• Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    Eh, solarpunk itself is an aesthetic, not an ideology. As such, like cottagecore and other aesthetics without ideological backing, there does exist a subset of ecofascists and ecofascist adjacent ideologies.

    Hexbear.net fits “happy communists” better.

    • Match!!@pawb.social
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      2 months ago

      disagreed! there is an aesthetic but there is also separately an ideology, and ecofascism is certainly not welcome on (e.g.) slrpnk.net. solarpunk as an ideological movement is essentially climate-focused indigenous futurism with an anarcho-socialist bend

      • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        solarpunk as an ideological movement is essentially climate-focused indigenous futurism with an anarcho-socialist bend

        That’s not a coherent ideology, that’s an aesthetic pulled from a ghibli-inspired milk commercial, which again reveals how an aesthetic can get taken advantage of by right-wing interests if there is no strong ideological framework.

        There’s no call to action, no theory to set to praxis. There is a goal, but no method to get there. Like all such movements, its doomed to fail the way the Owenites did.

        I love environmentalism and solar energy, veganism and self-sustainability. However, solarpunk as an encompassing “movement” is not the path there, as it’s an aesthetic.

        • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          This is written like someone that hasn’t kept up with solarpunk since that commercial came out.

            • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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              2 months ago

              Idk why you think it has to have theory or praxis to be a movement. It does have a manifesto but I kinda doubt you care about that. There’s enough people that are interested in the topics that solarpunk encompasses to give it legitimacy.

              Tbh your position is kinda disenfranchising to people that got into gardening, anti consumption, diy, gurilla grafting or any other facet of solarpunk because of it being under the umbrella.

              • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                2 months ago

                Idk why you think it has to have theory or praxis to be a movement. It does have a manifesto but I kinda doubt you care about that. There’s enough people that are interested in the topics that solarpunk encompasses to give it legitimacy.

                I was interested, actually. I read through it, a lot of things people say they stand for and against, and what types of art styles they like and envision, but no actual theory or praxis behind it.

                I already stated why it needs a strong ideological backbone to avoid being taken advantage of by ecofascists, but I’ll restate it: bad actors can and will use the aesthetic to push alternative messaging, just like what already happened to cottagecore.

                Tbh your position is kinda disenfranchising to people that got into gardening, anti consumption, diy, gurilla grafting or any other facet of solarpunk because of it being under the umbrella.

                Those are certainly good things, I never stated that Solarpunk is only “bad,” in fact I think many good things have come from it. However, to paint it as a place of “happy communists” when there have been ecofascists using it to push their messaging, is a bit off, hence why I pointed it out and explained my issues with it overall.

                • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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                  2 months ago

                  I’ve not been aware of ecofascist cooping the movement. But I imagine the vegan mods would sus that out quickly 😜

                  I suppose my point is that a movement doesn’t have to know everything about itself to be effective and while anecdotal; I’ve learned a lot about communism/socialism and mutual aid from solarpunk spaces.

                  • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                    2 months ago

                    I’ve not been aware of ecofascist cooping the movement. But I imagine the vegan mods would sus that out quickly 😜

                    Not saying the Solarpunk community on Lemmy definitely has it, but it is a problem with the “movement” itself overall, like all aesthetic-movements do.

                    I suppose my point is that a movement doesn’t have to know everything about itself to be effective and while anecdotal; I’ve learned a lot about communism/socialism and mutual aid from solarpunk spaces.

                    That’s a good thing! I would still try to learn and read Theory outside of a solarpunk context though.

              • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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                2 months ago

                Idk why you think it has to have theory or praxis to be a movement.

                If it doesn’t have ideas and it isn’t testing those ideas through social practice it isn’t a movement?

                • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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                  2 months ago

                  Except movements are rarely focused like that. I doubt The Black Panthers knew school lunches and child care were going to be the traction they needed when they started theirs. Just like I doubt the kid that just heard of solarpunk and wants to learn how to grow veggies because of it, understands what their effort might do to change their community.

                  I’ll admit solarpunk is very much in a spaghetti on the wall phase rn. But it’s also barely a decade old.

                  • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                    2 months ago

                    I doubt The Black Panthers knew school lunches and child care were going to be the traction they needed when they started theirs.

                    Incorrect, the Black Panther Party was Marxist-Leninist and was attempting to build up a vanguard party, and a part of that theory is building up dual power and parallel structures to fold the public in and garner support.

                  • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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                    2 months ago

                    Effective political action is focused and intentional. The BPP had a plan. There is no central solarpunk organ for democratic decision making, there is no party program. They have nothing that would make them an effective org.

        • Match!!@pawb.social
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          2 months ago

          you’re welcome to check out solarpunk thought leaders like andrewism! though i have to admit i doubt anything anywhere will ever meet your standards

          • Amerikan Pharaoh@lemmygrad.ml
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            2 months ago

            How the fuck do aesthetics have thought leaders are you serious? Should I start calling OneohtrixPointNever a thought leader in fuckin post-gothic electronic shoegaze or whatever the hell his whole aesthetic is called?

          • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            Solarpunk isn’t an ideology though, it’s an aesthetic that can be molded depending on the views of those using it. I never said good people can’t use solarpunk to push a good message, I said there’s nothing stopping people from using Solarpunk to spread a bad message.

            • Match!!@pawb.social
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              2 months ago

              that’s the conversation we’re having, isn’t it? i’d say solarpunk as an ideology predates solarpunk the aesthetic. che guevara shirts are sold in stores, after all.