I believe there may be a need for both. Or at least advantages to both. Subtlety and abrasiveness, sabotage and a show of political force, discretion and indiscretion. Even in times of great struggle, I think, and times of great danger.
Marking yourself as a threat to fascists and a threat to capitalists for life, it’s 1. pretty badass and 2. may ingratiate subsets of people to communism. This may sound lifestyist, but I believe especially among many gen z’ers, ink has become an appreciated way of sharing experiences and passions. People dig tattoos and like to talk about em. 3. It’s a form of revolutionary suicide. The Black Panthers didn’t realize their ultimate goal of national and social liberation, but I wonder if we could learn something from them, and their ability to always communicate their adherence to communist ideals, even in the face of death, and still integrate incredibly well with their communities as an openly revolutionary, armed mass movement.
idk. I may be wrong. I’d like to get a “Peace, Land and Bread” tattoo. Potentially dangerous. But the communist movement has to be prepared for complete social collapse if it’s even going to matter at all, and we’re all in supreme amounts of danger then anyway. If every user of this site isn’t on a list, the glowies ain’t doing their jobs, since they can access all of our web histories at the drop of a hat (ostensibly). Facial recognition is getting bigger. Cameras are fucking everywhere. If we aren’t prepared in the event of a crackdown on the left, we’re immediately fucked.
Although I also see your point about losing discretion there. I just think the state’s got information gathering tools we won’t know about for decades.
I believe there may be a need for both. Or at least advantages to both. Subtlety and abrasiveness, sabotage and a show of political force, discretion and indiscretion. Even in times of great struggle, I think, and times of great danger.
Marking yourself as a threat to fascists and a threat to capitalists for life, it’s 1. pretty badass and 2. may ingratiate subsets of people to communism. This may sound lifestyist, but I believe especially among many gen z’ers, ink has become an appreciated way of sharing experiences and passions. People dig tattoos and like to talk about em. 3. It’s a form of revolutionary suicide. The Black Panthers didn’t realize their ultimate goal of national and social liberation, but I wonder if we could learn something from them, and their ability to always communicate their adherence to communist ideals, even in the face of death, and still integrate incredibly well with their communities as an openly revolutionary, armed mass movement.
idk. I may be wrong. I’d like to get a “Peace, Land and Bread” tattoo. Potentially dangerous. But the communist movement has to be prepared for complete social collapse if it’s even going to matter at all, and we’re all in supreme amounts of danger then anyway. If every user of this site isn’t on a list, the glowies ain’t doing their jobs, since they can access all of our web histories at the drop of a hat (ostensibly). Facial recognition is getting bigger. Cameras are fucking everywhere. If we aren’t prepared in the event of a crackdown on the left, we’re immediately fucked.
Although I also see your point about losing discretion there. I just think the state’s got information gathering tools we won’t know about for decades.
Your arguments are compelling