archaeocommunologist

[archaeocommunologist]

There are many things that bother me about lefty tumblr e-begging culture, but what irks me most is the credulity of the audience. For example, if someone is e-begging for money to stay off the streets, and the amount specified is $85 a night for a hotel room, that should set off your bullshit detectors; 85/night works out to around $2,700 a month! That's more than double what I pay in rent for a two bedroom flat!

No amount of "it's expensive to be poor" justifies something so obviously unsustainable. And to the extent that "e-beg for the equivalent of a swanky apartment's rent each month" is obviously unsustainable and stupid, it should make you question the honesty of the e-beggar. If this person is really getting enough money to pay 85 a night, that's equivalent to a decent take-home salary (like, $45k pre-tax?).

So there are two options: either this person is making the equivalent of the US median income and then spending it in the most irresponsible way possible, or they aren't and are therefore misrepresenting their situation in some other way. It's annoying.

[archaeocommunologist]

oopsies just reblogged the same post twice, which goes to show how effective my #to read tag is

[archaeocommunologist]

Huge numbers of trans women doing the "IF your rights were threatened I'd be marching with you in the streets" thing to trans men. Not a good look!

this is not fucking appropriate even if you're a trans woman, btw

[archaeocommunologist]

Gnostics on Demiurgsmas when they hear Sophia Claus emanating down the chimney

[archaeocommunologist]

this is not fucking appropriate even if you're a trans woman, btw

[archaeocommunologist]

[archaeocommunologist]

The Trouble with Wilderness by William Cronon

This article is very articulate imo in discussing the constructed and reactionary and specifically settler-colonial nature of the concept of "Wilderness" that liberals seem to take so much for granted as an essential, uncreated thing.

[archaeocommunologist]

black cat eating a whole rotisserie chicken while Mamma Mia by ABBA plays in the background

[archaeocommunologist]

I wonder if the person who made this video knows how much they changed my life

[archaeocommunologist]

it really is remarkable how the anti-anti-imperialists are perfectly capable of looking at american elections and going unlike you fools we live in reality where there will be one of two outcomes we have to suck it up and support the less bad one but for any state remotely opposing american hegemony you’re a shill for a comic book villain dictator if you don’t live in a fantasy world where freedom and democracy will magically follow from contras liquidating a sovereign nation

[archaeocommunologist]

The conversations about accountability & apologies that we've been having in social justice circles these last few years have basically trained everybody to fawn.

We've been telling people that if they are accused of any wrongdoing or of hurting anybody's feelings, it is their obligation to apologize immediately, and never to hedge, disagree, or to explain their rationale what they've done.

In their apology, we expect them to articulate every single thing that they have done that was damaging in the strongest language possible and to declare outright that they have harmed someone, often multiple groups of people, even if they are not sure of the impact (or could not even possibly be sure).

If a person's apology is anything but immediate and entirely self-excoriating, we accuse the person of downplaying the damage they have done, failing to be accountable, and manipulating others.

In this way, we've made it impossible for a person to ever take their own side lest that be taken itself as a form of wrongdoing. We have trained our fellow social-justice-minded people to believe that if they do anything but worsen the case against themselves, they are being irresponsible.

I say we, in all of this, because I have partaken in all of this rhetoric, made these kinds of criticism, given accused people this type of advice.

And I have followed it myself, often to a damaging effect.

I have taken responsibility for problems in which I truly did not believe I played a part, I've overstated the damage that I've done so as not to risk understating it, I've ascribed malice to my intentions when I knew it wasn't there, I've agreed with people's most negative, bad-faith narratives about conflicts involving me that they were not even present for, offered up information about myself that was not a third party's business in the name of transparency, apologized for things I haven't done -- and in doing all of this, I have denied my loved ones the opportunity to really hear me about what I was going through and my motivations when I was in conflict with them, things that any true friend or close associate would obviously want to hear about if they cared about me.

This aim of giving the perfect apology and taking perfect accountability has been nothing but an isolating force in my life, because it has barred me from openly entering into necessary conflict with people when our needs were incompatible or they had hurt me just as much as I'd hurt them. The fear of being a manipulative, unaccountable DARVO-er has led me to roll onto my back and expose my belly, falling over myself with panicked apologies and the most unflattering information possible cast in the least explicable light, almost outright begging for others to become angrier at me and believing that it was only way I could ever possibly be accepted back.

We've drilled into people that the way to be good and responsible is to allow people to view us as negatively as possible, to even arm others with information that will confirm that point of view, and to never insert our own perspective or needs on the matter at all.

And yeah, there are a lot of shitty people out there who dodge accountability easily because their power ensconces them from any consequences. but the primary problem with that was never that they wrote a shitty notesapp apology that used the unforgivable phrase "I am sorry if you felt XYZ." The real problem was that there was no community that held enough influence to hold them to account, and for their victims there weren't ever adequate supports or protections.

instead of addressing any of that in a remotely systematic way, we have taken to picking apart every accused person's every word and deed for evidence of inner moral failure and created a culture in which we think we can determine a person's safety by how artfully they put words together when they are under threat. and what do you know, plenty of bad faith actors and conflict avoidant cowards and people who just dont understand what they are even being accused of can do that just fine.

[archaeocommunologist]

English added by me :)

[archaeocommunologist]

The Syrian Civil War has always been a huge blindspot in my political/historical understanding but I'm trying to fix that. That said, I've definitely found it borderline insulting the way naive communists talk about Assad and the Axis of Resistance as unambiguous anti-imperialists. Had to bow out of a few group chats over that one, gals.

[archaeocommunologist]

Between imposing curfews on Lebanese civilians and firing at 'suspects' in violation of its own ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army is reiterating the truth of colonial power: there's no meaningful truce to be had between the neck and the executioner's sword.

[archaeocommunologist]

It's funny what happened to that CEO, but comrades, come on, it's been more than a century, I though we all had finally concluded that Propaganda of the Deed doesn't work.

[archaeocommunologist]

I was so worried the genius behind this post had given up and left, but @thomasthetankieengine is back baby, with clunkers to spare!

this is sooooo funny. oh, you have something mean to say about poor ol' Israel? well what about Aššur-dān II, King of the Universe, who reigned in glory in the first millennium before christ?

[archaeocommunologist]

There's something wrong with you, psychologically.

dear cecil,

im in the community and jewish, but everyone who's leftist is antisemetic and everyone who's rightist is homophobic - what should i do?

ps, am i allowed to do this type of thing here?? i dunno, but if its not allowed you can delete.

sincerely, jewish and scared

Dear Jewish and Scared,

Yeah I know it’s like that, which is why I suggest finding LGBT Jewish spaces online and perhaps irl if you can find them

never compromise either your being gay or you bring Jewish to fit in where you aren’t wanted

yours,

Cecil

p.s. there is even a tag for it so you can filter it out. We even answered it before