So here is the thing I'm struggling with about antifa at the moment

[kaberett]

It is all very well to say "if you are not with the [explicitly violent] antifascists, you're with the fascists" but what these explanations do not seem to include is actual detailed discussion of how or why I can operate on the assumption that these people won't decide that I'm the next target. "Because you're not a fascist!" Okay, right, no, try again. Try again. I have been told, by people still substantively respected and liked in my geographically local community, that being visibly autistic in public is oppressive. I want to know what the fuck system of rules you're working with that means I won't be deemed unacceptable and I won't be deemed an appropriate target.

"Try not being a fascist!"

Yeah, thanks, see above about "me being visibly disabled in public is oppressive". See every interaction I've ever had where my disabilities are an inconvenience to The Cause.

Try again.

I'm really not comfortable with the extent to which people seem to want to shout me down on this one, using that well-known abusive tactic of telling me that if I don't unquestioningly support them in spite of grave reservations rooted in, like, bare minimum historical literacy plus personal experience, I am all that is Bad and Evil.

I am struggling to articulate this any better because of the sheer visceral horror I'm experiencing at a lot of the rhetoric that's happening. But, like, if you want to engage with me on this -- and I am, very definitely, open to being talked to -- please consider starting from a point of "I see your concerns and they're valid, here's why I'm convinced", not "you're a bad person for having doubts".

If, however, you want to ask me how Very Dare I tone-police you on this, I request that you sit this one out.

Comments

[vass]

I'm thinking of a post I read a while back that pretty much said that no one, ever, should buy or rent a place that wasn't wheelchair/scooter accessible.

*bitter lol* There's a rental affordability crisis in my entire country, and a very, very serious shortage of accessible rental housing, affordable or otherwise. At the moment if you rent then you take any apartment you can fucking get, even if it's a shithole and the commute is beyond ridiculous. And even before things got so bad (the last ten years or so) wheelchair users themselves already could not get suitable accommodation because there were not enough accessible homes to go around, and that's only gotten worse. I have a friend who nearly ended up homeless waiting on the crisis housing list.

Fuck Elodie (yes, I remember that post and who wrote it too.)

[the_rck]

This was on a pro author's blog. She responded reasonably when I commented, but pretty much all of the comments were very much about how wrong it was for anyone to buy/rent a place that wasn't accessible.

I also pointed out that, as someone with a severe cat allergy that causes asthma attacks that I can't treat because they stopped making the medication I could use, I have a lot of friends and relatives I can't visit. They've all chosen something completely optional that cuts off my access.

I have never told someone that they shouldn't get a cat or that they should get rid of those they have. That isn't just because I recognize that cats are part of the family. Getting/keeping a cat is something that is good for not-me people. Unless we're sharing living space, my needs aren't the priority.

I can and do, however, ask that people find a way to be wearing clothes that haven't been exposed to cats before they hug me or sit on my upholstered furniture.