#white moderates

[odinsblog]

“The great enemy of justice are those moderates who feign outrage at societal injustice, but whose outrage conveniently disappears when real change threatens their status. These moderates are more comfortable leaving unchallenged the assumed moral authority of certain institutions, traditions and practices that are the purveyors of injustice rather than confronting their own role in maintaining these institutions. The hard truth is that the comfort of the status quo is always preferable to pursuing the demands of justice.”

—MLKjr

Despite what moderates (centrists, neoliberals, etc.)—who are more devoted to order than justice—might be saying, there should be no doubt that Martin Luther King, Jr. would be on the side of the student protesters who are standing up for Palestine 🇵🇸

[alwaysbewoke]

the entire democratic party

[spiderhungry]

someone: "I just don't like the protestors' tone. They're very loud. I think occupying a building is bad optics. Blocking traffic is illegal. I wish the protests weren't so disruptive!"

me: sighs

me: opens indesign

me: loads template

me: pastes the entirety of the Letter from Birmingham into the template

me: adds paragraph and character styles

me: exports to PDF

me: prints out PDF

me: cuts paper down to the correct size and sets manuscript aside

me: digs through collection of custom papers and selects a pretty one

me: measures the manuscript

me: cuts thick cardstock for front cover and back cover

me: dabs bookbinding glue on cardstock and pastes on pretty custom paper

me: sets it aside to dry

me: once it's dry, assembles covers and manuscript and clips them together tightly

me: drills five holes into the edge of the book

me: sews the book together using stab binding with a needle and waxed binding thread

me: ties off the end of the thread

me: carefully adds creases to the covers so that they open neatly

me: takes the book to my car

me: drives to airport

me: gets on an airplane

me: takes a taxi to the person's house

me: knocks on their door

someone: opens the door

me: hands them the lovingly bound book

me: "I beg of you, read this."

[kutputli]

The Kind White Moderate Racism of Ted Lasso

"the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a '"'more convenient season" - Martin Luther King Jr from 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' 16th April 1963

It is 60 years, to the day, almost, since MLK Jr wrote those words, at a time when Black people were being jailed and murdered, by a white supremacist state, accompanied by the mealy-mouthed hand-wringing of the white moderates.

In 2023, Black people are still being jailed and murdered, by a white supremacist state. (This is true for the US and the UK, as well as across the world. I write this from a brown post-colonial nation where also, anti-Blackness has proven repeatedly murderous.)

And the white moderates are still at it.

I could write an essay breaking down all the macro and micro racist moments in Ted Lasso, a show that exemplifies how kind moderate white men see themselves and the world - but I won't. (I'd rather be paid for the labour, if I have to rewatch actively triggering scenes to do it.)

Instead, I will ask the Ted Lasso fandom - does this show disgust you?

And if not, what will it take for a story told by white men to get you there?

Disgust can sit alongside critical appreciation for craft, and emotional affection for characters you have invested in. Anyone who has interacted with white art and culture has learned the ability to weave their love for it alongside the weft of contempt we must cultivate for its racism.

I am not asking if you have stopped loving the show, or its characters. I am asking if you have felt disgusted - truly, viscerally disgusted - by its politics.

Because if you have not - if a bunch of white men turning a Black man into a puppet to preach forgiveness to a Black man who has experienced racist violence - if that does not disgust you...

then you are aligned with white supremacy, no matter how much you may disclaim the crude, ugly right-wing manifestation of it.

Do you choose to forgive the racist show that you love?

Or do you choose to hold it accountable for its racism?

[readyforevolution]

[amazonclimber]

I don’t know why you’re surprised. The same people were crowing about how important masking was until the law stopped requiring it.

yall really said "boycott eurovision" until eurovision started huh.

[phoukanamedpookie]

Watch "The Alt-Right Playbook: The Cost of Doing Business" on YouTube

[whatcoloristhatcat]

🐈

red mackerel tabby with moderate white spotting

[starrysharks]

hotel manager

[serpentface]

Palo and Tigran standing casually in place to provide an outfit reference.

They are wearing the most typical day to day clothing for Galenii monks. This consists of three main parts:

-A simple, ankle-length sleeveless robe (white in initiate monks and black in the fully initiated). -A dark woolen cloak, which doubles as a blanket. This cloak is the foundational item of clothing throughout much of Imperial Wardin as a whole, and worn by all social classes. They tend to be cut shorter and highly decorative in the upper classes, serving only the practical purpose of shielding the arms from the sun. Poor laborers may wear only the cloak and a loincloth and nothing else. In the case of Galenii monks, it is standardized, simple, and dark blue-gray. -The sash. This is a very long scarf that is the primary visual signifier of a Galenii monk. Its open ends drape down the front side of the body and are tied at the chest. It is slung over the shoulders and hangs in a loop around the back. These sashes are dyed an expensive royal blue, indicating the significance and relative esteemed status of this religious order.

Additional elements:

-The sign of the horns: a small iron pin used to fasten the cloak. This is the symbol of the Lunar Face Of God (the specific aspect to which the Galenii are devoted, which is primarily associated with fertility and the cycles of sacrifice and rebirth). This is very common among monks but not standardized wear. Galenii priests wear the sign of the triple horns (though more commonly as an amulet).

-Ear piercings: Galenii monks and priests wear thick earrings of dark meteoric iron and stretch their earlobes. One is added to each ear for each year of the initiatory process. Palo is a year in, and Tigran is fully initiated and has five bands per ear. Body modification is exceptionally rare in Imperial Wardi culture, largely in relation to taboos surrounding body integrity. The exception here is done with great significance and care- these earrings can be made only with true meteoric iron, considered to be the blood of God Itself. Permanently marking their bodies with this metal signifies this priesthood's integral connection to maintaining the continual cycle of sacrifice/rebirth that is believed to keep God's domain stable, and binds them to this role.

-Sandals: usually very simple in construction. Monks are often expected to go barefoot, but the cities are quite dirty so most prefer to avoid this if possible.

-Ceremonial dagger: a sign of a fully initiated monk. It is curved and its sheath is decorated with a tuft of lion's mane (a signal of the Galenii order's close connection to the Odonii order). Most of its uses are ceremonial, but it will be periodically used to perform animal sacrifices. A smaller razor blade is kept in the home for personal bloodletting.

-Hair: Fully initiated monks shave their heads, while those in the process of initiation have relative freedom with hair dressing. Palo is wearing his hair in a single braid tucked around the front. Broadly speaking, braiding the hair is associated with female beauty standards throughout much of Imperial Wardin (though generally in two braids). There is no cultural convention Against men doing so, but it is regarded as mildly effeminate (particularly in the south and southeast).

-Lore Friendly Sunglasses: Palo has photosensitive epilepsy. No effective treatments for epilepsy exist in the setting (most 'treatments' in Imperial Wardin are alchemical in nature, ie: ambiguously helpful at best or literal poison at worst), but understanding of the Nature of epilepsy as a neurological disorder is relatively accurate, and the concept of photosensitivity is loosely understood (though not with great accuracy, it's assumed to be caused by light in General). Palo had this pair of (VERY expensive) sunglasses commissioned as a youth, which Do slightly reduce the frequency of his seizures. Devastatingly stylish as they may be, his glasses do not offer much visual clarity so he only wears them in bright conditions.

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[odinsblog]

@concrete-the-cat

Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but centrists absolutely are a part of that moderate group. Your own words prove that you either haven’t read MLK’s letter from Birmingham Jail, or that it went completely over your head.

“Centrist” is just another name for moderate, and here is admittedly an oversimplification of what that looks like, but it’s fairly on point.

Calmly and pragmatically making this Nakba—this genocide of Palestinians—making it about “concerns” of imaginary wars that may or may not happen “20 years from now” is the fucking definition of not getting it and paternalistically setting the time for someone else’s freedom. Are you kidding me?

“Pragmatism,” incrementalism and handwringing about imagined realities (while ignoring this current reality) only serve the oppressor and helps maintain the status quo.

Very few things in life are as clearly as binary as they are with Palestine; there is nothing to be “moderate” about here. Israel needs to A) stop bombing innocent people, and do a permanent ceasefire, and B) submit to the ICC + ICJ and hopefully to The Hague and answer for their war crimes.

Where, exactly, is the room for “moderation” after 7 months and the death of more than 45,000 of noncombatant civilians?

What does “centrism” or “moderation” look like to YOU? Does it look like Israel “only” bombing 25,000 noncombatant civilians for the next 7 months?

It’s like you’re saying, “Free Palestine” + “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your … knee-jerk actions.”

And your mythical concept of time (shit that might happen—might happen—in 20 years??) is literally advising Palestinians to be patient for a better season. It’s as though MLK was trying to speak directly to YOU when he wrote that letter.

There is nothing complicated about what’s happening in Palestine. People are being murdered. Men, women, children, pregnant people, elderly people, and disabled people. I’m for the fierce urgency of NOW. I’m for any “knee-jerk” position that makes the genocide stop, not now, but right now.

I have no idea what you mean, or what you think you mean when you say “knee-jerk,” but if knee-jerking gets us an immediate and permanent ceasefire that stops the genocide of Palestinians, then I’m on team knee-jerk.

Please PLEASE read it again:

“The great enemy of justice are those moderates who feign outrage at societal injustice, but whose outrage conveniently disappears when real change threatens their status.

These moderates are more comfortable leaving unchallenged the assumed moral authority of certain institutions, traditions and practices that are the purveyors of injustice rather than confronting their own role in maintaining these institutions.

The hard truth is that the comfort of the status quo is always preferable to pursuing the demands of justice.”

Look, I vehemently dislike centrism and neoliberalism. It’s slow-walking the Overton Window to further to the right. It’s bullshit “triangulation.” It’s Clintonism. It’s giving Republicans and conservatives half of what they want today, and then pragmatically acquiescing again, and giving them everything else they want, tomorrow. I probably dislike centrists as much as, if not more than conservatives.

Conservatives are never centrist, but centrists are frequently conservative. That’s a bad, unbalanced equation. People on the progressive side of that equation get screwed over.

That’s my B-Log and that’s what it’s always been. If you gotta block or unfollow me, that’s absolutely cool. No hard feelings.

But please understand that you are absolutely, positively wrong about centrism.

“The great enemy of justice are those moderates who feign outrage at societal injustice, but whose outrage conveniently disappears when real change threatens their status. These moderates are more comfortable leaving unchallenged the assumed moral authority of certain institutions, traditions and practices that are the purveyors of injustice rather than confronting their own role in maintaining these institutions. The hard truth is that the comfort of the status quo is always preferable to pursuing the demands of justice.”

—MLKjr

Despite what moderates (centrists, neoliberals, etc.)—who are more devoted to order than justice—might be saying, there should be no doubt that Martin Luther King, Jr. would be on the side of the student protesters who are standing up for Palestine 🇵🇸

[arctic-hands]

I can't get Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke leading the Ka Mate haka in the middle of parliament out of my head. American politicians would never be so brave or outspoken, our officials are too concerned with keeping order than actually doing anything about unjust bills

[vintageseawitch]

some leftists, even those who will vote for Kamala Harris while holding their nose, make claims like, "fascism doesn't just go away if you vote against it" & while there are those out there who do feel this way (or at least want to) there are MANY who know that something like Project 2025 doesn't just go away if they lose their chance to implement it nationwide.

a leftist responded to one of my comments on facebook when i mentioned something about "accelerationists." it was only part of my comment & not even my point. they were SO offended by me calling "all of them that" when i did no such thing. what i see is that leftists who claim they're above everyone because they don't fall for propaganda that easily are proving they are just as human as the rest of us & only read what they want to read.

i get it: the US has A LOT of issues. this is not a great country. there are so many things i want to see get changed for the better. there are plenty of folks who feel the same while not identifying themselves as far left.

one other issue i have: i mention Ernst Thälmann quite a bit in my political posts. he was a German politician & leader of the Communist Party of Germany. he regarded the Social Democratic Party as "social fascists" which made it harder for the two leftist parties to work together. when he ran for office again in 1933 he lost by a landslide & Hitler took office. Thälmann was arrested by the Gestapo & sent to Buchenwald. his party rival, Walter Ulbricht, ignored requests to plead for his release & Thälmann was eventually shot & killed on Hitler's personal command.

when i brought up Thälmann recently, someone commented, "yeah, don't be like the guy who wanted to beat fascism but vote them in instead." that is NOT what i meant & these folks who claim they're the smartest ever because they don't like the US (that's actually a low bar; plenty if people dislike it) like to pretend they don't see my point. my only point is this: we are stronger together regardless of your normal party affiliation. working apart? making purity politics your hill to die on? it won't help us & we probably won't like how that'll turn out.

leftists who don't see the forest for the trees: you're right, you can't just "vote fascism away." the issue is your wanting to be superior to the rest of us is you may be part of what helps them get that kind of power. you're not the MAIN problem; our justice system is garbage & there's decades of poor education & people have been falling for propaganda & people are voting for anyone who is as hateful & ignorant as they are. my point in saying to not be an Ernst Thälmann is: don't tear us apart because of even slightly different ideologies. we need to work together. start at the local level. please remember it's not just the president; Congress & the Supreme Court are also filled to the brim with corruption.

[whatcoloristhatcat]

hai! just wanted to know whats the most common cat color you usually get to identify? :D

also

:3

def black tabbies and torbies but that makes sense since there’s a lot of them out there

that’s a chocolate tortoiseshell with moderate white spotting (calico)

[water-your-plance]

I'm getting a little tired of this shit, wtf is this? Like do y'all not enjoy a big scarred demon woman that's beefy?