Comment by 🚀 stack

Re: "re: Stop pretending to be anti-violence"
In: u/stack

@manucum, if that sentence was somehow proof that I never talked to an activist, your idea of 'logic' makes further discussion impossible.

🚀 stack [OP]

Sep 23 · 3 months ago

2 Later Comments ↓

🐧 manuconn · Sep 23 at 21:26:

@stack: I'm open to being proven wrong. Who have you talked to? Have you talked to people who are actually doing activism, such as going to protests, talking to local politicians, or even doing direct action? Have you read the works of activists of the past? Or have you only talked to keyboard warriors on the site formerly known as Twitter?

My main issue with your comment is this assumption you seem to be taking that activists aren't aware of the government's evilness. When one listens to activists talk about their struggles, their awareness of the government's actions is obvious: it's all they can talk about. But if these people know damn well that the government is evil, how can you explain them trying to get that same government to do something? Have you also considered that there are some problems that ONLY the government COULD solve? Not out of some moral imperitive, but because they're the only ones with the capital to do so?

I'm going to refrain from writing an essay in the comments, but I want to leave you with an article talking about, among other topics pertaining reparations, the work the Contract Buyers League in Chicago did to fix the morally and practically abysmal contract housing situation common to many Black Chicagoans at the time (and to an extent the Black American population at large, then and now). In particular, after getting home contracts from Black and White homes, they sued the landlords that issued these devilish contracts: note the activists using government powers despite being aware of at minimum the government's complicity in this situation.

— Ta-Nehisi Coates' article for the Atlantic, "The Case For Reparations" (archive.is link because the article is pay-walled)
🚀 stack [OP] · Sep 23 at 22:40:

@manucom: thank you for the link I will take a look.

I think you are arguing this incorrectly. I am sorry if I stepped on a sore toe.

I know many people who do good without involving authorities.

And I know many others who think they are doing good with serious blinders on.

I am often accused of not seeing the big picture, but I think it's the opposite.

Original Post

🚀 stack

re: Stop pretending to be anti-violence — [gemini link] I agree with so many things, except one -- markets. Yes, government equals violence, in every 'solution' it offers. Yes, enforcement, especially selective enforcement of contracts is violence. And capitalism, especially in advances stages, is total violence -- like most --isms (government preferences) it is and -ism that gives preference to the rich. Free Market is not Capitalism It is the opposite of capitalism. Let me elaborate, because...

💬 11 comments · 2 likes · Sep 18 · 3 months ago