Daniel
Partly I think I’m having a depressive bout due to personal stuff like my relationship ending. But partly I’m bricking it because we’re staring down the barrel of a heist to steal our future and we’re individually at the mercy of the owning class.
They are coming for your savings, and for your debt, and for your buying power, and for your job security. All four. How do we individually defend against that? We can’t! But where is the class consciousness?
Ali Clarke
@lightweight @dznz Yes! Modelling a different way of living might make us eccentric, but it definitely challenges people to reflect on their own lives 🤔
Dave Lane
@dznz @simplicitarian I share your discontent. The hypocrisy and inherent cognitive dissonance we all accommodate is staggering. And some of us have done a lot of work to be true to our values. In the end, all we can do is provide an example of the behaviour we want to see. And rant a bit, given the opportunity.
Daniel
@simplicitarian I agree we're seeing some positive movement, though half the climate activism is run by liberals like XR who just endorsed an NFT project.
I'll be okay, just needed to rant.
Ali Clarke
@dznz Yes, things are grim 😬 I do sense a growing intolerance towards the super rich and the extremes of inequality though. And climate activism is gathering force. 🤔 I find choosing a life of voluntary simplicity has helped my mental health, but I acknowledge my privilege to be able to do this. All the best to you :birdheart:
Daniel
We don't even have a fucking newspaper, that's how bad it is. In Aotearoa NZ, we've got the basically-liberal Spinoff, and they are as likely to run a soft piece about riding along with the fucking police helicopter as to call out the RW.
Daniel
And every regular, neurotypical person I talk to is like "you are correct, but don't worry about it, like me." and it's like... but people are going to suffer and die, and "people" doesn't mean "other people far enough away to pretend it doesn't matter" here, it means all of us. It's not a hypothetical, Darren.
Daniel
So materially it comes down to harm reduction and risk mitigation. But there’s just no fucking money for it, so its all scraps and personal virtue. How many refugees can you shelter? How much of your income can you put aside for ko-fi and patreon and give a little? It’s not enough, never enough.
Daniel
And we don’t have the luxury of 20th Communism as a successful model to reach towards. To be a socialist of any flavour today is to believe in values like universalism and integrity that mean we don’t get to lie, cheat or take short cuts, but to not have a surviving model to work towards. We can’t be utopians, and we can’t rely on 20thC ideology and vision. We’re back to improvising with the few tools we know can’t be coopted.
Daniel
And this in the context of a global pandemic (and death cult response), climate extinction, energy crisis, and the deliberate turn towards fascism to protect Capital in case the Left get too powerful.
And meanwhile I’m trying to convince my Liberal friends to become Leftists before it’s too late, but they don’t want to “contribute to polarisation or radicalisation” when it’s “a complex and nuanced situation”. Fuuuuuuuuck
Daniel
And who have we got in our court? Some (not all) of the unions. A couple of politicians within broadly Liberal parties.
A socialist network largely dismantled and sidelined by a labour peace that is now dead. The next few years are going to HURT, and not hurt equally, which is the point.
Daniel
Your savings will get eaten up, either by inflation or KiwiSaver shenanigans or by haircuts. Your earnings go bye bye as inflation is turned up, and employers are pulling every dirty trick to undermine labour, even though they killed enough people to create a labour shortage.
Your debt is in some ways safer than your assets, but not if the debt interest rates go up. You better be able to service it or say goodbye to the mortgage.
Ali Clarke
@lightweight @alpinefolk Yep, those who are progressive and community-minded attract huge resistance if they get into powerful positions. Our Ōtepoti mayor is a very good person but some of the business lobby treat him like evil incarnate. The fact he got elected gives me hope though.
Dave Lane
@simplicitarian seems that, like Gibson's "future" an informed, empathetic, Common Good-focused world view is already here... it's just very poorly distributed. It's largely absent from those with clout in society. @alpinefolk
Dave Lane
@simplicitarian having lived through #eqnz here in Christchurch, too, I was heartbroken by the missed opportunities to build our city back better than it was. The lack of vision was staggering, along with the dogmatic (ignorant) 'conservatism' and general lack of grace of the local land-owners/power brokers (who have substantial influence in our city council and exerted it on the Cant'y EQ Recovery Authority, too). @alpinefolk
Ali Clarke
@alpinefolk @lightweight Snap, just made a similar reply 😆 Agree 100% and I often think longingly of that time when private transport almost disappeared.
Dave Lane
@alpinefolk so many missed opportunities to be sure. I also feel it's tragic that we showed a tantalising glimpse of a 'better us' and then we fell right back into our bad old ways @simplicitarian
Al 🏔🎸:verified:
@simplicitarian I struggle with all these same issues. I had a lot of hope early in the pandemic when people were coming together and reassessing what is important in life. Unfortunately that quickly turned into "getting back to normal".
I do see some hope in people working together and creating community around environmental and social issues.
Dave Lane
@pkboi
the other force we need to discredit is the 'temporarily embarrassed' vote - the folks who vote for policies that they aspire to be affected by, e.g. tax breaks for the rich. A lot of poor folks buy into the prosperity gospel and related mythology. But they vote accordingly. We need to show people how daft that is. And how counter productive. @simplicitarian @alpinefolk @dznz
Iain
@simplicitarian @lightweight @alpinefolk @dznz It’s not just the obvious targets of people of power and property who resist change. The way we flipped back to ‘normal’ early in the pandemic showed how much inertia there is right across the system with ordinary people. Every progressive change is hard fought!
Al 🏔🎸:verified:
@simplicitarian there’s nothing like a passionate rant to get the discussion flowing 😂 @lightweight @dznz
Ali Clarke
@lightweight @alpinefolk I’ve been thinking it’s very quiet here recently, so big thanks to @dznz whose rant has led us into this monster thread 😆
Al 🏔🎸:verified:
@dznz Interestingly, I have a friend who moved here from California. She always voted Republican because that’s what the family had always done. When she did the political compass it aligned her with the Greens. @lightweight @pkboi @simplicitarian
Al 🏔🎸:verified:
To be clear that is my perception that they align with the left, not theirs. Specifically their attitude to the environment, fairness, community etc. @dznz @lightweight @pkboi @simplicitarian
Daniel
@alpinefolk @lightweight @pkboi @simplicitarian which of their values align with the Left, then? I'm guessing none of the important ones, hey?
Al 🏔🎸:verified:
@lightweight unfortunately I know a number of small business owners whose values more closely align with the left but vote National because that’s what business owners do. @pkboi @simplicitarian @dznz
Ali Clarke
@alpinefolk @lightweight Some of it is straight out resistance to change and really ignorant eg cycle lanes and pedestrianisation have been proved time and again to INCREASE trade for retailers, but many on George St believe its upgrade will be a disaster 😬
Dave Lane
@simplicitarian yes, his win was a big deal. We need to call out all interaction between local (and central) gov't and lobbyists - most of it is justified as 'more trade and a stronger economy is better for everyone'... but it's not necessarily true. Much of that is just implicit 'trickle down economics' . And it's bullshit that needs to be kicked to touch at every occurrence. @alpinefolk
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