Spit teeth, shut up and sing.

worked as a helpdesk agent for years and can confirm this is absolutely true, and also it's not only men. people just don't read. they get to the first action item and just stop there.

I feel like my job has taught me very few actual skills, but one is how to get answers out of people over email, particularly when there’s some degree of a language barrier.

You need to use bullet points or, preferably, a numbered list. One line for each question.

Keep the questions as short as possible, include relevant details in the intro paragraph or a concluding paragraph. Skip lines. Keep paragraphs short. People see long paragraphs and their eyes glaze over.

Ask people to confirm receipt of emails and also give them a deadline. The day after the deadline, send a follow up.

This is not 100% foolproof, but it helps.

Going Mad at Sea: A Packing List.

Are you planning on a nautical severance from your sanity? Here are some things to consider packing along!

Young people have GOT to stop talking about conservatives like they're scary menacing monsters. Yes the policies they back are horrifically destructive but that's entirely because of how individually stupid, fearful, emotionally stunted, weak willed and catastrophically gullible they are. That all is what made them become right wing to begin with. Just the most easily manipulated zombie sheep on earth.

People I have encountered in the past month who voted for Tr*mp include:

- Homeless girl who asked for my pronouns immediately and used them correctly every time

- Hispanic woman with a large family who just got her citizenship and is still working on her English

Neither of these women understood what they were supporting, they mostly saw ads that he was going to reduce grocery prices and voted based on that. Neither of them have consistent access to information or any relevant political education, nor the time, money, or energy to seek it out because they are focused on surviving.

A vast amount of republican voters are exactly the same, and it's a direct result of the GOP strategically denying them resources. We cannot move forward if you throw people to the curb for not knowing any better.

I need to emphasize that these people are "stupid, fearful, emotionally stunted, weak willed and catastrophically gullible" because they have been forcefully kept in poverty without access to proper education, therapy, or community support and fed fearmongering propaganda their entire lives without anyone ever showing them life can be better. They are traumatized and exhausted and a lot of them are trapped in religious cults.

They are like this because the GOP has meticulously engineered huge swaths of the country to be that way. It is not an inherent personal failing and it is very likely you would be the same had you grown up in the same circumstances.

You do not have to shake hands with bigots, but you need to have compassion and understanding for people who have not yet been given the resources and political understanding you have.

I'm not done here actually. Dehumanization like "zombie sheep" is in direct opposition to the kinds of strategies we are going to need to survive after January 6th. Yes, these people voted for something horrific, but they are still people and as things get bad most of them are going to be negatively impacted– and when that happens we need to be there to support them because that is how we get them to join us and fight back. Everything that makes them susceptible to right-wing propaganda will work in our favor in the right circumstances.

We simply will not get anywhere if we are determined to not see people we hate as people. Humans can learn and grow, zombie sheep cannot.

ETA: Since people are misconstruing my meaning here, we punch fascists on sight. But if someone says "I didn't realize this would happen when I voted for the fascists" or there's even a single crack in their loyalty you scoop them up ASAP no matter how much you want to toss them off a cliff because with a bit of compassion you can get them to turn against the fascists, and that is how we win.

I was going to be done with this post, but just came across something I want to add because it's a lens anyone who primarily interacts with politics online is completely missing:

This is the heart of what I was trying to get across. People are not black-or-white, they're messy and diverse and a lot more malleable than you might think. If you gauge party politics by what you see online and in the media you do not understand the average American at all.

If you see right-wing voters as a distinct class of people it just shows that you exist in a bubble. Only people with a certain level of education and access to information talk about politics the way it's discussed on the internet, and if you refuse to exit that bubble out of fear, hatred, and classism you will not be able to successfully organize resistance to the coming administration.

All of this, but most of all the part about how the system is designed to keep people impoverished and uninformed.

as a reminder, you, yes YOU, are not immune to conspiratorial thought patterns. or generally being manipulated or lied to

it does not matter how intelligent you are, how much schooling you’ve had, the life experience you’ve had, you are NOT immune to falling down a bad pipeline into alt right thinking. we’re in a high emotion environment right now with very suspicious stuff going on, and this is the perfect environment for people to accidentally get swept into conspiracies hate groups or just straight up cults.

please make sure you have verifiable sources for everything you share, make sure you know the warning signs of pipelines, and keep a good eye on yourself and your friends

for some personal examples

my mom has multiple bachelors and masters from various universities, including one in psychology. very smart woman. she now believes in bleach as medicine and antisemitic conspiracy theories

my grandma and grandpa are both registered democrats, grandma being a nurse and grandpa being extremely gifted in stem topics and top of his class in theology in college. you don’t even fucking want to know the shit they post onto facebook now

keep an eye on what you read right now and for the next four years

The thing about being clever is that it's easier for you to invent a believable story about why things are the way they are. Every scientist knows that you have to ask falsifiable questions about the world because it's so easy to come up with clever or non intuitive ideas that are, in fact, dead wrong.

Check your work. How would you know if you were wrong? How would you know if someone else was? What kinds of data would show you? What kind of data would be enough to change your mind?

Conspiracism is about emotions and narrative. Make sure that you peg the narrative of your understanding of the world to things that can be checked independently of your emotional state.

TikTok is hell bent on convincing me Trump stole the election. Everything from data-based “these specific numbers and outcomes do not reconcile with previous years’, with examples and independently-verifiable statistics” to “all the astrologers said this wouldn’t happen”. Obviously I watched one out of curiosity so now I’m getting tons of them, I know my algorithm is mostly my fault.

But I very much want to believe them. This idea - which I completely recognize as a fringe conspiracy and not based in truth - fits my worldview and my information bubble and it’s so very seductive. It’s scary.

As has been said in other posts, now is a great time to ensure that the person you want to make decisions for you if you can't do it yourself has Power of Attorney.

Follow the link for advice about marriage, adoption paperwork, parenting Trans kids, name and gender markers, and frozen eggs/embryos.

Fiction Works with Footnotes

Round 1

Discworld :

It's Discworld. Thats all the propaganda it needs

Look, I *know* everyone and their mother is going to submit Sir Pterry's works, but it's for good reason. He truly is the footnote king. His footnotes have footnotes. Every single one manages to be absolutely hilarious.

Nation :

One of the best Pratchett books ever

If you love Discworld but have had a hard time getting into other Pratchett (me too babes) read Nation. It is PHENOMENAL. It is also very dark and heartbreaking at times, moreso than Discworld, so be warned. But it’s GOOD.

Please, spread this for those who might need it right now

Take care of yourself and each other. Please stay safe ♡

queer people of all kinds. i am looking you in the eyes. do not fucking kill yourself. are you listening to me it will be okay. it will get better. i am shaking you by the shoulders do. not. fucking. do. it. you have so much to keep going for and so many people who love you. the cost of the present will not outweigh the life ahead of you. i love you. chin up or down keep walking you'll get there. we will pull you back up onto your feet should you fall. i love you

Don’t fucking do it. I love you.

reblog if you need a hug

Reblog to give the person you reblogged this from a much needed hug