Leftist - Tumblr Posts
"Resistance"
2023
It has been a maddening, miserable three months.
When last I posted about Palestine, the death toll in Gaza had just about leveled with the dead count in Israel. Some people may have called that justice; an eye for an eye, and all. Yet as I knew would happen, as any person with sense knew would happen, the state of Israel has dropped any pretense of seeking justice and gone full force on a savage, genocidal campaign. I can't put into words how demoralizing it has been to watch a tragedy of this scope unfold in real time on our screens; how infuriating to witness people and institutions that profess loving diversity and human rights back openly and shamelessly a fascist ethnostate. The world, and more concretely the western world, has utterly set aside the lessons of the War on Terror and slid back into a miasma of Islamophobic hysteria and lust for blood.
I've lost count of all the times that the state of Israel and their enablers have lied. Zionist discourse around this topic is rife with misinformation, unconfirmed rumors, and just plain, willful dishonesty. I take hope in knowing that more and more people, all over the world but especially so in the Global South, are less and less willing to believe the propaganda. Zionists wouldn't be as hysterical as they are if they didn't feel their wall of lies was crumbling. Nevertheless, here are some of the facts:
- Israel is an ethnocratic, settler-colonial state. This is not me saying it; the ideologues and pioneers of Zionism themselves described their project as colonial. From the very beginning, their stated aims have been control and subjugation, not coexistence. Only in later decades, with colonialism taking a bad connotation, did Israel rebrand itself as some sort of indigenous rights movement (an idea that is too absurd for words). But early Zionists were remarkably honest about who they were and what they wanted. The facts on the ground now, with the actions and rhetoric surrounding Gaza and with the encroachment of illegal settlements on the West Bank, all but confirm Israel's colonial aspirations.
If you're unconvinced, consider this: people in the Global South, people who know all too well what colonialism looks like, are far more likely to sympathize with Palestine than with Israel. And who supports Israel, then? Former and current colonial powers. Does it seem at all likely that countries like the United States and Britain would ever back indigenous national aspirations? I think not.
- Israel enforces a system of apartheid against Palestinians under their control. Again, this isn't me saying it; Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and even Israeli human rights organizations like B'tselem have confirmed this and published reports about it. Google and read them for yourselves, by all means.
And if you're still unconvinced, consider this: black people in South Africa, including Nelson Mandela himself, have always sympathized with Palestine, and have also drawn parallels between the apartheid they lived through and what Israel does. Do you really think you have any moral or intellectual authority to tell those people that they don't know what they're talking about? Because you don't.
- Under international law, an occupied people has the right to resist their occupiers. An occupying entity however does not have the right of self defense against the people it occupies. You can say that killing civilians is not legitimate resistance. That's fine. But then I expect you to apply that same principle to Israel and their indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. I also expect you to ponder wether Hamas targeting only military personnel would have made any difference in how you feel about the attacks. I know for a fact that even when only their soldiers are attacked, Israeli reprisals have always been savage, disproportionate, and deadly.
And if you're one of those (deluded) people who insists there's no occupation, I will say only this: when this started, Israeli officials stated loud and clear their intent to cut all electricity, fuel, food and water to the Gaza Strip, and then did just so. What kind of country has that amount of power over another? An occupier, that's who.
- Hamas was founded in 1987, and came to power in 2006 with 44.45% of voter support. That makes 36 years since its founding, and 17 years governing Gaza (note: Gaza. They do not govern the West Bank). Given these facts, you cannot possibly claim that the problems in the region start and end with Hamas, and you also cannot claim that Gazans collectively are to blame for their own destruction, what with half the population on the Strip being underage and all. If you insist on this, then I expect you to apply that same reasoning to Israelis. Netanyahu is the longest serving prime minister in his country's history, and has repeatedly been voted into power despite mounting evidence of corruption and war-mongering. Israelis are also required to serve in the military, and there isn't really a big movement to end it (those few that do refuse the draft are hella brave, by the way, and heroes in my book). Still, the majority of Israelis are, have been, or will be a part of their country's war machine at some point in their lives. I'd say that makes their society complicit, at least much more so than Palestinians are. Would you say that a people who consistently vote for the same war-mongers and that stand unconditionally with their military deserve to be blown to smithereens? I mean...that's your argument, dears, not mine.
I would also note that Netanyahu himself was caught on mic admitting to have propped up Hamas to thwart any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state. So...make of that what you will. It isn't the first time a colonial power props up radical militants to undermine secular, more moderate groups.
- And while we're on the subject of reasonability and compromise: in their 2017 charter, Hamas states its willingness to compromise on a temporary two-state solution. In the past, they have suggested long-term truces in exchange of assurances. Hell, last month's temporary ceasefire shows that they are a party that can be reasoned and negotiated with. But compromise and negotiation are not in the interest of the Israeli State. Since the earliest beginnings of the Zionist movement, total control over the land of Palestine has been their ultimate goal. And that goal has often come at the expense not only of Palestinians, but of their own people as well, as recent events showcase perfectly.
I know many of you are only too willing to believe that Muslim militants have no motives other than hatred, and no tools other than wanton violence. But whatever they may be, whatever we may think of them, the truth is that Hamas has been the more flexible party. They have concrete political aims, some of which are not that unreasonable. If Israel and the West refuse outright to even consider any of their terms, then perhaps the world ought to reconsider who the rash, irrational party is in this scenario.
- On the subject of violence: that story of the forty beheaded babies was a ruse; as in, there's no evidence for it. None. But again, don't take my word for it! The IDF, the White House, mainstream media outlets and the Israeli press, all of which amplified and spread this rumor and none of which are particularly sympathetic to Palestinians, they all walked back on their claims. You might want to consider what made you so willing to believe this lie, and maybe why you continue to believe it even after the people who first told you about it have said it's not true. It isn't the first time the state of Israel has made wild claims with either insufficient or non-existent evidence to support them.
That's not all. Mounting evidence, published by the Israeli press no less, shows that at least some Israeli civilians were killed in the crossfire between the IDF and Hamas. Hell, there is also evidence, provided by survivors, that the IDF may have killed its own citizens deliberately in an effort to wipe out the Hamas militants that held them hostage. The Israeli government have also revised their casualty numbers from 1400 to less than 1200, and it wouldn't surprise me if that number were to get lower still.
Regardless of wether Hamas killed all those people or not, the truth is this: there are at least 21,822 people killed in Gaza. That's over eighteen times the total Israeli death count. 8,800 of those killed are children. That's more than two hundred times the number of fake beheaded babies. The death toll and displacement have reached historic proportions, surpassing even the Nakba of 1948. Yet by all accounts, no more Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian militants since the first days of the escalation, that is, unless any hostages in Gaza have been executed (though they have more likely been killed by the Israeli military itself, as has indeed been proven to be the case). It is Palestinians who are dying now, and who have been dying over these months, over this year, and over these decades. I don't want to see you shed crocodile tears over civilian deaths if the only time you bother to turn your attention to this conflict is when Israelis die. You have no business pointing fingers at me if you support Israel's colonial, genocidal enterprise. As for me, I know where I stand. I regret all civilian loss of life, but if I am made to choose between colonizer and colonized, between oppressor and oppressed, between the people who are busy making TikToks and the people who are busy dying, my choice will always be clear.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
"Motaz"
2024
My first artwork of the year is dedicated to the incredible Motaz Azaiza and to all the heroic Palestinian journalists of the Gaza Strip: to those who, like him, continue to report bravely, steadfastly, the horrific situation in their homeland; to those who have made the difficult but also brave decision to leave for safety; and to the all too many who have been unjustly killed in their line of work, murdered by the Israeli State in a cowardly attempt to cover up their crimes.
An unfair burden has been put in the shoulders of these journalists, a lot of whom are shockingly young and just fresh out of university. Not only do they have to struggle to survive during a veritable genocide of their people, but they have to do so whilst reporting on it, whilst serving as spokespersons of all the suffering and grief inflicted on themselves and their kin. Multinational media conglomerates with overwhelmingly more power and resources have consistently and actively refused to treat the Palestinian people with the transparency, truth, and dignity that they deserve. So it's been up to these brave men and women to do the job that others will not do, to arm themselves with their own cameras and their social media pages and their unparalleled courage to tell their own stories and their own realities, to use languages foreign to them so that the world might better understand and sympathize with their plight. I cannot overstate what an enormous, heroic effort that must be, and I am in complete awe and admiration of them; but I also feel sorry and ashamed that these folks, many with their whole lives in front of them, have so unjustly, so cruelly, been thrust into this position. Yet through it all they have never failed to carry themselves with the passion, the dignity, the strength, and the zest for life that I've come to learn so characterizes the Palestinian people, and for that one can't help but admire them even more.
IG: @rainbow_guillotine
Halloween was fun this year :)
is it true that we can all be bought?
LOL imagine reblogging my shit to make all ur followers come after me and then blocking me after so I can’t call you out.
You never did respond to my offers to send you links abt the IDF raping Palestinians, did you, @pineapplecake555, bc u know it happens and don’t care about them.
Hey @researchgate, how about you expand on your thoughts instead of leaving a vague comment to twist my words :))
Welcome to my blog! I advocate for a safe and secure Palestinian homeland, and a creation of an anti-queerphobic, anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-ageist and anti-sexist society. Stay and enjoy! 🩷🩷
just some reminders if you’re watching the american presidential debate right now:
1. it’s going to be okay. if we take action, we will get through this.
2. choosing not to vote is a choice to elect trump. no matter how much you hate biden, he’s the only option- and despite being a literal walking corpse and a professional yapper, he will stop project 2025 from being implemented. please vote. we need it.
Donald Trump is not anti-war.
Disclaimer: I am not pro-Kamala and I do not support the Democrats.
remember when trump's first attempted assassination occurred and everyone was so scared he was going to win sympathy votes but then like 3 days later nobody gaf
“Israel should be charged with war crimes!!”
But not Palestine? Not Hamas - the elected government of Gaza?
How about Russia? They bombed maternity wards and orphanages. Why aren’t the leftists demanding their war crime trial? The double standards are getting old.
Everything you complain about with Israel (if true) is exactly what Hamas and the Palestinians have been doing to them as well.
“Israel has wiped out entire families!” So did Hamas.
“Israel is bombing Gaza!” Palestine is bombing Israel (and, ironically, Gaza as well).
“An IDF soldier raped someone!” Hamas employed mass rape as a weapon of war against Israeli women.
“Israel is trying to wipe out Palestinians!” Hamas is trying to wipe out Jews.
We can keep going on this. The list goes on. Not only that, but multiple other countries have employed such tactics against their own people and other countries. Not a single cry for war crime trials.
Go back to where you came from, they said.
A brief History of Mizrahi Jews in Arabic countries and Their expulsion
A\N: While I am an Ashkenazi Jew, I have done A LOT of research, and have both Iraqi friends and relatives to corroborate this with. Also, I'm petty - an Iraqi user who comments regularly on my posts seems to forget about his own country's Jewish history... Well, I hope he forgot instead of the more likely reality: It seems like Arabic people nowadays aren't aware of Jewish history in their countries since they either killed to expelled them all. Thus is born the constant argument that all Jews originated in Europe and are merely settlers in the Middle East.
I realized that what may be obvious to me won't be obvious to others since I'm a history nerd who grew up in Israel with plenty of rich archeological evidence and resources surrounding me. I'm happy to make these posts in hopes of educating others and contributing my part to ending antisemitism and prejudice. ___________________
You might have seen the following picture in one of my previous posts:
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, in this case, it concludes hundreds of years of discrimination, violence, and exile for Mizrahi Jews. * It is important to note that numbers are slightly varied between sources, but the meaning is clear.
In a nutshell- all throughout history, the fate of Jewish people in countries where they weren't the religious majority was the same:
Discriminatory laws, blood libels, being blamed for disasters > violence & murder > Pogroms * > and eventually- exile or mass murder AKA ethnic cleansing \ genocide.
Pogrom- the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries.
Every Jewish community has its own Pogrom. While my side of the family might immediately think of the Kristallnacht or persecution & pogroms in Hungary, it is different for Jews from different backgrounds. You can read about a few cases of forced conversion to Islam here.
A brief History of the land of Israel
The land of Israel has always been considered a strategic passageway, and so many empires throughout history have conquered it:
* I simply cannot accurately write 3000+ years of Jewish history in the land of Israel. I found that this video summarizes it perfectly.
Exile from the land of Israel
Jews were exiled from the land of Israel numerous times since the Assyrian empire conquered Israel in 732 BCE, to what we call "the diaspora" גולה. It was not by choice and we were persecuted everywhere we went.
Jews were not allowed to legally return to Israel until 1948 when the British mandate over the land of Israel ended and Israel was formed. Yes, even during the Holocaust.
The Jewish answer to exile - Aliyah עליה There have been 5 waves of illegal immigration from all over the world to the land of Israel before 1948, recorded in modern times.
Chart taken from Wikipedia (their chart was the best I could find in English)
Forced Conversion
Whether in conquered Israel or in exile, Jews were often forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. The choice was between conversion or death.
*You can read more about some of the forced conversion of Jews during history here and here.
First Case study- The last jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati
Peki'in is an ancient village in the upper Galilee, Northern Israel. Nowadays, its population is mostly Druze.
Peki'in has had a Jewish presence since the Second Temple period, until Arab riots in the 1930s*. Meet the remaining member of the Zinatis, the only family who returned. (aish.com)
*Read more on the Arab riots of the 1930s here and here. Margalit is currently the last Jew living in the village of Peki'in . She is the last direct descendent of the Zinati Cohen family. The Zinati family's origins are dated back to the Second Temple era. The former Jewish community of Peki'in maintained a presence there since the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). That is when the polytheistic Persian Empire conquered the land of Israel. For reference- that was approximately 500 years before Jesus was even born! "During which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem." (Wikipedia)
As an adult, Margalit chose to not marry so she could stay in Peki'in and continue her family's Jewish legacy in Peki'in. She later became in charge of the ancient synagogue in the village and turned her basement into a visiting center \ museum of Jewish history in Peki'in- "House of Zinati". in 2018, she lit up a torch as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day Torch lighting ceremony (which is considered an honor given to influential and trailblazing people).
-Margalit Zinati pictured in the Peki'in Synagogue yard, 2016 Picture taken from Wikipedia, uploaded by Deror Avi.
Second Case study - Iraqi Jews (Babylonian Jews \ יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים)
Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest documented Jewish communities living in the Middle East. It is estimated that they originated around 600 BC.ת
The Farhud الفرهود הפרהוד
Unfortunately, Iraqi Jewish history ended in the same pattern I've described earlier. The Farhud was the violent mass dispossession against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq between 1-2 June 1941. was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, It immediately followed the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War.
Background for the Farhud:
WW2- At the time, many Arabic countries in the Middle East agreed with Nazi ideology.
History of violence towards Jews.
The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) - caused rising tension, and as usual, it was turned on the Jews.
personal family ties to the Farhud My relative was born in 1939 in Iraq, to a big upper-class Jewish family. Unfortunately, the mass exile of Jews in the 1950s didn't skip her family: she was stripped of her belongings and exiled to Israel along with her family. In the 1950s there were approximately 140,000 Iraqi Jews. As of 2021, there are only 4 left.
----------------- Please feel free to add anything I missed in the notes. And as usual - remember I am a human being. If you cuss or harass me, I will block and report you.
______________
Online Sources: * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".
What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud
History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/
What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB
The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/
Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots
Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk
Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period
Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4
https://academic.oup.com/book/32113/chapter-abstract/268043723?redirectedFrom=fulltext
UNRWA gets decimated by community notes, how long can they keep their mask on?
Links:
Key terms necessary for understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict : Part 1- Ancient Israel to the founding of modern Israel, Jewish terms
A/N: Hey! The results are in, and this is the topic my followers chose🫶 Writing this felt very much like retaking my high school history finals lol. Enjoy reading.
*These terms and definitions will be organized by topics, in chronological order. **If I have made a mistake or if you feel like I forgot something important- don’t hesitate to tell me in the comments. It is very hard to summarize thousands of years. *** Be respectful, I am human.
1. Key terms in Judaism and the connection to the land of Israel :
Israel and Judea- Were the two ancient Jewish kingdoms.
Zion ציון- Is one of the 70 biblical names for the city of Jerusalem. In fact, Jerusalem is referenced by this name in the bible over 150 times.
The word Zion is very much embedded into our culture: it is used in many prayers and Jewish texts written throughout Jewish history, songs etc.
Zion and the exile from it:
It is especially used when describing longing and the wanting of return to the land of Israel:
The most famous example that uses the word Zion is the biblical prayer from the book of Psalms, 137:
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
תהילים פרק קלז א עַל נַהֲרוֹת, בָּבֶל--שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ, גַּם-בָּכִינוּ: בְּזָכְרֵנוּ, אֶת-צִיּוֹן.
This verse is an example of the longing for Israel: as it was written after the exile to Babylon.
*Yes, the funky Boney M song is based on this Psalms verse :) Coming full circle- It is also used in the official hymn of the modern state of Israel, Ha'Tikva. התקווה, written by Naftali Herz Imber. This word might sound familiar to you, as it is also the origin of the word "Zionism".
Zionism- is the notion that the Jewish people deserve to have a state of their own.
Semite- is a term for people relating to, or constituting a subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic language family:
Semite languages- are a group of ancient languages, that originated around the same time, in Africa and the Middle East- aka the neighboring countries of Israel.
The Semitic languages are: Hebrew and its other ancient dialects , Arabic, Amharic, Aramaic and more. Unfortunately , most of these are extinct and no longer spoken.
The languages that are still spoken to this very day are : Arabic, Amharic and Hebrew.
Some Hebrew Fun facts :
-While there are only estimated 8 million Hebrew speakers nowadays( most of them Israeli), Hebrew is considered a holy language in is spoken during prayer.
-Ancient Hebrew and modern Hebrew are very similar. So much so that if I were to time travel, I could have a decent conversation with my ancestors😊 (some pronunciations, grammar and words have changed, but it’s essential the same).
-Which cannot be done with Romanic languages or Celtic languages..
Antisemitism A\N: This word is getting its whole section because it simply deserves it. Nowadays, every time a Jewish person says something is antisemitic, they will usually be bombarded with mocking comments about how Jews like to call everything antisemitic. If had a nickel for every time I got those comments or an Arab person tried to troll me in the comment section by saying "I can't be antisemitic if I'm a Semite myself"... Let's make it clear (once again).
As I have explained before, the word Semite refers to a group of ethnicities. However, the word Antisemitic refers to Jewish hatred: "Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews.[2][3][4] This sentiment is a form of racism,[5][6] and a person who harbors it is called an antisemite. Though antisemitism is overwhelmingly perpetrated by non-Jews, it may occasionally be perpetrated by Jews in a phenomenon known as auto-antisemitism ".
TLDR: Don't be a Jerk and use antisemitic rhetoric, blood libels, and stereotypes... You don't get to choose if something is antisemitic or not, Jews do.
2. Modern Israel and its founding
The Knesset- Is the Israeli parliament consisting of 120 members, elected democratically every 4 years. Usually- there have been 5 elections in the last 5 years. It also currently has 36 ministers. Yes, that _IS_ a lot.
Kibbutz- "Kibbutz is a community where people voluntarily live and work together on a noncompetitive basis. The first kibbutzim were organized by idealistic young Zionists in the beginning of the 20th century."
As time moved on, starting in the 80s, many Kibbutzim struggled financially and closed down. Today, there are 265 Kibbutzim left, with approximately 200,000 residents. Less than 20% of them are communal.
Unfortunately today, the word Kibbutz has a different connotation:
British mandate- Yep, they colonized us too lol. After the first world war, Between 1917 and May 1948 (Israel was founded literally as soon as the mandate ended).
Fun fact- Today, there are still a few rules left from the British mandate In Israel (Most of them were updated or changed by Israeli law makers after it's founding, usually by the Knesset and the Supreme court of justice).
“Homa U’migdal” (חומה ומגדל Tower and stockade)- During the British mandate, Jewish settlements were built overnight due to a legal loophole still valid from the Ottoman rule. The loophole prevented the British from destroying the new settlement: "Homa U'Migdal is the name of an operation that the leaders of the Yishuv initiated in Palestine, during which 52 new settlements were founded. This operation was a response of the Yishuv to the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt and the restrictions the Mandatory authorities placed, both on the building of new Jewish settlements, and on the amount of Jewish immigrants allowed into Palestine. The building of each settlement began at night. First, the guard tower and the defense stockade were set up, so the operation was named “Tower and Stockade”. According to an old Ottoman law that was still valid during the Mandate period, the destroying of a building was not allowed after the roof had been erected. For this reason the British did not destroy the "Tower and Stockade" settlements which had not received building permits. "
The 2-state solution - The notion that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be two states for two people- one for Arabs and one for Jews.
Balfour's declaration- is the famous letter sent by then-British foreign secretary Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild in 1917. In the letter, Lord Balfour stated that the British Empire would support the forming of a Jewish Zionist state in the land of Israel.
Peel Commission- was a community created in 1936 by the British rule during their Mandate over Israel. As the name suggests, the head of the Commity was Lord Peel. A suggestion for a Two-state solution was suggested to representatives of both Jews and Arabs. Unfortunately, the Arabs have refused it.
1947 Partition Plan- A partition plan suggested by the UN, that included another draft of the two-state solution, with different borders. The Arabs have refused it once more.
Declaration of Israel's Independence from Britain:
And so, as the British mandate ended on May 14th, 1948, the people's Council (that later served as the initial government of Israel) declared the formation of the modern state of Israel.
The day following the declaration, the Arabs in Israel revolted and with the help of 5 foreign armies that invaded Israel, tried to stop the formation of Israel: Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon.
They failed and Israel was formed.
You can watch David Ben Gurion, head of the council (and Israel's future first prime minister) declare its formation/independence here.
PS- this was the flag of Palestine before the current one:
Sources:
-Semite languages pic: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Semitic-languages
-Kibbutz: * https://kibbutzulpan.org/about_kibbutz/ *https://www.hamichlol.org.il/%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C (Hebrew)
-Homa U'Migdal" : http://www.zionistarchives.org.il/en/Pages/TowerStockade.aspx
Something that I've noticed in my art that I feel like is a huge part of it is the deconstruction of capitalism and advertising. Because I'm autistic, when I was little, I never actually understood commercials, but I was obsessed with them. I loved commercials despite not understanding them and what their purpose was. That's why when I thought of the commercial dimension, it wasn't actually advertising anything. It was just the aesthetics of commercials that you can see in the pieces of art I make to this day. It's the vibe of a commercial without any of the actual substance and purpose, which I just find really interesting that my brain clinged to that.
Wage slavery is weird.
Moreover it sucks, obv, but like, why aren't more people talking about this?
Went to work today and the general manager says to all of us, "yall this store is making so much money omg, make sure to give yourselves a pat on the back !!"
And am i the only one who thinks that's strange? Like ma'am this is a grocery store, none of us are ever going to see that much money, why should we care? Why should we be proud of that? It just seems insulting to rub that in the face of wage employees. I would think that they would try and avoid talking about it to keep peoples mind off of the money they would never have, but it's jist the opposite.
When i first started this job they had sat me down to talk. They showed me some jpegs of the CEO, and 2 other people at that corperate level. I'm never going to meet these rich white dudes why are we even doing this? Management then went on to tell me the average gross revenue for the store, as if that matters to me, and management talking about that in a training setting i understood. What i didnt expect was my fellow unsaleried wage workers to be talking to me about it. Talking about how much money the store makes, how smart the CEOs must be to make all that money.
I dissociate though work for a few reasons, but this is always something that pulls me back a bit. Just being reminded, yet again, of how much money some other people have, and how much i dont fucking care.
you didn’t choose to become a leftist. your parents let you watch Newsies and Les Mis at a formative age and you turned out the way you did
A common argument that I hear from conservatives is that "people of the past were not so sensitive like people of today"
Mf people in 1950's America threw a tantrum because someone of a different skin color wanted to drink at the same fountain as them. Don't give me this bs about how people back then "weren't sensitive".