#too many USA-centrists

[the-bibrarian]

Hey, USA, psssst, hey, hey, look at that, look!

It’s not an unmitigated victory, the far right still got far too many votes, but they came in third behind the left and a WiiiiILDLY unpopular centrist presidential party!!

You can do it too!!! By voting!!! French people voted in far greater number than previously and it worked!! We defeated aaaaall of the polls! We were already envisioning a fascist as prime minister but nooooo 😁 We just might get a pro-Palestinian prime minister instead.

It doesn’t matter that Biden is a desiccated corpse who allows genocide. The alternative is, as incredible as it feels, far, far worse. You know it is. Yes especially about allowing genocide. You best believe Trump will not only allow it, but enable and encourage it.

Just vote, and then you can go back to direct action, but also you definitely have to vote!!!

[mugenloopdalove]

I'm from a country that started charging for single use plastic bags years ago, which means everyone switched to reusable plastic or fabric ones instead. I was amazed and baffled when I went grocery shopping in the USA and my extremely social justicey tumblr friends started ripping off handfuls of fresh bags to pack up their shop while I, a centrist who wouldn't even dare tell them my opinion on certain matters, was putting everything into a cloth bag I bought like 7 years ago.

as an outsider who grew up using cloth bags I found it kind of sad and gross how casual everyone was about it, tbh. everyone could just decide to stop using the single use plastic if they wanted to, but they don't because it's convenient and their surroundings enable it. would phasing out plastic bags at grocery stores solve carbon emissions? no! but it was nice in my country when the ban came in and all the discarded bags getting stuck in trees and rivers disappeared overnight. small changes.

and that's how I feel about people addicted to AI. it's sad how normalised it's become in fandom when its output is so bare bones and lowers the user's writing standards (both their ability to write and their standard for what they get back.) I'm not even gonna touch on the environmental part because you obviously aren't going to be convinced there. just wanted to show, through your own example of plastic bags, that people who don't use AI/don't use single use plastic bags are on the outside looking in here and thinking it's pathetic and insane because there are infinite alternatives that are just better for everyone. (and yes you've shown that you can still write a little today, so don't come at me with that excuse. I genuinely hope you keep the writing up since it upsets you so much.)

I'm going to be replying to this in pieces slowly as I read bc my brains kinda slug rn thanks to cramps so if it seems weird or disjointed or like I'm answering something that was already answered. That's why

The thing with plastic bags is- most people REUSE them. That's why the "plastic bag full of plastic bags" meme exists-my husband and I personally use them for cleaning out the litterbox, using in smaller trash cans like our bathroom or our rooms, or collecting small amounts of trash. They're good for wrapping things in if you're moving, too.

We also have fabric bags we use sometimes-the greater Pittsburgh area has a plastic bag ban (tho we rarely shop there any more since we're out of the way from there now), we like to shop at Aldi sometimes which doesn't have them, and sometimes they're just better if we have more groceries-but we still get GREAT use out of or plastic grocery bags. Many many MANY more plastic bags get reused than ones that end up just flying around or in the ocean. I guess I can get the culture shock but I promise it's not just a wasteland of plastic bags out there (ok city I grew up in kinda was sometimes but that is not the case MOST places I've been)

The thing is I still have high standards for my own writing and rping and still put a lot of effort in-I try not to be picky about what I GET BACK bc that feels Rude, but I still have standards for myself. Hell I even try to put a lot into my replies for the bots.

I can write... A bunch of friends shit posting in a group chat and two paragraphs that ended up going nowhere. That isn't exactly self ship??? I'm using the AI for self ship specifically, bc I've been really clogged in terms of imagining things and writing full shippy things.

Individuals using plastic bags or talking with an AI isn't the problem. I don't know what country you're from but I'm sure it still has factories producing smog, waterways being polluted by oil, or SOMETHING worse than a Walmart bag that someone might pick up anyway. Just like me using ai is nothing when Spotify has playlists full of ai music.

[muchymozzarella]

I feel like I gotta mention I was a big fan of Mr Beast before and not so much now, but also like. I cannot pretend he doesn't help ppl because he absolutely does. Especially early on when he was simply spending money as fast as he could earn it by straight up giving it away. I found that charming if uninformed bc none of it was sustainable and yet it was genuine and did help ppl in the moment. He also allowed them to choose what they needed. Even now he often asks ppl what they need and provides it, which I think is good. The problem we run into is when his newer vids have such an obvious advertising angle for big companies. Oh you gave thousands of Brand Name Shoes away when many places have dumpsites full of shoes bc they don't actually need those shoes and a lot of them are bad quality, cool ok that sounds great (it does not) 👍🏾

Oh you're shilling for Tesla again sure ok whatever

I want to make it clear that I still appreciate he wants to help. Half the time he does very much help. He also informed ppl of the behind the scenes of stuff like what taxes and insurance goes into getting stuff like a new house and car and whatnot.

But philanthropy as a whole is kind of structurally harmful when it's done by rich ppl and companies that lobby against the social safety nets and structures that allow ppl to even afford to own a house. I don't know if MrBeast owns one of those companies, but he certainly collaborates with those types of companies and gives them good press to hide all the anti poor lobbying and other ethical issues

I must also say that according to him in his own interviews, his goal is just growth, which is probably Prime Capitalism and fills me with dread, just trying to one up himself over and over, when actual social welfare is not interested in infinite growth, but in sustainability. I don't know how these two goals will align if he purports to be philanthropic.

I can list down all the reasons MrBeast is Problematic but it will not change the people he helped, who I truly believe benefited from his help. But it will also not change the fact that he's become too big to be a good guy without the many, many caveats of "if you don't count his chocolate partner having a child labour lawsuit" or "if you don't count the many issues with the ghost kitchens his Beast Burgers operate out of" or "if you don't count that the Real Life Squid Game was just a clownishly bad idea that missed the point of the show entirely"

I also want to add that there's something I appreciate about him that I cannot fully agree with, but I can't say is wrong.

When he says he's "apolitical" outside of being LGBTQ+ positive, my first reaction is the usual cringe of people claiming to be apolitical, but then he follows it up with the fact that he believes there's no political boundary to charity and being poor, and quite frankly he's correct. In the USA both Democrat politicians and Republican politicians protect corporate interests, and there's functionally no political divide when it comes to class struggle.

He's directly worked with people who know the needs of those who are struggling. He works directly with people who actively volunteer or work for nonprofits that help poor people.

He may be a bit too centrist for some of y'all but I think he means well and is much more left than right.

I worry that he seems to aim to be a billionaire. I worry that he's further entrenching himself in that sort of crowd.

I liked the guy I used to see in his videos and the more he rubs elbows with crypto shills and billionaires and corporations the less I see of that guy.

I guess this is my long-winded way of saying I don't think Jimmy Donaldson is a bad guy. I just worry that, outside of his recent stand against transphobia, it doesn't seem like he's becoming a better guy than he was years ago. I could be wrong, but idk.

I also think his products mostly suck but that's not a personal failing lol that's just average YouTube product releases

[daenystheedreamer]

do you have any book recs?

im gonna sound like a normie or a heathen but my tastes in books is extremely lame 😭 my favourite books are all huge classics. i fucking love pride and prejudice im so boring 😭 i read the fucking godfather and thought it was fine like THAT is how boring my tastes are

i LOVE catch 22 if you havent read it i HIGHLY recommend it. its really funny and i♡yossarion. about american pilots during ww2 but its a military/war/america/etc satire. really funny!!!

HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO... omg my most favourite recently published read. BEAUTIFUL collection of short stories. feminist queer etcetc, i love the quiet body horror so to speak? it felt like it read my mind...

an invitation from a crab by panpanya amazing manga/short story collection. after reading it i had to lay back and just stare into the nothingness. again it felt like it read my mind

kurosagi corpse delivery service episodic body horror/horror comedy detective mystery manga. its about a group of college students of a buddhist university who all have various odd ESP powers who try to help corpses lay in rest/peace. great ensemble cast and the dark horse official english translation is AMAZING especially if you are a huge nerd who likes reading footnotes

gay manga: my lesbian experience with loneliness and our dreams at dusk. the latter is a beautiful exploration of queer people, a very kind and sweet work (though check for trigger warnings). the former is a really raw memoir by a lesbian author. its beautiful and its relatable and its horrible and vulnerable. love it<3

junji ito in general great horror mangaka.

ive got more manga reccs but i think i did too many already and idk if they count as books im sorry for answering your ask bad 😭 anyway some more of my lame taste in books below the cut

favourite books no order off the top of my head and my goodreads: catch-22 (love you bisexual slut legend yossarion), contact by carl sagan, i robot by isaac asimov, alias grace + the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood. i love a clockwork orange (LOVE nadsat). i like maurice (em forster), a thousand splendid suns (khaled hosseini). also fingersmith and like water for chocolate. i liked carmilla but its honestly kinda mid 😭

love the hunger games uhhhh. love asoiaf obvi. i tried the first of the witcher novels (the short story collection) but they were too sexist for me and geralt was an annoying centrist. i was like but the elves are literally being oppressed God forbid they fight back. God Forbid renfri fight back against men! i liked jaskier though :) jesus christ thats a tangent

i actually like a lot of non fiction. jeanette mccurdy's recent memoir is a great read, as if ben mcintyre's operation mincemeat. i read ben raines' clotilda, about the last slave ship to smuggle captive africans to the USA. all three are interesting reads

finally karl marx's communist manifesto :) not a joke. very quick pamphlet. one day i will read lenin's imperialism i stg. my goodreads to read list is huge...

[unoisveimved-un-proffesional]

[POLITICAL RANTING INBOUND. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION]

On a thematic and metaphysical level, the axis powers were always going to lose. Think about it, there loss was the final nail in the coffin for The Old Ways Of War (really it was the nuke but it was kinda the death of the old ways). It was the final proof the the age of the Roman and Mongol empire was over, and the empires had to adapt or die, territorial expansion on that scale and level is just impossible now, and imperialism had to adapt to modern tactics which is how we get the American and British Embassies everywhere, hold-overs of the old days modernized, and it's where we get The Cold War, and USA's various South American, Middle Eastern, and Eastern Asian imperial expeditions.

The United States is the reincarnation of the British Empire in a way. It's also why sadly, violent revolutions like those of the past no longer can succeed, or even passive revolutions of the past. Not that they're useless, similarly to how cold blooded military crusades like those in Ukraine and The Middle East can still happen, but the world has changed, and so reactions, organizations, and logistics will be very different. Violent Revolutions using the Power Of The People could be very effective if properly updated, but are unlikely to have the same effect. If a revolution is to come with the effect of the old ones, it will have to adapt and change and be more covert, never outright stating the word revolution, or else it will be shot down. Like how the Modern Empires cannot call themselves Empires, and gain most of their iron fisted power of other human beings through new means, mostly socio-economic (which come from their imperial colonial history. imperialists were once centrists too. (centrism is just as bad if not worse than fascism) change too fast knocks the crown off the kings head, so centrists take it slow and steady, where the crown will stay even if we all move forward) even some of that new modern power comes from a simple rebranding of political and military take over. We Are Bringing Civilization to these savages becomes We are Bringing Democracy and Economy to these poor brown people)

This is the Final Modern Era. After this Era of human civilization is over Modernity must be abandoned, and each passing Era will be defined by a whole new system to replace the Modern system, where the past Era's are named and the present era is always Modern, instead it must be something New, where there are no longer any modern eras, and the past couple thousand years shall be dubbed "The Modern Past". You get this right? If we do not entirely shift course and abandon modernity we will restart the loop of Modern existence, the desired outcome of many powerful political and economic entities, which will keep them in power through every collapse, every time they buckle their own weight of gold and corpses, they manipulate us into giving the power back to them, the imperials, the corporations, emperors and colonies forever stay in power and advance in lifestyle and position faster and faster than the forever servant class, keeping them relatively in the same position.

Every time we advance to live like kings, the kings will advance to live like Gods, and keep us in our relative position as unequals.

IM NOT CRAZY.

[civildisorderstream]

GOP Infighting

Never forget that Republicans, who bark the most with all the messaging about "sheep" and "think for yourself" and all that, are the number one entity in the USA that defies what they preach. One disagreement that falls out of step and you get attacked by your own party big time. The latest is obviously McCarthy.

I haven't looked into the process of removing someone from the position of Speaker and what it entails, or if it simply requires waiting for the next congressional session to begin and nominating someone else. The damning thing for that loser of a party is that McCarthy was maybe the one person to be able to walk the tight-rope to appease the crazies while also appeasing the more-crazies. No other Republican Congressman I can think of is in that position. They all fall into one camp or the other. And as such, they will never have the votes to confirm a Speaker. Failing to confirm a Speaker means congressional business cannot go forward, which means the government actually comes to a standstill. It stops functioning.

I think they forgot about how many vote attempts it took to confirm McCarthy as Speaker in the first place. Even in the immediate months following that crazy January, they immediately tried to push propaganda that they were the "most active, hardest at work" congress ever. Even though it is very available public records to see what business happens in the Congressional chamber and thus it's a matter of math. The easiest form of math really, which is rare in US government business. No abstracts like billions of dollars or estimates of polling data, etc. You can just look at the number of bills brought up for argument, voting, etc, and compared them.

My great hope is that the GOP infighting for the Speaker position spills into their Primary campaigns. What will happen is each candidate will have to pick a definition for the party, much like the Speaker problem I mentioned above. And they're all so full of vitriol for each other that appeasement is eventually not going to work. Republicans, especially the more-crazies also mentioned above, will opt to not vote at all in November. Not in a massive amount, but just enough to give elections over to Democratic party candidates.

Not that I blindly champion Democrats; see all my previous comments about centrism being as poisonous as conservatism. But pumping the brakes on issues rather than actively making them worse is strategically better. Which on that note, the Democrats have primaries too. So if there's any centrist goons we need to out, we need to run progressives against them and have them win those primaries so they can be on the November ballot.

I'll end this by saying I wish an extra special "Fuck you" to all Republicans because the stop-gap measure didn't include funding for Ukraine. Stop-gaps only last a super short time so the actual funding bill could still end up including it, but really, anyone who does something to help that lunatic Putin - whether they are doing so intentionally or coincidentally - can absolutely go fuck themselves.

[pluralsword]

Even if that is the case it is still really, really stupid even from their own point of view to do this because at this point the opposition wants the centrists dead too. there's been a shift in american politics that has been in swing since the Southern Strategy and Barry Goldwater's coup of the old Republican party. Forty years ago, the idea of a Republican ex-President staging an insurrection among many other things and not dropping out after when exposed would have been considered preposterous what with Nixon having resigned after the Watergate scandal only a decade before. Fast forward to 2004 where the uncertainty of what to do with capitalism as it stumbled through making a mess in the 90s is replaced with all the awfulness of the Middle Eastern conflicts and the Patriot Act underway and you have a much higher uptick in irreverent nationalism among the Republican Party. There's significant concern about the Florida recount in Gore vs. Bush. The neoliberalism of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and the corporations behind them yars before has changed both parties for the worse, realigning a lot of political goals around the rot economy, and having long created a strong opposition towards the USA (and many other countries) becoming a social democracy (and in the case of many other countries as well, the atomization of their public institutions and community practices) as it was on course to be back in the 70s. Things are very bad. Moderate Republicans are starting to become frustrated with partisan gridlock.

The Great Recession forces some sort of reckoning between the Democrats and Republicans to have some sort of socioeconomic response, but it is not as broadly radical as the New Deal, thanks to neoliberalism/neoconservatism. American exceptionalism continues. The country is on it's way to recovery economically, and it turns out there's a small segment of the country who unsurprisingly cannot handle having a black man in office for President and they spout all sorts of conspiracy theories about him and his policies - and it is during his second term that most moderate Republicans in Congress who haven't switched to the Democrats do so, because they're so fed up with their party careening further to the far right.

I don't think we can give the DNC credit for trying to hold the country hostage with fascism that would kill them too. That's too many dimensions of chess (and certainly not go). The centrists still think the 'old rules' are in play when it comes to political losses. Even some people who vote for the neofascist candidate don't actually believe that he will obviously attempt to destroy democracy during his second term. If the DNC truly believed they were at risk, they would have had far more to say about the attacks on the democratic process much sooner than all the weird angles they chose far after worse things happened. We're not sure the centrists in it have really accepted reality. They're too insulated by their wealth and power for all the good it does them with how they use it.

There are veteran political operators for the Democrats who helped them win Presidencies such as e.g. for Bill Clinton in the past who are in shock at the Presidential debate the other week. Some think Biden should drop out.

What is going on with the ex-President since 2015 onwards is not how politics used to work. Even President Bush Jr., who as mentioned above, won on terms that are deeply contested because of how the recount was mishandled, did not have the same bombastic attitude that Trump does. Not even Teddy Roosevelt, the progressive conservative imperialist who was very much at the furthest extreme of the national level of the Republican Party over 100 years ago and tried and lost a third term bid as an independent, known for his bombastic demeanor and speeches including that infamous one about the American empire (in support of it) to the Navy, was not such a flagrantly sexually harassive misogynist and so openly corrupt as to leave boxes of classified documents everywhere.

What comes to mind is the racist Horton ad during the 1988 election by George H.W. Bush vs Michael Dukakis. The ex-Pres constantly spits out the level of awfulness that ad involved. Even H. W. Bush would have been a bit embarrassed for his own racism to go on and on like that openly instead of unsaid or only quietly said, simply done and carried out.

Honestly, this last eight years have felt like the re-emergence of the volatile era of early American politics in the first years after the Constitution when Congressional representatives would get into brawls in Congress. And we pity the fact that the DNC centrists can't grip that this is where we are.

Post that will get me labelled a psyop but honestly the moment that a party realizes that "you might not like us but you have no choice but to vote for us because otherwise the fascists win" is an effective way to rake in votes it practically ensures that they'll never take any actual meaningful action against the fascism problem. They gotta keep the fascists around bro they're their electoral strategy.

[arpov-blog-blog]

..."There are few words or phrases that have received more bastardization and criticism than the word "woke." Like so many artifacts of American culture, the term originated in predominantly Black spaces. Its origins have been traced as far back as the '60s, but for our intents and purposes, let's look at its modern resurgence throughout the 2010s and its present-day usage. Among Black people, the term is used to describe a state of awareness of material surroundings. A person who is described as woke has a pretty good sense of the political realities they live under without veering into conspiracy theory territory.

That concept of a "woke" person in contemporary usage — as conservatives and reactionary centrists have hijacked the term — basically boils down to Black, brown or queer people merely existing. Many people online and in political left-leaning spaces have joked that woke is basically a stand-in for anything conservatives don't like. While this is largely true, there is a bit more of an insidious side to this simple answer. Anything that even lightly pushes back on White Supremacist or patriarchal values is up for being branded as "woke."

For example, look at the strange proxy war that Republican presidential hopeful, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is waging in Florida against Disney. At its core, Disney is as conservative as DeSantis or any Republican, putting its workers in horrid conditions and even donating to the Florida GOP. This is of course because they are a corporation; it is their prerogative to have both sides of the aisle more inclined to support their future ventures, regardless of the harm it could cause to marginalized groups or the environment. Despite this reality, DeSantis branded the company "Woke Disney" in the wake of their opposition to his aptly derided "Don't Say Gay" bill banning the discussion of sexuality or gender identity in Florida's public schools. 

Knowing that the majority of their policies are wildly unpopular, reactionaries muddy the waters any way they can. In most circumstances, they use these culture wars as a mask to keep business moving as usual. But as of late, the reactionaries have run to curtail business interest. This turn comes as we see more and more workers around the country realize that the current construction of our workplaces is not tenable and businesses scramble to appease them in any way possible (outside of legitimate change). So, we have on one hand corporations that would like to gain public goodwill by lightly supporting progressive causes, and on the other conservatives who understand that just calling those businesses woke is enough to get them to back down on their "beliefs" because they surely aren't deeply held.

This tactic of making money and gaining exposure by playing to the already established hierarchies we live under extends from our presidential candidates to the absolutely sweatiest man you've ever seen screaming in your TikTok feed. This is the same thread that McCain decided to latch on to in her petty gripe of a review of the "Sex and the City" reboot. By branding people and products as woke and stripping the word of any of its original meaning, conservatives are able to ascribe any characteristics they like to the identities without varying too far into the white supremacist dog whistles that by now sound more like bullhorns. Being able to weaponize the word woke gives reactionaries the opportunity to grandstand on each and every issue — crucially charging up their base — regardless of how seemingly insignificant it may be. From M&M's to Nascar, Fox News, for instance, has worked its audience into outrage over 200 different things the network has labeled "woke." Talk about a "woke-fest."

However, that this isn't a sustainable trend. 

According to a recent USA Today poll, a majority of Americans surveyed have a positive view of the word "woke." This seems like a direct connection to the Republican willingness to label any and everything that provides the average American joy as woke. The word has become a strange mixture of every fear and anxiety of the most bigoted of those in our political sphere mixed in with the hope of the brightest spots of our possible future. Regardless, it seems that McCain and conservatives of the like are determined to use it to push whatever hateful rhetoric they deem acceptable to spew. Despite their efforts, so far, the reactionaries have seemingly spread themselves too thin and their inability to actually hold a consistent set of beliefs has left more people than ever really wondering what it actually means to be "woke."

[xtruss]

Senator Bernie Sanders in Washington, DC. Photograph: Stephen Voss/The Observer

Bernie Sanders: ‘Oligarchs Run Russia. But Guess What? They Run The US As Well’

The veteran senator is now part of Joe Biden’s inner circle, and is still fighting his country’s vast inequalities

— The Guardian USA | Sunday February 19, 2023

After the State of the Union address at the beginning of this month, the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece that argued: “Joe Biden is Bernie Sanders.” By this it meant that, somehow, by stealth, under the cover of darkness, a “democratic socialist” – both words apparently terms of abuse in the WSJ commentator’s lexicon – had invaded the White House and was now making policy for ordinary Americans, interfering in the unjust struggle of their lives, trying to help them get decent jobs and provide them with affordable healthcare. The implication was clear: offshore your assets and offer unhinged prayers to Marjorie Taylor Greene!

Speaking to Sanders last week, I wondered if that was how it felt to him.

The 81-year-old senator for Vermont gave one of his brief, gravelly guffaws, his concession to small talk. “Not quite,” he said. “I do go to the White House every now and then and chat with the president but no, I’m not in the White House. But that’s the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch’s paper – you know Rupert Murdoch in the UK, right?”

I confirm a passing acquaintance.

“Well, the fact is the Wall Street Journal is shocked – flabbergasted! – that an American president would have the courage to mention in his speech, say, that the Oil Industry Made $200bn in Profit, while jacking up prices for everyone; they are shocked to hear that a president wants to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry; shocked to hear a president talk about the need to raise teacher salaries. Joe Biden is far more conservative than I am. But to his credit, I think he has seen what the progressive movement is doing in this country. And he feels comfortable with some of our ideas – and I appreciate that.”

In some ways, the Wall Street Journal was more on the money than Sanders allows. Many of Biden’s proposals did appear to come verbatim from the manifesto that saw Sanders twice beaten to second place in the race to become the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2016 and 2020 – policies that Sanders has been pressing since he first ran for the office of Vermont senator in 1972, on behalf of the Liberty Union party, and finished third with 2% of the vote. For much of that time Sanders – the longest-serving independent representative in congressional history – sounded a lot like a prophet railing in a wilderness of Reaganite deregulation (he has been arguing for a $15 minimum wage for two decades; it still hasn’t come to pass). In the years since the financial crash, however, and particularly since the start of the pandemic, many more people have listened.

For a generation of millennials raised on digital noise, Sanders became, in 2016, the political equivalent of a rare vinyl record: tangible, authentic, a reliable source of timeless indy riffs. For all but the most self-righteous of those fans – a strident few believed him a sellout for eventually endorsing the “centrist” Biden – he retains that appeal (strange to think that the progressive hero of the land-of-the-next-new-thing is an octogenarian – stranger that both of his most visible political rivals are, too). Sanders has written a new book partly aimed at that millennial generation – its Day-Glo title is It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism – reminding the young of their age-old rights and responsibilities.

With Joe Biden, 12 September 2019, when both men were Democratic presidential hopefuls. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

The driving narrative of the book is outrage at the obscene wealth inequalities in the world’s richest economy. One of the things that Biden had the temerity – in the Wall Street Journal’s view – to raise in his State of the Union address was a billionaire minimum tax, “because no billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a firefighter or a schoolteacher”. Under the proposed tax on annual gains in wealth, tech billionaire Elon Musk, for example, would have paid upwards of $20bn a year through the pandemic. Sanders would go further, but he concedes it’s a start. In his book he refers to America’s billionaires as oligarchs. He hopes the pejorative will finally start to catch on.

“One of the points that I wanted to make,” he says, “is yeah, of course the oligarchs run Russia. But guess what? Oligarchs run the United States as well. And it’s not just the United States, it’s not just Russia; Europe, the UK, all over the world, we’re seeing a small number of incredibly wealthy people running things in their favour. A Global Oligarchy. This is an issue that needs to be talked about.”

There are plenty of others. Sanders writes, likably, as he talks – straight to the point, low on personal digression, high on public policy. A keen admirer of his once observed how “Bernie’s the last person you’d want to be stuck on a desert island with. Two weeks of lectures about healthcare, and you’d look for a shark and dive in.” In this determination, he says, he wants to be an antidote to the oligarch-owned American media, which would have its audience think and talk about anything else – celebrities, the ballgame, the latest “woke” meme – than the stuff that might loosen their control of politics and the economy. “We don’t talk about our dysfunctional healthcare system. We don’t talk about income and wealth inequality. We hardly talk significantly about the existential threat of climate. The purpose of my book is to begin that discussion.”

It is one flank of what might yet be the beginning of the closing chapter of Sanders’s unique career, a suitably raucous throat-clearing for a last hurrah. There is another thrust to that campaign. Sanders has just become chair of the Senate health, education, labour and pensions committee. He clearly intends to use that office not only to pursue his primary long-term aim – Medicare for all – but to create some proper political theatre along the way. His opening acts have seen him request the presence before the committee of Stéphane Bancel, the chief executive of Moderna, who Sanders argues “has become a multibillionaire” by creating a coronavirus vaccine with government money. Calls have also gone out to Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, to address his “union-busting” policies and their relation to his staggering personal fortune. Jeff Bezos, of Amazon, a long-term bete noire of Sanders, should also look out for an invitation. Expect TV ratings of Senate hearings to soar.

One of the inspiring things about Sanders’s devotion to his cause – in light of the factional divisions of the British left – has been his grownup willingness to get behind Biden’s programme and try to influence it from within. The two of them have profound political differences, but, as he outlines in the book, a sincere personal respect; their wives get along well. Sanders would probably hesitate to use a term as emotional as friendship for a political adversary, but that’s how it sounds.

“For us to get along was a) the right thing to do,” he says. “And b) good politics. If you’re a smart guy and you want to win an election, why wouldn’t you sit down and work closely with the person who came in second place? The results didn’t go as far as I would like, but there are solid ideas which have been incorporated, in some cases, into governmental policy.”

Bernie Sanders in 1981. Photograph: Robert Swanson/Vanguard Press/University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library

Having ceded the nomination, he was not interested in any kind of pious sulk that might have divided the Democrats and allowed Trump to return. He is very clear about the existential threat that Trump posed to American democracy. To what extent does he think that threat still will be a factor in 2024?

“Well,” he says, “just before talking to you, I came from a meeting with Lula [Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva], the president of Brazil. That is exactly what we talked about. He had the same phenomenon with a rightwing authoritarian, [Jair] Bolsonaro, refusing to accept the election result.” He had been discussing with Lula something Franklin Roosevelt argued in the 1930s: “FDR said freedom is not just the right to vote. It is the right to healthcare, housing, a secure job. When [government] works to do that rather than looking after the interests of billionaires, then people will say ‘you know what, I think democracy works’. If it doesn’t do that, bad things happen and Trump and Bolsonaro gain a foothold.”

The 6 January hearings about the insurrection at the Capitol were important historically but had a limited political effect, he believes. “Trump supporters don’t sit around watching CNN. Many of them still believe that the election was stolen and Trump is right.” He points to an ABC-Washington Post poll of a couple of days earlier that, while expressing little excitement about either candidate, had put Trump three points ahead of Biden in a presidential race.

One of the causal factors Sanders addresses in his book is the alarming growth of news deserts in the US: cities and regions where there are no local news outlets at all. In the absence of knowing what is happening in their neighbourhood, people become entangled in the seductive conspiracy threads of social media. But as well as proposing a method of federal funding for local news, Sanders also keeps the faith that social media – a powerful personal campaigning platform for him – can be redeemed. Isn’t there a certain naivety in this? Isn’t the divisive anger that drives the revenues of Twitter and the rest always more likely to be a reactionary than a progressive force?

“Well,” he says, “I think, the more we know, the more positive options are open to us. And in terms of anger, I think people do have the right to be angry. In America right now, weekly inflation-adjusted wages for workers are lower than they were 50 years ago. Should people be angry that their bosses now make 400 times what they make? I know in the UK you have in a lot of strikes and turmoil. It is about the fact that in the last 40 years, 50 years, there has been an unprecedented transfer of wealth, from the working families to the top 1%. Should people be angry about that? Damn right they should.”

The hero in his book is Eugene Debs, five times presidential candidate of the Socialist party of America at the turn of the 20th century. Before Sanders went into politics – when he was living somewhat off-grid in Vermont (“definitely not a hippy”) – he made a documentary about Debs, designed to be sent to schools across the country. He is the figure he has always tried to live up to.

“Debs is almost unknown now, but he was a remarkable man. A great orator, a great organiser. Contemporaries referred to him as almost a Christ-like figure, prepared to give you the shirt off his back. He ended up spending three years in jail for his opposition to world war one.”

Forerunner: Socialist Eugene Debs addressing a crowd, circa 1910. Photograph: Fotosearch/Getty Images

I wonder, in relation to this, if any of his early interest in socialist history came from his family.

He suggests not. “My father immigrated to the United States from Poland at the age of 17, without any money at all. He got a job as a paint salesman and was a paint salesman his whole life. He was never a union man.”

What would his parents have made of how things have turned out for their son?

“Both of them died young. To be honest, I think they would have been delighted to discover I graduated college. Being a United States senator, running for president, all that would have been unthinkable.”

And would it have seemed unthinkable for him at the time too?

“It was never about a career,” he says. “When I was in college I got involved in the civil rights movement, then I worked for a union. Those were the things that I was motivated by. Eventually I ended up becoming mayor of Burlington, Vermont by 10 votes. But no, I never thought that I would get elected anything.”

With Sanders making noises about his schedule, this leads us to the billion-dollar – or $15 – question. His book-length manifesto ends with something of a rallying cry: “Let’s do it!” Is he still thinking of another run for the Democrat nomination for 2024?

“I think what’s going to happen,” he says, “is that President Biden is going to run for re-election. And if he does, I will support him.”

And does he think age is a key issue in that choice – for Biden and for himself?

“Age is always a factor,” he says. “But there are 1,000 factors. Some people who are 80 or more have more energy than people who are 30. I would hope,” he says, warming, as ever, to his theme, “that we will fight ageism as much as we fight sexism and racism and homophobia, judge people on how they are and not simply by their age. There are,” he says, “a lot of elderly people with a whole lot of experience who are very capable of doing great work.”

[loborundas]

I get the discontent with D.Va police costume, but wouldn't it be more akin for her to be integrated in anti-police brutality movements from South Korea, as the situation there is fucked up as well? Her wearing a BLM t-shirt would make as much sense as me doing it in the Canary Islands, where it doesn't exist as a movement or anything at all

[ciswomenofficial]

I can see where this is coming from, but on the other hand, I don’t think being overly policing of peoples words is the most important thing here. A lot of people who say things like “Jews are white” may not be being correct, or seeing the diversity of Jewish people and cultures, but they may exist in a context in which most of the Jews who are residents of their locality are Ashkenazi, or where Ashkenazi Jews are given racial privileges they are not and can act oppressively towards them.

Are Ashkenazi Jews white or treated as white all the time? Well, that’s historically and culturally dependent, so there is no one answer. In the USA, there are many different regions with variation in antisemitic inclinations, and antisemitic ideas are on the rise on the right, but it’s not on the same level as anti-Chinese sentiment, which is also rising. For instance, most of my primarily democrat, centrist family expresses anti-Chinese bigotry commonly, whereas only my grandmother who watches Fox News makes regular anti-Semitic comments, with only her son, my father expressing any such sentiments at all. I’m general you can see this pattern replicated through research. Anti-semitism is alive and well in the USA, but it is not an ideology with a vice-hold on culture. But culture is not the only factor that constitutes oppression.

The other factor is that of political economy. The fact is that Ashkenazi communities are more likely to have benefited from racist new deal policies that impoverished people of color and benefited whites. Ashkenazi Jews have benefited from housing programs, have benefited from racial segregation against blacks increasing the value of their homes while the values in black neighborhoods appreciate. Wealthy Asians have benefited from some of these programs too, but those who have benefited from programs like that mostly came over with money to begin with and did not make their fortunes off of these programs.

All in all, there has been a spectrum from Asian to Ashkenazi Jew to Irish to “white” in American history. Irish has become lumped in with white, Asian has not at this historical moment. So, the question is whether Ashkenazi has become lumped in with whiteness at this historical moment. I’m not going to draw the line, regardless of where it falls, I think that people who are defining Ashkenazi Jews as white in the USA are at the very least picking up on a proximity of the two which is actually existing in the mechanisms of US society.

This is just an analysis of USA society, it is not a statement of the metaphysical nature of Jewish being or anything, as there is no metaphysical Jew (or metaphysical white for that matter), but I think that it would also be going too far and premature to say that no Jew has been constituted as white throughout history, and certainly ahistorical to say that none have been white-adjacent.

If you're going to criticize jews but your entire criticism hinges on jews not only being all white but also being treated as white all the time, your criticisms are unbaked and your cornerstone of politics relies on antisemitism, considering how quickly and easily you fall for it

[even-gods-must-die]

A Science Fiction Comics Reading Guide

“World civilization right now is teetering on the brink... so in that sense also, science fiction is the realism of our time. Utopia and dystopia are both possible, and both staring us in the face.” - Kim Stanley Robinson

//Sorting...Alphabetical

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[001]

[Title] Don’t Go Without Me

[Writer/Artist] Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

[Year] 2020

[Summary] A tryptich of lesbian sci-fi/fantasy stories. An alternate dimension that drives two lovers apart. A malfunctioning spaceship leaking memories. A party on the eve of prophecy.

[Publisher] Shortbox

[002]

[Title] Give Me Liberty

[Writer] Frank Miller // [Artist] Dave Gibbons // [Colorist] Robin Smith

[Year] 1990

[Summary] Randian libertarian wonk Frank Miller and “prestige” superhero artist Dave Gibbons try to do some kind of centrist satire of liberalism-gone-too-far in the style of British comics mag 2000 AD, and instead accidentally create a environmentalist revolutionary tract. Funny, in-your-face, and jingoistic. Worth it for Robin Cook’s incredible colors alone. Don’t read the sequels if you can help it.

[Publisher] Dark Horse Comics

[003]

[Title; JP] Gunnm // [Title; ENG] Battle Angel Alita

[Writer/Artist] Yukito Kishiro

[Year] 1990-95

[Summary] Kishiro’s classic class-conscious robot fighting manga is full of gruesome violence, apocalyptic cityscapes, roller derby action, melancholy piano playing, and voluminous 80s hair.

[Publisher; JP] Sheisha // [Publisher; ENG] Kodansha USA

[Volumes] 9

[Further Reading] Holy Night & Other Stories; Last Order; Mars Chronicle

[004]

[Title] Habitat

[Writer/Artist] Simon Roy

[Year] 2016

[Summary] Simon Roy is the undisputed master of “hard science fiction” comics, and basically all of his other books (listed below) could have been on this list. Habitat is Roy’s definitive work, about a massive orbital space colony where civilization has collapsed and the remaining feral inhabitants fight for limited technological resources they don’t understand.

[Publisher] Image Comics

[Further Reading] Jan’s Atomic Heart; Tiger Lung; First Knife; Grip of the Kombinat; Griz Grobus

[005]

[Title] Hollow Heart

[Writer] Paul Allor // [Artist] Paul Tucker

[Year] 2021

[Summary] The real monster... is love.

[Publisher] Vault Comics

[006]

[Title] Homunculus

[Writer/Artist] Joe Sparrow

[Year] 2018

[Summary] A scientist creates a sentient supercomputer, an immobile thinking machine that can only observe as its environment changes around it. This book makes me cry every time.

[Publisher] Shortbox

[Further Reading] Harvest, Cuckoo

[007]

[Title] I.D.

[Writer/Artist] Emma Rios

[Year] 2016

[Summary] 3 strangers meet in a cafe to discuss whether to undergo an experimental procedure to transfer their consciousness into new bodies.

[Publisher] Image Comics

[008]

[Title] Land of the Lustrous

[Writer/Artist] Haruko Ichikawa

[Year] 2012-Ongoing

[Summary] Humankind split, leaving behind a race of petty, brittle gem people guided by a mysterious Sensei. Phos, the youngest gem, is too weak, clusmy, and rude to be a warrior. Instead, Sensei orders Phos to write a natural history, and uncover the mysteries of the planet and its many lifeforms in the process.

[Publisher] Kodansha

[Volumes] 11

[009]

[Title] Mirror

[Writer] Emma Rios // [Artist] Hwei Lim

[Year] 2016-19

[Summary] On an asteroid colony, a scientist creates a menagerie of sentient animals, who rebel against him. A mouse, a bear, a bull, a sphinx, a curse. A doomed romance between a boy and his dog.

[Publisher] Image Comics

[Volumes] 2

[010]

[Title] Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

[Writer/Artist] Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

[Year] 2001-11

[Summary] In Universal Century Year 0079, the spacenoid Principality of Zeon declares was on the Earth Federation. The earth’s only hope is an experimental new mobile suit, the Gundam, piloted by surly teenage prodigy Amuro Ray.

A long-form remake of the seminal 1979 mecha anime Mobile Suit Gundam by its original character designer and animation director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. The Origin has it all: action, comedy, romance, mecha, space colonies, and gourgeous watercolor pages in each chapter.

[Publisher; JP] Kadokawa Shoten // [Publisher; ENG] Kodansha USA, Vertical

[Volumes] 12

[Further Reading] Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt

[011]

[Title] Planetes

[Writer/Artist] Makoto Yukimura

[Year] 1999-04

[Summary] Hachimaki dreams of buying his own spacecraft and exploring the solar system. Easier said than done for a working class astronaut with the tedious job of collecting tiny debris orbiting the Earth before it can cause catastrophic accidents. Planetes is an essential classic of realistic, humanist science fiction.

[Publisher; JP] Kodansha Ltd. // [Publisher; ENG] Dark Horse Comics

[Volumes] 4 (2 Omnibus)

[012]

[Title] Prism Stalker

[Writer/Artist] Sloane Leong // [Letterer] Ariana Maher

[Year] 2018

[Summary] Against her wishes, Vep is forced to become her people’s representative in the Chorus Academy, a school devoted to interplanetary colonization. Far from home, Vep has to cope with unfamiliar environments and violent combatants. Prism Stalker is one part rumination on colonial diaspora and one part brutal fight comics.

[Publisher] Image Comics

[013]

[Title] The Seeds

[Writer] Ann Nocenti // [Artist] David Aja

[Year] 2018-21

[Summary] A young journalist enters the demilitarized zone following rumors of alien invaders. Expecting to uncover a conspiracy or a hoax, she instead gets wrapped up in something weirder: doomed love. The Seeds is lyrical, prescient, and cutting.

[Publisher] Dark Horse Comics, Berger Books

[014]

[Title] Stages of Rot

[Writer/Artist] Linnea Sterte

[Year] 2017

[Summary] An alien whale dies and new societies and natural ecosystems rise from its rotting carcass. Quiet, contemplative, and surreal.

[Publisher] Peow Studios

[015]

[Title] Tartarus

[Writer] Johnnie Christmas // [Artist; Issues 1-5] Jack T. Cole // [Artist; Issues 6-10] Andrew Krahnke // [Colorist; Issues 6-10] Hilary Jenkins // [Letterer] Jim Campbell

[Year] 2020-21

[Summary] Tartarus is a fast-paced action adventure about an imperial cadet dropped into the center of a galactic conflict when she discovers she is secretly the daughter of the galaxy’s most dangerous criminal.

[Publisher] Image Comics

[Volumes] 2

[016]

[Title] Terraform

[Writer/Artist] Zack Morrison

[Year] 2018

[Summary] A robot tasked with reshaping a planet finds itself changed instead.

[Publisher] Self-Published

[017]

[Title] Test of Loyalty

[Writer/Artist] Sam Alden

[Year] 2016

[Summary] Horsepunk.

[Publisher] Hazlitt

[018]

[Title] To Your Eternity

[Writer/Artist] Yoshitoki Ōima

[Year] 2016-Ongoing

[Summary] A mysterious stranger sends an immortal shapeshifter to study the connections between all life, and protect it from a mysterious threat. Starts out as a sad boy-and-his-dog tale before evolving into a vast alt-historical epic spanning centuries. Lush, heartbreaking, sentimental, and brutal.

[Publisher] Kodansha

[Volumes] 16

[019]

[Title] Voyage

[Writer/Artist] Molly Mendoza

[Year] 2015

[Summary] Voyage transforms a historical account of the Voyager 1 and 2 space missions into a dreamlike tribute to discovery, human connection, and the beauty of the universe.

[Publisher] Self-Published

[Further Reading] Skip

[020]

[Title] The World of Edena

[Writer/Artist] Moebius

[Year] 1983-01

[Summary] Originally an advertisement for French car manufacturer Citroën, the Edena stories grew into a sprawling epic about a pair of explorers from a sterile society who become lost in a series of surreal alien environments. Moebius influenced multiple generations of sci-fi artists with his precise illustrations of fantastical landscapes.

[Publisher; ENG] Dark Horse Comics

[Further Reading] Art of Edena, Arzach

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[Addendum] Essential science fiction novels for comics fans:

[001] A Fire Upon the Deep // Vernor Vinge

[002] Aurora // Kim Stanley Robinson

[003] The Dispossessed // Ursula K. Le Guin

[004] Lilith’s Brood // Octavia E. Butler

[005] The Word for World is Forest // Ursula K. Le Guin

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[/end]

[androgynousblackbox]

Hmm okay, so while I agree that anti/proshipper definitions can vary from person to person, or group to group, that is true of basically any ideological label. In the USA, Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, Communist, while having basic definitions, also vary between groups. "Liberal" for example, is either a total radical Leftist, or very Centrist depending on who you ask. Liberal also means different things in Europe. This doesn't necessarily invalidate the labels. 1/2

It does muddy things up, sure, but those labels still have uses, just as anti/pro-shipper do to those who engage in ship discourse. Sarah Z saying labels should be abandoned completely ignores why they are used, and also ignores the actual reasons they came to be. Which to be honest, I don't think she cares she's ignoring the context of anti/pro-shipper, and the years of bullshit that's come from it. 2/2

The thing is too that WE have these kind of discussions already, what we should call ourselves or not, and that is part of the discourse that I hate because some people REALLY love to add their own bullshit into what shouldn't have been nothing else but resistence to harassment in fandom. People HAVE made the criticism. People HAVE talked about this. I have lost account of how many "alternatives" of pro shipper have come out and all the post people made trying to make a difference between that and anti anti because of others inserting their ideology into. What bothers me the most about Sarah and people defending her is that they don't seem to realize that Sarah is not having this superior brain god level scolding take that she thinks she is. She is literally an outsider that tried to talk over people who have been discoursing about this for a long time, so why the fuck should any of us take her seriously in the first place when she doesn't have the first clue of the context for ANY of this shit but what SHE herself have come out to dip her whole face in? Like, I don't say you have to have spend 2-3 years with a discourse blog to then be allowed to speak, but for fuck's sake, if you are already so enraged over a fucking pin that you think that is seriously affecting real life people, then you are absolutely in no position to put yourself as an authority on any of this. That shit is what I meant when I say that everything about her video I have seen from people who watched it sounds like someone speaking down on me, because she seriously believes to be the first one to ever voice any of it and we are all too "terminally online" to see the truth of her helio filled ass. And you know that no matter what we say about this, she is going to make a second video collecting all the people who are pissed at her and completely ignore, speak over or misrepresent the shit out of anyone trying to inform her that she is waaay out of her league here, all while smuginly let you now this is all silly and she doesn't care. It's frustrating.

[luckyladylily]

US Politics Issue Post: DC Statehood (Written May 4th 2021)

The issue: The residents of DC (about 700k) do not have proper representation at the federal government level. They have no representative in either congress or the senate This is especially harmful because their city is basically controlled by the federal government (specifically congress) in all respects and congress basically does not care. The result of this has been one of the most poorly managed areas of the country and basically the residents of DC getting the shit end of the stick at all times.

It should be noted that this is a race issue as much as anything else. DC is primarily non white and the rights of DC citizens are being gutted by a primarily white federal government.

What DC statehood means: DC becomes a one city state. They get two senators and a number of congress reps. They get all the infrastructure of a state and a city to govern themselves. This would provide the city with proper representation and management.

It would also undeniably give a significant political power boost to the democrats, especially in the senate with 2 virtually guaranteed seats for the foreseeable future. 

This would create a constitutional anomaly that will need to be fixed. As far as I can tell this is basically inconsequential and easily rectified because literally no one will want it to remain in place.

Purposed alternatives: All alternatives basically boil down to DC being absorbed into one or more surrounding states, becoming more or less a normal city in the USA. Republicans seem to be converging on making it a part of Maryland in order to dilute the DC populations political power as much as possible.

My position

I support statehood. DC is a unique city with way too many DC specific issues that would be glossed over if absorbed into another state. The proposals that it be cut up among multiple states are especially ridiculous and would basically ensure that DC residents are never able to move as a single people to address their unique issues.

From a pure ethical standpoint the fact that DC does not have proper representation is inexcusable. It is both incredibly racist and authoritarian how the DC population is currently governed. It is of the utmost ethical importance that this be rectified as soon as possible.

Also I want the democrats to have more power, plain and simple. The republicans have been throwing out all the rules in blatant power grabs for the last ten years. It is not so much that I want democrats to have power as I want something to counteract the actions of the out of control republican party.

This is a keystone issue. If we can pass DC statehood literally all progressive positions will become significantly easier to enact for all of the future of our country. As such, it is of the utmost importance on a strategic level for anyone who cares to improve our country.

Where we are at

A bill has passed in Congress. As long as the senate filibuster remains in place this issue is dead in the water. No progress will be made either way.

Major Players

Biden & Harris: Support statehood and are actively pushing for the bill to pass.

Republicans: Universally opposed for political power reasons.

Joe Manchin (Senator of West Virginia): Opposes eliminating the filibuster, opposes statehood via bill and insists on a constitutional amendment, which would be a first time this was ever required for the creation of a state.

I’m not going to be shy about this, Manchin is a piece of shit spineless centrist and holds more blame for lack of progress than basically any other one person in the country (at the moment). As long as this asshole remains the republican appeasing piece of trash that he is no major progress will be made on DC representation (along with a long list of other progressive items).

He also opposes statehood because he enjoys an immense amount of personal power as a swing senator in a 50-50 locked government.

What we can do

Support elimination of the filibuster: This is a must pass issue if we are going to get anything large scale done. What is more, there is some chance that we can flip a republican on the issue, especially republicans living in swing states. If you live in a swing state with a republican senator write your senator. Organize protests if possible, letter writing campaigns will be a great tool if not.

Concerning Joe Manchin: Outside of people living in West Virginia, unfortunately not much unless we are able to gather the will to go full scale protest mode over this. If you have a democrat senator, swing or not, write them to make it absolutely clear that you expect them to support DC statehood. We need every single democrat on board. In West Virginia any action to bring Manchin to task for his failure will be critical. Writing senators, writing news papers, protests, etc.

Shift the political landscape left on this issue: Target centrists and moderate democrats and conservatives throughout the country on the issue. Focus on grass root efforts, especially if you live in a swing state.

How to talk about the issue

Talk to your family and friends, focus on the idea of how critical representation is and how DC is a unique city with unique needs.

Do not be afraid to pull the racism card, it applies here.

Invoke Donald Trump and police abuses of the DC people last year during peaceful protests.

Point out that the DC residents will be forced to turn to increasingly desperate measures as they have no legal recourse to have their issues addressed.

When faced with the same situations the founding fathers turned to destructive riots, and that according to American precedent and values the citizens of DC would be entirely in the ethical right to do so now.

The fact that DC residents have not yet turned to destructive riots at a large scale is a sign of their commitment to peaceful resolution of the issue, but their patience will not and should not last much longer.

Anyone who embraces American ideals should support ANY effort of the DC people to secure their rights, including up to destructive protest if they decide to take it there, according to precedent and tradition established by the founding fathers and outlined in the declaration of independence.

Quote the declaration if you can, centrists and moderates love that shit. Invoke the Boston tea party.

How to contact your senate representatives

How to contact your congress representatives

Issue Post Master List

[talaricula]

thanks @tulinlina for sending me questions for the "not from the usa" ask meme!

4. favourite dish specific for your country?

fries, and chocolate (dark chocolate specifically). I'm super cliché but eh. We also did Real Good with waffles. For more obscure stuff, I'm v fond of chicken waterzooi, of spéculoos, of vlaai, of filet américain, and of mattentaart

6. most hated song in your native language?

This quiz rly assumes that one country = one language which, hmmmm....

Anyway, I don't rly have a "most hated" Belgian song off the top of my head, but I'll give you my unpopular opinion on one of the best-known Belgian songs in recent years:

Angèle using "va te faire enculer" in the chorus of her feminist hit single "Balance ton quoi" leaves a bad taste in my mouth bc as an activist and esp as a queer woman she rly rly rly should know better than using what is ostensibly a homophobic insult to put sexist/misogynistic/abusive men in their place. And if she's been desensitised to the deeply homophobic aspect of that insult, then she should have put the same effort at examining structural homophobia as she did for structural misogyny. I enjoy the song and it's maybe not that deep but it does always spoil it a little for me

11. favourite native writer/poet?

Marguerite Yourcenar in French, Tom Lanoye in Dutch (both queer icons tbh), honourable mention for Comès who's prob my favourite BD author.

22. what makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed?

Proud:

1. that we're relatively progressive on many accounts, all things considered, and for me personally esp the gay rights and the healthcare slap;

2. that there very much is such a thing as a Belgian culture and that we're sticking together despite a large minority of right-wing separatists and all of the international press acting like us splitting up is only a matter of time;

3. that voting is mandatory and representation is proportional, which leads to an imo more functioning democracy than many of our neighbours', to coalition governments which need a real ability to compromise and often create solutions that last way longer than in many other countries where half a new government's new purpose seems to be taking down what the previous one did, and which had led to Belgium being a key player in the creation and keeping together of many supranational organisations whose mission I strongly believe in (notably, the Council of Europe and the EU)

Ashamed

1. that the far-rght is growing super fast here too and that run-of-the-mill conservatism and bigotry are still rampant;

2. that there is a large minority who wants to split belgium up bc they don't want to pay taxes for the poorer + more socialist part of the country (don't start on the Language Question, as a francophone bourgeois TM I assure you francophone bourgeois oppressed the Walloons just as much as the Flemish bc Walloons didn't speak French either - the narrative was just twisted to create animosity. It's based on Wallonia being more socialist and being a poorer region. Fight the rich, not the Walloons);

3. that our "ability to compromise" makes us so fucking resolutely centrist as a country (and sure, it's better than far-right, but fuck does it sometimes suck being a leftist)

[chargetheintruder]

I was going to wait on this.

But there’s a memo out there regarding Presidential authority to broadly and deeply forgive student loans, and the more I find out about it, the more it concerns me:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-sitting-student-debt-memo-160825215.html

Okay, first off, why is the ENTIRE document redacted?  This isn’t military or about national security as we know it.  So why again were all pages of the document redacted?  The only things we know are that a) it’s an authentic document and b) that it’s no longer a draft.  About student loan forgiveness.

Second, why has this been sat on so long?  The White House has had PLENTY of time to read the thing and figure out if, how and when it can share the news, good or bad.  The infrastructure bills have been Congress’s thing.  Or at least the half of it that shows up trying to do meaningful work, Republican traitors and so-called centrists be damned.

I mean, I do have a hunch or two about this: that the private sector (banks, not universities) has the White House bamboozled in terms of the idea that these loans are an “income source” somehow that they can’t give up.  Which, okay, I get it that the banking entities don’t like losing money, but how is something an income source when the loans aren’t getting paid?  Either due to pandemic conditions or due to people’s falling behind on them more generally?  And if this matters so damned much, then why are so many banking entities (Navient among them recently) bailing out of the student loan business entirely?  There would seem to be a disconnect between the behavior of student loan businesses and what would appear to be their interests in this “debt as money source.”

Yes, there’s interest and fees on these loans, but if people aren’t getting blood or money out of turnips here, what’s the point?  Are people with bad loans then all going to be rounded up and “re-educated” and put in debtor’s prison?  Wouldn’t that actually cost MORE than the amounts owed (the balances that is)? This is really beginning to stink of political Do-Nothing-Ism, once again, that for all his talk, President Biden is just plain loath to be responsible for any Big Sea Changes to America as we know it.  The dude promised this shit in the first place, and he’s now hem-hawing and hand-wringing over it like it was Trump’s idea.

Seriously, I was going to leave the President alone while he was literally away from the home office.  Makes sense, right?  Maybe that’s my problem: I, as a private citizen, try too hard to stay inside the law and inside of what makes sense, when damned near nobody else is.  Maybe I have to be an unhinged, depraved lunatic asshole before anybody actually listens?  And then what, people have excuses, right?  They have excuses to arrest me, committ me to a psych ward, whatever it takes to silence me for a time longer.  It’s fucked up.  Being a citizen in the USA is a clusterfuck, especially in this 21st century in progress. Let me put it like this: I could re-Pin my original rant about student loan forgiveness.  Heaven knows it isn’t obsolete as yet.  It isn’t outdated because nobody’s DONE ANYTHING ABOUT THAT.

Mr. President, when you get back home, get on this at once.  I’m not asking--you’re embarrassing yourself with your inaction on the memorandum to say the least.  Get on it and DECIDE.  Either be a hero and say “Yes” or have a damned good reason WHY you have to say “No”, and no, arguing for the profit margins of entities like Navient won’t cut it since they’re already fleeing the student loan sector entirely.  Come up with something. It’s Monday, November 1st.  I might give you until the 3rd before I re=pin the original rant and add more rants on that topic, every fucking day, until we get this shit-show done.  America deserves relief from student loan debts, period.

We deserve the unilateral $50K forgiveness and waiver on fees and interest.  And if you can’t do that, and it’s so damned critical, explain why.  What is it about this topic and about this Executive Order that is so damned sensitive, but mainly to rich bitches?