#no one is obligated to know everything and it isn't fair to be spoiled of something on purpose just bc you thought someone should know it

[mabelmidnight-takeover]

truly hope rick or becky come forward and ask people not to spoil pjo when the tv show comes out bc the whole "this piece of media has been out for this long - it isn't spoiler" is the dumbest thing to come out in the past few years. dont gatekeep the show, dont gatekeep percy jackson and dont be assholes to people that are only now getting to know this universe for whatever reason it may be. it won't hurt you to put a spoiler warning.

[kidspawn]

this isn’t meant to be mean or anything but. “tag pjo spoilers” the books have been out for 18 years??? obviously i know some people are only just getting introduced to pjo but if they look up pjo on ANY socmed platform, there’s going to be posts dating back years full of spoilers? i think it’s common sense not to look into the tags of show you don’t want spoiled.

When I refer to tagging PJO spoilers, I'm referring to common etiquette for new posts when an adaptation is being made. While the books have been out for years, the tv show has not. There are some spoilers that will genuinely ruin the experience for people watching the show for the first time - people who, for whatever reason they chose, may decide NOT to read the books. I'm referring to tagging relevant spoilers (which I'll list some examples below) not just... everything. I'm not saying go through all our old posts and tag everything, but I am saying to think about tagging newer content!

People will watch the show on its own. It is a piece of media that will stand alone. Some may decide to read the books and it's not fair for them to go into it with spoilers. If they want to dip into the tag to discuss a new episode, I'd hope they wouldn't be bombarded with spoilers from recent posts.

People going into fandom for the first time have every right to experience the story spoiler-free for the first time, and while lifelong fans like us have no obligation to, I'd hope we would all have the compassion to cultivate a positive experience for PJO newcomers! We have the ability to cultivate a safe and wonderful place to enjoy this world! Why should we not?

If they want to go into the Percy Jackson and the Olympians tag and talk about the episodes, where they think the plot will go - why should they not have that right? Why should book readers gatekeep the fandom and prevent them enjoying this show? If they don't want to blacklist tagged spoilers or willing engage in posts marked with spoilers, that's one thing, but it's common etiquette to acknowledge that, in this environment, we can take a simple step and tag spoilers. It doesn't really take very long.

Hopefully, if they feel this is an accepting and warm fanbase, they'll decide to read the books. If not, who cares? They still deserve to read the story. The idea of "the books have been out long enough!!" is, frankly, a little "holier-than-thou" and condescending. It implies that you're only a real fan if you've read the book prior - which just isn't true!

There are some elements of the story that we can tease online (Dr. Kane, Blackjack, any Nico or Bianca reference, etc.) but there's a lot that forms the fabric of the story Rick Riordan and the team behind this show is trying to tell.

Some examples of spoilers I mean when I say to censor/tag: (You'll notice this is just a list of spoilers that would ruin the story to know ahead of time)

Luke betraying Percy (this one is pretty obvious to tag)

Luke's ultimate fate (I've seen this one get spoilers)

Kronos being the final villain (that's a well-written mystery in the books, unless you're like me and obsessed with greek myth)

Ares being a villain fake-out

Hades being a villain fake-out

Tyson being a cyclops and Percy's brother

Bianca Di Angelo. Specifically, her decision to join the hunters and her literal death.

Zoë's death. Zoë's backstory.

Most things Nico related. His villain fake-out in the fourth book, especially. That was so well written in the books. I ADORE Nico, he's my first little guy. He's so cool, and I want to see people fall in love with his arc in the same way we all got to!

Hate to say it, Nico is a walking spoiler lol.

Thalia coming back!! That was such a fun twist!

Pretty much the entire plot of the last book. I hate to say it, but that book is so well-written. There's so much foreshadowing. So much care put into crafting the story to erupt into what is one of the BEST books in the riordanverse, imo.

Notice I'm not saying anything too obvious - like certain character relationships (Percabeth is fair game, its iconic!) or even letting people know where the book differs. I'm talking about major plot elements. Major plot spoilers. If your friend was reading the books for the first time, what would you refrain from telling them?

Of course, there's no obligation to tag or censor your spoilers. I'm not telling anyone to do that. It's a gentle suggestion. I'm going to tag spoilers. That's just my choice, and i hope other people do but I'm not going to enforce it or start fights about it.

I do understand that if people want to avoid spoilers completely, they should stay away from main fandom spaces, but there are certain aspects of fandom that should be safe - like, somewhere online to gush about the show between seasons!

To reiterate: I'm not upset when people aren't tagging spoilers, I just think it'd be nice! Percy Jackson is one of the best fandoms I've been involved in! I hope other people experience that warmth and joy! One way to do that is by helping craft a courteous and spoiler-free experience.

[idleglowingpixels]

I forget if I had mentioned it before but I'm currently watching One Piece per my bestie @stellarstar18's insistence, and I'm enjoying it so far! I'm about 45 episodes in now, I just finished the Arlong arc and I wanted to just ramble about something I thought was cool from it. Normally this isn't a series I gush about a lot, but this arc went crazy so of course I'm gonna talk about it!

I'm gonna add a Keep Reading for fellow newbies but from here on out consider this your fair spoiler warning for the Arlong Park arc's ending. Also, to those who are already caught up on the series, please don't spoil anything for me and other newbies! You can absolutely screenshot my post if you wanna add onto it with further spoilers.

The main thing I wanted to talk about was near the end of Luffy's battle with Arlong, where Luffy just starts throwing everything out of the mapping room -- desks, stationary, and nearly ten whole years' worth of maps of the seas -- not giving a single shit about what gets destroyed, all after seeing a bloodied pen left behind from Nami.

What got me was that you'd think Luffy was just doing it to piss off Arlong, to destroy the maps so he can't beat Luffy to the Grand Line, but that wasn't the reason AT ALL. He knows what kinda shit Arlong put Nami through, and even after being left behind by her, he still stuck to his guns, went after her despite the protest from the other crew mates, and stood by her side.

To Nami, he was just another pirate that she needed to steal berries from. She knows he and the other Straw Hats aren't the typical bastard pirates who hurt innocent people for their own selfish gain, but her obligation to her hometown and to Arlong's agreement is what made her ultimately try and leave them behind.

Luffy could've easily scooped up all those maps for himself, taking them along to further his own journey across the seas and toward the Grand Line, but he doesn't. Not because it wouldn't help him, it absolutely would, but those maps were made from the blood, sweat and tears of a desperate child just trying to keep what's left of her family and village safe. That's what makes him such a compelling protagonist.

Of course, yes, there's more than enough times where Luffy does things for others that are ultimately for his own gains. Him rescuing Zoro within the first few episodes is a good example of this. Zoro is a pirate hunter, known for killing several captains and their crews, but Luffy barely batted an eye to that because they both hate corrupt authority, the deconstruction of which is a mutual goal of theirs. He also knew having a strong swordsman would benefit him in the long run, which was his initial mission, but on the way he also helped the village Zoro was protecting by saying "fuck you" to the corrupt marines and kicking their asses.

Here, it's a similar situation. He's mainly going through all this additional effort because he knows Nami is an intelligent navigator that will help him toward being deemed King of the Pirates. BUT he is ALSO going through the extra work to help the innocent villagers, which includes Nami, and removing her obligations to both Arlong and her village. She went through years of suffering at Arlong's whim to protect them, and again, he hates corrupt authority. Part of it is so Nami no longer has to protect them alone through her suffrage, but the other part of it is protecting innocent lives from bastards like Arlong, who don't deserve to consider themselves King of the Pirates for even a second.

Luffy would rather have Nami happily join his crew by her own volition, and willingly navigate the seas and create maps. He doesn't care for all the maps she made for Arlong because she was forced against her will to do so. I know it's kind of a running gag that Luffy just says "No you're joining my crew whether you want to or not lol" but every single time, whatever characters he says that to ends up saying "Y'know what, yeah maybe I will join your crew" after seeing him kick ass with his rubber-man powers, and knowing that he's not an asshole like the vast majority of pirates. He never actively forces anyone onto his ship against their will, he's just like "Come on, we gotta get to our next destination!" and the others see his ambition and roll with it.

TL;DR, idk Luffy's a pretty cool dude lol

[jerzwriter]

With Ethan,Kaycee,Casey and Tobias teenage daughter / daughters sneak out ( I know this wouldn’t happen but in a different world) and they were caught sneaking back, how would the parents handle the situation? Who’s the angry parent and who’s the calm parent? Or are they both angry or are they both calm about the sneaking out?

Are there punishments ? And if so, are they harsh punishments?

I hope you’re having a wonderful dayyy❤️✨

AHHHH! One of my all time favorite GIFs! 😁😁😁

Hey, who knows? They may sneak out. Good kids, heck, good people, do foolish things sometimes. And when we're young, we think we know it all. Any one of the girls could be angry at her parents for saying she can't go to a friend's party because they have a prior obligation. Or their parents limited the time they could see their boyfriend because their grades were being impacted, and they are pissed off one night. It happens. So, how would they react?

Tobias/Casey: They'd both be PISSED. They do everything for their girls, they're open-minded parents who always listen and try to be fair, so this amount of disrespect is not something they're going to take lightly. If it was a situation where they knew their daughter wasn't in trouble, I can see Tobias camping out in the bottom of his daughter's closet, jumping out and scaring the shit out of her when she got back - and then the fun would begin. I think Casey would be the one who verbally lashed out. Tobias would stand there and agree/have her back. But little girl would get the death stare and cold shoulder from him for DAYS. Again, they are REALLY good parents, so he would be furious but also hurt. Truthfully, seeing how much they disappointed their parents would be their biggest punishment at all. But not their only one. Depending on their age, punishments will be had. Driving age? You're not seeing the car for months. Grounded? Absolutely. Privileges would be revoked, and there may just be some lousy chores the family has been putting off that they could start up soon too. (For the record, Grandma Vivian would 100% have their backs. She spoils the hell out of the girls and adores them, but you are not disrespecting them like that.)

Ethan/Kaycee: Ethan would flip. Flip. If he had any idea where she was, he'd go find her. I assure you, she would be so mortified by him pulling her out of there that she'd never do it again. The car ride home would be the ride from hell. You know the one where not a word is spoken? When you know you are SO in for it and that the only reason your parent is quiet is they are too angry to speak and planning the ways you're going to be punished for this in their mind? That's the ride. Kaycee would be more level-headed but still incensed, so there isn't much difference. I think the big difference would be Kaycee would want to wait until the morning to talk after they all cool down. Ethan will be like, "Yeah. Not happening." Oh, she'd be punished. Again, it would depend on age, but she'd also have any and all privileges revoked, including no phone, no TV, no nothing. No car. Grounded and whatever her curfew was, it goes back by an hour until she can show she's responsible enough for it. But like the Carrick girls, Emma is so close with Ethan and Kaycee. Knowing how scared/hurt/disappointed they were/are would be the worst punishment of all.

I'm still working on your other ask! :) Thank you for sending them!

[fireofjudgement]

My Name Valentine's Day hc's

Warnings: none 💕

Yoon Ji-woo:

neither of you was really a fan of fancy restaurants, crowded theaters or staying at home every day

you enjoyed peace and silence so naturally you preferred to spend your time outdoors, far away from busy cities, being active and enjoying each other's company, whether at the beach or in the mountains

even when a silence fell between the two of you, you didn't mind-it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, with her everything felt right

valentine's day was no different-knowing that every place you could possibly go to would be busy, you simply decided to spend the day the way you enjoyed the most

just the two of you, admiring the starry sky, forgetting about all your worries and obligations even if for a short time

Choi Mu-jin:

valentine's day or not, this man is determined to treat you like the royalty you are in his eyes, it's only fair after all the support and patience you gave to him

even if he isn't one to celebrate such silly holidays, as soon as he learns it's an important day for you, he'll do everything in his power to make it perfect

time and money do not matter, he'll buy your favorite restaurant if he has to when finds out the next time they have a table available is valentine's day..in 3 years

you don't have to worry about your outfit and matching accessories either, he'll handpick everything you're wearing that day

yes, everything

even though it is a bit over the top, you don't mind at all, if anything you enjoy being spoiled like this for the first time in your life

Jeon Pil-do:

you knew valentine's day isn't special for someone in his field and so you accepted the fact that he'll probably be busy up until late in the night

but even a detective needs time for themselves and their loved ones, so he decided to surprise you and come home early

not willing to spend a fortune on overpriced candy and gifts, he took you to an ice rink, you were pleasantly surprised by the cute idea

afterwards you warmed yourselves up with some hot chocolate and binged cheesy rom coms until you finally fell asleep

Jung Tae-ju:

your relationship has always been very physical, it's your favorite way to express how much you love and care for each other

valentine's day is no different in that aspect- you can expect a whole day in a luxurious spa, a well deserved little getaway after a hectic few months

but finally it's just the two of you and you can get some rest-couples massage is a must, not only is it relaxing it's also extremely hot

afterwards you just chill in your hotel room, enjoying the breathtaking view and all the luxuries the place offers, finishing the night off with a nice, long bath and a glass of your favorite wine

[themountainsays]

How would you rate each side of Isamira on the "simping for each other" scale? Post-WECID Isabela is the simp to end all simps, obviously, but does Mirabel secretly equal her underneath the tsundere? How does pre-WECID Isa compare? Which one do you think is more prone to romance, like romantic gestures of a grand or non-grand nature? Maybe I'm stereotyping her, but I feel like Isabela would be the really romantic one somehow. She seems like the type to really want to spoil her partner.

Oh anon I 100% agree post-WECID Isabela will be so hecking annoying, so romantic and cheesy and she WILL embarrass Mirabel in front of all of her Cool Friends™ on purpose. And while I say post-wecid Mira is on second place she's still a lil bit behind because... idk I just feel like she would try to respect Isabela's image and reputation a lot more and wouldn't dare do anything that could embarrass her, like a grand romantic gesture. But in private, I think she'd be a lot more romantic, though possibly in a less explosive way. More little gifts and quiet words of affection. She's a lot more open with like, affection that can easily be read as platonic - like loudly encouraging her to try new things in public and dragging her around to like a fair or the market or something. But all and any romantic gestures are so meaningful and thoughtful and she works so hard to make everything special that no matter how small it looks Isabela just feels herself falling in love all over again.

I think that, ironically, Isabela would try to show affection without using her gift at first (so like 0 flowers), because she's scared of making Mira feel insecure or something, but she quickly realizes that Mirabel doesn't mind at all and that in fact she thinks her gift is cool as fuck, plus it's so fun to see her experiment with weird scary fucked up plants. It makes her feel proud. Getting a rainbow-colored venus flytrap as a birthday gift had her in tears and the whole family was so baffled, they assumed it was like some kind of inside joke between them.

As for their closeted pre-wecid counterparts, I think Mirabel takes the lead by far while still being so far behind post-WECID Mirabel. Have you seen the way in which she looks at Isabela? She's soooo in love omg I insist: Mirabel LIKES Isabela Mirabel respects Isabela greatly and mostly reacts with dryness and defensive dismisal because she knows Isabela doesn't like her and she doesn't want to walked all over by her, but when Isabela isn't looking, you can see Mirabel watches her with so much admiration and affection. I can see her trying to get her a nice pretty birthday gift, just like how she crafts those little candles for all family members - Isabela included! - despite of their rocky relationship. But mostly she LONGS and YEARNS from afar.

pre-WECID Isabela is just as deeply in sisc0n as Mirabel obviously (it's canon she told me herself) but you won't catch her dead simping. She's soooo far in denial she's so inc3st guilting no no nope she's barely even getting her a birthday gift, only putting in some money with the rest of the grandkids for all of them to get her a single present, and acts like she's doing it all out of a martyr-like obligation. She's not "comforting her" or "looking after her" and she's certainly not showing her any affection, no, too risky too risky. Though, if Mirabel finds flowers on her bed after a bad day, well, she doesn't need to know Isabela grew them (she does, though, and she can't wipe that dumb smile from her face for the rest of the day).

[workersolidarity]

Throwaway Culture: A Marxist Perspective

I never imagined I'd be interested in anything a Pope might have to say, but this caught my eye after Googling: Throwaway culture. It was something I had been thinking about all day.

I'm not religious in any way, and there are points of disagreement I have with how Pope Francis has framed Throwaway Culture, but he also gave voice to an aspect of Throwaway Culture I've personally been focusing on, our trained willingness to toss other human beings away like garbage.

So first my disagreement with the quotes above. Throwaway Culture isn't something that rose up out of nowhere from the bottom up. The set of ideas behind the development of the Throwaway Culture was something encouraged and developed from above. It began with the evolution of our Capitalist economy from one based on industrial production, into one driven largely by domestic consumer spending.

Beginning after the Second World War, consumerism began when US mega-corporations, hoping to take advantage of a better educated, wealthier population by encouraging families aspiring to be part of the expansion of the Petty-Bourgeoisie (Lower Middle Class), to buy disposable products that could simoly be thrown away after one use and replaced by subsequent purchases. This made life easier for busy Petty Bourgeois households to focus on their family, rather than the tedious cleaning tasks they were previously accustomed to.

At the same time, this fueled a massive economic expansion as the Resources and other spoils of America's development into an Imperialist Power poured back into the domestic economy. This created millions of stable, well paying jobs, funded further economic development and infrastructure, and further reinforced America's new status on the global stage as the major dominating Super Power.

Following the crises of the mid-70's and into the Reagan years, the Bourgeois politicians, grown fat after years of economic boom, were all too happy to oblige the further Corporate push towards Consumerism and the single use economy. Policy was used, not to discourage single use products and consequently heavy trash producing economy, but instead the State actively encouraged this evolution.

Movies and media began reflecting the turn towards Consumerism, encouraging a new culture, one of post-modern aloofness, cynicism and sarcasm. A brave new society was being built by cultural elites. They were creating a world where people were expected to be disgusted by the sentimentality and emotion of human interaction. It slowly became culturally taboo to feel deeply for anyone else but oneself. Sentimentality was treated as a sign of weakness, and by extension, someone who could never succeed under the Neoliberal Capitalist order. They'd managed to repackage an old idea (Classical Liberalism or laissez faire Capitalism) into a new ideological framework dominated by free markets, deregulation, global free trade and specialization, consumerism and financialization.

Everywhere you look, society tells you the only things worth investing yourself in are economic success and fame. In other words, public acknowledgement of your economic success, thereby enshrining a kind of reality television mindset into the id of the public. Everything else is just an expression of weakness.

Which brings us to today. A time when society seems to be breaking down. Many people are deeply disatisfied with their lives. Instead of being showered with fame and fortune, most people have had to experience extreme economic uncertainty, disappointment with their career, and an inability to accrue enough money to satisfy their habit of trying to buy their way to happiness. Just as we'd been trained since childhood to do.

Unfortunately, even the mountains of cheap plastic crap overflowing from landfills hasn't exactly left very many people feeling fulfilled.

For most people, this brave new world filled with opportunity and free wheeling human interaction, has turned out to be even more alienating than the 19th Century factories Marx once observed. Except today that alienation extends well beyond the workplace.

Despite spending endless hours a day perusing social media and bragging about ones latest good time, people are more likely than ever before to feel lonely and listless. The cool cynicism encapsulated in so many movies and television characters, has swiftly turned into bitter resentment, loneliness, depression, poverty and addiction.

Where once detachment seemed a hallmark of the successful Capitalist, the ironic optimism people once felt from leaving behind human emotions, particularly emotions such as love, simpathy and empathy, has devolved into a society willing to throw families living in poverty onto the streets, only to arrest them the next day for the crime of being homeless and visible.

Instead of Liberating society from life's ills, Throwaway Culture has led to a society willing to tolerate even the most offensive of injustices, stripping away the humanity for those who's fortunes never rose alongside Neoliberal Capitalism.

Consumerism, as encouraged by the newly reformed ideology of Neoliberalism, manifested itself most obviously in the 90's culture of Post-Modernism. Post-Modernism soon devolved into today's Throwaway Culture. Today, workers tolerate some of the most horrific conditions under Capitalism since the end of the Guilded Age.

A society with a high tolerance for extreme exploitation, oppression and abuse at the hands of both employers and the Bourgeois State was always a critical goal of the ruling elite. The Neoliberal ideology was built on, and driven into the minds of the masses as the tool with which to train the workforce into developing this tolerance, and it has largely succeeded. Workers today are more willing to blame themselves for their economic failures, as opposed to recognizing a system specifically designed to create the illusion of opportunity, while nearly always leading to economic mediocrity at best, and brutal destitution at worst.

That same Neoliberal alienating logic even extends to those around us. When someone loses a job,or can't pay their bills, or goes to jail for minor unpaid fines, we tell ourselves that they must not have worked hard enough. Why should we help these people when they won't help themselves? Yet, when we experience these same conditions for ourselves, instead of waking up to the reality of the inherent inequalities of Capitalism, we are trained to blame ourselves. Every economic failure we live through, no matter how absurd, how unavoidable, we see it as a failure on our part. We must have done something wrong right?

Neoliberal ideology has so infected the public mindset, that we fault ourselves for even the cruelest of outcomes, despite knowing we did everything we could, worked as hard as possible, and still we often suffer severe economic distress despite doing everything right.

It's been drilled into us from the time we are toddlers, that Capitalism offers success to anyone willing to work hard and make good decisions. (Good decisions as determined by Capitalist interests). Yet, even when this idea proves to be false, we blame ourselves rather than question Capitalism.

All of these markers of today's society are a direct result of unfettered Capitalism run amok. The Bourgeoisie and their Bourgeois State have so thoroughly manipulated the public consiousness, that we find ourselves steadfastly clinging to the assumptions of Neoliberal ideology. Capitalism has become indistinguishable in the public consiousness from ideas like "freedom", "democracy" and "the pursuit of happiness".

These buzzwords have served to make the Capitalist System omnipotent in the mind of the public. It has effectively taken the Capitalism out of the arena of politics. No longer is Capitalism something to be debated. It has officially become sacrosanct, scientific fact, and essential to personal freedom.

Taking all these assumptions of Neoliberalism to their logical conclusion brings us to today's cutting edge of Capital expansion and reproduction.

Anything can be a product to be sold on the market, even you and your most personal information, and the market is infallible. So if cruelty is a side effect of Markets, well than cruelty must be acceptable too.

As Marx once said, it's either Socialism or Barbarism. Well, the results are in and Barbarism is now a dominant feature within the frame of this Throwaway Culture and Neoliberal Capitalism.

So when Pope Francis talks about people individually taking responsibility to change their behavior, it's not that he's wrong. But he's purposely avoiding looking at the cause of today's culture. He is, like it or not, part of the elite. And the elite cannot effectively criticise, or criticise at all, other sections of the elite. That's why it has always been up to the Working Class to lead the Proletarian Revolution to Socialism. The Petty-Bourgeois reformers in Organizations such as the DSA cannot be depended on to challenge the basic tenets of Capitalism.

As much as I admire our DSA Comrades for their hard work, they seem incapable of acknowledging the Nature of Capitalism and the Bourgeois State. To understand Capitalism would mean to understand why Reformism and Electoralism within the context of the Bourgeois State can never succeed.

In much the same way, Pope Francis is incapable of confronting the threat Capitalism poses to his own Church. He neglects to see (or just ignores) the way the Church as been deeply intertwined with the fortunes of the Bourgeoisie, depending on wealthy benefactors to pay for the day to day operations of the Church.

Taking individual responsibility is something that must happen after we've cast aside the Bourgeoisie. It's something that must be confronted eventually, but only after we've begun to build a new Revolutionary Socialist society. A Socialist society must be built on empathy, collective success, collective liberation, collective wellbeing and collective responsibility. Only then is it warranted to even mention personal responsibility, which has always been another buzzword for the Capitalist Class.

Throwaway Culture has been so incredibly successful at raising the individual above all else (think the "rugged individualism" of the American ideal pushed upon us all our lives).

This is, of course, a necessary feature of Capitalist domination and exploitation. To control the masses, the Bourgeoisie must divide the masses, and the easiest way of sustaining and normalizing a divided society is by creating a culture centered around the individual while minimizing into insignificance the importance of the collective, the importance of community, and even minimizing the importance of family and friends.

This has been so successful that most human relationships have become so shallow as to be practically meaningless. This of course making it easier to allow Throwaway Culture to move from an attitude towards society generally, into an attitude towards even the most important relationships a person can experience in life.

After all, in order for someone to find it acceptable to throwaway even those closest to her, then her relationships with them must be reduced to simple, meaningless economic transactions between herself and those around her. (think of our holiday "traditions" that always seem to require consuming large amounts of disposable products, overcooking massive meals and giving of gifts. All of which require prolific spending that is treated as a competition)

This is essentially where we've arrived today. All relationships are being reduced to simple and meaningless economic transactions. And after all, as we've been trained to do all our lives, our economic interactions are always disposable.

Pope Francis is right to bring these issues into the fore for the world. The Church, just as Communities and families do, requires a certain degree of importance placed on human relationships. The Church brings people together under one roof on a weekly basis, and must convince them all that this religious Community is at least equal in importance to their economic concerns.

This where the analysis by, and strategies of, Historical Materialists and those employed by the Church for its own survival meet. Generally, throughout the history of Capitalism, the needs of the Bourgeoisie have run parallel with the needs of the Religious elites. But Throwaway Culture, Consumerism, and Neoliberal Capitalism are becoming antithetical to the very survival of the Church.

And I'm not necessarily calling the Pope an Opportunist. For all I know he may truly believe that Throwaway Culture and Neoliberal Capitalism go against the teachings of the Church. Still, we have yet to see either Pope Francis or the Church more generally turn against Capitalist ideology.

If Pope Francis and the Church really wants to challenge the Culture of Consumerism, just like Socialists he must name the enemy of the Collective: Capitalism, Imperialism and the International Bourgeoisie.

Additionally, no amount of idealism, religious or otherwise, will help us to defeat the Reactionary forces of Imperialism. Only a deep Materialist analysis and understanding of how we got here can open the eyes of the masses, and help us to develop the strategies and tactics we will need to defeat Capitalism on an international scale.

We didn't arrive at this point when Throw Away Culture dominates the ideological underpinnings of society overnight. Nor can we expect to sweep generations worth of manipulation, historical lies, and Bourgeois propaganda under the rug.

Opening the eyes of the masses will take time, and unfortunately time isn't on our side. A multitude of crises are converging more quickly than anyone could have predicted. Yet, for those of us living in the heart of the Imperialist world, we are vexed by the least developed Proletariat in nearly two centuries.

How we can develop and educate the Proletariat of the Western world fast enough to avoid complete disaster on a planetery scale? This is something we must organize around and work through.

The time for Academic Marxist papers and years of drawn out debates are over. Climate Change and sea level rise are occuring many times faster than anyone predicted just a couple decades ago. Capital, instead of working to solve this Global problem, is actively making things worse. Meanwhile our Throwaway Culture is corrupting the very souls of the masses. If change must occur quickly to save the planet, then the human race is headed in completely the opposite direction.

We must unite as Workers and begin the hard work of educating and organizing the Proletariat. We have to find a way of uniting and organizing behind a single Vanguard Party, and developing our Praxis without delay.

Capitalism is sucking the very humanity out of us all. Unless we act quickly with an urgency that matches the scale of the problems we face, and unless we put aside our differences and our final visions for the Socialist society to come, instead working together to develop the fledgeling Socialist Movement, than it may soon be too late to change course.

I want to live in a Society that values empathy. A Society that embraces the human condition and our human emotions. Not a culture that ignores the trashing of our planet, embraces greed and detachment, and assumes the consequences of our actions can be solved by idealistic notions of just moving to another planet once we've trashed and exhausted the resources of this one.

A want a world where those living in the Global South aren't starving while Americans throw away tens of thousands of tons of food a day, just to keep the homeless and hungry from getting a free meal out of our trash cans. How disgusting a society are we willing to live with?

And so even though I am motivated by objectively Idealistic notions of Community. I turn to Historical Materialism to understand how we got here, and how we may fix it.

Socialism offers the only way out.

I'm not so naive as to think simply appealing to our humanity is going to change anything. Even if suddenly the great masses of workers agreed with those appeals tomorrow, we would still be at the mercy of Capitalist exploitation, oppression and a Bourgeoisie ready and willing to use any destructive and violent means to enforce it's will. A simple look at the Middle East shows Imperialism is alive and well, and what it looks like when Western Bourgeois interests are threatened.

A strategy and set of tactics must be developed. Theory is only as good as the praxis it's used for. We must also provide for the development, education, and organization of the Working Class.

Lastly, we must be ready for massive resistance by the Bourgeoisie. They will almost certainly react with violence to any major challenges to their power and the system they've spent more than three centuries building. Potentially a violent Revolution and even civil war on a massive scale must be prepared for. Socialists cannot expect to passively win this war. One look back on Proletarian Revolutionary History should tell us all we need to know about what we must be ready for.

But NEVER forget Comrades, there's many many times more of us than their are of them! We will win the Revolution to come!

Solidarity Comrades

Workers of the world unite!