4 ms·

I don’t support or agree with the far left, or any of the identity culture warrior / critical theory / wokeness or whatever other adjacent thing you wanna roll

I don’t support or agree with the far left, or any of the identity culture warrior / critical theory / wokeness or whatever other adjacent thing you wanna roll up in that. But this comment is just unhinged nonsense. This is akin to the claims that Jan 6 was a coup attempt. “The left” is not a homogenous organized force (rofl, come on, the trope is that the left eats itself) which has organized militants on standby. Antifa and Patriots are both larping idiots alike. It’s the contagion and mutation of bad ideas that’s a bigger problem. A semantic pandemic.

mannerheim 5y ago
The Red Guards were mostly larping idiots, too. Many were literal children. The difference is they had substantial support both societally (either out of fear or ideology) and from the top by Mao, who saw them as a weapon he could harness. America isn't at that point, but we do ourselves no favours by pretending that it can't happen here. The ingredients are available, even if the execution isn't yet.
- bangkoksbest 5y ago
  Uhhh China has centuries of history of peasant movements rising up in improvised make-shift revolts. I don't think you understand how real revolution was for people in China. It was absolutely not a LARP. Just looking from 1850 to Mao, there was: The Taiping Rebellion (30m dead), 2nd Sino-Japanese War (20m dead), Dungan rebellion (15m dead), Miao rebellion (5m dead), Red Turban rebellion (1m dead), Panthay rebellion (1m dead), Punti–Hakka wars (1m dead), Nationalist purges (1.5m dead), various Warlord Era conflicts (500k dead), 1911 revolution (200k dead), Boxer Rebellion (100k dead), and 1st Sino-Japanese war (50k dead). Not to mention residual deaths from the two World Wars not directly attributable to the conflicts above, but which would still number more than the losses the USA suffered in both wars. The American Civil War was about ~750k dead. There is absolutely no comparison between the traumatic social conditions of 1940s China with even 21st century China let alone the United States. They were definitely not "role playing".
  - mannerheim 5y ago
    Regardless of China's history, I find it hard to regard literal children who grew up in peacetime styling themselves as revolutionaries as they fought to further entrench the most powerful man in the country as anything less than LARPing.
- mbg721 5y ago
  The ingredients were always there; we're a nation founded by Puritans. What's supposed to save us is a robust system of checks and balances, coupled with strong protection of individual rights.
cm2187 5y ago
They will still successfully bully speakers at conferences, threaten their security. I don’t think the cultural revolution is such a far fetch comparison. Somewhere between the cultural revolution and the Hollywood blacklist/McCarthyism. And the exercises of forced public contrition if you violate the orthodoxy are right in the middle of the cultural revolution. As is the gilt of class (now “whiteness”), or the liberal use of "fascism" in every sentence (now "white suppremacy" associated with everything in America on MSNBC).
kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
Sorry but how ridiculous to claim "the left is not organized"? They have been organizing for more than a century. Of course they have groups and meetups and plans and guerilla tactics and what not. Maybe they are different groups and they are not united under one command, but that is not necessary to wreak havoc these days. Here in Germany they have "alternative housing projects" complete with strategies to prevent the police from entering. Of course the organize and talk strategies. And they also have government support, politicians applauding when antifa beats up memebers of the opposition. They will also threaten third parties like restaurants that host meetups of politicians they disapprove of. They are always on "standby" because they often have no jobs and hang out consuming drugs until a chance arises to get some action.
- KarlKemp 5y ago
  lol.
  - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
    Yes it is all just for good fun. Until it suddenly isn't.
the_only_law 5y ago
HN comments have become increasingly more retarded over the past few years. Sadly it’s not for “hackers” (though it’s debatable that it ever was)
bitwize 5y ago
Iron law: Left-wing violence, no matter how apparently coordinated, is nothing but a series of random attacks carried out by punk kids looking to keep Nazis out of their space, whose only connection to a broader movement is ideological -- not part of an organized force, doing it for the right reasons. Right-wing violence, no matter how apparently haphazard or the result of lone-wolf action, is the result of a tightly coordinated network of fascists taking orders (through covert "dogwhistle" channels) directly from conservative leadership, up to and including the White House if a Republican is in office, acting on a master plan to undermine democracy and overthrow the government in a coup. Corollary: We're not the conspiracy theorists, the far right are the conspiracy theorists.
CheezeIt 5y ago
The left does support antifa in every place where they don't get prosecuted.

mannerheim 5y ago

The Red Guards were mostly larping idiots, too. Many were literal children. The difference is they had substantial support both societally (either out of fear or ideology) and from the top by Mao, who saw them as a weapon he could harness. America isn't at that point, but we do ourselves no favours by pretending that it can't happen here. The ingredients are available, even if the execution isn't yet.

bangkoksbest 5y ago
Uhhh China has centuries of history of peasant movements rising up in improvised make-shift revolts. I don't think you understand how real revolution was for people in China. It was absolutely not a LARP. Just looking from 1850 to Mao, there was: The Taiping Rebellion (30m dead), 2nd Sino-Japanese War (20m dead), Dungan rebellion (15m dead), Miao rebellion (5m dead), Red Turban rebellion (1m dead), Panthay rebellion (1m dead), Punti–Hakka wars (1m dead), Nationalist purges (1.5m dead), various Warlord Era conflicts (500k dead), 1911 revolution (200k dead), Boxer Rebellion (100k dead), and 1st Sino-Japanese war (50k dead). Not to mention residual deaths from the two World Wars not directly attributable to the conflicts above, but which would still number more than the losses the USA suffered in both wars. The American Civil War was about ~750k dead. There is absolutely no comparison between the traumatic social conditions of 1940s China with even 21st century China let alone the United States. They were definitely not "role playing".
- mannerheim 5y ago
  Regardless of China's history, I find it hard to regard literal children who grew up in peacetime styling themselves as revolutionaries as they fought to further entrench the most powerful man in the country as anything less than LARPing.
mbg721 5y ago
The ingredients were always there; we're a nation founded by Puritans. What's supposed to save us is a robust system of checks and balances, coupled with strong protection of individual rights.

cm2187 5y ago

They will still successfully bully speakers at conferences, threaten their security. I don’t think the cultural revolution is such a far fetch comparison. Somewhere between the cultural revolution and the Hollywood blacklist/McCarthyism. And the exercises of forced public contrition if you violate the orthodoxy are right in the middle of the cultural revolution. As is the gilt of class (now “whiteness”), or the liberal use of "fascism" in every sentence (now "white suppremacy" associated with everything in America on MSNBC).

kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago

Sorry but how ridiculous to claim "the left is not organized"? They have been organizing for more than a century. Of course they have groups and meetups and plans and guerilla tactics and what not. Maybe they are different groups and they are not united under one command, but that is not necessary to wreak havoc these days. Here in Germany they have "alternative housing projects" complete with strategies to prevent the police from entering. Of course the organize and talk strategies. And they also have government support, politicians applauding when antifa beats up memebers of the opposition. They will also threaten third parties like restaurants that host meetups of politicians they disapprove of. They are always on "standby" because they often have no jobs and hang out consuming drugs until a chance arises to get some action.

KarlKemp 5y ago
lol.
- kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
  Yes it is all just for good fun. Until it suddenly isn't.

the_only_law 5y ago

HN comments have become increasingly more retarded over the past few years. Sadly it’s not for “hackers” (though it’s debatable that it ever was)

bitwize 5y ago

Iron law: Left-wing violence, no matter how apparently coordinated, is nothing but a series of random attacks carried out by punk kids looking to keep Nazis out of their space, whose only connection to a broader movement is ideological -- not part of an organized force, doing it for the right reasons. Right-wing violence, no matter how apparently haphazard or the result of lone-wolf action, is the result of a tightly coordinated network of fascists taking orders (through covert "dogwhistle" channels) directly from conservative leadership, up to and including the White House if a Republican is in office, acting on a master plan to undermine democracy and overthrow the government in a coup. Corollary: We're not the conspiracy theorists, the far right are the conspiracy theorists.

CheezeIt 5y ago

The left does support antifa in every place where they don't get prosecuted.