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ChesapeakeCannibal t1_jchncra wrote

Good

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Alaira314 t1_jcilhv7 wrote

That was my first reaction too, but apparently it happened while they were in storage(according to commenters further down, the article is paywalled for me so I can't confirm). That's a bit more of a complex thing, like it wasn't some activist defacement of something in an attempt to get change. I'm all for vandalizing displayed monuments of oppression. Throw that shit in the harbor where it belongs, let's have a statue party. But when you've already won, when it's already been taken down and put into storage, at that point you're just defacing something that doesn't belong to you, to...make yourself feel good? Like you accomplished something? But what did you accomplish, if the monument had already been taken down? That energy would be better directed to something that matters, because if it's going to be used as ammunition against us(and this will) you might as well have accomplished something while you were at it.

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rpd9803 t1_jcjr15t wrote

Won’t somebody think of the poor revisionist confederate monuments? Give me a fucking break. Vandalize them wherever they stand, and when they get melted down to slag, vandalize the slag too for all I care about those dumb things.

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Alaira314 t1_jcl4qcs wrote

But what does it accomplish? Name one positive thing that happens as a result of that, one concrete change in the world that makes it a better place to people walking around on the street. Put that in the "good things" column.

Now in the "bad things" column we have conservatives and some moderates racing to the polls, reacting to what they see as hooliganism. And this does excite their base. It works astoundingly well, especially targeted to white conservatives in the county(who have more statewide power than before with the recent redistricting).

Now, to morally evaluate the act, we compare the two columns. Is it worth it? I can't come up with anything to put in the first column at all, given that the statues had already been permanently removed from where they'd been displayed, so my math is coming up "absolutely not." Tell me what your math is that makes it come up differently.

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rpd9803 t1_jclcn7k wrote

Oh who tf cares on what the right might use to motivate their base when they’re gonna make up something to motivate their base no matter what happens? And that something doesn’t even have to be true to motivate their base.

The percentage of people this will singularly motivate is not enough to swing any election, but inflation and squeegee boys might.

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Alaira314 t1_jcli6ev wrote

But what concrete thing does this action accomplish?

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rpd9803 t1_jcm2jlx wrote

Well, right now its concretely providing materials for pearl clutching and virtue signaling.

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Alaira314 t1_jcm5uwq wrote

What concrete thing against racism and oppression did this action of vandalism accomplish?

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rpd9803 t1_jcm89at wrote

Made somebody feel good to smash a dumb statue.

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Alaira314 t1_jcmbp66 wrote

That's all I could come up with, either. Thank you for finally answering the question instead of dodging it.

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rpd9803 t1_jcmbubn wrote

Thank you for wasting a bunch of time with poor executive function

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