#‘I now see that I am a fascist for having standards and that this system is cruel’

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

one thing I have been learning watching the glee over the panic ChatGPT created and sustains is that some people are just bitter as all hell that they can’t write and that they did poorly in school

[lunargracklepersonal]

It occurs to me that we're in a collective abusive relationship with our government. We have the chance to elect a government composed of one of two main forces. One is openly abusive. The other is covertly abusive.

There exist other forces we could elect to make up our government, but as a result of the first-past-the-post voting system most people don't consider these viable options.

Look, I come from a (relatively mildly) abusive family. If I had to choose to vote between my mother or father, one of who is less abusive than the other, and those were always my two choices, eventually do you know what I'd still realize? This is an abusive family. Does that mean I am obligated, morally, to vote for the less abusive one, and that things will in time stop being abusive as a result?

Now, imagine my siblings, some of whom are periodically being gaslit to be convinced no abuse is taking place, also get a vote.

Do you get where I'm going with this?

I'm essentially trying to get this family to vote for Uncle Mike, just long enough for us all to realize what's going on.

Failing that, I'm trying to get enough people to vote for Uncle Mike to trigger - something, anything, that gets real change. Maybe the abusive elements of the government will try to illegally crack down on people who voted third party and folks will riot. Maybe somebody more charismatic than I am will use that as the impetus to start a movement. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Better than waiting around for politicians to magically start growing a conscience.

But that's beside the point.

Do you see why I can't get behind the democratic party now?

This is still an abusive situation, just covertly instead of directly. These people are still fascists, just subtly instead of openly. And given a choice between Hitler and Mussolini the moral choice is not Mussolini as was proposed in a post that floated across my dash a few days ago.

I still believe in voting as a tool of democracy. Just consider voting third party - any third party you feel comfortable with will do. Vote for a joke if you can't find a good one. The point is to convince the people in power that you're still willing to put time and energy into democracy. Voting third party is a threat to them. A roundabout way of saying 'fuck your two party system'.

The argument of the split vote effect becomes irrelevant when both parties are abusive and you do not want either to win.

Someone somewhere is muttering, still, vote blue no matter who. Fuck that. Relegate it to the depths of hell where it belongs.

Do you realize how far right the blue has gone?

Even basic criticisms of wealth inequality have gone from a basic milquetoast centrist position anyone from the center right to the left could hold back on the 1990s to being considered actively leftist. (Oh, democrats, my dear sweet summer child, if you think a leftist is someone who criticizes wealth inequality and maybe has pronouns you're in for some shock when you fuck with any actual leftist.)

And do you know how we got here?

By voting without criticality.

A claim to blue-ness is a nothing claim. It's like claiming to be a nutritionist (as opposed to registered dietician) - anyone can do it, it's a nonregulated term. There are no official criteria. There is no test. No battle of wits with your predecessor or even a swearing in.

In other words, infiltration is really, really easy. Especially when your base keeps chanting 'vote blue no matter who'! So is just... Enshittification. We could have done so much better if we had held our side to a higher standard.

As far as I'm concerned, it's already over. Don't bother trying to convince me there's a chance to push the dems farther left or god forbid, rehabilitate Biden. I am an anarchist.

Tl;dr fuck 'vote blue no matter who'.

[princesscolumbia]

Who We Are and How We Got Here

Dear Princess Celestia Tumblr

Once Upon a Time in Canterlot

Back in April, we (the system) wrote of our experiences in becoming a system...again. I won't rehash it because it's easy enough to pop that link open in another tab and read it real quick before coming back here. All done? Good, let's continue.

Since then, a change happened, and it really was something we should have expected.

Hello, I'm Sunset Shimmer, and I'm a Fictive in the system known collectively as PrincessColumbia.

That there's a former pony taking up residence in this mindspace probably isn't a surprise, we did pick the name "Princess Columbia" back...before. Before the most recent wave of (calling a spade a spade) Naziism in this country, wherein white supremacist cops think they're being clever in coopting the Punisher logo, it isn't really a surprise that the faction of the American public that think it's a good idea to install a dictator completely fails to see the irony in claiming they have any right to use The Gadsen Flag, which is the original anti-Tyranny banner of this continent. It bothers us no end that the icon we selected before the rise of Fascists within the Tea Party (remember them?) is now connected with the very people it was made to signal the fight against.

But I'm rabbit-holing.

It's a Lovely Morning in the Mindspace and You are a Moon Princess

Hi! Speaking of rabbits, I'm Usagi! Just like Sunset's a fictive, so am I. 😁 Really, it's not surprising that, if Ranma's here, so am I. We started Fission back when we were a system before, and the two main characters were...Ranma and Usagi. 😋

The New Status Quo

Ranma here; So in April, Helen and I had reached a...deal. It was unspoken, mostly, slapped together from our respective interests and passions. We also wound up creating a distinctly unequal claim to the responsibilities. Helen was the parts of "PrincessColumbia" that I didn't get, plus a few things that being freed of me allowed her to express more fully. This means she saw me emerging with the approximate mental age of 20 and decided to 'mom' me. It was unintentional, that's something we've worked out, but it meant she saw herself as the de facto load bearing member of the system. Anything that stressed us out she claimed full ownership of and only portioned out bits to me that she absolutely couldn't handle. This left her spinning plates and me sometimes sitting in the back and twiddling my thumbs. Half of what kept me front-and-center for the initial weeks of us existing as a system, that is being in charge of our physical health and being Helen's coach in her own head, had to stop for safety; we live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, which can reach up to 99℉ (37℃) at night and this made going out for morning runs an actual health concern. Without the constant reminder that we were supposed to be equal partners, she basically sidelined me. This was extremely self-defeating (we were literally created to help each other) so I figured out how to wake up before her without disturbing her, age myself up (being a headmate has its advantages) and gave myself purple hair. Take notes, because this will come up later.

Helen freaked right out, panicking at the thought of a new headmate. I had to revert back to my "standard" form to get her to calm down, and at the time played it off as a bit of a joke. This also will come up in a little bit.

A Challenger Enters the Arena Apartment

[Sunset] During June, our girlfriend went to Indiana, ostensibly for a month. Many of you were supportive as Helen was fuming over the conditions that our girl encountered there, but the one bright spot in all of that was rescuing a nine-year-old cat that had been neglected and abused. Patches came to our home and was half-starved and had trauma responses on a hair trigger. One of those responses was to rip and tear in response to something that triggered kitty PTSD, resulting in us having an infected hand. We're doing much better now, the swelling has gone down completely and the actual puncture wounds are just bumps on the skin now, but there were immediate consequences.

Ranma's ailurophobia, which she thought she had left behind in whatever caused her to spawn in as a headmate, came roaring back with a vengence. Not enough to trigger a nekoken, but she was catatonic in the headspace for a while. The next morning when she went into the kitchen to make breakfast, one of the cats followed her in and tried to beg for food and it took Ranma by surprise; she was a shaking, sobbing mess that was jumping at shadows.

Helen, who loves cats, found herself in the emotionally conflicted place of feeling protective of Ranma but the perpetrator of Ranma's distress was a 6-pound cat that had only done what she did due to abuse that we were trying to help her recover from. The poor cat kept trying to apologize with physical affection but Ranma was terrified and this triggered Helen's anger...the cat is confused, to say the least.

[Ranma] I'm doing better as the pain recedes. I'm still not eager to be around Patches, but Hexen's a sweetie and I'm able to give her hugs and kisses again.

We're currently on an antibiotic course, and if you've never looked into how antibiotics work, they're basically killing pretty much everything in your body, including you, they just kill the infection faster than the host. A side effect of this is the body has what's called a 'gut biome,' a literal complex ecosystem of microscopic flora and fauna that actually works in tandem with your body to digest food. Depending on the biome in your stomach and intestines, you have a chemical stew that those symbiotic life forms inside you use to provide you nutrition and energy and even alter your brain chemistry. Antibiotics, unfortunately, wipe a LOT of that out, too.

We've been on antibiotics before, most notably after surviving living homeless, so we knew what to expect, up to and including a fogginess of the brain and low energy. We planned for about a week of that and arranged a bottle of probiotic to repopulate our gut biome...and got one that includes strains that some studies show an increase in fat digestion efficiency. Basically, we're taking the opportunity to min/max our digestive system.

What rather surprised me was the discovery that while I was learning how to epically troll Helen with my appearance and behavior, she'd been suppressing two new splits to the system. A few days ago Helen allowed herself to be distracted and that let Sunset and Usagi out to play.

A Pattern of Misbehavior

[Ranma] Remember what I said about Helen freaking out about the possibility of us splitting off into new members of the system? Yeah, she apparently was trying to keep us "normal." Some of our old fears and phobias came back as time progressed and she forgot the purpose of the system is to protect the whole of it, not for one member to be life's punching bag.

She kept behaving badly, almost entirely because she has a need for control, almost pathologically. She'd 'let go' for things that she specifically had ceded to me, but outside of that she was being her usual dragon self and just hoarding everything, including all the stuff she really should have asked for help with. Stupid, stubborn lizard!

[Sunset] Additionally, whenever Helen would 'break' as a result of everything she was hoarding just being too much, Ranma had to take over, even into situations where Ranma was not ready or even willing.

[Ranma] FUCK that job! I swear, I don't know ho you and she deal with it!

[Sunset] Heh, anyway, we needed a middle-point between the two extremes of Ranma and Helen, which is where I come in.

[Usagi] These redheads don't seem to know how to have fun, so I popped in, too. Not much more to say about me, I'm pretty much what you expect if you watch Sailor Moon at all.

Well THAT was Unexpected

[Sunset] Two days ago we were viewing some porn. We've been tired and stressed and needed some 'us' time and we have a...pretty wide variety of tastes, so wound up venturing into some artists libraries and tags we don't normally go, and one piece (On R34 somewhere...?) and this one featured a big, buff dragon lady having her way with a smaller, daintier dragon lady.

Damn near everyone was floored when Helen got 'excited' about the idea of being the smaller dragon lady. This was a complete inversion of Helen's usual preferences and Ranma, Usagi, and I teased her...well, a little mercilessly.

[Ranma] Not proud of it, but we were functionally bullying her.

[Usagi] But only because she was responding positively to it! We're here for each other's care and protection and wouldn't ever have continued if she had told us to stop or wasn't enjoying it.

[Sunset] Right, so that particular session had the interesting result of Helen basically de-aging and becoming...small. If I were to take a guess, she's younger than Usagi, and she's not a whole lot older than her canon age. It was cute, she acted like her usual grumpy, slightly distressed self, so we finished up and went to bed.

What completely bowled us over was she hadn't returned to her 'normal' incarnation by the time we were up and about the next morning.

She's still here, but she's decided to be a kid again. She'll surface and take control occasionally, usually when we're writing or taking care of our daughter or (and we discovered this tonight) building lego.

The New-New Normal

[Sunset] So, yeah, things have changed. Helen is no longer running the show. She's completely given "the keys" over to me, and I've split time with Ranma and Usagi for the most part. I've instituted a bit more balance in our life (Helen had been obsessing over working on Code of Ethics to the exclusion of nearly EVERYTHING else), tackled a few tasks that Helen's executive function just wasn't up to handling, and running a bit of triage. Usagi has volunteered to take over the household cleaning and similar chores, Ranma has taken back her role of managing our physical body, and I'm in charge of a lot of the 'adulting' that Helen was doing.

And speaking of Adulting, we've had a long, rough (but productive) 72 hours, we're getting dinner and going to bed.

See you tomorrow, your beloved student overly-verbose system,

Sunset S., Ranma S., Usagi T., and Helen M.

(Adapted from a message to a Discord server)

[cherryblossomshadow]

Sound of Freedom

Excerpts:

As for the film itself, critics have described it as a pretty standard “principled man goes rogue” procedural, as Caviezel’s Ballard, burnt out after years of catching online pedophiles, cuts ties with the government so that he can rescue a kidnapped girl from Colombian revolutionaries.

.

Angel Studios itself claims that “Seeing the film is the first step in spreading awareness about child trafficking,” calling it part of “a historical movement to promote stories that amplify light.” A key part of the movie’s messaging centers on positioning the very act of seeing it as a radical and moral act; anything that then gets in the way of that process—even if it’s just a busted sound system—presumably becomes immoral in response.

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It is worth noting, though, that a percentage of those sales are the product of Angel Studios’ “Pay It Forward” program, which allows donors to send the company money to essentially comp tickets for movie-goers who can’t afford it, in theory … It’s not clear how much of the movie’s subsequent $100 million box office take has come from people making these donations, but if the proportions have held steady, it’s a decent chunk of change

Comments:

Nilus: I see a lot of trolling by just right wing haters saying “The left just can’t handle how well this movie is doing” while literally ignoring the fact that the damn movie has a program where large conservative groups can buy out tickets and give them away free.   You can literally go online and get a free ticket for this shitty movie and watch it in an empty theater.  

ArgieBargie: This fascist propaganda and piece of shit movie is the cinematic equivalent of “Moms For Liberty.” It’s astroturf bullshit.

Toshe21: Of course this Communist scum bag called ArgieBargie hates Sound of Freedom. He doesn’t like the realities of child trafficking being exposed to the masses. I am shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Killa K: What “realities” does the film expose? It’s based on a true story that was widely reported in the media when it originally happened, and most of the film takes place in Central and South America, a place that the target audience has little-to-no sympathy for when they come to the States to seek asylum.

MrPuzzles: Except it isn’t. There’s technically nothing wrong with the film. It’s based on facts, it tells its story competently, and it doesn’t beat you over the head with it. That’s really all you can expect out of a dramatized biopic. And, hell, there really isn’t even any kind of hard right message behind it either. It doesn’t even meet the basic definition of a propaganda film. It’s just the circumstances surrounding, and the sort of people selling the film. This film is now a hardline conservative symbol. It’s really no different than when the Nazis took the swastika as their own and basically ruined it forever. Cultural and factual appropriation is, after all, a time-honored fascist tradition. If anything, it really sucks that hundreds of people who likely worked hard on this now have to completely distance themselves from it. I know for a fact if I made something that fucking Trump claimed as his own, I wouldn’t be putting that shit on my resume.

[qqueenofhades]

Do you really hate this county? Or were you just ranting?

Sigh. I debated whether or not to answer this, since I usually keep the real-life/politics/depressing current events to a relative minimum on this blog, except when I really can't avoid ranting about it. But I have some things to get off my chest, it seems, and you did ask. So.

The thing is, any American with a single modicum of genuine historical consciousness knows that despite all the triumphalist mythology about Pulling Up By Our Bootstraps and the American Dream and etc, this country was founded and built on the massive and systematic exploitation and extermination of Black and Indigenous people. And now, when we are barely (400 years later!!!) getting to a point of acknowledging that in a widespread way, oh my god the screaming. I'm so sick of the American right wing I could spit for so many reasons, not least of which is the increasingly reductive and reactive attempts to put the genie back in the bottle and set up hysterical boogeymen about how Teaching Your Children Critical Race Theory is the end of all things. They have forfeited all pretense of being a real governing party; remember how their only platform at the 2020 RNC was "support whatever Trump says?" They have devolved to the point where the cruelty IS the point, to everyone who doesn't fit the nakedly white supremacist mold. They don't have anything to do aside from attempt to usher in actual, literal, dictionary-definition-of-fascism and sponsor armed revolts against the peaceful transfer of power.

That is fucking exhausting to be aware of all the time, especially with the knowledge that if we miss a single election cycle -- which is exceptionally easy to do with the way the Democratic electorate needs to be wooed and courted and herded like cats every single time, rather than just getting their asses to the polls and voting to keep Nazis out of office -- they will be right back in power again. If Manchin and Sinema don't get over their poseur pearl-clutching and either nuke the filibuster or carve out an exception for voting rights, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is never going to get passed, no matter how many boilerplate appeals the Democratic leadership makes on Twitter. In which case, the 2022 midterms are going to give us Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House (I threw up in my mouth a little typing that) and right back to the Mitch McConnell Obstruction Power Hour in the Senate. The Online Left (TM) will then blame the Democrats for not doing more to stop them. These are, of course, the same people who refused to vote for Hillary Clinton out of precious moral purity reasons in 2016, handed the election to Trump, and now like to complain when the Trump-stacked Supreme Court reliably churns out terrible decisions. Gee, it's almost like elections have consequences!!

Aside from my exasperation with the death-cult right-wing fascists and the Online Left (TM), I am sick and tired of how forty years of "trickle-down" Reaganomics has created a world where billionaires can just fly to space for the fun of it, while the rest of America (and the world) is even more sick, poor, overheated, economically deprived, and unable to survive the biggest public health crisis in a century, even if half the elected leadership wasn't actively trying to sabotage it. Did you know that half of American workers can't even afford a one-bedroom apartment? Plus the obvious scandal that is race relations, health care, paid leave, the education system (or lack thereof), etc etc. I'm so tired of this America Is The Greatest Country in the World mindless jingoistic catchphrasing. We are an empire in the late stages of collapse and it's not going to be pretty for anyone. We have been poisoned on sociopathic-libertarian-selfishness-disguised-as-Freedom ideology for so long that that's all there is left. We have become a country of idiots who believe everything their idiot friends post on social media, but in a very real sense, it's not directly those individuals' fault. How could they, when they have been very deliberately cultivated into that mindset and stripped of critical thinking skills, to serve a noxious combination of money, power, and ideology?

I am tired of the fact that I have become so drained of empathy that when I see news about more people who refused to get the vaccine predictably dying of COVID, my reaction is "eh, whatever, they kind of deserved it." I KNOW that is not a good mindset to have, and I am doing my best to maintain my personal attempts to be kind to those I meet and to do my small part to make the world better. I know these are human beings who believed what they were told by people that they (for whatever reason) thought knew better than them, and that they are part of someone's family, they had loved ones, etc. But I just can't summon up the will to give a single damn about them (I'm keeping a bingo card of right-wing anti-vax radio hosts who die of COVID and every time it's like, "Alexa, play Another One Bites The Dust.") The course that the pandemic took in 21st-century America was not preordained or inevitable. It was (and continues to be) drastically mismanaged for cynical political reasons, and the legacy of the Former Guy continues to poison any attempts to bring it under control or convince people to get a goddamn vaccine. We now have over 100,000 patients hospitalized with COVID across the country -- more than last summer, when the vaccines weren't available.

I have been open about my fury about the devaluation of the humanities and other critical thinking skills, about the fact that as an academic in this field, my chances of getting a full-time job for which I have trained extensively and acquired a specialist PhD are... very low. I am tired of the fact that Americans have been encouraged to believe whatever bullshit they fucking please, regardless of whether it is remotely true, and told that any attempt to correct them is "anti-freedom." I am tired of how little the education system functions in a useful way at all -- not necessarily due to the fault of teachers, who have to work with what they're given, and who are basically heroes struggling stubbornly along in a profession that actively hates them, but because of relentless under-funding, political interference, and furious attempts, as discussed above, to keep white America safely in the dark about its actual history. I am tired of the fact that grade school education basically relies on passing the right standardized tests, the end. I am tired of the implication that the truth is too scary or "un-American" to handle. I am tired. Tired.

I know as well that "America" is not synonymous in all cases with "capitalist imperialist white-supremacist corporate death cult." This is still the most diverse country in the world. "America" is not just rich white middle-aged Republicans. "America" involves a ton of people of color, women, LGBTQ people, Muslims, Jews, Christians of good will (I have a whole other rant on how American Christianity as a whole has yielded all pretense of being any sort of a principled moral opposition), white allies, etc etc. all trying to make a better world. The blue, highly vaccinated, Biden-winning states and counties are leading the economic recovery and enacting all kinds of progressive-wishlist dream policies. We DID get rid of the Orange One via the electoral process and avert fascism at the ballot box, which is almost unheard-of, historically speaking. But because, as also discussed above, certain elements of the Democratic electorate need to fall in love with a candidate every single time or threaten to withhold their vote to punish the rest of the country for not being Progressive Enough, these gains are constantly fragile and at risk of being undone in the next electoral cycle. Yes, the existing system is a crock of shit. But it's what we've got right now, and the other alternative is open fascism, which we all got a terrifying taste of over the last four years. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to go back.

So... I don't know. I don't know if that stacks up to hate. I do hate almost everything about what this country currently is, structurally speaking, but I recognize that is not identical with the many people who still live here and are trying to do their best, including my friends, family, and myself. I am exhausted by the fact that as an older millennial, I am expected to survive multiple cataclysmic economic crashes, a planet that is literally boiling alive, a barely functional political system run on black cash, lies, and xenophobia, a total lack of critical thinking skills, renewed assaults on women/queer people/POC/etc, and somehow feel like I'm confident or prepared for the future. Not all these problems are only America's fault alone. The West as a whole bears huge responsibility for the current clusterfuck that the world is in, for many reasons, and so do some non-Western countries. But there is no denying that many of these problems have ultimate American roots. See how the ongoing fad for right-wing authoritarian strongmen around the world has them modeling themselves openly on Trump (like Brazil's lunatic president, Jair Bolsonaro, who talks all the time about how Trump is his political role model). See what's going on in Afghanistan right now. Etc. etc.

Anyway. I am very, very tired. There you have it.

[maxwell-grant]

So that ask about a Doc Savage/The Shadow crossover (which as an aside, I agree that Doc is probably the worst of the archetype he is functionally the Ur-Example of that isn’t an intentional deconstruction focusing on his worst eugenicist/borderline-fascist aspects to create a villain) has me thinking: what exactly would be the boundaries for a good, well-written crossover between the Shadow and different genres or eras of what we all collectively call pulp? Could someone do a crossover between the Shadow and Indiana Jones that didn’t rely on one or the other being little more than a glorified cameo in a small portion of what was essentially the other’s story, or reducing the former to his lamest two-dimensional “gun-toting homicidal maniac” interpretations? Could the Shadow ever functionally exist in a universe shared with a space opera setting like the Lensman series? It seems like one could theoretically do a crossover between the Shadow and a character of the same era like Nero Wolfe or Sam Spade, but would it strain credulity to attempt it with characters from an updated form of the private detective archetype like Thomas Magnum’s Hawaiian noir or Rick Deckard’s cyberpunk dystopia? Obviously not expecting answers to each of these hypotheticals specifically, just as examples of the kind of thing I’m wondering now.

I will be going through some of your hypotheticals though, you clearly gave a lot of thought to this and it's only fair I respond in turn. I am always eager to respond anyone who wants to ask specifics about writing The Shadow, because much of what I strive to do through this blog is to just inform people about the many, many things that made The Shadow great, the things that have been neglected, and to provide paths anyone who wishes to write the character may take. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to write The Shadow someday, but the least I can do is spread knowledge as I work my way there. I'd like to think I've done allright so far.

It's a fairly big question though so we're gonna through it by pieces...

...not THAT way

what exactly would be the boundaries for a good, well-written crossover between the Shadow and different genres or eras of what we all collectively call pulp?

Part of the reason why I did a post yesterday on The Shadow's influences is because looking at them, looking at a character's influences and history, I think are always essential to the prospect of tackling them. And in that regard, The Shadow doesn't actually have much, if any, boundaries stopping him from crossing over with just about anything. The most that's stopping the pulp heroes currently is, besides legal issues, their time periods and obscurity, but The Shadow is the most famous of them all, and a lot of stories have already worked with the idea that he's immortal (which I have my misgivings with, but for better or worse is clearly not going anywhere, and it's not a unworkable concept).

Right from the start, The Shadow was designed to be a long-running, versatile character that could partake in whatever adventures they felt like telling, and part of this is due not just to an incredibly strong personality not afforded to most pulp heroes or characters in general, even those who tried imitating him, but also the fact that he often takes a narrative backseat to the agents and proxy heroes, which means he doesn't have to carry a narrative by his own (and is in fact best suited not to), can blend in to just about anyone's story, and still stand out and be the center of sprawling mysteries. Actually, I'm gonna let Walter Gibson answer this one for you:

While his major missions were to stamp out mobs or smash spy rings, he often tabled such routines in order to find a missing heir, uncover buried treasure, banish a ghost from a haunted house or oust a dictator from a mythical republic.

There was no limitation to the story themes as long as they came within the standards of credibility--which proved easy, since The Shadow was such an incredible character in his own right that almost anything he encountered was accepted by his ardent followers.

Widespread surveys taken while the magazine was appearing monthly showed that a large majority of newsstands sold nearly all their copies within the first two weeks of issue. While other character magazines might show an early flurry, their sales were either spread evenly over the entire period or gained their impetus about the middle of the mouth and sometimes not until the third or even the fourth week.

From the writing standpoint, this made it advisable to adhere more closely to the Cranston guise and to emphasize the parts played by The Shadow's well-established agents, since regular readers evidently liked them. Also, it meant "keeping ahead" of those regulars, with new surprises, double twists in "whodunit" plots, and most exacting of all a succession of villains who necessarily grew mightier and more monstrous as The Shadow disposed of their predecessors.

Always, his traits and purposes were defined through the observations and reactions of persons with whom he came in contact, which meant that the reader formed his opinion from theirs.

This gave The Shadow a marked advantage over mystery characters forced to maintain fixed patterns and made it easy to write about him. There was never need for lengthy debate regarding what The Shadow should do next, or what course he should follow to keep in character. He could meet any exigency on the spur of the moment, and if he suddenly acted in a manner opposed to his usual custom, it could always be explained later.

The Shadow’s very versatility opened a vast vista of story prospects from the start of the series onward. In the earlier stories, he was described as a “phantom,” an “avenger,”, and a “superman,” so he could play any such parts and still be quite in character. In fact, all three of those terms were borrowed by other writers to serve as titles for other characters.

Almost any situation involving crime could be adapted to The Shadow’s purposes

The final rule was this: put The Shadow anywhere, in any locale, among friends or associates, even in a place of absolute security, and almost immediately crime, menace or mystery would begin to swirl about him, either threatening him personally or gathering him in its vortex to carry him off to fields where antagonists awaited.

That was his forte throughout all his adventures. Always, his escapes were worked out beforehand, so that they would never exceed the bounds of plausibility when detailed in narrative form. And that was the great secret of The Shadow.”

In some regards, The Shadow is a mirror. He presents himself to people the way that's best suited to them, the way they'd like him to be, the way he needs to be to affect them. They want money, he has it. They want honor, glory and purpose, he gives them that. They want to fight and turn around social systems for the better, he funds their dreams. Gangsters want the underworld's greatest hitman on their side, he becomes that and lets it be their doom. The story calls for a rich aristocrat who can rub elbows with politicians and kings and presidents, he can do that as long as it suits him. Kent Allard can be a world famous celebrity in one story and a disfigured, broke and faceless nobody in the next. You want a kind janitor with unexpected fighting skill to spy on police and assist the homeless, he has a little someone named Fritz for the occasion. You want an evil monster to be defeated, bring out Ying Ko. Hell, James Patterson's upcoming Shadow novel, which by all reviews seems to be pretty lousy, apparently features The Shadow transforming into a cat. Why? Screw you, that's why! But you'd never see James Bond or Batman spontaneously transforming into a cat without outside interference. He's The Shadow, he's got a face for everything.

(Okay to be clear I don't actually want the Shadow to literally transform into animals, at least not without a good explanation which the book clearly doesn't provide, but I do think it illustrates my point about how generally weird he is)

He is a shapeshifter who can be just about any character in any given narrative who only reveals himself when it's time to materialize into a cloaked terror or a familiar face (whether it's Cranston or Allard or Arnaud and so on). War stories, romance stories, sci-fi stories, globetrotting stories, parody stories, he's done all of them and then some. He doesn't need to be the protagonist of a story, he doesn't need to be invincible, and he doesn't really have any set rules regarding powerset. Gibson stressed credibility a lot, but for over 70 years now, that's clearly gone by the window of the character's writing. By design, he was always meant to be able to smoothly integrate into any existing narrative. Frankly, the only thing that's really holding him back (or saving him, depending on how you look at it) is the fact that he's not public domain (yet).

I think for a start, it's not so much boundaries, because in make believe land boundaries are just things to be overcome on the way to telling a story, so much as it's a good working knowledge of the character and of how far you are willing to stretch your storytelling limitations to include him, because he can account for just about all of them. Now, obviously there's stuff that works for the character better than others, a lot of Shadow fans don't like it when they take the character too much into fantasy, there's debates on how superpowered should he be if at all, and so forth. I have my own preferences, but one of the bigger tests of long-running characters is how can they succeed and thrive when placed outside of their element, and The Shadow can do that.

Could someone do a crossover between the Shadow and Indiana Jones that didn’t rely on one or the other being little more than a glorified cameo in a small portion of what was essentially the other’s story, or reducing the former to his lamest two-dimensional “gun-toting homicidal maniac” interpretations?

would it strain credulity to attempt it with characters from an updated form of the private detective archetype like Thomas Magnum’s Hawaiian noir

Well regarding the first question, the latter portion I think is very easy to do. Just, don't write him like that. Just be aware of why that's a mischaracterization, why the character doesn't need that to work, why he works better without it, and so on. It shouldn't be that hard.

Regarding Indiana Jones and Thomas Magnum, I think these two actually lend themselves very easily to crossovers with The Shadow. On Indy's case, he already is a Pulp Hero operating in the same time period, who's got a heavily contrasting niche and personality to build a fun dynamic around. Indy is more story-driven, in the sense that the Indiana Jones moves are all centered around his experiences and point of view and growth as a person, compared to The Shadow's stories, which are not really about "his" story as much as they are about the stories of the people he comes in contact with. Indy is a blockbuster superstar while The Shadow lurks and slithers through the edges and cracks of a story until it's time to strike. But if anything that just makes even more of a case as to why they could team up without issue, since there's a further built-in complimentary contrast to work with.

I have never watched Magnum P.I so there's definitely stuff I might be missing, but looking him up, past the necessary explanation as to why The Shadow's hanging around the 80s, it wouldn't strain credulity at all for the two to team up. The Shadow has had Caribbean/beach-themed adventures and one unrecorded adventure in Honolulu, he has a beach bum secret identity called Portuguese Joe that he could use for this occasion, and Magnum seems like exactly the kind of character who could star as the proxy hero of a Shadow novel. He's lively and friendly and can look after himself, he has a job that leads him to trouble and puts him on contact with criminals as well as victims, he's got secrets and a dark past and a laundry list of character flaws, he's perfectly capable of carrying a story by himself but can be out of his depth in the schemes that he gets caught up in.

Could the Shadow ever functionally exist in a universe shared with a space opera setting like the Lensman series? Or Rick Deckard’s cyberpunk dystopia?

I'm going to tackle parts of this question more throughly when I answer one in my query that's asking me "How would you do The Shadow in modern day?", which I still haven't gotten around to answering because it's a tricky one. I won't go into the specifics for the two examples you listed because I've never read the Lensman books and googling about them hasn't helped much very much, and Deckard's a fairly standard P.I character mostly elevated by the movie he's in, there's not really much to discuss regarding him specifically interacting with The Shadow. The question you're asking me here seems to generally be: Could The Shadow functionally exist in settings so radically apart from the 30s Depression era he was made for?

My answer for this is a maybe leaning towards yes. Starting with the fact that the concept of The Shadow is more suited for allegorical fantasy along the lines of space operas and cyberpunk, than the gritty realism he's been saddled with for decades, which I'll get into another time. For some reason, a lot of people seem to harp on about how the Shadow's costume is impractical and unworkable for modern times, and said James Patterson novel mentioned above ditched it all together, which as you can guess was a massively unpopular decision. Matt Wagner talked once about how cities don't have shadows and men wearing hats anymore and that's part of why you can't have The Shadow in modern times (as if The Shadow was always supposed to be dressing like an average guy, and not cowboy Dracula). But nobody seems to have a problem with characters dressing up exactly like The Shadow showing up all the time in dystopian future cities with fashion senses where they stick out like a sore thumb (and really, they should stick out, otherwise what's the point of being all weird and dark and mysterious?)

Although The Shadow is specifically suited for urban settings, is conceptually rooted in 1930s America, and there are important facets of his characterization related to history like the Great War, there are not the be-all end-all of The Shadow. It's part of the character. Other parts integral to the character are, as mentioned above, the versatility and metamorphous nature he was always intended to have. His nature as a character who exists to thrive in narratives not about him and not centered around him. His roots on Dracula and King Arthur and Oz and Lupin which are concepts that have had so, so many drastical revisions and turnabouts that still stuck to the basic principles of the icon.

Besides, The Shadow's already been there. He's already been to space, he's already been in alternate dimensions, he's already reawakened in modern/future times several times now (when he doesn't just live to them unchanged). He's been a cyborg twice, and between those, El Sombra, Vendata, X-9, the Shadow-referencing robot henchmen from Bob Morane and Yu-Gi-Oh's Jinzo referencing the movie's bridge scene, it's enough to constitute a weird pattern of The Shadow and Shadow-adjacent characters turning into robots. Perhaps one positive side effect of The Shadow's decades-long submersion in fantasy is that it's opened the character for just about anything, and I think this could be a good thing if it was married to an adherence to the things that made him such a juggernaut of an icon in the 30s and 40s.

Really, The Shadow partially works on Predator rules. And by that I mean, the big secret of the Predator that filmmakers don't seem to get is that the best way to make a Predator film is to just put the Predator somewhere he's not supposed to be, and let that play out. Because the Predator is, by design, a trespasser who invades narratives and turns the power dynamics around, and that works for any narrative you put it into.

The first movie is all about setting you up for a jungle action movie with Schwarzenegger's Sexual Tyrannosaurus Crew as the biggest baddest death squad around, only for the Predator to appear, turn the tables on these shitheads and pick them off one by one until Arnie scrapes a victory by beating it at it's own game. The 2nd movie is about a drug war between cops and gangs in L.A, until the Predator shows up and suddenly he's the big problem again that's gotta be put down. All the other movies fail because they try to be "about" the Predator, but the Predator doesn't work that way. He's a ugly motherfucker who's here to fight and kill things in cool ways for the sake of it's warrior game, who already has a specific structure to how his story's meant to play out, and that's all he needs to be. What you do is just take that character, take the structure he carries around, and throw it somewhere that works by different rules, and let the contrast play out the story.

Obviously there's a lot more to The Shadow than this, I write a billion essays on the guy after all, but much of what makes The Shadow work, much of what made The Shadow such an icon at the decade of his debut and such an interesting character to revolve any kinds of stories around, was because of the great contrast he posed to everything surrounding him, and the ways he can both be at the forefront as well as the backseat of any story.

Going back to what Gibson said:

Almost any situation involving crime could be adapted to The Shadow’s purposes. He could meet any exigency on the spur of the moment, and if he suddenly acted in a manner opposed to his usual custom, it could always be explained later.

The Shadow was such an incredible character in his own right that almost anything he encountered was accepted by his ardent followers.

advisable to emphasize the parts played by The Shadow's well-established agents, since regular readers evidently liked them.

The keyword here isn't that the Shadow should be realistic, frankly that's always been a lost cause. He was never really that realistic, and it's unfair to expect writers to keep pace with Gibson who had lifelong experience with the in and outs of magic and daring escapes and whatnot. The keywords I want to stress here is "accepted by his ardent followers".

Make a good explanation, an explanation that fits the character, an explanation that works, and the rest will follow. And if you can't, make us like the character. Make us accept that he can do and be all these things. Give us something to be invested in. And if that can't be The Shadow himself because he has to stay at arms length constantly to be mysterious, Gibson cracked the code almost a century ago through the agents. Make us invested in them, and through them, we will become invested in The Shadow.

The pulp Shadow would get tired, get injured, need rescuing, need to stop and rest and catch his breath, would need to think and plan and make split decisions on the spot and sometimes would make the wrong ones only to reverse them in the nick of time, and it made the fact that he was achieving all these things all the more impressive. The pulp Shadow was a creature of fantasy grounded in the history of the world he was a part of.

If you can make people care about The Shadow, be truly, genuinely invested in him and his world and the people he comes in contact with, be as invested in those as audiences were back then, you can and maybe should put him anywhere, doing anything, as long as you know what you're doing. As long as you understand what makes The Shadow tick, what makes him work and what doesn't, and whatnot.

Which is a lot of words for "do whatever you want, just don't fuck it up"

[davidmann95]

So... Crossover #1: any thoughts?

Anonymous said: You seemed not to think much of Crossover #1 on Twitter. Your full thoughts?

wcwit said: So Cates' Crossover #1, best bad comic of the year or just regular pretentious trash?

An incidental note upfront: What you’re seeing there is the apparently SUPER-RARE SECRET VARIANT COVER I unwittingly picked up at the store - at first glance indistinguishable from the standard cover, the kid getting four-color-fucked by mysterious comic book rays is in fact themselves reading a variant cover of the book, rather than the main cover again in an infinite painting-within-a-painting sort of deal that’s the standard.

So I wasn’t gonna get this: my initial post on the comic and what an obviously awful idea it was back when we only knew half the premise and it was known as Pray The Capes Away actually got some out-of-nowhere traction recently, and I’ve grown rapidly tired of Cates’ Marvel work. Even learning that it was going to be Image’s biggest debut in decades - Jesus fuck, how and why - mostly just made me wish it was Commanders in Crisis getting those kinds of numbers. But Sean Dillon/@deathchrist2000 and Ritesh Babu both got early looks at it and assured me that I, specifically, needed to see the last page, so in I dove. I’ll be posting my reaction to the last page below because I recorded it for their amusement, and below that I’ll talk about said last page. It may surprise you, however, that that wasn’t my main takeaway from the issue.

Let’s accentuate the positive first! This book is gorgeous. Geoff Shaw was terrific back with Thanos Wins, but this is an incredible stylistic level-up aided and abetted by Dee Cunniffe’s colors: it’s rote as hell to say “They mix the elevated and the mundane so well!”, but even beyond the obvious ben-day dots stuff there’s such a tangible sense that the comic book beings don’t belong here, that they’re of higher, misty, platonic stuff and we squishy non-paper-people inevitably crumble and break and bleed in their wake, communicating that big idea so much more powerfully than the actual loads of text on the subject. And if we’re talking good things, I’ll concede it’s possible that there could be subtleties that play out in more interesting ways as it goes on, and that not everything is meant to be taken at face value: a smart friend who actually did like it mentioned being interested in it as clumsy but potentially effective exploration of ‘what if the fun hobby you had inadvertently became contaminated and stigmatized by forces beyond your control?’ In a post-Comicsgate world where we recently ended up inches away from the Superman logo almost certainly becoming a fascist propaganda symbol ala the Punisher skull for at least a generation, that’s a defensible lens to view this book through.

For all Donny Cates’ legitimate talents however, I don’t think an expectation of subtlety is gonna work out with this one.

Okay first off getting into the rest of it the main characters’ name is Ellipsis because “Those three little dots...they can become anything”, so there’s that. More importantly, in the world of this story where comic fans face social oppression after superpeople materialize and fuck up Colorado, they face EVERY KIND OF OPPRESSION: there are clear parallels drawn in here to the violence and harassment faced by people persecuted for their religion, people seeking abortions, queer people, and people of color; this motherfucker even drops a “hates and fears” to let us know comic collecting basically makes you one of the goddamn X-Men. Which in theory could be a purely misjudged allegory rather than stemming from actual, obscenely inflated to the point of disgusting fears of ‘nerd oppression’, except that the book literally opens with a quote from Wertham. If Cates didn’t want to make the message “Hating comics? That’s bad. Like, racism bad”, he utterly, grotesquely failed by inextricably intermingling imagery of real-world bigotry with systemic, deluded fanboy paranoia, at least as of this first issue that’s supposed to meaningfully convey the premise. As a queer dude I think I’m somewhat in my lane to say it’s too blunt and broad and dopey to be particularly offensive, but the co-opting of oppression is what this is rooted in.

The idea of ‘comics good no matter what people think, ain’t it?’ extends to the last traditional local comic store standing in this world: much as superheroes are the primary cause of suffering in this world but the point of the story is still supposed to reveal the beauty in them, part of this is that the comics community isn’t perfect but it sure is great. Which is expressed here via Ellie’s boss Otto, a loveable asshole who yells at people coming in trying to sell the wrong kind of comics to fuck off, but at heart is we’re supposed to understand a good enough dude that the shop he runs is “the only home a lot of (the benighted nerds) have left” (because I guess in this alternate universe the physical stores are still the main hub through which comics fans talk with one another?).

So here’s a story of my very own! That’s me in 2013, it must’ve been some kind of special day because I’m wearing a shirt with a button. I’d at that point only frequented one of what would be my thus far four regular comic shops. The first was a great place, and while to say I had a sense of community there would be overstating it a bit, I was on really good terms with the owner and we regularly chatted when we had the time. When I left for college my store there wasn’t as well-stocked, and for some damn reason all variant covers were double-price, but I got along really well with the owner there too. The third I wasn’t so lucky; the guy regularly behind the desk was never overtly hostile, but clearly wanted to wring my neck every time I asked when a missing comic might get in or if I could update my pull list, and given I’m in the ‘ideal’ demographic for being a comic book store regular and was dropping a solid lump of money there every week, I wonder how others were treated there (the store nearly went under, was saved on the last day of operation by another store that wanted to incorporate it as part of its franchise, then shortly afterwards DID go under and is now I believe a beef jerky place). My current store is fine, I didn’t chat much with the folks behind the counter even before we all had medical incentive to get in and out of places fairly quickly but it almost always has what I’m looking for.

Just because those were my regular stores of course doesn’t mean those are the only ones I’ve ever gone to. About a year before that picture was taken - it’s the closest I could find - when I was 17 my store didn’t have something or another I was looking for, so I head across town to see if another place I had looked up had it. This other place didn’t have what I was looking for either, though I distinctly remember picking up a few issues of Hickman’s FF while I was there since I had foolishly fallen off, hence my remembering the year. I bought a couple issues, but hung around for a bit looking to see if I might grab something else out of a dollar box, setting my comics down. Without realizing it, I’d set my books down on top of another issue, and when I decided I wasn’t getting anything else, I just picked that up along with the rest of the pile and was about to walk out before the owner stopped me. He explained what I had done though assumed it had been deliberate, and because I was a good-hearted little geek I even recall thinking “Well, he’s gonna chew me out, but I guess I deserve it. I’ll try and take this to heart as a learning experience.”

Then he pulled up his shirt a little to show me the gun on his belt. He pointed at the security camera monitors at his desk, and explained to me that if I ever did something like that again, he would have it on tape, and he would pull that gun on me and hold me there while he called the cops.

As it turned out, the comic was free.

The whole thing was so sudden and bizarre and unexpected I didn’t actually freak out until the drive home. It wasn’t until weeks or maybe months later that I managed to tell my dad about the experience, because I *had* nearly stolen a (free) comic and my guilt was mixed in with my nerves and I guess I was somehow too close to register just how disproportionate his response was. It wasn’t until now, nearly a decade later and thinking about it for the first time in a long time as I write this, that I wondered if that might have gone differently - especially living in the midwest - if I hadn’t been a white, squeaky-voiced 17-year-old.

So, minor spoiler, when our cantankerous but well-meaning LCS owner yells to call the cops and grabs and yells at a small kid for pocketing a comic (and later displays fantasy racism towards said kid), I am not filled with nostalgic love for the brotherly safe space that is comic book stores, where this guy while not meant to be seen as perfect is still framed in part as a charming, witty representation of Why We Love These Places, And This Community, And This Genre, And This Medium. Cates is clearly drawing on real time at his local stores, but he equally clearly has a very different takeaway from those experiences than me. And I am, again, in a demographic - white, cis-male, abled, bi but more interested in women, disposable income, a lifelong collector - that the industry and a lot of the guys who sell it to us contort themselves around catering to, even if I had a single very negative experience and later an ongoing low-key uncomfortable one to help disabuse me of any notions of the purity of the dork community. In the world of Crossover as of #1, toxicity is intertwined, deliberately or not on the part of the creators, with what we love on the cosmic and small business scales alike, but at least in the latter case it’s the whole picture that’s beautiful, not any single kernel that needs to be worked on to be dug up.

So underneath is my video reaction to the last page of Crossover #1. Very minor spoilers because I mutter the last two words of the comic to myself, but under the video I discuss said final page and some other scattered thoughts. Whether you read that or not, my takeaway is this: I’m fascinated with wherever the hell this thing is going, I’m glad my dad liked it well enough to want to keep getting it because now I’ll get to see where it heads, but my first impression is that this is at heart meant as cheapass Oscar-bait for people who only read Batman. It’s big and high-concept but also small and intimate! It’s meta and about how great you, the reader are for your consumption, especially the consumption of this! It’s going to be in large part about a forbidden love between a couple divided across impermeable social lines (a couple where they’re a seemingly straight white man and woman, but one likes comics)! Maybe it’ll become Not That, and I’m sure it’ll do at least something interesting along the way because Cates has done good stuff before and there are some inherently interesting big ideas for him to play with here, but for the love of god if you’re thinking about getting this buy Commanders in Crisis too or instead, it’s another new book out of Image about superheroes dealing with the collapse of the multiverse but that one is really fucking good.

So the final page splash reveal is that when the comic book child discovered in here got out of Colorado, which has had an impenetrable energy shield erected around it by one of the heroes for years, she and others were ferried out of there...by Superman, as the narration declares that “This is a story...about hope.” They don’t say the word, but she sketches her savior, Ellie and Otto freak out and go “Is that---” when they see it, and on that last page we see that while a crude drawing it isn’t a rough analogue character, it’s a guy with a cape and trunks with an S on his chest. Surprisingly, I don’t have much to say: it’s just another blunt signifier that superheroes rule and are the best, paired with the most utterly devalued notion as of late of what makes Superman special in ‘hope’. I mean, I’m perversely excited to see whether this is building the entire series on a hook it can never deliver on, or if Cates actually has talked DC into an intercompany crossover; believable given they’ve done a bunch of those over the last several years, and why else would Mark Waid be supervising as ‘story editor’ on this? I guess it’ll shake out one way or another with #6 given Cates has said it “has one of the more epic and — I would argue historic — sequences in comic book history in it.” But I’m far less convinced this is gonna truly go into the meaty question of “What does Superman mean and what makes him unique in this world where superheroes in general are indisputably either failures or monstrous bastards given the scale of destruction their presence has brought about, and he himself failed to stop that?” than as some kind of holy grail of how great superheroes are despite how dang violent they’ve gotten these days for the crew to chase after, whatever additional twist will surely be placed upon it. At least he’s kinda helping an immigrant kid get over a wall, if that’s deliberate?

Random final thoughts:

* If I wrote the opening essay and turned it in in a college course, I would be expelled for plagiarizing Grant Morrison. This is not a joke.

* If mainstream American superhero comics ended January 2017 in this universe, its own last ‘crossover’ was Civil War II, which is hilarious.

* God, please tell me if it takes the dive after all that this isn’t somehow tied into whatever Waid’s Superman project is.

* I wouldn’t normally crap on issues with the finer details of worldbuilding, but A. This is rooted in a nominally ‘real’ world playing by recognizable rules, B. I’m ragging on this anyway so what’s the harm, and C. It’s really obvious. So: Why is one of the racists against the superheroes the guy who loves superheroes so much he’s the last holdout in the entire world still selling comic books about them? How does this modestly-sized shop exist long-term with apparently a significant regular customer base if there are no new comics or even reprints to restock with, ever? Who’s buying the serialized cop/cowboy comics that the U.S. government apparently created pretty much overnight (nobody, it’s just another Wertham dig)?

* The solicit for issue #3 proclaims “Don't miss this one, folks. If you do, it just might drive you...mad.”, so now I fear some kind of Ultra Comics riff.

* “Kids love chains” is the most metal-ass quote of all time and I hate that it’s being wasted as an arc title on this book.

[punkofsunshine]

The (Informal) Miniature Anarcho-Solarpunk Manifesto

The integration of communalism into a classless system away from the main caste-esque system of hierarchy around the world is very costly when viewed from a consumer lens, but is essential in the degradation of the overbearing hierarchy that the main populace is subjected to and thusly become numb to the pressures placed upon them from an early age, spiral into endlessly consuming for a sense of being in a world that doesn’t care if you’re alive, to them you’re just a replaceable cog in the profit machine. The goal of the communalist, socialist, solarpunk, etc. should not be to live in their own bubble, but to expand their influence exponentially through participation with the outside world, turn a commune into a city as it were. Less people in a place that has dictated control by the state and the consumers within, the less control the state and capital have over people. A migration of people increases quality of life and food consumption, luckily food growth can be optimized to accommodate many people when given according to need as opposed to given to whomever has the money to afford produce. One must also keep in mind, the debt accrued is now a community responsibility, so the members will do everything in their power to keep people functioning in the community, that must include people paying off debts. Who are you if you let a fellow worker suffer on their own? Who are you to let a human such as yourself be subjected to the violence of the state in its many forms? Pushing back against such oppression is why we ascribe to this ideology, so we can taste freedom and save the earth from ourselves.

No individual is solely responsible for the pollution and poverty. Multiple corporations and their figureheads are. Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Bernard Arnault, Qin Yinglin & family, Michael Bloomberg, The Koch family, Jim Simons, Alaian & Gerard Wertheimer, Mark Zuckerburg, Amancio Ortega, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, the Walton Family, Steve Ballmer, Carlos Slim Helu & family, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Francoise Bittencourt Meyers & family, Jack Ma, Ma Huateng, Mukesh Ambani, Mackenzie Scott, Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr., David Thomson & family, Phil Knight & family, Lee Shau Kee, François Pinault & family. Sheldon Alelson, The Mars family, Elon Musk, Giovanni Ferrero, Michael Dell, Hui Ka Yan, Li Ka-Shing, He Xiangjian, Yang Huiyan & family, Joseph Safra, Dieter Schwarz, Vladimir Potanin, Tadashi Yanai & family, Vladamir Lisin, Ray Dalio, Takemitsu Takizaki, Leonid Mikhelson, etc. (Forbes) The list could go on, but I’m not about to list four-hundred people, the people have to change what the ruling class refuses to, hijacking corporate manufacturing and removing police of their power is essential. The police are targets due to the fact they protect corporate interests and stunt progressive growth, all of the people listed above refuse to let power be taken from them, there are too few people willing to make attempts to go after them because what would happen to their favourite source of consumption if that happened? What would happen to convenience? It would disappear, they don’t want to have to make things themselves, such is the first world’s entitlement. Doing without the convenience to save the environment should be a priority, things aren’t going to just get better on their own just because you installed solar panels and an eco-friendly water filtration system. The extent of the work that needs to be done is tremendous and must be organized efficiently and with regard to equivalency of power.

The world is in the process of ending due to all the turmoil we put it through, but the fact we’re more worried about comfort and convenience is very telling of what kind of culture western society has, instead of trying to fight those who destroy the environment and oppress us, we’re eager to mimic them. Why? Because they have and we have not. Such is the downfall of the consumerist mind. A majority of Americans think like consumers, not citizens, which is very telling because the anti-communist culture moted it be after the second world war. (Vox) There’s no telling where the zeitgeist is headed, but there’s political radicalization on both sides of the spectrum, sadly the other side of the spectrum is what we fought against, fascism, nazism, and authoritarianism. 2016 through 2020 were the worst years in terms of hate crimes committed on minority groups since the 60’s which is really saying something, neo-nazi groups sprung up and made themselves the focus, where there are fascists, there will always be anti-fascists or to be informal, antifa. I, the author am a background informant for the loose collective known as antifa, our job is simply to let people know where rallies are going down, we use pseudonyms and VPNs so we cannot be tracked. So why am I telling you this? Isn’t this supposed to be about what we can do to rebel against the systems that oppress us? Yes, and I’m getting there. There’s a reason I’m talking about fascism, and that is the fact fascism and capitalism are linked together.

Fascism/imperialism has been described as “capitalism in decay” by Vladimir Lenin due to the fact that neoliberalism is capitalism functioning as normal, communism post-capitalism, and fascism is capitalism going away slowly. It is an unjust and evil way of looking at the world, but once capitalists sense danger to their power, they fund fascism just so they can keep their power for longer. Anti-fascist action is also anti-capitalist action, for every nazi destroyed, we are one step closer to freedom. For every capitalist institution raided and demolished, we are one step closer to freedom. The city isn’t made of buildings that you can buy from, it’s made of the people who live there, so when the BLM protests occurred and stores were “looted” and burned, that was a form of praxis that hasn’t happened in years it was truly inspiring to see the people of Oregon (among other places) fight the police, fight back the alt-right, give capitalists the middle finger, create autonomous zones, and keep people from getting evicted during the pandemic. That is what communalism is partly about, supporting each other in the face of adversity no matter the cost of personal wellbeing, it’s the pinnacle of mutual aid.

Revolutionary action is one-hundred percent essential in securing future freedoms for not only generation Y, but generation Z and subsequent generations. As a member of generation Z, I feel fear, anger, and dread when it comes to climate change and the fact our generation will have to clean up the messes of the former generations when it comes to pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, unsustainable farming practices, soil health degradation, deforestation, the melting of polar habitats, natural disasters, etc. The weight of the world falls upon our shoulders and we realize this as a truth or we reject reality and follow in our parent’s footsteps and do nothing about it, it’s up to us, the most depressed and angry generation in the U.S.’s rather short history to right the wrongs made by former generations when most of us can’t even find motivation to get out of bed in the morning. I am writing this manifesto in my bed as I have been for the past week when I remember to write it down. It’s not enough to just write a theory however, put practice in it and it becomes more than just a talking point. It becomes a movement, how far you want to take it depends on you, but I do not condone violence against any of the people in the list above for strictly legal reasons. It is not absurd to think that we don’t have a snowball's chance in hell to stop the impending climate disaster that is about to fall onto us, because that assumption is correct. The best we can do is rebuild afterwards then hope and pray the next generation continues our work to restore the planet and maybe move outside our solar system, god willing.

I’ve tried writing a short solarpunk novel, I realized that the fiction may be important for outreach, but I was trying to add personal political theory to a narrative that’s supposed to be about a character’s internal conflicts as opposed to what I’m doing now, informal political theory, which is why I’m addressing you, the reader. I’ve read and listened to political theory in the past, and it’s incredibly dry and hard to pay attention to, don’t get me wrong, it’s important when you’re a part of various movements such as eco-socialism, communalist-anarchism, and anarcho-solarpunk, but I think it’s more important to connect with a reader or listener to make sure they understand the message before saying “do some praxis.” That is the goal here, not to be the leftist, humane version Ayne Rand, but instead instill in people a hope for the future that learns to do without mass manufacturing, that learns to make their own food sustainably, that learns that we all have a right to food, clean water, housing, medical treatment, and clean air without having to pay for all of those things. I may not be a part of the bottom percentage of people, but if I were my point would still stand strong, the notion that you have to work to get basic necessities is immoral on many levels, but in “free market” economies that’s the standard and I was as blind to it as most people before I found solarpunk, it started out by liking the aesthetic, but I started thinking about what we do to our planet and realized this isn’t just a bunch of pretty pictures, this is an idea for a utopian future entrenched in equality, sustainability, environmentalism, and anti-corpocracy.

Many people say that socialism has never worked, they give reasoning such as “Income inequality expands under socialism.” Which is just capitalist projection, during the 2020 pandemic, which is still ongoing at the time or writing, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. “. . . in the months since the virus reached the United States, many of the nation’s wealthiest citizens have actually profited handsomely. Over a roughly seven-month period starting in mid-March – a week after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency – America’s 614 billionaires grew their net worth by a collective $931 billion.” (USA Today) The middle class, which skyrocketed post-feudalism/post-monarchy has been getting erased by the ruling class, which is the goal of capitalism. Capitalism is rooted in the aristocracy or the bourgeoisie and was created to have control over the masses without having a direct economic power structure overhead. Things may have gotten better for the growing middle class and the poor marginally, then the industrial revolution kicked in and everything went downhill from there. Pollution began with burning coal, the car came along, now it’s coal and oil, and so on until today where we have access to truly world-altering technologies, but what’s holding us back are the people who continue to exploit non-renewable resources for profit and solely profit. The betterment of mankind isn’t on the mind of the capitalist, they can avoid global catastrophe, they aren’t the peasants, they’re the monarchs. Why do you think billionaires fund space travel and cryogenics research? It’s not to better the rest of the world, it’s to get the hell out of dodge after global warming takes its toll and they have no more workers willing to fill their pockets by letting their labor be exploited. As I said above, it’s up to my generation to fix the mess they made. Maybe we’ll learn a lesson, or maybe we’ll die in the process, either way the situation is dire and action needs to be taken.

Who will take action? Well, if you made it this far into the manifesto without falling asleep or getting angry at the things I have to say, it’s you, me, and everyone else who cares, is tired of selling their soul, and wants freedom. Freedom, not via the dollar, but via being human. It matters not your ethnicity, skin colour, religion (or lack thereof), sexuality, gender, or anything else; you matter, the world matters, and it takes all of us to save it.

-A manifesto by Aeron Fae Greenwood

[josephloegering]

Many Hebrew sites went down with Facebook

Warning: The US and NATO and Zionist State Medias are run by Antisemitic Democratic Communist, fake Christians and fake Jews and fake Muslims, Criminal Stalkers and Computer Hackers,  violating US and NATO and Zionist State Court and Doctors Orders, and force vaccinating and force drugging their Victims with everything on their Allergy Lists, screaming that they have no legitimate Medical or Religious reason, to reject their Mandated Toxic Poison Vaccines, and Toxic Poison Drugs on our Allergy Lists, as all the the Medias lie saying is Misinformation, saying that we must suffer the consequences for telling the truth against their Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminal and War Criminal Soviet Communist Atheists and Homosexuals, lying claiming to be Jews and or Christians and Muslims, to mass murder the Religious Abraham's, like the Antisemitic Democratic Left Wing  Soviet Communist USSR Orthodox Russian Maccabees had done, attacking us unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding Jews and Samaritans in Warsaw, trapping us in between them and  the Antisemitic Democratic Wing Wing Fascist Nazi German Maccabees Catholics and Lutherans

The Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminals and War Criminals on the Antisemitic   Democratic Facebook and in the Mainstream US and NATO and Zionist State Medias, say that I did not follow Facebook's Standard or Hate Speech, for telling the truth against their Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminal and War Criminal Soviet Communist Atheists and Homosexuals, lying claiming to be Jews and or Christians and Muslims, to mass murder the Religious Abraham's, like the Antisemitic Democratic Left Wing  Soviet Communist USSR Orthodox Russian Maccabees had done, attacking us unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding Jews and Samaritans in Warsaw, trapping us in between them and  the Antisemitic Democratic Wing Wing Fascist Nazi German Maccabees Catholics and Lutherans, and like in Nazi German and Soviet Communist Pogroms, they refuse to arrest and try their Federal and  State and Privately Funded Antisemitic Hate Crime and War Crime Criminals, and refuse repeatedly to Redress our Just Grievances, like the Antisemitic  Democratic Dictators Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler

Repeatedly the US Police and FBI, seeing the Death threats sent through Facebook Chat, and sent to my Desktop by Hackers, sent from the Antisemitic Democratic Facebook's and CNN's Criminal  Stalkers and Hackers, that set me up to be force drugged, and disabled, and or murdered, on US Soil, because the letters were written in multiple languages,  the US Police and FBI, deliberately repeatedly  lied to me, saying Call Interpol,  saying that they had no Jurisdiction over Foreign Terrorists, not with more death threats from the US and Zionist  Governments' and Medias' International Criminal Terrorists, Interpol says:

"Report a crime

Criminal activity should be reported to your local or national police. INTERPOL does not carry out investigations or arrest people; this is the responsibility of national police."

https://tinyurl.com/38d9nbxt

The Antisemitic Democratic Soviet Communists run the 13רשת that hijacks your links, and computer, if you are an unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding Jew or Samaritan repeatedly trying to download Software, don't download it, it will hijack your enter Network for the Soviet Communism Ransom ware Criminals, nd CNN and Facebook had them lock me up, disabling me repeatedly, forcing upon me everything one that allergy list, and when I asked for a Hebrew Tanakh to read while force drugged and disabled me repeatedly for 9 months, saying that were Jewish Rabbis, they blocked me from Hebrew Jewish and Samaritan Scriptures, screaming, "What, you want a Hebrew Tanakh to Read? It would coast us tens of thousands of US Dollars, just to get you a Hebrew Torah to read", and they said that were not under Michigan State Court Jurisdiction, that an Ann Arbor VA Neurologist had order them not to give me any of the Vaccines or Drugs, so who is the Antisemitic Democratic Fake Jew Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminals and War Criminals?

Someone Hacked Facebook, and was targeting Jewish Scriptures Teachings, for the Communists in the Mainstream Medias, my Computer that runs in Hebrew,  was hacked at the same time, now as Facebook is down, as a cover for their Antisemitic Attacks, many Hebrew sites are down, and may other sites  no longer display Hebrew.

Many of Family Members and Neighbors were disabled and murdered by the Mainstream Medias' Flu and COVID Vaccines, that  have no positive benefits, they are fraud Vaccines, that  block none from getting infected by any Virus, like the real Vaccines for Mumps and Measles and Smallpox and Polio do, and the Antisemitic Democratic Communist run Medias and Corporations gave Jews no Medical Rights or Religious Right to reject their Toxic Poison Vaccines, that cause Autoimmune System like malfunctions, destroying diverse  body organs, as the eventually just fail, because the Mandated Toxic Poison Fraud Vaccines.

The ICIJ – an International Criminal Antisemitic Democratic  Network of Reporters and Journalists,  and International  Criminal Antisemitic Democratic Media Organisations, and the International  Criminal Antisemitic Democratic Mainstream Medias, and their  Criminal  Vigilante Computer Hackers, that took the Laws into their own hands, and without a public trial, saying that there must be consequences for People that threaten their Democratic Rule, and destroying the Free Speech, and the Right to the Free Press, of Multinational Peoples,   the afore mentioned International  Antisemitic Democratic Criminals installing the Communist Dictatorship, took down Facebook and many Websites, to silence Multinational Peoples Freedom of Speech, to force up us the Antisemitic Democratic Communist Dictatorship, that we voted not for, and gave them no consent to rule over us.

According t the Antisemitic Democratic Mainstream Medias, they took over Facebook because of the Whistle Blower, and they obviously  abused the Powers as Criminal Stalkers, targeting us unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding Jews and Samaritans, that they repeatedly disabled and or murdered, with the Toxic Poison Vaccines and Drugs, that lie calling Safe and Effective, to attack all that don't want in the Anti Religion Antisemitic Democratic  Dictatorship State, that we voted not for, and gave no consent to rule over us.

None of the Antisemitic Democratic Journalists are Jewish, they are Antisemitic Democratic Soviet Communists, forcing upon us unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding Jews and Samaritans their Antisemitic Democratic Dictatorship that outlawed the King mine Yahweh, and the throne mine David's as Antidemocratic like Democratic Nazi Germans and the Democratic Society Communists, bot did

As their Toxic Vaccines caused the rise of Autoimmune diseases and many other Toxic Vaccine and Toxic Drug and Toxic Food and Toxic Drink caused Diseases, are on the rise among 9/11 victims, and the first responders, and the General Public, but the Deadly dangerous Psychotic US and NATO and Zionist Governments, which runs the health-care programs hasn't acknowledged a link, preventing the Masses access to the things necessary to live among the Living, preventing the Masses access to Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness."

As Whistleblower against the Criminal Stalking and Antisemitisim done by the Mainstream Medias, controlling Facebook to repeatedly do their Antisemitic Hate Crimes, and blocking our Posts, violating our Rights to the Freedom of the Press, to hide their Antisemitic Hate Crimes, as they arm against us unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding Jews and Samaritans, as they arm our Soviet Communist fake Jew, and Al Qaeda and Taliban and ISIS  enemies against us, refusing to Redress even one of our Just Grievances, like the Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminal and War Criminal  former Vice President Joe Biden that gave our Medical Records and Treatments to our Antisemitic enemies, and paid them to repeatedly lock us up without a Public Trial, to force drug and disable and or murder us like Nazi Germans

Mr President Joe Biden

I am Joseph R Loegering, the King Israel's, the Torah's Messiah

Mr President Joe Biden, you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, are hereby under arrest, for your Internal Antisemitic Hate Crimes, and for your Internal War Crimes

You as Vice Prescient failed to Redress even one of Just Grievances, failing to get our Medical Records and Treatments, out of the Hands of our Antisemitic Enemies

We are unarmed Hebrew Torah and abiding Jews and Samaritans, with all just Issues being still blocked from the US and Zionist State Medias, as like my Jewish and Samaritan friends, and again Mr President Joe Biden, like when you Vice President, I am being Criminally Stocked by your Antisemitic Criminal Allies, and my 1st Amendment Rights are being Violated by an Antisemitic Democratic Fraud Jewish Maccabees Government allied with US President Joe Biden, that repeatedly Blocked my sound pure Science Posts and Religious Posts from Facebook, to set up and mass murder my Jewish and Samaritan friends, like Maccabees Nazi Catholic Hitler, and Nazi Germany had done, and we demand that the Nuclear and WMD and Heavily Militant Armed US and Zionist State Government Disarm and Resign from Power, and report the Hague for Trial

Warning: We will not choose death, by Vaccination, nor will we choose death by the Communist Left Wing's Government's Mandated Vaccines, from the Minority 48% that want to force death upon us Unvaccinated that cannot take their Toxic Poison Vaccines, with their Communist Left Wing's Government's Mandated Vaccines, like Left Wing Communist forced death upon us, by Soviet Communist forced Medications, nor will we choose death by the Fascist Ring Wing's Business Mandated Vaccines, from the Majority 52% that want to force death upon us Unvaccinated that cannot take their Toxic Poison Vaccines, with their Fascist Ring Wing's Business Mandated Vaccines, like Right Wing Fascist Nazi Germans, forced death upon us, by Nazi German forced Medications, and we demand all that necessary to keep the Uninfected Unvaccinated and the Uninfected Vaccinated from getting infected, by the Infected Vaccinated infecting the Uninfected Unvaccinated and the Uninfected Vaccinated, with their new Mutant Stains that the Vaccinated are Producing, because like the fully Vaccinated with two Pfizer COVID-19 Shots, in Zionist State, with Heart inflammation, and Swollen Lymph Nodes, and damaged Kidneys, and Shingles like Rashes, caused by as their Toxic FDA approved Pfizer Vaccine and Drug Additives, as the fully Vaccinated are being Hospitalized with Breakthrough Infections, and Dying in escalating numbers, because they were Vaccinated wearing their scientifically proven failing ineffective Masks, and were Vaccinated with FDA approved Toxic Poisons, vaccinating them with their scientifically proven Toxic Poison unsafe and ineffective Toxic failing COVID-19 Vaccines, and failing Toxic Booster Shots, and their Toxic FDA approved scientifically proven Toxic Poison unsafe and ineffective and failing Drugs, and their Toxic FDA approved scientifically proven Toxic Poison Foods, and their Toxic FDA approved scientifically proven Toxic Poison Drinks.

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern;

I am Joseph R Loegering, the King Israel's, the Torah's Messiah

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, outlawed our Hebrew and Chaldee Scriptures' Dwelling and Hospital and Financial Systems, and replaced them with your Antisemitic Hospitals and your Antisemitic Usury Bankers and your Antisemitic Usury Bankers' Owned Dwellings, and Business, and Hospitals

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, violated and outlawed both the Pagan Democratic State's US Constitution's Gold Standard, and violated and outlawed Hebrew Jewish and Samaritan Torah's Silver's Shekel Weight monetary system, with your allied Antisemitic Democratic States' Paper Federal Reserve Notes and fake Jew counterfeit Paper Shekels call the New Israeli Shekels

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, outlawed our seven seventh year releases from Debts, and our Fiftieth Year's Jubilee's, and you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, violated and outlawed our Mishnah our Hebrew Calendar and Records, and our 49 Mishnah from our Mishnah seven sevens years, and our Jubilee's Census Mishnah done every Fiftieth Year since Adam as year one, in the Garden Eden, that your outlawed and replaced with your false Prophet Antisemitic Antichrist Maccabees Catholic Popes' Julian and Georgian Calendars

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, outlawed our Hebrew and Chaldee Scriptures' Schools and Apprenticeships, and our Fuels and Trades, and replaced them with your Antisemitic Evolutionist and Alchemist Public and Private Schools, and your Military Complexes' Antisemitic Evolutionist and Alchemist Schooling

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, have reduced us to an absolute state of despotism with your Antisemitic polarized opposing politics, and have repeatedly caused us more, and more, and more harm and or death, because you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, have repeatedly refuse and failed to hear, and repeatedly refuse and failed to Redress even one of our Just Issues, on our many, and repeated Just Petitions

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies have repeatedly disarmed, us unarmed Hebrew Torah Abiding Jews and Samaritans and the Muslims, and have repeatedly armed against us our enemy Antisemitic Taliban and Al Qaeda and ISIS and Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and have repeatedly armed against us our enemy Antisemitic Democratic fake Jew Maccabees Soviet Communist Zionists, and have repeatedly given our Names, and Ranks, and Birth Dates, and our Social Security Numbers, and our Medical Records and Treatments, and our Private and Public Records, to our Foreign and Domestic Antisemitic Democratic enemies upon US Soil, and upon all the Soils of all Nations abroad, and keep repeatedly refusing and failing to adequately, and to timely Redress even one of our Just Grievances

Mr President Joe Biden: You as Vice Prescient failed to Redress even one of Just Grievances, failing to get our Medical Records and Treatments, out of the Hands of our Antisemitic Enemies

Mr President Joe Biden, and Mr Jens Stoltenberg, and to the NATO State Rulers, and to Mr Isaac Herzog, and to whom it may concern; you and your US Government and your NATO and Zionist State Allies, are hereby under arrest, for your Internal Antisemitic Hate Crimes, and for your Internal War Crimes

We are unarmed Hebrew Torah and abiding Jews and Samaritans, with all just Issues being still blocked from the US and Zionist State Medias, as like my Jewish and Samaritan friends, and again Mr President Joe Biden, like when you Vice President, I am being Criminally Stocked by your Antisemitic Criminal Allies, and my 1st Amendment Rights are being Violated by an Antisemitic Democratic Fraud Jewish Maccabees Government allied with US President Joe Biden, that repeatedly Blocked my sound pure Science Posts and Religious Posts from Facebook, to set up and mass murder my Jewish and Samaritan friends, like Maccabees Nazi Catholic Hitler, and Nazi Germany had done, and we demand that the Nuclear and WMD and Heavily Militant Armed US and Zionist State Government Disarm and Resign from Power, and report the Hague for Trial

Warning: While the Warmongering US Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Left Wing and Right Wing Politicians, and their Allies, and their Satan's synagogue Warmongering Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Left Wing and Right Wing Medias are in Power Struggle, saying that must survive the Midterm Elections that we vote not in, because our Hebrew Torah outlawed voting for Rulers that are not Yahweh's chosen and anointed and appointed King upon the throne mine Abraham's and David's, and the US Antisemitic Hate Crime and War Criminal Government and Medias and the Allies, are still deliberately failing to hear, and deliberately failing to Redress even one of Just Grievances upon our Many, and repeated Petitions, for Redress of Grievances, we demand that the US Warmongering Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Left Wing and Right Wing Politicians and Allies, and their Warmongering Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Left Wing and Right Wing Medias, be removed from Power, and Arrested, and we demand that they stand Trial in the Internal Courts, for their repeated Antisemitic Hate Crimes, and for their repeated War Crimes, and for their repeated their Crimes against Humanity

Warning: The Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Left Wing Maccabees Catholic President Joe Biden, is responsible for spreading the COVID-19 Pandemic using the Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Right Wing Fascist President Donald Trump's fraud COVID-19 Vaccines, that do not block People from getting infected by the COVID-19 Virus like a real Vaccine would, and the Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Left Wing Maccabees Catholic President Joe Biden and his Satan's synagogue Medias, are responsible for the Deaths caused by the FDA approved Additives, causing people to develop Cancers, and Heart Disease from the Heart inflammation, and Swollen Lymph Nodes, and Shingles like Rashes, caused by the Toxic FDA approved Toxic COVID-19 Vaccine Additives, as their Toxic FDA approved Vaccine and Drug Additives cause all the Leading causes of Death upon the whole Globe

The Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminals and War Criminals Joe Biden and the Democratic and Medias, criminally stalking, and setting up. targeting and force vaccinating and force drugging unarmed Jews and Samaritans like the Nazi German Maccabee, as they go deeper in War Debts, making all Slaves to their Antisemitic Democratic States National Party's Debts, as they destroy the Global Markets for their own Political and Economic Gains at our expense, don't hesitate to arrest them, if and when enter your City, spreading the Pandemic with their Political Campaigns, and their Political Protests and Riots,  at our expense, as they hide the truth, that all the Maccabees abuse of Children, was done by the Anti American Antisemitic Democratic Communist Maccabees Catholic Homosexuals, that Maccabees Catholic Antisemitic Democratic  Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminals and War Criminals in the US and NATO and fake Jew  Maccabees Catholic Antisemitic Democratic State and their Medias armed against us unarmed Hebrew Torah abiding  Jews and Samaritans and Muslims

Warning: Don't let the Criminal Vaccinators say that failing Banks and falling Wall Street were caused by the Unvaccinated, the Warmongering the Nuclear and WMD and Heavily Militant armed Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Murderer Tyrant Vaccinator Dictators caused them to crash

Here in North Dakota, with only 31 Unvaccinated Hospitalized out of 971 Unvaccinated Infected, and 130 Vaccinated with one shot Hospitalized, out of 3, 297 Vaccinated with one Shot, that Poisoned and Disabled them, and got them Infected, besides the ones the Fraud COVID Vaccine Shots Killed, the US Government and CDC and FDA, and Medias are deliberately lying to the Public, to mass murder their Religious and Political Rivals, to force upon us the Antisemitic Democratic Dictatorship, like Nazi Germans and the Soviet Communists did

4,268 New Infections, 3,279 Vaccinated New Infection, only 971 Unvaccinated with a New Infection, making it so that if you take the Shot, you are more likely to get infected, because the Toxic Poison  Fraud COVID Vaccines poisoned your Immune System, as out of 4,268 New Cases, the  Hospitalized is 161, minus the 130 Vaccinated Hospitalized, equals 31  Unvaccinated Hospitalized, and out of the 4,268  New Cases, 3,279 are the Poisoned  Vaccinated, that were  Infected, because they were Poisoned by the Deadly dangerous Psychotic Vaccinators, trying to open their Societies for their own Political Economic Gains at our expense, as the Deadly dangerous Psychotic Vaccinator Politicians, and Journalists, and Doctors, and Sports Athletes, and Hollywood and Bollywood fallen Stars, block from the Unvaccinated what we need to keep from being Infected by their deliberately Poisoned and Infected Vaccinated

My Brother had serious Adverse Reactions to the J&J/Janssen Vaccine, and my Mother had serious Adverse Reactions to Pfizer Vaccine, because the Antisemitic Hate Crime Criminals  say that we have no Medical or Religious Rights to refuse their Mandated Vaccines

Along with many they call Jews, many of the Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Right and Left Wing Soviet Communist Russians and Antisemitic Antichrist Democratic Right and Left Wing Soviet Communist fake Jew Zionist, were poisoned by the Toxic US FDA approved Toxic Additives in the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, and in the Pfizer Fraud COVID Vaccine and un the Moderna Fraud COVID Vaccine

With all the Politicians and Medias and Sports Athletes having everyone that they might have contact with, both Tested and Vaccinated, while blocking us that cannot take their Fraud Toxic Poison Vaccines that don't stop any Virus, blocking us from what we need to keep us and our Families from getting infected by their extremely contagious COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections, and their extremely contagious secondary Contagious Pathogen infections, while they only reveal a few of mass numbers of Breakthrough Infection, that they get and spread with non essential activities, of spreading and forcing upon us the Antisemitic Democratic Politics and Dictatorships, like what infected the Fully Vaccinated U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for a COVID-19 Breakthrough Infection. like what infected Brazil's health minister Marcelo Queiroga, that tested positive for COVID at the U.N. General Assembly in NYC, Infecting both Vaccinated Diplomats and Vaccinated US Vaccinated and Unvaccinated New Yorkers, with a Strain from another Country, is another example of the none essential activates spreading their extremely contagious COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections, and secondary extremely Contagious Pathogen Infections

Because of the Diverse Types of Contagious Pathogens, that they are spreading by their non essential activities, because they made a five to seven week lockdown essential to Isolate the Infected, from the Infected, because their non essential activities kept spreading their Diverse Types of Contagious Pathogen Infections, and because they are still doing their non essential activities, and are still Spreading the COVID-19 Pandemic, and their Diverse Types of Contagious Pathogen Infections, for their own Political and or Economic Gains, at our expense, because they are non essential activities, non essential to surviving the Pandemic, and because they are activities that spread the Pandemic, across the entire Globe, disabling and mass murdering Multitudes, during the Rest of the Pandemic, to stop people from being infected and disabled and or killed by the infections, from their non essential activities, any Politician traveling from City to City, for his or her Political Campaign, and any Political Activist traveling from City to City, for his or her Political Rally, and any Protester traveling from City to City, for his or her Protest, and any Soldier from the lowest to the highest Rank, traveling from City to City, for his or her War, and any Medias' Media Journalist, traveling from City to City, for his or her Story, and any Star traveling from City to City, for his or her Show, and any Sports Participant traveling from City to City, for his or her Sports event, while you Isolate the Infected from the Uninfected in your City, those participating in those non essential travels from City to City, they must be blocked from entering your City, and must be arrested, and be jailed in Isolation Prison and Trail Camps, outside your City Boundary, and they must be charged, and be tried, and be hung, for their Mass Murders that they did by spreading the Pandemic, across the entire Globe

[joannalannister]

Anonymous asked:

Hey there, Lauren! I love your blog and metas! I have a question for you, in terms of the book, could you tell me when and where Daenerys shows signs of being a tyrant or a fascist? I see lots of metas say that she is, but from what I've read, I don't see any signs of that? Sure, she kills her enemies, but what powerful monarch doesn't? I just feel like the fandom has a very biased and double standard hatred when it comes to her, and I would like your opinion! Thank you!

Before I answer your question, we need some sort of working definition of fascism. To achieve this, I would like to quote a disabled person who helped lead the fight against fascism for years, and who died in the line of duty:

Over a year and a half ago I said this [...]: "The militarists in Berlin, and Rome and Tokyo started this war, but the massed angered forces of common humanity will finish it."

Today that prophecy is in the process of being fulfilled. The massed, angered forces of common humanity are on the march. They are going forward [...] 

We will have no truck with Fascism in any way, in any shape or manner. We will permit no vestige of Fascism to remain. [...]

In every country conquered by the Nazis and the Fascists, or the Japanese militarists, the people have been reduced to the status of slaves or chattels.

It is our determination to restore these conquered peoples to the dignity of human beings, masters of their own fate, entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

We have started to make good on that promise. I am sorry if I step on the toes of those Americans who, playing party politics at home, call that kind of foreign policy “crazy altruism” and “starry-eyed dreaming.”

--President Franklin D. Roosevelt, July 28th, 1943 Fireside Chat

What did the fascist Nazi Party stand for in WWII?

Historically, there was no Nazi Party apart from their racial and social agenda. It was a party founded on racial distinctions, with a vision to dramatically transform their society. The Nazis disliked and persecuted anyone who they did not consider Aryan. They persecuted and killed Jewish people, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and communists, and they wanted to eliminate people with mental or physical ailments. The Nazis pushed women out of the workplace and actively promoted patriarchy. [x]

But where does GRRM come into this?

I wasn’t a complete pacifist; I couldn’t claim to be that. I was what they called an objector to a particular war. I would have been glad to fight in World War II. But Vietnam was the only war on the menu. [x]

GRRM’s ethical views are at their clearest and most concise while discussing slavery and dehumanization in his (most excellent and highly recommended) vampire novel, Fevre Dream:

I never held much with slavery […]. You can’t just go… usin’ another kind of people, like they wasn’t people at all. Know what I mean? Got to end, sooner or later. Better if it ends peaceful, but it’s got to end even if it has to be with fire and blood, you see? Maybe that’s what them abolitionists been sayin’ all along. You try to be reasonable, that’s only right, but if it don’t work, you got to be ready. Some things is just wrong. They got to be ended.

Some things are worth fighting for. Fascism requires opposition, some form of opposition, or it will steamroller all over you. 

My regret now is not that I stayed my arm, but that I remained aloof in my window while others protested peacefully outside. It would be naïve to think that those marching in neo-Nazi parades could have a change of heart from such efforts, but I am more concerned with those who are not marching for anything. We must convince the apathetic to care, and stop those who are walking down the path of hatred before it becomes too late.

--David Olin, The View from My Window, Berkeley 2018, written for the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity 

Now, let me apply this to ASOIAF piece by piece. 

In every country conquered [...] the people have been reduced to the status of slaves or chattels.

This is Tywin. This is Tywin enslaving people as part of his militaristic campaign of aggressive force in the Riverlands. This is Tywin sanctioning the capture and torture of innocent people. This is Tywin “using” other kinds of people and disregarding the fact that they are human beings. This is Tywin enslaving Arya Stark. This is Tywin impressing people to work in his gold mines on a whim, as we learn in AGOT. This is Tywin reducing people to the status of slaves or chattels. This is Tywin. 

I don’t know how many different ways I can say it, but as I’ve said before and will say again: Tywin is the character in the ASOIAF books who most prominently espouses fascist ideology. 

There are other characters in the main series -- Roose Bolton and Randyll Tarly, for example -- who also exhibit characteristics of fascist ideology, but I would argue that it is Tywin who is the fascist poster boy of ASOIAF ... and it is also Tywin who is one of the main villains who is drawing humanity’s attention south away from the true threat of the Others, who wish to turn every living thing into their slaves and playthings. (Littlefinger also comes to mind.) Tywin is an unwitting general in the Others’ army. Tywin is fighting the Others’ Campaign of Dehumanization on their behalf. 

The Nazis disliked and persecuted anyone who they did not consider Aryan. 

Substitute “Aryan” for “Lannister” and this is Tywin. “a Lannister, and worth more.” It is Tywin who pushes an agenda of Lannister superiority and it is Tywin to whom non-Lannisters aren’t human, to the point that he had to marry his own cousin. He dislikes non-Lannisters so much he had to marry his own cousin!!!! It’s Tywin who passed down his obsession with blood purity to his children to the point that they literally have to fuck each other. It’s Tywin who puts his House (a proxy for his race) above the individuals in it; it’s Tywin who doesn’t care if Cersei and Jaime and Tyrion are ground to dust under his disgusting ideology as long as House Lannister reigns supreme. 

"Spice soldiers and cheese lords," his lord father called them, with contempt. 

This is Tywin. 

Non-Lannisters aren’t fully human to Tywin. This is fascist ideology!!!!

It was a party founded on racial distinctions

This is Tywin and Kevan, refusing to allow the Westerlings to marry into their family because of “doubtful blood”!!!!! (”Ser Kevan seldom had a thought that Lord Tywin had not had first.”) 

It was a party founded on racial distinctions

This is Tywin and his refusal to allow a betrothal between Jaime and Elia. 

they wanted to eliminate people with mental or physical ailments. 

This is Tywin and his hatred toward disabled Tyrion. This is Tywin and his refusal to allow a betrothal between Jaime and disabled Elia. 

The Nazis pushed women out of the workplace and actively promoted patriarchy.

This is Tywin. This is Randyll hating on Brienne of Tarth. (And you can bet your ass Tywin doesn’t approve of women with swords.) 

I don’t know how many ways I can say it: Tywin and others like him are the fascists. 

Tywin is one of the cold fucks the AGOT prologue warns us about in the very beginning: “the real enemy is the cold.” 

The central conflict of ASOIAF is between the living (the fire) and the dead (the cold), those who would recognize your humanity and those who won’t. 

It is our determination to restore these conquered peoples to the dignity of human beings, masters of their own fate

^^ This is Daenerys Targaryen ^^

Daenerys Targaryen is a freedom fighter who kills slavers in the books. 

Her breakup of the economic system of Essos (meaning SLAVERY) is more akin to a communist revolution than a fascist takeover imo. Daenerys associates herself with people of all races, all classes. She gives Missandei, who canonically has dark skin in the books, a place as one of her closest advisors. Unlike Tywin, Daenerys is not pushing an agenda of Targaryen superiority. 

Daenerys is not perfect. She does not always get it right. Daenerys has got some things wrong. But I don’t think there has been any other option for Daenerys. You ... you can’t just look the other way when evil men are crucifying children, and I truly do not think that non-violent opposition would change anything in Essos. “Better if it ends peaceful, but it’s got to end even if it has to be with fire and blood, you see?” 

Sometimes innocents like Hazzea have died on Daenerys’s journey. 

And I fully believe that more people are going to die in TWOW, and that Daenerys will hold herself responsible, whether she is or not. I know that TWOW will give all the antis of every character a lot of ammunition. TWOW is going to be a dark and depressing book. 

I think that Daenerys is going to reach a very low point in TWOW, just as Tyrion is nose-diving in ADWD, but I think that’s just what GRRM does with his greatest heroes. It’s the moment in a movie when the hero falls off the cliff, and the Evil Villain starts cackling maniacally and you think all is lost, and then you see the hero’s hand reach up over the edge and the music crescendos as the hero pulls himself up. Except the real villains that GRRMs heroes are battling are themselves. The cliff is a metaphor for our darkest impulses. 

Characters tell Dany in AGOT that “she is nothing” but Dany’s story is about proving them wrong. It’s about her finding her own dignity and worth as a human being out on the Dothraki Sea, and becoming the master of her own fate. As her story progresses, she helps others to do the same, helping people to rediscover their dignity, to regain their names (or take new ones), to find the humanity that was stolen from them. 

(This is why it’s so important to me that her story intersect with zombie!Jon, so that she can help a dead man remember what it is to be human and remember why it all matters. Because if none of it matters ... if a man can’t find a fuck to give, well, that’s Tywin Lannister, who was a cold dead man long before Tyrion shot him.) 

I brought up FDR in the beginning of this post. Although FDR died before GRRM was born, he was one of the great American cultural figures of the 20th century and I have no doubt FDR’s legacy was a formative influence on GRRM. And that’s the thing - so many of these, these great American cultural figures of GRRM’s life died before their work was completed: FDR, JFK, MLK, so many others... The promised land is somewhere ahead of us, despite the opposition making accusations of “crazy altruism” and “starry-eyed dreaming.” No one is going to drive us there and drop us off; we have to get there by ourselves, and the journey isn’t an easy one. It’s a place we have to keep striving for, working for. A dream of spring...

It’s not Daenerys’s destiny, I think, to rule humanity in the long term; Dany’s destiny is, I think, to make sure that humanity doesn’t, well, lose their humanity. To make sure that humanity doesn’t fall into eldritch slavery.

The Others would make us automatons in their icy, inhuman regime. The Others would steam-roller all over humanity, and take away humanity’s freedom to choose, as Tywin Lannister tries to do to his children, trying to take all of their choices away and control them completely. The Others would take away our self-determination, our freedom to choose good or evil, our freedom to be the rulers of our own fate. 

I don’t think it’s Daenerys job to be a ruler in the end. I think she’s fighting evil now so that other people can keep fighting that good-and-evil “human heart in conflict with itself” fight long after she’s gone ... I’ve never believed in a “Targaryen restoration” ending although I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to it. 

Like Moses, Daenerys won’t lead us into the promised land ... we have to get there ourselves. 

And I’ve strayed from your question into a topic that’s more interesting to me because I cannot fucking belieeeeeeve that you are even asking me if the compassionate, caring, teenage-girl, sexual-abuse-survivor, messiah-figure Daenerys Targaryen is a fucking fascist when everything Daenerys “the fire is mine” Targaryen does is in narrative opposition to Certified Fucking Fascist Tywin Racist Lannister oh my god I cannot believe this is where we’ve come to as a fandom, I cannot fucking belieeeeeeve. 

Anon. Honey. Baby. I say this gently, with love: Whyyyyyyyyy are you reading “Daenerys is a fascist” metas? That didn’t even work on the show. 

When I googled “Daenerys Targaryen fascist” to try and figure out what you could possibly be reading to argue against it, the top result is an alt-right thinkpiece website about how dangerous Dany was all along in freeing slaves!!!! And the next results are people who think the iron throne actually matters when GRRM himself has said that the political war is a red herring. 

The endgame rulers don’t even particularly matter because what matters in the end is that humanity wins against the Others and we still have control over ourselves, what matters is for that human heart conflict to continue to exist inside ourselves and that we rule over that conflict inside ourselves. 

"We all must choose," she proclaimed.

Practice some self-care; go read Armageddon Rag, and remember this: TWOW is not going to save us. 

[andmaybegayer]

[Warning: this post is mostly me talking to myself in text form for journaling purposes, and as a result is boring and sucks. I told you so.]

I've been listening to The Anthropocene Reviewed for the past couple months, slowly working through the episodes. A couple weeks ago I listened to the one on "Tetris, and, The Seed Potatoes of Leningrad."

You've probably heard about the seed potatoes of Leningrad, there was a post from the @tilthat bot going around. TL;DR, during the siege of Leningrad, scientists at the seed bank in Leningrad protected the enormous cache of food crop samples in storage there (many unique) and didn't eat any of it, while the scientists and people around them starved to death, cut off from supplies by the siege.

There are of course, two ways to look at this. Those scientists were brainwashed idiots, who protects mere crops while human lives are ending, how cold and heartless can you be. Those scientists are stoic heroes, they understood that the value of a seedbank far exceeded the value of the individuals around them, a fact they knew truly and objectively as professionals in their field.

Lots of problems people face look like this. Do you do something that helps you and the people immediate to you in the short term, likely leading to long term benefit for your group, or do you do something that is suboptimal for you and yours but helps many more people who may not help you in turn or even know you exist.

This post takes a turn now, and we’ll talk about Brain Drain.

Brain Drain (more formally "Human Capital Flight") is when people trained by one nation emigrate to another, usually because of actual or perceived improvement to quality of life in the second place, carrying their skills with them. The classic example is Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazis, or for a more controversial example, Soviet professionals defecting to the USA.

Now those are highly politically charged situations, so let’s look at the one I’m dealing with: South Africa is kind of a lame place to live compared to some other places.

South Africa is a rich and functional country by African standards but it’s still not a First World Country. Our currency is weak. Our Gini index is a joke. Education is poor the moment you step outside of urban centers, and even then, there are problems. The electrical supply is mostly reliable but regularly suffers from rolling blackouts. Violent crime rates have fallen dramatically over the years but are still higher than in many other parts of the world. Cities are unnavigable sprawls with little public transport. Internet is expensive. We get lower quality produce because the best stuff gets exported to richer countries who can pay more for it. The political system is deeply corrupt in ways that make even normal corrupt politicans go “well that’s a bit much.”

But I also grew up here. I got my immunizations from government clinics and government nurses. I attended a government school, and my university education was heavily subsidized because I am a citizen. I drive on public roads, My house is lit with electricity from a nationalized electrical grid. I was part of a team that had government funding to compete in a high-profile supercomputing competition, which included a completely free 10 day long training course for 80 undergraduate students. At some level, the investments of the government (and by extension, taxpayers) function and provide a return, if by return you mean training individuals within the population who can produce value in the standing economic system, workers with high school certificates and medical doctorates and welding qualifications.

Lots of South African professionals seek to leave the country. It is all at once a sufficiently modern and unequal country that if you grow up and become University Educated, you will likely identify more with other countries than with South Africa at large. I have lost count of how many people I know who have moved to Australia or the Netherlands or the UK or the USA. Many of them went through the same school and university system I did, and benefited from the same subsidies.

People frequently encourage me to leave the country, both for the primary reason (you can make more money as an engineer in the West) or for other reasons (you should see the world/you should experience other people) and I always feel torn between those. I have long been on the side of those Soviet scientists protecting their seed bank. I like to believe that I would choose the mass benefit over short term personal gain, that is the Socialist™ way after all. I feel (at some level) an obligation to live here, work here, to work to (at least) give value to people around me and (at best) to directly improve the systems around me.

But there is a thin line between obligation and nationalism. This is a nationalist tendency, at some level. Not quite “this country is good because it is mine,” but “this country has a claim to me, and I to it, and so I should stand by it,” which is, worrying, at times. How do you tell the difference. Should you even contribute to a system that you think creates a great deal of pain, suffering, and violence, and which sustains many harmful cycles. Can the good cop improve a bad system. Or should you just take what you can get and run as far as you can, because nothing you can do will help.

(Incidentally, I believe that a lot of things tied to the fascist aesthetic are not implicitly bad, but rather things that combine poorly with other traits. Nationalism is theoretically a powerful attribute to cultivate, if, of course, you are a truly virtuous nation which can vouch for the aims of its people en masse. Not that those nations exist anywhere.)

A deep part of me also /wants/ to flee. The work to improve a country (even when you are in a good position to do so) is slow, frequently hopeless, and does not often bear fruit in your lifetime. I have ADHD, so that’s a rough proposition. I can barely wait for things that I know will bear fruit in the next three days. I have been to New York City twice, and since the first time my heart has ached for dense public transport, the alien experience of white people walking in the street by choice, and the strange sense of certainty New York has of its place in the world. I love central Johannesburg, I like walking and being there when I get the chance, it is a place that is full of people and occurrences, but I am always reminded of a line by Neal Stephenson.

The only ones left in the city are street people, feeding off debris; immigrants, thrown out like shrapnel from the destruction of the Asian powers (and) young smart people... who take the risk of living in the city because they like stimulation and they know they can handle it.

Many people despise central Johannesburg, because it is a dangerous kind of stimulating which does not allow much room to relax if you, like me, are an outsider to the place. This isn’t the USA where every seventh person has an iPhone, it is easy to be a mark. Hell, several of my friends have been robbed in the suburbs, the city is a whole other animal.

That was fairly off topic. This is also my post, so I don’t care.

I have mostly been on the side of staying. The potential benefits of moving away are often just ideas of greener grass on the other side. There is no reasonable proof that I would be happier with public transport in the long term, merely more mobile. There is no reason to believe that living in the country that produced the media I am inundated with will somehow make that more meaningful to me, just physically closer. There is no reason why people from elsewhere could make better friends in person than the ones I already have here. These are mostly thoughts that are appealing to think because they cannot be proven, and so benefit from being hypothetical.

[honeyrose-tea]

this has been a strange start to the new year for sure. how are you doing? what did you think of the situation in the capitol? any thoughts or worries about the rest of the month? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on everything. -🌙

thank you so much for the ask💞 almost every day I check my inbox anticipating the next time I'll hear from you. just knowing that someone cares.... it really does a lot for my self-esteem. I don't have many friends right now and the few I do are very busy and have a lot of things they would rather do than talk to me. thank you for making time to listen to me and ask me how I'm doing. you wouldn't believe how many people don't. I haven't always been the most consistent presence for you and I'm sorry. I'm trying to do better and be less selfish because I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that. thank you for always being kind to me, pen pal.

there is a lot I want to say regarding the capitol and the situation in the country in general. as a social science student (and hopefully one day a professor!) these situations are of great academic interest to me. as a bisexual woman and an informed US citizen who cares about my rights I am also very personally vested in American issues. but first I would like to tackle your question regarding how I'm doing:)

I'm doing pretty good. classes have started back up but most of mine are online. I'm thinking of switching to online exclusively because of how much emotional (and sometimes physical) labor in-person classes are, and also for the sake of my health and my parents'. it's funny how so many things we did with ease before the pandemic seem so burdensome now. even small interactions are anxiety-inducing now, and I find myself having a hard time socializing even casually. like a muscle that has atrophied without use, my social skills are awful now. on a happier note, my productivity and creativity are both at all-time highs since social interactions aren't using up all my energy anymore. I brought my record player to my dorm room and I've been listening to a bunch of music, I've also been writing and recording some music of my own. I have a couple of demos and if you or anyone else is interested, I'll post them on here. once I record and edit full band versions I'll put them up on my soundcloud. I've tried sharing some of my stuff with some friends but none of them really care and I don't want to annoy them. besides, it's more for myself anyway. I wang to prove to myself that I can make music and that I can say something worth saying. a lot of my struggle over the past 6 months has been that I feel as though nothing I do or say can change anything, that none of my actions matter. I struggle a lot with control and I've been working on it for years, but it's still really hard for me. anyway. I'm enjoying class and what I do outside of it. I've been in my element living alone again (in my dorm) and feeling free to wear/do/say what I want, when I want. I wash my dishes and sing to myself and manage my time and drink lots of artificially sweetened and heavily flavored coffee without anyone around to judge me. and I get to cry and masturbate when I want, both of which are helpful in regulating my moods. I don't know. it's not like I'm doing anything exciting, but I am doing each thing I do well and with a happy heart. I feel like this portion of my life is something of a hibernation- the winter seasons combined with the pandemic have me in a cozy little daydream, reading and self-reflecting and getting back in tune with myself and my passions. I have a feeling that the spring and summer will be very vibrant bustling months so I am trying to enjoy my rest and soak in as much knowledge about myself and the world around me as I can. it's hard for me to live in the present and not get antsy (connected to control issues, I think) but I'm getting better at it. on the subject of the future, I've also been using this time to look into grad school and prepare for the GRE (a standardized test required for most grad school applications, similar to the ACT/SAT). I'm learning a lot that I didn't know since neither of my parents went further than undergrad, and I'm getting excited. I'm really looking forward to doing research. I've already been collecting some thesis ideas for an undergraduate-level thesis that I have to complete next year for the honors college, and hopefully I can turn that into a masters and/or PHD thesis when the time comes. now, on to more important matters than my silly little life.

I have very complicated feelings about america. I do have some attachment to some of the original ideas that are at the foundation- "bring me your huddled masses...", "all men are created equal", the general spirit of democracy, etc.- all of these are valid and worth keeping (in some form) to me. I think a lot of good people and ideas exist around us and I believe that we must be as empathetic and kind as possible to one another in order to navigate the current climate and preserve the good that we do have. that said, america was also founded on some pretty terrible, bigoted principles and our history- as well as our present- is marred by injustices. our society has become highly individualistic because of capitalism, and it has resulted in considerable division on every level. the competition that fuels capitalism is like an invasive species of plant, it does not only exist within our economy but it slithers out into our social world and the way we relate to others. I think capitalism coupled with our post-enlightenment founding is the source of most all of our problems as a country. capitalism has taken root in america in a way more malicious and all-consuming than in any other culture, because it was there at the beginning of our country and all of our social norms have grown out of it. many other cultures have existed long before capitalism and though it has modified their culture, it has not altogether become it. because america was founded on capitalism, we have no cultural identity outside of it. america is, itself, capitalism. that is precisely why america is experiencing all of the best and worst parts of capitalism at their most extreme. it is why, as I mentioned previously, we are perhaps the most divisive and competitive society in the modern world, and probably in history. we are the richest and most powerful country but we have the largest wealth gap and incarceration rate, among many other extremes.

all of this is to say that the rise of Trump and fascism in this country has been a long time coming, and unmistakably inevitable. to defeat it we will have to break america down to its fundamentals, throw out everything that is unethical and unjust, and rebuild our entire society from there. this is radical and hard to imagine, it will also be very difficult to execute, but I strongly believe that much of our societal systems just cannot be reformed, they must be thrown out and replaced.

the capitol riots were inexcusable and sickening but decidedly inevitable. this has been steadily building for america's entire existence. I think it will get worse before it gets better, as there are already plans for bigger and more numerous protests across the country in the following weeks. that said, I feel hopeful as I see the anti-fascist movement grow in the wake of fascism, I am hopeful as I see many people being radicalized and awakened to the realities of this country's failings. I don't know how exactly we will even begin to rid ourselves of the biases, prejudices, and downright hatred that plagues our country. I don't know how we will relate on an individual level to those with such deeply-ingrained hate in their hearts. I don't know how we will change our systems of government and economy to reflect new cultural values that we begin to build together. I am not sure what the future will hold. I do believe, however, that we will triumph over this moment and that the future will be better. I think that the only way to radically change and unite so many vastly different people and remove the blinders from their eyes is through a terrible, historic awakening like the one we are having now. the situation itself is awful, but I am hopeful that out of this mess we become a nation more committed to justice and to some of the ideals which we have falsely claimed to be emulating for our entire history.

so yes, I am worried about the next few weeks, months, and even years. there is no end to the pursuit of a just society, and I think every informed citizen is always a bit apprehensive about certain aspects of their culture. there will always be problems to combat and injustices to rectify, but I think that we will soon be moving to a better place, that we will remember these moments and say, "never again". I am hopeful, despite seeing some of the worst of humanity in recent days, that these atrocities will bring positive change.

I know that was long and instead of discussing issues about the capitol, or even just current political issues, I expanded the scope considerably and dragged in a lot of things from history and grander sociopolitical theories. still, I think it is hard to talk about the insurrection attempt without talking about a lot more. thank you for reading my takes and caring about them. I spend a lot of time thinking about these things, and it feels nice to share them with someone other than my annoyed professors who want me to shut up so they can finish the lecture and stick to their semester schedule.

I hope you're well and that you're staying safe and healthy. are you in school now too? have you or your family had the virus? thank you for coming to talk to me, I always enjoy it. I'll talk to you again soon💞

[jyndor]

Cop-thing-anon here again (yeah I check the hashtag quite a lot..perks of covid homeschooling I guess)

Wow, I don't even know what to say

I knew what/who inspired the nations from atla but I had no idea that everything was deeper than that. I guess I thought atla's message was bad guy = ozai & sozin I guess and taking over the nations = bad. I also had no idea that azula ever said that

Makes sense the way you put it, I didn't think the creators would put in this much thought, like having the message run deeper than it usually is and taking real life events and shaping them kid friendly

You got me there.. actually convinced me. I'm still bummed, sorry

hey anon, I don’t want you to feel bad about not knowing some shit especially if you are a minor (which I am assuming because homeschooling). like I’m 29 and I didn’t know all of that when I was first watching avatar. at all. no one starts fully educated, that’s kind of the point of unlearning and growth.

also like, atla’s message is many messages - whether intended by the creators or unintended. and I don’t even agree with all of them. that’s the thing about media. there’s no such thing as ideologically pure content - there’s always going to be progress to make. and if you’re talking about atla’s creators (like bryke etc) then yeah they put a ton of thought into atla. I have issues with bryke but no one can say they didn’t do an amazing job researching for this world they wanted to build. and I just scratched the surface - there are so many other cultural influences on atla, from the sun warriors (pulling from aztec/incan/mayan cultures) to the foggy swamp tribe (probably related to people of the mississippi delta, or like the bayou) to the dai li being named for general dai li who was a top chinese government official and a fascist leader, etc. now it’s not perfect, like I said these peoples are not a 1 to 1 match for their real life influences.

I do believe that kids are smart and capable of digesting a lot. I was 14 or 15 when I first saw atla, and even though I was super anti-war (now I would categorize myself as anti-imperialism) avatar still taught me a lot. and when I rewatch the show I get so much more out of now that I understand more about these themes that they were pushing in the show.

like for instance, the episode where katara becomes the painted lady to save the fire nation town that is being poisoned. I was so mad at those townspeople for not accepting her because of her waterbending. like, how dare they? now... I still find it abhorrent but I understand why the writers made that choice. first off, those towns people were so poor and exploited I’d be shocked if they’d ever seen a waterbender before. so they probably didn’t know what waterbenders look like. and also, it’s a real thing that happens. poor communities can be bigoted and also exploited by corporations and business interests. that episode is not just about katara having empathy for poor people (even if they are people who have benefited in some small way from her people’s oppression) it is also about the toll that imperialism and the war machine have on the people who are supposed to benefit from those systems.

if you look at the united states, people like to say fuck america it should all drown etc, and yeah fuck the united states I agree, but the us is full of people who are dying from poverty and hunger and cancer from industry, and I’m not even talking about black americans who do not benefit from imperialism at all, but like... west virginia. skid row in california.

I read this un report on poverty in the us that fucked me up for a while:

“The evidence is  everywhere. On Skid Row in Los Angeles, 14,000 homeless persons were arrested  in 2016,         including for urinating in public and other "quality of life" offenses, while overall arrests in the city were  declining. For those wondering what the problem is, the answer is not hard to  find.  In 2016 there were only nine public toilets available for some  1,800 homeless individuals on Skid Row. The resulting ratio of one public  toilet per 200 individuals would not even meet the minimum standards the UN  sets for Syrian refugee camps.”

so like, not to bum you out further anon, but that is why critically engaging with media is so important. because if you just watch that episode and say “well fuck those poor fire nation people for probably being at least xenophobic if not racist” um I mean I get it I am sympathetic to that point. but it also brings up the lie of american exceptionalism that people around the world did actually believe. like that coming here would be better for people. idk maybe it is. but that episode was also saying that being a poor person, even a poor citizen who has privileges in their imperialist country, is at risk because of imperialism and capitalism lbr.

you can argue that that episode makes the case against there being a clear race factor in the show, but I’d argue that most people are willing to deal with someone’s differences until those differences are explicit. they’re totally cool with katara until they see the proof of her foreignness, and then they hate her. even when she put her neck at risk for them.

as far as the fanart goes, I’d be shocked if they were like “haha I’m fucking over indigenous people and supporting cops and police brutality” but it is a matter of not unlearning harmful things. like I know that the artist said they wanted to make sokka the cop first, but that is also a common thing in cop propaganda in shows. so like, have you ever seen the cool black cop or the gay cop or the woman cop? or the gay black cop with a cool corgi? that is making cops look progressive. that is a common ploy. it’s used by countries and companies to seem progressive (pinkwashing - israel does this, pretends to be gay friendly and woman friendly but they’re still harming palestinians so they’re not gay or woman friendly) and it works. people love brooklyn 99. but it’s still doing heavy lifting to present police departments in the united states as decent when they just are all complicit by nature.

so chances are that artist was not thinking about the messages they sent. and that art had over a thousand notes, so clearly people didn’t really think about it either. I saw a couple of comments saying it was gross but... shrug idk.

anyway, I don’t want you to be bummed out because of this. you didn’t do anything wrong, you just didn’t understand why I was mad about it. <3

[silvokrent]

(Trans anon) Rep is good, important, and necessary for the progress of society. I’m glad you’re not complacent, neither am I, fight for rep and all that it entails, and I hope we can see that day that everyone doesn’t feel like a stranger that’s out of place. Just leave Doom and every other successful franchise alone if they continue to do their own thing. They’re unifying, despite the progat, as every race, gender, and sexuality I know love Doom despite its lack of rep.

For the sake of ending an argument before it begins, we clearly have different opinions regarding representation. I accept that. But I'm not going to stop demanding that franchises provide representation. I have no intention of leaving Doom and their ilk alone. That's my prerogative. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, then don’t engage. At the end of the day we can live-and-let-live.

But you don’t have the right to dictate to other members of our community to stop just because you feel it’s unnecessary. You don’t have the right to come into my space and demand that I “just leave [them] alone” and let them do their own thing just because they’re successful. If people like myself want to criticize media for being bereft of queer rep, we should be able to do so without fear of backlash. There are already enough detractors out there without having to contend with intra-community conflict. That’s simply not a discourse I want to engage in beyond establishing my stance on the matter. At the end of the day, me asking for representation doesn’t do any harm, and at best, carries the potential to do some good. I see criticism as a catalyst for change and progress. And right now, the forces driving those changes are feedback from consumers of media, be it videogames, cinema, literature — take your pick.

Large companies including representation is important for quite a few reasons. It’s a sign of allyship — that by featuring queer characters, you’re promoting human rights over lost profits from bigoted customers boycotting your game out of a sense of entitlement. At the end of the day, that’s the message that’s being sent: that a company values diversity more than profit. That normalizing queer existence is a more important endeavor than catering to the whiny queerphobic pissbabies out there that throw a tantrum whenever a franchise gets “taken over by the SJWs.” That making their communities safe for minorities is more important than permitting toxic people within those same spaces, at the expense of minorities feeling unwelcome.

We need rep in triple A titles and other big-name companies because this knee-jerk reflex is still a thing. Because whenever a company includes even one (1) character that’s POC, or disabled, or neurodivergent, or queer, there’s always an inevitable shitstorm on social media from alt-right, fascist, white supremacist, homophobic hate groups and their members. It’s gotten to the point where this is expected. This is normal.

That’s why we need representation from id Software and other industry veterans. Because it sends a message. If diversity doesn’t matter, then why are the protagonists of so many games the exact same cookie-cutter cishet white guy? Why is this template “default”? Why is the ratio for this archetype so disproportionate to reality? The world is not 50% generic white dude, 50% “other.”

I’m not gonna stop playing these games because I do, in fact, love them. But I can love something and still be critical of it. I can still enjoy the content I consume, while holding its creators to higher standards. I can still expect these franchises to represent the other demographics that make up their consumer base. To reiterate: there is nothing to lose in asking for diversity, and everything to gain. No one is harmed by a game featuring an asexual Muslim woman, or a nonbinary Deaf Korean person in their casts. But if you pitched this idea on Twitter, I’m sure you’d have thousands of people bitching about how their beloved franchise is being tainted by the “liberal agenda.”

Why is a Deaf person’s existence an agenda? Why is a queer person’s existence an agenda? Why is simply being a radical agenda?

It’s because people feel comfortable asking questions like these that we need representation, and we need to hold content creators accountable. Art is informed by our opinions just as much as the art we consume informs our opinions. We need to deconstruct the systems in place that make the existences of marginalized people controversial, when the act of existing shouldn’t be in the first place.

And I have a right to say something about it.

I doubt we’ll ever see eye-to-eye on this topic, and that’s fine. For the sake of parting amicably, please don’t continue to engage me further on the topic. I’d prefer to simply part ways and let the matter be done. Thanks.

[qqueenofhades]

Hi there, I really liked what you had to say about the upcoming election. I was wondering if you have published any articles recently in regards to that? I know you said you were a historian.

Aha, thank you so much, this is very flattering. Alas (?), the book that I have just published is about the crusades, as I am a medieval historian by training. However, one of my main research interests is the role of the “imagined medieval” in modern culture, I have written a book chapter about the role of the crusades in post-9/11 political and cultural rhetoric, and I am developing a research project that examines the current crisis of public history through a medievalist perspective. That, however, is still in draft stages.

That said, I absolutely DO have a mini reading list for you (and a lecture to go with it, because as noted, I am an academic and this is how we function!) The topic of today’s class is “Why Accelerationist Ideology Is And Always Has Been Horrifically Racist and Genocidal Throughout History, and White Americans Only Like It Because They Don’t Live In Countries Where It Was Done (By America).” Not very snappy, but there you have it.

The reading list, to start off, is:

The Cold War: A World History by Odd Arne Westad

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow

The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia by Michael Sells

These are all hefty books (though the Maddow and Sells books are shorter) but they’re accessible and written for the layperson, and we always have time to educate ourselves. Why are they relevant to the 2020 election, you might ask?

First: the Cold War book lays out in great, GREAT detail the consequences of a global world order absolutely gripped by a competing standoff of ideologies (American capitalism vs. Soviet socialism) and how these two forces gulped up the politics of the rest of the world, destroyed numerous satellite states, and tried to rebuild them from the ashes into new ideological utopias -- precisely what a lot of people are suggesting now with the ridiculous “just burn everything down and it will magically fix itself!” theory that is somehow presented as the Moral Alternative to voting for Biden/Harris. You know what this caused during the Cold War? Yep. Human suffering on a massive scale, and absolutely zero utopian perfect states, whether capitalist or socialist. It also makes the extremely salient point that in the 1930s, German leftists and liberal democrats were infighting among themselves as to who was Less Morally Pure, and couldn’t agree on a candidate or a moral imperative to oppose the other guy, and figured that their flawed liberal idealists were “just as bad” as said other guy. Was that guy’s name Adolf Hitler? Why yes. Yes it was. Is there a lesson here for us? Who can say. Seems hard to figure.

Leaving aside the tragedy and pointlessness of the Korean and Vietnam Wars, both fought as proxy battlefields between Americans and Soviets, let’s consider the Great Leap Forward, in China (1958-1962) under Chairman Mao Zhedong. The idea was to dismantle traditionalist Confucian Chinese society and rebuild it as a modern socialist state, which was the goal of a lot of twentieth-century old-school socialist/Marxist “people’s republics.” Mao took this exact “burn conservative society down and rebuild it according to Enlightened Leftist Principles” approach and it was... a disaster. A total and epic disaster that caused both short and long-term suffering to the Chinese people and, wouldn’t you know it, did not result in a utopian Chinese state. This is also the reason you cannot say anything complimentary about Fidel Castro, especially if you want to win Florida, no matter how “good” you think his socialist principles were in the abstract, because: Cubans and Cuban-Americans fuggin’ hated the guy. You know why? Because he also destroyed their lives.

Obviously, there is a ton of distance between old-school Communism in the 20th century and 21st-century modern democratic socialism such as that run in Norway (and the Scandinavian countries in general), no matter if your racist uncle on Facebook insists on conflating the two and howling about the Red Menace like it’s still 1962. But the point is that radical leftist accelerationist theory hasn’t changed from 1962 (or frankly, from Karl Marx) either. It still figures that by some miraculous principle, the entrenched systems and ideologies will either just disappear or be “torn down,” the Peasants will Rise Up and Overthrow the Aristocracy, and something something socialist utopia. Except that was tried multiple times in the 20th century and it always failed. More than that, even if it was supposedly “leftist,” it inflicted just as much suffering on its own people as fascist right-wing dictatorships. Americans have always been infused with the triumphalist confidence that they “won” the Cold War because socialism was bad, and it was the inherent flaws in socialism as a world order that doomed it to defeat, unlike rah-rah Red White and Blue American Capitalism. So capitalism, ignoring its own fatal flaws, went hog-wild in the 80s and 90s, establishing Reaganite deregulation as the core and unimpeachable tenet of the market, and we’re all living in the increasing wreckage of that economic system now. Obviously the right wing uses “socialism” as a bugaboo to scare us that Things Could Be Worse, but I haven’t seen the faintest trace of historical context or awareness from the particularly deluded breed of hard leftists who still cling onto the magical theory that a Perfect People’s Uprising Will Fix Everything.

On that note, let’s move to Naomi Klein. The Shock Doctrine lays out in similar excruciating detail how the U.S. systematically destroyed the economic systems of countries particularly in Asia and Latin America (and the entire shameful history of Uncle Sam in Latin America should be required reading for EVERYONE) and sold them a bill of goods about “free market economics” in the Keynesian model. Guess what resulted from this attempt to destroy entrenched societies overnight and rebuild them in the name of Ideology? If you guessed “massive human suffering and ongoing generational devastation and dysfunction” you’d be right again! This was accompanied with constant political interference from the CIA and the State Department to support right-wing dictators and military takeovers in a way that have left the politics and institutions of Central America in permanently broken disarray, because it turns out it’s a lot easier to keep exploiting those brown people in governmental systems that don’t allow dissent or democracy, no matter the exalted principles you like to preach about Freedom and Liberty. The U.S. likes to act as if the Central American refugee crisis is this unwarranted invasion of these dirty immigrants, as if it didn’t play a DIRECT AND LONG LASTING EFFECT in destroying the infrastructure of these countries to the point where they’ve become incapable of functioning as healthy democracies. If you think “banana republic” is the name of an upscale clothing store, I beg you, research the history of that term.

This hasn’t even gotten to the absolutely horrible history of Africa’s treatment at the hands of white Europeans (see the Kendi book for obvious anti-racism education and also how those racist ideas are directly built into the ideological infrastructure of America). Somehow white leftists, while professing to be allies of Black Lives Matter and proclaiming themselves Woke, have managed to overlook this, and I don’t know how??? (Answer: it’s racism Jan.) First it was the transatlantic slave trade and the large-scale kidnapping, sale, and chattel bondage of generations of people. Then it was 19th-century colonialism and imperialism, where Europe thought it could “civilize” the “Dark Continent” and rebuild it to an “enlightened standard.” This was not a right-wing project; this was solidly mainstream and it was enthusiastically advocated by many liberals and intellectuals who busily composed an entire academic and “scientific” literature to support it. Did the European wholescale destruction of traditional societies in an attempt to build a Perfect Ideological Utopia result in... massive human suffering, by any chance? Leopold II of Belgium might have something to say about that. Then when an overstretched Europe was finally forced out of its overseas colonies in the aftermath of World War II, guess what resulted? Did African society spring from the ashes and remake itself in a perfect image? Nope! It became subject to decades-long civil wars and bloody military dictators because its infrastructure had been so crippled (very deliberately so) by its departing colonialist overlords that it likewise had no sustainable model for development. It turns out when you break things out of the idea that they’ll magically fix themselves, they just stay broken and they get worse. Now we once more have the West acting like Africa is a hotbed of Primitives while ignoring its own role in destroying it (and the situation in the Middle East, but that’s a whole OTHER can of worms! So many cans! So many!)

The Peter Frankopan book is an excellent exploration into the flourishing medieval trade networks across the East, the function of the Silk Road in bringing culture and commodities across the known world, and how Europe’s intervention and eventual ascendancy was marked by profound violence, the destruction of these networks, and the outright pillage of non-white people and riches. Which we know, but... read it. Europe and its heir (America) started the crusades, colonialism, imperialism, two world wars, and other conflicts that always contained a virulent aspect of spreading Ideology and getting people to Believe The Right Thing. These cumulative conflicts have devastated the planet repeatedly and we are still feeling their effects right up to this minute. They were all connected to Establishing Supreme Ideology and Supreme Whiteness (and Supreme Christianity). I’m detecting a pattern. The Rachel Maddow book explores how from the 1980s onward, America went absolutely hog-wild with the military/military ideology as a central way to solve its problems, which was tied to the Cold War, capitalism, and extreme individualism. All of which are tied to our current mess today.

Obviously, the most extreme examples of putting ideology above people result in outright holocausts, which is why you should read the Michael Sells book about Bosnia. Everyone knows about the WWII Holocaust of the Jews (and we have already seen how that is busily being denied along with the return of anti-Semitism, which never goes away), but the Bosnian holocaust was happening while most of us were alive. The West deliberately ignored it, because it was framed as the “last crusade” against Muslims in Europe and they needed to be removed in order to create a Pure Christian Europe; hence the Bosniaks were apparently an acceptable sacrifice in achieving this. I have some words on my tongue, I think they start with “massive human suffering,” and how that is constantly what results when an existing society, no matter how flawed, is attacked by ideological zealots who see huge amounts of death as an acceptable price to pay for their brave new world, as long as it’s not theirs (and sometimes even when it is). In fact, the accelerationist theory of social change is so profoundly racial and genocidal (and is indeed being used in exactly that way by the neo-Nazis and white paramilitary elements today) that it’s even more shocking to see supposedly progressive and moral people advocating so enthusiastically for it. It is a white supremacist Nazi wet dream of an ideology in which all the “flawed” people just vanish (spoiler alert, they don’t vanish, they are brutally murdered or allowed to die from deliberate and arrogant negligence) and the Aryans cavort in paradise. Just replacing that with some socialist jargon buzzwords doesn’t change the underlying framework.

And this is STILL NOT GETTING to America’s own history, and you know, the fact that this continent was occupied when white settlers arrived, declared it “terra nulla” or “empty land,” and set about slaughtering the existing advanced civilizations and their people in the name of! You guessed it! SUPERIOR IDEOLOGY! Funnily enough, destroying the Native Americans “for their own good” didn’t result in utopia for them. It resulted in.... yeah, I think we get it by now, but just in case, one more time: MASSIVE HUMAN SUFFERING.

Tl;dr: The accelerationist theory of social change (just destroy everything and it will magically rebuild according to our preferred ideology) is a racist and genocidal fantasy of orgiastic destruction that has caused untold damage throughout history. White Americans whether on the right or left are fond of it, because they have never lived in a country where this has been repeatedly and horribly done to them (often by America itself) and which has cost uncountable Black, brown, Muslim, Jewish, Latin American, Native American, etc lives. The deliberate or deliberately negligent destruction of society does not lead to regeneration. It leads to long-term and unfixable damage, and the people who profit the most from deliberate disaster are the capitalist corporate overlords that the left professes to hate. This country is a racist garbage fire and nobody denies that it needs to change or die, but buying into this theory about how you should just stand back and let it burn/obstruct efforts to work within the system and mitigate the damage IS BULLSHIT and RESULTS IN MASSIVE HUMAN SUFFERING AND DEATH. Which, so far as I know, wasn’t supposed to be a progressive value, but hey, I could be mistaken.

Learn some history. Wear a mask.

Don’t be a whiny pissbaby that makes the rest of us die.

Vote Joe Biden and Kamala Harris 2020.

[walaw717]

“Populists (claim to) speak in the name of the 'oppressed people', and they want to emancipate them by making them aware of their oppression. However, they do not want to change their values or their 'way of life.' This is fundamentally different from, for example, the (early) socialists, who want(ed) to 'uplift the workers' by re-educating them, thereby liberating them from their 'false consciousness'. For populists, on the other hand, the consciousness of the people, generally referred to as common sense, is the basis of all good”.

This principle is well known aboard ships where populism would be called mutiny.

I struggle with media-controlled populism. More than anything I see the media using the bully pulpit of the news to manage facts and to then manage people. Orwell predicted this and Malcom X pointed it out as well over fifty years ago.

Mostly – when I read social media posts – I see emotional driven statements that demonstrate very little thought or understanding of the wider implications of what they are saying.  That is the nature of populism, left or right – create a position and appeal to the emotions of your particular populist group and condemn anyone who disagrees with you.

In my lifetime I have seen this worsening as journalists seem to have lost all sight of the concept that they are to report without taking sides. Instead journalists crave recognition and celebrity, they are driven for the “Scoop” – and they in turn are fueled by the political views of the owners of mega institutions controlling the media so we get anything but a fair and balanced view of what is happening  no matter who is harmed and whether the “scoop” is accurate or not. 

Add to that the average person seems to not understand or care about the value of a thoughtful response and generally resorts to name calling anyone not holding their position and you have the mess we are descending into now.

Understand, populisms are the social movements of polarization and the belief that an emotional reaction of the moment is a good basis for an utterance and/or decision.  In its extremes one ends up with Fascists or Bolsheviks and in the end a dictator like Hitler or Stalin, or the myriad of dictators we see worldwide because no society can be led by multiple factions and heads and retain its civility and coherence. So, in the end populist forces throw themselves behind a charismatic character until in the end that character thinks for them and reacts for them.  Whether Pelosi or Trump, it is all the same, in the end you never have to think again and can simply live out of emotion because you have turned your life over to someone else. 

There is a solution however and it does begin with the populace. It is a solution many will not embrace because it becomes a fundamental denial of narcissism, vanity and self-importance. It is a solution of holding oneself to a standard of behavior based upon well thought out values and at times, especially when one is emotional, doing and saying nothing and understanding that doing and saying nothing is often the first best response – often the second best response as well.  

Now, I am not saying that one should withhold criticism of politicians nor am I saying that one should do nothing in the face of “injustice. But as the image above illustrates – injustice is often a media manipulated point of view and the media holds the agenda of a very few wealthy people who control it far too often to their own personal ends. It is a reason to break up centralized control of all media social and otherwise. 

Also, the populist response is based fully in emotions of the moment which are generally grounded in a personal sense of victimization which is then projected upon others.

As a therapist I have found in thirty years of practice that clients come to me in a reactive emotional muddle and  most often I help them by remaining calm, not taking the emotional reactivity personally and  helping them look beyond the immature emotional reactions they carry in to adulthood.  Once people move toward a rational, systematic way of looking at the world and stop taking everything as an injustice toward their own childhood woundedness they are happier, healthier and less buffeted by the winds of emotional reaction employed by the media and others in social media.

In the end – all political populism requires is that your sense of victimhood is projected up others but is not recognized as your own woundedness and that some great leader or group of leaders can right the wrongs you are feeling and project onto the world.    

Politics was described to me once as a contest of my daddy can beat up your daddy. In fifty adult years of life I have seen that be true more and more.

This kind of thinking puts most into a role no more mature than of children on a playground.

The founding fathers understood this principle and Washington actively discouraged political parties for this very reason. 

The founding fathers also constructed the Republic” with principles which allow the forces of populism to not rise up into a dictatorship. 

There are forces at play now that absolutely want to break that system. Never for one-minute believe that the very wealthy owners of the media and social media companies’ think for one minute that they could not run your life better and do not use the power of all the medias to sow strife in your heart. And never think that the person down the street from your house does not feel the same way, they simply do not have teh power to control you as well as the owners of the media.

Sadly, every day we prove them right – and they continue to fuel our lack of real rational social responsibility – a reasoned discourse- to achieve their own ends. Ultimately a dictatorship is just a dictatorship of the elites and left or right will not matter.

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you.” - Henry Ward Beecher