QuietCupcake

joined 3 years ago
[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 25 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

From a strict class analysis perspective, yes. As others have said, their social role is to serve as enforcers of capital, just like cops. They may not have the level of power and reach that cops have and are quite a bit more constrained from doing the serious and egregious things cops do, like murdering people of color with impunity - cops obviously do this, but with grocery store security, that isn't a systemic issue like it is with cops. So the magnitude of their class treachery is not anywhere near the scale that it is at for cops. But scale aside, the role they play is still one of using force to defend capital and uphold the capitalist order. And that definitionally makes the people from the working class who fill that role class traitors.

There is another caveat though, another one that sets them apart from cops and provides some wiggle room that doesn't exist for cops. A person can get the job of grocery store security guy, but not actually do the job. The ones who don't actually do what they signed up for, and knowingly avoid doing what their job description would have them do, these are "the good ones." I would contend that there are no good cops because any cop that does not fulfill their duty simply doesn't last as a cop. With cops, as with fascist gangs (same picture I know), if you don't demonstrate your loyalty to the system and your complete adherence to the blue code of silence, you are immediately ejected (or even killed). dorner as a classic example - he reported other cops for excessive force, it was ruled that he was lying and he was kicked off the force. All that happened long before he... became famous. You don't get to be a cop if you don't do cop shit. Not the case with grocery store security, though.

The store security people who actually do their job and play the role they're supposed to play are traitors, as established. But the ones who are there just to get a paycheck and who purposefully look the other way when someone at the self-checkout is bagging 5 items for every 1 they scan, these ones are fine. They're not class traitors because they're actually being a traitor with respect to the job/role of capital enforcer. It really is a double negative sort of thing. 1 minus -1 = 2. There is no grocery store security culture like there is cop culture that prevents this from happening sometimes. Some chud security guys might like to pretend there is, but in actual practice, it's just not there. So grocery security people have a lot more room to just not do what they were hired to do and in that way, it is possible for someone to get that job and not be a traitor. Unlike cops.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I don't think they would use a nuke yet either. I agree what you said is the most likely thing to happen at this stage. But the question I was addressing was what the entity meant or what they're trying to project by saying "we will act alone" if you, Trump admin, don't do what we want.

edit to add: When I read the "act alone" thing, to me that sounds like they're saying "we'll go all the way and use our nukes, so you'd better help us now before we do something that would hurt you as well." It doesn't mean that is what they would actually do, but it could be some telling posturing. Even then it's an open question if saying they'll "act alone" is really a threat aimed at a genuinely reluctant Trump admin or just something they're projecting to give the US even more cover to make it look like the poor, calm, rational US is in a tough spot but just has no choice but to strike Iran directly.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 18 points 3 weeks ago (11 children)

Isn't this a thinly veiled threat they would use a nuke? Not to give the fascists credit for an ounce of intelligence, but since it is so clear to everyone that they have already been "acting" without direct US involvement, to me it sounds like they're saying they will act by using that one thing they never outright say they have but have been holding over everyone, even their allies, as a threat for decades. Aren't they saying "we'll do the ultimate escalation if you don't escalate by joining us"?

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 26 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

In my experience they'll usually have a retort for that with some bullshit about "authoritarianism" and how the Soviets were forcing the population to work focused only upon the will of the party. It doesn’t make sense of course, but it doesnt have to, it only has to fit with the narrative they already believe.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 15 points 3 weeks ago

There was that post the other day with someone at the protests propping up a sign saying "If Kamala were president, we'd all be at brunch" or something like that. To me, it was very clearly a criticism of the liberals there who would not have cared if a dem were in office, the kind of thing one of us might put on a sign for these protests, but almost everyone commenting on that post was assuming the sign was meant to be taken at face value. The top comment said:

"this place is beyond hopeless. i don't have the words to describe the despair that these lib "protests" are engendering in me"

That is the kind of doomerist, nihilistic, non-dialectical nonsense that I think OP is addressing here.

When I pointed out that even the olive cocktail cutouts made it obvious it was irony-protesting, I was berated for "giving a white american the benefit of the doubt." Like wtf, what percentage of this very site is white american again? Some of them are capable of being comrades. It was weird to me how much people in that thread just wanted to think everyone at those protests are the equivalent of .world libs. One of the predominant sentiments on hexbear about the prostests are to be ridiculed and nothing more. That they are worse than ineffective, they are somehow only heling the bourgeoisie. And don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the many completely valid criticisms of these protests and their inadequacy to effect real change. But the kind of attitude that jack is addressing in this OP is absolutely something that is prevalent here and needs to be addressed.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 3 points 4 weeks ago

Apparently there's a contingent of people here who are happier believing no one outside of their niche internet forums are capable of using irony to laugh at libs. Also especially no cracker can possibly be a leftist and make a sign that ridicules brunch libs (unless they're one of the crackers on this site which is like 85% mayo). Its almost like a form of wonder-who-thats-for except inversed, refusing to see the potential coolness of others and denying that comrades do exist out there who do funny things things offline.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 5 points 4 weeks ago

Well first of all, being sorta one myself I'd like to think that every once in a while they are deserving of it, some of them can earn it through past actions. But also, I'm not necessarily even doing that because we don't know who made that sign, could just as easily be the person behind the camera as the person propping it up or someone else entirely.

Doesn't matter though, the way I see it that sign speaks for itself whoever made it. I can't look at it and think it's doing anything other than pointing and laughing at the brunch libs. And saying that doesn't feel like I'm being optimistic or generous either, I just don't think an actual brunch lib would make that sign that way.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 9 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Exactly. The brunch thing is too well-known of a criticism for this not to be a self-aware sign. And the little cocktail 🍸 cutouts? Yeah, come on, there's no way this person isn't just making fun of the libs.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 20 points 4 weeks ago (10 children)

I gotta be honest, I think this is some irony-protesting. The person who made that sign is being critical of the lib protests and might even fit in on this here bear site.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I've actually told people irl about your Darby in conversations about kitty quirks. Specifically that she not only likes to sleep in the sink (not unheard of for a cat) but that she likes to do so with water running on her.

Anyway, have a happy birthday ya cute lil wirdo cat!

kitty-birthday-sad (only not sad).

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

On fennec/firefox for android at least, just tapping off to the side of pause/play button (but still on the video) makes the button disappear without effecting the video. Mildly annoying to have to press play then immediately tap to the side, but its a workaround.

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