Notices by CJ Paloma's Summer Soapbox (cjpaloma@mas.to)

There is an absolutely beautiful apology by a minor celebrity… about falling into a different RWNJ conspiracy…. that is completely worth the read in this (also worth reading) article.

The article is about the how the Foo Fighters dangerously supported an AIDS conspiracist (who yes, eventually: died of AIDS and had a child who also died of AIDS).

But it is also about how big $ crapitalism always seems to value sales/reputation saving... over truth…and humanity

https://skepchick.org/2024/09/how-dave-grohl-foo-fighters-put-actual-lives-at-risk/

US folks so gullible and already made uninformed by our media environments that have gotten really good at manufacturing consent, that a certain ugly percent will "believe" obvious race baiting bullshit as factual…and many others will routinely dismiss facts about billionaire consolidation as "nothing to worry about" or overblown, or too boring to find out about.

We live in neo feudal times, y'all. It's not a good thing.

Judge responsible for "pausing" Biden's program offering legal status for spouses of citizens is a Federalist Society contributor.

I'll repeat:

Membership in (or sympathy to) the Federalist Society is a HUGE red flag. It should have as much stigma in the public's eye as being a member of the Proud Boys. And yet... it's still seen as legit

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/26/g-s1-19700/pause-undocumented-spouses-immigration-biden-program

Bullies need normal people (as victims) in order to be bullies.

Normal people do not need bullies in order to be normal (and enjoy life).

Most of us know this.

But due to brainwashing with toxic ideas, some of us didn't ever learn it.

And so now we're at a point where normal people have to consciously think about this shit again.

Only we need to replace the the word bullies with fascists

and billionaires

It's tedious.

I am curious about how many people have heard of and generally understand what the term DARVO means.

Who could get a series of good conversations going about it? Because understanding the general dynamics of the ideas behind it could be really helpful for lots of people.

@samiamsam Right... it's both a conscious tactic/strategy among some folks (lawyers, PR repair folks, etc. come to mind)

But the DENIAL aspect is sometimes/often(?) due to a clinical level denial --which is an impairment.

Clinical level denial is not "just stubbornness". And I suspect that's part of what makes it become so effective.

So it does add layers of complexity that some fools doing abusive crap really don't even "get" how off base they are.

It's not an excuse.

@samiamsam I'm a licensed MH professional: tons of folks without personality disorders go into full clinical level denial about lots of things.

People in substance abuse recovery (for example) do not do sociopathic things like steal from family members once they are in recovery.

Clinical denial is tricky as hell and -not- well understood by most of us- and it has been present in lots of people in every human caused atrocity that has ever happened.

Psychology has tons of work to do.

I think most of us assume -often quite unconsciously- that we really are objective, and so become overly confident we can decide what is good bullshit and what is harmful bullshit.

IOW: Maybe sometimes, by true accidents of birth, we are simply in places where it's just not easy to hear folks yelling "Get off my foot!" because lots of people around us are yelling other things about how cool that same critter or thing is (the one causing unseen damage).

Quite honestly, for EVERY social problem we face, some people knew and were loudly saying "Watch out: this is what is very likely to happen!!".

ANNND, the real reason the issue even became a problem is because too many people 1) never heard them,** 2) were encouraged to ignore them,** or 3) felt threatened and even helped to drown out the words.**

But like in every horror movie, plenty in the audience WERE saying "Don't open that door!"

** social inequities CREATE these possibilities

so this sort of begs the question of -what- we listen for.

If we assume others are safe/secure…and we go about mostly just listening for profits, or notions of "progress", assuming no one is getting hurt…we simply aren't going to be as ready to comprehend issues of safety/security as easily.

OTOH, if we train ourselves to listen carefully to ensure no one's getting harmed… we can more easily save ourselves guilt and not utter things like "no one could have known this would happen"

Honestly, I think people who are convicted of crimes having to do with election fraud really should lose their right to vote, and run for office... I'm not talking at all about blanket disenfranchisement for people convicted crimes. I'm not even talking about people who vote twice, or vote when they are on parole or whatever. I am talking about felonies having to do with election interference and manipulation.

Seems like a pretty low bar, ack-shually.

it's getting hard to ignore:

The truly stunning diversity of life, and the physical beauty of this planet, with all its incredibly ingenious systems and interconnections.

And all of it threatened by a tiny minority of utterly insane greedy pigs, and enabled by too many -deliberately- clueless and cowardly privileged folks (desperately trying to remain clueless) who could step up, but haven't.

ALL of the worst offenders have names and addresses.

@xgranade @seachanger I love this. Angry much? Yes, yes, I most certainly am.

Before you block me, consider: Western Civilization's worst impulses -have been- a history of folks listening primarily to other folks who look and think like them, and being satisfied with rationalizations that serve their points of view.

All accomplished while blocking or angrily dismissing input from all Others.

IOW: a good therapist would invite you to wonder why my comment made -you- ...so upset.

That's all, carry on.

So...what is the difference between a yearning for as much "power over" others as possible, and fascism itself?

In business, corporations relentlessly strive towards ever more market share…w/monopolies being unstated end goals

*This* kind of authoritarian born power is pervasive (after all we come from colonizer cultures).

And it does corrupt.

But the kind of power to simply live your own life in ways you see fit... is so closely akin to "freedom" it's difficult to parse the differences

@MisuseCase @obeto @StillIRise1963 @hannu_ikonen

oh he understands his job allright, it's just not what the rest of us saps think it is

Karl fuckhead Rove was a HUGE homophobe y'all. He was one of the biggest "masterminds" behind same sex marriage BANS being passed in over 30 fucking states in in the early 2000s..

This…pig... knew EXACTLY what the fuck he was doing 20 years ago. He used hate and lies his whole career - he designed -this- fucking dystopia.

And now I see some attempts to try to rehab this pig?

IDGAF if he's "Anti MAGA" -now. So are literally hundreds of million other people. Amplify them.

@StillIRise1963 way back in the 90s I was with a Black coworker, and I can't even remember why, I -think- a key fob had been acting wonky,, but a cop pulls up asking what's going on, and she goes into quiet freak out mode. We are BOTH social worker types. That stuck.

Another thing: I had heard of driving while Black before, but when she told me she'd been pulled over at a particular check point on the way into work 1/2 dozen times in 1 year, and I'd been pulled over once, I finally got it.

Patriarchy controls men by telling them to not develop emotional understanding/sensitivity.

It controls everyone by telling them that emotions are frivolous and unimportant in decision making, while so called "rationality" and force (if necessary) are "The Way".

We already have plenty of evidence that leads to nonsense. (Boiling planet, dead kids, etc)

But evidence of human suffering isn't persuasive on emotionally stunted people.

B/c rationalization -is- what blames victims.

Leaving out important bits of reality almost always (eventually) results in shitty systems.

And "impacts on others" -are- huge bits of reality

Yet ALL our big problems exist as a DIRECT result of ignoring those same -huge- bits of reality.

Ethical considerations REQUIRE *emotionally understanding* the impacts of any given decision/system/product, war, etc….

Bottom line:

Develop your emotions and emotion based understandings of situations… if only so people won't cheer when you die.