having the power of one Gillette

I think part of what is making young people lonelier, in discussing why they're increasingly isolated, is that they're so afraid of meeting someone who doesn't hold their same beliefs, and instead of being just core beliefs it is kinda ancillary shit.

It's actually okay to disagree even on social topics! Even on some political ones! But I mean, online you can start with "i love this mutual but they have a really bad/uninformed opinion about x media"

I know this is IMMEDIATELY going to be taken in bad faith, and yes babygirl, you are so right, I DO want you to go make best friends with both the KKK grand wizard AND your nearest nazi leader.

But seriously, as someone who has spent two decades doing community organization: finding ways to connect with different people is so so so important. There are people i follow here who ate 80% smart and their brain falls out of their head 20% of the time and that is GOOD FOR MY MENTAL ECOSYSTEM AND GOOD FOR LEARNING HOW TO BE A PERSON

What was "sewer socialism"?

In a new story, Livia Gershon writes about Milwaukee mayor Daniel Hoan, who believed the strongest case for socialism was a city government that worked. For Hoan, this meant fighting corruption, improving public services, supporting clean drinking water, and using local government to make daily life better for Milwaukee residents. The story traces how he and other Midwest socialists turned big political ideas into practical city work, including utility reform, fairer taxes, public health measures, and programs meant to serve everyone in the city.

Read the full story from JSTOR Daily.

There's Science as an ideal: a way of approaching the world and learning about it. The idealization of observation and questioning, of coming up with theories but being willing to change them as you observe more.

There is Science as a practice: a way of implementing the ideal. Methodologies for observation, theory-building, and testing. The discussion of these methodologies which also seeks to analyze which are effective, how they can be improved, what their limitations are.

There is Science as a body of work. The accumulation of science-as-practiced, where many generations of work have built on each other and continue to analyze and relate to earlier work.

And there is Science as an institution, as an arm of the Academy. Who decides which approaches and perspectives are legitimate? Who does the observation, who pays for it? The academic project has historical roots deeply tied in imperialism: a philosophy of Knowing the world as part of the project of Owning the world.

Science as a body of work is deeply tied up in science as an institution - not because this fundamentally follows from the accumulated practice of science as an ideal, but as a matter of historical fact. This is the body of work we have.

All of these aspects are in conversation with each other - and with realms of life and society outside of "science" specifically. How exactly the ideal of science should be defined, has varied over history. The iterative effects of changes in methodology and philosophy accumulate in the body of work. The changing body of work changes the goals and outlooks of the academy. These aspects of science are not separable. But neither are they synonymous.

Very often, I see critiques of science-as-practiced rebutted with appeals to the legacy and legitimacy of science-as-institution. Meanwhile, critiques of science-as-institution are brushed off with appeals to science-as-ideal.

"Why?"

"I was in a relationship for five years and he loved me in all the ways I was supposed to be loved. He had the motivation. The patience, the consistency. I convinced my self that should've been enough, but what I was missing was the fluency.

"He didn't remember things about me the way I remembered things about him. And I know it sounds silly but I'd buy him his favorite mouthwash at CVS because I remembered he liked the taste. I wouldn't cook with oranges because I remembered he hated them. And I didn't realize how much I needed that reciprocated until a year ago when I reconnected with this guy on hinge.

"There was absolutely no foundation for a relationship but after we met he caught me off guard with 'let me make you dinner' and I said, 'just reminding you I'm celiac.' And even though we hadn't spoken in a year he said 'Dont worry. I already got your favorite chickpea pasta.'

"And I just stood there in his kitchen because I have never been in love with this man and he has never been in love with me, but in that moment, I felt strangely seen and loved, because it wasn't just 'oh he remembered I have an allergy.'

"It's that after a year of silence, there were details about me that felt worth holding onto and that felt more intimate than any partner saying 'I love you' to me becuse declarations of love are just words, but remembering is the action of it. Because you can fake loving someone but you cannot fake remembering.

"And most importantly it implies that I think of you in your absence, whether it's convenient or not. Like when you're going about your day and suddenly there thet are. I find you in the mouthwash aisle. I find you in the fruit bowl. I find you in a thousand small choices I make without thinking. Because even though I don't want to, for the rest of my life I will remember my ex hated oranges."

"What was your name?"

"Sophie."

to really boil it down to essentials like ...

childhood trauma is overwhelmingly common

childhood trauma creates long term stress which leads to nervous system disregulation [same source]

nervous system disregulation leads to inflammation in the brain

inflammation in the brain leads to "mental illnesses" like schizophrenia, major depression, and ptsd

these things contribute to stress, ensuring the stress stays chronic as well as the nervous system disregulation, which leads to physical illness and premature death

and then you look at like ...

spending time in green spaces like forests and blue spaces like oceans and rivers are both therapeutic

singing (especially group singing) boosts your immune system, mood, and regulates your nervous system

exercise regulates your nervous system and alleviates "mental illness" symptoms

playing is therapeutic and integrates your emotions and identity even in the face of trauma

and its like. oh okay. as modern cultures we barely have time for and are discouraged from participating in all the things we evolved to thrive with while constantly heaping on the amount of stress we can possibly fit in our day to day lives

and its like well no wonder people love concerts and karaoke and national parks and sports and going to the beach and playing games. these things Literally make us healthier

but also we need to make these things more regular parts of our lives if we're gonna have the endurance to fight rising global capitalism, fascism, and genocide

so my tips for Surviving All This Shit:

go to the park or be around a body of water at least once a week. schedule a time & make it part of your routine

exercise for 20-30 minutes most days, whether its walking around your neighborhood, playing a sport, lifting weights while you watch tv, swimming, etc

sing with your friends. go to local concerts. sing to your pets. sing at religious services. join a choir

play a game at least once a week. obv my recommendation is ttrpgs (anything but d&d 5e, i beg), but this also includes any video game that's not online competitive games against strangers. playing video games for 30 minutes a day but not over 3 hours a day is literally healthy for you

stop looking at traumatic news if youre not going to do anything about it. if you read a news article and then go volunteer, get involved in a community, donate money, or engage in activism, that's awesome!! keep it up. if you read the news regularly and it makes you upset and scared and depressed and then youre too overwhelmed to do anything about it Please Stop For Real you're both not helping the situation and also actively literally killing yourself. find one topic to engage with, find a way to make a difference for that topic, and delete the news app from your phone im being so real right now

read nonfiction by indigenous authors! this is just a general tip but also like. open your mind to other ways of society operating. it was not always like this and does not have to stay this way. if you see a recommendation post on here seriously look at the recs and try to get one from your library. there's a rec list of indigenous nonfiction here and another rec list here for some options that could be good to start with (both very north america focused). you can also search "indigenous nonfiction" in the tumblr search to see what others are reading. i'm currently making my way through braiding sweetgrass and indigenous economics is next on my list

They come in all sorts of styles and are cute af. Prices are also all over the place, but I've seen them reasonably priced, especially if they need reupholstery.

For a smaller footprint, there is also the telephone table, usually notable for a shelf that would hold phone books. These often get misidentified as schooldesks or lecterns. I have one similar to the last photo and used it in a bathroom for reading material + toiletries.

I also wanted to add - if you've ever seen a weird little alcove (especially around the entryway or kitchen) in an older house, odds are it is a telephone nook!

Also, the kiss was a big deal not just because it was gay but because the trans actress was HIV positive. They wanted to show the world that you can't contract HIV just from kissing someone. Bear in mind, the AIDS crisis was still fresh on people's minds in the 90s.

as a black woman, i have seen wayyyy too many of my black friends and acquaintances even as kids in school get harassed based off of appearances in sports. i’ve seen teenage boys from opposing teams yell out during basketball games that some of the black girls were “secretly dudes” and all kinds of shit!!

when i started my natural hair journey and my hair was shorter, i was treated WAYYYY differently than i am now that my hair is longer! and that’s outside of sports as an adult!! megan is SPEAKING!!!

my heart hurts every time i see someone say something racist and transphobic towards the black and brown nwsl players, and any athlete in women’s sports!! it always goes back to misogyny, colorism, and racism!

I STAND WITH TRANS PEOPLE! I STAND WITH TRANS WOMEN!! TRANS WOMEN ARE WEMON!! I STAND WITH TRANS ATHLETES!! TRANS ATHLETES BELONG IN SPORTS!! TRANS WOMEN BELONG IN SPORTS!! I STAND WITH TRANS RIGHTS!! TRANS PEOPLE DESERVE RIGHTS!!! ANTI TRANS AND ANTI LGBT AFFECTS US ALL!!!