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‘Weird’ And The Breaking of The Fascist Fever (bad-faith-times.ghost.io)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've seen a lot of ink spilled recently over the Harris campaign's recent adoption of the tactic of calling Trump and his cronies "weird". There's a lot of hand-wringing over the Democrats ceding the high ground or being unserious about serious matters, but this article, and especially the source material it links to by Sdrja Popovic (a non-violent Serbian revolutionary during the Milošević regime) about the power of humor in non-violent movements, really changed my thinking on this.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Not every book documenting the fascist scourge of the 20th century will mention the power of mockery and laughter in the face of authoritarians, but many have, and the use of such activism – sometimes called laughtivism – has since been documented by scholars and pro-democracy activists. Laughing at the Bad Man, it turns out, puts him in a bind and avoids what he really wants: Conflict and chaos.

I recently read Takeover - Hitler's Final Rise To Power. He was laughed at and mocked in newspapers and he still came to power. Don't think we can treat the threat lightly. We have to be vigilant because these people never stop trying.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't think that the author is suggesting that mockery or laughter should be our only action, just that it should be part of the arsenal

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I'm just pointing out the seriousness of the issue in case anyone infers it to be trivial to solve.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Yup. Ridicule them, but be ready to do more.