AntiFASH
27th January 2010, 01:24
Hi everyone, I'll try to keep this brief but I can't promise anything :P
About me: I'm a college drop out. This is not a point of pride. I'm also a laborer, I guess. I don't know what my job title is in this lovely little post industrial society we've created. According to the company I work for, I'm a material handler. What the fuck is that? I couldn't tell ya. When I was in college I majored in pre-law. When I started going I wanted to be a police man, then I wanted to be a DA. I also had to work full time. Between my state school and my shitty blue collar job, I began to notice a whole lot of inconsistencies. If U.S. law is so just and equal, why are my black friends and coworkers terrified of cops? If the courts are so fair, why do all the Hispanic men and women dread ICE? Something is wrong with this picture. Eventually I realized that if I wanted to go into law and keep my dignity, I was going to have to join the other team. In the end it was a moot point. Education is not cheap.
I guess I'm from a working class background. It's hard to say anymore, it seems like our media and our society are trying so DAMN hard to convince us we're all totally classless. Hence, I really don't know what working class is. Does growing up in a little lumber town, only to have to move to the big city when the mill shuts down equal working class? Anyway, mommy and daddy couldn't spot me the cash to continue with college and I wasn't about to trust the student loan scam. Banks are evil, that's the first thing my dad taught me. I graduated high school in 2004, my dad took me aside and warned me about the dangers of loans. I'm glad he did.
My ideology: I first became interested in revolutionary leftism after reading Homage to Catalonia. I love that book, Orwell brought the passion and terror of Spain to life in such a way that it made my 16 year old bullshit seem completely irrelevant. Libertat is my favorite word from any language. But it was all just so much history. Fascism is dead after all, isn't it? Why bother with theories that have no modern relevance, capitalism was made humane. By the end of WWII the U.S. had created a world full of representative democracy. By the end of the Cold War, freedom had won. Or at least that's what they taught us. Even if I didn't graduate from college, I'm still glad I went. In college I learned how terribly wrong my interpretation of history was. Through one of my shitty construction jobs I met a man from Chile. He told me about voting for Allende, and about the resulting coupe. I came to see that in the end the swastika was simply replaced with the myriad corporate logos you see everywhere. My ideological transformation didn't occur over night, nor by any means is it finished. That's part of the reason why I'm here. I want to learn more about our tradition. I guess I'm simply an 'anti fascist'. I can't bring myself to identify with communism. Call me stupid, but I still cling to some of the Irish Catholic traditions I was raised with. Granted, now I've mixed a healthy dose of Liberation Theology into my personal beliefs. And no offense to the legit anarchists on this board, but the people I've met that call themselves anarchists have so far been nothing more than arrogant little pricks. You can afford to pull a lot of shit when mommy and daddy keep your trust fund stocked. Yet again, I'M NOT TRYING TO TROLL. I have met anarchists that I've got nothing but respect for. Most of my current knowledge of leftist culture and anti fascism comes from anarchist traditions. I'm just saying that for every good woman, there are ten silly little boys.
Why I'm here: I want to learn. There's a lot I know, but there's even more I don't. I found this forum after watching the Al Jazeera special on skinheads. That documentary scared the hell out of me. I'm just here to talk to like minded people. I've been lurking this forum for a few weeks, and I really enjoy reading what other members have posted. I'll probably keep lurking for awhile to learn the ropes. Frankly, I also wanted to reach out to others who share my views. It seems to me that the majority of people view the era that we live in as completely disconnected from the rest of history. What happened in Spain in 1936 has no bearing on America in 2010. I don't believe that. I often wonder if I am already living in a fascist state, if my efforts to the contrary may be too little and too late. I don't want to believe that, but the hardest truths to take are the ones that are staring you in the face.
Sorry for the brick of text, and kudos to anyone who actually bothers to read it :/
Peace
About me: I'm a college drop out. This is not a point of pride. I'm also a laborer, I guess. I don't know what my job title is in this lovely little post industrial society we've created. According to the company I work for, I'm a material handler. What the fuck is that? I couldn't tell ya. When I was in college I majored in pre-law. When I started going I wanted to be a police man, then I wanted to be a DA. I also had to work full time. Between my state school and my shitty blue collar job, I began to notice a whole lot of inconsistencies. If U.S. law is so just and equal, why are my black friends and coworkers terrified of cops? If the courts are so fair, why do all the Hispanic men and women dread ICE? Something is wrong with this picture. Eventually I realized that if I wanted to go into law and keep my dignity, I was going to have to join the other team. In the end it was a moot point. Education is not cheap.
I guess I'm from a working class background. It's hard to say anymore, it seems like our media and our society are trying so DAMN hard to convince us we're all totally classless. Hence, I really don't know what working class is. Does growing up in a little lumber town, only to have to move to the big city when the mill shuts down equal working class? Anyway, mommy and daddy couldn't spot me the cash to continue with college and I wasn't about to trust the student loan scam. Banks are evil, that's the first thing my dad taught me. I graduated high school in 2004, my dad took me aside and warned me about the dangers of loans. I'm glad he did.
My ideology: I first became interested in revolutionary leftism after reading Homage to Catalonia. I love that book, Orwell brought the passion and terror of Spain to life in such a way that it made my 16 year old bullshit seem completely irrelevant. Libertat is my favorite word from any language. But it was all just so much history. Fascism is dead after all, isn't it? Why bother with theories that have no modern relevance, capitalism was made humane. By the end of WWII the U.S. had created a world full of representative democracy. By the end of the Cold War, freedom had won. Or at least that's what they taught us. Even if I didn't graduate from college, I'm still glad I went. In college I learned how terribly wrong my interpretation of history was. Through one of my shitty construction jobs I met a man from Chile. He told me about voting for Allende, and about the resulting coupe. I came to see that in the end the swastika was simply replaced with the myriad corporate logos you see everywhere. My ideological transformation didn't occur over night, nor by any means is it finished. That's part of the reason why I'm here. I want to learn more about our tradition. I guess I'm simply an 'anti fascist'. I can't bring myself to identify with communism. Call me stupid, but I still cling to some of the Irish Catholic traditions I was raised with. Granted, now I've mixed a healthy dose of Liberation Theology into my personal beliefs. And no offense to the legit anarchists on this board, but the people I've met that call themselves anarchists have so far been nothing more than arrogant little pricks. You can afford to pull a lot of shit when mommy and daddy keep your trust fund stocked. Yet again, I'M NOT TRYING TO TROLL. I have met anarchists that I've got nothing but respect for. Most of my current knowledge of leftist culture and anti fascism comes from anarchist traditions. I'm just saying that for every good woman, there are ten silly little boys.
Why I'm here: I want to learn. There's a lot I know, but there's even more I don't. I found this forum after watching the Al Jazeera special on skinheads. That documentary scared the hell out of me. I'm just here to talk to like minded people. I've been lurking this forum for a few weeks, and I really enjoy reading what other members have posted. I'll probably keep lurking for awhile to learn the ropes. Frankly, I also wanted to reach out to others who share my views. It seems to me that the majority of people view the era that we live in as completely disconnected from the rest of history. What happened in Spain in 1936 has no bearing on America in 2010. I don't believe that. I often wonder if I am already living in a fascist state, if my efforts to the contrary may be too little and too late. I don't want to believe that, but the hardest truths to take are the ones that are staring you in the face.
Sorry for the brick of text, and kudos to anyone who actually bothers to read it :/
Peace