Nor are we required to cheer. Peaceful progress is orders of magnitude better than the option of violence. If we’re truly at the option of last resort, I’m going to mourn the loss of transformation as a path forward. I don’t yearn for destruction.
Peaceful progress would be great, and is always the preferred option, but peacefully sliding into a dystopian capitalist oligarchy where corporations can legally profit off the death of their "customers" doesn't sound like progress to me tbh.
Yes, (peaceful or violent) regression is even lower on my list of desires.
That still doesn’t require me to happily choose violence. I can do it mournfully and regretfully.
I don’t care if it’s justified. That doesn’t necessitate giving up my compassion. If I do, I feel that’s yet one more way the puppet masters are pulling my strings. It’s no win.
Peaceful progress has never happened without the credible threat of a violent alternative backing it up. A radical fringe is required in order to make the moderates look moderate; otherwise, the Overton window shifts away from their cause.
I’m going to mourn the loss of transformation as a path forward.
As am I. But during and since the election I've come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to cheer.
I still do believe in incremental change but I no longer feel that we have the time. And I realized that asking a generation or two to be patient enough to let that play out is just too big of an ask.
We didn’t need to be patient. We didn’t effectively use the nonviolent tools are our disposal. They were too boring.
Killing is exciting though, so lots of us are cheering and thinking this tool will quickly make our lives better. If it was an effective tool, America would already be a utopia. We have guns and killings already, but no one is choosing the “good” targets.
I can’t tell if those cheering are trying to sabotage the left, so the right can continue to paint the left as violent. Or are they psychopaths? Or do they just have fantasies of LARPing as the Hollywood movie’s underdog hero? What I don’t see if them putting their money where their mouth is.
And they trash any sentiments that question if this enthusiasm is a good idea. I’m not even saying they shouldn’t be enthusiastic. I’m just (again) in the position of justifying not sharing that sentiment.
I’ve had this debate going on in my head since I was a kid. Non-violence vs violence. And here’s where I landed:
I’m personally nonviolent. I always want things to be peaceful. But I’ve also come to the conclusion that those of us who choose non-violence have to at some point accept that violence is being used against us. Constantly. The state uses violence to keep us in line. It uses violence to keep the system running on us. Violence is every day. And it’s top-down. But at the first sight of bottom-up violence, everyone has their pearls in hand.
We are being beaten, killed, abused by the system. But when we symbolically use violence against arbiters of death, suddenly violence is wrong again. But the constant threat and use of state violence is hand-waved away.
I choose non-violence. But the constant slide backwards is not solved with just non-violence. Because non-violence is exactly what we’ve been trying the entire time we’ve been sliding backwards. The class war has been ongoing and one sided. Just because I’m nonviolent doesn’t mean I can’t see the value in violence used against those who are killing us. Bite the hand that starves you.
Diversity of tactics FTW!
Nor are we required to cheer
Our cheering is merely a function of the cruelty they've inflicted on us and our families.
The cruelty shareholders cheer about at when their earnings reports come in, and Jim Cramer honks horns and plays wacky sound effects for every day on TV like it's cute.
Imagine believing in peaceful progress after Trump was elected again.
Yeah, that’s not what I said. Good try though.
I would argue that with all the none violent protest things have never been as bleak as at present.
No one said ypu were required to cheer. A whole lot of people are insisting golks don't, though. You're free to stay in your lane.
In my feeds, I’ve mostly seen people attacking those who don’t cheer (look at the replies in just this thread *).
I wish that enthusiasm was used for nonviolent direct action over the years, but too few could be bothered. I wish I was optimistic the enthusiasm now would miraculously make a difference.
I wasn’t even attacking those who are cheering. I was saying I’m not into it, but the replies are people who feel threatened by this perspective.
* edit: Oh, here’s a great example. But it’s probably my fault for expressing a nuanced view.
sean@lemmy.wtfwrote:shut the fuck up stupid bitch
You're getting downvoted but your point is completely valid; it's a sad reality if this is the only option left for people to make things better. Things should have never gotten this bad in the first place.
Ok you keep up with the thoughts and prayers.
Did you even read what I wrote?
Peaceful progress is orders of magnitude better than the option of violence.
"Orders of magnitude"? Really? Also: by what metric?
I felt sheer dread when I saw the police footage of the murder of Daniel Shaver by the police... but I felt nothing at all at the shooting of the CEO who got what was coming to him.
