Easy target for the ignorant

*Just had an exhausting conversation with someone who does not have a single brain cell of perspective, hence, the need to vent*

If you blame Marx for the twenimilyen people who died beacuse of socialism, then might as well blame …

Muhammad for Islamic Fundamentalism
Jesus for Christian Fundamentalism
Nietzsche for the Holocaust
John Locke for our EDSA System
Adam Smith for the dying people in Ethiopia
Mother Earth for militant environmentalism
Natalie Portman for the world’s insecurity

Contrary to common notions, the break-up of the Eastern bloc did not discredit Marxist theory but made it possible to argue of Marx’s ideas without having to justify the actions of the government. A lot of Marxists were openly critical of the Soviet Union and believe that it does not represent what Marx stood for.

Clearly, there’s room for more substantive debates about the validity of Marxist theory such as the value of class analysis, the soundness of economic determinism, the schizophrenia of the young versus old Marx et al. Don’t discredit this rich theory altogether just because some “vanguards” instrumentalised Marx’s work to suit their own agenda.

Besides, we don’t discredit the value of democracy even if there’s no functioning democracy in the world today. Democracy is supposed to be an effective and peaceful means to achieve distributive justice and reconcile class interests. This is the rationale of one man, one vote, equality under the law, taxation and welfare. In as much as no socialist country was able to live up to its promise, no democracy has done so either. In Britain, 1% of the population controls 49% of personal wealth and welfare benefits are dwindling. US free media is as liberal as the conservatives that run it.

So please, lady. Think harder. And next time, don’t match your Uggs with charcoal grey trousers. I think that's what ticked me off.

Still worth defending, even with our love-hate relationship.

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For more nerdness, see: The Last Vehicle

You know you’re stuck indoors when …

… your fridge looks like this. Weather forecast today expects high of 5 degrees Celsius and low of -1. I have to pick up my winter coat from the dry cleaner but I can’t go out because I don’t have my winter coat. Talk about being stranded.

Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November

More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot. (V, V for Vendetta)

Someone said that Guy Fawkes in the only man who entered the Parliament with honest intentions. Unfortunately, the way England celebrated the fifth of November had nothing to do with Guy Fawkes and saving the Parliament. Instead, there was a carnival smacked right in the middle of Victoria Park in London, with rides, booths and a parade – with a tiger. Is England going for Orientalism?

There was a strange performance which involved an emperor, a tiger, women dressed as ferns (we think) and apparently, taxes. Nobody got the plot, maybe it was too intelligent for students of LSEP and Manchester to decipher. Just the same, we watched the performance because the fireworks display came after that. The fireworks were pretty, but it only lasted for seven minutes. Perhaps that’s the reason why the emperor in the play kept on talking about taxes, so the city can better finance the fireworks display next year.

Better yet, bring the troops back home, use taxes for fireworks instead.

Remembering the fifth of November?