#mimzamine

the belief that intentions can absolve actions of their consequences is why a lot of our 'solutions' boil down to moral debates, which naturally leads to mostly-theoretical arguments about 'ethical ways to cause harm' as opposed to. discussing how to prevent the harm. that's unhelpful

perfection doesn't belong to capitalism and the pursuit of mastery also doesn't belong to the colony. it isn't capitalistic to want to try your best and do something really well. "I was going to try my best but I realised I'm not even getting paid for it" applies to working practices, don't let it bleed into how you think about your capacity overall please pleheeeease excellence existed long before capitalism did

history is defined by nobodies writing stuff down. especially for those of us that aren't white where 'writing stuff down' seems like it is reserved for people that have earnt it in some way (authors, writers), half of what we know about history is because some swabbie's journal got published one time. we gotta be those swabbies about literally all of our experiences

like consider that most peoples' perception of what makes a Human Being back in the day is Defined by documentation by white people, and those of us severed from our mostly-oral history are reduced to speculating. we are thus reduced to fiction. if u can write shit down brother write that shit down. the same principle applies to all the margins btw

activism isn't a job, in a democracy things that are defined as 'activist' are just a core part of the responsibilities you have as a citizen, these are things that you are Supposed to do. activists are not heroes or saviours and continuing to let career-activists be the defining people that everyone LOOKS to for doing stuff is not going to make change

flipside: calling out 'the activists' as the problem in corporate or politicised spaces is a racist dogwhistle. or maybe just a regular whistle. there's a big big difference about complaining about the left with your friends and complaining about the left in front of most of society that will immediately align with you bc the unchecked desire to 'maintain peace' is why the systems that oppress us are so strong. like someone getting on your nerves is still your ally when the mincing machine starts eating up all the marginalised people. they're just annoying. it's okay you can handle it

in fact everyone is kinda your ally because you live in society with them. even the shitbags. unless you wanna get really cool with killing a bunch of people then you probably have to develop your social and communication skills alongside your political education

method acting being held in high regard

'based on true story'

the way press runs try to lean into the 'fictional character qualities' of actors (see: 'wow he actually acts like Superman in interviews!')

distrust towards anything intangible, perceived as inauthentic, fiction, fantasy, spirit

'this wasn't in the script it was improvised'

stand-up comic crowdwork

comment section culture

and how it relates to:

feeling disconnected from the human experience; rampant individualism, distrust of other, disregard of the village, inflated sense of self without any of the confidence

the uptick of generative AI and the insecure, self-important mindsets around it

disrespect of performing arts, aligning with that sort of puritan 'burn the witch!' energy that persists in how people view artists and writers and 'magicians' as charlatans, deceivers

things change all the time. folks often see negative change (things that take, loss, despair) as inevitable but positive change (things that give, transformation, improvement) as optional, or idealistic. doesn't make any sense. both are possible and that's all that matters.

it's important to know when identity categories exist in order to undo the impact of existing categories vs. when you're beginning to use categories to uphold themselves, thus recreating the same conditions of colonial division. like if I identify the difference between polynesian, melanesian and micronesian it will be in order to point out the negative impact those imposed labels had on our perception of ourselves as Pacific people. but if I become so centred on them that I reinforce the need for them to exist, then that is counterproductive.

they're not kidding when they say perfectionism is ruining everything. but there is a difference between perfectionism and having a high standard of quality. I reckon it's always okay to pursue mastery but you just gotta be aware that you're pursuing mastery, so that you know when you can go 'hm, maybe this situation doesn't need mastery, maybe an apprentice would suffice'

the perceived distance between you and the people in power is not that big actually. half of the work they do is convincing you that they're in an upper echelon and thus untouchable. they're just a guy. you're also just a guy. fight fight fight