Pink Floyd

Cristina >> Study up! 

  So you don't embarrass yourself posting Pink Floyd songs while voting for right-wing politicians.

William >> I separate the art from the artist. 

  For example, I like Chico Buarque's compositions, but I lean center-right, and he is a historic communist (or socialist). 

  Chico was born in 1944; in 1960 he was 16. 

  I'm not going to look it up, but the songwriters behind Pink Floyd's music must be from that same generation. 

  The group Pink Floyd was formed in 1965 in London.    The peak of their success occurred during the 1970s.

  Those folks who were born or grew up in and around the 1960s were heavily influenced by the motto "Sex, drugs, and rock and roll." 

  And by the philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who became "trendy." 

  Rock music and critiques of the "capitalist system" took over the so-called "West."

  Gramsci never wrote a book ready for publication. 

   His texts were notes taken in school notebooks during the time he was imprisoned in Italy, and they were only organized and published posthumously starting in 1948.

   "Prison Notebooks" is a collection of 32 notebooks written by him between 1929 and 1935. 

   It is in this work that he develops and deepens his most influential theories, such as cultural hegemony, organic intellectuals, the war of position, passive revolution... the kind where you introduce certain concepts into the existing culture, breaking it down from within.

  The artistic and academic spheres were the preferred venues for introducing concepts that would lead to the gradual replacement of the "right" by the "left."

   Religion remained the "Opium of the People," a structure to be demolished. 

  Without further ado...

  Religiosity persists strongly around the world. 

  The human mind's connection to "spirituality" is stronger than Gramsci's theory predicted.

  The Internet has decentralized information; academia now has to defend its theories before the public, it's no longer enough just to flash a diploma at people.

   Artists no longer have the privacy of old-school media, where their PR teams could showcase only their best physical and behavioral angles.

   Although art fan clubs still exist, artists are increasingly just "normal" people who happened to get famous. 

  The "King of Soccer" or the "Pop God" have their moments of glory and can quickly fall into oblivion... just like their opinions, if they aren't grounded in solid ARGUMENTS.

Generation of 1960 - Link

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Devil’s Advocate

 

Paola >> Why doesn’t a left-wing business owner split their profits equally with their employees, given how strongly they defend socialism?

William >> I’ll play “devil’s advocate” here 😉 … I think that’s going to be the best way to get my point across.

 “The phrase 'devil’s advocate' refers to someone who defends an opposing or unpopular point of view, not because they agree with it, but to test the strength of arguments, expose flaws in reasoning, and enrich the debate. It originates from an old position in the Catholic Church.”

(Gemini)

   

  Some people on the left are indeed hypocrites, maybe even the majority. 

  They only want to redistribute what belongs to others.

  But then there’s the pragmatist.

  Let’s suppose I were a wealthy socialist who advocated for equal profit sharing. 

  I would only do that if everyone else did it too. 

  If many people kept accumulating wealth and living lavishly… I’d feel like a bit of a fool living below my means with my family.

  And here we hit the main barrier of Karl Marx’s theories: “human nature.”

  Absolutely everyone would have to want to share equally what they inherited or worked hard to earn. Those who don’t want to will be forced to do so by the “State.”

  But as it turns out, there is no single individual called the State. 

  There are people (elected or not) holding powerful positions. 

  These people are also subject to wanting to accumulate wealth, it’s human nature, there’s no escaping it.

  I’m not saying everyone is greedier than they should be. 

  I’m saying that many human beings are born with that trait.

  To make a comparison so everyone can understand … it’s like wanting to ban sex before or outside of marriage.

  You can “preach” that idea all you want.

  But it’s naive to believe you’ll eliminate those practices from society. 

  It’s quite common that not even those who preach it with strong conviction can resist temptation.

  Socialist leaders usually live in luxury. - Link

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Property

 

YouTuber >> Social inequality is neither natural nor divine; according to Rousseau, it is a historical construction.

The natural man was free and driven solely by self-love and pity.

  However, through perfectibility, comparison and vanity emerged, making us crave the recognition of others.

  The milestone of this servitude was private property, which divided the rich and the poor.

  Finally, the elite created the State and laws under the guise of order and protection, institutionalizing domination and political inequality.

    https://youtu.be/uN18Ayeiq6k

William >> Although many associate the rejection of private property with Karl Marx, Jean-Jacques Rousseau defended this idea much earlier, considering the first person who enclosed a piece of land a villain and everyone else gullible.

  I disagree; I consider this decision to fence off land to be smart and practical.

  Property allowed people to put down roots, develop agriculture, and build a culture, overcoming the instability and constant wars of primitive nomadism when land belonged to no one.

  Successful private property gave rise to powers that guarantee contracts and individual rights, allowing us to adapt nature to our needs.

  Socialism, by demanding public or state property, resembles absolute monarchies where everything belonged to a king or supreme leader.

  In practice, even communist countries like China and Cuba recognize the importance of markets and private businesses.

  Private property is an essential pillar of capitalism and individual freedom.

  While the socialist model centralizes absolute power in supreme leaders, turning nations into the property of rulers, the Western system ensures that the State acts as a protector of rights rather than the owner of everything.

Supreme Leader - Link

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Americans and Latin America

 

Juliana: Is it true that during the 19th century the United States tried to prevent Latin American countries from becoming independent?

William: Cuba officially became independent from Spain in 1902.

  There was significant help from the Americans, who occupied the island.

  Until 1934 they had a strong influence, and after that, they started easing off.

  Cuba "could" have had a destiny similar to Hawaii or Puerto Rico, but then the 1959 Communist Revolution happened, and we know how that turned out.

  Either way, it remained independent.

  Panama separated from Colombia in 1903.

  The Americans wanted to take over the construction of the Panama Canal, but the Colombian government wasn't reliable, so they fomented the separation.

  As far as I know, Panama is satisfactorily independent; it was a good deal for them to break away from unstable Colombia.

  Aside from those nations, you have the three Guianas, French, Dutch, and British.

I'm not aware of the Americans acting significantly in those regions.

  All the other Latin American nations were already independent, and I don't know of the Americans doing anything to reverse that.

  If you're talking economically... take the case of Brazil, we chose our own paths.

  I don't know of the Americans being decisive in getting Getúlio Vargas to power (just an example).

  During the 1964 coup, the Americans would have preferred Brazil to be a democracy, but since we were heading toward a potential Cuban-style dictatorship, they chose to support the military, who seemed like the lesser of two evils.

  Moving on to more recent times... Sarney, Collor, Itamar, FHC, Lula, Dilma... they were all our choices.

I don't know what blame we can put on the Americans for not developing as much as they did...

United States' Backyard - Link

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