[arp242]

It's just a social event they did. Nothing to it. The conversation continued a bit with a discussion on what exactly what means with "cultural marxism", and it's not as bad as this snippet might make it appear. But can't add context lest people give the benefit of the doubt, ey?

[dijit]

I actually like suckless software and I'm a little (lot) annoyed by the overwhelming "sides" of politics, especially the left because a lot of US tech comes from a left wing belief and sometimes people online beat me over the head with it and make me annoyed.

But, to be clear, there are three things here:

1) They're doing a Tiki Torch walk, during a time when it was heavily politicised.

2) They're adapting Nazi slogans as hostnames

3) They're denigrating "Cultural Marxism".

Any one of these alone I would probably defend, but 3 is a pattern and not a good one.

[arp242]

> 1) They're doing a Tiki Torch walk, during a time when it was heavily politicised.

No it wasn't; just in the US. Not everyone in the world is obsessed with the latest drama in the US.

I've done many torchwalks with scouts. In fact, they're used to celebrate the end of the Nazi occupation in my home town every single year on Sept 18th. Should we stop doing this because some yahoos on the other side of the world used some torches in some far-right march? This is "Hitler has a moustache, you have a moustache, ergo you must be a Nazi"-kind of logic.

> 2) They're adapting Nazi slogans as hostnames

A private server belonging to a single person, not the project. I have asked him plainly and directly about that and he avoided the question. I am also not impressed by this, but that doesn't make him a Nazi, and it certainly doesn't make everyone involved in the project a Nazi.

> 3) They're denigrating "Cultural Marxism".

A single person is (same one as the hostname). And like I said, there is a lot more to that conversation than the screenshot makes it out to be as there was a lot of confusion about what's intended with "cultural marxism". I really recommend you read the entire conversation in full, and while I don't personally agree with their take, it's also really not that bad.

[Barrin92]

>No it wasn't; just in the US. Not everyone in the world is obsessed with the latest drama in the US

In Germany the association between fascism and torch marches is even stronger and absolute a political symbol, it's an unambigious symbol that nobody adopts accidentally, and it is a contemporary political issue. So called 'Fackelmärsche' by far-right fraternities and far-right groups have been an issue over recent years.(https://www.dw.com/en/germany-torch-wielding-neo-nazis-march...)

Where do you think American Neo-Nazis get their symbolism from? The US invents a lot of culture, but this one is sadly on us.

[flukus]

> Where do you think American Neo-Nazis get their symbolism from?

Considering the KKK were using torches before nazis existed the relationship goes the other way if anything: https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/kkk_rallies.htm

The torch has been used for thousands of years in many contexts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torch#Symbolism), quite often as a form of intimidation but not always.

Is the Statue of Liberty a nazi symbol because she holds a torch?

[arp242]

So everyone walking with a torch in Germany is a Nazi...? You can find many images of people doing exactly that in Germany with a cursory internet search. The Nazis appropriated many existing symbols and customs, but that doesn't make the entire symbolism or custom automatically "Nazi". Neo-Nazis use Norse mythological symbols too. Other people just like Norse mythology. Context is everything, and the context here is most certainly not one of "a torch march protest". Not everyone who shaves their head is a Nazi skinhead either, nor is everyone who wears army boots.

I wasn't there. Maybe they were talking about the "final solution" for the Jews. I don't think they were, but there is no way for me to know for certain. But lacking any evidence of this, I find such a grave accusation based on such incredibly thin evidence – especially when stated like it's almost a certainty – deeply troubling.

[Veen]

Nazis wear trousers. My boss wears trousers. So my boss must be a Nazi.

Torch walks are not exclusively associated with or invented by the far right. They were adopted by the far right from pre-existing traditions in the regional cultures.