly a terrible time to be an Indian right now.”

I think it was Amartya Sen who claimed an excess of 2.5 million deaths per year since formal end of colonisation compared to China - even taking into account liberal “accounting” of deaths (things like unborn children etc). Unfortunately for the majority it has been a terrible time to be an Indian for about the past few centuries though obviously the fascist hindutva for the past decade has not helped. (Someone with more knowledge please correct this figure if inaccurate)

Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize for the concept that famines don’t happen if there’s a “free press” because the public finds out and demands action. He didn’t understand Israel and its supporters, who see starvation and demand action - to make starvation worse

https://x.com/justinpodur/status/1801661762883764296

Focus on the fact that propaganda exists, yes. But also focus on the fact that people probably put up a lot of hostile resistance to any propaganda if it goes against their pre-existing wishes. Ask more questions about those.

https://twitter.com/RodericDay/status/1799409826029810176

One’s loyalty to one’s own superior material conditions even if it means denying the humanity in oneself by gleefully participating in the butchering of others while maintaining cognitive dissonance to the memories of the subjugation of their spiritual ancestors is one of the defining traits of liberalism - and its child fascism - that the Europeans have bestowed to the rest of the world.

It feels like at this stage if they could have then they already would have by now given the massive military infrastructure losses in northern palestine. They appear to be doing their best impression of a barking dog with no bite. Like a lot of western armies these day they appear to be better at killing civilians and ethnic cleansing as opposed to fighting other militaries.

/please take this layman armchair analysis with a pinch of salt