• czech@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Great theory, but lets take a look at reality.

    that exalts nation and often race above the individual

    Have you heard of MAGA?

    and that stands for a centralized autocratic government

    While Trump announced he “plans to eliminate executive branch constraints on his power if he is elected president in 2024”

    headed by a dictatorial leader

    See the last point…

    and forcible suppression of opposition

    Like Jan 6th.

    You can’t just make up whatever you want when you’re not in /r/conservative. You are constrained by reality. Nobody is here to delete my posts and ban me for you.

    • 10A@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Yes, well the MAGA crowd isn’t very conservative if you ask me, and personally I support DeSantis. I think Democrats are strongly pushing for a Trump nomination because they know he’s unelectable, and it’s an easy play.

      But to your point, I concede that most people do consider MAGA to be right wing, and that Trump has on several occasions said things suggesting he’d like an autocracy. I think we can agree that’d be undesirable. I just don’t think it’s very conservative.

      Like Jan 6th.

      All that was, was a group of jaded voters who believed (rightly or wrongly) that there was election fraud. Personally I see no evidence of fraud substantial enough to change the election. But at the same time, I recognize that for someone who truly did believe there was election fraud, they were upset and they wanted to protest about it. That’s all it was — a protest that was legitimate based on what they believed.

      You are constrained by reality. Nobody is here to delete my posts and ban me for you.

      And I’m glad about that, 100%. I wouldn’t want you banned.

      But back to the definition, you can’t just pluck a couple of words out of there and say it’s a match. The whole definition fits the left way better than the right, and yet in truth doesn’t fit either completely.

      • danhakimi@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        “lol, I hate the main conservative group in the US because they’re not the right kind of Scotsman conservative. Instead, I love the guy who been pushing the most extreme book-banning policy in the US.”

        did you forget that this was a conversation about fascism when you brought DeSantis up, or do you not know who he is?

        (rightly or wrongly)

        lol no

        But at the same time, I recognize that for someone who truly did believe there was election fraud

        who do you think tricked them into believing that? or do you think it was all one massive coincidence?

      • czech@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        But back to the definition, you can’t just pluck a couple of words out of there and say it’s a match.

        That’s what you did. So I responded with actual examples, using the conservative front runner- and you replied with “no true Scotsman”.

        That makes absolutely no sense.

        Or, you mean like this very thread where leftists are trying to silence the TERFs? Yes, leftists absolutely love the forcible suppression of their opposition.

        Oh wow did somebody place you under arrest for posting your opinions online?? Or does this have absolutely nothing to do with free speech, again?

        • PoliticalAgitator
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Well, if he didn’t selectively edit reality, he wouldn’t be conservative but my money is on “this is how he stays mask on”.

          He doesn’t truly believe anything he’s just said. That’s why if you check his history, it’s littered with examples of Fascist Brand™ nationalism that he’s just claimed conservatives don’t believe in.

          He knows his peers and politicians fit the fascist label better than anyone. That’s why self-confessed, swastika-waving fascists support them and more than likely why he supports them.

          It took decades to dawn on them, but nobody gives a shit what fascists and neo-nazis think about the way society is run. Their gold standard is a genocide.

          And so the alt-right was born. They had the same opinions as neo-nazis, the same key figures as neo-nazis and the same solutions as neo-nazis but they staunchly insisted they weren’t neo-nazis.

          That plausible deniability earned them a platform they’d previously only dreamed of. Not just social media and it’s endless pool of disaffected young men and unmedicated schizophrenics but actual international news networks who hadn’t handed a mic to a Nazi since Hitler.

          Of course, they couldn’t keep it in their pants for long. They triumphantly ripped off their masks at the “Unite The Right”, proudly displaying their swastika tattoos, white supremacist chants and domestic terrorism against innocent people deemed “leftist”.

          Their plausible deniability vanished, as did some of their biggest, violentest, most slur-friendly platforms. So they retreated, regrouped and came back with a new strategy.

          They’re just “conservatives” now. Still the same neo-nazi opinions, still the same neo-nazi figures, still the same neo-nazi solutions. But if you state the obvious, they’ll deny it. They’ll try and shame you for saying it. They’ll claim over and over again that the alt-right never existed and they’re just average conservatives. Maybe even moderates.

          Not because they believe it, but because they know that going mask off loses them platforms.

          This guy definitely knows it. His tactics aren’t just rehearsed, but traceable back to brain-storming sessions held by racists, sexists and extremists where they openly try and figure out how best to “red-pill” vulnerable people like children, the lonely, the stupid and the mentally ill.

          If your instance admin can’t see that, it’s time to find a new instance. That one has cancer and thinks they can stop it metastasizing with polite discussion.

        • 10A@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’m not saying “no true Scotsman.” I’m saying Mussolini was a legitimate fascist, and his party died a long time ago. Some people today have similar traits, especially on the Left, but nobody is really part of his party anymore.

          Free speech is a delicate principle. It requires everyone to firmly agree that everyone is allowed to speak freely, and we’re all prepared to fight to the death, literally, to defend their right to say it. It’s delicate because as soon as people abandon it, the entire project of western civilization can be destabilized. What we are permitted to say on kbin and every other online platform is the essence of free speech.

          • czech@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Free speech is a delicate principle. It requires everyone to firmly agree that everyone is allowed to speak freely, and we’re all prepared to fight to the death, literally, to defend their right to say it

            What? Says who? This only exists in r/conservative echo chambers. You’re free to say what you want but nobody has to listen.

            The “prepared to fight to the death to defend it” is in reference to the “free speech” that the constitution protects. We literally had a war about it 300 years ago. You can’t have it both ways.

            I’m not saying “no true Scotsman.” I’m saying Mussolini was a legitimate fascist, and his party died a long time ago. Some people today have similar traits, especially on the Left, but nobody is really part of his party anymore.

            I’m saying Trump it the leader of the Conservative party in America and you are saying he’s not a true conservative. It’s the definition of “no true Scotsman”. Stating it’s not doesn’t actually change anything.

            • 10A@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Trump was a life-long Democrat until he switched parties. He’s not a Christian. His personality could hardly be described as “conservative” by anyone. Trump may win the GOP primary again, just because Democrats control the mass media, but he does not represent the voice of conservative Americans, even if we end up voting for him in the general election. He’s a political anomaly, which is why he has a fanbase, but is also why he shouldn’t be a factor in this conversation.

          • danhakimi@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I’ve never heard anybody argue that fascism means “literally the Italian fascist party” before. Based on your previous comment, it seems that you’re unaware—many people consider the Nazis fascists, as well. Particularly, everybody who knows the first thing about fascism.