The fact is we consent every day, whether mindfully or by our negligence, by going along with it. And that means every time we hear some Palantir ghoul openly fantasizing about their dystopian desires, those desires are ours to veto.
Let that sink in. THEIR DYSTOPIAN DESIRES ARE OURS TO VETO.
2/2
One of the core ideas of democracy is that the people *always* hold the power, it is only by the machinery of legal and political constructs that those who hold power appear to control everything about the world we live in.
1/2
“Paramedics reported that Perrotta declined treatment in the ambulance. ‘I am fine, I just needed to get out of here,’ she said, according to the report.”
People get really mad when you point out that what they’re doing is genocide
You cannot tell voters (accurately) this is a fascist regime that is hell bent on destroying us - let alone rely on it (as Dems are) as your GOTV while also voting yourselves to enable the regime.
I asked President Trump about the FBI reportedly seizing election records in Arizona. He said they must have done that because it was a “rigged” election. I pointed out to him that his own AG said there was not measurable voter fraud to overturn that election. Then he called me a rotten reporter.
Maybe collectively outgrowing "bad boys" is long overdue.
6/6
This is probably very good for me, and I'm glad. And I'm sad that the aesthetic piece is now untethered. But maybe they're doing us all a favor in the long run. Maybe there was always an aspect of glamour magic that blinded us to toxicity that was always there.
5/6
Increasingly I find myself unfollowing them, and enjoying the newer kind of "wholesome masculinity" type content, where they are helping each other unlearn these toxic constructs and nurture one another to a stronger, less fragile, less shallow idea of manhood.
4/6
They're using it to promote unrealistic body image and lifestyle choices that, similar to the 'trad wife' motif are completely unattainable within the prison of working class reality. MAGA is ruining everything good about America!!
3/6
But it feels like the deeply unattractive wannabe "alpha" types have caught on to the genre and are using it as a trojan horse for really gross versions of what they think is stoic philosophy that stinks exactly like toxic patriarchy.
2/6
It feels like "masculine" men are determined to run their brand value into the ground. I used to appreciate the aesthetic, and follow the sort of beefcake thirst trap accounts that thinly veil themselves as fitness pages.
1/6
People who say current events are proof that democracy doesn’t work are failing to account for the fact that this isn’t democracy.
By prioritizing profits over people, capitalism is inherently anti-democratic, and that is how it slowly strangled the voice of the people.
If AI can solve problems about cancer and astrophysics then it can solve problems about the environment so I hope environmental scientists are ignoring toxic AI bullies and leveraging the technology to solve those problems more quickly, because the urgency is far greater than NIMBY data centers.
I share your frustration.
What I'll say is I think there's a sense of responsibility that comes with awareness of the importance of solidarity where possible, and coalition where not.
Whose job is it to cultivate combined people power? To me, that's a necessary aspect of the democratic project.
I feel like when principled action isn't possible, all we're left with is utilitarian options.
We should continue the work of building a new world, while we live with the reality of this one. But that's difficult for people in the depths of a principled awakening, a very real stage of human growth.
But you do need to bring more nuance to make that distinction and that is absolutely missing on the left.
A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.
