“Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was left partly paralyzed after a white police officer shot him seven times in the back outside an apartment complex in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 23.
The shooting, which happened in front of three of Mr. Blake’s children, was captured by a neighbor in a video that circulated widely and rapidly on social media. Outrage spread quickly, rekindling the nationwide protests for racial justice that had followed the deaths of George Floyd, Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans after encounters with the police. […]
Four months after the shooting of Mr. Blake, the Kenosha County district attorney, Michael Graveley, announced on Jan. 5 that the officers involved in the shooting would not be charged.”
I know this is extremely disturbing. I know the black trans community doesn’t need to be reminded of their trauma. And I am so damn sorry that you still have to wake up in such a hateful world and ostracizing society but I refuse to simply forget about two innocent souls that were taken away way too soon. We have to raise awareness, we have to educate ourselves more on these very touchy subjects, we have to be better, we have to build a better future, we just have to, this cannot be a regular, standard routine.
May they rest in peace.
“You can help the Brave Space Alliance provide funeral accommodations for Courtney and Tyianna by donating to their Funeral Fund at
Courtney and Tyianna, rest in power. We will say your names aloud as a solemn commitment to fight tirelessly for dignity, safety and justice for all trans people.”
This makes me sick. Those are the most hateful, evil, dirty, narcissistics, hypocritical beings. Those are fascists. Those are nazis. Those are the worst kind of humans and they are getting labeled as good patriots, do you seriously not see the irony?
Hi, I just found an amazing tiktok series of a guy explaining the basics of capitalism, socialism, and communism and I just thought I’d share it because I thought it was a great simple summary.
One of the things that I was confused about once I started being interested in politics were the terms “liberal” and “leftist”.
There was obviously a right and left wing. What I knew was that a liberal was a tolerant individual that constantly promoted human rights, and since they were considered to belong to the left, I logically concluded that these two word were synonymous.
It turns out there is a difference, and I thought I’d try to explain it in a relatively simple way for whoever needs it. Let’s start with defining each term:
Liberalism:
A political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. -Oxford Languages
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law. […] Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment, when it became popular among Western philosophers and economists. - Wikipedia
Liberalism is a belief in gradual social progress by changing laws, rather than by revolution. -Collin
Leftism:
The political views or policies of the left. -Oxford Languages
Leftism refers to the beliefs and behaviour of people who support socialist ideas. - Collin
An economic posisistion favouring more collectivity/cooperation in making resource using decisions. This can either be done by state planning or using communes. -Urban Dictionnary
The major difference between these two ideologies is the preffered economic system of each. Basically, liberals have nothing against capitalism but believe in law changing and reforming in order to achieve equality. While leftists believe that the only way to atteign true equity would be overthrowing capitalism and adapting an entirely new economic system such as communism or socialism, generally accompanied by a revolution.
“Liberals are not leftists, and there are a few keypoints in understanding the differences betwen the two. Liberalism is an ideology that has a wide array of views but in general it’s in support of universal human rights, democratic governance and market based capitalist economics.
While there is some overlap, this last part is largely what seperates the two. Well meaning liberals do generally want to protect human rights and promote social equality but believe the problems stemmed from our capitalist system can be tweaked and reformed.
Leftists, on the other hand, are fundamentally opposed to capitalism, [they believe] that the problems created by the system are actually not problems at all, rather, they are a sign that the system is working as intended. Crony capitalism* doesn’t exist, ideologically pure free market capitalism* doesn’t exist either, there is only capitalism, and it must be abolished. Liberalism as an ideology believes that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with capitalism, that the problems that exist within a society are the result of bad actors and policies within the system that must be rooted out so the system can function properly. Leftist ideologies understand that the system itself is the cause of the suffering. No amount of reforming can fix the problems in our society. It’s not a matter of bad actors and policies but one of the relations we keep to keep society running.
Perhaps the most succint quote that hilights the differences comes from brazilian Archbishop Hélder Câmara: ” When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.“ -"Why liberals are not leftists” by Leaflets via Youtube
“An economic system in which individuals and businesses with political connections and influence are favored (as through tax breaks, grants, and other forms of government assistance) in ways seen as suppressing open competition in a free market.” -Merriam Webster
“In its worst form, crony capitalism can devolve into simple corruption where any pretense of a free market is dispensed with. Bribes to government officials are considered de rigueur and tax evasion is common. […] Corrupt governments may favor one set of business owners who have close ties to the government over others.” -Wikipedia
*What is ideologically pure free market society?
“In a capitalistic society, the production and pricing of goods and services are determined by the free market, or supply and demand, however, some government regulation may occur. […] A free market system is an economic system based solely on demand and supply, and there is little or no government regulation.” -Investopedia
Is Free Market the Same as Capitalism?
“A capitalist system and a free market system are both economic environments that are based on the law of supply and demand.
They both are involved in determining the price and production of goods and services. On one hand, capitalism is focused on the creation of wealth and ownership of capital and factors of production, whereas a free market system is focused on the exchange of wealth, or goods and services.” - By Steven Nickolas for Investopedia
“Voters need to understand the fundamental differences between liberalism and leftism. It’s the difference between a candidate who believes capitalism, with just a little refereeing, will eventually provide what working people need, versus a candidate who believes serious intervention in the capitalist economy is necessary.” -The Conversation
That’s about it, I hope I was able to properly explain everything. This is obviously an overview of leftism and liberalism and in no way an in depth analysis of each ideology, though I later probably will dive in deeper.
As I have previously specified, I am a leftist, and I do not think that we can achieve any true change as long as we are under a capitalist system since every “problem” we’ve had is each deeply rooted in capitalism. I would also love to make a post listing some arguments that justify my beliefs, but that’ll be for another time.
Thank you for reading, also, I’ve never really asked you if you had any suggestions but I’d like to see if you guys had any questions about politics, and if I happen to have an understanding in the subject, I’ll try to answer it with a similar kind of post. Okay thanks, bye.
Hey folks, this is not your typical post about incorrect quotes.
I want to address a serious issue today, and most of you probably know what’s been going on in the US.
The killing of George Floyd started another serious and necessary debate on Police brutality in the states. (And I think not just there. Every country is affected in some way or another.)
My heart doesn’t ache, no. My heart is bleeding and crying out of pain about what has been going on for days now. What people have been going through for years and years. This is not the first case of police brutality against POC, nor the second, and it probably isn’t the last one.
It happened so many times already that I can’t count them all. Our world has lost so many beautiful souls to this never-ending issue. Additionally to this, we lost so many brothers and sisters of color who were part of the LGBTQ+ community too. Even though it is pride month, I can’t enjoy and celebrate it as much as I want to.
But now is the time to act. Now more than ever! We all have a voice, and I’m sure as hell using mine. And I want you to do the same.
40 Ways you can help right now shows you different techniques and approaches to support the #blacklivesmatter movement in various forms.
Everyone’s able to do something. Even if you don’t have the money to donate, or you’re not from the US, share articles, draw attention to it in some way. Being silent about this puts you on the side of the offenders.
I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand with all of you!!!
Credit goes to @sfbucketlist on instagram for these 40 ways you can help right now.
I am fucking terrified for the future of this country.
I work as a fundraiser for planned parenthood. I’ve gotten a few unsavory characters. None of them bother me as much as the standard Republican. They’re so fucking smug.
“We don’t kill babies” is what a guy said to me, wearing, I shit you not, a pro-2A shirt. Killing babies is wrong unless they’re in 1st grade I guess?
“Follow the science” another guy told me, after every fucking medical professional I spoke to that day was firmly on my side and terrified for their patients.
“If you took birth control, you wouldn’t need it” a woman said to me, as though birth control isn’t next on the chopping block. As though it works all the time. As though that’s even the point.
I hate them. I hate them more and more every day. Conservatives are nothing but brain dead goose stepping morons who will happily march themselves into a mass grave. They don’t get it, and I can’t possibly convey to them that nothing they claim to believe matches what they advocate for. The core of their political framework is hatred.
I hate conservatives for what they do.Conservatives hate you for who you are.
If you consider yourself a progressive in any capacity, it is your moral obligation to counter fascism in any way you can.
It’s absolutely disgraceful that we live in a time where voting for milquetoast liberals is legitimate anti-fascist action. But it is.
MAGA not the fringe. That is the Republican Party. White supremacy and anti-queer bigotry is the norm now. It IS the mainstream. The anti-trans rhetoric they engage in is deliberate. They call queer people pedophiles and groomers because they want you to die. They want you to be affectively dehumanized so they can strip everything from you. They call abortion murder because they want women to be helpless. They called George Floyd a thug and a druggie, because needless suffering by POC cannot be sympathized with.
The buffalo shooter was not a lone wolf and he was not an isolated incident. The shit in his manifesto is shit spewed on Fox News.
Fascism should be in your every day vocabulary. That is what binds the GOP platform. Do not delude yourself into believing that it can’t happen here. It can, it IS, and now is the time to ACT.
IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE, REGISTER. REGISTER RIGHT NOW. REGISTER AS A DEMOCRAT SO YOU CAN VOTE IN PRIMARIES.
VOTE FOR CANDIDATES THAT ARE PRO CHOICE, PRO UNION, PRO EQUALITY.
Don’t be lazy if you live in a blue state, and don’t be discouraged if you live in the red. California used to be a Republican stronghold, and every election cycle, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama get a little bluer. Never get complacent, never be hopeless. Inaction is pro-fascist, always.
Anti-voting rhetoric will be the death of the left. Literally.
Not a single fucking Republican voted to protect roe. It was fucking overturned in the first place bc trump got three Supreme Court appointments.
Every fucking thing wrong in this country is almost certainly the result of Republicans being in power. In 2020, Texas cut half of the polling places in black neighborhoods, and doubled them in white ones, regardless of population. It was Republicans bitching about mail in voting, and constantly, constantlyfearmonger about voter fraud. Literally, their platform is about making civil rights harder to practice.
Would you like to know why? It’s because Republican politicians know better than anyone that higher voter participation means higher republican loss.
But what do I see from the online left, champions of the oppressed?
“Voting doesn’t do anything, the parties are the same, the system is rigged, etc, etc”
Don’t sit here and tell me you give a fuck about marginalized people if you aren’t ready to march your ass to the voting booth and vote out the party actively stripping their rights away.
Protest, donate, community build, unionize, and vote, vote, vote.
By the time direct action is the only option, it will be too fucking late.
Ukrainian communist journalist: ‘This war started eight years ago’
The war between Russia and Ukraine began long before February 24, 2022—the date provided by the Ukrainian government, NATO, and the United States for the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Dmitry Kovalevich, a journalist and a member of a now-banned communist organization in Ukraine, the war actually started in the spring of 2014 and has never stopped since.
Wars are among the most difficult of reporting assignments for a journalist. These days, especially, with the torrent of social media and the belligerence of network news television channels, matters on the ground are hard to sort out. Just establishing what the basic facts about the events taking place during a war are is hard enough, let alone ensuring the correct interpretation of these facts.
Videos of apparent war atrocities that can be found on social media platforms like YouTube are impossible to verify. Often, it becomes clear that much of the content relating to war that can be found on these platforms has either been misidentified or is from other conflicts. Even the BBC, which has taken a very strong pro-Ukrainian and NATO position on this conflict, had to run a story about how so many of the viral claims about Russian atrocities are false.
Among these false claims, which have garnered widespread circulation, is a video circulating on TikTok that wrongly alleges to be that of a “Ukrainian girl confronting a Russian soldier,” but is instead a video of the then-11-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi confronting an Israeli soldier in 2012; the video continues to circulate on TikTok with the caption, “Little [girls] stand up to Russian soldiers.”
The outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine did not come out of nowhere. Here are the key historical events that produced the crisis, and the declassified documents showing that the U.S. gov’t knew it was playing with fire over the last 30 years.
of NATO’s broken promises
The Clinton administration made many behind-the-scenes promises to Boris Yeltsin, and their deceptions eventually came to a head at their Budapest meeting in 1994.
Declassified documents revealed this misdirection.
U.S. & NATO continue their regime change efforts. Two notable examples of this are NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan which resulted in a 20 yr occupation with hundreds of thousands dead.
NATO’s bombing of Libya (serving as the air force for the rebels) collapses the gov’t.
After a decade of deception, Putin comes to power promising to overcome Russia’s humiliations. He makes clear that NATO expansion to Ukraine is a red line
A doc by William Burns, current CIA Director, shows they knew they were playing with fire
In 2014 the era of Ukrainian neutrality comes to an end with the overthrow of President Victor Yanukovych. This coup was supported and funded by the U.S. and succeeds when far-right paramilitaries storm the presidential palace.
While western powers continue to stoke escalation and war, a diplomatic road out of the current crisis is still possible. Will the U.S. & NATO step back from the brink and negotiate with Russia?
Looking back on it today, the famous U.S. assurance to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev of “Not one inch eastward” rings hollow.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, NATO has added 13 countries… and counting.
Historian Dr. Gerald Horne on the historical and geopolitical implications of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine
r. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston, and author of dozens of books, most recently “The Bittersweet Science: Racism, Racketeering, and the Political Economy of Boxing” to discuss Joe Biden imposing sanctions on Russia over the current tensions around Ukraine and how it fits into world politics, the western corporate media’s misrepresentation of the facts and history of the Ukraine situation and [US] complicity in pushing for war with Russia.
by “colonial tax” i think they mean the CFA franc, the colonial french currency used by 14 african nations. france no longer even uses the french franc yet controls the economies of 14 sovereign nations. one of the obligations of the CFA franc agreements is that the countries must “keep 50 percent of their foreign exchange reserves in an operations account held at the French Treasury.” this form of neocolonialism has has had the effect of
