Thursday, September 25, 2025

Take the antidote: Psyching yourself up and in

Recent liturgy

"When people are burning books and trying to take away your access to education, what you should be doing now is reading.
When people are amping up the volume so that you don't know which way is up and left from right, go get quiet, right?
When you are feeling so disconnected from yourself, literally tap in.
When you are feeling like everyone around you is out to get you, go be in community, right?
Like, the antidote is in front of us. It is the opposite of what they are presenting. ... what you have to do is force yourself to do the opposite.
When I want to be alone is when I reach out. Right?
When I want to scream is when I get, like, quiet and still." — Danielle Moodie (48:28–49:10, 49:45–49:58)

And

"We don’t need to figure out a perfect world right now. What we need to do is figure out how we can participate in reality. We need to stop seeking escape and seek instead plug in, play a part, take some action out in this world that so desperately needs us. It’s time to accept reality, accept that it’s ugly out there, and accept that we’re the only ones who can change this world. The forces of fascism rely on you tuning out, running from reality, indulging in their fantasies. We have to reject their lies, reject the carrots they dangle, and instead run toward reality and toward active participation in this fucked up world." — J. P. Hill

And

"Rejecting fascism's reality generation – its illusions – is easier when you believe (correctly) that nothing is forever and that the pendulum never stops swinging. Sometimes it swings hard, sometimes it barely swings at all, but it always swings. Today you are told to believe the pendulum has been snapped off and thrown into a landfill. It's a nice story for those who want permanent power. Look closely though and you'll see the pendulum, ticking back and forth like it always has.

* * *

Opposing these people is as easy as not believing their bullshit. Laugh at the shadows cast upon that cave wall you keep in your pocket, the one that tells you what is real and what is not. Reject their messaging. Counter it.

* * *

The regime is commanding you to believe a lie: That is has no underbelly. Stop listening. Stop dooming."

Denny Carter (Sept 25, 2025)

Maybe this too, I guess

kid staring out rainy window

Sunday, September 7, 2025

Both-sidesing: Democrats trying to impress Republicans on how harsh they can be on immigrants?

This person who identifies as an "abundance liberal" suggests that Democrats should propose taxing immigrants more for the purpose of (somehow?) impressing Republicans (who care about real numbers? who argue in good faith?).

I'm kind of shocked that anyone is still proposing technocratic solutions to the "debate" over immigration. Even if this were a good idea (and it is not), Republican elites and media will never tell their base about it. You can't policy your way out of a propaganda problem!

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— Michael Hobbes (@michaelhobbes.bsky.social) September 6, 2025 at 1:47 PM

There is no indication that republican leaders or voters even know what current immigration policy looks like. Their views are driven by Breitbart blowups about caravans, Haitians eating cats and MS-13. Change the policy all you want, they'll never give you an ounce of credit for it.

— Michael Hobbes (@michaelhobbes.bsky.social) September 6, 2025 at 1:53 PM

There is no compromise policy Democrats can offer Republicans to make them act normal on this issue. We simply have to state the basic reality — immigrants contribute to our country in myriad ways — and fight for it. I don't know how so many journalists convinced themselves this isn't an option.

— Michael Hobbes (@michaelhobbes.bsky.social) September 6, 2025 at 1:59 PM

Exactly. Exactly. We know there is no compromise to be had on immigration *BECAUSE DEMOCRATS HAVE TRIED TO BROKER ONE FOR 30 YEARS*. Three f’ing decades! As long as Jerusalem Demsas, who offered another “let’s hear the right out” proposal this week, has been alive!

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— Greg Greene (he/him/his) (@greene.haus) September 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM

If the punishment is going to happen, if you cannot stop it (And Democrats have never been able to stop it), then you need to extract cost for it; or else you're just allowing your enemies to shift costs onto you for nothing. You are building political externalities that make it more difficult for u

— jessdee.bsky.social (@jessdee.bsky.social) September 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM

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