#but i also understand politicians enough to know that what they say don't mean shit if their policies are bigoted

[uncle-fruity]

Is there anything more exhausting than someone trying to explain the political benefits of ignoring or outright rejecting the trans community?

what if we all killed ourselves

[thesunfyre4446]

Marrying Daemon was the dumbest thing she could have done. It solved no problems just made the existing ones more glaring.

First, if Laenor had been alive the Driftmark succession would not have been brought into question (Yet, it eventually would have always) as after Corlys, it goes to Laenor. It would’ve freed up some years or decades and Luke could’ve idk- actually gone to the fucking island he was set to eventually rule over or learn to sail. Maybe endear himself to some more people because as much as certain viewers like to pretend otherwise, Corlys was the only Velaryon happy to spit in the eyes of his ancestors sit that boy on the Driftwood throne.

Two, Viserys would not have had to use his last breath and final braincell to go to the throne room to help Rhaenyra usurp the Velaryons. He probably would’ve lived a little while longer and maybe this time he would’ve died quietly without uttering nonsense about a prophecy the Targaryens should not have even been involved with in the first place.

Rhaenyra could’ve maybe got her shit together and stopped living in a lalaland where she thought she would just be handed things because she’s *checks notes*

-A Targaryen

-She has a Dragon

-Daddy said so

But we know she wouldn’t, the entitlement runs deep. She would’ve stayed on Dragonstone where she’s ruling over a castle of employees sworn to her and a small merchant/fisher’s village. Rhaenyra lived in bliss on that island for a decade with no responsibilities.

Three, when you raise the Strong boys alongside their brothers and especially alongside Rhaena- who is literally a Targaryens/Velaryon child who is what the strong boys are actually supposed to look like, it becomes so obvious that the boys are bastards of non Valyrian parentage.

The only one who won in this arraignment was the Child groomer. He got the woman he spent years grooming as a child and he got a heir and a spare. Let’s pretend in a fairytale world where the Greens don’t crown Aegon and they slink off to whatever corner of the world TB think they deserve to after Viserys dies. The history books would write about the series of freak accidents that took Rhaenyra’s first 3 sons until Little Aegon was the heir.

i honestly don't have anything to add anon. 100% agree with everything you've said.

rhaenyra is a horrible politician. her marriage to laenor kept the velaryon alliance and secured driftmark for her son. if laenor was alive, vaemond wouldn't have called for a petition, and rhaenyra wouldn't have to marry the strongs to the dragon twins. she could've arranged for marriages with other important houses like baratheon or lannister and win their support. also, by having legitimate sons with daemon she harmed jace, Joffrey and luke's legitimacy and position. especially jace.

your point about the strong boys parentage being even more obvious next to baela and rhaena is sooooo true. as if they didn't already stand out enough, raising them alongside the velaryons that they're usurping is ridiculous.

i really don't understand the people that are saying that rhaenyra is a good ruler because she managed dragonstone. dragonstone is a little island with a couple of villages surrounding it. you can't possibly compare it with ruling SEVEN KINGDOMS. (and even dragonstone turned against rhaenyra in the end, but i digress) rhaenyra thinking she's prepared to rule shows just how clueless she really is (she even says in ep 8 she doesn't know anything about ruling a kingdom lol)

i don't think that rhaenyra's decision to marry daemon was necessarily politic. i mean yeah he's a dragonrider and a soldier, but his loyalty was never an issue because he would never never never NEVER side with the greens (aka otto). the marriage def did more harm then good for rhaenyra, and the main benefactor was daemon.

[doberbutts]

Ok I have believed you're Jewish this whole time bc no one else ever gives a shit what happens to us (and if they do, they definitely don't understand the nuances of our historical and modern community with anywhere near the depth you seem to, nor do they care to know) but uh... you're not.

So thanks. This is actually kind of mindblowing.

No, as far as I know I'm gentile through and through. I have a bunch of Jewish friends online and off plus I now live in close proximity to a high Jewish populated area, so that may explain some of it. Unless the Irish portion of my family that came to the US fleeing WWII were Jews, which I sort of doubt because in my lifetime they've all been incredibly annoyingly Christian. My family history stops there, we have no more knowledge of them past that generation that came here, so it's really up in the air.

I was raised in close proximity to Mennonites and Mennonites believe they are Jew 2.0 which I suppose in a weird antisemitic way taught me to care about Jewish history and faith. Despite this, Mennonite are NOT friendly to Jews as a group both historically and in modern times and number among the Christian groups wanting to shuffle all the Jews to Israel to kickstart Revelations and the Second Coming of Christ so like. Sure, they celebrate Jewish holidays and some even keep kosher but that does not mean they actually have any respect for Jews outside of acknowledging that the first Christians were also Jews.

And I also was raised with knowledge about the Black Hebrew Israelites, which are an antisemitic group of black nationalists who believe "white" Jews are lying about being God's chosen people and actually black people are the "real Jews". It's um. Well they're a cult and unfortunately they've been around for a long time and they've sucked a lot of modern celebrities and politicians into their ranks (Kanye West and Nick Cannon being the most talked about examples on here outside of black-specific circles). The Nation of Islam is a similar antisemitic black nationalist cult but instead of calling themselves Jewish they are Muslim- Malcolm X was famously involved with and later assassinated by this cult when he began speaking out against them. I would say a significant portion of antisemitism you may find in black communities often stems from one of these two groups at its heart.

So I don't really know enough about Jewishness to say that my knowledge comes anywhere close to someone who is actually Jewish. However I know quite a lot about the roots of antisemitism within my own demographic and how to combat it when I see it, from being raised by my family who were activists in their own right.

[peapodbond]

as someone who doesn't live in the states. watching this weird defeatist attitude is.

the election is tomorrow.

one of your candidates is a fascist.

one is a normal politician who believes in the democratic process, with the flaws inherent in that.

one is a third party candidate who only takes votes away from the normal politician. which gives them to the fascist.

voting is your "please put on your air mask before helping your child" moment. it is not something that is perfect, or that means everything is going to be perfect the day after the election.

it is always about picking the option that will help the most people. (sometimes it is the 'least bad' option.)

in between voting, you get in touch with your reps, you go to town halls, you pay attention to local elections and elect the non-book burners, the people that believe in social safety nets, and then everyone on the federal level says 'shit, that's what they want, we better get that into our platform before the next election or these are the people who will run against us and win'. you make sure everyone who does not care for their community stays out of power.

if the fascist wins, this will be the last election in the states. you do understand that. please tell me you get that. he will take the ability to vote away from everyone who isn't a billionaire. he's talked about executing people he doesn't like!! he is not rational and he will speedrun taking away human rights. (my premier calls him 'an icon' and is currently trying to take away charter rights so i know of what i speak. he's also a failed mayor who wants to rip up bike lanes in the city that didn't vote for him because they ruin his commute.)

your normal politician can be reasoned with, can see that if enough people want to help their communities and the global community that she should also try and make that happen. (things didn't happen? because the opposition controlled the house and the senate and vetoed all their plans? [maybe it means people didn't vote!!] it doesn't mean they didn't try!!)

abdicating your responsibility to vote only hurts everyone else. and in this election, it's not just everyone else in the states. it might be everyone else in the entire world. giving the fascist the nuclear codes again means - honestly i don't even want to think about it.

listening to everyone on the internet say they're not voting / not voting for harris and walz makes me feel like i'm living next to a meth house and waiting to see if it's going to explode. (not the point of this post, but this did actually happen to my parents and it was an extremely stressful year.)

there is never going to be a perfect candidate. voting is always about harm reduction.

with a democrat-led house and senate, and with their constituents actually communicating with them, you will be able to make them enact the policies you care about, not just the ones that the lobbyists push. an informed electorate will do more to enact 'unpopular' (read: not friendly to billionaires and companies) policies than any amount of abstaining from casting your vote.

voting is step one. when you put on your own mask, you can help everyone around you. if you let yourself suffocate because your mask isn't perfect, you can never help anyone again.

[butchviking]

i dont understand how conservative desire for single sex spaces differs from feminist reason. i understand that conservatives typically think of trans people as gay plus, sure, but like. in the actual desire for single sex spaces, what difference does it make

the difference it makes is in the bills they push through and the lack of care or provision for the fallout of those bills. if conservatives were pushing through a bill that said all use of mens/womens bathrooms, shelters, changing rooms, etc should be decided on birth sex alone - what are they putting in place to enable that? birth sex is not something stated on legal documents, bc legal sex can be changed. so how does one prove their sex? what happens to transmen who pass as male? i don't think most women are going to be happy with them coming into female spaces. how do they prove that that's actually where they're legally required to be? and what DOES happen to transwomen who pass as female and are forced to use male spaces? that IS dangerous for them and i understand its not the job of feminism to care about that issue but i personally do. and people can say "well this issue doesn't affect passing trans people bc no-one will ever know" but that only works if the person is completely stealth, which not every passing trans person is. and hell, what about passing butches?? how do THEY prove they're women if we know ID doesnt always reflect birth sex? all these people are just collateral damage to conservatives and i'm not okay w that.

ok. i will level with u. thats me making smthn up on the fly to justify my position. it didnt go very well at first so i gave up, but then i thought on it some more nd went back to it and i think that response does stand on its own now. at first i kind of thought "well, i guess this is the one issue we DO pretty much agree on" but the way conservatives do things is still always going to leave a lot of people caught in the middle and they definitely don't care enough to make sure those people are considered in their lawmaking.

however. u know the real answer? like the instinctive gut answer? because i dont fucking trust them. i dont fucking trust them and i dont trust them bc ive seen OTHER shit theyve pulled in this vein. like the anti-transition bills that have given no consideration to people who are ALREADY transitioning and would suddenly cut off their hrt or blockers if they don't meet the new requirements; like the bill against gender non-conformity in public spaces sold to the public as being about protecting children from predators within drag communities; like the combination of the attempt to reclassify authorising a child to transition as a sexual abuse with the introduction of the death penalty for sexual abuse. i do not fucking trust them and i know they do not have womens or childrens interests at heart i know this all just comes from them finding transgenderism degenerate and i do not think any good can come from supporting them bc they are always trying to slip smthn in under the radar they are always presenting laws to the public as one thing but wording them just right so that they actually have a whole different effect than people expected.

also, as a sort-of sidenote: given that regular ass people don't actually vote on laws, just elect people to do that, what would supporting their bills actually mean? voting for conservatives who will pass anti-gay anti-trans anti-woman pro-gender laws in the hope that they also throw a "oh and womens spaces for women only" in there? promoting the politicians who proposed the bills? i guess there's contacting state representatives and asking them to vote yes or no on a specific bill, but i get the impression most people don't really do that and more just make a public show of support for such-and-such a bill, which also promotes the party and the politician.

[shoujoboy-restart]

But is that your opinion or a fact? I guess the whole thing surrounding BLM and PragerU has me very confused since everyone else says some things about them and that they are not actually a university and then there's the fact that it's founder Dennis Prager said something that he thinks nothing wrong with indoctrinating children. Is that being taken out of context because every school's kind of does the same thing about schools teaching students to hate white people while being gay supposedly or is there some disagreement I'm not understanding?

it kind of feels like it's going to lead into that whoever I'm listening to are idiots and don't know what they are saying even though I can't just simply call everybody who thinks BLM and the civil Rights movements are somehow terrorist groups. It's like saying voting for DeSantis or Trump is better than Biden and everybody else is just fear-mongering about them even though I haven't been hearing good things about the Republican candidates and if we say something about Biden in the whole issue surrounding his son, honestly I'm starting to feel like the Hunter Biden stuff is too overhyped and I don't really think Joe Biden is involved in whatever dealing his son is involved as I'm not hearing anything major coming out of it and the Republicans are seemingly more focused on that then the sexual allegations against Biden or his whole deal with the classified documents which hasn't been brought up at often by either side. It's all Hunter this Hunter that and his father is involved in some crooked scheme needs to be impreached.

Let's go by parts.

My opinion is that Prager U uses of real and valid criticism of the organization calling itself BLM to attack people who are fighting against police brutality and racism, it is a fact the org BLM is a profit seeking with many of their CEOs having millions in their banks while not helping, the same way it's a fact that 94% of protest associatied or connected to BLM peaceful and the other 6% are still unfound on whether the violence and chaos was actually caused by protesters since there been multiple cases of confirmed infiltration by far-righters and cops.

I mean if the dude says "indoctrination bad" but then straight up says "actually indoctrination based" because it's for what he believes then ain't really much context that can save that lol most of the crying about "indoctrination" complaints are parents of highschoolers mad they can't obcessively control everything their child do and having a panic attack over the idea their kid won't be a carbon copy of them, I'm sure leftist parents do that as well but conservative ones actually demand their entire state to uphold that.

As a whole the Hunter Biden situation is just...pointless? Oh no, the son of a politician is a druggie and pays for prostitutes...and? Arrest the asshole or not for all I care, they are trying to claim that somehow this would have swayed peoples voting, It is republicans trying really hard to scrape the bottom of the barrel for reason to impeach Biden or attack his image, when as your self pointed out there enough to do just that, but again, since Trump also has allegations and shit.

Also I'm pretty sure the reason why Biden isn't being prosecuted and investigated for documents is because he actually did everything he should have done and the documents were literally a handful of documents in a safe, but on that I could be wrong, while Trumpie literally had boxes on top of fucking boxes in every corner of his damn home for some reason, together with multiple of the documents being classified, which as president at the time he could have just declassified them so it wouldn't be as much of a issue.

But if you want my advice as someone who used to be a anti-sjw? I didn't even stop being one at first because of how factually wrong the whole ideology was, is because almost every figure head I followed was becoming actual neo-Nazis, turning out to transphobic and homophobic while using gay and trans people as shields, constantly getting caught bold face lying(Blaire white) or just grifting as "apolitical" while having nothing but praises to the most extreme right wing lobotomites out here. Steven Crowder was having a 50 million contract and a extra 1 million whenever needed to just attack trans people 24/7, a lot of right wing content is unironically just corporate backed propaganda to regress society, the entire fox news teams was exposed for admitting they thought Trump and his supporters were loonies and that "election fraud" narrative is just bullshit they started talking because another right wing channel was syphoning their viewers whenever they said something like "Trump isn't a god and he made mistakes" in their lawsuit brought by Dominion.

I'm not saying you need to become luxury communism that believes in a 100 genders, but genuinely, the grift within the right is real, at least when leftists say some crazy shit, you have 90% they actually believe in what they are saying, while a right winger is probably just saying the shit to gain a chance of being employed by the likes of Prager.

If you want a really good channel to teach you some rhetoric and how to catch people saying shit without foundation I really recommend Mia's Rhetoric, she's not a bleeding heart leftist or anything, she's very progressive obviously but because of her knowledge in rhetoric she's really good at deconstructing arguments from fallacies to how people signage affects them, linking this video in specific to topical obviously.

[filthforfriends]

A random rant after waking up from a nightmare and trying to distract myself from having a panic attack.

I wanna reference what you said about it being privilege to say that Må wants to be politically neutral. I do see how that can be perceived as Damiano/Må being a sellout, but personally I don't like when famous people constantly (not a good word but I run with it) take and talk about a situation that my people deal with on a daily basis, but don't know about the real story and stage (??) of things. In my country, I am a victim and a subject of constant nationalism and xenophobia by politicians and others like potential bosses, university peers... It is my daily life to be denied some basic (political) human rights such as running for president just because I identify with a nationality that isn't one of three constituent. For me personally, I don't like to be reminded of it by some band I like too much. I appreciate it when they mention it, but they can't really do anything to help the situation. But most of this mentioning it is hypothetical because (in this case) "the open conversation is constant" but it is very much, for lack of better word, boring and unproductive. Also, the reason why it is ignored more often than not is because it is to hard to understand fully, like took me three uni courses to fully understand what I am going through. Like more often than not, I feel like the appendix of Europe. For example, an Italian band is ignoring our region when announcing a big European tour, while that region is including their neighbouring county. This is just a random rant from a political science student, but sometimes I feel that in all the pain marginalized groups deal in the daily, some things are taken way too seriously, but others not serious enough. I am aware that all of this comes from a position of privilege of being white, but Slavs (as our people's name implies) went through a lot of bad shit in Europe, especially those who live in Balkans. And I wanna say again that this is personal preference and not saying that everyone should think and feel like this!!!! Debating to go anon or not (I mean I said something here that can point to my blog), but... yeah

I have family from the Balkans that were displaced and lost a child in the process so I know a little bit about this. Im sorry to hear that somethings haven't changed.

I think discourse becomes "boring and unproductive" as you said, when people who have the power to do something don't. I believe that people in positions of influence should be politically active and to do so their activism has to take a form that makes change. Just saying "it sucks that this marginalized group is oppressed" isn't meaningful. It only serves to make that celebrity look good and that is the opposite of activism. Right now, political activism for people like Maneskin should look like doing rather than acknowledging. I think the current state of celebrity activism feels boring and unproductive because it is! It's self serving and lacking and not making any meaningful change. Effectively its not even activism.

[paradoxcase]

Continuing the convo here. OK confession time. Project 2025 is very scary and the anti-choice movement is very scary. I don't like feeling out of step with my friends, but some of them are opposed to voting; one person described fear of Trump as "cynical hand-wringing", and other said "there's always going to be a scary guy." But I just don't see the point in, for one, protesting a war by allowing the election of a guy who's going to make the war worse. And secondly, I have always been scared shitless of pregnancy, and even as a kid I thought it was an insult to us kids to treat fetuses like real babies, and so the right's attacks on abortion are just the most cruel terrifying inhumane thing imaginable to me. And I heard that Project 2025 wants to restrict abortion everywhere, not just in the USA. Deep in my gut, all the left-wing cries that I'd be getting blood on my hands by voting mean jack shit in the face of the overwhelming existential dysphoric terror at the thought of forced birth. More than anyone else, I want someone to understand this.

And I do honestly believe the path to fighting global warming involves rapid and extreme action against monopoly capitalism. But I also want the short term benefit of not having people in power that spit at my gender and see my body as nothing but baby food. And it is incredibly shitty that the dems are threatening us to vote for them by saying "they'll take away your rights" when they could have done more in the first place to codify those rights. But why blame me for it? Leftblr is making me feel like a hideous class traitor for something that I am being effectively forced into!

Oh also, people are really mad about a bad post someone made where they used hitler apology to explain why we should vote blue. So now I worry that I'll be seen even more as a monster for voting. That what if I AM a monster who doesn't care enough about foreigners being killed. But like, the alternative is imagining SA victims being bodyhorrorred and I didn't do the one small thing that could try to protect them.

I mean, I think it's a reasonable point that you shouldn't do things or make decisions purely based on a knee-jerk fear reaction, and I feel like our society has done a lot to try to make us viscerally afraid of pregnancy, kind of regardless of the bodily autonomy issues around restriction of birth control and abortion, or at least I think it does when you grow up in an abstinence-only education state, that kind of "education" is very much focused on controlling you through fear. But just because society tries to control you through fear and the alt-right is very much driven by fear and being controlled and motivated by fear by politicians and pundits doesn't mean that it's not sensible to be afraid of anything, or that there aren't logical reasons to fear something, or even that pregnancy isn't something you should fear. If you're afraid of something, you can look up the the actual facts about it, and decide based on the facts whether it makes sense to fear it, and then if you still do, your reasons for fearing it are more based on actual reality and not just on a knee-jerk feeling you have about it, and knowing the facts about it will also help you be more effective at avoiding it. And, even if you are afraid, when trying to convince other people about political issues, it's much better to be able to say, these are the facts of this issue, and this is why this outcome will be bad, not just for me, but also for you and lots of other people, rather than just saying, I'm afraid for myself, even if your fear is a stronger motivator for you personally. No matter how sensible your fear is, not everyone is going to be able to empathize with it, because fear is fundamentally not based on actual facts. The only way to make someone else afraid of the same things you are afraid of is to use the manipulative fear tactics they tried to use to make us afraid of sex before marriage, and that's not ethical. I know it feels like your fear is the strongest and best argument and the most important reason to oppose Trump, but a lot of other people are not going to feel that way, and that doesn't make them like, inhuman or lacking empathy or anything, it's just because fear is kind of illogical, both in that people will fear things that aren't dangerous/scary and also in that they won't fear things that are dangerous.

But honestly, I would personally just stop listening to those types of people and stop following them. They are not really "leftblr". There is not always a "scary guy" who is the president trying to take away reproductive rights, if Harris is elected, there won't be. I don't know what the Hitler post was about, but there will always be people making dumb arguments for every side of any issue, and that doesn't mean that every political position is dumb.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Teaching Children Responsibility

Starts with teaching them about how the world works. The world runs on $$. Most children, all the up until they get their own job, have no concept of money, or loans, or investments.

That's a cultural failing.

What I'm saying here will definitely get used against me should I have children of my own. So I'm going to be as clear and concise as possible. I'm not advocating for child abuse; and if it *sounds* like I am; please say so (with a valid critique) in the comments so I have a chance to defend myself.

I'm gonna say, up until a child is a teenager; (12-13) they'll have most of their needs taken care of. They should have a rudimentary understanding of currency, and how it works.

They should also have a rudimentary understanding of where the money goes *after* they spend it. To get started a kind of fore-sight. They should have an inkling of an idea that transactions aren't just "I give you money, you give me product".

They should know the money they're spending comes from somewhere, and the. The money they give to somebody else *goes* somewhere.

Because of this; I think it's prudent to stop buying things for children when they become teenagers. I don't mean; don't do normal parenting things. You should instill a sense of responsibility of self in them.

Instead of buying things directly, line out the budget you're spending on them and have them decide what to spend it on.

There are of course going to be caveats Holidays, etc... that go against this core idea. But giving them freedom to, for lack of better wording; do a "child abuse" to themselves that you can then; correct as a parent should; will start getting them thinking in terms of how to save money, spend money, and risk and reward that comes with that.

It's in my core belief; that a child should have a nest egg invested by the time they're 18. And they should know the difference between "money you spend" and "money you don't".

What do I mean by "nest egg"?

Every single investment and monetary education says "an investment of $1800+ with the power of compounding interest, should appreciate into a million dollars in 30 or so years."

And the child should have that, bare minimum. Especially if they're a citizen of the wealthiest nation on earth.

This won't be possible for some families. They simply won't be able to make ends meet, and agencies both public and commercial may try to influence them to change out that investment for the short term instead of the long term it's meant for.

"Why don't you save yourself from the economy?" If your older; you might have lost out on years of interest from economic downturn that you'll never get back.

But if you're young? You *probably* got time.

Children need to know, and parents need to teach them that they will blamed for economic instability as *if* it were their own fault.

People of all ages think money grows on trees.

To be fair; there will always be the lazy one who really always was irresponsible; and just using the downturn as an excuse.

But most economic downturnsnare out of the individual's control. Usually coming from the irresponsibility and pressures of others.

A wholey responsible person in this regard would be *thought* of as wholey capable.

Even and especially when they're going against the flow.

And so it's our responsibility to hand down guidance to younger people on how to better understand and analyze these trends; as well as anticipate them AND decide on what they can do about it.

And for the boomers and older; they need to learn they're not islands. They affect and are affected by the economy; just the same as anybody else.

Today; wholey, completely, and utterly, we have failed the subsequent generations. Especially the ones complaining about "childless politicians" for they have kids, and didn't give a shit.

To put it in a way anybody could understand;

If somebody is working, for pay, for 12-16 hours everyday for a decade; they should have enough money to pursue their own ventures for at least a decade. Because otherwise; they have around 80 years on this earth they won't be able to pay for.

[centrally-unplanned]

@centrally-unplanned, a rationalist-adjacent(?) liberal of some sort

Larrydavid.meme.gif

Anyway, I don't think most of this is straight wrong or anything, but I think its a good example when you need to conceptually "move down another level" of analysis. So the 'national interest'...that doesn't, exist, right? Its a fake social construct - nations aren't real, they can't have interests. Now I'm not being a pedant, I understand its a perfectly fine shorthand for the right time, this or that military alliance against a bigger power, yeah sure national interest. But its still fake, which means you need to use it judiciously. Does the US have a national interest in idk supporting Ukraine against Russia? Ehhh maybe? I know the argument. But we have dozens of authoritarian allies and trading partners, and hell we have the world's largest military - how exactly is a norm of no military conquest "in our best interest" again? This stuff is all radically culturally shaped; within the project of building a liberal world order of independent nation states that US political elites & wider population believes is morally okay, its in our 'self interest' - and even then due to granular polarization factors half the country swapped sides in a year. Once you go deep enough the idea falls apart.

And this goes down to lower institutional levels:

Ok, the putative politicians supporting Israel for domestic political reasons are acting in their own self-interest, but the voters to which they cater are evidently not!

That first part probably isn't true! For some, sure, but I think most US politicians also just authentically support Israel because they think they are the good guys. Others don't care either way so go with the flow; some others roll their eyes at it but are outnumbered and don't fight it. The Republican party has a real, notable faction of evangelical voters who support Israel as part of fulfilling God's plan for humanity as outlined in the Gospels, shit is cray man. And this combines with wide voter support, strong lobby groups, the mismatch between median apathy and jewish-american's strong interest, etc etc.

To tie it up, you have phrases like "materialist" and "idealist" and "liberal", which I don't think are useless. But they are just tools, the large majority of ~reality are a mess of them, and imo nowadays social sciences have marched on and we don't use those as much, they have evolved. And what you don't want to do is get sort-of wrapped up in the 'meta' of these ideas, leading you to say things like this:

It allows one to avoid the conclusion that the rational pursuit of self-interest has lead the US to complicity in a genocide, which is not a very fun conclusion to reach if you endorse a political philosophy that at some level valorizes the rational pursuit of self-interest.

Most American people and the large majority of American politicians have no need to 'avoid this conclusion' because they don't think Israel is committing genocide. They just disagree on the object level; honestly they don't even disagree, they don't think this is a relevant debate and aren't paying attention to it. No one is doing the work of "justifying" or "sorting out ideology" like a CCCP Marxist Othodoxy Ministry, they think this is wrong, and probably don't have a lot of stake in the idea of the US being ideologically consistent to begin with. I understand what you are saying, I don't think you think there such a ministry or anything. But I do think its indicative of that sort of ideological trap, of valorizing - reifying, if you will - these categories of analysis that only loosely fit observed reality.

Which imo if people want to understand US support for Israel, you need to deal with that observed reality. You won't get far with ideas of "what is the US rational self interest?" because its a combination of not real, and not very relevant in this case.

Current debate being hosted on @triviallytrue's blog involving @metamatar and @centrally-unplanned is interesting to me on a meta-level. @metamatar, a Marxist, offers what I think would usually be called a "materialist" explanation for US support of Israel: the United States gets strategic benefits out of its relationship with Israel and thus wants to keep them as an ally. @centrally-unplanned, a rationalist-adjacent(?) liberal of some sort, offers what I think would usually be called an "idealist" explanation: the US supports Israel against its own rational self-interest for ideological and domestic political reasons. Triv, a left-liberal, takes an intermediary position.

Using the terms "materialist" and "idealist" in this way has certain Marxist undertones that I don't necessarily endorse, and is maybe not even technically accurate for one reason or another, but I just needed some quick and recognizable terms in which to frame the debate. Forgive me for this.

One way or another, I have some up-my-own-ass and navel-gazatory things to say about the discussion.

I don't know a whole lot about the US's relationship with Israel on an object level. But on the basis of my priors I lean towards the materialist explanation. I think this reflects, ironically, a kind of liberal view of human nature: I model people (and organizations) as basically self-interested and rational agents, at least to a rough approximation. But I have a fairly dim view of where this leads us. I think that rational self-interest often results in murder and plunder and cold-hearted slaughter, and indeed the notion that humans are approximately rational and self-interested agents comports well with the fact that the world today and for all of known history has been characterized by murder and plunder and cold-hearted slaughter. My default assumption is therefore that, again to a first approximation, whatever is going on between the US and Israel is another instance of this.

On the other hand, I think it's interesting that the idealist explanation is here favored by a liberal, although it suggests perhaps a less "liberal" view of human nature. Under this explanation humans are foolish, driven by irrationality, ideology, and superstition, to work against their own material interests. Ok, the putative politicians supporting Israel for domestic political reasons are acting in their own self-interest, but the voters to which they cater are evidently not! Naively this view might seem a bit at odds with a liberal political philosophy, but I don't think it really it. Especially in this case, where the belief that US support of Israel is driven by irrationality and superstition actually serves to rescue the notion of rational self-interest from what otherwise might look like a mark on its good name. It allows one to avoid the conclusion that the rational pursuit of self-interest has lead the US to complicity in a genocide, which is not a very fun conclusion to reach if you endorse a political philosophy that at some level valorizes the rational pursuit of self-interest.

All in all, what is my point? I don't really have a point. I don't think this kind of psychoanalysis of others' political opinions is a very useful endeavor. I suppose I'm saying precisely nothing: the leftists in this discussion have taken up a position that indicts rational self-interest, the liberals have taken up a position that exculpates it, the centrists have taken a middling position—everyone has behaved in exactly the way our cheap psychoanalysis of them suggests they would. Nothing has been learned about the world (in this post, I mean), because although we see that the participants in the discussion are making arguments that suit their ideologies, we cannot tell which direction the causality runs. And nothing has been learned about the participants in the discussion because this kind of psychoanalysis is a crock of shit.

Keep on posting, everybody.

[violetsystems]

#personal

I've been steadily filling out applications and sending out resumes. I would say I average about five or six a week. Seeing as how I've been looking for a job since 2020 after being forcibly retired, there's been enough learning through error to know how to apply. It also helps to have a resume though it seems mine gets ignored more than often. Last night I got hit with a question for the second time that seemed fucked up. They asked my sexual orientation. Incels can rest assured asexual is on there but you would think heterosexuals would love to brag about it. This question came after pronouns which I don't mind answering as he/him/his. But gender is a motherfucker and sexuality is nobody's business when it comes to putting a roof over your head. Neither is a governor in Florida trying to pass a law that targets bloggers with fines for writing about him on the internet. Him and his buddies have a lot of money involved in the Chicago election. There's even no cap for political spending so people can be on TV all days in commercials trashing each other. But growing up in a forgotten generation because Boomers and Zoomers rhyme together makes me feel a little more invisible than usual. You read all this shit in the news about how people who lost their jobs just recently are already bouncing back. And the news in America is largely paid for by special interests. I guess that's what don't say gay guy considers bloggers under his proposed laws. We're lobbyists. Except people like me don't influence anything at all. People like to think I do. Like to think that I'm the closet mastermind of some communist revolution. But I'm just some guy that knows how to read iron clad contracts. I went to a cybersecurity conference last summer to network and the key note was given by a lawyer. Not a tech luminary. A fucking lawyer. It seems you are only represented in America in terms of constitutional rights if you get a lawyer. And nobody really has 20k to defend themselves. Bloggers like me you can guess can't even get a lawyers attention. So good luck proving you are being discriminated against in the job market. If your basic rights are protected by the constitution most of the time, it means you have to defend it. Mostly against lawyers, developers of property, outside shadow pacs that donate infinite money to influence the democratic process your country brags about being superior for on the world stage. All the world's a stage, especially when I lock the gate behind me so the meter reader goes away.

That stage really hasn't got much to do with me. It gets in the way of the things I want to focus on like my career and the people I really deeply care about. But it does seem when you have more reason to counter sue they just pretend you disappeared altogether entirely. They'll focus on dirty tricks they can get away with with no fear of retaliation. Which is why Tumblr blaze I guess makes so much money. I wouldn't know I'm ad free for another year. And I don't really use this site for anything other than to communicate with my friends. I don't think anyone understands my life in reality. They just tiptoe around the perimeter. And for years when I tried to be more combative they probably stalked this blog looking for clues. Which seems to be par for the course going forward in America. Even I think it's gotten to be scary, pathetic and depressing. The guy at the DOJ who was supposed to save women's rights and abortion just took a trip to the Ukraine. Our rights that politicians start wars for around the world have disappeared and they're still tap dancing on the ashes. But really all of that is so far removed from reality on the ground. You never really had any rights to begin with. And I live in a weird gray zone of statement shirt hangovers from a bygone era. Everybody still thinks I'm undercover. And I've aged gracefully into the aesthetic and out of all the movements. I have far less to prove except for the fact I feel I'm being blacklisted in the job market. And even then I wake up and face the grim reality that if I didn't have my friends on here I would go fundamentally insane from all the targeting, hate, and subliminal communication everyone in this city wants to have with me. I did my taxes. And I do have a tax lawyer. So communication lines on that are blocked. But everything else? People seem to think it's alright to haze, roast, and terrorize me because they seem to know more about my relationships than I do. This platform has always been fairly anonymous. It really depends how you use it. And people have spent years comparing their basic ass shit to me without ever interacting with me. And I get why that happens by now. And I get that trying to be part of anything other than a job that pays me in the interim while we figure things out is in my best interest. Nobody else around here seems to.

I guess over time some of the people I share property with have grown to understand the nuance. And even then, we like to think of America as a place that respects your right to your own business. Especially when things are complicated and you aren't being represented by Congress or a lawyer. Strategic ambiguity is always in play on the high seas where countries like to play pirates of the Caribbean. If anything I learned it from watching you dad. But after all these years on the catwalk of the post apocalyptic political landscape I can handle myself out there. I just don't think anyone should really put themselves out there. Even applying for jobs and offering data like who you like to fuck is abused. Your bank information and what stocks you choose. Who has billions of dollars to use that information against you? The people buying our next mayor. Around here pope Francis is more in control and I'm not even Catholic. I've travelled all over the world. Even to China by myself. People act like I never left this block. Like they're so much more informed by the internet than me. And this is where I've had to learn to be ok with tuning out. Just like I've had to be ok with reading between the lines. My life sucks don't get me wrong. But being able to devote the time, energy and love to someone you care about is a great feeling. And it's a feeling people think they have an opinion about. Which is nothing new. All America out here has ever tried to do is bully me like basic training in the army. In fact, I wonder if it's learned abusive behavior from all this military service and chauvinistic attitudes passed down from generation to generation. My dad was a sargeant. A military cop auditor. Like if you armed the IRS. I dislike authority but I never hated my dad. My dad never really imparted on me anything in terms of toxic masculinity. But we lived in a matriarchal household. I am also a child of divorce. I'm not a normal person to compare yourself to if you are looking for some political fight. I don't even have instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Next thing you know they'll be asking for that on your resume. The boundaries of the fourth wall that I maintain are for your protection out there. You may think you know what you are reading but you don't wake up with me in my dash. So if you've read this far looking for a lawsuit? Maybe start with a suit coat for that statement shirt so I don't have to read into your bullshit anymore. For the rest of us? They don't call it a long march for nothing. <3 Tim

[khaleesiofalicante]

"I stand in the mess of myself" -Colum McCann

That first timeline was so soft and lovely and kdvskdjif I AM GETTING TOO MUCH FLUFF ITS GETTING CONCERNING

The scene with Max and Rafe made me 🥺🥺

Jia is the only president I will ever love😎

“Am I still the prettiest man in the world?” Alec chuckles. Magnus bops his nose. “Always.” I'M DYING💙💙💙

Jdhskdbidjd Magnus is unhinged as fuck lmao

Communication is so sexy tbh

The way I love these two-

Magnus making sure Alec knows how important this is and that he deserves all the recognition- just...fuck

Alec looks at him. He smiles at Magnus. And there it is. The higher power. Malec comparing each other to some higher power is my favorite thing EVERY OK?!?

“Perfect enough to put inside my heart.”💙💙

Alec practically runs out of the door. Magnus chuckles to himself and follows through. Who said being horny can't be productive at the same time??

“Oh for fuck’s sake! Can’t they like walk home?” Alec demands. “Max is six.” “So? He has legs.” My man has priorities jdhdkdjdl

Empathy is so fucking beautiful and sexy 😍

Max is a cheesy little shit and I am love him!!! He is just so innocent and cute🥺🥺🥺

In timeline two Max was indeed acting like an asshole. I mean he was waiting for David to text him and go to that party but it didn't happen😭 Still, asshole behavior

Honestly tho Alec has every right to decide what to do and if he wants to move on or not. Why do people forget that???

He forgot about his promise. It’s fine. Not all of them are Lightwood-Banes anymore anyway. AHH JUST STOP THE PAIN😭😭😭

“So that’s why it ended, huh,” Alec hums. “Raisins and bad luck.” Them talking here is kinda sad but also you can see how they are trying to heal and that is beautiful!!

Elyaas is so done with them and I can't blame him smh

Yall are terrifying together, love. Have a nice day :)

That was so fucking sad but I'm so damn glad they could talk to each other!!!

“I won’t let anyone hurt the blue-eyed boy.” “Good,” Alec smiles. “We won’t let anyone hurt you either.” THEM>>>>>

Them taking comfort on each other and knowing they can rely on the other to help them through this all is the most amazing thing ever and in this essay I will-

Omfg I love their reactions when Max told them about moving to London. Both of them went like ✨No :)✨

Max taking over Edom!!! I fucking knew it!!!!! Hell yeah let's go!!!!

His fake binder is honestly a mood af😎

“I just think it could be different. It’s like how Rafael wants to be a politician because he wants the government to be different.” This parallel is *chef kiss*

No thoughs, head empty except ✨mavid kids✨

“Shinyun Jung. Will you do me the honor of being my mentor?” kdvwkdkdlebi loved this so much. She indeed has big dick energy 🥰

Shinyun and Max living and working together, being competitive and skilled little shits its my favorite aesthetic💙💙 also Noodle???? I want to met them!!!

He would make such a gorgeous Prince of Edom and I think David can agree ;)

I love how Shinyun and Alec are like: I don't trust you but I trust Magnus so I'm going to behave idheieejek

And that’s what matters, doesn’t it?

That we all learn to care about something more than ourselves.

Maybe it’s a person. Maybe it’s a place.

It doesn’t matter.

Not as long as we care.

✨A FAVE ONCE AGAIN✨😍😍

“Take it,” Magnus says. “Take some of my strength.” not this parallel too, please it's too much udhdkdjdld

For two grown up men who have really qualified jobs and are successful... They sure are idiots!!!

Can we talk about how the whole scene with Izzy and Maryse was so fucking accurate and true??? ✨God, I love women ✨💙💙💙

No, you don't understand. They love LOVE each other!! Yes, that's a valid reason to scream😭

HE ATE THE FUCKING RAISINS!! OMFG HE HATES THEM!! SCREAMING AND CRYING I WILL NEVER RECOVER

What is love if not eating each other's raisins when needed?

And finally: YOU GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME DANI! I AM IN PANIC AND I TOTALLY BLAME YOU! WHY DO THE BEST CHARACTERS SUFFER SO MUCH?!?!😭

I will go scream in my room brb. And yes I'm still one chapter behind what about it?? jk, jk😂

Song rec: No Goodbyes by Dua Lipa

So in conclusion:

Women? Yes.

Raisins? No.

Wonderful life lessons 🥰🥰🥰

This is Max working for Edom like

[takashi0]

This is a genuine question, not a gotcha but feel free to ignore cause I know this is a loaded subject and may bring discourse your way.

What are your thoughts on certain gun control laws. I.E Universal background checks, concealed carry permits, and restrictions based on violent felony history.

This is not a gotcha, I promise. I'm just trying to gather some info and opinions so I can inform myself properly.

Liberals talk about "Sensible gun laws" but those things you listed are as sensible as it gets and it doesn't stop mass shooters because what gun grabbers don't understand is that if someone wants to commit a crime badly enough, they'll just fucking do it and not give a shit. And no amount of red tape you can force on them and no amount of total seizure of firearms from the government will stop that.

Not much to say other than you can and SHOULD be able to get concealed carry permits because it's been PROVEN that criminals are much less likely to mug or assault you if they think that any potential target could be secretly packing heat.

But governments like it when citizens are scared because that means they can fuck you as much as they want and make you dependent on them so you can't fight back when they oppress you. It's really insidious, and that's why it's always the big cities like New York and Chicago that have corrupt politicians and cops ALSO having strict gun laws.

[mwolf0epsilon]

Wolffe Sweep. Forever bearer of the Curse (not being able to handle C3PO's shenanigans) Y'all are ruthless to the poor guy. Hasn't he suffered enough?

Either way, you know the drill. I'll drop my 2 cents right here and now.

The important thing to note on this hypothetical scenario is that the mission they're being assigned (besides being a month long) is either a diplomatic thing, or a relief mission. Hence C3PO's presence. We're talking one of those "give them your best costumer service smile" kind of missions where the commanders CAN NOT lose their shit in public.

The priority is keeping their Jedi generals, potential escort, and their translator droid safe. That just also comes with the extra baggage that is C3PO's fussy and anxiety-riddled self adding a bonus level of stress to the whole affair, plus making sure R2D2's bad attitude and batshit insane shenanigans don't cause some kind of a diplomatic incident (not that he'd cause trouble without it being justified, he's a fine judge of character and a military veteran in his own right).

So how would each commander fare with this? Lets follow the order of most voted to find out!

While it's true that Wolffe gets easily annoyed with 3PO, he's also got something on his side for this entire mission: Experience dealing with both of these droids. Sure he'll grumble to himself, roll his eyes, and want to tear out his hair on occasion, but if he's managed whole relief missions with these two in for the ride before, he can handle another month of it.

Will probably bitch a bit in the command batch private comm chat, but that's a given. Wolffe is a bit of a gossip anyway. He might even offer some funny stories about whatever R2 gets up to, to balance out his frustrations with 3PO.

Next up, we've got Fox who doesn't have the best track record with droids. That said, he does have experience dealing with something just as, if not more, annoying than 3PO's fussy nature: Politicians. You can't tell me Fox wouldn't have protocols/methods to deal with diplomatic escort missions like these. He has to contend with the likes of Jar Jar Binks klutz-ing about in the Senate building, and even deal with Padmé getting up to shenanigans on occasion. Hell, he's probably been around 3PO long enough that he can tune him out easily.

Between dealing with snobbish politicians that don't seem to know what's good for them all day, and dealing with two trouble-magnet droids for an entire month? He'll take the droids.

Cody is also not gonna struggle as much in this as you'd think he would. Someone who deals with both Kenobi and Skywalker regularly enough that he is in the good graces of R2D2 (look at him kneeling to talk to R2 eye to optical sensor! That's respect my dudes!), is not gonna struggle on a month long mission with the former, nor his anxious and snooty husband.

You could argue that 3PO is the straw that breaks the camel's back, but Cody is just as batshit as R2 and probably sits down with the astromech to bitch about people that annoy them. Probably have a chuckle at 3PO's and Kenobi's expense because the two are on the same level of endearingly annoying.

If Wolffe is the one on the mission, Cody is eating up the R2D2 adventure tales because that's his bitching session/drinking bud!

I'm sad to say, but Gree is the one I think would break not even a month in. It just makes sense to me considering who he works under. He's used to highly competent, calm and collected company like Luminara and Barriss. And while you could argue that he also worked with Yoda on occasion, Gree is professional enough to understand that Jedi work in mysterious ways... And sometimes that means talking in riddles and riding on your men's back like a pint-sized jockey with a laser sword.

R2D2 and C3PO however are anomalous weirdo droids that cause problems for no apparent logical reason, and that would either leave him completely stumped; infuriate him to no end because he's trying to keep things running smoothly; or it'd just drive him up a wall because what did he do to deserve having to wrangle these two???

Where Wolffe just grumbles and bitches in the command batch private comm chat, Gree is having a minor mental breakdown and everyone is watching the show. Cody and Fox are definitely eating it up while cackling to themselves like the menace gremlins they are.

I don't think I need to say much about how Bly would fare in this situation. You can't tell me Bly wouldn't deal with it swimmingly, considering his battalion and Jedi general get some of the more hazardous planets on their mission rosters. I'm also 100% confident he's met Quinlan Vos at some point, and that this encounter has left him a changed man. One capable of dealing with so much bullshit thrown his way.

If anything Bly would consider this mission a mini vacation of sorts, and he'd just not be bothered at all by R2's and 3PO's usual shenanigans.

Probably sends pics to the command batch private comm chat captioned as something along the lines of "those two are exploring each other's coding for sure" or "d'awww droid love!" because he's bored and wants to start an argument on whether or not R2 and 3PO are married or not.

Last but not least, Ponds!

If you think Ponds would crack under the pressure of managing a month long mission with R2D2 and C3PO as tag-alongs, you're sorely mistaken. This man has the patience of a saint.

If he can deal with whatever goes on in the command batch private comm chat, he can deal with a menace droid and his trophy husband. End of debate.

[shiroandblack]

My Misconceptions Before Reading the Silmarillion

A little bit of backstory here, the first time I've ever heard of the Silmarillion was when the Hobbits movies first came out and I, who had not seen LOTR for an Age (no, just a really long time, don't worry) got really curious about Elrond because he was called Elrond Half-Elven. So, like any person who wanted to procrastinate on their assignments I opened the Wikia and then got stranded to tolkiengateway and read Elrond's backstory and Galadriel's and Gandalf's and understood absolutely nothing. So I found out about the Silmarillion and was like "oh so there's some background novel, cool".

But needless to say, because I read all these major characters background without context I had some misunderstandings about what several things were (which were cleared up in the Silm) and thought things were A, whereas they were not. So here are several of my misconceptions:

I thought the Sons of Fëanor were a cult. I'm talking about Faceless Men kind of cult, like I thought they were this group of people who worshipped Fëanor who was like a god of death or something since it was mentioned that they killed a lot of people.

I thought Elrond and by extension, Elros, were like unwanted changeling children who were kinda regarded as abominations by human society because of their elvish blood. I mean, the Sons of Fëanor found them in like some waterfall cave and I instantly thought "holy shit their parents just ditched them".

I thought Elrond fought his way to freedom à la Gladiator style. Like, literally "kill this opponent if you wanna be free" so then I was like in my single braincelled mind, "wow Elrond is a fucking badass assassin" (to be clear, I still really love and respect Elrond but not for 'assassin'-y reasons).

Galadriel's brothers were hippy adventurers. Now this came about because it was mentioned that Finrod (who I just called Brother #1 back then) liked to travel and when Galadriel asked him if he wanted to settle down he was like "no" and Galadriel was like "okay".

I DID NOT. AND I MEAN, DID NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WERE THREE ELVEN KINDREDS AND THAT KILLING WAS A BIG NO NO. So when I saw like this art of who I later learned was Fëanor pointing a sword at who I later learned was Fingolfin (I called Fëanor 'red elf' and Fingolfin 'blue elf'), I just thought they were these two random elf politicians who had a disagreement and that the Kinslaying at Alqualondë was like the usual city sacking that happened in wars.

I did not understand that Valinor was like a separate island, I thought that it was a place on Middle Earth. Which was why like the dumbass I am, I opened a map of Third Age Middle-Earth and was like "where is Alqualondë? Where is Sirion? Huh?? WHERE IS THAT DAMN WATERFALL WHERE ELROND GOT PICKED UP BY A CULT?!"

I thought Nàmo was like the gatekeeper to hell and was very jealous when he was like "Oh, Lúthien you don't deserve to go to hell" (AGAIN, THIS WAS WHAT I THOUGHT HE SAID).

I thought Beren and Lúthien was the elf version of Romeo and Juliet. Enough said.

I thought Gondolin was like this Atlantis for the Elves that got destroyed by natural disasters.

I thought the Silmarils were like the Rings of Power but 10 times better and that's why everyone wanted them. Oh and I also thought they were like fallen stars and mystical things like that and Elven Blacksmith (Fëanor) harvested them or something.

I thought Manwë was Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë's dad.

So, naturally all this was cleared up by actually reading the Silmarillion but I just thought to share this because I really don't know. Maybe I just want to see if I'm not the only person who like misunderstood things.

Have a nice day!

[skies-diary]

You are not the problem for driving a car instead of biking to work. You are not the problem for buying food wrapped in plastic. You are not the problem for leaving the light on overnight.

You are not the cause of the problems the world faces today. Late stage capitalism is.

Yes, driving a car causes air pollution. Yes, plastic is a cancer upon this land. Yes, using electricity burns coal.

Chances are, however, that you don't have any other choice - particularly if you live in America. I've never worked a job that was a comfortable walking distance away, because in America, walking cities aren't really a thing. Public transportation used to be common, but that's changed (because of multiple factors).

Food wrapped in plastic is, more often than not, the only option people have to be able to eat (particularly in food deserts, where the food is far more processed and, therefore, nearly always wrapped in layers of plastic, as opposed to produce and other less processed foods).

Civilian use only accounts for about 1/3 of electricity use; the rest is used by the "industrial and commerical" sectors. Yes, civilian use adds up, but it's nothing compared to manufacturing plants sucking down energy day after day. Using solar power is pushed hard for civilians, but the truth is many people do not have access to solar power; many people live in apartments where they cannot install solar panels, and other live in areas where the HOA forbids solar panels. If you dont live in the customer range of a company that produces green energy, you're out of luck as well.

The truth is individuals are not causing the climate crisis. Wanna know who is?

Here's a good starting point:

Emissions:

Plastic waste creation:

While this is by no means comprehensive, it's a launching point.

Through a mix of disinformation campaigns and lobbying for favorable laws, the corporations of America have convinced the public of America that the climate crisis is whatever the CEOs want it to be. First the narrative was that it wasn't real. But we can see the world burn, we see the fires in Californa and Australia. We see the disturbances in weather, causing natural disasters in rapid succession. We see the start of a mass extinction due to the planet beginning to fail. The lie that climate change is a hoax no longer holds water with the majority of the population.

So, new strategy. The corporate machine develops a new theroy, one still in use today: climate change is real, and it's your fault. You, as a consumer, have been reckless and greedy. Only you have to power to stop the oncoming climate crisis.

This is, of course, entirely false, but it allows corporations to continue, unpunished and unaccoutable, while consumers are saddled with the blame. The truth is, however, we cannot fix this from the civilian side. You can take all the five minute showers you want; that wont save the fish while factories are dumping toxic waste into oceans, while energy companies run pipelines under lakes and rivers which explode and poison the waters and all that live in or drink from them. You can trade in your car for a bike; Amazon and Walmart still runs delivery trucks across the nation day and night. You can bring your own bags to the grocery store and go without plastic straws; marine animals are more likely to be trapped in and drown by fishing nets.

So what does this mean? Give up?

No, of course not. What it means is to be critical of what you're being told about climate change. Recycling, cutting down on plastic use, going vegan, driving a hybrid; all of these are incredible places to start.

But - and I hate to say this - it's not enough. We cannot solve this by ourselves. The charts of corporate giants above; they're the ones that have to change.

So, we press them.

Call the customer complaint lines of companies like Nestle, Coca cola and Pepsi, as well as oil giants, and, keeping in mind that the person on the other end is also a working class person who has not caused any of this, tell them that you're boycotting their company because of their disregard for climate change. Encourage them to do R & D into things like biodegradable plastics if they want your business back. (I know some people cannot boycott these companies; that's okay. If you can, boycott. If you cannot, still call. You just need make them believe you're boycotting. Make them nervous. Make them change their behavior.)

Advocate for green energy; call your electric company and ask what they're doing in terms of green energy. Write or call your representatives and demand that green energy in your state be expanded via government backing like subsidies. Also tell your representatives to back the Green New Deal. Threaten to cast your vote elsewhere if they refuse.

Educate yourself on the facts about climate change and green energy so that when the media giants, megaphones for big oil politicians, and corporations try to tell you lies, you know they're full of shit. Also educate yourself on the views of your local and state representatives. If they're not governing in a way that is in your best interest, throw them out next election cycle. Unfortunately, we cant solve this without major policy and legal changes; your elected representatives are the ones who control those.

It can be hard to fight when you feel overwhelmed by all this. I understand. This is overwhelming to me every day. However, you need to remember: you are not powerless. The phone you're holding right now is a tool. Use it to write to and call the people who need an attitude adjustment. Use it to research. Use it to make a change.

Other great ideas for those who have the means to do so: Take public transport instead if driving. Grow a garden in your backyard; not only for yourself, also for your neighbors. Buy food at farmer's markets or other locally-sourced food (local is best as transporting food is a major polluter). Shop at thrift stores and buy secondhand.

Not everyone can do this. That's okay. You still have a voice. Use it.

Together, we are strong. Remind the bad guys of that.