#humanism

[dererumnatura-0]

From Palestine to Congo to Sudan to North Korea (run by China), Hong Kong, and denizens of China, soon to attempt to reign over Taiwan, from Ireland, Scotland, from the Levant and countless places in Africa, from the edge of wilderness everywhere.

We resist empire. Imperial Governance has no national lines, it’s a centralizing force. Give the power back to the people for true democracy, freedom, and independence.

We resist empire. The War for Independence has not ended.

The Revolutionary War never ends. It’s cold underground, but the Empire co-opts our internet. The Empire owns the vast majority of airwaves now devoid of ‘Net Neutrality’ and thus corrupts it like musk with Twitter. No entity can own Freedom (of speech, of association, etc), yet the Empire tries to control the meaning of Freedom, its matter and substance, and so

The war never ends (I accept this)

because Empire will never win

because freedom, fairness, logic, and sense are animal—they come directly from nature. Empire is also directly from nature. Which is why the war never ends.

I am coming to accept that Empire comes from nature, often from the patriarch under the same roof. Note that Empires tactics are just like that of an abusive narcissistic family member or partner. Fascism is interpersonal.

From nature also arises this War for Freedom, in which I have staked my side. The empire hedges bets, but I have love to wage. I will rage for love and neutrality, for Freedom.

I will love our chaos in figuring this out, decentralization restructuring (Trump is absolutely committing perestroika btw). I forgive you your messes in not knowing how to move or what to say when acting of your own direction (as opposed to in the imperial program). I will house, feed, and not judge you for wallowing in recognition of what we’ve been going through. I will give you so much of this hope I have cultivated inside.

Ceasefires everywhere now and always,

and we will still never leave the war. How painful it is to recognize that we will never escape it? It’s like my heart’s dream being crushed. It’s like panic attacks and exhausting hyper-vigilance. I wonder how many children have a lifetime of war now, never able to leave it. Thousands or hundreds of thousands (where are the missing children). Empire knows people can’t organize or plan when they are literally starving, scrapping for existence in every moment. Empire romanticizes survivalism because it turns the onus upon the people rather than upon the rulers. They herd, poison, and trap us with distractions. Just like an abusive partner. DARVO has been their headline-writing motto. Agents of Empire, recognize your nature, that you will never stop trying to be part of The People, even if you have the compulsion to own it. Addicted to owning. Addicted to ruling. There’s no freedom in that.

Gilles Peress. G.B. NORTHERN IRELAND. Derry. January 30, 1972. Bottom of William Street, the crowd being sprayed by water cannon and purple dye one minute before British troops opened fire.

[jesusinstilettos]

I’m about to save you thousands of dollars in therapy by teaching you what I learned paying thousands of dollars for therapy:

It may sound woo woo but it’s an important skill capitalism and hyper individualism have robbed us of as human beings.

Learn to process your emotions. It will improve your mental health and quality of life. Emotions serve a biological purpose, they aren’t just things that happen for no reason.

1. Pause and notice you’re having a big feeling or reaching for a distraction to maybe avoid a feeling. Notice what triggered the feeling or need for a distraction without judgement. Just note that it’s there. Don’t label it as good or bad.

2. Find it in your body. Where do you feel it? Your chest? Your head? Your stomach? Does it feel like a weight everywhere? Does it feel like you’re vibrating? Does it feel like you’re numb all over?

3. Name the feeling. Look up an emotion chart if you need to. Find the feeling that resonates the most with what you’re feeling. Is it disappointment? Heartbreak? Anxiety? Anger? Humiliation?

4. Validate the feeling. Sometimes feelings misfire or are disproportionately big, but they’re still valid. You don’t have to justify what you’re feeling, it’s just valid. Tell yourself “yeah it makes sense that you feel that right now.” Or something as simple as “I hear you.” For example: If I get really big feelings of humiliation when I lose at a game of chess, the feeling may not be necessary, but it is valid and makes sense if I grew up with parents who berated me every time I did something wrong. So I could say “Yeah I understand why we are feeling that way given how we were treated growing up. That’s valid.”

5. Do something with your body that’s not a mental distraction from the feeling. Something where you can still think. Go on a walk. Do something with your hands like art or crochet or baking. Journal. Clean a room. Figure out what works best for you.

6. Repeat, it takes practice but is a skill you can learn :)

[robreyart]

Bioluminescence Oil, 18 x 24 in, 2015, First in the Bioluminescence series. The light of life and the natural world. In all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. This point of light and inspiration stands in contrast to the lanterns and lights that are historically thought to be sources of illumination but are now dimmed; mythologies and superstitions humans have created as we struggled in the dark of ignorance to understand our world. But the process of science has revealed a luminous, living planet, more amazing than we could have ever imagined. Where the intricacies of biology are miracles of evolution and our consciousness is a gift of natural processes that allow us to experience what it is to be alive. Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

[jstor]

✨ New on the blog: If your heart is in the humanities, you may be discouraged in the face of other academic fields–but the humanities remain critical. Through a journey of loss, literature, and scholarly accounts, learn how the humanities are vital to human understanding. Read the blog post. Image: Charles Le Brun and William Hebert. A man whose profile expresses compassion. n.d. Wellcome Collection.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Happy International Men's Day.

November 19 is International Men's Day.

Because:

76% of suicides are men

85% of homeless are men

70% of homicide victims are men

40% of domestic abuse victims are men

Men are the majority victims of violent crime

Men on average serve 64% longer in prison

Men on average are 3.4x more likely to be imprisoned than women when both committed the same crime

==

Regarding the last two points, the male-female sentencing gap is larger than the race sentencing gap. So if you're concerned about racial incarceration disparities, remember that black men are also men. And secondly, imprisonment is also much more likely when the crime involves a female victim.

[liberalsarecool]

The Left wants a community where everyone is welcome to be who they want.

The Right wants 'lonerism' where everyone is grinding their lives for shareholders' crumbs.

[quasi-normalcy]

I know that this is the "Turning social problems into matters of individual virtue" website, but here's one change that you can make to yourself as an individual that I honestly think will have beneficial collective effects:

Stop Thinking You're Better Than Other People.

Do I mean that you should go through life thinking that you're the lowliest and most wretched scum who's ever lived? No. I mean that there exists no meaningful criterion by which one human being can be said to be absolutely 'better' than another. And even if there was, you don't know enough about other people's circumstances and interior thoughts to meaningfully judge them in these absolute terms. So don't even try! It's a futile endeavour.

"But what about fascists? Surely I'm better than them!"

Okay, so let me preface this by saying that fascists are dangerous, they're misguided, their acts and intentions are evil, and they need to be stopped, including through physical violence. But you're not better than them. I know that this is a difficult pill to swallow; I myself used to pat myself used to pat myself on the back because, well, at least I wouldn't have been a Nazi. But you know what? If the circumstances were right, I could have been. We all could have been, just as we all could have joined a cult at some point.

Looking at myself, for example: there was never any serious possibility that I could have been swept up into the alt-right movement. Why? Because I'm transgender, and I was raised to be a socialist. How easy it is to *not* become a fascist when you're one of their scapegoats! How much harder it would be to avoid if you're one of the people they flatter and groom, if you're raised by people who are sympathetic to fascist ideals, if you grow up in a community where such ideals are common! The fact that fascist movements can seemingly emerge amongst every nation and people--including those who have historically been victims of fascism--confirms this. What if I had lived a hundred years later, at a time when transgenderism was a complete non-issue, and they'd moved on to some new scapegoat? What if they had approached me on my absolute worst day and told me that all of my problems were caused by moochers and parasites, and that I could fight back and claim my birth right by joining them? Can I really say that I wouldn't? Can anyone?

But even beyond that, what is a fascist but the ultimate example of someone who needs to feel superior to others? What is scapegoating but the act of selecting an entire group of people and declaring them to be inferior to you? And if you just refuse to believe these things; if you refuse to accept the premise that some people are better than others, and call it out whenever it comes up; then you're cutting these movements off at knees! The ideological force of fascism comes from imagining humanity as a strict hierarchy, with the master race on top and the degenerates on the bottom. Simply refuse to believe in such a hierarchy! Refuse to even entertain it!

"But then how can I feel self-esteem? How can I feel that I matter and have value?"

You have value just by existing as a person! But if that's not enough for you, then try this: instead of trying to increase your sense of self-worth by finding people to feel superior to, increase it by being of value to others. Help them! Make their lives better! Contribute to society! Not even in a way that you can (necessarily) put a dollar value on, but in any way you can! Create art! Plant a pollinator garden! Tell a joke! Make someone happy! If nothing else, you can at least give someone love, and I guarantee you that that will be of value to them. The universe is so vast and we're all so small that any value we can ever have will only ever be to each other. And surely it beats spending your life trying to be king of the microbes.

[unsolicited-opinions]

My eldest was nine years old and had questions, for the first time, about why we said Hamotzi over the Friday challah we'd picked up at the JCC.

"Blessed is God, ruler of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth." 

9yo:...but I don't believe in a ruler-of-the-universe kind of God...?

Me: I don't either- but I'm glad bread exists and I'm grateful that we have food to eat. Are you?

9yo: Yeah... 

Me: So I think of it as a way of remembering to be grateful. To remember how amazing it is that humans learned to cultivate wheat, to grind it, and make the flour into bread. A prayer like this is a way of remembering how fortunate we are instead of taking it for granted.

9yo: But it's amazing that HUMANS learned to grow wheat and bake bread. Why thank God? 

Me: Do you remember when we talked about Pesach and the Exodus story and the ancestors of the Israelites being slaves in Egypt? Do you remember what we learned about that? 

9yo: They were probably never slaves in Egypt, because there's no evidence for it where there should be. It's probably just an origin myth. 

Me: Pretty much, yeah. But if a people's origin myth includes escaping slavery, how are they likely to feel about slavery? 

9yo: They'll hate it

Me: And how will they hopefully feel when other people are enslaved?

9yo: They'll know it's wrong. 

Me: So even a story which isn't literally true...can still be good. Origin myths shape peoples. I like this one and I'm glad it's the origin myth for our ancestors.

9yo: Okay...but Hamotzi isn't about the Exodus story...?

Me: To me, Hamotzi is sort of like the Exodus story- it doesn't need to be literally true to be good. Since I don't believe in a creator-of-the-universe sort of God, I see the prayer as a way of remembering to be glad that we evolved the way we did to enjoy eating delicious bread, to be glad that humans learned to grow wheat, grind flour, domesticate chickens and bees, and make bread, and to be grateful that we have enough to eat, because many people in many times and many places, including today, don't have enough to eat.

We can see it as a way to remember to not take for granted that our bodies are healthy and we can enjoy eating bread which fuels our bodies. We're lucky to have this bread, and it is good for us to remember how lucky we are. It's bad for us to take our good fortune for granted.

9yo: Okay, being grateful is good. But why thank a God who we don't think is listening? Why do it in Hebrew? 

Me: Because expressing that gratitude, in Hebrew, towards God, is the way our ancestors remembered to be grateful for a very, very long time. When we do it the same way they did it, it's a way of remembering who they were, how hard they worked, and how much they struggled to enable you and I to be here, generations later, on the other side of the planet, healthfully and peacefully eating bread.

Sometimes, it's easier to remember to be grateful if the words for expressing that gratitude are pre-parepared. Sometimes, it's easier to feel gratitude if there's a direction in which to express it. I don't believe in a human-like God who cares at all about prayers or being thanked by humans in Hebrew or any other language. But I believe it is good for us to take moments, now and then, to appreciate the incredibly long chain of events which have resulted in you and I, sitting here, eating Challah, and talking about why we pray.

9yo: Okay. It just felt weird to thank a God I don't believe in.

Me: Oh yeah. That felt weird to me for a long time too. You ask really good questions, though- and I like how you don't want to do or say things which don't make sense to you.

9yo: Someone at school told me it's bad to question God.

Me: Maybe that's what the religious tradition of their heritage teaches. In the religious tradition of our heritage, questions are not just okay, but good. You're supposed to question stuff.

9yo: Oh. So that makes me good at being Jewish?

Me: Absolutely.

[kyriefae]

Be it a hot-take or not, Demons of the Punjab, belongs in the Top 5 all time best stories in Doctor Who.

Instead of being about silly sci-fi monsters or the checkered inner-workings of the Doctor (two things I deeply enjoy btw), we spend the length of a very cinematic and beautiful episode witnessing a tragedy on a deeply human scale. Tragedy and hope intertwined; how else could one possibly cope...

Love to all the episodes everyone would likely place into contention to hypothetically keep this story at a lower rank...but I'm going to make space at the table for the spirit of 13's era.

The monsters of the week being humble servitors of the dead is such a sweet plot twist that deepens the extent of the narrative. The Doctor is powerful but she can't stop this event; or events like this. The tension that comes to a head in this episode represents a struggle far greater than any one battle or war. No sonic warbling can stop the tide of human pride; of our systems built to create 'order' that leave ruin and heartbreak.

Attempting to put it to words, even in summation, highlights the gravity of the subject matter this episode invokes. Instead of navigating those waters by diving in as I am inclined to do, the cast and crew highlight a beautiful and vibrant world for us to see and by story's end we watch that world be torn apart by an ultimatum unseen. A hatred that festers in people's hearts through fear of uncertainty and the corrosion that imperialism left in its wake.

But we witness love. However fleeting it may have been. We witnessed it and by seeing it, we're given the hope we so desperately need.

Death comes for us all but before it does we can make that choice to open our hearts to others. They may not be receptive to it...they may even fight us on it.

Even if our circumstances fail to afford us any other opportunity, love will always be a choice.

Yasmin succeeded at meeting her grandmother when she was young and learned why the story Nani Umbreen refused to tell her was being kept secret all these years. She witnessed the pain of that moment in a way words would never quite illustrate. Even the events Umbreen knew were not the complete story; even that which Yaz was able to see.

The Doctor couldn't stop those events from happening but helped to guide a path forward through the darkness in a way only she could.

Stories like this remind me of how powerful the medium of Doctor Who is...and how flexible it will always be.

It's not all mops of curly hair, long scarves, and Allons-y! Occasionally it's a clever way of reminding ourselves of the pain we cause, the pain we keep, the love we had, and the love we still have to give.

[hadesoftheladies]

wish people understood that being vegan isn’t about “treating animals like human beings” or expecting them to “behave like people.” it’s actually about holding humans to human standards of cognition and personhood. it’s not about whether cats can verbalize like humans or not. it’s about the fact that we need consistent ethics in regard to suffering individuals. it’s about the fact that as humans our cognitive advantage is also our responsibility. our mindfulness means we are even MORE responsible for our actions not less. it is inhumane to use the helplessness of another as justification for your exploitation of them. this is the same ideological rhetoric behind misogyny, racism and anti-Semitism. The same rhetoric that justifies killing the poor who are less “moral” hence less deserving of your moral consideration. your ethics should be consistent because moral reasoning is something humans must do because of what we are. It is not contingent on the cognitive capacities of the moral subject we are considering. you wouldn’t justify cutting up a baby for pleasure because it had lesser cognition than you. so vegans are holding humans to humans standards. that means we are in a unique position to understand and do something about the large-scale plight of suffering individuals at the hands of human beings. that makes us more responsible, not less. our superior cognition makes us more responsible for the underprivileged, not less. the same way a parent is more responsible for their toddler by proxy of knowing and being capable of more than said child.

[zurigasungama]

Some people are just full of hate and are constantly looking for an "acceptable target" to dump it on. It's our duty as a society to remind them there's no such person.

[basedandlainpilled]

[weirdlookindog]

Félicien Rops (1833-1898) - Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity)

[jesusinstilettos]

Your life gets significantly better the day you stop pretending you’re a robot. You’re a silly little mammal, act like it motherfucker. Your ancestors made tools with rocks and sticks, ran around a lot, had sex, lived in communities, ate when they were hungry, rested, chanted together, felt the sun, breathed outside air, listened to the trees and birds. You have biological needs bitch!!!

[robreyart]

Bioluminescence 18 x 24 in, Oil on Panel, 2016

The light of life and the natural world. In all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. This point of light and inspiration stands in contrast to the lanterns and lights that are historically thought to be sources of illumination but are now dimmed; mythologies and superstitions humans have created as we struggled in the dark of ignorance to understand our world. But the process of science has revealed a luminous, living planet, more amazing than we could have ever imagined, where the intricacies of biology are miracles of evolution and our consciousness is a gift of natural processes that allow us to experience what it is to be alive.

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com