Oddbean

Recorded my final @TPBPod interview with @trey earlier today. Bittersweet to say the least but I finished the conversation feeling hopeful about the future of our left movement within bitcoin and I think Trey likely brought new people into the space who will pick up the torch that he carried after Mark stepped down. The struggle continues!

Leftists murdered some 168 million people from 1900-1987 China 90 million USSR 61 million Nazi 20 million Cambodia 1.5 million Vietnam 1.7 million Poland 1.6 million Yugoslavia 1.1 million North Korea 1.7 million Mexico 1.4 million Albania 100k Bukgaria 100k East Germany 70k Angola 125k Ethiopa 148k Iraq 187k Mongolia 100k Mozambique 198k Cuba 11k It goes on and on... How can you possibly ignore that mass murder?

"Roses are red, Violets are blue, There is the State, And then there is YOU" Professor Rummel's "Death By Government" is about the 20 most democidal governments of the 20th Century. Only six of those were self-declared Leftists, plus one "maybe". Can we stop trying to make everything about the Left/Right seating plan of Parliamentarians in 1700s France? It's pointless, divisive and cringe. Sheds heat but not light.

Briefly looking at your reference: "In sum the communist probably have murdered something like 110 million or near two thirds of all those killed by governments, quasi or guerrillas from 1900-1987." She is an optimitistic communist, which I denounce. If she was an optimistic slave trader I would point out those autrocities. I am allowed to discuss one aspect at a time.

I am responding to a phd candidate on bitcoin mining who said she was optimistic about her leftist movement and yet was apparently baffled at how I could dare ask how anyone could be optimistic about an ideology that has killed 100 million plus people. To which she has no answer. But you are now concerned about maintaining some retard internet decorum. Makes sense.

First episode I listened to was about why there would be no more episodes. Related to my frustration at leftist open source community for not appreciating bitcoin at all, and beeing aleanated from most bitcoiner because they have so many other weird ideas.

Hopefully, we will continue to have diverse voices in the Bitcoin space that appeal to a more general audience. Such balance is desperately needed here, despite the anti-government stance the majority seems to hold

nostr:npub1lxzaxzge0jq9u9cecucctdt5lslwgp7hcxmp2l0wn8r2ecjenwasu6svxaqI'm available for a 1-1 convo. Get in touch with me now via simpleX🔗 https://simplex.chat/contact#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2FZKe4uxF4Z_aLJJOEsC-Y6hSkXgQS5-oc442JQGkyP8M%3D%40smp17.simplex.im%2FGURI7tP4afExB-87ZpAQViqh3dnT87ia%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAT8NmXPElFRftWJE-Y9p4joK98e-kk6dV0tJNN0frDjM%253D%26srv%3Dogtwfxyi3h2h5weftjjpjmxclhb5ugufa5rcyrmg7j4xlch7qsr5nuqd.onionn

I think the first TPB pod I listened to was the first time you were on. Definitely an important space to explore the diversity of political paths that all converge at Bitcoin. Really hope this conversation continues somehow!!

I'm available for a 1-1 convo. Get in touch with me now via simpleX🔗 https://simplex.chat/contact#/?v=2-7&smp=smp%3A%2F%2FZKe4uxF4Z_aLJJOEsC-Y6hSkXgQS5-oc442JQGkyP8M%3D%40smp17.simplex.im%2FGURI7tP4afExB-87ZpAQViqh3dnT87ia%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-3%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAT8NmXPElFRftWJE-Y9p4joK98e-kk6dV0tJNN0frDjM%253D%26srv%3Dogtwfxyi3h2h5weftjjpjmxclhb5ugufa5rcyrmg7j4xlch7qsr5nuqd.onionn

> Imperial Japan That's war crimes against people they invaded. It has nothing to do with internal political and economic decisions made causing purges and famines seen in China and the Soviet Union.

The distinction I'm making is between internal and external politics. It is expected that if you go to war, there will be casualties. The purges and famines were generally in times of relative peace when bad/ evil decisions were made.

Did the USSR need to starve Ukrainians to maintain these minor military actions? No. Did China need all of the additional steel that Mao unilaterally decided would be sought from household iron? No. It's fair to say that the people of England were at relative peace during the time of the Irish troubles, even if Irish terrorism sometimes entered their lives. The same can be said of these nations. I very intentionally used the word relative.

That the USSR "needed" to do that is suggestive that they knew that they would be entering a large war with Germany. They didn't need to do it (at least at the time), they chose to because they had every intention of invading their eastern nations with or without provocation. That's a choice. If they had needed to divert to fund a war effort against Germany at a later stage it would be fair to say they needed to do that. Stalin starved his own people to feed his aspirations.

Japan wasn't killing their own people. Nationalist China was but at least partially this was while they were in active civil war against the communists both before and after the war with Japan. Suharto did kill an incredible number of people but per capita he still falls way behind the Soviets, and China as well as a bunch of other small leftist states, Cambodia probably being the worst example. We can also talk about Chile and Argentina's RW govts but while the actions may have been wrong the numbers are comparatively tiny.

Strong disagree on Chiang wanting to keep the communists around. He wanted to take care of them before facing the Japanese. Ultimately both sides tried to send each other into the meat grinder against Japan but the CCP were much more successful than the KMT at guerrilla warfare against each other. In the 1920's Chiang purged the communists when he found out that the Soviets were trying to take control of Shanghai. There was no upside whatsoever to having the communists around, which they proved after the war.

To be clear, Chiang could have done a better job, but this was not 4D chess. He was in a difficult position and he frankly wasn't a terribly good strategist. I'm sure he was doing as well as you would expect a dictator to be, but the communist suggestions that he stole 90% of the mainlands wealth and that's why Taiwan is rich is ridiculous propaganda. His son was back in China from 1937 onwards.

Communism has a shared ideology leading to mass deaths. This ideology (radical egalitarianism in opposition to property rights) seems to be shared among all leftists but not rightists. The ideology is central to many of the mass deaths (eg Holodomor). Is there some shared ideology (or even mere idea) which is shared among Hitler, the Shinto Japanese, the Russian Tsar and the Pakistani military dictatorship? Is it an idea that leftists do not share?