#ABOLISH APATHY

[gotmolokoplus]

(To be clear I am an anarchist and I support people not states but this is bothering me and I need to yell into the void)

Every time violence comes to a head in Israel a LOT of people on the left seem absolutely giddy to condemn Jewish people and it makes me very uncomfy

I’m not saying I support the IDF or illegal settlements (I don’t) but I also don’t care if you couch condemnation as “just Israeli Jews” because I still hear you & if you’re going to call them all complicit settlers you’d better be ready to admit in the same breath who put them there

(hint: it was western colonialism aka the Allies, not some post-Holocaust Jewish cabal, as if they had any institutional power at that point in time to go anywhere but where they were told)

So while we’re all wringing our hands and praying for peace and condemning the evils of oppression let’s not forget who still holds the Olympic gold medal in perpetuating global oppression because it’s not a Jew

And that’s all I’m gonna say

[badgalsasuke]

My thoughts on the Naruto ending pt. 2

So I wanted to add something regarding my thoughts on the Naruto ending (if you have not read that post, I suggest you do so you can understand this one better).

On one of my posts regarding NH and Neji's death @calculosavulsos pointed out something that I had missed out.

I had dismissed Neji's death as simply an act of pettiness from Kishimoto, y'know, killing the beloved more developed and compelling Hyuga as payback for being forced to make NH a thing. But after reading calculosavulsos comment, it made me realize that the theme of conformism in the ending might have been established several chapters prior to the actual final chapters 699-700.

Although Neji and Hinata had both been introduced several chapters before their duel at the chuunin exams, it is until this fight that we're revealed information on the Hyuga clan and the philosophy that rules it and the values they live by.

For genin Neji, fate is unchangeable. Every single person has their destiny established from birth and it is no use to try to challenge it. This pisses off Naruto, a ninja that defies everyone's expectations and who goes through life challenging the status quo and urging others to do the same. Naruto then, swears to win to prove Neji that a person can, in fact, defy their destiny.

The reason why Neji believes people's destiny is assigned at birth is due to the segregation in the Hyuga clan, some members are born into the main branch and some are born into the cadet branch, members from the main branch enslave and torture members from the cadet branch who must serve them and protect them with their lives. Neji's own father suffered this fate, cementing this idea on Neji that's what he will live to do as well.

Naruto, on the other hand, believes the opposite. He believes he is the master of his own destiny and is capable of changing whatever the status quo might be, clashing directly with Neji's ideals. Naruto believes that those who are passive and let life come at them instead of facing it are cowards.

It's during their fight that Neji reveals to Naruto why he feels he can't escape fate and Naruto responds that he's actually been fighting off his fate, calling him a hypocrite.

After an intense physical fight Naruto swears he will change the Hyuga clan even if he still doesn't truly grasp the full depth of the issue, meaning he plans to abolish the division between the cadet branch and the main branch that other Hokages had enabled until then.

What I love about this fight, and this panel in particular is that Neji is using his Ultimate Defense: The Zero Blind Spot which is supposed to protect him of any force that comes at him to attack him, a technique he coined himself, whereas Naruto is using the massive force of the Kyuubi chakra in a direct attack to Neji's defense. It's basically an unstoppable force clashing against an unmovable object. Once again, Kishimoto is communicating through the visual language of his work, the ideals and feelings the characters are seeking to evoke. Basically, the way both boys are fighting is a physical representation of Naruto's defiance and Neji's resignation.

Naruto is a series where we see a constant defiance of the status quo, society's apathy and the cover up of crimes against the marginalized.

But as I explained in my thoughts about the ending post, thematically the Naruto finale is about conformism. I had personally traced this conformism to the special chapter of Naruto's nameday as Hokage, but after reading Calculosavulsos' comment, I realized the conformism theme can be traced to as far back as Neji's death in the manga.

In several interviews Kishimoto talks about how he chose to make NH canon right in around the middle of the series, possibly after Hinata's popularity skyrocketed due to Studio Pierrot's added filler scenes for her fight against Pain. In a particular interview Kishimoto stated clear and plainly that the reason why he killed off Neji is because he needed to come up with a scenario to bring Naruto and Hinata close, he went as far as to calling Neji cupid. For me, as I stated at the beginning, this reeked of pettiness and I left it at that, not looking deeper to see if there was another layer to Neji's death, but turns out there is.

Neji, just like his father, Hizashi, ends up sacrificing his life for a member of the main branch of the clan. Hizashi ended up dying in Hiashi's place who was supposed to die to avoid dragging Konoha into a war with the Land of the Clouds. Neji ended up dying in Hinata's place who was supposed to die to avoid Naruto's death and the ultimate defeat of the Shinobi alliance at the hands of Obito and Madara.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto's guilt-tripping into returning Hinata's feelings begins here as well. Neji uses his last breath while bleeding to death to serve, as Kishimoto called him, as a cupid for Naruto and Hinata. Also notice how Neji never drops the honorifics towards Hinata even though he is the older one of the two and Hiashi had said the Cadet and Main branch were fighting as one (implying the segregation had been abolished)

Neji and Naruto were supposed to change the clan Hyuga, as Naruto had promised Neji years prior and as he states again to Neji who's slowly dying on his arms "you were gonna change clan Hyuga", meaning Neji was supposed to fight back against his destiny of a lifelong slave that would die to protect his enslaver and yet Neji was ultimately the first character of the series to conform.

Neji's death is direct parallel of his father death, to the point his final thoughts mention him understanding how he was only able to achieve freedom, at long last, through death.

Neji, like every other Hyuga from the cadet branch, was only able to attain freedom through death. Naruto would never change the clan Hyuga as he promised either. Kishimoto is establishing the theme of conformity that's the focal point in the finale, right here.

If Kishimoto hadn't been forced to make NH a thing, maybe Hinata is the one that would've died to protect Neji instead, reverting the roles of their parents, or maybe Kishimoto simply would have not felt the need to come up with a scenario like the one he did. But it's clear that Naruto and Hinata ending up together represents the apathy, resignation, defeat and compliance we see in Naruto and Sasuke's adult characters.

[hyperspacial]

And speeding tickets are only one head of the hydra- parking tickets, license revokations, and repeat offender penalties are all things that drive mass incarceration of poor people.

Because if you're rich or middle class and you get a ticket, you stomp your feet and pay the ticket. It impacts you more depending how tight your budget is, but it's not worldending.

But if you're working class? Tickets often cut into spending for essentials, and a lot of people make the decision that it's not worth paying instead of utilities or groceries. Or maybe because you're in survival mode you forget to pay the ticket on time, and now the additional fees make it so you can't afford it at all.

Then you're out driving and get pulled over for an unrelated offense and suddenly, you have a warrant, because your license was revoked for unpaid fines. The officer takes you to county jail, your car is impounded or taken as evidence (more money to get back), you likely no-call no-show to work and face repercussions and firing there. You go before a judge who if you're lucky offers you a payment plan, if you're unlucky issues bond that you can't pay.

I used to work at a law office that regularly went into the jail, and I would guess 30% of the people there were in for driving on a suspended license (and the rest were there because they couldn't make bond which is a whole other can of worms). The problem is that for impoverished people, speeding tickets provide a slippery slope to getting involved with the courts, which demands they interrupt their work and life schedule to come in for hearings, and racking up more fees. If you fail to attend or don't pay, it snowballs into worse charges and more life disruption.

Speeding tickets only hurt poor people

[rhiandoesfandom]

Whenever folks like to make a broad generalization of "America why did you choose this???"

I show them this chart from Gallup that tracks the amount of party members in the United States.

Right now, in 2024, there are only 28% of Republicans. And only 28% of Democrats.

But, 43% are Independents. Independents (like myself) often skew left.

However, when they hate both two options and the Dems don't champion anything or make any promises for the working class, it can turn independents to the right.

Independents are often folks (like myself) who would prefer a third or fourth choice.

(which is why I really recommend fighting for Ranked Choice voting)

So then, you take these two parties that only have 28% each.

Well, in the grand scheme of things, only 63.9% of the whole US population voted this time around.

That is more people than we ever have voting in elections. Besides 2020 where it was a little more.

So of that 63.9% you have only 28% that are staunch Republican and Democrat. And then you have 43% who are independent who can go either way.

AND within all of those percentages, people will just not vote.

So really, even though 77 million votes for Donald Trump seems like a lot, (and I'm not gonna do actual math here), it's really only less than a quarter of the whole population that voted for him.

And unfortunately, our elections aren't decided by the popular vote even. They're decided by electors who vote for their state based on what the people of that state voted for.

So Abolishing the Electoral college should be our main goal. That's what handed him the presidency. (Combined with extreme partisan politics and apathy for voting)

[rowayneau]

Hazbin Sugar Sugar Rune AU

The heart is yours to take, but you must not allow yours to be taken.

The concept of this AU is based on elements of the anime/manga Sugar Sugar Rune.

Sugar Sugar Rune is about two witches who are best friends, Chocolat and Vanilla, who compete to capture the most hearts in the human world. Whoever is victorious will become queen of the Magical World, but there's a catch. If their own hearts get stolen, then they can lose their lives.

In this AU, the two protagonists will be Charlie and Emily. Representatives of Heaven and Hell participate in a task to understand humanity proposed by God. God has returned to Heaven and seen Heaven's method for the overpopulation in Hell. 

While he can see that they believe there is no other way to curb the overpopulation problem, he could also see that they didn’t understand humanity enough to provide the alternative and just went for the extreme solution. There is also a superiority complex they have because since they are in Heaven and are angels, they would not make mistakes and when mistakes are made they just double down on it and never admit or correct it.

This is the same for Hell as well, Hell is built from sin and darkness of the world and humanity. They built a society based on selfishness and apathy, where every person for themselves. It’s a perpetual cycle, where one is hurt and the other is hurt back. Sinners forget their humanity as they try to survive the harshness of Hell, forgetting whatever good they had from their time of living. Where a single mistake will get you screwed for an eternity and a system where everything is rigged against you. It’s no wonder the idea of redemption is found ridiculous, as there is no hope for it to work when everything is against them.

Thus, God created a proposal. If both Heaven and Hell can understand the hearts of humanity, he will abolish the exterminations and allow the concept of redemption and reincarnation. Should they fail, the system will remain as it is.

The plan is one representative from each realm will travel to the human world and live among them. The two representatives will live as humans and need to keep their magic to the minimum. They must not reveal their true nature as an angel and a demon and if revealed they must either find a way to erase the humans memories or they will be dealt a penalty.

While in the human world, they are granted a power to “Pick-up Hearts”. “Hearts” are the crystallized emotions of humans and can be “Pick-up” using the magic that is granted. “Hearts” can come in a variety of colors and they can be different values based on their colors. “Hearts” also can come into two categories. Positive based “Hearts” and negative based “Hearts”. Both have their own value and color scheme for it.

Both representatives must collect “Hearts” to a certain quota to fulfill the goal of abolishing the exterminations. They will need to earn the humans love or trust by helping fulfilling a human wish or helping the human on what they need. If the human feels strong emotion towards either of the two, the strong emotions will be crystallized and can be collected.

But there is a twist in this assignment, in order for both representatives to truly understand humans, they must work outside their comfort zone. 

This means Charlie as Hell representative will have to “Pick-up” positive hearts such as joy, love, gratitude etc. She must “Pick-up” from humans who don't really remember to feel this anymore, such as people with depression, people down on their luck etc., similar to sinners in Hell. She must help these people to remember their life and joy, to keep on living and that sometimes with a little help or push they can change their life around. This will also teach her that things are not always easy and people can’t change easily. She will see that the life of a human is hard and will even realize she is quite sheltered from her people and not really knowing her subjects at all. She will need to take action instead of just positive reinforcement to incite change.

As for Emily, as Heaven representative will have to “Pick-up” negative hearts such as greed, lust, wrath etc. She must “Pick-up” from humans that are good but are pushed/abused, humans have no motivation to act because it’s “wrong” etc. The kind of people that are too nice and are taken advantage of and dying early because of it. Negative emotions are not evil, it just depends on the intention. For example, you can have righteous wrath and use it to stand up for yourself and for the people you care about or you have the greed to kick start your ambition and have the initiative to do it. It’s not a bad thing to have it, but be careful on how it’s used. After all “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, the most prime example is Lucifer’s Pride and the Apple of Eden. Emily must learn how rough the human world is and how shades of gray people need to go to survive.

The heart is yours to take, but you must not allow yours to be taken. 

That is the absolute one rule that God reinforced. You can take the hearts of humans but you must not let your heart be taken. This is to ensure that both representatives won’t pull “A Lucifer” and cause who knows what chaos to the human world. They must not fall in love with a human and let their hearts be awry. Should that happen, the representative is immediately disqualified and will be considered a failure.

Let the games begin.. How will the story unfold…Stay tuned Folks…….

================================================

Omake

Lucifer being his usual over protective self can’t stand sending Charlie to the human world by herself. She can’t bring Razzle and Dazzle along and has to leave them behind, so she’s going there with no protection. He can’t have that so he began searching his castle for a solution. There he came across a contract, a contract left behind by his wife after she disappeared.

 It’s still active and it’s contracted to a human still living in the human world. This is perfect!! With his magic, he can modify the contract to his favor and make this human watch over Charlie and also keep an eye on the angel too.

Now let’s see, it looks like the human is a radio host…….

Note: This is somewhat Human AU so a lot of characters will be living humans

[green-alien-turdz]

Favorite singer? I personally like Destroy Boys

Ion really got favourite's of things. But I can list some mfs I listen to. I just burned a new cd not that long ago, so imma just list off some of the bands and some song recs for those (and I think I've heard destroy boys before. Not personally a fan, but their stuff seems pretty cool).

CRASS: They've got a bomb. End Result. Big A Little a. Systematic Death. Do they owe us a living?

VOID: My rules. Condensed flesh. Who are you?

Dead Kennedys: Dog Bite. Kill the poor. Holiday in Cambodia. California uber alles.

Poison Idea: In my headache. Its an action.

Capitalist Casualties: Greedy Bastards. Mouthfed. Violence Junkie.

Nuclear Man: Nuke-Man. Warhead.

Limp Wrist: Fake fags. Dead Weight. Just like you. Thick skin. Want us dead. Spun.

Subhumans: I don't wanna die. Rats. Apathy. Work-Rest-Play-Die. Mickey Mouse is dead. No.

Discharge: Why? Drunk with power. Ain't no feeble bastard. Does this system work.

Icons of Filth: Fucked up state. Why so limited? Mentally murdered.

T.S.O.L.: Abolish government/ silent majority. Red shadows. Flowers by the door. It's gray.

S.O.A.: Warzone. Gang Fight.

The Disrupters: Animal farm. Rot in hell. Pigs in blue.

Government Warning: Killing for fun. Slave labor. Factory line. Paranoid mess. Endless slaughter.

Disrupt: Protest.

DIRT: Master race. Eyes to see. Hiroshima. Democracy.

Negative Approach: What ever I do. Ready to fight.

Minor Threat: I don't wanna hear it. In my eyes. Seeing red.

ILL Repute: Book and its cover.

Conflict: From protest to resistance. The serenade is dead. Berkshire cunt.

The Shitlickers: Warsystem.

Suicidal Tendencies: Two-sided politics. You can't bring me down. War inside my head. Institutionalized.

Aus-Rotten: The system works for them. When you support those fucking bastards. (They also have a version of Berkshire cunt)

Ultra Violent: Dead gerneration. Where angels dare not tread. Crime for revenge.

Disorder: Fight the right.

Civil Disobedience: Manufactured citizens. Planet of the fakes.

The Crucifucks: Legal genocide. Annual report.

A Global Threat: Fucking racist maggots.

Urban Waste: No hope.

Feederz: Jesus. Gut Rage.

Black Flag: Nervous Breakdown. My war. Rise above.

[gulyas069]

Sartre, on genocide in Vietnam, for no particular reason, because it is completely untopical:

The declarations of American statesmen are not as frank as those that Hitler made in his day. But honesty is not indispensable; the facts speak for themselves. The speeches that accompany them, ad usum internum, will only be believed by the American people; the rest of the world understands only too well. Friendly governments keep silent. The others denounce the genocide, but the Americans reply to them that they are showing which side they are really on by their unproven accusations. In fact, say the American government, we have done nothing but offer the Vietnamese – North and South – this choice: either you stop your aggression or we break you. There is no longer any need to point out that this proposition is absurd since the aggression is American, so that only the Americans themselves can put an end to it. But this absurdity is not uncalculated: it is clever to formulate a demand which the Vietnamese cannot possibly satisfy. In this way, America remains the master of the decision to stop the fighting. But, one might read the alternatives as: declare yourselves conquered, or ‘we will take you back to the Stone Age’. It does not cancel out the second term of the alternative, which is genocide. They have said: genocide, yes, but only conditional genocide. Is this legally valid? Is it even conceivable? [...] But let us look more closely and see what the terms of the alternative are. In the South, this is the choice: the villages are burnt, the population has to endure massive and deliberately destructive bombardments, the cattle are shot at, the vegetation is ruined by defoliants, what does grow is ruined by toxic elements, machine guns are aimed haphazardly, and everywhere there is killing, rape and pillage. That is genocide in its most rigorous meaning of massive extermination. What is the other choice? What must the Vietnamese people do to escape this atrocious death? Join the American armed forces or those of Saigon, or let themselves be enclosed in strategic hamlets or in those ‘new life’ compounds, which are two names for concentration camps. We know about these camps from numerous witnesses. They are surrounded by barbed wire. The most elementary needs are ignored. There is under-nourishment and complete lack of sanitation. The prisoners are packed into tents or primitive huts where they stifle. The social structure is destroyed. Husbands are separated from wives, mothers from their children, family life – so respected by the Vietnamese – no longer exists. As the homes are broken up, the birth rate diminishes; all possibility of cultural or religious life is abolished. Even work that will improve the standard of living is denied them. [...] The United States government could have achieved this immediately by a Vietnamese Blitzkrieg. But, apart from the fact that this extermination would have involved complicated preparations – for example, the construction and unrestricted use of air bases in Thailand, shortening the bombers’ journey by 5,000 kilometres – the essential aim of the ‘escalation’ was and still is, to this day, to prepare bourgeois opinion for genocide. From this point of view, the Americans have succeeded only too well. The repeated and systematic bombing of the densely populated areas of Haiphong and Hanoi, which two years ago would have given rise to violent protests, is carried on today in a sort of general indifference which is more like gangrene than apathy. The trick has worked: public opinion accepts a constant and imperceptible increase of pressure which is preparing their minds for the final genocide. [...]

[wxndswept]

Yuuki (ZZZ Verse)

Full Name: Tsukino Yuuki

Faction: Knights of the Round, NEPS, Shogun(consultant)

Title: Gawain, Officer 76

Race: Human

Occupation: Member of PubSec's Criminal Investigation Team

Role: Attack

Element: Ether

W-Engine: Dragon's Undying Heart

Personality:

Yuuki is described as a subdued individual, hiding her emotions behind a veil of indifference and stoic expression. Her silence is not indicative of apathy or stupidity, but rather a symptom of her PTSD. Despite the 'mask' she wears, Yuuki still cares and feels very deeply and emotionally, though her emotions are only worn on her sleeve in rare instances, such as in the heat of battle where she is a lot more loud and outgoing.

Backstory:

Yuuki was an up-and-coming officer in the Public Security Criminal Investigation Special Response Team, even selected to lead the Lumina Branch to follow in the footsteps of her late mother. However, a terrible accident in the Cretan Hollow changed her life's path forever. Yuuki lost her partner amidst the chaos, her left arm in the escape, and her drive in the aftermath of it all.

In the more recent years of her career, Yuuki rarely goes out into the field and mostly works behind a desk despite getting the all-clear from her superiors a long time ago. Instead of being promoted to Captain or higher, Yuuki instead became a detective, solving local crimes and mysteries and sending the other members of her team out into the Hollows to catch the criminals.

Yuuki's drive may have withered, but the appearance of her longtime friend Amber has lit a fire beneath her, and slowly but surely, Yuuki finds herself wanting to pick her gun back up to venture into Hollows. Both on and off the books.

Combat Style:

Yuuki wields a baton and pistol sidearm in combat, dealing physical damage with the former and ether with the latter. Depending on where she is in relation to the enemy, she can deal one or both forms of damage simultaneously. During normal attacks, she can build up Pressure. When Pressure is built up, Yuuki can unleash a devastating Ether attack that lowers the defense of enemies.

Skill: Gravity Well: Using a special attachment from her pistol, Yuuki shoots a small energy well that can pull in enemies to a group. When enhanced, this builds Pressure and lowers enemies' interruption resistance.

Ultimate: Ray Splasher: Overloading her gun, Yuuki fires countless bullets in a wide area, dealing massive ether damage. If Yuuki has a full Pressure gauge and is within range, she will deplete the gauge and unleash an extra attack.

Dynamic with the Knights:

As a member of PubSec, Yuuki is supposed to abolish the Knights of the Round proxy group, but her relationship with Amber makes her turn a blind eye and even aid when needed as an unofficial member. Despite their different career paths, she still considers Amber her best friend and has bent the law for her a few times to help guide her to what she seeks in Hollow Zero.

While she maintains a positive and friendly relationship with Lyza, Yuuki is a bit wary of the girl due to the lack of information on her, her strange relation to Sunbringer, and the technology she carries. Nonetheless, she has come to at least somewhat trust the Knight's navigator.

Yuuki owns and has upgraded one of the Securityboos given to most officers. Dubbed Officer Booki by her, it has been upgraded to deal more damage with its teeth and deal Ether damage in addition to Electric.

[darkcacaocookieandfriends]

Dark Cacao, how do you feel about Mystic Flour?

"Mystic Flour Cookie... The great beast of apathy. One who once tried to take everything precious from me to obtain her goals, but I believe it is rooted far deeper than that. For someone who claimed to be so void of emotion, she harbors a lot of pain in her heart. Pain she wished to show me. Pain she claimed to want to abolish.

Through her weakness, she has strengthened me, and perhaps my enlightenment did not quite align with her grand vision...but I must concede she had given me one, nonetheless. No matter what threat she poses to my cookies and I, that enlightenment will be used as a means to stand resolute against her, no matter what challenge she brings me in the future. Perhaps one day, she may find the enlightenment she seeks is not one that she needs."

[fralexion]

I don't know if anyone is going to see this. But I need to say something and hope the message spreads.

The most important thing to do, in the wake of this SCOTUS decision and the dozens of earlier ones it has made, all of them nonsensical and cruel, is understand what power is available to you, and make sure everyone you know does as well.

This can be fixed.

Fully revamping the Supreme Court would require amending the Constitution, requiring such a large majority of states that it's not realistically on the table.

But we don't need to do that to simply, say, expand the size of the court so pro-democracy justices have a majority. You could even take Judicial Review (deciding what is constitutional) away from SCOTUS for less than that!

THAT just requires a simple majority in both the House and the Senate, composed of people who recognize the danger the court poses necessitates finally abolishing the stupid filibuster that has kept everything gridlocked.

Democrats managed to slimly gain a House majority at the start of the last Presidential term, but it was so slight that it only took a single person (looking at you, Manchin and/or Sinema) dissenting to tank everything, so only a few things were able to get passed. (These were important things, like green infrastructure, but the scope of what it could accomplish was limited.)

But the fact of the matter is, the Republican Party was finally pushed out of Congress before, and we can absolutely do it again, this time without Manchin and Sinema holding the Democrats back (a seat in the Senate was gained, and neither of them will be staying in power).

The most important thing is making sure no one around you gives in to apathy, that they understand the current political situation and what can be done about it. Talk to your friends and family. Spread the word. This is still something that can be solved, though it will take all of us working together to do it.

[catversary]

I knew organizing would be hard. I knew being a communist would be hard. But it's like, almost, overwhelmingly hard to face the societal and individual pressures of people being extremely vitriolic to the cause. I just started university and the amount of people on campus that I've heard talk about communism - not like, that it is morally wrong or harmful to people - they talk about it like they are filled with so much rage that you would consider freedom from capitalism through an abolishment of it. They think you're stupid. You're naive. You're not harmful, but you're a target.

I am very emotionally sensitive. It is super hard to be subject to these conversations. Perhaps even worse is the public apathy on campus. I even joined some liberal groups who want to lobby for policy in state government. That's good, right? That's participating in democracy. The amount of shame and embarrassment I felt when asking students to join our organization was unprecedented. Students weren't just unenthusiastic - they also thought I was stupid for trying to WORK WITHIN THE SYSTEM to enact change! I was shocked, and frankly, I am enraged. What is the consensus here? If people hate communism but they think liberals are stupid too, then do they think we should all just lie down and die and let "the government" operate without citizen input? Do they think the fascists won't come for them then? That they're okay because they're not marginalized? That they're okay because they're rich enough to attend a university? That at least they'll make it through the machine of capitalism because they "work hard"?

People are so stupid.

[jesterbells]

My interview with Hannah Arendt

Two weeks after the 2024 US presidential election, I sat down with Hannah Arendt and asked her to explain how we got here. She answered me with these passages from her 1951 book "The Origins of Totalitarianism":

Dear Hannah--may I call you Hannah?--so many democratic policies would benefit the people who ended up voting for Trump against their own best interests. Why didn't Trump supporters listen to reason?

Hannah: "they did not need to refute opposing arguments and consistently preferred methods which ended in death rather than persuasion, which spelled terror rather than conviction. They presented disagreements as invariably originating in deep natural, social, or psychological sources beyond the control of the individual and therefore beyond the power of reason.”

That sounds eerily familiar. So, how have they been able to take over so much of our government while spurning the principles and laws of the constitution? How have they turned the very institution of democracy of this country against itself?

Hannah: "when the totalitarian movements invaded Parliament with their contempt for parliamentary government, they merely appeared inconsistent: actually, they succeeded in convincing the people at large that parliamentary majorities were spurious and did not necessarily correspond to the realities of the country, thereby undermining the self-respect and the confidence of governments which also believed in majority rule rather than in their constitutions. It has frequently been pointed out that totalitarian movements use and abuse democratic freedoms in order to abolish them."

Huh. How is it that some self-proclaimed leftists had so little regard for democracy themselves? Treating the office of the president like it already was or should be a dictatorship who could unilaterally execute whatever outcome foreign or domestic that they should wish for, and at the same time they themselves felt no sense of civic duty?

Hannah: "Both the early apathy and the later demand for monopolistic dictatorial direction of the nation’s foreign affairs had their roots in a way and philosophy of life so insistently and exclusively centered on the individual’s success or failure in ruthless competition that a citizen’s duties and responsibilities could only be felt to be a needless drain on his limited time and energy."

That sounds distressingly familiar. At the same time, many old-school republicans deserted the Trump train. Where did both parties lose support and where did Trump gain his?

Hannah: "They had lost, moreover, without being aware of it, those neutral supporters who had never been interested in politics because they felt that no parties existed to take care of their interests. So that the first signs of the breakdown of the Continental party system were not the desertion of old party members, but the failure to recruit members from the younger generation, and the loss of the silent consent and support of the unorganized masses who suddenly shed their apathy and went wherever they saw an opportunity to voice their new violent opposition.”

How would you describe Trump supporters, as a whole? Including the people who supported him by being bystanders and staying home, doing nothing to oppose his rise?

Hannah: "one great unorganized, structureless mass of furious individuals who had nothing in common except their vague apprehension that the hopes of party members were doomed, that, consequently, the most respected, articulate and representative members of the community were fools and that all the powers that be were not so much evil as they were equally stupid and fraudulent."

How did these people get to be that way?

Hannah: "The truth is that the masses grew out of the fragments of a highly atomized society whose competitive structure and concomitant loneliness of the individual had been held in check only through membership in a class. The chief characteristic of the mass man is not brutality and backwardness, but his isolation and lack of normal social relationships. “

Can you say more about that isolation, and how it leads to people being drawn into totalitarian movements?

Hannah: "Totalitarian movements are mass organizations of atomized, isolated individuals. Compared with all other parties and movements, their most conspicuous external characteristic is their demand for total, unrestricted, unconditional, and unalterable loyalty of the individual member. This demand is made by the leaders of totalitarian movements even before they seize power ... Such loyalty can be expected only from the completely isolated human being who, without any other social ties to family, friends, comrades, or even mere acquaint ances [sic], derives his sense of having a place in the world only from his belonging to a movement, his membership in the party. Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise."

I see, that explains a lot. Regarding that bit about concrete content, why is it that the republican platform has been largely abandoned in favor of "whatever Trump wants, basically, idk"?

Hannah: "No matter how radically they might have been phrased, every definite political goal which does not simply assert or circumscribe the claim to world rule, every political program which deals with issues more specific than 'ideological questions of importance for centuries' is an obstruction to totalitarianism"

Does that lack of clear policy have any precedent?

Hannah: "Hitler’s greatest achievement in the organization of the Nazi movement, which he gradually built up from the obscure crackpot membership of a typically nationalistic little party, was that he unburdened the movement of the party’s earlier program, not by changing or officially abolishing it, but simply by refusing to talk about it or discuss its points"

That's disturbing. Any others?

Hannah: "The fact that the most perfect education in Marxism and Leninism was no guide whatsoever for political behavior—that, on the contrary, one could follow the party line only if one repeated each morning what Stalin had announced the night before—naturally resulted in the same state of mind, the same concentrated obedience, undivided by any attempt to understand what one was doing, that Himmler’s ingenious watchword for his SS-men expressed: 'My honor is my loyalty.'”

Yikes. How do people not see history repeating? Why are Trump supporters so intent on inventing an imagined idyllic version of history that has little bearing on reality and ignoring the lessons of ages past?

Hannah: "The object of the most varied and variable constructions was always to reveal official history as a joke, to demonstrate a sphere of secret influences of which the visible, traceable, and known historical reality was only the outward façade erected explicitly to fool the people. To this aversion of the intellectual elite for official historiography, to its conviction that history, which was a forgery anyway, might as well be the playground of crackpots, must be added the terrible, demoralizing fascination in the possibility that gigantic lies and monstrous falsehoods can eventually be established as unquestioned facts, that man may be free to change his own past at will, and that the difference between truth and falsehood may cease to be objective and become a mere matter of power and cleverness, of pressure and infinite repetition."

Yikes again. Okay, I understand a lot more than I did before. But why did people say Trump was charismatic? Why were they not put off by his rudeness and crudeness?

Hannah: "Vulgarity with its cynical dismissal of respected standards and accepted theories carried with it a frank admission of the worst and a disregard for all pretenses which were easily mistaken for courage and a new style of life."

I see. And his followers are inspired to follow his example in that?

Hannah: "What a temptation to flaunt extreme attitudes in the hypocritical twilight of double moral standards, to wear publicly the mask of cruelty if everybody was patently inconsiderate and pretended to be gentle, to parade wickedness in a world, not of wickedness, but of meanness!"

That makes a sad amount of sense. Especially because he could not do any harm without the help and support of many people. What of those who would do his dirty work for him? Should we fear his cronies or his yes-men more?

Hannah: "For the ruthless machines of domination and extermination, the masses of co-ordinated philistines provided much better material and were capable of even greater crimes than so-called professional criminals, provided only that these crimes were well organized and assumed the appearance of routine jobs.”

What other qualities make someone likely to follow such an amoral figure?

Hannah: "who in the midst of the ruins of his world worried about nothing so much as his private security, was ready to sacrifice everything—belief, honor, dignity—on the slightest provocation. Nothing proved easier to destroy than the privacy and private morality of people who thought of nothing but safeguarding their private lives."

So selfishness and isolation pave the pathway to totalitarianism, and community and critical thought protect against it. How do totalitarian movements encourage that selfishness and isolation--in other words, what tactics and temptations do we need to be ware of so we don't walk that path?

Hannah: "In order to destroy all social and family ties, the purges are conducted in such a way as to threaten with the same fate the defendant and all his ordinary relations, from mere acquaintances up to his closest friends and relatives. The consequence of the simple and ingenious device of 'guilt by association' is that as soon as a man is accused, his former friends are transformed immediately into his bitterest enemies; in order to save their own skins, they volunteer information and rush in with denunciations to corroborate the nonexistent evidence against him; this obviously is the only way to prove their own trustworthiness. Retrospectively, they will try to prove that their acquaintance or friendship with the accused was only a pretext for spying on him and revealing him ... Merit being 'gauged by the number of your denunciations of close comrades,' it is obvious that the most elementary caution demands that one avoid all intimate contacts, if possible—not in order to prevent discovery of one’s secret thoughts, but rather to eliminate, in the almost certain case of future trouble, all persons who might have not only an ordinary cheap interest in your denunciation but an irresistible need to bring about your ruin simply because they are in danger of their own lives."

That also sounds distressingly like some parts of online purity culture and online harassment campaigns. Maybe, in order to avoid slipping into tenancies that can be exploited by totalitarians, we should not do that.

How can people protect themselves from being drawn into totalitarian movements, or escape them once they already have been?

Hannah: "Idealism, foolish or heroic, always springs from some individual decision and conviction and is subject to experience and argument. The fanaticism of totalitarian movements, contrary to all forms of idealism, breaks down the moment the movement leaves its fanaticized followers in the lurch, killing in them any remaining conviction that might have survived the collapse of the movement itself.”

Any other good news? Their total control of all three branches of government is daunting.

Hannah: "a unanimous success would belie their claim to being a revolutionary minority"

That is something, I suppose. What are our best tools in this fight against totalitarianism?

Hannah: "Intellectual, spiritual, and artistic initiative is ... dangerous to totalitarianism ... more dangerous than mere political opposition. The consistent persecution of every higher form of intellectual activity by the new mass leaders springs from more than their natural resentment against everything they cannot understand. Total domination does not allow for free initiative in any field of life, for any activity that is not entirely predictable."

So keep making art, got it. Thanks, Hannah. You can go back to the library now. My hoopla ebook return date is almost due.

All quotations from: Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Mariner Books, 1948.

[bilesproblems]

hi! this is just a small response to the post you made on April 5th talking about how the rhetoric of "gender/identity isn't real and doesn't matter" invalidates both mspec lesbians and all manner of identities. id just like to clarify (as someone genderless) that saying gender isn't real negatively impacts us as well (you specifically said it didnt). when people say "gender isn't real", it invalidates our refusal to align with one- gender /is/ real, which is what causes /our/ identities to exist as well. I know it's a while after you posted the original post, but I still felt like clarifying this, no hard feelings or anything. take care!

Oh I definitely didn't mean it couldn't negatively impact genderless people, I don't remember what exactly I said but I think what it was trying to get at was that people who don't realize they're genderless or gender apathetic would perpetuate gender abolition or say gender and orientation are fake without realizing that's invalidating because they assume everyone shares the same apathy. I do believe people who are genderless and know they are and have been identifying as such can feel like their identity as a genderless person is taken away when gender is stripped away. I'm sorry the way I had it phrased led you, and likely others, to believe I didn't think it could invalidate you as well. That's far from what I believe.

I'm happy to stand with you in support of not abolishing gender and recognizing it as a real psychological phenomenon because anything else not only invalidates those of us who feel our genders so strongly, especially in queer ways, but also invalidates the people who identify strongly with being genderless and the fact that it's not a common thing for someone to not feel gender or refuse to identify with one.

Thanks for sharing your own feelings on the matter. I appreciate you speaking about how "gender is fake" rhetoric hurts you too, even through an anon. I'm sorry again for what I said. Even though it was not what I meant, that's still what my words conveyed and that's entirely my fault.

All the best

[stocky2016]

A long overdue collaboration...

Between Geoff and Myriam...I guess holidays, moving house and ongoing illness have all played their oart, but if ever there could be a poetical reason for further "collaboration" these two poets team up again to share their thoughts

" I NEED YOU"

I love my space, it's my sanctuary,

A gentle refuge, a haven of peace,

Where my thoughts float, free, light,

A world where I am queen without constraint or delay.

But when you're near me, everything changes,

Every breath, every gesture becomes precious,

The space between us becomes strange,

An obstacle to our bold love.

These centimetres that separate us

Become worlds, galaxies,

The air between us seems rare,

An ocean of distance, a sea of apathy.

I want to free myself from these unwanted voids,

To erase every inch, every little gap,

Dissipate this air, this unapproachable wind,

That seems to keep us apart somewhere.

Clothes, these insensitive barriers,

This fabric that prevents fusion,

I curse them, rendered useless,

I want to feel your skin, in total communion.

Your perfume intoxicates me, your warmth soothes me,

Your presence transforms my space into a sacred place,

I want to melt into you, to unite without discomfort,

To be one, beyond veils and secrets.

Let the air dissipate, let the world fade,

Let only our souls remain illuminated,

Let the touch of your skin be my only purpose,

In this intimate dance, infinitely passionate.

I love my space, yes, but with you,

Every nook and cranny becomes superfluous,

Because all I want, when you're there,

Is to abolish space, to feel you, you, naked.

So come, let's embrace without reserve,

Let nothing separate us, neither fabric nor wind,

In this love where our hearts preserve each other,

Where space abolishes, where union becomes song.

We'll no longer be two, but one,

Merged in love, free and true,

Every moment, every breath shared,

Erasing space, in a mythical love.

We all have our "hierarchy of needs" according to Maslow

but which is probably the most important?

Needing YOU has to be top of my wish list

and that has to be appreciated as "constant."

I need your fun, your laughter, your "joie de vivre"

your attraction and stimulating conversation

I need your time, often when I know you are busy

your beautiful eyes too, and their infatuation

I need to share with you those special experiences,

the unique things we particularly enjoy together...

To other people they could appear passé

but to me they're such funno matter the weather.

I need your cuddles, whether of "intimacy" or "support"

life always delivers such a pantomime of surprises

An appropriately timed cuddle can help heal any situation

or facilitate the clarification of truth over lies.

Needing someone is to miss their presence terribly

when they're just not conveniently around or absent

There's often most probably a perfectly good reason

life's complexity and multiple demands are important.

Meeting up after a long time apart and for good reason

offers such a special loving opportunity

The chance to throw your arms around each other

and welcome them back and with.importunity.

But realistically for every "hello" there has to be a "goodbye"

a parting with some "sadness" and "loss" involved

But getting back together can put smiles back on anxious faces

as no matter what the problem it can always be solved.

If and when I say "I need you" please take me seriously

It's an endorsement of everything I believe we stand for

and the importance attached to that fact

you're the one for whom I'll always hold open the door

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=america%20i%20need%20you%20videos&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:73453870,vid:XkhsccGKqOI,st:0

© G.P.S. 23rd April 2024: in close collaboration with his co-writing Muse and poetess © Myriam Ghezaïl Ben Brahim.

[silas-lehnsherr]

I think the whole voting doesn’t matter things comes from the fact that a lot of people only vote for President. They come out every four years and cast a vote for President (and maybe US Congress while they’re at it), and truthfully, unless you live in a swing state, your vote for President doesn’t really matter. Red states for the most part will always go red and blue states will always go blue. I’m not saying to not vote. You should still vote and you should try to organize to get more people to vote. Republicans are good about going out and voting, but I see a lot of apathy here in Oklahoma among my fellow leftists and liberals. Georgia went blue last time, so we know with proper organization it can happen. But also, we need to abolish the electoral college.

This is the second time in my voting history that I’ve participated in flipping a red seat in Alabama for Democrats (the previous time being my beloved Doug Jones) so it’s always funny to see people turn around and say voting doesn’t matter when I’ve seen it twice in the past ten years flip seats in what is supposed to be safe Republican country. Republicans are digging their own grave with their radicalization and it is making them lose (and with your help we can make them lose harder). Vote.