#and not be radicalized into an anticapitalist

[rotzaprachim]

also like the fact that we can't buy ourselves out of capitalism (very true!!!) coincides with a lot of the weird internalised hatreds i see plenty of queer people having for the way queer culture (and the culture of liberal allies in america) has evolved under capitalism. the ways you survive under capitalism aren't inherently radical, but they also aren't worse than the people who are also struggling under capitalism but being homophobic about it. and furthermore, way too many young queers have this weird issue with viewing queer identity and lgbt stuff as simultaneously too inherently radical to do anything to survive under capitalism and yet as something inherently decadent and bourgeoisie, too inherently decadent and bourgeoisie to expect and extend baseline solidarity about.

take the fucking stickers and enamel pins discussion. yeah in this case aesthetics got itemised as an example of radical politics, which is, obviously, not the case. but then came the fucking backlash - queers aren't JUST the urban libs with stickers on their waterbottles and enamel pins, fuck the urban libs with the stickers on their waterbottles and enamel pins, you know what's decadently capitalist? Stickers on waterbottles and enamel pins! Except that what's sort of missing in this discussion is the way that IMHO stickers and enamel pins are something that's quite cheap to make and also to purchase, and moreover, something that functions both as a way to externalize queer and liberal identities and to pass money around a fundamentally very financially unstable community. go to any of these art shows and community halls and ask the sticker and enamel pin makers of the world and most of them are struggling working class people, in which stickers are a way to bring in a little extra cash. people who buy stickers often make stickers, and they became a way to decorate hardy, reusable items like binders and waterbottles and jean jackets. So no, I'm not saying these items are inherently anticapitalist, but they are a form of art that is also not inherently indulgent thumb twiddling, and it's sort of disturbing to see the backlash among young queer people against their own community.

ditto stuff like, say, the total lack of recognition that there are queer parents and older people in a lot of event discussions (because the community is not solely 18), or "i hate brooklyn/seattle/denver/bay area," or hatred of more middle class clothing and household items popular among queer people because they last fucking forever (reusable glass tupperware, mountain bikes, hiking boots, fleeces) and can be passed around for multiple uses, or queer businesses in conservative areas that use pride flags to literally let people know they will be safe inside, vegetarian and vegan diets in general and hippy vegan meals that are often very cheap to cook, or hatred of like, public art showcases and stuff that's literally free or else hiking groups and community art groups that are also free. idk man. this is again literally not to say that queerness is an inherently anti-capitalist identity, as i don't believe it is, but it is to say that it is not inherently more capitalist, and everyone needs to extend their class analysis a little more

there's also just something to say about queers and jews being two of the most democratic voting demographics in the us voting-wise (after Black people - although there is of course far more overlap between Queer, Black, and Jewish people than people often acknoweldge) and often on the far progressive end of the us democrats and yet the aesthetics of US queer and Jewish existence are considered reactionary and elitest. something to think about

there’s also just a big problem with differences in culture, aesthetics, and lifestyle that are strongly tied to demographics, geography, and ethnicity- and therefor political orientation- instead being read as indicators of class, with things more common among the urban populations, people of color, young women, and Jews - and therefor liberals - being taken as snobby, elitest and upper class while things more common or associated with rural and white people are real, authentic, middle class, and true. In both cases they’re just ways to spend money that often aren’t inherently progressive OR conservative, because you’ll find urban conservatives and rural liberals, but they are also therefor not sole markers of class, which is why I need people to get a hell of a lot smarter with their class consciousness - I’m sick of liberals doing some woe is me business and leftists repeating conservative logic.

there’s nothing inherently more expensive about having higher value hiking gear and fleeces than hunting gear - but only the first is suss. Hiking is not an inherently more upper class sport than hunting. Yeah you don’t get food from it, but it’s also got a much lower start up cost, and it’s a way for people from densely packed urban areas to become nature. People in cities like coffee shops and cafes because they’re places to meet with friends when your apartment is too small to fit anyone - that isn’t an inherently more resource intensive thing to do than have a house in the suburbs or rural areas big enough for everyone to come over! Ditto support for museums and cultural attractions - these are often free or cut price and safe places to take children or spend time on the city. Ditto things for urban areas, especially working class urban life, like bike paths, bike racks, and bike recharging areas. A top quality urban electric bike is often less expensive to buy and then maintain than a cheap car, esp if you’re a single person and single commuter, as many urban people are. A subscription to a local theatre company or indie movie theatre may well cost less than cable and have something every week. Tofu and hummus may cost less than the most classic meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Good walking shoes and fancy headphones may be essential gear for people who walk miles and take noisy public transport. Overall, a lot of the famous liberal excesses of elitest yuppies and urbanites are often fully logical indulgences when taken in combination with living in much less resources intensive housing, in more tightly packed areas, and with greater walking and public transport.

my point isn’t that any of these things are good or bad ways to spend money. It’s the reverse. (A lot of working class and poor urban dwellers are left out of the above, but a lot of working class and poor rural dwellers are left out of the aestheticisrd Middle America working man miasma of single family homes, trucks, and thanksgiving dinner. In both cases this is about the middle class norms.) Nor is it that there are inherently right wing or left wing ways to spend money. My point instead is that America fundamentally has a problem with thinking that the aesthetics of the more rural areas are “good” and understandable whereas the aesthetics and lifestyles of more urbanized areas are elitest and suspicious for things that are fundamentally just different ways to allocate and spend money in ways that are perfectly logical relative to location. Everyone needs to get a lot sharper if they really want to work out what the problems are.

[starlitsilver]

our fucking water got shut off

[nando161mando]

[anti-workshop]

Hey US friends! Ok, so obviously the voting discourse on here is vile. We don't know who's a psyop, who's a bot etc. Also people are legitimately pissed at the failures of the system to actually represent us in any meaningful way, and livid about the myriad ongoing genocides being committed with our money, in our name.

So, I'm not going to tell you what to do in November.

Before November, after November, NOW, for the love of God, please fucking organize at your jobs. That is probably the only place you can actually exercise real, direct power.

Voting is one very very small way to exercise indirect power. It's saying, "ok I am giving power to you, other person/people, now please do what you said you would that enticed me to give you this power in the first place."

Direct power is saying "Fuck you, no. We're doing this." and then doing that.

Organizing is hard and it takes time and you have to learn how to do it well, or it doesn't work. But when it works it works really fucking well. And when we organize a lot of us, we can win everything.

Y'all know I'm in the IWW. Right now the union is struggling with some administrative bs, same old story it's always been a messy organization. Doesn't matter. Branches and Unions in the IWW are autonomous to organize how they want to. It's a structure you can use if you want, to organize well. That's the route I'm taking because I trust and respect the people in my local, and I desperately want to help build worker power in my city and I'll do anything to help that.

You don't have to join an org, but please take a training on organizing and start organizing. The IWW has an intensive, 16 hour training that is free called the OT101. We feed you 4 meals and teach you how to organize to win. The training is even fun!

If there are unions in your area, or a labor council, reach out to them too, they regularly have organizing trainings! Theirs are more geared to getting contract negotiations, which in my opinion isn't the main goal, but training is always good and helpful.

But please please please, you have to organize your jobs. That's where we have them by the balls. They need us to run this shit, everything runs because we make it run.

Yes, they can fire you if you organize or get uppity. Yeah, right now that's illegal but probably won't be for long. Guess what, they have to hire someone to replace you! If that worker is also organizing, the bosses are fucked and we win!

The other thing is everyone can organize! My ass is disabled, decrepit, a major depressive and I can do it! You can too! You're not alone! That's the whole point! We can't do shit alone, we need each other and when we have each others' backs we can get shit done.

We all can see with our own eyes that shit is bad, it's been bad forever and it's going to get worse before it gets better and the only way it gets better is us making it better.

If you're in Milwaukee, or Wisconsin, or fuck generally the Midwest feel free to reach out to me and I will personally get you set up in an OT101 here. Get yourself here and we'll put you up somewhere, feed you, train you, get your connected to people in your area who are also organizing and build through from there.

Solidarity is where we have power, so let's use it.

[rainbowpopeworld]

Super helpful comic by @deannazandt

Full image descriptions by the author here and in the alt text

[pinkcadillaccas]

Like it's no wonder media literacy is dog shit in so many young people we are being written TV that spoonfeeds all of the information to us and leaves no room for subtlety or creative world building and we keep saying that this is good and it's not! And if we all keep watching bad TV and saying that it's good then all TV is going to become badly written contrived crap that thinks it's being deep and annoying libs on Tumblr are going to keep saying that omg this episode was so brave it literally said eat the rich!!

[dykeofmisfortune]

being a pretentious fuck is embarassing sometimes. bc if someone asks me what video games i play im like "yeah i only play story based indie games about depression and guilt" like omfg shut UP

[kaliarda]

kill the government rn…..

[raspberryfem]

to be honest, i hate the distinction between "radical" and "liberal" feminism. part of it is bc the american 2 party disaster has resulted in a perception of only two options: liberal (good) or conservative (bad). obviously these are not accurate definitions, but american politics are incredibly polarized and antithetical to nuance, so bear with me. as a result, i don't really like talking about "libfems" or "liberals," bc it seems to come with an implication that disagreeing with liberal feminism makes radfems conservative. i wish there were a way to more eloquently articulate that radical feminism, far from being a rightwing tradwife sect, is in fact further left than liberal feminism, which relies on rigidly conservative gender roles to reinforce gender ideology.

[abab-odul]

[ngtskynebula]

I said I support ppl with uterus' rights to ab*rt WHENEVER they seem fit, even if it's not a risky pregnancy or the fruit of a rape, and my brother thinks I'm joking. Joking.

Do I look like I fuck around human rights? Do I? Something's wrong.

[kropotkindersurprise]

May 10, 2024 - Hundreds of radical environmentalists and anticapitalists have broken through police lines and fences and stormed the terrain of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg. They are attempting to stop the planned expansion of the factory, which would mean the destruction of surrounding forest and farmland. The factory also uses immense amounts of water, and all to sell shitty electric cars to give people the idea that personal consumption choices can save the environment from destruction, and make fascist Elon Musk even richer than he already is. The actions in the past days have forced Tesla to temporarily shut down production at the factory. [video]

[nando161mando]

Live your politics

[thelonelyjew]

Pride banned Jews?!?

So it's that time of year again that I see people circulating stuff that is completely fabricated about what they imagine happened at Chicago Dyke March in 2017.

First, Dyke March is not Pride. It is not meant to be apolitical or single-issue. It is explicitly anti-imperialist, anticapitalist, and, yes, antizionist. It's not the big mainstream pride Parade that has corporate sponsors (and ads for gay tourism in Israel), it's a small radical grassroots demonstration.

Ok now that that's out of the way, they did not "ban Jews". I was there. They did not "ban Jewish symbols". They did not ask anyone to leave because of their Jewish pride flag.

What actually happened was three women who turned out to be employed by Israeli pinkwashing operation A Wider Bridge participated in the march with a rainbow flag that featured a blue star of david in the center. I remember seeing it and disliking it bc it gave me Zionist vibes but neither I nor anyone else bothered them about it.

After the march there was a cookout in the park. The women were asked to leave by a Jewish member of the Dyke March Collective after several hours of hanging out at the cookout because they were harassing other marchgoers.

Immediately publications like Forward, Tablet, JTA, as well as more mainstream publications started running stories making wild untrue claims which you can still read if you Google it because none of these were ever corrected or retracted. It's clear that these AWB agents had press releases pre-written and ready to fire as soon as they managed to provoke any reaction that they could spin into a controversy.

The photos that ran along with these headlines were also misleading. One of them showed a photo of a rainbow flag with a white star in the center. The star on the flag I saw was blue, and the shade of the star has specific political connotations. Showing a different flag with the politically significant color removed is extremely misleading. The one that was carried in the march (and which, again, wasn't banned!) looked like this:

Another banner image, this one in a New York Times article, showed a young woman with dark curly hair holding a sign that says "this is who we are". She was clearly chosen to feature because of her stereotypically Jewish features. The article implies that she is one of the supposedly banned Jews. This is false. You know how I know? Bc that was the friend I was there with that day! She does not identify as Jewish, she looks like that bc she is Italian, and she had no idea she was being photographed!

I had a hat decorated with red and black stars of David, and the following year a bunch of us wore Workers Circle sashes with Yiddish text (which uses the Hebrew alphabet) as well. No one who wasn't employed by a Zionist organization was asked to leave or even questioned about anything related to Zionism or Jewish identity.

I'm resigning myself to the fact that this is going to get dug up and passed around every year and people will believe what they want to believe, but if you hear claims that some queer group "banned Jews" or something similar, please look at the source for the information and if possible try to talk to actual Jewish people who participate in the community events being discussed. And if you hear this about Chicago Dyke March in specific, please correct people. I feel like I'm going insane when this many people are insisting that what I saw and experienced wasn't real and pointing to the barrage of misleading articles as what I should believe over my own experiences.

[horseforeplay]

no, i do not believe this level of delusion about the pandemic being “over” is sustainable. i have noticed people behaving in ways they never would have before c19, like they know deep down that things are not OK and they’re scared. international travel, huge parties, etc. i don’t know. i guess i’ve been surprised and disappointed by mass human cruelty and indifference before but i really do believe there will be a tipping point. once activists can catch their fucking breath? maybe? it took 10 years of AIDS before ACT UP took to the streets. i don’t want to wait 10 years. i’ll push as hard as i fucking can but unfortunately i’m close to bed-bound by long covid at the moment. i do not want to die. c19 activism feels like a tipping point for climate change action, anticapitalist action, and abolition action. this can be a radicalizing moment. they made the US slightly more accessible for a MINUTE and then yanked it away but we *saw* it. we saw it!!!!!!!!!! efforts to squash c19 precautions go hand-in-hand with squashing anti-police protests: they know that the summer 2020 uprisings were able to happen because enough people, for a brief moment, were freer than they had ever been in this fucking evil country. when people are given resources, they give a shit. cops were the only maskless faces in the streets of minneapolis and that is not a coincidence. the old world is fucking scared and wants you to get sick and die. c19 deaths keep climbing, your yard is burning or flooding or bogged down by smoke, cops have killed more people each year since 2020. that’s the “normal” everybody is trying to convince you it’s sooooo fun to go back to. fuck off. fuck off. there will be a crack and we will kick it open

[anticapitalist-psd]

Machete Labs (2023) - Brand Strategy Teaser | dirección creativa, diseño y coordinación programática

Machete Labs es un proyecto de Defend Puerto Rico que busca cortar con la resiliencia, poniendo a la disposición del movimiento a les comunicadores del mañana para honrar nuestra tradición de arte y comunicación política en un intento de rescate y homenaje.