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I can't help but notice that for certain people with a particular anger against society, everything they disagree with is fascist in nature. If Mao had said it

I can't help but notice that for certain people with a particular anger against society, everything they disagree with is fascist in nature. If Mao had said it, it would've been "absolutely communist", if Washington had said it, it would've been "absolutely Patriotic".

Planktonne 22d ago
I don't think that's a reasonable read; you can't dismiss a specific criticism on the (unsupported) ground that the person making it would totally have dismissed anything at all.
- adamtaylor_13 22d ago
  wartywhoa expresses an opinion that I find intellectually lazy and spiritually prideful. Refusing to engage with an idea because it was dimly echoed in a statement made by an evil man is just intellectually lazy. It's a spectacular bit of pride in oneself to try to silence someone's opinion because you found an abstractly-similar statement made by an evil man. Why probe the idea when you could just assign Hitler's evil intentions directly to them? It's gross. It's tired. I wish people cared more to engage in good faith.
  - Planktonne 22d ago
    You're engaging in worse faith; dismissing all criticism because it draws a parallel you don't like isn't reasonable. Sometimes, it will be fascism. "It's never fascism" is not a good heuristic.
    - adamtaylor_13 22d ago
      Re-read what I said, specifically, I'm addressing the reflexive hand-wave of fascism as an all-too-common way to suppress thoughts we find distasteful rather than actually engaging. That's what wartywhoa did to a commenter who was in no way suggesting a fascist view. That's not worse faith, that's simply pointing out that aligning your ideological opponents with Hitler is intellectually dishonest. In this you and I agree: "dismissing all criticism because it draws a parallel you don't like isn't reasonable."
      - Planktonne 22d ago
        There's nothing more thought-suppressing than dismissing all equation to fascism as thought suppression. If we actually agreed on the principle, you wouldn't be engaging in the behaviour.

Planktonne 22d ago

I don't think that's a reasonable read; you can't dismiss a specific criticism on the (unsupported) ground that the person making it would totally have dismissed anything at all.

adamtaylor_13 22d ago
wartywhoa expresses an opinion that I find intellectually lazy and spiritually prideful. Refusing to engage with an idea because it was dimly echoed in a statement made by an evil man is just intellectually lazy. It's a spectacular bit of pride in oneself to try to silence someone's opinion because you found an abstractly-similar statement made by an evil man. Why probe the idea when you could just assign Hitler's evil intentions directly to them? It's gross. It's tired. I wish people cared more to engage in good faith.
- Planktonne 22d ago
  You're engaging in worse faith; dismissing all criticism because it draws a parallel you don't like isn't reasonable. Sometimes, it will be fascism. "It's never fascism" is not a good heuristic.
  - adamtaylor_13 22d ago
    Re-read what I said, specifically, I'm addressing the reflexive hand-wave of fascism as an all-too-common way to suppress thoughts we find distasteful rather than actually engaging. That's what wartywhoa did to a commenter who was in no way suggesting a fascist view. That's not worse faith, that's simply pointing out that aligning your ideological opponents with Hitler is intellectually dishonest. In this you and I agree: "dismissing all criticism because it draws a parallel you don't like isn't reasonable."
    - Planktonne 22d ago
      There's nothing more thought-suppressing than dismissing all equation to fascism as thought suppression. If we actually agreed on the principle, you wouldn't be engaging in the behaviour.