I feel called out

I’m stealing this.

This is me. I have a wife and a young child. I want to fight but i have to protect my family first.

I like it. It’s a good reminder that i’ve been scrolling too long when i start seeing posts that are in the negative.

Back to 0 “Lemmy equivalent of Karma” score.

But now he’s in the negatives again.

You’re not wrong so i’ll bring you back up to 0

Meh. I’m a white cis man who voted for Harris. Fuck labels and preconceived notions of manliness.

To add to this, it’s widely used in Brazil who copied it from surf culture.

China also uses it as part of their one hand counting system. To them it’s the number 6 (pronounced ‘leo’). The use of it in western culture has allowed them to adopt it as a way of saying something is cool. They will say 666 (pronounced “leo leo leo”) while making the hand gesture to say something is cool. This fact was very fun to explain to my ultra conservative family back in the states.

Source: I taught in China for nine years in an international school with a very large Brazilian community.

You’re correct. But i also said Ignore and not “do nothing”. It’s possible to ignore the hate while still fighting for your rights.

As an American, fuck that guy.

What the fuck makes her a corporate stooge? She’s a prosecutor while the actual corporate stooge is trying to grift $100,000 watches.

Hey, I just wanted to tell you something cause it sounds like you might be in a bad place. Even with all of the political finger pointing surrounding your identity, you need to know something very important.

Your life matters. Your experiences matter. Your feelings matter.

You matter.

Ignore all the hatred and all the fear. Ignore the bigotry and close mindedness. Ignore it all and know that there are so many people out there that will love you and support you and accept you.

You are not alone.

I think we’re called Lemmings

This is actually pretty accurate.

I might be the only person who thinks this is hype.

Would I call the average American smart? No, but i wouldn’t call them dumb either. That’s because they’re average.

Would i say that the average American is well informed? Absolutely not.

Do i think it’s easier to convince millions of people, or the dozens of democratic leaders? I would like to assume that the democratic leadership would be easier to reason with.

But you’re suggesting that every democratic leader become immediately progressive, which would be amazing, is never going to happen. There’s such a stigma around “progressive” and “social” values that it would be political suicide and would only ignite the Republican base. It’s a guaranteed way of making sure we lose elections.

This path that you are calling easier isn’t easy. It’s risky. It has a high likelihood of failing, and failure means living in the handmaid’s tale. I have a family and i can’t take that risk.

The only way i see forward that is actually viable is a slow and steady march.

If I have to choose between 1) standing still, 2) running head first into fascism, or 3) jumping off a cliff without safety nets to reach a Utopian pripe dream, I’ll choose standing still.

But that’s the thing, we aren’t standing still. We are making progress. Yes it’s slow progress, but it’s fundamental progress. Every Demcratic president has spent their entire presidency undoing the damage of the last Republican president. This means we need to keep voting and not get complacent. Get the democrats into control and then push them further left.

Look man. I want a progress country. I want free healthcare. I want free tuition colleges. I want free lunches in school. I want paid family leave.

I want the same utopia you do. The only difference between us is that while you see the promise land, I see the ground work that needs to happen to reach it.

Just because our heads are down doesn’t mean we’ve lost sight of the goal. Our heads are down because we’re fighting tooth and nail against a torrent that wants to drag us backwards. We are clawing our way out of this nightmare.

I’ll still take baby steps over a leap going in the wrong direction any day.

I got the idea to turn this into a creepy pasta.

I stared at the river with its clear clean water and my sandpaper tongue swept across my chapped lips. I was thirsty but I couldn’t give in. Not yet.

We still had a full day of travel before we got behind the gun towers of the next city. Their high walls and fields of land mines were the only real protection from the Warminder. We couldn’t risk refreshing ourselves out in the open like this. But the temptation was there.

I longed to jump into the water and drink my fill. The hydration gel packs we were alotted to keep us functioning between safe zones just didn’t cut it. Maybe I could just get a mouthful. A mouthful wouldn’t hurt would it?

Before I could move there was movement to my left. Someone had lost control before I had a chance to. And now he was running straight into the water and plunging his head below the surface and taking in deep gulps of water.

The rest of us hesitated and exchanged glances. The only sound was the splashing and slurping of water. A heartbeat later and 2 more ran for the water. They ran and fell face first and began drinking.

A feeling if anxiety shot through me. Was it safe? Could the Warminder see us? Was the water as refreshing as it looked?

I dropped my pack and stumbled towards the water falling on my knees at the edge of it. I cupped my hands and sunk them beneath the surface and began to raise pure beautiful water to my lips. My lips ached, my tongue beckoned, my heart raced, but that’s when I heard it.

Oh No!

I tried to shout but my throat was too dry. I sprawled away from the water. There were arms and hands grabbing me, pulling me back to safety, away from the water. Then everything happened all at once.

The Warminder was there. A wall of jagged red bricks that jutted out in at terrible angles had already encompassed the first man. I saw the terror in his eyes before the last brick slid in sealing his fate. Another had been close but got sandwiched between bricks as walls were built lightning quick. Fingers and arms stuck out from the walls showing last ditch efforts to cling to life and escape the wrath of the Warminder. All that was left was the sounds of muffled screams.

7 people were lost to the thirst that day. I was almost one of them. And I will never forget the evil grin of that terrible creature, the Warminder.

Seriously, why are we still using Twitter?