Comradeship // Freechat

Martial arts would probably be harder to vilify and easier to frame as self-defense (not like it's a deception either and there's precedent at least in some places for learning martial arts to be a personal thing you do for self-defense). I mean, I took some martial arts as a kid and it wasn't for any particular ideological reason, just encouraged to I guess as self defense, hobby thing, got me exercise. I'd assume (though could be wrong) that once you start getting into the territory of training in firearm use, it becomes a lot easier to vilify, in particular in countries with stricter gun laws. Though depending on what kind of state apparatus we're talking about, to some extent, they're going to vilify regardless of what you do if they decide you're a threat. Like how the Black Panther party of the US had their breakfast program for schoolkids vilified and if I remember right, one of their kitchens straight up destroyed by cops. But it's probably not going to be the same calculation for every country and organizing effort.

If the fascists start cracking down, you don't want to have only ideological support on your side and that's it. Ideological agreement isn't a defense in a firefight. But you also have to consider what the existing state will try to crack down on in general. I don't think it's ever a matter of being "above it"; community defense is important in general and even a silver-tongued capitalist propagandist would, I think, have a hard time arguing that's bad. It's more a question of what is best for the conditions you're dealing with.