#We Should Improve Society Somewhat

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Do you think that there should be a "point" to society? And if so, what do you think that "point" should be?

The point of society should be for everyone to benefit from it. If you're gonna go through the trouble of participating in it, you should get something out of it! If you pay high taxes, you should get good roads and healthcare and paid vacation, otherwise it's just a waste of money. If there's no benefit, why bother? Why does the system exist if the majority of people suffer under it? Why can't we fix it and make it work so everyone prospers? Higher taxes for the rich won't mean shit if the government doesn't spend it right; the point of society is to be fucking social! Social programs! Social safety nets! The needs of the many (the poor) outweighing the needs of the few (the rich). Being trapped in this state, in this country, in this century, makes me want to burn my life to the ground and live the rest of my days as a swamp dwelling hermit out in the Evergaldes. It would certainly cost less, and I'd have the exact same access to vital medical procedures (none whatsoever).

[personal-blog243]

I really think we need to use the “we should improve society somewhat” meme more often to some of these conservatives 🙄.

Lately I have seen a few reels on social media that are for some reason targeting younger, white, women who share their concerns about the cost of living crisis and their financial worries. It seems to be mostly conservatives who will make some comment like “lol I thought you had white privilege” without actually addressing poverty in minority communities. 🙄. Or they will revert to the old “bootstrapping” rhetoric or say they also struggled so it doesn’t matter. Some people will even make assumptions about the way she voted in the comments and say it’s poor people’s fault for voting wrong as if that’s a solution to systemic poverty 🙄. Even if the woman in the video didn’t say a word about politics.

I feel like people target these videos of the very few examples of young white women complaining because they are an easy target because they are statistically less likely to be poor, but it just ends up hurting other demographics of people that are even more impacted by wealth inequality.

[spider-artdump]

[thelemmallama]

in defense of hypocrisy

saying stuff is also an action, so if they say true, helpful things, does it matter what their intentions were for saying it? would the world be better off if they said false, hurtful things instead just so that what they say matches their other actions?

isn't it kind of weird that we feel like one good thing and one bad thing is worse than two bad things, because at least the latter matches up? that at least you're consistent if you do the latter? i mean, i love consistency too; consistent belief systems are beautiful on a theoretical level, but on a practical level, even i have to admit that consistency is something i can't think of a reason to value for its own sake

and heck, hypocrisy doesn't even necessarily reflect that someone doesn't truly believe what they're preaching! sometimes people really are forced to do the bad thing because they're kind of screwed if they don't! i think it's bad to forbid people from speaking out about bad things if they have to do the very thing they're speaking out against themselves. it means fewer people fighting against the bad thing, and thus more time for the bad thing to stick around and be bad for people.

only the privileged can afford not to be a hypocrite.

everyone else who tries to criticize society would run into the 'we should improve society somewhat' problem

just because someone's a hypocrite, doesn't mean they're wrong

(but i am indeed privileged enough to be able to safely practice what i preach so i'll do just that because people tend to like non-hypocrites and listen to them more than to hypocrites, thus it helps me futher my agenda :P)

i think our instinctive hatred of hypocrisy probably goes back to how we're programmed to value intent. hypocrites are dishonest; it doesn't matter what then say since they don't mean it. but i staunchly believe intent doesn't matter; only actions do -- and when i think about it, being patient with hypocrites kind of follows from that.

saying stuff is also an action, so if they say true, helpful things, does it matter what their intentions were for saying it? would the world be better off if they said false, hurtful things instead just so that what they say matches their other actions?

isn't it kind of weird that we feel like one good thing and one bad thing is worse than two bad things, because at least the latter matches up? that at least you're consistent if you do the latter? i mean, i love consistency too; consistent belief systems are beautiful on a theoretical level, but on a practical level, even i have to admit that consistency is something i can't think of a reason to value for its own sake

and heck, hypocrisy doesn't even necessarily reflect that someone doesn't truly believe what they're preaching! sometimes people really are forced to do the bad thing because they're kind of screwed if they don't! i think it's bad to forbid people from speaking out about bad things if they have to do the very thing they're speaking out against themselves. it means fewer people fighting against the bad thing, and thus more time for the bad thing to stick around and be bad for people.

only the privileged can afford not to be a hypocrite.

everyone else who tries to criticize society would run into the 'we should improve society somewhat' problem

just because someone's a hypocrite, doesn't mean they're wrong

_

i'm against passive income, but i own stocks. if i put it in the bank, that just means the bank invests my money instead so they get the returns on investment; so no difference in overall impact (assuming they even invest in (relatively) 'ethical' businesses like i'm doing). how about i just withdraw it all as cash and stash it under my matress? HAHAHAHA. Bold of you to assume I have a mattress.

though i am indeed privileged enough to be able to safely practice some other things i preach (e.g. IP abolitionism), so i'll still do that when I can because people tend to like non-hypocrites and listen to them more than to hypocrites, thus it helps me further my agenda

[3liza]

"uwu be nice to men they're so sad" does anyone remember the centuries and millennia when it was illegal to not be nice to men like institutionally, punishable by death, and they did not respond with better politics or behavior or less violent crime or fewer family annihilations, rapes, infanticides, regular normal homicides, serial killing, child molestation, etc. does anyone remember that. i think it was written down somewhere if you don't remember.

[plausiblyren]

when we say “kill the part of you that cringes” this is the kind of positive change we mean

We reclaiming tonight bois

[valtsv]

honestly though no amount of performative posting about kindness and warmth and love and making soup or peeling oranges or whatever will ever be a replacement for actually putting in the work to be kind and warm and loving and take care of others. i am aware of the irony here btw.

[fresh-bag-of-ham]

if i had written a story about a woman who was radicalized to socialism by the sight of blind beggar children. while traveling with a fuckboy who was gambling away all their money. and someone adapted that story. and changed it so that it was the woman who lost all the fuckboy's gambling winnings. when she was scammed like an idiot while trying to give that money to the blind beggar children. i can only speak for myself. but i might rise from the grave and tear that person limb from limb

[glassprism]

I've seen various references where many seem upset about Uwe Kroger's boob grab during the Final Lair. However, the boob grabs during PONR seem to be.... enjoyed by viewers. I noticed a post you answered on 8/28/21 where you had clips from Matthew Camelle, Ben Crawford, Kevin Gray and Peter Karrie doing various grabs. Thoughts?

Well, I suppose it's because in one of those cases, the gesture is generally required by the blocking, in a scene where Christine is suggested to be subconsciously enjoying what is happening to her, in a song that hovers on the border between suspenseful and steamy for the audience.

And the other is a gesture thrown in by one single actor (and possibly taken from a show he was previously in), in a scene where Christine is unambiguously terrified and angry at the Phantom, in a song that is meant to be dramatic and not at all titillating.

I hope that explains it.

[themuppetagenda]

If you're excited about girls being in spaces they were historically excluded from (gaming, stem fields, 'boy' toys, whatever), but not excited about any person being in historically feminine spaces (dance, barbies, pillaging, whatever); maybe consider what that means to you.

For a lot of cis people especially, it's very easy to imagine yourself as a feminist, but hold onto the mindset that masculine descriptors have more intrinsic value. It's 'good' to see a girl playing with gi joe action figures / it's bad to see a girl (or boy) playing with barbies.

Of course masculinity needs to be encouraged in a positive way, only the absolute fringes are against that idea. But I can't help feeling like feminism takes one step forward and all of a sudden you hear these cries of, 'won't someone think of the men.' Like damn were the last 6,000 years not enough? Let me coddle you a little more there fellah.

When people fret about the “crisis in masculinity,” what gets overlooked is that femininity is still routinely demeaned and debated in our society. In fact, these two problems seem deeply intertwined to me.

Masculinity, Femininity, and Meanings

[spokelseskladden]

I hate the capitalistic idea of exponential growth, can't a stable profit be enough? Can't we just provide a service and be happy? Why am i constantly being asked to talk people into buying shit they don't actually need just for the numbers??? I don't even make more when the business does well, it's all for the executives and i don't care about them. I think they should rot actually.

[lottieurl]

real mad they made me do work at work today. don't you know i'm reading a really good book?

[despair-tea]

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

analyzing hermes, emet-selch, the ancients and ascians, how they're written, and the fandom's reaction to them be like hm. emet-selch's role in this fuckery is compounded by the fact that his backstory as a genocide survivor is incongruous with his ruling a huge genocidal colonialist world power in the present da [ANTISEMITISM BLAST]

[unlikely-ualentine]

the nature of using this website again is every time i rb smth critical of ao3 I expect to have 50000 anons acting like i personally shot their moms and told them to die bc I made a shitpost abt ao3 that boiled down to "maybe it shouldnt host cp" again

[frauleinfunf]

Not Every Middle Aged Woman You Disagree With is a Karen by me, Lisa Italian 5, PhD in Milf-ology