George Floyd

[luka]

not sure that racism and reactionary sentiment is generally far more acceptable here. it's not that it's any more or less acceptable, it's just that social media has enabled people with those sentiments to now broadcast them to the world. prevalence of message and level of acceptance of message are two different things.

maybe it's just that formerly closeted racists are now emboldened to use the facebook megaphone, as opposed to the message of racism being more accepted.

I'm probably not being clear, just speculating that maybe there are roughly the same number of racists now as before, but more of them are speaking out. that doesn't mean what they say is being more widely accepted by America society at large.

I think racism is a kind of laziness, apart from anything else, this Moral turpitude. And I think the more often you see it expressed, and we do see it expressed exponentially more now, the more likely you are to slip into it. I think there is a definite contagious aspect to it. And it's omnipresent online. So I think although there may not be any more committed racists, people who actively identify as racists, white power types etc I think as a kind of mental and moral laziness it's more prevalent than ever and I think it's socially acceptable to express in a way it wasn't 20 years ago. It starts with jokes etc but it's all slippery slope stuff imo.

 

[sus]

maybe that's the problem. get off twitter. it's not the real world.

social media has enabled people with those sentiments to now broadcast them to the world

 

[sus]

I'm talking about videos, lol. The feed is all videos. This isn't about "social media." There's widespread selective reporting because of strong and empirically undeniable liberal bias in the major media platforms

If you wanna watch Wisconsin burn, it's being live streamed. If you wanna live in the "protests are nonviolent!!" fantasy world the NYT creates daily, go for it

 

[sus]

This isn't about left vs right, this is about the bullshit hypernormalized world that the Guardian/Times creates daily

 

[sus]

At least in the oughts, the left pretended to care about facts, science, accurate reporting, "truth"

The American institutional left's gone fullblown post-truth. Don't blame me for abandoning it.

 

[constant escape]

I certainly don't blame you - one question is, where to take refuge?

 

[constant escape]

Where can we advance and develop progressive, even egalitarian, ideas, without friction or kneejerk opposition?

Mind you, by "advance and develop" I do mean dialectics. And dialectics is stunted when you start drinking your own koolaid, whether red chemical flavored or blue chemical flavored.

 

[constant escape]

Frankly, I think dissensus is one good place for this.

 

[sus]

Sorry I meant to respond to your stuff earlier about the dirtbag left

I think they're fine and a net good; I also think Red Scare at the end of the day cares more about being "cool" and edgy than they do about real values. That's fine; they're living in a cynical town in a cynical society.

 

[constant escape]

I do get an edgelady, lethargic-chic vibe from them, but they are intelligent, and I think (whether they know it or not) they encapsulate the seeds of the kind of sensibilities I have in mind. But I also think you can be a non-vampire without being a dirtbag. At the very least, they mark an interesting intersection ideologically.

Arguably, virtue signaling is necessary for said virtue to spread. Once it has, praying in public may not longer be warranted.

 

[Leo]

those two social media comments I made are one and the same, though. neither was meant as a positive.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

the bullshit hypernormalized world that the Guardian/Times creates daily

the idea that the Guardian and Times have the heft and reach to create a hypernormalized world is absurd

even if in its heyday as the paper of record the Times didn't have anything close that ability, let alone now in its diminished form

compared to the vast oceans of money and influence dedicated to pulling reality in other directions, it is - no offense - laughable

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

of course, I have never put any trust in the American institutional (that is, liberal) left, so never had to "abandon" it

it was always, at best, the least bad of realistic options in a voting booth

in the tradition I came of age in, you inherently saw things like NYT as primarily a part of manufacturing consent

 

[linebaugh]

the idea that the Guardian and Times have the heft and reach to create a hypernormalized world is absurd

even if in its heyday as the paper of record the Times didn't have anything close that ability, let alone now in its diminished form

compared to the vast oceans of money and influence dedicated to pulling reality in other directions, it is - no offense - laughable

is the guardian and Times not enveloped in that network of money and influence? I dont think he was levying that responsibility on guardian/times, rather a revealing portion of the tapestry that is easy to gesture too

 

[linebaugh]

Paradraig you seem like you've been badly hurt by neo libs on here in the past. If Luka hasnt informed you there is a new radical contingent of young anarcho americans round these parts and its ok for you to be you now

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I mean, how do people think these things happen? you ask nicely and everyone shakes hands on it?

civil rights didn't just succeed because of MLK etc, though undoubtedly they were enormously important and courageous

MLK etc succeeded in no small part because of the looming threat of burning cities in long hot summers, black (and allied) militancy, etc

 

[sus]

the idea that the Guardian and Times have the heft and reach to create a hypernormalized world is absurd

even if in its heyday as the paper of record the Times didn't have anything close that ability, let alone now in its diminished form

compared to the vast oceans of money and influence dedicated to pulling reality in other directions, it is - no offense - laughable

Never forget who helped send us to Iraq.

I gotta bow out tho, I can't stand to get into political fights. We've just had different experiences in life, and added things up differently. I imagine you and I share all of the same values, which is thinking that everyone ought to get a shot at making something out of their lives, living and building a life (family? living?) in peace.

 

[linebaugh]

I gotta bow out tho, I can't stand to get into political fights. We've just had different experiences in life, and added things up differently. I

Is there a fight or are we all aggressively upping the level in which we agree on the same thing?

 

[sus]

Paradraig you seem like you've been badly hurt by neo libs on here in the past. If Luka hasnt informed you there is a new radical contingent of young anarcho americans round these parts and its ok for you to be you now

@padraig (u.s.)

I would be curious your thoughts on neoliberalism

To me, the world is the world

And with the amount of unchecked, ungrounded nostalgia running round, it's hard to tell story from reality

But perhaps you've had a decade or two on me to see things actually change first-hand?

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Paradraig you seem like you've been badly hurt by neo libs on here in the past

lol you know don't a single goddamn thing about me, don't presume like you do

equally, to be clear, I have nothing against you (or anyone)