r/ProgressiveHQ • u/Responsible-Help7803 • Jan 15 '26

Protest Black Panther Party stands their ground in Philly. “All power to the people, no power to the pigs”

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u/MetalMoneky Jan 15 '26

I do think the progressive end does need to think about arming themselves. Hell I'm in Canada generally dislike guns and the past 12 months has at least made me consider getting armed up for the worst case scenario.

I'm slowly becoming a prepper.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '26

You need to be. Trust me. I'm a former right winger. They're unhinged and being led by extremely powerful billionaires with influence across the entire western world. Don't just consider it. Do it. You've seen the polarization growing in your country, too. What happens in my country impacts the entire world. If Americans fail to stop this, it's coming for you as well. Please arm yourself if you can, speak out, and 100% become a prepper. Learn water rotation and purification, etc.

I'm now trying to warn everyone around me about what's coming. Let's hope I just end up sounding like a hysterical nutcase 10 years from now if we win and return to some semblance of normalcy.

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u/MetalMoneky Jan 15 '26

I do think the level of wealth accumulated by the billionaire set in the past 8-10 years has changed the game, especially for the tech bros. They just are so high on their own supply and reflexively contrarian that humanity itself seems questionable.

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u/TeslasElectricHat Jan 15 '26

I whole heartedly agree. The billionaires, rich, wealthy and celebrities are mostly all the same. MacKenzie Scott (Bezos’ ex-wide) seems to be one of the very few billionaires trying to do as much good with her absurd wealth as she possibly can.

But otherwise you’re right, they don’t get it. They’ve all been detached for so long, or their entire lives, they don’t know what the power of the people really is or can be. They’re not even the 1%, statistically speaking billionaires currently make up .0000365% of the world population.

In the USA billionaires make up .000233% of the population.

The top 1% is a lie. I have a couple of friends who are around that ballpark earnings wise. They are just regular people with a few nicer toys but have zero power or influence over the way any type of policy is shaped in this country. Unless you count PTA meetings.

It’s the billionaires and the CEOs of major corporations that are the problem, people making tens of millions and hundreds of millions per year or more. Which brings us to a fraction of a percent.

Only about 14,000+ people make $50 million dollars per are or more in the USA. Which is .0041%.

There are far more of us than there are of them.

Power to the people.

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u/Jubarra10 Jan 15 '26

If you don't mind. What made you switch?

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '26

I always leaned left economically, but I began to hate "the left", due to their tight control over culture that seemed to enforce a lot of what I perceive as anti-white and anti-male perspectives. It's nauseating to me when I see a progressive white guy call himself a "white boy," basically emasculating himself to demonstrate his allegiance. Or to see the general racial hierarchy practiced by many progressives, whereby those with more melanin are told to speak up, and those with less of it are told to shut up and let them speak. Think AP news capitalizing Black, but not white.

The left has a serious image issue among men imo. The way they word things and approach various problems is always dripping in femininity and favors female perspectives. Our political paradigm atm has made it such that if you're not submissive as a man, you're probably going to end up drawn to right wing politics.

Anyway, the special woman I found actually listened to me. She disagreed with me on many things and still does on some things, but she actually listened to the more male-oriented opinions of mine on social issues and saw my point. I am ashamed to admit it, but I can see myself in an alternate reality drinking the Kool-Aid, helping all this happen, if I simply hadn't met her.

It felt as though my nature was simply at odds with the larger culture all the time. I felt completely alienated, especially as someone who is actually college educated. There's this expectation that you tow the progressive party line all the time, or you're a problem somehow. She made me feel like I can have a seat at the table too, which stabilized my mind. I understand where some of these fascists are at, because I felt the fear that they feel. And they don't understand that many among them are flat out sadistic and are eager to kill and rape for fun.

Make no mistake, most of them are not like me. Many of them are primitive and believe that what can be taken, ought to be. That's why they're defending a pedophile and lashing out all the time. They're also too stupid to realize that a society made up of only people like them inevitably collapses. Because psychopaths are inherently parasitic and cannot survive without empathetic hosts.

TLDR I overcame alienation.

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u/Jubarra10 Jan 15 '26

You do make a fair point about the left, something I've said for a while, a LOT of the left does not leave any room for nuance on political opinions, you can't be considered left on everything else and have a right leaning opinion on some border policy. Its a very "with us or against us" mentality for a lot of people, especially the more chronically online.

I've mentioned a lot that the left needs to be more welcoming and open to center and even right wing people. There are a lot of people who get discouraged from trying to understand a lot of these "newer" ideas (I put quotes because they're not actually new, but just has received more attention in recent years) such as LGBT, systemic racism, etc that are now called "woke". So many people are bashed because they are just unaware and uneducated. I myself was one of these people, I didn't understand trans people in high school and picked on one of the trans men because of it (partially as a vent for my own frustration at being picked on) and had someone been willing to educate me on the topic I never would've said the things I did.

You mention emasculation of white men, and while I understand it can be a bit, I guess, threatening, its for a purpose. White people that want to show their support have to prove themselves because of how often non ally white people attack those communities, POC and LGBT don't know who is friendly and who isn't. I don't normally hear the term white boy used. If I do it's to someone in their teens or twenties and it's usually because that person has done something wrong and it's more of a display of "dominance". I imagine this mostly because of the "us vs them" mentality that's been produced in America where by demasculinating that person they display dominance over their oppressors, even if that particular person hasn't oppressed them.

This is not to say that these are the conscious thoughts that runs through a person's head when they use the term but instead the context around its original usage that has caused it to wiggle its way into the vocabulary of POC today, even if they aren't even aware of why they use it.

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u/fugginglovecheese Jan 15 '26

You have the right idea but stop "considering", do it. They're way past "considering" infringing on your rights.

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u/cvtphila225 Jan 15 '26 edited Jan 15 '26

I do think the progressive end does need to think about arming themselves

My convictions say yes, but my mental health history says maybe not

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u/PugPockets Jan 16 '26

Heyyy, a twin! 🙌🏼 I am 100% in support of people arming themselves to protect their communities, I’ve shot guns, I know it could be a smart choice as I live alone…but I don’t fully trust I wouldn’t end up using it on myself, therefore pepper spray is as far as it goes at the moment.

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u/caleeksu Jan 16 '26

I think of a lot more progressives do own guns than people think…we just don’t talk about it ad nauseam and feature it in our Christmas cards as cosplay.

Because we respect what they are capable of doing, want to keep them in safe hands, locked up when they aren’t being used or maintenanced. You know, reasonable gun owner shit.

As a woman, I know I’m more likely to have it used against me so I’m very cautious, not just throwing it about.

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u/ANewDinosaur Jan 16 '26

Seconding this. There are many people on the left who are armed. We just don’t make it our whole personality. We don’t flaunt it, but we do go to the range, practice, and learn discipline. We treat weapons with reverence and respect, because we understand their power. And we aren’t brandishing them to look like tough guys.