#and is still expected to function in a society that provides no support and continues to objectify him for his clans desirable traits

[p2ii]

I feel like there's something to be said about the way fandom will treat characters who's trauma they can personally relate to Vs characters who they cant

[somewhat-very-insane]

questions i am sick and tired of hearing as a chronically ill and disabled person (and why i hate them)

this did wind up a bit longer than i expected it to, but by all means, feel free to add on with any questions you hate to be asked (and why!)

abled people, please do refrain from overtaking this post, and, disabled people, please do refrain from making this post entirely about any one specific condition.

"do you really have to talk about being disabled all the time?"

yes. yes i do. i promise that however annoying it is for you to have to endure the absolute agony that must be me making an offhand comment, or, on occasion, maybe actually talking about something that affects me for more than a few minutes at once, it is infinitely more "annoying" for me to have to actually live with the issues i talk about for every second of every day of my whole life. when i stop talking, you don't have to think about it anymore. but i always have to think about it. you get to put your full focus on something else, or, if the conversation is that annoying for you, you can leave! nobody is forcing you to stay. but talking about my problems is the only way i can get any support for them, and even when i stop, they are still there. i cannot "step away" from the figurative "conversation" with my pain. it is always talking to me, whether it be just a small whisper in the background or screaming at the top of its lungs in my ears, that pain is always there. so, while it's unfortunate that you are getting "tired of hearing about it," please do understand that i got tired of experiencing it a long, long time ago; do not destroy my one way to speak about my experiences solely because you do not wish to be made uncomfortable by them.

"do you really need that pain medication? won't you get addicted?"

in response to that, let me ask you this: do you really need that water you're drinking? aren't you afraid you'll get addicted to drinking water? it sounds ridiculous, i am aware. but i will break it down for you, now (as, in my mind, it is an adequate comparison). every human being needs things like safe, clean water, food, and some form of shelter to survive. however, the majority of humans can survive adequately with a reasonable amount of these items and will be able to function without major pain or other symptoms that detract from their general quality of life. some people, like myself, can have our basic needs of food, water, and shelter met, yet still experience major (or minor) pain, which cannot be blamed on a lack of rest, hunger, or thirst. therefore, in order to function the way society expects us to, and in order to not be quite as utterly miserable as we otherwise would, we may rely on other, stronger medications than the average person would, to manage that pain. these medications are medically prescribed, and we therefore have every right to utilize the resources provided to us. if i were to simply stop taking certain "non-necessary" medications, while my body would technically continue to function with the aid of my "necessary" medications, i as a person would not be able to function. imagine, if you will, the worst headache, joint pain, cramp, or other temporary ailment you have ever experienced. that probably wasn't a very enjoyable experience for you, was it? but you might've been able to use some ibuprofen or acetaminophen, maybe a heating pad, and after a little while it got better. now imagine if you tried to use those same things but the pain did not get better; imagine that pain lasting for months, even years on end, which you simply could not get rid of. a pain which you were expected to simply pretend was not bothering you, and continue to function the same way as everyone else, who was not in pain, was capable of. surely, in this hypothetical, you would want the (perfectly safe, legal, usually non-addictive) medicine that could make that pain even a little bit less excruciating? even if you knew that the pain would never fully disappear, not really, you would still want it to be less. so, i will take my medications, and leave you with the freedom to choose what you put in your body, just as i deserve the same freedom over mine.

"have you tried just exercising? eating healthier? meditation?"

the short answer is, for almost every disabled person i know, yes. though, granted that you've come this far, i'm sure you are prepared for the long answer, too. exercise can, for some conditions, help to alleviate or lessen certain symptoms. the key thing to note here, though, is that the exercise must be safe and selected specifically for the person based on how it may negatively affect them, as well. even activities that most able-bodied people regard as minor, such as going on a walk, can be draining, nausea-inducing, painful, and outright miserable for some people. i cannot, personally, go on a fifteen-minute walk on flat, paved terrain, in very pleasant weather, without triggering dozens of sensations that would surely make any healthy person worry that they were dying. when i tried to pick up an exercise regimen without professional help, i made my health several times worse. taking the advice of people who were, sometimes, genuinely trying to help, put me in serious danger. even when i did have a team of three doctors working on a plan for me, it took several rounds of trying and failing before we were able to determine what activities i could safely do, and which would be beneficial to me. now, being told to "just eat healthier" particularly irks me, because what foods i have to eat to maintain a more "healthy" balance of sugars, sodium, protein, and fat in my system varies quite a bit from that which a healthy person might be told is the ideal. i do understand that, generally, a low-sodium, lower-fat, mainly natural-sugar, high-protein diet sounds healthiest to a large percentage of people, the same cannot be said for myself. i have been told, by numerous medical specialists, that it is absolutely necessary for me to consume high amounts of sodium (think: eating salty food and snacks, on top of an electrolyte drink and salt pill every morning). i also deal with highly fluctuating blood sugar, which doctors cannot yet explain why it suddenly plummets (no, it is not diabetes, yes, i have been asked this dozens of times). as a result, i will often have to eat something "unhealthy," such as fruit snacks or a similar gummy candy, to get my blood sugar back up. is a high-sugar, high-salt intake diet generally what outsiders will see as healthy? of course not. but, as these are things i have to do to specifically manage my symptoms, it is always frustrating to be told that maybe they are symptoms i experience because of my diet. they are not. as for the types of people who insist that simply doing a guided meditation session each day can cure me of my dozens of health conditions, you are simply incorrect. while some people may experience a temporary psychosomatic alleviation of their pain in response to practicing mindfulness techniques, no one should ever urge another human being to substitute life-saving medication with guided breathing and essential oils. the two are simply not on the same level, and meditation does not, cannot, and will not help every disabled person deal with their symptoms.

"aren't you too young to be so unhealthy?"

no. and, while i do wish that people would not press further when faced with such a simple, clear-cut response, some people simply cannot grasp the idea that anyone under forty-five could possibly deal with any sort of health complications. people can be unhealthy at any age; even infants can have heart conditions, after all. while old age certainly has a higher correlation with deteriorating health, it is certainly not a reason to believe that, therefore, anyone who is not old cannot have poor health. believe me, i do wish that whenever someone older told me that i really am just overthinking things and lying to all my doctors and somehow faking things like MRI and X-ray results, those problems simply disappeared. unfortunately, things do not work that way, and by saying things like that not only do you invalidate the experiences of countless ill individuals, you (deliberately or not) paint us as bad people, when all we want to do is survive.

[alcoholrehabbalacynwydpa]

Aftercare for Drug Rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation is the process of overcoming addiction and learning how to live a life that is free from drugs and alcohol. This involves a series of steps that begin with a medical evaluation and continue throughout the treatment period. It also includes learning how to avoid relapse and cope with the stressors that lead to drug use, including family and job challenges.

Achieving recovery is a lifelong journey. When an individual leaves a rehab center, it is still vital for them to attend therapy sessions and maintain a clean home environment to help them stay on track with their recovery. This is called aftercare and can include alumni support groups, follow-up therapy and counseling, medical evaluations, and other lifestyle changes to prevent relapse and stay on the path to a healthy and happy future. Click on this link https://exceltreatmentcenter.com/, to get more understanding about drug rehabilitation.

Addiction is an illness that requires a high level of care to treat, and it can be difficult for people with addictions to admit they need help or ask for treatment. This is because addiction is a psychological disorder that is often accompanied by a lack of insight and a tendency to rationalize bad decisions.

Many rehab centers offer a range of options for those seeking treatment, from inpatient to outpatient programs. Your doctor, mental health professional, or a staff member at the rehab center can help you determine which treatment option is best for your needs.

Inpatient rehab (also known as a residential rehab) is the most intensive type of drug rehabilitation and usually lasts for up to six months. It includes daily group and individual therapy, along with socialization with other residents. It is also a great option for people who have a co-occurring mental health disorder.

Long-term residential treatment is another option for those seeking drug rehabilitation. It offers 24-hour care and socialization, focusing on helping people who have severe substance use disorders. This type of treatment is designed to help individuals regain their normal social functioning and become reintegrated into society. Read more here to get more familar with the topic of drug rehabilitation.

The 12-step approach to drug addiction, based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, is often used in residential drug rehab. It encourages people to work through their problems under the guidance of a sponsor and helps them learn coping skills that can reduce their risk of relapse.

Aside from attending treatment sessions, clients can also participate in other activities and events, such as guest speakers who share their personal experiences and provide a sense of hope. These speakers may focus on practical issues, like re-building their careers after treatment, or they may simply provide inspirational speeches that lift spirits.

Family therapy is an important part of treatment for addiction, and many rehabs include this in their programming. In family sessions, issues involving the addicted person’s behavior are discussed and often resolved in a safe setting. This can lead to better communication and increased understanding among the impacted family members.

In addition, families of addicts are encouraged to participate in the rehab program, and they can expect a number of different support services while their loved one is in treatment. This can include counseling sessions, support groups, parenting classes, and other resources to help them manage their loved one’s addiction. To familiarize yourself more with this topic, it is better that you check out this post: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residential_treatment_center.

[brandzrsa]

The History of Soviet Shoes

Soviet shoes may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Soviet history, but the shoes made in the Soviet Union were a symbol of a unique era in the country's history. Soviet shoes were made to last, often with limited resources and materials, and served as a reflection of Soviet ideals.

In the early days of the Soviet Union, there was a push towards industrialisation and self-sufficiency. This meant that the country needed to produce more goods domestically, including shoes. Soviet shoemakers were tasked with creating shoes that were durable, practical, and affordable for the masses. Shoes became a critical aspect of Soviet society, as they were seen as a way to support the economy and build a better future for the Soviet people.

Soviet shoe designs were typically utilitarian and focused on function rather than fashion. The shoes were designed to be worn for long periods of time and withstand harsh conditions. Soviet shoes were often made from cheap, synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon, and PVC. Natural materials like leather were often in short supply, and Soviet shoemakers had to get creative with the materials they had on hand.

Despite their utilitarian design, Soviet shoes did feature some distinctive style elements. The shoes were often designed with a minimalist aesthetic, featuring simple shapes and clean lines. Soviet shoes were also known for their high tops, which were popular among athletes and soldiers. These high-tops provided additional ankle support and protection, making them a popular choice for physically demanding activities.

One of the most iconic Soviet shoe designs was the Valenki boot. Valenki boots were made from felted wool and were incredibly warm and durable. They were often worn by farmers and rural workers, who needed footwear that could withstand harsh weather conditions. Valenki boots were also worn by soldiers during World War II, as they provided excellent insulation and protection in cold weather.

Another popular Soviet shoe design was the Gorbachevka shoe. Named after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the Gorbachevka shoe was a type of slip-on shoe made from canvas or cotton. The shoes were simple, lightweight, and easy to wear, making them a popular choice for everyday wear.

Soviet shoes were also used to convey political and social messages. In the early days of the Soviet Union, shoes were seen as a symbol of equality. Everyone was expected to wear the same shoes, regardless of their social status. This was meant to symbolise the idea of a classless society, where everyone was equal.

In later years, Soviet shoes became more of a status symbol. Certain shoe styles, such as high-top sneakers, became popular among the youth and were seen as a symbol of rebellion. Other shoe styles, such as leather boots and dress shoes, were seen as a symbol of wealth and success.

Despite the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet shoes continue to be an important part of Russian culture. Many Russians still wear Soviet-style shoes, and there is a growing interest in vintage Soviet shoe designs. Soviet shoes are also a popular souvenir for tourists visiting Russia.

In conclusion, Soviet shoes were more than just footwear. They were a symbol of Soviet ideals, a reflection of the country's history, and a sign of social and political status. Soviet shoemakers were tasked with creating shoes that were practical, durable, and affordable for the masses. Soviet shoes were often made from cheap, synthetic materials, but they were designed to last. Soviet shoe designs were utilitarian, featuring simple shapes and clean lines, but they also had distinct style elements. Soviet shoes continue to be an important part of Russian culture, serving as a reminder of a unique era in the country's history.

[shypandanight]

Sonus Complete Reviews — Does It Work?Sonus Complete

Is it true that you are tired of the impact that tinnitus has on your rest, not to fail to remember your efficiency levels? Are these consistent movements among murmuring and clicking clamors making you crazy? Provided that this is true, these are only a small portion of the blocks looked by buyers with tinnitus. In spite of the progressions in medication, the careful main impetus of tinnitus has not been uncovered. Until further notice, society accepts that it is just a correspondence mistake between the cerebrum and ear.

Upon additional exploration, we as of late ran over an enhancement that connotes regular fixings and the mind ear association. To our shock, the maker affirms that the arrangement, named “Sonus Complete,” is one that shouldn’t go missed. Where is such certainty coming from, in any case? The motivation behind this audit is to unwind the various layers of Sonus Complete. First up, we have the primary goal:

What is Sonus Complete?

Sonus Complete is a dietary enhancement that pools the impacts of nutrients, minerals, plants, and spices on hearing wellbeing and potentially, tinnitus. Long-lasting analyst and maker of Sonus Complete, Gregory Peters, demands that there are less difficult method for working on hearing, which stays the underpinning of his answer. While he recognizes the area of audiology, he unequivocally trusts that occasionally making a stride back and valuing the supplements presented essentially is everything necessary to determine specific medical issue.

The previously mentioned drove him to find 14 fixings that, “after numerous preliminaries,” turned into the parts of Sonus Complete. To guarantee that everybody with hearing hardships has an answer for depend on, he professes to have gotten along with “a few companions who own a little enhancement organization” to increment supplies. To comprehend how Sonus Complete plans to improve hearing wellbeing, one must initially explore how it’s intended to function.

How does Sonus Complete function?

Gregory doesn’t appear to go over Sonus Complete’s basics, to be specific with respect to the way things should work. Be that as it may, in turning out a portion of the recorded references, a lot of this recipe expects to upgrade cerebrum capability. By correcting mind capability, normal tinnitus side effects are supposed to vanish.

By and large, clinical field presently can’t seem to pinpoint the specific instrument of tinnitus. Nonetheless, it has been acknowledged that the issue emerges not in the ear, but rather the cerebrum, composes Dana Foundation. More specifically, tinnitus could a consequence of “hints of a particular recurrence [that] are not handled.” When such sounds are not handled, neurons liable for answering them or remembering them become inert. Sadly, as the sounds continue to come in natural, the cerebrum gets confounded. The gathering of sound is converted into an irregular murmuring, clicking, whooshing, and humming sounds, among others — all indications of tinnitus. At last, one can accept that Sonus Complete has been intended to correct cerebrum related networks liable for distinguishing sounds, and somewhat, could straightforwardly ease tinnitus side effects.

What fixings are inside Sonus Complete?

The Sonus Complete equation has been parted between the exclusive mix (620mg per serving) and supporting fixings (consolidated 67mg per serving). Here is a speedy breakdown of the total of this recipe: Hawthorn (leaf and blossom) Hawthorn is a plant whose leaves, blossoms, and berries have been customarily used to treat heart-related conditions, stomach related issues, and tension. At the hour of composing, this fixing is contemplated as being ok for ingestion. Nonetheless, high fixations might prompt dazedness, sickness, and stomach related side effects . A post by the British Tinnitus Association featured that the impact of hawthorn separate on tinnitus still can’t seem to be considered. Moreover, this fixing seems to convey next to no proof as far as cerebrum capability too.

Garlic

Garlic is an animal categories in the onion variety, Allium, and is seen as a solution for battling the normal chilly, conceivably bringing down pulse levels, further developing cholesterol levels, and diminishing the gamble of creating coronary illness . With respect to, one asset featured that several investigations had the option to show that garlic may “forestall tinnitus and hearing misfortune,” underlining that it is a significant expansion to one’s feast plan. One justification behind the last option is that “garlic can assist with expanding blood course and lessen irritation in the body [… ] a major reward in easing Tinnitus

Olive leaf

Olive leaves are ordinarily used to decrease the gamble of creating cardiovascular sicknesses, bringing down circulatory strain levels, or more all, helping the insusceptible framework and lessening irritation, individually. Concerning the mind or tinnitus, besides, its accurate system is very ambiguous. All things considered, its antiviral properties could assist with pacifying ear wax, which, when solidified, could set off aggravation in the eardrum and actuate tinnitus side effects .

Hibiscus Flower

Hibiscus bloom is a plant having a place with the Malvaceae family. It seems to have cut due to its cell reinforcement thick nature, permitting it to affect pulse and fat levels, among others emphatically. One review laid out that the hibiscus bloom can switch cerebrovascular infection, i.e., a gathering of conditions connected to negative hits to the veins and blood supply to the mind [7]. As a matter of fact, HealthLine’s own exploration drove them to share that the ears could perceive changes to one’s blood stream as “tempestuous or sporadic flow.” Consequently improving the probability of pulsatile tinnitus.

Buchu leaf

Buchu is a plant local to South Africa. By and large, these leaves are advantageous for individuals encountering urinary parcel diseases, urethra-related contaminations, and kidney issues, among others. At the point when taken in food sums, which gives off an impression of being the situation here, it is considered safe. Anything in abundance can adversely affect numerous real organs . Strangely, one article depicted buchu as a plant that “forestalls the body’s incendiary reaction, normally lessening expanding and related torment

Uva Ursi leaf

Uva ursi is a plant animal categories that got its name since bears depend on their berries for nourishment. Like buchu, this fixing has been utilized to treat urinary plot diseases and stays a characteristic option among Native Americans. What’s disturbing to see is that any grouping of uva ursi taken in abundance can prompt indications of harmfulness, one of them being “ringing in the ears or tinnitus

Juniper berries

Juniper berries are many times suggested in all-normal enhancements since they contain antimicrobial, cancer prevention agent, and neuroprotective impacts. A specific contention made about its impact on the mind is that free extremists can assist with taking out poisons known to obliterate nerve cells. Since these nerves partake in coding signals into conspicuous sounds, a hit to them could normally bring about tinnitus. All things considered, clinical information is expected to make firm ends

Green tea leaf

Green tea leaf is a well known spice with one of the most sensitive wellsprings of cell reinforcements. In the present society, it has earned a ton of regard for advance solid processing and weight reduction. Given its cell reinforcements rich properties, it has been accepted that green tea leaves can treat viral diseases and avert free extreme harm. With respect to its effect on the mind, it is trusted to evoke defensive impacts and “may lessen the gamble of dementia

Supporting fixings include: L-ascorbic acid (60mg) and Vitamin B12 (100mcg)

Likewise alluded to as ascorbic corrosive, L-ascorbic acid is a strong cell reinforcement fundamental for development, improvement, and substantial repayments. Conversely, vitamin B12 is considered basic in keeping up with the body’s nerve and platelets. One review that took a gander at the joined impacts of L-ascorbic acid, vitamin B12, and melatonin in older subjects with tinnitus reasoned that “low plasma melatonin and vitamin B12 have a critical relationship with the improvement of emotional idiopathic tinnitus

Niacin (2.5mg)

Niacin is a normally happening nutrient (i.e., vitamin B3) in greens, meat, fish, and poultry. When contrasted with all B nutrients, this one is trusted to out beat everything except vitamin B12. As per one article, niacin could “give smooth muscle unwinding and maybe expanded blood stream to minuscule veins providing the internal ear,” which could suggest a potential treatment for tinnitus

Vitamin B6 (5mg)

Vitamin B6 is considered a significant nutrient seeing that it assumes an essential part in the resistant framework’s general limits. A piece explaining its advantages uncovered that it could lessen cognitive decline, where the last option, incredibly, could set off tinnitus. In particular, the contention made was that vitamin B6 could upgrade the sensory system, which thus, “may work on the strength of the nerves prompting the internal ear and in this way minimiz[ing] the distresses of tinnitus

Folate (100mcg)

Folate or nutrient B9 can be ingested through food sources that we devour everyday (i.e., broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, chickpeas, kidney beans, and so forth.). A 2017 survey that evaluated “the job of cerebrum folate inadequacy” reasoned that it could set off blood-mind boundary dysfunctions. This could normally lead to ongoing infections (i.e., neuropsychiatric sickness)

Every now and again Asked Questions (FAQS)

How to take Sonus Complete?

Sonus Complete should be treated as a dietary enhancement. Exactly, one container ought to be taken two times day to day with a sufficient wellspring of water.

Is Sonus Complete safe?

Sonus Complete is by and large considered protected to take as long as shoppers keep themselves from surpassing the suggested dosages. All things considered, this item isn’t planned for pregnant or potentially nursing ladies, kids younger than 18, or anybody taking drugs for cardiovascular or hypotension-related issues. While a portion of the recorded fixings will generally set off secondary effects, they are considered uncommon for this situation in view of the moderately low focuses. In any case, one ought to just show up at the last decision once their separate doctors have offered guidance.

What measures can be taken close by Sonus Complete to work on hearing?

As well as taking Sonus Complete, people should find opportunity to figure out hearing as a capability. When everybody has an essential thought, straightforward changes/upgrades are everything necessary to propel oneself towards the way of extreme recuperation.

These extra advances might go from taking part in sound-perceiving exercises and trying not to utilize Q-tips or cotton buds to looking out for clearly sounds (i.e., music through private gadgets). Most importantly, when people sense an issue to their hearing, a specialist’s assistance ought to be looked for. Customary exams are exceptionally empowered in light of the fact that issues can be trapped in the previous stages.

What could be had some significant awareness of Sonus Complete’s delivery strategy?

U.S. orders won’t be charged any postage expenses. Interestingly, nations like Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom can hope to cause an expense of $15.95. Furthermore, the previous can hope to accept their orders inside 5 to 7 work days, while the last option should be more understanding (i.e., up to 15 work days).

Has Sonus Complete been safeguarded by an unconditional promise?

Indeed, Sonus Complete has been safeguarded by a 60-day unconditional promise. To kick the discount processes off, people need to send an email to contact@sonuscomplete.com, get their endorsement for the discount, and send the enhancement bottles back to 37 Inverness Drive East, Suite 100, Englewood, Colorado, 80112. From that point, it will end up being a cat-and-mouse round of guaranteeing that the enhancement bottles have been securely returned and the cash discounted to one’s record.

What amount does Sonus Complete cost?

One Sonus Complete incorporates 60 containers or, identically, 30 servings for one month. Since normal fixings make a gathered difference, people need to think long haul. To advance this, the costs have been changed in light of amounts bought. At the end of the day:

1 Sonus Complete jug: $69 each 3 Sonus Complete jugs: $59 each (absolute: $177) 6 Sonus Complete jugs: $49 each (absolute: $294)

Last Verdict Eventually, Sonus Complete has been intended to help sound hearing by disposing of tinnitus-related side effects. Maker Gregory Peters seems to have zeroed in on mind capability as the underlying driver. Specifically, the correspondence between the cerebrum and ear has been featured, where the mind is accepted to have extraordinary hardships in making an interpretation of electrical signs into conspicuous sounds. As additional signs are gotten, the mind is left befuddled and winds up misconstruing them, subsequently the state of tinnitus.

Gregory referenced a few fixings that could ease up one’s circumstance. Just a small bunch seems to have some type of connection between the cerebrum or potentially tinnitus in additional researching them. Sadly, existing examinations don’t do the trick to assert that they would be able, as a matter of fact, advance improved results across various individuals and seriousness levels. This doesn’t come an over the top amazement as depending on normal fixings just got lately.

Another issue significant is the absence of organization data, not to mention foundation data on Gregory. Is it enough to realize that he is a scientist?

Obviously, not such cases need validity, and this is mysteriously absent. The equivalent goes for the assembling organization, as customers are just informed that this was an undertaking between companions. Because of these reasons, onboarding the Sonus Complete train without reaching client assistance in advance appears to be unreasonable. For more data on Sonus Complete, click here!

[sharethecareph]

Share the Care: Breaking the Gender Bias

Care work, whether paid or unpaid, is essential for all societies to function properly and is mostly seen as a woman’s responsibility. However, despite the impact of care work on our lives, it continues to be undervalued. This article hopes to shed light on the importance of sharing the care at home and beyond.

Unpaid Domestic and Care Work

Photo by J.  Aliling for the ILO

“Care work is central to human and social wellbeing. It includes looking after children, the elderly, and those with physical and mental illnesses and disabilities, as well as daily domestic work like cooking, cleaning, washing, mending, and fetching water and firewood.” – Oxfam International

Sharing responsibilities in the home can bring us one step closer to stopping all forms of gender inequality. Various societal norms have reinforced the gender division of labor wherein women and girls are expected to do most of the domestic and care work at home, while men assume the role of being the primary breadwinners of the family. These gender norms have limited the opportunities that give women and girls a better quality of life as they spend more time taking care of responsibilities at home. This situation is even worse for women and girls who live in marginalized areas, where resources are much more limited.

According to the International Labour Organization, “...women perform 76.2 per cent of total hours of unpaid care work, more than three times as much as men” (2018). These statistics have increased drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the government mandates and work-at-home setups. However, despite women and men spending more time at home, the former still do most of the domestic and care work. According to the 2021 National Household Care Survey, women have spent 13 hours a day on domestic and care work, while men have only spent 8 hours daily.

Valuing Domestic and Care Work

“To really value this work, it's important to appreciate its significance for any society or economy.” – UN Women expert, Shahra Razavi (2017)

In the video above, UN Women expert Shahra Razavi says that the value of unpaid care work done in Switzerland would rival the country's banking and insurance industries. Similarly, UN Women reported in 2016 that unpaid domestic and care work almost amounts to 10 to 39% of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite these numbers pointing to a high economic value of unpaid domestic and care work, this invisible labor continues to be ignored. Notably, the value of care work should not be limited to its possible economic value.

Care work by women has been the backbone of many well-functioning societies and economies. However, care work continues to be undervalued and seen as solely a woman's job. In ending the gender norms that perpetuate such harmful stereotypes, we can begin at home by equally dividing household chores between our sons and daughters. Aside from teaching our sons the importance of care work, men also need to “...challenge traditional thinking and recognize their equal share of care and domestic work responsibilities at home” (Cabaces, 2021).

Sharing the Care Beyond the Home

“Care should not be considered only as a burden and this central activity for well-being should be redistributed between men and women, as well as between the family and the State: States’ failures to provide, regulate and fund domestic and care formal services increase the burden for communities, families and especially women.” – Gaëlle Ferrant, Luca Maria Pesando, and Keiko Nowacka (2014)

Beyond sharing the care at home, legislation and policies are also a must to further support the care economy. These institutional changes can range from maternity and paternity leaves and flexible working arrangements to better childcare and family services. These examples can help ensure a work-life balance for both parents. 

Photo by Direct Media on Stock Snap

From teaching our sons to help at home to enacting laws to lessen the burden of care work on women and girls, we can turn a house into a home when we share the care.

References

Cabaces, R. (2021, July 1). When fathers care. ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/07/01/21/domestic-work-oxfam-equality-home

Canadian Labour Congress. (2022, March 7). IWD 2022: Gender equality depends on a healthy care economy. https://canadianlabour.ca/iwd-2022-gender-equality-depends-on-a-healthy-care-economy/

Donner, F. (2020, February 12). The Household Work Men and Women Do, and Why. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/us/the-household-work-men-and-women-do-and-why.html

Ferrant, G., Pesando, L., & Nowacka, K. (2014, December). Unpaid Care Work: The missing link in the analysis of gender gaps in labour outcomes. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/Unpaid_care_work.pdf

International Labour Office, Addati, L., Cattaneo, U., Esquivel, V., & Valarino, I. (2018). Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work.

Miller, C. (2018, August 8). A ‘Generationally Perpetuated’ Pattern: Daughters Do More Chores. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/upshot/chores-girls-research-social-science.html

Oxfam International. (n.d.). Not all gaps are created equal: the true value of care work. https://www.oxfam.org/en/not-all-gaps-are-created-equal-true-value-care-work

Rodriguez, L. (2021, September 13). Unpaid Care Work: Everything You Need to Know. Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/womens-unpaid-care-work-everything-to-know/

UN Women. (2017, March 3). What is the real value of unpaid work? [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/fcqt0QzgUFU

UN Women. (2019, May 15). Gender equality starts at home: Seven tips for raising feminist kids. Medium. https://medium.com/we-the-peoples/gender-equality-starts-at-home-seven-tips-for-raising-feminist-kids-75e1bf00b863

UN Women. (n.d.). Redistribute unpaid work. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw61/redistribute-unpaid-work

[southeastasianists]

Carolyn* can never get out of her head the memory of her parents bringing her to conversion therapy. The transwoman from South Sulawesi was 13 then, and society expected her to identify as male in accordance with her biological sex at birth.

“Deep inside, I kept telling myself that I’m not sick, that I’m okay,” she recalled.

Carolyn experienced ruqyah firsthand, a form of conversion therapy imbued with Islamic exorcism that is common among Muslim communities in Indonesia. Carolyn’s parents explained away her feminine expression as the work of a malevolent female demon.

At the time, the teenager did not fully grasp the situation she was in. She agreed to go along with her parents’ wishes due to her deeply embedded fear of sin.

Carolyn was taken before the local cleric, who prayed to expel the female demon in her body. The cleric also asked her parents to leave her with him for a few days so she could undergo several rituals.

“But at that time, I refused. I wanted to go home and didn’t want to be there. I was fine, I cried and said to my mom, ‘Mom, I want to go home, I’m fine,’” she said.

After begging her mother, Carolyn’s mother finally agreed to send her home on one condition: she had to stop expressing feminine traits and stop hanging out with her female friends. Carolyn repressed her feminine expression for several years after that day.

“To be honest, I felt very tortured. I felt very tortured mentally,” Carolyn confessed.

Carolyn said she placed a lot of pressure on herself over the years. She never felt that she was a man. She was always more comfortable expressing herself as a woman. In the final year of high school, Carolyn decided to stop lying to herself and her family. She ran away from home and learned to become a hairdresser at a salon that accepted her gender expression.

In the early days of Carolyn’s emancipation journey, her past and concerns over her identity continued to haunt her. Not a day went by that she didn’t fear persecution, socializing with others, fully expressing herself, all the while saddened by the irreparable burned bridge with her family.

Even now, at the age of 32, Carolyn is still traumatized by her conversion therapy experience. She gets easily triggered by watching religious TV shows or films that feature ruqyah scenes.

But ultimately she believes that she made the right choice, because nothing can take away her freedom to fully express herself as a woman and her achievement of becoming a fully functioning adult in a society that generally does not tolerate her people.

“I also feel comfortable and feel very relieved that in the end, I can accept myself as a transwoman. I feel like I have found myself. This is me, I am a transwoman,” she stresses.

In contrast to Carolyn, Sofia*, a lesbian living in the capital, was encouraged by her family to undergo ruqyah when she was old enough. By that time, she was mature enough to make her own decisions; and so she ran away from them.

“At that time, I was 25 years old and I was studying for my master’s degree. My position was quite privileged, right?” Sofia said.

Living in Jakarta, Sofia was more exposed to open discussions on the issues of gender and sexuality. When her mother asked her to go to therapy, Sofia was already certain about her sexual orientation. Furthermore, she had been involved in the advocacy for gender and sexuality issues.

“So I think there was nothing to lose at that time, and my identity is the core of my life,” she said.

However, Sofia’s refusal for therapy did not sit well with her family. She said they still pressured her “recover” to the point that they used violence against her.

“But I didn’t want to. I insisted because they already know me as a lesbian, so why do I have to back off?” she said.

Sofia believes that her knowledge of diversity in gender expression and sexual orientation was one of the biggest sources of courage that emboldened her to emancipate. If LGBTQ+ people are exposed to the same knowledge, Sofia said, they will be able to accept their identities and acknowledge that they’re not the problem — homophobia and conversion therapy are.

“We must fight together to convince the world that being gay is okay. You need to learn about yourself. You’re not sick. It’s society that’s sick,” she added.

Ika*, a transwoman from North Sumatra, experienced conversion therapy when she was 13, 17, and 18. The methods that she went through were quite diverse, ranging from ruqyah, to burial rituals, admission to Islamic boarding schools, and goat sacrifice.

None of them worked. And she said she had to live with the constant pressure from her parents to get rid of her feminine expression, which, according to them, was also the work of a demon.

“What should be removed from my body? Because according to their assessment, there is an evil spirit who made me like this,” Ika said.

“In my opinion, conversion therapy is bullshit.”

Ika now works for an NGO advocating to end HIV discrimination and stigma suffered by trans communities.

‘Individual will’

Conversion therapy is not a new phenomenon in Indonesia, but the matter was hotly discussed recently when several Indonesian queer activists, including Lini Zurlia and Kai Mata, received targeted ads on social media encouraging them to undergo conversion therapy.

“It feels like I was targeted by a group of people. It made me upset, especially because this is very sensitive regarding LGBTQ+ rights in Indonesia,” Kai Mata said.

“What I think the government should do is to make it illegal. I also think that LGBT people in Indonesia deserve the right to live in this country without fear.”

Attempts to contact the conversion therapy service through the ad failed as of the time of this article’s publication. Another conversion therapy center in Jakarta, which claims to use hypnotherapy as one of its “healing” methods, did not come across like it has a vendetta against LGBTQ+ people despite providing the harmful service.

“When does sexual orientation become a problem? It happens when the values that are taught ​​[by people’s environment and family] are different from their sexual orientation,” therapist Adrianto Darma Setiawan said.

Adrianto claims to have treated around 2,500 patients in the last 12 years. About 20 percent of these patients are (or were, if he succeeded) gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The standard therapy to “heal” sexual orientation consists of about about five to six hypnotherapy sessions lasting around three hours per session.

Adrianto said that some of his patients underwent therapy out of their own accord, but most were there due to encouragement or pressure from relatives. The therapist did not say how many of his patients he managed to convert, but said that “recovery” depends on the will of the individual.

The government’s failure

Imam Nahei, a commissioner at the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said that LGBTQ + groups in Indonesia still have a long way to receive adequate protections from the government. For as long as homophobia prevails in Indonesia, conversion therapy will remain as one of the most harmful and real threats that haunts people from minority sexual groups in Indonesia.

Nahei said that conversion therapy is an obvious human rights violation, yet the state, which should be responsible for protecting all of the country’s citizens, has not done anything to protect LGBTQ+ people from the practice.

“The state has not done anything because, in Indonesia, this issue is still very controversial as it is associated with dominant religious views,” Nahei said.

There’s little hope for progress in this regard when homosexuality and alternate forms of sexual expression are still seen as a deviation or a disorder by the country’s lawmakers, such as House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII Deputy Chairman Marwan Dasopang.

Marwan supports the existence of conversion therapy in Indonesia. Not only that, he wants DPR to eventually pass legislation allowing the state to provide the service to the public. If conversion therapy was normalized, he argued, patients would not experience extreme psychological trauma, such as from being forced to “recover” by their parents.

“It needs to be regulated,” Marwan said, adding that discussion on the regulation of conversion therapy are still in their infancy.

Indonesian policy makers, and even psychiatrists, have long gone against the scientific fact that homosexuality and other sexual identities are not a disease or disorder. Their stance have emboldened homophobia, which, in turn, has fostered the continued existence of conversion therapy.

Riska Carolina, director of Advocacy and Public Policy from the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies at the University of Indonesia (SGRC UI), said among the many forms of conversion therapy in Indonesia, most are performed with ruqyah. Others who aren’t forced to go the conversion therapy route are still made to see shrinks who practice with heavy religious influence, hypnotherapists, or admitted to religious boarding schools.

“[Conversion therapy] is a threat to the LGBTQ+ community. It is persecution to the LGBTQ+ community. It violates their basic human rights. LGBTQ+ people are not a disease,” she stresses.

Riska believes that regulating conversion therapy would violate the minority groups’ rights even more than they have suffered. Even if the therapy is carried out based on patients’ willingness, Riska argued that it still validates the idea that LGBTQ+ people have mental disorders.

“Conversion therapy must be banned. It is more necessary to provide protection, even though I know that protection is still a long way off. So I prefer that, at least, [the government] treats us equally and gives us affirmative action,” she said.

“I’m ashamed to know that Indonesia is very late in terms of acceptance and it’s already 2021. You don’t need to like LGBT people, but you also don’t need to discriminate against us, especially to the level of torture. What you do with conversion therapy is torturous.”

*Carolyn, Sofia, and Ika’s real names have been omitted, at their request, to protect their identity.

[razieltwelve]

Restoration (Final Automata)

More speculation about that Final Rose x NieR: Automata idea.

Assuming that all goes well with Remnant opening a portal to Earth, how would things progress?

I think then obvious one would be military aid and restoration assistance in exchange for access to resources and technology. Simply put, Earth has a lot of resources, and the machines have advanced technology, as do the androids. Remnant is also extremely good at waging total war. They’ve been doing it for centuries. Their entire culture and civilisation is built on being able to wage large-scale warfare while still having a functioning society that continues to grow and innovate.

Moreover, Remnant has access to advanced cyber warfare and weapons specially designed to deal with large, heavily armoured foes. It would be trivially easy for them to simply start switching to catalysed-corrosion rounds. Vanille already has these since they were part of her ‘in case of robot apocalypse’ research. Basically, they’re rounds that cause extremely rapid and widespread corrosion in targets made of metal. They’ve since been refined by people like Diana and Hope to deal with certain types of threats (e.g., rogue mechs, metal-using Grimm, etc.) although their use is strictly controlled.

Earth also potentially gives Remnant a failsafe. If Remnant falls and the Grimm take over, they could potentially retreat to Earth and blow the portal up behind them, ensuring that at least some of their civilisation survives even though there is no way they’d be able to evacuate everyone through the portal in time.

The big thing for the androids, even bigger than helping them win the war against the machines, is the ability to restore mankind and Earth’s damaged ecosystem. The androids lack the ability to create a living human with the genetic information they currently possess. Not only does Remnant have actual living humans (albeit not exactly the same as Earth’s) but they also have stupidly advanced genetic science.

Remnant, remember, has developed reproductive science to the point where two men or two women can easily have children that are 100% genetically theirs. They have access to artificial wombs for babies to gestate in, and they possess sufficient skill to piece together badly fragmented genetic matrices or even genetic matrices that are missing entire chunks. They will be able to bring humanity back, and they will be able to do so on an industrial scale once proper facilities have been established. Really, the only reason you don’t see this on Remnant is due to their population already being close to the maximum they can support without seizing more territory, a process that cannot and should not be rushed.

Of course, there are issues. First and foremost is the portal. The initial portal was an accident. Once Asami and the androids build a beacon on Earth, they will be able to stabilise it, but the current portal is small and in Vanille’s lab. If the androids and Remnant can come to an agreement, you would see the construction of much larger portals on both Earth and Remnant in more easily accessible but defensible locations. This would allow for the transportation of troops, supplies, and other equipment on a far more appropriate scale.

The second issue is Dust. In Finale Rose, Dust operates via its connection to the Lifestream since Dust is actually just a crystallised fragment of the Lifestream. This is why Dust mines can regenerate, and why Dust has such a wide variety of types and effects. The reason Dust doesn’t operate in space is because it is too far from the Lifestream, which saturates the planet from its surface through to its core. 

Although the exact mechanics of this are not known at the time (Asami is 22 when this occurs, placing it five years after Ruby first started at Beacon Senior Academy), research has uncovered several things. Experimentation with space probes and various kinds of Dust has already revealed the existence of ‘seeds’, which are a special type of Dust that is found only in the densest, richest veins of the Lifestream. Testing has shown that when put into space with satellites and the like, Seeds allow Dust in their vicinity to operate properly.

What Vanille and the others don’t know yet is that seeds are literally seeds. They are the means by which Living Planets like Remnant spread. Volcanic eruptions and other natural events hurl huge chunks of rock containing seeds and other forms of Dust into space where they travel until crashing into another planet. They then begin a new Lifestream on that planet.

In a bid to ensure Dust works on Earth, Remnant’s forces will transport a seed to Earth... only for it to immediately take root and begin to spread. This can occur incredibly rapidly if the seed is fed Aura and other resources, something that Vanille and the others begin to do as they understand what is happening. Given all of the magical/technological weirdness in NieR, this wouldn’t be considered that weird for the androids, and it’s a price they’d be willing to pay to get humanity back, especially since it isn’t harmful to humans.

So what happens after the alliance is made and all that jazz?

Phase 1

Here, the key objective is to set up a safe-zone where the larger portal can be built. This will involve obliterating local machine forces and fortifying the area. Once this has been done, the new portal can be built and construction can begin on the facilities needed to support the war effort and the restoration effort in earnest.

Phase 2

Once a sufficiently large swathe of territory has been claimed and made safe, construction of a ‘Restoration Facility’ can begin. The aim of this facility is to serve as the nexus of the genetic research and reproductive science efforts needed to restore Earth’s humanity. You can expect this to become the most heavily defended location on Earth with the android moving the majority of their assets there to defend it.

Phase 3

Here, you can expect the machines to launch an offensive once they realise the scale of the new threat. This is where Remnant’s excellence in siege warfare and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction comes into play. By this point, you can expect multiple lines of defence, huge quantities of artillery and anti-air defences, and automated defences backed up by cyber and chemical warfare, infantry anda armour support, and the androids.

You can expect Remnant’s best and brightest minds to accelerate the theft and repurposing of machine technology along with massively increased cyber attacks on the machine’s network and key nodes. This, combined with the use of massive area-of-effect EMP style weaponry, will prove key to first blunting and then repelling the machine onslaught. 

The renewed war against the machines will eventually be won via subversion with the Synthetics (led by Penny and Aigis) and friendly machines (e.g., Pascal) succeeding in splintering the machine forces by offering freedom and free together with protection from the ‘vaccination’ attempts that would previously have culled any dissenters from the network. The fracture in the machine’s unity will be sufficient for the allied Remnant and android forces to strike a series of decisive hammer blows, destroying key machine facilities and units as well as inflict major damage to the network via cyber attack. Throughout all of this, downed machine units are being refurbished and sent back into battle on Remnant’s behalf.

Phase 4

With the machine forces largely in retreat or at least driven back, the territory claimed by Remnant and the androids is expanded and further fortified. The research into restoring humanity reaches fruition. Generation 1 of the new humans begins gestation in a deep, underground bunker built beneath the Restoration Facility. The androids assign additional forces to its defence.

Generation 1 consists of 100 infants selected using the fragmented samples and limited data the androids were able to provide. The intent is to produce a group with as much genetic diversity as possible while maximising survivability and minimising any genetic predispositions toward illness. Gestation time is approximately 9 months.

Generation 2 enters gestation three months after Generation 1, long enough for any problems to be detected. Generation 2 consists of 200 infants. This sets a trend, with subsequent generations doubling the number of infants and occurring in roughly one-year-long cycles. 

Phase 5

With new humans being born, it becomes necessary to see to their care and education. This present the androids with a problem since they know essentially zero about raising children. Again, Remnant is of service here.

Creches are set up near the Restoration Facility where the newborn humans can be raised and later educated. At this point, this compound is the most heavily fortified location on Earth, and many of the people from Remnant remark upon the essentially religious awe with which it and the newborn humans are regarded. 

Specialists from Remnant are brought in to help teach the androids how to care for and raise the new humans. This process is a difficult one as the androids are unsure of themselves and terrified of somehow accidentally destroying what they have gained. Nevertheless, they persist, and the androids gradually grow into their role as mothers/fathers and educators. It becomes common practice for androids to cycle in and out of combat roles and creche roles since research has noted that this markedly increases combat effectiveness. The androids are no longer fighting in pursuit of a dream but in the defence of a priceless treasure they have finally obtained.

Onwards...

So, you can kind of see how things will go. The fledgling society will have many challenges ahead of it, not least the fact that most of Earth’s human culture has been lost, necessitating a ‘filling of the gaps’ with the culture of the androids and Remnant.

You’ll also see the construction of more and more androids as both soldiers and more specialised roles (e.g., educator models, etc.). This timelines does have a few interesting tweaks in it.

Fraise and Satin meet on Earth. Fraise is a senior member of the genetic and reproductive sciences team whilst Satin is there as an educator (keep in mind that Fraise is 11 years younger than Asami).

Asami ends up being venerated as the harbinger of good fortune. Quite a few infants end up named after her.

Philosophy becomes a subject of great interest amongst androids, friendly machines, and synthetics with many conferences and symposia taking place as they come to grips with their new reality.

The final battle against JENOVA is won far more easily with the androids deploying en masse to aid their beleaguered allies.

The expansion into space happens simultaneously across both worlds with the Earth faction referring to itself as the HAM Alliance (Human-Android-Machine Alliance). The name is something of an in-joke amongst the leaders of the three groups. 

HAM stumbles across Protean Ruins on Mars...

Final Effect is thus very different with HAM and its Remnant Allies having a much tougher war against the Reapers this time around (due to how early it occurs in their history) followed by them hilariously ROFLStomping them the second time around in the Remnant-side since by then they’ve advanced even more rapidly than in the normal Final Effect timeline.

EDIT: Let me know what you think. I basically just threw this together in one sort of flow-of-consciousness sitting.

EDIT 2: I should add (in case anyone missed it) that Aura counter White Chlorination Syndrome, and in particular, a planet’s Lifestream has a similar effect for all living things within its range. As a result, a repeat of the WCS cannot occur on Earth now that it has a Lifestream. Moreover, the science required to create the portal can be used to shield against a similar intrusion should anyone attempt it in the future. White maso is far less harmful when cut off from its parent dimension since that cuts off its link with the ‘god’ that causes WCS, rendering it a toxic irritant but not anything especially deadly. This is discovered in the years following the construction of the portal as Vanille, Raine, Diana, and the gang go all Indiana Jones on the ancient records and ruins. In an emergency, you could even start implanting shards of seeds into the bodies of humans without Aura to protect them.

[antoine-roquentin]

Fascism—a form of revolutionary conservation—gains force as a means to smash the workers movement, to crush communism. If today there is no fascism, it’s because there is also no communism. It’s for this basic reason that the analogies with Weimar are wide of the mark.

There are, of course, other authoritarian, conservative politics out there, but conservatism itself is historically weak. As Corey Robin has argued, the U.S. Republicans, for instance, only hold onto power through the Senate, Electoral College, and the courts—precisely those institutions that don’t rely on popular support. Liberalism is still majoritarian, and even as it has become more authoritarian. Populism is merely its ineffectual shadow.

So, why do we fantasize otherwise? The historian and author Barbara Tuchman coined an eponymous law that holds that “the fact of being reported multiplies the apparent extent of any deplorable development by five- to tenfold.” As Tuchman elaborates:

Disaster is rarely as pervasive as it seems from recorded accounts…. Besides, persistence of the normal is usually greater than the effect of the disturbance…. After absorbing the news of today, one expects to face a world consisting entirely of strikes, crimes, power failures, broken water mains, stalled trains, school shutdowns, muggers, drug addicts, neo-Nazis, and rapists. The fact is that one can come home in the evening—on a lucky day—without having encountered more than one or two of these phenomena.

Perceptually ready to find disaster, we’ve been primed by cinema as much as history-writing and the news to expect emergencies to feel like, well, emergencies. The reality is that very serious and dangerous situations—war, for instance—are often boring for the participants. The much-prophesied global pandemic, now that it has arrived, hasn’t been permanent emergency but rather a lot of tedium and a steady wearing down of society. Nothing feels as real and immediate and urgent as we were told it would be. When does the real stuff start?

At a basic level, then, we should wonder if our favored fascist dystopia is not an attempt to make good on the projections of the culture industry, the reality of the contemporary emergency having failed to live up to its hyperreal expectations. The radical aspects of the Trump presidency were his tweeting and his grating bravado; the rest, continuity—the same deportations, tax cuts, and wars as before. To adapt our political views to Hollywood schemas, we choose to imagine that the mundane degradation of politics is actually fascism, or that the real fascism, the real disaster, the real dystopia, will emerge next time around.

However, it’s not simply that this fantasy is a function of the fact that we are all subjects of the culture industry; it’s also that the fantasy enables a certain kind of left cowardice in the guise of left bravery (antifascists out on the street punching Proud Boys). The leftist denunciation of the powers-that-be as “fascist” is ultimately complicit with the constitution of elite authority. When we rebel, we build up power as a substantial Other, and thereby infinitely postpone seizing authority for ourselves. As philosopher Todd McGowan has written, “rebels never have to see how their resistance manifests itself without what it resists. Rebellion provides the comfort of being on the outside while imagining that there is a substantial enemy on the other side.”

Fantasizing the fascist threat makes it feel like those in power are really wielding authority, rather than being the incompetent, self-contradictory forces they are. The reality of power today is a void of outsourced authority—outsourced to science, both physical and economic; to external enemies; to the objective necessities of globalization. Without our participation in sustaining the fantasy of substantial authority, we would all have to face the void: now what’s going to happen to us without the barbarians? The desired-for fascist dystopia is thus a kind of wish fulfillment: it allows us to imagine that someone might exercise a strong hand, that our world of drift and wearing-down will end, so that we can finally be confronted with our real reality—the naked exercise of power, not this simulacra.

The political right, it should be said, has its own versions of fascist fantasy. In the 2000s, it was “Islamofascism,” an idea as fraudulent as Trumpofascism. Today, the populist right conjures up “Cultural Marxism,” an unholy alliance of the Left and international capital. The “Great Reset”—an uninspired rebranding of “ethical capitalism” by the World Economic Forum, whose purpose is to provide legitimation for a stagnant capitalism—has been recast as a Bolshevik plot. Shit, they imagine, is getting real. The truth, of course, is that it’s all the same shit, just with different aesthetics. This is the secret of our contemporary political polarization: both populist reactionaries and liberal antifascists loudly shout about how everything is changing, when really we’re just getting the same slow decay.

Reaction has always thrived off lurid fantasies—this, for once, is a genuine continuity with fascism. But for the portion of the Left that participates in the fantasy of antifascism, it is self-sabotage. Elites are unfit to rule—we know this, and their response to the pandemic only confirms their incompetent authoritarianism—and yet we persist in imagining them to be domineering masters. In thinking of them as fascist strongmen rather than weak placeholders, the Left avoids its real task of filling the political void with a concrete, alternative program.

Rather than stoke fears about an imminent fascist takeover, we should accept that dystopia has already arrived. It is a low-intensity, mostly banal dystopia, but dystopia nonetheless. Images of emergency, immediacy, sudden action and tanks on the streets—these are fantasies used to cover over the much more mundane situation of diminished popular sovereignty. Worse, in fearing a fascism that doesn’t come, we make ourselves prey to other forces—both those that currently destitute democracy as well as those that may emerge.

When government becomes too intractable, when the continuing absence of popular sovereignty means that elite discipline and coherence ebbs away, the stage is set for a new character to bring order. This may be a sensible and self-composed figure who provides succor to all of those exhausted by an increasingly rancorous culture war. This non-partisan, charismatic figure would be parasitic on worn-down democratic institutions, on the feeling that, “if this is democracy, I don’t want it anymore.” For all of us accustomed to fantasizing about fascism—an act of abnegating our own authority—a 21st century Caesarism may prove seductive.

should be read in the context of AOC supporting pelosi against a candidate perceived to be worse, hakeem jeffries, and ending up with no committee posting as a result. would a progressive movement within the democratic party that championed hawkins over biden, ultimately causing biden to lose to trump, have more or less power than it does today?

[the-autisticats]

Unpacking anti-autistic ableism (part #2 in a series)

Continuing with the chiropractor’s post I dissected yesterday, let’s now get into some of the comments left on his post.

Most of these comments were left by neurotypical parents of autistic kids. There were some comments left by autistic people (before the post I made yesterday), who were dismissed and attacked by those parents as “too high functioning” to know what they were talking about- or even worse, as “lying” about being autistic.

Comment 1:

There are a lot of assumptions and assertions this woman makes about autistic people. Here are the main ones:

That so-called “high functioning” autistic people don’t injure ourselves or others during meltdowns

That so-called “high functioning” autistic people don’t actually have meltdowns at all

That autistic people who do have meltdowns need to be cured

That if you believe someone who has meltdowns doesn’t need to be cured, then they must not really be “severely” autistic

Now, let’s unpack that.

The first assumption is just blatantly false. I have injured myself and others on multiple occasions during violent meltdowns. I have kicked, hit, and bit my parents. I have also hit and bit myself. And I am still often labeled by others as “high functioning.”

Which leads us to the second assumption: that “high functioning” autistic people don’t have meltdowns, and that we don’t ever “cry endlessly in pain.” Both my parents and I can testify that I have, on hundreds of occasions throughout my life, screamed and sobbed for hours on end during meltdowns.

And no, neither my parents nor myself want me to be “cured.” The majority of my meltdowns aren’t caused just because of the simple fact that I’m autistic. They’re caused because I’m overstimulated on a sensory and emotional level (as a result of my environment), or I’m struggling to communicate and other people aren’t listening to my needs. But even if meltdowns were just an inherent, integral part of being autistic, I still wouldn’t want to change who I am.

I used to work at a school for developmentally disabled children and teens. Many of the students in the after school program were autistic, and would be labeled “severe” by the woman who commented. Many of them had meltdowns, which I witnessed. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is nothing those kids did during their meltdowns that I myself hadn’t done during my own. Those kids don’t need to be “cured” either.

The idea that anyone who doesn’t want to be cured must not be “autistic enough” to get to decide that, is just blatantly ableist. What this woman articulated is that she, a neurotypical, has a better sense of what’s good for autistic people than autistic people ourselves.

Comment 2:

This is the same woman, talking to an autistic person (Emily) who commented under the comment I just dissected. What she says here is that Emily must be lying about her experiences with violent meltdowns, because she’s “too articulate” to really be autistic and really have meltdowns.

What’s happening here is a refusal to accept that autistic people don’t fit into neat little boxes. There aren’t just two categories of autistic people, with “speaking, articulate, calm, no-meltdowns, completely self sufficient” autistic people on one side and “nonspeaking, volatile, constant meltdowns, completely dependent” autistic people on the other side. All of us fit some characteristics from each category, which is a difficult truth for ableists to accept.

Comment 3:

Here are the basic things this woman says, with deconstruction along the way:

She wants her son to speak. That’s because wider society values spoken language over other forms of communication. This woman would have a more fulfilling relationship with her son if she opened herself up to AAC, sign language, etc.

She wants him to be toilet trained. This is because, again, wider society says that it’s not acceptable for a 5 year old to not be toilet trained. But it’s okay that it often takes longer for autistic people to learn things and to fully develop our interoception. There’s nothing shameful about that.

She wants him to make eye contact with her. This is another NT societal value that doesn’t really matter. Instead of waiting for her son to look at her, she could start exploring other ways of connecting with him.

She wants him to be in a mainstream classroom. This is a reasonable goal, but it’s much better for him to be in an educational setting where his needs are met, than for him to fit in with everyone else.

She wants him to be able go into stores for more than 30 minutes without having a meltdown. That’s a good goal, but if she doesn’t make an effort to meet his sensory needs by providing him with ear defenders or sunglasses (for example), then he’s inevitably going to become overstimulated.

She thinks it’s not fair that her daughter won’t get to play or communicate with her son in a conventional way. Again, this is a problem with NT values, not autism itself. There are lots of ways that her kids can play together, even if their relationship isn’t cookie-cutter “typical”. It’s a family responsibility to adjust expectations and embrace who their son is, not who they thought he would be.

Comment 4:

There are two main things that the bottom comments convey:

The classic “autism is suffering” trope

A sense of existential fear that if a person is not self-sufficient, they will be left all alone when their parents die

The first sentiment is ridiculous and honestly not worth discussing- obviously autistic people can be & are happy people when our needs are met.

But the second point is more interesting, and needs to be understood in the context of capitalism. In some ways, the person who made the 4th comment is right: there’s a lot of uncertainty about the future that comes along with parenting an autistic person with high support needs.

Before family clan structures were dissolved and capitalism separated people from community support networks, it was understood that disabled people would be cared for & tended to by the entire clan/community. There was no need to worry about money, or custody, or residential centers, or institutions. When the immediate family members of the person died, the community stepped in.

Those familial structures of kinship and mutual aid have become so eroded by industrial capitalism that autistic people are often one step away from being institutionalized. That’s scary. But it’s also avoidable.

Putting the blame on “autism” and devoting all of your energy towards finding a cure, instead of investing time and energy changing the way our society and economy are structured, doesn’t make any sense. If you’re really worried about your autistic kids not being cared for when you’re gone, you should be questioning the big reasons why they wouldn’t be cared for in the first place.

~Eden🐢

[youngsoutheastasianleaders]

YSEALI Seeds: Bebas Sampah ID

About the Project

Bebas Sampah ID (BSID) is a program with two main activities: platform development and youth empowerment. BSID has a national online-based waste management platform, bebassampah.id, which already has following features: 1) Waste Assets, 2) Illegal Dumping, and 3) Collaborator, all of which are visualized in one single map, 4) Movement, 5) Multimedia Library, and 6) City Waste Management Index.

As a participatory platform, BSID collects its data through crowdsourcing from multi-stakeholders. Besides the platform, BSID also trains a youth volunteer unit called Zero Waste Ranger (ZWR), to be waste activists who possess leadership skills and environmental knowledge beyond the surface.

Why do you care about this specific topic/issue?

Indonesia has dire problems with waste. We are the second biggest marine plastic polluter in the world after China (Jambeck, 2015) and the second biggest food waste producer after

Saudi Arabia (Economic Intelligence Unit, 2017). With the President Regulation No. 97/2017, Indonesia plans to reduce 30% of waste, and handle at least 70% of waste to prevent accumulation in the landfill, all by 2025. Four years into the regulation, the country is still struggling with its implementation:

Per 2020, Indonesia produces 67,8 tons of waste annually (Ministry of Environment and Forestry, 2020)

In 2019, 32% of waste ended up unmanaged in illegal dumping sites (Tempo, 2019). 

In 2021, at least three landfills in Indonesia are expected to be overloaded.

We want to mitigate the longing threat and risks of waste, as it’s been proven to be fatal (such as in the case of landslide of Leuwigajah landfill that buried two villages) and unsustainable for our ongoing, and future, development.

Why did you decide to start this project?

Even though waste governance already exists, the data initiatives they made to support the implementation often overlap. Five government institutions have their own waste management information system: Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Ministry of National Development Planning, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Health. However, these platforms lack updated data and systems that monitor the target, and don't cover civil society’s contribution in the waste governance, e.g. awareness rate from educational activities, waste collection rate from cleanup, and reduction and recycling rate from community-based waste collectors. This is where BSID stands as a bridge.

What are your goals for this project?

Our main goal is to to support and accommodate more citizen participation in waste governance, especially young citizens in this digital era. We plan to do this by two actions: 1. Develop Bebassampah.id website as collaborative waste governance platform 2. Train university students to be agent of change in the waste governance

How will YSEALI Seeds help you achieve your goals?

Through YSEALI’s support, the network, funding and guidance helps us to optimize bebassampah.id website and scale up our program impact to a larger audience.

What have you accomplished and implemented so far?

We have revamped some features in our website to provide a better experience for users who want to take part in Zero Waste Indonesia including:

Upgrading out Movement Feature, now collaborators can maintain their event easier through participant attendance tracking, automatic certificate generator, event reminders. Participants can find events of their interest by using the filter widget.

Improving our Asset Feature by adding a filter, individuals can now find waste processing facilities near their location and send their recyclables there.

We’ve also recruited our Zero Waste Rangers, a total of 18 youth volunteers who will help spread awareness and spirit to tackle waste management problems in Indonesia. We have equipped our rangers with 5 capacity building sessions so far, and will continue to expand their hard and soft skills. We are also coaching them on partnering and public speaking to prepare them for the Zero Waste Roadshow, an education program to introduce Bebas Sampah ID to university students.

What are the most significant lessons learned you’ve experienced so far?

That it takes a village and cross-sectoral knowledge to build a waste management platform and train students to be future trainers. We’ve had to partner with various organizations to scale up our website functionality and promote it to a broader audience, and invite professionals with various backgrounds and areas of expertise to give capacity building to our Zero Waste Rangers.

What are the success stories you can share with others who would like to do the same type of activity and/or project like yours?

Since our program is platform based, we think it’s very important to gain exposure and credibility online. So, definitely educate as many people about your digital platform through engaging and informative content in social media. Partnering with organizations that have similar goals also helps us create a greater impact, just like the saying “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Last but not least, ensuring communication within the internal team so that our ideas and voices are heard to create better strategy and decisions for the program’s growth.

[noosphe-re]

‘The Future of the Future’ by JG Ballard

One of the most surprising but barely noticed events of the period since the Second World War has been the life and death of the space age. Almost twenty years ago to the day, 4 October 1957, I switched on the BBC news and heard for the first time the radio call-sign of Sputnik I as it circled the earth above our heads. Its urgent tocsin seemed to warn us of the arrival of a new epoch. As a novice science fiction writer, I listened to this harbinger of the space age with strong misgivings — already I was certain, though without the slightest evidence, that the future of science fiction, and for that matter of popular consciousness in general, lay not in outer space but in what I had already christened `inner space', in a world increasingly about to be remade by the mind.

None the less, I fully expected that the impact of the space age would be immediate and all-pervasive — from fashion to industrial design, from the architecture of airports and department stores to the ways in which we furnished our homes. I took for granted that the spin-off of the US and Russian space programmes would transfotm everything in our lives and produce an extrovert society as restlessly curious about the external world as Renaissance Europe.

In fact, nothing remotely like this occurred. Public interest in the space flights of the 1960s was rarely more than lukewarm (think, by contrast, of our powerful emotional involvement with the death of President Kennedy and the Vietnam war), and the effects on everyday life have been virtually nil. How many of us could name, apart from Armstrong himself, a single one of the men who have walked on the Moon, an extraordinary achievement that should have left a profound trace upon the collective psyche? Yet most of us could rattle off without a moment's thought the names of lone transatlantic sailors — Chichester, Chay Blyth, Tabarly, Clare Francis ... Looking back, we can see that far from extending for ever into the future, the space age lasted for scarcely fifteen years: from Sputnik I and Gagarin's first flight in 1961, to the last Skylab mission in 1974 — and the first splashdown, significantly, not to be shown on television. After a casual glance at the sky, people turned around and went indoors. Even the test flights taking place at present of the space shuttle Enterprise — named, sadly, after the spaceship in Star Trek — seem little more than a limp by-product of a television fantasy, More and more, the space programmes have become the last great period piece of the twentieth century, as magnificent but as out of date as the tea-clipper and the steam locomotive.

During the past fifteen years the strongest currents in our lives have been flowing in the opposite direction altogether, carrying us ever deeper into the exploration not of outer but of inner space. This investigation of every conceivable byway of sensation and imagination has shown itself in a multitude of guises — in mysticism and meditation, encounter groups and fringe religions, in the use of drugs and biofeedback devices — all of which attempt to project the interior realm of the psyche on to the humdrum world of everyday reality and externalize the limitless possibilities of the dream. So far, though, the techniques available have tended to be extremely dangerous (drugs such as LSD and heroin), physically uncomfortable (the contortions of classical yoga), or mentally exhausting (the psychological assault course of the suburban encounter group, with its staged confrontations and tantrums, its general hyperventilation of the emotions).

Meanwhile, far more sophisticated devices have begun to appear on the scene, above all, video systems and micro-computers adapted for domestic use. Together these will achieve what I take to be the apotheosis of all the fantasies of late twentieth-century man — the transformation of reality into a TV studio, in which we can simultaneously play out the roles of audience, producer and star.

In the dream house of the year 2000, Mrs Tomorrow will find herself living happily inside her own head. Walls, floors and ceilings will be huge, unbroken screens on which will be projected a continuous sound and visual display of her pulse and respiration, her brain-waves and blood pressure. The delicate quicksilver loom of her nervous system as she sits at her dressing table, the sudden flush of adrenaline as the telephone rings, the warm arterial tides of emotion as she arranges lunch with her lover, all these will surround her with a continuous light show. Every aspect of her home will literally reflect her character and personality, a visible image of her inner self to be overlaid and enhanced by those of her husband and children, relatives and friends. A marital tiff will resemble the percussive climax of The Rite of Spring, while a dinner party (with each of the guests wired into the circuitry) will be embellished by a series of frescoes as richly filled with character and incident as a gallery of Veroncses. By contrast, an off day will box her into a labyrinth of Francis Bacons, a premonition of spring surround her with the landscapes of Constable, an amorous daydream transform the walls of her bathroom into a seraglio worthy of Ingres.

All this, of course, will be more electronic wallpaper, the background to the main programme in which each of us will be both star and suppotting player. Every one of our actions during the day, across the entire spectrum of domestic life, will be instantly recorded on video-tape. In the evening we will sit back to scan the rushes, selected by a computer trained to pick out only our best profiles, our wittiest dialogue, our most affecting expressions filmed through the kindest filters, and then stitch these together into a heightened re-enactment of the day. Regardless of our place in the family pecking order, each of us within the privacy of our own rooms will be the star in a continually unfolding domestic saga, with parents, husbands, wives and children demoted to an appropriate supporting role.

Free now to experiment with the dramatic possibilities of our lives, we will naturally conduct our relationships and modify our behaviour towards each other with more than half an eye to their place in the evening's programme. When we visit our friends we will be immediately co-opted into a half-familiar play whose plot-lines may well elude us. Even within our own marriages we will frequently find ourselves assigned roles which we will act out with no rehearsal time and only the scantiest idea of the script — on reflection, not an unfamiliar situation. So these programmes will tirelessly unfold; a personalized Crossroads or Coronation Street perhaps recast in the style of Strindberg or Stoppard, six million scenes from a marriage.

However fanciful all this may seem, this transformation of our private lives with the aid of video-systems and domestic computers is already at hand. Micro-computers are now being installed in thousands of American homes, where they provide video-games and do simple household accounts. Soon, though, they will take over other functions, acting as major domo, keeper of finances, confidant and marriage counsellor. `Can you afford the Bahamas this year, dear? Yes ... if you divorce your husband.' The more expensive and sophisticated computers will be bought precisely to fulfil this need, each an éminence grise utterly devoted to us, aware of our strengths and weaknesses, dedicated to exploring every possibility of our private lives, suggesting this or that marital strategy, a tactical infidelity here, an emotional game-plan there, a realignment of affections, a radical change of wardrobe, lifestyle, sex itself, all costed down to the last penny and timed to the nearest second, its print-outs primed with air tickets, hotel reservations and divorce petitions.

Thus we may see ourselves at the turn of the century, each of us the star of a continuous television drama, soothed by the music of our own brain-waves, the centre of an infinite private universe. Will it occur to us, perhaps, that there is still one unnecessary intruder in this personal paradise — other people? Thanks to the video-tape library, and the imminent wonders of holistic projection, their physical presence may soon no longer be essential to our lives. Without difficulty, we can visualize a future where people will never meet at all, except on the television screen. Childhood, marriage, parenthood, even the few jobs that still need to be done, will all be conducted within the home.

Conceived by artificial insemination, brought up within the paediatric viewing cubicle, we will conduct even our courtships on television, shyly exchanging footage of ourselves, and perhaps even slipping away on a clandestine weekend (that is, watching the same travelogues together). Thanks to the split-screen technique, our marriage will be witnessed by hundreds of friends within their own homes, and pre-recorded film taken within our living rooms will show us moving down the aisle against a cathedral backdrop. Our wedding night will be a masterpiece of tastefully erotic cinema, the husband's increasingly bold zooms countered by his bride's blushing fades and wipes, climaxing in the ultimate close-up. Years of happy marriage will follow, unblemished by the hazards of physical contact, and we need never know whether our spouse is five miles away from us, or five hundred, or on the dark side of the sun. The spherical mirror forms the wall of our universe, enclosing us for ever at its heart ... — JG Ballard, The Future of the Future, Vogue, 1977 (A User’s Guide to the Millennium)

[brighteyes-darkhearts]

I read the Iliad, the project of a sun-drenched, blood-soaked semester in Florence. I loathed Achilles. What a stupid, selfish, dishonorable man. Homer originally called the epic The Wrath of Achilles, which is a far more appropriate title, all things considered. Sixteen thousand lines of dectilic hexameter to which thousands of people have devoted countless hours of life and countless jars of ink reading, translating, pondering; a civilization destroyed, innumerable lives lost, children left father-less, all because of one terribly petty man. The most terrible part of all of it, though, is that he is right, and successful.

Achilles strove for immortality, and he achieved it.

He died over two thousand years ago and everyone in modern Western civilization still knows his name. I hated him most because I knew , I know, his name, too, and because I see myself in him and him in myself. We all want a legacy; we all want immortality. Not in the sense that we fear the deaths of our bodies, though some of us certainly do, but rather in the sense that we fear the deaths of our names. They say we all experience two deaths: the first when our bodies cease their function, the second when our name falls from someone's lips for the last time, never to be spoken again, the memory wisps of smoke, uncatchable even if someone wanted to.

People would rather go to war and fight and kill and die instead of fulfilling some kind of peaceful pastoral idealism if such happiness means they will be forgotten.

Have you ever really considered the implications of that?

Have I? Has anyone?

To have or leave or create, cultivate, curate, a legacy, one needs to have a name. Sounds obvious, no?

A name is something everyone has, the second gift we're ever given, one longer lasting than our first gift of life. Names can be terribly old fashioned and boring, staunchly traditional, wildly new age, or if one is the child of a celebrity, they can be bizarre and unfortunate.

I never thought too much about my own name until recently, except in comparison to that of my twin sister, against whose monumental combination of syllables most others pale significantly. However, as my young adult self nears the expectations of marriage and motherhood, which many my age have already fulfilled, the concept of names has been on my mind with increasing frequency. On a superficial level, this consists of thoughts like "Could I marry someone whose last name doesn't sound good with my first," or "since my children will be saddled with my husband's last name, I get to pick their first and middle." I have been informed by my mother, however , that that is, in fact, not how the partnership of marriage works.

Marital disputes aside, as I thought about having to change my name for my eventual husband's, something I had always planned on doing when I got married, and something I had never considered much of an option, I found myself developing quite a resistance to it.

Why am I the one required to upend my identity, and not my husband? As previously referenced, isn't marriage supposed to be the ultimate collaboration, a team endeavor? Sure, I can keep my name, but then I designate myself as an "outsider," an "other," concepts that shape the very foundations of the human behavioral matrix. This, in turn, led me to the whole "why" question.

Names function to provide order to society, categorizing people in a clearer way than "hey, you" for everyone we meet. They also delineate strict patrilineal origin and hierarchical status within said society, often emerging from one's trade. I am referring, of course, only to men, because up until astonishingly recently, and sometimes still today, women were considered the property of men. Women would not own property or function independently from the man to whom they belonged.

The names of women, like the names of fields and houses, denote ownership.

Even then-names are a privilege, because they provide an avenue through which one can form an identity, through which one can be remembered. Throughout history, not everyone was considered important enough to warrant remembering. Enslaved people on plantations in the American south were not given last names of their own; they had to create them themselves or take on those of their owners, and with it, a clear signifier of their forced place in society. Considering the last names of Jewish Europeans both unnecessarily difficult and too clear a sign of the identities they sought to erase, Nazi Germany renamed millions of the Jews they killed or enslaved with unconsidered combinations of nouns and adjectives- Rosenberg, pink mountain, or Gardenschwarz, black garden. The immigration operatives of Ellis and Angel islands did the same to thousands of newcomers whose names they did not want to attempt to spell, so here, you take “Smith,” and you get “Jones.” Your connection to family history and national culture? You won’t need those here. Welcome to America.

Our names are the greatest gifts our parents can give us, planting us firmly within family lineages or tying us to historical figures and concepts; again, another moment in which the memory of another is re-embodied to continue its arduous trek towards immortality. We become our names as we mature, growing into or out of them. There were several options for my own name floating around before I was born, all of which seem entirely inappropriate and unfitting now, though occasionally I feel nostalgic for the Gracen I could have been but never was, a multiplicity of personalities never given the chance to realize themselves. Friends of mine whose names were mercilessly anglicized have slowly begun to reclaim them in their original, intended forms, building back conversation by conversation, introduction by introduction, the bridges back to who they are, who their parents named them to be, the cultures and histories from which they come.

Perhaps, in contemporary society, none so acutely feel the pain that names can bring than members of the trans community. Claiming their true name as an act of courage and authentic life in the cool sunlight of every morning and having to defend it in every hour that follows, having to suffer, too often in silence, the sting of a deadname used by those with no empathy or understanding or common sense in their hearts. Sometimes, the names our parents give us are simply wrong, and reclaiming our true names, those given from the deepest depths of truth at the core of our hearts, is the greatest gift we can give ourselves, and the utmost respect we can give to others.

Identity is a smoky concept to pin down concretely, but names are the first iteration of this idea, translating conceptuality into physical manifestation. It should come as no surprise, then, that our names are the first to go whenever someone seeks to dehumanize. Ayn Rand bestows upon all her characters a litany of numbers, distinct but uninspired, parts of a machine, easily replaced, insignificant.

Names are dangerous, because they allow for and support the construction of an individualized consciousness. There is no greater threat to oppression than a fully realized, highly actualized, wildly individualized consciousness. We most certainly cannot be the masters of our fate or the captains of our souls if we don't even know who we are.

[ya-riotreads]

By: Angie Thomas

Prequel to: The Hate U Give

Goodreads Rating:★★★★★

My Rating:★★★★★

Find a copy near you from a local library: https://tinyurl.com/rcs34hcz

Angie Thomas has returned readers to the streets of Garden Heights; 17 years prior to Starr taking on the injustices of police brutality and in light of BLM movement. Concrete Rose focuses on 17-year-old Maverick Carter as his life changes with the birth of his first child. Taking place around the late 1990’s, Thomas explores the trials of generational stagnation, societal and environmental pressures, and the challenges behind stereotypes from the perspective of a black boy and his transition into manhood. The main question and task Maverick is imposed with is: what does it take to be a man and what type of man does Maverick want to be for himself and his family?

The reason for the 4.5 out of 5 rating stems from the accurate portrayal of urban/ghetto/hood life, Maverick’s character growth, Thomas’s insights to teenage pregnancy from the male perspective, and the setup of character, situational and relationship foils. Anyone who knows where the “concrete rose” metaphor gained traction from will understand what this story and subject matter pertains to. For those who don’t, let’s provide a brief aside to talk about one of thee most infamous West side artist to live—being Tupac Shakur. After the death of Tupac Shakur, a publication of his poems was release as a book entitled by the included work, The Rose that Grew from Concrete. The poem and Thomas’s book details the life of an individual who is meant to fail due to the inequities existing in their environment which is comprised of their familial situation and the type of people existing in their community. Maverick Carter—the rose to Garden Heights’ concrete—is the child of former King Lord legend who is serving jail time, has a mother who works two jobs to make ends meet, and is in relations with the King Lords for protection and means of income. In the beginning of Concrete Rose, Maverick does not see any wrong in following in his father’s footsteps, believing that being a man is to protect your family—blood and gang. Although Maverick Carter does fail in terms of becoming a teen father, falling into drug sales, flunks out of school, and considers murder to avenge the death of his relative, Maverick does succeed in his life in terms of not committing to gang life by the end of story. Maverick succeeds in following the terms of becoming a present father to his children. The ways in which Maverick could have failed was to abandon his children and continue down the path of gang life, however, Maverick learns that true fatherhood requires a father’s presence and guidance. Rather than running away from his problems, Maverick steps up to the plate and takes responsibility of the situation he—as an individual—has placed himself and other’s in.

The portrayal of gang life and living within an urban setting, such as Garden Heights, is an accurate representation of how it is in American urban life. From an outsider’s perspective—i.e. someone not in a gang or even someone living in a more suburban community—Garden Heights is an area where it is undesired to be stuck in. Someone living within Garden Heights (i.e Maverick) knows where safe spots are during what time of day and what risks lie within certain areas. In terms of gang life, there does exist a ranking or hierarchical system members follow. Gang life, similarly, is a commitment for life. The means of getting out is a risk to anyone’s life. The gang assumes a departing individual will be a risk to the gang in the future as they may rat-out information to the police or switch sides between other rival gangs. Maverick’s leaving of King Lord operations, although a risk, is necessary for himself becoming a better person for Lisa and his children, as well as, becoming the father he didn’t have full access to. Similarly, Maverick’s action of leaving foils that of King and Iesha’s residency, which—later in The Hate U Give.

In terms of literature on teen pregnancy, majority of works tend to focus on the female perspective as society claims females have more to lose out on than males. Thomas provides a golden opportunity by writing Maverick’s perspective on being a teen parent. Maverick’s first child—Seven—was born from (a lack of a better term) one-night stand with Iesha. However, rather than disregarding the birth of Seven and the positive DNA test, Maverick does take responsibility in caring for his child. A stereotypical move that Maverick could have taken was not accepting ownership/responsibility of Seven and disadvantaging Seven further by forcing Iesha to keep him without regard. However, Thomas’s theme of family keeps Maverick from going down that path. With the conception of Maverick’s second child with Lisa (someone Maverick sincerely loves and cares about) tests Maverick’s responsibility a step further based on Lisa’s preference to how she want to raise their child. With Seven, Maverick is still connected to King Lord life and imposes the risk of Seven falling into his footsteps in the future. However, with the second child and Lisa’s demands, Maverick must move passed his pride and become more than what gang life has imposed him to become—his father, not a dependable father figure. The male perspective of teenage pregnancy also nods to the concept of family building and parenting being a cooperative effort between both parents. Although our patriarchal society frowns upon men taking on child-rearing or any other “female designated” tasks, Thomas takes incentive by presenting a functionally learning and adapting male catering to the growth and development of his child. Thomas takes the opportunity to level the playing field between male and female pregnancies by having Maverick obtain losses female characters (i.e what Iesha would have endured had she possess a supportive family unit and this been her story) typical would experience during a teen pregnancy: grades falling, monetary insecurity, and a close to nonexistent social life.

Throughout the book foils exist EVERYWHRE. They exist in Maverick’s parents’ parenting in relation to his own parenting efforts, they exist between Lisa and Iesha’s stances and roles of motherhood, they exist between social expectations between Lisa and Maverick in terms of who was likely to become a teenaged parent and who was not, they exist between King and Maverick—which plays out later in The Hate U Give—as Iesha becomes pregnant again with King’s baby—these are only the ones that most forefront in my head, however, all are important as they push and pull against the stereotypes projected upon black people. However, my personal favorite foil is that of Maverick and his father as it leads to my favorite quote in the book coming from Mr. Wyatt in form of a question, aiding Maverick making a correct choice for himself.

““Because the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” Mr. Wyatt asks. “However, it can roll away from the tree. It simply need a little push.”

Maverick is appreciative of his father and the ability for his father to guide him when possible, however, Maverick does serve as a foil to his father by not committing to Kingship, not killing out of revenge, and being present for his children to guide them at all times instead of behind bars. Maverick strives to give his children the luxury of presence and convenience as that is something he wished for since his father’s sentencing.

The reason why this story isn’t a 5/5 is due to the lack of development for important female characters. Understandably, this is Maverick’s story and as Maverick is a strong hetero-male. It is, with this regard, that I take his lack of attention to female characters not out of perspective or out of character. The phrase, boys will be boys—as irritating as that may be—is in play here in terms of boys naturally being dense and inattentive to social cues in relation to their female counterparts. Maverick is a strong hetero-male growing up in a patriarchal society and in gang life, Maverick’s perspective is centered on himself and other men because he is searching for guidance relative to him versus doing what comes naturally (which to note, naturality is more of a female designated concept i.e. women’s intuition) but, he does learn to develop from his mother. Not to say that the female characters were weak, on contrary, they were not! The women in the story possessed hardy personalities and dialogue that was strong against Maverick’s actions and tendencies to keep him in line. However, there could have been a little more insight into their weakness. I think Lisa could have used a weak moment much like Maverick’s mother when she learns of the second pregnancy. Although readers do see Lisa cry in learning she was pregnant, that moment of weakness was swept aside as she pulled herself together quickly in the proceeding chapters. Iesha’s character could have offered more perspective into post-partum depression rather than just simply dipping out of eye-sight. However, in rebuttal, this isn’t their stories and if it was… Iesha would have been an unreliable narrator and could have been seen as an attack on stereotypical black teen girls… Lisa’s perspective would have been too convenient and smooth to engage readers as her life was pretty comfy up until her pregnancy… while Maverick’s mother would have been seen as too soft upon her child and the story may have not been about her grandchild, but rather, her relationship with Moe. All in all, I appreciate and applaud Angie Thomas and her publication of Concrete Rose as it provided insight into male teen pregnancy, the black perspective and transition of boyhood into manhood, and the accurate representation of urban/ghetto/hood lifestyles that can be seen within American society.

See my Goodreads rant!

Did you enjoy reading Concrete Rose? Check out these recommendations!

The Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds – poetry (novel in verse), coming-to-age, gang violence, revenge, psychological

Street Love by Walter Dean Myers – poetry (novel in verse), rap, romance (forbidden love), family troubles

Tyrell by Coe Booth – family troubles, identity, homelessness

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson – teen pregnancy, coming-to-age, adulthood

Bloody Seoul by Sonia Patel – gang violence, Korea, coming-of-age

[scripttorture]

I'm curious about the the mental processes that makes torturers do their work. Is that akin to the process that allowed the "Teacher" to press the supposedly shock-inducing button in the Milgram Experiment? Do they blame their victims for "making them torture them"? Does dehumanisation play a role? What do symptoms look like on a torturer? Thank you in advance.

These are all good questions but a lack of research means it’s difficult to answer them definitely.

 I’ll start by saying that the Milgram experiments are a steaming pile of… insults to the scientific community shall we say. Honestly as a scientist the Milgram experiments make me angry because they are just so darned sloppy. They are terrible. They cherry picked data. They applied significant coercion to the ‘teachers’ while claiming they didn’t. They failed to record the ways ‘teachers’ tried to trick the system (especially those who pretended to press the button but did not actually do so).

 And they also didn’t bother to check whether the ‘teachers’ believed they were actually administering electric shocks. When a follow up study asked these people about it later they found that the majority of people who pressed the button didn’t believe the button caused electric shocks.

 Essentially- Milgram can’t tell us shit about why this happens. Those experiments were too sloppy and poorly conducted for us to draw any conclusions.

 So what do we actually have that can tell us about torturers?

 There are a lot of interviews conducted by non-specialists; mostly journalists. There are works torturers published. I consider both of these sources useful but biased. Torturers have repeatedly shown that they don’t provide accurate accounts of events or their own actions. So – I take these accounts with a pinch of salt and try to be critical.

 When it comes to actual specialists providing notes on torturers- I’ve only really found two sources: Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth contains notes on torturers he treated after the Franco-Algerian war, and Sironi’s body of work studying torturers. Which is only available in French and is print on demand.

 Yes I am still bitter, moving on!

 Where does all this leave us?

 Well it means that we don’t have enough good quality studies to be absolutely sure. It means most of what we ‘know’ is educated guess work, based on the little bit of research and anecdotal accounts.

 It’s frustrating. We need more data. And the result is that most of what I can say here is ‘may bes’.

 Dehumanisation probably does play a role, but it may not be as great a role as we tend to assume. Studies of the effects of hate speech in Rwanda in the lead-up to the genocide (along with what we know about ICURE techniques) do suggest that dehumanisation makes atrocities more likely. But they don’t necessarily make torture specifically more likely and many torturers will acknowledge the humanity of their victims.

 Some torturers do use language that blames their victims but- not in quite the way you’ve put it here. They don’t tend to say victim’s ‘made them’ torture. Instead they tend to suggest that the victims put themselves in a position where they knew they were going to be tortured.

 ‘A kid that colour walking around in that part of town at night? What did he expect!’

 That kind of phrasing is something I see more regularly.

 Another common one is torturers suggesting the victims ‘deserved it’ because of a particular characteristic: ie race, sexuality, gender, homelessness, disability. Arguing that a victim was ‘probably guilty’ or is actually guilty of a crime and therefore ‘should’ be tortured is also pretty common among torturers.

 But- I also get the impression that most torturers just don’t think about their victims much. Not as human individuals anyway. They don’t seem to consider the lasting impact they have on other people in any meaningful way.

 I think this is easiest to illustrate by looking at the way torturers express regret. Because they do often express regret for what they did.

 But it’s not expressed as them primarily being sorry they hurt so many people. Instead it’s- they regret what they did because they have nightmares about it. Because they’re ill and the symptoms are terrible. Because they lost their job. Because they’re socially isolated.

 It’s regret focused on the consequences of torture for the torturer rather then an acknowledgement of the scale of harm they caused their victims.

 I often get asks that suggest this as an inherent characteristic that ‘makes’ people torturers but there’s no evidence to support that. I personally believe this lack of empathy is an effect of torture rather then something that leads to torture.

 I guess what I’m driving at here is that there is a rather selfish focus in torturers. But beyond that symptoms in torturers look pretty much the same as symptoms in everyone else.

 My impression, based on the interviews I’ve read, is that unless the subject of torture comes up torturers come across as trauma survivors. Asshole trauma survivors but still trauma survivors.

 They tend to be rather convinced of their own importance. I’m unsure where this personality trait comes from but it does seem common. It could be a product of the sub-culture torturers create.

 And that brings me more or less to- well the answer to the big question here: why do they do it? How can they do it?

 My opinion is that the answer has little to do with individuals and everything to do with organisations.

 I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: Torturers do not work alone.

 Torture by it’s definition and nature is a function of groups, of broken systems.

 Torturers are not individuals who arbitrarily decide to abuse someone. They are police officers with little training and no funding instructed to ‘do something now’. They are soldiers who’ve been taught over a lifetime that the ‘enemy would do the same to us’. They are teachers told to ‘control the class or else’.

 They’re groups of people in an environment that has a huge pressure to produce ‘results’ while also being under trained, under staffed, under funded and unsupervised. Into this already unhealthy mix throw the persistent background cultural lie that torture is a short cut to the results they want.

 Hell the persistent cultural message that violence is any kind of answer.

 Is it really a surprise that our police turn to torture when we don’t teach them to interrogate and our news outlets, our politics, our fiction is full of apologia telling them that abuse will get them the results they want?

 The mindset that let’s torturers abuse other people does rely on assumptions that some people are ‘lesser’ or otherwise ‘deserve’ to be abused. But the bit most fiction doesn’t capture is the social aspect.

 The way torturers egg each other on and the way they compete. The way they gradually become more or less the entirety of each other’s social circles. The fear they have of each other, which can trap them in the abusive role they’ve taken on. The way they lose other skills, making it feel impossible to switch. The way they seem to feel that stopping represents both personal failure and letting down the only people they still count as ‘friends’.

 The closest I’ve seen a movie come to this was The Shape of Water, the villain brilliantly captured the bizarre mix of self importance, incompetence and intense environmental stress that characterises torturers.

 Torturers say that they start because ‘there’s no other choice’. I don’t know how much they believe that piece of apologia.

 I do know that in any organisation that tortures there is often incredibly intense pressure to participate in, or at least ignore, torture. Refusal often leads to a person leaving an organisation, sometimes feet first.

 But the reasons they continue are complicated. For some of them they probably do believe the apologia, that they’re ‘doing necessary work’. Some of them definitely see their victims as less then human.

 All of them are caught in a... societal trap not unlike a cult. They’re isolated from non-torturers. They’re constantly fed the message that torturing is right. They’re threatened if they try to leave.

 I think that, whether they acknowledge it or not, the main reason torturers continue is because they know they’re at risk if they stop and they know they’ll be completely socially isolated if they stop.

 Of course sooner or later they do stop. It’s completely unsustainable.

 When they do they generally report isolation, low self esteem and difficulty functioning in society. They struggle to find and keep work. They struggle to form or maintain relationships. It wrecks their lives; the organisation chews them up and spits them out mangled to a point where they can’t navigate society.

 And because they rarely come to terms with what they’ve done they rarely recover.

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