#conservatives are bad with money

[claraetoile]

Conservative politics are never about saving money or actually reducing government spending. It's about ensuring that nobody who "doesn't deserve" that money/spending get's it.

And who "deserves it" is nebulously defined if at all, but chances are you're not it.

I made something for your "fiscally conservative" transphobic family members, enjoy

[alighterwithlove]

if you talk to the average conservative voter, they'll always talk about their conservative representative with unabashed enthusiasm. "this guy is supporting my rights!!!!!" even when the representative is very much not supporting their voting constituents' rights in some cases (ie. poor white ppl not realizing they're getting poorer because of their representative)

and I bet that's why conservative candidates are so good at winning. any person listening to their voters only gets a great impression of the candidate.

and if you talk to the average liberal/leftist voter, they all hem and haw. "oh yeah, I voted for them but they're Okay, they're Disappointing. they haven't done this. they haven't done that." and I bet if you fucking pressed them to state some Good Beneficial Legislation they've passed, either the voter 1. can't name any, or 2. has to attach caveats. ("yeah biden passed student loan forgiveness BUT not ALL loans were forgiven")

why aren't we ever excited about incremental progress. why aren't we cheering to the sky about every win. maybe more people would vote if there was genuine excitement, the same type of excitement that conservative voters seem to have about anything labeled "conservative".

I'm just so fucking tired of hearing ppl be like "I'm just disillusioned with my leftist representative" EVERY TIME but are DEAD SILENT on the small victories, the progress. conservatives know how to do this, and that's why they build momentum into the next election. why does this seem impossible for the other side.

[vernalloy]

Every time you try to define something out of being art I hit you with a shovel.

[spikeisawesome456]

My older brother and I are going to Japan next week as a belated 30th birthday trip for him, and a graduate school graduation trip for me. We’ve been planning this trip for a while now (he’s been planning it for years, I’ve been planning it for about a year-ish), so it’s surreal to think it’s almost here.

As part of the trip, I really wanted to try a Lolita style dress (and yes, the name is unfortunate, but it’s the name of the style I believe) while there, so I’ve spent the last month or so curating this outfit, and while I have mixed feelings on it (see my non-post from earlier), I am cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. I’ve spent a lot of time, effort, and not an insubstantial amount of money on this outfit. I actually decorated the shoes myself and fully created the little wrist cuff things (which are not attached to the shrug, by the by. It’s like a bracelet more than anything), which I’m kinda proud of. :-)

Also, yes, that is a wig I’m wearing, ha. It’s on top of my regular hair and I think it looks… okay? I kinda like it. It’s a very pale lavender and I think it’s pretty. You can’t see the bow on the back of the wig from this angle, but there is a pink and purple long hair bow with butterflies back there. :-)

[treesah]

I do not trust anyone who does not have a good relationship with their partner(s) and/or child(ren). Especially if they’re in any position of authority. How about you get your own house in order before you try being in charge elsewhere?

Anyway I just watched Succession last night with my husband and I don’t understand how Shiv and Tom have such a toxic marriage. If Shiv’s so smart and savvy, why is she so bad at manipulating Tom? He is such a simple little man! Tell him you love him and ask after his winery and hide your affairs better! Put some more fondness in your tone when you’re being condescending to/about him! Hint that you have mysterious and better plans for his future after you imply that he’s going to be let go from his job! He never would have betrayed you if you were actually good at playing the game and didn’t make him question his security as your spouse! He already wants to kneel at your feet and eat out of your hand so let him and tell him good boy once in a while!

[scooplery]

i did just spend so much money on things i needed for sure but i still feel so guilty about spending anything . eeeeegh

[the-letter-s]

man the violent cognitive dissonance between "I need to do everything in my power to get out of this house because my abusive fathers mental health is clearly declining which will make things Worse" vs "If I take advantage of my moms offers to help me get the fuck out of here I am Abusing My Class Privilege And Therefore Should Suffer The Fate Of Die"

[amplexadversary]

I wonder if a really dedicated collection of book nerds could get those Elaine Duillo style cover illustrations a foothold in the publishing industry again. There are certainly enough artists who can achieve that level of intricacy that a really really popular Trend might be able to do it.

Perhaps any of those bookbinding hobbyists might want to try to go pro and pair up with an artist to refurbish something well enough to hook the really rich art snobs into buying unique, custom pieces for a fuckton of money.

[autisticlee]

it's hilarious that the conservatives always complain about and accuse poor/disabled/unprivileged/etc people who just want to survive of being lazy and say we just wanting free handouts and money and stuff given to us so we don't have to work. for some reason, they think being able to start on a more even field as them means we will become lazy and stop working.

sounds like projection and admitting to something to me.

because 100% of conservatives i've known and talked to all regularly talk about wanting to win the lottery so they don't have to work anymore or become a CEO/business owner to force other people to do all their work and make them money while they sit back and watch. they take most of the money, go on vacations, buy fancy vacation homes, buy luxury things, and do whatever they want while barely paying the workers and doing minimal or none of the work themselves.

so, who's the actual lazy ones?!

honestly, the fact that many of them STILL have to work despite being privileged should clue them in on the fact that us getting help to start on more equal footing, or to prevent us from literally dying, means we also will still have to work. we aren't going to magically become rich from a little bit of disability money while doing minimum wage part-time jobs. if we are lucky, we will just be able to afford food that doesn't make us sick, doctor bills, medications, and other necessary things no one should be struggling to get. maybe a small apartment on our own if we are extra lucky, but that's very unlikely. if we want more than the necessities, we would still have to work more! maybe even still more and harder than the privileged conservatives! but many of us still would never be able to get more than what's needed, even if working and getting some "free handouts" so I genuinely don't understand conservatives complaints and false assumptions.

[skipppppy]

No offence but I feel like some people got a little too comfortable with telling people to touch grass and swung all the way round to just straight up shaming anyone who might have a less active social life than them to feel better about themselves. “She should be at the club” was a really funny meme until people started acting like fucking middle school bullies towards people who don’t go out with their friends a lot. All those drinking/drugs/sex milestone polls were fun to engage with until it became a wierd circlejerk making fun of people who haven’t done those things before. People on twitter are once again dogpiling someone for wanting queer social spaces that don’t revolve around alcohol or loud music and telling them it’s their own fault for not having friends.

Like I get that nightclubs and sex have strong ties to queer culture and are often the first targets in the hellscape of respectability politics. It’s important we remember our roots and protect these spaces from conservative scrutiny. I mean that. They are important. But just on a surface level it seems like people are starting to see having an inactive social life as some kind of moral failing which…it’s not. I feel like an insane person for feeling like I have to say this on the fucking queer autism website but like. You aren’t inherently a bad person if you don’t have friends. You aren’t “falling behind” if you haven’t had your first kiss in your 20s or never done drugs. The real world isn’t a movie. And if you see someone who doesn’t go out much and instinctually think “wow what a terminally online loser. I bet their social life sucks because they’re a sheltered creep and not because of systemic barriers beyond their control” you need to have a long hard look at why you feel that way.

There are very real barriers that prevent isolated people from finding community and connection. Do you think you’re superior for being able to breach them? Time, money, sobriety, accessibility, none of those factors were a problem for you, so it shouldn’t be for them, right? Right?

[teethsmoothie]

carve a zombie into your desk with your pocket knife . its good for you

[oscargender]

I really shot myself in the foot by picking up old people hobbies in my childhood

[liebeli]

reading up on planned federal state government and giving myself headaches

[wiisagi-maiingan]

Studies about how giving people money is more effective at stopping homelessness than anything else are never actually going to make conservatives support UBI or anything like that. Under capitalism, homelessness is necessary as a threat to keep workers in line; you're more likely to accept bad wages and exploitation and abuse when the alternative is being thrown out into the street.

Homelessness is the stick that keeps the mule moving. The person riding the mule knows that the stick hurts it, that's the entire point.

[caesarflickermans]

Oh this is another interesting topic. I would assume Caesar has a rough net worth of a lower triple million dollars (100-250) if we calculate with today's economy.

Celebrities like David Letterman, Ryan Seacrest, and Jay Leno have an estimated net worth of roundabout 400 million dollars each. Others like Conan O'Brien or Stephen Colbert rank around the upper double digits (50-80) million dollars.

I have gone with the middle ground here because Caesar is at the forefront of Capitol entertainment for over 25 years at minimum (so more of an icon alike David Letterman), but I assume celebrities like these might have raised their net worth through various other income opportunities outside of hosting (films, ownership of companies, stock, housing market). Hence, why I see him a bit closer to the "average" talk show host.

As we canonically do not know what else Caesar does—though it is fair to assume he is a relevant factor in the media industry all year around—it would be going overboard to give him a much higher income than that.

By movie canon, he does advertisements for some toothpaste company (lol), but I doubt that's bringing in that much compared to, e.g. owning one's own production company.

I think this overall is a fair estimate based on real life comparisons. Either way, this man doesn't need pension money, but he needs a pension ♡

When Caesar is first introduced in The Hunger Games, Katniss describes him like that:

"Caesar Flickerman, the man who has hosted the interviews for more than forty years, bounces onto the stage." (THG, 9)

It's without a doubt the movie's influence that I do not see Caesar as having been on stage for forty years. While we have no canon information to the contrary, people have usually taken this line as a truthful statement.

Yet, this feels like such a teenage thing to say. Age is so relative when you're younger, two years are an "eternity", your teachers must have been teaching for over "ten decades" and parents are always "so very old" it's impossible to imagine getting that old yourself.

It's very much my own preference on how old Caesar is & that his story paralleling Plutarch's requires a similar age. Still, I am curious how Katniss would even know something like this to make this assessment—if we don't assume the forty is a hyperbole, which I can easily envision.

It seems unlikely that Katniss would have seen arenas before her time. That's not to say there weren't reruns, but electricity seems so fickle that I doubt the TV was running, nor do I think the Everdeens would have tuned in during the times it was.

The only way Katniss might know is that Mrs. or Mr. Everdeen commented on Caesar's presence the first few times she's had to watch the Games. Something akin to "he's always been there" or "I remember seeing him when I was your age". But if we assume her parents are around Haymitch's age, I doubt they have memories beyond the 40s ADD. This would move Caesar closer to three decades than four.

There could be the possibility that they blend in old footage during current Games, such as an interview with young Beetee. While I can see this as a possible explanation, it seems a bit counter to Katniss other statements. She does mention that some years are rather vague due to her father's death—which they might not be if there were frequent callbacks on TV. She also mentions having vague memories of Tigris from the first Games she's watched, which indicates she's not seen much from before she was born, either.

At the point that Katniss is making this comment, i.e. when we first meet Caesar, she yet lacks the insight of the tapes that Effie hands them in Catching Fire. Out of all the places, this would have been the easiest to give a brief insight into Caesar's timeline. For example, mentioning watching some tape in the 30s ADD and Caesar is present in there. Instead, we only see Caesar during the 50th Games, which only has him on stage for (a minimum of) 25 years.

Many readers are taking much of what Katniss says with a grain of salt while the forty years line is taken as a canon fact. I know this is mostly because of (A) Caesar not being a very thought about character and (B) the terrible high chair line in TBOSAS with fans taking it as a fact that this must have been Caesar.

In my own interpretation, Caesar started in his early 20s during the late 40s ADDs. This would make him the same generation as Haymitch and Plutarch, which feels much more natural in terms of generational divides between the likes of Katniss, Haymitch and Plutarch, and Snow.