mazdak

“ anything that can't produce evidence of efficacy.”
This in itself is kind of a minefield. It’s very easy, for example, for pharma companies to prove that their meds can make more people feel better than random chance. It may be much harder to prove that other types of therapy, - particularly those that involve long term work - are more successful, even if they have the potential to have a much more significant impact on a persons life than just temporarily improving their mood a bit. Not disagreeing that the profession needs a purge, but unfortunately it wouldn’t be as straightforward a task to evaluate outcomes as it is in other forms of medical treatment.
Really what is needed - within the confines of capitalism - is to make therapy free and readily available so that people can find what works for them. I mean it even makes sense for capitalists to do that, in the sense that a happy worker is a good and content one. But neoliberal austerity will never allow it. To that system the working class are unthinking cattle to be herded with a club.

In an ideal world I think most mental illness could be treated in a similar way to how the rich used to treat it back in the 19th century (probably still do) - basically go off to some resort in the countryside, have your basic needs like food and washing taken care of, have immediate access to social groups and spend some time every day working on your problems with someone. Spend the rest of the day swimming or drawing or playing music or whatever. Just give people some breathing space to work things out. Obviously this is not feasible for the majority under capitalism.
Personally I’m pretty cynical towards therapy’s ability to help people who are suffering from their environment. Of course there are mental illnesses that are unconnected to this, but I think they are the exception really. I actually see a psycho-therapist (not specifically Freudian but works along those kind of lines), and if nothing else, at least it’s more interesting than my experience with more conventional therapy, and certainly no less useful.

I don’t think the worry that Marxists sometimes have about therapy - that it tries to make people content with an unjust and fucked up world - is particularly valid. Even if the root of our problems is capitalism, the point of therapy should be to adapt oneself to the world as it is, and that doesn’t mean you can’t be discontent. I do think there is a problem, with psychiatric treatment in particular - and I’m not opposed to meds, I’m on them myself - but it can inculcate a feeling that one has to be feeling good or happy or safe all the time, which (speaking as a former addict) is the same mode of thought that people have in addiction, and can often lead to total stagnation and an inability to confront the pain of life.

It’s funny how the use of the term has made a bunch of millenial and gen z libs incredibly mad about the fuckin Prague spring

That’s why we have an obligation to educate Cuban communists on this matter, because they haven’t spent enough time on Internet forums to have a proper understanding

If the purpose is to convert people via federation, it’s good to remember that nobody likes being told what a fucking idiot they are and how selfish they are and that their whole worldview is wrong. I’m not trying to defend libs here, but it’s very rare that arguments are won on the internet. If someone makes a false claim then correct them and leave it for other people to read, but there is no point getting caught up in debates with people who probably don’t have much interest in politics anyway.

Nuclear weapons are as big a threat to human civilisation as climate change, albeit less stupid. But on a long enough timescale there will be a global nuclear war eventually. Consider how many close calls there have been in the last 70 years, with reasonably rational people and systems in charge. It only takes one mistake or one psychopath and civilisation is over, forever.

Whenever nuclear weapons are brought up, I can’t help think about how much Jeremy Corbyn was exorciated for refusing to state whether he would launch a retaliatory attack in the event of the UK being the target of a first strike. I.e. a hypothetical scenario where literally everyone there is going to die, would he launch Britains nukes in the minutes prior to certain annihilation, just to make sure the people sending them died as well. The outrage about his refusal to answer is a great example of Chud psychology/ideology.

I feel the same way. I’ve experienced violence living in various cities, but I’d still take it over the suburban shithole I live in now. Anyway the point is not really that conservatives are wrong that cities can be violent (obviously they exaggerate the danger a lot, but still). It’s that they live in such fear. They are cowards, bullies and fantasists.

Rules-based order

Liberals bad but I think I preferred Hexbear when every single post on the front page wasn’t about federation

Those movies were a CIA psy-op

The terror warning today is: Blood Red. Be afraid!

Decade that started with ridiculously baggy jeans and ended with ridiculously skinny ones. Really though the interesting thing is how ‘unique’ decades seem throughout the 20th century and then starting with the 21st culture is just kind of repackaging itself and has nothing much new or remarkable. At least not in terms of art or fashion. The loss of working clas power under neoliberalism has hollowed out society into a bland, barebones desert. The late 2000s is listening to upper class kids like the Strokes whine about how boring life is over music that was made in the 60s and just devoid of anything real. Ironically the counter culture of the time was built around being sold “authenticity”