Comic Strips

Not saying they never existed or they weren't a problem. I'm trying to emphasize that overuse of those labels towards the undeserving has allowed the true problem people (actual nazis, fascists) to get by with the benefit of the doubt.

Look, at this point I'm not sure what to say except to lean back on lived experiences of myself and a number of friends.

Some specific "my friend is black" style examples from my social group, if you'll pardon me:

• racial/ethnic minority who is also lgbt+
• one of the most politically active people I know, involved in countless public works and community supporting projects, who at one point worked teaching kids stuck in juvie skills they could use to make money legally once released
• union organizer and rep, can't even drop that shit for a game of DnD, sidetracking the plot to try and unionize side characters
• multiple and diverse PoC

I've seen each individual there and people like them, be called all sorts of horrible labels (mainly online) that do not fit them or even the worst possible interpretation of the opinion they were espousing at the time. I've seen them called capitalist bootlickers, nazis, racists.

One who was only stopped from joining the US Antifa movement by being overseas taking classes in Australia called a fascist.

African American man who grew up in the roughest schools in our state be called a fucking white supremacist for talking about issues in the black community.

Gay men be called homophobes.

Lesbians active in the local LGBT+ community, who provided safe housing and care for a FtM after his top surgery, and who forced a local highschool to offer legally required support services for an ASD genderfluid student, called transphobes.

Again, the wolves absolutely fucking exist, have existed for a long time, and there have been plenty of people shouting about them. But there have been even more, louder, people jumping at shadows for just as long.

Doing the equivalent of "Well it's your fault for not heeding our warnings!" is short sighted, ignores lived experiences from a wide variety of people, and most importantly does absolutely nothing for positive change in the current scenario.

You can't just keep going "I told you so!" or "nuh uh!" at people and expect to gain allies.

I get the frustration, but save that energy for the real targets. Attacking our own for not being as prescient as some others is wasted effort and furthers the goals of those in power.

Aknowledging that there is a reasonable explanation for why people don't take these labels seriously doesn't lose you anything. It gives you extra knowledge amd understanding that can be used for more effective forward momentum.

Don't just call Elon a nazi. Anyone who could be convinced by those words alone already has been.

Do something like link this comparison gif:

and approach from a different angle.