Crossposted from https://lemmy.world/post/40642280
Once upon a time, this “political extremism“ used to just simply be called “being a decent human being“. How far we’ve fallen.
Well keep in mind some of these freedoms the far right has been whining about for a couple decades is literally someone suggesting they not be an intolerant racist homo/transphobe, and that some people should feel comfortable with saying “Happy Holidays” because not everyone celebrates Xmas.
used to just simply be called “being a decent human being“. How far we’ve fallen.
What specific moment in the past are you idolizing here?
When in human history years has it been more acceptable to be any random marginalized group than it is today?
Did you read the post?
Where is the past being misrepresented, or even just being represented?
“How far we’ve fallen” implies it was once much much better.
Red Scare propaganda, and its fundamental essence now entrenched across society, is largely to blame for decency and empathy becoming demonized as extremist.
Simply acknowledging historical antecedents is not whitewashing or idealizing the past.
i see the far left terrorists didn’t make the list
surprising
Oh noes!
Every item on the list, I have.
I must be one of those dangerous violent extremists the TV warns us about! :O
The woke mind virus claims another victim. Truly tragic to see so much empathy.
deleted by creator
You and your Auntie Fa!
Since they put hammer and sickle (the symbol of communism ) I would argue the acceptance of sexual orientations, religions, genders, races etc was also a problem there. It is liberalism that accepts it.
The claim about everyone being treated equally is also not completely true. I mean, in theory, yes, in practice whenever communism (especialy the one exported from USSR) was implemented some people were “more equal” than others.
I would argue the acceptance of sexual orientations, religions, genders, races etc was also a problem there
Cuba reformed its constitution in 2019 to boost queer rights, and in July approved that people can change their gender legally just by personal request.
Sure, some socialist states of the last century were backwards in that regard, like the USSR, but you gotta keep in mind that in 1930 80% of the country were literally uneducated peasants who worked the land with their own hands.
It only took a century and the death of the supreme leader.
The reality is that communist countries have historically been very conservative in their social policies, and most of them are still today. Even former communist countries are, generally speaking, more conservative as a whole than their more democratic neighbors.
Yeah. I supposed that is the joke of it. The image is actually describing is someone a tad left of center.
Actual leftism extremists have nothing but excuses for the human right violations.
It’s an essential requirement for being an extremist. The moment one recognizes they’re doing it and voices the concern, they are violently ejected from the movement.
You are describing a small minority of self-styled leftists who largely are terminally online.
Those doing the real work, such as practicing mutual aid or organizing tenants unions, are not generally defending historic atrocities.
The point of the post is that the window of mainstream discourse has shifted so far right that even basic human empathy has become controversial.
There’s a reason why they are referred as tankies. They supported using tanks on people during Hungarian uprising.
Ironically MAGA fascists are very similar, because the real goal they are after is authoritarianism.
But what you’re describing isn’t an extremist, just an activist.
I am describing actual leftists.
Yes but not actual extremists.
Leftists are derided as extremist.
What do you understand as the meaning of the post?
Not my left.
Arguably the USSR’s hammer and sickle has been appropriated to represent communism in general and even socialism sometimes
Yeah, and those who use that symbol don’t understand the pain and suffering, because they never lived under such regime or they support them, because they are really after authoritarianism.
I recommend book Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin by prof. Timothy Snyder to give clue how many victims both Communism and Nazism claimed.
The thought of other people living a good life. I just… I can’t. It’s just too horrible.
accepting of all religions
I’m not if said religion involves “removal of rights to others” and “dismantling democracy”. And no, I don’t care if they’re “not real christians”.
“Ive no problem with the spiritual beliefs of all these fuckers while those beliefs dont impact the on happiness of others” - Tim Minchin (the pope song)
Yes, I raised my son to be a far left extremist. He’s nearly 30 and strong enough to cause havoc against a fascist regime.
I am not sorry.
All of mine are grown and doing good things too.
“Oh no, my child wants dignity for all! Better send them to Guantanashwitz”
Random parent having a child with a soul, circa 2030
Well…the people the right call leftist extremists are generally not leftists are have a tenuous leftist label.
Like…(modern) anarchists are generally apolitical or nihilists…and don’t come from the left at the rates they think they do. The Charlie Kirk shooter is a decent example of what somebody will say is this monolith of leftist extremism that exist in large numbers and is a cohesive group.
Short story long: those who use the label “leftist extremist” (without irony) are basically making a boogy man out of random crazies who they don’t have to ignore because they’re not clearly right wingers.
This isn’t the 70s…they don’t have The Weather Underground and The Black Panthers to scapegoat…so they just make shit up.
anarchists are nearly absolutely leftist. i dont know what youre on about.
Unless he is referring to anarcocapitalists.
anarcocapitalists
An odd form of anarchy that still requires the state to enforce property rights.
fair :) but they werent.
Capitalists that don’t believe in narcos?
Or “a narco capitalist”.
Is that just another name for libertarians?
Maybe. I don’t really know if it’s 100% the same but…
I agree…and It’s why I put modern in brackets…then defined my terms. Don’t stop reading after the thing you disagree with.
Actual anarchists are rare. The people we call anarchists aren’t anarchists….they’re a mishmash of hoodlums, nihilists, anti-fascists, Nazi agitators, etc.
i read the whole thing. the opening line of the second paragraph is just so declarative that it was hard to discern what you meant by any of this. I dont agree that modern anarchists are generally apolitical or nihilists, thats all.
Again…I agree with you.
But I defined my terms…and I’m also correct…because I’m the one who framed the comment. You can be confused…but you can’t disagree lol
I’ll further define them/clarify. I’m not talking about actual anarchists…which don’t exist for the purposes of what I’m saying. I’m talking about anarchists as defined by Donald Trump, for example. The people he’s talking about aren’t actual leftist anarchists…they the Neo Nazi agitators, or the hoodlums that pollute leftist protests etc. They’re the guys from Fight Club. Capiche?
if you werent talking about actual anarchists, then you could have been clear in saying as much. anyway, good day.
The very first thing I said was “the people who the right call anarchists”.
This was a very Reddit-like exchange. Nostalgia.
then you started a new paragraph, making a declarative statement, contradicting the position you meant to convey.
Are you talking about the definition of no rules and pure chaos associated with misfits and punks? Back in the 80s there was a whole genre of anarchist music that exemplified actual anarchistic political ideology. There was always a vein of actual anarchists around if looked around a bit.
I was there…I’ve always “caucused” with anarchists.
I’m not talking about actual anarchists…I’m talking about the people who the right label as anarchists…ie the people who don’t know what anarchy is and think it’s chaos and destruction and nihilism.
Ah, I find that most people I encounter can’t define socialism or communism. That’s a problem. We need a robust education system to encourage curiosity on subjects we aren’t familiar with.
The best way to recruit conservatives is to cut education.
Love how the ‘warning signs’ are basically: empathy, equality, and reading books. If that’s ‘extremism,’ we’re in trouble.
thatsthejoke
the horror!
There is no more satire.
None of these things is the reason why communism is extremist and horrible. But you probably knew that.
When have workers ever controlled production, with such control being horrible for workers?
I cannot know about “horrible”, but at least many control-seizing attempts ended up bickering about who actually gets to control things. Anarchists vs Communists in Catalania for instance.
I’m guessing you’re not defining large-scale attempts at Communism like early Communist China and Soviet Union as worker paradises. Those experiments clearly led to worker suffering though.
Devil is in the details, a lot of seemingly conflicting things can work badly or they can work well depending on how well things are run day-to-day. And then there’s the problem that even if you start with a good system, you also have to maintain that system every day to the future or things will slowly (or sometimes rapidly) start going to shit. Some worker-controlled workplaces are good places to work, I’m sure, and some privately owned enterprises are as well.
Regardless, communist society would be one in which production is controlled directly by workers.
Being a leftist is antithetical to being accepting of all religions.
Not far from sad, sad reality. Almost indistinguishable.
This could also be ‘Is your child a true christian?’
