Notices by PacificNic (pacificnic@zeroes.ca), page 3

@thomasfuchs Such a profound undercount.

Does anyone on here want to help me win an argument with my brother (who considers himself a leftist) about why refusing to mask is eugenics? Like I know why it is, but he can be incredibly pedantic and refuses to believe it.

#CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne

@NonPlayableClown Don't need to... To argue with you would imply you have something of value to say. 🤷

@FinalOverdrive @anarchopunk_girl I don't know much about it. I've never really discussed my economic/political stance on things with other leftists so I'm maybe way out of the loop. Still, though, I think it lacks imagination and seems morally inconsistent. Like, okay we can minimize ecological harm by maximizing social and human harm? I dunno, though. This isn't really my area.

@anarchopunk_girl 💯

It seems like an analysis of the capabilities of anarchist/communist societies through the lens of liberalism/capitalism. I can't see that argument as anything but bad faith.

I know governments intentionally inject absurd arguments into leftist communities in order to discourage hope for anything better than what we have. Maybe it's nothing more than that. Primitivism, to me, looks like people just throwing their hands up and saying only capitalism works if we are to have a standard of living that is acceptable to most people.

I don't really talk to many leftists about theory, though, despite considering myself a leftist. I know it's important but it often feels like a minefield and I think people get bogged down in details but real life isn't just theory. We can have an amazing concept of the future, but we are still going to have to adapt to realities as they unfold. I'm sure my ignorance of leftist thought is showing...

@anarchopunk_girl Seems super fucking lazy, intellectually. They can conceive of a new framework for a society, but can't imagine running supply chains more efficiently than the current monsters who do so only for profit? Way to set the bar high for a vision of the future...

@anarchopunk_girl That's not at all how I intended it and I think I misunderstood your point. I was trying to say that, if we are progressive as a society, we should be doing everything we can to make the lives of the chronically ill and disabled easier, including making all advanced medical care required accessible and free, and that our current regressive ableist culture stands in the way of that. It wasn't intended to say that what we did in the past was enough. It wasn't.

I don't understand why we would throw away what we have as far as medical technology goes because the economic and political paradigm has shifted. If anything, I feel like we should be doubling down on improving medical technology, rather than building fucking rocket ships for tourism.

@anarchopunk_girl We have evidence of people from primitive cultures taking care of their sick and disabled. It's just our capitalist, socially regressed society that can't conceive that someone has value beyond their productive capacity in the "labour market".

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/17/878896381/ancient-bones-offer-clues-to-how-long-ago-humans-cared-for-the-vulnerable

I love the term "toxic positivity" because it puts a name to something I've struggled with my whole life. North American culture ABSOLUTELY has a problem with this.

I have met so few people who actually know how to listen to and comfort someone experiencing pain, loss, grief, etc. We aren't taught how to do this. We just want the sadness to go away.

Telling someone everything is okay when you know it's not, for them, is isolating. It's not just bad for the person who is experiencing pain. It's bad for the listener, too.

You can't have deep, genuine, compassionate relationships with someone if you can't sit in their sadness with them. Real relationships need sharing. Vulnerability is critical to forming something meaningful. You don't get that by pretending everything is always fine.