#deconstructive politics

[rotenotes]

Saul Newman - Derrida’s Deconstruction Of Authority

Title: Derrida’s Deconstruction Of Authority Author(s): Saul Newman Date: 2001 Topics: authority critique deconstruction Derrida language post-anarchism post-structuralist Notes: Originally appeared in Philosophy & Social Criticism, vol 27, no 3. Source: Retrieved on September 14, 2009 from www.infoshop.org Saul Newman Derrida’s Deconstruction Of Authority Abstract: This article explores the…

[opstandelse]

Saul Newman - Derrida’s Deconstruction Of Authority

Title: Derrida’s Deconstruction Of Authority Author(s): Saul Newman Date: 2001 Topics: authority critique deconstruction Derrida language post-anarchism post-structuralist Notes: Originally appeared in Philosophy & Social Criticism, vol 27, no 3. Source: Retrieved on September 14, 2009 from www.infoshop.org Saul Newman Derrida’s Deconstruction Of Authority Abstract: This article explores the…

[oxytocinatrocities]

"The House," a parable I drew about leaving the Mormon church.

I've come to think this metaphor also applies pretty well to constitutional originalism and the absurd idolization by both U.S. political parties of a document written hundreds of years ago by men who didn't know about the carbon cycle and owned human slaves.

I want to include some altered version of this in the graphic novel I'm working on, as well :)

[seraphimfall]

there is an insane amount of antisemitism floating around right now.

i just want to say:

this blog loves and supports jewish people.

this blog does NOT conflate the israeli government, or the atrocities it commits, with jewish people.

this blog is disgusted with those who use or express antisemitism.

this blog knows that if someone needs to invoke antisemitism, they do not actually care about helping palestine or the palestinian people.

this blog will do its best to ensure that it remains a safe space for all.

[darcylindbergh]

I want all you vote blue no matter who folks to suffer just as much as all the disabled ppl you left on the wayside as soon as biden said the pandemic was over. All of you talk about solidarity but as someone disabled by covid its all so shallow. You are all so happy to stop masking and let covid keep killing. You cant even pretend its not true. 95% of dems stopped giving a fuck as soon as their guy said it was fine to. And every time i bring this up i get told i just gotta vote biden or other people will be in danger. Like me and those like me havent already been sacraficed by all of you. You all will have to live with that because i wont be alive much longer. Vote Blue! Vote Blue! Close your ears and vote blue because now YOU are afraid.

sure, we can deconstruct this one too.

this one's cleverer than ms terf because frankly a lot of disabled people DO feel abandoned vis a vis the pandemic and masking, and that's definitely something that needs to be addressed. but this anon is not addressing THAT - they want to address how i shouldn't vote blue.

here's a couple things we can pick out:

i've recently responded to posts about gaza and terfs, so this anon has simply picked a topic i haven't addressed yet like they're playing whack a mole

blames biden specifically for their topic of choice

pitches a you versus them division while explicitly attacking the idea that the left can express sufficient solidarity (implying it doesn't matter whether you vote)

specifically disparages voting for biden while scoffing at the idea that failing to do so will place other people in danger

make it personal while using inflammatory language: "i've already been sacrificed" "i wont be alive much longer"

mocks voting blue out of fear or out of the idea that failing to vote or failing to vote blue will result in a negative outcome

of course, not voting blue (either by splitting the vote, as in 2016, or not voting at all) will certainly not result in an improved outcome for disabled people. anon doesn't even pretend like there's a viable alternative that will improve life for disabled folks in the us.

failing to vote blue will just result in republicans in power - who are as a national platform anti-masking, anti-vaccinations, anti-obamacare, and anti-healthcare reform. so what we have here is someone who is using the disabled community as a cudgel to divide the left and discourage voting - because don't you know you specifically are a bad person for being against disabled people?

anyway here's a short list of things the biden administration has done over the last 4 years to improve the situation of millions of disabled folks in the us:

Biden's first 100 days re: disability reform

Biden admin recognizes long covid as disabling

Biden admin directs $200 million to programs supporting aging Americans and their caregivers (5 days ago)

HHS strengthened rule banning discrimination based on disability (May 1, 2024)

Dept of Education cancels student loan debt for over 300,000 disabled borrowers who cannot work (Aug 2021)

Biden admin seeks to end subminimum wage for disabled (and tipped) workers (2021) - Biden's DOL has been actively working on new regulations regarding disabled worker protections, although the recent decision ending Chevron deference by SCOTUS's conservative bloc will make it much more difficult.

there's definitely still more work to do - passing the marriage equality for disabled adults act, for example, and seeing through the end of subminimum wages - but republicans aren't gonna do it. these bills died in the republican-controlled house. voting blue down-ticket is the only way folks are gonna see any progress.

[ursulaklegay]

what they don't tell you about unlearning the harmful, discriminatory, hierarchical systems of our society is that the hard thing is deconstructing all that shit, but the harder thing is dealing with the fact that most people around you still believe and act within these frameworks

[10001gecs]

ok guys like i get it sometimes gen z invents gender roles but also theres a bunch of just straight up tradwives/fascists posting this stuff. like its not silly little gen z kids forgetting to deconstruct their biases its women who believe in replacement theory and want to retvrn to their place in the kitchen.

[aquitainequeen]

An important thing to remember about the changes in government in the UK and France:

Labour won because the Conservative vote was split between the Tories and Reform UK.

The Left leaning parties in the French government came in first, because they put aside their differences and ran together in opposition to the Le Pen party.

Keep this in mind for the US election this November. Stay focused.

[haven-of-dusk]

It's kind of impressive how people can watch something, see a character repeatedly established as a liar and manipulator, and then believe stuff they say and take it as truthful or believe it makes them "more justified"

Like...Palpatine, proven liar, master manipulator, that's his PRIMARY CHARACTER TRAIT, badmouths the Jedi, and a bunch of viewers just went "yeah, that checks out".

Peter Hale, repeatedly said to be the least trustworthy person imagineable, Satan in a V-neck, makes claims about his own strength compared to Scott, and despite him definitely being a paper tiger, a bunch of viewers went, "yeah, that checks out." And write off Scott as far weaker than he actually is.

"Maybe Zaheer had a point" Uh...no shit, that was the problem. He was not wrong that the Earth Queen was a terrible ruler, but his solution of ANARCHY is not better, it's just a different type of problem. Just because someone can identify a systemic problem, doesn't mean you should trust them to have the solution. Republicans in modern America occasionally identify real problems, like a crisis with mental health. But their "solutions" are only going to make the problem WORSE. Just like Zaheer mudering an 18 year old currently doing her best to spread peace and prosperity is not justified just because the Earth Kingdom monarchy was a mistake...killing Korra is just making things even worse.

I got a little off track there, but I hope the point still came across...

[hometownrockstar]

i think that if you, regardless of your weight, want to express your attraction to fat people but are afraid of being fetishistic, your first step is to examine and unpack your feelings about fat people and why you are attracted to them. does the source stem from the feeling of shame of being attracted to an "othered" or societally undesirable body? or is it simply another facet of your attraction, admiring curves and features and strength and happiness and the body of your loved one?

i believe that is is possible and healthy to be attracted to fat people because of their body and features, just that it is hard to show this or express it in a healthy manner because attraction, stigma, and societal standards are so intertwined. when it shows in the form of a thin person fetishizing and objectifying fat people as a kink, the fat body is turned into an object of scorn, something that is shameful to be attracted to because of how it is the opposite of the norm. the fat person and their feelings are not considered. but when this shame is challenged and discarded, attraction can form from the connection and love and personhood that comes with loving a fat person, and admiring everything about them. their body is not a detraction, something that they have "in spite of," it is another part of what makes them beautiful and valued.

[saint-ambrosef]

trying to talk about politics with anyone now is just “i am now going to assume your entire political worldview as it aligns with the stereotype i’ve arbitrarily decided suits you”

[brw]

how often do you re-read comics? which issues (or limited series or runs if you re-read a lot) do you think you’ve re-read the most?

Oooooh, so I do reread comics quite a bit. It's a mix of rereading comics that I really enjoy and have a good time reading (Tales to Astonish, Vision: Yesterday and Tomorrow, Black Bolt are all examples of these), but also can be just to refresh my memory, as it's easy for me to read a lot of comics very close to each other so nothing really goes in. Also, I will reread issues to remind myself of stuff that went on if someone sends me an ask about a specific character (usually Simon), just to make sure I'm describing that issue accurately or that I'm being fair to it's intent, or not misconstruing anything. I'll also re-read things for fics, which unfortunately means I am currently rereading Benjamin Percy's X Force, and no that run does not deserve the effort, but I need my surgical deconstruction of it to be informed.

Anyway, by numbers, I think the run I've probably reread the most is definitely Tales to Astonish. I love that run so much, it's so whimsical and joyful. In terms of issues, definitely Avengers #160, that issue really does affect my brain in a very deep way. I also often reread Uncanny Avengers Vol 3 #28 quite a bit, big comfort issue.

[darkshrimpemotions]

The thing about conservatives and their conspiracy theory that "the libs" are trying to brainwash their children is that a) it's entirely 100% projection and assuming everyone operates the way they do, and b) what is actually happening is more akin to deprogramming than brainwashing.

Speaking from experience, growing up in a conservative family and community was a continuous, painful process of having my natural compassionate and empathetic responses stamped out of me.

I was constantly discouraged from seeing the humanity in others who didn't share my race, class, religion, or my parents' political beliefs. I was shamed and punished for every thought and action that didn't align perfectly with said beliefs. I was taught to avoid any information that contradicted those beliefs, and to fear and mistrust it if I couldn't avoid it completely.

And this wasn't done by providing all the teachings and then holding me to them, mind. I never recall having anything truly explained to me. No, the method of instruction was to wait for me to do something that fell outside of the narrow guardrails no one had ever shown me, then yell and pearl clutch and bombard me with horror and disappointment that I had said/done/thought such an "awful thing." Again, without ever explaining why it was awful.

This process gradually taught me to view the world primarily in terms of my own emotions, and to view those emotions as the voice of God--as long as they aligned with conservative values. And since I was being trained like a dog to experience discomfort, shame, fear, and distress whenever I encountered anything or anyone that didn't align with those values, I was basically innoculated against critical thinking and basic facts.

The result of all this was twofold. Firstly, though I didn't stop having questions or doubts about the ideas I was being taught, I felt intense guilt and shame whenever I had them. Secondly, I began to perceive anyone else questioning my beliefs as an attack on everything I was.

The last thing that was done to me--by parents, teachers, preachers, and eventually friends, because we all learned to do it to each other--was to make me acutely aware and terrified of how my community would see and treat me if I ever strayed from the beliefs we now shared. After a lifetime of being trained to hang my entire self-worth and moral compass on how conservative authority figures reacted to me, I was presented with an image of lifelong shame and disappointment. Utter loneliness. A chasm between myself and everyone I knew that would never be bridged. And of course, eternal suffering and separation from them after death.

Yeah, the death-cult of Christianity was a whole other can of worms on its own, but its lessons and methods ultimately reinforced the conservative brainwashing, and vice versa.

In contrast, becoming a "liberal" (read: someone whose beliefs are rooted in facts and who cares about people more than ideology) was a very internal, very self-guided process. Nobody was actually pushing me to believe one thing over another. What actually happened was: I got distance from that community and their constant reinforcement; I got access to the information that I was kept away from as a child; I encountered people with different views and backgrounds and saw that they weren't evil monsters; I was encouraged to decide for myself what I thought, and learn to defend that thought with information.

And yes...that did lead me away from the conservative beliefs of my family and childhood community. Because those beliefs could not stand up to the smallest amount of critical thinking or actual facts.

It still took me over a decade of being separated from that community to unlearn all of those trained responses. Hell, I'm still unlearning some of them. I still struggle with the loss of that community. I still have an intense emotional reaction I have to work through before my thinking kicks in, whenever I am presented with information that contradicts what I thought I knew. I still come across thoughts or negative associations I have with various people, ideas, etc. only to realize those are unexamined holdovers from my upbringing. Like moving a piece of furniture and finding all the crumbs and other nastiness your vacuum's been missing.

But the key thing here is, the process of becoming who I am today wasn't brainwashing. It wasn't even, now that I lay it out, true deprogramming. It was more like recovery. A long and arduous process for which I often needed support, but which was ultimately completely led by and up to me. I had to want to get better. And I did. So I did.

Which is why I can say for certain that what conservatives are doing now is absolutely 100% about removing as many avenues as possible for doubts and questions to lead to critical thinking. That's why they're hamstringing teachers, banning books, pushing revisionism in the teaching of U.S. history, attacking queer children, doubling down on anti-intellectualism, deregulating child labor. They know that exposure to diversity and access to real information and education is a tried and true path out of their cult mentality. And they can't allow that path to exist.

[seraphimfall]

i’ve read so much tradcath bullshit the last two years. i can confidently say tradcath men fit into one of two categories:

“protestant-raised and converted to catholicism because of his crippling porn addiction and racist tendencies. reposts crusader and conquistador memes. is hated in his local parish.” tradcath

“catholic-raised band kid who ate his lunches with the religion teacher. smells like mildew. cut off all his friends that came out as gay after high school. now larps as an aquinian scholar and cries after jerking off.” tradcath

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

PSA that all of your ex-vangelical friends are triggered as *fuck* right now.

[venelona]

I might lack the motivation to see it through, but I really like your dazatsu works, so I was wondering how you motivate yourself to create fanfiction? How do you get into the headspace of the characters?

Motivation is a fickle mistress, it's hard to say what EXACTLY motivates me. I guess the best answer is 'I write the fanfic I wish there was'. The true 'write what you want to read', I am usually really motivated to write something I wish to read so badly - a hole in the market, or a certain concept I wish I could do my way that would cater to all the things I like.

Since I also primarily write shipping fanfics, engaging with canon/fanart/other fanfics on the pair also motivates me greatly. Reminds me of why I like the characters and want to write about them in the first place

I quite like getting into the headspace of the characters, at least those I like a lot, haha. For me, it's always the question of "would this character to this?" - when I think of them doing or saying something, I think back on what I know of the character, if there were similar situations to this one in the canon and try to think what would be the most logical thing for that character to do. Like puzzle pieces - canon gives you puzzle pieces, and you can either arrange them how you want, or see what new pieces can fit to existing ones.

I think just good thing to keep in mind when you writing a character do something is the question of 'why are they doing this'. The why's come from their personality, their past or the circumstances of the story (the events or even the rules of the world)

Also, something that motivates me and I'm very lucky to have - good community! Comments are a wonderful motivation. And the power of friends?? Absolutely amazing. Half my motivation to finish things is solely to talk to my writing friends about it 😂

I'm happy you like my works, thank you so much!