I hate to say this but I've honestly just gotten used to the idea at this point. I've been watching the people around me howling in support of fascism since about 2015 now and the more egregious these politicians crimes become the louder these idiots seem to howl for them. It's been going so long that it's just part of the background noise of day to day life now, and I'm tired of caring anymore. It's fucking depressing.
Memes
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How can we convince people now is the time to act? What more information do we need? I think most people are clinging to the idea everything is business as usual. As long as they can keep the lights on they wouldn't want to upset the stability they've managed to make for themselves.
As a Russian who's been thinking about what could've been done about Putin's many moves towards authoritarianism, I say this: I don't know. I dint think anyone knows either.
indsight is 20/20, so good luck trying to convince people to act now, before the far and distant future is here; it's probably part of our nature to not be that much concerned with the long-term, as it's the short- to mid-term that keeps us alive, i.e. fed, sheltered, hopefully healthy etc.
At this point, it feels like history is indeed very cyclical, at least society is, and now anyone left of outright fascism seems to be in minority, with many others either failing or refusing to recognise what's likely coming. I don't think it's new, either - I'm sure people of our ages had things to compare their situation to during the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent events, just like we look back to their times and wonder how in the world could we possibly let that happen.
It's probably best to vote and to protest and to be politically active and all that, before the right-wing or some other authoritarian group manages to manipulate its way into your government, local or higher, and start doing all it can to make you not even think of voting or protesting or being politically active. The caveat is you just don't have any guarantees that any of that is going to work.
What's even more important to remember is the fact that we cannot come up with some universal solution that's going to always work the best way possible in every political and economical and social circumstance. This is what makes recording history and experience so important - it will allow us and those that will be after us to analyse the multitudes of factors and tendencies that lead to things and hopefully figure out reliable and effective and predictable mechanisms for society to function and prosper in mutual respect, egalitarianism, support, etc.
My last take is probably a little controversial: I think we shouldn't ostracise people we see as fascist or right-wing or authoritarian, etc., but rather be welcoming and supporting, giving them respect, community and opportunity to speak and be listened to with kindness and understanding; many turn to violent and inhumane ideologies because, well, they don't value themselves, feel threatened, humiliated, afraid, or something along these lines. It doesn't have to be true, because it's about how people feel, and we must work with how people feel and influence that on emotional level so they feel like they being in a group that's based on being "anti-woke" or just "anti-" something - that's a dead end; they should feel like they belong to groups that envision future and prosperity, where people know they can be trusted and can trust, where they can respect and be respected. You may not like it, but you have to understand that the human psyche can be very flexible and eventually turn a person you could easily turn into a human-loving ally into a bloodthirsty fascist just because they couldn't find their place anywhere else, so instead they're easily picked up by a group that manipulates confused and lost people into a sense of community and belonging.
Fascism has to be the unappealing option for them, and that requires a mind healthy from trauma and loneliness, the lack of that feeling like you've been played and robbed of something you own - like some great historical period the mouthpieces promise to get you back into if you yell at teenage girls for wearing bright-colored hair and rainbow pins.
I understand how you might feel this way. But a key difference to the early 1930s is that there are many large-scale protests against far right extremism in Germany. The elections in the Netherlands did produce a right wing tendency, but there is no government as of yet and the PVV is still pretty far away from fascism. The other three large winners of the election are not even that right wing. At least no more than the party that ruled for the last 15 years.
That said, I do kinda hope that this phase passes quickly and that people will start to finally get along and care about our fellow humans. Even though we never have.
The protests in germany give me hope that the german public finally resists against fascism instead of just letting it happen and then saying "there's nothing that could have been done" afterwards
I expect the US will hold out for at least the next 4.5 years. After that, no promises.
Well, at least that will take your mind off global warming. Which is good since we have already hit 1.5°C of warming.
1.5 and we're just getting started! Let's goooooo! It's incredible what humans can do when we work together 🔥👏🏻🔥👏🏻🔥
I'm only 18 and I'm already so fucking tired of existing in this world, seems like everything is going downhill and I'm just gonna be forced to live in an authoritarian dictatorship world where all the air is full of toxins and the water is full of plastic
I hate thinking so negatively about the future but the more the world seems to crumble around me the more I feel like we might be one of the last generations of humans that got to experience civilisation for a long time.
The planet is dying, fascism is spreading, the tensions are rising, and everyone has nukes! woo! future!
Woke is a hijacked term by the facists it literally means to be socially aware of the problems faced by different people in a society
It worries me too and I've been thinking a lot about margaritas, I've been sober for four years so its troubling thoughts of alcohol are creeping back in. I don't know what else to say. Need a hug?
Need a hug?
Wish I could give one
Anything I have learned from history classes is that this cycle of fascism/dictatorship and democracy has always been going on, people are dumb -> they choose fascists -> fascist gonna fasc -> ppl get fed up -> uprising/protests -> government overthrown after tons of bloodshed -> some sort of constitutional bind on rulers/elections -> some peace -> dumb ppl forget everything and chose fascists again -> repeat
I think you forgot the part where capitalism makes peoples life worse and worse, while at the same time conservative media blames the left for it, even if they are the cause.
Because in the End people dont vote for fascists because its funny, but because they believe they can get them out of a shitty situation (Fascism doesnt do that obviously, but people get blinded by propaganda).
We wouldnt have this issue today if politicians werent all neoliberal and actually cared about poor people.
I have hope for Germany. The past few weeks we had enormous protests(over 3m people protested in total) and multiple petitions against fascists and the AfD(the party that literally want to deportate everyone who isn't "German"(this means even if you have a German passport, but came from another country youre going to get deportated)) had blown up. Their youth organisation is now officially a right wing extremists organisation. I still have hope, that we may save our country before it's to late.
Just to give you a bit of a morale boost: every generation thinks they're the last ans that everything is about to go to shit. In the end that never really happens.
Yes, a lot of right wing politicians have beek elected, also all previous ones have failed and got kicked out. For the Netherlands I predict the government will fall within a year as it typically tends to do when the leaders fuck up and this guy will likely fuck up soon enough.
Basically, this too shall pass.
Climate change is indeed a big cloud mainly because it will take centuries to fix even if we're going to fully dedicate ourselves to fixing it, which right now we are not. On the other end I finally hear about actual progress with fusion which, if true, may be the key to solving climate change within a century, solving it to acceptable levels within decades, if the will is there.
Point is: things look bleak, but they always do. Back during the cold war it literally was same shit, different day. Yet, the world moved forward and things slowly improved.
Things will be fine, you will be fine.
Your take on climate change makes me more worried. Sure, I will probably be fine, but how many innocent people around the world will die until we've done enough to see the climate improving?
How horrible is the world going to be to inhabit if the Gulf Stream collapses? Or other major climate disruptions occur?
I don't doubt the human race will survive, but why do we have to experience the pain before committing to fixing the problem?
Thanks, I guess part of being an adult is just being more and more indifferent to the gradual decline of the world so that the crippling dread does not consume you.
Explains why my parents are still asking for grandkids.
Things often get a whole lot worse before they get better. People thought things were on the brink of turning to shit in the 1930s, and then we had a world war for 6 years. Tens of millions of people died, countless more were displaced, cities were leveled, and history was lost.
I admire your optimism, but I can't ignore that the world and even my country specifically look more and more like a powder keg with every passing day. I'm terrified that we can't get to "fine" again without first suffering through an extremely dangerous period of time, and there's no guarantee that any of us will be "fine" during that time.
I suggest target practice, that way you won't get crushed by boots....and you can resist any fascist in your area, and encourage others in your immediate area to do the same.
Start a club, and then you can hold parties, where you show each other new knowledge, and help others to protect themselves....and fight against all the fascist hordes!
This isn't Red Dawn. People will quickly find out how inadequate they are against a military.
When real conflict begins domestically it will be drones being used by those in power. Guns won't do much good.
John Brown gun club or Socialist Rifle Association are out there... also there are plenty of paramilitary and social fascist groups to protect yourself against. Proud boys, border nutjobs, don't listen to naysayers about learning to defend yourself. It's not just military with tanks and planes. It's your back the blue neighbor you have to worry about...
We'll see how it shakes out this year, but here are some positive thoughts...
2017 was the high watermark for facism's popularity in the US. They couldn't help themselves and went masks off in Charlottesville, and their movement has never recovered.
Facism's rise is always reactionary to rising socialism. If the rural petite bougausie and the New York Times are pushing for facism then that's because they are worried workers are gaining power and will come to take what they have. They're worried we are getting organized and winning victories.
Conservatives are currently extremely demoralized. Go check out their boards and discords. I've never seen them this universally depressed. Then don't think they can win and they aren't excited at the prospect of trying only to fail.
Hmmmm I also frequent white supremacist sympathising discord and my general take away is that they are more desperate and more willing to take violent action to align reality with their views.
Of course this is only anecdotal so it’s kind of a moot point.
I’d be more confident in your opinion if there wasn’t a prevailing view that America will reelect Trump.
If trump isn’t elected it may not even stop fascism though.
Hitler was jailed before he rose to power, trump could very easily do the same. If I’m going to be optimistic about anything it’s the fact that Trump is very old and may not survive prison or the presidency for an extended period.
May i present to you:
the antifacist handbook, free to download/read (in different formats like pdf/epub/html/plaintext):
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/mark-bray-antifa-the-antifascist-handbook
Thanks for this, reading now.
I’ve also been busy reading the history of the rise of the Nazi party particularly the SA.
It’s scary (scary is not a strong enough word for the combined emotions of frustration, anger, fear, anxiety) how close current USA events are replicating the original rise of Nazi Germany.
Organize. The old world is dying, the new world is yet to be born. We are standing at a tipping point not only regarding climate change, but also regarding the future of humanity. It is up to us, how we act and how the new world will look like.
And even if we loose: Its harder to deport and/or kill you, if a bunch of other people got your back.
No I'm not catastrophising.
2024 is going to be the beginning of the end of us all
Yeah, I don't know about that.
I think it sucks when you are forced to save the environment but the rich don't have to change their lifestyle at all. They should be the first to have to change since they affect the environment a lot more.
We're been living in an oligarchy since the mid 1970s, we've had a surveillance state since 2001 and the US government has been allowed to indefinitely detain people since whatever the year was when Obama signed the NDAA into law.
Our democracy was stolen long ago.
The UK won't be far behind. Our left leaning party is likely to get in at the next election, but the overton window has shifted faaaar in the past 10-15 years and today's labour may just be yesterday's Tories. Who's to say what tomorrow's Tories will be...
I don't even have the energy to keep resisting the endless flow of bullshit anymore. It gets worse from day to day. What bothers me the most is that it's gotten so bad that i turned apathetic to it. If someone starts spewing right wing bullshit i just zone out until they finished. In the end I won't be directly affected by a right wing leadership in my country but i still can't stand the idea. All the progress we have made in the last few years in terms of equality would just go to waste
I won’t be directly affected by a right wing leadership
Well, you know that famous quote where in the end there’s no one to fight for you when they come for you?
This isn't even a car crash brother it's like watching 8 separate trains collide
Remember, the second amendment is for everybody, not just MAGA chuds. :)
I feel you, and with climate change it's not like we can just escape them and go else where their stupidity will be the death of us all.
The masses are asses.
Much of it is a function of late stage capitalism and climate change. We know we can't change so we know we are doomed. The moral contract of society is completely broken.
My plan is to build a boat that is powered by solar panels. Generate enough electricity to move around the world and have power for making water, heat, cooking, air condition, my PC battle station, some greenhouse areas. Be able to build, maintain and repair everything myself and have enough spares to last until EOL. Just exit society, become an island and watch the nukes go off from the ocean. Welcome to [email protected]
Probably humanity will muddle through somehow and after much genocide we'll learn.
You can add France in your list.
Our next leader will probably be a fascist, and the root cause is (to some degrees) our current government.