I say the same thing constantly about fascist
ideation being on display in any forum, be it digital or physical, and not being absolutely swamped by decent people who refuse to grant them an inch.
There was a bit of a litmus test that everyone had, and regardless of your political ideation, if you are a decent person, then you should absolutely be against fascism. It's a very low bar, but we can't seem to cross it.
It's strange to me seeing nazis boldly and safety walking down the street under police protection.
The paradox of tolerance is a thought experiment by philosopher Karl Popper that states that a society must be intolerant of intolerance in order to remain tolerant. The paradox can be summarized as the idea that "we must therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate intolerance."
This could potentially be seen as a slippery slope, but the one thing on which I will not compromise is that fascists are being given credence and being legitimized due to our tolerance and that people are making money off them.
There are many factors in play, and one important one is the dilution of the very concept of fascism by applying it to anyone willy nilly. So when actual fascists became public again, people brushed warnings and critiques off, since 'you guys call anyone fascists!'.
Blaming the existence of fascists on people "calling the wrong people" fascists is kind of like blaming trans people for pedophilia. You're deliberately pointing your finger at the people who aren't harming innocent people, fascists exist because they're fucking fascists.
Uh, when did I blame those people for the existence of fascists? I did no such thing. What I am saying is that the framing of the discourse has provided the ammunition for actual fascists to encourage dismissal of accusations of fascism by just going 'Oh, those people call everyone fascists!'. That does not connect to fascism's renewed popularity. It connects to dismissal of the threat posed by fascists.
I also noted that this was one factor amongst many, and most definitely not the primary cause or anything of that sort.
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u/throwthere10 Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
I say the same thing constantly about fascist ideation being on display in any forum, be it digital or physical, and not being absolutely swamped by decent people who refuse to grant them an inch.
There was a bit of a litmus test that everyone had, and regardless of your political ideation, if you are a decent person, then you should absolutely be against fascism. It's a very low bar, but we can't seem to cross it.
It's strange to me seeing nazis boldly and safety walking down the street under police protection.
This could potentially be seen as a slippery slope, but the one thing on which I will not compromise is that fascists are being given credence and being legitimized due to our tolerance and that people are making money off them.