musings.

Brace Yourself

Via CNN:

Much of the country will see the coldest temperatures in almost 20 years, the National Weather Service said. Some cities will experience chills 30 to 50 degrees below average.

To put things in perspective, the weather in Atlanta and Nashville on Monday will be colder than in Anchorage, Alaska.

And by Wednesday, nearly half the nation will shudder in temperatures of zero or lower, forecasters said…

…Throw in some fierce winds, and you get wind chills like 55 below zero in Duluth, Minnesota; minus 34 in Chicago; and minus 24 in St. Louis.

LIKE WE’RE ALL OVER HERE FUCKIN G DY ING

What You Believe About Homosexuality Doesn’t Matter | Tyler Smither

to which I always just wanna say

"dude, I am not a Christian

but

um

why do you have no idea what your own damn book says?

December 23, 1938: Dinosaur Fish Found!

LET’S PARTY!

Far too often, I’ve heard radical queers and feminists, in their hipster garb, talking their academic jargon about checking one’s privilege and being accountable, and in the same breath mocking poor people. It’s not always explicit. Actually, in social justice circles, it hardly ever is. Many of you know not to say words like ghetto or white trash, or at least I hope you do, because of its classist and racist implications, but that seems to be where the anti-classist work stops. So, let me help you.

Every time you push your vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian diet on people, remember that your diet is a privilege that doesn’t make you superior or more of an environmentalist, food justice champion, animal lover or good human. I know you know about food deserts. Well, you don’t have to live in one to not be able to afford to have a restrictive diet.

Furthermore, poor folks went green along ass time ago. I don’t get why you feel so special about your mason jars and bicycles. Oh good for you for taking the bus when you could’ve driven. Do you want a vegan gluten-free cookie?

Yes, Wal-Mart is evil. So, is Urban Outfitters. Get over yourself. The only reason why Wal-Mart is singled out is because poor people shop there and it is easier to distance yourself from the problem. So, stop judging poor consumers who are just trying to feed and clothe their families, and start working to dismantle capitalism, or at least organize for workers’ rights (preferably in a non savior complex kinda way).

Your shitty college dorm room, apartment or shared house, does not make you poor, neither does shopping at Good Will.

There is a difference between being broke and poor, much like the difference between acute and chronic pain. Learn the difference. 

For those of you who do work with poor folks, you are not special, and you are not a savior. Like I said before, drop the savior routine. It makes a big difference when you take the cues from the communities you are serving. And, just because someone isn’t a college educated career activist, doesn’t mean they don’t know what is best for them and their communities. So, don’t be a condescending ass when people don’t talk like you, and practice some real nonjudgmental allyship.

Pro tip: classy, trashy, hood, ghetto, dangerous/sketchy/seedy (in reference to poor PoC neighborhoods), white trash, etc are all really classist terms and hella racist too. Think about it, why do we specify that the trash is white? Because all other trash must be brown, right? If you don’t have a claim to these words, don’t use them.