“you only deserve food and shelter if you contribute to society” says people living in countries where nobody’s labor actually feeds or benefits their neighbors anymore but exclusively benefits the companies keeping the food and shelter behind the artificial paywalls
You’re not nomads relying on each other to hunt and gather anymore, you’re talking about stocking shelves for fucking wal marts
And even the oldest societies on earth all took care of the elderly or sick anyway
dudes will be like “if you don’t Contribute To Society you don’t get to live, that’s the simple facts” meanwhile their job is like Marketing and Brand Development Specialist
when i’m sad i like to think about little prehistoric toddlers tagging along with the adults who are foraging and getting really excited over a Cool Rock or Big Leaf and handing it to a parent to put in the baskets with the Actual Food and the parents having to carry around all their baby’s little Treasures the way modern parents end up with acorns and flowers in their pockets after a trip to the park
I don’t love the “it’s not my job to educate you” mindset. There’s a difference between someone being spitefully intrusive and genuinely curious, and with the rise of fascism and misinformation we’re facing now, we should be honoring the latter as much as possible. The information has to come from somewhere, and if someone’s making the effort of going straight to the source for it, that’s an effort that I think should be honored. If not from you, then by someone.
Why are we gatekeeping knowledge. Refusing to talk about something can only make it more taboo, which is all the bigots want from us. They want us to talk about our identities and lived experiences as little as possible. Existing loudly is an act of resistance in the times we live now
As much as it may be an eyeroll moment for someone to ask you a question you think is obvious, that doesn’t mean it’s in the best interest of the movement or even your own life for you to just hit them with a “it’s not my job to educate you”
Unfortunately annoyance and inconvenience is the price of progress. Sometimes hearing a true, lived experience is all that’s needed for someone to understand a cause. Treating all curiosity as inherently malicious is detrimental to social justice movements. Someone wanting to learn more is the first step.
Guys reminder that BDS has many boycott lists but that the “consolidated list” is the one you should be actively boycotting against. This includes their top 5 targets, which are causing the most harm / contributing the most to ongoing genocide in Palestine. These are the top 5 brands you should be aggressively campaigning against. Understand the different terminologies also. “Organic boycotts” are boycotts the BDS adopted after public outcry, for example. Know what brand falls into which category!!
Super high priority right now: Chevron (including Caltex and Texaco brands), Intel, Dell, Siemens, Hewlett Packard (HP), Microsoft, Carrefour, AXA, Reebok, Disney+, SodaStream, RE/MAX
Unfortunately, a lot of people’s idea of feminism does not hinge on women are autonomous beings who deserve equal rights and opportunities, but instead on women are beautiful and precious objects that should be treated well which is not actually the same thing. At all.
