Hey Nigel, remember when we discussed the "SJW" backlash?

[Doktor Howl]

It's to the point where I can't tall the strawmen from the radicals.

This is going to be the great culture war of this generation. SJW "kill whitey", accept me for identifying as a cloud, and be gay or die, and fat is beautiful school of thought, vs  /pol/'s Joules evola, Seig hail, traditional values or die, all untermensh in the oven.

Though tbh, as someone who spent a few months on both sides. Each just circle jerks over images of straw men and are told "all of X are like this." then they take it to the extreme and never stop to question what they're doing. They'll grow out of it.

No.  The great culture war of this generation is whether or not the republic morphs into an autocracy, or if it turns into a theocracy.

Which is why the gender/social issues war is so useful.  Note: I don't think it's a conspiracy or whatever, just people attempting to assert control over the only politics left available to them, because Wall Street firms and oil money men bought the rest.

I want to tattoo that on my forehead.

[Mundus Est Fabula]

It's easy to see the appeal, if you aim low and just set your sights on simply being accepted as a regular zek, you never have to confront that pesky issue of never being anything more than a zek. The aspiration to be something more than a simple factor in the course of production requires a kind of courage most of us simply cannot muster while separated from one another.  It's a winning strategy for everyone involved, regardless of which side they happen to be on at any moment. Tumblr activism is the perfect ghetto to house possible dissidents of the younger generation. The various authorities don't even have to invest in informants to keep tabs, the radicals simply stay home no matter what, using devices that passively collect any data of value anyhow.

Meanwhile the far right gains ground in real life here and especially in Europe. In spite of it's completely bankrupt ideology, the german communist movement was at least still strong enough to fight the brownshirts in the streets for a few years. Can you imagine how quickly some of our own home grown fascists will cut through the drum circleists and identity politicians? Yikes

[The Wizard Joseph]

Wut?

[Mundus Est Fabula]

Whoops yeah I could have provided some context, it was meant in reply to the comment about identity politics being what's left that people still have control over. It presents itself as something inherently problematic in that the goals of identity politics are immediately desirable while at the same time being self-defeating in the long run. The bitter tea parable if I haven't misread it, I guess.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

You make some astute observations, there.

[Reginald Ret]

A tactic that I have been using pretty successfully for the last few years, and one that I think works really well when I want to engage in one of those conversations, is to check my own damn privilege.

It's weird how many people who throw out the "check your privilege" line are unwilling to actually do it themselves. Garbo comes to mind; when her privilege was brought up, she left the board rather than examine it.

When I asked her about hiking on land that had belonged to three specific Native American tribes, I was being stupid.

And that video she posted...CHRIST.   Hey, thanks for validating the "Gay panic defense", assholes!

That was so fucked up.

No doubt she went to surround herself with people who let her comfortably deny her own privilege rather than challenging her. Growth is uncomfortable.

It's weird.  A certain type of person goes to tumblr, and they are consumed.  They strap a uniform on, to remove the onerous burden of introspection.

I am sure people have recovered from this, as I am sure the occasional conspiracy theorist snaps out of it...But I have never seen either one happen.

I have talked to one recovered conspiracy theorist.
So those at least exist.

I posted an article to Nigel about that very thing, and started reading a little more.  Apparently, CTers can snap out of it if they can actually manage to look at the structure of their beliefs, which collapse more or less on sight.

Problem is, it is almost impossible to get them to do this.

Yep, It's not the sort of thing you can make people do, all you can do is help them if they seem to be trying.

(Snip)
I'd be curious about whether that person is now over-the-top and convinced they're right in some other area of life, which is something I've seen a lot of with people who hold strong beliefs in an area.

He did not respond like that, he simply decided for himself that he'd rather be normal enough to hold on to a job. He is actually very mellow and relaxed about all kinds of polarizing topics. I'm quite impressed since I expected someone in this kind of situation to be overcompensating.

[Cain]

It's easy to see the appeal, if you aim low and just set your sights on simply being accepted as a regular zek, you never have to confront that pesky issue of never being anything more than a zek. The aspiration to be something more than a simple factor in the course of production requires a kind of courage most of us simply cannot muster while separated from one another.  It's a winning strategy for everyone involved, regardless of which side they happen to be on at any moment. Tumblr activism is the perfect ghetto to house possible dissidents of the younger generation. The various authorities don't even have to invest in informants to keep tabs, the radicals simply stay home no matter what, using devices that passively collect any data of value anyhow.

Meanwhile the far right gains ground in real life here and especially in Europe. In spite of it's completely bankrupt ideology, the german communist movement was at least still strong enough to fight the brownshirts in the streets for a few years. Can you imagine how quickly some of our own home grown fascists will cut through the drum circleists and identity politicians? Yikes

Yeah.  Right now the only thing that seems to be dividing them is their own internal wranglings, along the Nouvelle Droit/Eurofascist lines.  And given Russia's recent prominence among the Europrean Far Right, I can't help but worry that those home grown fascists will have a disturbingly international dimension to them.

[The Wizard Joseph]

Whoops yeah I could have provided some context, it was meant in reply to the comment about identity politics being what's left that people still have control over. It presents itself as something inherently problematic in that the goals of identity politics are immediately desirable while at the same time being self-defeating in the long run. The bitter tea parable if I haven't misread it, I guess.

The misunderstanding was mine I think.  I had bunches of stuff on my mind and didn't process.
What is the bitter tea parable if I may ask?

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

*snip*
What is the bitter tea parable if I may ask?

really big image behind the link http://i.imgur.com/VtkLqP9.jpg

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Whoops yeah I could have provided some context, it was meant in reply to the comment about identity politics being what's left that people still have control over. It presents itself as something inherently problematic in that the goals of identity politics are immediately desirable while at the same time being self-defeating in the long run. The bitter tea parable if I haven't misread it, I guess.

That's a great point about empowerment. Though on the downsides tip, I'd add that besides making oneself a target, ascribing your identity to a canned, off the shelf label ultimately makes discussions a battle of egos rather than ideas. It takes very little set off our tribal instincts and to shut down our forebrain.