This was great read for first thing in the morning in my first vacation day. Fuck israel, fuck Putin, Fuck Trump. Fuck this shit as race called human. I dont think we deserve exist as species.
If you want actual accountability, look no further than the current and past world leaders, companies, billionaires and CEOs who swear their undying alliegences to Israel, and ask why Israel is more important than your own country.
Hey 🇨🇦 be less like the U$A, co-opted by the Trumpstein regime.
@CanadianPM
@SenateCA
@OurCommons
@oic_ci_canada
@IntlCrimCourt
#FreePalestine
ICC for war criminals, violators of human rights, & their collaborators.
I tried looking for more information and couldn't find anything. I thought of asking for a source but I googled and reverse image searched and came up with a mixed bag. As much as I'd like to believe, I question whether this was an earthquake or something so new theres little out there.
Honestly facing the horrors of this man’s final hours, facing those final moments of his daughters… may force people to acknowledge how complicit we all are in this. That confrontation may ask something of them - that they do something that might disrupt the surface-level comfort of their lives in order to end (or even ease) the suffering of others.
Most people in our society aren’t interested in any of that.
But what do I do?! I donated to aid organizations who weren't allowed to enter Gaza, I voted for candidates who oppose the genocide, I went to a protest/rally... How can I help?
I hope to live long enough to see the history book contents in 50+ years. “The world ignored their suffering, millions were lost. History was repeated in a horrific example of irony that played out on live TV. And you couldn’t even talk about it without being accused of antisemitism”
I am helping to feed about 6 families in Gaza right now. I send them money any chance I get. It's the least I can do. It's also emotionally exhausting and I'm not exactly rich. But I find ways to make it work. My biggest fear is finding out they have been hurt or worse. It keeps me awake at night. I really don't know how we will get them out but that's the goal. Get their children to safety.
I do not have the power to save everyone and stop such evil. If I did I’d have taken the burden by now and done it. All I can do is stay up alone at night because I have too much empathy and I hate it.
Some days I think God sees us like frogs to his lawn work.
How many frogs have I unknowingly killed with my mower. Or while I was weed eating? (Obviously without knowing. I go out of my way not to hit bigs/frogs)
But how many? And what did I feel for them? Nothing. Because I didn't know. Or was distracted by my task
My view of God is the call inside me to be good. To give to panhandlers. To be charitable. My giving is not tied to what those I give to choose to do with it.
Endless identical situations while the US spent 20 years raping, murdering and torturing brown people to steal their oil. Over 400,000 direct civilian deaths at the most conservative; close to 6 million indirectly.
Yet all the world heard from Americans was even more racial slurs.
20 years mate? Sorry to say but the US never stopped their imperialism after it was founded. And while the intentions of many presidents might have been to be a force for good, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
When I call Americans MAGA fascist, the moderates get butt hurt and start making excuses for MAGA because they're family. Do I not get a say in how I feel about conservatives after they consistently cause wars and murder other families?
it's all these bullshit doomsday religions that can't stand it if they don't see other people suffering. eternally doomed to bomb the shit out of each other for no other reason than because they're different or because some non-existent god told us that is our land
Thinking this is a religious war is exactly what Zionists want you to think in order to dismiss it. If this had anything to do with religion, why is USA, UK, Germany and other western nations sending money, arms and bombs to Israel who is a self-proclaimed Jewish state? Are western countries Jewish? When companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google all use their advanced technology programs and AI systems to aid and facilitate the ongoing genocide, are those companies all religious? Clearly not.
Germany definitely supports Israel out of guilt over Holocaust, and a lot of people in the West also support Israel because they feel that Jews are owed that as compensation for the Holocaust. Additionally "Jerusalem is a Jewish city, Temple on the Mount is Solomon's Temple, Judea is Jewish homeland, it's the Promised Land from Exodus" are core christian beliefs too. There is strong religious foundation for this conflict and the West's involvement in it.
I hate religion as much as the next sane person, and yes, we would definitely be better off without it today, but believing that would somehow be a peaceful world would be very, very naive (just a reminder, not claiming you said that).
I've always believed that for religions to spread and the donations to keep rolling in... They need some kind of enemy to fight.. (devil) and the devil has to influence someone to give them an evil enemy to hate and fight.. (lgbtq+, other races, other religions). If there was no one to point at for their members to hate and feel superior too, religions would die out in 1 or 2 generations imo.
Relgion can, always has, and always will be a tool for those in power to not only keep those beneath them in line but to weaponize their faith into a sword to attack their enemies and human shields to protect them from harm when their greed doesn't succesfully pan out in their favor.
It is about religion, there's a bunch of end of the world cultists in the west who think the endtimes prophecies can only be fulfilled when some very specific awful things happen in the middle east.
No. Zionism is NOT a religion. Never give it that much acknowledgement. Zionism is a secular demand for everything and everyone to capitulate. It is greed, hate and lust for everything wrong in this world. Zionism and judaism are two very different things. And of the two, zionism is a cancer.
In the Israeli's eyes Zionism is their religion.. I wish all the world's Jews would have their own version of the council of NICEA and break off into a new and separate Jewish sect named: The non Zionist non Childkilling Jews... The power of BRANDING BABY!!.. Israeli jews will refuse to join of course, separating them from those they now consider to be allies in their cause. Even though they won't refer to themselves as Zionist childkillers.. my bet is that the name would stick.
Much as I like the idea, the israeli propaganda machine, which we fund with our own tax dollarss, would go into overdrive to kill that. You'd see the concept lawsuited to death, by a sheer hatred of the zionist machine being challenged. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an awesome idea, but it would get curbstomped by the zionists and their domestic lackeys stateside.
Yeah.. it's definitely wishful thinking. I always try to think outta the box instead of just feeling helpless.. which def feels like a gear ive been stuck in for the past 10 years.
That's not my take away. My takeaway is you said "doomsday religions" implying more than one. He goes on about Zionism, which is a different subject entirely. The overlap is that the doomsday religions subscribe to zionism. So technically you're both right, but he's misreading what you said and going off on a tangent.
We're studying chunks of the Universe 14 BILLION Light Years away, and fuckin RETARDS (Mentally Deficient, if we're being PC) are still running around believing FANTASY fuckin FICTION is real. Until otherwise indicated tangibly, Religion, as a WHOLE, is Fantasy Fiction. People are basically wasting their time, money, intellect, and emotion worshiping and praying to the fuckin Cheshire Cat or Leto the Worm Emperor. The only excuse for Israel even existing is BULLSHIT Fantasy Fiction stories. -_-
So... pointing out that zionism, which is directly responaible for israel's atrocities, cannot be blamed as a religion doesn't go straight to the heart of the comment? Well, that's... an opinion. Or something.
The thing is you're right that Zionism is the a secular demand for everything and everyone to capitulate to Israel. HOWEVER, the person you were responding to was talking about "doomsday religions" such as the Dispensationalist flavor of Evangelical Christianity, which engages in Zionism in their lust for bringing about the end of the world which they believe requires 1: Israel to exist as a modern style of nation, and 2: for that nation of Israel to be at war.
I continue my day by rationalizing that this sort of thing has been happening consistently in some form or another for virtually all of human existence. And that no singular person can function if they stop to internalize every single instance of horror that happens every second of every day.
I acknowledge that it happens, I deplore those responsible, but then I move on because I must.
We all do, but we are finite in our capabilities. No single person can be everywhere, do everything, or save everyone, sadly.
I'm reminded of an adage of a literary character I know: "Slovotsky's Law Number 9: Sometimes, you can't do anything about something that sucks." No matter how much it sucks. But, he did revise it later with "- until later". Sometimes, just sometimes, you CAN contribute, even to such weighty affairs. Even maybe manage to save someone. It's not much, but it's something.
The burden of empathy is that we WANT to relieve all the suffering, all the sorrows, all across the world. Left unchecked, that weight will crush anyone. If, as you say, we let it. We have rational thinking, and that tells us that sometimes, there are things you just cannot do. So, while I do not suggest we "turn off" empathy, we sometimes have to sublimate the urge to do something about it.
"When you cannot do everything, you do what you can." A very important life lesson, I've found.
I do think this is missing a step. We could make a change, do something to help. People do this. However, most of us decide not to do that, for a variety of reasons, maybe our responsibilities, certainly our fear, maybe any of a number of other reasons. I acknowledge that it happens, I deplore those responsible, including myself in some small way as a US citizen, I choose not to help this time, and I move on. Sometimes I do help. It's good to keep an internal record of these choices.
We *should* do what we can, when we can. But, all too often, we can't. Not because of lack of will, not because of lack of caring, but because of lack of ability. We cannot take care of others WITHOUT taking care of ourselves. It is hard to offer someone your hand in support, if your own footing is crumbling beneath you.
So: do what you can, when you can, but remember to take care of yourself, or there won't be a "you" to lend aid to others.
I take small comfort in the knowledge that I had nothing to do with it and that there is nothing that I could do about it. I find this comfort partially in the knowledge that my nation's decision to overextend its global influence to an unreasonable, unsustainable level were made when my grandparents were teenagers (and most of them not yet Americans).
Then I get out and vote for the people who will take back our government and start to do something constructive about it, because that... (1/2)
... is quite realistically the extent of my influence in this matter.
This world, its history, and its future, are full of awful, unspeakable injustices. But we can't let ourselves be stunlocked by them. Small, correct changes over time can add up to fix this. That's why I do what I can to get people out to vote, too.
Are you organizing with other people, trying to influence more to vote, helping campaign drives for the candidates you support, or trying to directly address the problems that you care about? Showing up to city council meetings?
This will take a lot more than just voting for your team to fix; both teams are broken, and one really needs to be fixed if we are going to see the other side of this.
Your implicating here through gate keeping that unless people do at least as much as you have stated here that they are not helping. People can only do as much as they have the ability to and you cannot expect anything more.
And I think both takes here are extreme. You have to go outside your comfort zone to expect change but you can't dictate what that threshold is for anyone else. So do more! But only you know what more is!
Oh I wasn't saying someone has to do all of that. I was giving those as examples of things someone can do. Just voting is not enough when the stakes are so high and we don't even know if we will have truly transparent elections anymore.
You have to meet people where they are though and if voting is all they can do, it's enough. Laying expectation on people to do more is how you make it so they choose to do nothing or feel like anything they do isn't worth the effort anyway because you're telling them it isn't enough. Privilege masks your ability to truely know what someone else has capacity for, others are not you and so you can't expect them to be as capable as you either.
I'm not saying anyone has to do everything. But just saying "I vote" like that guy did is not an acceptable answer for if you are helping; that is literally all I am saying. The world is too far gone, and voting without some other action is not going to do shit, but you know your own region better than I do to determine what that other action should be. I am not saying you have to to a ton; you just can't be so disconnected and apathetic about what is happening that you think voting is enough
But if voting is all they are capable of doing its something, it's better than not voting, and it is enough. We can't lay expectations on people that they are not capable of achieving. That is how you end up just overwhelming people so they choose not to do anything which is the real reason we are where we are. Things aren't changing overnight and it won't be quick.
Let's put this another way: if all you do is vote, Israel just keeps donating and propping up politicians that are agreeable to them on both sides, and fucking NOTHING about this war changes.
Voting CAN NOT be all that you do at this point in time. I absolutely guarantee that you can give more than an hour (the time it probably takes you to drive to the polling station, vote, and dive back to work) out of TWO ENTIRE YEARS to do something. Literally all I am asking is "do more than just 1/2
Oh, an important bit is missing here: the comment literally said voting is "the extent of his influence in the matter". That is really messed up. He's not saying he doesn't have the spoons to do something. He is saying "there is nothing more I can possibly do to be more effective about changing this". THAT is the bullshit I am arguing against here. That is just sad apathy.
vote; do anything more", and folks go "oh no no no no no, you can't ask THAT. That's gAtEkEePiNg". Except that that is not what gatekeeping is at all, and being so apathetic that all you do is vote is a really big part of why we are in this mess in the first place.
Ehvilmonkey
This was great read for first thing in the morning in my first vacation day. Fuck israel, fuck Putin, Fuck Trump. Fuck this shit as race called human. I dont think we deserve exist as species.
FreePalestineAndTheWorldFromIsrael
If you want actual accountability, look no further than the current and past world leaders, companies, billionaires and CEOs who swear their undying alliegences to Israel, and ask why Israel is more important than your own country.
tw1st3dm3ttl3
+1 ... supremacism is a helluva drug

Hey 🇨🇦 be less like the U$A, co-opted by the Trumpstein regime.
@CanadianPM
@SenateCA
@OurCommons
@oic_ci_canada
@IntlCrimCourt
#FreePalestine
ICC for war criminals, violators of human rights, & their collaborators.
WPIII381
I tried looking for more information and couldn't find anything. I thought of asking for a source but I googled and reverse image searched and came up with a mixed bag. As much as I'd like to believe, I question whether this was an earthquake or something so new theres little out there.
Tragopan
It's from an old short movie: https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.98UT3CT
daianaaaa
We need to do what we can to end this Zionist regime
GodAintReal
Honestly facing the horrors of this man’s final hours, facing those final moments of his daughters… may force people to acknowledge how complicit we all are in this. That confrontation may ask something of them - that they do something that might disrupt the surface-level comfort of their lives in order to end (or even ease) the suffering of others.
Most people in our society aren’t interested in any of that.
lalalalsblablabal
Please sign and share this eu citizens initiative for full suspension of EU-Israel association agreement:

https://eci.ec.europa.eu/055/public/#/screen/home
xcelita
But what do I do?! I donated to aid organizations who weren't allowed to enter Gaza, I voted for candidates who oppose the genocide, I went to a protest/rally... How can I help?
[deleted]
[deleted]
ThisIsAllYouCouldComeUpWith
Fuck you.
TheAstralWalker
The truth hurts doesn't it?
CubMasterMark
I can't see the post - only the comments. Whats up with that?
urusername2
Zionists are savages, Nazis! A whole new Holocaust!
sarabear
I hope to live long enough to see the history book contents in 50+ years. “The world ignored their suffering, millions were lost. History was repeated in a horrific example of irony that played out on live TV. And you couldn’t even talk about it without being accused of antisemitism”
Ipostrandomfactsaboutmyself
https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.98UT3CT
Dolenmorgul
And that's how you make future terrorists, not necessarily this man, but if you take a populace' reason to live away they will find a reason to die.
sufferinsuccotash
I am helping to feed about 6 families in Gaza right now. I send them money any chance I get. It's the least I can do. It's also emotionally exhausting and I'm not exactly rich. But I find ways to make it work. My biggest fear is finding out they have been hurt or worse. It keeps me awake at night. I really don't know how we will get them out but that's the goal. Get their children to safety.
Tragopan
This is a lie; an old lie at that.
https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.98UT3CT
We've seen this used to spin at least 4-5 different narratives/stories on imgur.
TheFastpaws
I do not have the power to save everyone and stop such evil. If I did I’d have taken the burden by now and done it. All I can do is stay up alone at night because I have too much empathy and I hate it.
Ac1dBurn72
Some days I think God sees us like frogs to his lawn work.
How many frogs have I unknowingly killed with my mower. Or while I was weed eating? (Obviously without knowing. I go out of my way not to hit bigs/frogs)
But how many? And what did I feel for them? Nothing. Because I didn't know. Or was distracted by my task
My view of God is the call inside me to be good. To give to panhandlers. To be charitable. My giving is not tied to what those I give to choose to do with it.
Emjayen
Endless identical situations while the US spent 20 years raping, murdering and torturing brown people to steal their oil. Over 400,000 direct civilian deaths at the most conservative; close to 6 million indirectly.
Yet all the world heard from Americans was even more racial slurs.
CommanderWes
20 years mate? Sorry to say but the US never stopped their imperialism after it was founded. And while the intentions of many presidents might have been to be a force for good, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
ChiLLeCheeze
When I call Americans MAGA fascist, the moderates get butt hurt and start making excuses for MAGA because they're family. Do I not get a say in how I feel about conservatives after they consistently cause wars and murder other families?
ThiagoAraujoReal
Teste
IGotTheMusicInMe425
Israel has the "right to exist" the same way that John Wayne Gacy had the right to dress like a clown.
GenesisAmadeus
There are no word's, it actually blank?
angelsword1
I'm not seeing a post either. It's just a blank screen.
IfIOnlyHadAName
I see it initially and then it goes blank after scrolling back up from comments.
braydenH17
I’ll “move on with my day” the exact same way they heard about this and took the time to write it out. You move on because you have to
RibbleTPibits
Oof
Shewy92
I go on because I literally can't do shit about it.
DickTipPapercut
it's all these bullshit doomsday religions that can't stand it if they don't see other people suffering. eternally doomed to bomb the shit out of each other for no other reason than because they're different or because some non-existent god told us that is our land
yourdesiredusernameisnotavailable
Or they demand revenge for some atrocity commited by someone long dead
ToSisPoS
It’s colonial genocide dressed as religion as it always has been.
FreePalestineAndTheWorldFromIsrael
Thinking this is a religious war is exactly what Zionists want you to think in order to dismiss it. If this had anything to do with religion, why is USA, UK, Germany and other western nations sending money, arms and bombs to Israel who is a self-proclaimed Jewish state? Are western countries Jewish? When companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google all use their advanced technology programs and AI systems to aid and facilitate the ongoing genocide, are those companies all religious? Clearly not.
SalmonTheWise
Germany definitely supports Israel out of guilt over Holocaust, and a lot of people in the West also support Israel because they feel that Jews are owed that as compensation for the Holocaust. Additionally "Jerusalem is a Jewish city, Temple on the Mount is Solomon's Temple, Judea is Jewish homeland, it's the Promised Land from Exodus" are core christian beliefs too. There is strong religious foundation for this conflict and the West's involvement in it.
FreePalestineAndTheWorldFromIsrael
And when the Democrats openly support genocide, is it a religious issue?
Findlocalsloths
I hate religion as much as the next sane person, and yes, we would definitely be better off without it today, but believing that would somehow be a peaceful world would be very, very naive (just a reminder, not claiming you said that).
Uselesstoy
I've always believed that for religions to spread and the donations to keep rolling in... They need some kind of enemy to fight.. (devil) and the devil has to influence someone to give them an evil enemy to hate and fight.. (lgbtq+, other races, other religions). If there was no one to point at for their members to hate and feel superior too, religions would die out in 1 or 2 generations imo.
Elonth
Relgion can, always has, and always will be a tool for those in power to not only keep those beneath them in line but to weaponize their faith into a sword to attack their enemies and human shields to protect them from harm when their greed doesn't succesfully pan out in their favor.
spiffylookingnerfherder
It's not about religion. It's about real estate and greed.
DickTipPapercut
Its always about religion, it just may not be directly.
LuminoZero
It really makes it easy when you can blame all evils on one thing and then walk away.
DickTipPapercut
If the shoe fits...
akafluffy
It is about religion, there's a bunch of end of the world cultists in the west who think the endtimes prophecies can only be fulfilled when some very specific awful things happen in the middle east.
cheeriossuckbecause7
No. Zionism is NOT a religion. Never give it that much acknowledgement. Zionism is a secular demand for everything and everyone to capitulate. It is greed, hate and lust for everything wrong in this world. Zionism and judaism are two very different things. And of the two, zionism is a cancer.
DickTipPapercut
fuck em both
akafluffy
You're almost there mate, it's a cult. It IS a religion, that religion isn't Judaism any more than Mormonism is representative of Christianity.
Uselesstoy
In the Israeli's eyes Zionism is their religion.. I wish all the world's Jews would have their own version of the council of NICEA and break off into a new and separate Jewish sect named: The non Zionist non Childkilling Jews... The power of BRANDING BABY!!.. Israeli jews will refuse to join of course, separating them from those they now consider to be allies in their cause. Even though they won't refer to themselves as Zionist childkillers.. my bet is that the name would stick.
cheeriossuckbecause7
Much as I like the idea, the israeli propaganda machine, which we fund with our own tax dollarss, would go into overdrive to kill that. You'd see the concept lawsuited to death, by a sheer hatred of the zionist machine being challenged. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an awesome idea, but it would get curbstomped by the zionists and their domestic lackeys stateside.
Uselesstoy
Yeah.. it's definitely wishful thinking. I always try to think outta the box instead of just feeling helpless.. which def feels like a gear ive been stuck in for the past 10 years.
datphone777365
The abrahamic myths all have a bloodthirsty despot at the top.... not that different.
TheMoonBnuuy
You're right, but you're also arguing against something that wasn't said.
DickTipPapercut
it's like that 'fuck homophobic bigots' meme where the christian steps in to defend themselves.
TheMoonBnuuy
That's not my take away. My takeaway is you said "doomsday religions" implying more than one. He goes on about Zionism, which is a different subject entirely. The overlap is that the doomsday religions subscribe to zionism. So technically you're both right, but he's misreading what you said and going off on a tangent.
ObjectivePragmatistWithHope
We're studying chunks of the Universe 14 BILLION Light Years away, and fuckin RETARDS (Mentally Deficient, if we're being PC) are still running around believing FANTASY fuckin FICTION is real. Until otherwise indicated tangibly, Religion, as a WHOLE, is Fantasy Fiction. People are basically wasting their time, money, intellect, and emotion worshiping and praying to the fuckin Cheshire Cat or Leto the Worm Emperor. The only excuse for Israel even existing is BULLSHIT Fantasy Fiction stories. -_-
cheeriossuckbecause7
So... pointing out that zionism, which is directly responaible for israel's atrocities, cannot be blamed as a religion doesn't go straight to the heart of the comment? Well, that's... an opinion. Or something.
TheMoonBnuuy
The thing is you're right that Zionism is the a secular demand for everything and everyone to capitulate to Israel. HOWEVER, the person you were responding to was talking about "doomsday religions" such as the Dispensationalist flavor of Evangelical Christianity, which engages in Zionism in their lust for bringing about the end of the world which they believe requires 1: Israel to exist as a modern style of nation, and 2: for that nation of Israel to be at war.
ExplodingPortaPotty
I continue my day by rationalizing that this sort of thing has been happening consistently in some form or another for virtually all of human existence. And that no singular person can function if they stop to internalize every single instance of horror that happens every second of every day.
I acknowledge that it happens, I deplore those responsible, but then I move on because I must.
Tragopan
https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.98UT3CT
Kiares
Thanks, I hate it
DukeDarkwood
We all do, but we are finite in our capabilities. No single person can be everywhere, do everything, or save everyone, sadly.
I'm reminded of an adage of a literary character I know:
"Slovotsky's Law Number 9: Sometimes, you can't do anything about something that sucks." No matter how much it sucks. But, he did revise it later with "- until later". Sometimes, just sometimes, you CAN contribute, even to such weighty affairs. Even maybe manage to save someone. It's not much, but it's something.
CornwindEvil
Well said and unfortunately so.
TODAYSNUMBERIS
We should all internalize more than we are.
Delathi
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.
CBadger
Humans evolved to be aware of a couple hundred people. Being aware of all of the suffering of 8 billion people will break us if we let it.
DukeDarkwood
The burden of empathy is that we WANT to relieve all the suffering, all the sorrows, all across the world. Left unchecked, that weight will crush anyone. If, as you say, we let it. We have rational thinking, and that tells us that sometimes, there are things you just cannot do. So, while I do not suggest we "turn off" empathy, we sometimes have to sublimate the urge to do something about it.
"When you cannot do everything, you do what you can." A very important life lesson, I've found.
malbec
“Hey Siri, how to I favorite a comment, and give it accolades?”
KitchenClean
Wow, you explained that so well. Replying just to bookmark this comment.
Harbltron
We must endure for those who can't anymore.
NickRivieraMD
I do think this is missing a step. We could make a change, do something to help. People do this. However, most of us decide not to do that, for a variety of reasons, maybe our responsibilities, certainly our fear, maybe any of a number of other reasons. I acknowledge that it happens, I deplore those responsible, including myself in some small way as a US citizen, I choose not to help this time, and I move on. Sometimes I do help. It's good to keep an internal record of these choices.
DukeDarkwood
We *should* do what we can, when we can. But, all too often, we can't. Not because of lack of will, not because of lack of caring, but because of lack of ability. We cannot take care of others WITHOUT taking care of ourselves. It is hard to offer someone your hand in support, if your own footing is crumbling beneath you.
So: do what you can, when you can, but remember to take care of yourself, or there won't be a "you" to lend aid to others.
nasukkin
I take small comfort in the knowledge that I had nothing to do with it and that there is nothing that I could do about it. I find this comfort partially in the knowledge that my nation's decision to overextend its global influence to an unreasonable, unsustainable level were made when my grandparents were teenagers (and most of them not yet Americans).
Then I get out and vote for the people who will take back our government and start to do something constructive about it, because that... (1/2)
nasukkin
... is quite realistically the extent of my influence in this matter.
This world, its history, and its future, are full of awful, unspeakable injustices. But we can't let ourselves be stunlocked by them. Small, correct changes over time can add up to fix this. That's why I do what I can to get people out to vote, too.
KingdomsCrown
Its all we can do, hope for change and lead by example.
Throwawayaccountnumbernegativethree
Are you organizing with other people, trying to influence more to vote, helping campaign drives for the candidates you support, or trying to directly address the problems that you care about? Showing up to city council meetings?
This will take a lot more than just voting for your team to fix; both teams are broken, and one really needs to be fixed if we are going to see the other side of this.
StellarJay77
Your implicating here through gate keeping that unless people do at least as much as you have stated here that they are not helping. People can only do as much as they have the ability to and you cannot expect anything more.
Probablyimaginary
And I think both takes here are extreme. You have to go outside your comfort zone to expect change but you can't dictate what that threshold is for anyone else. So do more! But only you know what more is!
Throwawayaccountnumbernegativethree
Oh I wasn't saying someone has to do all of that. I was giving those as examples of things someone can do. Just voting is not enough when the stakes are so high and we don't even know if we will have truly transparent elections anymore.
StellarJay77
You have to meet people where they are though and if voting is all they can do, it's enough. Laying expectation on people to do more is how you make it so they choose to do nothing or feel like anything they do isn't worth the effort anyway because you're telling them it isn't enough. Privilege masks your ability to truely know what someone else has capacity for, others are not you and so you can't expect them to be as capable as you either.
StellarJay77
I agree, people should always do as much as they can but also no one should ever be implying that what someone is doing is not enough.
Throwawayaccountnumbernegativethree
I'm not saying anyone has to do everything. But just saying "I vote" like that guy did is not an acceptable answer for if you are helping; that is literally all I am saying. The world is too far gone, and voting without some other action is not going to do shit, but you know your own region better than I do to determine what that other action should be. I am not saying you have to to a ton; you just can't be so disconnected and apathetic about what is happening that you think voting is enough
StellarJay77
But if voting is all they are capable of doing its something, it's better than not voting, and it is enough. We can't lay expectations on people that they are not capable of achieving. That is how you end up just overwhelming people so they choose not to do anything which is the real reason we are where we are. Things aren't changing overnight and it won't be quick.
Throwawayaccountnumbernegativethree
Let's put this another way: if all you do is vote, Israel just keeps donating and propping up politicians that are agreeable to them on both sides, and fucking NOTHING about this war changes.
Voting CAN NOT be all that you do at this point in time. I absolutely guarantee that you can give more than an hour (the time it probably takes you to drive to the polling station, vote, and dive back to work) out of TWO ENTIRE YEARS to do something. Literally all I am asking is "do more than just 1/2
Throwawayaccountnumbernegativethree
Oh, an important bit is missing here: the comment literally said voting is "the extent of his influence in the matter". That is really messed up. He's not saying he doesn't have the spoons to do something. He is saying "there is nothing more I can possibly do to be more effective about changing this". THAT is the bullshit I am arguing against here. That is just sad apathy.
Throwawayaccountnumbernegativethree
vote; do anything more", and folks go "oh no no no no no, you can't ask THAT. That's gAtEkEePiNg". Except that that is not what gatekeeping is at all, and being so apathetic that all you do is vote is a really big part of why we are in this mess in the first place.