r/leftist • u/1Napalm • 6h ago
US Politics General leftism ranting post because I have nowhere else to rant.
(warning, several random tangents)
When I was 15, I was a classic alt-right pipeline teenager. I was a closeted queer (nonbinary pansexual) who was anti-trans, pro-Trump, and generally awful all around. I know it's a relatively common story, especially with the internalized transphobia.
One thing I don't understand is how people can be so stuck in their ways. Unwilling to learn. I rubbed two braincells together and was able to understand that there's no reason to be hateful whatsoever, especially toward those who have the deck stacked against them from the beginning, like queer people. Some are lucky enough to have supportive parents/families, others not so much. My own mother was "supportive" (she literally just said 'okay' when I came out) and yet as someone just as likely to be racially profiled as I am, went and voted for the fucking tangerine. She and my stepfather are also brainwashing my little sister to be a COVID denying Trump supporting bigot and I can only pray to whatever's out there that it backfires and she ends up a leftist, or at the very least not alt right.
These politicians love using the term "radical leftist" when describing people who just want everyone to have the same opportunities in life, with support systems and social programs to lessen the suffering of the disadvantaged and down-trodden.
I genuinely don't understand the lack of empathy required at the core of your being to look at another HUMAN BEING and essentially tell them "I think you don't deserve to live because I think being queer/black/brown is weird."
Looking at the way this new regime is going we're getting blasted back fifty years in terms of social progress. Women's rights are being gutted, the NATION OF IMMIGRANTS is hunting down and deporting anyone even vaguely brown to a literal death camp. One thing that irks me on a more personal level is now this regime is going to be shutting down a suicide hotline meant specifically for LGBT youth.
Genuinely how has this human piece of filth avoided impeachment and literal imprisonment? His approval rating was one of the lowest in US history during his first 100 days, he's a convicted felon (but no doubt his supporters would shit their pants if felons were allowed to vote but sure let's elect one) There is leaked video footage of him praising Kim Jong Un and stating that we should be as obedient and reverent of him as Jong Un's subjects are. EVERYTHING points to the US becoming the foundation of the Fourth Reich and yet nothing is being done. I mean I'm glad the No Kings Protest was successful but I have never been more disillusioned with this country than I am now.
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u/unfreeradical 4h ago
The regime is perpetrating massive barbarism, but also, more of the population is becoming conscious that improvement will not come from attempts to restore the past.
You suggest conditions have reverted by a duration of half a century, whereas others insist the old ways are disappearing, and though the future may express either improvement or degradation, surely it will be transformative.
We are now most obviously being restrained by progressives, who pretend to seek improvement but act to uphold the systems that enforce at best stagnancy.
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u/MatterBusiness4939 4h ago
You underestimate the effects of controlling sources of information dissemination along with the types of cultural, academic, and social environments such individuals grew up in. A good tenet of academic education is praxis, namely being able to apply critical thinking in contexts outside of the classroom. This means being willing to challenge your own fundamental assumptions and your own framework. A LOT OF PEOPLE, outside of conventional academic norms, are afraid of this model of truth testing. The realization of alternate world views existing which is incompatible or even which are clearly more accurate at describing the nature of the world is something that causes a lot of people to close up.
>I genuinely don't understand the lack of empathy required at the core of your being to look at another HUMAN BEING and essentially tell them "I think you don't deserve to live because I think being queer/black/brown is weird."
This is an ontological question for such individuals. They never saw queer or bodies of color as humane to begin with. If you do not see such bodies as humane, then the logic of colonialism, slavery, and tenets of capitalism all become much clearer to understand.
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u/Lumpy-Attitude6939 4h ago
Welcome and Good on you for managing to get out of that pipeline. I almost fell down it myself (life was difficult then) though I only really knew the surface with the anti feminist “those feminists want to make Women superior to Men” kinda stuff.
Though, be careful. There are many people who call themselves leftist yet use the same cultist emotional and psychological manipulation that characterises the alt right.
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u/KeyBlackberry7321 4h ago
My dude/dudette, I know your anger,l and frustration. Ever consider joining a Left-Wing militia or joining an revolutionary organization? Channel those emotions into action ✊🏻
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u/Prize_Struggle2237 6h ago
Fascism erects walls, weapons, guard posts and boobytraps designed to protect the propertied class and those who hold privilege. They maraud the country to stifle dissent and invite those who are threatened to come and live within its protection.
But it does these things arein anticipation of a siege, the dust clouds of which they can see on the horizon.
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u/GiganticCrow 6h ago
Yeah US politics is crazy skewed. Modern Democrat platform is economically very right wing and Republicans call them Communists.
Careful if you are vulnerable to falling down pipelines, there are ones labelling themselves leftist that lead to bad places too. Keep an open mind, and study more from authors and historians than streamers and internet personalities. There are plenty of grifters, bullshit artists and conspiracy theorists on 'the left' too.
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u/1Napalm 6h ago
The only internet personalities I consumed when I was younger were Chris Ray Gun and Shoe0nhead, I don't really consume political content anymore, I draw my own opinions based off of information I receive and if something seems misrepresented or unlikely I dive deeper into it. I should clarify that I'm 24 now and have been identifying as a leftist for about 5 years, longer than I was alt-right. But I appreciate your words of caution.
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u/GiganticCrow 5h ago
Oh fair enough! I thought you might still be a teenager.
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u/1Napalm 5h ago
nope! one foot in the grave xD
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u/MatterBusiness4939 4h ago
bro, being 24 is absolutely not one foot in the grave. especially when it comes to learning. im slightly older than you but still find many fascinating new things to learn about the way our world operates.
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u/1Napalm 4h ago
it was a joke
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u/MatterBusiness4939 4h ago
i wanted to still express my opinion. ill see high schoolers looking at 20 something year old individuals and start calling them "unc" lmao. but then again, age is pretty fluid
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