Imagine being this angry about the idea that useful activism might include disabled, sick, pregnant, immunocompromised, housebound and frail people. Imagine being this angry that I’m not telling my followers, who include a high proportion of minor children, chronically ill folks and people of color, that the only way to fight fascism is to literally punch grown-ass Nazis in the face. Imagine trying to punish someone for being supportive of people who are tired, and for suggesting that there are constructive ways to fight fascism when you are tired.
I can actually imagine this, because I’ve been wildly angry before in my life, not caring who I hurt or why, so I know that this happens when you are lost. These are the words of someone who is lost and alone in the dark.
When you write things online, sometimes people get mad at them for absolutely bizarre reasons. As a writer, sometimes you just put some words together and they strike sparks in someone’s brain, so they want to punish you for it. This is nothing to do with the words. Anonymous didn’t actually read my words, or understand them. My words just struck a few sparks in their brain and they went haywire, and they were lost, so they tried to hurt me.
Now, no good comes of arguing with someone whose brain has just gone “ping” and started smoking like this. They skimmed the words I wrote and felt bad about them, so they created a fictional construct of my words in their own heads to argue with, so they could feel right and they could feel better. You can’t argue with someone who is furiously arguing with a fictional construct, trying to drag others into their gaslit pocket universe where it all makes sense. But you can still use these messages for an educational purpose.
So, I’m showcasing these messages for a few reasons:
This is how much some people hate the idea of accessible activism. I think it’s good for abled people to see this, because it may surprise them.
Some people internalize these sentiments – these are the exact flavor of dark thoughts that run through your mind when you’re a little bit lost – so it’s good to debunk them, because it can help people be found.
Anonymous made up a fictional construct to argue with, so they didn’t have to sit with the reality of the words I’d written. Because my words hurt them somehow (we may never know why, or how – it’s probably deeply personal) they had to make up a fake world so that they could center themselves as the innocent victim. This contortion forms part of soil that fascism thrives in. This belief that you can deny facts, science, ethics, the humanity of minorities, the fundamental rights of people, or in this case the actual words in front of your face – simply because they made you feel kinda bad, so therefore they shouldn’t exist. This belief that it’s better to construct a fake world than to sit with the discomfort of the real one. The belief that you can live in the post-facts world because it feels nicer. Post-truth politics, kids; that’s where were at, and this is how we got here, step by step. As soon as you get people believing the first step, you can get them to believe anything.
Anonymous says that “[promoting self-care in activism] is why fascism will rise”. That is incorrect on every level. Fascism has already risen. It is already here. And it is not here because of diversity in activism. It is here because the cultural conditions in the West are encouraging it. Like I said in my previous post – fascism is gaining power because of social inequality; because people are tired, frightened, broke and vulnerable, and are looking for others to blame. Fascism deliberately offers hope and security to these people, by pointing to the disorder and diversity of this world, frightening them about it, blaming it on others, and promising that the cleanest/best/whitest/richest people can get to a better ordered world if they take action now. “The only thing holding us back from this stable perfect world…” (says fascism) “is all these disorderly people… who will need to be cleaned up first.”
Now, Anonymous appears to think that the correct way to fight fascism is to look for others to blame, and to blame tired people for being tired; in fact, blaming the downtrodden for their oppression, and suggesting that the work would be done already, if we minorities weren’t wasting time being oppressed, and by occasionally being kind to one another. I think Anonymous is very, very lost. But I know that some people believe this too. I think that if you compare this train of thought to point 4, and look at history, that you will find that this actually is an ugly facet of how fascism takes root.
Now, finally, because I know that some of my followers will find Anonymous’s words to be scary and hurtful, and will ask me about them: don’t worry. I know who you guys are. Some of my followers can’t even make a fist with their hands. Some can’t leave their houses, let alone get to a populated area where they can hunt down skinheads and punch them in the face. Some of my followers are precious young children (sorry pups, you are my actual babies, I don’t make the rules) and I desperately want to watch them grow up. Y’all don’t have to punch skinheads to impress me, or to get Performative Points from Anonymous here. I know that your intrusive thoughts often sound a lot like Anonymous, and look how wrong they are – they are so wrong!
This is for you guys: It is far more valuable that you are alive, that you are trying, that you are building a better world with whatever tools are accessible to you. That will never change. I will never tell you otherwise. You guys are doing your best. You are the People, you are the Reason, you are the Point. You’re the ones we are all fighting for. You don’t always have to fight every battle, physically, by yourselves; you are also allowed to be the protected, the innocent, the vulnerable, the tired, while the rest of us fight for you. And when you do fight, it is good fighting. You are so good at fighting. I am so proud of you, and I am so glad you are at my side.
