#i have some privilege from being an american living in another country

[waitineedaname]

i don't really have words to say that haven't already been said, whether today or eight years ago. just, take care of yourselves today. take care of yourself and reach out to your community and take care of each other.

[germiyahu]

The way in which people on this site and others unironically with not a shred of self reflection, will say things like "I'm America's biggest hater until a Brit starts speaking!" Like, they understand intrinsically what it's like for an outsider to make blanket judgments about the only culture they've ever lived in and ever known and they immediately decide that their feelings about that are true and valid.

And the response is not even "Well you're one to talk about our problems!" or "Um sweaty things here are far more complex than you understand so maybe leave the criticism to Americans," it's usually just "Rah rah bald eagle screeching go America fourth of July beans on toast OI BRUV!" or some other equivalent mockery of a European (or Canadian/Australian) stereotype.

Even if this is just silly joking, they are performing jingoistic nationalism at the slightest prickling of other Western (usually white) people daring to criticize America, even when it's accurate or in good faith. These Europeans (et al.) aren't even calling for the destruction of America, declaring Americans a dirty evil people who deserve nothing but pain and suffering and any calls to wipe them out are justified and any resistance to that is oppressive. They're just making fun of American aphorisms and the response is unquestioned patriotism. And no other super woke Leftie Americans look at this behavior and say "That's actually problematic." They're in on it.

But these same people couldn't possibly conceive of applying this thought process to an Israeli. That's just a non-starter to them. Like there are based Israelis on this site who are patriotic, who make dank memes and all, that much is true. But I'd say for the average Jew (Israeli or not) to react with extreme jingoism at the gentlest ribbing is just unthinkable. They know the optics of that. But Americans can throw a tantrum about being called out as the hegemonic power in the world and expect everyone to think that's actually really funny and cool.

An American can make jokes about "discovering oil" (the subtext being invasion and devastation) when someone from another country says "Wow Americans don't have electric kettles," but an Israeli can't even politely say "I don't think we all deserve to die because our Prime Minister is a corrupt racist shithead." No that's propaganda and genocide apologia. American privilege is real, I think.

[sybaritick]

In response to recent posts I've seen discussing "people on tumblr lying about being working class when they're clearly not/people on tumblr claiming they're regular middle class when they make 200k a year": it's true this is extremely annoying, but i really think this problem exists on EVERY website and also in real life (feel like one can meet working-class-larpers at every US university, but more so the more elite the university is).

People build an identity around an image of their social class, both current and past, and that can be for political reasons (they're a leftist and don't want to be one of the bad rich people) or just because they want to have a bootstraps success narrative around themselves or whatever else. But that identity they build can be completely disconnected from the material reality of their upbringing.

My parents were definitely well-off: my dad was a software developer and my mom also had a tech-adjacent job. Because we lived in a very expensive area, people still made fun of me for class-related reasons as a kid and my parents struggled with financial stuff at times (like having to move out of the house we lived in and switch to renting a smaller condo). However I would still never make the claim I am just some average American, because as a kid my family's income was definitely in the top ~15% in the US.

The thing is though... I think some people either 1) Solely base their perception on the people around them, and if you do that you'll probably think of yourself as average, or 2) have a load-bearing element of their personality that depends on them having been working class background or at the very least have come from an "average" background.

I think the problem here is people building their identities so hard around what their ideology "demands." It's not easy to solve but it's something you have to be honest with yourself about. There is a huge strain of online Tumblr-type-leftism that demands you perform a sort of victimhood/background of oppression or be considered inherently a bad person, and the result is that some people will fake it, but they might not even believe they are faking it, it's part of their self-image.

Don't buy into this idea that victimhood is virtuous.

The first step is do not apologize for any advantage you have and do not feel guilt over any advantage you have: the advantage is good. it lets you do more, gives you power, gives you time or money or connections compared to the average. Everyone has at least some advantages in life, even if they are as simple as "It's an advantage that I was born in at Western country," or "it's an advantage that I'm not blind or deaf." You will never accomplish anything useful, politically or personally, by feeling bad for these things. (You cannot give another person your advantages, or remove your own advantages, by feeling guilty. you CAN use your advantages to help disadvantaged people-- but not through guilt or performative hand-wringing!)

You should feel good and happy about the things many on Tumblr call privileges, because they mean it will be some amount easier for you to get further and climb higher and do more. I love being American. I love being able to do this many pull-ups. I love being male-passing. And I love money. Build from there.

[sonicenvy]

I had another conversation with someone who didn't have health insurance today about ACA that she didn't know existed as an option. Ever since I got my first ACA plan last year after turning 26 I have been a big ACA fan because this piece of landmark legislation is the reason I have health insurance instead of being in thousands of dollars of medical debt. It bugs the ever living shit out of me whenever I see internet leftists saying things like "the ACA didn't do anything because it is not medicare for all." It really speaks to me about the privilege that these people likely have because they're not noticing the amount of monumental positive change and harm reduction that was made by the bill.

The ACA is a bill that is comprehensive, and walks, talks, and chews gum at the same time, and I think a lot of people who are either a.) too young to remember how health insurance in this country worked before the ACA or b.) have not had to get government subsidized health insurance because they have always had either their parents' insurance or employer insurance really and truly don't get it. I am obviously too young to remember how healthcare worked before the ACA because I am under 30, but I do have a mom who works in healthcare and lots of older relatives that talk about it a lot so I was pretty familiar with the concept despite this.

I am low-income, in school, and have an employer that doesn't offer me employer subsidized plans, so the ACA quickly became pretty important to me as a person with lifelong disability, higher than normal cancer predisposition and a need for lifelong psychiatric care.

Also, if you are in your 20s but under 26 and still on your parents' health insurance? Bam! You are directly benefiting from the ACA. Before the ACA you would not have been able to be on your parents insurance plan in your 20s.

Some things that the ACA did:

Made it affordable for people who are above the medicaid income limit and/or self-employed to independently purchase health insurance. Before the ACA premiums for independently purchased health plans could be $500+ for individual plans! If you were one of the many Americans who worked multiple part-time jobs that did not provide PT employees with insurance, you were basically fucked and uninsured. If you were a small business or self-employed, you were also fucked. The creation of the healthcare dot gov health insurance marketplace, which is open to anyone was a massive success of the bill, and millions of Americans benefit from it. During open enrollment (or after a specific life event such as "turned 26," or "became unemployed") a person can log on to health care dot gov, see a wide range of plans, and purchase one. The government then provides you with a premium subsidy (which is what your employer does for you if you have an employer plan) to lower the cost of the premium. Subsidies are calculated based on a person's income so people with lower incomes get higher subsidies.

Obviously there is some nuance, and a coverage gap with ACA plans for individuals who make above $60,000 (and are not a small business obtaining a group contract with an insurance company) where premiums are still very expensive because they are ineligible for the majority of the premium tax subsidy, which is a major ACA weakness, but for everyone in the $30,000-$55,000 gap and for owners of small businesses that want to offer plans for their employees, the benefits are huge. I am able to get a PPO with a low deductible, low OOP for less than $200/mo in premiums! There is exactly zero way that I would have been able to do that if I were trying to get insured pre-ACA.

Made it so that insurance companies could not discriminate against patients with so-called pre-existing conditions — so basically if you are disabled, the insurance company can no longer: a.) decline to provide you coverage or b.) increase your premiums/ reduce your plan benefits because you have a disability or get something like, oh, idk, FUCKING CANCER. Like there were people who got cancer and found out that their insurer dropped them because they did not want to pay out for expensive cancer treatment. That was a thing that was legal for health insurance companies to do before the ACA, and they fucking did that. The pre-existing conditions clause was one of the biggest benefits that has been touted since the beginning of the bill's conception and passage. Under the ACA, all health insurance companies are banned from denying plan applications for any reason, or from revoking plan coverage for any reason that isn't "patient stopped paying their premium." Made it so that children could stay on their parents' health insurance plans until they were 26 instead of being booted at 18. Made it so that all plans must provide some level of coverage for a list of specific EHBs (Essential Health Benefits) such as "emergency room care," "prenatal and pregnancy related care," "preventative care such as doctor recommended cancer screenings for patients" "office visits with general practitioners," etc.

If you have an marketplace plan or medicare/medicaid, that plan MUST provide you with contraceptives at no cost to you regardless of whether or not you have met your deductible. Democrats also wanted this to be true for all other plans, but unfortunately in 2014, whacko religious conservatives got themselves an exemption for "companies with fervently held religious beliefs against contraception" from providing this coverage in their employer subsidized plans in the bullshit case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which was decided by a conservative majority vote in the Supreme Court. A case which had other broad and shitty implications btw, and which is yet another example of why allowing weird conservatives to get elected to the presidency is bad for America. btw, in the original intention of the ACA they wanted to also include mandatory coverage for abortion services. Unfortunately, the Republicans (and a group of stupid pro-life dems who suck, and to my knowledge are not in congress now) torpedoed this provision despite Nancy Pelosi's best efforts and refused to pass the bill at all as long as this provision remained in it. Reason #10000000 Republicans suck.

Lots more that I'm not naming here, but I hope you get the idea. My point is that even though ACA was not a medicare for all bill, it was a landmark (and very needed) piece of healthcare reform legislation that changed a lot about the landscape of health insurance in America. Tragically, right wing and far left smearing of it has obscured the truth about the many good things that the bill did do. Was it perfect? Absolutely the fuck not! Even Obama himself admits this. What it was was a major victory against injustices in the system, and a massive piece of harm reduction legislation, and I wish that more Americans credited it for the things it did do.

Dems managed to get the bill passed with the vast majority of their highest priorities still in it despite major republic ratfuckery combined with a minority of independents and dems who sucked. Pelosi walked circles around these fuckers day and night to get this bill passed, and I for one am deeply grateful. Because of the ACA I can get the healthcare that I desperately need as a disabled person with higher than normal cancer risk. I can get my desperately needed medications and see all of my doctors because of this piece of legislation. I was able to get surgery to remove CANCER from my body becuase of this legislation, so yeah, fuck everyone going "the ACA is bad because it's not perfect medicare for all." Girl (gender neutral), I (and many other people) would not be surviving if it were not for this bill, and I for one, think that that is a whole heck of a lot better than all of us dying because y'all want to wait for perfect legislation. Harm reduction is good and is an important step on the road to bigger and better change. Universal health care has risen to more popular and broad public opinion/knowledge because the ACA passed.

Yeah, anyways this is rant about how fucking stupid anti-ACA people are. To deny the gains of meaningful healthcare reform is a clear sign of privilege, ignorance, and tunnel vision that lets perfect be the enemy of good or better.

This is also a post about a clear and obvious way that Dems are infinitely different (and better) than republicans. Voting dem is harm reduction. Not voting, voting third party or protest write in voting is a vote for republicans. And republicans??? They give exactly zero shits about anyone other than themselves. They support stupid and insane religious conservative politics, and look to fuck over the American people (and everyone else abroad) at every turn because they don't believe in helping people; their convictions are all about hate, prejudice, fearmongering, and a right-wing Christian Theocracy. They would rather see millions of people die than give dems a win, because they are spiteful and hateful. They want us to be afraid, disengaged, disorganized and fighting one another, because their ideas, convictions and beliefs are deeply unpopular, and if we organize against them, they will lose.

[foxymoxynoona]

As an extremely white American, I would say wearing shoes inside is less about feeling bare feet are dirty and more about the formality of the situation.

In my own home, I usually take my shoes off when I get home just because it's more comfortable for me, but I'm not opposed to walking around the house in my shoes. Especially if I'm in the kitchen, I'll often put shoes on to protect my feet from hot things that could spill and crumbs that will inevitably get on the floor as I cook. It also depends on how familiar and formal the situation is. If I went to my friends house or I had friends over and we were posted up on the couch watching movies, I'd probably remove my shoes. If I went to a dinner party at someone's house or was hosting one myself, having someone over I didn't know well, or generally in a dressier situation I would wear my shoes inside. Being barefoot around someone or in someone's home is more of a sign of comfort level?

And then yeah, to your point, I don't really think of wearing shoes inside as being dirty and it's probably because we don't use our floors in the same way (ie sitting or eating on the ground). I also agree that it's also probably due to cultural differences in terms of germ tolerance. Even post pandemic, I don't think we are as cautious or wary of germs in America. We didn't mask before the pandemic and I think most people hardly mask now. But of course that's also because we live in a privileged country where being more lax about germs doesn't mean I'm putting my health at major risk. Sometimes when I watch old BTS videos and they are wearing masks it strikes me that if I had discovered BTS before 2020, it probably would have seemed foreign to me to see them in masks all the time, whereas post-pandemic I am used to it.

I feel like hard floors vs. carpet makes a difference too! Like it's more normal to be wearing shoes in the kitchen on tile or wood, but then take your shoes off in the living room that has a carpet. Or like when I lived in a bigger house growing up I would wear shoes more often downstairs in more common and formal areas, but take them off to go upstairs to the bedrooms and personal spaces.

That's just my two cents but also I am respectful of anyone else's preferences and if someone asks me to take off my shoes at their house, I will happily do it without comment. I really don't care! If someone does have a reaction to it, it's probably more about their own xenophobia/prejudice to things that are different or the American aversion to being told what to do in general lol. People will look for any excuse that someone else is infringing on their "liberty".

The formality! Yes thank you, I know there were probably some rationales I was forgetting. So I grew up in a place that has much more stringest ideas of etiquette and formality and it would definitely be considered impolite to be bare-foot around others, that's what i was sort of getting at with the feet thing but you're right it's not necessarily a belief that feet are dirty. It's just in the bucket of I was raised that it's something rude to do. In contrast, my husband expects all shoes off and has no issue telling contractors they need to take theri shoes off to come inside etc haha, which they then sometimes have to explain they can't because of insurance purposes or whatever, and then it's not a big deal, or if a guest says they'd be uncomfortable that's fine.

I do think we also have a great deal of privilege in terms of the diseases we can catch (or rather lack thereof), at least for those who aren't immunocomrpomised, and that leads to some laxity in germs. This is another thing my husband is way more particular on; I'm tidier, he's more concerned with germ management.

Thanks for these additions!

[elbiotipo]

I need to share what I had to witness in the Youtube comments section of a video about the pros and cons of living in the US and Europe, which had me thinking "I wonder what elbiotipo would think of this": there was an Argentinean saying that he moved to the US 10 years ago (he didn't state how old he is now), and claimed that he knows the "European way of life" due to growing up in Argentina (???), so he really made it look like he knows what he's talking about and can say which of those places are better to live, then saying he prefers the US. I think what made this even funnier is that another user replied to that guy, one that grew up in Netherlands and moved to Argentina, and added that Argentina is not like living in Europe at all and there's no such things as an European way of life since we're talking about a whole continent, unlike the US. Now I knew Argentina has this bad fame of being perceived as "European" but that's probably the first time I see one that genuinely believe they're the same. It reminded me of some of the gaúchos we have in Brazil but that guy was being a bit more extreme about it

There are a bunch of assholes (mostly upper class people in my experience) in Argentina who believe they are Proper Europeans unfortunately Cursed to be born in Latin America and they want to Escape From Latin America and go back to Europe, or if that fails, to a "proper country" like the US (I'm sure you've heard of these guys, if gaúchos in Brasil are any similar) That guy sounds particulary unbearable. Like I'm imagining him talking and I want to tell him to go shit himself.

And yes, there are many sections of Argentine society that are proud of their "Europeaness", after all, it was the Eurocentrism encouraged during the XIX-early XX centry administrations to "civilize the country". The truth is that Argentina does have a majority of inmigrant descended people, and this has been considered -especially by the Porteño elite- the core of the country, dismissing all the other people who make this country. This is the core issue with racism in Argentina; the belief that European inmigrants (we never tak about Asian, Middle Eastern ones...) built this nation, and the rest are just useless people, or even aren't there because all Argentines came from Italy and Spain (this is why you find people saying Black Argentines or Indigenous Argentines "don't exist", which you can see is patently untrue the moment you walk through any street). I'm not mincing words here, this is how racism expresses itself here.

In some cases, it has expressed itself as a rejection of the country itself, like "this country is shit, I wanna go back to my grand(grandgrand, usually)parents home in First World Europe". The funny thing is that comments like that Dutch person show the truth: for all their eurocentrism, they are still Latinos born and raised here and their idealization of Europe or the US makes no sense, because they have no idea how's life there; they BELIEVE they do because they're white and wealthy, but they don't. They're basically highly privileged assholes who want to shit higher than everybody else, and since money isn't enough, they start claiming cultural/racial kinship with a First World that doesn't care about them.

You can't escape from Latin America if you're not a Latin American first.

[phoebosacerales]

Mundane Astrology USA #2 - Foreign Policy 2024

*See the last post on USA-Mundane Astrology-July 2024

Another thing we see in the Aries ingress chart is the strong position of Jupiter, even stronger in angularity than Mars and in the 7th house, which deals with the relationship with other countries, allies or enemies. Jupiter is ruling usamerican economic and military resources (2nd house), which have been largely invested in israel and the Palestinian genocide for decades but particularly this year.

Israel or Netanyahu can be seen as Venus exalted, in sect, in her joy, and in a mutual reception with Jupiter, the usamerican money. This is how strong of a chuck-hold israel seems to have gotten the usamerican Congress in. Venus isn't always the good guy, especially if she's oriental with Saturn. We tend to think of Mars as usually representing strong military power, but Mars is usually representing the losing side of a war and all its side-effects as ruin, famine, plagues, genocide etc. Venus on the other hand can well represent the protected, walled and privileged way of living of zionists.

I've already said how in the last lunation chart we could see the rise of Kamala in Venus' heliacal rise. Biden also gets better, because he's still the president and represented by the Sun getting stronger, and and in this chart he's also Mars, the ruler of the MC, just getting out of its exile.

Venus overall stills rules the 7th for this year and it'll always be important to keep in mind its original significations in the Aries Ingress. So, at the same time, something or someone from a foreign country were bound to rise in the news during this time entering the space of the usamerican power (10th house). However, in this lunation chart, the matters of the 7th are ruled by Saturn in the 8th.

This is the chart for Netanyahu's repulsive speech in the american Congress this last wednesday (July 24), where he got multiple standing ovations. The Moon passes through Saturn, demonstrating the focus on israel this day, but in this specific chart Saturn is the opponent of power (4th) and the Moon demonstrates the revolt of the protests outside, invisible from the 10th house. Here we have the same ascendant as the Aries Ingress chart and Venus is right up there in the 10th in her heliacal rise. The Sun even losing its authority, already cadent, as the whole Congress look like a bunch of cucks. Mercury is also present as the Congress itself (11th ruler), but we can see it also as a representation of the speech, because it's Mercury. It's is in the heart of the Lion, Regulus, which can manifest as overwhelming displays of power and ruthlessness.

In the next lunation (August 4th) we'll see Leo rising again and this time, Venus seems even stronger and it also rules the MC, while being conjunct Regulus. The New Moon brings beginnings, especially in the 1st house and with planets in heliacal rise. Remember Leo is the 10th sign of the Aries Ingress. This could be Kamala stepping up even more and taking authority because that's what Leo and Regulus do, or by some miracle, Biden takes a very authoritative position on something. I fear this could be explosive and big. I hope it's nothing about israel.

Until next year, that very well dignified Venus on the Aries Ingress represents how safe is the place of israel in the United States' interests and support, and in that matter I can't be optimistic about the future, both astrologically and realistically. But something about Saturn there makes me wonder if we can hope for more anger from the people or some kind of damage to this relationship. Because everything has just been completely soul shattering, and all of us are losing with Palestine, all countries suffering under imperialism lose with Palestine.

[magnoliamyrrh]

theres something deeply disingenous abt how whenever some issue gets brought up let's say abortion for example ppl on this website wanna pretend like white american women have nothing to say on it and wont be impacted and as if white american women have experienced like, no opression in america. as if till VERY RECENTLY they had no right to vote, to say no to sex in marriage, own a bank account, get abortions - hey, remember too when white women literally had to kneel in front of their husbands and beg their sins to be forgiven, and when they put those god awful mechanical cages on their faces to force them to smile?

yea. listen. i have my issues w many of them too for sure. but this sort of attitude is detached from reality

are we still aware Many white women exist in this country who are poor? like, poor as shit. who will Most definitely and Have Already Been impacted by the abortion laws bc they dont have the money to simply leave the state to another one to get an abortion (and also, bc the governments have made it illegal to do so). Can we not pretend that there arent white women who live in grueling poverty, especially in the rust belt and other such places where there are entire communities forgotten by everyone in deep poverty? can we not pretend white teenage girls dont get raped and forcibly impregnated? can we not pretend many of them dont come from very conservative families which either never gave them the education to know about sex and abortion, or would not allow them to get one? can we not pretend that white women arent still experiencing domestic abuse and rape and other forms of male violence in this country, also, one of them being being killed by men the moment they find out theyre pregnant?

even like "rich white women" in which case the conversation stops actually being predominantly about race but is now Actually about class status and yes, there are minority women w money. even rich women and them rich white women and Girls are susceptible to domestic abuse, rape, and violence, as well as having insane conservative families which would flip their shit if they found out they had an abortion. And yes, many of those conservative families Wont make an exception for their daughters and will absolutely force their little girls and teenagers, wether it be rape or consensual, to Not get an abortion and carry out a pregnancy till the end. Also, theres plenty of cases in which higher class women are so not because they have their own independent money but bc of their husbands money, which again makes the idea that they can just willy nilly skip town to another state for an abortion easily unrealistic and detached from reality. Yes. there Are Definetely cases in which economic status means a women in a place which has banned abortions will still b able to get one, absolutely. but its more complicated than what ppl make it out to be

like, this website going on for weeks about how american white women have like nothing to say on abortion and it being banned was insane and the peak of dumbass identity politics being taken to an extreme. the other part of this too people going "the handmaidens tale is so stupid blah blah there will never be a time when white women will be used as broodmaids" like..... yall are fucking stupid and have no idea, like clearly absolutely no idea of the history of america like At All, and because you live in a liberal area youve got no idea what conservative and rural america is like in the current day either

-_- this is way past the point of complains about white women. this is just stupidity and frankly fucking privilege lmao to not understand a series of things and its also another example of identity politics taken to a stupid level, being used to divide women, not being an Actually productive conversation, and also the erasure of class

[koheletgirl]

me talking about my feelings about things that happened on tumblr a month ago

you know, since the beginning of this and until very recently, i felt like i needed to justify still being here. and not out of some irrational sense of guilt; people were saying this. very loudly. "if you're still in israel, i don't care what your position is. i don't care if you're not a zionist. i don't care if you want to leave. die. die violently, even." and i have spoken about the "there are no civilians" rhetoric before, and about tumblr's twisted perception that israeli blood is allowed. i don't think it matters what my position is, i don't think i have more right to live bc i'm a jew with "the correct opinion". but anyway, what i want you to do is think for a sec about why you made me feel so guilty about existing. me wanting to leave is one thing, you demanding it from me is another. i can't leave babe. i don't have the money. it's literally that fucking simple. i'll obviously miss my family, and i'll have to live the rest of my life as an immigrant, and i'll have to raise my kids in a country i did not grow up in. i've made my peace with that long ago, for multiple reasons. right now i simply do not have the money. do you? can you move to another country right now? another continent? how would you feel if i told you you had to or you deserved to die?

i was reminded of this earlier when i saw that post claiming there are no leftist israelis in israel. and i don't want you to misunderstand – my ability to leave on my own terms when i can afford it is a privilege. it's a huge privilege. especially in the face of everything. but i'm done apologizing for existing to a bunch of americans on tumblr. yeah i live here. i didn't choose this. no one in my family did either, they fled here when they felt they had no other option. it doesn't change the fact that israel shouldn't have existed in the first place. and i'll leave when i can. but fuck you for wanting me to dissappear.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023 PRESHOW - part 1: the BAD entries

Okay, so here we go.

37 Countries, and sadly not as much time as I would like to cover all of them. 

Thus, 37  rambly write ups in which i loquaciously air my gripes and grievances about the upcoming famewhores / artists competing at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. 

There will be no holds barred and no prisoners taken. This year is trashy, some of it shit, but a lot of it is more fun than last year’s Rulll Musique!! 🙂

In this post we’ll deal with the BAD ENTRIES so we get them out of the way and you know who to hold in contempt for the next two months. 

Without further ado, in last place we have:

37. GREECE Victor Vernicos - “What they say” Semifinal 2, slot #08

There’s quite a bit of subparness in this mix, but nothing is quite as tragic as this miscarriage of a song.  It’s already bad enough that you have to rig an internal selection. It’s embarrassing to rig it for this absolute garbage. Was the scandi money worth the price of your top 10 streak, ERT? Was it really?!

Okay, so first and foremost “What they say” has some of the worst chord progression at this contest. Overproduced, obnoxious, cloying and abrasive, all at the same time. Its general cadence is that of an American driving in shift-stick gear. Why does it constantly interrupt itself? Is this supposed to create dramatic pauses where we can figure out what words he’s supposed to have said? 

Secondly, the fucking CURSED singing. I don’t care how good of a vocal talent you are, but if you twist your words like marble-mouthed goober into intelligibility such as “assholes make joy no one loses their whey” you’ve fucked up. WHY do the indie zoomer cunts insist on engaging in this tomfoolery? Do they think it gives them a personality and makes them relevant? 

Thirdly, 

“Cuz u no wud dey seh?

” THEY SAY, *WHAT*?!

The message. The older I get, the fewer fucks I am willing to spare yet another mewling milktoother whining about “how fucked up the world is, it’s too late for me”. Yet, here we are, “a lost soul” (sorry, “asshole”) and “hurt one” (sorry, “huyt wun”) who solemny declares for nobody but himself his precious little feelings are hurt and thus his life is over.

:inhales:

YOU ARE SIXTEEN!!!  😤😤😤😤

HOW CAN YOU SAY YOUR LIFE IS OVER, YOU’RE FUCKING SIXTEEN!!!!

this is like when Sebastian Rejman and Elliot Vassamillet implied that they would ACTUALLY HAVE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS about how bad a place the world is, when in reality they’re so fucking white upper middle class their privilege ALONE enabled them to bore us with soapbox preaching. Even if we don’t assume this isn’t some self-aggrandising hyperbole  -  having a cause to live and die for is great mate, but if you’re really going down that rabbit hole of “it being too late” at that point in your life, take a step back, get some professional counselling and don’t go to Eurovision, where you get shredded apart by fat frumpy arseholes like me!

Odds at Eurovision - Greece

I’m inclined to say this gets through, because it IS Greece and good lord Denmark is also voting for this, aren’t they? Like unironically even WITHOUT taking the fact that he’s half a Dane (X___X) into account.

And yet... I will point out that when Argo and Yianna NQ’d, Greece were performing in the same semifinal as Cyprus. 🙂

Besides, “What they say” is so ROTTED that I could absolutely see it receive votes from just Cyprus and Denmark and then nothing from any other country, dooming it to NQ purgaory. I would feel more confident if (1) we knew how Victor’s live performance skills are (given that he has no experience, i’m willing to guess they’re not very good) (2) Cyprus were actually much, much better than Greece, so they could deliver the killing blow by hoovering up the Hellene vote. Sadly, Cyprus picked Andrew Lambrou. (more on *that* soon.) if Victor does go through, I think he’s a serious contender for last place in the finale. 🙂 

Qualifier Tier: C Predicted placement: 8-14th (semi), 20-26th (Grand Final)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

36. ISRAEL Noa Kirel - “Unicorn” Semi 1, slot #10

Remember when Starbucks pioneered Unicorn Lattes, which were the saccharine multicolour abominations the zoomers pretended to like because they were in vogue? That’s  the first thing I think about whenever Noa Kirel springs to mind. 🙂

The Fandom’s tastes have reached a new low if ANY woman with ANY even remotely uptempo song can be deemed “a slay” because of her gender, privilege and money. Like seriously. Europe selects a few straight male acts (none of which are honestly *bad*) in a row and the fan bubble IMMEDIATELY -out of what I assume has to be a combination of Stockholm Syndrome and latent misandry- imprint onto the first woman they see and crown her a queen without second thoughts. 

Like yeah, sure Unicorn is phenomen-phemonen phenominally bad. Like on several levels? Unicorn is actually not offensive because it’s pandering and annoying (although it is very much is both of those things), but because it’s so fucking BORING and it has no excuse to be that way. 

Unicorn is a wash of different styles, none of which go together btw, all of which  tap into the lowest and commonest of denominators. Its scuffed parts are equally far away from “slay”. The worst offender is the dance break at the end that does NOT suit the rest of the song, drawn inspiration from Efendi’s MATA HARI (honestly how doesn’t Israel just crawl under a rock in SHAME after doing that). 

BUT THE POWER OF A YOO-KNEE-CAWN!!! whatever the fuck that means. 

What also gets to me is that, despite the superficial shittiness of the catchphrases and buzzwords and fucking STUPID hand gestures, Israel also seem to not only expect the fandom to support them, but act like they’re entitled to it. 

What you are entitled to Israel, is a big fat:

If there’s one act this year that has ZERO rights to be arrogant, it’s this one.

ODDS AT EUROVISION - ISRAEL

I’m going to be very brief here: this is bottom five in the grand final. We all know, deep down that Unicorn will fail to impress and everyone will simultaneously come to the conclusion that it’s really fucking shit, and it’ll strand itself in an obsequious 23rd place. End of story. Not wasting any more time on that.

It will qualify though. In a semi with more songs, and also more competitive songs in general, it would struggle to stand out and be on the cusp of qualification. This year though... Israel only need to beat five others, and three of those include Ireland, Azerbaijan and Netherlands, so... it’s through. Someone else will be that semi’s shock NQ.

Qualifier tier: B- Predicted Placement: 8th-10th (semi), 21st-25th (Grand Final)

--------------------------------------------------------------

35. CROATIA Let 3 - “Mama ŠČ!” Semifinal 1, slot #07

Imagine being subjected to that and having zero reaction to that whatsoever. If you can imagine that, welcome to my world! 😑

Yeah so, I can sort of respect the logic behind choosing Let 3 - Dora reached an all-time low with no real options (Harmonia Dissonance fully lived up to their name 😔) and Let 3 are a well-known and very well-established Shock Value Novelty Band, so might as well go for it!

The problem is that they’re fucking shit! 🙂

Like, “Mama ŠČ!” is the sort of nihilistic novelty nonsense i’d expect a Montenegro or San Marino to go for and, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed over the years, but I generally don’t care about the tomfoolery those countries send? I’d rather have something vapid that is pleasant to listen to, than something humourous but barely listenable. 

Also, the humour. I understand some people find Let 3 funny. I don’t. At all. I think the problem is largely that “Mama ŠČ!” tries to go for Shock Value, but I find none of it particularly shocking? Dressing up a pasty white man as Lenin throwing missiles while yelling CROCODILE PSYCHOPATH isn’t particularly witty and -given the *actual missile throwing* going on in ukraine right now- kinda poor in taste? 

I dunno. As you can tell, I respect Croatia MORE than Israel and Greece, because their entry isn’t just a safe attempt at qualification that will cruise to a bottom ten finish. It actually has a clear concept and identity! Sadly that doesn’t take away that it’s actually just kinda crap really. 😐

ODDS AT EUROVISION - CROATIA

This is the first of many entries in this year with an absurdly wide range in terms of where it can finish at the scoreboard.

So first off, there IS a chance the humor just doesn’t land and it NQ’s anyway. Given that the field in the first semi is what it is, I’m tempted to say that, like Israel, Croatia are through by default and perhaps more securely. 

However unlike Israel, I could see this getting a good chunk of televotes, and I’m not sure whether I like this? Let 3 unironically remind me of two other godawful novelty entries (So Lucky and We Are The Winners) and I despise the idea of Croatia getting similar traction in a televote. This year generally has a lot of fun trash on offer, and it can do much better than this. 

Still, I do think there’s a certain *appeal* for this, in the same sense there was a market for Ikke fucking Hüftgold. It could be a shock top 10! it could also just be ignored by everyone for being shit and annoying and get last in the finale. 🤷‍♀️

Qualifier tier: B Projected placement: 5th-12th (Semi), 13th-20th (Grand Final)

--------------------------------------------------

34. SWITZERLAND Remo Forrer - “Watergun” Semi 1, slot #08

I present to you: exhibit #1 to why i’m pleased juries are banned from the semi’s. 🙂 and of course the proof comes courtesy of Shitzerland. 

So let’s get the USP out of the way first: Remo is a twink with a baritone’s voice aren’t you AMAZED?! Not really? Like he’s got a good voice but that’s not what I watch Eurovision for. I don’t admire people just because they’re competent at the things they’re supposed to be good at in the first place. (Well I don’t admire other people in general, period.) Sadly, Remo’s vocal chops are the only positive thing about “Watergun”!

To be fair I’m -at this stage at least- more bored than i’m annoyed, but the more I think about it, the more i realize that ‘Watergun” is rancid and deserves to be placed amongst the other bad entries. It really just is an uninspired, empty, bland-as-béchamel Voice Lauriate’s First Power Ballad Single, and honestly does anyone care about these? Nobody had a care when Will Church and Atle Pettersen sang their boring songs in a competent, powerful voice, and likewise nobody cares about Remo :-)

You will also notice that I’m not even addressing the, ah, very interesting choice of going with those lyrics and that message, at this point in time. I’m not going to indulge in that... yet. Such is the price of being EVIL on purpose. 🙂

Odds at Eurovision - SWITZERLAND

 I REALLY want to believe  in twink death, but good grief, look at semi 1. There are only five NQs, and more than five unvotable songs in it.

Rationally, Switzerland are less secure than most because -again- the televote did NOT turn up for Will Church or Atle Pettersen, but i’m not feeling as confident as I’d like. There are other countries in that semi which are equally hopeless or potentially even more of a televote repellent, so I guess by *default* Shitz could sneak in in like... 9th-10th? 

As far as who would pick up their phone and vote for this, I honestly don’t have a clue. Cat ladies? Old Farts? Guillible fools? Idk. Certainly nobody with a will to live their best life.  Like Victor, Remo is also an unironic contender for a bottom placement in the finale. Unlike Greece though, the path Remo will follow towards the bottom will involve him receiving several smaller jury votes, with another 0 from the televote as the coup de grâce. 

Qualifier tier: C Projected Placement: 9th-14th (Semi), 19th-26th (Grand Final)

--------------------------------------------

NEXT UP: The mediocrities that I sorta pity and hold in contempt, but don’t have a particular dislike for.  🙂

[saturngalore]

So I did see a very big blogger say that they’re too triggered and exhausted by police brutality and watching our peers die, that they choose to not care and don’t have to. I was blown away by that. Yes, god, I am so tired of the problems we face in our country from being black but to show no empathy for others really saddens me. I truly thought some of my peers here were better than that. Seeing your post though restored my faith and I thank you for saying what I couldn’t put into words. A simple reblog for thousands of eyes to see is so important I don’t see how they don’t get it.

hi anon! sorry it took me awhile to respond bc i really wanted take extra time and thought for this. im glad that my post showed you that everyone not think and feel the same about sharing/supporting for palestine even though we may have the same racial/ethnic background. it’s honestly really disheartening but still frustrating to see other black simmers or just really some black people irl to kinda have that same reaction to what’s going on. i completely understand the suffocating trauma and feeling of hopelessness that comes with being black especially in america. not everyone who is black has the same trauma and i cannot speak for everyone especially those who may had a family member, friend or someone they knew affected by police brutality and/or lynching. the response to police brutality was to protect our peace, to take a break, and to prevent us from breaking down to point of not being able to fight against systemic oppression either alive or not. and that was understandable because stress and constantly being in fear about dying a senseless and brutal death for only being black heavily impacts our health both mentally and physically. im not trying to invalid that pain or experiences at all. and i never will.

but it just doesn’t feel right to me personally to turn away and stay silent about a literal genocide occurring right before us that is endorsed by our current president and is funded by american taxpayer dollars. even though im african american and a list of other marginalized identities, i still have the vital and basic privilege of being able to live with a roof over my head, a warm bed and shower, access to food and water when i need it, access to electricity to listen to music and be on my computer/phone, and so much more than many palestinians don’t have the opportunity to have right now. my mental health is not the best some days but waking up to see what’s going on in palestine every day for the past couple days have yet to drain me (this is probably another privilege) because it’s also the small and big moments of seeing palestine children smiling, journalists i have seen ever since this started still alive and reporting, people protesting all over the world via blockades and physical/financial boycotts. my experience during peak blm may have drained me emotional but the experience also radicalized me and made my activism or just simply my outlook on life more focused on love, community, nourishment, and a hopeful life without colonialism and imperialism. if i was more passive in engaging with geopolitical issues and just shut out the world around then i would be missing out on a lot of good things in this life.

i feel like there could be better ways to say this and maybe im just rambling on but there must be a balance between sustaining yourself as a person amid constant turmoil, violence, pain and death versus becoming complicit and silent just like those who oppress want us to be. every single one of us will not win or be free if silence is the only thing people can do to “protect our peace”. at the end of day, we owe it to the palestinians (as well as the congolese, haitians, sudanese, and many others who only ask that we speak up and care more).

[germiyahu]

And if you really want me to examine why people in the global south also have such an animosity to Jewish sovereignty in their historic homeland, and seem to give Palestinian Resistance a carte blanche... well I'm definitely not as qualified but fine! I have some theories!

A lot of the Global South are Westerners, kind of. This is especially true for Latin America, and they hate to see it, but a huge proportion of those societies is descended from European settlers, their cultures are heavily influenced by Western cultures. A lot of these countries, especially Latin America (and South Africa too interesting) have also had their own substantial Jewish populations. So if it looks like kind of like a Western society, and it treats its own Jews like a Western society... need I go on?

A lot of the Global South, actually most of it, including the countries that fall in category one, was occupied violently by the West. This created another avenue to transfer Western values onto subjugated populations. And no, don't shake your head at me. You can't claim the GS's homophobia was forced on it by the West and then act like the same wouldn't apply to antisemitism? A lot of the Global South never had significant Jewish populations, that much is true. The concept of antisemitism might feel frivolous and remote to them; why is that our problem? See my own anon. All the same, they were colonized by Jew Haters. At the same time they'd lack exposure to say, Holocaust education, and also have exposure to say, the idea that Jews are overrepresented in global finance.

Even in areas where Western influence was never high historically, even when there are not significant Jewish populations, we live in a modern globalized world where Western culture is a commodity and that commodity makes people money. And people in the Global South consume it. Their conception of the average Jew is probably either an Israeli soldier in some news story about Palestinians being harassed, or a white(ish) American who seems the epitome of privilege to them. They use social media, they see what Americans and Europeans say about Jews. It's very easy to conform to whatever opinions are the loudest and most prevalent.

So a lot of Global South Denizens probably are used to persecuting Jews, expelling or killing Jews, and also dealing with colonial masters who were constantly telling them how Jews cannot be trusted. And for a lot of them, if Jews were present, they were there helping the occupying power, as many Jews were imperial citizens and were present in colonies in various occupations. The Imperial Powers would not have passed up the opportunity to pass the buck to Jews where it was convenient. I see a lot of Algerians excuse their cleansing of Jews as "The Jews were made the middle man by the French colonizers, and they reveled in turning their backs on their Algerian brothers." This excuses violent ethnic cleansing in their minds. Why? Because Western propaganda primed the gun they were already loading.

In essence: I'm not surprised that the Global South is "crying out" for Palestine. All they know about Jews they learned from the West, or they have their own history of violently oppressing Jews. Should any of us be surprised? If you picked anyone in their camp and pitted them against a Jewish state, anywhere in the world, they would still see Jews as a foreign arm of Western Imperial Power, sent by the Man to keep them down. Or the Jews would themselves be the Man I guess. Except then the Jewish claim to indigeneity would not only be more tenuous, it would be ludicrous and false on the face of it.

It's the same reason a lot of people of color in the West identify with Palestinians and the Palestinian struggle. I don't say they do so in error. But I wholeheartedly believe they and a lot of people in the GS are projecting their own societal trauma onto Israel. Obviously Israel is very much doing bad things, so this isn't coming from nothing. But if the vitriolic reactions to Israel and the blind support for literal fascists seem extreme, maybe that's why. They don't care to see the difference between an Israel and a Great Britain or a France. And I'm not saying they have to, but when Jews themselves are also a historically oppressed and nearly wiped out persecuted people, it can come across as fairly gauche to say there's no difference between Israel and Germany, to say that Jews just flat out don't belong in their historic homeland.

There you go, there's my unqualified opinion. Are you happy now?

[papirouge]

I think the Americans are scared deep down of protesting like the French because many are just lazy and don’t want to be too uncomfortable by protesting. The French are based in that despite the hard shit and the tragedies, shit gets done. The Americans push back a bit, get scared when getting pushback by the elites and cling to their guns without using them to go back to their homes to whine at how awful their country is. Their country is huge and and if millions can come together to protest they can do it but they just won’t. I see it as they are only looking out for themselves deep down. They don’t care about others. They aren’t and probably won’t ever be “United” and fight together. That country is doomed to collapse probably soon so if any Americans reading this want to leave, I don’t blame you. Just don’t infect other countries with your bullshit.

Americans should start protesting because walking for hours is good for health and they'd be less obese. Being regularly chased by the police is good exercise, you work your endurance AND cardio🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💨🚓. Now you know why the french are so skinny🤍🇫🇷

Yeah I always clowned American conservative/libertarians flexing their guns and mUh fRrEdOm but ultimately still getting finessed by a geriatric man out of his mind lmao.

If those men were that courageous you'd think they already done yet another Capitol stunt but right now they're busy crying & shaking behind their computers, saying about how the Left™ is coming for them, how the Capitol was a pSyOp to get every pAtrIoT arrested......but ALSO, it wasn't no big deal because the Capitol doesn't represent the American people anymore - and other copium nonsense...

And yeah the problem of individualism is a huge problem preventing Americans to resist effectively against governments. The USA is a veery young country too so its people have yet to build a sense of community ship beside the flag and the Bible - who never stopped good White Americans from treating other people as second class citizens if not barely humans flr most of its History ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ I cringe big time whenever I see ppl fawn over the concept of the USA, the "land of the free".... when its own founders had slaves 🤡

Social class awareness is what makes people break free from the bondage of corporatism. The USA have yet to have an ideologue like Karl Marx or Jean Jacques Rousseau to peak the masses.

Every french kid has to read "Le Contrat Social" of Rousseau during highschool ; that's why french citizens are wired to understand social class self awareness. Which ultimately make them more prone to fuck shit up when they feel their 'class' threatened.

I also always said that religion was relevant on that matter too. France is Catholic. I am not Catholic but I always said that Catholics knew how to do shit when it came to help the poor, organize mass scale social initiative, etc. Everytime I see Christians seething against giving money to the poor it's Protestants.

Here in France we have Caisses de Grèves (which can be translated as "Strike Pool") were ppl can donate money and then the money is distributed to all the people striking / missing days of work which take a tool on their finance. Lately, one donor gave 30 000€ !!! So even rich people have solidarity with strikers. Because social class awareness also helps rich people to be aware of their responsibility (use their privilege to help lower class people). OG Rousseau did the work centuries ago to slap some sense into the bourgeoisie, and now modern french citizens reap the benefits of his ideas. That's the perk of living in such an old country 🤍🇫🇷

....But when I look at American (Christians), they are often very contemptuous with this kind of initiative. Or they'll be like "I hope this money isn't going to lEftisTs !!" or even stupid shit like "handing stuff for free is the beginning of Communism"......but what they don't understand is that those leftist are socially closer to them than those millionaire they're white knighting online.

[dystopian-penguin]

thoughts on culture and social media that english-speakers might wanna read

THIS IS NOT A GUILT-TRIPPING POST IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. i am merely sharing a point of view for the sake of exchange, i promise! 😁😉

americans and even first world english speakers have absolutely no idea how it feels to be fully bilingual and engage in international social media

from time to time you will find yourself in an (actually somewhat serious) identity and cultural crisis that will legitimately start to affect your mental health without you even noticing. it creeps up on you and you dont realize just how uttely lost you truly are until something happens and you spend some hours heavily engaging into your own culture and language and then it just clicks. suddenly you feel lighter, your mind more at peace. and it sometimes it can go on for months, even years, without you realizing where that disconfort is coming from. feels like there is a mist surrounding you very soul but you have the hardest fucking time putting your finger on it.

now to the part it might anger some (arguably immature) people from tumblr:

i had some serious body dysmorphia (had surgery since then, thank god), and i consider myself somewhat NB. as in, some days i feel like the girliest diamond-simping disney-like princess and the others i am the grimmiest most charmingly roughish of victorian era urchins. most days are close to a middle ground, of course

im only sharing this tidbit to really drive home the point i am trying to make: feeling far removed and disconnected from your culture can be psychologically compared to being forced to present your body/gender in a way that makes you unconfortable for prolongued periods of time

in this post i will try to pinpoint and explain the actual core of the issue, where (i believe, from an university level of understanding of the subject) everything stems from.

again, i am not making this post to guilty trip anyone, for the love of god. to the contrary, i wish social media was still dominated by my culture (long live Orkut lol). it is comfortable. there is nothing wrong with being in your confort zone (with some small moderation), no matter what tumblr tries to tell you. the human race has been struggling for 30k+ years to improve comfort. hell, id love to have that privilege of cultural prevalence in social media, aint gonna be hypocritical about it

i just wish native english speakers, in special those from the USA, kept in mind our way of speaking, our sentence conatruction, even the choice of slang translation we use. none of that is truly 100% "unpoluted". a lot of times we are trying our hardest to get to a close aproximation of our native language "personality".

tumblr and especially twitter could be a little more patient with it. its is damn fucking hard to master the flick of the switch to another language, let alone needing to change your whole manner of speaking because someone, somewhere, think you might be offending someone else, somewhere else

english speakers are fortunate that their native language became the world's Lingua Franca in a way that was natural. not "forced" like french way back when, or mandarin most recently. english flows. english is easy. i freaking love english my dudes, i literally majored in english translation. but when you dont have the need to learn a second language, it becomes, THROUGH NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN, natural to assume some text on the internet is being written under the same cultural and socio-econonical optics as you were raised in. ESL has become so commonplace, even more so for the last 5~10 years, that its nearly impossible to tell what country that person might actually be from.

and therein lies the problem: assumption. different people do things in different ways. there are some that are better and healtier than others (including from, yes, "third world" countries) there are some that are boarding inhumane (including from, yes, "first world" countries). but the massive majority? its simply different. if it works for you and your family and your peers, then it works. simple as that.

but on social media you only have text. how many feuds have been sparked because of the lack of intonation in text? everyone and theirs grandma's parrot has a story of miscommunication when texting. but when you add in manner of speech and cultural traits to it, it becomes a complicated issue

and then we ESL speakers overcorrect. even subconsciously, we start to shape ourselves to the native-english culture (mostly american, for the obvious reason called "sheer numbers"). but its not our actual culture. dont get me wrong, the more you can incorporate different points of view in your life the better. fuck, god knows how badly we need this in the world right now. nothing wrong with implementing it in your daily life and even your own "personal culture" and ways. hell, just see my spotify to understand how much i love punk rock, an initially political/cultural movement that doesnt even apply to my history 😂

but as i said, we are somewhat forced to overcorrect. and THAT causes more anxiety and anguish than people can possibly imagine. youre ESL reading this and think its not that bad, it cant possibly affect you that much?

allow me to demonstrate:

i cannot possibly expect an american (you will understand why i singled you out in a sec) to understand why is it that brazilians bore no ill will towards germany after the 7x1 or why is it that this last world cup in specificthe fault was actually on the coach and what were his strategy errors, or why the fault was on the players in 2014, or even WHY the players bevahed so, etc etc etc etc. soccer football simply isnt your culture. i only know of Tom Brady's existence cause of Gisele. Michael Jordan? 98% Space Jam, 2% the Air Jordan murders way back when. I have only a vague idea who Babe Ruth is, and keeping score in baseball sounds legit worse than quantum physics.

i cant expect you to answer the diference between bossa nova and samba, samba and axé, axé and pagode, pagode and samba, samba and tropicalia, tropicalia and bossa nova. and which group of people founded what, and why, and if it was for protest what they were protesting against. i cant expect you to know why the first election against bolsonaro in 2028 was worse than sophie's choice for the massive majority of us. and why the second in 2022 was another matter entirely. i cant expect you to know what the word "caiçara" means (or even that it exists!) and howcome its a different ethnicity than the ones simply 70km away, and a whole other ethnicity with the same word if used in another state

then why do all of us ESL people need to fully and nearly college-level understand the insane intricacies of american politics? why am i expected to view the mere fucking concept of police as evil incarnated, through the eyes of a country that has basically zero training of their force? why do i need to think and behave according to an apartheid-influenced race theory in my daily life, in my own country, when im not even from those ethinicities? why do i need to see gender pay gap and patriachism the exact same way, if the foundation of families (and labor law, lol) in my culture is nearly the opposite?

i belive, like, 90% of the people reading this by now will have clicked on what im getting at.

because for good or for worse, english is here to stay. no, chinese wont take over as Lingua Franca, not even in the bussiness world, and i could quite literally write a monography on the subject as to why. no, like, i actually can, i have an university degree in it. so yes international media is in english. that boat has sailed, that horse has been shot Inês agora é morta

ESL speakers obviously know that. we had to adapt to it.

but how much before "adapting" becomes "submissive"? well, i dont know the precise answer but id wage around 6~7 bus stops ago

so all i ask if that native english speakers consider that as well. we adapted, so can you. we are speaking your language, yes. we are engaging in your culture as well along with it.

but its almost 2023. isnt it time to realize that the culture of speaking english might not be only yours anymore? 😉😝

we try to stay away from everything that is widly known as offensive, obviously. most people know where The Line TM stands for most english speaking cultures. i hardly see a quid pro quo in this, but as i stated before, i dont expect people from other cultures to understand the intricacies of mine. everyone is subject to commiting a faux pas, everyone here is human ffs.

the issue is that i see native english speakers being actively but gently corrected on an honest mistake, aaaaaand then doubling down on it under the argument "this is english speaking media". or worse, an ESL person also commiting an honest mistake but then being canceled for all eternity because it didnt fit the english cultural optics.

social media is for all. english now is, like it or not, for all. we ESL folks dont mean to offend. and more: lot of faux pas are not even offensive to us at all in translation. and theres some english expressions that sound wrong to our ears but we let it slide

i think its high time we all come together to a middle ground yes? we are willing to learn, we have been for quiiiiiite a while. but maybe, juuuust maybe, not every different way of speaking in english and point of view should be considered "problematic" if it comes from a diferent cultural optic, hmmmm?

as for the culture-privation anguish i started this with? well, if you spend so much time trying to pretend to change your very principles for the sake of not being unjustly attacked by internet strangers, it will no doubt cause anxiety (to put it fucking mildly).

do a "going back home" session. take an afternoon to actively engage in music and media from your country. no social media involved. im willing to bet with the craziness thats our world, whatever language you speak shit is utterly chaos there as well. meditate on the messages of the lyrics and the plots of the series/movies/books and everything else in it. no need to go on a full monastery-like deep dive, or even to do it super frequently. it aint court-mandated therapy, relax.

but you may have gotten much more lost on that path away from your roots than you first realized. and stopping to find your way back, even if for a couple of hours, will do your mental health so much good.

as for the english speakers, just try to keep in mind the point of view i have exposed 😉

no need to agree, no need to change. hell, truthfully no need to even keep in mind if you dont want to, i suppose. but not everyone shares you issues, strenghts, and optics. not everyone has the same life story, or even history.

and remember: at the end of the day we are all the same species, sharing the same planet. we have more in common than you think 😉

[fizzingwizard]

I am using being sick as my excuse for this rant

My pet peeve, as someone who's lived abroad for about ten years total, with my fellow expats...

Some people decide to live abroad, by their own personal choice, because they're interested in getting to know another place and way of living. They aren't forced - they aren't desperate for a job or running from war or gang violence. They (myself included) are privileged people who enjoy travel and adventure.

But for those same reasons, some of these people are so entitled! It drives me up the wall. You chose to come to another country, and now all you can do is complain about it. Why don't you go home?

Of course it's okay to talk about things that are difficult or confusing and warn other expats about "foreigner services" which are actually really unhelpful and whatnot. That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the English teacher who makes fun of their own students for being shy ("Kids in my country are way more assertive and confident!") or for having different boundaries. "In my country it's not like that! These kids are oversensitive!" You're not in your country, genius. You would think that pertinent reminder is all they'd need to realize they're being a jerk - nope! "But I have to understand it!" they say. You have to understand it... to what end? To validate it?? To validate a different culture's way of doing things??? Hon, if that's how you feel, you are not ready to leave your home country. You don't get to decide if something's legitimate based on whether or not you can easily and organically understand it. These are societal norms baked deep into the culture - did you really think you were gonna show up and blow everyone away with your exciting foreignness and they'd all change their ways to be the same as your clearly superior ones???

I know these people don't mean it like that and would balk at such a description, but... what can I say... the shoe fits.

It especially bugs me when it involves kids. Because we've all been kids, so we should all know how confusing it is to be one and how little responsible children are for the cultural norms they absorb. But it makes no more sense when it involves adults either because again... it's their country and their culture.

But there's always some expat who is so baffled that "anyone could think this food tastes good!" or that "anyone actually thinks masks are useful!" Like I get that the food doesn't match your tastes. I get that the information about masks in your home country is very different from here. You're entitled to feel that way... but you're not entitled to make a mockery of the country you CHOSE to go live in for being used to different things.

That is the bottom line. You chose to be here!! No one is twisting your arm. Why would anyone decide to go work and live abroad without any intention of being open to different perspectives? When you travel you experience new horizons, both literal and figurative. You don't have to write over your own background. You simply have to have the basic capacity to appreciate human diversity.

You don't have to understand. You just don't! When I first moved to Japan, I often said "I never felt more like an American." That was because, at that time, the cultural differences were more stark - things surprised me almost every day. Occasionally there were things that didn't sit right with me. But I knew two things. One, I knew that my at the time very short experience of a couple years in Japan was nowhere near enough time to understand an element of culture, especially to the point of being able to criticize it. And two, I knew that regardless of how I may feel, it's not my culture - I'm the guest - I'm the one who needs to make allowances. In return, the vast majority of people I met also made allowances for my own many cultural faux pas - because they're nice and not idiots and knew they can't expect a foreigner to know the ins and outs of their culture like a native.

Fast forward to now. It's been almost ten years. I no longer feel surprised every day. Things I thought I'd never get used to are part of the daily routine. Things I thought I'd always miss about the US... I don't really miss anymore! The gaps that were made when I moved have been filled with the things I found here. If I ever move back, or to somewhere else, the same thing will no doubt happen again. That's what time does - time, and openness to change.

And many of the things that "didn't sit right with me" in the beginning... I've come to see why they work here. Or why they're valued. Or, at the very least, that even if the Japanese way of doing things may leave something to be desired... the American way I was accustomed to isn't actually any better x'D

I'm not perfect, but I can say I didn't come here with pretensions. I never assumed that because I'm an American, I know the right way of doing things and the people I meet should "learn" from me. I came here fully expecting that I would be the one learning from what I found here.

So these certain chatty expats (only certain people! - many expats are wonderful) just baffle me. It's like, travel is expensive... there have got to be cheaper ways of deluding yourself that you've got everything figured out and everyone else has it backwards haha.

I'm sure I sound rather harsh. It's just feeling a bit fed up from being sick and reading too much nonsense xP But even though most of those people don't have any bad intentions, it's just so weird to me, some of the things they complain about. "Students in Japan aren't like students in the US and I think there's something wrong with them!" No, my dude, they're kids. There's nothing wrong with them. What's wrong with you, the guy who got on the plane to leave the US in the first place?

[danim05]

Chapter 13 Fieldwork: Migration

"Welcome is one of the most important words for an Immigrant"-Antonio

An immigrant is defined as a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country. Have you ever thought about the hardships that immigrants face everyday? Have you ever heard any of their survival stories and realized how blessed you are to be considered a US citizen from birth? I had the opportunity of Interviewing my Professor Mr. Antonio , and this is his story.

Mr. Antonio was born and raised in a small part of Italy called Turin where his lived with both his parents , and his 6 older siblings. Being that he was the youngest of 6 and only one to immigrate to the US , he did not have anyone to help him.Unlike most immigrant stories , Mr. Antonio stated that he was privileged because he was not forced out of his country like many of his other friends. He attended a school in Italy and was able to obtain his bachelors degree in creative writing but wanted to further his education. Mr. Antonio's main reason for migrating was to further his education and studying. Mr. Antonio first migrated at the age of 21 to Italy and remained there for 10 years. While in Spain , a pull that brought and kept him there was the culture and job opportunities. Being that Spain was also a Spanish speaking country , he had no issues fitting in. It was not until the age of 31 that Mr. Antonio decided to come to the United States. He had no prior knowledge of the US Until a friend of his told him about the many opportunities that the United States offered. He did not know how to speak English and definitely did not know about the "American way". In finding out about all these new possibilities Professor Antonio decided that he would be able change his life in America. When he received an email from a job opportunity in Kentucky that allowed him to both work and study he accepted it but was not ready for the culture shock that was waiting. Unlike most immigrants Professor Antonio was able to get all his documentation to come to the Unites States with ease.

Although his road might have seemed easy and privileged , Mr. Antonio still faced some common Barriers. The main barrier was the unexpected culture shock that he faced. For example , Mr. Antonio spoke about how he realized that in America everything was about Gaines. If someone did something for you , it was always like they expected something back , which he was not used to. Growing up everyone around him had always been givers , and just did things for others out of the kindness of their hearts. He also learned fast that money was the route of everything. This caused Professor to feel like he did not fit in amongst the American species and never really felt like he belonged. Hearing his first impressions about his experiences with American people honestly made me feel sad and ashamed to be a US Citizen. I have seen first hand how immigrants are treated in America and wish that I could do something about it. I'ts sad to say that I was not shocked or surprised by his responses. Another barrier that Professor Antonio faced was the English Language. Due to the fact that he lived in Spanish speaking states for most of his life and never planned on settling in America , he had never really take the time out to learn English. It took him nearly three years to get it down pact but still faces issue with pronunciation of certain words.

Professor Antonio was also forced to watch some of his good friends deal with Racism. Although he was never racially profiled this caused him to always feel the need to watch his back and to not get in any trouble. For example whenever he is driving he always makes sure to go the speed limit while driving because who knows what could happen if he gets pulled over. The constant fear that immigrants face and live with every day is not talked about enough.

After talking with Professor Antonio it made me realize the privilege that I have as someone who was born and raised in the United States. I may never have to worry about my citizenship being questioned or have to deal with barriers that Immigrants are forced to go through. Professor Antonio is now living with his wife in Maryland and loves the diversity of it and being a Spanish teacher. However , he still feels like an outsider most days and would like to eventually move to Mexico.

Fun Fact

His favorite restaurant is his kitchen where he likes to make Paella for his family and friends

"Home is somewhere you should feel safe and welcome and many Immigrants do not find that "