so, socialism didn't really happen the way it was imagined it would, but who should really be surprised by that.

but, communism is automation. and, it's closer than you think.

they're talking about slaughtering us. this is class warfare; entirely rational. the real question is why we aren't plotting a means to take control. but, what i've been saying for years - and i'm sure others have been saying it, too - is that it's the inevitable result of unemployment, which is not very marxist, granted, but literally right out of bakunin.

if you drop the classical marxist narrative around the uselessness of the lumpenproletariat and pick up the classical anarchist narrative around the lumpenproletariat as the essential revolutionary force, the road map begins to materialize more clearly, and the way it works is like this:

1. automation savages the economy, leading to massive unemployment.
2. a mass of unemployed workers finally organizes.
3. ??????
4. communism.

and, the question marks are the point, here - they're the part that is really important, the part we can't write, the part we have to figure out on the fly.

unions were necessary to get us out of the dickensian period, and are still required to help the mass of oppressed workers in asia. but, it was clear to all of the early socialists that were close to the movement that they were inherently conservative institutions, with no real revolutionary potential. i know that malatesta gets a lot of credit for pointing this out.

a real revolution is not going to happen from well fed auto workers trying to seize control of production, auto workers that are themselves the beneficiaries of supply chains using slaves in asia. all they know how to do is march and take bribes. it is going to have to come from desperate, starving people that are looking to take control of these machines to redistribute their produce as a last resort - as was the character of the revolution in france.

the capitalists could pull their heads out of their asses before that happens, and we could end up with another rooseveltian type intervention that restructures the system around a gai - we could write some kind of bill of rights to access the machines, and declare some kind of minimum standard of living. and, for a lot of people, that would no doubt be better than what we have.

or, this could be the catalyst required to overthrow the system.

that's up to us to figure it out.

see, this is where the narrative starts to experience blowback. and, i mused about this in 2016...

was clinton such an awful candidate that she was going to end any serious chance of female political aspirations for a generation or more? well, it was and remains a real fear, but dismantling it is as simple as coming to terms with the reality of it: hillary clinton did not lose because of her gender, she lost because of her politics.

let's say it again.

hillary clinton did not lose because of her gender, she lost because of her politics.

if we don't all finally accept this, we're going to be stuck in a loop - the more women point out actual legitimate problems around sexism in society or in the work place, they more they'll be offering a reason not to vote for them. all of this analysis threatens to become self-defeating. for, having loudly erected this edifice of systemic sexism, the structure now threatens to collapse on the very people who built it.

if hillary clinton did lose because of her gender, then it is a very good reason to avoid female candidates. clearly. however, as she didn't lose because of her gender, it isn't a reason to avoid female candidates at all.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/us/politics/women-candidates-president-2020.html

yeah, the thing i saw is here at this page:

https://www.bulkbarn.ca/en/Products/All/Organic-Sorghum-Fusilli,-GoGo-Quinoa

sorghum wheat ought to have b vitamins, though. so, i'm left to conclude that this product is probably unregulated.

it's going to need to be fettucine. i can't cook with fusilli.

i did some shopping today.

i was able to find some grape-blueberry concentrate and some "blueberry cocktail" that had it listed as the third ingredient, both for exorbitant prices. still no orange juice in tetrapacks. so, i went with the pure apple juice (not from concentrate) on sale, instead. i'll keep an eye out for it at the far store, and suspect there may actually be some at the italian store, as they carry weird things like that.

no plums at either store i went to today. i guess they're not in season, and the demand isn't high enough to carry them out of season. those blueberries are lasting longer than i thought, but i'll poke around a few places.

they had some sorghum fusilli at the bulk barn, but i took a look at the ingredient list and was kind of disappointed by it. i know that mass manufactured pasta has a bad reputation, but the packaging for the sorghum fusilli did not indicate the presence of any b vitamins. you'd think if they're there they'd be listed. and, i kind of assumed the sorghum pasta would be enriched. i don't want to strip my diet of b vitamins for the sake of anti-oxidants - that sounds like a bad trade-off. i would also need to change my recipe, if i were to move to fusilli from fettucine.

i'm thinking that the bagels are a better target. i used to make my eggs with rye bread, and my tomato sandwiches with bagels. over time, i ended up using bagels for eggs, and stopped buying rye - as i phased out the tomato sandwiches. that's not something i really sat down and thought about, although i was also getting a good deal on big bags of bagels, which has since disappeared. i should re-evaluate what i'm eating with my eggs, regardless, and probably go back to the rye if i can't find a sorghum option.

i did get some oregano at bulk barn for cheap, and will probably start getting celery salt there, too. let's start with that and see how it tastes before i jump to basil and/or parsley.

and, why exactly do you get these hard-right neo-con hawks standing up for the kurds, anyways?

it goes back to the 80s.

it's because they're mostly white.

don't get me wrong.

my sympathies are with the kurds.

it's just completely delusional to think they can rely on protection from an imperial power.

i can just imagine somebody trying to explain the need to protect the kurds to donald trump.

trump: the kurds. i keep hearing about these kurds and i have to say i've neva hoid of them, these kurds. but we need to protect the kurds. and, i don't...i just don't know who they are. so, somebody tell me about these kurds, and why we should protect them.

advisor: well, they're an ethnic group in the middle east...

trump: but, what does that have to do with us?

advisor: ...that are of iranian origin....

trump: great. they're iranians. why are we protecting the iranians? how'd they trick us into doing that? we're always getting tricked. i said no more of this. what else can you tell me about these kurds?

advisor: well, they're muslims.

trump: great. iranian muslims. we're protecting iranian muslims. i bet they're terrible to their own people, too.

advisor: well, a lot of them are socialists, actually.

trump: so, let me get this straight. you want me to stay in syria to protect iranian muslim socialists. is that right?

(pause)

advisor: yes, sir.

trump: you gotta be kidding me. what are you noam fucking chomsky or something? get 'em out of there.

advisor #2: well, if you don't like the kurds, there's the yazidis...

trump: nope. to hell with it. get 'em out of there.

breaking news just in.

elizabeth warren has officially chosen tom joad as her running mate.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/04/elizabeth-warren-billionaires-not-welcome-in-2020-democratic-presidential-race/