COVID-19 has drawn much of this discussion into the public sphere. Whereas it’s generally seen as poor taste to refer to groups of people as infections, diseases, and plagues – for good reason – this seems to be forgiven when the group being referred to is non-specific. Hand waving at humanity in general, as if being vague is ethical bulletproofing, gets a pass. It is relatively common today to find another viral tweet with tens of thousands of likes gesturing towards the clearing waters of Venetian canals, or the wandering deer of Japan navigating neon-lit city centres and declaring that the Earth is healing itself; the smog-cleared skies of California receive a probing enquiry – perhaps we were the real virus all along?

Strange as though it may seem, musings of this kind have become more and more common as the weeks have gone by and the evidence of nature ‘reclaiming’ previously populated areas has begun to accumulate. Suffice it to say, there is more than a little of the eco-fascist ideology floating around in the assumptions of that question; when somebody asks if humanity is the ‘real virus’, they set up a system in which the Earth is a being and humanity a problem that needs to be solved. The solution being proposed is rarely stated outright, but it doesn’t have to be because it’s implicit in the question; you cure a virus by getting rid of it. Beneath the surface level wonder at seeing a wild boar shuffle across Italian cobblestones, there is a lurking belief that maybe the world would be better off without us. Or, more commonly, the world would be better off without some of us, with who that some is being left as a blank to be filled in by the subconscious of the questioner. Unquestionably, whoever that somebody is, will be someone else.

[...]

The language of the eco-fascist claims that human beings are the problem, and that with their self-isolation – that is, their removal from the system – has come ecological recovery. Such individualised and atomised analysis prevents the ever-important systematic approach; the real problem is capitalism, and it is with the interruptions and staggerings of capitalism that recovery has come along. Deeply embedded in the language of the right wing, the misattribution of the worst elements of capitalism to the mere existence of human beings exists as a dual weapon.

Firstly, it allows them to turn their vitriol upon individuals... Secondly, it allows them to imply a connection between the two; to link the existence of capitalism to the existence of individuals and bind them together ideologically; to present capitalism as human and therefore inevitable and inescapable.

Fraser, J. (2020). Eco-Fascism: The Rhetoric of the Virus. Organise Magazine. Archived at https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/jay-fraser-eco-fascism-the-rhetoric-of-the-virus.

We have fortunately gotten rid of many kings and removed the social basis of feudalism. However, Neo-Nazis persist today and seem likely to persist for a while longer. Their symbolism will remain known as such until the destruction of the basis of fascism.

"Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels and gold wands in the bank, and buy a revolver"

~ Comrade Markievicz

Somewhere out there are honest-to-god Bourbonists but they do not have a material basis to exist as a major force.

Russian and russophilic fash still fly the imperial banner (thus keeping its meaning in memory as a symbol) but they will never reinstate tsarist feudalism, only fascism. The conditions for tsarism simply no longer exist. The coat of arms of the House of Bourbon on the other hand has not been widely used by the modern French far right. Bourbonism as a movement no longer exists. Thus it does not symbolise the white terror anymore, while the imperial banner does.

Roman symbolism exists in an in-between state where it is not necessarily the domain of imperialist reactionaries but remains in use by them.

The strongest reactionary monarchist movements, and thus those whose symbols still hold weight, are in places which still have monarchs (e.g. Ulster traitors, neo-falanguists).

This only really proves my point that symbols retaining hateful meaning do so through active use by hateful movements and that it only really loses its connotations when the movement is symbolises ceases to exist in a meaningful way.

A friend and I were recently discussing how spineless modern boycotts are.

We set a goddamn deadline for when the Reddit boycott ended. No wonder Spez just waited. Most people then just continued using the website. What a disgrace.

Imagine if after one week of the genocide in Gaza, the BDS efforts just stopped. A boycott must be indefinite. It should go on until demands are met.

There's a difference between hating Russians and hating Russia. Please don't hate me. I'm just a guy, like you.

I hope he has some sort of contingency plan. Perhaps he can find a successor.

The current usage refers to people who back dictatorships that call themselves socialist.

Historically, the definition was slightly tighter. A few years after the death of Stalin, the USSR brutally crushed a revolt in Hungary with tanks. The UK's communist party was okay with this. This led to a lot of people leaving the party and calling the people who remained "tankies".

Over time, the term became more broad. A lot of the original users of the term supported Stalin, and would be considered tankies themselves by the modern definition.

It is also sometimes misused. Some people think that dictatorships are the only form that socialism can take. As a consequence, these people call all socialists tankies, including anarchists and demsocs.

The Collinses married after Malcolm proposed on Reddit in 2013.

Crickey

Now the fun part: guess the y-axis

He was an alright Pope in the end. Not a soulless bastard like Benedict.

Eventually there is blood but no shit.

Better red than bidet!

Sibling of Bobby Drop Tables

Stop using Chromium.

Anyone who expects the bourgeoisie to platform those whose politics are a threat to capitalist interests is a fool.

Fair point, but not really a meme.

You can either possess a cake or consume it. Consuming the pastry means you no longer have it.

"Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics.” They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters." - Naomi Shulman

"HOW COULD YOU MISS" is trending on Xitter.