#*edit* fixed the shrue-nouns sorry for the mix up

[mostly-void-partially-song]

The story has always been layers of political metaphor. The fictional world of the Peninsula worshiping at the altars of the saint electric, the daily grind, prosperity, and even in-universe Frosted Flakes and Red Lobster.

In the real world, we sacrifice the health of entire communities to leaden water and cancerous levels of radiation or pollution. We have a long and storied history of sacrificing children and the poor to our coal mines and steel mills and railroads. The western world is built on the sacrificing of enslaved lives. We sacrifice drinking water for millions, particularly affecting Mexico at the time of writing this, so that water can be used to cool AI, NFT, and other technology/server farms that demonstrate progress in our eyes. Just like in-universe, America continues to sacrifice incarcerated people to our gods of industry and convenience food.

Because the thing is that they're not wrong! Easy, comfortable, or within reach it might not be, but changing who we sacrifice to what ONLY changes who we sacrifice to what. The point is that there is not acceptable amount of human sacrifice. Kill your gods of convenience and luxury. Kill the god of entertainment on demand. Kill the god of wasteful consumption and fast fashion.

If there is no chocolate or coffee without slave labor, then there is no chocolate or coffee. If there are no Tyson chicken nuggets without incarcerates workers (legalized slave labor) then there are no nuggets. If there is no Shein flower dress without massively underpaid and mistreated workers then there is no dress. No Amazon packages without abused employees. No bottles water without stolen water. No Sea World without animal abuse.

"Forget the name of your god and cherish the name of your neighbor that was swallowed up by it-"