Make the US Politics Thread Great Again

I’m not sure about patently obvious, jbomber.

No argument on the extremes front, but I don’t think the story of the past few years is the waxing strength of the extreme left in western societies. Though perhaps it is extremes of all persuasions, though in terms of seizing power it is not skewing left.

Yeah extremism is pretty strong on all sides of the argument. You have Muslim extremism hitting at times, alt-right groups going stupid, left groups like ANTIFA (and BLM has also been taken over by some extremists in different areas), lone wolf extremism.

The whole place is an absolute mess.

Right wing violence in the US? Timothy McVeigh springs to mind.
Then there are the black church burnings that have been continuing for decades…
Anders Breivik if you want to go further afield.

You would have to go back to the 70’s for left wing violence comparable to these monstrosities - Baader Meinhof etc…

But yeah sure, Occupy Wall Street…

3 Likes

Exactly,. … there’s been nothing like the extent & regularity of right wing Terrorism from “teh Left” over the past decades since the Weather U/Ground.

Far too busy sipping Soy Lattes and waxing beards …

Soyboys.
Teh LEFT should be ashamed.

Yep that image certainly highlights the connection between the hate groups like BLM & the commies. Nice work.

JFC…

Edit: I mean SERIOUSLY?
Yes, it was so hateful the way they were run down by a nazi.

I just…
I can’t even…

Whats that thing about arguing with an idiot … :thinking: …??

This.
This is why I need the block function.
Sometimes, someone says something so ■■■■■■ up that I shouldn’t have to be subjected to their wrong-wired bullshit ever again.

O
M
F
G

It seems to be sadly. There are few people who like to argue then name call.

1 Like

Not sure I’d count Occupy Wall Street as even left-wing.

I’m as anti-Communist (anti-Soviet anyway) as most, but Wall Street needed guys having their assets stripped and spending some time making little rocks out of big rocks. No-one even called to account for what they did in 2008.

That was as broad brush a movement as any, at least until Stop Adani. Sure the commoes jumped on board like they always do, but even I would have been happy to see some big end of town guys do time.

5 Likes

without getting into the specifics of your accusations about these various movements (Occupy in particular seem to be being slandered here), this just seems to be a laundry list of organisations that publicly protest an on behalf of causes that are more often associated with the left side of politics.

And ‘willing to use street violence against enemies’ is NOT a characteristic of any specifc political movement. Hell, even the Buddhists do this - just ask the Rohingya.

Communism is a word that has meaning and context and history. Marx and Lenin and Stalin and Mao, revolutionary ideology, etc etc.

Communal (state) ownership of the means of production
Glorification of labor and production over trade
Distrust of intellectual pursuits other than engineering or approved political philosophy
The belief that communism will spread across the world as an inevitability of history
The belief that the concept of the ‘communist state’ is only temporary until political consciousness of the masses develops to a point where everyone will spontaneously choose to live a communal lifestyle without the necessity of the state, at which point the state will happily cease to exist
The belief that the property-owning class is the enemy of the salaried class and that racial/national differences are secondary to class differences
The belief that religion is a long con that keeps the masses quiescent

If an organisation doesn’t believe at least MOST of this stuff, they’re not communist. They might be something else, they might be violent or dangerous or whatever, they’re just not communist, and saying it is is just lazy scaremongering…

And yeah, there’s an equivalent list for Nazism and fascism too, even though historically the ideology of these movements tends to be much less codified and much more driven by the immediate whims of a leader who is beyond questioning.

Vocal nationalistm/racism and militarism
Anti-Semitism
Fusion of business and government interests
Belief in the primacy of will and determination over knowledge and probability
Fetishisation of strength and derogation of compassion (social Darwinism)
A conscious evocation of the (mythical) glorious past, via quasi-medieval pageantry etc

(Inevitably once in power both movements develop all the trappings common to totalitarian govts of all ideologies - a cult of personality behind the leader, intolerance of dissent, secret police, a justice system subservient to political leaders, etc)

I’m sure there’s some characteristics that I’ve missed. But the point is - I can see a LOT more of the ‘fascist’ boxes being ticked by the ‘alt-right’ (I hate that term, but it’ll do for now as a catch-all for the neoreactionaries, the neonazis, Golden dawn, the current Polish govt, etc etc) than i can ‘communist’ boxes being ticked by, say BLM (which in the final analysis is a movement opposed to police violence against black people - I’m sure that some communists support BLM but to pretend that BLMs goals as a whole are in any way ‘communist’ is just unsupportable)

9 Likes

And there was I wondering why the Bureau for Land Management (BLM) were in the gun.

I’m sure there were a lot of black guys who genuinely put cops in fear of their lives, but there’s a fair few of those killings seem pretty heavy-handed.

1 Like

Nope.
And this…goes beyond here.
It is not the same.
There is the goading that WP does.
There’s banter.

And then there is that post above.
Read it again.
Please.

Read it again and believe that this what an actual person actually believes.

And then tell me again it’s the same on all sides.

Why did you think I was talking about you?

Oh, they are too. Land management, grazing, conservation, and rights to native American historical sites can be SERIOUSLY touchy in some of the western states.

I didn’t.

I was pointing out that that may just be the WORST thing I have ever seen posted on blitz.
And I mean ever.
In something like fifteen years.
That’s a part of this discussion and…to have that part brushed under the carpet as…oh well, we all have different opinions and call each other names…
No.
That’s…
That is just beyond the pale.

Edit: I guess I’m saying that I’m offended that you’re not offended by it.

1 Like

Maybe I was referencing that person, did that enter your anger filled thoughts? Stop jumping at shadows.

Well, say?
I’m not bothered by you.
I’m bothered by that.

Geez Wim, what are you getting upset with me for?

I was talking to Bobo about why this thread never stays as just a discussion, and thought what was happening proved my point.

Get a leash on your anger, you are throwing punches at the wrong people.