this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
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Anything that makes you apply your hand to your face.
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I hear where you're coming from, and though the voting habits of my peers does cause me a lot of passive grief -- I noticed that actively, the people that one would pigeonhole as "fascist" in the binary political groups we now seem to operate under, are just as there for me in times of need and have many overlapping interests as my more progressive peers.
Ultimately what I'm saying I think is, there will always be monstrous outliers who will enact harm on society and empower the worst aspects in everyone by example alone, but I think there will always be many more generally decent people who look after one another and keep this (*gestures wildly at everything*) going, despite these few bad actors.
As for accountability, I wholeheartedly agree that these bad actors should face their just dues, but I'm not going to set myself up for failure by staking my entire world outlook on it when those at the top barely get a tap on the wrist. The world is unjust, but it's also full of many wonderful people.
Of course they are, for the most part, to their 'own' fascists are supportive and even show a sense of community that has faded from the world, and that's one of the things that makes them so dangerous and effective at radicalizing because they cater to the human need for connection that the modern world has robbed us of.
Almost no one acts like a movie nazi, not even the original actual genocide initiating nazis. Watch the videos and see the pics in archives, the vast majority of the population that made up the nazi engine looked and acted like normal people to everyone 'on the inside'.
We have demonized Hitler's look, and the looks of his cabinet, but the truth is that none of these things are salient to the hateful and dangerous practices they initiated.
I think the one thing you are missing is that in your mind, you see these kinds of hierarchical extremist movements and believe they are a strict 'pyramid of evil' where the hatefulness is uniform from top to bottom but that is NEVER the case.
The actual core of the nazi party that orchestrated the inhuman slaughter of outgroupers were not that large, and if it wasn't for those exceptionally hateful individuals promoting propaganda and stirring up an entire nation against the innocents in their midst, I don't think the genocides would have ever been initiated by anyone else.
Just like if we thanos snapped away all of the hateful propaganda media that repugnicans feed on, I'm pretty sure 80 percent of the loud shouters would eventually just going back to being mildly racist.
Like I said, the image we have of nazis is caroonish. I grew up in a very red state and being a tall white guy, most of my neighbors were helpful and empathic.
But I personally know at least nine people who would gladly lynch a black person if they were absolutely sure they could get away with it, and suspect about 20 more.
Nearly all of those men have had me over for beers or would offer to help me change a tire.