Because it has transformed into crypto fascism vs fascism regime, electorally.
That's what the electoral college was designed to do. Maintain slavery. That's what the Senate was designed to do. That's what almost every part of the Constitution was designed to do.
And while there is some progress in some countries there's typically anti-progress and others; I don't think he's necessarily incorrect but he's correct for the wrong reasons... It's a logical extension of a two-party system as a form of first past the post, in a system that is always favored
Anti-communism is *the* classic way of recruiting people for fascism. You convince people that *nothing* can be worse than communism; then you tell them they face a binary choice between communism and “stability and order” (aka: fascism). And you’re home and dry.
When I looked for the original I found that Niemoller just hadn't made it into a poem as such but used it in various forms in speeches but he always started with the communists
the thrust of what i was taught about Weimar Germany in school was basically that it was ineffectual, incompetent, and practically begging for a fascist takeover
this is not, i have since learned, a fair or complete portrayal
It's revisionist history meant to sap strength from and mollify radicals brought into the system, and help pressure liberals into obedience by surrender.
as ive learned more about what a queer haven Weimar Berlin was, i can't help but make connections between how the state and the people are viewed in that revisionist history, ie, Weimar was a faggot state that was bound to get its teeth kicked in by A Real Man
It had all kinds of problems. It was corrupt. It was incredibly impoverished. But it was also pretty ripe to go one way or the other. And those problems - especially with the crash - were global.
The Weimar government deliberately allowed hyperinflation to continue because German businesses and the wealthy had foreign cash reserves and were having a ball buying up foreclosed properties and driving down wages.
This happened while hyperinflation was causing mass starvation and death.
like you don’t have to hang out or be besties with some leftist nerd who won’t stfu about wwii soviet aesthetics, but centering your personal politics around attacking communists / tankies historically leads to some pretty goddamn fascistic outcomes.
i’m saying this as an anarchist btws. i think there are definitely some crank tier ML nerds, but they’re mostly online. also the weirdest cranks tend to be more orthodox marxist or LeftCom lol
Absolutely agree. There are also some anarchists who can be tough to be around. They’re just a distraction and in the minority. When it comes to real life organizing, helping our communities, and building class consciousness, I’ve discovered a lot of solidarity between MLs and anarchists.
is that bc George Lucas used leftist terminology when creating his anti-fascist Vietnam War allegory, and that sort of language is only allowed to penetrate into the american public consciousness when disguised as pop culture?
yah like i said, ya don’t have to be besties with some dude who looks like IRL Harrier Du Bois, but it’s reactionary af to center all of your politics around trying to destroy him for reading Lenin between volunteering at Food Not Bombs events lol
Reading Lenin isn't even bad lmao Ive read Lenin as an anarchist, my issue has only ever lied with people who sit there defending China and Russia as though they're any better or more lefty than the US when in almost all cases they're either just as bad or even worse
"fascism is at its strongest right now" setting aside the accuracy of this statment...maybe it might have something to do with the fact that people like him stopped society from killing fascists??
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Back when women and non-white people couldn't even voteand were treated very different under the law, or chattel slavery being legal, like
We have strong evidence fighting fascism CAN create progress
That's what the electoral college was designed to do. Maintain slavery. That's what the Senate was designed to do. That's what almost every part of the Constitution was designed to do.
On the world scale of course, you then have the international poker game where everyone is cheating.
So I don't really know if there's a way out of it that doesn't involve mutually assured destruction or climate disaster.
The "bread and circus" has since become work for basic scraps and have fun in your sleep.
The world war 2 shaped hole in France:
also worth noting is that famous “first they came” poem starts with a line about communists. this line is typically censored in the United States.
the thrust of what i was taught about Weimar Germany in school was basically that it was ineffectual, incompetent, and practically begging for a fascist takeover
this is not, i have since learned, a fair or complete portrayal
1) it has difficulty dealing with the Great Depression
2) Chancellor Papen was a dumbass
And like, if that is the criteria for a useless government I got bad news for America
This happened while hyperinflation was causing mass starvation and death.
Translation: "Nothing happened between 1939 and 1945. Stop asking."
I'm pretty sure killing Nazis is the one thing Joseph Stalin did that is universally accepted as the right call.
Don't do anti-communism, kids.
if they’re a class reductionist, sectarian, or bigoted, then go after them for having a shit grasp of basic intersectional theory.
otherwise so what if they unironically wear a vintage ushanka 🤷♀️
omg it me
i generally don’t trust most news we get inside the imperial core about any country the United States sees as an economic rival tho.
seems silly to argue for or against other countries when we have a class war raging here.
There is, quite famously, rather a lot of evidence to suggest this.
It seems like he would be calling for more violence not less, but I don’t think that kids two brain cells get much of a workout…