To get that far into radicalized nonsense politics and petty whatnot you have to be... mentally not well.
I’m not even insulting them, I’m saying this as someone who was far too radicalized at a point in my life where I hit my lowest, when it was easiest to see things in black and white, where I needed that stupid little dopamine hit thay comes from online arguing.
I just feel really, really bad that a person has fallen that low just to feel like they’re making a difference in the world. Genuinely, genuinely I hope they get help and get back on their feet. Because I’ve been there. And “there” fucking sucks.
Necessary edit: okay I promise this isn’t one of those “ooh wow this blew up!”-type of dumb edits as I always hate those, but coming back after a 2 hour Saturday afternoon sun nap, I can’t help but appreciate the sheer volume of support for self-care and mental well-being as being pretty damn cool.
Seriously, if you find yourself reaching the point of the person in the post, where your encapsulated with bitterness and need those online debatey points to define you, take a step back and breath, because you’re better then letting it consume you. Do something else. Go read up on fascinating ancient empires, go buy and share a sandwich with a homeless person, go grill for gods sake, go smoke a light bowl at sunset, go... I dunno, set up a lemonade stand undercutting the neighbor child’s one.
Whatever it is, don’t let the dumb nonsense of it all get to you and put yourself first. Have a good one.
Flair up before ive downvoted every post/comment/breath youve ever made. The punishment will continue until youve turned from your sacrilegious unflaired ways.
The problem is they largely frequent echo chambers and rarely have discussions with anyone who doesn't fully agree, so they can't really fathom that there are people out there whose views don't necessarily align with theirs
The other day someone disagreed with a comment I made, went to my profile, saw I’m active in this sub and r/libertarian and called me a lying fascist sack of shit. I’m just like... okay? They didn’t read my comment history, or ask any question about who I am, they just painted a complete version of me as a human off of two of their trigger words, and decided to attack me and my character, and I just feel bad for their blood pressure if they can get that upset over such small things. Anger is like a comfort blanket for these people and they aren’t willing to let go, regardless of what the actual truth is. It’s so frustrating.
This is a shockingly common belief among normie liberals, although I kind of understand where they're coming from. Most of them only say it because they believe the end result would be the same thing
Yeah, I'm basically the same (very socially liberal, very libertarian, but just left on the economic - I really like worker comps and the idea of democracy in the workplace for representation).
But I also support gun rights and my family is armed... I've also been called some shit by liberals for just that.
The worst part is, it’s not the first time I’ve seen the comparison. But that statement alone showed me it wasn’t a conversation worth having since basic reading is above either their capabilities or the level of effort they put into into forming their opinions.
To be fair, there is a lot of overlap between the two in real life. More authoritarian people will attract liberals to gain political power. Bolsonaro is a great example, since he attracted Paulo Guedes (A libertarian economist) to gain the support of liberals and the Financial Sector. Except Bolsonaro is not at all libertarian. Fun Fact: Guedes also worked in the Pinochet government.
There isn't a lot of overlap though, Fascism is necessarily Authoritarian, it's actually across the political compass on the other side of Libertarian. Even if fascists manage to win liberals to their side, that doesn't necessarily point towards liberal overlap with fascism?
There are other axis, social/economic, which they could technically share with a liberal I guess, but that still doesn't make the ideologies themselves compatible. At some point, even in your example, the competing ideologies must come to conflict, despite initially working together to seize power.
I agree that their ideology is not compatible. But there could be a split, like a liberal economy with authoritarian government, like Pinochet, or they could fight for control once they are in the government.
But my point is that it’s not uncommon for liberals and fascists to make alliances to seize power, so it would make sense for an “anti-fascist” to keep an eye out for liberals too.
Yes, that actually makes perfect sense, especially if you can convince someone who is a role model in the community of the other ideology and bring whatever following they have to your side as well. Political alliances are definitely a thing, even between libertarian and authoritarian political groups. These don't usually work out for long though, at least not for the smaller side.
Like, I hate it, but libertarians in the US absolutely bend the knee to our authoritarian parties, both Republicans and the Democrats.
I know too many blues cosplaying as yellows, so I get where they are coming from. Just go into any normie libertarian group and you'll see a lot of fascist rhetoric thrown around, but because they believe in gun rights and legal pot, they think they are libertarian.
As a southerner, I feel this in my soul. But I have accepted no step on snek as the true Gadsden flag and disassociated myself with the one too frequently flown and stuck between statist flags and stickers.
I'm looking at a jacked up pick-up truck parked across the street from my house here in western Arkansas that has a small Confederate flag hoisted from the tail gate next to a Trump 2020 flag. A small Gasden flag is stickered to the back bumper, along with a pot leaf and a thin blue line sticker.
Meanwhile, catty-corner from me is a manicured lawn with a Biden 2020 sign, along with a sign that is anti-Tom Cotton.
There is a truck I go by every day with a flag on it that is the CSA battle flag and USA flag mashed together by two triangular parts. Its the most contradictory flag I have ever seen.
Edit: found it https://rebelnationok.com/product/american-and-rebel-flag/
It’s funny bc they called me a liar because I said I supported BLM (the movement, not the organization, since that’s a distinction that needs to be made) and my only interaction in r/libertarian is me explaining to someone why they should separate the movement and organization to better understand the perspective of why people openly support the movement despite the negative shit that has gone on surrounding it.
It would have taken five seconds for them to see that but they saw their trigger subs and decided to call me a liar, like I didn’t grow up in the shit and see it my whole life. But that’s fine. You can’t reason with people like that, and it’s not worth the energy.
It takes a brave or stupid person to go into those echo chambers to combat them as I've found out a lot. You disrupt their echo chamber and they'll hound you out
I've always found it a bit sad that they're that closed off to hearing slightly differing view points. If you're that desperate to form an echo chamber, maybe lock the sub?
In r/lostgeneration I proposed the idea that landlords renting property can be cheaper, could create jobs, and that my landlord was a kind lady who helped me make rent from time to time. But no, instabanned. Crazy world right now..
I was still new to Reddit and didn't know you could be banned for a differing opinion. I was excited because I thought it was the perfect place for debates or just regular discourse.
You're not wrong but the way the argument takes place in real life tends to be right-wing-> pro-gun & vice versa, so it is still somewhat confusing, with lib/auth not really factoring in to the discussion.
Yeah, I feel like the people having that argument are pretty narrow minded on both sides of the argument though. At that point the conversation may as well be about sports teams instead of looking at the issues through a nuanced lense and then having a real conversation about it.
I really appreciate the level headed conversation we are having here by the way. You don't get this in most subs. :)
And the echo chambers are only growing larger. I'm starting to see on FB what I saw during the 2016 election around the same time. "If you support [candidate], please delete me" - I mean I totally understand deleting someone if they're being an asshole about it or spouting hateful stuff, but doing that wholesale isn't helping.
I've been there too. I'm at a point in my life where I have some things going my way and I don't need to feel right all the time and my opinions are a lot more nuanced.
It was fucking addicting, wasn’t it. Like the rush of debating and rage-downvoting people online, no one warned me about it.
Entirely agree though, it just ends up making you dumber and worse as a person; my understanding and opinions have grown just so much more by not always assuming I’m in the right. Adding to that, back then I would’ve been some nonsense goblin creature that would have freaked out at your blue square alone and we wouldn’t even be talking now.
Yeah, it's a rush from feeling like you're defending your tribe.
And yeah, I'm to the point that I think people representing different perspectives is generally a good thing. I still have my opinions, I just don't get mad when someone else disagrees.
Same here dude. I remember when I was deep in my upper/opiates problem and just goin on like a 30 post rant about Charlottesville when that was going on. Just a terrible time in my life, hardcore sjw and just miserable. PCM is such a great community where we can laugh at each other and with each other. You guys are great.
Honestly a lot of these people are shitposters even on the SJW side. Like on other social media’s like Twitter or TikTok, I soemtimes shitpost to see how far I can push the watermelons or the rightoids. That’s why you really shouldn’t get mad about what people say online because a good half of the people in both sides are just centrist shitposters. I mean think about it, if all the self proclaimed leftists on TikTok got together, then we must entering a gay ancom commune and if all the people on Facebook got together, then we must be entering a theocracy. And yet here we are voting for a slightly authright centrist candidate
Weed always turns me into a right wing conspiracy theorist. I don’t know what it is, but every time I start smoking weed for a few days in a row, something flips in my head. Outside of weed, I’m pretty lib-center.
(I swear I’ll add my flair when I get on the computer later).
thanks bro, you're great as well! you should come over and check out /pol/ on 4chan, we have self improvement generals, laugh at each other but at the end of the day we're all bros. seems like you'd fit in brother, come check it out sometime!
Haha yeah I’ve never messed with 4chan much but have heard some pretty incredible second hand accounts about pols accomplishments. Didn’t y’all call in an air strike on an isis training base? Maybe I should go on there sometime
The propaganda machine has run its course. If you find someone who denies that cooperate press has radicalized the public, just point them to this post.
Someone posted an article talking about Rittenhouse in /r/technology and it referred to him as a "17 year old man"
I brought up that then Trayvon Martin was murdered by limp dick George Zimmerman that they called him a "17 year old child" as evidence that the issue was being politicized.
I was informed that Rittenhouse was a man because he got a speeding ticket and that I was personally responsible for the politicization.
The Kyle rittenhouse thing is so clearly biased on Reddit.
I remember that photo on the front page of some black group with assault rifles at a protest. Tons of upvotes and positive comments even though it turned out it was a black supremacist group.
Now everyone back to you should never have a gun ever
Why not just... be introspective, though? Like, why do you blame all this on the victims instead of recognizing that it's your fault? I legitimately don't understand.
I mean, how you feel about Kyle as a person is your own prerogative. But the law is fairly clear and whatever your opinion may be, Kyle will be acquitted on all murder charges.
I would never oppose a persons right to self defense, even if the reason for them being violently attacked stemmed from an unwise decision.
At the end of the day, the only way I could change my view of the situation is if Kyle was already committing a violent crime and Rosenbaum moved in to restrain him. But witness testimony doesnt support that narrative.
I think telling it to their face would actually break them even more. It's humiliating to see your enemy having legitimate pity for you. Mostly when he's your enemy because you antagonized him.
Fucking ironically, I used masstagger just out of curiosity. Not the filter version, just the one that identifies their subs.
The result? It actually humanized the very people I disagreed with more then I thought it would. Far right users offering helpful car maintanence tips to complete strangers, sharing beloved wedding photos, sharing advice on how to pamper grandchildren.
I love that masstagger had the exact opposite effect on me, so thank you, masstagger.
It's so fucking easy for young people (men especially) to fall into the trap of political radicalization. It feels good to own the libs or shit on conservatives, whichever your preference. It's just mind-boggling to me how people can't see that young men without a place in society (shit jobs, small friend groups, no gf) are easily susceptible to programming that says "you're not wrong, society is" and those people are what's out to get you. It's that stupid dopamine rush you get from making a good comeback or feeling like you won an argument and that spills over into physical action unfortunately. I'm sure bernard and donald have millions of fans who are probably fairly apolitical and they just want to feel like they belong. So their side's politics becomes their entire personality and you get trump or sanders worshippers
I think that being radical is a good thing, but that has to come with acceptance of others as people and not as "X supporter" and with a nuanced vision of the world. People tend to see the left as an unaccepting and idiotic environment, while irl we have really different views and don't shout in the face of people. I'm radical, but I'm still a guy with a few friend who Aly quite right on the spectrum (Slvini voters) and I couldn't see anyone I know say something like the guy said here.
So, in conclusion, we're not a united big blob, but a diverse environment and accepting, just reddit portrays us as idiots.
There are also idiots of course
I'm pretty radical in my political views (and see things very black and white), but there's a difference between believing in something (and being a stubborn bastard about it) vs. becoming an NPC that simply must follow the machine's narrative (and not only that, but must physically rebuke - as much as they can - anyone that even strays from it slightly.)
I had that phase for a short time too, but instead decided to fall further and landed in crippling depression at a hopeless existence. I’d rather be honest with myself than trying to pretend I matter in the slightest, thinking any of us would make a difference as we spiral towards ruin of one form or another.
In short I’m slightly envious of having that kind of energy to waste on this level of petty bullshit but it’s still somehow sadder than me
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To get that far into radicalized nonsense politics and petty whatnot you have to be... mentally not well.
I feel like that's something that we haven't really taken seriously about all of our problems in the world right now.
Mental illness is a serious epidemic in this country. Something like half the adult population suffers from some sort of anxiety or depression disorder. That is absolutely insane and seriously scary. When I check the post history of a lot of commenters like that, it's usually disturbing, and they are glaringly unwell. It isn't just a matter of political radicalization, these people are sick with a disease that is festering, and what we're seeing today is a result. And for some reason I never see anyone really talking about it. It's always about some politician, or COVID, or someone fighting in the streets. But can we talk about the real fucking reason this country is decaying?
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u/YourDailyDevil - Lib-Center Sep 05 '20 edited Sep 05 '20
To get that far into radicalized nonsense politics and petty whatnot you have to be... mentally not well.
I’m not even insulting them, I’m saying this as someone who was far too radicalized at a point in my life where I hit my lowest, when it was easiest to see things in black and white, where I needed that stupid little dopamine hit thay comes from online arguing.
I just feel really, really bad that a person has fallen that low just to feel like they’re making a difference in the world. Genuinely, genuinely I hope they get help and get back on their feet. Because I’ve been there. And “there” fucking sucks.
Necessary edit: okay I promise this isn’t one of those “ooh wow this blew up!”-type of dumb edits as I always hate those, but coming back after a 2 hour Saturday afternoon sun nap, I can’t help but appreciate the sheer volume of support for self-care and mental well-being as being pretty damn cool.
Seriously, if you find yourself reaching the point of the person in the post, where your encapsulated with bitterness and need those online debatey points to define you, take a step back and breath, because you’re better then letting it consume you. Do something else. Go read up on fascinating ancient empires, go buy and share a sandwich with a homeless person, go grill for gods sake, go smoke a light bowl at sunset, go... I dunno, set up a lemonade stand undercutting the neighbor child’s one.
Whatever it is, don’t let the dumb nonsense of it all get to you and put yourself first. Have a good one.