#progressiv

[bill-the-dog-for-the-check]

I want to go back to how things were.

I want to go back to when I believed that the progressives were on the right side of history, fighting against oppression in all its forms, and had critical thinking, honest compassion, and understanding in a way that the right--inundated with racist conspiracy theories and absurd lies--did not.

In many ways, I'm a perfect demographic fit in the pro-Palestine circles. I'm bisexual. I'm a young university student who's been progressive for as long as he knew what progressivism was, and I never experienced genuine economic insecurity or wondered if I'd eat that night. In another timeline, maybe I'd be there marching and shouting their horrible slogans. But there's one, teeny little thing that ruins it, which makes me fall through the cracks and renders me politically homeless, outcast by the progressive left and the MAGA right.

I'm a Jew.

And I'm trying so, so hard to hold compassion for the suffering of minorities who have not extended us that same compassion. I'm trying to maintain my progressivist urge to go out and help minorities in solidarity, but it's so hard when they make it clear that they hate us and want our state dead and gone. I supported BLM, but Al Sharpton, Leonard Jeffries, Alice Walker, James Baldwin, Louis Farrakhan, Malcom X, Jesse Jackson and many others either were or are wildly antisemitic, especially Sharpton and Walker, and so are the BLM movement's leaders, who openly sneered at Jews for being shocked by them by announcing, "I guess their activism was just transactional. How (((Zionist))) of them!"

And the queer community forced me out of their ranks for merely questioning whether the war in Gaza is a genocide, for pushing back against them saying that Hamas is fighting oppression. And spread antisemitic lies about me, claims of harassment and supporting genocide to my friends because I dared to question them. And they've chosen to side with those who would throw both of us off roofs for being queer. Cast out by the outcasts.

Like, what do I do? Our only allies are Hindus, Iranians, Kurds, Republicans, and Christian Zionists (respect to all of these groups for that... even you Republicans. This is one of our only points of agreement). That's literally it. No loud show of from indigenous nations supporting what is effectively the most successful anticolonial land back movement in human history. No push from "antiracist progressives" against rising antisemitism and genocidal terrorism from a reactionary fundamentalist group against a historically discriminated group.

And they aren't even just leaning back and being silent--many members of these groups are being actively antisemitic--especially the progressive left, which has morphed into the most antisemitic mainstream political movement since the Nazis. Instead, we're 'Zionazis' and genocidal colonizers who aren't even oppressed anyway, that's just evil Jewish Zionist lies designed to stoke sympathy for their unrelentingly evil nature, which we can't even help. The notion that Jews are intrinsically predisposed to evil acts and deception--never heard that one before.

So now, when I look at pictures of Pride Parades, a celebration of an identity of which I am a part and would have previously killed to attend--I wonder... would I be allowed to hold up a rainbow flag with a Magen David on it? If I asked any of their views on the state of Israel, what will they say? What about on Zionists who support its existence? Would all parts of my identity be respected, valued, and celebrated? Or would I be forced to leave the Star of David flag at home, pretend I don't notice their antisemitic views, and pass the litmus test of disavowing Israel before being accepted?

I feel suspicious and wary of the very community which I am 'supposed' to belong in. I feel uncomfortable. I hate, hate, hate that I feel this way. That I've become more closed, more cynical, more angry. Those of us who fall through the cracks, who hold multiple marginalized identities--queer and Jewish, black and Jewish, Indigenous and Jewish--we are ignored and silenced, our voices and experiences entirely spat upon as being a front for 'Zionist crimes' or whatever new buzzwords they create.

I've decided that first and foremost, I am Jewish. The me that was proud to be a part of the queer community is dead. I want to support the progressive causes of antiracism and social justice, but they hate us. They want us dead. They wouldn't view my participation as being a genuine gesture of solidarity, but an evil Jew Zionist seeking to con them and co-opt support in order to aid our evil apartheid genocidal settler-colonialist white supremacist illegitimate entity in a land that should really be given to Hamas anyway.

How am I supposed to hold space for other minorities when nobody is holding space for us right now?

#antisemitism #jewish #jumblr #leftist antisemitism #left wing antisemitism #jewblr #antizionism #progressivism

[seraphimfall]

sorry, but kanye shouldn’t have to verbally confirm to everyone that “yes, i literally am a for-real nazi” for people to get the message.

it shouldn’t have been allowed to get this far in terms of public platforming. we knew he was a nazi. we didn’t need to give him constant platforming for two months in order for him to “explain himself”. when someone espouses antisemitic conspiracy, BHI extremist beliefs, and holocaust denial/revisionism, they are a nazi.

if kanye hadn’t literally labeled himself a nazi, there would still be millions of people arguing that he isn’t one— despite the fact that he believes almost every core tenet of modern nazism.

the only thing this platforming has succeeded in is spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories to a whole new audience (not to mention dragging nick fuentes and milo yiannopoulos back into the mainstream). the level of normalization and indifference towards these kinds of beliefs on public platforms is terrifying.

this is what happens when people are too scared to just call a nazi, a nazi.

#kanye west #antisemitism #progressive politics #progressivism #leftism #news #exvangelical #religious trauma #apostasy #ex christian #breaking news #leftist #ex cult #ex fundamentalist #celebrity news #ex fundie #apostate #leftisbest #deconversion #ex religious #ex catholic #fuck kanye #losing my religion

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

#us politics #twitter #tweet #rep. alexandria ocasio cortez #aoc #2022 #far left #progressivism #progressive politics #texas #tx #gop #republicans #conservatives #abortion bans #rape #prescription drugs #lower prescription drug prices

[itisiives]

“The country is in deep trouble. We've forgotten that a rich life consists fundamentally of serving others, trying to leave the world a little better than you found it. We need the courage to question the powers that be, the courage to be impatient with evil and patient with people, the courage to fight for social justice. In many instances we will be stepping out on nothing, and just hoping to land on something. But that's the struggle. To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word.” ― Cornel West

If you guys want a 3rd Party president, this man may be your best bet.

#presidential election #presidential campaign #Cornel West #progressivism #presidential election 2024 #independent party

[whyrobot]

“I hate all the women in this podcast! This shows that the podcast is progressive and says nothing in particular about me as a person”

Notice how I never said the podcast is progressive for having a diverse, well-rounded, and fleshed out cast, nor that I hated all the women in the podcast. I love all of the main cast of characters, that love is just expressed differently based on how their individual journeys go.

What I DID draw attention to was how good Rusty Quill was at writing complex women who had their own motivations and reasoning that the audience would not agree with or relate to. I, personally, don’t understand Daisy’s draw to cruelty and stepping on people deemed “below” her. But I CAN understand that she was actively trying to change her whole outlook on life, and that it took guts to do. I don’t understand Georgie’s loyalties and how they appear to shift with no reason. But I can understand that she has complex feelings towards her ex and wants to keep her life and new girlfriend safe. I don’t understand why Basira gets so caught up on Jon’s morals when hers took a backseat when it came to Daisy abusing people, nor do I understand why she was so quick to jump on Jon for any perceived fault or wrongdoing. But I do understand that her one last connection to her old life was her partner, and that Daisy meant so much to her. I understand that Basira was only alive this long because she was a cautious, rational person, and that she trusted her instincts to guide her, and she saved most of the casts’ lives at least once.

I didn’t even touch on Melanie’s character as I think she gets it pretty rough from most of the fanbase, even though she was being possessed by the slaughter, had her career crash down around her, was signed on as basically a prisoner, and was thrown into this crazy world of Fears and Avatars with zero warning. She then was told of a way out, and she was the only one to have the willpower and stomach to blind herself to be free.

Sasha is a much beloved character who has way too little “screen time” and I wish the narrative had been able to keep her around. She was very smart, capable, and she was a steady force driving the Archives to do their jobs.

Gertrude was the peak Mentor character trope, badass and self-sufficient to a fault. She was allowed to grow old and still be a wonderfully violent character. She wanted results, at any cost.

This is already too long, but if you think that being frustrated at characters’ choices or arguing their logic means that I hate them, then I don’t think this is going to change your mind. But it was nice to reflect on the main women of The Magnus Archives and how they interact with the main story.

#the magnus archives #tma #basira hussain #daisy tonner #sasha james #gertrude robinson #melanie king #georgie #rant #Just because I don’t agree with a character doesn’t mean they’re bad #also if me talking about women #translates to you thinking I’m preaching progressivism #that says more about you than me #jonathan sims

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

On Wednesday, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) reintroduced a proposal to make higher education free at public schools for most Americans — and pay for it by taxing Wall Street.

The College for All Act of 2023 would massively change the higher education landscape in the U.S., taking a step toward Sanders’s long-standing goal of making public college free for all. It would make community college and public vocational schools tuition-free for all students, while making any public college and university free for students from single-parent households making less than $125,000 or couples making less than $250,000 — or, the vast majority of families in the U.S.

The bill would increase federal funding to make tuition free for most students at universities that serve non-white groups, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It would also double the maximum award to Pell Grant recipients at public or nonprofit private colleges from $7,395 to $14,790.

If passed, the lawmakers say their bill would be the biggest expansion of access to higher education since 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Education Act, a bill that would massively increase access to college in the ensuing decades. The proposal would not only increase college access, but also help to tackle the student debt crisis.

“Today, this country tells young people to get the best education they can, and then saddles them for decades with crushing student loan debt. To my mind, that does not make any sense whatsoever,” Sanders said. “In the 21st century, a free public education system that goes from kindergarten through high school is no longer good enough. The time is long overdue to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free for working families.”

Debt activists expressed support for the bill. “This is the only real solution to the student debt crisis: eliminate tuition and debt by fully funding public colleges and universities,” the Debt Collective wrote on Wednesday. “It’s time for your member of Congress to put up or shut up. Solve the root cause and eliminate tuition and debt.”

These initiatives would be paid for by several new taxes on Wall Street, found in a separate bill reintroduced by Sanders and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) on Wednesday. The Tax on Wall Street Speculation would enact a 0.5% tax on stock trades, a 0.1% tax on bonds and a 0.005% tax on trades on derivatives and other types of assets.

The tax would primarily affect the most frequent, and often the wealthiest, traders and would be less than a typical fee for pension management for working class investors, the lawmakers say. It would raise up to $220 billion in the first year of enactment, and over $2.4 trillion over a decade. The proposal has the support of dozens of progressive organizations as well as a large swath of economists.

“Let us never forget: Back in 2008, middle class taxpayers bailed out Wall Street speculators whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, life savings, and ability to send their kids to college,” said Sanders. “Now that giant financial institutions are back to making record-breaking profits while millions of Americans struggle to pay rent and feed their families, it is Wall Street’s turn to rebuild the middle class by paying a modest financial transactions tax.”

#us politics #news #truthout #sen. bernie sanders #progressives #progressivism #Democrats #senate health education labor and pensions committee #College for All Act of 2023 #tax Wall Street #tax the rich #tax the 1% #tax the wealthy #college for all #student debt #student loan debt #tuition-free college #Historically Black Colleges and Universities #pell grants #Higher Education Act #Rep. Barbara Lee #rep. pramila jayapal #2023

[macleod]

source

#trans #right wing #fascism #control #mastodon #mine #progressivism

[miguelinileugim]

#yes I meant preserve #pickle the middle east #politics #gaza #israel #palestine #islam #judaism #anti religion #middle east #poll #polls #liberal #liberalism #progressive #progressivism #conservative #conservatism

[justalittlesolarpunk]

I grew up extremely privileged. I always want to be honest about that. I never worried about where the next meal was coming from, I had new clothes and toys whenever I wanted them, my family went on holiday every year and regularly had meals out, went to the cinema and the theatre. My parents sent me to private school, where I got to learn about the history of civil rights movements and the theologies of other cultures. I attended a prestigious university and have never gone without. But do you know what that taught me? It taught me that the things I took for granted should be taken for granted by everyone. No human being should starve when we currently produce enough food globally for an extra two billion people who don’t currently exist. Everyone should have access to a full, well-rounded education that lasts as long as they want. People should be exposed to other cultures and be able to have enriching experiences. I have never understood the people I met along the way who, in being exposed to the same unearned privileges as me, came to conclusion that it meant they were somehow special or better than others. My upbringing actively led me to believe in a universal basic income, to want everyone to have access to good healthcare and education and the ability to interact with those different from them. Because every child should grow up with the carefree feeling that not worrying about money brings, that it brought me.

My privilege has also given me the ability to access systems and institutions of power - my whiteness, my middle-class southern English accent, my academic vocabulary and my understanding of how these systems function, means I have power others do not. I’m determined to use this for people who have been silenced and shut out, to create spaces where they can speak and be heard. Of course I’ll mess up sometimes, because privilege brings ignorance with it and I still have a lot to unlearn. But I’ve never understood the point of trying to hide from your privilege or pretend it isn’t there. It’s not something to feel guilty about, because you didn’t choose it. But it is something you’re responsible for. The work of the rest of my life will be to understand and deconstruct my privileges, to work alongside and at the direction of the more marginalised to build a more just world.

This is quite rambly and incoherent and probably doesn’t make perfect sense, but I hope you get the gist of what I’m saying. I’ve been fortunate and I want others to experience that too. I don’t see justice work as about tearing people down from where they are, but rather about sharing what they’ve benefited from with everyone.

#privilege #progressivism #solarpunk #hopepunk #environmentalism #social justice #community #bright future #leveraging power #universal basic income #living standards

[blackswaneuroparedux]

For 200 years we had sawed and sawed and sawed at the branch we were sitting on. And in the end, much more suddenly than anyone had foreseen, our efforts were rewarded, and down we came. But unfortunately there had been a little mistake…The thing at the bottom was not a bed of roses after all; it was a cesspool full of barbed wire. ... It appears that amputation of the soul isn't just a simple surgical job, like having your appendix out. The wound has a tendency to go septic.

- George Orwell, Notes on the Way

Orwell on post-Christian societies.

#orwell #george orwell #quote #society #post-christian #post-christian society #ideology #leftism #enlightenment #conservatism #progressivism #politics #history #western society #western europe #soul #collapse

[malglories]

saw a comment on a reel the other day that complained “why are people still reading russian literature”…not because they considered it pretentious, but because they believe it’s a product of a flawed society and the authors cannot help but reflect their nation’s biases. because the state of russia is currently an aggressor.

it’s laughable. there are so many things wrong with that sentiment, but most of all: no culture is perfect, no book is perfect, and no person is perfect. you can search all you want for the most ideologically pure authors and stories in the world, but you will never, ever find them. and if you do, you’re deluding yourself into believing they’re pure.

also, refusing to read certain things only increases your misunderstanding of the world and your own internal biases. reading, watching, seeing something—debating something—talking to someone you wholeheartedly disagree with—these things won’t taint you. no matter what you believe about them, tolstoy and akhmatova and dostoevsky won’t taint you. there’s no scorecard keeping track of how ideologically pure you are, and no reward waiting for you based on your score. only ideas that are worth exploring; only cultures that are worth finding value in. because cultures are made of people, and people are diverse and wild and flawed and strange and beautiful. and people are worth finding value in. but they are never, ever perfect.

(also, art is one of the most subversive things out there??? art is not the same thing as propaganda??? people living in a country are not the same as their government?!?!)

#it’s the most conservative fear-mongering mindset wrapped in an ugly veneer of progressivism #when you start believing ideas themselves are dangerous and must be controlled…that’s fascist shit. that’s regressive.

[transmutationisms]

actually toying with the idea that kendall's ideological vacuousness functions sort of analogously to contemporary american neoliberalism in the sense that kendall will attack his father from any rhetorical position he perceives as temporarily useful to him, along the lines of the way that capitalism can absorb virtually any criticism of itself simply by commodifying it and turning it into another ceiling tile in the vampire castle etc. the metaphor also works bc this is an ideological wing that's centre-right but uses the language of pseudo-left social justice to deflect from that fact, something that kendall also does. and you could probably even say that kendall is metaphorically appetitive in that his only real drive is to kill and eat his father and the company, analogously to the way capital's sole raison d'être and modus operandi are its own growth and expansion lol

#it also bounces off logan's spencerian liberalism and shiv's hygiene progressivism in a particularly yummy way. tbh #blood sacrifice

[lem0nademouth]

i think the hardest pill for leftists/progressives/liberals/whatever you want to call yourself to swallow is that it’s not that simple. it’s not that easy.

i was the victim of a violent crime, and i personally do not want my perpetrator to go to prison. i do not think it will serve to protect anyone in the future or help me heal from what happened. but that’s my own feeling about my own experience. i do not get to dictate what other victims and their loved ones feel is justice for them. i support transformative and restorative justice as an option, but it can’t be the only one.

i work with young kids (2mo-7yrs) and try to keep up to date on discussions about child development to make sure i’m aware of what behavior is considered age appropriate. i ended up following a mom on tiktok who has been sharing her story about her son (who remains anonymous) and his progressive diagnoses of ODD, conduct disorder, and eventually antisocial personality disorder. he has threatened to kill his family, physically assaulted and severely harmed his family and neighbors, damaged private and public property, and has been arrested on several felony charges before his sixteenth birthday. this mom is distraught. he has no known history of trauma or adverse childhood experiences, was raised in a stable household where all his needs were met. he tried to kill one of the kids at the psychiatric hospital he was placed in, eventually leading to the state taking custody of him because it wasn’t safe for his family to be around him. not every person with his diagnoses is like him. but he is. and there needs to be a solution for him and his family.

my cousin was born to parents who were on a host of illicit drugs throughout the pregnancy and her early life, leading to her and her brother being placed in foster care. they were adopted by my aunt and it was revealed that my cousin has an intellectual disability called borderline intellectual functioning because her brain couldn’t develop properly in utero. fast forward to now, she’s in her early 20s and my aunt is raising the baby she had after being impregnated by her abusive boyfriend (we tried to get her to leave, called the police, my uncle nearly killed the guy) because she literally does not have the ability to raise a baby. she cannot process the complex thoughts you need to take care of a baby - her brain literally can’t do it. so now my aunt and uncle are raising their grandchild while caring for their daughter, who will never be able to live independently. was it ethical for that child to be born? i don’t know! i don’t even know if it was ethical for my cousins to be born! but i know it’s not as easy as “everyone should be able to have kids whenever they want and if you say otherwise its eugenics”.

people aren’t political issues. they’re people. and pretending like you have the answer to every problem doesn’t make you better or more in control; it makes you disillusioned. it’s not that easy. it never has been.

#long post #prison abolition #eugenics #psychiatry #politics #political theory #political philosophy #ethics #progressive ideology #leftist #liberalism #progressivism #leftism #its not that easy #restorative justice #transformative justice

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

#us politics #twitter #tweet #2023 #sen. bernie sanders #Vermont #progressivism #progressive politics #paid sick leave #worker's rights #unionize

[lunamond]

In keeping with my recommendation of Cruel Beauty, an actual good YA book, instead of 🔥hotfire garbage🔥, aka Acotar, I thought I'd recommend another favourite of mine.

So, this time, I'm going to give an alternative recommendation to Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This post is definitely not inspired by the release of Iron Flame.

Instead please try:

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda❤️‍🔥

This recommendation is especially for anyone who fell for the advertising when FW first came out, and it was sold as a YA adjacent military dragon fantasy with a slow burn romance.

So if that sounds interesting to you and you want to read an actually well written story, go check out Fireborne.

Fireborne is a YA fantasy, the 1st book of the Aurelian Cycle (a completed trilogy).

It follows its two main characters in a military academy through their training to become dragon riders.

I personally have pitched this series to irl friends as a genderswapped Anastasia (animated movie) with dragons.

The story takes place right after a big revolution. The people overthrew the dragon riding aristocracy.

Our main characters meet up in an orphanage, where they grow up together and end up joining the military academy to become dragon riders.

A lot of the story revolves around the questions that come up when a newly formed government is put through crisis.

All seen through the eyes of the protagonists, who as teenagers are old enough to know what life was like before the revolution, but young enough to have grown up in the new system.

The story does a great job of dealing with the struggles that come with uprooting old deeply ingrained systems of oppression while trying to build a newer fairer system.

The dragons are an integral part of this theme. Unlike FW, in which magical abilities and creatures are added without regard for how they might impact the world or themes, in Fireborne, the dragons are the embodiment of political and military power.

When the aristocracy ruled their oppressive regime, they were the only ones allowed to own and ride dragons. After their fall, the new regime allowed regular people the opportunity to become riders.

However, the number of dragons is still limited, and the new regime, comprised of former revolutionary leaders, want to keep the new riders under their control.

So, in the end, they still come up with a system that allows for abuse and oppression because access to power remains restricted to a chosen few, the dragon riders and those who control them, the newly established government.

These themes make for really complicated and nuanced conflicts without easy solutions. The sequels make a great job with further expanding on these themes.

The military elements also all make sense in this series, and they employ logical means to train their most valuable military assets, their dragon riders unlike FW.

It also features one of my favourite slow burn romances (at least in YA), the relationship has actually depth and tension, while also providing believable reasons why the characters can't just get together.

I'm actually really salty that Fourth Wing took off practically overnight, while Fireborne has been out for ages and has consistently remained underhyped. But I guess it isn’t spicy... 😒

So, for anyone who picked FW up without realising that it is actually just a very trashy smutty romance mascarading as a high fantasy, I highly recommend reading Fireborne which comes with the added perk of not being written by a known zionist.

#fireborne #flamefall #furysong #the aurelian cycle #rosaria munda #dragon books #book recommendations #fw is basically the new acotar #anti fourth wing #anti Rebecca Yarros #anti iron flame #fw is not just badly written #but also problematic in similar ways #the same weird white milk toast progressivism #with some weird undertones #like I know their is a rebellion in FW #but what are they even rebelling #and what is their millitary fighting #nothing makes sense #i guess this makes this post anti sjm as well #anti sjm #anti acotar

[jesseleelazyblog]

Unethical Executions in April

Micheal Smith is being executed in Alabama despite having an intellectual disability that would disqualify him from the death penalty in any other state. The only reason he is still being executed is because of a few confusing technicalities in Oklahoma law.

Petitions Here:

Letter Writing Campaigns for oklahoma residents here:

Missouri is slated to execute Brian Dorsey despite his claims of ineffective counsel and the fact that he is picture of remorse and rehabilitation: he turned himself over to the police and pled guilty, has had a flawless prison record, currently resides in the honor ward while working as a prison barber (a highly coveted job only given to trust worthy inmates), and has about 60 prison staff members advocating for the commutation of his sentence.

Petitions Here:

Letter Writing Campaigns and other actions for Missouri Residents here:

https://www.archstl.org/missouri-bishops-others-request-clemency-for-brian-dorsey-first-inmate-to-be-executed-this-year-9478

#missouri #oklahoma #oklahoma politics #missouri politics #death penalty #end the death penalty #signal boost #anarchism #anarchy #current events #criminal justice #criminal justice reform #progressive politics #progressivism #leftist #leftism #leftist politics #progressive #wrongful execution #execution tw #Execution #Oklahoma execution #Missouri execution #Micheal Smith #Brian Dorsey #Save Micheal Smith #Save Brian Dorsey #true crime #Executions #Stop executions