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The left is just as bizarre. Here in Boulder people seem to be graduating from yoga to astrology to drinking 'structured water' from bottles charged with 'orgon
by rch 9y ago
The left is just as bizarre. Here in Boulder people seem to be graduating from yoga to astrology to drinking 'structured water' from bottles charged with 'orgone energy' at a surprising rate.
It seems like overkill to use modern marketing techniques to twist people's cognitive facilities, ultimately just to sell more stretchy pants.
- dguaraglia 9y agoThe "new age" thing has been going on for a really long time. That these people happen to be "the left" is neither here nor there. The Alex Jones phenomenon of "occult forces are out to kill us all" has only become mainstream now. There's a huge difference between people drinking "magical water" and preparing for apocalypse (which they are told is coming any day now, in the hands of "the libruls") by buying racks full of guns.
- alacombe 9y agoYet, guns might actually be useful to the left should the US ever go tyrannical. So really, you are the one saying we're on the verge of the 4th Reigh, you should be the one stockpiling ammo, after all, that's a Rights the alt-right is fighting for you to have. Dilemma, you said ?
- grasshopperpurp 9y agoI have a hard time imagining even a large group of people with vast stockpiles of weapons competing on any level with the largest military in the history of the world. If the US government turns against its citizens, it's game over. Or, to quote Andre Benjamin, While we ranting and raving about gats / N%&, they made them gats / They got some shit that'll blow out our backs.
- alacombe 9y agoThey did during the Revolutionary War, even after King George III attempt at gun control with the 1774 import ban on firearms and gunpowder.
- pdeuchler 9y agoKorea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq...
- ygfvvhygvn 9y agoVietnam was more of a failure due to anti-American agitators within the u.s. government and media, but your other points are valid. Also people who think the military would turn against the people are insane... the people stockpiling ammo are overwhelmingly military related.
- mamcx 9y agoDon't limit your thinking about just raw militar mighty. Victory is not just about how much raw damage you can do, is how you define victory. In the case of Vietnam, them understood this very well. Is super-clear you can't defeat a more powerfull army if you charge ahead. So, you don't.
- pjc50 9y agoThis is essentially what the Black Panthers tried, isn't it?
- dguaraglia 9y ago> Yet, guns might actually be useful to the left should the US ever go tyrannical. Funny, I've heard that argument thrown around so many times it's lost all meaning. During Obama, we were a fart away from him taking our guns... Jade Helm 15 came and went, and here we are. Still owning guns. Now, Trump tells the police it's OK to rough suspects here and there, and "the righteous right" doesn't make a comment about how tyrannical that sounds. Wonder why? (BTW, all that to say that the argument is kind of lame... if the government was to go tyrannical, their repressive tools are pretty damn impressive. They won't do it that way, they'll just use propaganda.)
- LyndsySimon 9y ago> There's a huge difference between people drinking "magical water" and preparing for apocalypse (which they are told is coming any day now, in the hands of "the libruls") by buying racks full of guns. Not really. Firearms are common, unexceptional personal belongings for many people.
- ygfvvhygvn 9y agoNo offense, but you have no idea what you're talking about. He never says that the water is magical, and he also never says that liberals are bringing the apocalypse. The left in America shoots themselves in the foot time and time again by refusing to learn the right's viewpoints and effectively counter them. The party of "skeptics" who live under a rock (or maybe in a cave?).
- dguaraglia 9y agoHuh? When I said the water was "magical" I was deriding the people who buy it, not the poster. Also, the "right" in America choses to live under a solid rock (as exemplified by them electing a reality TV presenter with a passing understanding of how the political system works as president and expecting him to magically fix everything they don't like) and they've given up on any pretense of actual discourse. I can't count how many times I've been told "the left doesn't understand", but when I ask exactly what "the left" doesn't understand I'm just given vague answers like "well, what the right wants." Of course "the left" will never understand if things aren't articulated. So maybe it's time everyone came out of the cave?
- api 9y agoI wasn't excluding the left-- hence my comment about Soviet ideology. I was making a general point about the affinity that exists between totalitarianism and irrationalist ideas in other areas and how totalitarianism often adopts these ideas for propaganda and signaling purposes. That being said I do find the alt-right more alarming than typical run of the mill left-leaning woo woo. The latter isn't advocating abolition of the constitution and violence against (((minorities))) (Jews, blacks, etc.).
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- mikeash 9y agoI think the main difference between the extreme left and the extreme right in the US at the moment is that the extreme left is marginalized and holds no power beyond occasionally NIMBYing new cell towers and such, whereas the extreme right holds the Presidency, much of the legislature, and many other powerful positions. There's nothing inherent about the two which means it has to be this way. It could easily be flipped if circumstances were different. But here and now, the extreme right is much more worrisome.
- alacombe 9y agoThe extreme left, marginalized ? Come on, they were able to push near resignation on of their own (ie. a hardcode Sanders support) at Evergreen College and in Canada, they were able to pass what essentially boils down to "compelled speech" law. They are nowhere near "marginalized", quite the contrary...