ID: photo of Martin Luther King Jr. waving at the crowd during the March on Washington, on it is his quote: "He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
There are more than two sides.
The world is much larger than your struggle against evil.
I feel like it should be a normal thing to openly stand against fascism. If anyone has a problem with me because of that then they've proven themselves to be people I would never want to interact with in the first place
It’s still somewhat incredible to me that the label “Antifa” is used as a pejorative by some of these talking heads.
Uhh, last I checked we committed a whole bunch of boats and soldiers to literally blowing the brains out of nazi skulls on one particular Day…
Opposing fascism should be the default American stance, we’re just riddled with cancer/capitalism
somewhat incredible to me that the label “Antifa” is used as a pejorative by some of these talking heads
Incredible but not surprising. The talking heads use a word or a name as a pejorative for long enough, and the listeners internalize it.
Opposing fascism should be the default American stance, we’re just riddled with cancer/capitalism
And it's crazy, because, as someone who grew up in the 90s/00s, it always was. My public education did not shy away from shitting on Nazis and explaining the dangers of fascism. They started teaching that shit in elementary school.
The brain rot that has set-in over the past two decades or so has just been mind boggling and insane to watch.
In a similar vein, anyone eligible to vote and chooses not to implicitly supports whoever wins.
lol no, I'm not going to get mad at my neighbors, I'm going to get mad at people who are actively trying to hurt them, not the ones accidentally doing it
The problem isn't that fascists were voted into the White House. The problem is that there are fascists in the White House. Anything that doesn't address that problem is equally implicit in supporting fascism. Arguing with your neighbors doesn't get fascists out of the White House. If history is anything to go by it has obviously done the opposite
I think they are linked. Democracy can only work and thrive with an educated and/or informed population who is willing and able to have public and civil discourse. The fact that the political climate is the way it is now, so divided and only engaging to act on petty revenges, allows for fascism to take root. We saw this in Germany prior to the second World War. When NSDAP began beating people up in the street who opposed their ideology, with little repercussions for such behavior, led to the beer hall putsch, and eventually the rise of Herr Hitler. I can see parallels with the modern day political climate of America. The issue is that we voted them into the white house; I think that might even be more jarring than them being in there itself. Democratically voting a fascist in power is a tell tale sign that our democracy is not working.
No, you bootlickers can repeat the same bullshit party lines and shove your heads up your ass as far as you please to maintain your personal comfort and shield yourself from reality (and from those actually responsible for and who benefit from fascism, which you miraculously never confront or even hold accountable, and are freely willing to ~~compromise with~~ give in to), but that doesn't change it - participating in an oppressive system, and voting for one of either oppressive parties designated to you by those benefiting from that system to placate you with an illusion of choice is literally the opposite of protesting said system (E: never even mind that the idea that you can vote fascism away is beyond ignorant and laughable in its own right, it's demonstrably wrong)
TL;DR: your vote didn't protest shit, it was manufactured consent for the status quo, get off your fucking high horse
And yet you participate in society. Curious!
By the time you get to the general election in the US where it’s guaranteed to be one candidate or the other, that is not where individual efforts have an effect. Those efforts need to happen early in the process.
We are literally living through the drastic harm INCREASE that happens when people didn’t vote for harm reduction.
But I’m not totally disagreeing with you here. I don’t really consider myself an accelerationist, and definitely not a democrat/liberal/capitalist, and if they redid the election I would vote against Trump 10 out of 10 times against almost any real democrat or independent or 3rd party. But the accelerationist path may be the only way through this.
The problem with having these arguments online is that you don't actually know what nonentity did besides vote. What did you do? I've gone to rallies, I've written my representatives, I helped out at my college's Gaza camp, I wrote and called my college's chancellor about the Gaza camp, I've distributed literature about Palestine. And I fucking voted, uncommitted and then Harris, because as public enemy #1b (trans) I don't have the privilege to let whoever wins win. Because people couldn't be bothered to do the bare minimum and take an hour or two to go vote for the lesser evil, the government is erasing me from existence.
I’m genuinely curious what vote of mine didn’t protest shit, given that I’m not, nor ever have been, a Seppo.
Do you join the KKK and vote for the "harm reduction" candidate for grand wizard?
Does the KKK control databases with everybody's SSN, bank account info, addresses, etc?
Why are you presenting that like it's a wild hypothetical when they can buy all that from a data broker?
No, an even more murderous organization does.
And anyone who votes for genocide without even bothering to vote uncomitted in the primary is a genocider themselves.
Complacency is complicity
"You shouldn't pay attention to politics it's unhealthy." - My "liberal" "centrist" family. "You should focus on yourself" they say, "It is what it is, can't do anything to change it, work on yourself" they say, as if the most enlightened and reasonable perspective is to put a blanket over your head and pretend that the monsters don't exist. They'd say "It's hard to take you seriously, maybe become a politician or economist" but when you give them reading material written by economists, politicians, as well as lauded minds like MLK Jr or Einstein, they roll their eyes and go "You shouldn't pay attention to politics it's unhealthy, focus on yourself."
I'm not American so I'm not in as desperate a situation as you might be. That said, I have had the same discussions with many people and I've learned a few things.
One, ignoring a problem and hoping that it goes away is a totally natural coping strategy that works more often than we care to admit. It's a perfectly appropriate coping strategy when you're waiting out winter, but it's maladapted to stopping fascists from knocking on your door.
Two, people only have so much bandwidth. Their jobs, kids, school work, and just existing takes up that bandwidth. When someone's bandwidth is maxed out the only time I've been able to reach them is when they're already thinking about something I have a very strong argument that aligns with their goals. Otherwise it's a waste of time, they're worried about getting their kids fed and in bed, they don't have the brain power to think about how they could help overthrow the oligarchy.
Three, when those opportunities arise patience is key. Listen way more than than I speak, always keep the conversation focused on what they're concerned about.
'Know when to hold em, know when to fold them. Know when to walk away, know when to run.'
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