It’s bad, but not so bad it can’t get worse

The archetype of “Surely they won’t eat my face”…

When people spew hateful rhetoric against your kind, it’s safer to assume they’re serious. Even if they’re not, they might inspire others who are.

Economies and foreign policy are fragile things - I doubt the damage he does (has and will) will be undone any time soon. Both rely on trust, in one way or another, and that’s far easier to torch than rebuild.

We all will suffer for it.

Violence is the threat backing up the demands of the peaceful. A group of people asking nicely are easily suppressed by violent opposition, unless a threat of escalation exists. If those demands fail, escalation is the necessary response. Otherwise, the threat will have been a bluff and future threats won’t be taken as seriously.

On the other hand, violent change still needs popular support to have lasting effects, and it needs to feed back into a nonviolent result. Many tyrants have claimed power by force, only to have their dynasty crumble within a few generations.

Thus, violence in the name of progress always needs to be preceded, accompanied and succeeded by peaceful efforts to get people on board with that progress and help them actually feel the results.

We’re not.

But then, who is, these days?

revolutionize how women get care

About fucking time for that

He was a piece of shit. In his final moments, he was comforted by his kin.

Right, Trump’s fragile ego voted him into office 🤨

There are a lot of contributing factors. Obama making fun of him might have seen him run for office, but without all the enablers along the way carrying him on he would have collapsed a few steps in, fucked off to go eat a gourmet Happy Meal and told himself (and anyone in earshot) how brave and strong he is for running in the first place.

Ridicule may have lit the fuse, but the powder was there long before.

Get me riled up and I can be quite fiendish

The more workers you attract, the higher your standards for hiring can be. That goes for any job, including jobs of passion. If you need to fill three positions and get three applicants willing to do them for shit pay… odds are your applicants are shit too, or they’d be going for better paid positions.

If you offer more, people with better qualifications will be interested more. You get more applicants and can be picky who you want.

As a bonus: better paid employees have more incentive to stay and do a good job to ensure they keep their position.

An introduction to which topic?

Ah yes, let’s skip the social part and get right to the obligatory consumption.

I don’t really care for Halloween, but I don’t actively hate it either. I like seeing kids and parents in cute costumes walking around. To me, the whole point has always been one of social activity, of walking around the neighbourhood and showing off your cool costume and such. You know, the whole “reinforcing horizontal social ties” deal we’ve done since forever.

Yeah, well, some of us aren’t willing to give up just yet. Some of us are willing to reach for that slim chance that there is a way out. Some of us are trying to make things better, but like all political activism that has to follow some strategic approach.

I didn’t hear many people complain about “both sides endorse genocide” until this election. Up to the primaries, pressuring your party to be anti-genocide is good and reasonable, and after the election is done, when the new government is being formed, pressuring it to be anti-genocide is critical, but right now, the strategic thing is to focus on things this election can change.

That sudden upsurge of “both sides” rhetoric particularly in leftist spaces is concerning. Whether out of ignorance of how funding works, defeatism like yours or genuinely bad actors seeking to manipulate the election, it sabotages that pragmatic effort to keep the fascist out of office and buy time for more direct measures like protests, petitions, whatever else you want.

“Both sides bad” may be true, but right now, it’s not helpful for leftist efforts.

Will anything make a difference to Israel being allowed to continue state terrorism and war against civilians?

Only one way to find out: Trying. But mathematically, drawing votes away from the non-Trump candidate increases the risk of another Trump presidency, and that carries the risk of further curtailing options.

The killing of innocents is not less important just because of political convenience.

…and which innocents do you actually have a chance to protect?

On a pragmatic level, what is your suggested course of action?

experiencing that annoyance in a live action format might give you more clues as to what exactly you dislike

Just for this, drag already has my respect. That is an incredibly analytical approach to the topic.

I’ll get to the list later, but I wanted to express my appreciation for that sentiment.

Yes, saying that killing innocents is wrong is ‘vapid’.

No. Refusing to vote or voting third party is. At best, it will make no difference.

Protesting against the Genocide is right and important, but I’m railing against the people intent on dragging this topic to the public right before an election. The only people it will affect are left-leaning voters, and drawing them away from the non-Trump option sabotages that option.

Save the protest until the election is done, then hold the government (not just Harris; allocation of funding is a parliamentary decision and the President’s veto can’t do much but delay it and lock up government) accountable.

To be clear, Genocide is bad, what’s happening in Gaza is Genocide, the US regime is complicit and all of this is fucked up. But the immediate priority should be unity to keep things from escalating beyond democratic control.

If you can find an anime that is entirely unlike all the mainstream anime, do let me know. I’m trying to pin down the exact element it is that I don’t like, and so far it seems to be the exaggerated expression of emotion and actions, but maybe you have a counterpoint.

From my own experience, it’s probably intended to forestall the inevitable “Oh but have you tried…?” “I don’t like Anime either, but … was great!” or any other variant of “surely there must be some anime you like”. Some Anime fans seem to struggle with accepting that their favorite medium just isn’t for everyone, no matter how broad and diverse they think the range is.

Complacency is Complicity

No, only some are on the other side. The rest stay out of it - even though they really shouldn’t: Complacency is Complicity.