#this sucks but. I think one of the reasons I regularly feel more solidarity with transfems than transmascs even though I myself am

[dykesynthezoid]

Obviously the majority of trans men sound totally normal in how they discuss cis women perpetuating transphobia and being transphobic to them and how that affects how they relate to cis women and all of that is really important for us to be discussing as a community etc

But then there’s like. A minority that will straight up say things like “I don’t give a shit about cis women dying from lack of access to safe abortion since we trans men have it worse anyway” and it’s like hey uh what the fuck. What the fuck

[riseofthecommonwoodpile]

some quick thoughts on Michael Schmidt’s Cartography of Revolutionary Anarchism aka I Fucking Hated This Book:

(and also I’m kinda sick and my adhd meds are wearing off for the day so this will be poorly written, sorry)

I picked up Cartography because it seemed like a short but global history of anarchist movements from the 1860′s to today, which sounds great! I’m an anarchist, I like history, what could go wrong? and what i found was genuinely one of the worst books i’ve read in years. i’ve thought about formatting this into a proper review, but no one really cares, so let’s do bullet points:

—the most immediately obvious and glaring problem is that Schmidt treats Marxism as if it is an equal (or sometimes implied to be even greater) enemy to anarchists than capitalism. he at one point literally does the “fascism was bad, but the USSR was just as bad” lib thing, and it comes across as completely ideologically blinded. i am well aware of the ways in which anarchists have been treated under centralized communist states, and let’s just say i am Not A Fan, but even thinking about that, the fact that the only opposition to anarchism we hear about regularly is marxist-leninist opposition, and not fucking CAPITALIST OPPOSITION, skews it into the most blindly and dumbly polemical shit i’ve read since, ironically, Lenin’s State and Revolution —every time he says Maoism he puts it in scare quotes? “Maoism”. it’s silly —he claims that anarcho-syndicalism is the most influential and powerful leftist movement and idea of the 20th century, which like....... —by “anarchism”, he means, specifically, anarcho-syndicalism and revolutionary syndicalism, even that which is not explicitly anarchist. he says anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism are the same thing, basically, so we’ll just call them both anarcho-syndicalism, and also any anarchism that doesn’t follow Bakunin isn’t really anarchism, the only way forward for anarchism is through platformism, and all other forms of anarchism are individualist and don’t care about class struggle. i don’t even need to get into how absurd that all is. even if you agree with it, that shit has to be defended, it is not self-evident as he treats it —the history is both a.) bad and b.) terribly written. this comes across in three main ways: one, there is an equation of all union efforts with anarcho-syndicalism, which, yes, was very influential on union organizing throughout the world (and continues to be very influential), but that equivalence is just not helpful or explanatory. it’s clearly just polemic to make it seem like there were more influential and powerful anarchist groups in the world than there actually were. two, he just throws out numbers for the sizes of some of these groups, and the vast, VAST majority of the time gives no context for them. he will say X group in Uruguay had X amount of members in 1935...but i have no idea if that’s a lot or a little. what percentage of workers in this industry was that? what percentage of the population? how did that compare with other political groups in that same time and place? without context these numbers mean literally nothing. and beyond that, some of the groups he talks about are so tiny and dissolved so quickly that it feels a lot of the time like i’m reading a brief history of global communism that included, in the 8 pages of actual history from 1990-today, an entire paragraph about every splinter group of the US red guards —three, and this one requires its own bullet point because of how much it sucked to read, he goes into way too much detail for the space he’s given himself, and there is no reasonable way for him to adequately discuss or give even an impression of every group he brings up. for example, in the 15 history-focused pages for what he called the “third wave” from 1924-1949 (and these are small pages too, about 4 1/2��� x 7 1/4″, like the size of a sci-fi paper back but with regular medium size text), the following groups are brought up and given abbreviations:

AAUD (General Workers’ Union of Germany)

AAU-E (General Labor Union- Unity Organization)

ACAT (American Continental Workingmen’s Association

ACF (Anarchist Communist Federation)

AFB (Anarchist Federation of Britain)

AFD (German Anarchist Federation)

AFP (Anarchist Federation of Poland)

CCRA (Continental Commission of Anarchist Relations)

CGIL (General Confederation of Italian Workers)

CGIL (General Italian Workers’ Federation) [Yes, they have the same abbreviation, because they are the same thing, but are presented twice with slightly different names and given abbreviations both times]

CGT (General Confederation of Labor, given in a previous chapter but I had to google)

CIA (Anarchist International Commission)

CLU (Conference of Labor Unions)

CNT (National Confederation of Labor)

CNT-DG (General Delegation of the CNT)

CRIA (Anarchist International Relations Commission)

EAAF (East Asian Anarchist Federation)

FAF (Francophone Anarchist Federation)

FAGPL (Federation of Anarchist-Communist Groups of Poland and Lithuania)

FAI (Iberian Anarchist Federation)

FAKB (Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria)

FAU (Free Worker’s Union)

FAUD (Free Workers Union of Germany)

FdCAI (Federation of Italian Anarchist Communes)

FFLU (Federation of Free Labor Unions)

FFS (Federation of Libertarian Socialists)

FFSB (Federation of Free Society Builders)

FG (Free Trade Unions)

FIJL (Libertarian Youth Federation of Iberia)

FISR (International Revolutionary Syndicalist Federation)

FKAD (Federation of Communist Anarchists of Germany)

FORV (Venezuelan Regional Workers’ Federation)

FvDG (Free Association of German Trade Unions

GAK (Group of Anarchist Communists, defined in a previous chapter but I had to google just now)

GFP (General Worker’s Federation)

HCH (General League of Koreans)

IFA (Presented without definition, I think defined in a previous chapter but google says it stands for International of Anarchist Federations, but that doesn’t make sense because that was formed in the late 60′s, way after this and the previous chapters, so idk)

IWA (International Workers Association, given in a previous chapter and presented in this one without explanation but that I know of through outside knowledge)

IWW (Industrial Workers of the World, same as previous entry)

JAC (Japanese Anarchist Club)

JAF (Japanese Anarchist Federation)

JJLL (Libertarian Youth)

KACF (Korean Anarchist Communist Federation)

KAF (Korean Anarchist Federation)

KAF-C (Korean Anarchist Federation in China)

KAF-M (Korean Anarchist Federation in Manchuria)

KRF (Korean Revolutionist Federation)

KSS (Black Front Society)

KYFSC (Korean Youth Federation in South China)

LSC (Libertarian Socialist Council)

MLNA (North African Libertarian Movement)

OVB (Independent League of Trade Unions)

POI (Italian Worker’s Party)

PSAR (Revolutionary Anarchist Socialist Party

PSI (Italian Socialist Party)

RPAU (Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine, presented without definition but defined in a previous chapter and I know of through outside knowledge. Of note, I almost never hear this referred to like this. Everyone says The Black Army)

RR (Worker’s Solidarity)

RRU (Worker’s Solidarity Movement)

SPD (Marxist Social Democratic Party)

SPIRA (Provisional Secretariat on International Relations)

SWF (Syndicalist Worker’s Federation)

UAI (Italian Anarchist Union)

UCAI (Union of Communist Anarchists of Italy)

USI (Italian Syndicalist Union)

VB (Free Union)

ZK (Kronstadt Accords)

ZSP (Polish Syndicalist Union)

ZZZ (Union of Trade Unions)

bruh I am not joking, he brings all of these up in 15 pages and it seems like you are expected to be able to both remember them and keep track of them as you read, although i’m almost certain a great deal of them are given an abbreviation, mentioned in one sentence, and then never mentioned again. however, i can not promise you that, because you KNOW i could not keep this shit straight or remember any of it.

anyways i am so fucking fed up typing all of those that i don’t want to do this anymore. the book fucking sucks, don’t get it.

[addictsitter]

F, G, Q, and T

F: What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? consistently? god, uh. i think probably kingdom hearts? but that was years back. maybe stranger things since i did get into it like, a month after s2 aired but it was a backburner fandom. wait no nm it’s descendants. cause i’ve been more or less YES DESCENDANTS GOOD a lot for the last three and a half years. so. also kind of tortall bc i get sporadically bitter about neal/kel every month or so and have since about 2007.

G: Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it? ooh okay so the first otp i remember is john sheppard/teyla emmagan from stargate atlantis and i just. never really got over them. (they’re my forever otp)

Q: A ship you’ve abandoned and why: oh okay this one is kinda tough but i guess the best example is probably jay/carlos and mal/evie from descendants? like, i have nothing against the ships themselves and there’s plenty of material there. BUT. the fandom, rachel. i hate. the descendants fandom. so goddamn much. because they’re really obnoxious (never 4get the j*ylos stans who called d3 the straightest of the movies despite jay/gil being as close to canon as we were gonna get for a descendants movie just bc carlos was still with jane. also all the j*ylos stans who complained about them ~no homo’ing~ j*ylos in d2 because carlos liked jane and jay and carlos’s friendship got less focus while completely ignoring the harry/gil kiss that was scripted, filmed and then cut!!!)

(”alec are you still bitter about d2″ I AM ALWAYS BITTER ABOUT D2)

T: Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

ahem. excuse me. [retrieves stack of paper] we’re going to go alphabetically by fandom. and by alphabetically by fandom, i mean you’re getting some highlights.

under a cut for length

battlestar galactica: hello yes have i talked about kara thrace being a lesbian yet? no? so kara thrace is a lesbian and lee adama is a trans lesbian and they are happy and in love. thank you, have a nice day.

being human: s3 established that annie feels things that people feel when she touches them which leads me to the headcanon that mitchell, nina and george made all her old favorite foods for, like, an entire week and ate them so she could enjoy them again, along with other things. (we do not discuss the plot that involved that part i don’t acknowledge 98% of s3 for a reason.)

descendants: uma’s mother is ursula, this is canon, but i fully headcanon that her father is a deity of some flavor and she, like mal, is a full on demigoddess. aside from that, i also will live and die by the idea that ben can go beast without audrey’s magic being involved. also carlos is non-binary, evie’s a trans girl, harry is the definition of chaotic bi and non-binary and gil’s a trans boy.

elementary: i. i have so many. where do i start. um. easiest is this: during the time skip in the finale while joan underwent chemo, kitty came back to new york and archie and arthur spent, like, all their time together while sherlock and kitty traded off watching the kids. also: joanlockbell ot3 or bust.

the get down: shao got the fuck away from annie and got a happy ending and met zeke again at some point and they lived happily ever after. also DIZZEE IS TOTALLY FINE.

gilmore girls: finale what finale. revival what revival. logan and rory are happily married and working on their careers and EVERYONE IS GOOD AND NOBODY IS PREGNANT.

gossip girl: dan’s not gossip girl what the fuck show. trans girl jenny or bust. also trans girl blair.

harry potter: [insert requisite dean/seamus and sirius/remus comment here] also harry became a goddamn teacher fuck that auror shit that boy needs to get away from more fighting goddamn. also someone please get him into therapy. please.

high school musical: listen chad danforth is a trans girl and people can come fight me. also requisite chad/ryan comment here.

izombie: post-s3 did not happen, ravi is either immune or a zombie and he and liv are happily together and clive is regularly grossed out by them as a couple. major goes back to being a social worker, as he fucking should have.

i had a kingdom hearts thing here but tbh i just. have so many emotions that i can’t even touch it 

leverage: listen. listen. eliot absolutely worked for the stargate program and nobody can ever convince me otherwise. it was supposed to happen and they couldn’t manage it so i’m declaring it my canon. also hardison may or may not have learned his hacking skills from his nana.

i. had magicians headcanons and i still have magicians headcanons and one of them is genderfluid quentin and that is literally the only one i can think of without crying right now.

one piece: aro/ace lawlu or bust. genderfluid sanji or bust. lesbian nami or bust. also. my asshole babes aka cp9 aka now at least partially in cp0 are not, in fact, back working for the government inexplicably but are instead working undercover in cp0 for the revolutionary army. also mishanks was a thing bye

pacific rim: gender gets really fucking weird in the drift. nobody’s cis.

shadowhunters: hi yes do you have a moment to hear about jacemaia and how they are actually friends and spend time together and help each other with trauma and like each other

stranger things: BI STEVE BI STEVE BI STEVE BI STEVE BI STEVE steve and robin are bi/lesbian solidarity and any job they have in a non-80s small town setting involves robin roasting the fuck out of steve for failing with people of every gender. also elmax.

tortall. TORTALL. okay so. alanna is non-binary of some flavor idk what. alanna is with george and they both might also be with jon who’s publicly married to thayet who’s really married to buri who’s publicly married to raoul for ~appearances~ who’s actually w/ gary and maybe jon if he’s not being a dick that day. also. kel is married to neal and yuki and they all live together at new hope and all absolutely suck at hiding that fact and everyone at new hope just, like, conveniently ignores it. also i have A Lot of neal/kel feelings and headcanons but those would take me twelve hours, three powerpoints, a fifth of whiskey and yelling directly at tamora pierce to get through.

uhhh i think that’s it? maybe? possibly? i can’t think of anything else that i want to talk about at this point? i’ll stop now, at least.

[jamiedodgerart]

if you're happy to tell us, i'd love to head more about ur inquisitor :00!! his debates with dorian sound fun

:DDD yeah sure! soz this is late

pica’s 1/6 of an inch tall

(im kidding. his name was originally a pun, but not a typography one - he’s a rehash of an old oc i had way back in the day, who was based off a magpie. hes actually on the short side for a dwarf, i want to say around 4′3″)

he was a lyrium smuggler before the inquisition, and specifically was the front man who sold it. he’s a champion liar and man of many faces, and knows how to disappear in plain sight (which is easy if you’re a dwarf and most law enforcement on the surface are humans. to a human guard dwarves all look the same and theyre too short to really get a good look at their faces). he had a pretty transient lifestyle- he didn’t get tied down, didn’t get too attached to anyone or anything, had pretty few posessions. he was 26 (or the dwarf equivalent of 26. hows dwarf aging work in dragon age anyway) when the carta got him to spy at the conclave, and you know how that went

look ok. the first half of his career as inquisitor was just. wingin’ it. no one really knew what the fuck he was supposed to be doing, least of all him, so he just pretended he knew what he was doing till, i wanna say the end of into the abyss. after talking to mal hawke some he learned that, hey, everyone’s always winging it, and also that his decisions kind of really mattered. (and that those decisions he makes can. kill people) for the first time in his life, he realizes hes actually important, and what he does changes things on the large scale

so after that, he got to thinking. the world kinda sucks. and it sucked before the war. and the leaders of thedas are really not doing all that much about it, except trying to kick each other in the nuts while their enemies are weak and completely forgetting that politics Cannot Survive as a practice if theres no farmers able to make food for diplomats to eat. so, orlais, if your farmland is all gunched up with battlefields, then you need to fix that, don’t you. but the inquisition is really, really good at providing stability! it’s good at establishing patrols, safe trade routes, providing local employment, and is a fairly reliable consumer of local goods. so pica capitalized on that, and quietly spread inquisition presence all over southern thedas. this led to immense inquisition influence, with very little fanfare.

you can guess why the rulers of thedas tried to get rid of him as soon after corypheus was taken care of as possible. they branded him a tyrant and like. ok. they werent like. super far off. bc at this point he was kinda trying to see how much of the world he could take over before anyone noticed/tried to stop him and also figured he could do like, a way better job at leading it than the current rulers could. and he wasnt beholden to anyone either (not like empress celene! elected to her throne by… uhhhhhhhhhhh divine providence or something. i mean shes doing an ok job but like i didnt vote for her) so if he really really wanted to he could go full dragon reborn

ive got off topic but point is he figures humans have had their go and they fucked it up, so it’s a dwarf’s turn and he’s going to put the world back together himself. (ps hey bioware can we have some dwarf stuff in the next game. im js. weve had a whole load of elf nonsense and its nice and all but dwarfs had a cool ancient society too yknow)

after trespasser he elects to keep the inquisition around, because he worked hard to make this glue keeping the bits of thedas stuck together and he’ll be damned if he’ll let solarse and his minions screw it up. but it gets nerfed heavily and hes pissed about it

he romanced cassandra! i really like their relationship- they look to each other for moral guidance. pica knows he can get flighty and relies on her to keep him in line, and always asks her for advice when he sees her in the courtyard. he usually doesn’t follow it but he feels it’s important to have her perspective on things

they disagree on a lot of stuff (like he made celene and briala co-leaders but she was in favor of gaspard) but he trusts her judgement, and supported her in becoming the divine

he’s a little weird about religion, specifically relating to the stone. the surfacer part of him that hates caves is like pff hippie garbage, but the bit that’s generations old and wants to belong to a larger whole of a culture is Super Into It. cole said he felt the stone’s presence around pica one time and externally he didnt react but internally he was yelling WHAT THE FUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK I LIVED IN SUCH PEACEFUL IGNORANCE I DIDNT NEED TO KNOW THAAAAAT and after the mythal thing hes like fuck believe what you want. whatever floats your boat. we live in a world where nugs have little people hands so if it comforts you to know a god did that then live your truth

re mages he figures theres a way better way for them to fit into society than the circle. its dumb. they can LIFT THINGS WITH THEIR MINDS. USE THAT FOR BUILDING. they can HEAL WOUNDS WITH THEIR MINDS. THEY CAN TALK TO SPIRITS AND SHIT THEY CAN PROBABLY FLY WHY ARENT WE USING THIS THEY’RE WASTED IN TOWERS LEARNING TO SHOOT FIREBALLS OR WHATEVER people who fear magic are cowards. chantry more like sham-try. 

hes big on research and development. he sent samson to dagna for research and in the au where mal lives he sent anders to her too. cos. like. dude COEXISTS WITH A SPIRIT. thats cool as SHIT how does it WORK. 

(im gonna make a post abt the mal lives au soon. its good)

hes largely responsible but he has also impulse bought at least three stuffed dragons. also, if the textiles technology were available, hed have dragon jammies. it’s the little things in life.

he collects notes he’s found talking about him and hangs them up by his desk. his favorite is the one samson wrote calling him a damnable rogue. he says hes doing things right, if he’s making people mad

hes trans! im not sure how thatd be regarded in dwarf society, in undergrounders i doubt it’d be very acceptable given their emphasis on reproduction, but house cadash has been on the surface for generations and has probably adopted more liberal views on lgbt stuff. either way hes not very open about it, and it’s really easy to pass when he’s around humans (i get the feeling dwarves and humans look for different things, when they’re trying to guess gender. for example hes got some beard scrub, which in human terms means male but in dwarven terms probably either means very young male or unkempt female) (the added implication to this is that varric might keep his beard to stubble so he looks younger) he met krem and had an instant Trans Solidarity moment, which also comes with the Trans Fear that the person Knows that you’re trans and could out you. it’s a weird kind of trust and for me feels like that one performance art piece with the people holding the bow and arrow. anyway hes cool w krem but doesnt talk to him all that much. theyve got pretty different interests.

his best friends are probs cole and dorian! he’s very curious, and likes to hear different perspectives on things. he and dorian often play chess and discuss all sorts of stuff. they end up yelling a lot because they both want to talk but the other started saying something before they were done with their point, which they started saying before the other was done with their point, and so on. he doesnt get very far in the slavery argument until hawke starts chillin at skyhold more regularly and can adequately school him on the state of tevinter slavery (fuck i gotta make a post about that. mal’s had a lot of development since i last talked about him)

he listens very seriously to cole’s observations. he can really appreciate the input of someone who watches so much more than speaks, and heartily supported his ventures in becoming more human.

he also gets along very well with josephine and likes to trick her into taking days off. hes also always down to chat w dagna and scout harding! and varric, of course. it’s always nice to talk to someone without having to crane his neck up at them all the time

(this is the reason he doesnt usually spend time w bull. hes just too tall and its uncomfortable knowing your face is at your friend’s dick height while ur trying to discuss battle strategy)

uhh trivia, at one point i thought i’d fucked up cassandra’s romance by not flirting with her enough so i meant to go for dorian’s instead, bc while i had wanted to romance cass since uhh i dunno one of my mutuals first reblogged a picture of her, i underestimated how charming and cool of a guy dorian ended up being. so in canon i say pica had a crush on both of them for a little while

its late and i think i got mostly everything so enjooooooy

as a parting gift, this is him

[andrewuttaro]

Why USL is the future of American Soccer

Following domestic professional soccer in the United States can be really difficult at times. Beyond the streams, mechanics, and rules of the sport itself the politics and power dynamics of the leagues and supporters can leave one being yelled at on social media for reasons they don’t understand. To be honest it took me about two years after I started watching the domestic club game to fully understand why American Soccer twitter is angrier than normal twitter. There is no quick way to bring you up to speed so I’m going to see if I can do it in a paragraph before explaining why I think the family of leagues known as United Soccer League (USL) is the future of the Men’s Pro game here in America.

In most countries around the world each national federation oversees a system of Promotion/Relegation between the different levels of their domestic club leagues. The US Soccer Federation (USSF) works very closely with Major League Soccer (MLS) to keep that league solvent and therefore doesn’t care to implement Pro/Rel here and provide its owners with a “undue risk to their investment”. That is, on a nuts-and-bolts level, what makes the domestic game here so contentious. There are several other issues related to what one might call “Open Soccer” that orbit this central point. Additionally outside of MLS with its Top-Flight designation (Division 1) it is generally viewed as though the entire domestic club system here is built in a counter-competitive way to benefit those who buy into MLS and nobody else. From a financial standpoint that’s a tough point to argue with given the lifecycle of non-MLS Soccer clubs in this country. So that’s why American Soccer twitter is a mess other than just when the Men’s National Team sucks.

USL is often heaped in with MLS’ business model by the wide array of groups I’ll use the shorthand “rebels” for here. Rebels see the franchise model MLS (and every other topflight professional sports league in North America uses but don’t mention that to them) uses as a damper on American Soccer at best and a latent capitalist drain on the sport at worst. The problem with that belief is that USL’s leadership has, for almost a decade now, professed a much greater interest in the Open Model than MLS has ever dared. Jake Edwards, the USL President, a former English footballer in his own right, speaks favorably about the myriad ways he wants to open up competitive pro soccer in America at any opportunity. In addition to calling Pro/Rel a mid-term goal for his leagues, he has spoken of his determination for an inter-league trophy, helped build up an academy system for USL independent teams long before MLS was preparing to pull their support, and has even spoken to FIFA and the USSF about getting a CONCACAF Champions League spot for USLC. He’s done just about everything a lower division league President can do to “open soccer” apart from abolish expansion fees, market territories, and talk smack to the Federation.

So why are this nation’s soccer rebels married to the nascent National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) as the only acceptable pro soccer option for their pure view of the game? Yes, I understand the difference between a club and a franchise though most fans of sports the world round will not find it to be a meaningful distinction for their own entertainment. Forgive my bluntness. My soccer life has been a real roller coaster the last four years. My hometown Rochester Rhinos went on hiatus in 2017 and have only looked likely to return recently. The seasons without them have blended together in a mesh of insistence on amateur teams, revulsion from MLS, insistence on USL, acceptance of MLS, and finally just exhaustion with this crazy niche community of sports fans. And before you go there, rebels; no, I don’t blame my team’s troubles solely on “the MLS business model”. The sport sucks in this country not just because there is a way for some people to make money off it.

So here’s a fair shake for the rebels: the appeal of true sporting independence is enticing. When you watch the game oversees there is a charm to the idea little fourth tier Wycombe United could fight there way up the pyramid by pure sporting merit. Market forces poison the sport there too, just in less destructive ways for a variety of reasons. I also greatly respect the idea independence allows clubs to craft a product that is truly unique and exciting for local fans. When every other team in MLS is called something FC and exists 300 miles away from you there is something really cool about a local team with your colors and your own kids on it. The “economic justice” argument rebels often make about solidarity payments and the like are all too compelling and financially at least, the deck really is stacked against more locally-minded clubs.

All that said, independence for the sake of independence and “fighting the good fight” as if you’re on a religious crusade is not a good look and actually hurts your argument in the end. When we’re regularly dealing with issues bigger than soccer along the lines of Black Lives Matter and a profoundly sexist Federation that still refuses to pay the women fairly, it’s a little trite for one to speak of Pro/Rel as an inherent good that must be fought for at all costs. The struggles of the NWSL and the dominance of the Women’s National Team is still an afterthought in this country and you’re telling me I have to protest the franchise system like its British Rule of India? You’re losing the forest for the trees at that point.

USLC recently enticed NISA’s most appealing, community-focused brand in Oakland Roots SC to join the USL ecosystem. The move spawned rebel think pieces and twitter threads the world over. When Oakland made the NISA Fall Final versus Detroit anyone who was anyone on the Rebel Front felt the need to cheer for Detroit because traitors! After the collapse of the new NASL in 2017, USL poached numerous formerly independent minded teams from the rubble and though rebels will tell you NISA doing that with the amateur ranks is not poaching its really a moot point. We’re talking about the difference between the league controlling you’re IP and you telling them what to do with it and you owning your IP and telling yourself what to do with it. Some rebel arguments just rapidly descend into splitting hairs so finely that it seems more like a popularity contest than a really substantive fight. If most US Soccer rebels really wanted to have the substantive discussion that needs to happen they’d be a lot more open to the USL ecosystem than they seem to be. But no, it’s just easier to hiss at the Oakland Roots.

Though the title of this article may lead you to believe I’m a USL fanboy, I too really just want a compelling, local product to cheer for that won’t fold in three years. USL including USL-L1 and USLC (and perhaps sooner than you think a USL topflight league as well) is the future of American Soccer whether we like to admit it or not. USL is altogether organized and operated in a way that not only spurns the cold protectionism of the MLS but gives local brands a way to survive for the long term. Though a team like Indy Eleven started its life in NASL 2.0, it hasn’t exactly been altered unrecognizably by its participation in Indy Eleven. And don’t think its suffered for having come from a more independent minded league: the Eleven have been rather competitive big shots in USLC since they arrived. The way forward here isn’t unyielding factions, its accepting compromise.

MLS has abandoned USL. We’re on the brink of MLS pulling all its reserve (two) sides and other support from the USL ecosystem. I sincerely believe this partnership was the only thing holding Jake Edwards and USL back from being truly revolutionary. Once the ink is wet on “MLS Next” and USL has nothing but “independent” clubs within it, they will begin into all of the aforementioned Open Soccer reforms. They may even think about allowing for a semi-franchise option to allow greater autonomy for clubs with a fan ownership model (Looking at you Chattanooga FC & Detroit) as far as it can fit within the Pro League Standards. It would be a shame if a club that has built its brand around being defiant against anybody who disagrees with their purest opinion in Detroit City FC is sitting outside a three rung pro/rel pyramid in a couple years  with their arms crossed just because they have to license some intellectual property to a couple Englishmen in Tampa. And if that bit about the Pro League Standards (PLS) comes across as a massive oversight of this article then I have news for you: your problem is with the US Soccer Federation, not USL. Everyone has a problem with the Federation and if everyone came together on their issues the voices for change would be a whole lot stronger. Instead we’re wasting time painting four letter curses on banners in front of MLS, how about you swallow your pride long enough to create a real coalition.

I realize there is no scenario here where nobody’s feelings are hurt but I really think there is no reason USL cannot be the rallying point for all soccer lovers in this country who realize Major League Soccer has lost their way. There is a very good probability that within the next five years USL could have a topflight league with a two to three rung pro/rel pyramid beneath it with a very liberated form of open soccer in place. USL could fulfill all the American Soccer Rebel’s naughtiest fantasies before the end of this decade save for a few minor roster rules and licensing agreements. The thought of it excites me, especially if my own Rochester Rhinos find their way back into full existence in the USL ecosystem at some point in the next couple years. Once you know everything that USL hopes to do in the near future with MLS pulling its support there really is no reason to not be excited about what they could do to build a far more enticing form of Pro Soccer in this country. USL is the future of domestic club soccer in American.

And for the record, I think Oakland Roots knew this. I think its why they weren’t as standoffish with the USL as their more thick-skulled NISA brothers and sisters. But I digress, God forbid we work together to create the future we want for the Pro game in this country. Working together doesn’t seem to be the theme of any part of American Life at the moment, eh?

Thanks for Reading.