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flabberghaster wrote

Reply to comment by devtesla in If you STILL aren't organizing, then you're part of the problem. by cowloom

IDK i read it as a vent post. Shit is so fucked and we do gotta get on it. But at the same time... like seriously what the fuck do we do? So I can understand the "FUCK YOU GET OFF YOUR ASS AND TRY TO HELP STOP THIS" vibe of the post but also that's not really helpful.

I want to be neither condescending nor dismissive. I am 100% with the OP in that things are very urgent. But i'm also like. literally what the hell are we supposed to do that we're not already doing?

I get a little annoyed at the advice you see to "organize." Ok what does that look like? I'm gonna what, start a union? How even. I tried that. I'm terrible at it. I felt like me being involved was just making things harder. What else can I do though? But also like, seriously shit is fucked, we gotta do something.

I'm torn. I'm freaking out. But I literally do not know what to do that would actually help.

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devtesla admin wrote

Reply to If you STILL aren't organizing, then you're part of the problem. by cowloom

Who are you talking to? There's like five people here and we're all saturated with things we're doing to help other people. I'm not sure where this is coming from.

If you're thinking about people in general, I think you're expressing a kind of general dislike for people in the world that I don't think is good for you or your activism. People right now are very isolated from one another, and you're not going to break through that with... whatever this is. If this is something your org is presenting to you as a normal way of thinking I'd be concerned.

Consider this an admin warning, you're at a level of aggro against others that we don't really want to be for jstpst. Please think before posting again and have a good evening!

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twovests wrote

Reply to comment by rain in If you STILL aren't organizing, then you're part of the problem. by cowloom

Though I’m going to interject that while giving money for mutual aid is awesome, spending your time in mutual aid is even cooler

Agreed 100%. The only exception would be rather contrived, e.g. someone in the enviable position of making a lot of money, and as a direct output of their labor. (I.e. Not salaried). But "hourly and makes bank" is pretty rare, and those people are usually hustle culture capitalists lol.

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rain wrote

Reply to comment by twovests in If you STILL aren't organizing, then you're part of the problem. by cowloom

Further, throwing away hobbies is not option [..] continuing to make art is an essential part of this

A hundred times this…

If you said, "Look up your local tenants union" or "Get a pistol permit" or "Take a first aid class" or "Put money toward mutual aid rather than toward video games", then that might be something.

…and this

(Though I’m going to interject that while giving money for mutual aid is awesome, spending your time in mutual aid is even cooler)

Not everyone is a front line fighter shock troop, and that’s ok - because other roles are needed too.

I'm also doing some things which aren't exactly illegal but I sure won't be talking about here.

Right?

Though in fairness OP did specify this wasn’t aimed at those who are already “doing what you need to do”. Still, keep your security zones siloed. Don’t break operational security, even for relatively minor things.

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rain wrote

Reply to comment by twovests in what posting vibes do you think you embody? by flabberghaster

and were generally cool with people who were weird

Weird people are my people :)

If you had your LiveJournal pre-2012, your posts might have been the very ones which told me I wasn't alone in this

Our account was pre- 2008; we quit when the US operations were sold to SUP. And in general we weren’t talking publicly about plurality at that point so it wouldn’t have been our account anyway.

Which is too bad because that would have been awesome lol

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twovests wrote

Reply to comment by rain in what posting vibes do you think you embody? by flabberghaster

So thank you even if I have no idea what you mean lol

Reddit in ~2010 was very much like Hacker News is today, I think?

The bad parts? Almost entirely white men with a libertarian bent, liberal beliefs, and an -- at best -- unexamined worldview on gender and race, with interests in videogames and porn. There was r/ShitRedditSays as a small but vocal counterbalance, in which jstpst shares much cultural overlap.

But Reddit also placed a lot of value in critical thought / rationality (more r/atheism, less "LessWrong"), had a highly-educated userbase, and were generally cool with people who were weird.

Which may help explain why I am generally just disgusted with modern psychiatry.

shakes your hand, as a fellow plural person disgusted with modern psychiatry.

You know what's funny? If you had your LiveJournal pre-2012, your posts might have been the very ones which told me I wasn't alone in this. I remember my headmate as an "imaginary friend" distinctly before the trauma for which she was a "coping mechanism".

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twovests wrote

Reply to comment by WRETCHEDSORCERESS in what posting vibes do you think you embody? by flabberghaster

If I am not making art I enter a sort of torment-chrysalis

I would like to re-emphasize how much I love everything you post. You say things that are novel but sound so natural, I wonder how I ever lived without "torment chrysalis" in my vocabulary.

incoherent commercially unviable fiction

The big question is where is this fiction available?

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twovests wrote (edited )

Reply to If you STILL aren't organizing, then you're part of the problem. by cowloom

I upvoted this post, and I appreciate the sentiment, but I think this post suffers from some Leftist Mistakes. Painting organizing as "throw away your entire way of life and do something" both (1) paints organizing as something destructive and undesirable, but also (2) is vague and not something anyone can do.

(Further, throwing away hobbies is not option. Culture and knowledge is carried through art. This isn't some distanced moral principal-- continuing to make art is an essential part of this. The Republicans know that, that's why they have "God King Trump" childrens books.)

An eight year old migrant girl was put in a cage today. What are you doing to free her?

The thing is, we can't be in every fight. You have to be in some fight, but you can't do anything if you try to be in every fight.

I've not done anything to free her. Do you have any advice? What can I do?

Put your phone down, get off your ass, and start getting involved. This is not a request.

Sure, this is not a request. But it's not actionable, either. "Getting involved" is so vague you might as well not say it.

If you said, "Look up your local tenants union" or "Get a pistol permit" or "Take a first aid class" or "Put money toward mutual aid rather than toward video games", then that might be something.

For me, I'm doing peaceful disruptive protests. I'm also doing data work for my local tenant union specifically in support of homeless people in a nearby city. I'm sysadmining a few places (sry jstpst i'm cheating on you) which enables discussions like these. I'm also doing some things which aren't exactly illegal but I sure won't be talking about here.

This is on top of my day job, which I need to do to get money so I can eat and continue to exist. It's a lot of work. I don't know what I can do for the eight year old girl.

So, if the kids gloves are off, then I'm going to challenge you to be more specific.

An eight year old migrant girl was put in a cage today. What can I do to free her?

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WRETCHEDSORCERESS wrote

Reply to comment by twovests in what posting vibes do you think you embody? by flabberghaster

Thank you that is genuinely so sweet. Honestly my main ambitions are all creative. If I am not making art I enter a sort of torment-chrysalis

I do move liquids from vessel to vessel as my career, but that is just for the money and because it is fun. My true passion is writing incoherent commercially unviable fiction

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