this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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Chapotraphouse
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No anti-nautilism posts. See: Eco-fascism Primer
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Imagine having to smell that everywhere you go.
The US and Israel are deeply sick nations, they practice the vulture capitalism form of imperialism only surpassed in brutality by Leopold of Belgium or some shit.
And what’s worse is that the populace tacitly approves of it, in the age of the internet and unlimited information. How much did the average Belgian even know?
I live among some of the worst people to exist in history, and I am one of them. This supposed guilt should have driven me to do a lot more but it did not.
Comrade, don't beat yourself up over this. I don't say this only out of compassion, though that much is true, as I've often struggled with guilt much like yours, but also because it is strategically important to know who the enemy is: it is not you, who wields no capital, but the ruling class who chooses to direct its power and capital towards its imperialist aims. It is not us who are destroying the planet; they are. It is our historic mission to fight back and end class oppression, so turn your unfounded guilt into righteous anger and look for ways to mobilize it against the evil you described
doesn't the lionshare of the responsibility fall on us for the collective silent consent for the ruling classes' actions?
I think we should differentiate responsibility and guilt. We are not guilty, for we did not consent, or, more like, we we weren't given the chance to consent. I didn't choose to be born under capitalism. I was not informed of the way life is to be produced and reproduced under this system. I was, however, taught many things that, tinged with varied degrees of truth, were articulated in such a way as to make me a productive member of society, whatever that means.
This means, as I see it, that the consent we give to the current system is, at best, very distorted. However, by studying the material reality of things, of capitalism and labor, we come to understand the machinations of our world. And therein lies our responsibility: by understanding, we come to know what must change, and thus must better ourselves in order to make that a reality.
I think that guilt is not a productive lens under which operate revolution. Metaphysics don't enter into material analysis, by definition, so, if we intend to change reality, we must rid ourselves of guilt, as it works mostly as non-materialist impediment to see the path ahead.
I know what it is like to feel guilty for seeing all that is wrong in the world and not doing anything and going on with life. But in our responsibility is also the duty to understand what we can do, and doing it. I personally can't save the world, but I can do something. Knowing that is my responsibility. And it is better than wallow in misery and guilt about not doing everything.
This is something very personal to me, as I struggled with perfectionism my whole life. But the solution, I found, and cliché as it might sound, is by starting somewhere. Almost nothing is infinitely greater than nothing.
Sorry if that wasn't very clear, today was a very hard day at work and I'm not very clear headed. But I hope it was an answer to your question, rambly as it was.
What we all should do can't be discussed on a public website
No use in talking about what a bad person you are for not doing something instead of doing something.