Lol way to totally miss the point of the article, and then proceed to just go ahead and make it about blaming the Leftists.
Just acknowledge that mistakes were made (on both sides) fucking learn from this and move on.
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New Republic: Liberals Helped Create Trumps New Bogeyman, the Alt-Left
- Thread starter mlclmtckr
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Lol way to totally miss the point of the article, and then proceed to just go ahead and make it about blaming the Leftists.
Just acknowledge that mistakes were made (on both sides) fucking learn from this and move on.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
A loud minority of Bernie supporters (Mainly on the internet) have really huge persecution complexes and very little understanding of how our government works so they think the "liberals" are out to get them despite the fact that Democrats have one of the most left leaning platforms in decades. They think the Dems are holding back some imaginary leftist silent majority but they aren't. All this minority cares about is feeling ideologically pure instead of helping the cause while the actual progressive are protesting in the streets.
you can't be in the centre when it comes to being against nazis
"Guys, please don't be divisive, this is the time to unite"
Dubbedinenglish
Banned
Yes, it's going to all of us to win. This is the very core of good versus evil. That's why it's so frustrating to see people quick to attack each other when the real evil is starring right at is.
At least WHFS doesn't have to see this happening.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
So now you're going to claim all the Charlottesville counter protesters. lol
Palette Swap
Member
So I guess these "liberals" and "radical centrists" aren't the ones who were too much into identity politics.
These labels (including "alt left") look like menu items in a progressive cannibalism restaurant.
These labels (including "alt left") look like menu items in a progressive cannibalism restaurant.
The fucking person who died in Charlottesville protesting Nazis did nothing? Okay.
balladofwindfishes
Member
You're in full support of an article that is making a big deal about a word nobody but the hardcorest of the hardcore Trumpers will remember exists in a week, written with the sole intention of saying "yea Nazis are bad, but this actually the Democrats fault"
No
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
I have not once heard this come from somebody remotely left of center, and have heard it a ton from right-wingers.
While there are derisive terms from centrists for the far left, this one isn't exactly popular.
While there are derisive terms from centrists for the far left, this one isn't exactly popular.
the actual progressives counter-protesting in charlottesville were socialists, anarchists, BLM, and other leftists. the woman killed by a white supremacist was a bernie supporter and fervent anti-racist. please don't try to pretend that the people actually fighting fascism would prefer the ACA to single payer or really really want a $12/hour minimum wage instead of $15.
the centrists are the ones trying to draw moral equivalence between those people and the klan.
Muppet of a Man
Member
This. It's all water under the bridge now. There is a much more important fight to be had with far right loonies. We, the sane people of the US, must stand united. And I say this as part of that progressive contingent that's behind the likes of Bernie, Warren, Franken, Ellison, etc.
yes i'm sure that "alt-left" will die a swift death just like "fake news" didn't migrate from liberal hysteria into trump's permanent vocabulary
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
Yeah, they weren't sitting around complaining about the Democrats all day like said minority tends to do. They went out there and risked their lives to stand tall to Nazis, not falling for the Nazis' obvious shit to fight amongst each other and whining about neoliberal shills.
radical centre is harping on about how both side has bad equivalent extremes, while a nazi runs over a socialist
Jesus Christ, if you think "alt-left" is about to just disappear then we must not be living in the same universe.
Yes.
The answer is all of the above. The alt-left is a collection of dangerous, radical leftist groups that the Trump administration will do whatever it can to keep American citizens safe from.
balladofwindfishes
Member
"Fake news" has become a joke like "thanks Obama" so I'm no sure where you're going with this.
Once Trump co-opts a word it basically loses is meaning anyways because he's a fucking moron. So... meh.
I appreciate your response, and I'm happy to extend you good faith. All I want is to feel confident that people will take that stand against it. As I noted, I agree with the thesis of the article, more or less. I just wanted to comment on that particular phrasing in the article, as it's not the first time I have seen articles about leftism just happily speed past a blanket assumption that nobody on the left is ever racist.
I would strongly recommend adding people like @Karnythia to your twitter feed. If you want to understand racism on the left in America, you need to listen to black progressives and black radicals. That's what I try to do -- I am a person of color, but there's still a difference in America between being PoC and being black. (Relatedly, read Slayven's posts in this thread.)
i imagine if you got these people in a room with prominent democratic politicians they would have a lot of less than complimentary things to say
In and of itself, probably not. But it's part of a larger strategy to bury reality under false information and false equivalencies so that a large amount of people are simply not existing in the same world as everyone else.
That's the idea. It isn't a group that actually exists, so you can attribute to it whatever is convenient at the moment.
Imagine saying that about social centrists. Your fighting a losing battle.
Everyone should be looking to MLK as a standard of how to fight for leftist values.
Oh really because I am seeing the far right do that and their white supremacist President.
I'm fairly certain that's the context that Trump used it in yesterday, or just in regards to violent protestors, but it ultimately has zero meaning and we should not entertain the idea that it means anything, nor should we be using it in any fashion.
Link
The Autumn Wind
It wasn't (despite what this thread would have you believe), but it's going to be now that it's been co-opted by the right. Just like "fake news," it's going to be used as a way to brush aside any criticism of the Alt-Right and Trump.
The right uses it as a smear term for progressives in general to make them sound scary (those Antifa are coming after you!!!)
Certain liberals use it as a smear for leftists to paint them as racists, which does a disservice to both the leftists who are fervently antiracist but believe you need socialism as part of the solution and to the progressive movement as a whole by lumping those people in with the kinds of people who are Obama-to-Trump voters
Best thing about going after centrists is you already know they're too pussy to swing back. They'll go down first unless they stay home and let the grownups sort this out.
Right? The superiority is quite tiring.
Peter Daou leading up to Charlottesville: "Bernie bros need to accept their share of blame for white supremacy in America"
*Nazi drives a car into a crowd of leftist protesters, killing one and injuring dozens*
Peter Daou: "OMG now is not the time to police my tweets there's Nazis, guys."
It's like clockwork.
People on this thread maybe didn't have Facebook conversations with people who were Bernie supporters and who staunchly asserted that Trump became president because BLM scared white people.
balladofwindfishes
Member
Who are these "radical center" that are doing this?
Because the extremely far right isn't even doing it. Ted Cruz isn't doing it. Marco Rubio isn't doing it. It's just Trump and Trump fans, everyone else is disgusted by his both sides stuff.
Peter Daou is a sycophantic hack (and an idiot), but we all knew that already.
White supremacy is bad! And I think 95+% of the self-identified "left" is on the same page there.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
Or ignored that one Bernie rally where two BLM protestors went on stage and got booed and jeered the whole time by the mostly white audience.
badcrumble
Member
they'll still be hollering online about susan sarandon in 2050 while the left is getting shit done from the ground up as the engine of genuine social change in this country. same as it ever was
grassroots change is not mutually exclusive from electing liberal presidents, tho
in fact, some - a small minority, I'm sure - would argue that electing liberal presidents works in tandem with enacting grassroots change
No one cares about making this tragedy the democrats fault, you talk about persecution complexes?
We just want neoliberals to stop using the term alt left against progressives. Because the right created it specifically to destroy and false equivalence the left and because usage of that term mainstreams and validates said term. Its really very simple.
I would hope nobody wants to false equivalence progressives with the alt right, but with that "privileged white male bernie bro" shit as a talking point, i can't really take that as fact i guess.
maybe it's you guys ignoring the fact that the BLM platform is explicitly leftist?
there are racists everywhere, left right and center, but anyone with half a brain can understand that right wing policies are blatantly racist and left wing policies (even if you disagree with them) are anti-racist. punching left on this shit is fucked up and wrong, which is the point of the article in the OP.
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