7 ms·
The only thing he told me is "this t-shirt implies a political affiliation that isn't mine; I won't sign it." I had asked him to sign my t-shirt, that depicted
by Biganon 3y ago
The only thing he told me is "this t-shirt implies a political affiliation that isn't mine; I won't sign it."
I had asked him to sign my t-shirt, that depicted him with a beret with a Gnu on it, in the style of Che Guevara
- DaiPlusPlus 3y agoI think that's a valid and reasonable position of him to take, though. If I ever became a celebrity or public figure I'd be sure to take a course on public-relations and media-training - it's easy to (intentionally or otherwise) turn something innocuous into something worse - Che Guevara is currently a popular figure and a positive inspiration for many, but for many other people he represents a depostic regime that routinely violates human rights - world opinion could very quickly turn against the Che T-shirt meme and I wouldn't want any stories of how I signed something I'd later regret. (Yes, I know about RMS' history too (yes, that history) and I'm not defending that at all - but so far, of what I've seen, he seems to be wanting to avoid being misinterpreted by others, which is something I deeply empathise with, such is life-on-the-spectrum)
- dudeinjapan 3y agoTry wearing that shirt around Miami…
- MadSudaca 3y agoWhat would happen?
- DaiPlusPlus 3y agoThe rabid anti-communism of Cuban diaspora in FL is so extreme it's driven them right into the GOP's arms for their votes; the amazing thing is how they've done it despite the racism just-below-the-surface there.
- robertlagrant 3y agoAgreed. People fleeing Communism are the last people you want to listen to regarding Communism. Dismiss them as rabid and move on.
- calderknight 3y agoI presume you're being ironic. One should listen to them. One should also be aware of the massive selection bias in views you're going to hear.
- MadSudaca 3y agoYou’d say the opinions of people back home would presumably be different?
- calderknight 3y agoYes, I would say so, on the average. I think that people leaving a country are more likely to dislike that country than those staying.
- MadSudaca 3y agoIt's possible a lot of people would like to leave but can't. Also, some people would like to return, missing the cultural aspects of the country they left behind or their families, but can't because they're unable to sustain themselves there, they need to continue helping their families economically and depend on the higher wages of where they're residing, or they're afraid because it's dangerous.
- calderknight 3y agoAny number of things may be true. But one cannot sensibly infer those things from this sample of people that is very far from being a random sample, but is actually a heavily selected sample. If you're really interested in the state of things "back home", don't seek out a group of people who are very likely to be slanted toward having a particular view (whether that view be positive or negative), and when they express that view conclude that all must have that view. All may have that view, but to conclude that it is actually the case, based on such terrible evidence, is totally absurd!
- throwaway124896 3y agoMiami is filled with Latin-American families with a poor view of latin-American revolutionaries.
- theodric 3y agoMiami has a large community of people who risked their lives and abandoned everything to flee Cuba to go hang out with the capitalist pigdogs in the USA. Their hospitality toward communist revolutionaries would be somewhat chillier than what you'd receive on a northeastern college campus. It's unlikely this would extend to violence, but you might get some remarks.
- DaiPlusPlus 3y agoI know you're being facetious, but it really didn't land well.
- oasisaimlessly 3y agoHe's not being facetious.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- topato 3y agoI'm glad you added that parenthetical postscript at the end lol. After reading your first two sentences, I was nearly salivating over the reply button. "OH MAN, WAIT TILL THIS GUY LEARNS ABOUT /~THIS~/ CLASSIC STALLMAN SNAFU FROM YESTERYEAR!!!".
- jraph 3y agoA game of trying to make him say something (implying something) he doesn't fully approves of has to be impossible to win. He is way too careful for this.
- drt5b7j 3y agoI mean I would've been a lot more rude. It's hard to not take that as an intentional provocation.
- Biganon 3y agoI fail to see how that could be taken as an intentional provocation...?
- drt5b7j 3y agoA) A picture of che Guevara is always an association with communism B) RMS is very well known as someone who is, amongst other things, not a communist. Frankly I fail to see how this could be taken as anything other than a provocation. Why would you have a picture of RMS as Che and then ask him to sign it? The only other explanation I can think of is you're too stupid to not see A or B.
- jraph 3y agoIf the person with the t-shirt is both sympathetic to communism or the Che, and RMS, I can see how it can not be a provocation. RMS was probably right not to sign it though. I also believe producing a t-shirt with RMS depicted as the Che is not quite right.
- drt5b7j 3y agoOf course the person with T-shirt is sympathetic to communism and RMS, but their sympathy to RMS is very superficial. Otherwise they would know that RMS wouldn't approve. So it's option 2 I guess.
- jraph 3y agoIntent matters. It's only a provocation if it's meant to be a provocation. Otherwise it's mere faux-pas, at worst. What's more, you don't necessarily know everything about a person. I would not know anything about RMS's political opinions if I had not read his website a bit, I would only know him for his stance on free software.
- laurent_du 3y agoThis anecdote makes me respect RMS even more.
- mongol 3y agoDefinitely good judgement on his part.
- znpy 3y agoHe was right. Stallman had to fight people comparing free software to communism, and left wing people didn’t help at all in that sense.