askchapo

Is it because Palestine is the underdog while Ukraine seems to be the underdog…? What is the deal with this?

I’m just talking about the corporate media here. Obviously you will lose your job if you advocate for peace in Ukraine or Palestine from a left perspective. In the media landscape, you can criticize the Ukraine War all you like from the right, but only some dissent regarding Palestine is permitted from the left. What is going on here? There are also very few protests in favor of peace in Ukraine from the left, but massive leftwing protests in favor of a ceasefire in Palestine.

Yesterday I made the mistake of watching random comedians on youtube. One guy I saw had an audience of thousands of people in Australia, and he told nothing except painfully racist anti-China jokes. (Yes, it might have been the algorithm being like: "You like China? Well, howabout a comedian advocating genocide on China?") Everyone on hexbear knows that this is typical for comedians because the audiences at comedy shows tend to be drunk bourgeois scum, etc., etc.

But it's not just comedy. How many movies have you seen or books have you read where any of the characters, at any point, says something incredibly basic like: "capitalism bad, communism good." I'm not even sure Soviet or Chinese movies go that far (with the notable exception of Eisenstein's films...which were made before 1945). Plenty of works of art might imply that there is something corrupt about the military, police, or the powers-that-be, but they will never say that the system is the problem and that a better system exists. One very rare exception I can think of is The Battle of Algiers.

Also think about the dogshit novels Americans have to read in school: Animal Farm or To Kill A Mockingbird. The moral of both stories is basically: "Opposing the system is futile. Accept the system." Nabokov is hailed as the greatest novelist of the latter half of the 20th century, but he's basically a highbrow version of Ayn Rand, and repeatedly condemns communism by name in his books. We also know that the CIA had (and has) its fingers in every pie, and that the PMC also knows that it's not allowed to "get political," i.e., provide context. Even when it comes to classical Russian literature, Dostoevsky is probably the most popular in the USA, and the guy is a reactionary Christian monarchist who recycles the openings to his novels and is apparently nowhere near as popular in Russia.

I've just also been thinking about the greatest works of Statesian literature, how they are few and far between, how they were all written before 1945, and how they rarely were recognized for their greatness until long after their authors were dead. Steinbeck is one exception. The Grapes of Wrath is great (it was also written before 1945), but doesn't advocate for a better system. Poe and Melville are as good as the best writers from any other country, and Melville specifically inveighs against colonialism in his earlier novels, but both of these dudes were dead before they were recognized as titans. (Melville enjoyed some early success but then faded into obscurity long before he finished Moby Dick.) Are any post-1945 Statesian writers as good as Poe or Melville? Maybe just Octavia Butler, who was dead before she was a household name AFAIK. She advocates for communism in Parable of the Sower, but has to hide it behind mystical language ("God is change"). Sorry To Bother You is one possible cinematic exception, but it never goes beyond saying that the system sucks.

I'm wrapping up a trilogy of novels at the moment, and they are blatantly pro-communist, and I'm just preparing myself for the fact that they are almost certainly not going to be a success, not just because of the numbers involved (millions of books published every year), but because of the passionate anti-communism in western countries. These books don't have people saying "capitalism bad, communism good." But they do have workers and peasants forming Soviets (even though they aren't called Soviets), and I know from experience that even if as a writer you never turn to the camera and say "capitalism bad, communism good," readers will still pick up on the fact that something is wrong, from a capitalist perspective—that workers aren't capable of doing anything on our own, we need guidance from our enlightened masters, "human nature" is futile to oppose. I think there's just a dialectical materialist style of writing that liberals and fascists pick up on without necessarily knowing that they're picking up on it (because they spend their entire lives asleep).

Also I thought about this because I just saw and liked Trumbo, even though I was like: the blacklist never ended lol, where is my biopic about Paul Robeson, a Black colossus who never backed down from praising Stalin? Even if your job is dog shit picker upper (which I have done), you’ll lose that job if you praise Stalin.

And yes, this is a Arby's.

I guess I would like to communicate with them synchronously. Idk I'm super bad at human connection so I'm not sure how one would ask, this could be an exercise in self-improvement as much as anything. Any suggestions?

I have no idea what gender they are or any details about their personal life, and I guess that's part of the reason why they are so alluring? It's almost like I'm talking to someone who gets the same amount of fired up as me about the dumbest shit and the only other people I know who are like that are my best friend and his wife

Turns out, my mom loves video essays. after i told her what they were she asked me to send her some of my favorites. what video/s would i be able to send her without her just doing the classic lib "i am seeing an opinion that had been deemed taboo by society, i am now shutting down and leaving the room?"

As title says, past two years I didn't submit my taxes- Was very emotionally overwhelmed, essentially had a sibling who was dying, it was incredibly stressful and I was in a grad program...managed to complete the grad program and be there for family, but just could handle getting it done for some reason(not knowing what i was supposed to do with grad loans and stuff probably was a piece). Now, I'm trying to get it together especially before this next years are due. Any advice, anyone been in a situation like this before? Am I totally fucked? I also pulled money out of a retirement account to pay bills, and think I ended up paying taxes 2x on it- again, any advice? Anyone know how to go about trying to recover from a screw up like this?

I don't know shit about it

I like the smell of end day unwashed pussy myself. And some people look at me like I'm crazy and nasty when I bring up my smell kink

I believe what people say is the US has technically not been at war since WWII, since everything since then has not gotten the approval of Congress, so has been a "military operation," not a war.

However I was taking a look at the VA pension benefits, and they define "wartime periods" as including the Korean War, Vietnam War and Persian Gulf War/Iraq and Afghanistan operations. This of course leaves out things like Grenada, Panama, Haiti, and also instances where US troops were part of UN/NATO troops, like Yugoslavia.

Since technically these conflicts have the same status as larger conflicts like the Korean and Vietnam wars, why aren't they treated the same way? Why are some military operations considered "wars" while some aren't, even though neither have congressional authorisation? Is it really just subjective thinking since clearly the Vietnam War represents a much larger conflict and went on for longer than Grenada, so can more accurately be called a "war" - even though there's no definition really to back up that assertion?

Idk maybe there's no answer. Just something I noticed and was wondering if anyone knows if there is a reason for this.

An easy pick for me but it captures the last decade so well. Lincoln looking at the noose/halo is what sends this one over from being just a funny picture into being genuine art. It should be in a gallery. It should be in the entryway to the White House.

Does any English person actually understand this shit? Oh yeah this is a ceremonial county, this one's a metropolitan county, oh this one is a ceremonial county and a metropolitan county, but hold on its not a historic county. I mean, a single location seems to be in like at least 5 different locations. Some of them are tied in to some local government, some have seemingly no reason to exist at all?

Say what you will about the US, at least I know where I live. The US does have some confusing shit going on, but I've never experienced anything like this. Every time I try to understand how England works I get "oh yeah no one really understands how it works." There are like 5 different maps all overlapping each other. Does anybody know how this works?

Feel like I'm just staring at like 12 different maps of English divisions going "damn bitch you live like this?"

The venue has a reputation for being....shit (they booked Gavin McIness on one of his little tours a while back). Each year, someone in my city puts on a metal fest there and lots of nazi bands from Europe come over and play, and apparently openly fascist shit is sold at the merch booths.

Last year I emailed the local city council about it. They were useless. Right now, I'm about to email the music section of my local big paper about it, AND OFFER RECIEPTS (since I can easily compile a good amount of evidence of nazism) to see if they wanna shed some light on it.

What else can I do short of ?

How come people like Dirt Owl and Jackmarxist have pfps while I don't...

Edit: Nevermind, just use avatar and input photo on the settings

If you can't find avatar, just ctrl + 4 to find that word to get your PFP ready...

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/1309480

I use Vivaldi (Chromium).

I currently use uBlock Origin, Tab Count, Dark Reader, Read Aloud, Google Docs Offline, Srroll In, OneTab Plus (the original OneTab app kept glitching on me), and Dyslexic Browser.

I'm willing to have 15 apps/extensions for my browser and then probably no more after that (otherwise, the memory it'll take up will just make browsing super-slow, at least up until I finally upgrade my RAM card, which should be soon). Dunno if you can really use more than 15, to be perfectly honest, but I'm open to advice.

I want apps/extensions for university, research, reading and comprehension, language-learning, video-editing, and general QoL changes.

Also, let me know if I should still be using Vivaldi. What browser do you use? To me, Vivaldi is so far the best browser out there, at least currently (after having tried Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera). What extensions do you use as well for your browser of choice?

Let me know and let's give each other advice or whatever. Cheers!

The red phone box, or Kiosk No. 2 to give it its official name...

To get photos with captions click the grid icon.

I've recently read"The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World" and want to hear what all of you think the answer is, because I feel like the book was missing something in its thesis and I am not very sure what that is.

i've seen this phrase used around here in a few variations and it rarely gets called out as problematic. i really don't think its ok so i thought i'd ask: does hexbear think its ok? i can understand and support the use of violence against fascists and colonizers, but genocide is really their thing. i don't see why it makes sense to use it even as a rhetorical device. why doesn't this get called out? is genocide so normalized in casual conversation that it doesn't register or what?

edit: ~~i have all the [he/him]s on the website telling me that this is actually a very funny joke. i still don't like it or get it, but i've had my fill of arguing with y'all so thanks for the info. i can see why nobody calls this one out. it kinda fucking sucks. i'll just go ahead and block people who post this type of joke and go on my merry way.~~

now that everyone has had a chance to chime in, i'm just going to add some context for y'all

1. ~~most of the responses i got at first were from [he/him]s which is why i said the above. nothing against any gender, just what i saw.~~ it wasn't my intention to misgender anyone sorry if it came across that way. i really meant it as an observation of who was jumping in to reply at the start of the thread, but i didn't realize how it could be perceived in other contexts.
2. i'm not american. i'm technically a US citizen, but i have much more significant cultural ties to SV, MX, and separately and to a lesser extent NA indigenous community. i don't always get where western people are coming from. i like the overall tone of hexbear maybe i just don't how imaginary genocide is supposed to be cathartic. i apologize if it came across like i'm trying to tone police y'all. that's really not my jam, but y'all do seem a little pre-disposed to getting offended when your little jokes are questioned.
3. i still don't like the joke, so i'm going to remove them from my feed. if y'all don't have an issue with it that's fine. i was just trying to get a feel for what y'all think. the push back was a little upsetting after the day i had yesterday, but i'm over it now. i can live with curating my own experience based on my personal taste.
4. i haven't been that articulate, but i think my feelings are best summarized by this reply:

As someone that does find the joke funny, upon some reflection i have realised that it is an inapropiate joke, genocide is a horrific thing and to make light of it by making it a subject of a joke is in bad taste the same way that jokes about sexual assault are in bad taste, we rightfuly look down on redditors for the latter but allow the former

The US gov's misinformation that we can act like covid's over is mainly so we're good servants for capital, and that's lib shit. That's mostly what I got.

where can I learn more about this commie state in a capitalist country?

People are making me feel crazy about fearing Covid. I heard a therapist go "I don't want to say Covid is OVER..." (but)