☀️ Starshine: This is not an argument against radical action! Its an argument for not doing ineffective radical action for ingroup signaling

Burning an american flag is just a way to signal edginess and unseriousness at building any kind of movement

What if the very thing you are fighting against is the nationalistic fervor that has led to so much suffering in the world?

Sometimes a statement whose only purpose is to shock and offend is the right move.

Who is being persuaded by that act?

People who have misgivings about their reactionary friends and family and see them react with disproportionate outrage?

But also, sometimes it's important for people whose worldview rests on everyone else being quietly uncomfortable to have to sit with some negative feelings they get when someone else asserts a perspective they don't like. Kid gloves don't always help.

This is not an argument against radical action! Its an argument for not doing ineffective radical action for ingroup signaling

Sure, and I'm not completely unreceptive to that. Like today is probably a bad day to burn an American flag if persuasion is your goal, but I'm never going to fully write off iconoclasty.

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