The state (as defined by Engles, Marx, Lenin, etc.) is the problem. Like this is exactly what it does by definition.

If the government forms an alliance with the market it becomes a slave to the market.

There are more homes than homeless, more food than starving kids. Life saving medicines can be extremely cheap to produce but are sold for fortunes. Everywhere you look, the bourgeoisie are literally holding people’s lives for ransom… and the government does nothing.

In fact the government does less than nothing. It is the government that facilitates the hoarding of these resources. It is the government that enforces patent laws that allow life saving medicines to be kept from those in need. It is the government that enables and legalizes this racketeering by the rich.

When you live in a society where politicians talk equally (or more) about how they’ll help the market as they talk about how they’ll help their citizens—which is what their job is supposed to be—are you really surprised?

Are you really surprised that a government which chooses to let its people go unhoused just to keep the real estate market up is a government in which wealth holds the power? Are you surprised that a government that shuts down worker strikes and forces compromise on the side of the exploited rather than solely on the side of exploitative corporations is a government that can be manipulated by the owner of multiple massive companies?

There is nothing surprising here. The system is working exactly as it is intended to. The problem is not a few members of the bourgeoisie colluding to manipulate the state because that’s how the state always works. The problem is the state.

If you would like to learn more about “the state” I suggest you read State and Revolution. That’s what made me switch from “oh we just need to tax the rich” to “the rich should not exist.” It also is just kind of impressive how Lenin describes many things that are very relevant today despite the fact he wrote this short book over a century ago.

Dark Souls remastered. Getting cursed just before reaching a boss and having no money to buy a cure forced me to either give up, grind, or “get gud.”

I beat the boss without getting hit once. I know other people probably do that for every boss but for me that’s a big achievement since I suck at combat and video games in general.

In other news, the game is hard but beautiful and the level design is pretty impressive. I’m looking forward to marathoning the other souls games after this.

Never read The Great Gatsby?