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Liberal doesn't mean liberal anymore. Liberalism has been coopted by authoritarianism and branded as a weird sort of "friendly fascism" [1]. Instead of recog

Liberal doesn't mean liberal anymore. Liberalism has been coopted by authoritarianism and branded as a weird sort of "friendly fascism" [1]. Instead of recognizing the historical dangers of that sort of philosophy, it's wholly embraced - with an illusion of legitimacy pasted on top that exploits our better natures by channeling good intentions (anti-racism, anti-discrimination, self-ownership, public health, environmentalism) into a mechanism for certain people to gain more power and control. The part of this that I've found the most disturbing is the absolutely bizarre pivot the "left" made from being deeply suspicious of Big Pharma, to a sudden (almost overnight) support of government regulatory partnership with megacorps, with all of the actors in the scenario receiving big money and little scrutiny. Even asking basic questions and pointing this stuff out gets you shouted down and cancelled (I'm burning lots of karma just posting this viewpoint). The over 6 billion dollars [2] per year that pharma spends on direct-to-consumer ads on TV, and how that influences the content that's shown on TV and which politicians the media supports are completely ignored. Somehow the folks that have traditionally been the champions of civil rights, anti-war, and watchdogs against the growth and abuse from corporate power, have instead become cheerleaders for an authoritarian state controlled mostly by the military industrial complex and big pharma. I don't think it's unique to the "left" - the "right" is certainly guilty of the same stuff, it's just particularly painful to watch coming from the folks I grew up believing were the ones that were supposed to protect us from that sort of abuse. We live in interesting times. [3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism [2] https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/healthcare-industry-spends-30b-on-marketing-most-of-it-goes-to-doctors/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/healthcare-industry-... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_ti...

wredue 3y ago
“Vaccines work” is not the the same as supporting big pharma. Additionally, stating that all people deserve a good life, and attempting to stop bigotry is not “fascism”. Your definitions of things have no basis in reality. Stop brainwashing yourself. Start using basic critical thinking skills.
- cudgy 3y ago
  It’s unclear who’s brainwashed here or who’s using critical thinking skills. Not all vaccines work. It’s ok and prudent to require efficacy trials and release of information about those trials before making a call on whether a person wants to subject their body to it. Not all comments that you find bigoted are thought to be bigoted by everyone. Who makes that judgement? And not all people deserve a good life like murderers and rapists.
  - wredue 3y ago
    You literally stated that your “alternate political opinion” is transphobia dude. Efficacy on Covid vaccines is long demonstrated and you’re still calling it fake news dude. It is exceptionally clear who is brainwashed here. Not only that, but your position changes depending on the context of the conversation. Was fast tracking Covid vaccines good or bad? Depends. Are we talking about the fact that Trump was fast tracking them, or are we talking about whether vaccines work or not? Additionally, you guys don’t even regard what fast-tracking actually means anyway. It doesn’t mean “ignore evidence. Push it through”. It means “if you get a task related to this, you drop everything else and focus on this instead”.
    - cudgy 3y ago
      I said nothing about trans. You must be addressing someone else.
- claytongulick 3y ago
  FWIW, Bill Maher seems to agree with me at 18:30 [1] [1] https://youtu.be/0EOkC44ZIfo https://youtu.be/0EOkC44ZIfo
brightlancer 3y ago
authoritarianism != fascism There are lots and lots of kinds of authoritarianism, and Democrats et al have embraced a Leftist type which pushes for egalitarianism through violence, which is antithetical to fascism (the egalitarianism, not the violence). There are a few big name Dem politicians who are pushing a modern brand of fascism, but they're the minority now. Nothing that follows should be viewed as a defense of the Right. > Somehow the folks that have traditionally been the champions of civil rights, anti-war, and watchdogs against the growth and abuse from corporate power, have instead become cheerleaders for an authoritarian state controlled mostly by the military industrial complex and big pharma. Ah, see, that's your mistake. You were fed the cherry-picked history where the Democrats et al were the Good Guys of the 20th Century; this is a common problem when government schools are run by teachers unions that are in bed with one party. Progressives were never liberal; they were always authoritarians. If you read some of the fascist writers before WWII, they often praised the progressives in the US, including FDR. Marxists were never liberal; they've used various names over the years to avoid taking responsibility for the tens of millions of people they killed to achieve their utopia, but it's important to recognize how much of the modern US Left draws from Marxism. During the anti-Communist years after WWII, the Communists tried to rebrand themselves as civil libertarians and the like. This was a show. The ACLU was genuinely liberal, but the Left was also committing terrorist acts as "champions of civil rights, anti-war, and watchdogs against the growth and abuse from corporate power". The terrorism part doesn't get taught in school. Kids hear that the Black Panthers set up lunchrooms, but so do Hamas and Hezbollah. They're still terrorists. So we should recognize that Democrats et al were never the liberal champions we were taught in school or heard on TV. The reality is always dirtier and more complicated. Pretend that I also spend 20 minutes typing up why I think the Right is awful, because they've rarely been liberal either.

wredue 3y ago

“Vaccines work” is not the the same as supporting big pharma. Additionally, stating that all people deserve a good life, and attempting to stop bigotry is not “fascism”. Your definitions of things have no basis in reality. Stop brainwashing yourself. Start using basic critical thinking skills.

cudgy 3y ago
It’s unclear who’s brainwashed here or who’s using critical thinking skills. Not all vaccines work. It’s ok and prudent to require efficacy trials and release of information about those trials before making a call on whether a person wants to subject their body to it. Not all comments that you find bigoted are thought to be bigoted by everyone. Who makes that judgement? And not all people deserve a good life like murderers and rapists.
- wredue 3y ago
  You literally stated that your “alternate political opinion” is transphobia dude. Efficacy on Covid vaccines is long demonstrated and you’re still calling it fake news dude. It is exceptionally clear who is brainwashed here. Not only that, but your position changes depending on the context of the conversation. Was fast tracking Covid vaccines good or bad? Depends. Are we talking about the fact that Trump was fast tracking them, or are we talking about whether vaccines work or not? Additionally, you guys don’t even regard what fast-tracking actually means anyway. It doesn’t mean “ignore evidence. Push it through”. It means “if you get a task related to this, you drop everything else and focus on this instead”.
  - cudgy 3y ago
    I said nothing about trans. You must be addressing someone else.
claytongulick 3y ago
FWIW, Bill Maher seems to agree with me at 18:30 [1] [1] https://youtu.be/0EOkC44ZIfo https://youtu.be/0EOkC44ZIfo

brightlancer 3y ago

authoritarianism != fascism There are lots and lots of kinds of authoritarianism, and Democrats et al have embraced a Leftist type which pushes for egalitarianism through violence, which is antithetical to fascism (the egalitarianism, not the violence). There are a few big name Dem politicians who are pushing a modern brand of fascism, but they're the minority now. Nothing that follows should be viewed as a defense of the Right. > Somehow the folks that have traditionally been the champions of civil rights, anti-war, and watchdogs against the growth and abuse from corporate power, have instead become cheerleaders for an authoritarian state controlled mostly by the military industrial complex and big pharma. Ah, see, that's your mistake. You were fed the cherry-picked history where the Democrats et al were the Good Guys of the 20th Century; this is a common problem when government schools are run by teachers unions that are in bed with one party. Progressives were never liberal; they were always authoritarians. If you read some of the fascist writers before WWII, they often praised the progressives in the US, including FDR. Marxists were never liberal; they've used various names over the years to avoid taking responsibility for the tens of millions of people they killed to achieve their utopia, but it's important to recognize how much of the modern US Left draws from Marxism. During the anti-Communist years after WWII, the Communists tried to rebrand themselves as civil libertarians and the like. This was a show. The ACLU was genuinely liberal, but the Left was also committing terrorist acts as "champions of civil rights, anti-war, and watchdogs against the growth and abuse from corporate power". The terrorism part doesn't get taught in school. Kids hear that the Black Panthers set up lunchrooms, but so do Hamas and Hezbollah. They're still terrorists. So we should recognize that Democrats et al were never the liberal champions we were taught in school or heard on TV. The reality is always dirtier and more complicated. Pretend that I also spend 20 minutes typing up why I think the Right is awful, because they've rarely been liberal either.