#universal basic healthcare

[wandixx]

GIW made a lot of mistakes and the biggest one was going against Young Justice part 2

part one is here

@whimsicalchaosgarden you asked to be tagged, sorry it took so long

Trigger warnings: mentions of experimentation and dehumanization (tell me if there is more appropriate way of phrasing it)

“So,” Robin started, taking the voice recorder out of his utility belt. “It'll probably be best if we get an explanation while making an accident report. This way we get it all over sooner”

Everyone agreed with this idea, standing in the loose circle in the debriefing area to make it all feel more serious. They had limited time before the next batch of cookies needed to be taken out of the oven and there was no way they all wouldn't devolve into chaos when it happened. M’gann knew from experience. 

To make sure they wouldn't take too long and cookies wouldn't turn on the fire alarm (again) both she and Danny set a timer.

In the meantime they had to learn who actually attacked them earlier.

“Phantom do the honors”

Danny froze for a moment, looking like deer caught in the headlight before he asked in a bit squeaky voice:

“How do I make an accident report?”

“Just say what happened but make it sound fancy,” Artemis explained. 

“Make a mission report and we'll fix it along the way,” Kaldur proposed.

“Answer ‘When? Where? Who was involved? What happened? What have you done about it?’ without excessive use of puns to avoid Bat-lecture” Robin helped, already in handstand.

“Bat-lecture? Really Rob?”

“So it's like lab report lite” Danny said before Robin did anything more than squawk indignantly “Alright, I can do it. Do you have any set phrase to start? And which accident report is it, in the database?"

“44th… How about ‘[Hero name], report’? Sounds serious enough.”

Everyone agreed, so after a moment of silence Kaldur did the honors.

“Phantom, report”

Danny straightened, rolling his shoulders back and locked his eyes in the middle distance. It was a bit eerie how fast he went from relaxed and goofy to almost emotionless statue. M’gann wished to never encounter it again, thank you very much.

“Incident report no. 45 made by Young Justice member Phantom, regarding an attack from earlier today, 26th April 20XX. The Young Justice Team, later referred to as the Team, went on a trip to an amusement park staying currently in the city of Happy Harbour. It was an activity meant to strengthen interpersonal relationships within the Team, previously green-lit by Red Tornado. Every member was in civilian attire as per protocol. Around 3:15 PM, after two and a half hours, the Team were disturbed by a group of ten armed people, recognized by member Phantom as belonging to Ghost Investigation Ward, colloquially known as GIW or Guys In White because of their uniforms. Later in the report the organization will be referred to as the GIW. Two shots were fired by the assailants, targeting but not reaching member Phantom. Members of the GIW were hostile but with use of humor and threat of legal actions, the Team managed to diffuse the situation before it endangered passerbys. Despite direct attack, none of the Team members’ identities were compromised. Assailants left the confrontation with belief that Phantom left his ectoplasmic signature on an unrelated civilian. Agents refused to admit they were working for the GIW since its operations break a couple of laws of the state Rhode Island. Because of that, their appearance was reported to local law enforcement and taken care of. No injuries or damage to the city infrastructure were sustained other than two burns in the asphalt in the place of confrontation. Required follow-up with local law enforcement in civilian attire as victims of assault. End of report” Danny sighed, easing back into a more natural position. “This good?” he asked, with a sheepish smile.

“Perfect”

“How are you so good at reporting? You didn’t even know what to do a second ago? That’s just unfair”

“I used to write my parent’s lab reports. It’s pretty similar in form”

“Lab-”

“Follow-up to the report only, Kid-Flash,” Robin interrupted “Phantom. elaborate on who were the assailants”

Danny stepped back from himself again.

“GIW is a ghost hunting organization supported and accredited by the state government in Illinois, legally operating also in states Wisconsin and Ohio. Their goal is to catch and examine ecto-entities to learn more about their biology and ways to obliterate them. Obviously their plans for experimentation don’t include consideration of ghosts’ well-being”

“Damn, that’s messed up”

“They wouldn't catch a blob ghost if they tried,” Danny shrugged, though something was wrong with the gesture. She wasn't sure though, so she moved on.

“Then why were you scared?” M’gann pressed on instead.

“My parents… are, you know, prominent ghost hunters so when GIW opened we all got a tour around the whole building. The lab was… it made me imagine things I wished I had never thought about”

“They have labs? Like evil labs?” Robin perked up like a kid who just heard that Christmas came early. “How could you hide it from us?!” he added, falling to hang on Danny's shoulder. He twirled a bit to catch the left one even though before he stood on halfa’s right side. Dramatic as always “Conner, we have a birthday gift for you!”

“What does GIW’s lab have to do with my birthday?”

“The potential!” Robin yelled, straightening for a better effect.

Everyone started laughing. Well, everyone other than Conner who just looked at them confused.

“He probably wants to storm another lab, bring up nostalgia of our first meeting,” Kaldur calmed down just enough to explain.

“Tell me you wouldn't like to punch an evil scientist,” Wally added, almost dropping to the floor. 

“This does sound nice”

“And THIS is exactly the reason why I haven't told you all. Thanks for spoiling my surprise Rob,” Danny lied, though he did his best to sound truthful. He even projected some false mirth.

It would take much more to trick M’gann though. She abruptly stopped laughing.

“You're lying. Why actually haven't you told us?” she demanded maybe a little too harshly, but she was worried. Everyone froze for a moment, before turning to look at Danny.

“They're all bark no bite, and aim worse than Stormtroopers’, so I haven't considered them important enough to report”

Other's didn’t know, of course, but M’gann knew just how terrified Danny was during the confrontation and how echoes of that fear soured air around him even hours later.

Everyone did realize this explanation was a tone of bullshit though. 

Apparently incredulous stares were enough of the response.

“You and the Justice League have more important things to deal with than some shitty local laws”

“Bullshit again,” Artemis burst her lips “This is exactly what Justice League is for”

“I already found people to help me lobby against them”

“And why aren't we on the list?” 

Danny fell silent, not looking anyone in the eyes, which was quite a feat considering they had him in a half circle. M’gann considered moving to his side to show her support. Stare down like that had to be quite stressful.

Why not actually. She stepped closer, and drew him in the loose side hug. Danny tensed, which wasn't abnormal for him. He usually relaxed in about thirty seconds, if he didn't, she'd let go.

“I didn't expect them to breach the containment…”

“Each of these lies is worse, you know? Like, insulting our intelligence level of worse,” Artemis interrupted once more, pinning him with her eyes alone “Give us truth or stop talking”

Danny raised his head to look back at Artemis and mimed zipping his mouth shut and throwing the key away. 

“Really?”

Boy just shrugged, not breaking eye contact.

“Alright, let's move on to the next question, how did it get approved in the first place?” Wally interrupted, waving his hand between them. They both shook off like dogs fresh out of water.

“Couldn't you wait five more seconds until I won?” 

“Ha! You wish Artemis. Though you could give us a moment”

“I gave you literal ages”

Danny snorted “Sorry, I keep forgetting how impatient you are”

“Oh shut up, my brain is just faster than yours, you slowpokes”

“Sure, sure”

“He made a good point,” Kaldur said “This shouldn’t even pass. And even if, you’re legally a Meta”

“Normal ghosts aren’t and halfas being a thing is not exactly common knowledge among the living”

“I’ll never get used to this distinction”

“I believe in you, Rob”

“What about ‘Extraterrestrial, extradimensional and otherwise previously unincluded’ Optional Protocol to the ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’?”

“Oh my god Conner, you’re the only person to say the whole name ever”

“Hey!”

“It all comes down to the definition of the ghost and the fact that Alien addition uses sentience and sapience as a ground to give anyone said rights. And also, US signed it but didn’t ratify it so…”

“Isn’t it same thing?”

“Nope. I thought so too, but apparently signing anything means nothing unless it’s also ratified, so I’m kinda fucked. Can’t even get the UN to frown at them disapprovingly, because officially, nothing was agreed to. And you know, even if they ratified it, ecto-scientists conducted enough research to prove we aren’t sapient enough to have these rights anyway. Just most of the states didn’t need to make a law out of it”

“That’s rough buddy”

“Are you really quoting Avatar at me right now? Really Artemis?”

“Yes”

“Wasn’t Avatar this movie with blue people? I don’t think they said that there”

M’gann wasn’t quite sure why human members seemed to be appalled by the question.

“We’re going to fix that later-”

“What exactly is there to be fixed, because I feel like we’re talking about to different things”

“- but for now can we go back to the whole ‘ghosts have no rights in Illinois’ thing” Robin continued, completely ignoring Conner’s questions.

“Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio. There are portals to the Zone in two of these states. GIW already tried to send nuke through one of them”

“How Americana of them,” Kaldur muttered.

“If you have another insane tidbit about them, please share it all now. My mind can’t utilize any more revelations like that”

“I handled it, don’t worry”

“Someone tried to nuke literal Afterlife…”

“Yup, get on the schedule Kid Flash. You’re supposed to be fast”

M’gann knocked her arm into his, kinda as a ‘don’t be mean’ message. Danny kinda tensed, but soon relaxed back and moved his head as if he wanted to lay it on her shoulder. Excitement of the day was clearly catching up to him.

M’gann wouldn’t be mad if he did laid his head there.

“Why do we learn about it just now?”

“I wrote the report, not my fault you haven’t read it”

“Can’t fault us for assuming we’d know every important thing from your endless bitching!”

Danny straightened and laughed, in this horrible humorless way that made M’gann want to claw at her brain until she couldn’t hear or sense any of it.

Instead, she brought her other hand up and just held him tighter.

Thankfully the whole spectacle didn’t last long.

“It’s cute that you think I bitch about anything important”

“Phantom…”

“Don’t Phantom me right now. Even if by some miracle they managed to send the missile to the Zone, it most likely wouldn’t have worked. They’re mostly just a joke.”

“They managed to shot you. Right upper arm or shoulder”

“Don’t deny it, we’ve seen you wince when I leaned on you and when M’gann hugged you”

Martian tried to let go hearing that, but Danny held her in place. She stayed where she was but carefully moved her hand away from the slightly damp area on his shirt. She suddenly caught on everything that was wrong with him, now that she knew to look for it.

“I got worse from the hand of my house’s security system”

“You… understand that it’s… like… way worse, right?”

“You don’t know life until you hear threats of dissection against your alter ego after stopping death ray with bowl of cereal,” he said, relaxing more into her side again. He sounded absolutely exhausted.

“Do you want to move in here? Until we deal with this whole GIW and assorted mess?” she said instead. Conner nodded, surprisingly eager to share the space that he considered somewhat sacred.

“Nope, I’m good, I’m needed there”

“You could Zeta- yeah, no, nevermind, it wasn’t good idea. But we could make it work”

“You still should-”

“It’s fine. I mean, I have it handled and it doesn’t affect that many people. And we’re working on it. It’s fine”

“It really is not,” Conner growled.

“You need your arm patched up” M’gann demanded, ignoring previous conversation, with eyes still fixed on the blood that stained her forearm. She should’ve destroyed at least Operative K.

“I bandaged it up”

“It soaked through then. Let’s go to med–”

Loud shrill interrupted her, because of course it did.

“Oh, look, convenient distraction! Let’s take the cookies out before they get burned!”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” M’gann stated in a way that allowed no argument “You’re getting away for now only because I’m holding most of your weight right now”

“Sure we will. And I can stand on my own, thank you very much”

“I’ve heard many lies today and this might be the worst of them. We’re going to Medbay as soon as the cookies are out”

“You’ve got it boss”

[sideaccount512]

Is there a Realistic way to Remove Big Money from Politics?

[victusinveritas]

People smarter than me tell me that this graph is a little misleading, but the sentiment on a whole is one I agree with: we need to see some charts and data that show us exactly what being servants to a billionaire class costs the rest of us.

[lilyliveredlittlerichboy]

it's time now. it's time to imagine the brightest future you can, and talk about it.

a future where people only work 8 hours a week and everyone's basic needs are met. a future where we are more connected to nature and eat seasonal, local produce. a future where you look out for your neighbours and they look out for you. a future where you actually know who your neighbours are. a future where everyone is just a lot more relaxed and able to do whatever they want to do - this 8 hour working week has given people their lives back and now they're able to make community events, work in community gardens, sing and dance and spend time with their kids, play whatever sport they want, travel, read, create art and music.

People are interacting with each other in good faith again because money as an ulterior motive has all but disappeared. Cus you see a few decades ago they made profits illegal. All money has to be put back into the company and CEOs can take home a salary only, no bonuses and it can't be more than 3x what the lowest paid employee makes. You can go to jail if your company is found to make profits, advertise on a large scale or pay its high ranking members more than what's allowed.

Jail still exists but mostly people go in for financial crimes (greed still exists); drugs are decriminalised and available to use safely. people are not as desperate now so there's been a massive reduction of violent and petty crime and most of the people who still do this are teenagers who get away with a slap on the wrist. police are not armed anymore and are heavily penalised if they abuse their power or hurt a civilian, and their role is more that of mediator, signposter (to community services, social services, and free and accessible healthcare including for mental health) and security. together with the former military they make up an "emergency task force" which are called upon in times of need and crisis, for floods, fires, other such disasters.

the stock market completely collapsed after profits were made illegal and people had to find other ways to figure out what a company was worth: such as how they treat their staff or how accessible their processes are. as a result of this, as well as more widespread disability thanks to Covid and an ageing population, accessibility is fucking incredible now. most places are accessible to the vast majority of disabled people even without them having to ask for a single thing. If they have to ask, accommodations are made quickly and without fuss and this is completely normal now. disabled people are more visible than ever in public life and this has led to a generally kinder, more tolerant public life.

Everything is slower now. Social media as we know it died decades ago and Internet 4.0 is efficient, will find you accurate answers and the websites you're looking for very easily and fast. there's monopoly laws restricting how large companies operate online. online ads are all but illegal - there's "phone book" esque pages where you can promote your business or service and that's allowed but not anywhere else. Lots of people are still annoying and some of them are still cruel but overall living together as humans has gotten so much more chill. We've tackled climate change and reversed much of it, now it's a global day of mourning whenever a species is found to be extinct through human intervention. these days used to happen much more frequently but it's very rare these days. Most everyone gets the day off and is encouraged to read about the lost species or hold themed funerals. Globally everything has gotten better - there's much more global equality now after a bunch of western/formerly colonising countries almost self destructed and then instead decided to own up for colonialism, pay reparations to a lot of countries in Africa Asia and Latin America, as well as indigenous nations of North America, Oceania, even in Europe. The USA doesn't exist anymore instead its a whole host of separate nations all managed by the native people whose land it is. The UK doesn't exist anymore. England is still sad about it but Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall are called Cymru, Alba, Eire and Kernow again and they've formed a Celtic Union for better collective bargaining power in the EU (which still exists, somehow. Its better now. England may still be out of the EU I'm not sure). Migration is common and foreigners are welcomed into any country with open arms.

I may try to write something about this. I have a vision for a future and it's so lovely. Here, on earth, with the starting point being now. We have a lot to work with and only a few changes could make such a difference. Demilitarisation, UBI and maximum working hours, greedy financial practices made illegal. Conservation and education on local plants and nature and food. Community building on every level. Giving people their lives back.

This is all extremely possible. If it were up to me, very little in society would be left unchanged but it would all be people friendly changes. changes that aim to support the poorest and most marginalised, changes that aim to punish greed and exploitation. It's a work in progress of course. But I have a vision for a better world and dammit if I'm not going to share it with you.

[alpaca-clouds]

The Biggest Conservative Lie: "But how do you pay for that?"

I think right now, while America is starting yet another global economic crisis is the best time to talk about this one issue. Because oh boy, it sure is an issue. And I think everyone who follows politics in some regard has come across one example of this.

One fairly centrist (lets face it, most of them are not even left) politician goes: "Maybe actually we should just help people/keep our infrastructure running."

To which a conservative or right wing politician will inevitably go: "Yeah, but how do you pay for that? It is not as if I am against it (a total lie), but it is jsut not viable! We do not have the money for it!"

The same arguement also gets pulled on any actually further left-wing idea like Universal Basic Income or such.

The thing is: This answer is a lie from beginning to end. We do know for a fact that any sort of social spending pays for itself - and to help it over thestart issues can be absolutely financed by putting a bit more tax on the wealthy and the companies.

Outside of those Chicago School morons (the ones who still proclaim trickle-down-economics, a by now disproven idea of economics, totally works) pretty much every person working in economics - no matter how much they hate this fact - does agree that indeed, it works.

Lets just go through a couple of examples, alright?

Single-Payer Healthcare: This is easily proven given that a lot of countries have implemented this in one way or another. This very much improves medical outcomes, and lessons the costs of healthcare within the country. Mainly due to the healthcare being paid more fairly, but also due to people actually getting healthcare easier, as they do not need to take out a loan if they stay in the hospital for three days. Plus: People who are healthy are able to do better work, and do hence end up adding more to the economy - if you care about that. (I don't, but you know those psychopaths do.)

Giving Homeless People Homes: This is one that basically so far only Finland does. Homeless people in Finland receive homes through the state - and guess what: Not only do most of them succeed to gain stability in their lives, but they also cost the state a lot less money this way, than if they live in the streets. Win win for everyone.

Making all education free: Again, this one is fairly self-explanatory. Any sort of academic work - from education to research - usually helps the economy. Educated people provide more value for the economy. Research done at the universities often improves the economy. Like, even outside from a general "education is good" thing... If you care about the economy, you want this.

Paying for infrastructure: You know what any sort of economic thing needs to work? Yeah, infrastructure. They will need streets, water, electricity, internet access and shit. If you provide it for free, the companies will more likely settle where you provide this - and you then can tax them.

Universal Basic Income: Let's talk about a more controversal one. But we by now have studies over studies that is proving the concept. Yeah, if you just give all people money, it will help your country and your economy. People who receive money will get more educated, they will take better care of their families, they are more healthy, they eat better, they might start their own businesses. And it is easily paid for by just taxing companies and the super rich so little, that they would barely even notice it - given how filthy rich they are. And normally poor people that have more money to spend, will actually spend it. Shocking, I know!

Privatization and punishing poor people actually tends to cost the state and everyone a whole lot more money than otherwise.

But of course this is not why the conservatives are against it. Most of them know the numbers quite well - but they do not care. Because all that they care about is that those few people who are super rich and finance their political careers to get more and more money - money that they do not need and will hoard like the dragons of yore.

Meanwhile - as Americans are finding out in real time - the financial methods the conservatives are using do not work and have been proven to not work.

Tax cuts for the rich? Yeah, that got us into this issue to begin with. Trickle down economics do not work. And Tariffs? They just make everything more expensive for everyone.

Again: This is not like the conservatives do not know this. They do. Or rather, I certainly hope they do. Because there is simply two options: Either they know this and are lying about that to profit, or they are uneducated morons, who should not be in the position they are, because they clearly do lack the necessary education and abilities to understand complex systems.

But no, fact is: They are lying.

We can pay for this. We always could. For a long time we did. But then things went horribly wrong.

[sordidamok]

Programs like this always show the same results - people are better off and better able to participate in life and society in healthy ways when they are financially secure. It's past time to make universal basic income a reality for all Americans.

[soul-our-punk]

I've been reblogging a fair number of disability related posts in recent (when I actually come online). I'd like to take a moment talk a bit about my condition and frustrations around it. (TW near the end: pet death)

I have fibromyalgia, diagnosed by my rheumatologist after our investigation into my Sjogren's antibodies being six times higher than normal came up with no response to medication designed for it. I'm looking to take the test for fibro to confirm it for my disability case and am aware it only can identify one type, so here's hoping I lucked into at least being able to show medical evidence if my joints being fucked up little pain factories.

I've been seeking disability insurance since 2022 and have reached a remand back to the hearing level from the appeals council. I wasn't expecting it, since the judge pretty much twisted my testimony a bunch, my lawyers abandoned me, and I couldn't manage to interact with social security to get access to my C-file due to my condition--neither being able to get through the misophonia triggering ear pierce of the 120+ minute hold music nor mustering the motivation for getting down to the physical location to wait for hours upon hours in hostile seating and overstimulating environment.

It's been 2+ years since my initial application and I've unemployed for 99% of that. That 1% being a grand total of 10 hours at a major grocery chain in what can only be considered a misguided attempt to cope with no income, which resulted in my entire body shutting down with an explosive flare.

Now, my spouse, bless her, has been able to support me through this whole process. Emotionally and physically. I have a lot of gratitude for her. Unfortunately, with rising costs, being a single income home means we've been eating into our savings. More than half of it.

A kind friend was able to get me a job building ikea grade display furniture for a different major grocery chain. It's less than 15 hours a week and at the pay rate I take about 1000 gross per month. The thing is, while it isn't as intense as the other grocery work, it still causes flare ups, including full body migraines which take me out for a day or so.

I was about to get a new lawyer to help with my remand, until they learned I got this gig. Now, I'd been told by my previous lawyers that to qualify for disability (by legal definitions in the US), you can only work part time and make less than a certain amount each month--about 1600 this year. These new lawyers enlightened me that, while true, any amount you make that nears that limit makes your case harder since the judge gives you the side eye.

So here I am, tearing up my body because we can't afford for me to not do so, and it turns out my hope to get income that doesn't require me to tear up my body is at risk because I'm desperate for income. The government really does hope chronically-ill people either die or get starved out of the application process.

The hardest part is that if I don't keep this application alive, I won't be able to apply again, because (say it with me) I've been too disabled to work enough hours to meet the work credits within the past 10 years from the jump of a new application.

But I'm tired. I'm tired every day. I'm too tired to fully engage with things that bring me joy. I'm tired of thinking about how best to convey to an uncaring system how my conditions affect the quality of my life. I'm tired of searching for the perfect combinations of chemistry that can settle my anxiety, audhd, depression, hypomania, muscle and joint pain. I'm tired of brain fog attacking my ability to engage with topics that matter to me. I'm tired of hiding my pain from my family of origin, because I don't want to listen to their ableism. I'm tired dealing with the self loathing. I'm tired of being me.

I've all about given up hope that I'll get at least this one thing to reduce the pain. And that's what the government hopes will happen. Because they'd rather spend more money in an effort to deny than it would cost to just provide the benefit. Nothing is going to change my condition, whether I get disability or not. The truth is I have chronic conditions that will haunt me for the rest of my life, barring a miracle of science.

But the government isn't concerned with the truth, the law is just an arbitrary metric that says you can't be able to lick envelopes or crouch or lift a certain poundage. It's unconcerned whether there actually exists a job that us exclusively licking envelops that has the hours and pay to amount to a living wage. It's unconcerned with how fucked up you feel after bending down or lifting once or twice. All it cares about is finding that one thing that lets them say 'sorry, thanks for playing.' Even if that thing is is twisting around your testimony.

"Well, he plays video games. Well, he has cats." They honestly will purport that disabled people can't have any modicum of joy in their life, have anything to distract from the horrors. They're looking for anything like that to the point that a judge will hear that conditioned ruined my relationship with my dogs that I had before the conditions reached full blown disability, only to turn around and say "well, he is currently raising dogs." My rescues died from cancer 6 months apart in 2017, prick! What the fuck.

I don't know how to end this rant, so I'll just close with I know there is a lot going on in the world right now and I wish I had more energy to put toward taking a stand. There are people I love who need protection and care and support, but I don't have the resources to provide those things. I can't even provide them for myself. We need reform. We need revolution.

[haxxy]

being a therapist during an election season is wild. i listen to so many people lambasting basic liberal ideas during their sessions + smile and nod while thinking about how if they knew my opinions on any of this stuff they'd probably throw up and shit themselves.

[shazleen]

i think all workers should just shut up and do their jobs

This is so funny to me lol.

Has this chilchuck post found like capitalism apologist tumblr

[ironysgrace]

I’m absolutely fascinated by the idea of what influencer culture and creativity might look like with universal basic income

Because I don’t think that would go away, I think some people are naturally good at creating a vibe that’s enticing to watch and possibly emulate

And if everyone had the access to follow their passions through time and allocation of funds, how many more people would join in and how many more would opt out

Because while I don’t think it’d go away I do think a lot of people engaging and creating the content do so because it fills a hole in their lives

I wonder what these niches would look like if they were built on mutual enjoyment, shared desires. The want to engage, understand, explore, and create within the medium that is the aesthetics of one’s life

Instead of envy and unattainable access to an ideal, it was “oh that looks fun/nice I’d like to experience that too, i’ll make some simple changes to my schedule & budget and try it out”

Maybe you find out you do like having fresh baked bread but you’re more of a budget to get a bread machine or schedule a stopping at the bakery kinda person, and those changes are not a penny pinching/neck breaking rush to find time kinda of luxury thing

A world where finding joys only barriers are simple personal mental juggling acts, and if you struggle you have access to healthcare to help with executive function be it needed meds or behavioral changes

A world where maybe you are budgeting like a crazed accountant and your schedule is filled to the gills, but it’s because you love life and it’s experiences that much! It’s simply self imposed because you wanna take everything in with the finite time you have on earth and that’s it

You missed a concert or something because you crashed for a nap, it’s a bummer but it’s not a major deal, you’ll catch them another time and you know you will because you didn’t have to starve to save up for it and your jobs based on a task that needs to be done instead of profit so scheduling isn’t a nightmare

And your nap was great because that influencer was right a lavender infused pillow shaped like a baby hippo is worth the hype and now you’re well rested, you text your friends to come over when the shows done because you have a new recipe to try and they can tell you how it went while y’all eat and set up to marathon that new anime everyone’s yapping about

Your friends show up and they brought some fancy artisanal drink a local shop makes that you’ve been dying to try!!

[blunt-force-therapy]

My biggest problem right now is that I don't want to exist in the actual real world reality. All the things that excite me here are either unreachable or impossible to monetise in a way that keeps me even vaguely interested

[becomingthecrone]

We need UBI.

I have a full-time job that pays sufficiently well. It covers healthcare. I get annual bonuses. On paper, I seem financially stable.

I just had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Since the doctor didn't actually believe me that the rotator cuff was torn, I was told it would be a two week recovery. Not ideal, but I put it off until after our busy season, so workable. Turns out (they discovered once they cut me open), I was right, it was the rotator cuff, and now I'm on six weeks off-work instead of two.

It's necessary. I can feel how slowly I'm recovering, and even then I'm apparently healing better than expected. I can't drive, can't type, can't even fully sit up for more than~15 minutes, and I'm still trying to figure out how to go back on Monday because this is going to wipe out my savings (which included two of those annual bonuses because I knew this was coming) just covering rent+ bills getting through recovery before I even start paying back the $8K+ the surgery itself will cost.

Going back to work before recovering - before my first PT appt, for that matter - will almost certainly damage my recovery, possibly permanently. I have other injuries that became permanent chronic damage because I wasn't given enough/the correct post-injury care, so I know how bad of an idea this is.

But I don't have a choice. I am the major breadwinner for my household. I'm no-contact with my family, so I don't have a social safety net. I tried filing for temporary disability (recommended by the hospital), only to learn that it would be at least two more months before finding out if I qualify, much less getting any payments. Work could manage without me; my job is not at risk. There shouldn't be a need for me to physically ruin myself; I should be allowed to heal.

We need UBI.

[jadesage]

Honestly, while I try to fight my depression where I hate existence and resent being brought here to suffer, I think a lot of the things that make existence awful are things of our own making.

Like, knowing I'm going to die one day and never exist again is terrifying, and that the same thing will happen to everyone I love or will ever love is unbearable.

But being in a world that doesn't take care of people who are elderly or disabled, or mistreats people for being different, or bases people's ability to live and survive in this world on their ability to work and be profitable for someone else? That's all human shit.

We could just change that, but we don't, because the people at the top who benefit from commodifying people's lives continue to get lots of pieces of paper that humans assigned value to it based on their perceived strength/reliability of a country, which is also a human construction that could be changed at any time if enough people stopped believing in it/holding value to it.

[soul-our-punk]

What are we even doing here?

The more people who understand there are ways to meet your needs, and not at the cost of someone else's needs, the better. Particularly if they don't hold bigoted views which lead to silly things like going out of your way to prevent someone else from having their needs met. Making the world worse for someone because you don't know how to make it better for yourself. Life's hard enough without wasting your precious time, energy, and creative force on how to afflict your neighbor.

For my part, I like to think there are more people in the world who like the concept of mutual aid and are merely making do with the current capitalistic-zero-sum game until something better crystalizes--in spite of the system shouting so loud about itself, good or ill, in an effort to make it difficult to hear alternatives. Which is why I believe "solidarity over charity" is such an approachable proposition, regardless of the generation to which you have been ascribed by whomever does the sorting. I mean, Peter Singer was talking about this in the 70's. You have an obligation as a member of society to take measures to preserve wellness and uplift the vulnerable--give until giving any more would cause you harm. You get to decide where that dividing line is based on your finances, energy levels, social support network, available time, mobility, etc. As long as you set that line earnestly, then you are fulfilling the obligation which entitles you to the benefits of other member's solidarity.

The thing is, we're cornered. Restricted in analyses of all the options we could use to compose more humane systems. Isolated from what we could become, by a constant stream of shock doctrines induced by manufactured-disasters. So, mutual aid remains considered a coping strategy, rather than a cultural driving force for fundamental change, for the time being. Though, there's the rub, in that if there is always a new disaster, there is always a perceived need of relief prioritized over sustainable growth, which means the mutual aid has to become a political driving force to get ahead of the source of constructed woes.

I say that while also being painfully aware that discussion of any ideology beyond the current paradigm is defined by capitalistic expectations. Alternatives are invariably framed as monstrous inevitabilities in the supposed disastrous event of dismantlement, at least until they're cut open and adapted to fulfill a material component requisite to quell dissenting voices. "We can have social programs, yes, but it's not socialism, socialism is bad. Capitalism is good, which is why you have these social programs. Ignore other countries that have been providing more of these benefits for much longer, and devote more relative resources." Every other ideology is either fodder to be exploited for some new way to market what we have, or is dismissed/reviled for significant lack of traits that we already have in the devil we know. Which is very convenient for finding more fodder. Why would we want any system we make from here on anything like capitalism? We have to keep in mind that we are not looking for a better release appeal to make before an intractable captor. We are looking for the strategy that will attract enough confidence from fellow captives. To disenchant the captivated of the all consuming capitalist notion that virtue is derived from the free market's advertised high proficiency value generation.

What value? It definitely lets select groups pool resources, making their coffers more "valuable" in a fiscal sense, but where is the Value in that for a society? If its only claim to fame is that it can move numbers around faster and wont judge you for neglecting people's needs, then what does it actually do for us collectively that another system can't? Capitalism's whole premise relies on you not having enough, on you believing that there is not enough out there, that the only way you can have enough is to get there before someone else gets it and you're left with The Zero-Sum. But why would we take that on blind faith? What if there is a way to play the Positive-Sum game and we're just sitting on that because we assume its a fantasy?

How tragic to realize that the whole time you were suffering an obscene Sallie Mae loan, there could have been a non-tuition option. How mortifying to learn the medical bills that were artificially inflated by the relationship between the hospital and your insurance could have been handled by the taxes you already pay. The rent that serves as your proof of earning the right to live, assuaged with universal basic income. The chronic anxiety, stress, and aggression born from a machine of impersonal jobs that can leverage social class and basic needs to claim a third of your life for the least possible compensation possible; replaced with all the possibilities of a well rested mind and body.

Why would we as a collective people ever opt-in to the gamified social hierarchy?

What are we even still doing here?

[meat-loving-meat]

I want to write a Vanyel/Stefen modern-with-magic AU soooo bad but I don’t know Valdemar lore like at all. There are six books standing between me and feeling comfortable enough in the lore to imagine what Valdemar might look like with the internet and planes

[paperpalooka]

At this point my main campaign promise in 2028 is going to be a free copy of ghost trick to every usamerican. With this, world peace is attainable...