#no one who votes thinks 'good for the economy' is a bad thing

[stumpyjoepete]

The Plutocratic Fallacy

Rich assholes would love for you to believe that anything that is good for them is definitionally good for the economy. This is not true, in case you were wondering. Rent seekers gonna rent seek.

After a lifetime of hearing this line, many people are understandably skeptical of rhetoric that something is "good for the economy", since that often is just a euphemism for "good for jet ski dealership owners and/or billionaires".

Perversely, this has led some lefty folks to argue that all sorts of policies that are objectively economically bad must actually be economically good, since in their minds "good for the economy" = "good for rich assholes" = "bad".

This is both a tactical and substantive mistake. If you manage to convince normies that a particular policy is bad for the economy (which in your clique may mean 'good for humanity'), you have actually just convinced them that it is bad, full stop. If you manage to convince normies that something is good for the economy (which to you means 'horrible and bad'), all you've done is convince them that it's good, full stop. Stop shooting yourself in the dick please.

Also, like, the economy is good. Producing goods and services is good. The means of fucking production? You're supposed to want to seize them, for christ sake. This seems like such an easy mistake to avoid making if you're a leftist. "Rich people are selfishly pursuing policies that benefit them but are disastrous in aggregate" is a Marxist slam dunk.

#degrowthers #nimbys #those weirdos hellbent on proving that slavery was the optimal economic system (since that means 'bad' to them) #stop making things worse #no one who votes thinks 'good for the economy' is a bad thing #so please stop trying to convince everyone that good things are bad #economics #the discourse tm

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

please tell us more about your mad theory about the tories getting rid of Sunak?

So the Tories currently have two (2) major problems.

Problem the first: they are about to lose power as soon as the GE rolls around, which it must do by January 2025 at the absolute latest. And the country is baying for one sooner.

This is very much preoccupying their minds at the minute. The rich and powerful will never willingly let you vote away their wealth and power, and to put this into perspective, the Tory party has ruled this country either jointly or alone for over a decade at this point. One of David Cameron's strategies as leader was to focus on recruitment of young and exciting diverse Tories into the party, which is how we got such stellar entries as Liz Truss and Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. These are MPs, therefore, who have never known political life outside of being on the winning side. They are seeing the end of the gravy train in sight, and they are taking it as well as you'd expect.

This is why the infighting is so rife (partly; bear with). The main thing they care about right now is making the party electable again, and fast.

But...

Problem the second: like all good fascist dictators, when Boris Johnson came to power, he fired everyone who said anything bad about him for disloyalty, and promoted all his personal friends. This is how we got such stellar entries as Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees Mogg and Michael Fabricant. But THAT'S an issue because saying bad things about BJ is basically what intelligent people did, because the man was a useless blundering oaf who killed horrifying numbers of his own electorate via the world's second worst mismanagement of a global pandemic. So removing anyone who criticised him meant, in very real terms, removing the only Tories with half a brain who were even a fraction capable of doing joined up thinking required to run a country. Like, fuck every Tory with a cactus, obviously, but they did at least used to have competent, high calibre politicians, however evil and grotesque they were. David Cameron should die in a cesspit, but he was capable of remembering to put the bins out (before wage cutting the refuse collectors).

And therein lies the real problem: okay, BJ is gone, the party is in ruin, they're staring down the barrel of the most humiliating election defeat in history. They need someone competent that they all like who can take the reins and make people like them again.

But who's left?

There's no one. There's no one left. Not just because the remaining Tories are too low calibre to lead; they're too low calibre to even be able to pick someone without shrieking like cliquey little harridans on the playground about how the wrong in-group got in. Half of them are still BJ loyalists who hate anyone who criticise The Great Brexit Leader. The other half hate BJ for managing to make everyone hate the Tories so much that they're in this mess. Both halves are willing to sabotage the chosen leader of the other, locked in a battle of mutually assured destruction.

So how does Sunak fit into this?

He's unpopular in the party to a truly staggering degree, and not much better in the eyes of the public. He's tried to take a centrist stance on BJ, but that's actually just pissed off both sides. He did manage to stabilise the economy somewhat after the appalling mess Liz Truss threw it into, but he hasn't actually fixed it - we're still mid-cost of living crisis, we're still inexplicably not rich after Brexit like Boris prommied, inflation is still at an all time high as public services crash. The public hates him.

And he hasn't made the public stop hating the Tories. That petition calling for a GE is great, because it won't happen - BUT, it does force the issue to be debated in Parliament with opposition parties getting to stick the boot in, which means the humiliation continues. The Tories are starting to get desperate again.

And because this lot of Tories are, as mentioned, utterly terrible low-calibre political idiots, their response to this pressure has for the last four years been to oust the leader and get another.

And the first letters of no confidence have been sent into the 1922 Committee already. The devil moves fast, but knuckle dragging Tories with a fifth of a braincell each move faster.

And thanks to the absolute fucking state of them all... I cannot believe I'm saying these words, but genuinely the best person they have left who could possibly do the job is, of all fucking people, Michael Fucking Gove, and it won't even be him because he was mean to Boris once.

So yeah. I reckon Sunak may be out in six months. Fuck knows who we get instead. Probably Penny Mordaunt.

#asks #politik

[odinsblog]

Just so we are all really clear: Republicans are using the manufactured debt ceiling “crisis” as a bargaining chip, threatening to blow up the U.S. (and world?) economy unless Biden caves in to cutting things like food benefits for women, children, the poor and the working poor. Got it? That’s their deal—either eviscerate the social safety net, or economy go boom!

No doubt, a lot of liberals are pressuring Biden to acquiesce, because 1) the economy will absolutely positively go boom! and 2) because they will blame Biden if the economy crashes

BUT..! Here’s the thing: If Biden does cave in and give Republicans even a little bit of what they are demanding, I fuckn promise you that in October and November of next year, Republican ads are going to be like: “Vote for Trump! Remember how Biden cut food benefits for women and children? Trump won’t do that”

And it will not matter how many 8k high quality videos you have showing that it was really Republicans who took the economy hostage and demanded those cuts. By time the general election rolls around in ‘24, Republicans will be airing ChatGPT AI political ads where it looks like Biden was the one asking for all the cuts to SNAP and demanding ridiculously harder work requirements

Believe that!!

Did you even see those ignorant charlatans eating from Trump’s hands on CNN?? These are bomb throwers. They enjoy blowing up the economy, especially when it hurts poor people! You cannot in good faith make any policy decision about what to do based off of what Republican voters “might think” when it’s election time! They don’t “think” AT ALL, and even if they did, they still do not care! They’re unscrupulous deplorables. They will always always always find a way to blame Biden and the Democrats, no matter what, so Biden may as well go on and do what’s right while he can, and try actually fighting against these cartoonishly evil Republicans

AND..! Do I even need to remind anyone what happens when you cave in to bullies?? If Biden caves now, then Republicans will bully every Democrat from here on out, and the programs they take hostage next time will be Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

Caving in to the whims of Kevin pickme! McCarthy and Marjorie Traitor Greene is bad politics, and it will only get worse in the future if Biden folds now

#politics #kevin mccarthy #joe biden #republicans #debt ceiling #bullies #odin rants #hostage negotiations 101 #debt crisis #national debt #manufactured crisis #bullying

[alpaca-clouds]

Leftist Defeatism

Something that really, really annoys me about the left is... the defeatism. And not just in the sense of "we have no chance to win this" kind of way, but also in the "so what use is it having plans, if we won" kind of way.

I think nothing shows this more than the reaction to Solarpunk as a genre (not the aesthetic) being: "This is not punk! Because the characters are not punk." And no matter how much you explain the idea of the Solarpunk world, they will remain on the outlook that punk is indeed "being against the system", rather than "being for certain things". So, to them, a world where the characters align with their surroundings, cannot have punk storytelling.

But... this kinda outlook is in a lot of leftist thought. With the left defining themselves around "fighting the current system" rather than "building a new one". Once again: Don't get me wrong. Yes, we do need to first fight the current system, because capitalism needs to end and all that. But... We should also have a plan for what we do when we have won.

And yes, I am a hopeful individual. I think that we will win. Back in the very old days Abigail from Philosophy Tube put it very nice: Other than right wing politics, the left can win. Because while right wing politics always build towards having others to exclude - until nobody is left to exclude (you know, first they came for the communists and so on)... So they cannot go on forever. Meanwhile left wing politics build towards making people equal and there being a very definite endgame of "everyone is equal and now all is good".

I also need to have faith in this, because the current alternative is: "We will all die." We will not save the world from climate change under capitalism. Because the incentives of capitalism and climate protection do not align.

And that is why I think about what would need to happen afterwards. After we win.

One example of where this defeatism and contrarianism shows is with the entire economy thing. A lot of leftist folks are "against capitalism", but not really for an alternative system, because they still think that communism is bad.

Another example, though, is also this thing about "We don't talk to Nazis, we punch Nazis", that often misses the point of where this originally came from. (The point originally was, that we do not want to give Nazis a plattform - but that does not mean that you as a person cannot talk to them.) Because... So, there is just the problem that we have in most western countries about 8-12% who in some regards align with a lot of nazi believes, and often a further 10-20% absolutely willing to vote for far-right parties. And... I am very much not for the "let's put'em all against the wall and shoot" solution, and not for the "put'em all in prison" solution. So... talking to them is kinda necessary at some point. Doubly so, because ideally we should strive to not end up with the revolution after another nazi takeover, you know? So, ideally we should try and convince people before that happens. And... yeah, well, to convince someone you gotta talk to them.

And there is just a lot of this going around. Just this idea that the entire purpose of the left is just to fight everyone else and the system, rather than also thinking about what we should build towards. How the world could look if we won.

Again: Yes, you absolutely should fight. In fact, you should fight probably more than you, dear reader, currently do. But... we also should work towards a future - not only against the system.

#left wing #leftism #anarchism #communism #climate change #punk #fighting for a better world #hopepunk #hope #optimism

[comicsansstein]

On Democracy

A recent post made me think about finally writing an effortpoast from a series that's been bouncing around my head for years.

What does it mean to Believe in Democracy? Because, uh, I don't think I do.

If I would, I think it would mean something like this: I am a citizen, and I have sort of a partial share of the country. I am able to identify my interests and causes that are important to me, and I want to redirect my share of governance towards those interests and causes. Constant direct voting is cumbersome and costly. (Is it? The Swiss manage it. We may get to it later.) So I look for reasonably like-minded people to band with in a party, and get representatives.

As in, people who represent me. As in, people who are my subjects. Who are supposed to defer to us. And if they don't represent my interests and causes I owe them jack shit.

It seems that the median person has this relation inverted almost exactly. Instead of treating politicians like they're public's servants, they treat them like celebrities! Like movie stars, Taylor Swift (I'd say "music stars" here, but she's the last remaining western one) or top sportsmen. They think that the public has an obligation to the political class, that the public owes them to vote in certain ways that'll give certain politicians more power.

Politicians who act like they're kowtowing to the public's most voiced demands are called "populists", and I'm led to believe that it's a bad thing that we're supposed to minimize.

So I don't know what is it that you people believe, but it sure doesn't look like what I would call "democracy".

Step 2: ??? Step 3: Policy!

The usual way people try to square this circle is pointing that nobody can be a completely informed voter. Economy is fractally complicated, therefore you can't intuit your economic interests! Biology if fractally complicated, therefor you can't know what's good for your health! Etc.

The thing is, how are politicians supposed to be better at that than genpop? By education, they're primarily lawyers, i.e. people who operate in the symbolic space to get what they want from a bureaucratic system, and not in any object-level knowledge domain. Map, not territory. The typical answer to that is that the domain knowledge is supposed to come from either "experts" or policy wonks.

But even if we assume: that the median voter cannot be informed about their best interest, that the experts interfacing with politicians operate not with their immediate interests in mind, but with the goal of allowing the politicians to make the best decisions (ahahaha), and that the politicians listen to the wonks and experts to the best of their ability (ohohoho).

Even if we assume all that, how are the voters (who we've established as not informed) are supposed to know which politicians to trust? At which point of the process the not-knowledge is supposed to be transmuted into knowledge and expertise?

If only the emperor knew!

But sometimes there are discrepancies large enough that they can't be explained away by parts of the public not knowing what's good for them. Things like banks not being allowed to fail in wake of a financial crisis, or Disney getting another copyright extension. In that case, it's because democracy has been corrupted, you see. It cannot be that a system may be suitable for governing 300 thousand people (Iceland, which managed to basically expel the banks after the crisis, or so I'm told) but less so for governing 300 million people. Not, the system is flawless, definitionally flawless! The flaws mean we've strayed from true democracy, towards corrupted one!

And then sometimes you get a mix of the two, when the corruption exists because some voters (who don't know what's good for them) have been deceived by the Evil party and are voting against their interests. They cannot possibly have different fundamental irreducible values which are split 40+%/40+% in the population because obviously my values are the only correct ones, and true democracy would mean tiling the country with my values.

(Dropping the snark for a moment and being explicit: if you believe something that's even passably familiar to the above paragraph, and if you want to centralize the bureaucracy e.g. by removing the US senate, you don't actually value democracy. Never have, never will, and it would do us all some good if you dropped the façade.)

...except for all the others that have been tried

Surprise! Despite all that, I'm still glad that I'm living in (some approximation of) democracy. This is an inversion from my teenage edgelord years, where I believed in the democracy but nonetheless wanted to supplant it with something more efficient. I like it now because there's a huge upside: peaceful transfer of power. But as the (social media-induced? that's the leading hypothesis, right?) gap between values widens, that center may not hold in the future.

So what do I want? These are all a bit pie-in-the-sky, but:

I want people who are softly authoritarian to be honest with themselves (obviously won't happen because they have a tremendous amount of energy invested in not thinking about themselves as authoritarians, but sill, putting this out there)

I want people to turn off fandom brain when thinking about politics. Have a healthy dose of disdain for politicians on your "team".

Decentralization! Direct representation! Switzerland has direct voting about tons of stuff, and it works! Cantons' population ranges from 1.5 million to 16 thousand, so they can vote on things that matter to them without intermediate assholes inserting themselves into the situation.

Fuck first-past-the-post! Let's do ranked voting! Down with thresholds, let's have 50 parties in each parliament! "But that would severely disrupt the process of passing new laws and regulations!" Precisely.

Sortition! Because why the hell not, the current system of career politics is an industrial-strength asshole filter, random people would genuinely improve the situation.

If I were good at writing essays, there would be a sentence here that ties everything together. But I'm not.

[longjiaojiao]

yeah when China and Russia vote for Palestinian rights they are like "don't actually care about human rights they just want to fuck America" and when any other country vote for Palestinian rights it's like "thank you so much you are amazing you are the best" TBH I find it funny how naive people are that you really think there is ANY government in the world that care about individual human rights... The secret is thinking and learning is actually important dude, when you really learn about history, when you look at the world from a historical perspective, when you leave behind all your contemporary morals and capitalist worldview, you find that it's all about money, yes there is no such thing as human rights for the government, there is only money. Under capitalist I mean America, political power are only an adjunct to economic power. In fact one of the greatest advantages of being a Chinese is to see the world from a perspective that is completely unconstrained by Western values. You will see that the spread of Christianity is what forced the Jews to wander in Europe. In fact after the dissolution of Rome it was the Arabs who peacefully shared the land with the wandering Jews in Europe.

There is only one country's people in the world that is protected from being discrimination due to the loss of national honor, and that is America, because obviously when the Anglo-Saxon first arrived on this land it became a nation of immigrants. I don't know what moral superiority makes some people think that "fuck Israel" and "fuck Russia" is going to do any good, this sound only makes innocent Israelis and innocent Russians suffer from more racism, and by the way makes racists more racist, more extreme and more stupid, thus the new Nazis appear, endless loop! People will only hate each other more and more if you keep saying fuck something.

People just didn't fuck the right one. The arms dealers and rich persons are the ultimate winners. Jews are not bad, but the people who make the most money in America happen to be Jews. Sometimes the religion you hold dear is just an identity in the hands of others, a tool to get more resources.

The reason why Japan government is not apologizing for their actions in WWII is that their economy is not blocked by the world after all these shit. Germany was shunned by the whole Europe and could not make money without some apology. Don't think of politics as morality, or even expect it to be humane.

I have no morality myself actually, no one will force me agree on anything I haven't learn and think about, I only have what everyone else has: the lessons of history. The protection of minors that you attach great importance to came after the animal protection, and the concept of minors was formed because of the popularity of typewriters and printing presses. The concept of minors is so new and fragile that I think that now the Internet and video have replaced typewriters and printing presses, maybe the age of minors needs to be changed. So you see morality is inherently vague, which means being careful when enforcing it too, not to be deceived by anger and hate.

Everyone go watch Princess Mononoke ten times.

在西方待久了实在受不了客体化的东方世界和低语境的伪善了…喜欢中国也不是喜欢中国的政府，而是喜欢中国的文化和历史。中国和美国这两个词就是两个极端，一个偏向文化代指，一个偏向政权代指。但非要说的话，墓志铭也得是『中国饭很好吃，死而无憾了』。

#suibianlao

[faithfromanewperspective]

was just thinking about how easy it is to compare the current president of Israel (whose name I don’t even remember) to hitler. it fits the way we think, doesn’t it, foreign people do bad things, what we see as familiar is good. but then the more I think about it, about how this whole thing has been set up and the extent (which I have to learn more about exactly still) to which usamerica is driving a literal genocide then the person I’ve gotta do that comparing to is actually… joe biden??? like that’s such a curveball in our brains we never expected but if you trace the power structures, yes there’s a fair deal of being a puppet going on but only because he never stands up against it. because he doesn’t actually care to stop it. and actually how fucked up is it that we’re literally talking about how the best thing is to continue voting for him for president because the other guy is worse like ??? none of us expected it of usamerica. we respected that country. we still respect its people and hang out with them every day

but like. let that sink in for a second. the guy encouraging and allowing a genocide is the better of two options?? if that’s the case I’m sorry but the civilians really don’t have any power. I’m sorry but if that’s the standards we have we have to start imagining better. this is like when your parent asks you if you want to wear a red shirt or a blue shirt but you never got the option to wear a dress instead or simply no shirt at all. it’s the illusion of choice. and as a world how do we turn a blind eye to this?? how do we not call out our dear cousin usamerica who is clearly in a bad state right now? whose leadership desperately needs to do better especially if they’re going to be in a position of leadership in the world as the power structures would have that they are?

because people live and breathe economy I was thinking, what if the rest of us simply boycott usamerica like we boycott Israel?? that would send the global economy to shambles. and I know it’s not gonna happen all of a sudden (so no need to hurriedly account for all the people that would get hurt) but what if we did? simply stop buying and consuming things that come out of America?

now I’m probably one of the biggest and most long-standing swifties you’ll meet (tumblr doesn’t count it’s an echo chamber) but could I? could I simply hold off listening to the tortured poets department when it comes out and stick to her older stuff I already own on cd’s and the like? Taylor doesn’t need my money or my numbers next to her songs and I’m going to be missing a lot if I do this but when this is over, her music will still be there. My favourite author is American. that one might be harder since I really want to read the second sword catcher book (I’m not worried about twp since it’s not coming out til 2026). I know a bunch of technology comes out of usamerica but I don’t need to update any of my devices and if I do there’s probably other brands I can buy from. I think because my iTunes is Australian I might be okay with it?? but I’m trying to transition away from it and buy more cds anyway. And I don’t watch tv, I rarely watch movies now so I could probably forgo that too.

I was actually just thinking about how there are so many songs out there I probably won’t get to listen to. what if, in boycotting some this is my chance to broaden my horizons? and I will preface with the fact that I know many non American artists do live and record in LA: im not gonna boycott them for that. In fact I’ll support their music because I want them to come home. and I might make an exception for green day and good charlotte for generally protesting much about usamerica?? but tell me guys, what do you think?? is this feasible? I might actually do it. I’ll make an exception for tumblr probably and use meta social media to the minimum (maybe I should for tumblr too and google). but also. is this racist?? is it going to do any harm?? because damn it I want to support the people. I want to support marginalised groups and native americans but I also want to be part of a boycott that’s meaningful rather than a token gesture. and I know the usamericans of us can’t do this, but please if I do it see it as me supporting your rights to having your opinions heard on a political level because I come from a country that isn’t great colonialism wise but at least we have that and I can’t imagine not having it

#boycott usamerica #boycott usa #<-genuinely can’t believe this is a tag in the wild gonna check it out #anyway. this is gonna hit hard for the fandoms I’m in on here #if I do it fully #luckily we still have 5sos #but I feel like I’m being up myself about it when Australia’s not really better #at the same time albo has finally gotten mad at israel and we don’t have anywhere near the international power #usamericans please weigh in on this #free palestine #human rights

[kaiasky]

I feel like the thing my ethical/political intuition really has no insight into is like. the good "size" of an acceptable state.

this comes up kinda a lot. (should the HOA have power over your garden? should this be a state or federal issue? independence for Hawai'i? Cascadia? Jefferson? (Northern) Ireland? The UK from the EU? Shouldn't people whose economies are dominated by US tourism and investment get a say in what the US is doing? should school boards be able to levy taxes?

Like i will grudgingly admit the existence of some kind of state that answers to the people. i think that's just like, the concession you have to make if you are interested in things like welfare, or regulating safety, or managing externalitites, or preventing the consolidation of power in other shapes like feudalism or something.

But also like, tyranny of the majority, disenfranchisement, etc right. Some of this you get around by a commitment to personal human rights--stuff like "the state doesn't get to tell you what to do with your body or what faith to profess", or "don't fucking invade other states and kill people"

But 1. those are imperfect protections if the majority decides to ignore them 2. Even in a situation where individual freedoms are all respected, there are still times where it matters rather a lot, if you care about eg what kind of government programs exist!

One easy (but incorrect) intuition is that if a subset of a broader group votes for their independence, power should devolve to them. but yknow, suppose 70 of your 100 nearest neighbors decide they want to succeed and include you in the area to self-govern--this is potentially just as much an imposition as the reverse.

In some sense it isn't that applicable--no state regardless of size is close to "acceptable" so other concerns predominate like sectarian violence or "does this proposed power structure wanna do good or bad stuff with its power". but divorced from all that, "what is the acceptable population who gets to tell you what to do" is still a thorny problem.

#kaia.mypost #politics

[total-drama-takes-takes-2]

ttwt episode 8

“Last time, on Total Takes World Tour: the teens competed in an all-out race from Wales- the place, not the animal, MAL- to England, where they were “rewarded” with a delicious helping of classic British cuisine. Sha-Mod came to terms with his face, and a 35,000 foot drop after he was unanimously eliminated- or was he? Haha. Mystery and drama make a great combination, and we’re serving them to you- right here, right now, on Total Takes: World Tour!”

Michela pokes at her gelatinous helping of eggs from the galley. She moves down the line, dumping a portion of furry oatmeal on her plate before giving up, dropping the whole thing in the garbage and sitting with a cup of warm water. 

“Not hungry?” Albert asks, separating his own oatmeal into bite-size chunks. 

“Not really. I feel really bad about what happened to Sha-Mod,” she sighs. “It had to be Patrick- he tampered with the votes. We all agreed to vote for him.”

Albert looks across the room to where Patrick is leaning against the wall, nodding his head along with whatever music is playing over his Walkman. 

“I’m not mistrusting your judgment, but… him? He’s not exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch,”

“He has a track record,” she says, glaring at him. “And he knew we were going to vote for him.”

Albert shrugs. From across the room, Max squints. 

---

MAX: “Everyone thinks he’s sooo great, Mr. “I put Chris in jail!”. Well, I’m not falling for that. There’s something off about him. I'm going to figure out what. This is possibly my greatest case yet,” he pulls out a deerstalker cap and puts it on confidently.

---

Bonnie nudges his shoulder. “Lay off, man. Try not to think about it so much,”

“It’s not that, it’s… never mind,” he sighs. “Let’s just focus on the challenge today. I’m sick of economy.”

The two turn back to their team, who are drifting around nervously. Staci looks exhausted, barely holding her head up over her bacon and eggs. Kelly is at her side, watching over her nervously, and Phillip is sitting under the table. 

“Not looking too good,” Bonnie sighs. “I wish Caesar were here.”

Max shrugs and begins walking back to the group. “That makes one of us,”

---

BONNIE: “In a way, I really do appreciate Max’s complete apathy towards me and Caesar- sure, it’s rude, and he’s a little prick, but at least he’s not being borderline obsessive over us,”

---

Bonnie follows shortly after and takes a seat on Staci’s other side. She immediately turns to them. “Bonnie, can I ask for some advice?”

They grumble, and then sigh. “Fine,”

“Well… I’ve read all about leadership, communication, and effective group work, and I still can’t get anyone to listen. What should I do?”

“How should I know?” Bonnie asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“I-I just mean… you seem so confident… I could’ve never done what you did. Confessing your feelings on national TV,”

“International!” Max corrects from across the table. Bonnie glares at him. 

“It’s not like that. That wasn’t me being… brave, or whatever, I was forced to. I hated every second of it!”

“But you still did, and you made it look so cool…” Staci says nervously, twiddling their thumbs and looking down at their lap. 

Bonnie sighs. “Okay, just… try not to think too hard about it. You can’t force yourself to be good at something, right?”

“Disagree,” Max says. Bonnie glares again. 

“Ignore him. Just don’t expect reading to teach you everything,” they shrug, then get up and move to the other side of the table. 

---

STACI: “Um, I mean, no offense, but reading is kind of my thing. Do you know how many kin guides I’ve written? Reading is a prerequisite to experience, not the other way around! But... if that's what it takes...”

---

First class is unusually tense this morning. 

Ass and Courtney are both awake, but there’s no bickering, no disagreements, not even any snide comments- rather, they’re both focused on the blonde across the cabin. 

Julia is pacing back and forth murmuring to herself. 

---

JULIA: “Big surprise, Patrick tampered with the votes. I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming,�� she pauses to sigh. “I guess if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself.”

---

Back in economy, Michela watches as the plane begins landing over a great expanse of green, her eyes wide. “This looks a lot like-”

“That’s right! Welcome to Quebec, Canada!” Chris’ voice blares over the intercom. 

The rest of economy class crowd around Michela and oohs at the trees and rivers beneath them as the plane begins its descent. 

The pink-haired girl takes a seat and buckles in as the altitude decreases. “Hopefully this’ll be easy,”

“Easy?” Albert asks, fidgeting with his seatbelt. 

“My family is French, most of us live in Quebec,” she shrugs. “In Island I was apparently the fan favorite from the province, so maybe Chris’ll throw us a bone.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, honey,” Patrick chuckles. He’s standing in front of the two, hands on his hips. “There are no free handouts in life, I- YEOWWWWWW!”

He screams as the plane nosedives and sends him flying around the cabin. Neither Michela nor Albert look very concerned with helping him. 

Bonnie ducks as Patrick goes flying overhead, smacking against the walls like he’s stuck in a pinball machine. “Hey, watch it!”

“Can you guys PLEASE get him under control!” Staci shouts. Michela shrugs. 

She scoffs and turns to her team. “Well, I’d never do that to you guys. Not even you, Phillip,”

He beams. “You… wouldn’t let me die?”

“Of course not! You’re a part of the team,”

Phillip grins and reaches under his seat for his notebook (just in time for Patrick to go flying over his spot). “I drew these for you,” he says, handing Staci a stack of crude crayon drawings. Most of them are of oddly shaped horses, but one is a self portrait. 

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” they say, rifling through the pages. “And this is a great self-portrait. Is your real name Alejandro?”

He shrugs bashfully. “No, but I really see myself in Alejandro from the original show. He’s literally me,”

Staci’s eyes go wide. “Oh. My. Gosh! You’re a fellow kinnie!”

“A what?”

She squeals and claps her hands. Max looks suicidal. 

“Do you have Tumblr? We should follow each other’s blogs. I’m a Staci kin, but since TTI I’ve also started kinning Topher, Gwen, Brick, Dawn…” she counts off the list on her fingers. “Basically, I’m expanding my kin horizons and I’ve never met a kinnie IRL!”

“This is torture. Kill me, please,” Max says to Bonnie. 

They grunt, putting their hands over their ears. “Let’s make a pact,”

---

“Bienvenue and welcome to beautiful Quebec!” Chris says as the teens exit the plane. 

Michela raises an eyebrow. “That was just “welcome” twice,”

“Whatever. Your challenge today is a simple two-parter- you’ll start here, in the rolling forests of beautiful Canada, with these,” he holds up three buckets, and three taps, tossing one of each to each team. “Fun fact: Quebec is the number one producer of maple syrup in the entire world. Today, you guys will be continuing that tradition!”

“You seriously expect us to get sap with these?” Courtney holds up the thin metal tap. 

“Uh-huh, not to mention boiling it and filtering it to perfection to get that tasty syrup. Your results will be criticized by Judge Chef,” he jabs his thumb backwards, to where Chef is sitting at a table in the woods. “And then we’ll move on to your next challenge.”

Michela raises a hand. “But… it’s summer,”

“An excellent point from our resident North American Frenchie,” Chris says, pointing a finger in her direction. “Since trees are tapped in late winter, we’ve hidden some special, man-made trees ready for sapping around the woods. You gotta find ‘em.” he chuckles. 

The teens groan. A warm breeze pushes through the trees, and a bird squawks overhead. 

“Enough whining. Now get to it!”

After a beat, the teams start wandering off, walking alongside each other cautiously. Team Yaoi starts off in the lead, heading north. “So… does anyone have any idea how to tap a tree?” Courtney asks. 

“Don’t you just ram it in there and the… stuff comes out?” Ass shrugs. 

“Sap. And don’t make it sound so crude, there has to be some method to it,”

“Sure! It’s called taking the tap, and shoving it into the tree!”

“You are so insufferable!”

Ass and Courtney begin bickering uninterrupted while Julia murmurs to herself, walking ahead of them with Mal shortly behind. “We can’t lose, can’t lose again,”

“Sure thing. Now try telling those idiots that,” Mal says, snorting. “But Assney is trending again, so at least they’re doing something.”

“That means literally nothing to me,” Julia sighs. 

---

The sun is bright and warm today, making the trek through the woods almost pleasant for Team Friendship- in fact, today is the first day in a long time where the air surrounding the group is actually friendly. 

Bonnie and Max are inadvertently leading the rest, making snide remarks about the other teams (particularly a certain ferocious blonde and an environmentalist). Close behind them, Staci and Phillip are discussing fandom politics. 

Far behind the rest of the group, Kelly trudges along. 

---

KELLY: “Did I do something wrong? Is there a reason why everyone’s moving on without me? I-I mean, in the literal sense. They’re walking fast. Nothing else!”

---

“Up there!” Bonnie says, pointing ahead. A large, obviously metallic tree is sticking out of the ground. A bird lands on one of its branches and gets electrocuted. 

“I think we’re the first team to find ours- let’s hurry!” Staci says, running ahead. The team follows behind her as a familiar ding indicates everyone’s fears coming true- song time. 

“We’re heading down to Quebec, those cold eastern woods!” Bonnie sings, tossing the tap to Max. 

He catches it and sets down the bucket. “We’ll take the sap, make it sweet, and boil that syrup good!”

Across the woods, Courtney flicks their team’s tap. “I can’t get a drop to spare, so we better find a plan!”

Ass shoves them out of the way and bounces a rock in their palm. “It’s gotta be deeper, further, in that trunk, so move your little hands,” Courtney jumps out of the way as Ass starts pounding in the tap with a rock. “In! In! In!”

“It’s a sap shanty, and it’s darn catchy!” Julia sings along. “Come on, people, let’s win!”

Further in the woods, Albert screws their tap into a metal tree and a clear liquid begins to pour out of it. Patrick gives him a heavy punch on the shoulder. “Man, you’re a basket case, but you sure can tap a tree!”

Michela shoves a finger in Patrick’s face. “Watch it, man, I’m onto you, you’re not fooling me!” 

He rolls his eyes. 

Back across the woods, liquid finally begins pouring from the metal husk. Team Friendship cheers. “Winning to-day, teamies, first class here we come!”

Back over at Team Yaoi, Julia picks up. “Let’s win this thing, keep singing, I’ll trash that lying scum!”

Albert finishes filling their quota and pulls the tap from the tree, thanks it, then sings. “It’s a sap shanty, and it’s darn catchy!” Michela picks up Team Mojo’s bucketful of sap and begins running back to the plane. “C’est un chanson de sève, et c’est mag-ni-fique!”

All three teams stop at the plane at the same time, panting as the song ends. Michela stands first. “Alright, let’s go!” 

The other groupings follow, finding their supplies already laid out for them and their instructions ready. Staci takes the sheet and squints. “Crap, this is in French,”

“Quebecois French,” Max corrects, setting down their bucket. He takes the pamphlet from them. “I took four years of European French. How much different could it be?”

Michela snorts at him from where Team Mojo is set up. He looks up at her with wide eyes and she salutes him with a smile. “Mets-en!”

Team Friendship turns to Max and he sighs. “Okay, maybe a little different. But this is an instruction manual, surely it's intelligable?”

“We’ll see,” Bonnie mumbles. 

Julia blinks at her team's instructions. “Um… Mal, how long would it take to translate all this?”

“I could just image translate it,” she says, not bothering to look up from her phone. Julia opens her mouth. “-If my camera wasn’t shattered.”

She sighs. Courtney raises an eyebrow. “How do you break a phone camera?”

“Bonnie caught me taking pictures and smashed it with a hammer,” Mal sulks. 

“Great! Just great! Dumb goth,” Julia murmurs. “Whatever, it’s fine. All we need are numbers, right? Temperatures and times or whatever?”

Ass and Courtney look between each other, and then shrug. 

---

The table Chef is sitting at is far too fancy for the show- covered in a white table cloth, adorned with a porcelain vase full of lilies. Chris sits at the edge of the surface, whistling and picking at his nails. 

“Sooo… you see that new show?” the host asks nonchalantly. 

Chef shakes his head. “Not gonna, it seems confusing. What do you care?”

“Just making conversation, dude. Oh, here we go- Team Mojo!”

Michela, Albert, and Patrick run up with a small vial of warm brown liquid. The pink-haired girl sets it down on the table and then phews, wiping her forehead. 

Chef uncorks the glass and dips his pinkie finger in it, giving it a light taste. The team watches in anticipation as he smacks the flavor around his mouth, then: gives a thumbs up. “10/10,” 

Albert and Michela cheer, and even Patrick cracks a small smile. 

“Mojos, you may move on to the next part of the challenge,” Chris says. “If you’ll continue left, you’ll find a stage waiting for you.”

They high five and run off. Team Friendship runs up next, their syrup more apple juice-like in color and consistency. 

Chef gives the team an odd look, but tastes it anyway. He shrugs. “Edible. 6/10. Move on!”

Team Friendship huffs and keeps running. “Good work, Max!” Staci says. He rolls his eyes and catches up to Bonnie. 

“Is it just me, or is Staci totally kissing my ass today?”

Bonnie shrugs. “She’s looking for guidance. You’re kind of a natural leader,”

“Don’t flatter me,”

“I’m being serious. I couldn’t do half the stuff you do,” they say. “I wish people would go to you instead of me.”

He rolls his eyes. “You know, at some point you’re going to have to accept that people actually like you now,”

They scoff. “Oh, whatever,”

“Look at them,” he whispers harshly. They turn back to the group behind them. “They worship the ground you walk on.”

Bonnie gives him a glare. “Keep dreaming, Pachmann,”

“Your last name is Pachmann?” Phillip asks from ahead of them. “Like the video game guy?”

“Yes! Shut up!” Max shouts, then turns to Bonnie. “I told you that in confidence! How would you feel if I started going around reminding everyone Bonnie is short for-”

Bonnie puts their hands up. “Alright! Point taken! Let's just drop this, okay?” and they speed up.

---

Last to arrive at the judgment table is Team Yaoi, who are looking exhausted and frazzled. Julia drags Mal behind her, who has a glass vial of something solid stuck to her right shoulder. 

“And if you had been watching the pan, it wouldn’t have over-boiled!” Courtney shouts, pointing in Ass’ face. 

They scoff. “And if you had stopped nitpicking, I could’ve actually paid attention! Backseat driver much?”

Courtney gasps in offense and the two keep bickering. Julia picks up Mal by the scruff and sets her on the table. “Bon. Appetit,” she huffs, stepping back. 

Chef raises an eyebrow, staring at the sticky mess on Mal’s arm, then the crystalized syrup. He shakes his head. “Inedible. 0/10!”

“You guys are lucky we’re on a schedule,” Chris says, tapping his watch. “I was really looking forward to sending you back to the woods for another try. You got lucky- onto the next part of the challenge!”

Julia groans in exasperation and picks Mal up again, dragging her off. 

---

“Another vibrant part of Quebecois life are the arts- particularly the dance,” Chris explains, pacing a hastily-constructed stage. “Today, you’ll be dancing La Bastringue- a traditional folk dance that you’ll need to work together for- Team Yaoi!” 

Julia rolls her eyes. Chris goes on: “This is both a group and a duo project- which means you’ll be sorting yourselves into pairs,”

Staci raises a hand. “Um, we have an uneven number of players,”

“So do we,” Michela says, crossing her arms. 

“I know,” The host chuckles. “Odd ones out on Team Friendship and Team Mojo will get each other. Good luck, and happy pickings!”

Albert sighs. “So, I guess we’ll-”

“I call the pink one,” Patrick says, grabbing Michela’s arm. 

She scoffs. “As if I’d ever want to-”

“I’m not dancing with him. That's gay,” he stops, pointing towards Albert. “Or any of them. That's even gayer.” he gestures to Team Friendship. “And if you know what’s good for this team, you’ll agree!”

Michela growls, and Albert sighs. “Fine! You win, Patrick,”

Patrick grins widely, and Michela turns to Albert with a mystified expression. He shrugs. 

---

ALBERT: “Patrick thinks he’s smart. It’s pathetic. But I can’t let him know that he’s not a threat, otherwise he might get worried and do something irrational, like an animal backed into a corner,” he smiles slowly. “He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

---

Bonnie and Max reluctantly link arms. Kelly turns to Staci. “So, partners?”

“Oh, um, sorry, but I already promised Phillip I’d team with him. We’re having a really fun discussion about kin drama,” Staci giggles. “I’ll get you next time, though!”

Kelly smiles softly. “That’s alright. So I’m with…”

“Me,” Albert says, suddenly appearing right behind them. They jump slightly. “Not a team favorite, huh?”

“Well… I just got unlucky. What about you?” they ask. 

“I volunteered. I’m doing those two a favor, really,” he sighs, jabbing his thumb behind him. “And there's no such thing as luck, by the way.”

Kelly raises an eyebrow, but shakes off the odd remark and returns to the task at hand as Chris calls everyone over. Neither Ass, nor Courtney, wanted to work with Mal, leaving them with each other. 

Chef stands on the stage with a barrage of crude, faceless cardboard cutouts of past players. “The dance is pretty simple. You start off together, holding hands,” Chris says in a scary voice, wiggling his fingers. “Then you break off into your duos, do the usual ballroom dancing nonsense, blah, blah, blah..” he goes on as Chef demonstrates on stage. “Get up here!”

The teens stand in a circle on stage, holding hands and looking at each other uneasily. “How do we win?” Courtney asks, glaring at Ass.

“Last man standing,”

“In a dance competition?” Patrick scoffs. “Are we going to finger-paint and read bedtime stories after?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you,” Chris chuckles. “Ready? Set? Dance!”

Every competitor, united by their hands, spins in an uneasy circle around the stage. They raise their wrists up, pulling their hands to the sky and move in and out of the circle in a flowery, delicate movement. 

Michela has to practically yank Patrick along as he stands as stiff as a board. The duos begin to splinter off, hands intertwined and placed firmly on hips and shoulders. They awkwardly spin around each other. 

“Ow! You just stepped on my foot!” Courtney hisses. 

Ass scoffs. “I’m not a dancer, sue me!”

“As if I’d give you the time of the day!”

“Guys, keep it together,” Julia says, passing them by while Mal hums to herself merrily. Courtney and Ass roll their eyes in sync. 

“Is it just me, or lately has she had a massive stick up her a-” 

“Ass!” Courtney chides. “Be civil. She’s trying her best.”

“She’s been really riding on us for not winning, though. What’s her deal?”

Courtney looks both ways as they spin around the circle and leans in. “I heard her in the confessional this morning. Apparently, she tried to get Patrick off Team Mojo, but he messed with the votes and Sha-Mod got kicked off instead. She’s majorly pissed about it,”

“I would be too,” Ass murmurs, looking across the stage to where Michela is dragging Patrick around like his feet are encased in concrete. “Dude’s a total airhead”

“I know. So let’s take it easy on her, okay?”

Ass sighs. “Fine. Whatever you say, Strawberry Shortcake,”

Courtney smiles and squeezes their shoulder, prompting Ass to turn away and look back into the crowd. 

One of the tiles on the wooden floor shoots a burst of electricity up, frying off Mal’s eyebrows. Julia gasps and takes a step back. “Out!” Chris yells. She groans. 

Max and Bonnie move across the floor stiffly and awkwardly, walking more so than dancing. Both shuffle their feet to avoid stepping on each other, and both are looking in different directions. Max is fixed on Michela and Patrick, Bonnie is watching Albert and Kelly cautiously. 

The latter two are moving with some ease, not held back by reluctant partners or bickering like most of the other pairings. Still, though, there’s some sense of discomfort in the air. 

Kelly gazes off towards the rest of their team, watching longingly. 

“I see you still haven’t taken my advice,” Albert says. “Still happy-go-lucky over nothing, right?”

“There’s nothing wrong with positivity,” they respond automatically, as if they’d rehearsed the defense a thousand times. 

“But there is, isn’t there?”

Kelly turns back towards Albert and looks at him. His gaze is somewhat lowered, but very fixed on them. 

“Getting your hopes up over nothing. The universe doesn’t work like that. I would know,”

“What do you mean?” They ask, half-intrigued and half-uneasy. 

He starts speaking, but pauses once the two are forced to rejoin the group for more hand-holding and circle time. Once they split off again, he clears his throat. 

“Okay, think about it this way: the universe is infinite. Correct?”

They shrug, then nod. 

“And we’re one tiny speck, completely alone- and don’t argue with me on this- there’s been no evidence of advanced civilization outside our rock,”

“I guess so,”

“Only 5% of the cosmos contain the necessary ingredients to sustain life. And even then, there are millions of other factors. You’re not religious, are you?”

“Not particularly,”

“I’m not, either. So, how is it that we can live in a world with trees and fish and reality TV and radioactive poison? Why is it just us?” he says, pausing to spin them around. “It’s random. Like a slot machine. There’s no luck, no fate, no higher order that plans these things out. The universe is chaotic and empty, and we just happen to be the poor bastards living in it.”

Kelly shakes their head. “I don’t agree with that. It isn’t meaningless,”

“Did I say it was meaningless?” he says, lowering his eyes again. “No, there’s meaning. Everyone has a purpose. I said it’s chaotic. You might have a meaning, and then a cruel twist of events can take that away from you.” he pauses to gesture towards Staci. Kelly follows his fingers. 

“So, what’s the point of it all to you?” they ask. “We just shouldn’t try to make the world a better place?”

He sighs a little. “You really are a blonde, aren’t you? No. I don’t think we should just give up and lie around eating ice cream all day, but we also shouldn’t waste our time ‘manifesting’ anything. If you want something done,” he says, twirling them around again to face their team. “You have to do it yourself.”

A burst of flames shoots out of the floor and singes Phillip, turning his entire body a sooty black. Kelly raises an eyebrow and turns back to Albert. 

“See? Random,”

Staci helps him off the floor just as everyone’s attention is diverted to Michela, who’s shouting loudly at Patrick now. The two have stopped moving to yell at each other, forcing Chef to grab both of them and toss them off the platform. 

The distraction pulls Kelly and Albert's eyes off the floor just long enough for it to open under them- both falling through a trapdoor and onto the earth below them. 

“Well, there’s my cue,” Albert says, letting go of Kelly’s clammy hands. “Just think about what I said, alright? There’s no use crying over spilled milk.”

And with that, he walks off. 

---

ALBERT: “I guess I just felt bad for them, if anything. They remind me a lot of my younger self: clueless,”

---

Courtney and Ass, and Bonnie and Max, remain the only players left on the platform. Neither of them are dancing very well, and both are watching the floor nervously for any surprises. 

Bonnie manages to grab Max and pull him out of the way as another section of the floor disappears beneath his feet. “Ew, your hands are all sweaty,”

“Cool, next time I’ll let you fall!” Bonnie says in a cheerily-sarcastic tone. Max rolls his eyes. 

“One, two, one, two,” Courtney murmurs, guiding their feet around Ass’. 

They wrinkle their nose. “You’re breathing in my face,”

“Sorry, I’m trying to focus,” they say. “Julia staring is making me really nervous.”

Ass looks over to the ground below the platform, where Jules is glaring at the both of them, hands on her hips. They roll their eyes. 

“Just ignore her. She’s gone boy-crazy,” they murmur. “Except instead of kissing boys she wants to kill them.”

“Hah, makes two of us,” Courtney grins. Ass laughs back. There’s a long pause. “What’s your real name, again? I keep forgetting.”

“Natalie,” they shrug. “What’s yours?”

“Hm?”

“Courtney isn’t your real name,” they grin. “Can’t be. So what’re you hiding?”

“Oh, nothing, I just… I use my online persona as my name because it’s easier,” Courtney shrugs. “Plus, Mal… I mean, she does too, but I’d hate for her to find any more personal information about me. She’s a little dox-crazy.”

“Every new piece of information I learn about that twit,” Ass sighs, rolling their eyes. “Can’t believe I ever saw anything in her.”

“Me either…” Courtney trails off. “You and her were never…. Right?”

“Oh, God, no. I mean, I guess it might’ve gone in that direction if we’d stayed friends, but that’d have made the reveal even worse,” they say sharply, avoiding eye contact. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s… not important,” 

Ass’ eyes widen. “No. Really?”

“It was a phase! Well, that’s what she thinks of it,” Courtney says. “It was my first real relationship, even if it was online, and it… well… never mind, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Whatever,” Ass mumbles. “But I get it. Kind of. I can’t believe she managed to fool me into thinking she was someone I could trust.”

“I get the feeling,”

The two smile at each other for a moment before Max’s screams in the background pull their attention back to behind them. Bonnie shouts “STOP DROP AND ROLL!” while trying to smother the flame on his blazer. 

He drops off the platform, into a pile of wet grass and groans. Bonnie winces. 

“Youuuuu’re out!” Chris shouts. “Once again, Team Yaoi have won the challenge!”

Julia sighs, relieved, and Courtney and Ass high-five. 

“It’s about TIME you two started getting along,” the blonde snaps as they step off the platform. Ass rolls their eyes. 

“Team Mojo, since all of your players were out first, you’ll be going back to the elimination hall-”

“WOOOOO!” Julia shouts, pumping her fists. 

“-Is what I would say if this wasn’t a reward challenge!”

Patrick smirks and the smile drops off her face. “Say what now?”

Chris gestures behind him and Chef rolls a large dolly carrying a massive container of maple syrup. “Your winnings for today are this ginormous, 2 meter tall syrup… to share,” he smiles. “Enjoy first class!”

---

The sky outside is dark and full of stars, the mood inside the plane is cozy and warm, but Julia isn’t enjoying any amenities or beauties from today. 

She sulks in one of the plush first class seats, leaning back as low as she can and kicking her feet up on the chair across from her. Mal is sitting at the mocktail bar, enjoying what she calls a “Mal Special” (one cup of ginger ale and one cup of milk mixed together) while scrolling through her phone, and Ass and Courtney are having a catered dinner together at the fancy first-class dining table. 

---

JULIA: “One thing- all I ask for- just ONE thing, and that lousy, ungrateful, self-obsessed princess is still sitting on this plane!”

---

Economy is a little more cheerful tonight. Patrick had gone to sleep at his usual 8 PM sharp (to avoid morning puffiness and dark circles), Albert is reading, and Phillip and Staci have been swapping fanfiction and poetry for the past few hours. 

Michela and Max have cozied themselves up in one corner of the plane, and are currently chatting quietly about the day’s events. 

“He’s such a pain,” she sighs, resting her arm on Max’s shoulder. “I already miss Sha-Mod. I mean, no one even got lost today! I didn’t have a single side quest to complete!”

“And you still lost,” Max shakes his head. Michela shoves him and he falls off the bench, laughing. 

“We both lost, you jerk,” she says, offering him a hand. He takes it and she pulls him back up on the bench with ease. “It was a group effort.”

“At least you tried,” he says, eyes drifting back to his team. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with these people, really. They’re hopeless.”

“Aw, you miss me,” she goes to elbow him and his arm parries hers with expert precision. He elbows her back. 

“Sure, whatever. Maybe I do,”

“Well, I maybe-miss you too,”

Down the bench, Albert rolls his eyes and buries himself deeper in his book. A round of giggles from Phillip and Staci take over the air in the space, but no one besides Kelly pays them much attention. 

They stand and sit next to Bonnie, who stifles a groan. “What now?”

“I just… um, I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Kelly says, almost nervously. 

“Fine. Tired. What’s wrong?”

They shake their head. “Nothing! I just saw you alone tonight and figured you might need some company,”

Bonnie pauses for a good, long moment, then sighs. “Alright. What did you want to talk about?”

Kelly claps their hands and takes a deep breath. “We can talk about anything- have you been keeping up with the Celebrity Manhunt drama? Or- ooh, what’s your sign? What’s your favorite color? Can I paint your nails?”

“Um…” Bonnie thinks for a moment. “No, I don’t know, purple, and… fine, I guess.”

---

BONNIE: “I guess Max was a little right- people do want to be my friend now. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about that. I mean, I went from having no friends to having one friend, and that was weird enough- now everyone and their grandma wants to get coffee together and gab about the latest gossip? How do I go from 0 to 100 like that!”

---

KELLY: “See? Albert was wrong. There’s nothing wrong with being a positive, nice person,” they smile, then sigh. “For an environmentalist, you’d think he’d be a little more optimistic. But never mind that- plum is so Bonnie’s color!”

---

Economy becomes silent again as Max and Michela fall asleep, Staci returns to reading some impossibly heavy book, Phillip goes back to standing in the window to “absorb the moon’s power”, and Bonnie and Kelly talk quietly while the latter paints their nails a warm shade of purple. 

Albert looks up from his book for a moment, then rolls his eyes.

#ttwt #total takes world tour

[oc-aita]

AITA for doing the right thing for the wrong reasons? (TIME SENSITIVE)

hi sorry for typos i’m tryping this while having a mental break in my dead friend’s bedroom in the middle of the night while my alive friend is asleep but!! my evil evil dad gave us till february 3rd to settle this so i don’t have much time

none of you will know this cause he’s been real sneaky about it but this year my (M16) dad (M36) took over reality and insterstated his own cringe utopia over it. he brought dead ppl back to life (not my dead friend tho) amd he brainwashed every bad person into being a good person, he abolished the prison system and made gay marriage legal and now the economy’s real good ig??? (idk anything about the economy but ok) everywhere you go there’s happy ppl everywhere and it creeps me out

ugh i’m doing such a crappy job at explaining why this is a bad thing. i SWEAR he’s doing it to spite me cause he knows no one will ever believe me fml

we just found out he literally brainwashed my alive friend (ig i’m calling her that now. F16) into thinking she was my dead friend (her twin sister) so she pretended to be her for a YEAR cause he thought that would make her “happy” i guess?? i’m telling you he’s CRAZY. sorry that word stimatagzes mental illness. i mean he’s seriously bonker balls.

you HAVE to trust me. this man has been living wth me for fifteen years and he doesn’t even know what’s good for ME so how would he know what’s good for the world?

so my friends and i agreed to fight him so everything goes back to normal. and they all made such good points talking abt why this is important to them, cause they want freedom to learn and grow and decide their own futures, and they don’t wanna forget the work they did to get where they are now and obvs i agree w all of that stuff but i feel so stupid cause this is my dad and idk--

he already abandoned my mom and now he’s abandoning me too? he even made my friends’ wishes come true but he didn’t do anything for me. i’m his son but i’m like the only person in the world whose happiness he doesn’t care about. idk what did i ever do to him. i hate him so much dad if you’re reading this i hate you no matter what happens

wow it’s embarrassing. everyone’s got these grand ideological reasons to fight him but all i can think about is how i don’t wanna be the child who has to suffer so everyone else gets to be happy. the only one who’s as pissed as i am is this guy who’s llike our team’s sasuke who is infamous for wanting to kill many dads (M18) and he says we should kill my dad. but obviously i don’t wanna do that. i did all of this so i wouldn’t have to lose family ever again and now i’m feel like i’n abpt to lose him forever. i know things can get better for us but we’ll nevr have the chance if he dies yknow?

anyways i always had such a hard time controlling my emotions and i’m scared i’m letting my emotions get the best of me again cause if i really cared abt this i’d be willing to do whatever it takes to make things right yknow? but i don’t want my dad to die. so maybe i AM being selfish. maybe ppl really ARE happy and i’m just being paranoid and irrational like everyone said i was. maybe we should be putting this up to a vote, idk

please give it to me straight (cause i’m not!!!! LMAO),

AITA?

#aita #am i the asshole #original character #unreality tw #ask to tw #mod butterfly #violence tw #murder tw

[anthonybialy]

Iran As Bad At Attacking Israel As Anything Else

Iran just sent its economy to be destroyed.  They didn’t set anything aside to have their twisted version of fun next weekend.  The living medieval museum spent 87 percent of its GDP on drones that turned into an Israeli fireworks show.  The one Middle Eastern country you’d choose to live in is resented by everyone around it for ruining the grade curve.

The Persian Empire’s remnants still have their weeds.  But they won’t sell for much.  Geopolitical experts debate whether brilliant mullahs knew their allegedly noble flying armada would be destroyed or thought they’d destroy what they aimed to hit, which you may recognize as the Middle East’s only functioning spot.  Israel sighs as it defends the neighborhood’s societal outpost yet again.

Iran is a Batman villain without the character.  Caricatured reprobates can’t even seem compelling as they spread chaos.  A rabid all-time dastard certainly isn’t going to generate something useful.  But they sure will try to wreck the output of those not residing in the Third or Fourth World.  True professional deadbeats are so jealous of the productive that they will set out to destroy them so everyone’s equally miserable.  At least we know why liberals sympathize with them.  

Even remedial countries know Israel makes sure attacks more than even out.  

So, who would be dim enough to strike first?  Iran raises its hand.  A place which hasn’t discovered civilization lacks the impulse control to foresee consequences.  It’s easy to see why they’re on eternal probation unless you’re them.  The Carl Showalters of the world don’t think ahead about their assaults.  If they did, they’d be able to create a nation that offered more than sand and terror as exports.

Ungrateful Westerners who romanticize brutes enable gall.  A nation that’s primitive for the ninth century didn’t learn their lesson.  Or, they did in the same sense that unpunished bullies continue to operate wedgie rackets.  Moronic hooligans still possess the instinct to learn they can get away with lashing out if teachers are negligent.

The UN is rushing to vote to blame Israel for getting in the way of Iran’s drones.  Our globe features a forum for recognizing commonalities.  Unfortunately, that often means anti-Semitism given the frequent appalling tendencies of many members of our species.  Gathering everyone together to talk out problems is counterproductive when there are so many awful idiots.

An assembly of Borats knows who’s the cause of every planetary ill.  They just know that there would be no more warfare, poverty, or mosquito bites if a sliver of a country with a legislature and pride parades no longer had the nerve to guard from bloodthirsty pillagers.

Losers blaming Jews for their failures is not just for disheartening Twitter replies.  The oldest prejudice is popular amongst shrieking hateful lunatics who run entire countries.  To be fair, they’re not good countries.  Iran is Earth’s Limp Bizkit.

The barbarian state’s enablers enjoy a weekend packed with even more fun than class warfare.  Iran’s BFF Barack Obama struggles to not refer to Iran’s meagerly diabolical barrage as second Christmas.  Ben Rhodes thinks missile footage is NSFW.  And Tommy Vietor has never been happier to have gotten the most undeserving promotion from van driver.

Humans who aren’t arrogant in decline are left pondering how life got this dangerous while ducking for cover.  The question of whether the Party of Biden enabled Iran deliberately out of contempt for all things decent or were legitimately daft remains unanswered.  As is often the case with Democratic devastation, the rotten result of believing they could befriend an asylum with an Olympic team is the same either way.

Flaccid appeasement doesn’t stop unprovoked attacks as well as expected.  Fake tough guys are truly easy to spot.  Look at this dump since this White House strolled into power for countless examples of disregarded orders.  Iran stopped listening to Joe Biden commanding “Don’t” halfway through the word.  Edgar Wright knew it was a joke.

The incumbent laments not increasing Iran’s allowance.  Stingy American taxpayers could’ve turned Iran into New Eden if they allowed Obama to send a second pallet of cash, but they were such babies about dropping off one.  The Islamic Republic’s centrifuges would be used as ice cream churns today if we had just heeded the gentle wisdom of Marie Harf.

Bribery always works, according to those who dole it without funding it.  The same people who think printing money is about to make everyone rich believe hush money will turn goons into pals.  The good news about inflation is that it devalued Iran’s kitty.

It’s easy to guess who started this again.  Craven fiends who attacked a music festival have an ideological ally in a nation sending missiles at the not very precise target of a whole country.  The intended ground zero will righteously preserve itself for the crime of existing even as they’re condemned for it.

The good guys have never been easier to identify, which confuses those who claim they’re anti-fascist because they torched cities with their faces concealed.  Comparing themselves to D-Day liberators is a typically pompous notion by those condemning Israel for responding.  Getting attacked by the wicked for the being decent is as predictable as anti-Semitism.  There’s no greater test of faith than doing what’s right in a very wrong world.

#Israel #Iran #terrorism #Middle East #Iron Dome #missile attack

[thatweirdtranny]

what does it mean to be an American to you? what does your perfect america look like?

i don’t really have a concept of a perfect america or what it is to be an american beyond “person who lives in the usa” but i’ll give it a shot.

what it is to be an ideal american:

open to new ideas and different perspectives, we are a huge and diverse nation that’s honestly incredibly polarized at the moment politically and my favorite flavor of fellow citizen is one who can disagree while still respecting the other side

understanding of different cultural backgrounds because most of us come from immigrant backgrounds at some point (obviously excluding ppl who are first nations), we are a melting pot culture

progressive, always looking to the future while remembering/honoring the past, we have a relatively short history as a country compared to many but we’re a people who are always looking for new possibilities while remembering both the good and bad parts of our past (good would be our dedication to innovation, bad would be…. well that’s a long list, this country has fucked up a lot)

caring about human rights, equality/equity, most of us are descended from people who came to america to escape something going on in our ancestors’ home countries so i believe it’s our job to create a society where we don’t have to worry about oppression no matter where it comes from

cares about the land and its history — what did your area look like before european settlers colonized it? who lived there and what was their language/culture/general mode of existing? was the land taken care of or maintained a certain way by the local tribes/nations before it was colonized?

what is my idea of a perfect america:

native communities have the resources they need to live happy healthy lives in their homelands, with their languages maintained and the land maintained the way it has been historically and with science in mind (controlled burns, cultivated forests and natural habitat intermixed with holistically farmed land, wildlife corridors, etc)

education is entirely secular and well funded so that people don’t need to resort to private schools to educate their kids well

less funding for the military generally speaking, redirect those funds towards socialized healthcare and higher education

less funding for police, redirect that funding towards community services

in fact completely overhaul the police system, require psychological evals to root out the bullies and corrupt people, give them a minimum of 2-4 years of schooling specifically for law enforcement, require unconscious bias training, and make it so that every lawsuit for police misconduct comes out of the police’s pension funds

NO MORE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, implement ranked choice voting, do anything to end the two party system

progressive tax, better labor laws, let’s make america the land of people who don’t have to exist from paycheck to paycheck like most of us do now

restoration of native habitats and species. when there’s 20 million bison roaming the plains and wolves in most of the lower 48 again and the wetlands are wetlanding and the forests are foresting and the deserts not expanding and the amphibians and insects and fish are all at healthy population levels i will be happy

let’s talk “american freedom” for a second. i HATE the wet dream conservatives have about a very militaristic ideal of freedom. to me when i envision what i wish “american freedom” meant i yearn for a future where everyone has opportunity, can participate in democracy (our democracy isn’t perfect, we have to strengthen it), can do/be anything they want, etc

to achieve these ideals i think i most like the term “social democracy” with a mixed economy — i like the ideal of other more complete types of socialism but believe that a mixed economy is a more reasonable goal. healthcare and education would be socialized, housing and other things would be at least partially socialized, and social services would have more resources.

look i really just want everyone to be healthy, happy, without giving assholes the opportunities they currently have to hurt others, to oppress minorities/the poor/homeless, etc

ok i’m running out of spoons so i’m done for now

#asks #anon

[schrodingersauthorii]

I have a Horrible Exorcists Miraculous Ladybug fusion. It goes something like this:

Natori Shuuichi and Matoba Seji are the ladybug and black cat, respectively. Nothing about them has changed. They are both adult exorcists with their same jobs, now they just have to deal with akuma too.

They were the absolute last choice for Miraculous holders. Natori found Tikki after she was lost for decades right as akuma reemerged. Matoba got roped into it because of their fucked up narrative foil relationship, which is close enough to partnership for kwami magic. Absolutely no one is happy, but good luck finding physically capable, intelligent, mentally stable, AND morally upright soul mates in this economy. They don’t want to take over the world, and have the right reflexes and strategic thinking from exorcisms. That’s going to have to be good enough.

Plagg outright refuses to tell Matoba how to use the Black Cat’s powers. He accidentally kills an akuma possessed person anyways. (PTSD+ claws + chokehold = big oops.) Natori is the only person who knows, since Miraculous Cure brought them back and there weren’t any other witnesses.

This is a character defining moment for the both of them. Exorcism is ROUGH. Murder is never far off the table, apparently, and they’ve got enough baggage for a regional airport. Which they feel compelled to somehow explain to their fated partner stranger coworker after a workplace accident like THAT.

And they sound like they’re on the same page without all the surrounding context: they’re both traumatized in ways that interfere with their lives and relationships, both believe that they have a duty to protect others, and that sometimes the ends justify the means. But narrative foils gonna foil, and WE know how differently those traits and values actually play out.

Their weapons are a calligraphy brush and an oil paper umbrella. They have absolutely no suspicions about each other’s identity. They’re barely hanging on by virtue of the Maneki Neko Miraculous holder, an idealistic teenager they’d immediately sideline if they weren’t dependent on barely sub lethal levels of caffeine and his Beckon Health ability. (Yes, this is Natsume.)

Matoba’s identity is the first casualty. He simply runs out of time and de-transforms, fortunately only in front of his teammates. Natsume and Natori are outraged, but more sympathetic than they might would have been before the Miraculouses.

They don’t LIKE him, they’re bonded by trauma and fate, okay?

Next, Natori gets caught transforming on camera. He doesn’t end up, like, in jail or anything. If anything, the government is TOO accommodating. But his exorcist and acting career are definitely on indefinite pause. And smoozing with politicians sucks.

Natsume gets straight up kidnapped when his identity is compromised. He can beckon luck, wealth, customers, health, romance or even academic success (as different colored maneki neko) but even the evil banishing black maneki neko isn’t useful in combat against a human. Not an akuma, not the butterfly Miraculous holder, just some dude. Oi. He gets rescued, of course.

The fic ends when Natori and Matoba defeat and kill the butterfly holder- surprise! Another exorcist. Possibly Ban or Matoba’s sister, possibly an OC depending on how the manga progresses. The death is ruled an accident, as it happens after Miraculous Cure is used. Exorcists miraculously remain below the public radar, and quickly vote to make using a Miraculous an executable taboo. (Not retroactively applied.)

Natori and Matoba GLADLY surrender their Miraculouses, and give the Guardian several industrial strength wards for the box. Things go back to normal, but with everyone’s brains slightly but fundamentally altered by the experience. Everyone, everyone: magic and the occult are mainstream now, and exorcism picking up again. With all the good and bad that entails.

#natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #natsume yūjin chō #natsume yujincho #fanfiction #fanfic #outline

[that-stone-butch]

How is gun control evil? This country has mass shootings like every other day, what else can we do to stop them which will be practical and won’t take several generations to achieve?

i didn't write that post so quibbling on wording is something you should take up with the person who actually did, but i can see you just want to pick fights about gun control so you're in my inbox. so let's get started.

that post didn't start with gun control is evil, it started with 'showing future employers you failed a background check is evil' because there are a lot of reasons someone could fail a background check and limiting a person's ability to find work in an economy where you need money to live is always a fucking bad thing. it then goes on to say that the disproportionate affects gun control has on minorities is evil.

i personally don't think that gun control is evil in a vacuum, but i think it is super complicated and intermingled with a variety of other socioeconomic and political factors, and pretending that it isn't is fucking stupid. pretending gun control is an unalloyed good is politically shortsighted. there are a lot of moving parts at work here, and they all exist within a system that prioritizes white supremacy and state violence.

the first thing you need to look at is the carceral nature of gun control. in the U.S., felons are prohibited from owning guns, even after they've served their sentences, if their crime is classified as violent. this is another strand in a web of factors that makes jailing political opponents of the system a method of complete disenfranchisement. if you are found guilty of a crime that the state deems violent in our racist pay-to-win busted ass legal system, you have been effectively disarmed (as well as made much less likely to find work, barred from voting, and much more likely to be put back into prison in your lifetime)

i want you to stop for a minute, think about america's legal system, and remember who this facet of gun control really disarms. sure, there are plenty of dangerous jerkbags this law prevents from legally acquiring guns, but if you think this doesn't disenfranchise predominantly people of color and people of significantly reduced means and options, you're a fucking idiot.

on the topic of reduced means, the government tends to favor passing gun 'control' that is just additional fees and tax stamps, because they provide additional income for the government. for example, in my state and most others, you can own a suppressor so long as you register and pay an additional $200. this makes the ownership of guns and additional equipment pay-gated, and this further keeps guns in the hands of the wealthy and privileged over that of poorer individuals.

another thing you need to consider is that bans on the acquisition of firearms only affect legal trades, and only once they're passed. no one's going to stop buying back-door guns just because you said it's illegal. additionally, people tend to rush certain armaments before they are banned. if you go on reddit you can find people buying up crateloads of 10+ round AR mags in anticipation of mag bans. hell, every time a democrat is elected president, people rush to buy certain equipment and ammunition in anticipation of gun control legislation. you want to ask questions, i ask you this: how do you feasibly undo that kind of stockpiling? you can't just 'make it illegal' and expect existing guns and munitions to just vanish into thin air.

i'm not interested in talking all that much about mass shootings, because i think it's super fucking ghoulish of you to come into my inbox with that after i say i believe the disarmament of the proletariat is a mistake; you boil down the many factors of political violence to mere gun access. there are a lot of factors that drive political violence and mass shootings; the FBI is routinely found to use informants to goad terrorists (yes that includes 4chan racists, yes this includes white children like rittenhouse) into acting on their beliefs. additionally, controlling who purchases guns doesn't control who has access to them; rittenhouse for example used a gun that was purchased for him by an additional party. how do you, inbox guy, prevent that from happening? how do you, inbox guy, use mere gun control to change a system that encourages white people to commit violence and routinely shows white people that there are reduced consequences for harming minorities? because i guaran-fucking-tee spoiled little shits will find access to guns no matter how many laws you pass.

gun violence is a fucking tragedy but unfortunately reform always takes decades to achieve. the entire system needs to be reformed, and that's never going to happen with a disarmed proletariat. the current system encourages gun violence against minorities and emboldens the perpetrators of mass shootings, how about we focus on dismantling the power structures at play here.

#ask #anonymous #racism #antiblack racism

[thosearentcrimes]

At work today I discussed with my colleagues the current government's decision to reduce the amount by which pensions will appreciate. They would ordinarily track inflation, but this time they will exceptionally be increased by a lot less than inflation, coincidentally they will increase by about the rate that wages increased at. This is in addition to the other major retirement reform, which is that the retirement age is being pushed up for young people. The claim is that the pension system isn't really solvent, so while everyone under 35 is being fucked out of their retirement, old people are being stiffed on inflation adjustment. The 35-65 year olds who voted the present government in are going to be fine, of course.

My colleagues noted that we'd been fucked out of inflation adjustment on our wages (I'd guess all in all we've taken a 10% real terms pay cut, but note that food prices are inflating faster than most) and that it was finally time for someone else to feel the pain as well. My colleagues do not understand that the government actively intervened in the economy to keep wage inflation down well below price inflation. What they do understand is that somebody has to suffer, and by god they don't want to suffer alone. It reminded me of when we were discussing wage levels in general, when they said anyone who wants to retire at some point, let alone buy housing or something, definitely needs to have a much better job than we do, and saw nothing horrible about it. They thought of that as just the way things are as well.

And it reminded me also of the people talking about how the injustice of racism is the fact that the bad things that disproportionally happen to certain minorities are happening in the first place. As summed up by triviallytrue, "police brutality is not bad because it's racist, racism is bad because it contributes to police brutality (among other things)". And this is definitely the most important reason, certainly, but I think you people are ignoring the reasons people don't see this.

Like, I understand that this is an absurd proposition (though even so there are people who believe it), but imagine that the amount of police brutality is fixed, that the maintenance of social order (which is necessary to avoid the bellum omnium contra omnes) requires a specific minimum amount of exemplary brutality, and that minimum is being diligently enacted without any more. Is it then unjust in itself if the vast majority of this police brutality is concentrated on a racial minority (scapegoat/punching bag)? I say it is, and fairly obviously so. Discriminatory distribution of a good or a bad is unjust in itself, even taken aside from the moral status of the production of that good or bad.

The thing is, there are quite a lot of people out there (like my colleagues) who believe that the amount of economic misery is fixed. There's nothing you can *really* do to address poverty (except perhaps "making everyone poor like the communists") and there's no real hope to fix the economy, so the only thing left is to litigate the distribution of misery. This is a horrible and incorrect thing to believe but it is self-consistent.

For a more specific example, look at unemployment. Under present economic systems a significant baseline rate of unemployment is an economic necessity, with the optimal rate "the market" will converge to depending on exact circumstances, and the maintenance of worker discipline (which is part of why baseline unemployment is valuable) requires unemployment be unpleasant or at least highly stigmatized. Under these conditions, if there is a de facto rule of "last hired, first fired" specifically targeting a particular minority, well, that's an injustice, and to people who think the present economic system is necessary, it is quite possibly going to be the most pressing one they see.

Now, the important thing to note of course is that other people have seen these same things and concluded we need radical changes to the economic system to eliminate the source of the injustices themselves and not merely redirect them, and they were correct to do so. The Black Panthers and MLK both ended up at this conclusion starting from the problem of racism in the US, and I wish more people would take their example instead of blindly following the market propaganda where it leads.

But if you believe, as most Americans tragically do, that the brutal and exploitative society is nonetheless the best possible one, but also believe that racism is bad, you have no choice intellectually but to attack the distribution. And I think it's important to understand what the error people are making is. They're not really making a moral error, the way people have been suggesting they are, neither pessimism nor vulnerability to propaganda are evil. They are failing to recognize economic injustice for the same reasons everyone else fails to recognize economic injustice, it's just that because they care about other kinds of injustice this is perceived as a betrayal by a lot of people on the left. In reality there is no more reason to feel betrayed by someone being really into Black Cops and Women CEOs than there is to feel betrayed by any other sucker.

[straightedgecrf]

Reasons Why Donald Trump Will Win The 2024 Election

Things aren't looking good for Donald Trump with court case after court case,but I think it'll be over by next year and here's why Donald Trump will win the election.

Many 2020 Biden voters regret their vote-Whether you believe the election results of Joe Biden winning the election are real,it will be proven if the next election has the same type of results.Right now as I'm typing and as you're reading,someone is deciding to switch their vote.Biden still has the people who don't regret voting for him,people who still prefer him over Trump,and new voters raised to vote Democrat.Trump on the other hand has his supporters from past election,supporters that were too young to vote before,and 2020 Biden voters who wish they voted for him instead.Other people who regret voting for Biden will vote for a third party candidate like RFK Jr.,or they will just stay home due to Biden giving them no reason to vote for him.So it'll be like 2016 where Bernie Sanders supporters who didn't swallow their pride to vote for Hillary either voted for Trump,third party or not at all.

Biden's first term has destroyed America-Everyone who voted for Biden were convinced that Trump was horrible and wanted him out of office asap.Many people believed it and were scammed because things were much better under Trump to where not only was the economy better,but people weren't around getting people cancelled or fired due to race issues,crime wasn't as bad as it was,men weren't cheating their way into winning awards by competing with the women,women weren't called transphobic for being uncomfortable with a man in their locker room(because it was called the women's locker room for a reason),the border is opened allowing illegal immigrants to get through,and wars weren't going around.I'm not saying things would be back to normal with Trump back in office,but it'd be better than it is now.

The Left are hypocrites-Everything they've said Trump is guilty of is actually something they're guilty of.They said Trump is a racist,but people like Biden have said the most racist things and made racist policies.People say that Trump is a traitor,but yet he's not the one who cares more about other countries than America.Trump is called a cult leader,but you have Biden telling people that MAGA Republicans are a threat to our Democracy,and Hillary saying they need to be reprogrammed.Did Trump have his opponent arrested and put through multiple court cases to try to get him out of the race due to the polls showing him winning most of them?They're having him in court for questioning the election when democrats have been questioning elections they've lost since the 2000s.

The Court Cases Are Bogus-Trump is the first person to run for president and be indicted.While this is causing Trump haters to celebrate,there are many people who are starting to say "there's something that doesn't make sense" and causing them to want to vote for him.That's why the poll numbers have gone up since the indictments.They can continue with these cases,but only the people who want him out of the way actually believe the charges although the case about where the cocaine in the White House came from months ago ended in less than 2 hours to where they say there was no trace,but yet these indictments have been going on for months because they're trying everything they can to find something to cause Trump to actually be guilty of so he'd be removed from the ballot.The truth is that it's not a court trying to find a way to find Trump guilty of something.It's to do whatever it takes to make sure that he doesn't expose what people like the Bidens,Clintons,Obamas,and Pelosis are guilty of.

Trump is America First While Biden is America Last-Haven't you realized by now that there were no wars going on while Trump was president,but there are 2 going on while Biden is president?Our country is in bad shape because Biden would rather invest in other countries to help them win the war than try to end them.Trump's first plan as president is to end the war in 24 hours.The President Of The United States is the most power person in the world and Biden is proving that he doesn't care about peace.He wants destruction.So he plans on send our tax dollars to other countries to help the side he wants to win it.He's going to cause to go into World War 3 which is something that people said Trump was going to do.

So Biden's destruction has caused many people who voted for him to realize that the people who support Trump were never a cult and he didn't win thanks to Russia like the Democrats want you to believe so they can say that evidence of things they've done came from Russia.It's time to make sure that ballot harvesting doesn't happen again.Also if you're complaining about how things are and plan on voting for Biden,I suggest you keep your mouth shut.

#trump 2024 #donald trump