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comingoutofthecauldron · 5 years ago

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let’s talk about lesbophobia in fandom

i don’t like to use the word “lesbophobia” unironically because of all the gross radfem terfy connotations, so i will clarify right off the bat that i am neither a terf nor an aphobe and that if you are i want you off my blog like, right now. unfortunately, the meaning of lesbophobia has been so warped by alt right lesbians that seeing it in an unironic context makes me, a lesbian, uncomfortable, which speaks volumes in itself. so to clarify, lesbophobia is essentially homophobia with a pinch of sexism thrown into the mix, and it’s running rampant in supposed safe spaces and, more relevantly, fandom.

/i’d also like to clarify that i’m not only speaking on lesbophobia, but also the general disgust and disdain for all wlw in fandom, and am using it as a sort of umbrella term/

lesbophobia and disdain for wlw has been around forever, but whilst gay positivity, mlm and mlm ships have been steadily increasing in popularity within fandom over time, wlw and wlw ships have remained perpetual underdogs. why? because lesbophobia has become a fandom within itself. both in and outside of fandom, we see instances of casual lesbophobia every single day—from aggression towards wlw to something as simple and prevalent as the complete and utter lack of sapphic ships and characters in media. hatred of lesbians and wlw is practically a trend, and it’s seeping in through the cracks of fandoms who are already facing issues with minorities and marginalized groups (i.e. racism, ableism). if you honestly think that lesbophobia isn’t prevalent as hell in fandom right now, you’re either not a wlw, you’re not all that involved in fandom, or you’re dumb as shit.

just look at ships. in almost every single fandom, the ratio of mlm ships to sapphic ships is ridiculously unbalanced. people are quick to ship male characters who so much as smile at each other (and i don’t condemn that) but would never do the same for two women—even on the rare occasion that the ship is actually canon. i once wrote a wlw fanfic for a [predominantly straight] fandom, and received messages like this gem:

on the flip side of that, if there is a sapphic ship in canon or fanon, it is often fetishized and sexualised to a disturbing degree. there will be double the amount of nsfw art and fics, and ninety percent of it will be derogatory and fetishized as hell. having been actively involved in several fandoms over the past few years (and currently a content creator in one), i’ve seen instances of all this hundreds of times. people go crazy for mlm ships, but the second you say you ship/prefer a wlw ship, there’s always someone at the ready with, “i think all ships are great!” or “it’s not a contest” or “i prefer [insert m/m or m/f ship] actually” or “they’re my brotp!/why can’t you just let them be friends?”. not only do lesbians and wlw not get to have any rep in media, any rep that they try to create for themselves in fandom just gets attacked or ruined. this is so detrimental not only to all wlw, but especially to younger wlw who will end up being indoctrinated into this belief that their sexuality is something dirty, something that can never be tender and sweet but rather something that deserves to be preyed upon.

building on that, let’s talk about engagement. i run an instagram account (where i have a significantly bigger following) as well as this blog for my fandom, where i post the content i create (mainly text posts). when i first started creating content, i made a lot for a relatively unpopular wlw ship, in which both girls are canonically romantically involved with a dude—though one of them is canonically pan. their canonical m/f ships are both very popular, and i noticed that my engagement was dropping every time i posted them, so i eventually just stopped. it wasn’t even a conscious decision; i merely resigned myself to the fact that the fandom didn’t want to see sapphic ships, and some people would even go as far as to condemn them. for reference, my instagram posts get an average of about 500 likes per post (popular ones usually exceeding 1k), but when i post this ship, my engagement drops to about 250 likes. similarly, my tumblr text posts have an average of about 140 notes per post (popular ones usually reaching up to 750), but my wlw content rarely surpasses 100. this just feeds the cycle of wlw never getting rep: if, like me, content creators become disincentivised by the lack of engagement with their sapphic content, they’re more likely to stop making/posting it, leading to further lack of rep—and when new content creators try to rectify that, they face the same problems.

and then, of course, there’s the treatment of actual wlw in fandom. my best example of this is when my friend and i made an anti account on instagram (the first instagram anti account in that fandom), our bio saying something like “salty and bitter lesbians being salty and bitter”, and received an onslaught of lesbophobic insults and threats from angry stans within hours. (tw: r*pe) one commenter even went as far as to tell us that they wanted us to get r*ped. as well as this, i’ve seen so many instances of people using slurs against lesbians in arguments/in anons, often for no apparent reason other than they feel that they have the right. when i first mentioned i was a lesbian on instagram, my account only had about 200 followers, and within a day i lost 20. i also lose followers whenever i post f/f ships, not quite to that extent but enough for it to be noticeable, on top of the aforementioned engagement dips. in the face of all this adversity, i think a lot of wlw turn to mlm ships because they’re the closest thing we have to actual rep, but when we do we get accused of fetishizing them by the same people who fetishize us. there’s an endless list of double standards that non-wlw have been upholding for years, and i can firmly say that i’m really fucking sick of it. because of our sexuality, we will never be allowed to enjoy something without someone labelling it or us as dirty or otherwise problematic, when to them, the only problematic thing about us is that we aren’t pleasing men.

as i mentioned before, the lack of rep for wlw in media is appallingly consistent, and part of that stems from tokenism. in a lot of modern mainstream media, you’ll have one, maybe two lgbt characters, and nine times out of ten those characters are white cis male gays. of course, there are exceptions to this, but generally, that’s it. script writers and authors (especially cishets) seem to have this mentality of, “oh, well, we gave them one, that’s sure to be enough!”, which means that on the off chance you do get your gay rep, the likelihood of also receiving wlw or any other kind of rep becomes practically non-existant. this belief that all marginalized groups are the same and that one represents all is what leads to misrepresentation on top of lack of rep, which is what makes tokenism so dangerous. if you treat your only gay character badly, you are essentially treating every single gay person badly in that universe. so not only is lesbophobia and disdain for wlw harmful to sapphic women via their exclusion in media, it’s also harming those minorities who do get rep. when people try to defend lesbophobic source material, that’s when fandom starts to get toxic. the need for critical thinking has never been more apparent and it has also never been less appeased—and wlw are getting hit hard by it, as always.

finally, a pretty big driving factor of lesbophobia is, ironically, lesbians. my lesbian friends and i often joke that though everyone seems to hate us, no one hates lesbians more than lesbians do. though i’d say it’s most prevalent on tumblr, i see traces of it all over the internet. the growth of alt right lesbian movements is not only reinforcing hatred for lesbians, but also reinforcing hatred for bi and pan women. here you have these terrible lesbians using their platforms to express their disgust for bi/pan women, for aces and aros, for trans women/nb lesbians, and people see them and say, “gosh, lesbians are just awful.” and just like that, all of us are evil. occasionally, lesbian blogs that i follow get put on terf blocklists for no other reason than the fact that they have “lesbian” in their bio. and the lesbians that actually deserve to be on those blocklists? they’re too busy spewing misinformation about trans women and bi women to care, boosted up by their alt right friends in an ever-expanding movement. i’ve found that this heavily influences fandom on tumblr, lesbians often getting branded as “biphobic” when they hc a female character as a lesbian rather than bi or pan. this criticism of both lesbians and wlw by lesbians and non-wlw alike only ever allows lesbophobia to grow, both in and out of fandom. that said, lesbians aren’t to blame for their own discrimination; rather, many of us have been conditioned into subconsciously endorsing it after spending our entire lives hearing heterosexual platitudes about lesbians and sapphic relationships. homophobic cishets are and always have been the nexus of this oppression—the only difference is that now they can hide behind alt right lesbians.

one thing has been made apparent to me throughout my time in fandom, and that thing is that no one likes to see men “underrepresented”. people hate sapphic ships and lesbians so much because there is no room for men, and men Do Not Like That. so, like the worms that they are, they slither their way in, be it through fetishization or condemnation of wlw characters and ships, and they ruin whatever good things we have going for us. the thing about worms, though, is that they’re easy enough to crush if you’re wearing the right shoes.

so to all my bi/pan gals and lesbian pals: put on your doc martens, because we’ve got ourselves some lesbophobes to stomp on.

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monstersarealwayshungryrpg-blog · 8 years ago

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Congratulations Emily! You have been accepted as The Lover! (FC: Lily James)

Our competition for The Lovers came to two amazing apps, but Emily, your application absolutely blew us away. Celeste is beautifully developed - from her name to her history - but still with so much room for growth and exploration, and she’s just absolutely perfect for this role! Make sure to follow the checklist and send us your account within 48 hours! WELCOME TO THE ARCANA RING, EMILY. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY.

Name: Emily

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 21

In Character Information

Skeleton Applying for: The Lovers.

The two figures in the Lovers card are blessed and protected by the angel in the clouds above them. Angels, in general, represent the refinement of earthly desires. This angel, in particular, is Raphael, the angel of Air. One of the associations of Air is communication, necessary for a healthy relationship. The purple cloak on the angel represents royalty, a symbol of how important communication is. The sun shines brightly over the couple, bringing warmth and security. The earth at their feet is green and fertile and suggests life and happiness. The snake in the fruit-laden tree behind the woman suggests the story of Adam and Eve, the fall of humanity from grace, and the temptations of the world. The snake is also a symbol of the senses. The flames behind the man represent the flames of passion, indicating the primary concern of the man. There are twelve flames, representing the twelve zodiac signs, the symbol of time and eternity. The man looks to the woman, who looks to the angel, indicating the path of the conscious to the subconscious to the super-conscious, or from physical desire to emotional needs to spiritual concerns. The mountain is a phallic symbol, while the water is a feminine symbol, indicating balance between the two. (X)

Faceclaim: Lily James, Margot Robbie

Character’s Full Name: Celeste Lucie Fontaine

CELESTE: This French name is based on the Latin caelestis meaning ‘heavenly’. She’s often been compared to an Angel, a creature floating down from the stars, shining just as bright. Someone who occasionally appears to be not of this world – or at least, not fading into the background of the one she does inhabit – it is wholly appropriate that Celeste’s middle name speaks to the skies up above and all the weight that they carry. Although she laughs when people call her an Angel or ask when she fell from heaven (she’s always had a weakness for cheesy, corny chat up lines), such a comparison is enough to make her heart dance. It was her clients who first began the trend, but it has quickly spread to the mob members she calls family – who perceive her to be a slip of relative innocence among their ranks and someone to be cherished. Made pure by her desires (to love and be loved in return, to have sanctuary, to be happy and blessed and beautiful) she truly represents a heavenly creature. But Celeste doesn’t know to be wary. She doesn’t know to be afraid. She doesn’t know that even Angels can fall.

LUCIE: In French the meaning of the name Lucie is: Light; illumination. There’s a serenity to Celeste, a brightness that refuses to be dimmed – in spite of the darkness’s of her childhood, in rebellion against her endless heartbreaks or the chaos and destruction of the mob that surrounds her. It would be easier, simpler, to become swept up in said darkness’s – to give into the most carnal of desires and become a tragic parody of herself. It takes a certain strength to remain resilient despite that and an even brighter light to keep shining through the seemingly never ending darkness, chaos and destruction. The world can change, circumstances can change – but the most fundamental parts of herself, her desires, dreams and hopes – they remain the same, all fuelled by the same internal light that shines bright enough for anyone. There have been too many times in her life when Celeste was forced to become her own beacon of hope, her own lighthouse calling out to the ships in the bay. From a young age, she learnt to find the light inside of herself – and believed in it wholeheartedly, never giving up, for lack of other options. But, likewise, she has become that light for everyone else – or whatever they have needed from her, shifting and giving a little into their desires. Hardship might make it dim, but it will never fade, not completely. These days, in the solace in the arms of a soul mate, it shines brighter than ever.

Age: Twenty-six

Gender and Sexuality: Cis-gender female (She/her pronouns) + Pansexual/Panromantic.

To Celeste, sex and gender are fluid and without meaning, fading in significance when held in comparison to the person themselves. She has loved people who identify as men and those who identify as women – and those who don’t see themselves on the spectrum at all. Labels are such silly, limiting, affairs – and she has no time for them. Besides, labels do not matter as much as what is inside of a person – the measure of them, the way that they cherish her and whether they whisper I love you as they tangle between the sheets. It’s for this reason that Celeste firmly identifies as pansexual/panromantic – and does so with pride.

Character Bio:

(Tw: Abuse, Neglect, Prostitution)

PAST:

Some children are counted as blessings, cherished from their first breath and held close to their parent’s chests. Some children fulfil legacies, or fill an aching hole. And some, a tragic few, are born without a second thought, hardly wanted and forced aside as if they are a burden of their own making. Without being given a choice, Celeste was assigned the second category. Even the circumstances of her birth hinted at the struggle to come. She was born early, learning to howl through fragile lungs, limbs as delicate as a lambs as they shook for attention. She was to learn that such a kindness would not be easily granted – and would have to be sought out. In the beginning, there was only one parent (whose repeated absences would convince Celeste she had no parents), a mother who had no right to the title, who carried a child she had little love for and who paid far more attention to a throng of boyfriends, neither of which treated her very nicely either. Brought home and raised in a poky little flat in central Lyon, Celeste soon learnt that there was very little love to be had. It was an absence that caused agony and one that would define the years to come.

Growing up, she hungered for three things – affection, attention and escape. The first two were hard to come by – and would defy her grasp for many years to come. But the third was remarkably easy to find, among the pages of books at the Public Library. In the hours after school and on weekends when she was old enough to remember the route, Celeste could be found tucked into the corner between two shelves, fingers tracing the outlines of the beautiful princesses and repeating their stories under her breath. Their lives appeared to follow a journey similar to her own. They faced adversity as a child – Snow White was tormented by a wicked Step-mother, Cinderella’s father died, leaving her in the clutches of evil and Rapunzel was locked high in a tower. Then, they escaped. They found happiness – and they found it in the arms of a Prince. Young and impressionable, with nothing else to base her fantasies on, Celeste quickly became enamoured with the idea of a fairy tale ending. She imagined herself to be Snow White and brought to life by true loves kiss, to be Rapunzel and torn down from her prison by the love of her life and to find a glass slipper that fitted. Internalising fantasies, they quickly became a sort of reality, a safe place to go to in the midst of chaos – whenever her apartment was shook by shouting or the doors slammed enough to shake the entire building.

Her life became fixated on the idea of something better. From the time she could go to school, she noticed the gaps in her own life and those of her peers. They had parents, in various shapes and forms, who loved them. They had big houses with multiple bedrooms and a well-stocked fridge. They were warm and safe and loved. Was it so wrong for her to want that for herself? Sat hunched over drawings, she imagined a palace of her own – a big house with an endless wardrobe (sat in tatted second-hand clothes with holes in, was it really so horrible for her to dream of gilded possessions?) – and someone to come home to her. They would sweep her up unto their arms and caress her until she was safe, worshipping her as Goddess. Some days, those ambitions were the only things that kept her alive – nourishing her until the dream figure found a face.

As a child she had been too tall and a little too slender. But as the girl became a woman, so she grew to fit her features – blossoming into a natural beauty. Suddenly, people began to notice her. Eyes would follow her when she walked across a room. People began to leave notes in her locker. She was asked to dances. They saw her. An invisible girl was beginning to come to life. Believing that her beauty was her ticket out of a life of desperation and poverty, she began to fixate on the ideals – waking up at five AM to get ready before school, pilfering through unsuspecting friends closets to sell their hand-me-downs, even occasionally shoplifting for make-up. It was vanity – but for the purest of intentions – and Celeste remained proud of her actions. If this was what it took to get her out of this life, then she would do it all.

Eventually, her work paid off. The first person who truly noticed her was an older boy at school, eighteen to her tender sixteen. At first, he was charming. He carried her books to class, gave her a corsage at prom – even held her as she fell asleep in his arms. And when she asked him to take care of her, he said he always would. Besotted and eager to impress, Celeste quickly shaped herself in his desired image – believing that if she succeeded, he would never hurt her. One day, about four months after they had started dating, he asked her if they could have sex. She told him that she loved him – and asked if he felt the same. When he nodded, she inclined her head too, giving him permission. The sex had been sweet – but it was his words she fixated on the most. He loves you. He loves you. You won’t have to be alone now. Unfortunately, people lie. Three days later, he told her that they were done. He was the first to break her heart – but he wouldn’t be the last. In the aftermath, some people might have turned bitter, or darkened their heart against the possibility of love. But Celeste, more resilient than even she knew, was determined not to let him define her.

The next three followed in a similar suit – she gave her heart to people who were reckless with it. Perhaps that was why she failed to see a future in Lyon – and that when she graduated, given control of her freedom for the first time in her life – she left, bound for Paris. In her imagination, Paris was the city of romance, the place where dreams came true and the most beautiful city in the world. If she couldn’t make it there, then there would be nowhere else to go. Taking a low-paid job as a waitress at high-value and exclusive events, she felt more like Cinderella than ever before. Life was not kind to the poor pretty girl. It gave her a tiny, rat-infested, apartment. And unlike in the fairy tales, they did not befriend her. But, like Cinderella, she found her break. It was a Tuesday night – and she had been working for hours. But somehow, she caught the attention of an older woman, dripped in jewels, who liked to collect treasures of her own. Approaching her at the end of her shift, she offered a cheek in greeting – and a generous offer. Come and live with me. You won’t ever want for anything. They were the words she had been waiting a lifetime to hear. Greedy for a different lifestyle – and throwing caution to the wind – she accepted.

After that, her life became unrecognisable. She immediately moved into the woman’s apartment and was showered with indulgent fabrics and jewels, all for the very small price of indulging her as an intimate girlfriend. It was every fantasy she had ever imagined. It was her happily ever after. In time, what was initially a business arrangement began to feel very much like true love and she learnt to blind herself to the inequalities in their relationship. In time, any boundaries began to erode, as Celeste learnt everything there was to know about the woman she called her soul-mate. Her wealth came from a number of places – some unsavoury. There is a ring called the Arcana, she had said, three years into their tryst, I would like you very much to meet them.

Agreeing, Celeste was the beautiful girl on her arm the night she was taken to L’Empire Rogue. It was there that she first became inducted into the ring – meeting the Empress for the first time. Beautiful, but deadly, Celeste was immediately intrigued – drawn towards the world she promised. Given a tour around L’Empire Rogue, Lucienne surprised her by offering her a job, curling her lip and saying she could be a stripper or an escort, whichever she preferred. Staunchly loyal towards her benefactor, Celeste shook her head – Merci, but I could not possibly leave my love. Lucienne had smiled, the sort that inspires, as well as terrifies you. Pointing down towards the main floor, Celeste blinked back tears as she watched her beloved being taken back to a private room by a beautiful girl. And in that moment, her heart broke for the fourth time. Comforting her, Lucienne said that she didn’t have to rely on one person, that she could have an entire family – filled with people who cherished her. Clients will fall at your feet, they will worship you. Nothing bad can ever happen to you here. Seeing little other option – and truly wishing to buy into the life she painted with her words – Celeste agreed.

The next night, there was a new girl in the club – one with the eyes of the world upon her. Where other workers changed their names and became Star, Bunny and Rose, Celeste opted to keep her own, looking for honesty from the clients who would pay for her pleasures. There are those who would look down upon her and her profession, but for Celeste, the entire experience was one of empowerment. The gaze of desire in their eyes sparked a new sense of life inside of her. They ravished her with their tongue and bodies. They attended to her, touching her intimately, as if they would never let go. She was being worshipped. Each night, she would fall a little more in love with them. Within a few months, Celeste had climbed up the ranks and become of Lucienne’s top earning girls – and a personal favourite. Whilst people, usually her fellow workers, assume it is ambition and greed that drives her, they hit far from the mark. Although she would never deny how good being at the top feels, it isn’t cutthroat ambition that drove her journey there – but the constant need for approval. Having never been the best at anything, never particularly sharp with intellect, or loved the way she deserved to be (heart and soul), it felt good to be at the top, to know there was nowhere further to go. The Queen at the top of her power, she won’t allow anyone to knock her down.

In time, what began as a profession quickly became a life – and one worth living. True to her word, Lucienne introduced Celeste to the rest of the Arcana Ring. Initially nervous (fearful that they might despise her, judge her or simply hate her), Celeste quickly found her place within their ranks – and distant strangers became treasured friends – and then family. It was the only sort she had ever known, a different sort of love than one to be found between the sheets, but one just as pure. They all came from different walks of life, with different talents, expectations and goals, but were drawn together by a common thread. Throwing herself head first into the relationships she cultivated with them, they each hold a treasured place in her heart, never to be torn out or replaced. She grew to cherish the monthly dinners at the estate and in time, the life she had chosen for herself. Finally, she thought, I am safe. There were smiles. And there was laughter. But to be truly happy, she knew she needed one more thing.

Love.

It was a lesson that she had failed to learn time and time again. But a heart that bled as heavily as hers could never truly be stilled. In the arms of every lover she took, she was always searching for something more. She longed for a relationship that lasted longer than a night, for someone who took the time to get to know her, that would cherish her the way she believed she deserved. Was it so much to ask? She would think, tears rolling down her cheek. But, although she left a piece of herself in each client she took, she failed to find the one – and it was all so temporary. Some were ashamed of her. Some objected to the crime ring she counted herself a part of. In the end, she hadn’t figured out that the person she was looking for had been under her nose the entire time. It was late one night – and Remy was a surprise guest. Celeste had begged the last one to stay, swearing they could make it work, but had been left alone anyway. It was Remy who had caught her, with that damned smile of theirs. No one can understand this life. Not like you or I. I would never be ashamed of you. Celeste had raised her eyes to meet theirs – and found herself falling.

The rest, as they say, is history.

PRESENT:

Happiness has been a long time coming – but finally, it has fallen within Celeste’s grip, never to be surrendered. You cannot call her a Queen, but she’s something of a Princess within the Arcana Ring, adored by the masses, occupying the top rung at L’Empire Rouge and blushing with the flush of true love. They say that beauty fades, but Celeste’s is blossoming. She is magnificent – and she knows it. Vanity and pride are ugly, but they look appealing splashed across her features. Blissfully ignorant to the stirrings of war at her side, her focus is consumed wholly by the woman who occupies her bed and holds her as she falls asleep – a loyalty that no one – and nothing – could ever break, which is probably why no one has even tried. Although currently blind to the rumblings of change around her, she cannot remain ignorant forever and soon, war will find a place at her doorstep. Should that happen, no one would even need to question her stance – for her heart will always win. Despite that, the Arcana Ring is her family – and she would never wish to see them fractured. To Celeste, sticking together – and uniting behind Remy – is the best course of action. In the midst of war, she would be the white flag, a little naïve as she advocates for peace and reconciliation. But should fighting break out, should she be forced to gear up and smudge paint across her cheeks, she knows what side she’s on.

PERSONALITY:

So much of who Celeste is has been shaped by her past experiences. She is very much a product of her childhood and the legacies that it has carved out upon her body. She strives for safety and security, investing so much of who she is in people and putting stock in them – because those are the things that were denied to her as a child, so have become what she craves. It’s a little naïve of her at times – but is very much an active choice – fulfilling the promises she made to herself when she was just a little girl – and didn’t know any better. Despite that, Celeste is a myriad of complications. She is something of an idealistic dreamer, the girl who believes in soulmates and happy endings, who wants nothing more than to impress everyone, under pressure from their expectations, but possesses something of a hidden edge too – a desire to remain on top, as well as being a little vain – craving the comfort of beautiful material goods. And yet, ultimately, those flaws stem from her childhood experiences, from the denial of things and forever desiring denied attention and affection. Ultimately, Celeste is someone who wants the simplest pleasures in life, a family to adore, to love and be loved in return. And in that sense, she is the most human of us all.

Extra:

Mockblog: X

Personality Analysis: X

Anything Else: Nope!

#accepted #the lovers

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technicallyzanyfestival-blog · 6 years ago

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Info sheet Racism and Discrimination

Who?: Racism and discrimination are endured by a vast variety of people. Racism in itself is heavily felt by dark skinned people all around the world. Due to subconscious teachings of black being inferior to white; light is good, dark is evil, etc., with an increase in darkness comes a higher prejudice against said person. When we mend discrimination with racism, we can see a crystal clear relationship. From passed up job opportunities to being denied service, black people secomb to most racial discrimination by far. This is not to leave out all minority race groups, especially indigenous people. They are sometimes viewed as drug addicts with no work ethic, this leading into not being thought of in opportunities that could better their quality of life.

Women are subjected to discrimination far too much in our day and age. Many of us do it subconsciously, whether it be feeling more comfortable with a male server, electrician, construction worker, etc. Women are seen to be less capable of certain tasks than men.

Some other people who experience discrimination are those of the LGBT+ community. Certain job titles still are not viewed as an appropriate place to express one’s homosexuality. In many occasions gay couples will be denied service from businesses due to strictly the fact that the consumers are gay.

Where?: Racism occurs all over the world, because of the social normality, for things such as skin colour, ethnicity, and religion. We are mainly discussing racism within America and Canada. America and Canada’s racist status quo remains unique and alarmingly oppressive. This racism is entirely based on skin-colour and one ideal image. One’s nationality is immaterial. In terms of discrimination, discrimination also happens all over the world and on a greater scale. Discriminatory traditions, policies, ideas, practices and laws exist in many countries, some having discrimination towards different groups more than other countries would. In some places, controversial attempts such as quotas have been used to benefit those who are believed to be current or past victims of discrimination

When?: Nobody knows when racism was birthed. In many cultures, dark skin is viewed to coordinate with poorness with the ideology that if you worked outside, you were poor and tanned. A spotlight shown on the cruelty of racism during the slave trade in the 17th century. Black people were used as slaves due to solely their skin colour. This ignited the flame of white power. Once slavery was claimed illegal in the late 1800’s that mindset didn’t die. Segregation showed the epitome of discrimination. Jobs were not given, seats were not sat in, schools were not attended to, etc., simply because of a colour.

With many protests for equality throughout the 18th and 19th century including our modern “Black Lives Matter” movement, segregation was banned and minds were slowly but surely opening. However the view of black people of less than was not fully stripped. Plantations turned to prisons and beatings turned into “necessary action”. Police brutality formed such a movement. Today we can still witness discrimination against minority groups even though many rules and regulations have been put in place, there is still the fight for equal views and opportunities.

What?: Racism: the belief of some races being better than others and the actions resulting from that belief. Racism is not just saying offensive comments to one of a different cultural background but offensive to their community as a whole. Canada supposedly to be a very multicultural country is exposed to more occurences of racism than expected.

Discrimination: prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially around race, age or sex. Some might think racism and discrimination are the same thing, but in reality they are not. Discrimination targets an individual’s gender, sexual orientation age as well as race. Majority of people are exposed to discrimination such as groups of teenagers, women, LGBTQ and those of colour.

Why?: Racism and discrimination are seen as very common topics around the world, making them immune to some, but there is a reason why it happens. Racism has been brought from generation to generation, especially during the time when the europeans were colonizing different countries of different ethnic backgrounds. Not only is it a form of hate from old times but a stereotype of a certain race. Older generations bring their dislike and bias towards a certain or multiple races, and younger generations adapt to it. Stereotypes are similar in a way except the racism is not coming from a person you know but a large group of people who have thoughts about the certain race. For example saying asians can’t drive, but just because a person has been in a bad situation with one, doesn’t mean they are all bad drivers. Discrimination is similar in the sense of stereotyping a large group or having an opinion about them because everyone thinks its right. For example, some people think women should not work and just stay at home to take care of the children. Because of people being so influenced by what others of society think, racism and discrimination seems common in a way. Although there is no way to stop racism and discrimination since it will always be around especially with older generations, there is a way to educate the younger generations about the misuse of it. There is a large misuse of the word ‘racist’ and ‘discriminate’’ because some people do not know what the real definition of racism and discrimination is. Educating, and not labelling everything as racism and discrimination could be ways to have the terms not be so common.

Vision/Goal: The first step to demolishing racism and discrimination as a whole is to educate ourselves about this issue and to know the kind of effect that it can have on our society. Generations need to be raised and taught how to treat people equally and correctly or else we will never be able to grow and change this world-wide issue. Another reason is that we need to stop viewing each other as greater or superior to one another. The hope is that by doing things such as these, all people can live without fear, and instead with hope and love, however this can only be achieved as a society and not individuals. It will take a great amount of effort to demolish or at best decrease racism and discrimination from our society,

Background/issue: - what has caused the inequity? What have you identified as the inequity? Social inequality is linked to racial inequality, gender inequality, and wealth inequality. The way people behave socially, through racist or sexist practices and other forms of discrimination, tends to trickle down and affect the opportunities and wealth individuals can generate for themselves. Today in Canada we have legal protection for victims of discrimination and a constitutional guarantee of equality rights for all. Employees cannot be treated differently because of age – unless they are under 19, in which case different standards apply. Remember, the BC Human Rights Code does not permit employers to discriminate against employees based on personal characteristics – like age, race, religion or gender and other personal characteristics.

So, for example: Employers cannot refuse to hire you because of where you come from. Employers cannot fire you because you are pregnant. Employers cannot force you to retire because of your age. Employers cannot harass you sexually.

Human rights

Poverty

Poverty is the deprivation of common necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such a s education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens

Although one of their group members was missing, i found this presentation to be very educational and wee executed. I am happy to know that the world’s population living in extreme poverty has gone down by twenty-four percent in the last twenty-eight years. It disgusts me to find out that one seventh of Canada is living in poverty. It simply doesn’t make sense to me. We are labeled as a first world country yet we have over fourteen percent of our population living in conditions equivalent to those of third world countries. There is no excuse for Canada to allow Canadians to be limited to resources; a major factor in why so many are trapped in the poverty cycle.

LGBTQ

LGBTQ = Lesbian, gay , bisexual, Transgendered, Twin spirited, Queer, and Questioning

The LGBTQ is an initialism referring collectively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual people. In use since the 1990’s. the term lgbtq is an adoption of the initialism lab which itself started replacing the phase gay community which many within LGBT communities felt did not represent accurately all those to which it referred.

This presentation was executed very well. I personally am always extra attentive when Leon is presenting, as he always delivers his presentations with confidence and ensures to audience is not bored, which appreciated. Something that stuck with me from this presentation is that police officers used to raid gay bars simply to ensure that they knew nowhere was safe for them. To be living in constant fear only due to one’s sexuality is a state that I cannot fathom.

This topic is also what is wrote my human rights essay about:

LGBTQ+

By: Madison Neal

Love is light. A saying rolled off the tongues of those blanketed buy its warmth, those who love fearlessly and freely, utterly and entirely welcomed to express it. But there is another flame of love, it’s as well, warm and bright, all though it’s punishing to reach and is guarded; bordered buy police badges and twisted metaphors, laws prohibiting anyone to bask in its beauty and mobs set to attack those who seek to. This love is denied to the LGBTQ+ community. During the 60’s and 70’s, more and more people were expressing their love for the same sex in a wave that unsettled and angered many civilians. Gay people had no safe space to love one another. Police often raided gay bars to ensure those inside knew that being who they truly were would never be okay. Gay marriage was illegal in Canada until July 20, 2005, and the U.S. until June 26, 2015. Even then it was frowned upon by a plethora of close minded people. Gay couples have been and still are denied service from businesses and are mistreated in society.

The light of self love is also stripped from the category of transgender/two-spirited people. There has been reports of a transgender woman being shot down by a gunman in a car driving by, simply for appearing to be transgender. They have been and recently under Trump, still are denied to serve their country in the United States. These inequities endured by the community are only a sliver of the inhumane deeds excerpted on those in it. people are placed in conversion camps and cleansing therapy to this day, attempting to “fix” people whom are in no way broken, but rather different.

A conception of wrongness associated with this topic is not a natural trait, it is taught by those who were also brainwashed at a young age to give love a shape that only fits between a man and a woman. Lack of exposure is the route to closed minds across the globe. As with anything, when something is never brought to light we cannot perceive it as normal, and to add on top of the weight of “abnormality” to such affection, it has been is deemed inappropriate in the past to execute in public, and has been despised when done in front of children. We can view this in separate generations. As protests and fights for equality by generations before the Millenials were held, much attention was brought to precisely how unjust the laws were surrounding the way of life of the LGBTQ+ community. Because of these protests and exposure Millennials grew up with a great decrease of censorship of the community and what kindness and care it obtained. This would birth people whom would use the likes of social media to debate and discuss with those still set in a different viewpoint. This paved the way for the next generation (Generation Z) to be flooded with exposure of the topic. Today we see television shows based around gay culture and multiple gay characters with many stories of all too real hurdles forced by a group of people to overcome, this includes shows for children; a notable step in progress given the utmost disgust portrayed around allowing children to be educated on any factor of the topic. This generation is growing up with LGBTQ+ role models whom they can confide in by merely clicking on a youtube video. The magic of the internet has been a crucial tool. With its gift just clicks away, my generation is forming in this world as one who is known to convey gay and transgender as anything but a choice. We can see transgender kids as young as five years of age embracing who they truly are. The origin of injustice was and will never be a feeling, it is and has always been lack of exposure accompanied by insulating purely negative notions to the people.

My vision for the future of the LGBTQ+ community is that we can mould and raise people in our society and eventually all over the globe to be educated on the topic. Ignorance is born from withholding of knowledge. With minds filled with exposure of “gay culture” and all the bright unique traits of the community, I yearn for no individual to ever have a shred of fear when it comes to being oneself. I as a Catholic am very accepting and interactive with many members of the community, as many Christians overall are. However, I am aware of the closed of extreme religionists of Christianity do not feel the same way, due to what the bible says. I wish to change their way of thinking and see those people be enlightened on the fact that the bible is filled with metaphors. There are heart-wrenching stories of people begging God not to make them gay, when in reality it is how God formed them and I believe that if god loves all of his children, than he will accept the very ones that he created.

The constant lingering of danger due to one’s sexuality is that of atrocious. I envision a society where those of the community would feel safe regardless of any location, and that little boys and girls are not told to “man up” or “act like a lady”. Children’s brains are not at a stage of development equipped to completely know what they identify as. It is these social stereotypes that are another burden for those who come to the acceptation later in life that whom they were presenting to the world is but what they were told to be. I want to improve the quality of life for people who are only expressing what they feel in bars or at home, for them to be not just legally but socially free to show affection in public without crude stares or judgements. To witness schools implicate sexual education on both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, the children of the world are the future of it, and if we want to change the future it must be made a priority to train them to be accepting and understanding the complexity of all forms of love, as it is all in the end the same.

Racism and Discrimination

Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce and inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups

In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment.

Discrimination is any action or behaviour that causes a person to be treated in an unfair, hurtful and negative way. People may discriminate because they have a prejudice against someone or because they have a stereotype of that person.

People may discriminate without any intention to hurt someone but someone may still be hurt and disadvantaged by another person’s actions and behaviour. (racism is a belief, a set of values, an attitude — a group of assumptions that view and construct in a negative way a group of people used on their racial background.

My group presented on the topic of racism and discrimination, I feel our presentation went smoothly and i feel that the audience responded well to our multiple interviews of people’s encounters with racism and discrimination. Something i found interesting while doing research on this topic is that in many countries in Asia, lighter skin represents wealth, because if you work outside it means you have an underpaying job. SO if one is tan, it is a tell that they work outside and are therefor poor

Child Soldiers and Military Recruitment

War is reciprocal and violent application of force between hostile political entities aimed are bringing about a desired political end-state via armed conflict.

The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities (child soldiers), or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look puts, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in propaganda.

I admired this presentation for its projection and detail in knowledge. I also enjoyed the kahoot at the end. I found this to be a good strategy; letting us know there would be a kahoot at the end, and that the winner would earn a prize, because it kept the class engaged the entire time. Something that left me with a pit in my stomach is when the presenters explained how in some countries, military goes into villages and/or towns and forcefully strip able-bodied boys and sometimes girls away from everything they know to battle. I couldn’t imagine waking up one morning thinking my day is going to pan out as usual, only to be taken away from my family and friends and thrown into extreme danger. It is inhumane and revolting.

Violence in Relationships

Violence - is any act that results in or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, and psychological harm or suffering, including threats of such acts and coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life.

This presentation was well done and knowledge on the subject I had not known before was brought to light. One thing that truly stood out to me wa the topic of the relations of the LGBTQ community and violence in relationships. Before this presentation i always thought of violence in relationships to me more often a male abuser towards a female, and sometimes a female abuser towards a male. It had never occured to me that the community are more likely to be subjected to an abusive situation in a relationship. I learned that this was due limited resources and lack of education upon these groups. The LGBTQ community is often excluded from the definition of relationship abuse because of their identity and lack of exposure.

Genocide

Genocide is the elimination of an entire group of people classified by race, religion, etc.

This groups presentation was also well executed. I found it interesting and surprising to hear of the multiple genocides that have taken place over the years, as far as my knowledge had reached before the presentation, there had only been two, i now know there were virtually triple that which were addressed in the presentation.

Extra notes:

Gender

Gender comprises a range of differences between men and women, extending from the biological to the social.

Biologically, the male gender is defined by reference to the presence of a Y-chromosome, and its absence in the female gender. However, there is debate as tot he extent that the biological difference has or necessitates differences in gender roles in society and on gender identity, which has been defined as “an individual’s self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex.”

Homelessness

Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing, because they cannot afford, or are otherwise unable to maintain, regular, safe, and adequate shelter

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anjazhou-blog · 7 years ago

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We are not for the world, the world is for us

Defining cool has been a quintessential cultural quest for decades: everyone wants to be cool. But what exactly is cool? What does it mean to be cool? Do rebelliousness, toughness and thrill-seeking make up the essence of coolness? Can James Dean and Faye Donaway represent the common sense of cool? Personally, I think no one could give a definite accurate definition of cool. However, although we cannot define what is cool, we can still find the common qualities of cool people and explore how these people define cool.

Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous German philosopher, in my opinion is one of the coolest human beings. But why people like Nietzsche? Compared to Plato, Kant, or Marx, Nietzsche absolutely is not a simple name which is easy to remember. However, Nietzsche was the first people who bravely said: "God is dead". To understand god is dead, the first thing we need to understand is that it is not a bad thing to "kill" god because the truth is human beings do not really need god as long as we can be masters of ourselves. Moreover, Nietzsche's ultimate purpose is to criticize the social norms at that time through proposing the idea god is dead. As a lonely and romantic traveler, Nietzsche is rebellious—he declares god is dead and he fights against all the traditional values. For Nietzsche, human beings should rise above our circumstances and difficulties to embrace whatever hardship comes. In his book "beyond good and evil", Nietzsche leads people to break all the norms and jump out of comfortable zones. Being our own masters means we need to admit the importance of our own wills and desires, at the same time emphasizing individualism. The moment that all the rebellious ideas appear in our minds, we are supposed to have someone to be our mentor to the way, and Nietzsche is exactly this kind of person. For cool people, there are always some characteristics can make them stand out—something doesn't conform to social norms of the time. What makes Bonnie cool? Her nonchalant and chill expression and her gun makes her different with these girls who wear flower dress. What makes James Dean cool? His locomotive leather jacket and Harley makes him stand out in those decent men in suits and ties. What makes Angelina Jolie cool? When other little girls dream to be ballet dancers, she wants to be a vampire. And her rebellious madness and boldness, her brave attitude in face of disease, and her brilliance of motherhood in face of children all make her an extraordinary woman. What makes Kurt Cobain cool? He'd rather be himself and be detested by others than changing himself to please other people.

What coincide with Nietzsche's ideas is the definition of cool given by Pountain and Robbins's book Cool Rules: cool is an oppositional attitude adopted by individuals or small groups to express defiance to authority. In other words, cool people are those who refuse to be sheep and they pursue everything they want through struggling. However, from Cool Rules, being cool forms part of risky series of negotiations about becoming an individual while still being accepted into a group, which means being cool doesn't equal to being weird. There should be an obvious limit between cool and weird. But what is the limit? To answer this question, I choose to look at the three requirements of being cool mentioned in Cool Rules—narcissism, ironic detachment, and hedonism. Firstly, narcissism means an exaggerated admiration for oneself, which gives rise to the feeling that the world revolves around you and shares your mood. Basically, this is a mood that I am not for the world, but the world is for me. Love yourself and follow your heart is always the first step of being cool. We should appreciate our parents giving birth to us but we are not supposed to live as they wish, and what we need to do is to figure out who we are and who we want to be, facing our desires and pursing dreams by all means. Never look back and never regret. Although some people consider narcissism as a sin of vanity, I personally think we should have an aggressive attitude toward our spirit of narcissism. Being aggressive when our pursuits and dreams are denigrated, and there's nothing wrong with being ambitious if at the same time we can be responsible for our behaviors.

Secondly, ironic detachment is a stratagem for concealing one's feelings by suggesting their opposite. Philosophers divide irony into several types, but cool irony is a combination of different types of irony, making it a verbal weapon effective in aggression. For me, ironic detachment is the state of not being fully part of a specific scene due to that appreciation of life. Some people consider the world as a huge vanity fair and they want to constantly compete with others to win what they want. But cool people don't care. They don't want what the majority dying to get and they just want to follow their hearts. They are able to accept themselves and accept others, and they can also accept their own environment. In both the good and the adversity, they will accept everything and struggle to improve the situation. It takes a price to grow up and to be cool because growth always involves adventures, temptations and unknown things, and we should constantly try new experiences and expand our personal limits.

Last but not the least, hedonism is the simplest but also the most complicated cool quality. Literally, hedonism means we should simply seek pleasure and enjoy everything. However, cool hedonism is always driven by some ambitious motivations. This is a kind of pleasure from physical gratification, the excitement of competition or the charm of anticipated success. From my point of view, the pleasure that is too easy to get is not real pleasure. I think that hedonism refers to inner enjoyment, but not pure material pleasure. Some people think that the pursuit of material needs all kinds of abilities, but the pursuit of inner enjoyment is not that demanding. However, the pursuit of inner enjoyment is the hardest. Inner enjoyment is a combination. Things like food, money, sex are pleasure, at the same time reading, listening to music, watching movies, thinking, and debating are also pleasure. We need to combine different pleasures together to understand the true meaning of hedonism.

In addition to the three characteristics above, cool people also need to be complicated, which means many of their features are contradictory. In W.E.B Dubois's opinion, being black is a constant sense of having "two warring ideals" within you, and a desire to merge your "double self into a better true self." For Dubois, he calls this kind of feeling "double-consciousness". Why someone cannot be an African and an American at the same time? But also because of this kind of double-consciousness, there appeared so many extraordinary African-American artists. Like Drake, Kanye, Beyoncé, they use their lyrics to show their rebellion to the society. When I was a little girl, my cool mom told me that never let anyone label me and stop me being who I want to be. She said girls can be aggressive and ambitious rather than being kind and sweet, and she taught me that she would rather choose to reflect on the fault she made rather than regret that she didn't even choose and try. As an Asian girl, I am constantly labeled but at the same time try my best to remove all the labels and fight against the stereotype people have about "basic Asian girls". The fundamentals of being cool is to rebel through struggling: struggle to find who I am; struggle to find my own way; struggle to rebel against all the people who try to be "good" to me; struggle to fight against the weaknesses of human nature; struggle to do some seemingly meaningless and boring things to find the meaning of life; and struggle to recognize the essence of life but still passionately love life.

Nietzsche didn't write "beyond god and evil" for cool; Yoko Ono didn't create her art works for cool; Isadora Duncan didn't dance for cool; Jay-Z didn't sing for cool. Then I realized that this kind of cool struggling should be meaningless and subconscious. Our ultimate purpose of struggling is not to simply be cool, but is to be a sober, thoughtful and independent human being instead of being a sheep—we need to follow our own rules instead of parents' rules, social rules or god's rules. Essentially, having a set of sound, complete and independent value system is the base of cool. Cool can be an image, a way of looking, talking or doing, but more importantly, it is a way of being.

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thebewisepodcast · 8 years ago

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We Now Call You President Trump: Do We Have the Right To Be Afraid?

Will Donald J. Trump drain the swamp of its creatures or become one of them?

On January 20th of 1969, Richard Milhous Nixon took his presidential inaugural oath in Washington D.C. to become the 37th President of the United States. At the time before and during Nixon's tumultuous presidency, the nation was embroiled in what was seen by many as a virtually un-winnable overseas conflict in Vietnam. Prior to winning the 1968 election, Nixon had ran once before, but lost to the more beloved and charismatic favorite John F. Kennedy. In his winning 1968 election, Nixon saw that the democrats were split amongst the brass of their own party as to what do in Vietnam and thus ran on a vastly more decisive platform of foreign policy that many citizens believed the United States needed at the time. This boldness in a time of uneasiness secured him the seat of the presidency that year. It all could be boiled down as simply as being certain in times of uncertainty. Nixon's boldness nonetheless sunk us deeper into Vietnam, causing more anti-war protests in the streets, political discontent, and general anti-American rhetoric.

Twelve years later, on January 20th of 1981, Ronald Wilson Reagan officially took office to become the nations 40th president. The actor turned California governor attempted to earn the Republican nomination twice in 1968 and 1976, but failed. In 1969, as governor of California, Ronald Reagan called upon the forces of the nation guard to stomp out the bubbling Vietnam protests all across the UC campuses. As president of the United States of America, Reagan escalated the war on drugs and ushered in what was known as "supply-side economics" or also more popularly known as "Reaganomics". Reagan's war on drugs combined with Reaganomics injected crack cocaine into the black community, and its effects are still being felt to this day.

What taste did the names of these two historic former leaders leave in your mouth? Based purely on reputation alone in the zeitgeist of American culture, those two have the reputation of being villains in the eyes of modernity. My generation doesn't respect these two men, we revile them. I could've quite easily given you the positive things they both have done, but where is the fun in that? Republicans must be painted as evil in our subconscious and democrats as the heroes;we all know this. Republicans are the oppressors of free thought while democrats are the fosterers of brand new ideas that will always save the citizens of the United States. It is without a shadow of a doubt that by the end of Donald J. Trump's bid as the president of the United States, he will also be looked at as a villain, no matter what positivity he brings to the country.

Though it may be impossible to fathom in United States politics, the perfect political system is uniquely non-partisan. Our attachment to our ideals trap us into who we think automatically has our best interest at heart. The closest a voter has to non-partisanship is registering as an independent voter, however even that isn't good enough. The history of humankind has taught us that as a species we NEED villains and opposing tribes. In politics its as evident as ever. The goal of every political thinker, or pseudo intellectual as many people tend to label new-age thought provokers, is to be as objective as possible in the face of political ideologies. To be fluid. The liberals aren't the exalted and righteous saviors of the Republic and Conservatives aren't the death-bringers of it. If the 2016 election has taught us anything it is that there is no good or evil in politics, both have the propensity to be wicked.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn into the office of the presidency on January 20th of 1961 to become the 36th leader of the free world. He took the place of an unjustly assassinated John F. Kennedy, who before his untimely demise was seen as the champion of Civil Rights on Capitol Hill, even going so far as to speak directly with Martin Luther King Jr himself on occasion. With Johnson being a progressive and JFK before his death on the way to making major moves in the realm of Civil Rights, in order to live up to his party promise he made it his mission to get the bill passed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was met with ample opposition on Capitol Hill. It's asinine to consider that something as simple as saying that discrimination based upon religion, race, sex, or color should be outlawed was ever fought against with any fervor. But it was fought against. And fought against incredible hard. That is America and her politics though. Perfect? No. Once openly racist and sexist and now, today only inherently racist and sexist? You goddamn right. But as history will tell it, the heroism of liberals got that bill through out of the kindness of their hearts.

May peace be upon the souls of the dead, but the champion of Civil Rights on Capitol Hill, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a vicious adulterer/womanizer. His sexual escapades puts the acts of Bill Clinton to shame. That side of JFK is often forgotten about as his achievements are praised as opposed to his personality quirks. It was this very man who ordered the FBI wiretapping of MLK's personal phone. A wiretapping that continued through Johnson, and if any, Johnson gets most of the historical ire for. It was Lyndon Baines Johnson who on multiple occasions has been documented speaking toward African Americans and women in a derogatory manner. Lyndon Baines Johnson was a racist in progressives clothing, going as far as even calling the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the "nigger bill" on multiple occasions. Accounts of Lyndon Baines Johnson overt racism and John Fitzgerald Kennedy's sexism can be verified by a simple Google search, however, history would rather frame the democrats as eternal rays of sunshine and not creatures from the same disgusting abysmal lagoon that Conservatives crawled out of. These people aren't our heroes. Any single of us can pick a president in history and do exactly what I've done here. There are plenty of presidents that I could've chosen for this examination. Regardless of the focus, the result would've been the same.

What is it that I am really attempting to convey to you though? What sentiments do I want you to feel? First, I want you all to realize that government and its leaders are amoral creatures. They don't do good for the sake of doing good, nor do they do bad for the sake of it either. Corporations as large as the United States have to do whatever is necessary to keep the business running as well as they can. May it be plunging ourselves deeper into the throughs of war, injecting drugs into neighborhoods, or the securing civil liberties of oppressed peoples, the government will do what it needs to do to sustain itself. By any means necessary. What I am saying to you isn't intended to be anti-government or to be anti-establishment. This is intended to aid you on the journey of being anti-betrayal. So, the question remains: do we have the right to be afraid of Donald Trump? Yes, we do have that right. We should always tread on caution when it comes to our leadership. They should always be placed underneath a microscope no matter what party hey align themselves with. By doing this, we are doing us AND the United States a favor. Hold President Trump accountable for both the blessings and curses he may deliver. The key to democracy is holding our leaders accountable in the present. There is no good side to politics. Nor is there a bad side. There is only politics, which float in a strange amoral middle ground between the two sides which is chalked full of human beings in undeserving positions of power.

We now call you President, Mr. Trump.

I hope you do not add to the swamp.

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