steev hise1d ago

It seems like there's so many radical progressive "slogans" that i end up taking issue with, wording-wise. I guess maybe it''s cuz I'm on the spectrum and i just really want stuff to be accurate, or at least realistic. And by their nature slogans are vague and simplistic, but reality is complicated and nuanced. So I end up always thinking, "well no, actually..." and then people think I'm against the sentiment when I'm not.

For instance "defund the police" - that's catchy & quick but it's also polarizing & shocking to people who arent already radicalized, & like, c'mon, in this society can we really just suddenly get rid of all police? no. We need to remove the conditions that encourage crime, so we won't need police.

#arson #directAction #rhetoric #propaganda #propagandaofthedeed #messaging

Show threadsteev hise

Another example: warehouse-arsonist guy's "all you had to do is pay us enough to live"... that's really low-balling it, my man. No. even if we all got paid enough to live, we'd still have racism, sexism, rape, police brutality, war, imperialism, neocolonialism, etc. I just can't help but object to these really absolutist statements. Really it should be "the LEAST you could do is pay us enough to live. BUT we also want these other things and so we're asking for those too."

But, yeah that isn't as catchy, I guess. That'd be a long bumper sticker.

(and again, i'm not against the action. just thinkg the messaging around it could be better)

#arson #slogans #propaganda #propagandaofthedeed #rhetoric #messaging #direct action.

Apr 13 at 1:56pmWeb
Show threadMumonkan1d ago

@detritus yeah, maybe not surprisingly i also share your getting caught up in the details of accuracy etc. or i just overanalyze in general.

i mean, i guess now i am focusing on the phrase "all you had to do" and "to live". like what does it mean to live? haha maybe that _implies_ without imperialism and having healthcare.

i guess inspiration is weird that way -- the recipient of the message is going to pack all sorts of things into the wording.

Show threadsteev hise23h ago
@Mumonkan yeah for me “to live” is shorthand for “a living wage” which can also be imprecise but it’s almost always within an economic context. Other things that are less tangible and can’t be added to a paycheck generally aren’t implied as included, right?
Show threadMumonkan22h ago

@detritus so yeah i think i agree with you simply because of the use of "pay us". 🙂 if he had said "give us" then i might argue it could be construed as a bigger reference to all the ruling class blocks us from: affordable housing, food, healthcare etc.

yeah. i am definitely over-analyzing now. haha