hi, welcome to the united fucking states, how may we discriminate you?
Everyone needs to see this. We can’t just let them discriminate against us, we have rights and we should fight for them. Our government is actively trying to push down minorities and no one is talking about it. This affects me and many of my friends. This could affect you or a friend you have. Even if this doesnt affect you, SPREAD THIS INFORMATION AND BE AN ALLY. We’re not gonna live in a broken country where freedom and equality is preached but only certain groups have those rights to equality and liberty. We shouldn’t have to live in fear of what human right our government is gonna strip away from us next. Please spread this.
A lot of people are really scared and angry because of the results of the newest climate change reports — as they should be. But I’m already seeing a lot of posts and news reports like “HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING” and bizarrely enough, the answers are never like “weed out climate change deniers from your government, impose strict new rules for the corporations that are creating most of the emissions, pour government resources into alternate forms of fuel, etc.” It’s always like “carpool to work!”
Look. Of course you should be working to reduce waste in your own life. But let’s not fucking pretend that consumers are the ones who made this mess. You know what another recent study found? Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. If the rest of us stopped ALL WASTE and fucking ascended to a higher plane of existence that no longer requires consumption of any kind, the world would still be absolutely fucked if those 100 companies keep on as they do.
I hate this personal responsibility model when it comes to conservation. By ignoring the actual source of the problem and focusing on individuals instead, guess who gets targeted? The absolute most vulnerable individuals on the planet. When people advocate personal responsibility, somehow they’re never talking about billionaires and their private jets. They’re creating straw bans that will make life more dangerous for people with disabilities. They’re shaming women for using disposable menstrual products. They’re criticizing the poor and destitute for using “wasteful” products because they’re all they can afford. They’re making vaguely eugenic statements about getting people in “third world countries” to stop ~breeding~ so much. It’s monstrous.
Stop shaming consumers for the sins of corporations and their powerful investors. Stop placing the blame at the feet of the people who already have the hardest time getting through life. Do something, and by “do something” I mean buy a reusable coffee cup on the way to fucking vote. Go to a protest. Call a representative. Demand accountability from the people who got us into this mess.
it’s crazy that im alive to witness major effects of climate change. like it always seemed super vague and it was always ‘the polar bears won’t have anywhere to live’ but this shit is going to fuck everything up bigtime.
Most people don’t realize how serious it is. We’ve only got 50 years worth of resources left, if we keep going the way we are, and honestly, that’s optimistic. Aside from that, we’ve already gone over the calculated “point of no return”, so even if we immediately start sucking gasses out of the atmosphere and stop all transport and agriculture, we’re going to see oceans rise, sea life die, we’re going to be crammed into smaller land areas, places like Melbourne will be underwater, and the fallout will probably send us into an ice age anyway (long story, but basically the ice melts, cold water sinks, the ocean flow responsible for thermoregulation of the planet is interrupted, cue ice age).
I can already see it now. Forget the hurricanes for a moment:
-Hay isn’t growing at the right time. Last year, no one got good hay where I live, because the weather (which has been in the same pattern during hay season for as long as I’ve been alive) was whacked out.
-None of my animals grew coats correctly, because the weather is just all wrong, and they don’t know what season they’re in.
-We’re getting new temperature records globally; basically, all weather is starting to change already
-Where I live, there are always two weeks where we see echidnas everywhere, and then we don’t see them the rest of the year. that is, until last year, when we barely saw them, spaced throughout several months.
-Let me reiterate, the animals cannot tell what season it is because climate change is altering weather patterns that have been here for as long as anyone can remember
-We also have more acidic rain due to all the gasses, which is why we’ve got so many statues and whatnot corroding even though they haven’t changed for thousands of years
-We had a tornado start to form in Melbourne. That’s unheard of.
We have the technology to slow down climate change. If we want to survive for more than 50 years, we need to act now. NOW. We need to put in place all the technologies we have, and pour money into more scientific research.
And why haven’t we? Because politicians earn money from oil companies and don’t care about the future of the planet, because they’re not going to be here in 50 years anyway.
https://www.skepticalscience.com/ is a great website that debunks common myths about climate change! check it out! it has a wealth of information that’s super easy to understand and even comes in different levels in terms of learning.
i just recently sat in a climate change presentation and the physicist who gave the presentation talked about how if in the next 30 years we (not just Americans, but humans all over the world) do not cut down on carbon emissions (and this honestly boils down to policy changes that MUST be made amongst industrialists in “developed countries” but that’s a whole other conversation) climate change will ultimately become irreversible.
30 yearsy’all. that’s within all of our life times. and these effects are going to be pretty much the end of human civilization as we know it.
It’s time for people who will not live to see the consequences of their actions to give way to those of us who will. It’s time for those of us born in the shadow of climate change to stand up and start demanding our stake in the future be recognized as larger and more important than the greedy old men who don’t expect to be around that long.
They accused Mr Gabriel of betraying the memory of his father, who was a Nazi supporter. “Your father loved his country, and what have you done to it? You’re destroying it,” one protester said.
i’m sorry, but sticking up middle fingers at your political opponents is not the appropriate behavior for any political representative. i support anti-nazism like the next bisexual liberally raised student who values their country’s democracy but jesus christ. those neo-nazi guys are boiling with rage and inferiority complexes. they’re not looking for discussion, they’re looking for a dirty fight, because that’s the only way they can win. by sticking up middle fingers at them and calling them names gabriel validates their anger and their methods and gives them ammunition for that precise fight.
i’m not saying you shouldn’t fight nazis in every possible way, i’m not saying open discussion is always the way to go (i understand that in this particular situation they were too loud for gabriel to say something and be heard). but especially in situations like this, i expect our elected representatives to be the bigger people and to de-escalate instead of stoking up the fire. we don’t need shit-stirrers in our government, we have enough of those among our people.
I see what you’re trying to say, I really do, but on the other hand:
1. Out in public in front of a gang of protesters is not a good time to tell people that you disagree with them. Best case scenario, they’re not interested in listening. Worst case scenario, it’s outright dangerous.
2. Engaging people in conversations makes others think that these are people with social power who need to be engaged. Look, the modern neo-nazi movement is largely disenfranchised white poor people. The disenfranchisment is something that should probably be addressed. The blaming of their problems on out-group peoples and general racist thuggery though tends to put these guys at the back of the line for good reason.
3. Yes using the finger could be construed as childish, but honestly, why the hell would this guy want to engage with Nazis? He’s openly anti-Nazi, they know that, he knows they know that, he knows they’re just there to cause trouble. Why else would they bring up the dude’s estranged father? That’s just trolling for a reaction. He has refused to feed the trolls.
4. Most of Germany has been trying really hard to put the Nazi history into the past. He’s a politician whose opinion is probably held up by the majority of his constituents, since he’s the Vice Chancellor, and got voted in. He’s acting in accordance with this policy.
5. Fuck Nazis. No really. Fuck giving them a platform, fuck giving them a fair hearing when they’re standing there yelling out racist shit.
you make very good points, especially #5. honestly, i agree with you. the only point i’d like to argue is this: you’re implying that by giving them the finger, gabriel “refused to feed the trolls” – but in my opinion “feeding the trolls” is exactly what he did. he lowered himself to their level by (not verbally, but still) insulting them. that’s him literally “engaging with nazis” but not in a way that’s productive whatsoever. that’s what i mean by shit-stirring. sure, the nazis were stirring shit first by (unfairly) provoking him, but i stand by my opinion: an elected representative cannot and should not be affected by cheap provocation. you don’t shut up bullies by responding to them, you feed them. he should’ve just turned his back, and maybe, if he felt the need to address their insult directly, have done so in a separate statement.
Bisher hat die AFD 6,5%, ich glaub ich kotze hier gleich in Fontänen, das sind doch einfach nur Rechtsextreme. Double standards much würd ich sagen. Ich weine gleich, auf der einen Seite schreien alle die NPD soll verboten werden und dann wählen die alle AFD weil das mit dem Euro nicht mehr so frisch läuft, ich- ksdfojgsojibojigpokdpk
Der Erfolg der AFD überrascht mich zwar nicht, aber traurig macht es mich trotzdem – hoffentlich ist das bis zur nächsten Bundestagswahl gegessen. Ich glaub allerdings noch nicht dran…
Ich denke nicht, dass sich das ändern wird, da es in Europa Geldmäßig nicht so gut läuft und die Handlungsmöglichkeiten (auch bezüglich Bulgarien und Rumänien zuletzt) werden in den Medien häufig unzureichend dargestellt. Außerdem können die Konservativen nach wie vor die meisten Erfolge feiern. Wie gesagt, ich weine gleich.
The Light in the Sky 