timemachineyeah
drives me up a wall living in a very very red district, like “no democrat is ever going to win any local election, let alone a real leftist” district, like “our school board members ran on who was the most anti-mask” red, like “I pass white supremacist signs on the way to buy weed” red
and being in the local leftist community and the guy who runs the anarchist book club and the lady who helps keep the warming shelters open and the people who marched on city hall when a local business was getting death threats for having a drag show are all members of a discord and we get on this discord and have frank discussions about how best to vote
the people who do the protests and the mutual aid and all the real work
going “okay, they’re both fascists, but this one lacks ambition and seems happy to just glide in the position” or “they both suck, but this one can be reasoned with if you frame it patriotically enough” like we don’t even have a democrat to vote for. we know what a vote is. we know what we hope accomplish with it. we know what it can do, and we know what it can’t.
and going from those discussions to here where people think that your vote is some kind of fucking??? enabling maneuver??? as if someone isn’t going to end up in that seat regardless of what you do???
we didn’t build this system, we just live in it. we’re just trying to survive. a vote isn’t a statement of your values, it’s not an endorsement, it’s not a marriage contract, it’s a strategic play you make to keep alive.
the biggest mistake I see leftists making is overestimating their own popularity. “well but everyone would be leftist if they just-” no, stop, 1) you can’t possibly know that 2) everyone will not just
This is why voting isn’t an option. What’s needed is violence and force, these people can’t be reasoned with or expected to take the rational option.
This kind of take isn’t “necessarily wrong”, i.e. we have never seen fascism beaten by peaceful means and all, but talking about it openly on someone’s platform is a bad move for several reasons. Put up and shut up, is my advice. Get with your local antifa group, or start one with guidance from one you trust. Keep your mouth shut, protect yourself and others for real.
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We’re staring down the barrel of over a century of sly upward wealth transfer and increasing state power at the cusp of a fully automated boring dystopia and a general collapse of biodiversity. If the whole world was going to mobilise as an insurgency like you’re describing, it would have happened by now.
It’s not “too late”, but it’s not early. Shit has to start happening.
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Same page on all that. History being what it is, I’ve yet to meet an upbeat historian. It’s unintended consequences all the way down.
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Talking about it is the first step of getting people involved in it.
This isn’t fight club.
The diffrence is commenting violence rhetoric isn’t organising. I want to hear people saying “this is where you can reach me, this is what I’m about, let’s talk about what to do”
I’m not going to dox myself online.
Once people are openly talking about resistance, they can start looking into getting involved in the movement, and finding local groups to connect with.
Step 1 get radical.
Step 2 organise.
Step 3 ???.
Step 4 profit.
I did say protect yourself. Why are you acting like I’m telling you to make a mistake? I’m telling you to do what you think you got to do, but do it without getting caught or fucking over a small time platform. Violent rhetoric is a liability. You’re already radical, so organise. Stand on business.
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are we allergic to doing both or something
the post clearly outlines voting as the last minute harm reduction option after all other avenues have been exhausted. do (violent perhaps) praxis and organizing, yea, but why tf would you throw away your option to vote when things haven’t changed yet and you have the opportunity to do 0.01% good for your neighbor?
You first.
You’ve convinced me, let’s go talk with the Nazis who are out to literally kill people for the simple act of existence.
If we just tolerate intolerance a little bit more surely that will fix the decades of decline!
The sooner you people realise this is a war for survival the sooner something can be done to protect the victims.
What are you doing to fight fascism?
They’re encouraging people not to vote, apparently. Real pro democracy move, that.
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That’s not what they’re saying at all.
They’re saying voting won’t accomplish any substantial changes because you can’t vote power out of the hands of those who wield it. Change requires more than simply voting.
I think voting can absolutely take power out of the hands of those who wield it, just like courts can rule against those in power…. but these things tend to only happen when the ruling class is terrified of what will happen if they don’t appease the masses through giving concessions within the traditional power structures of society.
In other words we need people to vote to codify the concessions given by the ruling class, but unless the ruling class thinks giving concessions through voting and making courts adhere to some form of reality is a less scary option than continuing to fuck around and find out what happens when you push the masses to a breaking point… than voting is next to useless.
We need people who consider voting pointless and people who consider voting to be necessary damage control, both ideologies are mandatory in an effective progressive movement.
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Calm down Dollar store Robespierre
Cringe and bad.
Based ang good.
Absolutely not unhinged god complex thinking, I’m sure you’re not equally as authoritarian as the people you despise.
Nazis killing people, bad.
Stopping Nazis killing people, bad.
We get it you tolerate intolerance.
I tolerate intolerance, I don’t tolerate violence, it’s very simple.
The same tolerance I afford you, openly advocating violence in an open forum, i afford nazis.
You should be happy that this tolerance is in place, since you benefit from it.
The paradox of intolerance you are so daftly hinting at explicitly draws the line at circumventing debate and resorting to violence and intimidation.
That is the intolerance that shall not be tolerated, but since you never actually read the text and are ““educated”” through memes you wouldn’t know that, because of that idiotic fucking comic you knuckledraggers love reposting to bolster your off-brand “can’t be a fascist if I’m antifa” bullshit.
Yes I know you tolerate intolerance, that is entirely the issue.
You will sit back and do nothing to fight against those who wish to end tolerance. You’re the equivalent of a pacifist staring at the gates of Auschwitz, you disgust me.
Nowhere does the paradox of intolerance call out not using force if necessary to preserve tolerance.
Imagine being privileged enough to not only not be personally impacted by the violence inflicted by the ruling class, but to not see it at all even when those impacted are screaming at the top of their lungs…
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So you concede that our opponents are being violent, but only take issue with said violence when it’s those they oppress who use it in self defence… Curious… 🤔
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