Bulletins and News Discussion from February 17th to February 23rd, 2025 - The Sankara Renaissance - COTW: Burkina Faso

Image is of the Memorial of the Martyrs (or, the Monument of National Heroes), conceived of by Thomas Sankara and constructed in the early 2000s, honouring those who died in the revolution.

The government of Burkina Faso has done that thing that imperialist nations most dread - land reform.

The Council of Ministers has adopted a bill which means that the nation's land now belongs to the state, in order to regulate land use and make it more sustainable, as well as to solve land conflicts. It's important to note that they are respecting the importance of customary rights in rural land for Burkina Faso nationals. Meanwhile, foreigners can no longer acquire titles of property on rural land.

This new law is part of a series of improvements to Burkina Faso implemented by the country under Traore (who, of course, faces assassination attempts on a regular basis). For example, the state has recently recognized the status of chiefs through the country, putting them under a clearer legal framework and involving them more in public affairs. Late last year, Burkina Faso also nationalized two gold mines, Boungou and Wahgnion, owned by foreign corporations. Burkina Faso is the 13th largest gold producer in the world despite its relatively small size, and yet most of the wealth produced is - or, was - siphoned off to the imperialist core. And, after years of research and development, they've made a new electric car - the Itaoua - which can travel up to 330 kilometers after only 30 minutes of charging.

Socialism cannot be stopped - only delayed.

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614 comments

I swear I only do this once every 5 years, but I was curious how the ~~infantile~~ ~~deeply unserious~~ libertarian leftists are coping with tankies being always right and checked

When I was on socialism they were arguing that the US had betrayed Ukraine as they had "predicted" they would. I pointed out that it only works if you think of the US government as an unchanging monolith, and not as one that has recently been taken over by a fascist clique. I was accused of liberalism. The final straw was when they were arguing that USAID being cut was a good thing.
This gotta be a bit, right? Right?
- Reddit is full of people claiming to be libertarian or anarchist or leftist much like Vaush once did: because they like some aesthetic, or because they once agreed with one thing Bernie said or whatever. Thus you get the absolutely incoherent stance of someone who is nominally anti-state but who supports the state of Ukraine, or the U.S., or supports NATO. Because really they're just some radlib who won't go a step further than "AFL-CIO good" or "universal healthcare...maybe".
  I once got shouted down by the whole crowed in /r/"Anarchism" because I said maybe anarchists in Ukraine should simultaneously resist both Russian troops and Ukrainian troops. They went bonkers trying to justify to me why anarchists should join the Ukrainian army, actually. Un-fucking-believable. Yeah, "anarchist".
  
  ( I don't acknowledge use of the term "libertarian" for propertarians, so of course I mean socialists.)
  
  They're liberals who want real liberty, equality and brotherhood.
- I pointed out that it only works if you think of the US government as an unchanging monolith, and not as one that has recently been taken over by a fascist clique
  Trump rolled a goddamn natural 20 on his persuasion check and has forced the entire US government to abandon their "ally", which they definitely have not wanted to do for years and absolutely, 100% have never done to any foreign government or resistance group in the past. No, no, they were going to be utterly loyal to the cause of Ukraine, a country that 95% of even college-educated Americans probably could not have located on a map and with a pre-war GDP less than 1% of America's. They were gonna ride with Ukraine to the gates of hell for the cause of goddamn freedom and democracy, not just harvest its natural resources and buy out its industries and leave it a smoldering, charred, and slightly radioactive hellhole.
  God, these people are such fucking rubes. They haven't read a page of a single book that isn't Atlas Shrugged. You know, that isn't even a good enough reason to believe that nonsense, you could literally just go skim a Wikipedia article on South Vietnam, or Afghanistan during and after the Soviet invasion, and draw the conclusion that when America's interests are no longer represented by the conflict, they get the fuck out and don't give a shit about all the rhetoric and propaganda they were pumping out about how they were gonna be besties forever with Nguyễn Văn Thiệu or whoever leads the pro-US side.
- it has AID in the name, that means it helps people
- The Spectre of NATO-leftism haunts Reddit

614 comments