Anarchism

Hahah I feel you. I completely block filtered any word to do with the israeli occupation of gaza because no one wants genuine discourse on that subject. It’s all attacks and angry.

As a centrist on Lemmy I feel you exactly. The political atmosphere here is so much more diverse than Reddit that 90% of people disagree with anything you say.

Eugene V Debs would be dissapointed in you lol

I just don't want people harmed by a government force. Fuck me, I guess?

tbh yeah, fuck you. i dont understand why your ideology should be given any regard at all. Its an ideology of barely any worth besides anthropological.

"These heroes in Russia who have immortalized their cause, our cause, who have paid in overflowing measure in blood and tears and agony unspeakable, the price of their fidelity and devotion to the oppressed and exploited toilers not only of their own land but of the whole world, now appeal to us for the food that shall save them from perishing as hostages to starva- tion, and shall we now fail to return in small party what we owe them for what they have suffered in the awful years of the revolution to break the fetters of labor everywhere and set humanity free from the curse of the ages?" -- some tankie I guess

If you think being anarchist on Lemmy (or anywhere else, really) is annoying, try being openly vegan!

In all seriousness, having strong convictions or unusual identities and being open about them will always draw strong reactions. People don't generally like being challenged, and will make it as painful as possible for anyone that pushes back on their lifestyle and assumptions about the world. Anarchists, MLs, vegetarians, free software advocates, environmental activists, atheists, anti-car advocates, trans people, non binaries, and asexuals all experience this on a constant basis.

You're then left with a choice - be less open, or be ready to live with those reactions and start preparing emotionally for only a partial victory when the most liberal of your "allies" inevitably betray those convictions. The second option is hard. Really hard. We need the people willing to make that choice though, and the people able to get back up and keep fighting after that gut punch are needed even more.

Without the trans people and drag queens that fought at Stonewall and since, gay and lesbian acceptance wouldn't be where it is in the US and Western Europe. That battle is still being fought in much of the rest of the world. The list of betrayals by the LG community against queer and trans people is far too long to list, and the battle for trans rights even in the US looks to have a long and bloody future (and the outlook is no less grim across the pond).

Even when they aren't defeated, every delay of a coal mine, oil pipeline, or fracking project buys time for hundreds of millions of climate refugees expected as our world warms. Without those protest actions, we wouldn't even see half measures like the Inflation Reduction Act or the half implementations of COP climate pledges. For those future climate refugees, even if they're still forced out, that's extra years of a liveable home.

The impact of Veganism on animal welfare is more complicated due to the need to weigh the way animal treatment degrades even further as profit goes down against the decreased number of animals that do the suffering (which is itself questionable as decreased profitability means more meat consumption by less wealthy people, who are far more numerous). The increasing number of vegetarians, growing use of plant milks, and plant-based meat substitutes that even some meat eaters use wouldn't exist without the years of Vegan activism, research, and providing an early market for plant based products. One of the biggest impacts is probably one of the least recognized - TVP mixed in with chicken or beef in the global south to stretch the same amount of meat to more meals because it's cheaper.

Every one of these examples has taken decades, and represents only a partial victory. Every one is a struggle that's still ongoing. Every one still faces the same kind of name calling and resistance you're experiencing. So stick to your guns, if you can, as long as you can. It matters. It makes a difference. But it takes a really, really long time and is annoying as fuck. At least you can take some comfort in the fact that your detractors wouldn't be lashing out if you hadn't pricked their consciences.

The world thinks black and white these days. Any bit of nuance is incomprehensible for many

I have a theory that the more reasonable the political beliefs the less attention they garner and thus don't become as popular. No one wants to have a boring conversation about things that are just objectily good. The people want discourse!

if we want anything to change
we've got to do it on our own
just know
you're not alone

It's hard being anything these days because actions speak a lot louder than your internal ego.

Reassess your values, then reassess your interactions with strangers.

tbh like, have you tried any other social media? lemmy's honestly pretty cool for anarchists comparatively, i suppose except for the fact that it's too small to spend all your tine in explicitly anarchist spaces. Yeah it's not amazing but that's pretty nuch inevitable with any large and relatively diverse group of people

What’s an ML?

Identity labels seem to be a thought-quelling mechanism. As is moralism. Complex theory needs to be approached with an intellectual and analytical mindset

What tactics were used during the Russian and Chinese revolutions? What classes and contradictions were they contending with, what hurdles did they have to overcome, and what choices did they end up making (and why)? Did these strategies achieve their intended purposes, in the short term, mid term, long term? How might those strategies play out in different circumstances?

As the complexities are dissected and analyzed, a moral analysis can also take place: what are my goals and values, and how do these tactics and their effects relate to them? Is there a discrepancy between a desired outcome and the tactics necessary to accomplish it? If so, can that be reconciled?

But naked values with no analysis are unlikely to accomplish anything, and can in fact lead to outcomes that benefit our opponents. If We Burn is a good overview of this problem in the protests around the world during the 2010s.

At the same time, people who reveal themselves to be thinking without analysis can be dismissed, be they liberals, anarchists, or MLs. But the depth of thought is the operative variable here, not the identity or category.