• Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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    8 months ago

    The trolls ive spoken to here are afraid of leftist solidarity. They claim they want change, but whine and cry the second you call for all roads for change to be taken. Mutual aid, direct action, and voting are praxis. We will have an impossible time trying to get any of those first 2 done under dumbass.

    As someone on the far end of the left spectrum, any and all leftward movement must be embraced at all opportunities. How am i to convince anyone to work together with me, if I shit on their methods? All must be embraced. Some will be more effective, some less, but thats how we make connections.

    Its about time this country learned what solidarity is.

    • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Very well spoken. Even if the progress is minor, it’s helping some people, and that’s important. Obamacare was not the ultimate, perfect healthcare fix, but it did give a whole lot of people affordable healthcare where they didn’t previously. It was a cause worth supporting for that reason. And as someone who had to rely on it for a time, I greatly appreciate it.

      If we’ve made someone’s life better or easier, we’ve succeeded. That to me is practical leftism. We help as many as we can as much as we can. Since we aren’t in unilateral power, that means we have to compromise. And working with colleagues will be more successful than being combative. The lone socialist in the Virginia House was able to get a lot done that way.

      • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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        8 months ago

        Thats a part of practical leftism indeed! Did the legalize end even the legal persecution of LGBTQ folks? Not entirely, look at the south. But it did( force a cultural shift. Suddenly it wasnt so cool to use gay as an insult and shit on queer ppl who looked/dressed/sounded a certain way.

        The LGBTQ ppl in my life have been afforded the ability to step out of the closet with less fear than before. If im to march with them, this imperfect solution is working towards my ends as well.

        Solidarity, comrade, regardless where ur politics are. I want liberation even for the righty whities that profess to hate us.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I really hope the majority of leftists are like you. I’m slightly more right, as a progressive, but I hope the more combative leftists I see online are just the loud minority.

          You seem like someone that I could have a fun debate with over a beer about where we differ, and you have my respect.

          • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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            8 months ago

            Thanks dude.

            The combative ones seem like trolls to me. I left a comment elsewhere outlining it, but leftist spaces on reddit were once open minded and places for critical thinking, not circle jerking. Our wing is being coopted ths way the right was in 2016. Only reason i speak to the trolls is so for everyone else to see.

            • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Lol are you really going for this “notlikeotherleftists” persona? Buddy there’s already a name for that. It’s “liberal”. You’re talking like one, acting like one and voting like one.

              • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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                8 months ago

                Never said any of that. In fact, given the fact that theres groups like the Spanish anarchists who participate in govt, what im going for is exactlyliketheotherleftists. Except u know, the actual ones who understand that building bridges is how u make anything happen.

                  • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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                    8 months ago

                    As in, for the millionth time, since u follow me around, keeping the guy who wants to let “stepping-stone” Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe get over run.

                    Eta: also, this troll keeps ignoring my repeated endorsement of direct action and mutual aid but fixates on the voting thing. Funny how one (apparently meaningless) point there is enough to warrant following me around wherever i go to wage the same tired discussion. “Genocide bad,” “yes, but 10x as much genocide worse.” “😡”

    • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Specifically Voting is the starting shot from which all other actions flow in an election cycle

      Doing all the other parts is basically just aesthetic shopping if you won’t do the part that changes material conditions at the macro level

      • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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        8 months ago

        I… understand.

        This is what i mean by solidarity, amigo.

        I disagree, on a fundamental level, that is. Voting is, as far as im concerned, the least you can do…

        Still doing it. Ill still discuss with u voting options and effecting change via the electoral method. I vote in any and all elections in which i am eligible. Right now, i dont give two shits about convincing u about direct action being more effective. If i waste my time on that, that takes time from both of us in which we could be doing something productive (like discussing with those who are more likely to be swayed why direct action is important). Much more productive use of my time with u would be discussing which candidates are most likely to make material conditions better for us all.

        And above all of that, you are (more than likely, anyway) a working class comrade who is exploited for their surplus value the same way i am. Why would i want to get on ur bad side? I want change, and ur preferred method is proven, clearly. Its best for us all to foster good relationships with one another. Then, you have another reliable voter in me, and i can rest assured that by working together (in say, going after the less reliable voters) u and I are pushing our communities in the correct (read: left) direction.

        I say again, solidarity, amigo!

        • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          That’s what I meant by starting shot, it’s the least you can do.

          Aesthetic shopping at every other step without doing the first part is bailing water out of a ship without plugging the hole first, like yeah you can absolutely keep the water out but more is gonna keep coming in without doing that first step to try and stem the problem from getting even worse.

          I just resent the people who skip the first step especially right now because to me it seems less like they’re even interested in bailing the water out and more like they’re interested in looking grammable while doing a shit job at bailing water out, which hilariously I see a lot of them projectingly accuse moderates of doing whenever there’s an argument about who gets to show up to pride.

          IMO admittance to the marches and mutual aid events and conferences and stuff should be predicted on proving you voted, something like a BPT verification pic, something that is recognizably you, a date the pic was taken on, and the most recent “I voted sticker” for the place you voted in. Probably won’t get all the slacktivists but it’ll definitely filter out the karens who think demanding to speak to the party’s manager is ultra based praxis! XD

          Solidarity l’enton sadi’i!

          • Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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            8 months ago

            Haha!

            Youve a way with words. Those first two paragraphs id love to stamp in highly visible public spaces, esp the second! Thats exactly how it feels, and then these numbskulls insist if u suggest voting ur a “lib,” as if the society i advocate hardest for isnt cashless, classless, stateless.

            That last paragraph tho… i dont like the idea of holding any purity tests to begin with, but i do understand the sentiment. As ive seen some others on here say, if ur over here crying about ppl voting, chances are ur not going to be the one going out and actually participating in direct action, or esp mutual aid, in the first place.

            l’enton sadi’i

            Forgive my ignorance, but what language would this be, what does it translate to?

    • oatscoop@midwest.social
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      8 months ago

      I like to point to one of the most successful Socialist parties that ever existing in the USA: The Socialist Party of Milwaukee. They got 3 mayors elected and effected actual change.

      Part of the Socialist Party’s lasting success in Milwaukee can also be attributed to their pragmatism, Gousha says. Daniel Hoan made a point to exist within a capitalist free market system, they were fiscally conservative, and they worked with other parties to accomplish their goals.

      Their pragmatism drew criticism from other socialists around the country, who called Milwaukeeans “sewer socialists” for not being revolutionary enough, according to Gousha.

      "As Gene Zeidler said, 'The socialists of Milwaukee took that as a badge of honor. And they said, well you may think we need to be more revolutionary but you could not be elected dog catcher and we’re winning elections,’ " Gousha notes.

      Article in question.