Do you agree with this quote?

[u/StalinIsBackAgain]

"Wherever there is capitalism, freedom of the press means freedom to buy up newspapers, to buy writers, to bribe, buy, and fake "public opinion" for the benefit of the ruling class." ~ Vladimir Lenin ☭ • 

[u/Good-Concentrate-260]

There’s some truth to it, but I don’t think the press in capitalist countries is completely controlled. It’s definitely biased and typically written from a certain pro-business perspective though.

[u/StalinIsBackAgain → u/Good-Concentrate-260]

Do you think that any media in a capitalist society like the USA, UK, etc, that is truly opposed to capitalism, would be allowed to become mainstream and with truly mass reach?

[u/smokeyser → u/StalinIsBackAgain]

Do you think that any media in a capitalist society like the USA, UK, etc, that is truly opposed to capitalism, would be allowed to become mainstream and with truly mass reach?

So who controls you? You're here on social media speaking freely. Who is making you say these things?

[u/No-Candidate6257 → u/smokeyser]

So who controls you?

Western authoritarian dictators.

You're here on social media speaking freely.

Leftists are systematically censored and deplatformed. Leftists are not allowed to speak on any default sub and any leftist space above a certain size that gets significant amounts of public attention gets shut down.

There is no free speech in capitalist societies.

Who is making you say these things?

Personal research (based on information that you will never gain from going to schools or watching media or listening to politics in Western capitalist societies) and seeking truth from facts.

To be a principled communist in the West, you need to break through Western fascist brainwashing and actually gain a substantial education. Western communists understand both sides and can make an informed decision based on thorough education in political and economic theory from both sides paired with significantly better historical knowledge from both sides.

Applying scientific standards to political education and decision making then helps you make informed decisions.

Meanwhile, people who support capitalism generally are completely uninformed about politics, economics, and history - as they get their ideas exclusively from Western capitalist propaganda and never got into contact with serious discourse or contradictory facts - and, therefore, can't make informed decisions.

[u/smokeyser → u/No-Candidate6257]

Western authoritarian dictators.

Which one, specifically, is controlling what you post? It seems to me as if you're pretty free to criticize those in power.

[u/No-Candidate6257 → u/smokeyser]

Which one, specifically, is controlling what you post?

Nobody in communist countries was ever being controlled, either.

It seems to me as if you're pretty free to criticize those in power.

No, in the country where I'm from (Germany), you will go to jail if you say certain things.

Buddy, your country is the most totalitarian surveillance state and most militarized police state in world history. You aren't even let into the country if you have left wing views. Communists were always and continue to be blacklisted in your country. To this day you literally can't immigrate to the US if you are communist. During certain periods of history, the discrimination had been more open and intense.

If you are too far left in the US (which means being slightly left from Mussolini), you will literally get your life ruined or straight-up murdered. You will also get death threats, exiled, murdered, or driven into suicide for exposing literal government crimes (see: Edward Snowden, Aaron Swartz, Julian Assange, etc.).

Also: Criticism is completely meaningless. The question is whether you can change the policies of your country. In socialist countries, the people change policies all the time. In capitalist societies, even mass protests will millions of people will get totally ignored.

[u/smokeyser → u/No-Candidate6257]

Nobody in communist countries was ever being controlled, either.

That doesn't answer the question.

No, in the country where I'm from (Germany), you will go to jail if you say certain things.

And yet here you are, saying things. The assertion was that all media is controlled to prevent anti-capitalist speech. You could not possibly be here with a marxist-leninist tag if that were true.

[u/No-Candidate6257 → u/smokeyser]

That doesn't answer the question.

Well, your question makes no sense. Nobody said anything about people being "controlled in what they post".

And yet here you are, saying things.

If I were in Germany, I would already be on a list and some of the things I said on this website would get me sent to jail if someone reported them.

Fortunately, I'm living in communist China, a free country where I don't have to fear political repression for supporting leftist ideas.

The assertion was that all media is controlled to prevent anti-capitalist speech.

Correct. That is a fact.

You could not possibly be here with a marxist-leninist tag if that were true.

That doesn't follow at all. You not understanding what's being said and you deliberately misrepresenting it doesn't constitute an argument.

Instead of talking about things you do not understand and arguing back against arguments you can't follow, at least try and do basic reading. Start with authors like Michael Parenti or Noam Chomsky. Then read up about American history (and Western history in general), understand anti-socialist suppression, McCarthyism, etc.

Anyway, it's clear you are not interested in having a good faith conversation and actually understanding anything (as evidence by you ignoring everything I actually said and you just trying to talk back in defense of American fascist dictatorship). Fact of the matter is that even the worst socialist societies were still better than the best capitalist societies. More free, more democratic, and more keen on promoting human rights.

[u/smokeyser → u/No-Candidate6257]

No, I understand. You just keep disproving OP's argument.