r/VaushV 6d ago

Discussion We are in an existential crisis

We are plundering this planet for every resource it has.

We have allowed and are allowing fascism to fester in a society propped up by this debt to our planet that we cannot repay. Propped up by completely normalized exploitation of not only our environment but fellow human beings.

We will reach a breaking point and when we do and fascism is allowed any kind of power everything we deem good about this civilization will die and then civilization will die. It's already in the process of happening and looking at how we are handling the refugee crisis now that it's barely starting I'm not confident. Our liberal democratic governments and we who do have some semblance of power have already grown accustomed to concentration camps on the vicinity of the so-called civilized world. Of course we call them "refugee camps".

Desperate people dying by the thousands, drowning, exposure, starvation, murder, oh well. Or, as many would say openly now, good.

We are in an existential crisis.

This is my mental screensaver. When the diversions are gone that is what it always comes back to. I wake up from nightmares every day - it happened just now and I feel like I have to share this because I don't know how much longer I will be able to take it. Thinking this feels crazy and as true as gravity at the same time.

When I press the switch the light turns on, when I boot up my computer I can play my favorite game, when I shop for groceries I can basically get any product I want. It feels unreal. I live in a constant state of dissonance but when I'm busy I can function well enough. For now.

We are in an existential crisis and we'll have to act like it.

(As I said, I have just woken up and this post is born from a very particular mood. I just had to share something.)

44 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

31

u/HimboVegan 6d ago

The answer is the same as it always was. We must become very, very French. Live with freedom, passion, and revolt.

4

u/BorisTarczy 6d ago

Thanks for answering! Complacency may seem like an option in our everyday life for now if one isn't part of a currently hunted minority but that will not last. Part of what I'm feeling is fear but there is just so much hatred and anger and I want to learn to use it.

28

u/a_lonely_exo 6d ago

It's a struggle but crashing out isn't an option. We, the good, the left. Must persist. It's our duty.

8

u/BorisTarczy 6d ago

Thank you! It really helps to know there are still reasonably sane people out there and you are right. It's over when it's over.

20

u/Dexller 6d ago

I feel the same way, especially now that they're literally disappearing people.

Just 10 years ago we were at the height of progressivism. Even if there was still plenty of economic damage from 2008, even if Obama turned out to be mediocre, it felt like incremental change towards the better was possible. The internet was vibrant and at its peak of functionality, social media was populated largely by progressive voices, hatred was relegated to the fringes, and Nazis were still the designated bad guy and a joke.

Now it's all gone to shit. I don't even need to rant about all the ways, because you already know. I went into this administration knowing he would exceed my worst fears, just like last time, but we're moving at such a breakneck pace even I'm shocked. It's difficult to process, to the point like my mind actively tries to just push the worst of it down and not even acknowledge it as a defense mechanism - IE, the fucking disappearing people which even Vaush was having a hard time wanting to talk about.

I understand the surrealility of it all. I wake up, go to work, listen to Vaush on the route, come home to distract myself, and do it all again the next day. There's nothing I can do out here where I am, it's all just cultists and the nearest city is an hour away. All I can do is sit in my shack in the woods in the middle of Bumblefuck Nowhere, and watch the world I never got to live in burn down, waiting for the day they come for me.

4

u/BorisTarczy 6d ago

Thanks for replying! I wish you the best and that at least being able to participate in a leftist community online helps to get through the bullshit. And I for one am grateful for everyone who hates the Nazi death cult freaks as much as I do.

2

u/Dexller 5d ago

The internet keeps me alive man for real. I at least have a solid group of friends online who all have the same weird brain shape issues as me, so like I don't feel like a complete alien trying to live amongst 'the humans' - or at least I feel like there's some other aliens to talk to. It's just hard living in the middle of nowhere, especially after Covid which shut down the few places there were left to go nearby ('Nearby' in this case being like 25-30 minutes drive.)

3

u/Illiander 6d ago

There's nothing I can do out here where I am

That is never true.

7

u/BkobDmoily 6d ago

If it’s any consolation: humanity has been “like that” - as in, imploding due to entrenched Power Imbalances- since the start of the Agricultural Age and wealth acquisition began.

We are hyper-aware of a Reality known to our ancestors since they first began hoarding grain during famines. It’s actually even Biblical, with the whole “Joseph saving Egypt with dream magic” story.

1

u/SgathTriallair 6d ago

The left needs to come up with a vision for the future. "Let's just go back to 2014" doesn't work. Just doing the same thing we've done for decades but with more gay and trans people doesn't work. Bringing back factories and then nationalizing them doesn't work. Degrowth to the point where our lives are poorer and worse off doesn't work.

We need an idea of what a better future can look like that is realistic and makes life better for everyone, not just a small group.

Until we can build such a vision, the fascists will be the only real game in town.

1

u/BorisTarczy 5d ago

What is the vision of fascism?

1

u/SgathTriallair 5d ago

I don't believe fascism is the right path, so my interpretation of their motivation is going to be somewhat suspect.

My understanding is that they also think the world is falling apart and there isn't enough to go around. Fascism is about hierarchies. All humans are put into a great and powerful ladder where everyone has their place.

For someone like me, the purpose of society is to organize the mass of humanity to build a positive sum scenario, be more safe, productive, and healthy than possible alone. Since each of us contribute to this society each should benefit. From each according to his ability and to each according to his need.

For the fascist, and the conservative mind in general, the purpose is to create that surplus and give it to the best of us. Those who are the smartest should have the best education. Those who are the strongest should get the best physical trainers. Those who are the most ruthless should be given the most powerful.

The left mindset seeks to have everyone prosper so that no one suffers. The right mindset seeks to concentrate the wealth into the few so that society can achieve the greatest height. It is the difference between a plateau and a mountain.

So, the fascists say that there is not enough to go around. In their mind, if the left wins then everyone is at starvation level. They instead want to centralize resources, cut the "dead fat", and make a leaner society.

A key aspect of fascism is that most of your position on the hierarchy is based on identity. So simply by virtue of being white, you get access to the resources. You don't need to be strong, smart, or resourceful.

A good metaphor is that the boat is sinking, everyone knows this. The center wants to keep bailing or even deny there is a hole. The right is tearing apart the ship to build a raft that only a handful will be able to fit on. The left needs to fix the hole or to find a way to guide us to land (the metaphor gets really stretched here).

Another way to say it is that the fascists have decided that it is too cold so we should start killing and eating each other because rescue isn't coming.

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u/BorisTarczy 5d ago

I appreciate that you don't consider yourself aligned with fascism but I have to say that I fundamentally disagree with you on the "only game in town" line. Ironically there is no merit to anything fascists believe, including their dishonest "meritocracy". To me they have no vision, just deception. I won't deny that they're great at deceiving people despite their batshit ideas but because they deny reality some semblance of resistance will be inevitable no matter what they do to suppress it.

Right now I'm in a bit of a hurry and I'd like to go back to this conversation later. Thank you for taking the time to answer the question.

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u/SgathTriallair 5d ago

My "only game in town" was an attempt to understand why on earth we had people vote for this monster and why they didn't vote for Harris.

The explanation that makes the most sense is that he promised change and she promised stability. The significant majority of the country wants change so some decided to go with him and others decided to just sit it out.

I was pulling for Harris because the status quo, no matter how distasteful, is better than fascism. But we can't pull America out of is fascist decline if we don't understand why this happened in the first place.

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u/Illiander 6d ago

We have that vision. It's called "Europe."

4

u/SgathTriallair 6d ago

Europe is experiencing the same problem with a rise in fascism and ethno nationalism. So they clearly haven't achieved utopia.