Feels like this is a good time to post some of Hakim’s primers for those who are interested/curious:

What if North Korea was a democracy? (Starts at 22 seconds if you want to skip the intro, approx 30 min; can watch in 2x speed if so inclined) https://youtu.be/1f4rKycK6Gg

Why is North Korea so weird? (Approx 12 min long) https://youtu.be/EzDhqXuELjo

What is the deal with defectors? (Again approx 12 min long) https://youtu.be/vBwZjBMbsK0

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Tangent articles

On Brainwashing (1st: 17 min, 2nd: 77 min):

• https://redsails.org/brainwashing/
• https://redsails.org/masses-elites-and-rebels/

Feels like a “feature not a bug” of orientalism… which reminds me of another book on my long list to read (Edward Said).

Interesting; thank you!

Thank you - epigenetics? If you have reading material to share on rethinking Lysenkoism in the 21st century I would be grateful.

You are right in that I should clarify with regards to limited resources; I mean developed infrastructure (both “soft” and hard eg people and buildings) in the context of an underdeveloped country like India and the uneven development in wealthier capitalist countries taken as a whole.

Furthermore we should also consider a privatised system can include “public” infrastructure systems in a capitalist country (there are myriad ways one could analyse this from the financialisation of tuition fees to the contracting out of education materials and infrastructure that is overwhelmingly dictated by the private sector).

My argument is not really for or against entrance exams (this should be determined through peer reviewed research and may be discipline specific) but there are other loci of focus that are of greater importance to avoid higher education just reflecting wealth demographics and bourgoisie sensibilities including the artificial scarcity of higher paid labour.

I also tend to lean towards Paolo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed on a more enlightened path for education.

Addendum: I should add that I actually agree with your initial premise that medical schools should have neither entrance exams nor lower degrees; there are places in the world (geographical/historical) where this is/was the reality. However, we should work towards overthrowing the systems that generate the constraints that you have outlined. We shouldn’t just treat the injury of a fallen patient but also question why the patient collapsed in the first place.

The comments in this thread has made me realise I need to read the following:

• In Defence Of Materialism by Plekhanov
• Dialectical Biologist by Lewontin and Lewin

And re-read the Red Sails articles:

1. https://redsails.org/what-is-dialectics/
2. https://redsails.org/dialectics/
3. https://redsails.org/on-dialectics/

I agree current systems disproportionally favour wealth over merit but given limited resources how would one filter candidates efficiently to select those truly motivated and disciplined to study? If one approaches the problem by eliminating privatisation of education you can then work towards a more meritocratic system with or without entrance exams?

I wonder how the sangh will spin this to blame “urban naxalites” (if they do).

“Truly a terrible time to be an Indian right now.”

I think it was Amartya Sen who claimed an excess of 2.5 million deaths per year since formal end of colonisation compared to China - even taking into account liberal “accounting” of deaths (things like unborn children etc). Unfortunately for the majority it has been a terrible time to be an Indian for about the past few centuries though obviously the fascist hindutva for the past decade has not helped. (Someone with more knowledge please correct this figure if inaccurate)

Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize for the concept that famines don’t happen if there’s a “free press” because the public finds out and demands action. He didn’t understand Israel and its supporters, who see starvation and demand action - to make starvation worse

https://x.com/justinpodur/status/1801661762883764296

Focus on the fact that propaganda exists, yes. But also focus on the fact that people probably put up a lot of hostile resistance to any propaganda if it goes against their pre-existing wishes. Ask more questions about those.

https://twitter.com/RodericDay/status/1799409826029810176

One’s loyalty to one’s own superior material conditions even if it means denying the humanity in oneself by gleefully participating in the butchering of others while maintaining cognitive dissonance to the memories of the subjugation of their spiritual ancestors is one of the defining traits of liberalism - and its child fascism - that the Europeans have bestowed to the rest of the world.

It feels like at this stage if they could have then they already would have by now given the massive military infrastructure losses in northern palestine. They appear to be doing their best impression of a barking dog with no bite. Like a lot of western armies these day they appear to be better at killing civilians and ethnic cleansing as opposed to fighting other militaries.

/please take this layman armchair analysis with a pinch of salt

As you may know: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/desperation-migration-why-thousands-indian-workers-want-to-go-israel

‘Migration from desperation’: Why thousands of Indian workers want to go to Israel Israel wants to fill a labour shortage with workers from India, but unions there say they are uncomfortable with being complicit in genocide

in November, the Israeli Builders Association asked the Israeli government to approach India for workers and said it would require around 50,000-90,000 to replace Palestinian workers. It is estimated that 72,000 Palestinian workers were employed in the construction sector before 7 October.

The desperate scenes around India of thousands of labourers queueing up to work in Israel is the surest sign yet that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-touted economic policies have failed to meet the needs of his people, economists and trade unionists in India have told Middle East Eye

In the last week of January in India, recruitment efforts took place in Rohtak in Haryana and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, where thousands of Indian workers arrived to be screened and interviewed by Israeli recruitment officials.

“The scenes at the centres are a direct reflection of the very, very poor condition of workers. That is why they are queuing up to go to Palestine. There’s no two ways about it,” Pulapre Balakrishnan, a former economist at Ashoka University, outside New Delhi, told MEE. “It is a migration from desperation. People are being pushed. It is not a pull factor,” Balakrishnan said.

I would argue most “economic migrants” - to use the parlance of the anglophone anti-immigrant media - have this “push factor”; this is the norm not the exception.

The effects of uneven development via capitalism with purposeful underdevelopment for the majority of the population:

Since becoming prime minister of India in 2014, Modi has projected the country’s economy and global influence to be on the ascendency.

“At a time when the world is surrounded by many uncertainties, India has emerged as a new ray of hope,” Modi said at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January.

Economists like Balakrishnan say that India’s economy has grown tremendously. This is no myth, but this growth has been neither inclusive nor has it benefited a large chunk of the country. He says the data indicates that real wages for more than 30 percent of the country have not increased since 2014.

Despite projections by the Indian government that the economy is scheduled to become the third-largest in the world by 2027, its inability to absorb as well as provide a living wage to its most vulnerable is leading the country to a precipice.

India’s economy grew 7.2 percent in 2022-23, and 8.7 percent in 2021-22. In January, India’s finance ministry forecast a growth rate of 7.3 percent for the fiscal year ending in March.

According to Reuters, this is the highest rate for any of the major economies. Yet economists note that India’s growth is fuelled by very specific sectors such as the financial services and the information technology sectors, which create limited employment and have a marginal impact on the vast majority of the country.

The internationalism of the bourgoisie in their cooperation of fascism and proleteriat exploitation, and the resulting murder of the oppressed, is plain to see.

It should also be noted that though I have highlighted “economic” classes here that it should be stressed that other class structures should be considered such as those involved in liberation struggle.

I would even add critical support should be given to those in the subjugated class in national liberation including the bougoisie or petite-borugoisie that make up this subjugated group, and that this support supercedes the oppressors who engage in their subjugation even if they are the proleteriat of the imperialist/fascist nation. After liberation we can then take on our own bourgoisie. (Lenin said it better)

[Edited to clarify my thoughts and formatting]

For those who can’t / won’t access Instagram [NB for non-anglophones the NHS is the UK’s national health service]:

NHS Cover Up On Deaths of Trans Youths

Since the NHS (National Health Service) imposed restrictions on treatment for young trans people, deaths have surged. Whistleblowers and Tavistock clinic papers reveal that this tragic outcome was both predictable and predicted at the time. Independent investigations have confirmed numerous suicides among transgender youth since these restrictions were implemented, highlighting a dire need for policy change and better healthcare access.

Impact of the Bell v. Tavistock Case

In 2020, the High Court ruled in the Bell v. Tavistock case that it was “unlikely” young people could give informed consent to puberty blockers, which are medications that can pause the physical changes of puberty. This decision led the NHS to immediately restrict healthcare for young trans people. Despite the Court of Appeal overturning this decision in 2021, the NHS maintained these restrictions, leaving many young trans individuals without essential medical care. This has caused significant distress and harm to the trans community, creating barriers to accessing life- saving treatments.

Predictable and Predicted Tragedy

Before the High Court decision, there was only one death of a young person on the GIDS (Gender Identity Development Service) waiting list over seven years. In the three years following the decision, there were 16 deaths.

Healthcare professionals had warned that removing access to puberty blockers would severely impact the mental health and wellbeing of young trans individuals. Their warnings were ignored, resulting in a devastating loss of life and highlighting the critical importance of accessible healthcare for trans youth.

Jo Maugham’s Alarming Revelations

Jo Maugham, director of The Good Law Project, shared on X/Twitter that there has been a substantial increase in suicides among young trans people on the NHS waitlist. He revealed that the NHS has been suppressing evidence of these deaths, which followed the 2020 Bell v. Tavistock ruling.

Maugham’s thread included testimony from whistleblowers and internal documents, showing a systemic failure to adequately address the needs of trans youth and a deliberate effort to hide the true impact of these restrictions. The lack of transparency has worsened the crisis.

Whistleblower Testimony

Whistleblowers reported that only one suicide occurred in the seven years before the Bell ruling, compared to sixteen in the three year after. These figures were provided by a doctor known as the “Named Doctor for Safeguarding Children.” This whistleblower tried to alert higher-ups, including a Tavistock director and Dr. Hillary Cass, but their concerns were ignored. The suppression of this vital information has had a catastrophic impact on trans youth, highlighting the need for transparency and accountability in healthcare

Ignored Warnings and Cass Review

Despite warnings from healthcare professionals, the Cass Review, led by Dr. Hillary Cass, failed to address the full scope of suicides among trans youth. Cass, who has no professional history working with transgender young people, collaborated with individuals linked to SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center)- designated hate groups. The Review downplayed the link between the NHS’s restrictions on gender-affirming care and the increase in suicides, contributing to ongoing harm and overlooking critical evidence presented by whistleblowers.

Evidence of Suppression

A second whistleblower corroborated the first, stating that staff at Tavistock planned an open letter in response to these alarming deaths but were threatened with disciplinary action. Jo Maugham supported these claims with Tavistock board meeting minutes, which documented the clinic’s awareness of the deaths while failing to report them accurately. This suppression extended to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, where critical data was deliberately excluded, revealing a pattern of hiding the true impact of these policies. This lack of transparency continues to endanger trans youth.

Systemic Failures in Mental Health Services

An investigation by The Guardian highlighted systemic failures within the UK’s mental health services, contributing to numerous suicides, including those of transgender youth. Cases like 15-year-old Virgil Rhone and 17-year-old Max Sumner revealed multiple failures in mental health support, including inadequate risk assessments and lack of family involvement. These failures, compounded by restrictive NHS policies, create an environment where trans youth are denied necessary care and support, exacerbating their vulnerability and increasing the risk of suicide.

Harmful New Restrictions

On 30 May, health secretary Victoria Atkins introduced a ban on young trans people obtaining puberty blockers from regulated prescribers in Europe. This has exacerbated the crisis, leading to further distress and attempted suicides among trans youth. The Good Law Project is aware of several young people who attempted suicide following these new regulations, underscoring the urgent need to overturn this harmful ban and ensure access to critical healthcare for trans youth. The restrictions have been widely criticised by healthcare professionals and advocates.

Join Us in Supporting The Good Law Project and Trans Actual CIC

Help support The Good Law Project and Trans Actual CIC challenge to these harmful restrictions. By supporting their efforts, you can help protect the lives and well-being of young trans people. Every bit of support counts. Join in demanding better healthcare and mental health support for trans youth. Your involvement can make a significant difference.

TRANS KIDS DESERVE TO GROW UP

Help support the ‘Trans Kids Deserve To Grow Up - UK’ solidarity campaign, focused on supporting and uplifting the voices of trans and non-binary youth.

(Edit: tried to put the whole thing in a spoiler tag but lost my patience)