they are father and son...

Remember "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" ? I feel like there's been a distancing from the "reduce" and "reuse" part and a favoritism towards "recycle" by corporate American.

Capitalism can still thrive with recycling in the mix. You buy Plastic Thing 1, throw it away after one use, and they take that and recycle it into Plastic Thing 2 and sell it back to you. All while continuing to harm the environment.

Reusing puts a damper on things. They can't sell you Plastic Thing 2 when you're still using Plastic Thing 1. Plastic forks, for example- there is literally no reason why you can't reuse plastic forks more than once (aside from maybe microplastics, but it's too late for that)

Reducing is the one everyone wants to ignore. Just don't buy Plastic Thing 1. You don't need Plastic Thing 1. Pick up a set of metal forks and use those for years. Convenience is killing the planet

the slogan is in that order for a reason! It is listed in order of effectiveness and impact; if you can't reduce, reuse. If you can't reuse, recycle.

1. Refuse what you don’t need
2. Reduce what you can
3. Reuse everything still in working order
4. Recirculate what you don’t need by sharing or selling onward
5. Refurbish what’s fallen out of good condition so it lasts longer
6. Repair what’s broken altogether
7. Repurpose what can’t serve its original function
8. Recycle what is unsuitable for repurposing

What goes unsaid here is why they’re all “re-“ prefixed: it’s about circularity. Keeping the resources in use means that we don’t have to keep incurring the environmental costs of production over and over on infinite one-way trips of new stuff starting in the earth, through human society, and right back into the earth in landfill.

This is the only known photo of the first trans woman to have her gender legally recognized in Switzerland.

In 1914, Adine T. sent a letter to her local police to grant her a pass to dress as she pleased. She petitioned that "I be granted permission to live as a woman, to wear female clothing and to pursue female occupations, and to be considered a woman before the world in all and every respect, since my emotional feelings are totally feminine and I feel unspeakably unhappy in male clothing."

Her gender was so clear that even the conservative Swiss government had to recognize it. Obtaining permission to live as a woman "is a matter of life and death for me," Adine added.

111 years ago, it was the first pass of its kind in her nation (although not the first in Europe). When interviewed, Adine described herself similarly to other trans lesbians in the 20th century: "a homosexual woman in a male body.” Source: Matthias Ruoss, "Arnold, Arnoldine, Adine."

in this fantasy world, theres no homophobia or sexism! but the governments are still patriarchal monarchies and everyone still adheres to the standard nuclear family, two things that have absolutely no relation to homophobia and sexism whatsoever

TORSO (1982) - Vol.1 N3

"Why is ContraPoints saying [advocating for Palestine] is totally futile? Because ContraPoints doesn't want to do anything about it... She feels that the only reasonable way to live is to accept that things are bad and not going to change. Even though that is actually unreasonable. Even though it is actually also morally quite bankrupt.

You are the one who is experiencing doom. That is the thing that you feel. That does not mean other people are supporting a doomed cause. It means that you feel doom about their cause. Examine why you might feel that way. They thought Vietnam was a doomed cause, too. Cuban revolution was a doomed cause. Chinese revolution was a doomed cause...

"Zero Palestinian lives were saved"... I don't think this is true. For instance, think about the vast amount of fundraising campaigns that have tangibly helped, even as aid is blockaded in Israel, that has tangibly helped Palestinians. They have gained support as a result of this activism. So saying "zero Palestinian lives were saved" again, this is not true. This is not true.

But second of all, even if it was true, you're going to blame people for speaking out against things that are actually wrong because it wasn't effective enough instead of just like offering better ways to do it? Does something have to be done or not? Does something have to be done or not?"

-elliot sang again, "BreadTube is over"

I wanted to share these quotes from Sang's video because I think he is really getting at something central I notice all the time on tumblr.

So many people from the global north on this website (including the ones who quickly distanced themselves from liberals like ContraPoints), still cling to this unfounded belief in their own supposed powerlessness.

You are not powerless. Your decisions matter and have tangible impact on other people. You are in this world with the rest of us. Whether you want to accept responsibility for your behavior or not, it still meaningfully influences other people's lives.

Take stock of your actual, current impact. What are you already spending your days doing? How can you use your daily life to oppose genocide in Palestine?

If you're reading this you probably spend some of your time on tumblr. So use that to help people in Gaza to get food and medicine.

Last week after writing a post encouraging others to donate to my friend @fadel-dani's campaign (vetted by @gazavetters (#197) and 90-ghost) a lot of you actually did send funds.

Do you realize how much that tangibly improved his life last week?

He told me that he was able to buy flour and eat bread after previously having none for over a week. He was able to get painkillers and experience some small relief from his constant pain.

Your decision whether or not to donate (or whether or not to encourage other people to donate) is power. You are actually very powerful, and your decisions have a big influence on his family's life. You are deciding how to use that power right now.

It is a blessing that we have the ability to relieve others' pain.

Send some money to Fadel and know you are using what power you have to help someone. You are a lifeline.

You are inextricably connected to other people. Your presence can be felt as a comfort by other people. Please embrace this.

in general i feel like people are often quick to attribute societal ills in the usa to capitalism without actually examining the factors behind them, cause like. plenty of capitalist countries have found solutions to problems that exist in the usa

the "payment method other than visa/mastercard" thing that exists in japan, brazil, netherlands, etc. have been discussed, and naturally all those countries are capitalist. there's also things like, japan has less homelessness across the entire country than in boston alone, because it has a strong welfare program. or the fact that a lot of capitalist countries across the world have a universal healthcare system, that the usa doesn't

similarly, there's also a lot of societal problems that exist in both the usa and in china, like homelessness and wealth gap for example. so like, maybe a lot of these problems aren't really tied to the economic system used by the country, and it's worth examining the root cause of problems beyond just what economic system the country has

I could watch this for hours 🐈🐈

[video description: two gray tabby cats sitting at opposite ends of an air hockey table, batting a puck back and forth. the caption reads: "you put up an old air hockey table not realizing your kittens would use it the most".]

@senseiwu