I love to come here, I love to be among other leftists, but holy shit y'all have to stop posting over the top terrifying titles all the time for your posts. I'm lucky enough that I'm relatively stable in my employment and I can float by on anti anxiety medication and shit.
But when you post things like THE LEFT IS FUCKED and WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE on here, you are not helping people. That kind of thing can really fuck up someone's day or night or week, and you can put someone who's already pretty anxious on edge even further. And given that we're all a bunch of left-wing overly smart overly anxious people anyway, I can guarantee that ruins someone's day. And not in a good way, it can send them in a spiral of depression or anxiety, or can make it worse. And DOES make it worse.
Maybe you sincerely feel this way. I get it. I want to be able to support you and I want you to still be able to be heard and speak up. I want you to still post. I want you to post threads. But please think about what your title is first? Think about how it will impact other people? It really can make a huge difference.
I know people are scared but I'm optimistic. Yes, we're not organised like it's 1917 with millions of people in radical trade unions and multiple large Socialist parties. If we were we'd not be in this to start with and the capitalists would be falling over themselves to make concessions.
But we're a hell of a lot more ready than we were a year ago. We've got the seeds of what we need and they're growing far faster than I thought they could. If we pull together we can push through the current crisis stronger than ever, and maybe we'll even win.
I like you, and I like your optimism. I also think you can be scared AND optimistic!
You can consider morale and hope while facing reality, in fact it makes it easier to do so than pessimism. Don't mistake hope and empathy for weakness, it is what gives us our strength, it's what binds us
You should look downthread to a similar transaction I had. You are reacting out of fear. You want to spread that fear. I’m telling you that’s ineffective. Fear is paralyzing.
Also when you whine about hugboxes you parrot right wing talking points about compassion. I know you don’t intend that, so be vigilant. Purge your brain of that right wing, compassionless way of thinking. You can care about others. You should.
if i have to censor the truth and makr the movement weaker because of compassion, maybe compassion needs to die.
Who said that you have to censor the truth? Please point out where I said that.
Doomerism is kind of a fantasy anyway. I think people find comfort in the certainty of some kind of eschaton -- no more rigorous critique needed, no need to struggle, just wait for the end with your gun and your canned food or whatever. The reality is that there's plenty of historical precedent for catastrophe and civilizations bounce back, often without massive differences from what came before, even. It feels like the end of the world because of our constant (and voluntary) exposure to information about all these awful things. There's also the fact that Americans are simply not used to history happening to them, and now it is. Anyway, my point is that doomers are not at all the hard-nosed realists that they see themselves to be. Having a sober and grounded assessment of historical development in a time like this is difficult but ultimately more radical.
Great post.
Also let's celebrate victories more? There were more threads about the Kenosha shooter getting away than there were about him getting caught. More threads about counter-violence at protesters than about the precinct burning down. And nowhere near enough threads about the forming NBA strike.
Thanks comrade! I think you're absolutely right. I know I'm guilty of wallowing in bad news, but I think (for me at least) that's because when you're helpless, its simpler than when your actions and decisions matter and can have an impact, that can be scary but it's important we face it with clear heads and strong hearts
I think it's pretty easy to see all the bad in the world, imagine how much an abstract perfect tireless crusader version of yourself could do to fix it, see that you don't have enough fire inside you to do that, and then pretend you didn't notice that you can have an impact, and go hide under a rock and wallow because you can't. But that abstract tireless person isn't real and nobody can do that. You can still accomplish a lot by setting your sites on a level of activism that an actual human being can sustain day after day.
I guarantee all your heroes have had days where they pretended to be sick, stayed home, ate like shit, and accomplished nothing that day. And actual wholesome days off that made them feel better too. People are just people and you are too.
And everything that's ever been accomplished has been accomplished by just plain old people.
I get what you mean, like the one post that's currently on the front page, could have been titled something like "We should refocus our attention on organizing so that we can keep each other safe."
Hey, I don't want you to feel called out. That's why I didn't want to name your post--you're NOT the only one by far! You don't have to take it down, okay? Just try to be aware of it next time.
No worries I am not offended! Truthfully I was feeling pretty overwhelmed when I wrote that post and I kind of meant it to be a shout into the void, I was not looking to be on the front page! However I think what you and others said is right and I could have approached the subject a bit more levelheaded.
Yeah I feel you, I know that a lot of people are feeling that way right now. Anxiety wants to spread, so that's why I think if we stay vigilant we can help beat that back while still supporting each other.
I'm used to larger forums where you can vent and get only a few replies as well. My vent post the other day made it to the front page really quick and actually started a pretty good discussion thread. This place is pretty cool.
Big mood, I really hope we can keep up this culture as the platform grows and the communities become more lively, hope they can maintain the solidarity that we have now
I'm proud of you for being so accepting of criticism and willing to self reflect, it's not always easy. Glad to have you as a comrade :)
That's my bad I phrased my comment poorly, it wasn't my intending to be critical I was just agreeing with OPs general sentiment.
An unfortunate side effect of millennial self deprecating depression memes.
I think for a start everyone needs to stop treating the different factions as one terrifying entity. The capitalists, the state, the fascists, and so on. They are not one entity. They're all enemies yes, but conflating it all as one single terrifying entity does things like make people overestimate the tiny number of people fascists are able to mobilise. They have supporters, sat at home comfortable, doing nothing... And they'll stay that way. It's a mistake to view all the noisy people in the peanut gallery as the forces of fascism, they're just non-participants sat at home.
This realisation alone makes everything a whole lot less terrifying, and puts the real size of each faction into some perspective.
Absolutely, yes. I wish would people would specifically be more serious about the divides between capital, the state, and far right. There is absolutely a lot of tension there and if we ever find ourselves in a position to seriously challenge any of them it's crucial to understand those schisms.
I think just generally realising the murder-fascists are pathetically small with no infrastructure and no ability to mobilise numbers is super important. They're actually incapable.
Hitler and Mussolini built their fascists into an organised force over many decades. They were actually mobilised. They had infrastructure to get people to organise. They would actually leave their homes.
That is non-existent among the actual-fascists. They have none of this and the only person that has ever been attempting to achieve that is Richard Spencer.
People need to remember that the internet isn't real life and the people on it don't matter compared to the people mobile in the streets.
Ya. The far right faces the same internet politics problems that we do. Maybe even worse for them in some ways.
Charlottesville took them months and months of organising to achieve and they've never achieved anything remotely close since. They get 50-100 max at anything at all. They usually have groups of 5-20.
They're completely disorganised, sporadic and useless. They have no infrastructure to achieve anything. The left on the other hand mobilises large number consistently, everywhere.
They're annoying and loud online but not really a threat until they have real leadership and organisation. Neither of which are coming soon. Look at the years and years of marching and organising it took to build the european fascists.
They're not going to achieve an anarcho-fascist movement. Individualist disorganised fascism won't cut it. Fascism requires hierarchy and organisation to achieve anything. This is the reason we only see stochastic terrorism from that crowd. It is only when fascists take on a collectivist approach and properly organise that they will actually achieve anything.
For sure. We'll see where things go with this kid. If he gets away with it then there's going to be an uptick in attacks by people that thing they too will get away with it. If he does not then I'm not so sure. He's made the gamble, others will be looking on to see whether the gamble is good or not.
Even if he gets away with it, others will be considering "will anyone else be able to do this again without getting lit up?". One of the people that tried to disarm him had a handgun and didn't use it. I think it's very unlikely anyone will just attempt a take down so lightly again. The reaction to the next incident will be quite different as everyone is thinking through how wrongly it was handled, armed people on the scene should have brandished and demanded he disarm, if he then tried to brandish back at them he would have been lit up. The reaction was all wrong. This will change with more collective experience. The perpetrators of these acts of violence know this.
My brain rn “nobody likes you you big boring bitch go die” it’s okay I have a therapy on Thursday
After seeing this comment I went through your post history and went down several interesting and cool rabbit holes, and also enjoyed your posts as a whole, so I can firmly say I value your presence in the community at the very least.
The fact you're here strongly suggests to me you're a good person or trying to be one and become better and learn and try to figure out how to fight for a better world, and that's awesome to me
if everyone was interesting, there would be no time left for cartoons
I'm sorry, I just don't want any leftists in the hurricane path to drown in their sleep. (╥︣﹏᷅╥᷅)
You can want that and advocate for them, I don't want you to think you can't do that.
Try to remember that 75% of the left is not online anymore. Those of us in our early to late 30 bought land and are growing vegetables. When shit hits the fan find a community and grab a shovel. If you physically can't grab a shovel no one will give a shit. You're welcome.
I’d say maybe 30-40% of my local DSA chapter knows what chapo is. Most are there thanks to a Rashida, Bernie, Our own outreach to their communities.
Mine did too, I had to look to the bigger city to find a group.
But they are around. You’d be surprised how many exist. You got this!
Look I made reddit.com/r/tweeleft to hand out home-made jam for ya'll but nobody wanted any.
we need to stop sourcing enjoyment from the endless replaying of our own annihilation. yes, death is enticing, but there's way too much work to be done before we can rest content with bathing ourselves in death spectacles
Can’t pretend everything is sunshine and rainbows and carry on as normal to avoid triggering someone’s anxiety. We have to be prepared.
Nah, that's the right-wing dad part of your brain talking. You can be realistic and provide a sober analysis without upsetting people. People are useless when they're terrified--they either slip into depression or they become hysterical. You can tell people to be prepared without telling them to be afraid.
I can agree with that, thinking about it more. Tbh I am an anxious dude myself and freaked out this morning and started looking to gun ownership and stuff
But I also feel like I would be freaked out anyway because of the current state of things, even without chapo. But it is a good point, we can tone it down for sake of looking out out for one another’s sanity
This is actually a beautiful exchange, man, because this is how it goes. Your anxiety tells you that we have to be serious and not deny the truth and be prepared, but what's true is that you CAN be serious, and you CAN know the truth and be prepared, and you can do so while not setting off the anxiety of others. Anxiety wants to spread. It wants to feel vindicated. It wants to infect.
I want to be here for you to keep from letting that anxiety eat your brain. You can be healthy and prepared and get ready for the worst case, while still preaching hope and keeping that flame alive. As a little boy terrorized by his father, sometimes the worst came to pass, often it didn't. He twisted me into a bundle of nerves and forced me to stop trusting everyone. I defy him by spreading care and vigilance and trust.
As a little boy terrorized by his father, sometimes the worst came to pass, often it didn’t. He twisted me into a bundle of nerves and forced me to stop trusting everyone. I defy him by spreading care and vigilance and trust.
I just want to say, I love this so much, probably because I can relate to an uncomfortable degree, but thank you for putting these words together, that's beautiful. Much love <3
