this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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Political Memes

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[–] heeplr@feddit.de 46 points 1 year ago (5 children)

"I never experienced another system and suddenly realize that the current system isn't perfect. My solution: let's tear everything down"

-- every teenager who just started to understand the world

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah also don't understand that any system involving humans is never going to be perfect because people will find a way to screw it up. That doesn't mean you give up on improving it of course, more the opposite. Every system will constantly require effort to improve or it will degrade over time.

There is no such thing as a perfect system, but that means there will always be ways to improve the existing system, no matter what the existing system is. The "tear it down and start over" mentality makes people useless in efforts to actually make things better. Perfect is the enemy of good.

[–] solstice@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not just that but there is no "THE system" it's more of a stew made out of dozens of systems working around and with each other. You can't just throw out the stew and start over because it's already got all of us and everything in it. I don't want to go too far with that metaphor but you get the idea.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah you think as I do.

Speaking of stew... the SYSTEM is involved with distribution of food. I don't have land to farm, so if we're going to destroy the system, I'm gonna need the new system that replaces it to be functioning and somehow distributing food to me in about a week.

Historically there have been many times revolutions that have resulted in famines. And most revolutions end up with basically the same kind of system as before, just with different people in power, once they've run their course.

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago

Somebody should go back in time and explain to George Washington that he can’t just throw out the stew

[–] solstice@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"The boy was sanctimonious as only youth can be when descrying the faults of their elders."

I read that once and always loved that quote.

[–] heeplr@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Don't get me wrong: I think nothing is more healthy for a society than a rebelling youth and all the "trouble" that comes with it. We've all been there.

But in times were edgy elders vote for Trump and carry no vision, morale or understanding besides mere platitudes like "tearing down everything", "draining the swamp", "building a wall" etc., all those calls for radical destruction without offering an alternative annoy the shit out of me.

[–] Walk_blesseD@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I never experienced another system and have come to the gradual realisation that the current system is inherently exploitative, values some people above others, and leaves very little hope for a future as it continues to render the planet's surface less habitable by the year. My solution: let's tear the system down before it tears all of us down with it.

FTFY.

[–] heeplr@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My solution: let's tear the system down before it tears all of us down with it.

"...without having any clue about what comes next, blindly hoping that it will rule out injustice and inherent exploitation although there is no precedence or vision by anyone."

This is not a fix. It's calling to kill the complete herd for a few sick animals while others take enormous efforts to find a cure.

[–] Walk_blesseD@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Where did I say that? I think it's really funny how when I corrected an obvious strawman, my correction was strawmanned.

[–] derg@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Without really wanting to take a side here, you could explain why his metaphor doesn't fit your real opinion instead of just saying it was a strawman, if you'd like.

[–] heeplr@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Where did I say that?

I quoted the very part. Are you trolling? You can't have missed my quote.

when I corrected an obvious strawman

You didn't fix anything. You just explained the meme keeping it's original ignorance.

my correction was strawmanned.

Read up what a Strawman is. I didn't change the original argument - since there was none.

Best you could say is that I used a hyperbole so you understand how people who actually care about politics perceive your helpless destructive whining.

I never said anything about not knowing what to do next. Syndicalism, for example, offers an appealing alternative to the capitalist system. If my tone comes across as flippant, it's because there's a bunch of dumbfuck liberals in this thread who are so steeped in their capitalist realism that they just assume that anybody who isn't one of them is coming from a place of childish naïvete.

The original meme's ignorance? What ignorance? You haven't established how it's ignorant. It claims that the system is intentionally structured to create the outcomes it does, and that that's bad. That seems like an accurate assessment to me.

I know what a strawman is, you condescending arsehole. It's a wilful misinterpretation of somebody's point that misconstrues it such that it's easier to dismantle. For instance, if I say that capitalism is inherently bad and should be dismantled, and then someone comes along and pretends like I said that it should be supplanted by something even worse, that's a wilful misrepresentation of my position, is it not?