#why yes i am usamerican

[arthur-lesters-left-arm]

if you’re relying on a time traveling blind man with a gun and control of only one arm, you can’t expect him to make the shot every time

[vonlipvig]

got called an american for the ciara poll, which is without a doubt the worst kind of abuse i've suffered on this website so far

[elbiotipo]

Thinking about superheroes as a Usamerican thing.

You see, the thing about the United States during the 20th century is that it didn't experience major unrest. I know what you're going to say, and yes, there was PLENTY of unrest. But overall, the structure of the state was never compromised. There was never a coup, there was never a civil war, there was never a foreign invasion. War? It did happen, but in distant shores. You could live (and indeed, many did live) a comfortable life for decades without any kind of major political struggle reaching you. Many classic superhero stories have them showing up somewhere before or during WWII, just when the US was reaching the zenith of its global power.

And that's why a superhero in the United States has it easy. Just fight crime, and the ocassional supervillain, or alien invaders. Truth, Justice, and the (Us)american way. After all, you are convinced that you are fighting for democracy and liberty, who wouldn't want to do that? Okay, but what about civil rights and such? Oh, no need to get into politics, just do a speech about how kindness is the way, without getting into specifics. Most famous people do (many famous people did). It's easy. The government of the US will change parties, things will change, but at the end, you have decades of prosperity ahead, without really needing to pick a side, just punch bad guys.

What if Superman had landed in Santa Rosa, Territorio Nacional de La Pampa, Argentina instead? Say, somewhere in the 30s. During the Década Infame, coming of age during Perón's rise to power. What would an Argentine Superman do? Would he support Perón against the "Revolución Libertadora" coup? What would he do when the military's Gloster Meteors fly over Plaza de Mayo and bomb civilians? What would have he done as the military couped civilian governments and repressed protests? What would have he had done as the country split over ideological lines? When the dictators kidnapped and dissapeared people from the street and stole their children? When the struggle between popular movements and the interests of the oligarchs was very, very open? Would just a bland statement would suffice?

What if, instead, he had landed in Jinan, Shandong, China, again, somewhere during the 30s. As the Japanese were invading. This isn't like the US, where they could participate in World War II from far away. The enemies are at the gates. And after that, there is a civil war between communists and nationalists. There are sides to pick. There are big changes to come, there is a new China, there is a revolution, there is a Cold War, there is an industrialization that will change the lives of millions, there is struggle, against enemies abroad, and revolutions inside.

For that matter, China has the largest population in the world during this era. Others like India aren't that far behind. As it often happens with superhero settings, soon other superheroes and villains will appear and do the whole justice league thing. Now, why are they all in the US? Even assuming the US is the core of superpowers, with all the aliens landing and mad science going on... don't you think that there would be more of them in the Third World, just out of sheer demographics. Isn't the USSR, Japan, and other countries doing also its mad science experiments? Who are their superheroes?

And what side do all those "super-people" take? Because it can't just be Truth, Justice and the American way. They don't even call themselves American... unless they were, indeed, born in Latin America. Why does Capitán América has to carry the US flag, anyways?

Where am I going with this? Don't know, just something to think. It's kinda strange that none of these super-people have REALLY to take a side beyond a vague 'good vs. evil' right? I bet at least some of them has some kind of political opinion. And the means to enact it on the world.

[tossawary]

Tried watching some of "Star Trek: Enterprise" during work (that's the pre-Kirk one). The emphasis on the fact that Humans and Vulcans have been acquainted for, what, 100 years or so...? Like, okay, this show is going to be about various Human and Vulcan characters learning to get along over the course of the show, I presume, so the show wants them to have a very rocky start. I get that. "Star Trek" is constructed by writers to be a vehicle for heavy-handed "why can't we all just get along" messages and always has been, and that it why it is (and I mean this both positively and negatively) Like That.

But the fact that Vulcans and Humans are apparently so poorly acquainted (and yes, obviously, this is happening in the context of potential conflict with the Klingons and Humans launching out into the rest of space, so tempers are running high) even after all this time is... somewhat amusingly nonsensical from an in-universe, more realistic perspective. It's funny.

Firstly, you'd think that a supposedly logic-based culture that prioritizes cooperation for the purpose of communal betterment (the Vulcans) would have worked out by now that Humans are not going to suddenly all take to the teachings of Surak, and so would have efficiently adjusted their rhetoric to more effectively appeal to Human perspectives. Experienced Vulcans would adapt to structure their explanations and arguments slightly differently, surely?

Like, wow, there's not a single Vulcan ambassador who has studied styles of Human argument and personally found it logical to "speak their language" a little more rather than make huffy appeals to Vulcan authority? Any Vulcan anthropologists or sociologists seeking to understand Human cultures? Realistically, there's no way that all Vulcans would agree 100% of the time on what is logical behavior and what isn't. Some Vulcans might decide that smiling puts Human colleagues at ease and do so (even if they shouldn't HAVE to, Humans shouldn't expect Vulcans to perform emotions for them), because it makes cooperation easier, which is logical.

But that's just not what the writers want here. Which is fine! They want their rocky start here. They're doing their usual "why can't we all just get along" arc, which is fine and great and I'm fond of it, even if I also personally find that "Star Trek" has been incredibly clumsy about their anti-racism stuff most of the time.

(So many shows typically have one Vulcan character regularly on the ship, rather than have, say, two Vulcans with different opinions on things in order to explore interesting discussions on cultural differences and the definitions of "logic". It makes the shows' depictions of Vulcan logic feel a little "tell, don't show" sometimes. I think it's a missed opportunity. Just as it's a missed opportunity not to put neurodivergent Human characters on a ship so aliens and androids don't have to be the stand-ins all the time.)

Anyway, secondly, you'd think that Humans would all know by now that Vulcans don't like handshakes? There's a scene where a Human tries to shake a Vulcan's hand and she ignores him, and I was like, "Okay, wow, INCREDIBLY rude to offer a Vulcan a handshake."

(Side note: I am aware that "Star Trek" repeatedly has Vulcans engage in handshakes with Humans, such as during first contact and when Spock is being introduced to Kirk in "Strange New Worlds", but it always reads to me as Vulcans choosing to go along with the gesture out of politeness. I still think it's a little rude for Humans to offer a handshake in the first place, if they can't accept a refusal with good grace. Plenty of real people across different cultures really don't like handshakes.)

And for an audience member unfamiliar with "Star Trek" and Vulcans, especially a USAmerican, the Vulcan silently refusing the handshake is going to come off as incredibly rude. I haven't watched further but I assume that this scene was intentionally written to demonstrate the issue of culture clash. Two people can deeply offend the other without fully meaning to do so. I'm guessing the Human didn't know just how rude he was being offering the handshake and that the show will elaborate on this.

But, realistically, I cannot fully suspend my disbelief that Humans and Vulcans have been acquainted for 100 years without it being common knowledge that Vulcans don't like handshakes. That would be absurd. Some Vulcan ambassador, familiarizing themselves with Human cultures, would have realized by now that it would not be offensive to inform Humans that, like many Human cultures, Vulcans do not like to make physical contact. And realistically, the Human liaisons, presumably trained diplomats who understand basic politeness and courtesy, would have been like, "We apologize for any previous offense. We didn't know. How do you prefer to be greeted? We will inform our people not to offer you handshakes again and to respectfully greet you in the manner of your preference."

I don't know if these Human characters know yet that Vulcans are touch-telepaths. The Vulcans would not have to share that information to make it politely clear that they don't like handshakes. If it IS known by Humans that Vulcans are touch-telepaths (it would be on their Future Wikipedia page), you'd think people prejudiced against Vulcans would be very aware of the telepatht and more inclined than most not to make physical contact.

Personally, realistically, I would think that any Human expected to make contact with Vulcans would have received a mandatory briefing on manners and basic cultural different. Any Human officer on a ship expected to go make contact with currently hostile KLINGONS and other known Non-Human cultures should be thoroughly educated in basic rules of interaction, for the safety of the ship if not basic civility. So, any Human officer offering a handshake to a Vulcan is either being intentionally disrespectful or is just incompetent (doesn't already know basic facts about the culture of Earth's first, longest, and closest ally) (didn't read the cultural briefing).

This happens in front of the Human captain too, so either the captain doesn't care to call out the offense and apologize (seems likely, he seems pretty hostile here so far) or didn't know it was offensive. Which is also just... stunningly unprofessional for someone who is supposed to be an ambassador for the entire planet of Earth.

And again, the episode is presumably intentionally constructed this way so that the characters can get to know each other later and learn to get along where the audience can observe them. Every single "Star Trek" show I've watched has had protagonist characters be prejudiced and even bigoted in clumsy ways that feel like they ought to be textbook cases of "What NOT To Do" in Starfleet Academy classes, so that the show can deliver basic messages about how prejudice is bad and we all have the potential for it and we can all get better. It is "Star Trek"'s whole thing. "Star Trek: Enterprise" isn't at all alone on this, because all of the shows have done this.

But my goodness is it amusing when a "Star Trek" episode presents a cultural clash problem that more realistically speaking probably would have been better settled about 100 years ago in-universe.

[lil-gingerbread-queen]

Why are people acting as if you have to be in the 1% to be considered rich??? That's not how it works. To be rich, you have to gain, per month, at least the double median net worth of households.

In France, if you make 3900€ per month, you are rich. That's not an opinion, it's what Insee (the French national institute of economic statistics studies) label as rich right now. Yes, the USA and France have a different cost of living, but I am pretty certain that the guys each makes more than the double median net worth of USAmerican households, I can say they make more than the equivalent of 4000€ per months.

Fellas, y'all just have a fucked view of what being rich is in the USA, y'all think one needs to make 2 millions per year to be rich (from this study). That's more than TWENTY times the median net worth of USAmerican households.

From the "eat the rich" country (and, actually, the people sang "kill the rich"), the guillotine country, I'm telling you, those guys are rich. And also, they weirdly proudly displaying the luxuries they can afford, the "eat the rich" they throw around is like a protection, it doesn’t sound genuine (see: Voidzilla's video where he cringes when Ryan says "Eat the rich" before showing off his brand new Nike proudly)

And let's not talk about y'all calling their videos, where they get drunk and read ghosts' stories from the internet, "art".

[purplepints]

Without a supportive, cooperative Senate & Congress the President is hamstrung. Without people-first representation, we end up with petty incompetent representatives. Without functioning government, we all suffer. Local and state level politics are SO IMPORTANT, and yet a ton of voters only fill in for President and skip everything else. I am dead curious as to why people don't vote the entire ballot.

[orphee-aux-enfers]

I. Don’t understand how being against homophobia and misogyny and informational suppression is cultural relativism? Yeah I have a #USAmerican raised Christian bias but I think not being bioessentialist and anti-intellectual is. Normal???? Genuinely don’t understand

Okay so. My guess from how this was written is that you are either a child or just into your 20s. I'd expect much different wording and approach if you were older. So. I'm going to try and be as gentle and clear cut as possible.

1) Orthodox Judaism is actually quite diverse and also different from Christianity, even fundamentalist Christianity .

2) What you're witnessing is not necessarily indicative of the actual community values; you are interpreting without insider perspective, or seemingly any actual knowledge. You're also ascribing motive to actions that may or may not be there.

3) many orthodox Jews, myself included, are queer and trans and embraced by our community. Every person of authority I've spoken to on the matter says that my incredibly queer, t4t marriage that gets read as gay no matter what, still gets the mitzvah of sex on erev Shabbos, and that includes my main community of Chabad.

4) many books are screened before being given to children by all people everywhere for a variety of reasons. Just because you don't fully understand the reasons as you are not yourself Orthodox Jewish doesn't mean that they are automatically something to be hated due to your preconceived notions.

5) Assuming a group is inherently homophobic, misogynistic, etc. Simply because you don't understand them as you are not part of their community is in fact a bad behaviour, yes. Don't do that. Most of the time, in most communities people are at worst confused.

6) As for misogyny... It's important to know the ways in which Judaism actually structures it's sex roles. No one has different sex roles because they're lesser, which misogyny implies. And every SINGLE person I have ever met observes mitzvos based on sex due to actually desire, not coercion. But for example, married women cover their hair as a way of making their marriage even more holy. Men meanwhile are told to cover their head at all times so they are mindful of G-d at all times. What does this imply at first glance? Why, that women are capable of remembering G-d at all times and the men are silly and must forget G-d if not reminded! Do we think this is all to the interpretation?

So. Before you judge our community so harshly... Perhaps also consider the last century of human history alone. We are being killed and hurt at alarming rates again, especially in the USA. Is it any wonder we don't stop in the streets to justify our existence to you?

Lastly, an oversharing of my personal details because as I am currently safe and well at home, I feel I ought to give you opportunity to understand that you aren't seeing/understanding the complexity of sex roles in Judaism

7) so, yes, orthodox Judaism has gender/sex based roles. It also is, in my experience, pretty flexible to meet individuals. I was coercively assigned female at birth. I was however by Jewish law, tumtum. In English terms, I had ambiguous genitals which could be surgically changed. My sister wanted a baby sister. And so, I was surgically "corrected" and raised female, until puberty and onset of hormonal problems that indicated that it wasn't just a genital mutation. I felt disconnected from binary gender, and at time, in part of my community having a label for me while the hospital I was born at had simply labeled me "incorrect", I came to embrace a masculine social standing. Because I was unable to be sexed as an infant, have masculine levels of testosterone and a lack of menses for years at a time, I have to adhere to both male and female sex based mitzvos. Religiously, I am operating with the strictest possible adherence, but this is all written and debated, as are all of the other sexes in Judaism. I am, however, allowed to exist as intersex in a Jewish community in a way that I am NEVER allowed to exist as intersex without a fight in the secular world, to the point that if it's not relevant I identify only as trans, because otherwise it becomes too complicated in the secular world. And this is genuinely because there is actually a space for me to exist in, as there are six Talmudic sexes.

Being trans and intersex is "allowed". Being queer is "allowed". Some communities differ, but I've lived in seven, and all of them have been more accepting of me being queer, trans, and intersex, than any secular space, including liberal and leftist spaces. At WORST, I am met with curiosity because I am new to the community. I think, perhaps, too many people in this world mistake curiosity with hatred.

[wathanism]

Your ideals are going to kill people. The only thing refusing to vote is going to do is ensure that the republicans win and their project 2025 gets enacted. This is not a conspiracy theory. They want a theocracy. They want authoritarianism. They want fascism. You and everyone you convince to not vote is letting that happen.

I don't know who convinced you that its impossible to care about two things at once, but abandoning the vulnerable here in the states because you care so deeply about the vulnerable on the other side of the world doesn't make you more righteous.

Refusing to vote for him is a foolish act that will do nothing to stop what is happening. Even if he finally pulls back all aid for Israel at the eleventh hour, no one will vote for him now, which means the vulnerable right here at home are fucked. Thanks.

i was really close to not answering you at all because i have a hard rule about not talking with selfish cunts who are commited to misunderstanding everything a non-white person says to them. but since you had the good sense to realize that you were being an ass right then, i'm going to assume that you're worth engaging with, and i'm going to hope you'll talk with me in good faith and read everything i have to say rather than blow up at me again. if nothing else, i'm going to use this as an opportunity to say all the things i've been wanting to say since i made that post. that said, i'm real pissed and i'm not gonna be all nice and palatable in my answer.

first of all, no i'm not a US citizen. i live in west asia. y'know, where all the wars are? gaza is five hours away from my hometown of damascus, which is also being bombed with your tax dollars, by the way! in fact, i grew up living under a textbook authoritarian theocracy. so don't sit there and talk to me like i don't know what it's like to be afraid of your own government. we're in this shithole world together, and you and i are a hell of a lot more like each other than the politicians putting our lives on the line.

second of all, i should have been more clear about what i actually would like for US voters to do. contrary to small-minded liberals' assumptions, i'm not republican nor am i anti-voting. i'm saying people should vote third party. i even have a preferred candidate in mind, jasmine sherman. they even have strict and well-defined policies to protect trans rights and provide universal healthcare that includes gender affirming care and reproductive care.

this is usually the point when usamericans talk down to me like it's my first day on earth, so let me be clear. i know about the electoral college. i know about the flaws of the first-past-the-post voting system. i know about ranked-choice voting and why that's a better system in almost every way. i know that until there's drastic changes to the US voting system, there is no chance a third party candidate could even win. i'm not delusional about that. and i'm asking you to protest-vote anyway. which, yes, i realize is a big ask, but consider that this is a big fucking problem that requires pretty drastic actions.

several absolute dumbasses who i refuse to engage with said some very interesting stuff that made me realize why so many people are quick to dismiss the idea of refusing to vote for either major party. some examples:

they describe the push to vote third party as us lashing out at biden. in their eyes, we're not politically aware adults with a righteous passion for justice. no, we're petulant children causing problems for everyone whose rights actually matter. maybe a nicer person than me can give them the benefit of the doubt, but i find it extremely suspect that they truly seem to believe that non-white people are irrational, easily-angered, thoughtless creatures with no understanding of the complexities of the situation. there's a complete refusal to consider that there might be an actual coherent strategy behind the activism of indigenous and black people.

and again, because this is not my first day on earth, i know about the "but trump!!" argument. i honestly am BAFFLED that liberals seem to genuinely believe they're offering anything novel or valuable to the discussion at hand when they parrot talking points that we've been hearing since 2016 with quite literally nothing to show for it.

but i digress. the important thing is: yes, i fucking know. i know trump would have a near identical policy on gaza. he'd also have an identical policy on the police, on covid, on immigration, and on most other issues. you worry about project 2025, and you're right to! but the thing is, and you'll forgive me for quoting imani here but she is the most correct person ever always, "everything in project 2025 relies on biden doing exactly what he's fucking doing right now. the more successful this genocide is, the more likely project 2025 is to happen." because at the end of the day, it doesn't require a republican president. it requires a CONSERVATIVE president. and that's what biden is.

i don't know if you're missing it or if you don't care, but democrats benefit from you being terrified, and that's exactly why they'll never keep you safe. you will always be one election away from being killed by the system because that's what keeps you complicit. democrats won't shoot the gun, but they will ALWAYS make sure it's loaded and that you're trapped in a room with the person who'll shoot you. don't forget that roe v. wade was overturned on biden's watch. trans rights were rolled back on biden's watch. covid deaths skyrocketed and protections were dismantled on biden's watch. he'll find every loophole in the book to funnel weapons to israel's military but he'll never lift a finger to fix the problems ruining your life, because he needs you to be as scared as you are. that's exactly what's keeping you from showing an ounce of compassion or solidarity to palestinians right now. and no, your fucking lip service and crocodile tears don't count as solidarity.

liberals have managed to completely forget the most important lesson about social justice: none of us are free until all of us are free. you've been so busy yelling at arabs to even realize that this moment in time is one of the greatest pushes against the two-party system. do you not get how important that is? right now, when damn near everyone who's even mildly left leaning (and many who are right leaning) is so deeply unsatisfied with both major candidates, is the perfect time to be thinking of ways to break out of this system. to organize, to advocate for your mystical fucking ranked choice voting!

palestinians aren't asking you to lay down your life and throw away your human rights so they can mildly spite joe biden. they're asking you to grow a fucking spine and stand on principle and god damn DO SOMETHING to tear apart the two-party system. make people realize that a third party candidate IS a viable one, so that one day they can be.

you're framing this as a matter of pitting palestinians versus americans, which couldn't be further from the truth. maybe instead of directing your hate towards palestinians and their allies, show some gratitude. palestinians are uncovering the veil of all the atrocities and all the corruption in the world, and they're giving the people of the earth a banner to unite under. there have never been so many people (afaik, at least) pushing against the systems of corruption in america. that kind of thing ripples out. standing with palestine isn't easy, but all of our lives will be better for it, including and especially the lives of minorities living in the US.

there is so, SO much more i can say about palestine, and it will inevitably turn into a very spiritual rant about the uniting force of the holy land. but i'm instead just gonna leave you with this tweet that i think sums up everything about this.

[libelula202]

I’m rewatching Numb3rs, a 2005 series about a mathematician helping his FBI Agent brother solve crimes.

And I’ve been thinking a lot of Jewish representation in media, what with the world being what it is right now.

Numb3rs stars Rob Morrow, David Krumholtz, and Judd Hirsch.

All three of whom are Jewish IRL.

Up until this point, the family’s religion has not been spoken about. Obviously the audience knows that all 3 men are Jewish IRL-but nothing has been explicitly talked about in the show.

I recently watched the season 3 episode Provenance, where a Jewish family has a claim to a painting stolen by the Nazis.

There is a scene where Don (Rob Morrow) asks his brother Charlie (David Krumholtz) why their family was never religious. Charlie shrugs and doesn’t really have an answer.

The story line continues, and is concluded when the family gets the painting back. And there is a beautiful scene where the song Hallelujah plays behind the family matriarch, as she holds the painting and reminisces about her family, who were all killed during the Shoah.

It ends with Don talking to his dad (Judd Hirsch) about using his FBI access to try and find any surviving extended family members. 

And it just struck me, that they never say their family is Jewish. The audience is just expected to know.

Their last name is Eppes (in the show), and of course we know these actors IRL are Jewish. But that’s all we know until this episode.

I just thought it’s so different to current times. The audience isn’t expected to be shocked that they’re Jewish, it’s just treated as a fact.

Yes, they’re Jewish.

Full stop.

No explaining, no “well I’m Jewish” moment in the dialogue.

Just an acknowledgment that this story hits close to home for them.

And then we move on.

——

I am not Jewish. I don’t know if I’m qualified to say if this is good representation or not.

But as a goy, I appreciated that I was expected to know this.

It feels like a flip of the normal culturally Christian USAmerican media script.

I don’t get explicitly told their religion, I’m just supposed to use context clues and figure it out myself. No explanation, no being force fed the answer.

It’s just a fact.

They are Jewish.

(Also I like that this is a s3 episode. Doesn’t feel forced this way.)

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I've seen so many posts of Neo-pagans and witches claim they are "working" with deities like Hades and Persephone and they claim they are using tarrot cards and pendulums and crystals and other things to "communicate" with them and I'm just wondering, isn't this a big mess? How they are mixing and matching practices and religions?

Yes, it's a huge mess! I am not going to say "Apollo will NEVER talk to you if you have a crystal ball", nor am I going to say "you must sacrifice a bull each month". But there is a wider trend of pop "paganism" (Greeks don't even use(d) the term "pagan" to refer to Polytheists/Dodekatheists, and we also didn't burn witches!) that makes it clear many individuals treat foreign practices and deities as if they're made just for their consumption and comfort. With a dash of USAmerican Evangelism on the side, usually.

These people do this mix and match, and use the term "work with X deity" because they haven't studied enough and take things lightly. Even though they think they are deep and have tons of knowledge, they are just there for the aesthetic, some Percy Jackson imperialistic influence, and to fill the spiritual void some type of (usually western brand of) Christianity left on them. And they don't step on a local or the Greek tradition to do so. They just bring out some random crystals and tarot cards and they decide they are priestesses of X god (who appointed them??) and they see X deity on the clouds and a piece of tost etc etc

It's not bad to bring your own culture to your faith, however, because of the internet, you have zero excuses for not knowing about and not following the practice in the proper context. It's a deliberate choice to stay ignorant about Greece's oppression and manipulation by the western powers which also have been fetishizing its practices for a long time.

Not to mention, this type of practice is not exactly a product of cultural exchange, like many such cases in the past (where the foreign culture blends organically with the og one). It's a product of cultural hegemony, the hegemony of western empires (usually the countries these people live in) upon Greece for the last centuries. That's why such practices and approaches don't feel natural and organic.

[none-shall-caricature-me]

Fear and Hunger is such an awesome game that only hardcore channels cover because most famous players cater either to children, more sensitive folks or to the pussy 'omigosh how DARE a game depict realistic brutality and sexual violence even though it DOESN'T glorify it in the least' crowd. Yes, some people are legit uncomfy with that stuff and that's totally fine (even though I personally will NOT be discussing media with those types. Too easy to spook them), but the nutjob crowd on social media would've thrown a hissy fit over this game. What a shame.

Also, it's honestly pathetic how some people say the game 'trivialises' or is 'problematic' in its depiction of frequent sexual violence / nudity. As someone who lives in a country where rape horror stories are well - known (India), I'll provide an explanation to y'all. The dungeons and historical war setting are the core of this story. Historically and even nowadays, prisons are chock - full of depravity. Warfare and famine enable the shittiest among us to dominate the social order. When it's universally accepted that awful people in positions of power WILL murder, torture, pillage in such situations - how come sexual assault is out of the question for such an uncaring mind ? Face reality, both 'normal' and less - triggering - for - sheltered - USAmericans forms of violence, AND sexual violence have been and ARE distressingly common in the settings this game depicts. It's not problematic, it's just the truth. The devs, streamers, any content ratings website gives you ample warning about these elemnts. If you can't handle it that's a YOU thing. This story is for those people who CAN handle it.

Also the violence and gore are perfectly historically accurate too. You get a hopelessly infected limb, even nowadays ? It gets amputated. You don't have a safe medical facility around to assist ? It gets amputated painfully without anaesthesia. People used to easily die of what today are laughably small wounds, because they got infected. Germ theory didn't exist. Starvation was widespread. Betraying your fellows to terrible fates to save yourself is a timeless viable strategy - we privileged asses can't complain about it cuz we've never had to face those terrors. It is in fact ABNORMAL to not resort to cannibalism or deceit to survive in terrible conditions with no way out. You'd have to be suicidal, too good for this world, a rabid religious fanatic or psychopathic to not do so. I am none of those, and nor are 99.99 % of you.

And about sexual content in general - there's a reason soldiers / mercenaries and prostitutes have often gone together. Warfare is stressful and you're constantly hoping you won't be the next one to die or get captured / wounded. Sex is a great stress reliever and literally the opposite of death. I'm not saying prostitution networks can't be exploitative. But it makes sense why high - anxiety professions are big users of these services.

[olderthannetfic]

In the same vein as unproblematic restraint kink and unproblematic incest, I bring you unproblematic racism: Character A is racist towards black people due to having been raped by a black neighbor as a child. The fanfic authors gives her the implication of maybe one day unlearning her hate via therapy. A commenter decides to leave a comment on how she's not really racist she's just hurting and never meant to do harm, and the author had to gently explain that no, no, this character canonically says the N-word. This woman is 100% racist, and having had one black man be cruel to her does not make her lifelong hatred of everyone of African descent retroactively fine. Cue a reply going, "Yes but it's unproblematic racism compared to *insert other characters here*."

Cue me side-eyeing the the author for giving A this reason for her racism instead of just having her be the snobby upper class old money asshole she was in canon and me side-eyeing the commenter for saying "unproblematic racism compared" with a straight face.

I know English is my fourth language but I have to believe some USAmericans have lost track of what unproblematic means at this point. USAmericans, I love you, your capacity to produce fanfic at astronomically fast rates and run kink memes is admirable, but I am begging you, talk to your people about this. When I think unproblematic I think of a toaster or a weighted blanket, not racism.

--

I... whut... Oh my god, giving her an excuse is not better than just saying some people are dicks! Why are people like this?!

[abtrusion]

Homosex Regimes

I walk the rest of the way alone. Pramod was right; the figure is indeed Kamal, my neighbor, whom I've known for several years. He sleeps outside his family's house in the lane; he is the youngest of several brothers, who are mostly tailors; he has held several jobs during the time I have known him; he has been fired from a soap factory and now works on odd tailoring jobs with his brother and several other tailors; he supplements his meager income, as before, by cruising street corners in this part of the city, in men's clothes but with a bend of the waist -- lachak -- and jiggle of the bottom -- mathak; he hangs with a group of sahelis, who often dance for weddings, in saris, somewhat like hijras. "They do births; we do weddings," Kamal once said of the difference between him and the girlfriends on one hand and hijras on the other. "Where are you coming from?" he laughs. I evade his question, and tell him his friend Ram Prasad, whom he sometimes calls Rita, has been bothering me, stopping me on busy roads in broad daylight and making passes. With sahelis, Kamal calls himself Kamala. "And what am I called?" I once pleaded somewhat pathetically, afraid to be out of the loop. "You, you're called my husband," Kamala returned. "But I don't want to be your husband." "Yes, you do, of course you do. And what else could you be?" "Your friend… your saheli." "You can't be my saheli, you're too siddhe-sada [straight and regular]…" I perhaps misread "straight," and responded: "What do you know? I have a husband in America." "Oh, that again." "Why won't you believe me? I do." "You really want to be a saheli?" "Do I look like I want to be your husband?" "Well. We'll see. We'll call you Anita. Anita Devi." [1]

The 20th century gay search for history saw transfeminized groups enlisted as highly visible and global examples of male homosexuality. Combining the anthropological "third gender" obsession with longstanding USAmerican "gay tourism" practices in Latin America and Southeast Asia, academics like Lawrence Cohen, Don Kulick, David Valentine, and Tom Boellstorff performed long-term fieldwork with transfeminized groups alongside and through the burst of NGO global health scholarship that came with the AIDS epidemic. The opening vignette is one product of this strange joining, and Cohen’s uncertainty is not just a question of academic-race-class divides [2], although that's certainly part of it. Rather than being held to the standards of the groups they were working with, masculine gay academics like Cohen and Kulick were much more tractable as "trade" or "panthis" or "husbands," the quasi-marked group of 'straight men' that transfeminized groups tended to fuck. The ideal of ethnography is "participant observation," sharing the long-term rhythms of everyday life and work with a group, and while Kulick et. al certainly fucked, they were fitting in and "participating" as a very different group than the people they were studying. This is a collection of a few of these moments of awkwardness, points where several different regimes of homosex-gender rubbed shoulders with each other.

David Valentine is probably the scholar that engaged with this most intentionally. His 2008 text Imagining Transgender: an Ethnography of a Category traces "transgender" as it emerged from Bay Area activism out through the rest of the US, carried in large part by NGO and activist institutions. He begins the book with one of these moments of friction:

‘‘I’ve been gay all my life, been a woman all my life,’’ says Fiona. I am sitting with Fiona and five other people around a table at the semi-monthly support group for transgender-identified people with HIV at New York Hospital in Manhattan. Two of us—myself and James, the group facilitator—identify as non-transgender gay men and are white, male-bodied, middle-class professionals. The other five, including Fiona, though born male, present themselves and live their lives as feminine people and are either African American or Latina. However, although the group is billed as a transgender support group, none of the participants routinely refer to themselves as transgender. More often, they talk about themselves as girls, sometimes as fem queens, every now and then as women, but also very often as gay, this category being one I share with them in talking about myself. ... This is not to say that Fiona and her peers did not make distinctions between themselves and other kinds of people, though. This became apparent when I turned up for the next meeting two weeks later. With great sensitivity for my feelings, the participants told me that it might be best if I didn’t attend the group anymore. Not everyone felt this way: Diana said she didn’t mind if I attended because ‘‘we’re all gay.’’ However, Frederique, speaking for the majority, said: ‘‘You aren’t a girl, you don’t have boobs and this figure,’’ motioning down her body with her hands. ‘‘With you here, there’s another man in the room.’’ Even though Diana, Frederique, and other members of the group had spent much time jesting with me about our common identification as ‘‘gay,’’ it was clear that being ‘‘gay’’ meant something different for me and them.[3]

While nearly every one of these academics were deemed only partially 'gay' because of their masculinity, Valentine was the one to make a book out of it. He focuses almost entirely on how people answered direct and indirect questions about gay / woman / butch queen / fem queen / TV / TG / TS status, and while he is nominally interested in "transgender," that term mostly just appears in his literature review. He's very distant for an ethnographer (and of all of them, I think he was probably the only one that didn't fuck), but the book is still good for both the institutional trace and the actual systemic grounding of "transgender."

Don Kulick brings lesbians into the picture. While he does express plenty of the standard trade anxiety (above) in his 1998 book, there's something especially interesting in his certainly named article "Fe/male Trouble: The Unsettling Place of Lesbians in the Self-images of Brazilian Travesti Prostitutes:"

Keila is here expressing an opinion that I found to be prevalent among travestis in Salvador. Numerous stories circulate among travestis about how lesbians are attracted to them. Almost any travesti can tell stories about how lesbians have come on to them. One travesti told me that several lesbians who lived on the same street as she were 'impassioned' (apaixionadas) with her, one so much so that she would 'go up to the sky and take down the moon' if the travesti wanted it. Another woman once told me that she was having a clandestine relationship with a woman who she said was a lesbian (This travesti was a notorious liar and other travestis to whom I mentioned this doubted that it was true. What is important in this context, however, is that the speaker stressed that the woman was a lesbian). Yet another individual who lived for years as a travesti, and who has prominent breasts from years of hormone consumption, but who now dresses in male clothing and considers himself to be 'bisexual,' lived for 6 years with a woman who works as a prostitute and who is considered by everyone (including, I am told, by herself) to be a lesbian. And the occasional woman who accompanies her husband when he seeks out the sexual services of travestis is always considered by travestis to have 'something lesbian in her disposition' (um quê de lesbica na mente dela). I have no idea of the extent to which Brazilians seeing a travesti in male clothing will actually identify that travesti as a lesbian. The point is, however, that travestis themselves are convinced that they are seen in that way. What is more, there are occasions on which they see one another in this way: two travestis living together as a couple (something which in fact occurs only extremely rarely in Salvador) are talked about as a lesbian couple, and one of the words used to describe the kind of sex they are publicly imagined to be having is roça-roça (rub-rub) -- the same word used to describe lesbian sex (the other expression used to describe this kind of sex is quebrar a louca -- literally 'break the china,' an expression whose meaning I am still puzzling over).[4]

More broadly, the piece argues that "travestis interpret lesbians as commentaries not primarily on femininity, but rather as on travestis. They see lesbians as 'caricatures of tranvestis' (uma caricatura do travesti)." This isn't especially interesting, and Kulick kind of hates the people he's working with, but it's at least quite in the weeds. One thing that strikes me is the way the dick is positioned in many of these anecdotes: several travestis Kulick cites "just don't get" lesbianism because unlike with gay men, there's no dick to use, and Kulick ultimately argues that his travesti acquaintances believe lesbians want them for "one distinctive male body part;" whether or not that's true in the way Kulick describes, the travestis he speaks to certainly see themselves as objects of lesbian desire:

I asked Keila if she perhaps didn't feel comfortable around lesbians because lesbians didn't like travestis. Her reply was completely unexpected: 'No,' she said, 'the worse thing is that they like them more -- I think here in Salvador, lesbian women look at travestis as instruments of pleasure. They are turned on by travestis.' [4]

There is something else in this piece about "caricature," but to end this let's look at Tom Boellstorff's 2005 text "The Gay Archipelago," which provides a few good anecdotes from yet another direction. Boellstorff is predominantly concerned with gay men in Indonesia, and he spends the text contrasting them sharply with warias, a transfeminized group that coalesced over the 60s and 70s in postcolonial Indonesia; "waria preexisted gay, but they now form a binarism making thinkable a noneffeminate male homosexuality." His work with Indonesian gay men constantly navigated this tension:

During my Surabaya fieldwork I conducted three focus groups bringing together approximately ten gay men for an evening in a neutral environment. Toward the end of one focus group a debate broke out between the members of the group and Faisal, a gay man who assisted me in moderating the groups. We were discussing marriage when the focus group members asked if Faisal or I would ever marry. My negative reply brought surprised looks, but it was Faisal’s firm contention that he would never marry (“because I am gay after all”) that brought an air of distress to the room. No one was more upset than Ikbal, a friend of Andy who was married to a woman. “Maybe you are more modern and liberal, Faisal. I am absolutely in disagreement and unhappy with your decision. I’m sure you could do it with a woman if you tried.” “Ikbal, I think you are biseks,” Faisal said, using a term unfamiliar to most gay men that reflected his work in HIV prevention. “But I only became able to have sex with a woman after I got married. You’ve already condemned yourself to be gay,” Ikbal replied. Murmurs broke out around the room. One person said, “I think that Faisal is really waria, not gay, because he never plans to marry.” Ikbal leapt on the statement: “Faisal, the problem with you is that you don’t want to take any steps toward being normal. You’re being shallow.” Then, in exasperation, Ikbal turned to me: “I just can’t imagine you not getting married, Tom. I’m trying to understand it, but my mind just can’t believe it. I’ve always assumed that all men get married, even warias, even gay men.” [5]

Boellstorff and Faisal consider heterosexual marriage to detract from 'gay' identity, but this contrasts messily with the way that gays distinguished themselves from warias: as Boellstorff notes, "most gay and lesbi Indonesians marry “heterosexually” and may not see this as inconsistent with being gay or lesbi," while warias "are the only major class of persons beyond the disabled who are not typically pressured to marry heterosexually." Heterosexual marriage positively forms gay identity by distinguishing married gays from unmarried warias, but it simultaneously serves as a marker of difference from Boellstorff's unmarried transnational gay, a constant threat of being deemed bisecks. Boellstorff talks a lot about marriage in the text -- it is a major difference between his gay and the gay of many of his interlocutors, and a difference that is being actively targeted by an AIDS NGO focus on super-spreading bisecks men -- and it's also almost certainly informed by the book having been written before any major US gay marriage laws (homonationalism etc). One interesting comparison would be Howard Chiang's Transtopia in the Sinophone Pacific, which discusses gay groups and activism after the 2010s. That's all.

Although waria do have sex with each other on occasion, they tend to regard this as strange, and they joke good-naturedly that it is “like a woman sleeping with a woman.”

Footnotes

Lawrence Cohen, "The Pleasures of Castration," in Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture.

One interesting example of this on the lesbian end can be seen in Sabine Lang's "Travelling Women; Doing a Fieldwork Project on Gender Variance and Homosexuality among North American Indians."

David Valentine, "Imagining Transgender: an Ethnography of a Category"

Don Kulick, "Fe/male Trouble: The Unsettling Place of Lesbians in the Self-images of Brazilian Travesti Prostitutes:"

Tom Boellstorff, "The Gay Archipelago"

[jyndor]

How will Biden stop Israel? He has no jurisdiction in Israel. It's a different country. As much as you USAmericans like to think you're special and other countries are countries in name only, Israel still is an independent country and the USA has no legal power to order Israel to do anything. Or are people saying the US should start a war against Israel? Because that's what it would be if Biden ordered a military intervention by the USA. He can call for a ceasefire just as much as any other world leader, but Israel clearly is not going to listen.

anon you do an amazing job of dressing up your heinous defense of us complicity in israeli occupation and the genocide of palestinians in the language of anti-us imperialism. the problem is you're not spewing your bullshit at someone who doesn't know anything about israel and the united states' history, and so i will not be falling for this latest bit of vomitous apologetics and propaganda that's doing the rounds. eat a dick, but in case anyone else wants to know why anon is full of shit and why the us actually does have SOME significant leverage with israel, let me explain.

when I say the united states and joe biden as president could actually do something to stop israeli war crimes, i am not talking about military invention. i've always been anti-war with very few exceptions and i'm not about to call for war that would result in utter devastation. the us military could easily and handily force by violence israel into submission (we are good at that unfortunately) but that's horrific and it would undoubtedly result in the deaths of millions and also probably further destabilize the entire region since we're very, very good at that, too. no that's insane and also would never happen, the united states needs israel to be right where it is and maybe just a little less insane for geopolitical hegemonic and capitalist reasons. so not only am i not immoral enough to call for the brutal murder of random civilians in israel (how would that help palestinians who of course would also be brutalized) but i'm also not delusional enough to even think that's a possibility. thankfully. israel is damn lucky to have the united states as a country-sized human shield that keeps the rest of the region from throwing hands, because clearly the rest of the region is showing a lot of restraint right now. and of course that's a good thing. i don't want a fucking world war to break out.

i'm talking about money. i'm talking about aid. i'm talking about the weapons grants we send to israel, the money that israel uses to fund palestinian ethnic cleansing. that is the leverage that the united states above every other nation has with israel. and yes, israel certainly might be able to buy their own weapons, but losing us aid would be a real hit to israel. and if the us withheld its aid, my guess is the us wouldn't be the only supporter of israel to withhold financial aid.

eisenhower threatened to end all us aid to israel if israeli troops didn't withdraw from egyptian territory during the suez crisis. that did in fact work. presidents ford, carter, reagan, and hw bush all used this leverage to get concessions from israel.

of course it wouldn't mean israel couldn't continue to do horrible shit, but if the us actually held israel to account financially, they'd have several billion reasons to change course. and that would mean an end to funding iron dome... and that would probably give israel a bit more reason to chill out.

there was an article i read recently that i can't find rn of an israeli official saying that of course israel depends on us aid but i can't find it so if anyone knows what i'm talking about, send me the link.

[snoozefestalert]

Message to usamericans

This will be divided into multiple talking points. I am posting this mostly anonymously to avoid harassment.

This a message to US American's from a US American.

"Why are you posting such a serious work on the gay porn writing website?" Because it is a prime example of minorities banding together in order to achieve one large thing, I've seen Archive reach its annual goal of thousands of dollars within a DAY. Additionally, we can do something small to make difference, hopefully this can be a part of that. At the very least, I just want to get you thinking and at the very most, I want you to get your feet on the ground.

Before you jump in my ass, again, I am American. Don't play with me.

It is often we see that American's are called selfish, stubborn, lazy, entitled, stupid and inconsiderate. And I understand that it is difficult to not become upset when someone is making a judgment about who you are without having met you personally, especially if you are a minority or your circumstances are less than ideal.

However, understand that great privilege comes with being American, we benefit from imperalism. It is an ugly truth, but everything and every comfort we have is from the blood and tears of the innocent, many from the people slaughtered our own soil and many many more overseas. The American government is not deserving of such graces, we all know that, but it holds great power, regardless if we want it to or not. And people's frustrations with America and American's comes from a great and old rage of being oppressed by the American occupation.

Secondly, and quite frankly, selfishly. If you not want be labeled as a "Stupid and Selfish American" Do not act like one. I understand this may cause controversy but please hear me out.

How do you treat people who speak English with an accent, which could very well be their second or even fifth language, in private? How many languages do you know? Do you automatically assume someone is from the states when you speak to them in an online space? Did you even bother to ask?

Do you understand what people say when they speak of US centrism? Have you heard of the term, and if you have, how deeply do you think it goes?

I see other Americans online make these statement's:

"America is many counties in a trench coat."

- I know 50% of us say this in jest, know that 50% genuinely believe that. No, it is not. States vary in many things like laws and accents and what is considered to be polite. This is also the case, literally everywhere else. What made you assume that we were the only one's to do that? America is big, yes, but I beg of you to know, the rest of the world is even bigger.

"People outside the US can't even name all 50 states! They can't even name the capital of every state!" —

- First of all, can you? Can you name the capital of any country outside of the US that isn't in Europe? Name all the Canadian provinces and territories off the dome! When was the last time you REALLY looked at a world map? And I mean REALLY looked at it. Do you own a map, a globe, anything? They are not expensive. When was the last time you went out of your way to learn a culture that was not your own without it being in an academic setting?

"Our education system is bad!"

- Yes. I am aware. I was born and raised in one of the most dangerous cities in the country. My elementary school doesn't even exist anymore. I remember playing on the playground during recess and then my classmates and I had to lay flat because a shootout had begun and our one teacher couldn't rally all thirty of us inside in time without risking any of us getting hurt. Do you really think we are the only one's who suffer from education not being prioritized? Do you think we suffer the most? Why do you think that?

- Yes, there were many things I was not taught in school. There were times where I would be in an online space and people were making fun of Americans for not knowing who a recently deceased public figure was. My initial response was to be offended, but then I sat and I thought about it. And I had no-fucking- clue who this person was or what atrocities he had committed. They were right. So you know what I did? I liked the post for later and went and researched it myself. I didn't leave a comment talking about how poor or education system was or how it wasn't my fault I didn't know. The internet is at your fingertips, please, it is your greatest tool in more ways than one. The man in question, by the way? Henry Kissinger. The wealthy American man who bombed Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in the name of American power, money and greed.

- When I said the internet was, is, your greatest tool, I meant it. Why do you think your schools didn't teach you that? Why do you think everyone outside the US knows about that but you? Understand that ignorance is a temporary state of being. You can always be learning. The American education system does not foster curiosity, that is why I am. Always ask questions. Always research on your own. Be curious and implore others to do the same. Always look up names, histories and actions of people. ESPECIALLY, if they sit comfortably on our wealth while we fight over their scraps. When we fight each other, we cannot fight or question our politicians, our governors, our senators or our police. They do not care about us. They care about their money and don't you ever, ever, forget that.

"You can just ignore American politics if you don't want to hear about them!"

- Take a look at this post really fast for me: https://www.tumblr.com/zzoupz/757516050990530560

- I am speaking in broad strokes here, naturally, people outside the us have every right to not want to hear or give a fuck about our maniacs in the oval office. They have their own issues to worry about as well. But please know, generally, people do not have that luxury. American oppression has sunken its claws so deep in so many other people's flesh that they have no choice but to pay attention. Why? Because usually some way or other, our politics impact them.

- Remember when I mentioned US centrism? You can afford to ignore the issues of other countries politics because they do not affect you personally. That does not mean you SHOULD NOT care. But this is a prime example of US politics impacting the rest of the world while we are granted the luxury, and quite frankly, the comfort of not knowing.

- Yes, I know it is not your fault. I know you did not make it this way. I know many of you are also upset at this reality. So when other people talk about their cultures, their criticisms, their politics, thier history and so on. Please listen. Listen to learn.

- It is not right that people must suffer for our comforts. We must change that.

"We are not our governments."

- True. People are not their governments. I hope that while you ask for this grace to be set upon you, you also extend it to others? Do you honestly think every app made in China is spyware out to steal your data and spy on you? What on EARTH would they even do with it if they had it? Facebook/Meta, Apple and YouTube steals and sells your data nonstop and you don't say anything about that? You have to ASK and app to not track your data, you cant even putright say no. Have even SPOKEN to someone from China or even a Chinese American? Do you TALK to people outside of your own ethnic group?

- Do you think every person who critiques the US government is automatically a bot? A spy? Did you ever stop to think that perhaps this person may be impacted by the American government and NATURALLY has opinions to voice about it? Are you listening to learn from them or are you just listening just to respond to them?

-If people are sharing their frustrations about America/its government/American tourists/ etc, this is not your place to go "But!" Or tone police/" I agree but you could've said this nicer" Why? Because you must understand, America IS the oppressor. It always has been.

- Some of you say this and will then go out and literally suck the skin off some cop's dick. Stand up.

"A person from outside the US gives a critique about American's or America and your first response is to go "Yeah, we suck." or "I'm sorry, we hate us too."

- Listen, I understand you want to go "We're not all like that." But your words mean nothing if your actions do not reflect them. You do not need to apologize or belittle yourself, when you do that, it makes the person have to comfort YOU rather than the other way around. Intentional or not, you are making this about YOURSELF. It's like when POC talk about white supremacy, their experiences with racism or living as women of color and some white person goes "Haha yeah I hate white people too! I'm sorry for being white." Please, read the room.

- Instead you can simply, AGREE. You can go, "Yes/Exactly! | I see where you're coming from! | Yes, that is unfair/unjust! | " OR! you can say nothing. You can nod, like/share the post, remember it for the future and adapt accordingly.

- I understand the desire to want to defend yourself but in most if not all cases, these criticisms are valid! They are coming from someone who is STILL heavily impacted and they aren't even from the US! Do you see how insane that is?

- Please try to understand and begin to try to take your "L" in silence. Just keep these criticisms in mind, try to become better accordingly, listen when people speak and for the love of god, stop embarrassing the rest of us in the comment sections of social media posts.

"Yank/Yankee doesn't offend me. It's a baseball team too."

Please shut up. I don't even have a valid talking point on this one but I am begging you to keep this one to yourself. The rest of the world already doesn't like us do not add fuel to the fire buddy.

Do you want the rest of the world to come up with another deragatory term for us???

"People outside the US don't know how our government works!"

- I PROMISE you they do. They are in fact, smothered by it despite their best efforts to ignore it.

- Do YOU how THEIR governments work? Name the president of Mexico without looking it up. How long is a presidential term in Mexico? Name a country with a King/royal family outside the UK?

- If you are curious about a countries politcal climate, culture, etc, please look it up online! And if someone of said place is interested in sharing/telling you where to look, ASK! (If they say no, that is fair! They dont HAVE to say yes. You should try your hardest to research online anyway)

"X term is offensive/ doesn't make sense!"

- Additionally, possibly controversial, these terms could be considered polite/sensible WHEREVER THIS PERSON IS FROM. For example, In the states, it is considered extremely offensive to refer to someone who is black or brown as "Colored." However, in South Africa, it is the most appropriate term!

- This goes for queer labels/titles as well! These terms and identities go by many names by many different groups. They are not wrong or better than the other, they are different and have been shaped by many different walks of life/experiences. (Additionally, not quite the same, but there are people who mean well, WHO ARE IN YOUR CORNER, even if they are not up to date on the terminology. )

"Americans face/suffer X issue!"

- Yes. We do. We are not the only one's . Please do not tell people, "You guy's don't understand because America oppresses us." Because YES, if America does oppress it's own people, imagine what the fuck it does to everyone else.

- It is not a competition, that is not what I'm trying to say. What I AM trying to say is, people understand. Do not assume that they do not. Do not "What about ME," on someone else's post, comment, conversation, etc.

- Listen to me, you are not a bad person. Bad people do not try to become better. But you must TRY to become better. You cannot learn if you are talking. And your talking means nothing if you actions don't mirror your words. You cannot make people NOT hate America/Americans, it would be foolish and selfish to try, especially knowing what this nation has done and is doing. My friend, YOU hate America(ns) and you're FROM HERE.

- Undoing Amercian centric thoughts, actions, conversations etc, isn't going to make peoples thoughts, emotions and histories go away. People are still going to call Americans selfish, lazy, cowards, annoying, etc. You must try to be better anyway.

I'm not trying to get on here and saddle on my high horse, to be like "Oh I'm one of the good one's." That is not what Im trying to do. I am telling you what I have learned and I'm trying to share that with you.

More to take away from this. (This can most likely apply outside the US as well but I'm staying in my lane. If you are not US American, do with this what you will. )

The rest of the world IS NOT JUST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, CHINA, JAPAN AND KOREA!!!!!! THE WORLD IS A BIG BIG BIG PLACE! Yes, these countries have rich and deep cultures and histories you should learn about but there are dozens more you should learn too.

As an American, your elected officials are not your friends. I don't care how much they talk themselves up, if they look like you or anything else. They are simply that, elected officials. You vote for them so they can do their jobs. And if they say their job includes giving a fuck about people, that they give a fuck about YOU, then you BETTER hold them to that. Say it with me, do their words reflect their actions?

More on elected officials. Who is your mayor? Your Comptroller? Who is the representative of your district? When and where is your town hall meeting? Do you have a library card? When and where is your farmers market? What's your neighbors name? Is there a community garden? Are they any local shops, events happening near you? How can you find out? I live in a city on the East Coast as well as the north, so I understand this may be harder if you are in a Southern/Mid-western/Etc part of the states but I am BEGGING you to try looking before you give up. And, if you have the resources, do it yourself too! We need each other, we must build our communities again brick by brick.

What do I search for/ Whats a good jumping point? I think its SO snobby when people tell you to do better and then provide NO resources, so here are just a few things to get your gears turning. I am speaking to American's, so understand these will be US based links, if there are resources you know of outside the US, please share and I can edit this to add.

-

Nonprofits near me

Burn music on the CD's, mod your old gaming consoles and print out your photos for a scrapbook again. These companies have gotten too comfortable putting simple shit behind paywalls and ads. If it is not in your hands, it is not real. And they will take it from you when they can no longer profit anyway.

If you want to connect to people across the world, there are things like discord for language learning groups or, A Pen Pal! Apps such as Hellotalk may also be useful to you!

Khanacademy.org (American nonproft oraganization deigsned to teach with short videos and even lessons, 100% free, you just need an account)

Black/Latine/Native/LGBTQ+ advocacy groups near me

Can I start a community garden in X State? / Zoning Laws of X State

Local election dates/candidates

Food not bombs (Locations outside the US as well!)

How do I get a library card?

https://openlibrary.org/ (online library)

http://web.archive.org/ (online archive)

Is X library partnered with Mango? (A language learning website in the US that lets you learn languages for free if you have a library card!) Or Rosetta Stone/Udemy

Language learning groups near me (There may even be one on discord/tumblr/etc!)

Brief history of X country.

Soup Kitchen volunteers

You can always look up a world map, but I STRONGLY recommend having a physical one on your wall/work space. Allposters.com has cheap one's that are 36in x 24 inch. Pick a country to learn about, any one, anywhere, even if its only for like an hour.

BDSmovement.net (If you have not already, please joint the fight in the Palestinian liberation/freedom. Boycott products from Israel/companies that support Israel and share/donate any fundraisers for Palestinians. These fundraisers are in USD, EURO, CAD AND MORE )

Look in to the hashtags of Free Palestine, Free Congo and Keep eyes on Sudan. Atrocities are happening across the globe in the name of Western comfort/goods, we must do our VERY BEST to help as many people as we possibly can.

https://www.tumblr.com/newsfrom-theworld/754997875427115009/list-of-campaing-resources-for-countries-in-need?source=share (This link provides a master-list of resources for countries/people in need including Sudan, Palestine,Yemen, Haiti, Congo, Lebanon, Puerto Rico, Tigray, West Papua, Uyghur, and Hawai'i.)

If you are making a post about history/historic figures, resources, links, etc Please specify that these are US based and that they may or may not work in other countries. You can encourage people to add to it and re-share it once additional resources are added. (This will not dimish the fact that SO many things are us based and will still cause frustrstion for many people, but at the very least people can know what to expect)

When people who are not American are critiquing America, listen, especially if they did not ask for your input. Do not speak. Listen.

If you order something online and make a mistake on your order information. Please specify all the details of your order, including that you are in the US. Georgia the STATE and Georgia the COUNTRY both exist. Mail does not just come to the US.

Practice being humble and kind. Not just in person but online as well. You will be wrong, misinformed and fall victim to American propoganda. Apologise, reflect and do better and move forward.

If you can make your own stuff, do it. Keep as much money from these corporations as POSSIBLE. Or even shop small!

^ This includes, gardening, book binding, paper recycling for books/crafts, recycling, having reusable items, buying second hand like in thrift shops/depop/mercari/facebook mp/yard sales/clothing swaps

^ there are entire youtube and tiktok channels dedicated to teaching you how to do these things on your own. Just search the topic and go! The internet is what?? Your biggest tool!

^ if you interested in this one as I am, please look into homesteading skills/traditional skills

Your fight for equality must include everyone. Black people. Brown people. Gay/queer/transgender people. Disabled people. Fat people. Women. Men. Children. Nature in all its forms. From all 4 corners of the world.

Do not give the president or the vice president money? LIKE EVER?? AT ALL?? I cannot believe I have to say this but I'd rather say it than not. Donate to ANYTHING else. Donate to Wikipedia or Adblock or something!

The American government will steal even the skies from you. But only if you let them. Do not let those fuckers rest for even a MOMENT, until they do what they said they would do. There are more of us then there are of them.

Hold your vote hostage against elected officials. Do they fucking want it? Of course they do! They have got to earn it. Make your demands and if they can meet them, then that's when they can have it. If they fail too, drop them like a sack of bricks. There are no second chances when people's lives are at stake.

https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/757294690366357504?source=share Read this post.

Wear a FUCKING mask.

Kill the cop in your head.

Create, build community and love. Joy is resistance. Your apathy will not save you. Fighting in the comment sections online is not going to change the world, you must go out and do that on your own.

None of us are free until we are all free.

"I am severly disabled/cannot leave my home due to a disability/ I am a child/minor, but I still want to help and make a difference! What can I do?"

A few of the tasks listed above require very little physical activity like a pen-pal, library card, wearing a mask, etc. pick whatever you can do. If there is something I didnt think of, share it with me! And i can add.

You are never too young or too old, to big or too small, to make a difference. We need eachother. We always have.

I'm sure there is so much more. but I am just one person. I cannot do all of the work for all of us. But I can do some of the work and you can meet me halfway. And that is how we make a difference. If there is an issue in your community that troubles you then I suggest you share what you can on it and lay the foundation because if not you, then who? If not now, then when?

I hope this is helpful, I apologize in advance if I've gotten something wrong about other peoples countries/homes and if there are any errors.