I’d call it ‘performative masculinity.’ Like the dentist who killed an aged lion that most people treated like a pet, or the billionaires who went to the Titanic in an obviously unsafe submarine.
A lot of their leadership has never had to hammer a nail or deliver a couch to the fifth floor.
[slightly off topic]
One of the best political novels of all time, ‘The Fools In Town Are On Our Side,’ by Ross Thomas. The basic plot is that a political operator decides that the only way to clean up a small southern city is to “make it so corrupt even the pimps will vote for reform.”
We’re seeing a pimp vote for reform.
Look it up.
The GOP has given money to the Greens and the Libertarians. The GOP leadership knows its people will always vote ‘R’ and that people on the left have no great love for the Dems.
Richard Nixon once said that a politician can give the same speech a thousand times. Every time he gives it he has to remember that there’s one person in the crowd who never heard the speech before.
No one said it was easy.
Basically, it’s up to all of us to educate people whenever we get the chance.
Here are three stories I have been repeating for years.
Back in 1968, old school Communists and anarchists, the folks who’d actually gone to Spain to fight Franco and been blacklisted, were telling people to vote for Humphrey. To a lot of young voters then Humphrey looked as bad as Nixon. To the oldtimers, Nixon was one of the people who’d helped kill Ethel Rosenberg. They knew Nixon was evil, and they were proved right.
Second. A lot of people point to Martin Luther King as a saint. They don’t look past the public persona and see that he was a shrewd political operator who strategically timed his actions. Rosa Parks wasn’t the first woman to refuse to give up her seat on a public bus, but she was the one they chose to rally around. One of King’s top aides was Bayard Ruskin, a gay man. King knew about the raw deal LGBTQ+ people had, but he also knew that America wasn’t ready for that conversation.
Third. Frederick Douglas was an escaped slave. His speeches and books had made him famous. He had a chance to back a candidate who was storng for Abolition. Instead, Douglas backed Lincoln, who was more committed to saving the Union. Douglas gambled that it was better to win and be at the table than it was to lose and have no influence at all.
Now is the perfect time to tell them the BotH sIDes ARe thE sAMe!
If they aren’t likely to vote GOP let’s make sure they don’t vote at all!
And exactly when did I claim to represent the DSA in any way?
You wanted a reason why you should ally yourself with others.
I showed you twice that an imperfect ally who can get things done is better than a perfect ally who can’t do anything.
But yes, take the W if it means that much to you.
Congratulations, you won an interwebs argument with a stranger. You’ve done so much for your cause I can’t even imagine it.
You used ‘be’ instead of ‘me’
Were you trying to be funny?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ostensible
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
And I consider myself extremely mature and thoughtful in not using a meme.
I’m not upset that you don’t like unjust hierarchies, I’m amused that you picked the silliest possible way to express it.
And I did in fact answer your question. It’s not my fault you didn’t understand it.
Back in the Spanish Civil War the anarchist troops happily took orders and worked with other groups in a bigger cause.
Reread what I wrote and really think about it.
Here’s a history lesson.
Frederick Douglas was an escaped slave. In 1860 he was a famous speaker who had a lot of influence even though he himself couldn’t vote. He had a choice; support the Abolition candidate who had virtually no chance of winning the election, or throw his support behind Abe Lincoln. Lincoln’s position was that saving the Union was more important than freeing the slaves.
Douglas chose Lincoln. He figured that it was better to have an actual win and be able to talk to the President, than it was to lose and be out in the cold.
I literally laughed out loud when I read your comment.
You call yourself an ‘anarchist’ and then get on other people for cosplaying?
Here’s a history lesson.
Frederick Douglas was an escaped slave. In 1860 he was a famous speaker who had a lot of influence even though he himself couldn’t vote. He had a choice; support the Abolition candidate who had virtually no chance of winning the election, or throw his support behind Abe Lincoln. Lincoln’s position was that saving the Union was more important than freeing the slaves.
Douglas chose Lincoln. He figured that it was better to have an actual win and be able to talk to the President, than it was to lose and be out in the cold.
Better add the ‘sarcasm’ symbol. I’ve seen plenty of folks say pretty much the exact same thing unironically
Nope.
It isn’t like Trump was hiding anything.
People saw Trump for what he was and gleefully voted for him twice.
Don’t try to point a finger at anyone except his voters.
Godwin himself said that it was okay to call MAGA Nazis.
Funny how rarely you hear about Godwin’s Law these days…
Mel Brooks did an absurdist spy show back in the 1960s. Austin Powers owes a lot to ‘Get Smart.’ The show had ridiculous gimmicks like The Cone Of Silence, designed to prevent anyone from hearing conversations, including the participants. There were rotary dial shoe phones.
Never once did the comedy genius Mel Brooks come up with something as ridiculous as a combination ballroom/military complex.
Actual techbros keep their own kids away from screens.
Here’s a news flash for all the progressives who feel that BoTH siDes ARe thE SAme and voting won’t help.
It doesn’t cost you anything to vote. Nothing. No one is asking you to actually go out and drive people to the polls, or put up signs, or listen to a speech. All you have to do is spend a few minutes on a website and then mail an envelope.