ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

#Texas #Primaries too close to call

Heads up:

With certainty over the coming months you will hear from "leftist" accounts

With all the easy signifiers, flags and symbols

Speaking with great high holy outrage

About some vile betrayal the winner, #Talarico or #Crockett, made against the left

It's a #toxicIdealism #psyop

They are right wingers cosplaying right here on #Mastodon

Do not fall for it

Show up in the general #election in November

#VOTE!

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-primary-elections/texas-senate-results

#Cornyn #Paxton

Show threadSaraMar 4

@benroyce there's some accounts I follow just so I can watch this phenomenon in action

like, dude

you show up only for elections and global events involving explosions

you are some kind of indistinct anarcho-tankie, without any kind of clearly articulated politics and no nuance whatsoever

you claim to have cats but never post pictures of them

we recognize what you're doing here

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@sarae

tankies are the easiest for a right winger to fake, right wingers and tankies are both fascistic in their authoritarianism

and real tankies i think are just right wingers still evolving, and will eventually no longer be tankies, and wind up as straight fascists in a few months/ years

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce @sarae I see the same thing in Libertarians and Anarcho-Capitalists (whatever the fuck that is) they are straight up small government conservatives who are only against authoritarianism when it involves their liberty.

They claim to be against government but love a bit of governance as long as they don't have to pay taxes to get it and can still do whatever the fuck they like in their own backyard.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @sarae

both libertarianism and anarchism is dumb in that there is no such thing as a power vacuum. it gets filled one way or another

and so both libertarians and anarchists are getting steamrolled by the local gang leader turned warlord in their utopian vision of their libertarian/ anarchist paradise

they all seem like very earnest, very naive college sophomores who just read a book and are very excited but have zero experience with certain unfortunate aspects of human nature

Show threadNature Punk

@benroyce @sarae I'm an anarchist ;)

I don't expect to see the utopia I want to live in to exist in my lifetime but if humanity survives then why not in the future.

There isn't a power vacuum problem in anarchy. The power is distributed in a more equal fashion.

A warlord can only exist if they remove power from their foot soldiers to kickstart the regime. Where are they getting the power to do that from without foot soldiers? They have a bootstrap problem ;)

Mar 4 at 11:47amWeb
Show threadPlantagoLabsMar 4
@naturepunk @benroyce @sarae By starting a cult. Not everyone wants to be a free thinker.
Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@plantagolabs @benroyce @sarae that's very possible but there is still a bootstrap problem.

It's easy for cults to recruit in an unequal world but harder when there is equality everywhere and people have the time to support each other when they feel marginalised.

I'm not sure a cult could grow to the extent it could over throw anything other than the smallest community when the norms of society are to provide for everyone and respect their choices even if they are add odds with that society.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @plantagolabs @sarae

unfortunately it doesn't work that way

you can have everyone provided for materially, and there's still many who will wind up as thieves and murderers

you're very well meaning but rather naive

people can be quite nasty. sometimes for no other reason than pique

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_and_Loeb

Leopold and Loeb - Wikipedia

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce @plantagolabs @sarae like I've said I don't know how to get there but once we do objections to the idea that exist due to issues in todays society will be moot.

"You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one"

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @plantagolabs @sarae

dreaming is great

however it is effective action that changes the world

you need to articulate a plan, not merely state a destination

otherwise no one is ever going to arrive at that destination

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce @plantagolabs @sarae The way to get there is to try and do a little to improve the world every day and live the change you want to see in the world.

You live by that code already.

We all have the power to make the world a better place and eventually it becomes the best place.

The process is as valid as the destination even if nobody can define the exact way we get there we know that by trying we make things better for everyone.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @plantagolabs @sarae

see i like you and my intent is not to crush your soul

i just believe that you might need to adjust your methods, and your final destination, because i think you might not perceive just how vicious and nasty people can be, often times for no good reason at all. and that this is enough to destroy so much, that you need better safeguards and better recruitment methods to engage where people are, rather than an idealized vision of where they might be

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce I don't need those things, we all do :)

I'm not trying to sell this to anybody because I truly believe it's the place humanity arrives at should it survive long enough. :)

I grew up in Thatcher's England. I know how nasty people can be I just believe they can be better.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

everyone can do better

but then you encounter those who don't want to do better

they enjoy the damage they inflict. even if hurts themselves

sadists

here in the USA, that's the MAGA movement. it's predicated on bigotry and prideful ignorance

and there's millions and millions of them

in such an environment, you can't make even a tiny dent towards your noble goals. and the adversity is so profound, you need to adjust more than your methods, you need to adjust your goals

Show threadNature PunkMar 4
@benroyce my only goal is leaving the planet a little better for my existing and I try and do this by doing something worthwhile as often as possible most frequently in tiny things that are considered completely normal.
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

and that's kid of it's own reward

you and i, we don't litter not because we fear some sort of punishment

we simply do not litter because it's about how we view ourselves, and it would be self-violation

to extend that to feeling others is painstaking, without violating others and where they are in life, innocently or maliciously

Show threadPlantagoLabsMar 4

@benroyce @naturepunk @sarae I see human progress as climbing a mountain attached together with a rope. It is fun to argue which summit is highest, but we need to get out of the misty swamps first. Any step up is in the right direction at this point.

IMO if some want to believe in the good nature of humans, let them be, as long as they help pull upwards.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@plantagolabs @naturepunk @sarae

well said but on the contrary i think the left is divided enough as it is, that siphoning off so much good will and effort to pipe dreams is not so much a threat, as just a waste of resources. because they're not necessarily pulling towards the same destination

but i agree everyone is allowed to dream

as long as their dreaming doesn't interfere with real world goals and real world actions that actually are improving the world

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce @plantagolabs @sarae I'm one of those anarchists who is enough of realist to understand I live in a parliamentary democracy and the most important thing I can do is vote for the candidate who is going to do the least harm.

Even with our first past the post system it's easier to do that here than over there with almost a two party system and I acknowledge that it's harder for you guys to break that duopoly.

The left over here will turn the country Green :)

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @plantagolabs @sarae

i don't like you anymore, i love you

that's it

you can separate longterm goals vs shortterm goals, and still act effectively

sorry for giving you such a run around, it's just that i do see people out there who are quite antagonistic. they don't help. they just sort of close themselves off in their mind palace and dream and don't achieve anything except their own self-regard, as they watch the world decay to even worse and don't act

that is not you

Show threadNature PunkMar 4
@benroyce thank you :)
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

no thank you

it is these sort of conversations which are the best of mastodon. the best of life

Show threadNature PunkMar 4
@plantagolabs @benroyce @sarae debating the the high point is always fun but you're exactly right that pulling together to drag us out of the swamp is the best first step which is what I believe we're doing here and what everyone involved in this conversation tries to do in their lives.
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @sarae

Thieves are thieves. There's always thieving, from the streets to Wall Street. There's an endless supply of thieves for any gang, always. And if you don't combat them they team up and take over

Anarchism does work. In small groups. It does not work for societies

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce @sarae there wouldn't be a Wall St nor any reason to thieve if everyone has equal access to all resources then the only property worth stealing would be owned by all and private property wouldn't have a value outside of the value an owner puts in it.

Like I said I don't think I'll see it because I don't know how to get past the problems in our society to get to that point but once there thievery is going to be minimal.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk @sarae

correct there wouldn't be any reason to thieve

there would still be thieves

you seem unaware of some rather unfortunate aspects of human existence

material need is not the only driver of human behavior

sometimes, an evil asshole is just an evil asshole

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce I am naïve in the fact I don't believe in evil and I understand lots of people don't feel that way.

I just can't understand the concept behind that aspect of morality without the religious baggage it comes with. People can be good and I understand that means they are altruistic and got above the norms but I don't think doing less than the norm is evil only lazy or dickish.

Some people are sick but I don't believe people can be Evil.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

That's fine you don't have to use my language or moralize. But you do have to admit that every single person can be provided for everything they need, and some will still be hellbent on destruction for selfish desires. As for why: just because they can. Because it's funny

Whatever you call this, whatever word you use, it's unfortunately very real

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce I'm not sure it would be an issue on a scale that would impact society though.

It would be just kids cow-tipping or whatever the kids are getting up to in the local area when they are bored.

It's hard to envision how, if we ever get to that point, there can ever be enough people mobilised to cause the community real damage and not be considered ill and cared for appropriately.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

yes but you're talking about handling these people in ways that destroy all of the precepts of anarchism. they have a will, and it clashes with society's will, and they have to be controlled and curtailed in some way, or otherwise the damage they can do is terrible. there is no magical treatment that can address them quickly and miraculously to change their intent. even outside of criminality, simple strong differences of opinions are enough to ruin how anarchism might work

Show threadNature PunkMar 4

@benroyce we're disagreeing now in a manner that isn't destructive in the slightest.

Not agreeing with something a community decides is something that will regularly happen but doesn't need to end the relationship with your peers just shift it slightly on a single issue.

Only rejecting a core tenet of society would be enough for a breakdown. I don't deny some people would do this but I don't see it as damaging to society.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

well we see it already right? the fracturing of society to different goals winding up in quite dramatic tribal infighting

not even left v right, just inside the left even

such that what you envision, everyone agreeing on the goals mostly, and only a few minor pesky opinion differences serving as a sort of minor background noise, i don't think is how it can be, how it ever could be

we as humans just are not built that way, i think, unfortunately

but i'm not against improvement!

Show threadNature PunkMar 4
@benroyce It's always been the same. I used to belong to a socialist political party and the amount bickering and biting against people with exactly the same aims in society just a very slightly different form of governance when you get there was diabolical. That's what turned me away from more authoritarian forms of left leaning theology. Nice folks becoming nasty about what badge or banner somebody on the same march wears. Not for me.
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 4

@naturepunk

yes exactly

and that takes us right back to the tankies

😩

uggh. so tedious they are

authoritarianism is our enemy, everywhere