this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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I think a lot of the backlash is because people are used to being inside their comfortable echo chambers where dissenting voices are totally marginalised and they felt like their opinions were universally shared among sensible people.
With federation, those echo chambers are interacting with each-other a lot more than they usually would, on relatively equal footing, and being confronted by the idea that other people think that your opinions are shit and that you tacitly support some evil practice is an uncomfortable feeling! The natural inclination is to reject that sort of experience as a jerk who is intentionally trolling you, personally, because they’re wrong or brainwashed or whatever.
The reality is that we’re all just flawed people who aren’t very good at dealing with our emotions and it’s a lot easier to blame and banish someone who disagrees with us than to talk to them and come to a consensus. But the latter is how we actually solve our conflicts.
We have a lot more in common with each-other than separates us.
Except from Nazis, fuck Nazis.
This is the correct take.
People on this site have a bad habit of larping like any red or black army actually exists or is even likely to exist in the near term. Saying stuff like never organize with X group as though there aren't already few enough leftists out here to begin with.
We're so far from the point where we can even imagine what faction of the left will claim a majority in any hypothetical revolution and people are arguing about China or "red-fash" nonsense when we have a crumbling empire right at our feet that needs us to organize and unite.
We have a hell of a lot of work to do both in outreach and education and must provide a clear alternative to reactionary groups for the masses losing faith in the legitimacy or efficacy of liberal capitalism before we start rehashing 100 year old ideological beefs.
The tankies aren't going to murder you, there's no impending revolution for the anarchists to betray and thinking that the exact same historical conflicts and mistakes will be inevitably repeated is defeatist and anti-materialist.
A better world is possible. None of us can accurately say how or when we will get there but unless we get our shit together it will be to late. Maybe it already is too late, maybe the world has already ended but we have to at least try.
Nazis bad but communists fine?
This is the hardest YES I have ever typed.
Yes
I would be happy to answer your question, but these things can be quite complex - would you help me by letting me know what you understand fascism to mean, and what you understand communism to mean? It’s important that we establish mutual agreement on the meaning of those terms before we can really discuss further!
glad you're figuring it out!