The left needs to start arming themselves and investing in community self-defense

No lie though, escargot wasn't bad when I tried it. Like a grassy oyster.

So far this decade seems to be defined by Western empire maneuvering and provoking its victims to "attack first." We saw it with Russia and we saw it with the Palestinian resistance.

The protests for Palestine have also persisted for over two months now, similar to the 2020 George Floyd protests. They may be slowing some, but they are still happening. If anything, people are likely being recruited into actual organizational and educational work and finding sustainable levels of involvement, which while less sexy, is on the whole more crucial than chanting in the street.

I'm not educated nearly enough on this particular matter to have an informed opinion on it.

But I will say that, even though communists support Venezuela's sovereignty and their struggle against Western imperialism, I feel like a lot of communists forget that Venezuela is not a communist country and that Maduro is not a communist. In fact, the relationship between the communists of Venezuela and Venezuelan leadership has been deteriorating pretty heavily over the past decade. The left shouldn't expect the ruling party of Venezuela to behave like a principled communist party and not be too surprised if they end up violating the sovereignty of another country for their own national interests.

I know no one is seriously claiming Maduro (and by some extention Chavez) is a communist, but he does seem to get romanticized as if he were one.

Sorry if this feels unrelated, so take this comment as just a side-note.

It's maddening that liberals and even plenty of so-called leftists don't understand that every single bit of messaging is propaganda.

   "These gentlemen think that when they have changed the names of things they have changed the things themselves."

    -- DJ Daddy Engels

I fear that we're already in WW3. The world just hasn't been calling it that yet.

The US is a mafia state coercing all of its citizens, vassals, and slaves to participate in its criminal enterprise.

I'm surprised Western press isn't burying this.

Oh I agree. Cornel v. Bernie I'm viewing on the same level of Trump v. DeSantis. Ultimately another flavor of liberal infighting.

The biggest positive effect Cornel West can have by running is by continuing to weaken the ideological grip Democrats have over workers and other progressive-minded Americans. Plenty of us before studying Marxism started as Bernie supporters, so in that way his run does have the same potential to serve as a gateway to leftist politics.

He may also not agree with China's politics but he's anti-war and critical of NATO. Of any candidate in the mainstream public arena he's obviously the most desirable for the Global South.

Say what we will about West. But it's still gonna be fun to watch him confront these people with their own bullshit.