#Reform

[eelhound]

"The idea of reforming Omelas is a pleasant idea, to be sure, but it is one that Le Guin herself specifically tells us is not an option. No reform of Omelas is possible — at least, not without destroying Omelas itself:

If the child were brought up into the sunlight out of that vile place, if it were cleaned and fed and comforted, that would be a good thing, indeed; but if it were done, in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed. Those are the terms.

'Those are the terms', indeed. Le Guin’s original story is careful to cast the underlying evil of Omelas as un-addressable — not, as some have suggested, to 'cheat' or create a false dilemma, but as an intentionally insurmountable challenge to the reader. The premise of Omelas feels unfair because it is meant to be unfair. Instead of racing to find a clever solution ('Free the child! Replace it with a robot! Have everyone suffer a little bit instead of one person all at once!'), the reader is forced to consider how they might cope with moral injustice that is so foundational to their very way of life that it cannot be undone. Confronted with the choice to give up your entire way of life or allow someone else to suffer, what do you do? Do you stay and enjoy the fruits of their pain? Or do you reject this devil’s compromise at your own expense, even knowing that it may not even help? And through implication, we are then forced to consider whether we are — at this very moment! — already in exactly this situation. At what cost does our happiness come? And, even more significantly, at whose expense? And what, in fact, can be done? Can anything?

This is the essential and agonizing question that Le Guin poses, and we avoid it at our peril. It’s easy, but thoroughly besides the point, to say — as the narrator of 'The Ones Who Don’t Walk Away' does — that you would simply keep the nice things about Omelas, and work to address the bad. You might as well say that you would solve the trolley problem by putting rockets on the trolley and having it jump over the people tied to the tracks. Le Guin’s challenge is one that can only be resolved by introspection, because the challenge is one levied against the discomforting awareness of our own complicity; to 'reject the premise' is to reject this (all too real) discomfort in favor of empty wish fulfillment. A happy fairytale about the nobility of our imagined efforts against a hypothetical evil profits no one but ourselves (and I would argue that in the long run it robs us as well).

But in addition to being morally evasive, treating Omelas as a puzzle to be solved (or as a piece of straightforward didactic moralism) also flattens the depth of the original story. We are not really meant to understand Le Guin’s 'walking away' as a literal abandonment of a problem, nor as a self-satisfied 'Sounds bad, but I’m outta here', the way Vivier’s response piece or others of its ilk do; rather, it is framed as a rejection of complacency. This is why those who leave are shown not as triumphant heroes, but as harried and desperate fools; hopeless, troubled souls setting forth on a journey that may well be doomed from the start — because isn’t that the fate of most people who set out to fight the injustices they see, and that they cannot help but see once they have been made aware of it? The story is a metaphor, not a math problem, and 'walking away' might just as easily encompass any form of sincere and fully committed struggle against injustice: a lonely, often thankless journey, yet one which is no less essential for its difficulty."

- Kurt Schiller, from "Omelas, Je T'aime." Blood Knife, 8 July 2022.

[progressivemillennial]

I was touring apartments in the Chicago area earlier this year, and a lot of them were the same places I looked into back in 2010. In every case, the rents had at least doubled.

As an example, I lived in a one bedroom apartment with a $795 monthly rent in a nice suburb in 2010. Now, just 15 years later, the rent for the exact same apartment is almost $1,700.

Back in 2010, I was able to afford that price in spite of having car and school loans to pay and an entry-level salary in higher education. Could someone with an entry-level salary--which has not doubled--afford that rent now? Only if they didn't want to eat.

The path we are on as a nation is not sustainable. Cutting programs for the poor and giving tax cuts to the wealthy while boosting military spending will not make it easier to live in America. Conversely, tinkering with Obamacare and promoting the status quo will only allow pressing problems to fester.

Bold reform is needed to address the urgent problems our society faces if we want to stem the suffering and precarity people are facing daily.

[blondebrainpowered]

From 1908 to the early 1920s, Lewis Hine travelled across the United States photographing children working in mines, mills, and factories. His images exposed the harsh realities of child labor, driving public awareness and reform.

[toenzy]

That didn't take long.

[skull-pun]

Me whenever I see the tories, right-wing media, or Farage moaning about the state of the UK.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

Excuse me, but what in the gluten-free christ is this horseshit? [x]

[maaruin]

One of my many problems with Andor is that even though Mon Mothma is either the second or third most important character, the series doesn't respect the kind of work she does for the Rebellion. Building up anti-Imperial sentiment and ties in the political class of the Empire is very, very valuable and if the US (or some European country) were to fall to fascism, many of the leaders of resistance against it would come from that country's politicians. Many people imagine reform and revolution as opposites, but "reform when possible, revolution when necessary" is a much more promising attitude.

[sallypejr]

In AU, where jedi started few reforms, mainly lead by post war reasons like too many kids, not enough adults, this idea happened...

After long long looooooooooong debates jedi high council with collaboration with other councils decided, that jedi master (already a master, not knights) can have more than one padawan at the same time...

Councilor A: you put there upper limit for having padawans, right?

Councilor B: why would i put upper limit, everybody know you can have one or two padawans only???

Councilor A, horrified: oh no

Councilor B: why are you-

Councilor A: where is Plo?!

[generalelectionmusings]

[sunbeamedskies]

Every single instance I've seen of "I'd punch a nazi" and "Elon is a nazi who must be stopped" from activists has been 1000000% performative. If you really cared about Jews that much, you would have been posting about October 7th for the past year and a half. You would have actually tried to make space for Jewish trauma in your activism and called in your friends for their antisemitism. You wouldn't have tried to pit Jews and Arabs against each other by acting like you can only care about one. Fuck Elon and nazis, and fuck you all too

[faerie-hideaway]

It's interesting how little we actually own anymore. Propaganda used to scare us about the possibility of having to share our cows with our neighbors or having to borrow the government's cows, now we're paying subscriptions to use the proverbial cow.

How is this any different from the government owning everything? It's just the businesses and banks instead.

[progressivemillennial]

[pairs-studio]

[political-us]

Right after Black History Month no less

[rei-ismyname]

The Avengers rudely thrash Magneto

Magneto and Warlock head to rescue the New Mutants from the clutches of The White Queen. Unfortunately, she called the cops Avengers on him, lying that the fearsome Magneto was coming to kidnap her students. Attacking without warning, Earth's Mightiest dropped a demigod on his alien student and sent them both plummeting.

I'm really not sure what outcome they expected from this hard-hitting sneak attack, but Warlock nearly died from it. Magneto's primary concern is that no further harm comes to his wards - easier said than done with supercops after you. He brushes off The Wasp and Black Knight as major threats but isn't too keen on another pounding from Hercules. He asks why TF they attacked him and is informed that he's under arrest. Herc must be cold FR

Hercules demands Magneto's surrender to no avail, as Mags dismounts the Black Knight and whacks Herc with it in one swift motion. He tries to put some distance between him and the Avengers but his ex catches him off guard and leaves him wide open for Namor and Cap. They really start beating the shit out of the poor guy then Herc gets in close for a bear hug.

As Magneto protests this attack Wasp informs him why they're after him. He quietly praises Emma's snitch strategy while trying to explain himself. Alas, the difficulty of proving a negative to people who don't trust you is near impossible. Mags points out that they have fucking Namor on the team and questions why he gets a pass. Cap's dumbass answer strikes a chord and fires Mags up enough to throw Herc off. Bringing up Nazis to Magneto is generally a bad idea, obviously.

Mags tries to fly off but Captain Marvel blinds him and Black Knight cuts down a tree, thwacking him out of the sky. Most of the Avengers fan out to look for Magneto, but Cap is having second thoughts. He disobeys Wasp to follow a hunch, unknowingly observing Warlock's shattered body.

Cap explains to Dane that Magneto is not using his powers offensively. He's talking instead of even trying to fight, though Dane disregards that with the incorrect assertion that Mags is a fugitive. Cap still attacks him as a piece of Warlock watches in anger. Mags manages to dodge it, but backs off a cliff avoiding Hercules. He's sore and tired from the strain of holding back, deciding 'fuck this' and yeets Herc into the ocean. See ya!

'Nasty, nasty Mister America' lol

At Emma's school, Magma senses Magneto fighting far away and Magik volunteers to have a look. Mags implores her to get out of danger and Cap overhears, revealing that they have excellent information on Magneto's recent activities. The dissonance between those thoughts and The Avengers pounding TF out of a dude who's not fighting back is heavy, a sentiment Magik agrees with as she teleports away.

You're a mutant too, idiot

Mags struggles through cracked ribs to gather up the bits of Warlock but The Avengers just keep coming. Wasp lifts him up for an alley ooo and Namor dunks his ass into freezing water. Mags takes his lumps until he passes out, either from shock, hypothermia, or lack of oxygen.

The Avengers are looking to take the beaten Mags to the feds when Warlock freaks out, believing correctly that it'll ruin everything for them. The techno-organic legend attacks the oafs and would have killed them if Magneto didn't knock him out. The gung ho idiots are aghast that the 'thing' tried to kill them, as if it's not their fault he's at death's door. Cap just asks why, proving that Avengers lose brain cells as soon as they step into an X-book. 'Why didn't you let us die?' Gee, I wonder.

Ilyana returns in the nick of time with all The New Mutants in tow, who threaten the Avengers and proclaim Mags a hero. They're unable to stop them taking Magneto and Wasp concludes Magneto has formed a 'baby brotherhood,' despite less than zero evidence of that. Cap muses on reform and wonders if the dude who let them beat the shit out of him might be a candidate. I GUESS WE'LL NEVER KNOW 🫠. Maybe surrendering himself to the World Court, saving the judges from a terrorist attack, being acquitted, joining the X-Men, fighting the Beyonder, and saving all their lives after a savage beating is just a cunning ruse. He's even rocking all pink! Fucking idiots.