#as a political philosophy
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one of the wild things about people’s stubborn insistence on misunderstanding The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is that the narrator anticipates an audience that won’t engage with the text, just in the opposite direction. Throughout the story are little asides asking what the reader is willing to believe in. Can you believe in a utopia? What if I told you this? What about this? Can you believe in the festivals? The towers by the sea? Can we believe that they have no king? Can we believe that they are joyful? Does your utopia have technology, luxury, sex, temples, drugs? The story is consulting you as it’s being told, framed as a dialogue. It literally asks you directly: do you only believe joy is possible with suffering? And, implicitly, why?
the question isn’t just “what would you personally do about the kid.” It isn’t just an intricate trolley problem. It’s an interrogation of the limits of imagination. How do we make suffering compulsory? Why? What futures (or pasts) are we capable of imagining? How do we rationalize suffering as necessary? And so on. In all of the conversations I’ve seen or had about this story, no one has mentioned the fact that it’s actively breaking the fourth wall. The narrator is building a world in front of your eyes and challenging you to participate. “I would free the kid” and then what? What does the Omelas you’ve constructed look like, and why? And what does that say about the worlds you’re building in real life?
#ursula k le guin#omelas#There are so many ideas in this story that simply do not get engaged with!#I’ve heard it argued that a central element of anarchism#as a political philosophy#is the expansion of the imagination: what is truly possible if we forget the structures we are raised in?#if we forget what we have been told is or is not possible?#le guin wasn’t an anarchist but her work is heavily inspired by anarchist thought#Also the idea that the compassion of citizens of omelas is possible only because they are able to see themselves in relation and contrast t#the kid#very interesting stuff there#arguably a searing critique of moderate liberals#who feel compassion from on high but rationalize the ways in which those who suffer cosmically deserve it#in order to maintain structures of suffering#This short story is breaking the fourth wall Constantly to grab you by the collar and ask#what do you think is possible in the world and what do you think is good and what do you think is necessary#If you want to free the kid then what! What does that mean!#ALSO if omelas is a place being constructed as an idea#are the ones who walk away meant to be literally deserting a place#or are they rejecting an idea#hmmm much to think about
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The richest country in the world VS a small economy that the US actively keeps poor through sanctions and an embargo.

A good example that shows GDP says a lot less than many think. The way wealth is distributed, produced and invested matters a lot more than the overall amount of wealth.
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"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power."
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
#quotes#quoteoftheday#politics#us politics#us govt#us news#usa#us government#government#antifascist#donald trump#trump administration#elon musk#life quote#philosophy quotes#philosophy#stoic philosophy#stoic quotes#stoicism#lit#literature#wisdom#us history#unitedstates#trump#literary quotes#spilled ink#spilled writing#spilled poetry#spilled words
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Can we talk about how the idea that STEM and the humanities are mortal enemies with no overlap is actually incredibly harmful and is not only preventing people from pursuing their passions but also part of the reason why the humanities aren’t given their proper respect? No, artists are not all snobby pretentious assholes who think they’re more cultured than everyone else and no scientists are not all emotionless robots who think they’re smarter than everyone else and it’s possible to be an artist and a scientist at the same time. By acting like you have to choose between STEM and humanities we are eliminating thousands of potential careers and causing unnecessary divisions in a time where nothing is more crucial than unity. I’m so tired of people acting like STEM majors are incapable of understanding art and humanities majors are incapable of understanding math when the two fields are crucial to one another. Who would design our architecture if it weren’t for artful engineers? Who would discover the rules of composition? At the end of the day we are all just people trying to learn and make a living, and all of these careers are important to humanity. People can’t say that STEM is more important than humanities if there’s no such thing as STEM vs humanities.
#college#university#career#politics#philosophy#education#stemblr#women in stem#stem academia#stem student#art#artists on tumblr#humanities#music#literature#opinion
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I think we're all being rather too blasé about the fact that most of the anglophonic population doesn't seem to believe in democracy.
I'm not using "believe in" as a synonym for "endorse", to be clear.
I mean the general sentiment is that the nominally democratic institutions of our societies do not represent the will of anyone but a small, ideologically captured elite who do not share our interests, and who do not respect the values important to us.
Democracy has been elevated to a near-sacred status. It is preached in th schools, and the voting booths, and the civic offices, and in the courts, and in the town halls, and in the hallowed halls of legislatures.
It is the value upon which our system of rule justifies and legitimises itself.
In some sense, it replaced the divine right of kings. That failed when people ceased to believe in God.
What happens to our modern civilisation when we no longer believe in democracy?
Neitzche saw the downfall of the old order in Apostasy.
A new Apostasy is upon us. An Apostasy fuelled by increasing evidence that the god of the public will is illusion, and that the heavenly throne of electoralism is empty.
We are carried forward by momentum, not fuel.
The world as it has been suffered a bevy of wounds, and soon it will bleed to death. I know not what will be born from the carrion of Democracy, but I think we are all being unreasonably calm about it.
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“She is given drugs because nothing is lost when she is drugged, except what is regarded as the too thick edge of her emotional life. She is given drugs because she is not much valued; she takes the drugs because she is not much valued; she stays on the drugs because she is not much valued; the doctors keep prescribing the drugs because she is not much valued; the effects of addiction or dependency on her are not much noted because she is not much valued. These are prescription drugs, regarded as appropriate medications for women.
Thirty-six million women can be tranquilized in a year and the nation does not notice it, does not miss their energy, creativity, wit, intellect, passion, commitment— so much are these women worth, so important is their contribution, so indelible is their individuality, so essential is their vigor.”
Right Wing Women, Andrea Dworkin
#andrea dworkin#feminism#radical feminism#radical feminist safe#second wave feminism#quotes#radical feminist community#leftism#philosophy#right wing politics#mental health#mental illness
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There's simply no polite way to tell people they've dedicated their lives to an illusion.
Daniel Dennett
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do you ever think about how we have phannies in every field? like we have doctors and baristas and mental health therapists and geologists and audiologists and engineers and neuroscientists and authors and social media consultants and activists and child care workers and museum managers and teachers and biologists and emts and linguists and accessibility coaches and sign language interpreters and artists and musicians and editors and actors and chefs and fucking EVERYTHING. not to mention the specific knowledge bases and hobbies we have outside of our professions—coding, linguistic and cultural diversity, artistic creativity, political/social awareness, passion for justice, research, make up and hair and fashion design, media literacy, philosophy, all of our special interests/hyperfixations, etc. we could run a successful commune no problem at all. we’re so smart and talented and resourceful and powerful.
the phandom is rooted in a past of being infamously shitty, and i do see yall slipping back into old habits sometimes (mostly on twitter but sometimes here and you know it <3) but it’s pretty fucking cool how capable this community is and our ability to unify. anyway phanmune when.
(if you want, leave your knowledge base/skills in the tags or replies. can be profession, hobby, major/program of study, what you study in your free time, what you want to learn about, what you’re interested, all of the above, anything)
#this is me having a commie fantasy about liberation#i want this so bad i want COMMUNITY#I WANNA LIVE IN A COMMUNE IN THE WOODS#anyway here’s my resume:#i have a psych bachelors degree and am in a mental health counseling program#i have been a crisis worker for two years and working in mental health in general for longer than that#i also have extensive knowledge of philosophy and politics#and i kick fucking ass at languages#can converse in 6 language and have a level of understanding and/or knowledge in 8 languages#i’m experienced and knowledgable in accessibility and#activism and i’m a writer and musician#and have been taking care of animals professionally for 8 years#i do NOT have proficiency in microsoft word or excel or powerpoint i am completely lying about that on my resume#dnp#dan and phil#phan#dan howell#daniel howell#amazingphil#phil lester#d&p#dip and pip#danisnotonfire#danandphilgames#yeet my deet#yeet my deenp#phstudy
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Be Safe Out There
People are going to be protesting in every state today. I hope you all are safe and successful. I wanted to go to my state capitol myself but I wasn't able to arrange a carpool with it being so short notice. However, I'll still be going to Midland, MI to protest later today. I'll be handing out three signs and an un-cut stencil there.
Don't forget to fly your flags upside-down, boys and girls and non-binary types. Stay safe, and fuck Trump & Co!
#trump#donald trump#maga#fuck maga#trump administration#elon musk#elon#musk#protest#america#fuck trump#fuck donald trump#fuck elon#fuck elon musk#artists of tumblr#usa#philosophy#debate#morality#resistance#us politics#elongated muskrat#fuck meta#fuck zuckerberg#fuck the blackshirts#fuck the 1%#50501
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"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
— Thomas Jefferson
#quotes#quoteoftheday#lit#literature#us news#us politics#us government#government#antifascist#us govt#usa#literary quotes#book quotes#book quote#life quote#dark academia#spilled writing#spilled ink#spilled thoughts#spilled words#spilled poetry#writers on tumblr#writerscommunity#america#trump administration#donald trump#elon musk#elongated muskrat#trump#philosophy
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"There must be something rotten in the very core of a social system which increases its wealth without diminishing its misery" - Karl Marx, New-York Tribune
#philosophy#sociology#politics#socialism#communism#anarchy#luigi mangione#free luigi#diabetes#healthcare#disability#disabled#161#1312
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You guys talking about wanting a hot older man to use you and just play with you
I need an older nerdy boyfriend who reads, likes politics, tall, funny, not addicted to porn, and who simply just worships me. What do you mean you wanna marry me and all you’ve done for me is open the door.
#girlblogging#lana del rey#gaslight gatekeep girlboss#lizzy grant#this is a girlblog#alana champion#lily rose icons#lana del ray aka lizzy grant#just girly things#dollete aesthetic#elizabeth woolridge grant#lana del rey aesthetic#this is girlblog#this is girlhood#this is what makes us girls#hell is a teenage girl#just girlboss things#politics#philosophy#poetry#bring back 2014 tumblr#nerdy men#lana del rey tropico#manic pixie dream girl#nerdy guys#frat boy harry#business#techinnovation#coquette angel#college guys
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