•  Kichae   ( @Kichae@lemmy.ca ) 
      16•9 months ago

      "Well, you see, a single stick can easiky be broken in two, but a bundle of sticks will stand to almost anything!

      Now, imagine if you will, that one of those sticks was actually an axe handle…"

      •  chicken   ( @chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
        1•9 months ago

        I’m not sure it is great, to me it seems to handily encapsulate the bad parts of authoritarian ideologies. It’s a demand to follow the will of the group, and to prioritize your group identity in order to accumulate power for that group. Whether that group is race, nationality, or economic class, to think of yourself primarily as an instrumental component of it is an abdication of responsibility to have and apply your own unique perspective and thoughts, and leads naturally to abuses by whoever happens to be doing the thinking for all these people who have chosen loyalty over agency.

        Which isn’t to say that cooperation isn’t important and necessary to accomplishing any goal, but if this sort of group unity is the core idea it seems extremely dangerous and malignant.

        •  irmoz   ( @irmoz@reddthat.com ) 
          2•9 months ago

          I’m not sure it is great, to me it seems to handily encapsulate the bad parts of authoritarian ideologies.

          What’s authoritarian about strength in numbers?

          It’s a demand to follow the will of the group, and to prioritize your group identity in order to accumulate power for that group.

          Um… is it?

          Whether that group is race, nationality, or economic class, to think of yourself primarily as an instrumental component of it is an abdication of responsibility to have and apply your own unique perspective and thoughts, and leads naturally to abuses by whoever happens to be doing the thinking for all these people who have chosen loyalty over agency.

          Yeah, you just made all that up.

          Which isn’t to say that cooperation isn’t important and necessary to accomplishing any goal, but if this sort of group unity is the core idea it seems extremely dangerous and malignant.

          You are adding “group unity” yourself. “Ape together strong” just means groups are stronger than individuals.

              •  chicken   ( @chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
                1•9 months ago

                So what? What I’m saying is that it’s toxic to make that power itself the core message (I have already explained why), and anyone would be right to deeply distrust someone using that sort of iconography as such in a political context. As a metaphor it is very directly evocative of falling into line for instrumental strength.

                •  irmoz   ( @irmoz@reddthat.com ) 
                  1•9 months ago

                  No, that’s specifically the fascist interpretation, and is a false collectivism. Fascism is individualism dressed up in collectivism.

                  Fascists say the individual is the core of society, and has its place only to serve the “collective” (the state).

                  True collectivism says the collective should serve every individual.

                  The difference may sound subtle, but trust me, it really isn’t.

                  Saying groups are stronger than individuals is a reminder that those in power only have power because we let them, and we can easily remove them if we work together. That is not the message of fascism.

  •  TigrisMorte   ( @TigrisMorte@kbin.social ) 
    4•9 months ago

    It isn’t that the words are scary that they should be avoided, it is that so few People bothered to learn what any of them actually are. And based upon the childish proclamation you made, I’m including you in the can’t be bothered crowd.