That Iran nonsense


I've been meaning to write a new phlog entry for a while. Actually, I wrote two
complete entries and then didn't publish them because they were just me venting
in entirely too much detail about my mental health, and I'd rather not make
stuff like that public. But tl;dr I've been in a depressive funk the last two
days. It sucked. Whatever.

Let's just cut to the chase. US did a bad, killed some beloved general dude in
Iran which struck a nerve and now tensions are rising in the Middle East again.
I'm not going to be sensationalist and claim WWIII or anything, and I think
anyone who honestly belives that needs a reality check. Just gonna be more of
the same crap in the Middle East, except maybe with more people. That stupid
war is just never going to end.

I was talking about this on the Jul Discord server and we've spun this whole
situation around into something less awful and painful and more a fire of hope,
an inspiration for change. I won't let fear rule my life.

There was an earlier article I wrote, A14 I think, that had a disclaimer at the
top stating "This is a strictly apolitical blog. In writing this I do not
intend to publicly support or discourage any political party or viewpoint, nor
am I publicly supporting any particular fast food resturaunt or news station."
It was an article basically asking "Hmm, do the television stations in fast
food resturaunts effect people's political views?" I since removed it, because
it barely qualified as an article and also I absolutely don't agree with that
disclaimer anymore. It's not 2016 anymore, I can't afford to be politically
neutral. These things effect me and those I care about personally.

Let's start here: I don't have a very high opinion of the United States. Or
capitalism. And especially of the US's attempts to force capitalism and their
sphere of influence on the world. And I say this as someone living in the US.

In my opinion, a significant issue in American society is that they fear each
other too much. They're forced by society into itty bitty independent little
houses in suburbs, they're miles away from shops or their jobs, they're lonely
and isolated because they're strongly encouraged to be. Car culture, lawns,
picket fences, gigantic parking lots, these aren't good things.

I consider myself more of an anarchist, one who believes people are inherently
good and can cooperate to meet their goals if the system in place didn't force
competition. I'm a strong supporter of comphrensive public transportation,
food banks, worker-owned industries, universal healthcare, etc. etc. Mutual aid
is the name of the game here. I also believe that a large amount of bigotry in
the world is also due to this. I bet most transphobes have never met a trans
person, most islamophobes don't know any Mulsim people, etc. There's not enough
community in society. I bet most violent crime occurs due to fights over
resources that, in all honesty, we have enough of for everyone.

I strongly believe the current system, the exploitative ruling capitalist class
and the stupid middle east wars over oil and climate change and all of that
would not exist if we lived in a society that loved and supported each other.
A society that only takes as much as it needs from the Earth, a society without
advertisers and stupid novelty products and disposable electronics. A society
where cars weren't needed for most people because we trusted each other enough
to share land. A society where nobody owned land or buildings, where landlords
didn't exist, where the housing market wasn't a thing.

I want to promote organizations like Food not Bombs, I want to encourage public
transportation to go fare-free, I want to axe tax exemptions for married house-
holds so communal living becomes a more attractive idea. I want to remove the
idea of student debt, needing to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars just
to be able to participate in the workforce. We absolutely can change things,
we just have to be loud and resilient. Do a 1919 Seattle General Strike again.

I'm not an advocate for violent revolution. I absoulely do not agree with the
idea of killing people. I believe that the capitalist class and the oppresive
government will cease to exist if we make their role meaningless. They'll kick
and they'll fight but we can bite back and live without them. But we need to
convince society at large that this is, in fact, the way we should go. I feel
like the current system is balanced on a few, fragile aspects. If we can start
knocking those down and encouraging cooperation in out communities in the small
scale, the large changes will come. (Also I reaaaaly don't want a power vaccum)

That's my political views. End capitalism. Love each other. Take as much as you
need and give as much as you can. This is how we fix the world.