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.