Comment on Boy, 15, given official warning after saluting as neo-Nazis marched through Ballarat
rainynight65@feddit.de 9 months agoDamn straight I’m upset. I’m upset, no, fuming, that people seem to think fascists are just naughty kids who you let be and watch, and only when they do something really wrong do you take action. I’m upset that nobody seems to have learned the lessons history is so readily and urgently trying to teach us. I’m upset that we are sleepwalking into another era of fascism and people seem to want it that way.
rosymind@leminal.space 9 months ago
And you have a right to be upset. It’s good that you’re voicing that opinion, it’s good that you’re standing up for what you believe in. The more voices there are that speak up about injustice, the better!
I wonder if this all sounds contradictory to the person you may think you were debating/arguing with, but it’s not. Having voices heard is part of what I believe in. It’s just that I don’t think silencing opposing voices (no matter what garbage they spew) is the right way to go
rainynight65@feddit.de 9 months ago
This is where, in a verbal conversation, you’d hear a deep sigh.
You’re so hung up on the idea that we shouldn’t ‘silence voices’. This isn’t about that. And even if it was, it’s way too late for that. For better or worse, fascists are now a part of the public discourse. But no, it’s not about ‘silencing voices’. Again, they’re not here to debate. Their voices are a distraction.
What it is about is preventing the next steps, which will follow as sure as night follows day, as history has shown us. Prevent the incitement, the stochastic terrorism, stop them from getting a foothold in politics. Again, I fear it’s already too late for that. As a society, we didn’t shut them down the moment they poked their heads out of their holes, and we will pay a heavy price for that.
I will posit to you that if this was about extreme leftists - say, Stalinists, Maoists, Red Front - marching, displaying the hammer and sickly, seeking violence and talking about hanging politicians, we wouldn’t even have this discussion. Most people would be more than happy to shut that down, there would be none of this pearl-clutching about “we shouldn’t silence them”. The police and intelligence services would be all over it.
And with that, I will withdraw from this thread. There will come a day when the people who have tried to warn about fascism all along, will get to say “I told you so”, but on that day we’ll all be too busy fleeing the country or going underground.
rosymind@leminal.space 9 months ago
I hear you and I understand. I just want to try to clarify something. This is over simplified because I’m on my phone
Imagine you’re in a room with 50 people. Two are designated as the leaders. Each leader has a goal of attainting the most followers, and will claim a cash prize for each follower they acquire.
Leader A looks around and thinks, “hey only about 25% of people have blonde hair. Ah ha! They’re my target” and then proceeds to talk mad shit. Some of the people agree, and also start talking mad shit.
The other leader looks around, and thinks: “I now know I have about 25% of the people on my side, but how do I get more?” B could silence A by force (a fight breaks out), B could point out what A is doing to gain followers (A could then claim B is a liar), or A could focus on how the blonde’s are really just people like everyone else, brothers and sisters, friends and lovers. A loses, if B can help people see that differences add to the group, as well as that everyone is connected to the human family
Whatever the outcome, what I mean with this is that the true baddies are few. They speak to the insecurities of the masses, and turn people on one another. They may not be the ones organizing the march, but they are at the head of it. I’m not saying to let them have the stage 24/7. I’m saying we should focus on swaying the hearts/minds of the people marching, because oppressing them only gives the main baddies more power