33 votes

Accelerationism: The obscure idea inspiring white supremacist killers around the world

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12 comments

  1. [8]
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    1. knocklessmonster
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      The article mentions this before it jumps back on track as an exploration of far-right accelerationism. There's even centrist accelerationism, like when people believe electing an extremist into...

      The article mentions this before it jumps back on track as an exploration of far-right accelerationism.

      There's even centrist accelerationism, like when people believe electing an extremist into office will shake the country bad enough to get stuff done, but from a position of limited or bipartisan political bias.

      6 votes
    2. [7]
      Comment removed by site admin
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      1. [4]
        vord
        Link Parent
        Ah yes, I should have figured that post would come back to haunt me, so I'll make a mild attempt to defend myself now that I'm in a clearer headspace. Re-reading it, I definitely should have...

        Ah yes, I should have figured that post would come back to haunt me, so I'll make a mild attempt to defend myself now that I'm in a clearer headspace.

        Re-reading it, I definitely should have chosen a less inflammatory headline, as it was poorly worded, clickbaity, and honestly a bit out of character. I'll take this moment to retitle it:

        Choosing centerist, establishment Democrats for primary elections will almost certainly result in a 2020 Trump (or whatever R runs if the impeachment amounts to anything tangible).

        I most certainly don't want far right politicians to win. However, the fundamental problem that everyone seems to forget with astonishing speed is that Trump is not as bad as it gets. At the rate we are going... The next Republican president will have the same or worse values as Trump, do all of the same horrible things, but will hide under a cloak of secrecy and charisma instead of blurting out blatant crimes on Twitter.

        I concede that a centerist running things in 2020 will be preferable to Trump, but what then? 4 more years of tepid "reach across the aisle bipartisanship" policy that fails to inspire the masses longing for genuine improvement? Then, in 2024 the R fields a well spoken, squeaky clean "moderate" that does basically everything Trump does, but in secrecy? Doesn't sound too appealing to me.

        19 votes
        1. [2]
          UniquelyGeneric
          Link Parent
          I think I would have been accused of being a hyper-left accelerationist if the terminology had existed at the time, but seeing the danger from the other side of the coin has given me some pause....

          I think I would have been accused of being a hyper-left accelerationist if the terminology had existed at the time, but seeing the danger from the other side of the coin has given me some pause.

          I, too, feared that a centrist would lead to a slow decline that missed pivotal opportunities to course correct. Back in 2016 I thought a Trump presidency would be enough of a shock to the system that we would start to bounce back and the pendulum would swing heavy in the opposite direction. I now think I was wrong, given the right’s acceptance of Trump after meaningless posturing while he was campaigning.

          I don’t have the ability to have a meaningful presidential vote (living in NYC), so I voted 3rd party in hopes that there was enough political animosity that the likes of Gary Johnson or Jill Stein could win at least 5% of the national vote, thereby unlocking existing campaign financing that’s paid by taxes of millions of Americans every year (intended to equalize the playing field...). I thought that our political discourse would be aided by introducing stances that weren’t so polarizing. Instead, Gary “Aleppo” Johnson got just under 3%, and FB recently decided to let moneied interests control political dialogue online. The situation doesn’t look hopeful for radical views.

          The reason I think I might have been seen as an accelerationist is because unlike others in the thread, I don’t think the alt-right / white nationalists are the single biggest problem: I believe climate change is the single unifying issue that should bring us together, before it gets so bad we are doomed regardless.

          Because climate change shouldn’t be a “political” issue (quotes to emphasize that there is still a debate over whether it is fact), it could go unaddressed while we bicker over the cause (which I also think is mostly factual), and this uncertainty will surely lead to our future children’s demise.

          My previous leftist accelerationism wasn’t (consciously) driven by a point of privilege (which I surely have), but because I treat climate change as an all-or-nothing affair. Everyone is affected from climate change, and if we don’t take action now, then everyone will die in the future. You could also argue that historically low socioeconomic communities will be the first to be affected by climate change as well, to counter the argument that deprioritizing white supremacy is a purely racist initiative.

          I’ve had to change my opinions over time as the world changes around us, so I don’t want others to takeaway that I must be a neo-racist with more convoluted reasoning...but opinions should change as new information becomes available. Perhaps I’m not predicting he future well, and a new civil war would actually kill more people in the near term (yet likely also prevent climate change initiative at the same time). That being said, I wanted to provide some perspective to a stance I once held in the hope it helps others.

          9 votes
          1. vord
            Link Parent
            Agree that climate change is the biggest factor, but if we're only allowing for the ballot box to sway the course, the end result is the same. The Republican party is entirely refusing to remedy...

            Agree that climate change is the biggest factor, but if we're only allowing for the ballot box to sway the course, the end result is the same. The Republican party is entirely refusing to remedy these problems, and the Democrats at least acknowledge the facts.

            I might seem a shill for the political compass, but I think it helps bring perspective to political discussions. Very, very few politicians on the national stage are outside the Authoritarian Right quadrant. Bernie is the only one running for 2020 Democratic candidacy. Even Warren is in that quadrant, although much closer to the center. To properly address climate change, we must be willing to sacrifice capitalist interests in the name of saving the environment. I don't foresee anybody more authoritarian or right than Warren willing to make the kinds of policies that have enough teeth to them to make a real difference. Sure a Democratic president will certainly sign some changes, but I'm betting if it's a Biden presidency those changes will mostly be vapid half-measures with long deadlines and minimal punishments for violations.

            7 votes
        2. skybrian
          Link Parent
          When you say "almost certainly" that's being far too confident about your ability to predict the future. We simply don't know who will win the next presidential election, just like we didn't know...

          When you say "almost certainly" that's being far too confident about your ability to predict the future. We simply don't know who will win the next presidential election, just like we didn't know who would win the last one. It was very close and there were unforeseeable events that might have changed things if the timing was a little different.

          These are times of uncertainty. We should be uncertain.

          2 votes
      2. [2]
        Akir
        Link Parent
        The far Left and the far Right have a lot of things in common. I really don't want to offend anyone, but the type of people you are talking about are people who base their worldview on personal...

        I think from the leftist, it shows an extremely misguided view of politics and is a super selfish worldview that says fuck you to anyone that would be oppressed by said far-right politicians they are supporting or would be harmed by whatever collapse/revolution that they desire.

        The far Left and the far Right have a lot of things in common. I really don't want to offend anyone, but the type of people you are talking about are people who base their worldview on personal experience instead of logic and reason. There are many people who have mainstream views who are the same; I'm pretty positive that most people aren't invested in objective truths. The only difference between this crowd and Trump supporters is that they have incompatible ideologies.

        This is especially problematic when it comes to national politics. We constantly push people to vote, but we should be pushing people to figure out what's actually happening in this world and why.

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
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          1. Akir
            Link Parent
            I was largely speaking about the accellerationists, but not them exclusively. When you say left, you mean ideologically; when I say left, I mean politically. In a sane world, they would be almost...

            I was largely speaking about the accellerationists, but not them exclusively. When you say left, you mean ideologically; when I say left, I mean politically. In a sane world, they would be almost synonymous, but we aren't quite, are we? To reiterate, I am not taking about extremes as in who has the most far-out dreams for the country, but who is cheering the loudest for their side.

            You are certainly not part of the group I am talking about; you believe what you do because you have learned a great deal and have reasoned it to be the best option. I am rather talking about people who have not taken those steps and are either following the crowd or base their views on their feelings.

            4 votes
  2. [6]
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    1. [5]
      Akir
      Link Parent
      Lately I have been wondering if the reason why racism and white supremacy has clawed it's way into everything in this country is because we have gone too easy on the people who have those views. I...

      Lately I have been wondering if the reason why racism and white supremacy has clawed it's way into everything in this country is because we have gone too easy on the people who have those views. I know that this community has spoken of the paradox of tolerance in many places, but I think that might just be the underlying reason why we cannot ever defeat racism. We are far too willing to allow people like that to keep spreading their shitty worldview.

      While I don't think that joining a local Antifa group to physically assault them is a good option (you can't beat the ideology out of a person), I am at a loss to how to correct this problem. Even when mainstream society abandons them, they just group together online. And it's not like you can educate them out of it because their ideology is not based on logic or evidence.

      12 votes
      1. [4]
        jgb
        Link Parent
        It is based on logic and evidence. It might not be *sound* logic and evidence - but that's almost irrelevant - the key point is that a lot of these people genuinely believe they are morally and...

        And it's not like you can educate them out of it because their ideology is not based on logic or evidence.

        It is based on logic and evidence. It might not be *sound* logic and evidence - but that's almost irrelevant - the key point is that a lot of these people genuinely believe they are morally and logically in the right. We've all heard 'despite making up only 13% of the population...' - well, there's a lot more where that came from.

        5 votes
        1. [3]
          Akir
          Link Parent
          You are basically rephrasing my argument. I am saying that these are people who are deliberately keeping themselves ignorant so they can keep their beliefs. They are constantly in denial because...

          You are basically rephrasing my argument. I am saying that these are people who are deliberately keeping themselves ignorant so they can keep their beliefs. They are constantly in denial because they base their world on their feelings, and their feelings are based on the fact set they have selected for themselves. They have turned their lives into a spiral of negativity, and they are too afraid what is outside the spiral to accept any rope you may throw them.

          4 votes
          1. [2]
            jgb
            Link Parent
            This is true of everyone - racists and non racists alike

            they base their world on their feelings, and their feelings are based on the fact set they have selected for themselves.

            This is true of everyone - racists and non racists alike

            1 vote
            1. Akir
              Link Parent
              At first, maybe, but then one is expected to learn more and apply that knowledge as they age. There is a fundamental difference between people who learn a fact and change their oppinion and those...

              At first, maybe, but then one is expected to learn more and apply that knowledge as they age. There is a fundamental difference between people who learn a fact and change their oppinion and those who disregard the facts to reinforce what they already feel.