#Fascists seek to silence

[evita-shelby]

Torture

Jealous!Tommy Shelby x wife!reader.

Requested by @elenavampire21

Gif by @peakyblindersfan

Cw: some classism, jealousy

He hates parties the most.

Thomas is fine with pretending to care for these people on a workday, but not after hours.

And yet here they are mingling with these fuckers who think they are superior because they buy into the lie that the fascists spew.

They see him as the exception because of his money and brilliance, even Grace had thought she could mold him into one of Them because her desire to join Them overpowered her love for him.

You do not care to fit in with these people, yet your self-confidence and individuality makes Them desire you more.

The women envy you and the men do not even care it’s Tommy’s ring on your finger when they seek you out.

They flirt with you and he wished Churchill had asked for their heads and not their secrets. You never entertain their attempts at seduction, and he knows you wouldn’t betray him like that, but he’s jealous all the same.

Some failed poet takes his chance while Tommy talks business with a man needing to permanently silence someone. When he hears you laugh at something the poet says with that suggestive look in his eyes, Tommy forgets the two of you are on a mission and invents an excuse to leave the place early.

He's always been prone to jealousy came with his selfish streak.

Things you claim are ‘cute’ on him.

“Is Mr. Shelby feeling threatened by some starving artist?” you tease him about it once the two of you get home and race upstairs with a wicked look in your eye.

He’s been chasing after you since the two of you met, Tommy wasn’t even sure who was the cat and who was the mouse.

Tonight he is the cat and he’ll have you as meek as a mouse by the time he’s finished with you.

“They act as if you don’t have an owner, Mrs. Shelby.” He shouts bounding up the stairs after you.

He catches you as the two of you reach the second landing, pins you against the wall and wonders why you didn’t out up a better chase. “You’re my property, y/n. No other man gets to have you even when my ashes are scattered to the wind, love.”

Once you belong to Shelby, you die a Shelby. A rule he thinks you’ve forgotten now that the times are changing.

“As if I could ever want a man who isn’t you, baby.”

[birdmomblogs]

Content Warnings: This post discusses or mentions capital punishment, child abuse, execution, fascism, genocide, homicide, Nazis, politics, prison, and transphobia.

*****

"The Lemkin Institute [for Genocide Prevention] believes that the so-called “gender critical movement” that is behind [USA anti-trans legislation] is a fascist movement furthering a specifically genocidal ideology that seeks the complete eradication of trans identity from the world."

As I write this on April 22nd 2023, a total of 498 anti-trans bills have been introduced in the USA during 2023 alone. 19% of these bills have failed (96/498). 9% have passed (43/498). 72% of these bills are still being actively considered (359/498). This is already 286% more anti-trans bills introduced in 4 months than in the entirety of 2022 (176 bills were introduced in 2022). These bills affect;

ability to change sex marker on legal documents

preferred name usage

personal pronoun usage

access to gender-affirming care

student athletes

student bathroom usage

drag performers

and more!

This puts parents of trans children, educators, health care providers and more at risk for simply advocating for trans children. This puts trans adults and drag performers at risk. This puts trans children at risk.

Punishment for breaking anti-trans legislation is at risk of being as worse as imprisonment for life or the death penalty.

Example 1: Bill amendments HB - 4257, would define any person (including parents, doctors, coaches, teachers, etc.) involved in the gender transition of a minor as a child abuser, punishable by imprisonment for life. This bill amendment proposal has been continuously reintroduced with no sign of stopping until passed.

Example 2: "Drag ban" bills such as SB - 1438 and SB - 1698 broadly label drag as sexual conduct to "protect minors" from them. States then proceed to pass bills such as SB - 1342 that can allow sexual crimes against children to be punishable by death. Do you see the connection and how uncanny the timeline of the introduction or passing of these bills is? More than 4% of those executed are innocent but this percentage is likely higher in reality due to racial bias, economic inequality, etc. This number will only increase with prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community being legalized.

There are only 3 other accounts of trans genocide that have occurred globally:

During Nazi Germany (1920-1945), the Institute for Sexual Research was looted and destroyed. The Institute worked toward improving gender-affirming surgery and advocated for trans rights. Trans and gender non-conforming individuals faced forced detransitions and sentences to concentration camps. In 2022, Germany ruled that claiming trans people were not targeted by Nazis as denial of Nazi crimes, which is punishable by a prison sentence.

In Indonesia during the 1960s, a Bugis gender identity known as the bissu, faced violent persecution, torture and execution, with sacred ceremonies being banned. Bissu persecution in the Pancasila Republic of Indonesia continues to this day. In 2022, it was declared that these people are close to extinction.

Brazil has experienced the most annual transgender-targeted homicides since 2009. That's 14 years in a row. Many trans homicides go unreported, misreported or uninvestigated. The methods of murder are becoming increasingly more violent and organized. Transphobia continues to run rampant in Brazil due to the lack of legal protections and encouragement from politicians.

The one stage of genocide that the United States has not yet reached, like these other 3 countries, is execution. Do not let it get to that stage.

Anti-trans legislation is not about protecting women, children, etc. Its sole purpose is to silence and control, leading to the erasure of trans identities. The longer this continues the easier it is for transphobes to spread their harmful ideology and get away with it. I am privileged to have the opportunity to live in Canada, but in recent years even I have experienced and witnessed increasing numbers of transphobic incidents. Although not violent, the ideology is there. Hate spreads like a plague.

Be vigilant when following the news and make some noise about this with your own state officials. Even if you aren't American, label it like the genocide it is. Don't be silent about this. I've listed two resources below that I think will be helpful next steps once you finish reading this post. Feel free to also share your own resources in reblogs! Thank you!

***** About me: I am a trans and queer individual with a B.Sc. in Agriculture and International Development. Currently, I am working towards applying for graduate school. Research interests include food security, indigenous peoples, the LGBT community and historical aspects of human rights development.

[genderkoolaid]

Compassion and nuance is for everyone, not just the people you like or who have never done anything questionable or in poor taste or stupid or harmful in their lives. The end goal for bigots should be that they see the error in their ways, make amends and become better people, not a power fantasy in which we get to become the exact things we should hate.

Will that always happen? Of course not. Should we stop reacting to bigotry and fascism with violence? No, intimidating fascists into silence is a good thing. But violence should be something we unfortunately have to do to keep ourselves and each other safe. It shouldn't be something we seek out. And we shouldn't make bigots out to be two dimensional, inhuman monsters who commit evil acts for evil's sake. Because that is just distancing ourselves from our own, very human, capacity for violence and bigotry.

And, look. If you personally fantasize about committing acts of violence on your oppressors to vent and deal with the trauma of being oppressed, this isn't really about that. Your personal feelings&thoughts are personal and don't necessarily mean anything for your actions. I don't want to shame individuals for having normal emotions and thoughts in private.

What concerns me is when people start putting that into their activism, and start coming up with dreams of torturing Bad People(tm), dehumanizing people instead of focusing on progressive solutions and restorative justice. When fighting TERFs goes from "I will do what I have to in order to protect trans people, including violence if needed" to "I want to brutally murder every TERF I possibly can in the worst ways possible."

At the end of the day, why do you fight? Is it because you believe that people have a fundamental capacity for good, and everyone deserves respect and justice and happiness? Or is it because you hate certain people and want them to suffer? Because while violence, in my opinion, is inevitable in terms of deep social change, it's only one very complicated part of the puzzle. If it's all you focus on, you'll burn yourself out and maybe take a lot of other people with you.

Dehumanization and the glorification of violence are crucial pieces of bigotry and fascism. As long as you attach yourself to them, you will always be more vulnerable to those ideologies. A truly radical stance against them means also rejecting these parts of our activism as well.

[pennsyltuckyheathen]

(via Grifters, wannabees and Putin-style autocrats: Here's why the GOP is no longer a legitimate political party - Raw Story)

I’ve been saying the same thing ever since Trump was elected and the Republican party abandoned the checks and balances of the Legislative branch.  By doing so, the Democrats were left to defend our democratic republic and its institutions while Republicans made excuses for Trump, cited a prepared script full of lies and deceit provided by the White House or were complicit in their silence and never spoke up for fear that they would be “primaried” when it came time to seek re-election. 

Republicans adopted well established propaganda techniques such as WhatAboutism’s and finger pointing aimed at Democrats to cast them as politically motivated to ‘persecute’ Trump.  This further emboldened Trump to be as reckless, unethical and destructive as he wanted without consequences.  

When House Democrats defended our government and the Office of the Presidency by rightfully filing evidence-based impeachment proceedings not only once but twice against Trump, Republicans in the Senate showed their contempt and disrespect for the impeachments by dismissing them as political exercises. They sat and looked at their phones, yawned, made disparaging remarks and pissed all over the proceedings.  

The election of MAGA Mike Johnson as the House Speaker with no “moderate” Republicans voting against the Trump-worshiping election denier and christo-fascist shows that the corrupt Republicans have gone ape-shit over Trump.  Disgusting and anti-American.  

[my-crazy-wonderful-life]

Riddle Me This… If Trump was owned by Russia, why didn’t they take Ukraine when he was President? If Biden isn’t owned by China, why do they keep giving him money for influence? If the DOJ is fair, why does it take them years to investigate democrats but they immediately indicted Trump For Bogus charges? If the DOJ is fair, why did over 50 intelligence officials and the FBI claim Hunters Laptop was fake even though they knew it wasn’t & conveniently they lost it ? If justice is blind, why did 2 men get arrested for possessing Ashley Biden’s diary, yet no one is investigated for the claims she made in it about her dad ? If the IRS needs 87,000 new agents to ensure Americans finances are held accountable yet the same politicians refuse to audit Ukraine spending? If fascism is totalitarian government that limits rights, why does the left who wants to limit speech and rights call themselves anti fascist? If u can’t see a 2 tiered justice system ur part of the problem The left prosecutes people for exposing them, and accuses their opponents of doing the exact things they’re guilty of!! These questions are so important that the establishment seeks to silence anyone who asks them...so ask urself why

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

"The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that ten Republican lawmakers may not seek reelection because they participated in a walkout last year over a policy dispute.

According to rule in Oregon called Measure 113, ten or more unexcused absences disqualifies one from seeking reelection.

Did you think the left would only use this tactic against Trump? Watch now as other states create new rules for the sole purpose of taking Republicans off the ballot."

Actions taken by actual Fascists. Yes, Karen and Karl, this is what Fascists do. Leftist Democrats using the Law to silence and remove Political opposition. So much for all that " MUH Democracy " BS, huh !!

[melimatters]

Triggers: 9/11/2001, suicide, fascism, death

9/11 is always going to be complicated for me.

I remember being woken up early in the morning as my best friend let me know what was going on. I watched in shocked silence as the second plane hit and we knew it wasn't an accident, hearing of flight 93 going down in PA with passengers that fought back. The sight of people jumping from buildings, the cops and firefighters that were there desperately trying to help, and many of those that lost their lives trying to do so.

I worked for a big box electronics store at the time and we stayed open to keep the TVs on for people who didn't have news at home. Our boss made the announcement and we were angry and wanted to be home with our families, little did we know he was half a mile from ground zero and saw it all.

I remember watching the evening news with Peter Jennings as he openly wept on TV trying to comprehend it all. And how our media went nearly black for two weeks after.

That and so much more is what I remember and weep for...

But...

I will not sit here and fetishize cops in my home city hundreds of miles away that had nothing to do with the event.

I will not do the same for the military who want to make a massive civilian loss of life all about them.

I am done...

I am done with the real tragedy being lost behind a form of fascist Christianity that seeks to reframe everything about crooked cops and vile soldiers who just want to kill.

I am done...

I am done with the half of our nation that still uses this as an excuse for hatred of Islam while in ignoring what fundamentalists are doing to take away all of our rights for "God" in this country.

9/11/2001 will forever be a part of me. But everything after can go away.

[helpmeimblorboing]

Transphobes when they see a trans person in media : OMG THE TRANS AGENDA IS EVERYWHERE. OMG MUH CHILDREN (rapidly packs up abused and beaten children in a blanket) MUST PROTECT MUH AMERICAN RIGHT TO FREEDOM AND FREE SPEECH!! (quickly takes down Confederate flags hanging outside).

Transphobes when they meet a trans person : OMH NO ONE BELIEVES YOU'RE ACTUALLY TRANS !! 43 % !!(harasses a teenage child to suicide) YUR WEAK !! JK ROOLING WILL SUE YO ASS !!

In their eyes, trans people are simultaneously overwhelming and pathetic. As Umberto Eco once said in his essay "Ur Fascism", "Followers (of fascist movements) must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak." Transphobia is literal fascism, by definition.

"Fascist groups often appeal to these individuals by offering a simplistic and seductive worldview that blames certain groups for their problems and presents a vision of a powerful and homogeneous community that can restore order and greatness."

A simple idea of how fascist groups attract new recruits

Sound familiar ? It should. That's exactly what GCs (Gender Criticals, or as I like to call them, Genital-obsessed Creeps ) do to attract new recruits, blaming the "trans agenda" for everything

"Another factor that can contribute to the adoption of fascist beliefs is a sense of fear and anxiety about the future. This can be exacerbated by real or perceived threats to one’s security, such as economic instability, social unrest, cultural change, or terrorism. Fascist movements often exploit these fears by offering a strong and authoritarian leader who promises to protect and defend the community from perceived enemies, both internal and external.

In addition, fascist ideology often relies on a narrative of victimhood and a sense of historical grievance, which can appeal to individuals who feel disempowered or marginalised in some way. This narrative portrays the group as having been unfairly oppressed or humiliated by other groups or forces, and seeks to restore a sense of pride and dignity by reclaiming power and status.

Finally, the process of radicalization into fascist beliefs can be facilitated by socialisation and exposure to extremist propaganda, whether through online forums, social media, or face-to-face interactions with other members of the group. This can create a sense of belonging and solidarity, as well as reinforce the group’s ideology and worldview."

Again, all things actively used by TERFs to spread their worldview. A common fear is seen in them. A fear that is perpetuated by the more obsessed amongst them, who were once homophobes, who simply shifted gears, and changed the word "gay" to "trans". A fear that was last seen during the anti-gay crusades, peddled by priests and Christians, and is seen again today. This fear is often fueled by media coverage of cases of violence or abuse perpetrated by individuals who identify as trans, and by the portrayal of trans activism as a totalitarian movement that seeks to silence dissent and impose a new orthodoxy. A lie, but one that is widespread (Again, setting the stage for recruitment)

"This can lead to a sense of moral superiority and a willingness to use extreme tactics, such as harassment, doxxing, and censorship, to silence opponents and defend their views."

All things TERFs have done and are doing

I rest my case

Additionally, a message to any TERFs reading this

A common thread in fascism is that it is never about the message itself. The message is merely a cover for self-glorification. The original Fascist movement was not there for the reasons they claimed. It was there to glorify Mussolini, with everything they did playing to that end goal. The same with Nazism, and the same with TERFs.

Please remember, we are not your enemies. We do not want harm to befall you. We do care about you, but your leaders don't

TERFs do not care about women. TERFs care about hatred

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Clay Jones, Claytoonz

* * * *

A forum devoted to former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon’s right-wing radio show alerted its 78,000 subscribers to “very strange new details on Paul Pelosi attack.” Roger Stone took to the fast-growing messaging app Telegram to call the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband an “alleged attack,” telling his followers that a “stench” surrounded mainstream reporting about the Friday break-in that left Paul Pelosi with a skull fracture and other serious injuries.

The rush to sow doubt about the assault on Pelosi’s husband illustrates how aggressively influential figures on the right are seeking to dissuade the public from believing facts about the violence, seizing on the event to promote conspiratorial fantasies and provoke distrust. This is how fascists create the chaos they see as their route to taking power.

Dinesh D’Souza demonstrated this in a post Sunday morning to his 2.5 million Twitter followers.

“The Left is going crazy because not only are we not BUYING the wacky, implausible Paul Pelosi story but we are even LAUGHING over how ridiculous it is. What this means is that we are no longer intimidated by their fake pieties. Their control over us has finally been broken.”

And the despicables who follow him cheered that, posting “Amen!” as their reply.

Scores of other tweets included claims that the attack was a false flag, including some responding directly to messages from the House speaker. “@SpeakerPelosi Accountability is coming. Tired of your Lies and False flags. Your Treasonous.” Another wrote, “I don’t know why the Paul Pelosi story falling apart is such a surprise. False flag attacks are a common tool of the left.”

Wendy Rogers, the far right Arizona Republican state senator who was involved in he fake electors sceme in Arizona, has set fundraising records in her state while aligning herself with right-wing extremists. On Saturday she shared a spurious Amazon listing for a “Paul Pelosi Fake Attack Novelty Item Headpiece.”

Former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler directed his more than 125,000 followers on Telegram to a meme sexualizing the assault.

At a campaign event for a Republican Congressional candidate, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin - the slimeball who proves Stephen King was right when he said “the best monsters have their fur on the inside” - took a similarly callous approach. "There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re going to send her back to be with him in California."

The right-wing media has spent decades building a huge audience for these sorts of convenient conspiratorial fantasies. And their regular denunciations of the mainstream press built a bubble to keep out reality so that only the right’s commentators can be trusted.

Eric Swalwell put it well: “Sadly this attack was inevitable. Political violence is on the rise. And instead of GOP leaders condemning it, they condone it with silence or, even worse, glorification.”

[That’s Another Fine Mess]

[godflesh]

gonna put this under read more

i'm so fucking tired of this country of the region of the people. there's been so much homophobic shit happening paired with death and rape threats being thrown at people who are not cis and not straight. using fascist slogans and orthodox religious imagery to silence us and further their own propaganda. even some claim we deserve to starve to death or get shot in public or have our families do it since we make no contributions

on top of this, i still cannot legally change my gender which puts me at a huge risk of being unemployed (which i am) and i'm afraid to seek proper medical help/care since that doesnt really exist for trans people here and that just fucks up my whole well-being. there seems to be no way out and my mental health sure is having a ride... i want this to be over tbh

[connoratwood8]

Wear and spread #GREEN4ABORTION!

RiseUp4AbortionRights.org

STOP the Supreme Court from Taking Away Abortion Rights!

The highest court in the world’s most powerful country stands poised to rip from women their fundamental right to control their bodies, their reproduction, and their destinies.

We refuse to be bystanders as the state shatters women’s lives. Extinguishes their dreams. Hijacks their bodies. Forces girls to bear their rapists’ babies. Invades the lives of Black, Brown, young and poor women with special viciousness. Accelerates a fascist assault on contraception, LGBTQ people, voting rights, Black history and Black people, and more. Not just in the “red” states, but nationwide – strengthening the tides of anti-woman fundamentalisms and fascism around the world.

Monday, June 13, 2022:

Come to the Supreme Court in DC and Stay.

Imagine: Every day, more and more people pouring into the capital. Amassing at the Supreme Court. All night vigils. Protests. Hunger strikes. People by the thousands and tens of thousands returning day after day. The Green Bandana of abortion rights worn and waved everywhere. On Mondays, when the Supreme Court typically releases decisions, the Capitol and Court become so surrounded by masses of women, men, people of all genders and nationalities and backgrounds that it becomes clear to all in power that we will sooner bring the gears of society to a grinding halt through mass nonviolent resistance than allow the right to abortion to be taken away.

Those behind this assault are counting on our silence.

We must not give it to them.

Even fascist women-haters worry about losing the perceived legitimacy of their institutions and their system when they are faced with truly massive, un-ignorable and unrelenting nonviolent resistance. And, if even in the face of our determined opposition, the Court still revokes abortion rights, we will be in a far stronger position to continue the struggle for women’s freedom for having dared to RISE UP.

The whole world is watching.

Let them see our courage.

This will not be easy. But the courts and politicians have failed to stop this attack. And a world where women are subordinate to the state, where wombs are regulated by the government and treated as potential “crime scenes,” must not be tolerated.

Let our visible courage call forth the courage of others. Let our righteous fury awaken the suppressed fury of millions of women and girls and all who love justice. Let our willingness to put it on the line not only defeat this crime against women while there is still a chance to do so, but also forge us into a more daring, deeply connected and justice-seeking people while building a future where women and all people are free.

If not now, then when?

If not all of us together, then who?

The future depends on what we do – or fail to do – during these momentous days.

Let us act with boldness, daring and courage.

Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights!

Forced Motherhood = Female Enslavement!

Abortion On Demand & Without Apology!

[kezia-kawaii]

a first miniter who was not elected and refuses to call an election ,speaking on behalf of a population who want him gone

a national, state funded, media network silencing free speach that criticises the government

references to asylum seekers as being illegal, sub human, unworthy of safety, and seeking to fly them to africa with threats of pulling out of the human rights act if they can't do that legally

attempts to quell the rights of queer people in the name of family values

the united kingdom is a fascist state

there are no 2 ways about it any more

[sepublic]

This flashback and its worldbuilding history really messed me up. As Darius implied in Any Sport in a Storm, for all its faults, the Emperor’s Coven wasn’t always like this. People weren’t like this! Belos started off as reasonable, as any dictator does; And then gradually slid everyone down the slippery slope into a full-on cult that persecutes freely and treats isolation and conflict with peers as totally normal things!

The covenscouts used to be relatively chill people. They encouraged and taught trust exercises, teamwork and collaboration. One actually feels free enough to speak up against Terra’s child endangerment as being illegal. Hunter says covenscouts have to cut all outside ties, yet we see how this one covenscout waves to and apparently recognizes someone from outside the coven, and vice-versa! And when Terra declares that nobody gets a ribbon, we even see a few covenscouts look upset about this, maybe even express disapproval; They once had the freedom to object!

If the Golden Guard of this time period shared and embodied those ideals, it adds to Darius’ motives. He saw firsthand how the coven wasn’t always that bad and used to be reasonable, and then personally witnessed its downwards decline into cult behavior and fascism. And it stands to reason that the Golden Guard may have been phased out because he was reasonable, he represented this kinder age and so had to go, be replaced with Hunter later down the line.

It just really messes me up. These people used to be normal, reasonable; We see multiple adults don’t have coven-bindings, they probably weren’t a mandatory thing back then, hence Gwen not being in a coven at this point in time! But people like Belos and Terra, they start instituting their little changes, one at a time; When they brush up against the rules of society, they opt to change these rules, one by one, now that they’re in the power to do so.

It’s honestly eerie. I expected to see Bonesborough looking nicer in this flashback, to show how it was physically ruined by the coven; But it’s so much more than that. We see how the isles was socially corrupted by Belos, how kids back then can remember that; But Belos controls history, so people don’t realize it wasn’t always like this and doesn’t have to be.

It’s like seeing a country before a regime as peaceful and chill, knowing it becomes a dictatorship, seeing the early warning signs here or there that we know eventually spiral into the oppressive norm... Because that’s exactly what it is. Like Germany before the Nazis, the Middle East before colonization, North Korea before the regime... It’s uncanny and unnerving. This place, the people used to be nice... And then look what happened, because some fascist said this wasn’t good enough, actually! It’s eerie, the calm before the storm we’ve already seen; The dissonance of people not realizing what’s about to happen, what IS happening. They’re DOOMED and walking right into it!

And it just adds to Darius’ motivation. This dude is defending his home; He trusted and invested in this coven to make things stable, and was personally betrayed when he realized how Belos corrupted the isles. This is a man who joined the coven, believing he was helping his home, only to realize he was lied to and used to destroy it; Darius offered good faith and Belos threw it aside and spat in his face.

And the same goes for Raine; They probably figured this out well before Darius, and/or at least chose to do something about it before him. The older generation is important, because they remember what it was like, and that’s why people like Belos seek to silence them. And all of this just leads to a righteous rage and vengeance by those who remember and can grieve, remember what they lost. Darius, Raine, Eberwolf, and as the name implies, the Golden Guard, wanted to defend their home; And Belos tricked them into destroying it instead.

[apas-95]

Joint Statement of Communist and Workers’ Parties, No to the imperialist war in Ukraine

Urgent! Joint Statement of Communist and Workers’ Parties

No to the imperialist war in Ukraine!

An independent struggle is needed against monopolies and bourgeois classes, for the overthrow of capitalism, for the strengthening of the class struggle against imperialist war, for socialism!

The Communist and Workers’ Parties signing this Joint Statement are opposed to the imperialist conflict in Ukraine, which constitutes one of the consequences of the tragic situation for the peoples shaped after the overthrow of socialism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Both the bourgeois and the opportunist forces, which for years have fought against the USSR and recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its dissolution, silencing the fact that the restoration of capitalism meant the dismantling of historic workers’ and people’s achievements and brought the peoples of the USSR back to the era of class exploitation and imperialist wars, are completely exposed.

The developments in Ukraine, which are taking place in the framework of monopoly capitalism, are linked to the US, NATO, and EU plans and their intervention in the region in the context of their fierce competition with capitalist Russia for the control of the markets, raw materials, and transport networks of the country. These pursuits are concealed by imperialist powers, which are in conflict promoting their own pretexts such as “defending democracy”, “self-defence”, and one’s right to “choose their alliances”, the compliance with the UN or OSCE principles, or supposedly “fascism”, while deliberately detaching fascism from the capitalist system that gives rise to and utilizes it.

We denounce the activity of fascist and nationalist forces in Ukraine, anti-communism and the persecution of communists, the discrimination against the Russian-speaking population, the armed attacks of the Ukrainian government against the people in Donbas. We condemn the utilization of reactionary political forces of Ukraine, including fascist groups, by the Euro-Atlantic powers for the implementation of their plans. In addition, the anti-communist rhetoric against Lenin, the Bolsheviks, and the Soviet Union to which the Russian leadership resorts to justify its own strategic plans in the region, is unacceptable. However, nothing can tarnish the enormous contribution of socialism in the Soviet Union, which was a multinational union of equal Socialist Republics.

The decision of the Russian Federation to initially recognize the “independence” of the so-called “Peoples’ Republics” in Donbas and then to proceed to a Russian military intervention, which is taking place under the pretext of Russia’s “self-defence”, the “demilitarization” and “defascistization” of Ukraine, was not made to protect the people of the region or peace but to promote the interests of Russian monopolies in Ukrainian territory and their fierce competition with Western monopolies. We express our solidarity with the communists and the peoples of Russia and Ukraine and we stand on their side to strengthen the struggle against nationalism, which is fostered by each bourgeoisie. The peoples of both countries, who lived in peace and jointly thrived in the framework of the USSR, as well as all other peoples have no interest in siding with one or another imperialist or alliance that serves the interests of the monopolies.

We highlight that the illusions fostered by bourgeois forces claiming that there could be a “better security architecture” in Europe by EU intervention, NATO “without military plans and aggressive weapon systems in its territory”, a “pro-peace EU”, or a “peaceful multipolar world”, etc are highly dangerous. All these assumptions have nothing to do with reality and are misleading for the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggle, seeking to cultivate the perception that “peaceful imperialism” may exist. However, the truth is that NATO and the EU, like any capitalist transnational union, are predatory alliances with a deeply reactionary nature that cannot become pro-people and will continue to act against workers’ and people’s rights and the peoples; that capitalism goes hand in hand with imperialist wars.

We call on the peoples of the countries whose governments are involved in the developments, especially through NATO and the EU but also Russia, to struggle against the propaganda of the bourgeois forces that lure the people to the meat grinder of imperialist war using various spurious pretexts. To demand the closure of military bases, the return home of troops from missions abroad, to strengthen the struggle for the disengagement of the countries from imperialist plans and alliances such as NATO and the EU.

The interest of the working class and the popular strata requires us to strengthen the class criterion for analyzing the developments, to chart our own independent path against monopolies and bourgeois classes, for the overthrow of capitalism, for the strengthening of the class struggle against imperialist war, for socialism, which remains as timely and necessary as ever.

Parties signing the Joint Statement

Communist Party of Bangladesh

Communist Party of El Salvador

Communist Party of Greece

Communist Party of Mexico

Communist Party of the Workers of Spain

Communist Party of Turkey

The statement is open for further subscriptions

[whitehotharlots]

People don’t trust liars

I don’t like The Joe Rogan Experience. Not for political reasons. I just don’t think he’s very funny, and the times I’ve tried to listen to the show I found it boring, even when the guests were otherwise interesting.

In spite of my indifference, I’ve never understood the amount of vitriol that Rogan inspires. Again, I can’t claim an intimate familiarity with his beliefs, but while his politics seem somewhat inconsistent (something that’s true of the vast majority of Americans), on the whole he seems more progressive and leftish than most of the mainstream media. Why is this man a uniquely dangerous fascist, when the much more conservative and malignant beliefs of other info-tainment personalities go without much comment?

Turn on any news network for an hour and you’ll be subjected to a whole helluva lot of misinformation. This is such an obvious truth I don’t even know if I should bother googling for examples. Remember when Joy Reid brought on a “body language expert” to explain that Bernie Sanders was a lying Jew? When the media was lockstep in explaining that Iraq probably did 9/11 and even if they didn’t they’re still very dangerous and our troops will be greeted as liberators? When they said that Russia somehow stole the 2016 election and is also responsible for the collapse of our infrastructure? 

At the very least, the outrage against Rogan is selective enough to warrant examination. A person won’t get deplatformed for, say, supporting a war that kills a million muslims, arguing that the poor deserve to starve, consigning two generations of black men to the most aggressive and punitive legal system in world, or decrying the inefficiencies of single payer healthcare. You can hold all of these positions and not only receive airtime but still be considered a woke icon. But expressing skepticism toward a vaccine? That’s nazism, right there. We need everyone else to pull their work off this one platform to show how serious we are about fighting Bad Thoughts.

Ultimately, only the empowered favor censorship**.  They do so for one of two reasons: either they are lying and don’t want to get caught, or they realize they’re doing unpopular stuff and so they seek to disallow any scrutiny of their actions and beliefs. And, well... ugg...

See, the reason Covid vaccines are such a flashpoint right now is because the elite consensus does not hold up to scrutiny. If it did, there’d be no rush to silence critics. Vaccine mandates become a much more difficult sell when people are informed that the vaccines do not prevent the transmission of the disease. They greatly reduce the symptoms. They might lead to some reduction in transmission. But they do not prevent transmission. This is a scientifically undisputed fact. 

And yet, you can still go on TV and claim that the vaccines prevent transmission. That’s good misinformation, and so it’s not only allowed but encouraged. 

You see the problem here, right? Just from a public trust perspective?

I’ve mentioned this before, but the fact that official narratives regarding Covid have changed so many times should be manifest evidence of the idiocy of attempts to formally police “disinformation” in regards to public health. One of the most prominent examples is also the most illustrative: at the start of the pandemic, Anthony Fauci said we shouldn’t bother with masks because they don’t stop the spread. And, honestly, this shouldn’t have been a big deal--it was early on, we were still figuring stuff out. Expert consensus can change, and experts can actually improve their sense of authority by being open and honest in admitting how and why mistakes were made. 

But, jesus, just look at the explanation Fauci gave when explaining how his own misinformation was good:

"Well, the reason for that is that we were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply. And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected."

Charitably, we can say that this was a noble lie, like what Awkwafina did to her grandma in that movie I rented but didn’t watch. A Slate piece titled “The Noble Lies of COVID-19” demonstrates that Fauci was actually lying about this lie, that he also gave private advice against masking, but he did so nobly. He was right to lie, and then right to lie about the lie, because he knows what’s best.

So, okay, we admit that lying took place. Experts wanted to avoid panic buying, so they did a little fib. But... the fucking glibness of this man, the inability to countenance the fact that admitting to lying on national TV might harm his credibility... this is the state of the American intelligentsia in the twenty-first century: we’re gonna lie to you, and you’re still gonna listen to you us, we are allowed to lie because we know what’s best and you’re too stupid to be trusted with the truth.

Those who can remember way back to spring of 2020 might recall that panic buying occurred even in spite of this very noble fiction. If you’re a real Corona-Head, you might even be aware that our public health response to the pandemic has been a disaster on all fronts, that the United States has one of the highest COVID death rates in the world, that our leaders utilized the pandemic as an opportunity to more than double the wealth of the billionaire class, and that trust in public institutions has never been lower. This begs an obvious question: why? We very nobly gave our public health officials glowing praise and carte blanche to say whatever jumped into their heads. C-could people somehow be disinclined toward trusting experts who gleefully admit to lying to them? No, no that couldn’t be it. Instead, the problem must be misinformation (the bad kind, the kind we don’t do). The problem is that there exist venues in which non-official narratives may be given voice.

Prior to last year, the (much more correct) assessment of Joe Rogan was that he was an empty vessel, a curious and gentle meathead who allows his eclectic parade of guests to speak at length about whatever topics they please. Joe just nods along, and says stuff like “that’s wild.” He rarely pushes back. He lends an ear and encourages his listeners to do the same.

This assessment is still in place, and still mostly true. Only it’s now cast in a much more terrifying light. This very process--simply letting people speak without recrimination, regardless of whether or not their beliefs have been sanctioned by corporate media--is now understood as the means and ends of fascism. All of our nation’s troubles, past and present, are attributable to the existence of so-called “discussions.” So long as we allow the existence of communication that is not subject to formal HR review, social justice shall never be achieved. 

Media elites have grown accustomed to never, ever being challenged. Even when they are wrong. Even when they admit to lying. And especially when they advocate for policies that fail. The rest of the pundit class doesn’t hate Joe Rogan because he’s conservative, because he’s not really conservative. Nor do they hate him because he lies, because they lie all the time. They despise what he represents. The notion of having to explain themselves is such a massive indignity that they reject it out of hand. The thought that expert opinion could ever be debated, in any context, represents such a profound threat to their self-conceptualization that they have honestly come to believe it is a form of fascism. 

** If you want to go down the pedantry hole and tell me that actually a boycott isn’t censorship since only the government can do a censorship and so when I get my coworker fired for giving Black Panther a low imdb score I’m not a censor... you can eat my shit. I don’t like you. I don’t care what you think. Your children are ashamed of you.