There’s nothing more egregious in society’s eyes than when a politician is accused of corruption, but one in particular will forever go down in history as the man whose televised graphic suicide haunts people to this day.
Budd Dwyer was a member of Pennsylvania State Senate, and was also well-known as the 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania. Budd’s prominent career came crashing down all around him when, in the early 80s, the state found out a critical error: employees had overpaid federal taxes. In order to repair the damage, accounting firms left and right began competing for the multimillion dollar contract to determine compensation for each employee. That was when Budd allegedly accepted a bribe from a law firm in California that ultimately won the contract. Throughout the whole trial, he had maintained his innocence and even insisted he was being framed. But Budd didn’t stand a chance. In the eyes of the judge, he was guilty as charged. He was sentenced to a maximum of 55 years in prison and had to pay $300,000 in fines.
On January 22, 1987, the day before Budd was to be sentenced, he called for a press conference. The media went crazy, as they assumed he was going to resign from office. But what really unfolded was much more appalling. He began reading before all the reporters, imploring people to extend prayers to his family, and declaring his innocence once more. He then withdrew a revolver from a manila envelope. People began shrieking in fear, begging him not to do the unthinkable. Some tried to step in and stop him, but Budd warned, ‘’Don’t, don’t, don’t, this will hurt someone.” Within seconds, the revolver was in his mouth and he pulled the trigger in front of all those who were watching him on live television. He immediately fell to the floor, blood rapidly gushing out of his nose and head wound. He was dead instantly.
To this day, Budd’s innocence is still widely disputed.
Just out of genuine curiosity, how can Set be on Antifa's side? How is Antifa apart of Ma'at when they've been so hateful to everyone that doesn't agree with them?
tbh you’re coming at this with a huge misunderstanding of antifa, which I don’t really blame you for, since both conservatives and liberals hate antifa and so all you really see is negative propaganda. I advise you to watch this video -i know it’s long, but this man explains antifa and addresses popular criticism much better than I could in a Tumblr post- and get back to me: https://youtu.be/bgwS_FMZ3nQ
But since that vid is literally an hour long, I’ll try and summarize the more important points here.
Categorizing fascists as simply “people (antifa) disagree with uwu” lets the likes of white nationalists -who consider people of non-white races “subhumans” and the disabled, the queer, the mentally ill, those who use drugs/alcohol “degenerates” who ultimately need to be wiped out for the sake of the White Race Achieving Victory- hide those political goals and actions under the euphemism of “Just My Opinion”. This isn’t just an argument that could be settled if both sides would just be nicer to each other; fascism, when allowed to rise to power, will enact the kind of violence upon other people the likes of which antifa could never even hold a candle to. This is built into fascism’s very ideology; to prevent the “degeneration” of the “white race”, they must prevent “undesirables” from being able to marry white people, and from being seen or heard in their ideal white cultural landscape. The practical policies they have used in the past to make that happen, and the ones they now suggest, lead to some of the worst human rights abuses of the modern time. (Again, the video I linked contains a better explanation for this than I can give.)
Anti Fascist Action, action that aims to disrupt fascists and keep them from gaining power so that they can’t act on their hateful, toxic ideology, is the definition of Setian defense of Ma'at. As well as utilizing destruction and violence to preserve justice and order ( “justice and order” here defined as “a state of existence where fascists don’t get to oppress anyone or wipe anyone out”) via 💣punching natzees💣 (something that I unequivocally support, just so we’re clear), antifa also infiltrate and gather intelligence on fascists, create grassroots support systems for other activists, fundraise for the victims of fascist violence and their families, etc. The idea of antifa as “Vegan ISIS” and other such nonsense is spread because antifa values human lives and liberty (for ALL people, not just conservative Christian straight white guys who think that immigrants, gays being allowed to get married and adopt children, and women holding positions of power are an “attack” on straight white maleness) over the law of the land, and that makes us dangerous to those who exist to support the government and other structures of (Classical) Liberalism’s status quo. But in the long run, antifa’s goals are only to prevent fascists from hurting people; often, that calls for nonviolent means of resistance far more often than violent means, and funnily enough, you don’t hear about any of that kind of anti-fascist action in the media. F'ex, I count donating to minorities in need and feeding the homeless as Anti-Fascist Action, and most antifa agree with me there.
It’s also worth noting (as Philosophy Tube in the linked video states) that fascists have the option to stop being fascists, and be left alone by antifa; but people of color, Jewish people, queer people, disabled people, and anyone else fascists target do not have the option to stop being what they are; fascists either lose, or we all die.
tl;dr: “Acting in ma'at” calls for direct action -the defense of the vulnerable and the vanquishing of the evil- not just “being nice to everyone all the time”; and Set, as the mightiest slayer of isfet and the patron of necessary violence, destruction, and chaos -i.e. 💣punching Natzees💣 and other forms of protest that disrupt polite, liberal society- foreigners, sexual deviants, rioters, criminals, and the “chaotic” who don’t fit within society’s rules…well, my question for you is, how can Set not be on our side?
make Set rise in the popular imagination as the god of anti-fascist action
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
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