In response to a number of political things happening in the Real World that I don’t post about here but I think about… and that this response will continue to be necessary for, probably.
Wow more relevant 2 yrs after original posting. *sigh*
Jesus Christ was a brown Jew in the Middle East, conceived out of wedlock in an arguably interracial if not interspecies (deity and human) relationship, raised by his mother and stepfather in place of his absent father. He may not have had a Y chromosome. He spent his early youth as a refugee in Egypt, where his family no doubt survived initially on handouts from the wealthy (You think they kept that gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the wise men? Hell no, they sold that stuff for food and lodging). He later returned with his parents to their occupied homeland and lived in poverty.
Trump and his administration are xenophobic, misogynistic, racist, fear-mongering, warmongering, tax-dodging, anti-Semitic, anti-choice, anti-welfare, anti-equal pay, anti-LGBTQIA+, anti-immigration, support tax cuts for the rich, support Citizen’s United, want to keep refugees out of this country, want to limit our ability to speak against the government, plan to abolish the Affordable Care Act, and they wrap all of that up behind a banner of “Christian family values.” If you support them, you have no right to call yourself a follower of Christ.
it’s so rare, yet so fulfilling, to see the J-man on my dash
One of my friends is literally the most religious Christian I have ever met. What does that mean in regards to her lifestyle and outlook? She loves everyone. EVERYONE. Unconditionally. And she supports healthcare and education and birth control and everything that’s necessary to have a healthy, stable society.
Tbh I can see him wanting to meddle like this and also being really offended at being accused of meddling like this so idk have at it in the comments, ppl!
Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today:
1. Do not obey in advance.
Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You’ve already done this, haven’t you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.
2. Defend an institution.
Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don’t protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.
3. Recall professional ethics.
When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.
4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words.
Look out for the expansive use of “terrorism” and “extremism.” Be alive to the fatal notions of “exception” and “emergency.” Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don’t fall for it.
6. Be kind to our language.
Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don’t use the internet before bed. Charge your gadgets away from your bedroom, and read.) What to read? Perhaps The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel, 1984 by George Orwell, The Captive Mind by Czesław Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus, The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev.
7. Stand out.
Someone has to. It is easy, in words and deeds, to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.
8. Believe in truth.
To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
9. Investigate.
Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on your screen is there to harm you. Bookmark PropOrNotor other sites that investigate foreign propaganda pushes.
10. Practice corporeal politics.
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.
11. Make eye contact and small talk.
This is not just polite. It is a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down unnecessary social barriers, and come to understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
12. Take responsibility for the face of the world.
Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.
13. Hinder the one-party state.
The parties that took over states were once something else. They exploited a historical moment to make political life impossible for their rivals. Vote in local and state elections while you can.
14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can.
Pick a charity and set up autopay. Then you will know that you have made a free choice that is supporting civil society helping others doing something good.
15. Establish a private life.
Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too many hooks.
16. Learn from others in other countries.
Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present difficulties here are an element of a general trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
17. Watch out for the paramilitaries.
When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.
18. Be reflective if you must be armed.
If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)
19. Be as courageous as you can.
If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die in unfreedom.
20. Be a patriot.
The incoming president is not. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.
•Its good, but its depressing and I just wanted some positivity that day
•Its something I wouldn’t want to reblog without discussing, but I have no time and/or mental energy to do that at the moment
•There are no sources
•I have seen the same post on my dash three times today and frankly, so has everyone else, adding to that is doing nothing
•Its a callout post still spreading around after the blogger who made the original offense has already apologized/done what they could to fix it
•its a harsh callout post against a mistake due to the misunderstandings of a 13-15 yr old, and I as an adult feel that this is a horrible way to do things
•It includes a phrase like: If you don’t reblog, you’re a terrible person
•IM PROUD OF THIS COMMUNITY FOR TRYING TO FIX THE CRAPPYNESS OF THE WORLD, BUT GUILTING PEOPLE INTO REBLOGGING YOUR POSTS WHEN SOME PEOPLE COME HERE FOR AN ESCAPE IS NOT HELPING
the “if you dont reblog this im judging you” is such a shitty guilt trip and it makes me not want to reblog it at all.
•This is a fandom blog, a place for people to recharge with some fanworks, a brief escape from politics; then go out and fight the good fight!
That’s good then! Be angry. Fiction is not always out there to make you feel good. Sometimes it’s meant to push buttons, and in this case, it may have been smtg AR intended to explore, that some ppl really think/thought that Akasha’s idea could be a good path to peace.
Side note, this is so relevant right now bc in the Real World:
Unfortunately we are again faced with ppl who are consumed by their own ideology, with this new political regime and those that voted it in.
How are we going to deal with it? Are we going to let them steamroll everyone who opposes? How active can/should we be? We all have to ask that of ourselves bc fiction has very much become reality. And it’s nowhere near as pretty as Akasha.
So anyway, back to Akasha… Not all characters introduced by an author are ENDORSED by the author, the author is telling a story, maybe suggesting what might happen if we/the readers assumed, for example, that “all wars are started by men and therefore they should be removed from the equation for peace on earth.” AR shows us the narrow-mindedness of such an idea and that YES, Akasha is “herself is an example that women can do terrible things too.” Akasha probably knows that but bc it doesn’t fit with her own ideology, she is most likely ignoring it. If she doesn’t know that, she is refusing to learn it, which is just as bad, if not worse.
(Now we have a US President-Elect who’s saying that “it’s X, Y, Z group of ppl who start all the wars and have to be stopped.” SOUND FAMILIAR?)
[^X Lestat and his awesome girlfriend Akasha by @devmin-art]
BTW tho, did Akasha really believe in this or did she just want to be righteous and have a place in the world? When this initially happened, the Twins told her there was no way to undo it, and that she should kill herself to rid the world of the accident that she was, but like many living (unliving?) things, she didn’t want to die. She wanted to find a way to be righteous and have a purpose, and don’t we all? She constructed a religion around herself back when she was first turned, and she felt that it worked out really well for her. Of course, it was easier to manipulate ppl back when religion seemed to have more of the answers to all of our questions than science did.
and I feel like the others characters don’t try enough to make her understand this when they’re trying to convice her to stop.
^Keep in mind that the coven were all pretty frustrated at their failed attempts to reason with her, most of their arguments were met with personal attacks or just slippery gaslighting… and they were just on the edge of freaking out bc she can explode most of them with her mind ;A;
Lestat:
Dazed, she looked at me. I could feel death breathing on my face, death close as it had been years and
years ago when the wolves tracked me into the frozen forest, and I couldn’t reach up high enough for the
limbs of the barren trees.
The other characters did try to make her understand, but when someone is consumed by their own ideology, sometimes the only tactic that will work is backing off the issue itself and asking them to take more time to consider their chosen course of action, which may have given the coven more time to educate her or find some common ground on which to build some dialogue… which is what they were all doing.
Maharet says:
“Time,” Maharet said. “Maybe that is what we are asking for. Time. And that is what you have to give.”
…“You have meditated in silence for centuries upon your solutions. What is another hundred years? Surely
you will not dispute that the last century on this earth was beyond all prediction or imagining-and that the
technological advances of that century can conceivably bring food and shelter and health to all the peoples
of the earth.“
This tumblr will go back to posting photos of gothy eye candy and cute animals very soon, because *I* need things that make me feel better, and I’m sure the rest of you do too.
With that said: what can we do now?
Stand with those at risk. Suport PoC, GLBTQ folks, women, folks with disabilities, anyone who is “other” and is going to be a target.
VOTE IN THE 2018 MIDTERMS. 33 Senate houses will be up, and all 235 seats in the House. We need to flip those.
Donate, if you can. Time, money, energy. Planned Parenthood, local food banks, local shelters for at-risk folks.
I-want-my-IWTV 