If you want to actually do something about our terrible system, you're a radical leftist. The fact that it's demonized is a moral condemnation of society, not you.
this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2024
706 points (97.7% liked)
196
16412 readers
1153 users here now
Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.
Rule: You must post before you leave.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Why should someone be scared to call themselves a leftist, im an Anarcho Syndicalist and I don't care if other people don't like it.
I don't know where I sit, to be honest. I'm anti-capitalist, but at the same time, I'm not exactly an anarchist because keeping everything at the local level smacks of inefficiency, promotes tribalism, and doesn't really allow for coordination.
Having some form of government is helpful as long as it's held strictly accountable. Otherwise, it's just 100,000 voices screaming, as people all try to push individual agendas.
While a complete lack of structure maximizes individual freedoms, it also makes individuals more vulnerable because there aren't institutions to help them if they need it.
keeping everything at the local level
This only happens because within capitalism only small anarchist communities have been able to survive, anarchism doesn't say anything about keeping everything local (I'd say the opposite, it encourages cooperation between communities to cover all bases, ideally on a global scale)
Having some form of government is helpful
Anarchism doesn't mean there is no government, just no hierarchy, horizontal governance is a thing.
While a complete lack of structure
Again, not a thing in anarchism, even the symbol of anarchism literally incorporates the word order (the circle around the A isn't a circle, but an O)
Thanks - I'll admit I'm pretty unread on a lot of it. I know what I want I just don't know where I fit yet
No worries, and that's fair. You also don't need to read a whole ton of theory to get the gist in most cases (also, if videos are easier for you, Andrewism on YT for example, does good videos about anarchism), but it's always best to rely on sources from within - from people who practice the ideology and want it to succeed, rather than misinformation from outside which leftist ideologies suffer a lot from, because capitalist propaganda has done its utmost to twist and subvert what they mean and stand for.
Enjoy the ride!
Ladies and gentlemen, this style of exchange is why Lemmy is substantially better than Reddit, how Reddit was even as far back as 2012. Or any other online platform. Online civility is a lost art on most platforms. Instead of calling me some uneducated cuck and wishing my children die in a house fire, Sims provided resources, and even suggests that reading these resources when I have time is totally fine, rather than calling me an uneducated fuck stain for not having read them earlier.
Thanks for being a cool human, my dude
Tbf my levels of patience vary a lot lol. I would never berate anyone for not knowing something, no one knows everything, and we all learn something new every day (E: and also in different ways), though if someone clearly doesn't want to hear anything that doesn't confirm their bias I won't waste my time and might call them out for not wanting to know, and be blunt about that since I think some people need the rude awakening. On the other hand, if someone is already taking their own steps to explore outside of and challenge their bias, and I happen to know something about the topic or have a relevant resource, I'm more than happy to help. So the credit is yours as much as it is mine, but thank you.
On a side note - comrade(s) is a great gender neutral alternative to both ladies and gentlemen, and dude.
Your views align pretty closely with mine: ignorance isn't a cardinal sin, but willful ignorance is.
The fact that you're taking an educational approach rather than coming after me with a board that has a nail sticking out of it is refreshing for online communities. More people need to just chill.
On dude: sorry, my age is showing - lexicon needs an update and I haven't got there yet but I'm working on it
Yeah, it's an important distinction to make. And I have to agree, it would be nice to have more exchanges like this, but with the state of the world it isn't really surprising that people are generally angrier, be it for good reason or bad (anti-racist vs racist, for example), it's when people are mostly on the same page that the animosity really confuses me lol. The last part goes back to the top - we're all learning all the time, the important thing is to stay open to it and grow from it.
Dude is just as neutral as comrade. It's only your own preconceptions giving it gender.
Go ask a straight man how many dudes he's slept with recently and get back to me..
And ask the same straight man how many comrades he's slept with recently and receive the same answer.
What? Please educate yourself on Anarchism and especially Anarcho Syndicalism before making more statements. Under Anarcho Syndicalism while individual syndicates (imagine unions but more organized and the own the workplace) exist they're organized by varying levels of larger syndicates. The amount of organization within Anarcho Syndicalism without government is greater then any other governmental system.
I admitted I was unread on topic, and didn't know where I fit on the scale. There's nothing wrong with stating my current understanding, with large caveats, which is what I did. Further, another commentator shared a bunch of resources rather than taking a 'git good' approach
I actually think this twitter post has the right idea. Fuck labels, they can be twisted. Preach what you believe in
because some people don't think those are an end all be all solution even if they can identify the problem.
problem and solution are not tied together yet. right now we only have the problem. this poster is indicating that they aren't sold on those being the solutions. there are many paths forward, it's fair to not know which one is right yet.
hell, it's more unreasonable to say you KNOW your solution will fix this. none of these economic systems have been successfully tested in large scale. they are all just theoretical. to change to a new one is scary and dangerous and must be done with much thought, consideration, and care.
I never said I can guarantee my economic solution is the right one or that it'll fix it, all I'm saying is we have many solutions available and if none of them are used the future is doomed.
"I'm not X", proceeds to describe X.
Might as well said "I'm not like other girls".
OP is basically a "pick me" move where you're so desperate for approval from the "in" group despite them completely rejecting your values and value, but whose acceptance you've been socialised to believe you should dedicate your life to getting.
You're going to be waiting a long long time (or else get used as a token or "one of the good ones" before they discard you back in the reject pile for not fitting in their exclusionary exploitative systems).
Have some fucking pride in your convictions, opposing capitalism and the status quo are nothing to be ashamed of, but the exact opposite.
in the US we're suffering from a century of anti-communist (pro-capitalist, pro-industrialist, pro-imperialist) propaganda willfully cultivated by our plutocratic oligarchs and disseminated by our education system.
So communist and socialist are words of contempt, despite what they actually mean.
So I get it.
Oh, I get why it happens, and that it's all a feature of the system not a bug, doesn't make it any less frustrating to see..
What a sandwich of a comment. Agreeable point - what a tremendous assumption filled leap - agreeable point. I am reeling.
That just sounds like the analytic part of Das Kapital. Now, what are we going to do about it?
We are definitely taking notice how a tiny number of rich people have so much control over our lives.
Sadly, local organization is slower than the deterioration of the global climate, and law enforcement are now hunting mutual aid orgs in some states. It may be that we have to find our Mahsa Amini moment, where some poor innocent gets massacred, leading us to protests that are put violently down, which escalates to uprising against authorities. It'll be messy, but so far our ownership class is unwilling to allow progress without violent retaliation.
That's what makes you a leftist. Noticing we waste 1/3 of food and less than 1/5 are starving, and thinking "clearly there has to be a better way, let's figure it out" is what separates leftists from liberals
Within this post, I think I get into a discussion about where I sit. I grilled chat GPT on this, and put in what we're important beliefs of mine, and apparently I come out as an eco-socialist(?).
I don't disagree with that position... As a next step, it seems pretty sensible to me
To truly understand where you stand, you have to break false dichotomy - political platforms aren't one or two dimensional, they're multifaceted. IMO you have to pick an end goal, and chart a course towards it
Personally, my end goal is solar punk. I want to live in a green world with technology. To get there, I full throatedly resist authoritarianism or centralization of any kind- I believe the larger it is, the more it'll attract sociopaths seeking power for powers sake
Eco socialism is a step in my desired direction - I have no issue with it. It's a sensible waypoint and I'd gladly join hands with those who see it as the end goal. But I'd encourage you to chat with gpt (or better yet, local AI) in the context of your end goal and the next step to get there - LLMs are an extension of the user, and I think this is a proper use of the technology