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If the working class turns to radicalism what makes you think it will be the kind of radicalism you agree with? It’s more likely to be the kind of radicalism y

If the working class turns to radicalism what makes you think it will be the kind of radicalism you agree with? It’s more likely to be the kind of radicalism you find terrifying.

_bxg1 7y ago
The kind of radicalism that raises my taxes to keep our country from falling apart is the kind I'm fully on-board with. Or, better yet, taxes the massive, useless dragon-hoards of the 0.1%. But I'm a team player; I don't mind if mine go up too.
- pjc50 7y ago
  Yes, but I think a lot of people are worried about the kind of radicalization that blames everything on intellectuals, foreigners, minorities and women.
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    Well right now we have that kind without any of the useful economic kind. So it can't get worse.
    - nl 7y ago
      Yeah it absolutely 100% can get worse. The Cambodian killing fields were less than 50 years ago. The Rwandan genocide was only 25 years ago. The Rohingya genocide was less than 3 years ago. "Us vs Them" is a dangerous game.
    - frockington1 7y ago
      Unemployment is at historical lows, consumer confidence is at historic highs. It can get so much worse. Look at Venezuela and Colombia for modern examples of what happens in failed states
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  The kind of radicalism that raises my taxes to keep our country from falling apart How is that “radicalism”? It’s a common mainstream opinion that people do often vote for. In fact I would say that radicalism starts with options that aren’t even represented in mainstream politics.
  - kaycebasques 7y ago
    You make an interesting point that I found easy to overlook. “Radical” is thrown around a lot but when you ground it in its definition a lot of “radical” things aren’t radical by virtue of being a mainstream political topic. Another definition of “radical” that might be helpful here is “the root of something” so when you propose a radical idea you’re proposing to fundamentally change basic policy.
- CapricornNoble 7y ago
  >>>Or, better yet, taxes the massive, useless dragon-hoards of the 0.1%. You do realize that "net worth" != cash/liquidity, right? Even if the billionaires were all sitting on piles of literal money that you could confiscate, it would be a mere band-aid on the Federal government's budget[1], let alone the state and local budgets. So what's the plan past the next few years those few trillions buys you, when you won't be able to dump the wealthy upside down and shake all of the change out of their pockets a second time? [1]https://checkyourfact.com/2019/02/15/fact-check-wealth-billionaires-government-8-months/ https://checkyourfact.com/2019/02/15/fact-check-wealth-billi...
goatinaboat 7y ago
It’s more likely to be the kind of radicalism you find terrifying. Exactly this. The “woke” at lavishly expensive colleges or in richly rewarded tech-adjacent jobs are kidding themselves if they think their solidarity with the genuine Workers will in any way be reciprocated. They will be up against the wall with the investment bankers.
C1sc0cat 7y ago
This is more about the middle class professionals who where Eisenhower republicans or on nation torys (in UK terms) finally waking up and realising that their part has been taken over by entryists. The reaction against the trinational working class who Trump and Boris have used, could be brutal as they are the ones who will be hurt, I bet like the foolish CP fellow travellers aka useful idiot.
aguyfromnb 7y ago
>If the working class turns to radicalism what makes you think it will be the kind of radicalism you agree with? This is something I like to mention whenever I see HackerNews talking about revolution. The odds that the "rednecks" from fly-over country (the people with guns) will partner with the California intellectual cognoscenti, who enabled a massive concentration of wealth and built the state surveillance machine, is practically nil. In all likelihood, the tech-elite will be seen as the enemy: "what were you doing when this machinery was being built?"
- closeparen 7y ago
  Hanging out with my gay and immigrant friends, whose lives will probably be in danger if it ever comes to that.

If the working class turns to radicalism what makes you think it will be the kind of radicalism you agree with? It’s more likely to be the kind of radicalism you find terrifying.

_bxg1 7y ago

The kind of radicalism that raises my taxes to keep our country from falling apart is the kind I'm fully on-board with. Or, better yet, taxes the massive, useless dragon-hoards of the 0.1%. But I'm a team player; I don't mind if mine go up too.

pjc50 7y ago
Yes, but I think a lot of people are worried about the kind of radicalization that blames everything on intellectuals, foreigners, minorities and women.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  Well right now we have that kind without any of the useful economic kind. So it can't get worse.
  - nl 7y ago
    Yeah it absolutely 100% can get worse. The Cambodian killing fields were less than 50 years ago. The Rwandan genocide was only 25 years ago. The Rohingya genocide was less than 3 years ago. "Us vs Them" is a dangerous game.
  - frockington1 7y ago
    Unemployment is at historical lows, consumer confidence is at historic highs. It can get so much worse. Look at Venezuela and Colombia for modern examples of what happens in failed states
goatinaboat 7y ago
The kind of radicalism that raises my taxes to keep our country from falling apart How is that “radicalism”? It’s a common mainstream opinion that people do often vote for. In fact I would say that radicalism starts with options that aren’t even represented in mainstream politics.
- kaycebasques 7y ago
  You make an interesting point that I found easy to overlook. “Radical” is thrown around a lot but when you ground it in its definition a lot of “radical” things aren’t radical by virtue of being a mainstream political topic. Another definition of “radical” that might be helpful here is “the root of something” so when you propose a radical idea you’re proposing to fundamentally change basic policy.
CapricornNoble 7y ago
>>>Or, better yet, taxes the massive, useless dragon-hoards of the 0.1%. You do realize that "net worth" != cash/liquidity, right? Even if the billionaires were all sitting on piles of literal money that you could confiscate, it would be a mere band-aid on the Federal government's budget[1], let alone the state and local budgets. So what's the plan past the next few years those few trillions buys you, when you won't be able to dump the wealthy upside down and shake all of the change out of their pockets a second time? [1]https://checkyourfact.com/2019/02/15/fact-check-wealth-billionaires-government-8-months/ https://checkyourfact.com/2019/02/15/fact-check-wealth-billi...

goatinaboat 7y ago

It’s more likely to be the kind of radicalism you find terrifying. Exactly this. The “woke” at lavishly expensive colleges or in richly rewarded tech-adjacent jobs are kidding themselves if they think their solidarity with the genuine Workers will in any way be reciprocated. They will be up against the wall with the investment bankers.

C1sc0cat 7y ago

This is more about the middle class professionals who where Eisenhower republicans or on nation torys (in UK terms) finally waking up and realising that their part has been taken over by entryists. The reaction against the trinational working class who Trump and Boris have used, could be brutal as they are the ones who will be hurt, I bet like the foolish CP fellow travellers aka useful idiot.

aguyfromnb 7y ago

>If the working class turns to radicalism what makes you think it will be the kind of radicalism you agree with? This is something I like to mention whenever I see HackerNews talking about revolution. The odds that the "rednecks" from fly-over country (the people with guns) will partner with the California intellectual cognoscenti, who enabled a massive concentration of wealth and built the state surveillance machine, is practically nil. In all likelihood, the tech-elite will be seen as the enemy: "what were you doing when this machinery was being built?"

closeparen 7y ago
Hanging out with my gay and immigrant friends, whose lives will probably be in danger if it ever comes to that.