this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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Hello comrades. In the interest of upholding our code of conduct - specifically, rule 1 (providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all) - we felt it appropriate to make a statement regarding the lionization of Luigi Mangione, the alleged United Healthcare CEO shooter, also known as "The Adjuster."

In the day or so since the alleged shooter's identity became known to the public, the whole world has had the chance to dig though his personal social media accounts and attempt to decipher his political ideology and motives. What we have learned may shock you. He is not one of us. He is a "typical" American with largely incoherent, and in many cases reactionary politics. For the most part, what is remarkable about the man himself is that he chose to take out his anger on a genuine enemy of the proletariat, instead of an elementary school.

This is a situation where the art must be separated from the artist. We do not condemn the attack, but as a role model, Luigi Mangione falls short. We do not expect perfection from revolutionary figures either, but we expect a modicum of revolutionary discipline. We expect them not simply to identify an unpopular element of society hitler-detector , but to clearly illuminate the causes of oppression and the means by which they are overcome. When we canonize revolutionary figures, we are holding them up as an example to be followed.

This is where things come back to rule 1. Mangione has a long social media history bearing a spectrum of reactionary viewpoints, and interacting positively with many powerful reactionary figures. While some commenters have referred to this as "nothing malicious," by lionizing this man we effectively deem this behavior acceptable, or at the very least, safe to ignore. This is the type of tailism which opens the door to making a space unsafe for marginalized people.

We're going to be more strict on moderating posts which do little more than lionize the shooter. There is plenty to be said about the unfolding events, the remarkably positive public reaction, how public reactions to "propaganda of the deed" may have changed since the historical epoch of its conception (and how the strategic hazards might not have), and many other aspects of the news without canonizing this man specifically. We can still dance on the graves of our enemies and celebrate their rediscovered fear and vulnerability without the vulgar revisionism needed to pretend this man is some sort of example of Marxist or Anarchist practice.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 105 points 1 week ago

I'm going to post my reddit comment replying to a discussion about how Lenin's critique of adventurism applies in this situation, because I think it sums up my thoughts pretty well:

Lenin was critiquing socialists engaging in adventurism, who should know better. If this dude were in the PSL or something, the party would be in the uncomfortable position of needing to publicly distance themselves from him if they want to maintain a disciplined ideology rooted in democratic centralism. But the fact that this was some tech bro who had to face the material conditions of the health insurance industry and organically gravitated toward an adventurist strategy-- that's something else entirely. That's a barometer of class malcontent in the general population, and it seems to be off the charts at the moment

[–] [email protected] 90 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (7 children)

I think you are getting it backwards: people (not just here) are celebrating spontaneous adventurism because there is no left in America that would step up and do something about the deteriorating and exploitative healthcare situation in the country.

It would not even be a spectacle if there is an actual left wing movement in America. And until you have an organized movement in the country that is serious about winning and actually does things (not cosplaying as protestors in rallies), you simply have to concede to what the masses (most of whom are the working class people who want a left to do something about it) think about this guy.

Reading the reaction as the lionization of an individual rather than an emotional outburst of an entire class of people suffering from years of oppression will, of course, lead the American left to miss their mark once more.

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[–] [email protected] 82 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We do not expect perfection from revolutionary figures either, but we expect a modicum of revolutionary discipline. We expect them not simply to identify an unpopular element of society , but to clearly illuminate the causes of oppression and the means by which they are overcome

Respectfully, don’t hold your fucking breath. He’s not the hero we deserve, but he’s the hero we need…? Or, he’s not the hero we need, but he’s the hero we deserve?

Look, I’m not looking to canonize the guy. He’s no Fidel. He’s no Harriet Tubman.

But for fuck’s sake, the purity tests get a bit exhausting. I’m not aware of any successful revolutions that were won by revolutionaries who were all on the same page ideologically. Are you?

At some point we’re gonna have to reckon with the fact that revolution requires alliance with people who have problematic views.

Dude had some bigoted viewpoints and dumbass takes. He doesn’t appear to be a Nazi though, IMO.

For fuck’s sake, when I was 26, I was libbed the fuck up, eager to use my international relations degree to work for the UN or the fucking State Dept 🤮 When I was 32, I was so libbed up I was posting inspirational Harry Potter metaphors on Facebook to inspire the other libs to ReSiSt Trump.

Now I am a 40 year old anarchist prostitute! None of us came out of the womb radicalized. The kid has time to develop some class consciousness. Let him cook.

Critical support to him. Don’t pedestal individuals. But this discourse on the left is fucking frustrating.

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