It makes me paranoid and alienated if people I know join facebook groups that advocate political violence/murder/killing all the kulaks, although to be fair its possible that those people have only read one or two posts and missed the violent ones.
Does it help to disaggregate “political violence”, political “murder”, and “killing all the kulaks”? I’m happy with some instances of political violence, and even some political murders are defensible. The assassination of Jonas Savimbi pretty much ended Angola’s 26-year civil war, for example. To quote Madeleine Albright: worth it.
If the people you know are thumbs-upping literally “kill all the kulaks” (and maybe they are! I’m sure I’ve seen that kind of stuff in YouTube comments and Stalinist tweets, so it is out there), I can understand your reaction. But if people are merely affirming that some political violence is worthy of support...well, I’d have to say that I agree!
You see, its one thing to advocate violence against a literal Neo-Nazi, but advocating violence against anyone who advocates reducing immigration, well, that shows a lot more liberal tribe loyalty. So much holier than thou.
Additionally, this comment was made IRL, possibly within earshot a person they were advocating violence against.
Does it help to disaggregate “political violence”, political “murder”, and “killing all the kulaks”? I’m happy with some instances of political violence, and even some political murders are defensible. The assassination of Jonas Savimbi pretty much ended Angola’s 26-year civil war, for example. To quote Madeleine Albright: worth it.
If the people you know are thumbs-upping literally “kill all the kulaks” (and maybe they are! I’m sure I’ve seen that kind of stuff in YouTube comments and Stalinist tweets, so it is out there), I can understand your reaction. But if people are merely affirming that some political violence is worthy of support...well, I’d have to say that I agree!
Well, in one comment a friend was advocating violence against perhaps the most right wing 10-15% of the population.
!
That clarifies things somewhat.
You see, its one thing to advocate violence against a literal Neo-Nazi, but advocating violence against anyone who advocates reducing immigration, well, that shows a lot more liberal tribe loyalty. So much holier than thou.
Additionally, this comment was made IRL, possibly within earshot a person they were advocating violence against.