<story><title>You can&apos;t censor away extremism or any other problem</title><url>https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-cant-censor-away-extremism-or</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>runarberg</author><text>this might be false equivalence. People far on the left (except from some nas-bols; which I’ve never encountered in the wild) call them selfs anti-facists. It is clear who their greatest enemy is. In fact far left groups (like food not bombs, etc.) often engage in social programs called mutual aid where the goal is to spread propaganda through helping the masses.</text></item><item><author>clusterfish</author><text>I think the extremes, both left and right, have realized that their greatest enemy is not the other extreme, but the masses in between.&lt;p&gt;A group that has the numbers, with mild views that can dilute your message with reasonable doubt, challenge certain aspects of your extreme yet be broadly acceptable to a much wider audience including those tending towards your side – that&amp;#x27;s poision for an extremist.&lt;p&gt;Therefore, their solution to that is tribalism, polarization, and shaming for any hint of non-compliance with the extreme&amp;#x27;s dogma.&lt;p&gt;End result is that the vast majority of moderate people do not participate in debates on sensitive topics, leaving the field open for polarizing demagoguery. All that&amp;#x27;s left is to make more topics sensitive to get an advantage there too, and that&amp;#x27;s progressing very well too.</text></item><item><author>dmingod666</author><text>My reading from the outside is, the left needs to realize (I&amp;#x27;m sure it applies to the right equally as well) that scolding people into guilt is not a viable approach to affect action or to change perceptions when you&amp;#x27;re dealing with adults.&lt;p&gt;Neither does boxing people into this, that and that category do any good. Like if all you want to do is dehumanize those guys so you can happily insult &amp;#x2F; hurt them without hurting your conscience, go ahead, that&amp;#x27;s choice.. you have different goals.. but remember that instinct that wants you to scream at this-this-this type of person is a confrontational approach that deep down falls in the pattern of, eliminating the other tribe.. if you choose to do something about it and what you do is your responsibility and problem.&lt;p&gt;I just think the solution should lie in :
1) dialog 2) laws&lt;p&gt;I think beyond those 2 lie some really wrong answers..</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>busterarm</author><text>&amp;gt; spread propaganda through helping the masses.&lt;p&gt;1%&amp;#x27;er motorcycle clubs, mafia organizations and radical religious cults are notorious for doing this as well.</text></comment>
<story><title>You can&apos;t censor away extremism or any other problem</title><url>https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-cant-censor-away-extremism-or</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>runarberg</author><text>this might be false equivalence. People far on the left (except from some nas-bols; which I’ve never encountered in the wild) call them selfs anti-facists. It is clear who their greatest enemy is. In fact far left groups (like food not bombs, etc.) often engage in social programs called mutual aid where the goal is to spread propaganda through helping the masses.</text></item><item><author>clusterfish</author><text>I think the extremes, both left and right, have realized that their greatest enemy is not the other extreme, but the masses in between.&lt;p&gt;A group that has the numbers, with mild views that can dilute your message with reasonable doubt, challenge certain aspects of your extreme yet be broadly acceptable to a much wider audience including those tending towards your side – that&amp;#x27;s poision for an extremist.&lt;p&gt;Therefore, their solution to that is tribalism, polarization, and shaming for any hint of non-compliance with the extreme&amp;#x27;s dogma.&lt;p&gt;End result is that the vast majority of moderate people do not participate in debates on sensitive topics, leaving the field open for polarizing demagoguery. All that&amp;#x27;s left is to make more topics sensitive to get an advantage there too, and that&amp;#x27;s progressing very well too.</text></item><item><author>dmingod666</author><text>My reading from the outside is, the left needs to realize (I&amp;#x27;m sure it applies to the right equally as well) that scolding people into guilt is not a viable approach to affect action or to change perceptions when you&amp;#x27;re dealing with adults.&lt;p&gt;Neither does boxing people into this, that and that category do any good. Like if all you want to do is dehumanize those guys so you can happily insult &amp;#x2F; hurt them without hurting your conscience, go ahead, that&amp;#x27;s choice.. you have different goals.. but remember that instinct that wants you to scream at this-this-this type of person is a confrontational approach that deep down falls in the pattern of, eliminating the other tribe.. if you choose to do something about it and what you do is your responsibility and problem.&lt;p&gt;I just think the solution should lie in :
1) dialog 2) laws&lt;p&gt;I think beyond those 2 lie some really wrong answers..</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>runarberg</author><text>At the risk of entertaining the &lt;i&gt;no true Scotsman&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;p&gt;A leftist that doesn’t empathize with the masses, is not a true leftist.</text></comment>