rainbowcrab95772
14160
390
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Sep 11, 2026 7:18 AM
rainbowcrab95772
14160
390
16
bikergeek6249
As someone who is the survivor of an abusive, malignant-narcissist dad, I am distressed at how readily the language of domestic violence and dysfunctional families can be applied to the current regime in the US. (see point #5)
mrthewhitee
Something else left out is, authoritarians attack themselves almost as much as those they want to control, which is why no one in the system can display more competents than the one above them or else they become a target for removal.
faphappyscreencappy
*looks at point 3*
*looks around at absolutely fucking *everything*, past the terror state to the looming threat of AI to the state to the planet in general*
Um... yeah. I'll, uh... I'll get right on that.
friendsofsandwiches
When the 'parents' are beating the entire 'family',
and yet SOME kids, enjoy it when it's YOUR turn to get beat,
and forget, or don't care that they get beat as well.
TvoroyrarButtFella
I like it
freshthrowaway1138
If you haven't read Altemeyer's book on Authoritarianism, then you are missing out. Here's the link to his site and a link to a free copy of the book.
https://theauthoritarians.org/
IndependenceHallPhiladelphiaPA
the best way to resist fascism is violence.
CatsandDnD
Learning about Dysfunctional Family Roles has really helped me see how these roles and dynamics repeat themselves in other groups, and how to fight against them.
MyCommentsUsuallyHaveTypos
And *his* family must have been a nightmare as a kid.
LtRooney
The Alt-Right Playbook discusses the ways that fascism plays on the same dynamics as abusive relationships.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-MP_yOHiV0&t=1762s
Ilikecreativepeople
Touches inner soul, experiences joy, writes sternly worded email, gets shot. Fuck that! George Washington would be stacking bodies by now.
ShotgunBacon
TIL furries are anti authoritarian
vericon151
Hypothetically, I would think a good way of combating fascism would be with a cocktail…. Molotov or otherwise.
420supercoolusername69
Most importantly: LAUGH AT THEM. They want to be big, bad, scary people and matching their energy gets them off. They HATE being made fun of not being taken seriously. Drives them nuts. So just laugh at them.
CedricDur
I mean. Sounds like those 'live, laugh, love' mottos. I'm sure it devastates them to be laughed at. Emotional damage. Crippling. In the meanwhile they are doing the physical crippling.
CC2332
JadeNB1729
Remember how upset they got when Walz called them weird?
SavageDrums
And then the DNC didn't want them to keep doing it because the DNC is run by idiots who don't want to win if it's not sporting.
killergrooves85
It was very effective. And then they stopped. I assume because the consultants told them to stop. The same consultants who caused them to lose the election. But I noticed at the GOP midterm convention they kept calling democrats weird. Hmm. It’s almost like it was an effective strategy that democrats abandoned to the right for no reason.
RatsLiveOnNoEvilStar
The difference is, dems don't get twisted by being called weird. They might think its a trigger, but it isn't.
It's just more projection on their part.
killergrooves85
Yeah, I agree. But my point was it was an effective attack the Dems had that they abandoned for no reason.
The Dems abandon so many effective attack vectors. They could hammer Repubs on veterans affairs stuff, but they allow Repubs to pretend they care about veterans. Military barracks are full of black mold and need to be rebuilt. Dems would fund it. GOP never will.
RatsLiveOnNoEvilStar
Leave it to the DNC to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
ExecutiveProducerWolfDyck
Cool story, but you still need to actually resist.
DocFunkenstein
No way, creating a little picture and uploading it to a site that maybe a couple thousand people might see (but only a couple hundred might actually read) is way more effective.
They're fighting the good fight.
Plus now they can sit back and watch their favorite show while sipping on some minor luxury food and enjoying the A/C.
lbelli21
Art can be a valuable form of resistance, and while I admittedly use trash memes to distract or laugh for second in times I’m not even sure I can, I am moved every so often and that inspires and motivates me to think of how I can help or do better. just saying. Don’t forget moments and movements like DADA etc. Thank u all for the memes btw, anyhow.
Awmph
pouring from an empty cup and all that
Darkspire
Why don't you tell us all about your heroic tales of resistance, and lead by example?
maqp3
Maybe STFU both of you and start thinking who you can haul to voting booths in November :))))
Darkspire
No no, they wanted to talk, now they can back their words up. Shhhhhh now.
Rogerwilco1974
Step 3. Build up capacity to resist.
Steps 4-27. ???
Step 28. Profit
WitchIrkalla
Is this one of those "Americans are doing nothing." Idiotic comments again? Cus we are. And we're doing pretty well. It's just non-violent because... why would we choose violence against the very system that sucks up our billions... for violence right?
But we are resisting. Would you like some good news surrounding it instead of this doom and gloom?
TheMilliner
Americans as a whole really aren’t doing anything. Small pockets like NYC run by people in positions of power who actually want good things are really the only places with any level of measurable success against America’s shift to hard-right politics. Sure, things have been happening in the background, blocks in some of the more egregious policies, protests and hundreds of lawsuits, but what has actually changed? Nothing. Americans either need to step it WAY up or accept this as the new normal.
Kaleopolitus
No, the POST is American Exceptionalism. "You're doing great just taking care of yourselves!" "They can't win if they haven't conquered your mind!" It's written much like influencer trash posts are.
It's important to remind people to live, to exist, to want something better for themselves and their community. But this post? This post is like the sweets store of groceries. You like it. It'll fill your stomach. But it'll also get you killed if you keep indulging.
alex5775
The imgur community seems to be approaching the threat of fascism with the emotional depth of a children's movie. It's all "hope will win out", "the one team is the bad guys so the other team is the good guys. If you say the good guys might be bad too, you must be a bad guy in disguise.", and "the only reason you say my plan won't work is because you don't want it to or you don't believe hard enough". They are determined to have a simple viewpoint and plan for an enormously complex issue.
IndependenceHallPhiladelphiaPA
the president of the united states offered a bribe to about 174 million people two days ago and has faced zero resistance.
tidepool
Because it’s laughable and a lie and anyone with an education past second grade knows what a lie is and not to overreact to it.
IndependenceHallPhiladelphiaPA
its also a felony.
tidepool
Of course and if we succeed in voting out ineffective dems and take the house (and my wet dream the senate) then perhaps some consequences will start rolling. If we scare enough senate republicans by voting in a crazy amount of dems we may not even need a major (seemingly impossible) flip because they’ll be sweating their own races coming up in 2 years. We just have to stay angry and loud.
Volmaaral
We are definitely resisting. But I do feel we approach the threshold where non-violent resistance will succeed… or fail for the final time. People are mad. They’re going to vote en masse. If it does not work, if the power of the Trump administration is not curbed, then violence will be the only option we have left. And even if we do manage to turn away from full fascism… prepare for hundreds of thousands to refuse to accept that.
tidepool
There is no “final time” as long as we remain and fight. They’ll have nothing left if they rid themselves of those that resist because there’s more of us than of them. Don’t give up and don’t feed the red trolls trying to discourage us from voting and demanding change.
Volmaaral
Oh, you misunderstood. I meant the final time we will play nice. Where we will try and do the democratic, peaceful method, and vote them out. If they flip the table, it’ll be either violence against them… or against us. And I know which I’d choose. I just worry over how many will be able to cross that line, themselves.
alex5775
I read it more as "this post presents not letting fascism break you down as the end-all of fighting fascism when it is actually just the first step" with probably an implied "this type of rhetoric risks making people complacent as it conflates preparation with action, but preparation in reality is only a precursor to action". I agree that the "Americans are doing nothing" comments are annoying and misguided, but this post posits that doing nothing tangible is doing something
ExecutiveProducerWolfDyck
Yeah, that sounds right.
WitchIrkalla
It seems innocuous, and it might be, but any form of defeatist, thief of hope nonsense does not help the resistance, but does help the opressors.
They want us to give up. And we will never let that happen.
alex5775
I think it's more than innocuous, it's pertinent. Acknowledging negatives and things that will not work is not defeatism, it's practicality. Fascism will not be bested with hope and good vibes, but this post frames these as active resistance. They are merely precursors to active resistance and that is vital to understand regardless of if it's comfortable to hear. The comment that you are calling defeatist is in it's entirety a call to action which is the opposite of defeatism.
ExecutiveProducerWolfDyck
You literally just said we should give up the option of violence because you believe we would inevitably lose. That"s the defeatist attitude. I firmly believe you would shoot me in the back to keep me from killing a nazi, and you would feel justified that you prevented retaliation.
ridureyu
Americans are definitely doing something. They are voting for Trump, terrorizing the innocent, and raping children. Meanwhile, the “resistance” is content to cry quietly in a corner and do nothing.
WitchIrkalla
See it's comments like this one that are blatant propaganda. Because it ignores:
-Millions of people protesting in cities across the country.
-"Aligator Alcatraz" being shut down
-150 families being reunited.
-Local governments being ousted for supporting data centers.
-20+ Year, and 100+ year, deep red seats being flipped blue.
-DSA leadership rallying actual support.
-Candidates focusing on actual issues.
-Trump and his admin being -50 points or more underwater in poles.
-etc.
ridureyu
-Trump and his admin blatantly cheating in elections to secure power forever
-meaningless tiny court “victories” that can just as easily be overturned
-massive increase in police and ICE violence against all forms of protest
-active legislation to ban all dissent
If you want to really make some change, you have to do more than hold a sign on the street.
ridureyu
Oh boo hoo, a court told Trump “no.” He’ll do it anyway. MILLIONS of people are dead from the things he has done in only two years, and there’s no sign of stopping. You wanna vote them out? They’ll either cheat to stay in, or come back next election even stronger.
You have to be willing to do what is necessary to keep republicans from ever taking office again.
MeestowKitty
"and we're doing pretty well." By what metric, and where? Last I checked, ICE is still operating concentration camps without any meaningful opposition, Trump is still fighting a bullshit illegal war in Iran (again, without any meaningful opposition), the Dems are turning to more leftist infighting about the DSA and promising us that if we win the midterms (which even if we do it won't be a landslide) that they'll fix everything with SCOTUS and Trump in full control of everything.
kittyfajitas
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/06/25/ice-cancels-warehouse-detention-plans/90677305007/
Just bc they're still trying doesn't mean we haven't had any victories. They're going to continue to try smth new. we're going to have to constantly slap them down. It took 50 years of devoted work by repubs to get us here, we're not going to beat it within 2 years. we've got a long road ahead of us.
WitchIrkalla
-Millions of people protesting in cities across the country.
-"Aligator Alcatraz" being shut down
-150 families being reunited.
-Local governments being ousted for supporting data centers.
-20+ Year, and 100+ year, deep red seats being flipped blue.
-DSA leadership rallying actual support.
-Candidates focusing on actual issues.
-Trump and his admin being -50 points or more underwater in poles.
-etc.
More needs to be done yes. That doesn't mean nothing has happened.
TheDoctorCrankenstein
MeestowKitty
-Millions of protestors that aren't actually stopping anything, they're just gathering to remind us that people don't like this.
-Aligator Alcatraz didn't shut down because we shut it down and protested, its cause it was a shit hole. Those people got sent to other camps.
-150 families out of how many?
-This one I'll give you, you also forgot the massive de-flocking effort which is huge.
-Again, fair point, but the DSA rally is being shot down by party line dems en masse.
MeestowKitty
-Being down 50 points means jack shit because the polls are unrealistic, and he doesn't give a shit. The admin will keep doing what its doing because it doesn't need a mandate, its fascist.
-Yes, things are happening, but no faster and more severely (in fact less in most cases) than they have against any of the other fascist rises in the 20th century. We know what's coming and we're still going, "But we're not there yet, things aren't bad enough" and we know when they are it'll be too late.