Hey listen. A bunch of people will now try to convince the public that the killing of Brian Thompson was ethically wrong. They will try to use the same old tired arguments: that murder is always wrong, that we should stand against political violence in all forms, that CEOs are people too, etc.
Now, you probably won’t fall for all that bullshit, but a lot of people might. Here is what you need to tell them in return - it’s not guaranteed to change their minds, but every time you offer someone a chance to accept the truth you’re making it ever so more likely to take it.
In philosophy, the idea that people should never do certain “bad” things (e.g. killing) is called deontology. The thing is, unlike utilitarianism (which states people should choose actions that create the most wellbeing in society), deontology is inherently flawed as a morality system.
See, only through deontology can people end up finding themselves having to choose outcomes that will lead to more suffering in the world; think, the trolley problem. Now, ask yourself, what kind of morality system expects its followers to selfishly pick the choice that ensures their own moral purity, even if it dooms the wellbeing of possibly hundreds or millions of others?
Understanding this, you might ask yourself: who benefits from having deontology be the crux of understanding morality for so many people? Who benefits uplifting rules like the Ten Commandments as the ultimate guideline to ethics, as opposed to what it was in the original context of it’s religion - a simple list of base laws meant to instruct a small group of escaped slaves several thousand years ago?
The answer is twofold. First, there are the authoritarians, who wish to instill obedience by making people believe that breaking their rules, no matter how justified, is wrong. Secondly, there are the bystanders, who watch nervously as the world crumbles around them, but excuse their inaction by latching onto a false belief that they are still somehow better than the people who are doing something about it in a way they find aesthetically displeasing.
Therefore, it is imperative to look at the world through a utilitarian perspective, and judge every incident like so. Brian Thompson is part of a very exclusive club; he had wronged so many people so severely that the suffering caused to him and his loved ones by his murder is still innumerably outmatched by the joy his unlikely retribution will give the literal millions of people he’s wronged.
Remember, by similar logic it is still very unethical to kill 98% of people, so think of all the choices Thompson had to make to put himself in the top 0.1% of the 2% of people who’s murders can be justified. In a better society, a society that prevents and punishes exploitation, it would be hard to even conceive of a murder that could ever be so righteous.
In fact, in a society that uses classism and bigotry to block people from achieving their fullest potential through non-violent means, we must celebrate those who risk their lives and legal rights to push humanity forward, bringing to justice the true criminals of decency.
Now that more states have been roped in to the investigation, I want a full accounting of the intra/interstate resources expended. I want to know right down to the last goddamn penny how much more tax payer wealth is being used on this one guy as opposed to any other person that is killed in America everyday.
a friend of mine and i were having a kiki about the state of the world as one would, and we literally could NOT stop laughing (because at this point, what else can you do?) but i mean PLEASE you cannOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP:
the whole bit with the healthcare insurance CEO.
shooter man is not just immediately beloved by the masses.
he’s also insultingly good looking and he’s so the drama that he CARVED. WORDS. on the bullets.
he gave everyone a motto to rally behind. i have never seen the U.S. this united over anything ever.
he’s literally just a girl. a girl in a 2010s dystopia.
it’s giving katniss everdeen with a gun.
theN THE WHOLe thING WITH FRANCE HAPPENS??!?
like their government collapsing????
like the extreme right AND the extreme left banded together somehow to give the parliament the middle finger????? because macron wanted to dissolve the parliment and call for snap elections?? i honestly don’t even know what’s going on over there and at this point i’m too afraid to ask.
AND THEN KOREA SPEEDRUNNING THROUGH A COUP, A DICTATORSHIP, AND OVERTHROWING SAID DICTATORSHIP IN THE SPAN OF THREE HOURS???
and my friend and i were like ‘a big week for the international relations girlies’ 'and didn’t sabrina carpenter get cheated on? why are men. 💀’ 'wait, aren’t there like, BTS members IN the Korean army right now???
you know what’s funny about the all the supportive internet commentary re: the murdered health insurance exec? it’s weirdly reminiscent of that scene in A Christmas Carol where the ghost of Christmas future shows Scrooge all those people who are bad-mouthing him after his death
Well, unfortunately, he was reckless and didn’t prepare ahead of time, so he failed to meet the requirements that prove he actually NEEDS access to quality grief and mourning.
His limited plan only covered brief consideration as a passing thought, so unfortunately, he had to pay for his own consequences out of pocket. 🤷🏽♀️🫤🤷🏽♀️
I can’t stop thinking about the uhc shooter and what a wild experience he must be having right now. Idk how much you can look at the news or scroll the internet while on the run for murder, but man. Imagine. You spend who knows how long planning a brazen public assassination, cleanly pop a dude in the middle of one of the busiest downtowns in the world, bike away fueled by nothing but the thrill of vengeance and some Starbucks, and spark one of the largest manhunts in recent history. And when you finally go online to see what you’ve wrought, the entire world is laugh reacting NYT headlines and has collectively decided that you’re off the hook this time, king.
Then pictures of your face get released 24 hours later and everyone is like actually this guy did nothing wrong AND he’s hot.
NYPD are like uuuuh we still haven’t found the killer but we did find footage of a different, equally mysterious man with rogueish charisma and a dazzling smile. If that helps
Personally, I think the best way to burn the Gävle goat would be to infiltrate the security team, play the long game y'know. Join the team and keep the goat safe for 3 or 4 years, maybe even 10 years, make them trust you, maybe marry a fellow security person. Then, when they least expect it, whoosh up goes the goat, your beloved is the first on the scene, you see the devastation in their eyes as they ask ‘why? Was it all a con?’ And you will sweep your beloved off their feet and dip them in front of the blazing goat as the head crumbles into itself sending up a column of dramatic flames. And you will declare your love for two things: arson, and them. And then you sloppy kiss and run away from the law together.
Eighteen years later, a young person who looks suspiciously like the both of you joins the security team…
its funny that a lot of conservative cultural sticking points right now are just slightly more advanced versions of what they believed as somewhat dull children, like “teachers are evil actually” and “vegetables are poison”
a lot of people are bringing up vaccination which is sooo real lol. they hated needles as a kid, adult figure told them they need to get a shot, etc. developed a fear of it that they never dealt with emotionally cuz they never learned to do so, found an online outlet that says needles arent just scary but make your kids autistic, bullseye
i always like when people joke abt lamb talking to chat and i also think its great when narinder, aym and baal are watching through the crown so i combined them
lamb needs to get some disciples just to give them mod privileges
i always like when people joke abt lamb talking to chat and i also think its great when narinder, aym and baal are watching through the crown so i combined them
lamb needs to get some disciples just to give them mod privileges
Been working in pest control for 3 months now and i can confidently say that nobody on earth seems to understand that sometimes You Will See A Bugs and that’s Normal if you live literally anywhere with oxygen
Unfortunately it appears you have a garden that is growing several important pollinator food sources you will be seeing wasps sometimes. You want us to spray your flowers? That’ll stop the wasps but only because your flowers will be Dead
I just think everyone would benefit from living in the woods for a week and having their bug tolerance forcibly increased by being forced to share a showerstall with a wolf spider the size of a half dollar everyday
(Life hack: if you consistently put out safe water sources for bees, the wasps will see you and they WILL eventually recognize you. And once you become The Bringer Of Water, they will become your own little goon squad. I used to get stung if I startled them by my compost bin, but now I have banged doors open just to realize a wasp was chilling right on the lintel, but all it does is wave its antennae at me. They see me carrying watering cans to my flowers and follow me. When I go to other places, the wasps there will also be friendly. Wasps are fucking amazing yall.)
I really hate how culture normalizes fear of bugs and reinforces and fuels insect phobias until they make it impossible to coexist with nature
I would never dismiss someone’s phobia. I know what kind of hell on earth that shit is. And I don’t mock people for being scared of wasps or bees because some people have allergies that can kill them and it’s kinda dumb to be rude to someone who is afraid of something that might kill them. But it’s done people such a disservice that culture tells people it’s reasonable to be afraid of all bugs and that most bugs will hurt you or your house or your pets.
I see so many comments and tags on posts about nature saying things like “I would love to spend time outside but I can’t handle being around bugs” as if it’s normal! If you can’t sit on grass or go on a hike because of your fear of bugs, that’s like…clinically significant highly disabling stuff. It’s locking you away from so many experiences.
Fears like this often get reinforced by witnessing other people’s responses to a stimulus. We are social creatures and if you watch the people around you show disgust and fear in response to bugs, you will learn to respond that way too. If you hear on the internet and TV and elsewhere that most bugs are dangerous and want to hurt you or will give you diseases, it will be reinforced even more.
The fact is, bugs are just guys. We depend on them for almost every part of our lives. Our planet is teeming with so many wondrous life forms, and many of them are insects. They come in every color and every form of iridescence, they glow and sparkle and they are fuzzy and striped and spotted. They are not “gross” or dirty.
Insects worldwide are now dropping in number, and it could mean disaster for us and every life form on earth. Most flowering plants (80% or so) have a symbiotic partnership with insects where they are dependent on insect pollination to fertilize their flowers. Wasps, bees, flies, butterflies, and even ants and beetles are all important pollinators, and each plant’s flowers are designed to be pollinated by a different group of insects. Without these insects, the majority of flowering plant species would not be able to exist. They would go extinct. That includes most of the plants we eat. No wasps, bees, flies and other pollinators= no apples, no berries, no peaches, no plums, no anything. That’s a simplified summary but it expresses just how important they are.
A big reason for it is the use of insecticides that are highly toxic to a wide variety of non-target insects. For instance, carbaryl, typically known as Sevin in the US, was for a long time sold in every garden center in a powdery dust form, to put on garden plants that had holes in their leaves.
Carbaryl dust is incredibly toxic to bees and can be picked up by them in the same way as pollen, and in that way it can be carried back to the hive and kill the whole hive.
Many of these insecticides are also highly dangerous to humans, and using them in and around your home exposes you to poisonous and/or potentially cancer-causing substances. The residues of these insecticides linger basically forever inside homes. There have been studies done that found insecticides that have been banned for a long time still lingering in people’s carpets and floors.
So it’s not good that so many people are terrified of insects. And the best antidote is to learn. Learn about bugs and their diversity and unique beauty and intelligence. If videos are no good, look at books with pictures; if you don’t want to look at pictures, books without pictures or podcasts might help. Maybe start with bugs that seem less frightening and move on to learning about others from there.
Learn about their ways and behaviors and how they are similar to animals you are more familiar with, such as birds or cats. Learn the ways in which they are similar to you—you will find that you share many important qualities, like “enjoy fruit” and “would defend friends and family.” Join bug identification groups online. Learn from people who keep bugs as pets.
It is so, so rewarding and important.
i saw a post the other day about treating spiders in your apartment like employees. like yeah, that spider over there is steven, hes the in-home exterminator. best not to destroy his hard work or else who’s gonna keep control of the ants? bees, even. betty stopping by your garden for some pollen so she can make honey for her hive. leave her alone she’ll be on her way soon.
personify them, and realize they’re just trying to exist like everyone else. the main reason any insect would act aggressive toward you is out of fear. like, imagine if you finally found a place to rest and some giant flesh creature decided to forcibly evict you. that would be terrifying.
I’ve stopped being afraid of the kind of wasps around my house now that I know they are hardworking single moms and don’t want to mess with me any more than I want to mess with them.
it’s so important for your health to regularly interact with people at least a decade older than you who aren’t family, especially as a young person.
When my 45 year old teammate gives me advice on mental health and I know she understands because she’s had a tough adult life.
When my 32 year old friend tells me his life started improving for the first time the year she turned 30.
When the 60 year old man at the soup kitchen gives me permission to grieve by telling me I’m ‘just a baby’ with only gentleness in his voice.
It’s so much easier to abandon and break out from the cultural idealisation of youth when you surround yourself with wonderful people in all stages of their lives.
You know what really fucking Annoys Me about internet censorship is stuff like swear words being heavily censored because that’s entirely an American cultural hangup being forced on the rest of us. I don’t know a single country where swearing is as taboo as it is in America. In fact most languages have swear words that would have the same effect on an American as giving a Victorian chimney sweep a pepsi max cherry.
Demonitizing Irish people’s videos for having swear words in them is a kind of hate crime and psychological torture I think.
I MADE THIS DAAAAYS AGO BUT I FOR SOME REASON DIDN’T POST IT, I GET REALLY NERVOUS WHEN DRAWING OTHER PEOPLE’S CHARACTERS CAUSE I DON’T WANT TO MESS THEM UP. I thought it was really wholesome that a BUNCH of people wanted to save this fictional character from impending doom and it made me want to do a funny alternate ending of the angst comic where kallamar is saved through the power of random tumblr asks.
So, hug on the left is provided by @lemonlamblaura , hug on the right is provided by @honeydewsparkle and GIANT leshy cuddles provided by @icygrass. There were SO many responses in the comments that aren’t in here but honestly it was kind of healing seeing all these asks like SOMEBODY SAVE KALLAMAR!!!!
😭😭😭 mama calling them all in and then going to find the one that fell behind and then another baby panicking and screaming because she can’t see mommy and mama calling her and the baby rushing over with obvious enormous relief oh god I am CRYING
I want an entire streaming service of nothing but this!
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