I am a member of team anti-authoritarianism. I do not want to live under any police state. Starting a revolution in which the new government begins its rule by executing a bunch of capital-B-P Bad People strongly implies dictatorial control by OP’s faction. I originally debated whether or not to make the title neutrally anti-authoritarian and ended up going with communist revolts for a reason I can’t remember; I’ll change it now.
I think we underestimate the risk of fascist coups as well in the United States, but there are large organizations dedicated to monitoring and subverting right-wing extremists that I consider pretty effective, and suppressing nazis has pretty broad support in what I consider relevant institutions. On the other hand, when I point out that communists might start actually murdering people like they keep saying they will, the most common reactions I get are either indifference or laughter.
I think existing methods for subverting right-wing extremists are problematic because they also seek to suppress scientific inquiry that gets linked to right-wing extremists. It also seems conceivable that something similar could happen if opposition to communists became too strong, though I’m not sure what scientific directions would most likely get hit by that.
Punching up vs punching down is the distinction there.
Natzis want to (and have done) kill off the “weak” and “Jewish”
Communists want to (and have done) take away all the money from (which is only marginally better than killing) people who currently have wealth (and therefore power). Killing and eating the Rich isn’t an end in itself, the way it is for Natzis, it’s a threat to get what the Communists want, which is control of the wealth/property.
To be honest, I don’t really think it matters much how sympathetic or powerful the to-be-executed-class is. I’m glad communists don’t want to murder Jews too but it seems naive to me to assume that has much to do with quality of life under the rule of people like OP except for those parties in question. It’s the demand for authoritarian control that’s concerning, not the particular group of people that they want to guillotine after they get it.
I am a member of team anti-authoritarianism. I do not want to live under any police state. Starting a revolution in which the new government begins its rule by executing a bunch of capital-B-P Bad People strongly implies dictatorial control by OP’s faction. I originally debated whether or not to make the title neutrally anti-authoritarian and ended up going with communist revolts for a reason I can’t remember; I’ll change it now.
I think we underestimate the risk of fascist coups as well in the United States, but there are large organizations dedicated to monitoring and subverting right-wing extremists that I consider pretty effective, and suppressing nazis has pretty broad support in what I consider relevant institutions. On the other hand, when I point out that communists might start actually murdering people like they keep saying they will, the most common reactions I get are either indifference or laughter.
I think existing methods for subverting right-wing extremists are problematic because they also seek to suppress scientific inquiry that gets linked to right-wing extremists. It also seems conceivable that something similar could happen if opposition to communists became too strong, though I’m not sure what scientific directions would most likely get hit by that.
If the debate gets more serious, I would also expect accusations of McCarthyism.
Punching up vs punching down is the distinction there. Natzis want to (and have done) kill off the “weak” and “Jewish” Communists want to (and have done) take away all the money from (which is only marginally better than killing) people who currently have wealth (and therefore power). Killing and eating the Rich isn’t an end in itself, the way it is for Natzis, it’s a threat to get what the Communists want, which is control of the wealth/property.
To be honest, I don’t really think it matters much how sympathetic or powerful the to-be-executed-class is. I’m glad communists don’t want to murder Jews too but it seems naive to me to assume that has much to do with quality of life under the rule of people like OP except for those parties in question. It’s the demand for authoritarian control that’s concerning, not the particular group of people that they want to guillotine after they get it.
Except for the moments when they accuse the Jews of being—or trying to become—rich and powerful, of course. (1, 2)