vague politics
I have no trust for people whose response to hatred and violence is to double down on hatred and violence themselves.
Because I know how fickle people can be and how the slightest assumed or imagined association can make them turn against you too. People of that mindset seem to look for enemies and have an ever growing list of targets for their anger. And I’m tired of endless purity tests and endless infighting over whether we hate our enemies enough.
Violence and hatred and fear and authoritarianism are not viable solutions for people who want the world to better. They are only useful for people who want control and power at all costs.
If you want to make the world better in the face of hatred, show compassion. If not for your enemies, then for the people around you.
vague politics
@ziphi I feel like the difficult part is; 1) there’s this basic human thing beyond politics of wanting to lash out because you are right™️ and your enemy’s completely terrible™️ 2) made worse by frustration, growing up among punishment focused moralism (so “in the USA”) the idea that maybe if you punch back twice as hard they’ll get the idea and stop, 3) some folks really won’t be dissuaded by anything short of violence and 4) violence is rarely practicable. It’s a mess.
