#this election is the fucking worst

[carry-a-world]

this is going under a read more because I need to vent real quick and therapy is not until Friday 🫡

The Reality TM of the election being next week hit me today and let me tell you, as the sole leftist (and queer to boot) in a conservative family this time sucks big ole balls. There is not a single mfing lifeline for me. My brothers (both younger) are more centrist, depending on the issue. Both, however, are content to hang me out on the line when it comes to my parents and extended family 9 out of 10 times.

Messaged our siblings chat today and was like hello please consider not voting for Trump and rattled off a couple reasons. Only for the younger one, who I am generally closer with, to go off about not wanting to hear about politics or talk about politics because it’s all he hears about and it’s taking over his life. That’s cute, bucko, but my rights to make decisions about my own body and my right to marry whoever I want are about to be legislated the fuck away.

(Said youngest also told me not to use “queer” to refer to myself and I told him to shove it up his ass)

As the Eldest Daughter TM I have always looked after their stupid asses. Who was doing their science fair tri fold the night before it was due? Doing all the chores so we didn’t get in trouble? Listening to mental health stuff because our dad doesn’t believe in it (sure Jan your ADHD ass is fine)? Playing anchor even from a distance when our parents almost got divorced when I was in undergrad? Helping with resumes and handling professors and writing papers? Mediating when the youngest was in Germany having a depressive spiral and my parents didn’t want to let him come home? All me baby.

The middle child is a recalcitrant little shit who at least is getting his depression (funny how heritable that and the ADHD are in my family) treated. But he doesn’t tell anyone jack shit and is more likely to lash out when asked (making comments at holidays that were vaguely threatening to out me before I finally came out to my parents this summer). And it’s just…. So unfucking fair.

My thoughts and opinions on the world and politics, on my queerness especially, to which they were the only family members I could say anything about to until 3 months ago, were and still are always shut down. I got the “I don’t care who you date, you’re still my sister” in the moment that felt great but has had near zero follow up support on. Like fuck you. Fuck you so much. And yet I desperately want them to have my back because otherwise holidays and family gatherings are just me getting dogpiled, or me sitting there just listening to people that I love and care about shit on other people that I love and care about for being queer, or especially for being trans. It would be so nice to talk to someone who has my shared childhood experiences AND shares my opinions and it’s just not happening.

Anyway. For my fellow queer darlings, or even just cis het women at this point, who have family voting for someone that is going to actively take away their rights… I feel you. It fucking blows and we deserve better.

[hussyknee]

Trying to explain what the fuck just happened in Lankan politics today.

The leftist party has won 159 seats out of 218 in the Parliamentary elections. The single biggest landslide win since we broke from the British and achieved universal franchise in 1948.

Any party achieving a super majority in the executive and legislative is, objectively speaking, bad. It disables checks and balances, which is a catastrophic thing for any democracy, and the only two other times it's happened for us has irrevocably eroded the fabric of civic rights and democratic freedom. Also, the reason the NPP won the North and East is that the colonized, genocided and subjugated people there have no faith in electoralism anymore. The way this government has engaged minority issues has been utterly abysmal and now they've been rewarded for it.

On the other hand:

The winners. Are all. Grassroots. Candidates.¹

We have voted out every single career criminal that's been barnacled into the Lankan political arena since before I've been alive. The fascist party has only three seats.² The other fascists didn't win a single seat. The neoliberal legacy party won none. There are only forty people in Parliament that represent any sort of dynastic political legacy. After 76 solid years of nothing but political dynasties.

This is barely five years after the Rajapaksas swept in and absolutely glutted the Parliament with their family members and cronies end to end.

This is the illegitimate interim government we had for most of the last 18 months. We literally, physically, chased the Rajapaksas out of the country and this fucking demon set up a puppet government just so he could finally sit in that goddamn chair and be the despot he'd always dreamed of in exchange for letting them all come back. He's now gone. His entire circle is gone.

THEY ARE ALL FUCKING GONE.

In US terms, just imagine that, five years from now, when Trump's GOP has control of everything, the entire GOP and the worst of the Dems are all purged from Congress and Senate, the Green Party in control of all three branches of government under a pro-union left-wing President and an unmarried female LGBT rights activist Vice President, and the Dems reduced to barely 20% of the House.

This is my anthropology professor. She joined politics from the small nascent leftist coalition to help keep the government accountable. She's now the Prime Minister and the most popular Parliamentary candidate in the nation's history. (Edit: She was knocked off first place by a dude in the final result. Boo.)

(On the other hand— the woman who helped make me a radical anarchist and literally helped write a book on political dissent and resistance...now is the state. Uh.)

But there are so many women in Parliament! We had the lowest female representation in a South Asian Parliament and some of them were from the list of seats reserved for parties rather than elected ones. Most were either anti-feminist conservative embarrassments, widows and daughters of elite politicians and neoliberal shills. It's still only an increase of a few percentage points (Edit: from the previous 5% to 10% in the final result!) but now we have elected academics, feminist advocates, activists! There Is a representative for Malaiyaha Tamils in the Central Province for the first time in history and it's a young woman! (Edit: now it's two female Malaiyaha MPS!!) This is the plantation community that still live in conditions closest to the slavery the British forced upon them two hundred years ago!

I'm like. Completely mindfucked. To be very very clear, the NPP coalition formed around the nucleus of the JVP that used to be communist but haven't been in 30 years, they're now just social democrats who are left of places like the US and UK, whose "left" is now center-right. They're only threatening to the Western mainstream media for some reason who can't stop bleating about how we have a "Marxist" government now. In reality, the actual chances for radical reform are still quite low, and the opportunity for further erosion is quite high with a super majority government regardless of affiliation.

On the other hand:

What the fuck.

Sometimes living through historical events is really damn amazing.

---

¹ Well, nearly. There are a few career politicians and a nepo baby but they aren't so bad either.

² Goddamn it, Baby Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka's answer to JD Vance have wormed their way in using the list of Constitutionally reserved party seats for non-elected members. FUCK the National List.

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

While we're waiting around for your perfect, beautiful, lovely revolution, please vote for Kamala Harris

[irenespring]

Really I think nothing shouts "my first Presidential election as a politically active person was 2016" more than the fact that when I feel hope and excitement for the future (possible President Harris) for more than five minutes I immediately get a crushing, all-consuming anxiety of "feeling this positive emotion now is going to make it so much worse when the worst thing possible happens" to the extent that I'll probably need my break-glass-in-case-of-emergency anxiety medication.

[apollosmusee]

do the people who voted for trump genuinely not have functioning brains

[k3n-dyll]

I know I said I'd be inactive but I gotta rant like I'm at a point of pure rage and I'm not all the way sober rn. As a black woman? I feel betrayed. Like I have no clue why, but for some reason I had faith in y'all to come through and recognize that while Kamala isn't perfect by any means that a Trump presidency would likely mean wraps for all of us, but no. Every. Single. Group managed to fuck up aside from black men and women in this election.

What happens when the internet becomes so overruled with censorship that we can no longer share information about the causes we care about? The police are already over militarized and the oompa loompa that's been put up in office is fully ready to grant them immunity, meaning they would essentially be able to do whatever the fuck they want to us without consequence.

I mean let's be fucking real that immunity is going to affect my community at a disproportionate rate just in case you guys already forgot what those pigs like to do to us. And my community is also that main group of people that is out on the street riding for everybody when there's an issue so what's gonna happen now? Hm?

Black women have been saying for a good while that we should vote for the candidate who will let us keep doing the work we're trying to do. The one that we would be safe protesting and organizing under so that we can make change both in and outside of our community, for example, actually putting third-party candidates in STATE GOVERNMENTS so that when actual viable third parties run, they'll have some chance in the presidential election. Y'know because the Electoral votes and support from state governments are really what matters.

And I say ACTUAL viable third-party candidates because, let's be real once again, half the people who voted for Jill Stein didn't do research on her like they should have. That white lady has been a grifter this isn't news.

It's like...watching people just cling to the idea that some big revolution is going to start within the next year because of this is exhausting, especially when the vast majority of American citizens had not a fucking clue about Palestine, Sudan, or Congo until 2023. Unfortunately for us, this shit takes time and actual irl community building. These election results have only made what would have been difficult nearly impossible because people either want to stand on some moral high ground or for 'tax cuts' that they aren't eligible for because half of you bitches are poor just like the rest of us.

I'm fucking exhausted. My ancestors survived slavery, Jim Crow, red lining - we're still surviving and fighting for justice for victims of police brutality and I am so. Fucking. Tired of surviving shit because y'all can't think critically for two fucking seconds. It's like doing a group project but everyone else has a few pebbles in their skulls knocking around in there instead of brains.

[vellialavellious]

FUCKING DAMMIT

[hazel2468]

Look-

Anyone who tries telling you that both parties are the same and there is no point in voting? Has a fucking agenda, and it's a nasty one.

Do the Dems disappoint me? Yes, constantly. Do I have gripes with Biden? 100%.

Do I also recognize that he has GOTTEN SHIT DONE and that those things are like. NOT talked about by people my age because it feels better to be angry and constantly demanding better while being unwilling to put up with Average Joe who is ACTUALLY doing things that progressives have been asking for for AGES (putting caps on medication prices, working to cancel student and medical debt, investing in infrastructure and going after inflation, started working on protecting reproductive rights after Trump put in place the shitty judges who wrecked Roe, is trying to go after how weed is scheduled and pardoned all federal offenses, et-fucking-cetera).

Not only do I actually LIKE some of the shit Biden is doing? If Trump gets back in office? People will die. He and his have been OPEN about the fact that they want to go (somehow) even MORE fascist.

Fucking vote. Anyone telling you not to has your worst interests at heart. Be as pissed off as you want, but fucking VOTE. Because we have a chance of continuing to push a president like Biden towards the change we want to see. We have ZERO chance of that with Trump, or someone like him.

[oceanneverposts]

the tangerine twat won. brb, gotta go kiss my basic human rights goodbye

[hylialeia]

I get that everyone's feeling a lot of feelings right now but one thing is certain and that is that you could not pay me to blame Palestinians for this. even if Harris had lost only because of her stance on Gaza (which she didn't and honestly the mere suggestion that she did is laughable, based on the statistics), both US candidates openly campaigned with pro-genocide stances and promises to gleefully advance the USAmerican war machine. this wasn't a "leftist tantrum over an imperfect candidate", this was a horrifying and genuinely sickening choice. I have never known what it would feel like to have to vote for someone who enabled the genocide of my people, friends, and family, and I absolutely fucking refuse to hate those who do.

[k2ulhu]

hulu was doing live coverage of the election until 2:00am, at which point my power randomly went out and when I reopened the hulu app on my tv the election coverage was replaced with

[onlytiktoks]

[lastoneout]

I'm gonna compile some info from trusted sources on the current H5N1(Bird Flu) situation(mostly as a means to calm myself down) but rn I am seeing a LOT of people who just tuned into this on other sites who are confused and outraged that the us government has basically been doing fuck-all to contain this properly, and I just wanna say if you're one of those people rightfully asking what the fuck is going on, now would be a great time to start contacting your representatives and the White House and idk the fucking CDC and demand they actually do what they can with the time they have to stop this from getting worse, because god knows the Trump Admin. is probably going to operate on a platform of "let it rip" which, if this virus is as bad as it has the potential to be, will be fucking catastrophic.

Dont panic yet, we aren't at the "Oh God Fucking Panic" stage right now(contrary to what the fearmongers on Twitter are saying we do not have any proof of H2H spread atm, in fact we have more proof showing it hasn't gone H2H than anything) but it's a good idea to speak out while you can. Demand action.

Also get your covid booster and flu shot ASAP and stock up on masks(K/N95s are the best but 2020 proved that any mask is better than none for the flu) and air filters if you can. Get used to wearing a mask again, stay home if you're sick if you can and if you can't at least mask and keep your distance from others. If you have important doctors appointments or medical procedures you've been putting off now is the time to do them. We're not at "panic" but we are very much at "prepare". Especially knowing who is about to be in charge of all this.

[tuttle-did-it]

FUCK. THE. TORIES.

They have refused to increase wages whilst forcing the cost of living to skyrocket so high that nearly all of us are counting pennies to pay bills. If we can pay them.

They intentionally and gleefully forced us into a horrible economic (and cultural) depression through Brexit, and not one of them had a single consequence for the constant lies they told to get it passed. This will only get worse.

They have intentionally dismantled the NHS by underfunding it to the point where the NHS staff are all burnt out (having nervous breakdowns, leaving the country for far- better paying jobs or just leaving the field completely) just so they could sell it off to privatised companies worth billions just so they can fill their own pockets. Oh, and the incredible capable staff (medical or support) who were all from Europe have been told they are no longer welcome here and they have returned home because Britain is a cesspool of bigotry and hate

They are dismantling the social care systems for the disabled and elderly, to try to force us back to work even though we are physically and/or mentally incapable of work by stripping away our incomes.

They're doing everything they can to keep us from living by making sure we cannot afford food, housing, utilities, water, and tax.

They are living on taxpayers whilst having millions, even billions in the bank for themselves.

The corrupt politicians fill their bank accounts and buy third and fourth houses across all Europe, another boat— whatever— and they have scandal after scandal with absolutely no consequence, and we can do absolutely nothing.

Their handling of COVID was criminal, and aside from wasting an incredible amount of money, they are responsible for many deaths by not acting fast enough and by forcing people back into the workplace when they knew it was not safe because they wanted to improve the economy they collapsed.

Oh, and don't forget all those lovely parties they had during COVID lockdowns when we were all in our houses and not allowed to see family members who were dying-- or even go to their funerals because of COVID restrictions.

They are intentionally fuelling the hate at queer people-- specifically trans people. This, I assure you, will get so much worse.

They keep sending money from taxpayers over to fund wars in other places-- including genocide-- with no way for us to fight back.

They keep making law after law making it more and more difficult for us to protest against everything they are doing.

Now the Tories expect you to do 12-18 months (+4 reserve years) of mandatory conscripted service in the military so you can go help countries commit war atrocities and genocide. And if you refuse, you are sanctioned. And they are making more and more laws restricting protest and free speech, so if we fight back, we're punished-- criminalised.

Do you understand what is happening right now?

Anyone who can still vote for the Tories after all of this, I have only a deep seeded concern for their sanity, and revulsion at their lack of morals.

FUCK EVERYONE WHO WILL OR HAS EVER VOTED FOR THESE MONSTERS.

FUCK.

THE.

TORIES.

FUCK.

THEM.

ALL.

[howdoyousleep3]

never in my life have i wanted a Daddy more than i do rn 😭

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

also if you're proudly saying shit like "errrrrrrm anyway i'm going back to starbucks!! 😋" because you think pro-palestinian activists cost Kamala the election then I genuinely hope you spend the rest of the day curled over on the toilet shitting your brains out.