Yeah I deal with despair too. It’s hard, especially with all the terrible shit we’re seeing. I’m trying to alchemize it into anger and action, but I think everyone struggles with that. I get some boosts from being involved in local work and the community around that.
I don’t get involved in electoral campaigns. Maybe local work would be something you’d gain energy from.
President and NY Mayor are very different in terms of how much they can be pressured. The right & establishment are fighting, why won’t you?
Biden was always a shit, especially on Gaza, so the horizon was different from explicitly demsoc + antizionist Mamdani. Even still, there are pretty major differences between biden and trump on domestic policy.
Right now there is a swell of hope and energy on the left bc of the Mamdani campaign – lay the groundwork there to build a durable movement that won’t be demobilized after the election. Get people into mutual aid, ice resistance, abolitionist, etc groups!
Look, no politician is going to embody real change, but we know Cuomo will be a much bigger obstacle. pressuring, as you point out, only goes so far, but you have to start from where you are and develop a movement inch by inch.
It’s psychologically easier to be cynical, but it also helps your enemies win.
Get to the emotional reasons why they hold one or more of the dissonant beliefs, then try to both make them feel heard and to plant a seed for addressing that emotion, while offering a non-dissonant alternative
Life doesn’t come with a meaning, you are free to find one that speaks to you
This is an old apologia for colonialism. I would suggest reading some of the works that have come from people from colonized places for the best perspectives on this argument: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/4810-colonialism-as-a-system-for-underdeveloping-africa?_pos=4&_ss=r
There are whole course readings from universities around the world that can help you get up to date.
Let the guy govern for a month before giving up. New Yorkers should pressure him from the left, not just sit back and let the right do it’s thing
Why do you think her appearance is meant to attract sex partners or to fool ppl about her age?
Agreed, its just a bit of a different structure now
We deserve an internet that is not merely a surveillance farm for billionnaires and governments.
It’s not the musicians’ fault. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/5006-new-hegemonies-streaming-platforms-and-music-production
Nothing under a capitalist economy is rewarded for merit, only profitability for the business owner or shareholders
Do whatever your hosts do with theirs
also, spacegulls
Seafile or nextcloud
Cool yeah I need to look into liquid democracy more.
I’m sorta ambiguous about the law – it is always a blunt tool in that it can’t possibly cover every situation (despite judicial contortions) and every person’s particular circumstances. It ages badly and can be hard to keep it up with changing times.
At this point, though, I’m willing to accept laws written and passed by community assemblies, covering their community. It’d be a huge step forward anyway.
I don’t exactly know what it’d mean to merge the judiciary and executive. If we’re just tinkering with the system, the most democratic parts of the system are the US House of Representatives, UK House of Commons, and similar population-based representation, so I’d want to expand them at the others’ expense.
I don’t believe that will solve much, though. In a hierarchical society, those on top will use any existing govt structures to their benefit, having more control when there is less democracy. In general, I believe in spreading power so thinly that it effectively disappears. Instead, people affected by a decision should be the ones to make it, not merely to vote for those who promise to do right by them.
Disagree in general that it can empower the marginalized – it is at most a reflection of the power that the marginalized can sometimes use, either because they did things like strike or organize in the past, or because they have access to powers won by less marginalized people.
The law is just an expression, more or less up-to-date, of the existing balance of power between those who have power and those who don’t
Cops have no reason to put forth effort unless you’re at least locally important or someone above leans on them to make their numbers/look like they’re doing something.
Also is it “justice” to put someone in jail? Let’s say there’s no way to return what was stolen (money spent, property sold/destroyed etc). It certainly doesn’t stop them from doing more crime, it tends to force them into doing more bc it makes them less hirable and more economically desperate. It doesn’t make your situation any better either. It’s just more money for the prison companies.
The point is that it’s marketing for ai companies in general and they can sell them to Hollywood