#my actual answer is just don’t debate conservatives lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

communistkenobi · 5 months

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There’s this post going around about convincing conservatives to support trains by painting cars as “an attack on traditional transport” (I don’t remember it exactly, but they specifically used the words attack on traditional something)

Mostly people were taking it as a joke, or pointing out how this could be also be used to convince people of conservative goals and to read carefully when it comes to inclusive or sustainable language (like pinkwashing or certain ideologies related to overpopulation)

But I saw one argument that it was useful because “if your politics can only convince people who already agree with you it’s not useful” and while I agree you should tailor your arguments to tie audience, using “attack on tradition” specifically feels odd. (This argument was in response to someone mentioning the issues a rail system organized by people with that mindset would have)

I guess I’d like to know what you think about it, since I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to politics.

I believe you’re talking about this post:

If you wanted to take this screenshot seriously I think it’s a pretty bad way to convince people of your own political beliefs and goals, because you’re not actually convincing them of anything lol. There is a difference between tailoring your arguments to your audience or meeting people where they are versus adopting the framework of your political enemies to make your own goals appear to align with their own. You have not actually convinced conservatives that public transit is good for the reasons it is actually good (the reasons public transit is good is diametrically opposed to their beliefs), you have only convinced them that public transit can fit under a conservative policy framework. Well conservative policies are disgusting! They are hostile to human life, they make the world a worse place to live in. The crux of the argument being made here is that ‘traditional society’ is something worth protecting, and public transit is an avenue through which this protection can be done. I think if you are conceding this much rhetorical and political ground to your enemy to make them ‘agree’ with you, you’re not being savvy or politically strategic, you are just making conservative arguments. The problem is that traditional society is a vile concept and no policy should rest on that kind of foundation. The way you frame a problem determines the potential solution outcomes; the solution being championed here is not that more public transit solves a host of pressing social problems (increased accessibility and mobility for disabled people, the elderly, children, and the poor, reducing/resolving congestion and traffic issues that plague every urban centre, vastly reducing the amount of deaths related to vehicle collisions for both pedestrians and drivers, reducing carbon emissions produced by vehicles, the list is effectively endless), but that ‘traditional society’ can be saved using public transit - this traditional society being built by white supremacist and cishetero-patriarchal politics, a system of explicit racial and gendered hierarchy and inequality, conservative cultural ideas about struggle, rugged individualism, the strong dominating the weak, and so on. You’re just making a conservative argument!

The whole liberal fantasy surrounding debates is that politics is primarily a game of rhetoric where ideas clash for dominance and the best ideas win. If you can’t even convince someone of your own political goals on your own terms using your own ideas - or worse, your political goals are so modular and vague that you believe using fascist concepts like ‘protecting traditional society’ is a productive vehicle for getting what you want - you are at best useless and at worst part of the problem. In either case I don’t think it’s effective or worth your time, you’re literally just increasing the amount of conservative arguments that exist in the world, and if you believe otherwise you’re either an idiot or you’re dangerous

#asks #my actual answer is just don’t debate conservatives lol #especially not online there’s no point #If you want to evangelise do it with someone far more amenable to your political goals because they might actually be helpful #conservatives are fascists when it comes down to it and we don’t need to win them over to win #using a general ‘you’ btw I’m not talking about you specifically #geography

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musclesandhammering · 1 year

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Hey, here's my take /as/ a queer man. anyone, gay, straight, etc...can dress how every they want and how ever they feel expresses themself. to me it's a non issue, even if like, you think someone is being disingenuous, I don't think it's an issue and i find it more harmful to me and people like me to have this debate in the zeitgeist to begin with. more straight girls have argued with me about why xyz behaviors is problematic and i find it exhausting. It is more destigmatizing to not put barriers around fashion in the first place & focus on uplifting queer gnc men than tearing other people down.

This is from a couple months ago but I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to answer it until now (sorry).

I appreciate you for responding with your perspective. Like I said, I’m not a queer man (I’m a queer woman), so I really don’t like speaking about the experiences of queer men as a generalisation.

And I agree with you actually! Men (cishet or lgbt) should 1000% be able to wear whatever they want with zero comment from anyone! And if we were debating whether or not Harry Styles dressing in a gnc way was problematic in general, then that would be a pointless conversation. But that’s not the the issue.

My argument was that- while he’s valid a million times over for however he wants to dress or act or whatever- the media and mainstream pop culture fans are wrong for elevating him into this unprecedented progressive icon of masculinity because of the way he dresses. And Harry (imo) is wrong for allowing it and playing into it.

Listen, if Vanity Fair or Vogue (or whatever magazines it was idk I don’t read them lol) regularly gave cover photos and full page profiles and stuff to other gnc people praising them as sort of new age icons for their gnc-ness (specifically gnc openly gay men, or gnc poc, or gnc people who are not stereotypically young and fit and traditionally attractive), then them also giving Harry that treatment would not be sus at all…… but we all know they don’t have a history of doing that. And we all know that when Billy Porter (an older black gnc gay man) or Sam Smith (a plus size gnc genderqueer person) etc live their truth and dress in gnc ways, they do not get as much adoration and adulation and worship and excessive praise by mainstream pop culture media as Harry (again, a young white skinny traditionally attractive most likely cishet- or at the very least not openly queer- man) and the reactions from the general public are always far more mixed. And that’s definitely sus.

It’s almost like the societal establishment realised that newer generations are accepting and celebrating gnc-ness, and knew that they had to pander to that, so they decided to elevate a gnc person….. but because the societal establishment will always edge as close to the conservative status quo as possible, they picked the blandest, whitest, most basic male model type (again- young and fit and noncontroversially hot), who is as close to cishet as they can get (because he refuses to categorise himself as queer, has not shown any evidence of being queer, and thus allows folks with complex homophobia to assume he’s not) while also still allowing them to get half a queer rep point (because, hey, he doesn’t categorise himself… so he might be queer, right?) without having to earn it at all.

And if Harry is just completely Head Empty I’m Just Vibin In My Flower Skirt oblivious to this whole issue, then that’s fine I guess lol- let him vibe! But considering how he’s made it part of his brand to be an lgbt ally and how his fans attack anyone who says anything about this problematic conundrum by screaming that Harry is extremely socially aware and has supported the queer community more than anybody, How Dare You Accuse Him Of Anything!!!- …..Like, it’s either one or the other bro.

If Harry really does know that much about the lgbt community (enough to insert his opinions on in-community issues such as how he thinks gay characters being portrayed as sexual beings is wrong), then he HAS to know that it’s problematic for him to be accepting all these fat ass magazine cover checks and skyrocketing his personal brand with glowing profiles and grasping at more fame and positive recognition for himself via fashion choices, and generally just basking in the praise he’s getting for being a bOuNdArY bReAkInG hErO,.. that other minority gnc people with much less privilege than him have been struggling to receive for decades and STILL struggle to receive.

It’s not like it’s a capital offence or anything. I’m not saying he’s a complete and total worthless piece of shit……. It’s just grating.

#Harry styles discourse #anon #ask #answered #homophobia #transphobia #genderqueer #gay #queer discourse #my opinions #reference to an older ask

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cat-sapphics · 3 years

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Hey!

I follow the" aroace lesbian" tag and your recent posts have come up in my feed so I just wanted to say that being arospec, acespec (demiromatic graysexual, both labels in the aromantic and asexual spectrums) & lesbian is completely OKAY and you should not let anyone tell you the contrary. Especially uneducated people so 😚🤍

Many aroaces use the term aroace to encompass being in both aromantic and asexual spectrums; this means you experience little to no romantic/sexual attraction and that's more than valid. You can be both arospec and aspec! 🔥 Or arospec and asexual. Aromantic and acespec 🥺🤝

The way YOU experience romantic and sexual attraction is just different to the average allo person, & that doesn't make it any less valid. Attraction is an abstract concept and we shouldn't be putting ourselves into boxes but letting feelings be that, feelings.

Your experiences are necessary and important to our diverse & big aro/ace communities as an aroace lesbian! An aspec person is that who experiences little to no romantic attraction. That's it. THAT'S OKAY 🥰

And being an aspec lesbian is more than valid too, it's not a contradictory term because the little and fluctuating romantic & sexual attraction you DO experience, is ONLY towards women/nb so; I don't see why lesbian isn't a term you can't use. A lesbian is a women/nb female aligned person who experiences romantic, sexual and/or emotional attraction towards women/nb female aligned people. Check, check & check ✅

All in all, ace lesbians, aro lesbians and aroace lesbians are ALL part of the lesbian community & our unique experiences with romance and sex are necessary and valid for it 💓

Sorry if this got long, hope I made my point clear. Aroace lesbians have always been lesbians so don't let any exclusionists steal your peace 🧡🤍💖

thank you!! thank ya thank ya thank ya!! i really appreciate it <3

i will say, i think some of the anons i got did make some valid points (obviously not everywhere you look but they at least gave me something to think about in general) but it really took me by surprise how condescending and disapproving they all were. super uneducated too, i said i experience attraction differently or at least less frequently than average allo people and like ?? that doesn't mean i'm secretly a self-hating lesbophobe ?? you don't get to determine that for me if i'm genuinely happy even though i participate in lesbian discourse and am passionate about keeping the definition specific and closed ?? lol i didn't redefine lesbian or take away its initial meaning so it really had me peeved

i think most of their comments reflect on how they don't believe in aromanticism and asexuality being a spectrum, which i guess i invited by my own doing since i have some conservative and exclusionary views on the lgbt community and that affects my following/audience, but my response to that is that i use these labels because they bring me personal comfort. when i say i'm demiromantic i don't mean that alloromantics have zero standards when it comes to a potential partner or are completely mesmerized by the idea of hook-ups, just that the connection they need to start crushing comes within a decent time period with a personal connection, but not a super strong and deep and loving one that makes it exceptionally hard to fall in love despite however much we may desire to. the label doesn't exist to imply something bad about """normal""" people, it exists to name an experience many people have but to an intense degree. so, yes, it's a pointless social construct, it probably means nothing to you and that's fine, but it still means something to me. i'm not crying oppression or marginalization, and i'm not claiming that i'm lgbt on the basis of being demiromantic/greyasexual, but through being a nonbinary lesbian. that's the difference between mspec lesbians and aspec lesbians, is one is actively harmful to multiple groups and actually Does spawn from a place of internalized lesbophobia and/or biphobia, and the other is just "mmk this is just for me and affects nothing at all, it doesn't drag you into anything at all, i still qualify for lesbian the way you (should!) see it as technically even if you do believe it's redundant, so just... leave me alone" cause it reflects more on them than me when they make it their business by unfairly assuming things about me

same applies to me being greyasexual. still trying to figure out if it means that i experience sexual/physical attraction less frequently, less intensely, or both, but does that matter?? genuinely?? this is also redundant but i didn’t wanna leave it out of the paragraph about me being demiro fk;ljslkgbdvhbs. the aro disapproval part isn’t acceptable at all but i can at least see it since romance is so normalized and is a core part of, y’know, lgb relationships; the greyace disapproval however....... i don’t wanna label it as acephobia because i don’t really believe in aphobia being a thing, but it still kinda rubs me wrong to claim that sexual/physical attraction is a requirement ykyk... NOTHING WRONG WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEX OF COURSE (i myself kinda wanna try someday if that works out) i just think frowning upon someone who doesn’t UNLESS they try to claim they’re lgbt on that basis is.................. not really cool. i really hope people who read this understand what i’m trying to say and don’t label me as an ace inclus who thinks aphobia and oppression are real, i was just trying to make a point about my personal experiences oops lmao

and then it became "aroace means NO ATTRACTION AT ALL" okay... so i'm angled aroace, that's a sub-term since aroace is literally an umbrella term, actually (unlike lesbian, shit's complicated ykyk). "YOU'RE NOT AROACE THEN"....... they don't even like the idea of oriented aroace now either, so like, what then, are aroace people just never allowed to feel love or positive feelings from other people ever? jesus christ. i'm not even getting into this, i consider aro/ace identities to be secondary to describe one's attraction so this debate should not be as important as, say, discourse centering the L, G, B, or T. it's just dumb all around tbh

hope i addressed all the arguments against it, but i can't really care at this point if i missed something :/ i'll probably get a mean anon about it so don't worry!! /s jslgjgjkshkj;lhfp

speaking of, i've had to delete so many anons and even turn off the option to ask anonymously because of this discourse. it's so pointless in my opinion, so i've just stopped giving them my time unless i think it's worth answering - but even then, i try to keep it fairly short. i genuinely was not expecting my take on (cishet) ace discourse to turn into myself failing to be seen as a "real lesbian" despite literally meeting its definitive qualifications and then it just kept building up ?? stan behavior tbh, especially since plenty of them obviously come from the same users

i apologize for the rant. i just never really felt like i'd be listened to if i tried to explain my identity, so i gave up and just tried to ignore my way out of it. so i really genuinely appreciate your ask, especially since i can identify you. it really feels like i actually have someone on my side now, so even if you ever disagree i'd know you wouldn't harass me about it. it really means a lot, i really needed this from you and i don't wanna dump more shit but i feel that you deserve to know. so thank you again <3

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barfzal · 3 years

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(I sent the Noah ask) ok so sorry I stirred your pot, I was just trying to clarify some things about his history. I don’t know him, but I doubt the other anon does as well. I just wanted to offer you some context and insight, not spark a lively one sided political discussion. I really don’t want to argue with you at all, you seem pretty cemented in what you believe and unwilling to change that, good for you. I just wanted to give you a run down on the situation. I won’t do it in the future lol

(Cont.) also please don’t put words in my mouth. I’m not upset with anyone, at all and for you to say I am is an ad hominem at best. I fully respect that some people have a zero tolerance policy for individuals who have in any way hinted that they support, believe, agree with, etc. with anything trumpet says. I really am not arguing with you I just wanted to get that off my chest and I hope you take the time to answer this respectfully and honestly because I think it will encourage discussion (Cont.) lastly, you don’t know me. Like at all. You don’t know anything about me. I am not a bigot apologist, I am not a trump supporter, I am not a conservative, I am not a bad person. Reflect on how easy it was for you to say those things to a grey face in sunglasses. Do you think being so defensive AND offensive fosters a place for discussion and amicably? Do you think fringe voters, or those just getting into politics, will look at that and model themselves after your aggressive behavior?

oh boy. okay, let’s get into this. you one hundred percent were not trying to clarify noah’s likes history. in your original ask you started by explaining some of noah’s liked tweets which i guess was in response to my very reasonably answered ask from august. then you threw in what could be clearly read as a jab because it was one: “it seems like tumblr forgets that liking a tweet isn’t the same thing as like, worshiping the ideology it’s hinting at.” you implied here that tumblr users lack the ability to understand that liking bigoted tweets in support of trump is not the same as supporting trump which is just blatantly wrong. the whole point of “liking” a tweet is because you like it. you like what was said. it was either funny, interesting or something you agree with. everything you like on the internet is a reflection of you. algorithms are quite literally tailored to your likes because they know you like that thing and they will show you more of it, so that argument is old.

then you went on to defend noah by saying “He’s probably conservative,,, maaaaybe republican, but I doubt he’s a ‘trumpie’” right there, you made an excuse for his behavior which we discussed is very flawed because being conservative or maybe republican is still damaging and harmful. conservatives and republicans hold a lot of very harmful and morally skewed beliefs that often value money and conservative tradition over human rights, freedoms, and happiness.

i never claimed to know you. you are an anonymous person in MY ask box. i don’t know you in the slightest, but you get the advantage of looking at my blog and getting to know me. i never called you a trump supporter, a conservative or a bad person. i called you a bigot apologist and said you were being obtuse because you made excuses for a bigot liking bigoted tweets. you’re also willfully pretending that liking some tweets like noah did isn’t participating in the normalization of harmful, bigoted rhetoric.

i don’t have to “reflect” on how easy it was for me to tell you that you were a bigot apologist because i would say it to your face if you were sitting across from me. how defensively you reacted honestly proves my point even more in my opinion. not once did i disrespect you. i called a spade a spade, and a hit dog will holler.

you don’t get to tone police anyone and how they react to your poor political takes. i’m not here to be an example for people just getting into politics, and i never claimed to be that. you don’t get to tell me that i’m being too aggressive when i’m speaking on politics. you started off making jabs in your ask that would elicit this response. you even started this poor attempt at a rebuttal with “sorry I stirred your pot.” another jab. stop victimizing yourself.

lastly, you can come off anon any time you want. that was your choice to hide behind the anonymous logo. i could read your entire autobiography and sit down for lunch with you, but at the end of the day, you came to me and made excuses for a white man liking tweets that you yourself called “questionable” which is actually just a word which softens the severity of liking harmful tweets like that. you are a bigot apologist, and i stand by that. i don’t have to censor my thoughts or my opinions to be more polite or kind when these political debates directly affect my life and my rights.

#this is a long one #but i can mla format it for you too #this is one sided because you came anonymously into my ask box #what else did you expect?#asks #not hockey

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aphroditeslesbian · 4 years

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Hey, August. My sister is an EXTREME libfem. Hates terfs. Listens so all these podcasts with “male feminists”. I don’t know. I don’t know if I should try to tell her that I feel very strongly—that radical feminism has helped me so much and I hold a lot of radfem beliefs. She doesn’t know this. Idk if she should ever know. But I feel weird. I care about my sister so much. We get along. And ofc ppl can have different beliefs and politics. I should be used to this, as I have a lot of right wing 1/?

Right wing family members. So I should be used to this by now. I just feel very alone, because I have to admit, I resent the mainstream LGBT community. I feel like the evil, cruel woman they think I am. But I have just had ENOUGH. (2/2)

Hey, friend! I’m so sorry you’re struggling, and also for taking a while to respond. This period of my life is taking its toll on me, lol. Anyway, I hope you see this response.

I’m sorry you’re struggling with this. I think the best approach with your sister, if you’re close, and feel it’s important that she understands how your opinions divert on this matter, would be to tell her about your different opinions as well as you can, without actually using the words “radical feminist” or “terf” or what have you. This way you can expose your ideology and make yourself understood and even respected without raising their defenses immediately, because they have such a strong aversion to the idea of radical feminism.

People usually respond very well to basic radical rhetoric: the idea that women’s biology is an important part of the definition of womanhood, in the context of fighting against misogyny is not actually that wild. Saying that women’s biology is the reason why they’re oppressed, and that women deserve to be protect against crimes against them... Not that wild. The idea that woman has been historically oppressed by man is not only true, but easily proven by statistics and hard facts.

They may say “oh, but what about the TIMs, their feelings, their well being, their rights?” and the best response I’ve found when debating with liberals is to just point out all the ways in which trans activism directly and negatively affects women’s rights. And they may say “so do you hate men then?” and the best answer is probably to say that you hate men’s actions against women, their behavior, and that though sure, they’re entitled to trying to improve, it is not feminism’s job to help them with that, as a movement for female liberation.

I grew up in a Christian environment, and my close friends have conservative view points even if they don’t outright consider themselves right wing. I find that using language that is clear to them is the best way to make them understand my opinion while not feeling like they’re a direct attack to their own belief systems.

Honestly, I’m sure that as someone who has family who are aligned with right wings politics, you’ve had to learn this yourself. Sometimes, it’s all a matter of keeping a level head and using the right language... And also knowing when to tap out.

If you think your sister is too far gone, and might somehow make your life harder once she knows about this, it is totally okay to not reveal your beliefs. I know it can be extremely isolating to hide such a huge part of your politics, especially when lately the mainstream ideas about it are so backwards and directly harmful to LGB individuals and women. But your personal safety and mental health comes first.

There are people out there who agree with you and are willing to stand behind you. You are not alone, and you have us. I know it’s hard, the need for community is very strong in us humans, and I feel it too. But yeah, it’s like arguing with that one annoying uncle who makes shitty sexist comments every chance he gets: there’s no point, he’ll come out of it feeling vindicated, and you won’t be able to change his mind.

I also will say... Embrace being the “evil cruel woman”. You have reasons behind your beliefs, and you know them. If people wanna paint you otherwise, that is their loss. I’m sure you are kind, and nice, and caring. You’re entitled to also be angry and done with all this bullshit we’ve been fed by the qu**r circles lately. So if they wanna view you as evil, let them. Continue on your own path, it’s okay. It’s okay to not have mainstream beliefs, it’s okay to disagree. It’s okay that people may not like you for this. What they think of us doesn’t actually change the reality of what we are. Understand that, and stand strong with that knowledge.

I’m not saying it’s easy, nor do I think my words are magic and poof you’ll be healed of your worries. But trying to shift your perspective on what it means to be disliked for believing women deserve basic decency is a good first step to stopping letting other people’s shortcomings and other people’s hatred make you feel hateful yourself.

I wish you the best, and whether you decide to tell your sister or not... Know that you don’t stand alone. Take care, stay safe.

#august rants #anon

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aridara · 4 years

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Fun times: that literal motherfucker of @hominishostilis wrote a response to a post that I made all the way back in 2017. Except that I discovered it just now, because he blocked me a long time ago because I dared to point out that he defended literal Nazis.

Anyway, since I hate him, here’s my reply to him.

1) You’re lying, lol. Not only did you call basically anything “repetition” without actually making any sort of argument, but you also called basically anything “false” without actually making …. any sort of argument.

This is completely false, by the way. For example, Hominishostilis claimed that me calling Richard Spencer “the father of the alt-right” was the funniest thing they ever heard anyone call Spencer. In response, I...

Linked to Wikipedia’s page about Richard Spencer, which describes his views in detail.

Linked to Wikipedia’s page about the Alt-Right movement, which explains where the movement came from and specifically cites Spencer’s webzine “The Alternative Right” as one of the sources of the movement.

I pointed out that Spencer was the one who coined the term “alt-right”.

I pointed out that Spencer is a speaker and organizer of many alt-right meetings.

I pointed out that Spencer promotes the same ideals as the alt-right.

I pointed out that a good chunk of alt-righters looks at Spencer as a leader.

This is NOWHERE near “calling basically anything “repetition” without actually making any sort of argument”, or near “calling basically anything “false” without actually making any sort of argument”.

Kind of like when you ignored huge swathes of things that factually proved you wrong in leu of presenting any actual rebuttal to them.

Note how Hominishostilis will never - and I mean NEVER - actually mention one single thing that 1) was supposed to factually prove me wrong and 2) I ignored without presenting any rebuttal.

2) It’s my post, on my blog - why would I need to link to it?

This requires some context.

You see, in this post, I answered one of Hominishostilis’ posts... without reblogging said post, because Hominis’ post was utter shit, and I didn’t want that shit on my blog. However, I always quoted the bits that I was addressing, without altering them; most importantly, at the beginning of my post, I placed a link to Hominis’ post. That way, if someone wanted to see Hominis’ post in full (for example, to see if I represented his post accurately, or if instead I deliberately omitted important stuff from his post), they could’ve done so.

Hominishostilis threw a shitfit, as you can see in this thread. He claimed that I edited his reply (I did not), then smashed what’s left together, out of context, as some kind of “gotcha” (it wasn’t a “gotcha”). He claimed that I cut out HUGE sections of his argument (because they were useless repetition), snapped up the quotes I figured I could use to misrepresent his argument (I represented his argument accurately), and then blocked him so that he couldn’t even reply (HE was the one who blocked ME). He also claimed that I was wrong to not reblog his post, because apparently I knew that lazy people would just read my response and agree with me (this doesn’t explain why I linked to Hominishostilis’ full post...).

The hypocrisy comes from the fact that not only Hominishostilis did NOT reblog my post; but, unlike me, he didn’t quote anything from the post that he was responding to, and didn’t link to the post he was responding to.

3) You literally can’t prove that, but you continually assert it as some kind of fact.

This refers to my claim that Trump is a fucking bigot. And yes, I did prove it. I asserted it as some kind of fact because it IS a fact.

You present it as a black/white situation while ALSO asserting there’s no other options besides the ones you present,...

That’s because there literally weren’t any options. Trump is a bigot; that is an undeniable fact. People who voted for him either knew that fact, or not; in the former case, they either considered Trump’s bigotry a positive trait, or a negative one. There are no other options. If you voted for Trump, the only possibilities are:

You didn’t knew that Trump was a bigot. You voted for him.

You knew that Trump was a bigot, and considered it a positive quality. You voted for him.

You knew that Trump was a bigot, and considered it a negative quality. You voted for him anyway.

...and that “by all evidence Hillary would have been better” - another assertion you can’t prove, lol.

Note that he never proved that Hillary would’ve been worse.

4) Bigotry “literally” doesn’t kill people.

This claim is completely and utterly absurd, not to mention contrary to all evidence and reason.

It’s also not an excuse to assault people because you *think* they might *eventually* hurt someone.

Yes, it is. If you have reason to believe that someone will harm other people, you’re allowed to act to stop them. It’s that easy.

What people label “hate speech” and “bigotry” has also been stretched over opinions that aren’t even hateful.

This is hilarious, considering that he constantly defends bigotry.

That’s the point you keep conveniently ignoring - you’re still pretending that only the most evil of evil people are the ones being attacked when it’s not. You’ve ignored all evidence of this and dismissed it because that would require you to think critically for two seconds.

No, I did not ignore that. However, I know the following:

One: only a relatively small minority of people on the left attacks inncoent people for no reason.

Two: Hominishostilis is an unreliable narrator. He actively defends neo-Nazis and denies that they did anything wrong. When people correctly called the neo-Nazis at Charlottesville “Nazis”, Hominis falsely claimed that they called innocent non-Nazi people “Nazis”. So, his word isn’t valid evidence. This means that, when he claims that we’re attacking innocent people, we cannot accept his word as evidence.

5) http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Trump+supporter+set+on+fire , you are a moron.

Hominishostilis is trying to rewrite what happened. The context is that he linked me to a video, claiming that it showed “Trump protesters literally sett[ing] a Trump supporter on fire”. I pointed out (correctly) that the video did NOT show what he claimed.

6) He really isn’t. I explained that rather thoroughly, but you again chose to ignore that whole argument and circle back to your “well he DOES STUFF VAGUELY LIKE NAZIS!!”,...

This is false, by the way. Both the claim that Spencer is not a Nazi, the claim that I ignored his “arguments”, and the claim that my arguments bioled down to “well, he does stuff vaguely like Nazis”.

then accused me of “defending him” (LOL) He’s a white nationalist, he’s a racist, but he’s still not a “Nazi”. You’re the New McCarthyists, but instead of The Red Menace it’s “errebody is a NAZI!” Not every racist nationalist is a Nazi.

Presented without comment.

7) Addressed this - it’s not just “Nazis” being attacked, it’s not even mostly “Nazis” being attacked. It’s mostly ordinary people, fellow leftists, and anyone who seems even vaguely conservative these days.

I’m cutting out this bullshit because, besides having been already disproven a million times, there’s the fact that the evidence that he brought to support his claim (his own word)... simply isn’t enough.

8) Nope. Debate them, mock them, show people how indefensible and stupid their arguments are. We’ve gone over this twice now, my guy - it’s not “Nazis” being suppressed.

Blah blah blah, I’m cutting out more bullshit.

Also, fun fact: this entire thing originally started when tumblr user Slimetony wrote: “how dare you advocate violence against people who advocate violence. let them advocate violence in peace. who are you to suppress their right to advocate violence.” Which highlights the hypocrisy of certain people (alt-righters included), who have no problems with bigots advocating violence for no reason; but have big problems with people who advocate for violence against bigots.

Slimetony mocked alt-righters, and showed how indefensible and stupid their arguments are.

Hominishostilis got pissed. He couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t accept the fact that Slimetony highlighted Hominis’ hypocrisy.

9)Until someone acts on it, that’s exactly what they are. They’re just words.

You know, I issued a challenge to all those who claim that hate speech - including advocating in favor of discriminating against / deporting / harming marginalized groups for no reason other that they dare to exist - is protected by “free speech”. The challenge is to:

Find one space (an online community, a country, a political party, an organization...);

Where hate speech (described above) was freely allowed;

Where bigotry did NOT quickly spread within said space, becoming more common and worse as a result.

Literally nobody who tried my challenge has ever succeeded. Ever. Which leads to the following conclusion:

When a space freely allows hate speech, it ALWAYS leads to said bigotry spreading within that space, becoming more common and worse as a result.

So, yes, hate speech, despite being “just words”, leads to violence unless challenged. If challenging it requires fists, I don’t have any problems with it - because it means that said hate speech is quickly leading to causing violence, at which point I’ll have to use my fists anyway.

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ramblingclandestinethoughts · 5 years

Text

Welp

So. Um. My mom is now aware that I believe being gay is ok? I was NOT expecting that conversation to happen yet and I was Not Ready lol, but…yeah, it happened. Since we’d talked about sex outside of marriage she ended up asking me later if I still believed homosexuality was wrong. And since I can’t lie for shit, especially not to my mom, I kinda had to just answer that honestly. I was not prepared lmao – I don’t know when I would’ve ended up talking to her about it but I was going to look over my research beforehand, plan out my arguments, pick an ideal moment to bring it up, etc, and…yeah….did not get to do any of that. But it went ok? I wasn’t sure how open she’d be, but it helps that she’s a generally accepting and loving person and also doesn’t jump to conclusions and freak out about me disagreeing with her on things. I started by talking about how the Bible really isn’t that clear about it bc there’s debate about the translations and that they hadn’t even studied the concept of sexual orientation back then, and that most homosexuality involved men with their servant boys and/or cult worship rituals, and that the word “homosexuality” didn’t even exist until the 19th century. And then I went on to say that ultimately it just seems like there’s a lot of good that comes out of people being gay and a lot of bad that comes out of homophobia, and how human beings’ lives are more important to me at this point than what the Bible may or may not say. And a big part of it for me is that Christians are putting compassion on one side of the issue and the Bible on the other, and isn’t the whole point of Christianity for those two things to be on the same side?

One thing that was hard was expressing how I can actually know for sure that there’s a lot of good that comes out of gay relationships – I really only have the internet for that and, as my mom reminded me, the internet has a lot of things that aren’t true on it. We both live in this small-town, conservative Christian bubble and neither of us has had much exposure to anything or anyone lgbt+ related. So it’s hard to find any kind of “proof” to give her that there really are gay people out there living their best lives and having healthy relationships. But she listened to me when I was talking about everything and asked questions and had statements to make (variants of “it just seems really unnatural” came up multiple times) but was overall very understanding and said it made sense for me to be doing this and starting to have different beliefs at this stage of my life. She basically landed on something to the effect of “I wouldn’t want my own kids to be gay (aka me and my brother), but I don’t know for sure if it’s wrong or right, but also I respect what you believe about it.” And I would honestly have been shocked if she just up and changed her lifelong beliefs about this after one conversation, so I think it went about as good as it could have gone despite my lack of preparation. Another cool thing is she mentioned that one of the youth pastors at our church might be lgbt-affirming – she’s not sure but she’s going to ask him on Sunday, and if he is she thought he and I might be able to talk about it. I haven’t talked to him much for a couple of years (since getting out of high school and thus no longer attending youth group and stuff) but I really like him and as mom mentioned he does a lot of Bible studying so she knows he’ll have thought it through. On one hand it feels nice to have finally told her this, but I’m also still processing the fact that this actually happened and as I said I was NOT READY lol and I really didn’t expect to be having this conversation yet. Also I’m nervous about accidentally letting slip that I’m questioning my own sexuality – if she asks me directly I think I really will just have to straight-up lie bc I know I thought I wasn’t ready for the convo we had but I’m really, really, completely not ready for any kind of coming out. Not until I at least have a better idea of what my sexuality actually is and some kind of support network.

#family stuff #homophobia #idk i still can't believe this convo happened lol

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tyrus-time · 6 years

Text

You’re Still The One // Tyrus Month, "College”

@tyrusweek /// AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15768714

Summary: Cyrus and TJ had grown very close, but they lost touch throughout high school. TJ wished he had told Cyrus how he really felt all those years ago, but he finally accepted that he would never know what might have been. Until one day, when TJ is walking aroun d his newuniversity campus after transferring. Call it fate, destiny, or the Universe -- something brings the two of them back together again.

“TJ Kippen?!”

TJ heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned around to see none other than Cyrus Goodman, his friend from middle school. “Hey, look who it is!”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s you! I didn’t know we both went here!” The excitement in Cyrus’ voice sent warmth through TJ’s chest.

“I actually just transferred here this semester. I finished my associate’s at community college and now I’m here on scholarship.” TJ smiled, “It’s great to see you! I wasn’t expecting to run into you.”

“Well, it’s a pleasant surprise for me, too.” Cyrus’ eyes looked TJ up and down, not-so-subtly checking him out. “You look great, by the way,” he remarked.

“Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself,” TJ winked, attempting to maintain his suave confident exterior. Nevermind the fact that his knees felt weak and his heart felt fluttery.

The two smiled at each other for a moment until Cyrus looked away to check his watch. “Oh geez, I need to get to class now, but I’d love to catch up with you later... Would you like to meet for dinner?”

TJ smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. Any suggestions where? I’m new around here and I don’t know the local hangout spots.”

“Yeah, do you have the same cell number as you did before? I can text you the details.”

TJ nodded. “Sounds good. See you later, Cyrus.”

TJ couldn’t believe it. What were the odds that he’d run into Cyrus here and now?

They hadn’t seen each other in four or five years. The two had been inseparable during middle school. They had been close — closer than most teenage boys allowed themselves to be. Their friendship was so supportive; it seemed like a bond to last a lifetime. But there was something else about their relationship. A natural chemistry. An intimate longing. Feelings that neither of them outright acknowledged or acted upon. Oh, the uncertainty of adolescence.

The two fell out of touch when they went to different high schools, and if TJ had one regret, it was that he never told Cyrus how he truly felt. What should I have done? I didn’t want to ruin our friendship, but it didn’t last anyway. Oh well, right? TJ resigned himself to the fact that he’d never have an answer to all the “what if’s.” He would never know what might have happened between them.

But now.

Now they were here, together, at college. Meeting for dinner. Talking face-to-face.

Was this fate? Was this time to finally say everything he had previously held back? Was the universe on his side for once?

I guess I’ll find out tonight.

——

They met at a cozy cafe adjacent to campus. String lights cast a warm glow onto the street. Cyrus was waiting outside, hands in the pockets of his cardigan. He’s still the same adorable Cyrus, isn’t he, TJ noted with fondness as he approached. “Hey, Cyrus.”

Cyrus smiled and opened the door for TJ. “Shall we?”

“What a gentleman! Thank you.”

As soon as he stepped in, TJ was enveloped by the smell of coffee and cocoa. Cyrus, with his typical nerdy enthusiasm, gave TJ a rundown of the cafe’s food options. After ordering their sandwiches and grabbing their drinks, Cyrus led them over to a cozy booth in the corner. “This is my favorite spot,” he gleamed.

TJ took in the light fixtures and the art on the walls. “I can see why! Really nice atmosphere here.”

“I know, right? Ah, it’s so comfortable, but I also feel so adult when I come in here to work on my laptop and sip espresso.”

TJ chucked. “So, do you come here often?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Cyrus flirted. TJ, not expecting such a response, almost choked on his drink. “Oh, shoot, are you okay?!”

Great job, Kippen. A few minutes into this and you’re already falling apart. “I’m fine,” TJ rasped. Compose yourself. “Ah, so, how have you been? What are you studying?”

Much to TJ’s relief, his awkwardness faded as Cyrus launched into discussion of his past two years at college. Conversation came easy between the two of them, and the more they talked, the more comfortable they became. They carried on as if nothing had ever disrupted their original relationship. After a shared fit of laughter over a particularly funny anecdote, Cyrus took a deep breath and asked, “Gosh, why did we ever stop hanging out?”

TJ’s lips twitched to the side, his eyes gazing down.

Cyrus continued, “I know that life happens, but I should’ve done more to stay in touch with you after you moved. I could’ve come to support you at your high school games, but I just… stopped...”

Hearing Cyrus’ guilt made TJ’s eyes dart up. “No, do not blame yourself, Cyrus. I… I let myself drift away from everybody I met at Jefferson.” TJ bit his lip, debating how much he should reveal. “When I moved, it was because… I was put into a new foster home.”’

Cyrus’ eyes widened. “Oh, TJ, I never realized…”

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that. I never let anyone know, even you. Why do you think I never let anyone come over to my house?”

Cyrus nodded in understanding.

“There were a lot of us in that home. I didn’t get much attention or assistance from my foster parents; there were younger kids that required their care.” TJ’s voice was straightforward, but with a hint of pain. “They gave me food and a place to sleep, but I was mostly on my own. That’s kinda why I started working so young.”

Cyrus listened attentively.

“But then I was moved to be with a family that could be more attentive to me, which is great right? It was supposed to be a more supportive environment. I guess it was in some ways. But… they were pretty... conservative.”

Cyrus gave him a look, urging him to continue.

TJ sighed. “They were homophobic. I… I wouldn’t have felt safe coming out to them.”

Cyrus’ mouth fell slightly agape. “Wait. So… you’re—?

TJ smirked, “Bisexual, yeah.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Cyrus smiled. “I’m very gay, by the way, in case you couldn’t already tell.”

TJ laughed with a big grin, “Yeah, I suspected so.” The two shared a playful look.

“So… why exactly did you cut contact with us when you moved, if you don’t mind me asking? You didn’t want us to know you were in the foster system?”

“Yeah, I had a lot of shame about that. But also…” TJ took a deep breath. “I was afraid of where things might go, with… with you and me.” TJ paused. He could feel the lump rising in his throat. Everything he always wished he had said… he now had the chance to say it.

TJ took a deep breath. “I liked you, Cyrus. I always did. All the way back to our first conversation. I thought you were cute and sweet and I wanted to get to know you, and... I think you were my first actual friend, to be honest. And… You made me a better person. I made myself be a better person, because you inspired me. I realized I wanted to be better, and I wanted to be better for you.”

TJ’s eyes finally met those of the boy in front of him. Cyrus looked starstruck. He was speechless. But in a good way, it seemed?

TJ reached across the table to grab Cyrus’ hands, which had been resting at the edge of the table. “Cyrus, maybe you never realized it, but I was in love with you,” he smiled. “Or at least, as in-love a person can be when he’s 14.”

Cyrus blinked, trying to ground himself amidst this revelatory moment.

“What are you thinking?” TJ asked nervously.

“I’m thinking… that Buffy and Andi were right, dammit!” Cyrus laughed. “They suspected that you and I were a thing. ‘You two totally make heart eyes at each other!’ But I never let myself believe it. I was too afraid… I wasn’t ready. Maybe that’s why I let myself drift away from you?” Cyrus’s brow knitted up, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey. Don’t be! I’m thankful for what we did have. You really changed my life. You should always feel proud of that, Underdog.”

Cyrus chuckled at the old nickname. “Ah, I really appreciate you saying that. But still… what might have happened, if we did things differently? I can’t help but wonder.”

TJ shrugged. “It wasn’t the right time for us,” he responded.

“Well… what about now?”

“What?”

Cyrus blushed. “What if now is the right time? For us?”

TJ tilted his head with a grin. “Cyrus Goodman, are you asking me out?” he beamed.

Cyrus put his fingers to his chin in mock-thought. “Why, yes, yes I am!” He laughed. “Actually, I’m asking you on a second date. I’m counting this as our first.”

TJ’s smile was so warm, so bright, it could have lit up the moon. “You’re serious? You — you really want to go out with me?”

Cyrus rolled his eyes, “TJ Kippen, you must realize how attractive you are.”

“Lol, yeah, but… I don’t know, I guess I always thought I wasn’t worthy of dating you. You’re so good. I’m not that special.”

“Oh hush. Is that your insecurity or just false humility talking? Have you forgotten how much you helped me? I don’t know if I ever would have danced with danger, were it not for you! From day one, you pushed me out of my comfort zone while supporting me. I think you’re pretty damn special, TJ.”

TJ giggled with his hand over his face. He wasn’t used to be complimented so earnestly. But him and Cyrus, they had always been vulnerable with each other. It was about time that they were completely honest.

Pulling out his charming smirk, TJ laughed and admitted, “Okay fine, you’re right. I am pretty great.”

“Theeere’s that classic TJ charm!” Cyrus played.

The two men continued to banter, laughing and flirting. With old secrets and emotions finally confessed, the two continued to talk about their current lives. Both were succeeding in their studies and both had dreams of moving out to the coast. They marvelled at how easy it was to talk to each other, naturally picking up after all these years. The chemistry was still there, but there was something more. Growth. There was no longer the uncertainty of being 13.

Maybe they were ‘meant to be’ after all… It was now, finally, the right time for them.

#i've been working on this too long already so here just take it #pls lmk if theres typos i missed btw #tyrus #tyrus month #tyrus fanfic #fic #andi mack #tj kippen is bisexual and flustered #cyrus goodman is surprisingly flirty

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ilistenedin · 3 years

Text

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

When I’m high sometimes. And sometimes when I’m really low.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

Like a 4

3. The person you would never want to meet?

A right wing conservative. Or myself.

4. What is your favorite word?

I don’t know that I have one.

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

A dead one

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

“Fat”

7. What shirt are you wearing?

A homemade Asajj Ventress tank top

8. What do you label yourself as?

A fucking mess

9. Bright room or dark room?

Dim

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Talking to Lauryn I think

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

13 was lit

12. Who told you they loved you last?

Dani, I think

13. Your worst enemy?

Me, myself, and I, baby

14. What is your current desktop picture?

I don’t have a computer. But when I did, it was Ahsoka Tano vs Darth Vader

15. Do you like someone?

Yes, very much

16. The last song you listened to?

Deja Vu by Olivia Rodrigo

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

I wouldn’t

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

Myself

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

Any right wing conservative. Clean my fucking apartment top to bottom. And my car.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

I like my ears and my thumbs

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

I would probably look the same but with a beard, flat chest, and penis. I would pee standing up. And jerk offs. And walk around at 3am. And attempt to have sex w someone.

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

I cannot think of one

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

Butterflies.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

That is an extremely unfair question.

But I guess if I have to choose; a fried egg sandwich on a Cuban bread roll with breakfast sausage, cheddar cheese, and white sausage gravy.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

Probably on food

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

France

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

That is also a very hard question. I cannot think of a brand specific but like a sour fruit beer probably.

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

No right wing conservatives.

29. What is your favorite expletive?

Cunt.

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

I’m taking two, idgaf; my MCR hoodie and my MCR Frank Iero Black Parade mask/coffin

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Well. To not be too detailed. A certain day in 6th grade.

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

This isn’t A question?

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

I guess if it has to be a person I would bring back my great grandma. If it could be any being, I would bring back Kratos and Artemis.

34. What was your last dream about?

Pulsating lights, colors, and sounds

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?

Person? Debatable

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

Yes

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

I built a snow dick

38. What is the color of your socks?

Not wearing any rn

39. What type of music do you like?

Literally every kind

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

Sunsets

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

Cookies and cream

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

Patriots

43. Do you have any scars?

On my knee

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

This question does not apply to me

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

All of me. Throw the whole human away.

46. Are you reliable?

Not really

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

Does it get better?

48. Do you hold grudges?

Not typically

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

Fox and raccoon

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

I can’t think of one

51. Are you a good liar?

Very

52. How long could you go without talking?

Days

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

I had a mullet my senior year of high school. I also had a rat tail thing in like 2011

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

I try lol

56. What do you like on your toast?

Butter or cream cheese

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

I don’t remember

58. What would be you dream car?

Honda Civic or an Audi

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

I sing, I dance, and cry. Almost every time I shower.

60. Do you believe in aliens?

Yes

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

Yes

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

Dragons

64. What do you think about babies?

Not for me

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of.

#memhm

0 notes

mostweakhamlets · 7 years

Text

Noble Hearts: Hamlet fanfic Ch. 2

Modern college AU. Oneshots from the gang’s time at Wittenberg.

I made up politics for this and gave the Danish monarch more power than what they really do lol

Chapter 2: To Thine Ownself Be True

“Horatio, my ice cream is melting.”

“What do you want me to do about it? Eat it faster.”

Hamlet leaned into Horatio’s side, finding a comfortable spot against the bony shoulder. He really should have found some exciting interest in the news, but it mostly made him nervous. The only thing that was cheering him up was the ice cream Rosencrantz and Guildenstern brought, but he even had to set that aside on the coffee table when his stress ate away at his appetite.

“I don’t want to talk about this in classes tomorrow,” he said.

“Your classes?” Rosencrantz asked, mouth full of ice cream. “I’d think you’d be afraid of talking to your father.”

“I’m don’t want to talk to him, either. I don’t want to talk to anyone about politics.”

“You should have thought about that before you became prince,” Guildenstern said.

Horatio ran his fingers through Hamlet’s hair. Horatio was his only sympathetic ear during the elections. He understood that Hamlet was anxious and felt ill thinking about the wrong people ending up in parliament. It was hard being a prince. He had to talk to these people, and he had to meet with the prime minister all the time, and he was really worried about that. He begged his father to listen to what he had to say. But as usual, his father calmly told him to not worry and to trust him.

“I’d be more afraid talking to Ophelia,” Horatio said.

“God, I’m afraid of how this is going to play out for her,” Rosencrantz said.

Hamlet watched the journalist announce another seat won for the Red-Green Alliance. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. The party wasn’t bad, and he didn’t mind them getting another seat. He only worried about the Social Democrats (or the red bloc in general) ending up with less seats than they currently had. Or, more importantly, the Venstre Party gaining too many seats, and Polonius being a leader of a significant chunk of Parliament.

“It’ll be fine,” Guildenstern said. “Her father’s party isn’t moving from their rank. There’s no way. I was just talking to my mom about this.”

There was something a little off about Polonius. Hamlet couldn’t quite place what it was. Ophelia was a great friend, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her that her father seemed just a tad crazy. His own father didn’t even like hearing Hamlet claim that Polonius was unfit for politics.

“What’s with the face?” Horatio asked, poking Hamlet in the cheek.

“I don’t like this reporter.”

“Why?”

“She says mean things about me when I’m not there to defend myself.”

“Like what?”

“She said that I was rude for talking to my mother during some press conference. Who gets called rude for talking to their mother? I don’t have to listen to my father when he addresses reporters. I know what he says. I sit in at meetings.”

“Eat your ice cream, love.”

“She’s also called me fat.”

“No, she hasn’t.”

“Okay she hasn’t… but I bet she would. A lot of people do.”

Horatio wrapped his arm around Hamlet. Guildenstern laughed.

“Including me,” he said.

“Aww… leave him alone,” Rosencrantz said. “Hamlet, we love you--.”

“Fuck!”

Hamlet sat up. The Venstre Party had eight more seats added to their colorful bar at the bottom of the screen. They replaced the Danish People’s Party and slid up to the second rank.

“They just replaced the far-right,” Horatio said. “What’s wrong with that?”

“They have more seats,” Hamlet said. “We don’t want any conservative party getting more seats.”

“Social Democrats still have the most,” Rosencrantz said. “Red bloc is doing fine right now.”

“They’re going to fall behind. Venstre’s never done this well before. They never get so many seats.”

“You know, I hate to say this, but Polonius did do a good job at all those debates. God knows how. He’s usually a rambling idiot. He must have really struck a chord with everyone.”

Rosencrantz sounded slightly somber. It worried Hamlet even more. Rosencrantz was hardly ever serious, and Hamlet depended on that.

They looked at each other. Rosencrantz’s eyebrows were lifted in some emotion Hamlet didn’t know. Whatever it was -- sorrow, worry, sympathy -- it had never been on his face before. Hamlet only knew his awkward laughs and forced smiles when times were hard.

“Venstre’s turned out a lot of prime ministers,” Hamlet mumbled.

“You don’t really think Polonius of all people is going to be prime minister, do you?” Rosencrantz asked.

“I don’t know. My dad kinda likes him. There’s something about him that makes him so likeable, and I don’t get it.”

“He’s smart. My mom told me that he’s been to very elite schools.”

“He’s been under the public’s radar this whole time.”

“That’s what makes him so loveable. No one knew him, but then he popped up out of nowhere and had all these credentials. And we’re probably bias. We know him as Ophelia’s father.”

“I guess he’s impressive, but… It’s like no one has heard him talk before! It’s like he’s delivering some monologue every time he opens his mouth. He doesn’t need to talk so much.”

“He doesn’t even say much. He just makes it sound like he thought about everything way beforehand.”

“And somehow Ophelia came from him.”

“Shut up,” Horatio hissed. “Social Democrats got three more seats.”

“Thank god.”

Hamlet relaxed back into the couch. Horatio’s hand rested on his leg, his thumb stroking his thigh.

The reporter was talking again, telling everyone how close the blue bloc was to catching up to the red bloc. It was infuriating. Hamlet’s skin crawled as he thought about the conservatives getting the majority of the seats once they all grouped together. He didn’t want to imagine who he’d get stuck with in council meetings once his father “listened to the people” and chose some old, saggy-skinned, grey-haired right winger as prime minister. It would probably be Polonius, too, if his party stayed the second largest.

As much as Hamlet adored Ophelia, he was incredibly unnerved by her family. Polonius wasn’t even the worst. He had met her brother, Laertes, earlier that semester when he visited her on campus. He struck Hamlet as a bully and possessive. There was only so much Hamlet could stand of him before he excused himself back to his room to work on homework. The last thing Laertes said to him was to stay away from Ophelia, for she deserved someone else’s better love.

Hamlet would have loved to have pointed to his boyfriend at that moment, but Horatio was working. He settled for walking away after kissing Ophelia on the cheek.

“More results are coming in,” the reporter said. “The Venstre Party has gained 7 seats, leaving them only 12 seats behind the Social Democrats Party. Here to discuss the sudden, unexpected popularity of the liberal-conservative party are two analysts--”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Guildenstern whispered.

The camera zoomed out to reveal two men in suits sitting with the reporter at a glass table.

Hamlet’s phone vibrated against the coffee table.

“Shit.”

He grabbed it and answered, running from the room and to the front door.

“Hi, dad.”

“Are you watching the election, kiddo?”

His father’s voice on the other end was loud as usual. There was some sort of background noise, and Hamlet imagined his parents were in a room full of other politicians.

He sighed. “Yeah.”

He stepped outside, the cold air hitting his cheeks and stiffening his lungs.

“Polonius could take the lead tonight.”

“Could he? Really? The polls said that the Social Democrats were going to have the most seats and they would push the red bloc into the majority.”

“The polls aren’t always right. You know that.”

“But they can’t be this wrong.”

“We’re just going to have to wait and watch.”

Hamlet wrapped his free arm around himself and shifted from foot to foot. He could see his breath frost over in front of him. It floated over his head until it faded right before hitting the landing above.

“And we’re going to get a new prime minister tonight, you know that,” his dad said.

Hamlet closed his eyes. “Yeah…”

“And if the blue bloc pulls ahead, I think I’m going to appoint Polonius.”

“But why? He’s not good enough to be prime minister.”

“Hamlet, that’s your personal judgement. If he’s leading the most popular bloc, then that’s what the people want. And we have to--”

“Listen to the people and serve them. I know. But it’s also my professional judgement that he’s senile.”

“He is not senile. He’s barely older than your mother and I, so watch what you say.”

“But you’re both so good looking and sharp for your ages.”

“If you weren’t the heir, I’d suggest you become a comedian.”

“Thank you.”

“Hamlet, Polonius is qualified for the job. Besides, Claudius has worked with him before, and they think highly of each other.”

“Wait. Uncle Claudius gets a say in this? But I don’t?”

“He doesn’t get a say. He’s just passing along advice, and I’m listening to all the advice I get.”

“Can I give you my advice?”

His father sighed. “What is it?”

“Just think about it a little more before you actually decide tonight? Please? Polonius may be leading the right wing, but that doesn’t mean he can run a country with us. Popularity doesn’t mean capability.”

“Alright. For your sake, I’ll take some more time.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re the one that’s going to see the new PM in council meetings, anyways.”

“But being the crown prince is only a summer job. Unless the new PM decides I have to prioritize politics over school.”

His father laughed. “Go back to watching the results. Don’t stay up if they go on too late. You have classes tomorrow.”

“I won’t.”

“Goodnight, kiddo.”

“Goodnight.”

His father was totally not going to take his advice to heart as much as Hamlet wanted him to. He trudged back inside, looking at his friends still crowded around the television.

“Who was that?” Horatio asked.

“My dad.”

“Did he tell you anything top secret?” Guildenstern asked.

“No. He just called to ask if I was watching.”

He walked past the sitting room and towards the hall. He feared watching the rest of the election would make him ill now that he knew Polonius was almost definitely going to be prime minister. And partially thanks to Claudius. Hamlet had a deep, bad feeling about their partnership, but his father would never listen to a gut feeling.

“Where are you going, love?”

“I’m not feeling well. I’m going to lay down.”

“Do you want us to leave?” Rosencrantz asked.

“No! Stay. It’s alright. I might come back out. I just…”

He didn’t bother finishing his sentence before disappearing behind his bedroom door. They were all used to his habits and mood swings by that point. They shouldn’t have been bothered.

An hour passed with Hamlet occasionally hearing commentary outside his room. It was muffled and the words were lost, but Hamlet could hear the tones of the three boys.

He checked his phone every so often when he got a text from a friend from home, asking if he saw the recent jump in seats. Every time he looked up the results, he felt nauseous and regretted it and returned to his book.

Elections had never affected him so much before. There was never a political party he feared would get undeserved power, and he never worried that his father’s decision would be so aggravating. He tried telling himself that he should put his trust in his people like his father told him to. He wanted to be the prince his father wanted him to be: calm, loyal, and conscious to his country’s needs. But it was borderline impossible when all he wanted to do was call his father and beg him like a child to not appoint Polonius.

Maybe he was just too young. Maybe once he aged out of college, he would understand that instincts weren’t always meant to be listened to. He might value logic a bit more and find unwavering confidence in statistics. If the citizens were favoring a man, then he would find it easier to accept despite his own opinions. Maybe he would learn to cast his own opinions aside, too.

He really wanted to stay a child forever and let his father reign for decades longer.

“Hamlet?”

There were light knocks on the door.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes,” he called, sitting up and leaning against the headboard of his bed.

Rosencrantz stepped in, trying his best to smile despite the obvious hesitance in his eyes. Hamlet set his book aside and tried to brace himself for bad news.

“The last of the results came in,” Rosencrantz said.

His voice was too quiet. Hamlet didn’t even know it was possible for him to be so quiet. Ever since their childhood, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had been loud and rambunctious. They were constantly being put in opposite corners of classrooms and scolded by their parents for running around. Hamlet loved that about them. He was always the quiet child, forced to be polite from birth to avoid any diplomatic hiccups. They helped him learn to find some of his childhood freedom while they never grew out of theirs.

“I don’t think I want to know,” Hamlet laughed.

He looked at his lap, pressing his lips together. Maybe he could get one more decent night’s sleep if he just ignored it all.

He felt fingers trail through his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

Rosencrantz was surprisingly more gentle than Horatio. He knew where Hamlet’s hair would knot up and avoided the areas before his fingers came even close. It was a touch Hamlet hadn’t felt for years.

It was as though they were fifteen again, spending the summer afternoons in the courtyard of the palace. Hamlet would lay with his head in Rosencrantz lap, reading poetry and novels out loud as flowers were placed in his hair that was lightening significantly from the sun. Rosencrantz’s freckles came out that year as well. They were always there, against his pale skin like someone had flicked orange paint at him. But after only a month, they spread across his nose and cheeks to under his long hair that hung in his face for a couple years.

The freckles that Hamlet had once kissed were still there, faded only slightly under adult eyes staring at him with concern.

“Venstre has the most seats,” Rosencrantz said. “And they’re forming a coalition with the Danish People’s Party.”

“The Danish People’s Party?”

Rosencrantz nodded.

“Why them? They’re awful people. They’re bigoted swine.”

“I don’t know. Polonius just announced that he’s had this deal with them. It’s not official… yet. But it will be by tomorrow, I’m sure.”

“That absolute jerk! Those people voted for his party, not the Danish People’s. He should have… Who would have thought that he wanted a coalition with them? They don’t agree. That swine!” Hamlet shouted.

He jumped to his feet. Rosencrantz wasn’t startled in the slightest.

“That absolutely, miserable, no-good, ass-kissing swine! He shouldn’t get to partner with a party he openly disagreed with! He went out there and said to the other leader’s face that he doesn’t agree with his policies. But he’s been buddies with him this whole time? How many seats does that give them? Who else are they adding to this? They’re going to go for a majority government for fuck’s sake. I know it. No one’s going to be able to stop their legislation from being passed. There’s not going to be enough people outside their coalition.”

Hamlet struggled to catch his breath. Rosencrantz rose. For once, he was the calm one.

He wrapped his arms around Hamlet and pulled him into a hug. Hamlet laid his head down on his shoulder.

“And he’s going to end up being prime minister,” Hamlet said, voice not strong enough to be above a whisper.

“You’ll figure something out.”

But Hamlet didn’t know where to begin untangling it all. He could call his father again and try to change his mind, but it would still leave the conservatives in power in parliament. There was a chance the partnership would be broken before they made it official. If they couldn’t reach any agreements, they would be forced to go their separate ways. Hamlet could hold on to a little sliver of hope that their secret affair would be broken up. Maybe he could deal with Polonius better if he knew that Polonius didn’t control most of the parliament.

Hamlet’s stomach churned. He didn’t want the right wing to have absolute power. Not with how they all campaigned that season. They all pushed for anti-immigration laws and spewed racist rhetorics. Polonius was the only one who kept the middle ground, but it was all starting to unravel as a lie. And Hamlet knew Polonius couldn’t have been trusted.

What would happen to his Denmark? His family had preached tolerance and acceptance for years, and their country was built on those morals. Hamlet’s Denmark was a welcoming place for so many people. It wasn’t perfect, but he was proud of it. And what would happen with Polonius in power? Would he keep betraying everyone beyond what the monarch could fix?

Hamlet pulled away from Rosencrantz, feeling shaky and sweaty.

“Are you okay?”

It felt like his dinner had solidified in his stomach. He was afraid of moving, but he was also unsure if he could continue standing. He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head, unable to get out an audible “no.”

Rosencrantz took him by the elbow and started leading him out of the room. As bile began to raise in Hamlet’s throat, he pulled away and ran for the bathroom.

He fell to his knees in front of the toilet with the force of a guilty sinner seeing Christ. His entire body convulsed as he heaved, totally out of his control.

“Jesus.”

Rosencrantz knelt next to him. He grabbed his hair and swept it back off his forehead and began rubbing his back. His hands felt so nice. They were delicate, as usual, and were supportive.

“Is he okay?” Horatio called through the closed door.

“I got him!” Rosencrantz called back.

Hamlet felt guilty thinking that he didn’t want Horatio there at that moment. Horatio didn’t always understand the stress of politics.

Another retch moved through his body, and vomit spilled out of his mouth with a moan.

“You’re okay,” Rosencrantz whispered. “It’s all okay.”

Hamlet’s head felt detached from his body. It was like it was floating a foot above, looking down at the stomach acid and food sitting in toilet. Nothing felt real to him. Not physically. If he reached out to touch the toilet paper Rosencrantz was handing to him, it would probably disintegrate. He took it anyways. He figured his mouth and nose was probably a mess.

The door opened, and he heard Horatio talking.

“Is he okay?” he heard asked again. Maybe the repetition was a hallucination.

“He got a little overwhelmed.” Or maybe not.

Horatio stepped in, and Hamlet looked up at him. Having to look up made his head feel a little closer to himself.

“Come on, you. Let’s get to bed.”

Horatio bent down, and Hamlet was being lifted. He instinctively put his arms around Horatio’s neck as he was carried out and to their bedroom.

His jeans were tugged off and he was put under the blankets, and he wasn’t really positive how it was all happening.

Horatio’s hands were in his hair like they could pull his bad thoughts out or like they could put his head back where it belonged. A glass was raised to his lips, and a fizzy soda tickled his nose and washed away the burning of acid in his throat.

“We’re going to head out,” Guildenstern said. “Do you need anything before we go?”

“No,” Horatio replied. “I think he’s okay now. I got him from here.”

Horatio kept working at his hair and cheekbones and temples until Hamlet came back to himself, and he was sure Horatio was solid in front of him.

“How pissed would Ophelia be if she found out?” he mumbled.

“That you puked after her dad won the most seats in Parliament? I’m sure our Ophelia would be understanding.”

Horatio kissed his forehead. “Get some sleep. God know you’re in for a hell of a day tomorrow.”

Hamlet closed his eyes. His body, for once, was too exhausted to let his mind keep him up. It wasn’t a restful sleep. But it was sleep.

#hamlet #my fics #tragic danish boyfriends #noble hearts #sorry to denmark i fucked up your politcs

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ninthhousemoon · 7 years

Note

Hey! I wanted to ask if you could tell things about 9th house stellium and what do you think about (You have one if I remember right sorry if I am wrong) I am trying myself to understand it a little bit better since I have one :)

I have a love-hate relationship with it. I like it because I feel very in tune with spirituality, philosophy, religion and law, but I also feel very conflicted with my views. Numerous times when I am asked what my political stance is, it’s hard to really say, because I do support some Liberal and some Conservative approaches to things. I am all for change (Liberals in Canada are more for change aka Trudeau’s ideas are quite ok with me) but there are some things I simply do not like (I won’t share because I don’t wanna deal with drama). Anyways, it’s not easy, period. I know I personally say it’s super cool but there are way too many ideas and things that go on in my mind and some people think my ideas and theories are cool, but some people turn them down and I cannot stand when someone turns down my opinion without an argument as a backup for me to understand where there are flaws in my theories. Usually there really aren’t any, someone just wants to get me angry and I have no problem debating someone until I win. I think its very cool because I am very interested in different cultures and religions and I will literally sit with someone from a very different culture than me and I will listen to them talk about their religion for hours with like heart eyes. As a kid I used to believe I was a very spiritual goddess and I was chosen by the gods and I thought I would grow up to be an earth or wind goddess :’) what an active imagination that was LOL. Anyyyway, the hardest part about it is I feel like my views are so different and they mean so much to me, I could talk about them all day but so many people just don’t care and it’s annoying. I want to get it all out there and I can be idealistic with ideas of philosophy. You can ask my old philosophy teachers about how much I used to talk and they would literally tell me to let others have a chance at answering a question and for me to stop debating another student lol. You can be very in touch with these things and it’s very cool but it’s kind of annoying at times too because you can almost become obsessed with these things. I read an article the other day and stellia can actually be very tough because whatever house you have a stellium in, you can really become so attached to those topics and ideas, it’s so over whelming :/ but it’s pretty cool, but also very hard. I used to cry about things as a kid because I was so unsure about reincarnation existing and I was terrified of death. I grew out of that and I know when it’s time, it’s time.

Another thing the 9th house has to do with, is the in-laws. I realized that a boyfriend’s parent’s opinion of me matters so much. Like i literally ask him if his parents know about me, like the idea of me, think I’m weird, etc. and if he tells me they like me it’s like omg yes I am so happy holy shit lol. All the boyfriends I have had, all their parents really adored me and asked me to come everywhere with them cause they really like who I am and the way I treat their son and I’m like um yes hello of course I am coming. Anyway in-laws are important to me lol if they don’t like me i’ll be so upset. But YEAH I HOPE THIS HELPED LOL

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thotclaws · 7 years

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Non Binary gender(s) myths and Stereotypes. {Rant}

WARNING: I’M A VERY SARCASTIC PERSON, PLEASE DON’T TAKE ANY OF THIS SERIOUS OR GO AND BULLY OTHERS. THANK YOU.

I do love it when conservatives don’t take the time to look at the other side of the argument, and take their time to learn more about Liberals, and find out that not all feminists hate men. I’m not saying all of them are ignorant but when it comes to gender, they just shut their brain off and automatically just say that gender isn’t a social construct when they must realize that it is.

Within this day in age of evolving into something new, we’re also getting advanced as a species. We should be proud of our accomplishments, but we should be proud of what we are and who we are. Except for death, war, famine and pestilence haha, we shouldn’t be proud of that. For gender, it should be looked into rather than brush it off as something provocative to garner attention to gain validation. Unless someone is absolutely needing to try their best to be the gender they want, then I have no problem with that. What I don’t like is when it’s used for bad rather than good. That’s why so many people are ignorant on non binary genders.

Gender is often misconception as sex. Gender doesn’t equal sex, in a way. Your hormones and chromosomes determine your sex. That is true. Your genitalia differs from person to person. Next is just expression. Gender is very much a social construct, here’s why. It’s mostly psychological based and that if someone is transgender, then they must have had some form of dysphoria. So what does this mean? It means that someone is born in the wrong body. Gender itself is questionable as a construct, to me it is. I believe that gender EXPECTATIONS is a social construct. I think it’s most definitely that. We’re so quick to think that if someone's born female, they MUST love boys. That’s just one of the many examples.

What else is there? Gender doesn’t equal everything. Humans are different and sometimes labels for us helps us determine what gender we are. Some are fluid and some are none, gender is a spectrum. It’s not as black and white as people claim it to be. So please hear me out anti SJW’s. I’ll let you do whatever. Just as long as you know whatcha doing ;).

I think Contrapoints brings this up better than I can, so go and watch his video on genderqueer. It pretty much summons up what it is being non binary. Here.

Let’s look at the myths.

1. We all just do it for attention.

Well yes and no. Yes there are the non binaries out there that do use it to harm others. Some like to use it as excuses, while the rest just want to find the right shoes to wear. Other than that, we are a collective group of people trying to figure out what we are as a person and how we can express ourselves. For expressions and identities. There are some that should be better explained like Contrapoints. Gender is physiological and physical. While sex is biological. Case in point ;).

2. All of them are feminists.

Nope. I’m not a feminist because the term has been used in a derogatory manner. So that’s really why I’m not a feminist. I’m more or less and egalitarian. I like the term better because I’m wanting to do some more of their practices. So really, not all of us are feminists. We just have a hard time trying to get away from the hypocrisies surrounding feminism.

3. Anyone that makes up genders are special snowflakes

ALL of us are special snowflakes. Whether you're straight or gay. Liberal or conservative. We’re ALL special little snowflakes. I point you to a video made by Adoesofbuckly, he explains in full detail as to why some band decided photoshopping Trump would get me and other people pissed off and that the fact that we don’t like fascists like Trump. We like a person who doesn’t think like him. I’m actually a central Liberal. I do know that both sides have their own bias but right wingers hate it when their ideas are challenged and debated because they’ll go in saying their shit and not proving anything. For someone like Countapoints. He makes a lot of good examples about being a Liberal and how he discusses and uses both sides to determine what he feels as correct. For “Anti-SJW’s” Like me. I am an anti SJW because of how tumblr treats other people and just so much horrid shit on straight and cis white people. Other anti SJW’s refuse to look on the Liberal side of things and debate on their side as well. Challenge both sides, not just say that “Oh if you believe that this so and so topic exists, then your a snowflake bla bla bla.”

4. Are there actually 72 genders?

I don’t know myself HAHA. I just don’t know either. We could have so much gender expressions labeled that we’d run out. So I love the simple terms like agender, demi, gender fluid/flux, bigender, gender neutral, and trigender. Those are all lovely terms with what we label ourselves as. I’m genderfluid and I’ve been that way since I was 16. I had mild dysphoria when I was a kid, so I didn’t know how to express myself to others, I wasn’t transgender. I did wore girly cloths that my mom gave me. I’ll still wear girly clothes every now and then, but over all. I do feel different inside physiologically. Most of the time, anti SJW’s would argue that being all these other genders are based on personality and both are good answers. I want more discussions rather than obsen nonsense about gender identity. If you feel like there’s only 2? Then I’m ok with that. Everyone should agree to disagree, and these 72 genders to me are getting out of hand tbh.

5. Then what about sexuality?

Sexuality is also a spectrum. What you are attracted to is on you. If you're gay, you’re gay, if your bi, your bi. Easy and simple. We all have our attractions to people and that should be a good thing. Being gay doesn’t mean that you're unhappy. Someone like Milo Yiannopoulos is the reason why being gay isn’t about having morals, it’s about have a balance between morals and aesthetics. Just like what Contrapoints said in their video that being gay shouldn’t be taken lightly and should be talked about, especially to those church freaks. Now those are the people that I find stupid lol.

6. How about attraction? Doesn’t that also mean sexual attraction?

Also both yes and no. Attraction can mean many things like how you present your attractions to someone. Me I’m aromantic. I find no romantic attraction to no one, just platonic friendship. I’m also a bisexual pan. I know this because I did came out as bi and I got a few comments saying that I’m going to hell or something. Being gay or bi doesn’t mean that we’re all bad people, yes there are those people that are mean but what do I care? I’ve never met a mean gay or bi person. A bit about attraction is that it’s also a spectrum as well. I feel this more better understanding for the anti SJW’s because it’s easy to defy.

7. Are celebrities also turning into SJW’s if they think like this?

Still yes and no. It depends on the celebrity. I personally hate celebrities that get a bad rap but also give a bit of a chance to the celebutantes like Kim K. I think celebrities should give their word and stance on political issues. They shouldn’t be shunned because of what they say unless it is legit homophobic slurs and racist slurs. Then yeah, I’d understand why I had to hate him or her. Celebrities that think that gender is a social construct shouldn’t be hated on and I really do hate that they don’t give them a chance to explain themselves, the internet would just automatically assume that they’re SJW’s period. It sucks, it really does. Like BIll Nye when he talked about gender, sexuality, and romance are being a spectrum, everyone lost their shit and just flipped the switch and started hating on him. It makes me sad beyond belief. Social science IS still science. There have been accounts of how someone personally feels about being a different gender, sexuality or romance by professionals. *Deep sighs* It just makes me sad that they don’t want to hear about the other side...

8. Then what about pronouns?

I’m personally alright with people using different pronouns to identify themselves. Like me, I’m mostly using they/them pronouns because it makes me feel comfortable with my gender neutrality at times. It should be for everyone, but of course the pronouns that haven’t been used throughout history or is made up is also a big no for me. If you use Ze/Xie/Ey, those are fine by me, just be sure to tell people politely to use your preferred pronouns. Don’t force it onto someone to make you use them. That’s just called being rude and that will make someone hate you due to your pronouns.

9. What does this all lead to?

Discussion silly. I love open discussions with others about these topics and it’s sad to see that tumblr doesn’t like open discussions and they’d like to live in their bubble of a reality. I know that people are going to disagree with me on this post, and I’m perfectly ok with that. Everyone has the rights to disagree with me. I know that if you have a strong argument for me, then I’ll happily do research and discuss with someone. Unfortunately I don’t always have the time to discuss to everyone about gender identity and sexuality.

10. Will you get hate?

Depends on how much this reaches around this sight. I hope to not get hate, but I do want criticism. That’s really all I ask. I don’t want anything in return. I just made this post because I was bored and I wanted to talk about gender identities haha.

So those are just a few myths and open possibilities about who and what we are as a species. As long as you're not killing or hurting anyone, I wish you reading this a good day.

Much love, Khara-Chan <3

#Another long ass rant #but I love to make rants :(

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hedgehog-goulash7 · 7 years

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Oh my- the OP of that long Bucky Barnes post - to which I made a reasonable and TRUE comment - just apparently blocked me from reblogging their answer to my commentary. Which seems...cowardly? And typical of the Stucky stans, who do not seem to want to engage in friendly fandom debate and would rather hurl insults and block you from replying or carrying out intelligent discourse. Anyway -- their response was this (copied and pasted, because, lol, no reblog allowed):

fearlessinger

Tony is that you? I’ll have you know that not everything is about you or your guilty dirty conscience, and this post sure wasn’t. Go back to putting on hold the US secretary of state while you stare moodily into the distance, or whatever you rich white men who never have to fear any repercussion for anything do with your free time. Actually, if you have time to spare you might wanna think about helping your friends who have been wrongfully and unlawfully imprisoned in that secret superjail in the middle of the ocean… No, eh? I didn’t think so.

#i am amazed #honestly #it’s really amazing how you felt the need to take a post that didn’t discuss accountability or Tony Stark in any way shape or form

#and make it all about how you believe Bucky to be actually guilty and think Tony is awesome #i imagine knowing that at this point in the mcu Steve and Bucky are better people than Tony in every possible way must hurt a whole lot

#but please next time take a deep breath #count to ten #and then if you still feel like venting #make your own post #mcu #cacw

Source:fearlessinger

MY reply to this nonsense:

Friend @fearlessinger -- my commentary was completely reasonable and factual and invited friendly debate. Sorry that you seem to have taken it as a slam - it was not. You do appear to be responding to simple facts with ire and defensiveness, though. Come on - I even said I agreed with most of what you wrote. But you did leave the door open to question a few points that were patently not factual.

The FACT remains that AS FAR AS WE KNOW in the story, speaking from the audience viewpoint, Bucky IS guilty of the murders of Howard and Maria Stark. It’s not a diss -- it’s simply the truth, as far as we know it (and I did leave open the possibility that we will find out the video was doctored. Until then, though, the video is very damning - he kills a wounded man AND a defenseless, innocent woman...YOU CAN’T ARGUE that. It happened. It’s part of the story.).

And what of ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE he admits he did kill? You CAN’T escape from facts -- if he killed them, he killed them. Fact. That’s the entire tragedy of Bucky’s character - so if you take that away or say he’s “innocent,” you’re robbing him of his compelling story. The thing that’s compelling and sad about him IS that he committed all those murders, and he knows it, and he knows he needs to be accountable even though he was programmed and essentially someone else’s killing machine. The guilt must be immense.

Thus my discussion about the importance of accountability in the MCU -- for EVERY major character. Think about it - Bruce with the death and destruction on his conscience from when he Hulks out. Black Widow with the red in her ledger. Tony with his early life as a weapons dealer, and then Ultron, which he blames himself for. Thor with his responsibility for his own world and his feelings of accountability for his friends in Midgard -- and his love/hate relationship with his brother. Steve with his guilt and feelings of accountability over Bucky.

It’s also a simple truth that the defense that Bucky was “brainwashed” MAY or may not be allowed in a court of law. In a real court, as I said, it would probably be laughed out, and a jury would probably not buy it. In a COMICS court - well, who knows. Somehow they will need to redeem Bucky in order to let him function in the MCU as a hero. Possibly the chaos of the Thanos invasion - and perhaps some heroic act by Bucky during that - may redeem him, but again, you can’t argue that Steve isn’t currently keeping Bucky OUT of the legal system that could decree him guilty or not guilty. Fact: Steve IS keeping him out. Even Bucky thinks this may be a Bad Idea.

So, friend, I am not sure what you’re so wound up about, to the point of blocking me after an attempt at simple, rational fandom discourse. I wasn’t “venting” - simply offering a reasoned debate to what you posted, part of which was patently debatable.

And here’s the thing: when you post some discourse, you’re de facto inviting some discourse back - and it may not always be something from those who simply echo and amplify your argument. That’s why Tumblr allows comments under posts - so people can reblog and answer you and -- sometimes debate you on some points.

Good grief, I am not sure why fans get their knickers in a twist over such simple debating. It’s very conservative, fearful thinking - like OH MY GOD SOMEONE DISAGREED WITH ME -- even in a polite way and I MUST BLOCK THEM AND THEN LAUGH AT THEM (because, why, you don’t have any good response? Blocking and ridicule are the response of someone who fears those who disagree with them).

I do persist in thinking my points were made politely and reasonably and that it certainly did not invite blocking or dissing.

Sigh - this sort of small-mindedness in fandom makes me sad. What became of the days of friendly debates and discussions?

P.S. - I will take on the statements about Tony in your reply in a separate post, because those also are highly debatable. Thank you for the opening to do so. Friendly Fandom Debate (TM) is my LIFE.

#sighhh #fandom wank #stans #Bucky Barnes #Tony Stark #what in the world is it with people #I think my points were friendly??

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arcenciel-par-une-larme · 7 years

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Reasons to be a leftist in the 21st Century

[translated and slightly modified from an article I read. DISCLAIMER I do not own anything except my own additions, where noted.]

Because you can consider yourself morally superior to everybody else without ever having to practically prove what your superiority consists in. It suffices that you pose it as an axiom.

Because you have the freedom to maintain that true politics is limited in philosophical quotations and the recitation of noble desires with which pretty much everybody (especially Peter Pan) agrees.

Because you can criticise everything without offering a counter-proposal. The answer to everything is “love” [own note: cf. “open-mindedness”, “tolerance”]

Because you are a priori right in every discourse, since you are not obliged to construct and submit arguments. In case your opponent demands them, you can easily leave them dumbfounded by asserting that s/he has never studied history (which, by the way, is ALWAYS on your side) [own note: Alternatively, come up with some convoluted reason to declare them sexist, racist or homophobic. That ought to shut them up].

Because you have the most beneficial relation to capitalism possible. You take advantage of it in the way, time and degree that you desire (e.g. by consuming its goods, offering your services to it, being rewarded by it) but theoretically you are its permanent detractor. Thus, you manage to benefit from its positive aspects, while at the same time you renounce its “monstrous evils” - given that, formally, you disagree with it and, as is well known, all that matters in your world is ideology, i.e. what you believe and say you are.

Because you are able to be philosophically opposed to the concept of power or authority and consider anyone who wields it (in any form and intensity - from the local school principal up to the PM himself) inhumane, but also approve of it with immense joy when it is exerted by you or anyone of your persuasion.

Because you can defy every procedural framework and democratic tool when they are imposed and used by non-leftist folks (because, in your judgment, “they are not pro-human” (now ain’t that deep)) but also demand their strict observance when those whom you like call upon them.

Because you deserve to and, to be exact, enjoy the exclusive privilege to label every application of a law which you don’t particularly like as fascistic and totalitarian, as well as designate the state involving the legal status quo which you dislike as fascistic. In the meantime, you have the right to state your satisfaction in the implementation of the exact same laws and democratic institutions - as long as the government is of leftist leanings.

Because you enjoy the exclusive privilege to produce authentic judgment on violence, as well as constantly invent new sub-categories of it, regardless of the dictionary definitions or plain sense because, clearly, you know better. In the same framework, you hold the absolute right to detest violence and put under the umbrella of its vague definition anything that displeases you, but also call for its use against your enemies, because then it is not “violence”, it’s “justice”. [own note: usually expressed in terms such as “the oppressed have every right to lash out against their oppressors”]

Because your arsenal of arguments consists primarily of absolutes which are not subject to scrutiny under reason and/or science, because, as everybody is aware, sciences and degrees are bought/sold/corrupted things who estrange man from true knowledge [own note: to this you may add, ad libitum, that “evidence and logic are obsolete constructs of the cis white heteropatriarchy”]. Thus, you have the ability to support everything but also deny everything, without bearing any sort of burden of proof for your allegations.

[my own addition] Because, depending on your metaphysical beliefs in the context of your leftism, you can also have a special relationship to science as well. When your opponent happens to be a theist, you can very simply refuse to debate with “retards like him/her” by playing the “Science has proven that God does not exist lol who could ever take you and your arguments seriously” magic card, with no examples or citations needed even for that, but when peer-reviewed articles prove that the gender pay gap can be traced back to causes unrelated to institutionalised sexism, then “the results are obviously rigged” and “traditional logic and reason are patriarchal constructs”. Or, more concisely: theists bear a burden of proof for the existence of God, but your claim that there are 145 genders must be taken as gospel.

Because you can shun the education system, school, college, university, classes, studies and separate disciplines, but at the same time assert an active role in the structuring of the curriculum and administration of colleges and universities.

Because your former life means jack s**t once you decide to join the “enlightened” left. From the moment on that you embrace leftist dogma and modify your speech accordingly, you are a true missionary and whatever you say gains extra importance and a poetic gravitas. Your whole record is wiped clean and you are a saint in everybody’s eyes. [own note: if you want some evidence off the top of my head, take a look at the organisers of the vagina demonstrations women’s marches. Hint: if you find an ex-torturer and a Sharia apologist among them, don’t say I didn’t warn you.]

[own addition] Because, once you are a leftist saint, or at least seek protection under the wings of the Almighty Church of Leftism, you get a free pass on things ten times as controversial as what you criticise others for. By way of example, you can compare opposition to no-measures immigration to genocide, but when you say “kill all men” it’s ‘just a joke’. Likewise, when you deem your child trans in its third year of age, you are a ‘hero’ of ‘progress’, but a couple raising their kids in a Christian worldview and way of living are “indoctrinating them” and it counts as child abuse.

Because while, formally, you are strongly opposed to discrimination and labelling, you are entitled to lump all your intellectual opponents together into one enormous category, apply to that category the label that suits you and cast stones at them at will.

Because you have the freedom to speak on behalf of “the people”, without any authorisation by anybody.

Because you have the most convenient relationship with logic. Whenever you want or are forced to collide with it, you aren’t irrational as anybody else would be, you’re just a romantic revolutionary who wants to make the world a better place.

Because you can continually reinforce your position (which is either way dominant) by invoking the struggles of others, with whom you are not connected in any way beyond your imagination.

Because your left-ness is something akin to an honorary title, which shall accompany you throughout your entire life and shall buy you positions, distinctions and glory, without your actually being obliged to do anything for that or possess any ability or talent.

Because you have the mind-bogglingly surreal advantage of stigmatising as apolitical [own note: or, just as easily, fascist, medieval or nazi] anyone whose political convictions fall to the right of yours.

[own addition] Because, if you are a leftist but also consider yourself Christian, things could not be better for you! Not only can you conveniently label any conservative a racist/misogynist/homophobic/islamophobic bigot, but when it comes to Christian conservatives in particular you can also confidently shout that they are not true Christians and gleefully proclaim how God will burn their asses in Hell eternally and you will be laughing. (Yes, fellow leftist ‘Christian’, the “love your enemies and pray for them” commandment only applies to others; you are a cute, special little snowflake and you don’t need to burden yourself with anything resembling courtesy or ethics or bearing your own cross and all that jazz...)

Because it is ex officio self-explanatory and universally accepted that you belong to the group of the greatest Fighters for Social Justice and, at the same time, the most oppressed among all citizens, just because you participate in rallies and believe that the state owes you extra stuff and special treatment.

Because you can always decry propaganda while simultaneously declare yourself unaffected tby it - and in this you see no contradiction.

Because you have the most peculiar and schizoid relationship with the state. It is obliged to pay you, recompense for you, educate you, take care of you, employ you, spoil you, not tire you, foster you and do likewise for your children and the only thing you have to do is point out how bad and incompetent it is.

[own additions henceforth] ...until a left-wing government is elected and then you insist that we must give more and more and MORE power to the state or else the entire country is doomed. When, after all that, you have a right-wing government again, only then and not a moment earlier you have to remember that it is bad to trust the state with excessive control and call for curbing its power.

Perhaps most importantly: Because you can spend years on end being allergic to any sign of dissent, labelling whomever disagrees with your ideology hateful or bigoted or whatever modern synonym is available and shutting down all debate, but when people get disillusioned by your collective attitude and turn en masse to other platforms and ideologies, you are under no obligation to assess your actions and words so far and consider the possibility that you might have been wrong; nope, it MUST be their fault and this only proves that they ARE hateful, bigoted, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, climate-change-denying Bible-thumpers after all and that YOU HAVE BEEN RIGHT ALL ALONG!

#leftism #liberalism #leftist hypocrisy #anti sjw #anti cultural marxism

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mysmess-seol-blog · 7 years

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Religious Topics in Mystic Messenger - Korean vs. English Comparison

Hey there lovelier anon♡

Interesting question! I was personally really surprised to hear about this subject pop up in Mystic Messenger myself! I will be glad to talk to you about it ^^

I can actually relate to Jumin a little. Going to church when I was a kid. Typical Sunday school kind of thing. Played the piano for services for 8 years. It was pretty hectic.

In this context, I feel really similar in terms of how situations go because like Jumin, I used to go to church as a child, but not so much anymore now that I am 22/23. Idk if I should go by Korean age or not.

Anyways, please join me under the cut to discuss the religious topics that the anon requested above! Religion could be a sensitive topic so for those who don’t feel comfortable with said topic, read with caution ^^

Please note that although this is an analysis, there may be opinions that may differ or be consistent with mine! While I can give some sort of Korean background, for debatable topics, I do not represent all of the Korean minds for respective topics. Also, please excuse any errors or let me know if clarifications are needed, for English is not my first language! Thank you and enjoy!

So, let’s go ahead and just point out the religious beliefs that each RFA member and ex member has.

Jumin: 모태 기독교 Christianity Zen: 무교 No religion Yoosung: 무교 No religion 707: 카톨릭 Catholic Jaehee: 카톨릭 Catholic V: 모태 기독교 > 카톨릭 Christianity > Catholic Rika: 카톨릭 Catholic

Okay, so it is pretty obvious that they do talk about religion in the Korean version as well. It was pretty funny for me in a sense because I kinda know what it is like, like I said above the cut, to be in the shoes of Jumin in this case.

But, before I talk about you know, personal or Korean takes on religion, I will go ahead and compare and contrast the Korean version of this game with the English version.

The translations for this chatroom is pretty precise and if there are mistakes, they aren’t too bad to the point where meanings are different and so on. I just kinda want to use a screenshot or two maybe to explain the answer in regards to Korean religious statistics.

I will be honest, I was very very shocked when I read that Jaehee, 707, Rika, and V were Catholic or that Catholicism was even brought up. Not saying that there aren’t any Catholics in Korea at all, but it’s not as common as how the game puts it off to be.

In my case, not saying this for every Korean here obviously, but I usually go with 50/50. Christianity vs. Buddhism, they are the main religions in Korea, after all. Well, if you have religious beliefs. While the other case is no religious beliefs, which is actually a higher percentage than you think.

Now, before I get any more serious, I want to talk about this,

MC: Do you have a reason you are Christian? English translation: Is there a reason why?

Jumin: The neighborhood I lived in when I was little, half the kids went to church. English translation: Half the kids in my neighborhood went to church when we’re little.

Yoosung: Ah... English translation: Oh...

Yoosung: That’s right hyung, you were from a rich neighborhood. English translation: You grew up in a rich neighborhood.

Jumin: Statistically, children from conservative homes/families have a religion. English translation: same as above.

Jumin: It was natural for me too. English translation: same as above.

Okay, so let’s talk about that. Without getting super personal about my life because who cares lol I also grew up in quite a conservative home. Not rich, but conservative. Of course even though there are stats for that, I am living, breathing evidence that I went to church whether I liked it or not.

I am sure that may be the case in other countries as well? In Korea, definitely

Okay, so this question I don’t really think any other screenshots are necessary because well, the translation that it has is pretty accurate. I’ll answer the last question you had about Korea and religion.

In Korea, as introduced a bit above, it is more than likely that a person is either, Christian, Buddhist, or no religious beliefs. Then there are the other tiny percentages of other beliefs. These days, I feel that there are more and more people who are like Yoosung that either never thought about it or like Zen who don’t really... care.

In my personal experience in living life pretty much since I lived in Korea my whole life, I have met a lot of different kinds of people. Most of the people I converse with or get along with all have some sort of believe. Although, they don’t really go to church.

So, pretty much, a Jumin. Either busy or just don’t go, but do believe in some sort of religion.

As for me? Well, I don’t really have anything to hide. I am kinda pretty much like a Jumin as well. I don’t really go to church anymore because of my busy schedule.

Well, this question, I really don’t know if I answered it right? I was actually feeling like I’m walking on eggshells for some reason. Maybe because it could be a sensitive topic for some? But I do hope I gave you some insight on religious beliefs in Korea.

- 류설♡

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shawnjacksonsbs · 5 years

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“Living with integrity means behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values” - Barbara De Angelis 3-3-19

"It's very dramatic when two people come together to work something out. It's easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect each other. ~ Love and trust, in the space between what’s said and what’s heard in our life, can make all the difference in the world. ~ It’s the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our very being, is good stuff.” --All Fred Rogers I received a message from a loved one the other day, later in the evening that read something like a warning out of love, as it were. And unfortunately, for him, I am going to partially quote his words here, with a little editing help, only to ensure nothing is misrepresented. He said "You know I love you. But I honestly feel if you ever want to run a successful local business You need to check some of the shit you put on social media before you get all mad, go back and look at your page. From somebody that's looking at you to come install a very high dollar custom fence." Now before anyone reading says like "It doesn't matter what he says" or "It's your facebook, do what you want" etc., I should probably explain some things. I have a very widespread, and diverse, network of support in my life, now. Now because I accept the support, where before I got my life together I was not so open. I like to think about these people has shareholders, of the stock that is "the well-being of Shawn Jackson Inc." lol Some people hold more shares than the some of the others. Plus all you have to do to be a shareholder is care about me, and want what's best for me. So, obviously, the more you care and play an active role in my life with respect to this, the more shares you hold. Therefore what he said, has to be taken under advisement. That's just how I live my life now. The key here is that the controlling interest shareholder is none other than yours truly, Shawn M Jackson. The craziest part of that whole, having diverse shareholders is that several some of the top ranking officials who actually sit on that board, as he does, and his father does, and the father of the cousin I lived with, in Washington does, is that they are all, generally on the opposite sides of my political positions in varying degrees. Which because of the love and respect I have for them allows for more listening to them with my heart to hear what they say, as opposed to always listening to respond. They have earned their places at that board, and their spots in my life. They will always be heard, even if when we disagree, which is quite frequent. lol Getting back to my conversation with him I responded with-now this is paraphrased slightly, but "It's not about where I stand completely. It's about mature positive growth on something that interests me, as well as a fuck ton of other people to include some in my friendslist. It's about connecting and debating different sides, engaging people on both sides as I grow too. Plus my push for kindness (shared with Fred Rogers) and the lower level, mission for civility (that I cosigned with Will Mcavoy), will always be a part of my side as well. I knew full well what part of the country I was moving back to and still moved back here. I have people on both sides of the aisle in my friendslist who I talk with constantly. And even though, we don't agree, I care for them or they wouldn't have an opinion on my page anyway, it's about learning to express and share, and sometimes joke and for entertainment. There is way too much for this, but it is now a topic for Sunday." I know I said "money be damned", and I meant that, after a little thought, principles matter, and I asked myself "what example do I want to set, for my kids, for my grandkids, for anyone really?" My future plans for limited success, in my field, is extremely risky as it is, but I plan to completely segregate any and all of business side from my personal life, to include social media, and anything online. Should a potential customer decide to dig hard enough, or to check on my personal beliefs, before making a decision and then decide against using me, then I can tell you, without batting an eye, that I wouldn't want to do their fence anyway. Period. Full stop! They aren't basing their opinion of my work on my integrity, or quality of work, or even word of mouth. They are doing exactly what I stand up so hard to fight against that I believe is wrong in this world. They have that right, and I will not be upset if they do not choose me, but I also will not lose sleep over it. --I will add, that if they read my blog, with all the recovery, and ex-drug addict and the use/abuse, and ex-con rhetoric, I would be more inclined to try and prove myself to them, like I did overcome all of the messed up shit that I have been through, and that has happened to me, and am making right as I can, all the wrong I have done and damage I have caused.-- Money is money, and work is work. If they believe differently than I do, but still choose to hire me, I would probably inherently work harder for them, do my absolute best for them, maybe even my best of the best work, because of this. Moving back to this part of the country had more cons, than pros as far as work and success for me, if I listed them all in here, but I moved back anyways. I chose to fight all those hardships to try and make a better life for me - with my family. Of course the struggles would have been minimal back in Washington, but my family is here, my heart is here. It has already been the best emotional investment ever. I have waking up each morning with the love of my life next to me, I see my kids pretty regularly, and the biggest returns on my investment have been that I have filled my place at my grandchildren's birthday parties! Even if I never succeed with my fencing business, its already been worth the trip. Hell, this part of the country makes it nearly impossible to only do construction year round. The winters here are miserable. Banking money to get you through, or holding unfavorable jobs, or doing odd and end jobs, or side jobs are how its mostly done. I am not above doing things like what I am currently doing to bring in money, which is a glorified food delivery boy. I can almost make in a 12 hour day, what would have taken me at least 5 in Washington! lmao But we are good. I am being useful, with no shame. Things are still amazing and will continue to be so long as I allow them to be. Plus I know one thing for sure, if I ever decided that being successful only with fence, is what I truly want and can't out here because of my outspoken beliefs, there is always a spot waiting for me where, without a doubt, I can and would succeed, Washington. To get back on point real quick, I want to touch on a little more since I am here for that. lol My conversation continued with him saying "That's a thing for sure. I still don't care for people in general. My crew is small." and although my true life crew is extremely small as well, I said "I get that, but I care about all of em though, so our end games are slightly different. Not in every way, but definitely in some, probably less important to you, but way important to me. And that's ok too. Its part of what makes us who we are and that's all anyone can expect from anyone else. Don't get me wrong, if anything I ever wrote changes any part of your heart towards others I would be thrilled, but my life isn't over because you don't see things my way. I enjoy growing, and talking to people who differ is part of that. Although I could do without hate, racism, bigotry, etc" I believe we are all models of the sum of shit and blessings we endure in life. Those experiences are what make up our whole being, the good, the bad, and the indifferent. All of my experiences, have made me more of who I think I should be, not less. Coming from a very religious, and pretty conservative part of this country, is probably why I feel I should talk louder, and learn more, and then talk louder, then learn more etc, in the things I see, and for what I think they are. You do not have to agree with me about things like police overreach, political corruption, and racism, at least as I do, but everyone should find injustices disturbing, everyone. Therefore we should use that as a commonplace stepping off point for real honest debate, and real true to life change. Comprising personal principles is not the same thing either, for an individual, as it is to a larger collective. "Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take." Mahatma Gandhi It is pretty obvious to most people that I don't think our country is doing very well, and that can all do better, but its more than that. I believe putting it all off on country, is to take away from the shared responsibility, that it is of ours, to do some things differently to try and get there. (I do not believe,m in any way, that Donald Trump is the answer lol) I will stand with Ellen first “I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated, and helping those in need. To me those are traditional values.” - Ellen Degeneres That, I suppose, is enough for today, for this week. lol Continue to share the love and the laughter with the world around you, and please be kind to each other always, but if you fall short then at least be civilized, for your sake, as well as their's. Until next week just try and aspire to it; "Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. . ." ". . We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore." - Will Mcavoy (played by Jeff Daniels) from The Newsroom

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