Been meaning to post a thread about Indigenous-authored books I've been reading that focus on various Indigenous economic systems, and how much better they are for ordinary people's wellbeing than the status quo we're all suffering under now. Just haven't had time to sit down & do it.

@PhoenixSerenity @sleepy62
Firefly is fun, though I'm ashamed to admit that when I watched it back in the day, I didn't notice the oddness of a universe where Chinese power was so hegemonic that the white main character peppers his speaking with Chinese phrases, yet there are no East Asian- looking main characters (or even side characters, if I remember correctly). Once I read critiques pointing this out, of course it was blazingly obvious.

@Infoseepage @iris

2/2 (or maybe 3)

"For white Americans, an analogous number might be like "4th of July" or 1776. It's had positive vibes for you and your people for 300 years, so you put it in you handle. Then some shitty group that popped up last fucking week uses "4th of July" or "1776" for its own shitty reasons & their meaning of it goes viral."

I sent her your link for the new Swiss law, Infoseepage. She said "OK fine, he should follow the Swiss law. But I think the Euro-centric education of Eurocentered people is very important to be aware of, in this specific case."

Also, I'm very clear that Jews in particular, and allies of Jews, have irreproachable reasons for objecting to any "88." Simultaneously, it is also a fact that Kaifeng Jews exist (I don't know any personally, but I'll ask my networks), and according to Jews of Color I have listened to, colorism and white-centrism is a problem in many Jewish cultures...

https://www.theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2022/12/1/the-chinese-kaifeng-jews

@Infoseepage @iris

4/?
Summary: different groups of people targeted by oppression sometimes have (generally speaking) certain behavioral patterns in response. When people from those different groups clash, those behavioral patterns can interact. Probable result: undermining solidarity with each other (at best), or even driving them away from each other. (I'm thinking about this re people being suspicious of Andy Yen for the 88 thing, cuz white supremacy is really good at dividing & conquering. & fuuuck that.)

Re how this can work with the specific example of white Ashkenazi Jews and Gentile Black Americans (again, generally speaking! Individuals vary!)...they said:

Gentile Black Americans often may go silent or otherwise withdraw, to protect themselves, when they see white folks acting scared or fighting with each other, or when white folks are asking them a lot of questions. Cuz in those situations, Black folks often end up jailed/murdered. In this country, white folks are conditioned by stereotypes...

@Infoseepage @iris
3/4
And, I have learned from listening to 1. White Ashkenazi Jews re how antisemitism works, 2. Gentile Black people re racism, and 3. those groups listening to each other & talking about their experiences, the following:

.... sorry, this is a cliffhanger post cuz it might take me some time to write it out, andI have to get non-Mastodon things done. I'll try to get it written out by tonight...

@Infoseepage @iris

6/6

2. Neo-Nazis are happy.

I ran this all by my Taiwanese-American friend and a white Jewish friend. Taiwanese-American friend said, "Yes there's a parallel. Chinese culture is not at all about talking about anything upsetting or terrible. We're conflict-avoidant." For homegrown Chinese culture reasons, as well as self-protective, dealing-with-white-supremacy reasons. (Again, generally speaking. She went into a lot of nuances that I'm not including here.) White Jewish friend agreed that there's a parallel.

I went into all this cuz it felt wrong to conclude with "88 for Andy Yen is probably for Chinese auspicious numerology reasons, so too bad 88 also recently acquired a Hitler meaning, & we can't do anything about it that won't piss off one or another side, sucks to be human." We can. We can listen to each other, which is a prerequisite to being in solidarity with each other. Which makes Nazis feel isolated and unhappy.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

@Infoseepage @iris
5/?

...conditioned by stereotypes, legacy media, etc, to be afraid by default of Black folks. So, Black folks may often disengage, stay quiet, & get out of the situation.

& they said: One way that #antisemitism manifests is to isolate Jews from every other group of people. For self-protection, Jews may ask a lot of questions so they have enough info about, eg, the next pogrom, (& also, asking questions is an important cultural & religious practice.) Jews need allies who will speak up & stay present. (Gentile Canadians should know about "None is too many." Speaking as a Gentile Canadian.)

How these patterns interact: Black folks experiencing white Jews displaying fear and/or asking the Black folks a lot of questions, may wonder "Is this a racist thing?" & go silent & withdraw. Jews may experience the Black folks' going silent & withdrawing as antisemitism. The whole thing is awkward and isolating for everybody. Nothing changes. So: 1. no solidarity, and....
https://www.mulroneyinstitute.ca/node/5231

@Infoseepage @iris

1/2 (probably)
For me, the LLM-shoving is enough for me to be reconsidering.

I checked with a Taiwanese-American friend, about the supposed neo-Nazi reference (88-in-binary) in that user handle). As soon as I said "88," she said "Double happiness!" then,

"I wish he would explain it, but u can never explain it well enough so outsiders get it. As soon as u said 88 I knew the problem was Euro-centrism. It's not just his birthday. His parents PLANNED for him to be born in 1988. Yes, guaranteed. Just like parents plan when they're gonna have their child based on the animal horoscope year they want them to be born in (always more births in a Dragon year).

I can see critics' point of view, cuz more people on Reddit are gonna have the Hitler connotation.

But! The good luck re number 88 is based on a pictograph that's been around for how many THOUSANDS of years? The Hitler 88 reference is maybe a 15 years old, probably was a 4chan thing for quick typing?...

@iris Wait, what's wrong with them? I just searched the protonmail hashtag and didn't find anything.