I'm a leftist in Appalachia who has had enough.

It's my firm belief that we'll never defeat authoritarianism until we learn to stop treating each other as strangers, rivals, others. Modern culture says that you can do whatever you'd like to exploit other people, as long as it's legal, you do it politely, blame it on the economy, and don't say cuss words in public.

Authoritarianism arises from distrust. And why shouldn't we distrust each other? We tell our Kindergartners not to be mean to each other, and then they watch us turn around and do things like setting prices at "what the market will bear", and outlawing same-sex marriage.

Everybody hated Sawyer (at first) on LOST. Why? Because he was looking out for himself, trying to get something up on the other folks. Why do we completely ignore it when people behave like this in real life?

NO. Just because it's legal, that doesn't mean it's acceptable. NO. Just because it saves some money, that doesn't mean it's a good idea. NO. It's not OK to be a slumlord. NO. You're still being a jerk for not letting the homeless person use the bathroom, even if it's "store policy" -- it's still you, looking that person right in the face and still doing it, and convincing yourself you're a good person because it wasn't you who made the rules.

We need to change our cultural norms, and align our actions to what we claim our ethics and morals to be. It may take generations.

I'm here to participate in general anarchist discussion, but also to emphasize the importance of normalizing empathy and expunging authoritarian and exploitative elements in society by shunning, shaming, and yes, dispensing instant karma to Nazis.

It's time to make people *afraid* to be racist in public again.

#Introduction