#that is why Andi was the scapegoat

[furbyhater]

Benoit Blanc would be a much more powerful protagonist if white people at large were capable of taking in and internalizing the structure of his character

the reasons he is such a good detective are antithetical to what it means to be a well-off cis white man: he is observant, he is curious, he is compassionate, he cares about the details and the story, he has no interest in maintaining a group’s status quo because his true interests are the concepts of Justice™️ and Truth™️

what most white audiences see is a detective with a keen eye and a funny southern accent but will never be able to recognize the attributes that often do not accompany privilege

#I do wonder if his being gay (as lame as that was) is a way to try and explain why he has this openness to him #because even then white cis gay men still meet all those cultural privilege markers in most domains #and being gay doesn’t magically open their eyes to oppression and privilege dynamics #ALSO major flub for glass onion not to explicitly state how easy it was for all those people to throw a Black woman under the bud #*bus #that is why Andi was the scapegoat #that’s why it was so easy to pick what’s his names side #but anyways that’s a different thing #turning off reblogs because I’m just processing lol #don’t mind me

[dwter]

Want to do a little essay andying? From a c!tommy person how much do you think c!tommy breaking c!george's house had an affect on things with c!dream compared to if he had broken someone else's home or something that isn't as important to c!dream?

if you ask me, i think it's been proven that ctommy burning down cgeorges house had extremely little to do with why cdream exiled ctommy/why exile was the way it was. it was just an excuse and easy scapegoat for cdream to play up and exercise his power over new lmanburg + ctubbo + ctommy by doing so. ccdream said himself he liked the power having ctommys best friend exile him gave him and also said that exile's purpose was to bring ctommy to a point where he only saw cdream as his friend and would follow him blindly. revenge or justice for the sake of cgeorge was not on his mind, at least not in my eyes. griefing is extremely common in the smp and fawking george suffers so much in terms of losing his shit to others/circumstance 😭😭😭 like i just do not think it was a large aspect of what led dream to doing what he did.

now if it was ANOTHER person ..... hmm ..... i think cdream, while still not caring, would maybe have to find another scapegoat bc his supposed rage and anger towards ctommys actions would feel unjustified and strange. like say ctommy accidentally burned like. cpuffys house. if cdream went coocoo bananas over that i think ppl would be more inclined to go like ????? rather than rationalizing his thoughts and seeing his emotions as valid/coming from a genuine place. more importantly, i think CTUBBO would be less inclined to rationalize cdreams thoughts and requests which was cdream's goal in the wall building + villaining ctommy, bc it is ctubbo rationalizing and BELIEVING cdream (that ctommy was the problem, that he had to go for new lmbg to be safe, that what ctommy did was unacceptable etc) that leads to his decision to exile ctommy. this was basically a long-winded way of saying that despite the fact i dont think cdream gaf about the fact it was georges house ctommy accidentally burned, it needed to be georges so there felt as though there was actual justification/rationality behind his choices and supposed emotions for others to see

#ask #this was saur fun anon thank u for asking me :D !!!!! #essay #<- im cryign how did this get so long

[local-redhead-bookworm]

as a person of color and a billy lover :D i'll weigh in some of my opinions if that's alright. i genuinely despise the duffers and their interactions with racism in their storylines. it's so disgusting how people will take their words as gospel and claim dacre has no autonomy over the character he plays- as if joe's kindness didn't shape his character for the better and he was praised for it? the duffers were going to make dacre call a real Black child a racial slur. they wanted to make billy racist purely for shock value- like it's an edgy quirk. it didn't have any importance in the narrative. they don't want to handle anything with tact or respect. they sideline the Black characters in their own cast. i'm supposed to support them because they care? when in the most recent season, they have everyone treat lucas like an afterthought? they have patrick brutally killed (one of the only other Black characters in the show) and they glorified antisemetic imagery for profit. they didn't even go in depth about patrick's trauma or friendships like they did with the white characters. apparently abuse can just be referenced in one line and everyone can move on, right? and billy can be sexualized, constantly objectified by both the camera and predatory women, violated, and called homophobic slurs. but it's fine. he and dacre are the problem, not the duffers' disgusting flippant treatment of racism in their show. hah..i'm sorry. i just don't buy it.

Other opinions are always welcome, anon! And I agree, the Duffers’ handling of racism is atrociously bad. The Duffers wanted Billy to be their Henry Bowers, but they failed to do that because a) Stephen King still humanized Henry and showed the readers why he was the way he was, because of his abusive racist cop father and b) Billy doesn’t do anything near the level of what Henry does to the other kids in IT.

I also think it’s extremely weird that if Billy is the horrible racist that the Duffers think he is, then why is Billy still depicted as sexually desirable? He’s there to serve as a poorly written villain or as eye candy, not much more.

Lucas has always been treated poorly by the narrative, even going as far back as season one. Argyle doesn’t even have a last name, and the stereotyping his character gets in both canon and fanon doesn’t sit right with me. Patrick’s trauma was only hinted at, then he died. He doesn’t even get a flashback, unlike Vecna’s other victims. Don’t get me started on Andy attacking Erica the way he did, I felt sick to my stomach. And I’m 95% sure the Duffers just forgot Kali existed.

Billy is an easy scapegoat for everything that’s wrong with the show. The characters of color got sidelined? Blame it on Billy. Max’s death? Blame it on Billy. I don’t think even the Duffers remember what they showed about him, because the way he’s treated the entire show is gut-wrenching. It’s easy for people to blame Billy or Dacre when they don’t want to actually analyze the problems with the show. I have no patience for this story or its directors anymore, the Duffers are quite frankly a disgrace to writing.

#answering asks

[whatsonmedia]

Wednesday Wisdom:Top 5 Best Books in Current Time

Discover the latest literary gems with our “Wednesday Wisdom”. Ali Hazelwood’s “Bride” unveils a tantalizing blend of vampyre allure and werewolf intrigue, while Tommy Orange’s “Wandering Stars” delves into the enduring impact of historical injustices. Kristin Hannah’s “The Women” portrays the resilience of female heroes, and Dolly Alderton’s “Good Material” navigates the complexities of adulthood with wit and charm. Megan Nolan’s “Ordinary Human Failings” unravels a gripping tale of family secrets and societal scrutiny.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Bride by Ali Hazelwood throws a sassy vampyre, Misery Lark, into a marriage of fangs and fur with a distrustful werewolf Alpha. Forced together for a historic alliance, sparks fly as Misery hides a personal vendetta while navigating life with a brooding wolf who questions her every move. This paranormal romance is a thrilling enemies-to-lovers tale with a bite.

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

In “Wandering Stars,” Tommy Orange continues the story from his acclaimed book “There There.” It explores the aftermath of historical traumas like the Sand Creek Massacre and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. In 1864, a survivor named Star is forced into English and Christianity by a prison guard. Decades later, Star’s son Charles suffers at the same school. In modern-day Oakland, Opal struggles to help her family heal after a shooting, while her nephew Orvil grapples with trauma and her other nephew, Lony, tries to connect with his heritage. Orange’s powerful storytelling exposes the ongoing impact of America’s mistreatment of Indigenous people.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

In the 1960s, Frankie, a young nursing student, discovers a new world beyond her sheltered upbringing in California. Inspired by the idea that women can be heroes, she joins the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War, following her brother’s footsteps. Amidst the chaos of war, Frankie experiences the bonds of friendship, the harsh realities of combat, and the challenges of returning home to a divided America. “The Women” tells her story, highlighting the courage and sacrifice of women in wartime.

Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Andy, a struggling comedian, finds himself crashing at his friends’ place after a heartbreaking breakup. At 35, he’s questioning why life hasn’t fallen into place. Amid career setbacks and dwindling friendships, he tries to make sense of his shattered relationship. Dolly Alderton’s new book explores love, friendship, and the challenges of adulthood with warmth and humor. It’s a relatable tale about finding connection, facing hardships, and understanding our own stories.

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

In 1990s London, Tom Hargreaves is a successful reporter with big dreams. He doesn’t think much of regular people, or “peasants,” as he calls them. One day, he discovers a big story: a child has been found dead on a London estate. The grieving parents are loved by everyone, but suspicion falls on a reclusive Irish family, the Greens. Carmel, a member of the Green family, is beautiful but troubled. She had dreams once, but life and love didn’t go as planned. Now, she’s stuck in a cycle of disappointment and secrets, with nowhere to turn. As the police close in on a suspect and the media hunts for a scapegoat, Carmel must confront the truths that have haunted her family for generations.

[pashterlengkap]

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tells Jen Psaki that trans kids “children of God”

Newly re-elected Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) recently explained why Republican ads decrying his belief in trans rights was a losing strategy. Speaking to MSNBC correspondent Jen Psaki, Beshear first emphasized his passion for protecting trans kids. Related: Democrats introduce resolution to recognize Trans Day of Remembrance “I will never waiver in the effort to ensure that all trans individuals can live without the constant fear of violence and hate.” “All children are children of God, that’s what my faith teaches me, and I was going to stand up especially for the most marginalized children who didn’t deserve either a state legislature or an entire campaign and all these super PACS picking on them.” Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you: Subscribe to our Newsletter In March, Beshear vetoed a sweeping anti-trans bill that included bans on gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy for minors, as well as a mandate that doctors stop treating young patients who are currently receiving gender-affirming care. It also banned Kentucky teachers from using pronouns that “do not conform to a student’s biological sex as indicated on the student’s original, unedited birth certificate,” bans instruction on sexuality in grades K through six, and bans discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation at all grade levels. Kentucky’s Republican-dominated legislature voted to override Beshear’s veto. When it came time for the gubernatorial election, an outside organization spent millions of dollars on ads attacking transgender people to support GOP candidate and state Attorney General Daniel Cameron. One of the ads funded by the American Principles Project PAC (APP-PAC) said that Beshear would send the FBI to take trans kids away from their parents if their parents didn’t accept their identities, which was not a part of Beshear’s platform. Another ad showed a drag queen and accused Beshear of pushing “child sex changes with permanent consequences.” The ad was removed from YouTube under the platform’s hate speech policy. In several other ads featuring former University of Kentucky swimmer and anti-trans activist Riley Gaines, APP-PAC attacked Beshear for vetoing a bill to ban trans kids from participating in school sports. The Republican legislature ultimately overturned his veto. Speaking to Psaki, Beshear explained why he believes the Republicans conducted a losing campaign. “The way these Super PACS and my opponent went about their campaign was just mean, and it was gross, and it was cruel,” he said. “And people don’t like that. That is not who we are, and this oughta be a message that you can’t scapegoat people just to get folks angry, and it’s wrong. He went on to discuss how trans kids suffer more mental health issues and are more at risk for suicide. “We oughta be in the suicide prevention business and not further harming kids who are going through too much. I did it because it was the right thing.” He concluded, “This can’t be right and left; some things have to be basic right and wrong… There’s gotta be limits. This can’t be a rule-less type of game because it’s so much more than a game – ask any of these kids.” Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) on his re-election and vetoing anti-trans bills: "All children are children of God … I was going to stand up for the most marginalized children who didn't deserve either a state legislature or an entire campaign picking on them." pic.twitter.com/SBBNSGPjsL— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) November 21, 2023 http://dlvr.it/SzMhY2

[thetotalcio]

As a very small minority in the world, Jews have forever been made the scapegoat and persecuted, whether in the Crusades, Inquisition, expulsions, pogroms, the Holocaust, terrorism, or war. As far back as Amalek, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and more, Jews have never been granted long-lasting moments of peace. Perhaps that is one of the reasons we yearned for millennia to return to our homeland of Israel and why we so look forward to the coming of Mashiach so that we can once and for all achieve not only the universal acknowledgment of and worship of the One true G-d, but also a sincere and enduring peace for our people and the world.

The fight for Jewish survival is far from over. Yes, with Israel and the brave young men and women of the IDF, we are stronger now than we ever have been. However, the hate and violence we face are unbridled and unabashed, and given the chance, we have seen what our enemies will do to us. In response, we need to raise our heads high and fight the good fight regardless of what anyone else has to say. G-d will be our judge even as the anti-Semites condemn us either way.

#terrorism #national security #israel #military #hamas #Gaza #Iran #Neo-Nazis #Progressives #middle east

[metabolizemotions]

5 x 16 - More thoughts 2/2:

Attempted SA on Andy, which escalated to manslaughter. Yet more plot devices to continue the spotlight on Andy, when a whole other station setup didn’t help cos they did not create a compelling protagonist. Also, another opportunity to bring her mum back. I view it as cheap retcon as I found the s/l of why she left contrived. Tho I do like the mother-daughter moments. I’m glad that she has someone, but where is her extended family? (But the parents on the show mostly appear only when there’s a story and disappear after.)

Again cos Carina isn’t the lead, so her SA s/l was just a few throwaway lines, and to Jack no less? Just so they can force their friendship further for the donor agenda. She’s the scapegoat here - altered beyond recognition to be the mouthpiece of the horrible storyline - cos if she’s ok with the cheating, and loves him so much, we should just follow suit.

Jack and Andy are both promiscuous. Jack was not penalised for breaking the fire-fighter code, was elevated to sperm superhero status and given a family. Meanwhile Pruitt slut-shamed Andy, now she’s charged with murder for defending herself in an attempted SA and more media slut-shaming.

Sullivan and Maya are both ambitious people who made mistakes. Sullivan endangered lives but was elevated to FD mascot Fire Zaddy and promoted by his ex girlfriend/ new chief for just being there. While Maya saved a life, was unfairly penalised and not even given the courtesy of a sit-down meeting with said chief. 

Why is there a female chief again? 

So Tremmett’s relationship being about daddy issues. Then Emmett left and we got Dixon back?! Why was Dixon able to stay as FD chief after what he had done and now running for mayor?

Again another character brought back (or new ones introduced like Station 23) while the existing characters have so many unresolved plots.

Shondaland shows love using token rep for virtue signalling and marketing. Under that guise, they try to get away with as much crap as possible, while being intentionally tone-deaf and self-congratulatory.

After the twitter meltdown, they’re doubling down on the bts content. Cos otherwise they have to admit they are incompetent and/ or being intentionally disrespectful towards the w|w community. It feels like they’re giving those who disagree with the s/l the middle finger. 

#station 19 #comments #my comments

[azaleadphan]

Why Europe?

People are wondering why the now Daryl spin-off will be located in Europe. I believe this has everything to do with the mutated walkers in France which were apparently shown in FTWD (I don’t watch it). This story will somehow be a bridge to finding Rick. (Makes sense since Andy lives in Europe.) JDM said that the decision was AMC’s and that it had everything to do with money. Now, this makes sense because EVERYONE has been wondering when Rick will be back. Perhaps, the movies aren’t happening anymore but they still want to reintroduce Rick in an epic way?   They probably steered away from the Caryl road show for that reason. Or, maybe the show was always supposed to be Caryl searching for Rick. But the original plan was for the show to be set in Georgia.

JDM also talked about the actors’ contractual obligations.  Both Norman and Melissa had contracts with AMC. Now, they can be fine with one OG breaking away from the contract but not both of them. So, Norman is burdened with the task of sallying forth without MMB which must be very heart-wrenching for him. Having observed Norman and Melissa’s friendship, I had a very hard time believing that Norman would demand for the spin-off to be shot in Europe if he knew that it isn’t what Melissa wanted.

Also, I find it very strange that AMC allowed Norman to be the scapegoat in this whole thing. They only made a statement AFTER JDM finally clarified the reasons why Melissa was out of the spin-off and articles were coming out about JDM defending Norman. The lack of transparency and straightforwardness from AMC frustrates me. They waited quite a while before confirming the rumors and did it in such a vague way, angry fans started to speculate (I don’t condone them bullying Norman btw. That is unacceptable.) There were no apologies for the fans.

I am deeply disappointed that the most profound and layered relationship on the show won’t be explored further.

AMC want spectacles. What better spectacle than Rick Grimes and Daryl reuniting in France? Sure, I want that too but not at the expense of Melissa. Their first mistake was announcing projects waaay in advance. Now, fans are disappointed and a lot of them tried to point the finger at someone, desperately trying to find an explanation. AMC let it happen until JDM stepped in. What an inelegant way to deal with this terrible situation.

#caryl #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #amc #the walking dead #norman reedus #angela kang #daryl #daryl dixon #jeffrey dean morgan #twd

[hardtchill]

You’re being purposefully obtuse. Julie is injured and will not be playing, truthfully if she doesn’t return by next January camp I believe she’s done. Andi will be starting this camp. That means we STILL need a backup for her! This situation is not the same with Huerta, stop using her as a scapegoat to try and say players shouldn’t try to get onto the USWNT if they can. Same shit was said about Cat before she switched over! And she’s having a decent first few years.

Dude, you're not seeing the actual problem.

The problem in the US has never been a lack of talent. There were back ups for Ertz and still are, but they refused to develop those available until Ertz got injured and they panicked. Why would Damaris be the exception to the rule?

Also, Cat is a completely different example. She always played for the US and it has been clear for a long time that she would choose the US. Damaris would switch suddenly after playing for Spain during her youth years, it's very different.

You can pretend that Damaris is needed, but in truth she is not. What the US needs is to stop playing starters to death and giving young talent chances. And yes Damaris can be that talent that gets a chance, but right now that is not the system the US uses.

So yeah, seeing as she can choose two other countries with way better track records of giving young players chances, the US wouldn't be my pick for a player like her.

#ask #uswnt #damaris #you can defend the US system to death but the simple fact is that many many young talents have wasted away in that system #i don't want that for Damaris so i would prefer her not to take that risk

[nevermindirah]

Ok it's Jewish Booker o'clock, I can no longer stop myself, let's do this!

Why Jewish Booker? Dude was born in Marseilles in 1770, which happens to be a FASCINATING time and place in Jewish history, and it adds ridiculous layers to his character (without excusing a damn thing). Alternately just because I think he’s neat :)

Jewish Booker headcanons that make me happy:

not to be all "real Jews do X" but Jews fuck with candles hard. Book of Nile thrives on old/modern analog/digital giggles. Booker lighting Shabbat candles, lighting yarzeit (memorial) candles for his wife and sons (sob), lighting a menorah, lighting candles just because he's feeling emotional even though it's not chag (a holiday) or a yarzeit and Nile thinks he's trying to be sexy but he's really just in his feelings. just like. so many candles.

maybe Booker was the person who punched Richard Spencer at Trump's inauguration, just bringing back that time somebody punched a famous neonazi in the street and said neonazi has all but stopped appearing in public after a few rounds of public punching

were the Old Guard in Charlottesville in 2017? how many times has Booker the Blond Jew infiltrated North American white nationalist / Klan type activities and then stolen their weapons and/or killed them? likewise there's plenty of horrifying white nationalist shit happening across Europe this century, how many Pim Fortuyn types has he been involved in taking down? (I Am Of Course Not Endorsing Violence TM ;) ;) )

SINGING. Mattias Schoenaerts sings in Away From the Madding Crowd but it's church shit, sigh, anyway he has a nice voice. a lot of Jewish prayer is sung/chanted (depending on when/where you are and the gender rules of the community you're in) and there’s been a lot of innovation to Jewish singing in Booker’s lifetime, and I just want Nile to overhear him singing to himself on Friday afternoons

Nile Freeman was four years old when The Prince of Egypt came out, she grew up on that shit, she would want to introduce her new family to that shit. Please join me in picturing Booker, Nicky, Joe, and Andy all shouting "that's not how it happened!!" throughout this beautiful nightmare of a movie with lovely animation and songs but where white people voice most of the Egyptian and Jewish characters, because Booker Nicky and Joe's religious texts all frame the Exodus story a little differently and Andy was probably there when it happened (except for how it didn't actually happen it's an important story but it's just a story pls just let me giggle about Andy being super old)

Read below the cut for sad Jewish Booker headcanons, French Jewish history (mostly sad), context on antisemitism (enraging/sad), and all the way to the very end for a himbo joke.

Jewish Booker headcanons, I made myself sad edition:

he is a forger. who was alive. in 1939. visas. VISAS. V I S A S. how many of us did he save? how many more could he have saved if he didn't sleep that night? how heavily does that weigh?

how do we think he BECAME a forger? most likely he was doing what he needed to do to support his family, which gets extra poignant if he was also trying to help his people, forging documents as well as money even during his mortal life

Booker raised Catholic by crypto-Jews adds ANOTHER layer to the forgery thing, no shit he'd get good at falsifying paperwork and coming up with plausible cover stories

do we know how Booker made it back home after his first death in 1812? his route between the Russian Empire and Provence in 1812 would've been a patchwork of laws about Jews, in case starvation and frostbite weren't enough for him to have to deal with, he's blond and could maybe get away with pretending not to be Jewish if he had to, alternately maybe synagogues and yeshivot took him in on his way home

the structural and sometimes-interpersonal dynamics of antisemitism cause many individual Jews to experience feelings of teetering on the fence between a valued member of a not-exclusively-Jewish community and a scapegoat/outcast/problem. HOLY SHIT BOOKER. "what do you know of all these years alone" is the most Jewish loneliness-in-a-crowd shit I've ever heard. fear that we're not wanted, or only wanted so long as we're useful — that's something that basically all people struggle with under capitalism, but it's especially poignant for many Jews because of the particular way antisemitism operates. (NOTE this can tip from a legit Jewish Booker reading to woobification of the sad white man who couldn't possibly be held responsible for his own actions because he's so sad, which, NOPE. it's very understandable for him to feel left out and misunderstood and not as wanted, as the youngest and not part of an immortal couple and maybe Jewish, but NONE OF THIS excuses his betrayal.)

Crusaders murdered a lot of Jews on their way to the ~holy land~. how many of Booker's people did Nicky kill on his way to kill Joe's people? has Booker ever actually talked to either of them about it?

I read this really beautiful fic about Joe needing to circumcise himself after getting run over by a cart (ouch) — this is a hell of a thing for Joe and Booker to have in common

just generally Jewish Booker adds more layers to him and Joe so clearly being such close friends, ugh that look Joe gives him when they're leaving the bar at the end of the movie, and I very much do not mean this in a gross Arab-Israeli-conflict way because Joe is Amazigh not Arab and Booker is Jewish not Israeli (and also a lot of Jews are Arabs) (but most importantly there's no ~eternal conflict~ between Muslims and Jews) (more about OP Is Not A Zionist below)

like, the UK and France (and to a certain extent Italy) carved up the former Ottoman Empire after WWI; among other things, the UK took Palestine, and they could've worked on eradicating European antisemitism so Jews wouldn't have to leave but instead they used their control of Palestine to encourage Zionist emigration of Jews out of Europe, and France took what is now Iraq, which has some pretty direct implications for US military involvement in that country in Nile's lifetime; France colonized Tunisia in the late 19th century and still held it during the Vichy era which means Tunisian Jews were subject to Nazi anti-Jewish laws which is just layers upon layers of colonial racist Islamophobic and antisemitic nightmares for Joe and Booker to live through

to be crystal clear before anybody gets ooh Muslim-Jewish conflict up in here, antisemitism is an invention of European Christians that they imported to the places they colonized, the European colonial powers encouraged Zionism because it was easier for them to encourage Jews to leave Europe and set us up as middle agents between the colonial powers and the ~scary brown people~, the Ottoman Empire and other Muslim governments historically have had a second-class citizenship category for non-Muslims that rankles my American first amendment freedom of religion sensibility but was very much not targeting Jews specifically, and these two men who've lived for a long-ass time through many varieties of geopolitical awfulness (and alongside a certain unwashed Crusader who has since learned his lesson) would have Things To Say about how our current mainstream discourses frame these things

getting off my soapbox and back to this action movie I'm trying to talk about, the ANGST of Booker's exile, which is simultaneously a very valid decision for Andy Joe and Nicky to make, an extremely long time for Nile who is only 26 years old to be separated from the one person on the planet in a position to really understand the crisis she's going through, and holy shit expelling a Jew from your group when he's already been expelled from mortality and his family and being expelled from places and continually having to start over somewhere new is THE curse of surviving through antisemitism, OUCH MY FEELINGS

Some French Jewish history:

France, like basically all of Europe, periodically expelled its Jews, but Provence (where Marseilles is) wasn't legally part of France during the expulsions up through 1398 so Provence had a continuous active Jewish community; about 3,000 Iberian Jewish refugees ended up in Provence after the expulsions from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s

the 1498 expulsion of French Jews DID apply to Provence but many "converted" to Christianity and reestablished a Jewish community when enforcement of the expulsion chilled out (which was in the government's interest because they were really into taxing Jews at higher rates, so much so that they taxed "new Christians" at higher rates once they realized expelling Jews meant they wouldn't be around to overtax, ffs) — by the mid-18th century Provence had notable communities of Jews and crypto-Jews (forced converts and their descendants who still kept some Jewish practices in secret)

Booker would've been 21 when revolutionary France granted equal legal rights to Jews in 1791 — his mortal life and first century of immortality happens to line up almost perfectly with the timeline of legal emancipation of Jews across Europe

the American and French Revolutions happened pretty much concurrently and took different approaches to religious freedom that make Book of Nile with Jewish Booker and canon Christian Nile extra interesting — French emancipation, at least from my American sensibility, is about secularism and religion not "interfering" (hence French Islamophobic shittiness about banning hijabs), whereas American religious freedom is more of "the government can't stop me from trying to evangelize / religiously harass people at my school/workplace/etc" — to be clear I think both countries' approaches to religious "freedom" are hegemonic as shit and have devastating flaws, but they're different models that emerged at the same time in Booker's youth and Christianity is clearly a source of emotional support for Nile and there's so much to explore here

Napoleon tried to ~liberate~ the Jews of places he conquered for his dumbass French Empire, but liberation from ghettos came with strings attached (like banning us from some of the only jobs we'd been legally allowed to have for centuries, and liberating us for the stated purpose of getting us to assimilate and stop being Jews) and many places that were briefly part of the French Empire reinstated their antisemitic laws after Napoleon was gone, can you imagine being a French Jew forced to fight and die in Russian winter for that jackass and then have to trudge back through a dozen countries whose antisemitism was all riled up by French interference?

Some facts about antisemitism:

antisemitism operates differently than many other oppressions, it doesn't economically oppress the target group in the same way as antiblackness or misogyny or ableism etc — the purpose of antisemitism is to create a scapegoat to blame when European peasants are mad at the king / the church / the people actually in charge, and structural antisemitism encourages a system where some Jews become visibly successful so that those individuals and our whole community are easier to make into scapegoats

one of the historical roots of antisemitism is stuff in the Christian Bible about moneylending as sinful — Jews in medieval Europe were often barred from owning land and Christians barred from moneylending, so some Jews found work in finance and some of us became very visibly successful for working with money — a few individual Jews running a particular bank or finding success as jewelry dealers turns into "Jews control global financial systems" scapegoating — a more recent example of this is the participation of nonblack Jews in white flight and the role of Jewish landlords doing the visible dirty work of non-Jewish institutions in American antiblack housing discrimination, Nile grew up on the South Side of Chicago and would have seen some shit along these lines and might repeat hurtful ideas out of a lack of knowledge, here's Ta Nahesi Coates on some of these dynamics

Booker canonically being a forger (specifically of coins in the comics?) needs a little extra care to avoid antisemitic tropes about Jews and money, I will happily answer good-faith asks about this if you want to check on something for a fic/etc

antisemitism in the United States where I live in October 2020 isn't institutional in the sense of targeting Jews for police violence or anything like that. it IS systemic, however, for example in all the antisemitic conspiracy theories the Trump administration and several other Republicans peddle (ie QAnon), and in how the Trump administration points to support for Israel as if that means support for Jews (it doesn't, it's evangelical Christians who push the US government to support the Israeli government because they think Jews need to be in the ~holy land~ for Jesus to come back that's literally why the United States funds Israel at the level it does). antisemitism also gets weaponized to encourage white Jews (those of us of European descent, who in the United States are definitely white because the foundation of US racism is slavery and antiblackness as well as anti-indigenous genocide, maybe European Jews aren't included in whiteness everywhere but we definitely are where I live) to side with white supremacy instead of building solidarity with other marginalized people (ie a lot of mainstream Jewish groups shit on the Movement for Black Lives because of its solidarity with Palestinians)

the Nation of Islam has a major presence in Chicago and its leader Louis Farrakhan who lives in Chicago has long spread a variety of antisemitic as well as homophobic bullshit but there are genuine good reasons many Black people find meaning/support in the Nation of Islam and Nile would've grown up with that mess in the air around her, this is a good take from a Black Jew about the nuance of all that

the way the Old Guard comics draw Yusuf al Kaysani is HOLY SHIT ANTISEMITISM BATMAN I hate it please summarize the comics for me because I DO NOT WANT to look at that unnecessarily caricatured nose why the fuck did they do that human noses are beautiful there is absolutely no need to draw Joe like a Nazi would

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice is a local NYC group that recently developed a fantastic resource for understanding and fighting antisemitism (pdf) 11/10 strongly recommend

Zionism disclaimer: A lot of Jews feel strongly that we need a Jewish-majority country in order to be safe from antisemitism. I strongly disagree with this idea on its merits (Jews disagree about who is a Jew and making Jewish status a government/immigration matter means some of us are going to get left out; also non-Jews aren't fundamentally dangerous and separatism isn't going to end antisemitism) but I have a lot of empathy for the very valid fear that leads a lot of my people to Zionism. Whether I want a Jewish-majority country or not, what Israel has done and continues to do to Palestinians is a deal breaker. Emotions run very high on this subject — I spend a lot of my not-Tumblr life talking to other Jews about Zionism and I'd rather not have this Jewish Booker headcanons post become yet another place where fellow Jews yell at me in bad faith. Block me if you need to, you're not going to change my mind. Call me self-hating if you want, I know I love us.

Racism in fandom disclaimer: I feel weird about increasing the volume of meta about Booker in this fandom. Nile Freeman is the main character and deserves lots of attention and adoration from the fandom — and she deserves emotional support from as many friends and orgasms from as many partners as she wants. I think Jewish Booker makes her friendship and potential romantic relationship with him even more interesting, hence this post. Ship what you ship, but be aware of the racist impact of focusing your fandom activity on, for example, shipping two white men while ignoring awesome characters of color especially the canon man of color one of those white dudes has already been with for a millennium. Please and thanks don't use my post for shenanigans like sidelining Joe so you can ship Booker with Nicky.

Oh and a non-disclaimer fun fact, Matthias Schoenaerts was born in Antwerp which apparently has one of the largest Jewish communities still remaining in Europe?? ~Jewish Booker headcanons intensify~

In conclusion: Jewish Booker! Just because it's fun! It exponentially increases the angst of his mortal lifetime and it puts his first century of immortality smack in the middle of the most intense changes to Jewish life since the fall of the Second Temple (aforementioned emancipation, also founding of Reform Judaism, the Haskalah, Zionism, and then of course the Holocaust). It makes his relationships with Nile, Joe, and Nicky more interesting and potentially angstier and with more intense commonalities and tenderness about their differences. It's very common for Jews to not believe in God (this confuses the shit out of a lot of Christians) and this would probably have further endeared him to Andy.

One more thing: Booker as golem. (A golem is basically an earthenware robot of Jewish folklore.) He's tall and blond and the most Steve Rogers-looking of all of them and from the Himbeaux region of France. THE trope of Book of Nile is he will do WHATEVER Nile wants or needs him to do. I was today years old when I learned that Modern Hebrew speakers use golem figuratively to mean "mindless lunk" and I'm choosing to squint and read that as "hot kind and dumb as rocks" because it amuses me.

#sebastien le livre #tog meta #jewish booker #book of nile #i couldn't stop myself #antisemitism #genocide cw #antiblackness #european imperialism #us imperialism #antizionism #hi i'm an antizionist jew no i don't really wanna talk about it #except i just did #jewish things #jewish history #tog #mine

[gaylorlyrics]

the last great american dynasty

Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny

Her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis

Rebekah is Rebekah “Betty” Semple West Pierce a sculptor, and philanthropist born on April 17, 1915 in St. Louis. She also composed music, one of many similarities between her and Taylor.

Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name, and money

Bill refers to William Hale "Bill" Harkness, the grandson of David Harkness who invested with John Rockefeller in Standard Oil. When David died he left what would today be over a billion dollars to Bill’s father, who was also named William Harkness. Eventually Bill inherited what would today be approximately $185M dollars from his father (approx 70% of this wealth was from Standard Oil shares).

And the town said "How did a middle class divorcée do it?"

In 1939 Rebekah married Dickson Pierce, descendent of President Franklin Pierce. However they divorced in 1946, and then in 1947 she married Bill. Her father was a stockbroker, and her grandfather started a trust company - so she wasn’t exactly middle class, but her wealth was significantly less than the wealth of the Harkness family.

The wedding was charming, if a little gauche There's only so far new money goes They picked out a home and called it "Holiday House"

Holiday House was built on Watch Hill in Rhode Island by Mrs. George Grant Snowden who, contrary to the song, named it Holiday House. Seems like this house has been having raucous 4th of July parties for a long time - at least according to this NYTimes article from July 6, 1941:

Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud

The language here mirrors that of the first verse - “the wedding was charming, if a little gauche”.

The doctor had told him to settle down

Bill died in August (interesting!!!!) 1954 of a heart attack - he had also had a heart attack the year prior, but that one was obviously not fatal. He and Rebekah had one child together named Edith who eventually committed suicide at the age of 34. 

It must have been her fault his heart gave out

This line calls attention to how women are frequently blamed for, well, everything. Something that is explored more in mad woman.

And they said "There goes the last great American dynasty" Who knows, if she never showed up what could've been There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen She had a marvelous time ruining everything

The chorus and the title of this song seems to come from the title of a book about Rebekah called “Blue Blood: How Rebekah Harkness, One of the Richest Women in the World, Destroyed a Great American Family” written by Craig Unger. The from cover of the book reads “The story of Rebekah Harkness and how one of the richest families in the world descended into drugs, madness, suicide, and violence”. [Also, interesting that the background of the cover I found looks a lot like the blue/pink in the Lover cover!]

The chorus also references “mad woman”, another track on folklore. This song subverts the idea of a mad woman. The title and subtitle of Blue Blood use Rebekah as a scapegoat for everything that went wrong, blaming her solely for violence, drugs, mental illness, and loss. It uses several classic, sexist tropes of a gold-digger, a “crazy” woman, and the whore. However, in this song Rebekah is not taking the blame or feeling guilt about what is happening - she is having a marvelous time.

Another interesting thing is changing “great American family” - family is defined as “a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household” - to the word “great American dynasty” - dynasty is defined as “a line of hereditary rulers of a country.” I find this specifically interesting because dynasty, unlike family, acknowledges a long lineage of people and decisions that lead to this outcome, as opposed to placing all the responsibility and blame on Rebekah, who only entered the picture at the tail end of this story. The title of Blue Blood has no accountability for the people who were involved with the dynasty before - framing it as if David Harkness didn’t choose to leave his wealth to his lineage, as if Bill Harkness did not choose to marry Rebekah, and as if the wealth Bill inherited wasn’t already diminished by 81.5% from what the family’s original wealth was (as passed down from David Harkness to Bill’s father).

However, Taylor is changing the narrative here to give Rebekah a more joyful way to be remembered.

Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set forever Flew in all the Bitch Pack friends from the city

Rebekah and her fellow debutantes formed a group called the Bitch Pack and were known for causing a scene at parties, doing strip teases on the tables or putting mineral oil in the punch, which acts as a laxative.

Taylor is drawing a parallel here to her famous squad days, when her and her group of girl friends were constantly under fire from the internet/press.

Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names

Rumor has it that Rebekah cleaned her pool with Dom Perignon. Being a socialite and one of the richest women in America, she frequently kept high profile/famous/successful company - hence the “big names”. Stories of her involve J.D. Salinger, Alvin Ailey, and Andy Warhol, to name a few. However, swimming in champaign is also a metaphor or the carefree life of the rich and famous - something that she used in This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, from Reputation, where Taylor describes a similar scene:

It was so nice throwing big parties

Jumping to the pool from the balcony 

Everyone swimming in a champagne sea 

And there are no rules when you show up here 

Bass beat rattling the chandelier

Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year

Another interesting tidbit is that the house where The Great Gatsby (1974) was filmed is the Rosecliff Mansion in Rhode Island, about 1 hour away from Holiday House.

And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet

Rebekah married twice more after Bill’s death, once in 1961 and once in 1974. As a life long dancer, she spent the majority of her time and energy founding (in 1964) and developing The Harkness Ballet Foundation, which still exists today as The Harkness Foundation for Dance. As part of this endeavor she also established a ballet training school and the Harkness Theater. She paid for everything for the company, from teachers to housing to plastic surgery. The company went on tour and performed at the White House, although it had a generally negative critical reception. At the peak of the company’s success Rebekah abandoned the project and started a different company

And losing on card game bets with Dalí

Although I couldn’t find anything specifically referencing a card game, Rebekah was good friends with Salvadore Dali. Here they are pictured holding a press conference together.

A portion of Rebekah’s ashes are in a $250,000 urn created by Dali called “The Chalice of Life”. The urn was designed to spin, so that Rebekah could always be dancing.

And they said "There goes the last great American dynasty" Who knows, if she never showed up, what could've been There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen She had a marvelous time ruining everything They say she was seen on occasion Pacing the rocks staring out at the midnight sea And in a feud with her neighbor She stole his dog and dyed it key lime green

According to the NYTimes, Rebekah dyed her neighbors cat green 

Fifty years is a long time Holiday House sat quietly on that beach Free of women with madness Their men and bad habits, and then it was bought by me

Weeee the classic Taylor Swift storytelling twist! This is a great flex by Taylor to just casually drop in a reminder that she is a rich woman who has made her own money and can buy whatever she wants. The phrasing of this also let’s us know that the house is no longer free of women (plural, more than one woman) with madness (we’ll hear more about being a mad woman later in the album), their (possessive, something owned or bought) men, and their bad habits (bearding?). Taylor is admitting to having all of these things. Who knows, if I never showed up what could've been There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen I had a marvelous time ruining everything I had a marvelous time Ruining everything A marvelous time Ruining everything A marvelous time I had a marvelous time

This makes me think of the line at the end of Miss Americana - “Sorry I was loud in my house. That I bought. With the songs that I wrote about my life.” 

Taylor, like Rebekah, is used to being blamed for everything and causing a scene. Even her purchase of Holiday House caused considerable backlash and commotion - with the governor creating a tax in 2015 (two years after Taylor purchased the house) called the “Taylor Swift tax” on homes worth over $1M dollars - something that affected many people in Rhode Island, especially those with large houses and vacation homes. All Taylor did was buy a house to live in (with her money, that she got from writing songs about her life), and she was immediately brought under fire.

However, like she did with Rebekah’s story, Taylor is flipping that narrative and focusing on how much fun she is having instead.

#last great american dynasty #the last great american dynasty #folklore #taylor swift #rebekah harkness

[a-stitch-in-time-and-space]

Cardassians aren’t Nazis (and also not quite the USSR, but I see where you’re coming from)

TW: for much discussions of Nazism, fascism, persecution, no details

So tottering around as a lover of DS9 and (disclaimer) as a major fan of the Cardassians as a not-yer-generic-villain type villain that then become less of a villain, because you can’t assign villainy to a whole species + also being German and hearing/watching/reading a lot of analyses that compare them to Nazis is inspiring me to write this (gasps for breath at the end of that sentence).

@tinsnip , @handsome-anne

1. Who were the Nazis that the Cardassians are specifically being compared to (versus neo-nazis/alt-rights, etc. that they’re not being compared to)

Short version: Post WWI the Versailles Treaty fucked over Germany in a way that left it wide open to the sort of megalomaniacal little bastard on a powertrip that fed on people’s fear and pushed them into a far-right disaster. The Nazi party itself didn’t have a ton of members, but it basically eroded any kind of democracy the country had and decided it would scapegoat Jews, Romani, communists, queer people, and other “intelligent elite”/political dissident and then spread those ideals across the world like a demented wannabe roman Caesar state. This didn’t last too long in the grand scale of world history, but left a body count of 6 million+ dead, mainly Jewish.

2. Germany and its relationship to this history

So Germany tries pretty hard to teach people this history in schools, through memorials, in film, etc. It’s not perfect by any means, there’re still discussions on how to make reparations, as well as neo-nazis and other far-right people around still, sadly just like in the rest of the world. 

But it’s not covering up these atrocities, because there’s a belief that the way to make sure it doesn’t happen again is to be honest. Sadly, not everyone around the world gets as detailed a history surrounding its origins, happenings, and aftermaths, nor does every country engage with its own past like that.

3. Let’s get fictional (Cardassians, first impressions)

The Cardassians are a species that we mainly meet first through their subjugation of the Bajoran people, and then on DS9 following the immediate aftermath of the occupation on Bajor and everything that follows on from there. Throughout the story we discover various bits about what they had done - labour camps, mass executions, forced prostitution, and in that one Voyager episode I’m not a fan of because it didn’t have the range, experimentation.

On the surface, pretty comparable to the nazis, I get it. Hell, often that’s definitely “the source” of where the writers are getting their ideas.

4. So they’re... Nazis?

The problem comes when using one fascist regime as a go-to for these atrocities. It ignores the reality of fascism beyond this particular point in history and also it’s just not that simple. 

When looking at Nazi Germany we also have to look at the source of its making, the climate around it (countries like the UK having a nazi party, Italy and Spain having fascist dictators, hell, the list of dictators that were/are not German is disgustingly long, the worldwide anti-semitism making surrounding countries apathetic or even sympathetic to the Nazis, etcetc.) and the aftermaths of WWII.

The Cardassians are not Nazis. (As an aside the Federation are not the brave allies, but that’s another post for another day.) I’ve seen them compared to the USSR - both by official writers and fandom - which I won’t comment on seeing as I am not from anywhere that was affected by that (I’m not East German, but I do have East German friends), but at least this points out that one cannot compare Cardassians to a specific atrocity that happened at a specific time with specific connotations surrounding it. 

Is the Obsidian Order the Gestapo or another secret police? Which secret police? Is Garak “the good Nazi” trope - but then how does that align with Cardassians living under a repressive regime for centuries, not a few years, and therefore take into account an indoctrination and climate of fear created over several generations? No child “born” into the nazi regime became an adult while it was still lasting, unlike the Cardassians (and many other real life dictatorships and fascist states - as well as "democratic” states that have similar kinds of surveillance, oppression, mass-imprisonment and disappearances, and camps).

Is every Cardassian soldier a “nazi”? How does one compare that to polish and french prisoners (see Pierre Seel for a particular harrowing account, all the trigger warnings apply) who were forced to fight for the Germans and put on the front lines? 

Eugenics, labour camps, and every other atrocity has been practised by numerous regimes, both in history and now, can we shrug off every country that’s participated in them for the sake of making the metaphor “easier”?

How does the aftermath of the Cardassian Union - when they’re attacked by the Klingons and themselves occupied by the Dominion and then have their main planet bombed to the point of millions dead - align with Nazi Germany?

5. It doesn’t.

It doesn’t. It doesn’t neatly align with any other fascist or military dictator-led regime either. This is not saying that there aren’t aspects obviously borrowed from history (and can easily apply to now). This is saying that in trying to bend the Cardassians into Nazis specifically, people are ignoring every other aspect about them and in my opinion doing a disservice to those who suffered under the actual regime. This is a fictional world, with fictional people that is based on an oppressive society template. It is also a fictional world in which the people themselves are oppressed (especially if you align with what’s written in Andy Robinson’s book) - I’ll be getting back to that point in a bit.

 I would argue that making it “about Nazis” is too easy. This isn’t about “us” this is about “them” those evil bastards from wwii. It strips the Cardassian story of any current-day relevance. One can look no further than one’s own society to see people struggling against acknowledging histories, being treated as second-class citizens, etc. No need to go back in time to do so.

It also strips the Cardassians of any three-dimensionality. If they’re just villains then why are we rooting for their uprising to succeed at the end of season 7? Why do we want their society to flourish, their people to no longer have a broken court system, and their secret police to stop training and recruiting children if they’re Nazis, the convenient shorthand for über-evil?

Cardassia isn’t about a past society, it’s about our society. If we empathise with the Cardassians and don’t cast them as villains, then it’s a discussion about our own oppression and privilege. And it’s a damned good scifi allegory (even if I sometimes don’t think the writers and showrunners quite understand it themselves - death of the author and all that).  

6. To conclude

I didn’t mention Bajor as much in this, because I was very focused on Cardassians, but I would argue that while there is value in casting them as “space Jews” (as I’ve seen here and there) because I understand the value of representation and I am not taking that away from anyone (I hope), similarly if one reads this take as the only valid one  it ignores the reality of religious oppression on a wider scale and also that the Bajorans’ oppression at the hands of the Cardassians didn’t happen for the same reasons as the Jewish genocide at the hands of the Nazis - I would also argue that in making Cardassians = Nazis / Bajor = Jews, we similarly ignore that the Nazis were and are not alone in perpetuating anti-semitism, which kinda again leans into the “Good Federation (the Allies) Versus Evil Cardassians (Nazis) - because none of the Good Allied Countries have ever/are currently involved in persecution or dehumanisation *stares into the void*

And lastly - bringing back a point I made earlier about Cardassians themselves being oppressed by their own government - something that is often forgotten when people talk “Nazi tropes in genre fiction” is that the first country the Nazis occupied was Germany. I’m mentioning this, because it’s interesting in the metaphor, but it’s also conspicuously is absent in the simplification of how these reads are applied. It’s easy to cast the Cardassians as a whole as Bad People, but it makes for worse story-telling and has uncomfortable undertones of how the world reads Germany’s people as being at fault as a whole as well, without taking into account the specific events that we were globally complicit in - and once again the metaphor falls apart, because allegory doesn’t work so easily, and it shouldn’t.

TL; DR In general I am uncomfortable by “Nazi’s used as tropes” in any fictional world. One shouldn’t sacrifice analysis nor simplify history for the sake of making it easier to make a quick point about “bad guys” and forcing allegories into one shape makes them lose their power.  

Also watch German films on Nazism and European ones on WWII if you’re looking for some better takes (also Cabaret, one of the best movies ever made).

#ds9 #st: ds9 #star trek #cardassia #bajor #cardassians #bajorans #ds9 meta #star trek meta #tw: nazi mention #tw: discussions about genocide #this is a looong breakdown basically summed up as *stop simplifying allegories* #but I've seen *nazi tropes' thrown around so casually not just here but in so much fiction that I kinda *nope* #so it feels like a post that I needed to get off my chest

[saras-almanac]

Sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you’d ever work on a rewrite for Robron and like the break up of 2017 to like deal with Robert basically being assaulted (even though the show never did) and how Rebecca isn’t the victim in this (that will always make me angry that she was able to do that). it’s totally fine to not or ignore this. I just love how you write robert and feel like you could really do that justice if you wanted.

Thank you so much for liking my fics / how I write Robert in some of them. And also sorry if this has been sitting in my askbox for a while. I’m been super busy and haven’t been on here super frequently. And the app just never tells you when you have any notifications I feel like! :) Also lots of talk of Rebecca below the cut cause I... started rambling. And there’s brief mentions of assault in regards to the ONS. I’ll mark that paragraph. tw: assault mentions 

Also, I rambled so long that I also marked where I actually answer you question Anon! It’s the section below the *** 

Here’s the thing... I actually like the idea of Rebecca as a character when she first arrives, but they almost immediately ruin any of the potential they had with her by wanting to have their cake and eat it too. They wanted her to be a bitchy and dramatic--she had an affair with her sister’s boyfriend--but also a victim of Robert’s at the same time. And Robert’s not blameless in that part, but taking him out of it for a second, what do we have? A woman who was sleeping with her sister’s boyfriend-turned-fiance up through their engagement party, then she took off and was apparently heartbroken but also secretly in love with him for years so much that she was willing to drop everything to rush to Emmerdale to help him take down her sister, but she also still loves her sister and doesn’t like that Robert’s splitting them up. I mean, just right there, it’s a lot of contradictions already, and to be honest, that’s boring. It’s boring (and bad writing) to have a character that will literally morph and change into whatever suits the plot best. 

Just think if they’d done something just slightly different. Like Rebecca turns up and still half-in-love with Robert and thinks that now that him and Chrissie broke up, she thinks this is her chance. Only to discover that he’s with Aaron and she’s pissed--she’s waited years for him after all. But instead of trying to be his friend, she tries to get Chrissie to work with her to ruin Robert and Aaron’s life while still playing the act of helping Robert. Or even if Chrissie wasn’t involved and Rebecca was helping Robert with Andy but still making it very clear that she was going to keep going after him. Make Robert confront her a bit more, allow Rebecca to be complex and villainous at times. Maybe this would even be where Lachlan comes in as the only White still willing to go after Robert as Lawrence and Chrissie are sort of tired of it and just want to move on. (That connection between Rebecca and Lachlan might also explain why he didn’t kill her later, but whatever.) 

It’s just... the show wanted her to be a little bit of a soap villain initially but a sympathetic one and she might have been, had she not been sleeping with her sister’s boyfriend behind her back. It’s like the show was so desperate to paint Robert as The Villain that they never stopped to think about what story they were actually telling with Rebecca. There was a way to write that story and have Rebecca sympathetic, but the show didn’t do that. They just had her cry and were like, “Isn’t it sad that she’s being taken advantage of by Robert?” And I’m like, “No? Cause she’s a grown woman who had an affair knowingly and willingly. And came back expecting him to choose her and yet still tried to get him to have an affair again. You can’t be trying to orchestrate an affair with the man and still claim to be a victim of his.” Like yeah, Robert might have manipulated her a bit and maybe that’s not a good look (I love it cause I like manipulative characters), but she’s not an innocent victim. That’s where I have the hang up with her. (And other things.) 

I just realized I’ve rambled on for so long that I haven’t even answered your originally question! I’m so sorry! 

****

As for rewriting 2017 someday, I actually think it would be really fun. I sort of always liked the idea of having Chrissie and Robert sleep together actually, just because of the history there and the idea of was Chrissie just doing this to ruin Robert’s relationship some more or was it a genuine moment of nostalgia? (Probably a bit of both cause it’s Chrissie) Or having Rebecca literally taking advantage of the situation with Robert and literally manipulating him and willingly/knowingly ruining his life because she’s pissed at how he’s treated her. Or even using him as a scapegoat while she’s actually pregnant by Ross because she sees it as a way to get even with him. 

And as much as Liv can annoy me in canon, I actually like the Roblivion dynamic in fics because they tend to remember that Robert and Liv actually have a relationship. So I’d love the idea of a fic that has Liv and Robert teaming up to take down the Whites for what Rebecca did because Liv’s pissed and while she’s angry at Robert she’d still rather have him in her life than not--which might lend itself to an AU where Aaron and Robert sort of “share custody” of Liv during their break up in a sense too. 

(tw: talk in general about the ONS and sexual assault recovery) But I do like the idea of having a 2017 rewrite that deals directly with the aftermath of Robert being assaulted, especially since it’s not the “well-known” situation and it’s Robert so even if he talked about no one would likely believe him anyways. But that would be a really intense type of fic and I’m not sure I have it in me right now to work on it... 

But I do like the idea of revisiting this storyline as some point because, like the 2016 boyfriends era, there’s a lot to explore and I do love canon divergences! Thanks for your question and I hope you didn’t mind my crazy-long answer that wasn’t really an answer after all! 

#i am sorry that this is so long and likely not entirely what you were hoping for #but maybe that's okay? #i'm trying to not get any tags that will actually show up in the tracked tags #it's not exactly hate but it's definitely not positive either #how many tags is that? #does it even matter anymore since tumblr just arbitrarily tends to pick and chose what turns up in the tags #chatting about my writing #robron #rebecca white #break up era #Anonymous

[cartoonish0geek]

💎💎

- Noah's Dad sucks

- Emotional abuse is so overlooked because people might think that it could be worse or that deep down the parent is right so it sucks especially in the place of a child

- It's interesting seeing how differently Mc's dad treats Mc vs how Noah's dad treats him - Mc is the golden child while Noah is the scapegoat - Mackenzie is also a scapegoat with an extremely strict father so you can only imagine what she's been through

- Also the whole "Teenagers are the worst" or "Teenagers only care about drama" trope is REALLY getting old. It's now known that Ava cares about Mc so why doesn't Mc go and apologize? They have a deep conversation and either they end up friends or something more

- Off topic but Noah was an adorable child

- I'm glad Pb is leaning into creating new kids with adorable personalities (!!!) instead of reusing them

- Also I want a chapter where Noah and Albert reconnect and Albert has his back no matter what - Like the Tom to his Andy (because their bromance was legendary)

#choices #pb #pixel berry #mtfl #mtfl noah #mtfl ava #my two first loves

[favoritefightingfrenchgoth]

 huge masterlist of leftist (mainy, some lib) videos, some docs, some articles, divided by topic: that i will edit and add more to later:

Far Right/Alt Right/Fascists:

Charlottesville: The True Alt Right (Goes over the entire Charlottesville rally while using footage/images from the rally and march, including footage from the Nazis that they had livestreamed, how the Nazis began assaulting antifascist protestors, responses to the incident, and how ALL of them are Nazis)

The Cult of Tradition (Goes over the myths and truths of the Founding Fathers/ colonizers, slave owners, American Revolution. Argues against the defenders of statues and monuments)

Philosophy of anti-fascists

Decrypting the Alt Right, how to recognize a fascist + Debating the Alt Right + How to Never Lose a Debate with a Fascist + The Alt Right Playbook series

Handmaids Tale: Spotting Fascism (shows clips from the show including gore),

How to lose an argument

Fox News keeps breaking its own rules

Why the Alt Right is Wrong + What the Alt Right fears + The Lies of Red Ice TV (don’t go into comments, full of Nazis) and part 2

Pewdiepie and the rebranding of white nationalism + The PewDiePipeline: how edgy humor leads to violence    Part 2 + Pewdiepie is a Nazi + Pewdiepie and the problem with (fake) racism + Pewdiepie mask off + Pewdiepie doesn’t understand hate symbols

How Cultural Marxism became the Far Right’s scapegoat + Hbomberguy’s Cultural Marxism 

Debunking the Alt RIght: Pool parties +  + The Golden One: A measured response

How PragerU is lying to you    Part 2    Part 3 + Brexit: PragerU vs Reality + PragerU - Big Joel + Dennis Prager is a dick to Holocaust victims + PragerU is conservative junk food + PragerU and Poverty: Misinformation Amateur Hour + PragerU and Justice: a conservative nightmare + PragerU and Marriage: a conservative fever dream

Guns in the Third Reich: A response to Shapiro + others  + Ben Shapiro and the politics of Imagination + Leftist’s response to Ben’s 10 tips 

The Easy Answers of Youtube Conservatism

Who’s at fault for the refugee crisis? + Stochastic Terrorism and Christchurch

Is Black Panther Alt Right? (No)

Fox News: How to whitewash an atrocity

Getting Sweaty about globalism

The West + Does the West hate itself? + Why do They hate The West?

How societies turn cruel

Were the Crusades defensive? (No) 

Stefan Molyneux’s Fall of Rome + Stefan Molyneux, Star Wars The Force Awakens + Stefan Molyneux, The truth about the truth about Wonder Woman + We don’t talk about Elliot Roger - response to Stefan Molyneux + Stefan Molyneux, Aboriginal Australian History and ‘White Guilt’

Racists only have one solution

Trump

Jordan Peterson and The Story of Jordan Peterson + Peterson doesn’t understand Nazism + PhilosophyTube’s Jordan Peterson & The Meaning of Life  + Peterson is not profound + Peterson is everything he criticizes and can’t read + The wasteland of Jordan Peterson

Taking feminists out of context + Power fantasy, male objectification, & lady fanservice + Anita Sarkeesian and the people who hate her + InnuendoStudios Why are you so angry? series

Do women destroy civilizations? (No)  + She-Ra broke the brains of Anti-SJWs + Does Intersectionality destroy Individuality?

Anti feminism (Ableism abound) + Anti feminism (Warning: Lauren Southern) + Anti feminism (guy uses ableist slurs) + Anti feminism vs facts  + Red Pill: Strange Art of Men’s Rights Activism and part two + Women in video game history - The Serfs + Lauren Southern is wrong about tradition

Why Paul Joseph Watson is wrong about everything

The Serfs Steven Chowder

Outrage News + Soyboys: A measured response

How to fall down the Anti SJW rabbit hole

Stonetoss and how hate speech spreads

Sargon of Akkad can’t read (Anti feminism, racism) + Sargon’s petition: a measured response + #FreeSargon: a measured response + Big Joel’s Sargon of Akkad + On Sargon

Joe Rogan Gateway into the Alt Right  and part 2  + Pakman gobbles Joe Rogan

FarradaySpeaks - My descent into the alt right pipeline

Dave Rubin gets Orbed + Dave Rubin: Lazy Propagandist

Can women chess? (Yes)

What is virtue signalling?

Bolsonaro & Brazil’s struggle for truth & memory + Bolsonaro & Latin American Fascism + Why Pinochet Apologists Are Wrong (RIP Allende) + Venezuela: The True Face of the Opposition and this + Bolivia is descending into Dictatorship, here’s why and part 2 + Joanna Hausmann is lying about Venezuela (also, German name, south american heritage... 👀👀👀)

Snowflakes-- The Right's War on the Individual

Sports

Hats off to Tim Pool + Tim Pool completely unraveled and backfires bad (self own)

Debunking Steven Crowder on Universal Healthcare

Cuphead: The Fake Outrage

The Boy Who Cried Racist

Denial as a tool of the radical right

The Limits of Logic - Examining Right Wing Logic Through Star Trek and Wittgenstein

Refugees and Human Rights and Part 2 (ties into far right) + Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Laws

Was Hitler a Socialist? (No) + Were the Nazis Socialist? (No) 

I can go a bit over Nazis not being socialists also bc I have gotten into arguments about this topic.

 Nazis cuddled up with monopolists/big business, protected private businesses, the English word “privatization” was invented to describe their economic policy by the magazine The Economist. They were always anti socialist and anti communist and combined it with antisemitism often using the phrases “Jewish Bolshevism” and “Jewish Marxism”. 

Quotes from Hitler’s Mein Kampf, (there’s much more than these, he got very angry over Marx and other Jewish leftists, equating Judaism and communism/Marxism) warning: some antisemitism:

“In the years 1913 and 1914, I, for the first time in various circles which today in part faithfully support the National Socialist movement, expressed the conviction that the question of the future of the German nation was the question of destroying Marxism.”

“While the Jews in their Marxist and democratic press proclaimed to the whole world the lie about 'German militarism' and sought to incriminate Germany by all means, the Marxist and democratic parties were obstructing any comprehensive training of the German national man-power.”

“Marxism represents the most striking phase of the Jewish endeavour to eliminate the dominant significance of personality in every sphere of human life and replace it by the numerical power of the masses.” 

Hitler on coopting leftist language and symbolism to get the workers on their side:  “The fact that we had chosen red as the colour for our posters sufficed to attract them to our meetings. The ordinary bourgeoisie were very shocked to see that, we had also chosen the symbolic red of Bolshevism and they regarded this as something ambiguously significant. The suspicion was whispered in German Nationalist circles that we also were merely another variety of Marxism, perhaps even Marxists suitably disguised, or better still, Socialists. The actual difference between (National) Socialism and Marxism still remains a mystery to these people up to this day. The charge of Marxism was conclusively proved when it was discovered that at our meetings we deliberately substituted the words 'Fellow-countrymen and Women' for 'Ladies and Gentlemen' and addressed each other as 'Party Comrade'. We used to roar with laughter at these silly faint-hearted bourgeoisie and their efforts to puzzle out our origin, our intentions and our aims. We chose red for our posters after particular and careful deliberation, our intention being to irritate the Left, so as to arouse their attention and tempt them to come to our meetings – if only in order to break them up – so that in this way we got a chance of talking to the people.

“First of all they appealed to their followers to ignore us and keep away from our meetings. Generally speaking this appeal was heeded. But, as time went on, more and more of their followers gradually found their way to us and accepted our teaching. Then the leaders became nervous and uneasy. They clung to their belief that such a development should not be ignored for ever, and that terror must be applied in order to put an end to it.”

Here’s a 1923 interview transcript with Hitler saying the “Socialist” in National Socialist isn’t about socialism  and how he tried to redefine socialist in a nationalist and a “by Aryan people, for Aryan people, while everyone still has private property and stuff” way.  Here he also kinda goes over this in Mein Kampf.

Nazis who were left economically only are Strasserists, Strasserists in the Nazi Party were killed in 1934′s Night of the Long Knives with George Strasser being killed while Otto Strasser had been in exile from 1930. In 1933, Nazis came up with Reichstag Fire Decree + political prisoners (mainly communists and socialists) were rounded up and were put in the first concentration camps)

Canada’s 10,000 person Antia Riot - Battle of Christie Pits

Manufactured Milkshake hysteria + Revenge of the milkshakes + The Ballad of Andy Ngo

Free Speech:

Freeze Peach + The fatal effects of Hate Speech + Ur-Fascism, Free Speech, and those who forgot

The Snowflake Generation? A Response

It’s Just a Joke + Just be nice you nerds

The Marketplace of Ideas: Germany vs USA + Why Political Correctness kinda rules + Steven Crowder and the silencing of dissident media + The Serfs on Deplatforming

Race:

America is racist + Is the 2nd Amendment racist? (Yes in its implementation)

Systematic/normalized racism + Race, Law, & Politics - PhilosophyTube and Part 2

Implicit bias + Group Bias & Black Pigeon Speaks

The danger of white moderates + Friending and forgiving racists - Kat Blaque + Be honest, you don’t care if they’re racist + Jeffree Starr and performative activism

What is race?  + What is white supremacy? + White identity + History of whiteness  Also this +  'Humans Are Not Equal': The Dishonest History of Race  Genetic Betrayal: The Truth About Race  Behind The Misconceptions of Race

Why we have a black history month

Book Chat: "Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race"  + Robin DeAngelo’s wonderful paper on white fragility

What is Blackface? + Blackace: A cultural history of a racist art form + Montage from the ending of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled + The New Jim Crow Museum 

Racial comparisons

Quebec Mosque Shooting: Manufacturing a conspiracy

The fate of the frog men (Pepe) + White supremacist propaganda vs truth + Do racists “just love their country”? (No)

Moderate Muslims and terror attacks

Abusing statistics (immigration) + The Bell Curve (isn’t real) + The Great Replacement isn’t real +  Germany’s demographic demise: a response

Immigration and the fall of Rome + Stefan Molyneux’s Native American Genocide

The Many Lies of Lauren Southern’s Borderless

The killing of Trayvon Martin

on alllivesmatter + on privilege

Shaun’s response to “People of color: You are not oppressed”

European histroy is not white history + Does the Left want to destroy history? + Is Philosophy Just White Guys J3rk!ng Off? + A white man’s war? A response to NoBullshit (People of color and women fighting in MY WW2? More likely than you think)

LGBT (mainly T) stuff: 

What is gender? + There are more than two human sexes + Bill Nye vs Pseudoscience and part 2 (Bill said trans rights!!!)

Transphobia in the UK + Transphobia: an analysis by PhilosophyTube + Ben Shapiro’s weapons grade bad takes + Joe Rogan is an idiot and a transphobe  + Debunking Trump on LGBT rights

Debunking trans athletes myths (8 video playlist) + Is Trans Inclusion a Threat to Cis People in Gendered Spaces? (No)

Why Trans Roles for Trans Actors?  + Trans male visibility

Kat Blaque’s monologue on cis nonsense: “Cis people please stop doing this” + Kat Blaque’s take on JK Rowling

What is a TERF? (Don’t go into the comments!!!) + The Transphobe’s Paradox + Why is the trans suicide rate so high?

Red Scare:

Red Scare and xenophobia + racism + Why they still need their big lies about socialism

“Socialism no food”  CIA even said Soviets eat abt the same as Americans , short video going over food shortages

Animal Farm is commonly used in schools to teach about the evils of socialism/communism like mine did:

George Orwell was a socialist anti Stalinist writing about the dangers of authoritarianism. The pig named Snowball (Trotsky) was depicted as good: he wrote the original commandments, was at odds with Napoleon, and he was forced to flee after being attacked by Napoleon’s orders. But Orwell was also a snitch that happily gave out a list of suspected communists to the govt while dying of TB so

McCarthyism

Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders, domino theory and containment, Eisenhower doctrine, Kennedy doctrine, Johnson doctrine, Reagan doctrine.

CIA funded anti-leftist propaganda campaigns like this

The American Govt often supported coups, wars, and other interference against countries that tried to implement socialism, had strong leftist movements, otherwise just elected leaders that were leftist, many from Operation Condor: Chile, Argentina, Vietnam, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia (1971 and 2019), etc

COINTELPRO targeted American leftist, Civil Rights/Black Power, antiwar, Native American rights, and environmental protection movements among others. The FBI targeted and threatened MLK. Spied on and kept files of Einstein and Helen Keller. The FBI drugged and then murdered Black Panther Fred Hampton. Etc

Socialism/Communism:

Before their revolutions, Russia and China were pre-industrial, agricultural, largely illiterate societies whose masses were peasants spread out over truly vast expanses of land. From their revolutions, they rapidly industrialized, became largely literate, and became world powers. With the Soviet Union even flourishing and doing great from their planned economy (5 year plans) while the rest of the world was suffering from the Great Depression. 

Important to note so I don’t get accused of being a Tankie: Soviet Union + China also did terrible things, for example there was the persecution/oppression of minorities under Stalin (like Cossacks, Jewish people, his govt was kinda antisemitic), Stalin would also have his political opponents killed (mostly anti Stalinist comrades), they weren’t good on LGBT rights: Lenin decriminalized gay sex in 1917, Stalin recriminalized it in 1936, Stalin reversed a lot of Lenin’s gender equality policies, Mao getting citizens to smelt their own steel and iron wasn’t smart or efficient,  etc. Critical support.

Modern day China is state capitalist. China has the second highest number of billionaires in the world just behind the USA. And Former Soviet countries are now also capitalist with Russia #4 on the list of most billionaires.

Cuba

Cuba has a literacy rate of 99.7%, one of the highest in the world thanks to the Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961 right after the Cuban revolution. Universal, famously high quality healthcare (doctors are their biggest export, plus they have medical internationalism) and education. Almost half of parliament members are women, Cuba has made great strides in gender equality. Cuba is a direct democracy, while the US is more of an oligarchy, with people mainly winning elections based on their wealth or the wealth of their supporters.

Cuba’s biotech industry is considered the best in the world among developing countries, and has generated important innovations in cancer research, HIV/AIDS research. Cuba created the world’s first vaccine against meningitis B.

Discrimination against LGBT people is illegal in Cuba. It is legal in 30 US states. Cuba has healthcare for all, including trans people, and allows trans people to legally change their gender without surgery. From my understanding, the rights and treatment of LGBT people aren’t perfect but better than US.

Assata Shakur:  “Revolution is a process, so I was not that shocked to find sexism had not totally disappeared in Cuba, nor had racism, but that although they had not totally disappeared, the revolution was totally committed to struggling against racism and sexism in all their forms. That was and continues to be very important to me. It would be pure fantasy to think that all the ills, such as racism, classism or sexism, could be dealt with in 30 years. But what is realistic is that it is much easier and much more possible to struggle against those ills in a country which is dedicated to social justice and to eliminating injustice.”

Book  Another Book The Cuba Libre Story 

Who Did Che Guevara Murder? + Che Guevara: Homophobic racist?

Majority of East Germans miss socialism warning: article is biased red scare stuff. Krupp und Krause, a nice pro East song from West Germany that also explains surplus value. Ich suche die DDR, a nice pro East rock song from Feeling B, which was a band of former East Germans, saying they are looking for the GDR and it had been stolen. Two members are now in the famous rock band Rammstein, the whole band is leftist.

People who actually lived through the Soviet Union miss it, while young people who haven’t say the Soviet Union collapse was good. Far majority of Soviet citizens voted to keep the Union in 1991.

Human nature & socialism + Why the web is communist

In defense of socialism + “X Socialist Country has failed!” is a stupid argument

Authoritarianism in socialist countries

Soviet Union through the eyes of an American + Socialism gives a better quality of life + Soviets had a better record of training women in STEM than modern USA + Space race meme

But how come revolution? + How to defeat your boss + A Beginner’s Guide to Overthrowing Capitalism + The Socialist case against billionaires

Intro to Anarchy + PhilosophyTube’s series on Marx +  What 'To each according to their need' Means + Private vs Personal Property + V For Vendetta - What is Anarchism? + Was the CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone) a living heck?

How would anarchism work irl part 2 part 3 part 4

Witchcraft, Gender, & Marxism + Black Rad Leftism vs Black Liberalism

Internet archive with Marxist texts + Easy direct action + Speech Synthesis: Bernie Sanders reading Communist Manifesto, Alex Jones reading Communist Manifesto + Communist Maniesto Summary video with quotes

Black Panthers

The good man himself, President Thomas Sankara

Sankara declared the objectives of the “democratic and popular revolution” to be primarily concerned with the tasks of eradicating corruption, fighting environmental degradation, empowering women, and increasing access to education and health care, with the larger goal of liquidating imperial domination. During the course of his presidency, Sankara successfully implemented programs that vastly reduced infant mortality, increased literacy rates and school attendance, and boosted the number of women holding governmental posts. On the environmental front, in the first year of his presidency alone 10 million trees were planted in an effort to combat desertification. 

Socialism in America doc

Albert Einstein? Socialist.  “Why Socialism?” Video Summary and Quotes

“Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an “army of unemployed” almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers’ goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals which I mentioned before..

...I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society.”

Stephen Hawking? Socialist. “If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.”

Martin Luther King Jr? christian socialist. an interview with him about a year before his murder, he goes over wealth equality, slave reparations. mainly 16:30 to the end

he supported labor strikes, unions, workers. 

‘You are reminding, not only Memphis, but you are reminding the nation that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.

...“Do you know that most of the poor people in our country are working every day? And they are making wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation.

...”If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she, too, will go to hell.”

“This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.”  AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

In a story published a week before his assassination, King told Jose Yglesias in the New York Times magazine, “In a sense you could say we are engaged in the class struggle.” The civil rights movement had not cost a dime, he said, but the movement to uproot poverty and inequality throughout the country would “be a long and difficult struggle, for our program calls for a redistribution of economic power.”

Paul Robeson was a socialist and supported the Soviet Union, saying (since the Union had Article 123, banning racial discrimination)  "In Russia I felt for the first time like a full human being. No color prejudice like in Mississippi, no color prejudice like in Washington. It was the first time I felt like a human being.. Where I did not feel the pressure of color as I feel in this committee."

When asked why he didn't move to Russia, he replied: "Because my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay here, and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist-minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear? I am for peace with the Soviet Union, and I am for peace with China, and I am not for peace or friendship with the fascist Franco, and I am not for peace with fascist Nazi Germans. I am for peace with decent people." Here he is singing the USSR anthem and Warszawianka

Muhammad Ali on the Soviet Union: Ali had just returned from a twelve-day visit to the Soviet Union at the invitation of the Soviet Ambassador to the United States to promote the upcoming Moscow Olympics. Ali prayed in Uzbekistan with Soviet Muslims. He sparred with Soviet heavyweights in training for the Olympics. He met with Brezhnev at the Kremlin. 

When he returned to the United States he reported back that “they give a man free medical and hospital care, low rent and a job . . . I never felt so free of being robbed.” He expressed disbelief that so many Americans were afraid of war with the Soviet Union. “It’s hard to believe that such a peaceful country wants war.”

Helen Keller? very into socialism.  (also unfortunately she was into eugenics)

also js bc I was taught differently as a kid: how she’s portrayed is super ableist. for example: she could always communicate, she and the household had home signs and anne sullivan was just there so she could get an education. 

Famous leftists/ leftists in history:

Rory McCann, Liam Cunningham, Danny Devito, James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Kwame Ture, W.E.B. Du Bois, civil rights activist James Farmer, Frederick Vanderbilt Field was disowned by the Vanderbilt tycoon family for being a communist, King Camp Gillette creator of the Gillette company/razor, Leslie Feinberg,

Victor Gruen architect who first designed American shopping malls (hated the modern ones), Woody Guthrie, activist and co-creator of the NAACP Florence Kelley, pioneer of the birth control movement Antoinette F. Buchholz Konikow, Rage Against the Machine, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Albert Schatz who discovered a treatment for tuberculosis,  suffragette and founding member of the ACLU Rose Schneiderman, feminist activist Mary Heaton Vorse, editor who compiled slave testimonies George Rawick, 

feminist activist that helped change NY labor laws Theresa Malkiel, writer and abolitionist Lysander Spooner (published pamphlets with legal defenses for escaped slaves, would offer legal services for free, supported John Brown),

Capitalism+Liberalism:

What’s wrong with capitalism part one  Part two + Noncompete’s why capitalism sucks and part 3 + Why do you work 8 hours per day? + How rich countries rob the poor + Your democracy is a sham

1960 Harvest of Shame documentary, covering plight of migrant farm workers living with atrocious conditions and no living wage. As one worker says at 41:32, "Sure you can get a job, but if you can’t live on what you make, what good is the job?”

Abolish the Monarchy! +  Why does Britain Still have a Queen?

How Privatization Fails: Railways + Influencing an election + You are expendable + Misinformation for fun and profit + Manufacturing Consent: How the Media Distorts Reality: Summary of Michael Parenti and Noam Chomsky + Manufacturing Consent Full Noam Chomsky Documentary

Venezuela: myths and Argument ad Venezuelum + The Myth of Capitalism - Dr. Michael Parenti

UN investigating the US for extreme poverty UN report on horrific US inequality and poverty UN condemns Trump admin for exacerbating poverty levels + The American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Illusion says UN expert + Doc Priced Out: LA’s hidden homeless

Stranger Things has some bad politics in it + What if they threw a purge and noone came? + Marvel sucks, Disney sucks (their workers lives)  + HBO’s Watchmen and Liberalism + Forrest Gump - What are American values? + TV Show ‘Cops’ Copaganda + Bob’s Burgers and Class Conflict

White Working Class? Part 1: Class, Culture, Capital +  White Working Class? Part 2: Race, Class, Migration + Landlords are Bad + Utopia + “Good” Billionaires 

Fake Materialism for Real Transphobes on leftist transphobes. “You want to unite the working class? You have to stand up for the whole working class. All of them! All of their struggles! Otherwise, you’re the one being divisive. You’re the one excluding people. Identity can only divide us if we choose not to care about the struggles of others. If we decide that the problems of others can wait, while we sort out the ones that we share: how can we expect people to extend class solidarity to us while we withold our solidarity from them?

Capitalism is built on white supremacy, it’s built on patriarchy, it’s built on cisheteronormativity, on ableism, on settler colonialism, on imperialism, it’s an interlocking and mutually reinforcing system. We don’t get to pick and choose! You either fight the whole thing or you’re fighting none of it! You’re giving quarter to it. And if you want to hold up the fight until everyone agrees to exclude one vector of oppression or another, until we dismiss the concerns of trans people or indigenous people or women or disabled people or whomever, then you’re no different than any other reactionary.”

50 ways capitalism is hurting you part one   Part two + PhilosophyTube on How to fix the housing crisis + Is Capitalism Voluntary? (No.) + Should the Rich help the Poor? (Yes and neither should exist) + Healthcare, Ethics, & Postmodernism + How to Succeed in Capitalism

Capitalist Entitlement + Woke Brands + Case study of Capitalism: Ukraine + Capitalism is great (not really) + Is Capitalism destroying healthcare? (Yes) + Overpopulation is a capitalist lie + Mental health under late stage capitalism

Pete Buttigieg + Trump and the problem with Politics + America never stood or freedom + How Unions died in America (Reagan) + Evo Morales on Trump and Obama + Whistleblowers in America

My First Job/Lazybones Manifesto + Second Job + Third Job

Destiny and the Liberal Mind Prison + Civility +  Kat Blaque’s Why Liberals annoy me + ThoughtSlime’s Are liberals our enemies? + Why Conservatives can’t stop lying

“Law & Order” And Civil Disobedience + What was Liberalism? Part one  Part two  Part three  Part four + The Dark Side of Liberalism (5 part series) + You can’t beat Trump: Frost/Nixon and the Liberal Lie

Sex Work + Sex Workers and Police, Prison Abolition 

Documentary “The Story of American Slavery” from the settlement of Jamestown on + Doc “Slavery and the Making of America” + Doc “Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters” + Doc “The Heritage of Slavery” 1968 w  Fannie Lou Hamer & Lerone Bennett, Jr.

Doc “Life of the Rez” goes over horrible conditions on Indigenous American reservations due to colonization, capitalism

Problems with American Police, Examples, Solutions, and BLM 1 hr, 43 minutes long Hasan Piker coverage. Contains videos and imagery of police violence and corruption, including murders. 

Parts of his coverage are not good: In at least 2 points in this almost 2 hr coverage, he refers to killer cops as mentally ill/”having personality disorders” and “sociopathic”. At one point refers to an AR-15 as an assault rifle, which is incorrect. + Why Police Brutality is hard to prosecute

Havin Fun + Keeping Hope Alive

Yakko's world but countries that were bombed by the USA after the fall of Germany are bombed

Yakko's World but each time the US invaded or coup'd the country (since the Cold War) it gets louder & more distorted / Yakko’s World but every country the US overthrew since 1945 makes it louder

#communism #socialism #leftism #i said id post this months ago but i forgot #ive had this saved in my drafts since

[xparecivm]

58 for fab & 69 (heh) for andie

058. What is your character’s idea of a perfect day? (Fab)

The Perfect Day, As Told By Fabian Jasper Prewett:

“Alright, so, starts out I wake up at... let’s say, fuckin’, nine a.m, let m’self sleep in a little. Just a little, though, ‘cause I don’t wanna throw the perfect day out the window, y’know? So, yeah wake up at nine, I go ‘n get breakfast in the Great Hall - wait, this is the perfect day while ‘m at school, right, not during the summer or shit? Nah, okay, yeah, ‘m just gonna do it like it’s tomorrow or something. Okay, anyway, wake up at nine, get breakfast. They have french toast at breakfast, obviously, because french toast is the best breakfast food and they frickin’ never have it, unless it’s bloody Halloween or something, which is tragic because it’s so damn good. This french toast has the works: Bananas, strawberries, powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, I dunno if chocolate sauce is good on french toast ‘cause I’ve never had it on french toast, but it’s gotta be, yeah? Alright, so, yeah, I eat the french toast and it’s the fuckin’ best french toast I’ve ever had in my whole entire life. By now it’s, what, ten? Sure, it’s ten now, and I go outside for a bit with all my mates, ‘cause it’s really sunny and really warm out, despite the fact we’re in bloody Scotland. Nobody’s on the Quidditch pitch, so that’s where we all set up shop - we bring blankets and shit, and snacks, and we just hang out on the grass doing nothin’ for a while. Maybe we mess around dueling and shit, ‘cause why not, y’know? We have a whole ass picnic in the middle of the Quidditch pitch, with loads of fruit and cheese and chocolates and all that fancy shit, but good fancy shit, not fancy shit that’s so fancy it isn’t actually good. Then, after a few hours, we’ll probably all go in, split up for a bit, I’ll go up to my dorm and I’ll work on my damn fuckin’ bloody energy potion - still presently unnamed, mind you - and ‘cause this is the perfect day it’ll finally fuckin’ work and not turn into another faulty Draught of Living Death for the thousandth time. That probably wouldn’t’ve made it’s way into my perfect day if it wasn’t giving me so much trouble earlier, actually, but too late now. So! Okay, hmm, what time is it now? Probably, what, around five? Sure! Okay, so, I’ve just decided there’s a Quidditch game later, ‘cause this is my perfect day ‘n I can decide whatever I want. First, though, we’ve gotta have dinner - full out feast, lemme tell ya, like it’s the Christmas Feast. Never been here for the Christmas Feast, but I’ve heard that shit’s miraculous, so that’s what we’re gonna have on my perfect day. Alright, now, it’s Quidditch game time! We’re playing Gryffindor, and we blow them out the park, ‘s’like they never stood a chance. Then, obviously ‘cause we won, there’s a big party in Claw Tower after, whole school’s invited except for the people I specifically don’t like, ‘n everyone chants m’name for a bit, as they should, loads of fun. Alright, hmm, okay, I gotta end my perfect day absolutely fuckin’ perfect, don’t I? So, it’s right before midnight, turns out there’s a full moon or a red moon or somethin’ really cool, and a group of us - best mates, same as before, you know the drill - go up to the top top top of the tower with some more blankets and we’re all a bit drunk by now, ‘m’sure, and we sit up there watching the cool ass moon and the cool ass stars and we all cuddle up a bit ‘cause why the fuck not, cuddling’s great, and then it’s midnight and my perfect day’s over and we all go to bed. The end!”

069. What about your character is heroic? (Andie)

Andromeda stands up for the people she cares for, and she’ll do it until the end of time. She’ll easily put herself in harms way for anyone she loves, or allow herself to be the scapegoat in situations where others would get into a lot of trouble. The last thing she wants is for anyone to get hurt if she can help stop it.

#;memes #i..... apologize for fabian #childofwxr