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Does one have to be an iconoclast or revolutionary these days to be validly left? I consider myself to be left of center, and very much in favor of progressive policies. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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However I find myself being disagreed with quite often, mostly for not advocating or cheering violence, "by any means possible" change, or revolutionary tactics. It would seem that I'm not viewed as authentically holding my view unless I advocate extreme, violent, or radical action to accomplish it.

Those seem like two different things to me.

Edit: TO COMMUNISTS, ANARCHISTS, OR ANYONE ELSE CALLING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF SOCIETY

THIS OBVIOUSLY ISN'T MEANT FOR YOU.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (23 children)

…I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

https://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/teagle/texts/martin-luther-king-jr-letter-from-birmingham-jail-1963/

That's where you are right now. You can hopefully do better if you challenge yourself, but I wouldn't consider you anything different from the most milquetoast liberal hiding behind rhetorical civility while you support the violence of the state. Your progressive politics are at best redistributing the loot of that violence while perpetuating the system causing it, either out of cowardice or malice or apathy. All of them would make you the same judas goat for the imperial slaughterhouse.

[+] [email protected] -11 points 4 months ago (22 children)

Are you actually USING Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as an ADVOCATE FOR VIOLENCE?

You just crossed over into crazy town.

[+] [email protected] -7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (16 children)

Check where the users are from, you're going to get much more "atypical" ~~not going to get kind~~ responses from hexbears, "we" are quite literally their enemies. "We" are the "white moderates" seeking to maintain stability instead of shedding blood to overthrow the entire developed world. (It's more than just "amerikkka" out there)

Excuse us individuals for feeling entirely helpless when it comes to changing the entire capitalist world.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

If capitalism itself has been identified as the root of the problem, what other solution is there except overthrowing it completely? Do you prefer applying temporary bandaids indefinitely?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

My comment wasn't so much endorsing it's continued existence, but more exasperation as the thought of an individual having any impact on pretty much the entire world is quite the stretch.

We can learn as much as we like about the alternatives, but making it happen requires action by many many many many people. We can't even get "libs" in the US to come together on some of the "simplest" shit let alone getting enough people to change the global economic system that gives such mind boggling power to the ultra wealthy.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 months ago

My comment wasn't so much endorsing it's continued existence, but more exasperation as the thought of an individual having any impact on pretty much the entire world is quite the stretch.

Leftists discourage individual acts as Adventurism. The core through-line of Leftist thought is Mass Action, with differences on how to structure this.

We can learn as much as we like about the alternatives, but making it happen requires action by many many many many people. We can't even get "libs" in the US to come together on some of the "simplest" shit let alone getting enough people to change the global economic system that gives such mind boggling power to the ultra wealthy.

Both Anarchists and Marxists have ideas on how to have this happen, but they mostly boil down to advocacy for organizing and building Dual Power. You may wish to read The State and Revolution if you want to delve into a thorough theoretical text by a Marxist, but it may not make as much sense if you do not already have familiarity with Marxism in general.

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