#imperial society

[mythalism]

genuinely curious how the writers and larger dragon age audience would treat thom rainier if instead of being appropriately* repentant and putting himself in prison he blew up a major orlesian government building to instigate a chevalier rebellion or tried to have someone do some necromantic blood magic ritual involving uncertain danger and possible sacrifices to bring the innocent children he ordered killed back to life

[nando161mando]

Been trying to explain this for a while

[skltart]

villian and violent, infant and innocent//baby, both arms cradle you now

[dailyanarchistposts]

Dig For Victory!

Most people have a garden or could take on an allotment fairly near to where they live. Organising garden sharing schemes where people with gardens they can’t use team up with people who want to garden but don’t have gardens is a worthwhile step. We need to investigate ways of producing and distributing organic food in our localities in ways that maintain biodiversity and as far as possible outside the money economy. Think organic, low-impact farming won’t work? A recent study of sustainable agriculture using low-tech methods introduced on farms supporting 4m people in majority world countries revealed that food production increased 73%, crops like cassava and potato showed a 150% increase and even large ‘modern’ farms could increase production 46%. The future occupation and use of land will depend on the extent to which all who wish to do so have discussed and consented to such use, that those occupying or using the land continue to work in solidarity with the whole of society within broad principles of co-operation, sharing freely both the means of production and what is produced. No individual or group of individuals will have any ‘right’ to say “the land must be used in the way we decide” nor can what is on or under the land or produced upon it be their property, whether plant or animal. The number of people involved in agriculture (in its widest sense) will probably expand greatly, with vast estates and agri-corp holdings broken up and shared out but also urban farms created in and near towns. The aim of agriculture (and associated activities like food processing) will be self-sufficiency for the localities and specialization or growing for ‘export’ only where there is surplus land or productive forces. It is likely that neighbours, co-workers, communities and communes will collectively agree that land will be used in particular ways according to a plan or program of beneficial change. This will not always be in the direction of development or ‘efficiency’ (which will have different definitions and parameters anyway); if people need more gardens or wilderness, small-holdings instead of sheep stations, they will create them.

To many people this will sound utopian. However we believe that if this approach was developed widely – and applied to our other vital needs — it could subtly undermine the credibility and power of the global economy (as well as having obvious personal benefits in terms of health etc). It is an important part of building social solidarity and a community of resistance in majority world communities. It would be a way of showing our solidarity with these majority world movements based around issues of land use, access to resources and so on: communities of small farmers are organising seed banks to preserve crop diversity as well as launching more militant attacks on the multinationals such as trashing fields of GM cotton and destroying a Cargill seed factory. In the longer term as (hopefully) numbers and confidence increase, large long-term squats will become a possibility on land threatened by capitalist development either for roads, supermarkets, airports etc or for industrialised food production being taken back for subsistence food production and as havens of biodiversity. We should take inspiration from the Movimento Sem Terra in Brazil where in the face of severe state repression and violence hundreds of thousands of landless peasants/rural proletarians have occupied large tracts of unused land.

Although it is clear that food prices are so low that they are not a major factor in tying people into the capitalist system (rents, mortgages and bills do so far more effectively) it seems to us that a population capable of and actively involved in producing much of its own food outside of the money economy will be in a stronger position in the event of large scale struggles against capitalism involving strikes, lockouts, occupations and campaigns of non-payment etc. Many thousands of people are being forced by the government to take low-paid, shitty jobs or mickey mouse workfare schemes and threatened with loss of benefit if they refuse. We could support that refusal by offering surplus food from allotments and gardens to those suffering the state’s oppression. There is also the possibility of people developing similar independence from the money economy in other spheres as well — housing, energy production, waste management, health care etc which would also be highly beneficial but which is beyond the scope of this text. So to summarise our practical response should consist of: 1) a massive campaign of direct action; 2) a consumer boycott and propaganda campaign against corporate injustice, focussing on issues of sustainability and social justice; and 3) attempts at collective withdrawal from the industrialised food production system.

[phoenix-king-ozai]

Why the Live Action Netflix ATLA shouldn’t had Zuko fight back in the Agni Kai duel!

Apparently, the Live Action Netflix Adaptation had decided to have Zuko accept and fight back during the Agni duel between father and son. This I believe was a major narrative mistake that shouldn’t have been changed from the original animated version.

Ozai became infuriated that Zuko was a “coward” that would not defend his honor and pride in front of his father and the entire royal court. Which is why Ozai demanded Zuko to get up and fight him or he would be “taught” respect. This is also connected to other “macho” bushido beliefs and attitudes that firebending men and boys are encouraged and expected to fulfill in the Fire Nation’s violent, authoritarian, fascistic militarized society and culture corrupted by Sozin’s militarism and imperialistic ideology. We see this with Zhao when he insults Zuko for sparing his life and calling him a coward. “ Your father raised a coward!” Commander Zhao B1 E3 The Southern Air Temple.

Zhao would rather get burned, scarred, deformed and possibly killed than have his face and possibly life be spared by Zuko’s compassionate actions. Both Ozai and Zhao were disgusted and disappointed by Zuko’s belief and attitudes toward empathy, mercy, and surrendering. This also explains why Zhao refused Zuko’s help during the fight with Tui and La Avatar State empowered Aang! Fighting a glorious battle to the death even when outmatched and showing no mercy but ruthless is honored and praised in Elite Fire Nation society and culture.

The point that I’m trying to get at is! Zuko not agreeing to the Agni Kai and kneeling infuriated Ozai which led to Zuko’s scarring and banishment because of Ozai’s dissatisfaction, disappointment, and disgust in Zuko’s fear, terror, and unwillingness to duel his father aka a member of his family. Zuko’s terror and desire to not fight his father also conflicted him in the Agni Kai causing him not to act against Ozai. This is the main reason Zuko’s fight with Azula was so impactful. Zuko didn’t want to fight his family yet had no choice regarding his father and sister.

I glad that despite Zuko fighting back in the Agni Kai in Episode 6: Mask of NATLA. That the showrunners stayed true to the characters: Ozai and Zuko along with the themes of the Agni Kai. I’m also glad that they didn't make Ozai have a favored child. Ozai wants Zuko and Azula to both prove themselves. Ozai doesn't favor Zuko or Azula. It is about which child will succeed Sozin, Azulon, and his legacy as future Fire Lord. In fact, Ozai doesn't want Zuko or Azula to think that they are the “favorite” child. He wants Azula and Zuko to improve through competition. Because of “steel sharpen steel” mentality. Ozai has the mentality of an imperialist warlord. I think Ozai, Zuko, Iroh and Azula’s characterization were well done and faithful! Iroh being confronted over Ba Sing Se was amazing as well and tied to his grief of Lu Ten’s death.

[forevergulag]

little know fact but standardized coin money only evolved from things such as livestock becoming the most commonly used currency for what we know as bartering

[beep-beepster]

I feel like there is a strong correlation to Frank Hubert’s initial subtext with Dune (its islamic religious themes, a premise setting an empire against local populaces, the attention towards ecological developments in desert environments with a bias towards temperate zones from outsiders wanting to “enrich” the land), and all of the recent developments in Gaza and its history, both with the original influences to Hubert’s novel and the timing of a blockbuster adaptation happening while international focus grows towards Palestine, that is going unmentioned outside of the usual jokes and memes

[queen-mabs-revenge]

found 'the way' a really interesting piece of speculative fiction exploring the idea of anti-migrant xenophobic violence being turned inwards towards 'legitimate citizens' when interests of capital are threatened by struggle, but this sequence in the last episode def stood out to me as a neoluddite.

feels connected to this quote from dan mcquillan's 'resisting ai - an anti-fascist approach to artificial intelligence':

Bergson argued that if one accepts a ready- made problem in this way, "one might just as well say that all truth is already virtually known, that its model is patented in the administrative offices of the state, and that philosophy is a jig- saw puzzle where the problem is to construct with the pieces society gives us the design it is unwilling to show us." (Deleuze, 2002, cited in Coleman, 2008) In other words, however sophisticated or creative AI might seem to be, its modelling is stuck in abstractions drawn from the past, and so becomes a rearrangement of the way things have been rather than a reimagining of the way things could be. AI has, in effect, an inbuilt political commitment to the status quo, in particular to existing structures that embed specific relations of power. The absence of different concepts leaves out the possibility of conceiving that things could be arranged differently.

[lord-squiggletits]

Part of why I hate this fandom's take on Autobots vs Decepticons is ppl (mainly 'con fans honestly) who can't have any nuance of the situation whatsoever and love to write plots like "oh the humans are racist and abusive towards Cybertronians so this is how Megatron is right" no actually I don't think colonialism/imperialism and racism are justified so long as you can point the finger and say "they were the aggressors first" or "their hands are no cleaner than ours bc their society sucks too" sorry. Please come up with better sociopolitical narratives in your war story.

[simplysebby]

Again not an artist (or a photographer) but something I've noticed ever since I started becoming more aware of the world around me

It's almost like many, many societies and systems are built on bigotry. Who could've guessed.

[nando161mando]

"Anarchism is the teaching of freedom. Where there is exploitation, where there is power, where authority holds sway, where centralism exists, where man keeps guard over man, where orders are given and obedience offered there is no freedom.

The destruction of all authorities, all privileges, all institutions of property and slavery can come to pass only out of the free communal spirit. The stateless community of free people, — that is communism, the solidarity of equals in freedom, that is anarchy!"

— Eric Mühsam, The Liberation of Society from the State: What is Communist Anarchism?

[oxytocinatrocities]

Think for a minute about all the blessings in your life and say a brief prayer of gratitude to the CEO of the Universe. Also known as God, the work and glory of this self-made sociopath is to spread his gospel - prosperity gospel - to all the ends of the earth. Out of love.

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Consequences of Motorisation

In the past, cities and towns were built to the scale of the walking person, and pedestrians, vehicle users, horse, cart, carriage, cycle, bus, car, lorry all had the same physical access to buildings. This equality has disappeared with the increasing speed (and volume) of motor traffic. Along main arterial roads barriers are put up to speed traffic flow; they also prevent pedestrians from crossing and motorists from parking so car users and bus passengers can no longer use local shops. The next stage is that a hypermarket opens elsewhere killing off small shops and forcing pedestrians and bus users to shop there or go to the more expensive shop on their estate (with its monopoly of local trade). Cities become compartmentalised, area by area. At the core is a hostile city centre defended by an urban motorway, its inhabitants gone. It is surrounded by a series of neighbourhoods hemmed in by fast-moving traffic on long arterial roads carrying commuters and freight back and forth. People can only enter or leave the city at controlled points. The city is fragmented, with no inter-connectivity between communities or people. Further out a series of scattered encampments – the outer suburbs — cluster the ring road. Cities devoid of life, with traffic endlessly circulating around ring roads. The poor from different areas never meet, leading totally separate existences. Thousands of people live in their own niche within neighbourhoods, isolated and atomised in their own homes.

[phoenix-king-ozai]

Personally I see Ozai as a quiet kid for the most part. It's when someone touches him/pisses him off the inner menace shows up like Jeong finds out in my comic above.

Ozai was probably a quiet, cold, aloof, and callous child, especially during his teenage years, however, despite the hilariousness of this comic. I doubt an elite noble general or admiral would touch the Fire Prince of the Fire Nation without his direct approval and consent. Family members would be the exception and normal occurrence. However, it would be taboo and horrible manners for someone random to touch nobility, especially royals without approval. Even a general or admiral would probably have a finger or hand cut off for such an offense in a hierarchical-dominated society like in Fire Nation Elite Culture. Iroh and Azulon on the other hand would have no issue touching Ozai even Li and Lo; if they were Azulon's twin sisters. My headcanon is that Jeong Jeong is Li's son and Zhao is Lo's son. If that is the case then contact with Ozai would be permitted. Though I doubt Jeong Jeong would be touch-feely with Prince Ozai anyway even if he was his cousin. JJ was probably a bit strict, stern, and professionally aloof man even during the days of his military career as an Admiral and General though it got worse in the later years.

P.S. Also, Ozai as a prince and being raised by strict Azulon probably wouldn't attack Jeong Jeong outright but give him a strong and stern refusal of physical contact and respect for his personal space.

Jeong Jeong tries to pat Ozai's head and give him a hug…

Ozai: I would rather not...

Jeong Jeong: Very well, my prince…

[belongstolove]

[boyw1fe]

fully just using this game to make little OC's left and right