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Our fuckass head Conservative Pollievre seems to be losing popularity after publicly siding with old man Musk but that’s based on my media intake/ algorithm. The Liberals want to bring in a banker as their new rep cause Trudeau shit the bed as acting moderate Premier. I see what they’re trying to do but they’re also trying to redirect popular discourse away from the fact that our economy is fucked cause a handful of billionaires basically own the country - not cause we aren’t capping international students (??). Then there’s the NDP which is actually trying to do something for working class people but they’re so scared to give them their vote cause they’re too busy fighting off the Conservative majority with their Liberal votes… It’s a never ending cycle of garbage bro our government is so incredibly performative and moderate I feel like I’m going crazy. I know there’s a current wave of far right conservative governments sweeping across the globe and people are being thrown into a moral panic but theres still hope! Your vote matters and a moderate government won’t fix anything. Band aid solutions won’t address structural issues. Recenter real working class people in government philosophy, be empathetic, care!
Feb 14, 2025
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For those who are shocked and in disbelief at how Harris could have lost to Trump, let me try to explain why I think that people were right to want something better than Harris and how Trump took advantage of this rational instinct to serve his own megalomaniacal needs. In short, it’s just 2016 all over again. Everyone knows and agrees that the status quo is failing (or they just benefit from the status quo, but I don’t want to focus on the privileged class since there’s no surprise why they might support Trump). There are also those who do not consciously know that the system is failing, but they might have an unconscious sense of the things which are wrong without a picture of the whole. They might recognize the issues of the cost of living and inflation crisis, the wage crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the incarceration crisis, the wars and genocides happening with the direct support of the American government and our taxpayer dollars, etc. What they do not see is that these things are the consequences of the same system: Neoliberalism, the American status quo ideology.
Our two party system is not the solution to the status quo, it is a product of it, and the system by nature will not produce the solution to itself. Nevertheless, people are like “let's vote for the guy who says he'll make things better over the person who promises more of the same,” and then it just makes everything worse. Just as Clinton lost to Trump in 2016, history will show time and time again that the American public will reject a warmongering, status quo, Neoliberal Democrat in favor of a fascist with rizz that positions himself as being meaningfully different. This is because status quo Democrats believe in the system, they do not want it to change. They largely choose to be blind to its flaws while those to the right of them politically understand the system and its flaws but love it because it serves their individual interests. Trump himself is a member of the wealthy elite and benefits greatly from the status quo, and its his own elite class whom he truly serves. But Trump doesn’t openly present this way, and for good reason. Instead, he presents himself as the people's candidate of change, and he won because of it.
This works because the populous knows that their material conditions will not improve under corporatism, American interventionism, capitalism, and individualism, though many would not knowingly identify these as being the greatest forces against their well-being. But, given that this is the status quo ideology of America (Neoliberalism), when an alternative ideology that is objectively worse (Trumpism, which is Fascism) effectively markets itself as being in opposition to the norm and claims that it has the public's best interest at heart (populism), the masses will gravitate towards it even though it will only accelerate the deterioration of their material well-being, as Fascism and Neoliberalism serve many of the same purposes in terms of material impact. In truth, neither ideology benefits from meeting the needs of the people.
It may be hard to accept this. The Neoliberal system we were raised in instilled within us the belief that it is a system which works to serve us. Out of the system's need to develop widespread acceptance in order to guarantee self-preservation, we were not raised to see the need for an alternative. In fact, we were taught that other ideologies are inherently worse, which is why we don't use them (some correctly so, none of us were taught that Fascism is good). But when people begin to realize that the system is failing, they reach for whatever alternative seems the most viable without giving much thought as to what that ideology really is. They just know that what we're doing isn't working, and want they to believe in something else. Currently, this is Fascism, and the blind faith in the exceptional and infallible nature of the American status quo which the system instilled in us made it inconceivable to imagine that it would produce Fascism so easily.
In addition to an unwillingness to reckon with the truth that America has been seduced by Fascism in the form of Trumpism, the masses have actually been convinced that it is Trumpism which will be their savior by manipulation and propaganda. Online and traditional media spaces have deteriorated meaning and truth to an alarming degree (which may not be irreparable now, but will certainly become irreparable as AI improves in its ability to produce false realities in the form of fabricated digital media—videos, images, articles, etc.—that cannot be distinguished from true real world media, which is to say nothing of the exacerbation of climate catastrophe that AI and capitalism at large will continue to accelerate and that the status quo will continue to be the engine of). It’s unsurprising that the demographic of young men skewed so heavily in favor of Trump, these kids are getting their worldviews from right wing influencers online who care less about truth than preying on the insecurities and fears of their demographic. Same goes for older generations who stick to Fox News and other TV news stations. The process of the erosion of truth in the media spaces from which we now inform so much of our worldviews will only serve those who profit from pitting the victimized masses against themselves.
The reality is that neither ideology will improve people's lives meaningfully. If this were true of Neoliberalism, it would have born its fruits by now as it has been the operative ideology of America (and the West at large) at least since the end of WW2, and arguably since the industrial revolution, or indeed even since American independence. And we've seen what fascism does. The only true method to combat the forces of Neoliberalism and Fascism from continuing to impoverish the masses is to return power and agency to those from whom it has been stripped. However, so many Americans have been programmed to demonize any such ideologies and call them Communism, Socialism, etc. They say that these ideologies are inherently anti-American. Which, to be fair, they are inherently in opposition to the status quo, thus they are the solution, but I would not conflate that with being "anti-American" as they are more concerned with the material well-being of the American people than the current system has ever been, and it is the people who are important, not the concept of the American nation state and its position on the world stage (American Hegemony and Imperialism), which is what both Neoliberalism and Fascism serve.
What is needed now is a widespread collectivization of the masses in an effort to meet each other's needs in community without reliance on the state or the free market. The people must come together to meet their own needs and demand unceasingly any compromise the system will begrudgingly allow. The mission from here on out is to make it known to the system that we will no longer accept its self-serving agenda to our continued detriment. Even had Harris won, this would only have provided peace of mind for many while the daily material conditions of the people continue to deteriorate. Trump winning makes our system no less at fault, but it may awaken people to the need for a better system. Let this moment radicalize you rather than lead you to despair. The system isn’t broken, it is working exactly as designed, and it must be dismantled. Let's care for each other, y'all.
Nov 6, 2024
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1. Meeting my now husband, who self-identified as communist. The first one that I knew in said bubble.
2. 2016 when trump won and I realized how different other people felt to me, causing me to start wanting to fundraise and advocate, but also feeling a great divide between me and people in my life.
3. The ongoing COVID debacle and the response from the US government, continuing today where there has been so much misinformation and lack of regard for people.
4. Having children and realizing just how alone we are in the US. I had no idea how nonexistent any safety net was in our society until I had them.
5. Trump winning again and realizing that fearing others and making lines in the sand with them has partially caused this mess. I am now folding in resources and help for people who are not politically aligned with me. I am working to build community with the people so that they eventually realize that we’re actually against the powerful instead of each other. I am done with infighting.
Jan 26, 2025
đź“š
regardless of your plans on the presidential election (bc i know and understand most of us are in a lot of complex places about if to vote in it), please at least vote in the local elections on your ballot! a lot of my job involves researching the far-right and i’m a leftist so please trust that i’m not trying to spew corny democrat stuff, i just see / believe that local elections tend to be neglected but are so important to vote in (school and library boards, ballot measures, judicial seats, hospital boards, and city councils!)
for example with school boards, elections can mean the difference between having extremists push forced outing policies and bans on books featuring LGBTQ people and people of color, versus literally normal people supporting inclusive school standards and diverse library collections. unlike big races, local positions are much more likely to be decided by dozens of votes or less. even if you don’t have kids, rarely go to the hospital, have never needed/been in the court system, etc - please show up for people who do!
and, importantly, elections still aren’t the end all be all - who is in office is a strategic opportunity but politicians will never be the solution to societal issues, and year-round support for mutual aid projects, volunteering, and community organizing is so so so important to participate in
Oct 27, 2024
Top Recs from @mistarich03
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Not sure if this is too niche, but the other day I met with my professor and we talked about how women tend to express themselves hesitantly, softly. Men tend to be assertive, often bordering on arrogant, when they write. I mean, that’s probably cause women - fem people - have traditionally been socialized in a certain passive manner. Makes me sad sometimes. But not always.
Feb 14, 2025
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I'm thinking of getting a library card... they give cool keychain cards with flower patterns. My local library looks out over a river and it's made of red wood.
Feb 10, 2025
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In
1. Cottage cheese
2. Moisturized elbows
3. My DS
4. Solo walks with headphones
5. Poetry
6. Mittens
Out
1. Stale joint
2. Men with a bachelor degree in sociology
3. Hegel
4. Yeasty beer
5. Brown slush
Feb 11, 2025