#but who knows australia just voted to change supports for people like me

[not-poignant]

I think it's amazing that you're getting help with your autism, and I share your grief on all you had to struggle through before now. I experienced something similar with an abusive parent and an adult diagnosis. I hope the future brings you a lot of support and resulting joy.

Hi anon,

I'm honestly very privileged that I could afford the diagnosis, I've been saving up for about a year, but just getting access is something that not everyone, everywhere, can do. I wish it was more accessible, it really should be more accessible.

I'm sorry for the pain and suffering your own journey has brought to you anon re: an abusive background and late diagnosis. It can be very rough, and I hope you're taking care of yourself!

[official-boobies-posts]

always was, always will be aboriginal land ❤️💛🖤

[i-am-iz]

I'm late for this, but i want to say i am so so so sorry. America chose "THEYRE EATING THE DOGS! THEYRE EATING THE CATS!" over "let me buy you your first home."

Unfortunately, I live in a red state. I chose Kamala, unlike half of my family that chose Trump. I remember crying when I heard Trump won the election. My dad is a fellow Kamala supporter. He apologized to me for the election, he apologized to his friends (mostly women), went on X and apologized to queer people, women, men, r@pe victims, and so so so many more people.

I am so scared for our country in these next four years. Technically, Joe Biden is still our president, but when 2024 is over, Trump will be officially our president— and I'm mortified. I am so sad and scared. I feel horrible for the women who can't get an abortion because "it's murder!". What about the r@pe victims? What about the CHILDREN who are r@pe victims and now have to carry a r@pist's baby? I feel horrible for the LGBTQ+ community, which includes me. It is so unfair to trans people, to queer people. This election is unfair.

I am now scared to speak my mind when I'm not with my dad. My entire family that I live with now are all Trump supporters. I can try to talk about how Trump is a horrible person, but they will immediately shut me down, saying "The baby could solve cancer, but now it's dead because the mother killed it" or "They're trying to solve cancer in Australia right now, a woman can survive giving birth! The woman asked for it!". NOT IF IT WAS R@PE !!!!!!

I feel so incredibly bad for the black people who have gotten HORRIBLE, ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING texts, claiming "they're picking cotton". MAGA stands for Make America Great Again. WHAT??? How the hell are we doing that? By sending black people THIS BULLSHIT? and I quote: "Greetings, _____. You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 PM SHARP with your belongings. Our Executive Slaves will come get you in a Brown Van, be prepared to be searched down once you've entered the plantation. You are in Plantation Group __."

I am so sorry to Puerto Rico. Let's go back to 2017, okay? Back then, many people can remember Hurricane Maria. And I believe that Lin Manuel Miranda can explain this situation incredibly well. "Yesterday the Trump campaign gave a comedian a national platform to sling racist jokes, including one calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

"But I’m old enough to remember the days after Hurricane Maria, when former president Trump TREATED us like garbage. And when criticized for his inaction, called our people lazy.I remember the circus of hate and clickbait in every direction each morning when the former president opened Twitter."

"El falta de respeto y el racismo. THAT’S what I remember from the Trump administration.There are people for whom this is fine, it’s just a bad joke, lighten up. For many of us, this “joke” is a reminder of how bad it was under Trump, how he treated our people in our moment of need.How you vote is between you and your conscience. I’m too cynical to believe any hearts and minds are changing at this late stage of the race. I just hope that enough of us don’t want to go backwards, to tip back into this existence.I am voting for VP Kamala Harris. If you are eligible to vote, please vote."

I am disgusted.

I hope that everyone can stay safe. Please remember you ARE LOVED. I know this is horrible. I know this is probably the last thing America needs now. But we must stay strong. I know that you can do it. I know that this country is strong. I know you can be strong. These next four years are going to be hard. But, PLEASE KNOW, that no matter what: YOU ARE LOVED, YOU ARE STRONG, YOU. CAN. DO. THIS. I believe in you.

Stay strong, America.

-izzy.

[luneandbarbecue]

(to those who align to the Left partaking or not partaking in the us election who feel 'weak', those not can read if they want)

(The voice to read this in is gentle, I've intended it to not be sarcastic. Please, I mean it.)

I live in Australia, so what I say might be naive, insensitive to the situations of the election, so if it does end up so, please leave if needed. Please leave especially if you don't have the emotional space for a post intending to give mental comfort to those not in your dire situation. Take care of yourself first.

I've been trying to imagine what would be like to be in an American citizen where many of those aligning on the left are facing many conflicting decisions and view points from other members of the community. I didn't just want to lay back and be relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with a situation that would expose our values vulnerably, so that's why I imagined myself, reading posts as if I had a stake in voting. The conclusion I came was this.

I think to the core, the Left is trying....

Everyone is trying to do the right thing, I do have faith that many people are considering the suffering of others of those around them. Maybe someone's approach doesn't seem like the best course of action, I have my opinions for sure, but it is healthier for me to think that the people here really are trying and they want a kinder world. So even if I wouldn't make the same voting or non-voting decision if I was in your position, I have faith that you are trying to do the right thing.

This is probably unexpectedly gentle from what you've been hearing around. Yes, there is a space for imperative and constructively critical voices, but I think you do need space for 'weakness' and to be 'pathetic' (as the phrasing of that word tends to go). The need to nurse your ego and to be absolved is very human. That's because you don't want to do something bad. I'm sensitive and 'delicate' myself so I think I know how that feels.

I think this situation really is very stressful for you and despite the major sufferings of others, you are important to and deserve to rest your mind. You don't have to be strong all the time, we don't know everything. Being self-reflective and critical is vital for good change, but it can be difficult to handle if it's very constant, especially when your self-esteem is low. Please, do not destroy yourself, don't set yourself on fire so that others can be warm.

In the end, no matter what you choose. I don't think anybody's hands are clean. Use that to unite yourselves with others who feel that same vulnerable 'weaknesses' as you do. I'd love to see more people on the Left strive to have more space for being 'weak', for not truly knowing everything and use that as a point of bonding. You need to be able to fall on each other for support because we are all trying our best to do good.

The thing is, no matter what decision you come to, in the end the imperative is that.... We need to work HARD. Harder than before. The election CANNOT be the end all and be all for social change and progress. If you cannot cannot bite the bullet, not give in to infighting and work together with other people you deem incorrect despite them being fundamentally on your side, then I feel that nothing major is going to happen. The revolution that we all dream of bringing forward is not going to grow stronger. It really isn't... the time to call each other liberals when there is direct action to be done, which I think it more productive than labeling someone with a word that is bound to make them defensive and not want to work with you.

Anyway, please try to make space to understand and be kind to each other. I think this community really needs it.

(If there are any comments and conversations below, please do try to not make your comments inflammatory. You can direct those thoughts somewhere else. I want to leave space here for people to be vulnerable and feel safe without being attacked. Like I said, we're all trying)

[notthewriteryourelookingfor]

1 - I am not American, I am watching this from Australia so my words are being said as someone who can & will see & experience the global effects of Trumps presidency.

2 - yes, protesting right now is hard everywhere, in Australia we had threats of snipers on October 7 this year if we marched for Palestine.

Project 2025 will make it so much worse and plans to target pro-Palestine people specifically,

3 - you have 2 choices for president right now.

Kamala: who will continue to support the genocide I Gaza while she promises to try to fix things in the USA

Or

Trump: who will ALSO continue to support the genocide, maybe even ramp it up, while also dismantling workers rights, environmental regulations, destroy the economy further, and so on. He's literally bffs with Netanyahu.

This is not a decision about "who lines up with my ideals?" It's "who will be easier to fight against?"

Almost all the problems you are facing right now are cuz of Trump's first presidency: Roe v Wade being overturned (+ everything else the Supreme Court has done), food recalls due to eroding of food & health regulations, & everything the Republicans are blocking in the senate. Do you really want more?

Don't get me wrong, I hate the Democrats, they don't do anything. They're fuckin useless.

I'm not pretending to care, I care about everyone.

The problem is this:

You have to make a choice, if you do not make the choice, the worst outcome will be chosen for you.

Unfortunately you do need to prevent the Orange Cheeto from burning your house to the ground so you can continue to help others.

Here's an article of what will happen if Trump wins

Yes, it feels like blackmail, it probably is.

If you care about the people you talk about, vote for the person who isn't frothing at the mouth to hurt them even more.

I wish Kamala didn't support Israel.

I wish the majority of politicians didn't support Israel.

But saying "you don't care about these people if you care about those" is fuckin stupid.

Saying "you don't care about Palestine/Congo/Sudan if you care about immigrants/women/minorities/global health/workers rights" is unhelpful.

I know people want to vote for 3rd parties & in a lot of other countries that could work.

But there are several hundred 3rd party parties in the USA & they would need like 90% of the adult population of the USA to vote for them to win.

So let's look at it from the POV of the global south:

Who would you rather have in control of the USA, the main supporter of your colonisers & oppressors:

A woman who at most won't really make any changes but also won't make things like climate change worse so things like rising sea levels & famine worse, & won't start a nuclear war over a fuckin twitter dispute.

Or

A man who is frothing at the mouth to start a nuclear war, is BFFs with the leader of your colonisers/oppressors, has explicitly stated that he wants to wipe you off the face off the world, make everything related to climate change worse, cause another global depression, & has said that he wants to be US Hitler.

Neither is a good option

Both are bad options

But saying "protecting yourself so you can continue to help others is bad" is not only harmful to everyone (including the people you're claiming to support) but it also comes off really disingenuous & makes it seem like you're just lifting up the global south to drown out the voices you don't want to hear.

Not saying that's what you're doing but that's what it seems.

Sorry to post politics on main, but some of you pro-palestine people are missing the point when it comes to the US election.

At this point, there is really no alternative to voting for Kamala. RFK is not getting elected. Trump would be infinitely worse for the Israel-Palestine conflict (as well as other conflicts! and our well-being in general).

Stop virtue signaling and actually do something (vote) so that America can have a better leader than Trump. That’s all. We’re not voting for our next Messiah, we’re not voting between two perfect angels, it’s a US presidential election.

And those of you saying that Kamala is “committing genocide” really need to get things into perspective. The Vice President does not have the power to furnish weapons to Israel. Israel’s prime minister is acting in direct defiance of the Biden/Harris administration’s wishes and Harris has been the most vocal in asking for a ceasefire.

The Palestine conflict is not an excuse to not vote. Not voting makes it likely that Trump will win, history will go on whether you play a part or not. I want my reproductive rights back. Please.

[qnewsau]

From the Archives. Barnaby Joyce on marriage & Asian perception

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/barnaby-joyce-on-marriage-equality-asia-will-see-us-as-decadent/

From the Archives. Barnaby Joyce on marriage & Asian perception

The Deputy Leader of the Nationals Barnaby Joyce on marriage in 2015: Asia will see Australia as ‘decadent’ if the country legalises same-sex marriage.

QNews updates a 2015 story about Barnaby Joyce and marriage following his recent wedding to the former staffer he impregnated while married to someone else.

First published July 5, 2015 by Staff Writers.

Update by Destiny Rogers December 26, 2023.

This didn’t age well for the rabble-rousing attention seeker. Barnaby Joyce first entered parliament as a Queensland senator tagged Barnaby Rubble by political opponents. He moved to the lower house in 2013 as member for the NSW seat of New England. 

Elected Nationals leader in 2016, Joyce became Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. 😳

Marriage Equality

Following the nonsensical comments reported in this article, Joyce continued to campaign in defense of ‘traditional marriage’.

But within months of Australia voting overwhelmingly for same-sex marriage, the Australian media finally published a story already well-known to the Twitterverse.

Joyce had left his wife and was living with a former media advisor almost 20 years his junior — WHO WAS PREGNANT TO HIM!

How’s that for traditional marriage? 

After resigning as Nationals leader during the consequent controversy, Joyce returned to the position in 2021 but lost a leadership spill following the coalition’s 2022 election loss.

The original 2015 article

Barnaby Joyce has joined the anti-same-sex marriage chorus, warning of consequences with Asian trading partners.

“I think that what we have to understand is that when we go there (Asia), there are judgments, whether you like it or not, that are made about us and they see in how we negotiate with them whether they see us as – whether they see us as decadent.”

Joyce says Australia should not necessarily take its cues or cultural values from its near neighbours. However, his comments echo fellow cabinet minister Eric Abetz’ warning last week that Australia should not legalise gay marriage because no Asian country has done so.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Joyce told ABC’s Insiders that he doesn’t believe we should be redefining marriage.

“Marriage for me is in the traditional form.

“In life, everybody doesn’t get everything they want.”

Marriage should be “inherently there for the support of children or given the prospect of children or the opportunity of children.

“I think that every kid has a right, absolute right to know her or his mother and father and also has – should be given the greatest opportunity to know their biological mother and father.

“I don’t think if you go and pass a piece of legislation and say a diamond is a square, (that) makes diamonds squares, they’re two different things.”

Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome told Fairfax Media that “to say children are better off brought up by a mum and dad reinforces prejudice against the children raised by same-sex couples and is just plain wrong”.

Horse has bolted

Rodney Croome said the horse has bolted on gay parenting in Australia.

“Aout 20 percent of Australia’s 50,000 same-sex couples are raising children.”

Meanwhile, Abetz defended penning a rebuke to Hobart City Council for expressing support for same-sex marriage.

The senator said the council’s resolution “undermines the important social institution of marriage.” He said it had nothing to do with the priorities of ratepayers.

Senator Abetz earlier suggested frontbenchers who supported change should resign. He said allowing same-sex marriage would open a Pandora’s box. It could potentially lead to polyamory (the practice of engaging in multiple sexual relationships with the consent of all people involved).

Coalition divisions erupted over same-sex marriage last week. A marriage equality bill moved by Liberal Warren Entsch, seconded by Labor’s Terri Butler and backed by a multi-party grouping, will be introduced when Parliament resumes in August

Abbott a roadblock

Senator Penny Wong slammed Abetz’s comments, labeling them “illogical and outright offensive”.

She also accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott of being an extraordinary roadblock on the issue.

“He keeps finding excuses not to talk about it,” she said. “It’s time for him to get out of the way.”

Abbott has played down the prospect of a vote on Mr Entsch’s bill. He warned it was unusual for a private member’s bill to get that far.

It has prompted speculation he will use parliamentary processes to shut debate down.

More about the man Twitter Wits tagged The Beetrooter :

WATCH: John Oliver Roasts ‘Hypocritical’ Joyce Over Affair Scandal.

Was Joyce just tip of traditional marriage hypocrisy iceberg? (Spoiler – YEP!)

Barnaby In Art: Kulcha with a capital K.

Image: @DirtyCreature__ Twitter

The fall and fall of Anti-Marriage Equality Pollies.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[triakis-octahedron]

You recognize by voting for a party on the condition of "they want a nicer genocide" just bolsters the party into believing they can get away with reactionary or conservative policy, right? This is the problem with liberal capitalist democracy. If you vote for the one guy who is 1% nicer than the other, their win just proves that the voters are willing to put up with (or agree with) bad policies for minorities.

If you want to do this whole crystal ball game about somehow "knowing" that Labour will be better than Tories, or Democrats better than Republicans (in both examples they work together to pass the SAME social policies while fighting over their minor disagreements usually through economic policy), then I could run the reverse argument at you. How do you *know* Tories won't face harder consequences from voters, and Labour won't reform to win the next election, etc.? The point is you literally don't know so acting like trans people, or any minority group targeted by bigoted policies, should sacrifice time to vote for someone who *MIGHT* go about making their life hell but maybe not *AS* hellish is an absurd, and completely un-materialist position. I'm not passing judgement on you personally I am simply giving my own perspective as someone who has gone through this as a minority who voted for "the lesser evil" many times only for them to stab me, my loved ones and my community in the back.

I think that if voting is a lot of effort for you, and you don't see that major a difference between the two parties then you shouldn't do it, you're right. But where I live, voting takes like 30 minutes at most, and usually around 5 or 10, and you don't have to go somewhere to do it, you can do it online or via the mail, and that's with one of the most complicated voting systems for elections (in terms of what information the voter has to provide) in the world. If voting is significantly harder than that for you, or you find doing what I just said a lot of effort for any reason, then what I said about voting doesn't apply as much.

However, I disagree with you about it being basically unknowable that one party will be better than another. Left leaning parties usually have to pretend that they support minorities, or at least have some level of plausible deniability. This makes it much harder for them to implement the more extreme bigoted policies, whereas if a right-wing party does it, most of their voter base will be cheering them on. A few years ago, I looked at the policy history of representatives in my area, and I can tell you for sure that the right wing representatives voted much more often for harmful or bigoted policies than the left wing ones. Maybe this doesn't apply internationally or even in the rest of Australia, or maybe things have changed since I last looked into that, but it seems to me that while left wing parties can be bigoted as well, they very rarely do as much harm as the right wing ones.

As I have said before, I don't know anything really about british politics specifically, and should not have commented on a post about it. That was a mistake on my part. Most of my political knowledge is based on Australia, and because of our voting system allowing you to vote for multiple parties in order if the major left or right wing party decide to do a bad thing, they will loose votes to smaller parties. If the major left wing party here did something like that in Australia, many people would change their votes from 1. major left wing 2. minor left wings 3. major right wing 4. minor right wings, to 1. minor left wings 2. major left wing 3. major right wing 4. minor right wings.

This would show the major left wing party that they can't do what they did, while still preventing the right wing parties getting into power. The major left wing party would probably still win, but they would have to make compromises with the minor parties which they don't want, so they would avoid that in the future. I probably should have considered that other countries don't work like that, especially in posts where I talk about how australia's voting system is better than most. I'm still not sure what you are suggesting the alternative is, and why it would be just as bad for someone who will probably betray you to get in power compared to someone who has repeatedly stated that they want you dead and they are definitely going to go through with that.

I understand not wanting to vote for someone when you have been betrayed over and over again, but every alternative I've been presented with has been worse. Things seem hopeless, and like they can only get worse, but that's not a reason to give up. If every option is bad, and will make things worse for you, you have to keep delaying the inevitable and hope that another option presents itself, not give up and refuse to do anything, at least that's my opinion. And it is definitely possible to both protest and vote, you don't have to pick.

Another thing that's worth mentioning is that if refusing to vote becomes common that causes problems too. If people of a particular political ideology will commonly refuse to vote for reasons the politicians see as random or unreasonable (and a lot of the politicians will see refusing to vote in the USA or Britain that way, even if people are clear about why they are not voting), then I think the politicians will stop catering their policies to that demographic, viewing them as unreliable, and they will decide not to make policies in their favour since if the politician does one thing the demographic doesn't like the politician will loose most of their support. I'm not saying that's an accurate way to view things, but I think it's how most politicians would view things.

[naughtysalamander]

are other leftist americans who support various stricter gun measures feeling like they should get a gun? because i’m beginning to feel very unsafe for a multitude of reasons. i'm feeling anxiety about the safety of people i know. almost every reason can be boiled down to insane conservatives who already have an often times excessive amount of firearms and are projecting their ignorance, fears, and hatred onto other people in frightening ways. i feel like a hypocrite in some ways for thinking about this. not only that but i don't really want a gun. guns don't interest me in the slightest.

a normal person who allegedly lives in an allegedly extremely wealthy and an allegedly normal country who does not hunt should have no distinct need for a firearm in every day life. however, gun violence is out of control. other countries on par with the united states like australia and western european nations do not experience this same level of gun violence. but how, without my own gun, am i supposed to stand a chance against braindead "patriots" who are eventually going to figure out they can kill people they disagree with or groups they are for whatever reason afraid of? some extremists already know that but the mainstrain hivemind hasn't quite made this jump into incurable insanity yet. but i see it happening and it is closer than people think. i hate that i'm feeling forced into owning weaponry to "protect myself" because its the oldest and stupidest cliche in the book when it comes to firearms.

i have studied enough history and traveled to enough historically important places to know that certain moves conservatives are making in this country right now are indicative of a larger, far more insidious goal. there is a clear and transparent pattern that alarms me on a daily basis.

i can only laugh because if you remove the part about studying and traveling in the paragraph above, and change out conservatives for "democrats" (because obviously everyone who is not conservative is a democrat) it sounds like an insane right-wing take that isn't based in reality. it sounds like an uneducated or otherwise historically ignorant conservative who failed history class heard that paragraph and flipped it back around like "i know u are but what am i???!!!"

which then makes me stop laughing because conservatives actually do that. these people vote. i think everyone should vote but holy fuck why are there SO MANY PEOPLE like that?? these are the people that scare me, because they can so easily get manipulated en masse by some sociopath who wants to make a name for himself in history. just look at trump fanatics for fuck's sake. that was the test run.

[maytheamazing]

Hey remember not to fall for this type of stuff- For those not old enough to remember, or was before your time like me, we've fucking tried this. Again and again. And with the current two party system, where you can only vote for one person rather than your ordered top picks like Australia does, means that your options are vote for the lesser danger or hold the door open for the greater evil.

I recommend everyone looks up and reads about the 2000 American election, where a good amount of people voted for the green party to show their support for climate change and a candidate who promised to do something about it but rather than the voting split evenly, it was just democratic votes that then went to the third party. If you remember, that's how George Bush won.

And keep in mind that "moral arguments" like this actually help the republicans win. You're completely correct that Genocide Joe is a horrible human being with weak foreign policy and even poorer domestic standing. That's not the issue here. The issue is that the only other option is Project 2025 and the end of democracy and the United States as we know it. That's not an exaggeration. The Supreme Court ruled that any crime done by the President of the United States is exempt from prosecution as long as the President is using their Presidential Powers. That was this week.

If you want actual, tangible change, you have to vote every single time. In every election you are eligible, local and national. Politics is a slow game towards progress that can very easily slide into right wing and fascist hands if you don't keep playing. It's not fun, it's not fast, but it is necessary.

Like I'm not going to vote for a man who's outright denying a genocide is even happened DO YOU HEAR YOURSLEVES?

[not-poignant]

Hi, Pia

I just read chapter 28 'Strange and Lonely' of UtB and got curious about the omega rights that exist in this world. Would you mind listing some of the rights omegas have in Australia in this universe? And are there countries where they don't have these rights? Or countries where omegas have even *more* rights than where UtB takes place?

And also Gary says that Temsen became 'radicalised' after what he'd seen while studying overseas. Does Gary really think Temsens views are radical or was that just a word he used in the moment?

Thanks!

Hi anon!

Some of this stuff I don't know the full answer to (winging the story), some of it will be revealed in the story, but here's some bits and pieces!

Would you mind listing some of the rights omegas have in Australia in this universe?

I don't know them all because honestly I can't keep every single legal right that humans have in my brain so I don't know how I could do that for omegas, but generally speaking omegas in Australia have:

A right to education (conditional) A right to life (conditional - if no birth certificate is recorded, a right to life can be legally circumvented -> problematic because omegas have their own birth register, and many omegas births still aren't recorded at all) A right to freedom from medical experimentation and unusual acts of cruelty or inhuman acts (this includes conditional freedom from being imprisoned and raped in a fraternity house, but not freedom from being imprisoned and raped in an omega rehabilitation centre) A right to health (conditional) A right to a fair trial (conditional) A right to work (conditional) A right to protection from violence from strangers (conditional)

(I'm putting conditional next to all of these, because many of these rights have loopholes that can often be utilised by alphas and betas, especially in the case of spouses and families, and these are the people normally controlling an omegas life in the first place. For example, if a family causes an omega to be sick, that omega has no right to take their family to court.)

They do not have rights to:

Vote (hugely contested, but as omegas are such a tiny portion of the population and don't get much support, this is slow going. Alphas can of course vote, despite also being a tiny proportion of the population, lmao) Freedom from discrimination based on being omega Protection from violence (inc rape) from family or partners

Australia is considered one of the better places in the world for an omega, about on par with with UK, and ahead of places like the USA. However there are many countries that offer better rights and protections to omegas, but I couldn't tell you what they are, because I don't know! I just know they exist, lol. One of them is Switzerland, based on the fact that Gary and James went to do a conference there on omega psychology and rights.

But! Any of this could change depending on how the story goes. Winging it means the story decides how it progresses, in a way, so if one of these becomes inconvenient to me and I haven't established it in the story, I will ditch it lmao.

Does Gary really think Temsens views are radical or was that just a word he used in the moment?

Temsen's views really are radical. Just because Gary shares many of them, doesn't make them any less so. Hillview is a place that practices pretty radical omega theory and acceptance, and has to kind of hide that it does that because it goes counter to the global culture in general.

There's very few people in the world for example who would agree with Temsen's approach to Efnisien. Temsen asking Efnisien if he wants an alpha in the room with him instead of giving the alpha the choice is unusual and generally not done. Temsen seeking even some consent is not something many doctors do. Temsen embodies a more ethical practice (overall, not always though) towards omegas and in his viewpoints towards omegas. Gary agrees in theory, but he can have a harder time implementing it in practice, because he's still got a lot of internalise issues towards omegas. Everyone at Hillview does, because they live in a society that has taught them to discriminate against omegas, so it's something everyone there is unpacking, including the omegas.

It also makes Hillview challenging, because it tends to turn out more politically aware and educated omegas, and while they're sometimes wanted by their partners who also happen to be activists, it's not generally what omega rehabilitation facilities are meant to do (which is to usually establish the kind of mindbreak where the omega becomes so docile - through repeated rape and forced bonding - that they see complete and total obedience to a partner or family outside of the facility as true freedom).

The world is definitely described / tagged as dystopia for a reason!

[msbarrows]

Watched a bit of the coverage of the ongoing circus-that-is-the-US-House-of-Representatives today. Had to stop watching it at the point where a new round of nominations was starting up, because I dislike listening to speeches by even my own politicians at the best of times and that was just... fuck off. Go get fired directly into the sun, you hypocritical asshats.

Anyway. Had me thinking about how GD thankful I am to live in a country with a (relatively) sane system of democracy.

We don’t have the insanity of a two-party system or an electoral college or related nonsense. Anyone can form a party, though you don’t start seeing official taxpayer-paid support for it until it’s won a minimum number of seats. (And oh, the delightful schadenfreude of watching the old federal conservatives tank so hard they lost official party status).

We don’t have horseshit like gerrymandering, because we started fixing that noise back in the 60s, and today it’s all done by purposefully non-partisan independent commissions who mostly aim to make nice neat rectilinear shapes rather than Escher’s carefully curated salamanders.

The right to vote is enshrined in our constitution, and afaik at this point in time we don’t exclude anyone who is old enough to vote (except the Chief Electoral Officer and the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer themselves). Not by race, not by gender, not by present or past criminal status, not by age (apart from old enough to vote), not even by physical location (as of 2019). You can live abroad for years at a time and still be a Canadian eligible to vote in Canadian elections (though figuring out what riding you’re eligible to vote in might take a little more work than normal, if you haven’t maintained a Canadian address).

And registering for the vote is stupidly easy here. Elections Canada maintains the roles, and there’s none of that constant door-to-door data-gathering going on. You pay taxes? There’s a check box to share your name and address with Elections Canada. Do a change of address via Canada Posts’ address service? Part of the service is that they inform Elections Canada. Plus there’s a web site, phone numbers, local offices... And if all else fails, you can register at the polls on election day itself, just bring all the right ID along. And “all the right ID” includes a lengthy list of possibilities. Obviously any government issued ID counts (from any level of government), but also things like a student ID card. Library card. Label on a prescription container. Utility bill. Bank statement. Letter of confirmation from a student/old age/long term care residence, a shelter, or even a damned soup kitchen. Failing all else, haul along someone else who does have ID, fill in a form declaring your name and address in writing, and have the person with ID vouch that you are who you say you are.

In a real democracy, the goal is to encourage as many people as possible to get out and vote, not to put roadblocks in their way.

Though I do kind of wish we’d adopt Australia’s “don’t vote, get fined” system. And I say that as someone who can’t always be bothered to take the time to walk to the polls and vote, because I know given a choice between walking over or paying a $50 fine on my next taxes, I’d probably walk over. (I also wish we’d adopt their get a sausage while you’re at it thing).

[asynca]

Hi Auntieee Asy! Can I ask who you would be voting for in the Aus election? coz I dnt know who to vote and not into politics. I do believe who you pick would be good!

Well, I think you should do your own research into who you think would be a good candidate who aligns with ethos, mainly because anyone who understands LNP (Liberal-National Party Coalition) ethos would not vote LNP unless they were a multi-millionaire or a sociopath.

If you vote LNP, you're genuinely voting for a further dismantling of Medicare, a continuation of ignoring women's rights, another religious bill that will give people the right to discriminate against queer people, a furthering of systemic racism, a continuation of locking up brown refugees for years in subhuman conditions, etc, etc. Also the LNP want to privatise Australia post, which was Scomo's main reason for bullying Christine Holgate out of her exec position on Auspost: because she was making it successful.

If you live in an electorate with a Voices of ___ ticket or another big independent, it's worth checking them out. Sometimes they're a good mix of human rights, economic responsibility and social progressivism. Also not preferencing #1 to a main party shakes up the party and makes them realise they're not representing the will of the people. However, sometimes independents are crap and have LNP above Labor in their ticket which is BAD.

Labor is better than LNP, but they just said they're not going to look into an increase in Jobkeeper or other Centrelink payments. They also refuse to make a statement on trans rights. They also support locking refugees up indefinitely on jail islands.

Personally I live in an electorate with a GREAT Greens candidate so I'm going to vote Greens.

Greens, for me, is the only ticket where I feel like my concern about climate change, queer rights and economic and social responsibility is addressed. Don't believe the hype about them not being able to govern. Greens has a lot of canny politicians who would do a whole lot better than Scomo did.

The main thing you need to do is ALWAYS put LNP last. Always. Never vote for anyone who doesn't put LNP after Labor.

Remember: Australia is different than the US. You CAN vote independent or small party and not throw away your vote, because we have preferential voting, NOT the US-style First Past the Post. 

[brick-van-dyke]

Yes, but in the grand scheme of things blaming them instead of using that energy in other, more meaningful, actions have dampened resistance. At least in my opinion. And it could lead to far worse consequences if we choose to divide ourselves over something like this.

Yes, you're absolutely right to feel the way you do and it makes sense you're angry at those who didn't vote, but my main point here is that, specifically; focusing your rage on them rather than the system itself for allowing a felon and war criminal to run at all is unproductive and will only create more issues rather than fix anything. I know it's easier to blame those who are more accessible; leftists online, but the real enemy who created this whole entire issue and who wrote up Project 2025, led to this situation, etc. are the real enemies here. Again, Hilary did get the majority vote and that's really important to remember. Again, this year, there was a record turnout of young leftists again according to at least the earlier polling. Even then, Trump won by a lot and it's very important to value how much worse it is that individual votes aren't being counted and how badly the system actually functions. Blaming individual leftists (who make up a very small number when the majority of blue votes are lifetime democrats who are liberal) just isn't sensible and will only distract from acting towards meaningful change.

The whole point I've been making here is that the system itself is inherently fascist , regardless of who is running and when, and has been long before Trump even began running in just 2016 (very recent), and it's very important not to lose sight of that or risk dividing ourselves to the point any action we could take would be snuffed out by the police. My entire point in the above is to note how useless and a waste of energy it is, no matter how much a Kamala may feel like the best candidate to you and how much you personally feel that it's privileged for others to let the opportunity to stop Trump slip though their fingers by refusing to vote at all or voting third party, to blame such a minority of people for Trump getting in hole letting go of the long extended history of horrors commited by this system itself. Doing this only restricts your own ability to actually work with these same people because there is safety in numbers when it comes to the larger job of fixing this system (something that can't be done through simply voting) AND actually staying safe amidst it, rather than doing what we can to barely survive in it on our own without our respective communities and voting being out only method of engaging with politics. When activists say "voting is the bare minimum" it's because it only restricts worse cases like Trump and that's it, never actually fixes. What is needed is for people like us, who aren't tied to a corrupt system, to end that corruption with the power of numbers, disruption and resistance.

TLDR, I understand emotionally and I empathise with wanting to lash out at people who may feel or seem "privileged" in my own view, but logically it's more productive to work with those same people who are going to have different stances on voting because, historically, we have always won victories with solidarity and loved through genocides by sticking together rather than blaming each other. We relied on lesbians in the AIDs genocide and, at least for me in Australia, the disabled community here has ties to other activist groups for support. We need to trust and hold onto that unity right now rather than let this crumble any activism or potential actions we could take to self advocate for our own rights. Sorry for the long essay thing I just really wanted to be clear on what I meant.

As the final votes are counted in the US election and the results draw near, I want to warn once again:

Don't blame other leftists for whatever happens.

Remember, it is the electoral college, propaganda and the system at fault here. Please do not use your energy blaming other leftists, rather, use that energy to hold the system accountable.

I know it's easy to fall into the line of thinking that "others must be privileged and so I should blame them first and foremost for any struggles I face under Trump" and to hate all those who didn't vote at all. I know that perspective may feel satisfying when you need to blame someone material, accessible and easy to hold accountable, but they are not the root cause of what is happening. And no, there is a way to fight back and to use the power of your voice, actions and resistance to harm this system and hold it accountable.

Please, please remember that it wasn't any other leftists not voting in 2016 who led Trump to get in and it wasn't them who designed the electoral college to be unfair, all when Hilary did get the majority of the individual votes in 2016 but the system appointed Trump anyway because of the electoral college and because the US system is inherently unfair.

I want to remind everyone that the same backwards laws were still passed under Biden after Trump was replaced in 2020. The same aggression towards democracy existed as evident from Trump's fanning of flames even away from the presidency, the appealing of protections under Biden's watch and racism still increasing after 2020 and to this day.

And I want to remind everyone that it is the system that allowed Trump to run again, that allowed a felon to run at all in 2024.

I don't say this to dismiss voting, bit to remind despite any result that we have to remember who the real enemy is, and it isn't each other; it is the system that pits us against one another so that we are too distracted to fight it.

Regardless of who we voted for or didn't, we must all work together to resist.

[ratherembarrassing]

good morning auspol, today is the one (1) day dedicated to celebrating a good outcome in the election, and then we can all go back to despising all politicians and politics.

(mandatory translation for the world wide web: the liberal party is our allegedly centre right party - fiscal liberalism, not social. the liberal party have a formal permanent coalition with the national party - more right wing, rural/country focused. the labor party is centre left party. greens are our proper left wing party.)

here are some things i am celebrating.

warringah says get rekt terfs: the liberal party's TERF candidate was so thoroughly rejected by the electorate with a 6.6% swing against the libs that every other party increased its vote percentage. the incumbent who retained the seat is independent zali steggall, a former gold medal winning olympian who supports trans women in sports. the liberal mouthpieces last night were quick to blame deves for infecting other lib candidates by association, and if that's true, that's beautiful.

one nation actually lost votes: their overall vote increased, which is disheartening, but as antony green was quick to point out last night that is because they're running in far more seats than last election. in the seats where they ran last election they are (i think) entirely down between 5 and 10%.

queensland turning green: it was predicted and then mostly forgotten at the last election that they might pick up one or two, but that they might pick up four seats is just. aslkdfjhsa. i've lived in ryan and next door to griffith, i grew up in queensland and my family still live there, and i'm just flabbergasted. sometimes you can't believe something until you see it. qld is often referred to as the texas of australia, and anyone who actually pays a bit of attention to US politics at a state level knows texas is incredibly purple, so the comparison is more apt than most australians have ever really understood. yes they're inner brisbane seats, but the factors you might point to - students living around uq and griffith* are both captured in these seats, interstate migration to south east qld is higher than ever - have always been true in these areas. the number one issue of concern coming out of these seats (coming out of nearly every seat!) is climate change, and brisbane has been flooded multiple times in the last three years. it's literally that simple. griffith as an example had a 11.3% swing away from the libs, but none of that went to labor who has a 2.5% swing away from them too. the greens picked up 12.8% of that 13.8% swing.

which brings me to the big one.

the entire country has shifted to the left: both the lnp and labor lost votes. qld obviously had a massive swing from liberal to green, which blows my mind, but the greens picked up votes everywhere. at the same time we have the the shift to independents in key liberal seats, with candidates running as true centrists. it is a real rejection of the lnp's co-opting of US right-wing issues. the nationals are whatever, but the liberal party has abandoned its centrism entirely, and people don't want a bar of it. i don't think people saw the forest for the trees three years ago, but it really feels like the pandemic has woken this country up to its political landscape, and people have found it seriously fucking lacking. at least for today, before anyone has a chance to fuck shit up, i feel a little bit hopeful for the first time in 9+ years.

[likesrandomstuff]

Rating AFLW Season 7 Pride Guernseys (Part 2)

Continuation of giving my unqualified thoughts on AFLW Season 7 Pride Jumpers

Hawthorn Hawks

As we can't go back to 1925 and get them to choose pretty much any colour combination other than brown and gold, this is what they have to work with. I get the idea of having the stripes be unfinished, with a paintbrush edge, to represent the story not being completed, but that kind of detail is not clear unless you have a very close look. Change in logo is a nice touch. Would have liked some more creativity. Stripes on the lower half of the back too. Rating 3/10.

Melbourne Demons

Their jumper last season was my second favourite, so this is disappointing. One of my podcasts had a host who likes it, and I’m happy for her. It’s giving me circus big top or that parachute game we’d use to play at school. Not sure if that’s a universal experience. Back has the trans flag colours which is good. The front looks like a shield. Rating 4.5/10.

North Melbourne Kangaroos

Had an extra week to think about this one, and I believe my issue is that it looks like the rainbow is behind bars. I know prison bar jumpers is a Port thing, but still. Would have liked if the blue was broken up like a PowerPoint slide-change graphic, with the rainbow breaking the stripes up. An improvement on Season 6's. Rating 5.5/10.

Port Adelaide Power

After having the best Indigenous jumper they pull this out too? Not fair. It's a finger print with important years for the LGBTQIA+ community in Australia breaking up the stripes. I saw 2017 (parliament voted yes to gay marriage) in there. I also think it's so important that they said in their reveal video that this includes the lesbian flag, cause it's not a bad word and even in this space it's rarely said. Feel like it's just missing one thing to be perfect. Rating 9/10.

Richmond Tigers

Richmond's jumper last season is still my favourite, 9.5 for that. My only issue with that was having Geelong referenced on the shoulder. This isn't a Western Bulldog and Footscray situation where it's a previous incarnation of the club, this is pointing out to another team that you beat them. Just have your first winning score and would have been the 10. Feel like Geelong responded to the dig in how that Round 1 game played out. Not as eye-popping as the home jumper with the black base, but still very good. 8.5/10.

St. Kilda Saints

To quote my bi St Kilda supporter friend, "it looks weird". And it does. I just hope someone out there raised the idea that a rainbow cross may upset some people in the wider community. These people probably get mad a lot, but feels like an unnecessary risk. I know the jumper they based this off, but the not black (what is it even? grey?) surrounding the cross, not a fan of. Has some dates in there too. Watching the game it looked decent, and all the background appeared black. Sightly improves their score. Rating 4/10.

Sydney Swans

Really liked the men wearing their version of this in the one AFL Pride Game, but I'm not feeling this. Red and White is Sydney, but doesn't feel like a Sydney jumper. Fremantle's jumper last season was basically the same, but still felt Freo. Maybe because having a colourful V is already part of their uniform. Swans had a lot to do, and a design already there, so fair enough to them for using it. Hope they are a bit more creative next time. Couldn't pick out the rainbow in the stands. Rating 4.5/10.

West Coast Eagles

My favourite part of this is the rainbow stripes on the shorts. Don't think anyone else did that. And the rainbow line between the yellow and blue is a nice touch. They didn't have a jumper last season in part because they didn't want to rush a design into their club's history. With that in mind, a rainbow shadow is your centerpiece? You could have made the eagle rainbow! I'll give them credit for the shadow idea, as that's new, but Brisbane is the only other club with an animal who could have. Could not tell this wasn't their normal home jumper in the stands. Rating 2.5/10.

Western Bulldogs

Sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go. Bulldogs have the most Pride jumpers, with Carlton, as they played a Pride Game before it was extended to a whole round. This is a big departure from all of them. Highlighting the trans flag colours is so important, and very convenient considering the Bulldog's normal ones. Don't have light blue very often in AFL/W, but we should; it's a great jumper colour. Solid concept. Rating 8/10.

[nevermindirah]

Non-Jewish friends, y’all might be wondering right now: Israel is doing clearly unacceptable shit to Palestinians. So, why are some Jews ardent Zionists, and why do some Jews seem to feel personally attacked by criticism of Israel?

A lot of (non-Palestinian) non-Jews have asked me where I stand on Israel/Palestine over the years, apropos of nothing, just because I’m Jewish. For the longest time I felt so stuck because I just didn’t know much about Israel/Palestine and what little I did know turned out to be largely misinformation and I felt so much pressure to say The Correct Thing That All Jews Should Say About This Issue. Obviously the violence Israel is committing against Palestinians is horrific and the interpersonal weirdness individual Jews might experience as people discuss Israel’s horrific violence doesn’t compare. I’m making this post as a small supplement to the important conversations going on about what Israel is doing to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian refugees and their descendants living outside land Israel controls. I’m making this post because non-Jews might be feeling confused by conflicting messages about Zionism as either settler colonialism or Jewish self-determination. It sucks feeling like you have to choose only one oppressed group or another. It’s possible to support Palestinian liberation and Jewish liberation at the same time! Here’s some context that might help.

Palestinian friends will probably want to ignore this post, y’all shouldn’t have to deal with your oppressors’ feelings, and especially not right now.

Zionism is the ideology behind the devastating violence Israel is committing against Palestinians right now and has been committing against Palestinians since 1947-48. It’s heartbreaking and messy to talk about this reality, because Zionism originated as a strategy to protect Jews from antisemitism.

Any oppressed group can turn into oppressors under enough pressure, because humans are flawed. Jews fleeing antisemitism turning into Israelis ethnically cleansing Palestinians happened because Zionism is profoundly influenced by its time and place of origin: 19th century Europe.

Europe invented antisemitism, and basically every European country has done at least one very very bad structural antisemitism, like expelling all the country's Jews (the monarch and/or the church then stole all the wealth the expelled people had to leave behind), looking the other way when peasants murdered a bunch of Jews as an outlet for their frustration with the actual (non-Jewish) ruling class, banning Jews from owning property or holding certain jobs or being members of guilds etc, and of course the big horrific state-sponsored mass-murder operations the Inquisition and the Holocaust. From the 1790s through the 19th century different European governments emancipated their Jews, ie removed legal barriers to full citizenship and economic participation. But this didn't end antisemitism. Just like the legal improvements of the 19th and 20th centuries didn't end antiblackness in the United States.

Also happening in this time: nationalism swept Europe. From the French Revolution through the end of World War I, Europe’s predominant form of government transformed from multiethnic empires to nation-states, countries led by and for a particular ethnic group.

So this Austro-Hungarian dude Theodor Herzl came up with this idea for Jewish nationalism. Every other European ethnic group is getting their own country, so why not Jews? Maybe this is the solution to antisemitism! Maybe we’ll finally be safe if we just all move en masse out of Europe to a place that will take all of us and never expel us!

But also also happening in Europe and around the world in this time: European imperialism and white supremacist settler colonialism. Chattel slavery saw its height and then its end (legally, at least) during this era, but white supremacy entrenched itself across the planet in post-slavery economic practices and cultural imperialism as well as national and international laws.

I believe countries have a moral obligation to take in as many refugees as they can squeeze in. International law protecting refugees has evolved a lot over the past century, but we’re still devastatingly far from every refugee getting a safe place to call home, and the main reason for that is white supremacy. The Biden administration didn’t undo the Trump administration’s horrifically low cap on refugees until like last week and it’s because Democratic party leaders treat centrist white people as more valuable voters than the huge and growing numbers of people of color, immigrants, LGBT people, unmarried women, and working class people who want to vote for elected leaders who get that nobody’s free until we’re all free. Ahem. Back to the topic at hand, the US and many other countries turned away untold numbers of refugees fleeing the fucking Holocaust, so odds are slim they’d be more welcoming in less desperate times. Moving from places where Jews are an unwanted minority to places where Jews are still a minority and either still unwanted or little understood and unlikely to win revolutionary levels of support from a largely non-Jewish public seems like a bad plan.

In the mid to late 19th century, lots of Jews took the kernel of Zionism and ran with it in different directions. Maybe this ideology could mean Jewish cultural flourishing alongside stronger political/economic integration into the societies where we’re already living! Maybe it could mean a particular kind of socialism that advocates for the liberation of Jews both as Jews and as workers! Maybe it could mean a revitalization of Jewish religious practice both in Jerusalem where we have important heritage sites and everywhere we live across the world!

Eventually Herzl’s vision of Zionism won out over the others: Jewish nationalism in the sense of a Jewish nation-state, a country that has a Jewish demographic majority and/or that legally privileges Jews over non-Jews.

Problem is, if you want to do that, you have to find a piece of land on which to do it, and Earth was already a pretty crowded place a hundred years ago. Many locations were considered, and the one that ended up winning that debate was Palestine. Where a shit ton of people, mostly non-Jews, were already living. They were forming their own nationalist movement at the time: in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire they began to organize for local self-determination in Palestine.

The Herzl types who developed Zionism as an ideology and built institutions to advocate for and create a Jewish ethnostate in Palestine were a small subset of European Jews, mostly men, mostly with significant economic privilege within what Jews were able to achieve in their particular societies at the time. They were just as Orientalist as the non-Jews around them, just as antiblack, just as racist generally for all that Jews were (and sometimes still are) considered non-white in much of Europe. They had a cool idea (put a lot of effort into something that could protect Jews from antisemitism) floating in a bathtub full of shit, and they did practically nothing to protect the cool idea from absorbing that shit. Results of this include thinking about the millions of people already living in Palestine as if they were either like the rocks and the trees that will go with the flow and accept a new ruling class, or indistinct Arabs who would just leave for other Arab countries because what could be the difference — in the staggeringly small amount of time they considered the existing residents of Palestine at all.

This racist hand-waving extended to Zionist leaders’ attitudes about Jews outside Europe as well. White Jews in settler colonies like the US were largely anti-Zionist at the time (not wanting their own countries to accuse them of dual loyalty was a common reason) but European Zionist leaders took what help they could get from Jews in the US, South Africa, Australia, etc. Jews across the Middle East and North Africa, however, barely heard from Zionist leaders about any of this until Zionist militias had removed enough Palestinians from the land and it was time to repopulate it with whichever Jewish bodies were convenient. You might have heard "all the Arab countries expelled their Jews in 1948" but lots of first-person accounts tell a different story of Israel coercing Jews who’d lived securely for a long time in places like Morocco to immigrate to Israel and then confiscating their passports and forcing them to live on less-fertile land with fewer resources while serving as a buffer between Palestinians and European Jewish immigrants. Ella Shohat is the best-known writer on Israeli racism against non-European Jews and I strongly recommend Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Perspective of Its Jewish Victims as a starting point to learn more about this.

Which brings us to today. We still haven’t eradicated antisemitism, several European governments that did a lot of structural antisemitism they still haven’t made meaningful reparations for get to feel good about themselves for “giving the Jews a state” as if carving up the former Ottoman Empire was up to them and not the people who lived there, and millions of people across the world who previously either lived peacefully enough alongside Jews or hadn’t really thought about us much at all now have very valid reasons to be pissed at this country that claims it represents all of us.

Zionism was supposed to protect Jews from antisemitism. And Israel has saved Jewish lives! But if we hadn’t sunk the past 70+ years into an ethnostate we could’ve been putting that energy into other political and economic activity to create adequate international support for refugees while we work on ending root causes of refugee crises, like antisemitism, racism, climate change, and capitalism. Meanwhile Zionism has killed, maimed, incarcerated, stolen from, traumatized, and erased the history of millions of Palestinians just because they happened to be living on land that some dudes who had a lot more in common with Thomas Jefferson and Donald Trump than with you or me decided needed to be cleansed for a Jewish ethnostate.

White nationalists in the US love Israel because they want American Jews to go away. Fascist leaders across Europe love Israel for the same reason, so much so that Israel’s prime minister is buddy-buddy with Trump and the equivalent shitstains of several European far-right parties. And I don’t know what it’s like in other white supremacist countries that are close allies of Israel, but the overwhelming majority of Zionist lobbying that pushes the US to give so much aid to Israel comes from Evangelical Christians, because they believe all the Jews have to be in the Holy Land for Jesus to come back. No thanks.

This whole thing fucking sucks. Jews and Palestinians, like all human beings, deserve to be free. Many Jews are understandably afraid of what might happen next if Israel decided to give up on ethnonationalism, allow Palestinian refugees to return, make reparations, and establish a pluralistic democracy that represents and protects all its residents — will some Palestinians murder Jews in revenge? That’s genuinely fucking scary. And it’s genuinely fucking scary to be a Palestinian in Israel/Palestine, and has been for over 70 years. We’ve gotta do something different. I say that as a white person sitting on land stolen from Piscataway people who has thought in detail about what portion of my income would be reasonable for my government to tax in order to fund reparations for the descendants of enslaved people.

Ok. One final piece of context before I wrap this up.

Most Jewish institutions in the US are explicitly Zionist, teach children that Zionism is THE way to ensure Jewish safety, and increasingly tell non-Zionist Jews that we're unwelcome or even that we’re not “real” Jews. This comes in a context where it’s only been 76 years since the latest and most gruesome of several attempts to wipe our entire people off the face of the planet. If you grew up in that environment, you, too, might be jumpy about even hearing the words Zionism or Israel, let alone considering the devastation this ideology and country have caused Palestinians.

Jews have a right to exist. Jews have a millennia-old connection to this scrap of land in the Levant, and we have a right to access religiously and culturally important geographic landmarks. What we don't have a right to is murdering or expelling other people in order to make an ethnostate, on that land or any other. Zionism is settler colonialism, but it’s settler colonialism by and for people who have a valid need for protection from structural antisemitism, which means that it’s going to take a lot of messy empathy to undo. The members of my extended family who voted for Trump (non-Jews in my case, though Jared Kushner isn’t the only Jewish Trumpite) are afraid that ending white supremacy will demote them from a privileged class to equal footing with everyone else — that’s the kind of fear individuals work on in therapy, not the kind that’s reasonable for a whole society to prevent from happening. I and millions of Jews do deserve for whole societies to work hard to end antisemitism.

I would never and will never ask a Palestinian to gently request their liberation. But if you’re not Palestinian, and you’ve got a little extra empathy to spare this week, I ask you to remember what I’ve shared here when interacting with Jews about Israel/Palestine.

If you’re a fellow Jew reading this and you feel like Israel is the only way to guarantee our safety, all I ask of you is to sit with the idea that what Israel is doing to Palestinians is too high a cost for safety that’s still not guaranteed, and start to imagine real-world ways we can protect our people from antisemitism without an ethnostate.

I made this post for people who know me (or know of me I guess?) in Old Guard and Cap fandom, despite my better judgment, because talking about Jewish Booker and Jewish Bucky and Jewish Natasha makes me so happy and I think some of the people I love on these characters with might appreciate this perspective. I didn’t provide any links in this post on purpose (to decrease its usefulness, so fewer people will reblog it) because the risk of anon hate when talking about Zionism outside my immediate fandom circles is so high. You’re welcome to reblog this post if you find it helpful! Unless you’re not within a few concentric circles of me, in which case, maybe don’t? If seeing this post makes you want to send me anon hate, no need: many people who share your perspective have already done so on Twitter.

Reliable sources on all this info are a few googles away, and I apologize for the things I know I oversimplified as well as any things I might have misremembered. I’m an American who’s never lived in Israel/Palestine who is posting this on my fandom blog.

TL;DR: This is a short ‘n pithy post about the same idea.

TL;DR, fandom edition: The shortest distillation of this anti-Zionist Jew’s feelings on the matter can be found in segment 4 of Five Times Booker Got Wasted on Purim and One Time He Didn’t.