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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 4th, 2023

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  • I think part of it is that a lot of straight people who are allies but not as familiar with the queer community feel strange about using the word queer, thinking that it’s a reclaimed slur that they wouldn’t be allowed to say if they aren’t themselves queer. They don’t realize that the queer community has collectively decided that no “pass” is needed for the word queer.


  • Hyperindividualism and car culture explains it all. Americans don’t trust each other (especially not their neighbors) and want to put as much distance between themselves as possible. We’re also mostly NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) and have very strict zoning laws that prevent commercial and residential buildings from coexisting in the same area. This is great for the auto industry because it means you can’t do anything without driving, and they lobby the government to block any attempt to change things.

    Our suburbs are liminal spaces that more closely resemble purgatory than actual communities, which is why everyone who grew up in them is at least slightly insane.






  • And you don’t think it may have had more to do with what you were saying / the way you were behaving than your looks? I don’t doubt that incel may be thrown around more as a basic insult these days - it’s just reaching that level of ubiquity in everyday speech - but I have more often heard it used towards men who are saying or doing things that are misogynistic. The same kind of misogyny that betrays a deeper insecurity has long been common in adolescent boys who are going through puberty and dealing with feelings they don’t know how to deal with yet, and the word incel has become a convenient way to call it out, but I do feel that when it comes to adolescents there should be some charitability and understanding. Andrew Tate and the rest of the Manosphere are giving these kids the opposite of what they need, though.







  • Schmoo@slrpnk.net
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    3 months ago

    There are politically aligned hospitals, but they’re not leftist. They’re usually named for some random saint and refuse certain kinds of healthcare to certain kinds of people for religious fundamentalist reasons. Leftist clinics (because they don’t get enough funding to build hospitals) exist, but I guess you disapprove since healthcare has nothing to do with politics, right?

    Side note: The first paramedics in the US were the Freedom House Ambulance Service, an all-black leftist organization that served local majority-black neighborhoods that received slow service from non-medically trained police. They set the standard for paramedics all over the US.


  • People generally have a sex drive, then develop an instinctual drive to protect their children after they are born. Of course, contraception allows us to sate our sex drive without it resulting in children, so you can choose to opt out of the evolutionary process before you develop an instinctual drive to raise children in the first place. Most people still have that instinct ready to kick in for a child that is not their own if such a situation arises, which is still evolutionarily advantageous for the group as a whole, even if it’s not for the individual.

    Of course in rare cases some people lack that instinct entirely, but that’s the exception not the rule.


  • I started to make a long effort post detailing Putin’s rise to - and subsequent consolidation of - power, but then I came to my senses and realized it would be pointless. If I went through with it, you would just do what you’ve been doing already, dismiss all sources I provide as false and biased propaganda while engaging in ridiculous whataboutism. I decided it would be a poor use of my time, is this really how you want to be spending yours?


  • Putin is a dictator in the same way that Trump is trying to be. He consolidated power under his office, removing term limits and checks, and manipulates the democratic process in his favor (often with blatant ballot stuffing and crushing opposition).

    The US political system, as corrupt as it is, isn’t quite to that point yet, though unfortunately that might be changing soon.

    Edit: Removed mention of Xi because I’m not as familiar with the topic and don’t want to spread misinformation.




  • The killing of Brian Thompson revealed just how frustrated the general public has become with the lack of meaningful change to our predatory healthcare system. I do not recommend that more people go out and kill health insurance CEOs, because that is a very individualistic approach to a problem that requires systemic change. That doesn’t mean I’m going to shed any tears over the death of someone who is responsible for an astronomical amount of suffering, and I do believe that defending Luigi Mangione’s rights is important not just for protecting the rights themselves, but also for demonstrating solidarity and instilling class consciousness.


  • Let’s stop talking around the issue. I’m referring to union organizing, general strikes, boycotts, mutual aid, direct action, etc. Would you consider those things “steering the ship into rocks?” Do you really think our only viable course of action is to do nothing except show up to vote on election days? We have to organize, and the Democratic leadership is uninterested in helping. Grassroots liberal progressive groups like MoveOn and Indivisible have been doing that work for them, and the Democratic leadership has been actively hostile towards them.




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