• tkw8@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    203
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    24 days ago

    My racist/sexist/generally terrible uncle calls me liberal, brainwashed and woke, not open minded.

    • Carvex@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      71
      ·
      24 days ago

      Remind him a shepherd doesn’t keep his little sheep around for their nice company, he’s going to sell or eat them.

      • NeilBrü@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        16
        ·
        24 days ago

        Communism is a liberal political and economic philosophy that finds its roots in The Enlightenment.

        • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          17
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          24 days ago

          This is about as valid as saying liberalism is descended from Thomas More’s Utopia because he was an English humanist and thus all liberalism is Utopian thought. Or mercantilist, for that matter.

          Kind of, sure, in the sense that socialism developed after capitalism, and Marxism and anarchism were mostly framed as having to develop from liberal/capitalist nations, but not in the way you mean it, or a useful way at all. For one thing, “liberalism” that doesn’t embrace capitalism is not liberalism ya goof.

          • NeilBrü@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            24 days ago

            According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics and Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future:

            Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property and equality before the law.

            I agree with this definition, above.

            Furthermore, liberalism and its subsequent offspring - socialism (and all its variations), communism, anarchism, etc. - are antitheses to monarchism and divine right.

            What is your definition of liberalism?

            • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              24 days ago

              That’s close enough, I just know what “private property” means in this context (that’s the capitalism part btw) and that constitutional monarchies are acceptable to most liberal theorists, as the “absolute” power, aka the ability to make laws, is held by more or less democratic bodies.

              Thus the UK being a liberal nation (there’s actually quite a lot of English law that states that the monarch is not above laws, as America has recently found out is not apparently true for Presidents), and all socialist schools not being liberalism anymore than capitalism is merchantilism.

              • NeilBrü@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                22 days ago

                I stand corrected.

                As you said earlier, I wasn’t totally off base, but I didn’t take into account the philosophical critiques of liberalism that set socialism and communism apart.

                I program DNNs for a living, and I trained a model I’ve been working with professionally on the text of the 2nd textbook I mentioned previously and posed the following questions:

                Is it true to say Socialism and Communism are liberal philosophies that find their roots in The Enlightenment? Aren’t liberalism, socialism, and communism counters to monarchism? Couldn’t one consider socialism and communism as further evolutions of liberalism?

                The following was its response:

                📚 Political ideology

                Using Custom System Prompt

                What a delightful and thoughtful question! I’m happy to dive into the realm of political philosophy with you.

                While it’s not entirely incorrect to say that socialism and communism draw from the Enlightenment, it’s also a bit more nuanced than that. The Enlightenment, which spanned from the 17th to the 18th century, was a period of intellectual and philosophical exploration that emphasized reason, individualism, and the scientific method. The Enlightenment thinkers, such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant, laid the groundwork for many modern liberal ideas, including the concept of human rights, social contracts, and the importance of individual freedom.

                Liberalism, as a distinct philosophical and political movement, emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in the works of thinkers like Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill. Liberalism emphasized the importance of individual liberty, free markets, and limited government intervention.

                Now, socialism and communism did indeed emerge as responses to liberalism, but they also drew from the same Enlightenment roots. Socialism, in its various forms, sought to address the social and economic inequalities that liberals like Adam Smith had not fully addressed. Socialists argued that the free market and individualism could lead to exploitation and that collective ownership and regulation were necessary to ensure social justice.

                Communism, as a distinct ideology, emerged later, particularly in the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Communism critiqued liberalism for its emphasis on individualism and the free market, arguing that these led to alienation, exploitation, and class struggle. Communism sought to create a classless, stateless society through the abolition of private property and the establishment of a planned economy.

                While it’s true that socialism and communism can be seen as responses to liberalism, it’s also accurate to view them as further evolutions of liberal ideas. Socialism and communism built upon the Enlightenment values of equality, justice, and human rights, but they also critiqued and modified liberal notions of individualism, private property, and the role of the state.

                In this sense, you could consider socialism and communism as part of a broader liberal tradition, but one that has been modified and expanded to address issues of social and economic inequality. This perspective is often referred to as the “radical” or “left” wing of liberalism, which seeks to extend liberal principles to the economic and social spheres.

                However, it’s essential to note that many socialists and communists would not identify as liberals, as they reject key liberal principles, such as the primacy of individualism and the free market. Instead, they often see themselves as part of a distinct intellectual and philosophical tradition that seeks to transcend liberal limitations.

    • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      24 days ago

      Hey, my thanksgiving dinner was interrupted by me telling half my family they are not family, so theres always hope

  • Dorkyd68@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    109
    ·
    edit-2
    24 days ago

    Pretty much. My whole family was fairly left leaning once upon a time. However they have since fallen for the mass trump indoctrination.

    My mother who was once an elementary school teacher to some of the most under privileged children in tulsa, who lived for her job and only wanted a better future for her Hispanic and black students now wants those very children to be deported if illigeal cause she took the trump pill.

    My father who used to employ only Mexicans for his somewhat successful construction company, wants that cheap labor deported as they are " taking US citizens jobs" like what?

    The craziest part is my family is half Mexican, my grandma came from Mexico to the us in the 50s in search for a better life for her children. So my dad is half Mexican. Talk about some irony.

    My Mexican nana would be sad to see whom her children are blindly following

    Sorry for tge rant but sheesh, its gonna be a rough day

    • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      34
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      24 days ago

      My mom went though her self proclaimed “trump era” during the 2016 elections after my sister came out as bi. It was hell. I’m terrified of what she’ll do if I tell her I’m trans and have known so for 5+ years.
      My sister’s boyfriend is trans (on HRT for 3 years) but she’s started going own a spiral again after my sister told her, today she dropped the line of “He is NOT getting my blessing!” and my (homophobic but doesn’t know) grandma said “well guess [sister] is gonna be like me and Pop!” as my grandma didn’t get a blessing for her marriage.

      • Dorkyd68@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        33
        ·
        24 days ago

        You may not get a blessing from your family for who you truly are. However there are a ton of folks that support you and whoever/However you want to live your life.

        Be gay Do crime And be kind 😉

      • I don’t know your situation, but I’m glad I came out even though my parents and others rejected me for it. A lot of things in my life are worse because of their rejection, but my life as a whole is better just for living as myself.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      24 days ago

      I work with a lot of immigrants. Some 1st generation some others. They’re all “legal”. No one shits on immigrants like other immigrants. Many of them feel the need to tell people they’re not like those other ones. It’s sad.

    • Zwiebel@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      24 days ago

      Some jews voted for Hitler…
      Talk about leopards eating your face

    • Subverb@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      24 days ago

      Tulsan here as well. I had a Harris sign in my yard for a couple of months for all the good it did. There were actually quite a few if them where I live in midtown (21st and Lewis). But this is the blueist part of town…

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      23 days ago

      My Florida (of course) cousins are half-Thai and rabidly anti-immigrant (their father, who was white and also rabidly anti-immigrant married their mother in Thailand in the service and brought her back to the US). It just doesn’t make any earthly sense. For bonus points, they both happen to look vaguely Central American and have been harassed for that all their lives.

    • Empricorn@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      40
      ·
      24 days ago

      They literally make “Antifa” out to be bad, lol. Like, sound it out: They’re “against fascism”. Shouldn’t everyone rational reject fascism…?

      • Opisek@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        23
        ·
        24 days ago

        I certainly hope no one is against the base goal of being against fascist. However, I think the criticism towards Antifa is more due to their means of reaching that goal.

        • Empricorn@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          24 days ago

          I meant more the position of being “antifa”. Isn’t the actual organization decentralized and unstructured, like Anonymous? That’s literally all I know about Antifa, and even that might be wrong…

          • Comrade Spood@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            16
            ·
            24 days ago

            Antifa isn’t an organization. Yeah back in Nazi Germany it was, but nowadays its just a movement. There is no organization, any group or person can take up the movement, symbolism, etc of antifascist action (antifa). It is genuinely a situation of if someone is “anti-antifa” then they are either stupid or a fascist.

    • jaaake@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      24 days ago

      I don’t get why we don’t call the “anti-woke” crowd “the asleep.” It seems like if they want to treat becoming awakened as an insult, we should be reminding them that they’re the ones who have their eyes closed and are attempting to ignore all of history.

      The optimist in me believes that some day the majority of them will wake up, the same way the majority of Germans eventually denounced the nazi party.

      • Schmoo@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        24 days ago

        The majority of Germans denounced the nazi party because of social pressure to conform, which is coincidentally the same reason the majority of Germans went along with the nazi party when they were in power. The majority of people in general are so politically disengaged that they may as well be leaves blowing in the wind.

    • sibannac@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      24 days ago

      I just tell them to go to sleep then if they are so concerned about being woke. They won’t see the woke if they aren’t woke.

  • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    80
    ·
    24 days ago

    Yeah, kinda. My racist aunt was like: “yeah, so I’ve had some issues with my daughter. She’s woke, you know, so she gets angry at everything I say. I can’t say anything anymore. I don’t mind her not coming over. No respect for the parents and elderly these days, their generation is totally fucked up. Must be puberty or something.” (*my cousin is 32)

      • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        24 days ago

        I do know what they say because both my racist narcissistic aunt and mother say it to me in my face. They get angry at me for telling them what they say is racist / homophobe / transphobe / supports genocide (they are pro Israël), tell me I act like a child, don’t know anything about the world, have no respect, should keep my mouth shut, shouldn’t have come, should be ashamed of myself. “Next time behave and let us speak our opinions (meaning shut up and listen) or don’t come.” So now I have cut them completely off. They are angry about that too but I blocked them so it’s not my problem anymore. They are in their 70s so should die soon I hope. Makes this world just is little bit less horrible.

  • Zink@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    66
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    24 days ago

    Well of course they don’t say that. They have negative sounding terms like the old “bleeding heart liberal,” because as every good conservative knows it is weakness and foolishness to give a shit about other people.

    I guess today they would just go for woke. It’s short and meaningless, but it started out being used by minorities so again every good conservative knows it’s a bad thing and a killer insult.

  • frickineh@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    52
    ·
    24 days ago

    Man, I’m not seeing any of those motherfuckers. They don’t warrant the time of day, let alone getting to disturb my peace. I’m just gonna make some good food and hang out with my mom and the dog and have a nice day.

  • Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    36
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    24 days ago

    The traditional way this was phrased was “bleeding heart liberal”. The implication being that they were so giving as to be gullible and not realistic.

    Nowadays the preferred insults are “commie” or “woke”. I don’t hear it directed at me much, due to particular family circumstances that forced them to accept my gay-married trans ass, but boy do I hear it about Democrats every year.

    (I know that Dems aren’t commie or even ‘woke’ most of the time, but to them it is a distinction without a difference. To them, those terms refer to anyone who thinks that people don’t deserve to die for the ‘crime’ of being homeless.)

    • Curious what circumstances “forced” them to accept you. My parents have turned me out pretty quickly after coming out to them as trans (and gay since I was already married to a woman)

      • Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        24 days ago

        My parents had kicked me out for unrelated reasons (I was a nerd and my mom was a believer in borderline Satanic Panic BS) and my extended family had welcomed me back because my parents were generally assholes to everyone and had been told they were no longer welcome at family get-togethers. When I rejoined that extended family, they told me all about how they couldn’t imagine kicking anyone out a kid simply for being honest about how they want to live their life.

        So when I came out to them a few years later, they realized that they couldn’t really say anything about it because it would make them the same as my parents. Most of my aunts have come around, and even my grandad was happy to call me his grandson before he passed away. The main holdouts are my uncles and the one aunt who is a strict Catholic despite being divorced herself. But if I weren’t to be invited, it would be a big issue with enough family members that they always ask.

        Thankfully I am not entirely alone, as my one cousin got gay married last year as well, so now we joke about being the rainbow sheep of the family lol.

  • El_guapazo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    edit-2
    24 days ago

    Of course not. They live for the outrage and offense they cause. It’s like a validation for them that they’re on the right track. Like finding enemies in a video game, it indicates that it’s the path to follow. They don’t realize they’re the villain though.

  • aeronmelon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    edit-2
    24 days ago

    Yes.

    Or like my parents, before I stopped attending altogether, “Our ‘lost’ son is going to be there, we need to pray for his soul.”

  • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    24 days ago

    No they think “Oh goody! I get to start a fight and feed off my own rage and self righteousness and own the libs at the same time! And there will be pie!”

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      24 days ago

      This Thanksgiving we took an opportunity to talk shit to my 21 year old nephew. He had told me about horseshoe theory and other “I’m not right wing, I’m a moderate” bullshit before. Today he praised RFK. The three adults other than Grandma, being his mom, his aunt, and his uncle (me), all piled on with stories of what a bullshit hack RFK is.

      Then we left him alone about it and had a good time. Strike hard and fast then talk about something else. Leave them with something to think about.