Right wingers don't move as a bloc at all if you look closely. They lash out and cower in incoherent waves. Various reactionary groups are defined by infighting. There is currently a struggle between christofascists and porn-addled internet Nazis. They succeed because they aren't cracked down on - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

impemboganecue.bsky.social • 2 days ago

Right wingers don't move as a bloc at all if you look closely. They lash out and cower in incoherent waves. Various reactionary groups are defined by infighting. There is currently a struggle between christofascists and porn-addled internet Nazis. They succeed because they aren't cracked down on

Reposted from G. Willow Wilson

Real q: why are modern American progressives so bad at building coalitions? The right wing is this ideologically incoherent hodge-podge of unrelated or even oppositional causes, yet they manage to work as a bloc. By contrast, liberals + leftists spend a huge amount of energy fighting w each other.

Comments

pumpkinpal.bsky.social•2 days ago

They've also got a media apparatus that basically exists just to rile them up about the same manufactured crises and enemies

peacesells.bsky.social•2 days ago

They've also got shitloads of money. Capitalists are willing to invest a lot of cash in a political project that advocates for them to get more money and more power.

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

Yeah, they don't actively organize as one unit, but they are often frothing at the mouth mad and scared about whatever the flavor of the month is

pumpkinpal.bsky.social•2 days ago

in addition to the many good points you and others have made, the disparate frothing-mouthed groups on the right can occasionally behave like a coalition because they can agree upon a common enemy (everyone they consider lower in the white supremacy heirarchy)

pumpkinpal.bsky.social•2 days ago

the progressive non-coalition can't do this because the libs want to punch down but in a different flavor than the right, while the left wants to punch up

booktweeting.bsky.social•2 days ago

or sideways, there is a lot of sideways punching too

impcus.bsky.social•2 days ago

It's annoying hearing people talk about "leftists" like they're a tangible political coalition with the ability to affect anything at a national level. All it ends up amounting to is people who think everyone should get healthcare and who think genocide is bad

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

Both perspectives that have no representation in our political system either way. No matter how popular they might be. The American left has no power, no influence, but takes the full blame for all of society's ills from both parties

impcus.bsky.social•2 days ago

Wonderful way for Dems (center-right liberals) to pretend they're courageously protecting the country from descending into an imagined Marxist revolution and a fascist takeover simultaneously, all this fantasy to inevitably lead to the latter

dbhaugen.bsky.social•2 days ago

You have to exercise power against them, they only respond to force.

leonardpierce.bsky.social•2 days ago

This is such a good thread and it makes so many important points. The idea that the “left” is splintered while the right is unified ignores all kinds of political reality. Even at the highest levels there are fissures and conflicts and contradictions! Big money is getting nervous about Trump!

leonardpierce.bsky.social•2 days ago

But as long as the majority of power rests with capital, all the flavors of the right, however much in disagreement or unity, will be treated as less of a threat than an actual left. The “left” is splintered because one segment of it is anticapitalist and the other isn’t, and only one is threatened.

leonardpierce.bsky.social•2 days ago

It’s good to understand that liberals and leftists aren’t on the same side, but it’s also important to know why and what that means: that liberals will assent to the disruption and suppression of the left on a way that they won’t for the right.

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

The Silicon Valley billionaires that own and operate Trump 2 used to be his (liberal!) enemies! They banned him, they moaned about his danger in their own words and via their owned media, they condemned the January 6th riot. Then they looked at the state of the world and pulled him out of the trash

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

The brooks brothers riot worked, but those same people looked down their noses at the Jan 6th hogs, who failed. What did both have in common? Nobody did shit about them lol

shuchancellor.online•2 days ago

What a tiresome question we the socialists have answered in full many times in many different ways

scooterbones.bsky.social•2 days ago

The Jan 6th hogs succeeded. Ashli Babet died for our sins and the Messiah came again. We all owe Q Shaman a big apology

scooterbones.bsky.social•2 days ago

You might have laughed, by the guy that tazed his balls until he had a heart attack died a hero's death

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

The various strains of reactionaries can eat each other alive, but ultimately they can fester and keep trying, over and over, because our ruling class (including many wealthy liberals) supports them, while seeing the left as an existential threat

giafication.bsky.social•2 days ago

this is the most important thing to me. our entire society is oriented towards producing reactionaries, not leftists. it’s been known for years popular reactionary figures are being propped up by billionaires, i’m not sure why people act as if the playing field is even

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

This is a country where the right constantly brays about destroying leftist propaganda public media, then you turn on NPR and it's an economics show about how Pinochet was good, actually

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

What leftism we have in this country comes from abroad, or from clinging to a handful of Marxists that basically exist as, like, wandering cryptids who evolved in highly specific conditions

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

The right have to focus on a handful of incidents like Ruby Ridge (and avoid talking about the OKC bombing it inspired) because there just aren't that many moments like it

regimecpa.bsky.social•2 days ago

Obama not drone striking the Bundys was a huge error but it’s one that most people make

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

Speaking of the Bundys, there's an example of a right wing schism! Ammon saw all the right wingers become MAGA and he was like "wait a minute you guys like COPS?!?!?!?"

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

It ultimately comes down to this: when reaction is ascendant, liberals abandon the left entirely. We call this formation "fascism"

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

American ruling class liberals (and their British counterparts) take this task very seriously. They very clearly demonstrate, in words and in actions, that their primary role is to keep the left away from power. How do you build a coalition there? You fuckin don't!

impemboganecue.bsky.social•2 days ago

We're in the middle of a fascist dismantling of the federal government and constitution, the left is scattered, and Hakeem Jeffries still goes out there whining about how he has to hold the line against the left while doing nothing against the right

meramazen.bsky.social•2 days ago

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