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Cake day: June 8th, 2023

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  • Surprisingly, what we have as a nation (imo some of the best ideas of our original constitution) were inspired by the politics of Indigenous Americans, in large part by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. But the problem with that adaptation was that colonists adopted ideas in a piecemeal way without paying full respect to the broader meaning of those ideas (also in context to cultural and social norms, etc.). The US Constitution didn’t pay much reverence to the collective social responsibility of being good stewards of the environment, and instead focused on the pursuit of individual liberties. This experiment has now, with its initial set of conditions taken with far less context than was needed, has evolved to what it currently is in a fraction of the time that Indigenous Americans had a relatively stable socioeconomic and political existence. We might all benefit from learning more about Indigenous democratic institutions, and I certainly wish I would have been exposed to this history sooner.










  • Absolutely stellar breakdown.

    We’re in an era where money is power, and it affords you the time, energy, and other resources to mostly ignore anything you want, even laws. While the working class comparatively has little to no control over their few resources, those that organize are doing so because they feel they have no other choice, and it’s literally about survival. I’m sure most folks involved in protests have important things to do in their daily lives and they wouldn’t be demonstrating en masse unless it was deemed important.

    Strength in numbers is all we have, and to understand the scope of an issue, we must organize, educate, and then disrupt and demonstrate if we ever hope to reform or dismantle systems that continue to exploit every single thing with value in this world. We’re seeing the consequences of inaction in real time, and guess what? Climate and ecosystem collapse + severe economic inequality is what we get when we do nothing to course correct.




  • I think I get how this can be related to politics, but maybe the discussion lies in the conditions where capitalism is positioned to thrive off of the backs of working class folks by stealing their precious little free time.

    You talk about the effect that it has and that does have value. But if we’re to learn how to fight against oppressive systems, we have to start somewhere by focusing on a sector to improve the awareness or interest in, say, mutual aid networks.

    How do they serve us, the working class, and how might we reclaim this precious free time by changing our approach to something we do day to day? Fighting capitalism and oppression takes time because we have to learn why we’re being oppressed.

    And if I may, you might focus on union busting tactics and legislation. What’s the friendliness factor toward labor movements in your local government? Who in your city council is a thorn in the side of labor movements? How do they systematically prevent people from helping people through collective action?

    Just a few observations and thoughts that might get any conversation on track. Hope it’s helpful!