Fifi Lamoura
While I don't believe in wasting empathy on fascists, when I see people posting "fascists aren't people" stuff I feel sick to my stomach because this kind of dehumanization of people we hate (even if they hate us) is fascist thinking. Fascists are people, terrible people who wish or don't care if they do the rest of us harm, but still human beings. This doesn't mean we have to indulge them, it just means that when we dehumanize other people we are in the process of becoming fascists ourselves (no matter how loudly we yell "freedom"). Freedom comes with responsibilities if you're not a fascist and one of those responsibilities is to recognize that we're all human, even the people we don't like or who may want to kill us.
Dec 16, 2023 at 8:16pmWeb
Show threadGeofCoxDec 16, 2023

@fifilamoura

And one of the terrible and wonderful things about being human is that we change.

Show threadHegelian PrincessDec 16, 2023
@fifilamoura I'm not particularly worried about having sympathy for fascists, but I am worried when people don't realize that a couple poor decisions can put even the best of us on the other side, and normally not realizing the danger is the first step to falling in the trap
Show threadWord of Mouth Dec 16, 2023
@fifilamoura I don't waste empathy on fascists, but not because they're not people. I don't waste it on them because they're fascists. Fascist people.

Human beings are perfectly capable of evil. In fact, we're the ONLY ones capable of it, because we invented that shit.
Show threadben chambers 🏴Dec 16, 2023
@fifilamoura
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands ☣Dec 16, 2023
@fifilamoura The other problem with duhumanizing the "monsters" is it makes it easier to miss how much the bad things in society are done by "normal" people in the name of fitting in. When it's a binary of someone is evil or they're not, it's harder to give and receive criticism if you're doing something harmful even if you have good intentions.

If only the monsters do bad things, then a person who might otherwise seem okay couldn't possibly do harm, could they? It's this logic that lets systemic oppression happen.
Show threadLouis IngenthronDec 16, 2023
@fifilamoura Yep, but also even on a simpler level. I keep hearing from leftists asking "why do we allow these nazis to keep spreading their hate?" without ever realizing that enabling the government to shut down subversive speech is *exactly what they want*.
Show threadBrodie RobertsonDec 17, 2023
@fifilamoura So much useful progress can be made by just listening to what someone has to say, respectfully disagreeing and providing your own point of view. So many people out there are stuck in there own little echo chambers and don't even know the real opinions of people outside of it. I always think back to Daryl Davis a black man who sits down with KKK members and just by being a respectful person has convinced hundreds of them to leave the organisation
Show threadTortipedeDec 17, 2023

@fifilamoura As The Beat sang ("The English Beat", in the US) back in 1980:

"And in the long run even he's your brother
Even though that ****'s a Nazi"

https://youtu.be/acO_L5bvUEg?si=fCmZ1_uRzb7uVwlX

The Beat -Two Swords

YouTube
Show threadAnthony WilliamsDec 17, 2023

@fifilamoura
So many people don't seem to get this.

Being "good" is hard because you don't get to break the rules like the bad people do. You can't punch someone in the face or shoot someone just because you think they are bad. That's what bad people do. You have to follow the law. You have to be *good*.

It can be hard because bad people hold despicable opinions, are mean and nasty, and do bad things. You still have to avoid descending to their level.