extremely fucking weird to have to convince leftists that fighting for a better public education system & better wages for teachers is not, like, the Lame Establishment Dem take or whatever.
It is not Cool and Radical to advocate for the dissolution of the entire public education system in favor of Everyone Doing Their Own Thing. what you’re describing is libertarianism, and a system that directly and dramatically benefits fascist right-wingers and child abusers.
the community-centered child rearing yall love to talk about exists. it desperately needs to be improved, but the bones are here, and they’re already doing a lot of legwork in the fight against aggressive nuclear family isolation.
Went to a zoo where there’s a gay penguin couple but the problem is they’re the only penguin couple at this point that the zoo has who are healthy enough to safely raise an egg so they keep being given eggs to raise and I’m just losing it over the mental image imagine being this old gay couple who just wants to live in peace but you keep having babies handed to you because all of your friends have too many issues to look after them
Tobacco users aren’t dirty or stupid, and some of y'all are deeply poisoned by DARE-style propaganda.
Even from people who are supposedly “supportive” of addicts and users, I see so much hateful vitriol toward smokers, as if nicotine addiction is somehow The Worst Kind, and it’s okay to target them as Terrible Monsters, even from people who should know better.
“But I have TRAUMA–” Trauma doesn’t give you the right to be cruel to every single smoker in the world. It does not give you the right to assume the worst of every single smoker you meet.
“But they pollute my air–” Designated smoking spots in public areas have been a thing for decades now, and I have never met a single smoker who wasn’t perfectly willing to move to another location to smoke, as long as they are asked respectfully and not treated like criminals or monsters just for smoking. If you approach a smoker and treat them like a criminal and act like they’re intentionally trying to poison you, they have every right to get annoyed at you. And if an individual smoker is a dick about it? That’s still the individual, not smokers as a whole.
“But it sets off my asthma–” This is what is known as a “competing access need.” Smokers deserve space to smoke, because drug withdrawal is severe and is a legitimate medical issue. Non-smokers and those with respiratory issues deserve smoke-free air. Two things can be true at once, and the answer is not, “so we dehumanize smokers!” Also, y'all may be shocked to learn this, but there are asthmatic smokers. I know several. Using asthmatics as a gotcha against smokers is not productive or kind to either group.
“But tobacco companies–” Are not the individual smokers, and are not responsible for tobacco companies’ actions. Blaming Joe Schmoe Smoker for the actions of Big Tobacco is the exact same as blaming someone for climate change because they bought a pack of Walmart-brand hamburgers. Not only is it not effective, it doesn’t target the core issue, and it’s a douchebag thing to do.
“But it’s bad for you–” Suicide and self-harm are worse, and cigarettes are the only thing keeping some people alive. Blame the system, not the individual.
“But vaping is obnoxious and bad for kids–” Vaping originated as a way to help people stop smoking, and it is not the fault of individuals that vaping became another predatory industry. Removing access to vapes, which are commonly still used as a tool for addicts to help quit, is not the fucking answer.
Stop being cruel to smokers and pretending you’re progressive for it. Unlearn the DARE propaganda, kill the cop in your head, and recognize that someone’s humanity is not dependent on their drug habits.
[ID: A screenshot of the original post highlighting the text, “And if an individual smoker is a dick about it? That’s still the individual, not smokers as a whole.” End ID.]
People keep telling stories in my notes of individual smokers being shitty as some sort of gotcha, and I would like to highlight where I already addressed that.
Y'all are worryingly quick to demonize smokers as an entire category of people, and it’s disgusting.
tbh the submarine thing is the perfect demonstration of the thing a load of studies have borne out, where the more wealth someone has, the more likely they are to DRASTICALLY overestimate their competence in basically any field.
plus, tho I don’t personally know of any studies into this, I also think it’s pretty clear that wealth creates what I think of as the ‘Nothing Bad Ever Happens To The Kennedys!!’ mindset, where wealth insulates some people from consequences so much that it also makes them drastically overestimate their ability to survive danger.
saw some videos of the late Oceangate CEO bragging how he’d 'broken the rules’ when it game to the construction of the Titan and in hindsight it’s painfully apparent that the phenomenon I talk about above was heavily in play.
The guy essentially had actual submarine experts screaming 'MATE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA’ at him and he clearly took this to mean he was a fearless iconoclast and not an idiot about to doom himself and four other people to maybe the worst possible way to die a human being can experience.
I will never understand why Edwina’s character is so disliked in season 2. She is literally one of if not the most likeable character throughout season 2.
Are people forgetting that Kate straight up lied to her SISTER and deceived her about her intentions with the Viscount.
Trust me if I was in that situation and my blood sister did that to me talk-less of my half sister I would have dragged her. That wedding won’t have happened trust and believe that.
Anyways STAN EDWINA, she deserves no hate, and it’s easy for ppl to throw in the fact that she was naive or how did she not notice blah blah blah like be so serious for a second. Be in her shoes/ some of y’all probably have sisters but As a sister it wouldn’t nor shouldn’t cross your mind that your sister is messing around with your husband.
That’s my two cents….
In episode ONE hints were laid that Edwina didn’t REALLY consider Kate her sister and there was a part of her worried that her relationship with Kate was gonna cause her problems with the ton. It was set up right in the first conversation we see her have with Kate that there was that flicker - however small it might have been at that point - of “you aren’t really my sister.”
Episode two gave us Ascot. Also known as the moment when, if Edwina actually cared about Kate, Anthony’s courtship should have ended. Instead, Edwina looked Kate in the eye and flat-out told her that Anthony being willing to hurt Kate in order to spend time with Edwina was a GOOD thing. Little girl actually threw her SISTER away for a man she just met. She made it clear in that moment that Kate’s feelings did not and never would matter to her in the slightest as long as she got what she wanted. THAT is the moment I started to dislike her.
From the moment she met Anthony, she hardly said two words to Kate that weren’t about him. Kate’s sole purpose for existing, as far as Edwina was concerned, was to help Edwina win Anthony’s hand.
And THEN the wedding happened. Edwina finally clocks that Kate and Anthony have feelings for each other and freaks out. But! She was still seriously considering going through with the wedding. Kate was willing to sacrifice herself, her happiness, and her future for the sake of Edwina’s happiness. Edwina was willing to sacrifice her future and any hope of love and happiness she might have had for the sake of Kate’s misery.
And that stupid speech… that whole “I never asked for any of this, Kate” when that was literally ALL she did for 4 fucking episodes. When she literally hardly even acknowledged Kate’s existence unless it was to talk about the Viscount, and how she wanted to marry him and live in that house with his family, and basically order Kate to help her get that. And she goes and follows it up with “I’m taking back my power”? WHAT power? She was ALWAYS the one with all the power in their relationship. She said “jump” Kate asked how high. Kate said “jump” Edwina started digging a hole.
Efwina disowned Kate for daring to have feelings of her own - feelings she didn’t even ACT on. Then called her cruel for allowing herself a few minutes of joy. I truly believe that had the accident not happened, Edwina would have gone to her grave hating Kate.
Kate’s a better woman than I am. If my sister had looked me in the eye and told me that my feelings don’t matter, and she actually LIKED that this man she just met hurt me, I would have been on the next boat back to India. Let the spoiled brat navigate the Season without me, since I’m clearly not wanted, here.
