Why Capitalism Loves Doomers — Second Thought
Removed by mod- cross-posted to:
- videos@lemmy.ml
Removed by mod
Why Capitalism Loves Doomers — Second Thought
Removed by mod- cross-posted to:
- videos@lemmy.ml
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20004321
We all get the big sad sometimes. But you know what? Doomerism doesn't solve anything - it's a gift to the ruling class. Let's talk about that.
I really dislike the focus on doomerism, mainly just in the sense that like. It just reminds me sort of like. Those self help books that are like "Think positive and manifest your wishes!" that kind of stuff. I don't think doomerism is really the problem. If anything it's just lack of pathways to meaningful action.
In another way it also just feels dismissive on things people are dealing with. It's a good thing movements aren't built off just based on how people are feeling, but on actual action being done. But maybe I shouldn't speak considering I struggle with things like suicide thoughts a lot on a daily basis.
I also hate how JT talked about despair and equated it to liberalism when despair is a complex emotion that stems from a variety of things like trauma. Also I hate that he brought up "continue to mope and whine and wallow in self pity". I hate that phrase so much.
Wild that you’re comparing revolutionary optimism to self help books. I’ll have to let Fred Hampton, Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh know.
“The most immediate antidote to nihilism is revolutionary optimism. Revolutionary optimism isn’t rooted in a blind hope that change will come at some unknown point in the future. It is cultivated by the acknowledgement that only through participation in the struggle to liberate the people can the lives of the people be transformed. Revolutionary optimism is bolstered by a deep curiosity in and knowledge of the history of class struggle. Social change is treated as a science, one with distinct properties and elements that are both inevitable and profoundly dependent upon the actions taken by the people.”
https://www.blackagendareport.com/combat-nihilism-revolutionary-optimism-age-us-imperial-decline
I'll just go revolutionary optimize my suicide thoughts away then. I'll just go revolutionary optimize my grief away from my mom dying last year. I'll just go revolutionary optimize my dad drinking himself to death.
Yea I don't have the means to participate right now! To cultivate such a thing! I hate this fixation on revolutionary optimism because it's ignores what getting in the way of people in participating and feels more like emotional policing or something. But it ignores why is someone a doomer? Are they depressed? Are they dealing with shit? How can those bridges be crossed? Why aren't they taking action? What are the road blocks getting in the way. And the reason I compare it to self help is because of how others like you ignore what I just said!
Besides like, someone can be doomer and still take action. Like there were times when I was very suicidal where I managed to help some people. It's as if emotions don't have to dictate action.
Man fuck you. You don't deserve to use these words. Let me tell you a little something about direct action and what participation in a struggle of liberation looks like.
My wife works in this little crappy Chuck E Cheese knockoff arcade downtown- pretty much the worst place to be all things considered, but we don't have any other choice for income and it pays well enough of any minimum wage job we've ever had. She's been there for a year and has never once taken off her N95 indoors or around other people for any of her eight hour shifts (and her combined three hour commute to and from the building). She has been the only one to do so. When she describes to her coworkers, the wonderful working class of the United States, that she does it to protect me, an immunocompromised person in her family, and when she describes the dangers, shows them the data we have surrounding current Covid trends, they will all say "yeah wow that's bad"- and then we offer them a mask from our personal supply of N95s and they go "no thanks" without hesitation, every time. They have mandatory "safety meetings" every few months and we've brought Covid and masking up at every one of them in addition to casual conversations with her coworkers. There is no plan to change policy. There is no plan for them to bother themselves for the sake of others, or even themselves, at any level of the social ladder, institutional or interpersonal. One of her coworkers talked about driving to Seattle a few weeks ago for a concert with someone who tested positive for Covid, but that they weren't worried because "it was probably a false positive". One of her coworkers complains that she started a couple weeks ago and has been sick twice. My wife has been sick that much the entire year she's worked there, because she wears a high-quality and well-fitting respirator at all times.
Last year we wanted to go to an event nearby and asked the organizers of what was planned to be about 40-50 people if they would require masks because I was an immunocompromised person and wanted the best chances to avoid infection as much as possible while still being able to participate. In their messages they sounded sympathetic, assuring me that they would and that those who saw what I said would wear them for me that weekend. We were two of maybe four people in masks there. They didn't do anything for us, and people who said they would mask were not wearing them. So we left.
But go on and fucking tell me what Fred Hampton and Ho Chi Minh think, bitch. You want me to be optimistic about this? Tell me what the fuck you've done!
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