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devtesla wrote

I took a lit class in high school, and I forget the term they used but there was a unit that was basically all just depressing short stories. Like bad things always happening, there's no light at the end of the tunnel, ending somehow worse than you thought it could get. The teacher made a point for us to take a look at the people struggling in these stories, and how they kept going despite the pointlessness. It's something that's weirdly stuck with me.

I'd like to think I'm someone who would keep doing the next right thing even as all the lights go out. Like I'm on a dying planet just crawling through the muck because it seems like the right thing to do. Or being Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia.

I'm not like an optimistic person but I think this attitude keeps me from really dooming out.

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rain wrote

I’m just tired of talking people off of metaphorical ledges when I’m not really convinced myself. Panic isn’t helping people cope, but damn it - it’s justified. And I wish it were even possible to convince me otherwise.

I talked with two more people wanting to pull their queer/trans kids out of school yesterday. Had a good friend in tears out of fear for her godchild. Pretty much everyone with trans kids is in a near panic and I’m pretty damn scared too.

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twovests OP wrote (edited )

I'm not going to be ashamed of missing Obama! I miss Obama!

Okay, I will be a little ashamed. He was also a war criminal.

"I got selected for President Trump's draft to annex Canada" would sound like laughably bad satire in 2014. "Things don't get that silly that fast," someone would say.

A friend of mine reached out after making the heartbreaking decision to send their documents in to get their passport renewed back to their birth sex. I had to break the news that they probably won't get their documents back for awhile. They're having a panic attack at that information. I think it was right for me to give the information, but, fuck.

I feel like I'm wasting my time doing things on the local network.

I remember reading Among the Hidden, a young adult dystopian thriller, and it was actually quite good. Youths stage a protest on the white house over IRC, and I thought, "But they can see the IP addresses of the kids using IRC." And in the end, they kill all the kids at the protest. Gripping story.

Hey, Joe Biden! Your presidency would have been historic, and regarded among Jimmy Carter, if you didn't wait until 2023 to prosecute Trump.

USD might crash, I'm seriously considering buying Bitcoin, can someone talk me off that ledge? How much of all my money should I turn to Bitcoin?

Thinking about the 55 year old Bitcoin bro who hit on his niece at the family gathering in front of everyone, including his own wife and children. He then asked me about artificial intelligence (which I'm an expert in, ugh). He and his wife were both very drunk when they drove their huge black truck home.

I wonder how long until the N-word is in common use again by politicians. The "you can't say this word" argument is a pretty complicated and abstract one, that also requires you already believe racism is a thing that exists and is bad.

Recently had a Jewish friend who did not know who Netanyahu or the ADL were. Recently had a 28 year old friend who did not know that SCOTUS rulings apply nationally. Recently had someone argue that "99% Hitler vs 100% Hitler" is actual numeric fact and not a silly exaggeration to drive a point. I am finding it increasingly hard to talk to the people on "our" side, because, fuck, come on, what. We still need to think even if the MAGAs aren't

The next DOOM is coming out in May, but I need a new computer, and tarriffs- oh nooooo

Doom with me in the Doom thrread

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Moonside wrote

I'm gonna be honest, the excitement of Obama being elected was real. I understood at the time that the racial aspect was just symbolic, but the symbolism was nonetheless hopeful and felt real. There was a sense that good things could keep piling up. 2008-2011 was a bloomer period despite the recession to me.

About the 10's social justice movement I feel much more ambivalent about. It was too scoldy and moralistic. I actually like and appreciate representation, but now I'm pretty sure is not a viable path of political change. I appreciated MeToo in concept and as something sorely needed, but I definitely felt the gains could have been more solid and I'm not sure if the social media logic of it turned out well. 2017-2020 of BLM was great stuff but in a difficult period. Getting Trump to back down into hiding in a bunker was a sign of something going right. Biden downturn in activism was depressing. I didn't participate in the Palestine movement after Oct 7th but that was too big of a bite to succeed, doesn't mean it wasn't worth a try.

The one thing that feels weird is how sexual politics opened up a lot until the pandemic when transphobic reaction, kinkphobia and tradwifery really kicked up.

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Jenheadjen wrote

I'm not american but I've been feeling really scared for all my american friends lately, especially my trans american friends. Shit is getting real scary real fast. I wish i had the funds to financially help them all get out of the country while they can, but i can barely support myself as it is.

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twovests OP wrote

Therapy went from $20 to $100 because of insurance shenanigans. Had to cancel. It wasn't doing anything for me, but I wish I didn't find out by being billed for two sessions at $200 total.

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cowloom wrote

It does seem like the fascists will be successful in their soft coup d'état. Too many people are staying at home and dissociating instead of resisting, and the few thousands who want to fight back are still stuck doing ineffective things like peaceful protests or calling "their" representatives. There are too many liberals, and not enough leftists. Hopefully the incoming repression will radicalize more people, but will it be enough to mount a real resistance? Millions are going to suffer or die before then, and it's the worst feeling knowing that there's nothing you can do to stop it right now.

It's unclear whether the maga regime will fall due to a civil war, or world war 3. Or, maybe there will be a "greater" american empire, like the ancient roman one, that will persist for hundreds of years before crumbling. None of these outcomes are good, but while the future is uncertain, the only certainty is that we can't simply give in. We may be tired, we may feel hopeless, but we have to keep fighting. Our survival, and the survival of the most oppressed masses, depends on it.

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