Pottery by OsaWe marched against #WTO, #IMF and #WorldBank. We protested the war in Afghanistan and called for a #FreePalestine. We saw the dangers and pitfalls of #globalization and #NeoliberalCapitalism. We learned from the 60s that leaders of movements that actually threaten the status quo get assassinated. Gay people couldn’t get legally married. Gentrification was taking its final form in every US city. We called it #GlobalWarming instead of #ClimateChange.
There was the #BattleInSeattle and then #911. Rush Limbaugh & Dr. Laura. Indymedia dot org and Democracy Now, not CNN or NBC. I learned the term #PrisonIndustrialComplex and felt it, along with homelessness, was the deepest scourge on mandkind—a literal continuation of slavery. I was 20 and filled with anxiety and doom that I learned to manage over time. To many of us, the world has always been a horror show.
I’m not in any way downplaying what’s going on now. In fact, I’m trying to make sense of the trajectory of leftist thought. Remember how disgusted we were at the idea of globalization and neoliberal trade agreements circa 2000?
I’ve seen a toot by a leftist quoting Chase Bank, claiming that increased tariffs will be bad for the economy. The #WTO has said the same. As a lifelong leftist, it gives me pause when other leftists seem to be aligning with the very same entities we protested 20+ years ago, ones largely responsible for global exploitation and inequality. The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend.
Andrew Deacon@potterybyosa Re The enemy of your enemy, I refer to the maxims of effective mercenaries "29. The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less. (From Schlock Mercenary web comic of yore)
AndrocatThe alternative is believing a conglomerate of literal fascist incompetents.
I don't know about quoting them, but sometimes the fascists are so wrong that even the capitalists can see it...
nota@potterybyosa yeah that's how I've been feeling about it too.
"this thing is bad even by our oppressors's logic" is a very tempting dunk but it's a dangerous game to play
Like the problem with fascists is very much not that they're doing liberalism badly, but that's all anyone ever talks about
EarthwormSooo true!
I wrote along these lines this week, too.
zombiecide@potterybyosa I turned 18 in 2001 and into a world of deep political as well as personal helplessness, with the neoliberal narrative that made it the individual's fault. We'd been fed end of history narratives for a decade -at school, in the media-, everyone was equal, as long as they could pretend to be wealthy white dudes. War happened to unfortunate other places, until it was our own soldiers sent on a revenge mission.
Weyoun 61. The arrow of time. Opposing corporate globalization was rooted in protecting jobs and the environment. Those are now lost. The current trade policies are not bringing them back.
2. Opposition to oligarchy. Oligarchs want a trade policy that lines their pockets and hurts workers.
How about an economy with good jobs that protects the environment?