disease-danger-darkness-silence:

thebreakfastgenie:

estra-die-ol:

thebreakfastgenie:

thebreakfastgenie:

At least two major artists (Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan) making a point to vocally support trans people the Grammys is a big deal in this political climate.

Also I think it’s worth highlighting that they are both cis women, because bigots want us to believe cis women and trans women/trans people are at odds with each other.

Lady Gaga has ALWAYS been like this and ALWAYS been in our corner.

She used to be slandered as a trans woman tricking the public back when she debuted, and her response was literally “and so what if I was? Would it be so terrible?”, rather than the expected “no I’m not but I support them!” or honestly the more normal for the time “I’m not a freak, Ew.”.

This was at her debut, btw, so when her star power was at its weakest. And she still stood by us completely unflinchingly.

Lady Gaga has ALWAYS been like this. I fuckin love her.

Yes thank you for bringing this up!!!

I would also like to point out a few things.

Both women are queer. Lady Gaga has stated that she’s bisexual numerous times, and Chappell Roan is an open lesbian.

Lady Gaga has toyed with gender in the past. Both with a male persona (featured in the “You & I” video) and by asking a person how they identified (in 2011!) and then saying that she “probably” identified as a woman more than the person she was talking to. Chappell Roan often toys with gender presentation.

Chappell Roan has identified as a lesbian for a long time, but a lot of her early work features men. She thought she was bi and realized she wasn’t.

These women aren’t just allies to Trans people - they’re a part of our community (LGBTQIA+) and they’re doing the work even though no one would blame them for choosing to protect themselves. It’s a scary time and femme queer people are at a heightened risk for violence, but they’ve chosen to take a public stance, because it’s the right thing to do.

Can we remember that when the dust settles? Please?

moniquill:

underwhelmedandoverstimulated:

ask-greenknightmonkie-au:

cobbleztone:

makkon:

asmeesh:

Your daily reminder

it’s official, genAI is now called PISS

I legit took a screenshot of this post to send to my cousin, forgetting that she is on tumblr.

@journeytothegirlkissing

We should hate AI because it’s taking jobs, not because it’s “taking art.”

Yes, it is studying the art without permission, but the thing is, uhh…

We do that too, as human artists.

My style is a jumbled up version of a lot of styles, inspired by cartoon shows (specifically some 2010s cartoon network cartoons) and anime, as well as Lavendertowne’s style and many other artists I see on the internet. This argument is brushed off because it’s literally just the “art style theft” thing all over again.

The problem with AI is that it’s being used to replace real artists in the workforce and that AI generated “works” tend to be soulless.

[Sorry if this sounded mean, I’m open to debates but not arguments.]

Anyway, sorry for that to my followers chapter 13 will be out soon

God I wish the internet could be capable of having this conversation instead. Like, AI isn’t the problem; end-stage capitalism is.

And the things about AI being soulless is really kinda temporary. Like, current diffusionAI isn’t even made to make art. (And this is a personal beef I have with them.)

They are an image recognition algorithm run in reverse. Functionally, it’s more like the AI is “outputting to the screen what it pictures in its ‘mind’ when you tell it specific words.” (Do forgive the personifying language, it’s kinda hard to talk about processes that (try to) mirror those of the brain without it.)

I think that (other than just flat out making a general AI that has the capacity for the mental complexity required for “true artistic creativity.”) the next step is to make an AI (or separate AI that then work together) that draws actual lines like they are actually drawing, rather than manipulating pixel values to “pull an image out of the static”, and second: train it on (how to phrase this) the fundamentals and rules of art.

(It would obviously need the ability to break those rules eventually, as “knowing when and how to break the rules in ways that work” is generally considered a good measure of “artistic talent” at least at the technical level.)

zegalba:

Mozu: 名古屋展 (2021)

underwhelmedandoverstimulated:

ordinarymaine:

“windows 11 upgrade ready!” “your computer is eligible for windows 11!” “download windows 11 now!”

“This PC doesn’t currently meet the minimum system requirements to run Windows 11”

ceephorsshitshow:

thememedaddy:

That’s a red mage Shiva weapon

kompaktcat:

catasters:

Me irl.

ur-daily-inspiration:

bongjoonheaux:

Idk why I find it so funny seeing people in mascot costumes sprint and fall

valtsv:

valtsv:

they’re not natural but those underground tunnels full of pipes and wires beneath cities are a type of biome to me

ALT

ALT

like these are literally some kind of environment. some kind of habitat even.

aqueerkettleofish:

queenelvendork:

animentality:

Via @achaziel

Also, that tweet is from Jan 21, 2025. So it wasn’t just… random.

tygerbug:

bogleech:

jame7t:

The fact that Tesla autopilots abort self driving 1 second before a crash so the company can state “self driving wasn’t active during the collision” should be grounds to dismantle the entire company.

Like, seriously, if you’re making 4000 pound death machines, and you program this shit to work on a technicality? Your company should be dismantled. Gone. No recourse. Just terrible shit dude

Yeah what

tygerbug:

bogleech:

jame7t:

The fact that Tesla autopilots abort self driving 1 second before a crash so the company can state “self driving wasn’t active during the collision” should be grounds to dismantle the entire company.

Like, seriously, if you’re making 4000 pound death machines, and you program this shit to work on a technicality? Your company should be dismantled. Gone. No recourse. Just terrible shit dude

Yeah what

fieldlands:

i feel like it’s absolutely crucial in the social justice world to take “he a little confused but he got the spirit” and similar sentiments/situations as a Win. intent is so much more important than saying it right the first time! if someone is approaching with scuffed language and incorrect terms but they’re visibly being as polite as they know how, that person is a friend and should be treated better than what their words might invite in someone else’s mouth.

vanglussy:

beardedmrbean:

I don’t think they’re supposed to do that

Sometimes I’m reminded how thin the line between reality and fantasy bullshit is with stuff like this. An infernal machine that makes instant death spaghetti would be a crazy ass addition in a fantasy setting, but naw, apparently we have hundreds of these motherfuckers in every developed/developing nation.

sandmandaddy69:

underwhelmedandoverstimulated:

creepymutelilbugger:

shadowblade8192:

creepymutelilbugger:

vexwerewolf:

theweirdwideweb:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more convincing argument for abortion than this

I am jail dot com

Fuck You

Jael

teaboot:

marlinspirkhall:

nico-the-overlord:

violetthunderstorm:

whyamiherewhosummonedme:

carby:

eclecticopposition:

what is THE worst thing you’ve ever drank. all liquids acceptable. please tell me what it was, bonus points for why

Hey whoa hi. Hello. I am looking directly into your ear canal. What do you mean you drank a tube of virus concentrate.

So, I was working in a lab, right? My job in the lab was preparing a pure, concentrated enough sample of virus. This is tricky since, y'know, viruses require hosts to replicate, but you then need to get the host cells (and the pieces of the host cells that died!) out of the sample while still keeping the viruses. Once I’d finished and the samples had been sent to the database for analysis as well as a second one sent to be frozen for future reference, there was still some left over that needed to be disposed of.

I, knowing that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, waited carefully for the lab director to be deep in conversation with someone else on the other side of the laboratory. And then I took my chance.

Test tubes, as it turns out, are really bad as shot glasses. Their shape turns any liquid inside into a stream, so you really can’t knock it back quickly - it takes a couple seconds. Additionally, the best way I can describe the taste of virus concentrate was “sterile rot”. A very unique kind of bad! Made worse by the test tube’s inefficiency as a shot glass.

(by the way we were studying bacteriophages, not animal viruses. these viruses are too specialized on attacking prokaryotes to even recognize our cells as targets at all, according to studies.)

(but also like. if the viruses managed to successfully switch hosts and killed me with a violent infection, itd still be worth it.)

(for science.)

You have a fitting blog title

this post is getting 50k easy

ALT

This WOULD be how humanity would go out though tbh

typhlonectes:

“Elk Centaur” by Francois Lelong

Stevens Point Sculpture Park, Wisconsin, USA

fifty-fired-fay:

transhuman-priestess:

transhuman-priestess:

You can get mad and send me hate mail all you want about me defending trans men and supporting solidarity between trans fems and trans mascs, but in 10 years you’re going to be shrugging off the stance you had when it falls out of favor and I’m still going to be right about this. Same as when it was “bi passing privilege”, same as when it was about “cishet aces”, same as it was when it was transmedicalism, and same as it was the last time we went thru this discourse.

Also, to really lay all my cards on the table, I was on the other side of this last time. I was one of those girls talking about how trans men “have it easier” and I was demonstrably wrong.

It’s okay to admit you’re wrong and to do better.

There’s fascists bashing down the door, trying to take our rights away. Yet we’re still doing the “you’re not the right type of queer” stuff.

Division is what they want! Don’t make their jobs easier!

underwhelmedandoverstimulated:

aquar-io:

meshugenist:

i don’t really actually agree that straight t4t is a participation in hegemonic heterosexuality like relationships including trans ppl are very rarely actually capable of being considered normative in a wider societal context regardless of their participants. that being said, the “transfems and transmascs should be fucking not fighting” shtik is still straightforwardly an expression of heterosexual rape culture

anyone who is talking critically about ANY t4t relationship being “straight” (aside from the couples who think its funny and embrace the label), has never been in one.

as someone who was a boy, and dated girls for a while, vs. someone who is a girl, who has dated tboys, THEY AINT EVEN SORT OF SIMILAR. NOT EVEN CLOSE

Make love not war is rape now

vivid-bun:

A reminder to the “the American government wouldn’t…” crowd. They have. They have made their own internment camps before. They have rounded up innocent citizens and immigrants before. The victims of which are still alive to this day and trying to share their stories with the world, they have been trying to warn us for a long time.

George Takei (as seen above) is a famous example of this. He has written about his experiences time and time again, even publishing a book talking about his time in these camps. He may be famous now, but at the time he was just another kid forced from his home. To this day he still firmly dedicates himself to trying to educate and inform people, trying to spread awareness with his platform.

The American Government can and will do terrible things. Do not let anyone convince you otherwise.

sodamnrelatable:

but it was NOT YOUR FAULT BUT MINE

and it was YOUR HEART ON THE LINE

i really FUCKED IT UP THIS TIME

didn’t I MY DEAR

didn’t I my -

itssquidbian:

itssquidbian:

itssquidbian:

girls who look like boys my beloved

boys who look like girls my beloved

cutie-chimera:

ana-less-than-three:

cutie-chimera:

johnwaynegayscene:

It literally strikes me dumb how completely disconnected people are, especially family members.

I made a comment to my sister about how my rights and Healthcare are being stolen from me and she looks me dead in the eye and says “Well you can still be you”

What in the literal fuck amiright?

Anyway… sorry your fam doesn’t get it either sis <3

That same conversation has happened *multiple times* too!

It’s ludicrous

I’ve never actually gone and said “I don’t want to get murdered or locked up”

I think they’d think I was over reacting and would say “that’s not gonna happen,” which would upset me even more

I’ve said it, got exactly that response.

It’s always the victims who are overreacting. Then it is “who could have seen this coming”

creatorbiaze:

darklight-owl:

mindflamer:

original by clairetablizo

@sepiamestus is this how it’s supposed to be done

oh. oh dear.

uhm. yeah that.. that explains it.

josephspussaaaaaaaay:

i learn new things everyday the world is amazing

jeanjauthor:

magicratfingers:

portraitoftheoddity:

darthvadersfemcelsithapprentice:

Real

Once knew a guy from LARP who told a story about when he had first gotten his hands on chainmail and was getting used to wearing it and maintaining mobility and balance with the weight of it (it was heavy stuff). So he started wearing it under his clothes when he was out running errands and stuff to practice for when he had to wear it in mock combat.

Then one night he was coming home late and got mugged by a dude with a knife.

Apparently the look on the dude’s face was amazing when he went in to gut the guy for his wallet and found out he was wearing medieval armor under his hoodie.

So, you know. Pretty good argument for wearing it under streetclothes!

so maybe my type isn’t totally unrealistic

Fun story, i talked to two people who worked at a convenience store in the Kingdom of An Tir (SCA medieval society, An Tir’s territory is WA, BC, northern ID, and OR, and in the past included AB and SK).

This convenience store was notorious for getting robbed in the evenings one or two times a month, so nobody wanted to work the night shift. The one fellow, he desperately needed a job, but he was also learning how to be a heavy fighter (sword & shield) in the SCA, so he had just finished a chainmail shirt, and asked if he could wear it under his uniform shirt, so long as it didn’t show. The manager was just happy that he had someone willing to work nights, and said yeah, sure, so long as it doesn’t show.

Guy starts working the night shifts, things are fine, he’s getting used to everything, then late one night, a guy in a hoodie comes in, and asks for a pack of cigarettes. Our guy turns to get the pack, and feels a thump on his back. Turning around, scowling, he demands, “Did you just hit me??”

Guy in the hoodie widens his eyes, goes ash-gray, and faints. Clerk can’t budge from behind the counter in case this is an attempt to distract and rob. But the guy remains out coold. Confused, our clerk calls the emergency services. EMTs come along and start checking out the patient, who is still out cold on the floor. While they’re doing that, one of them comes up to the counter and asks what happened, exactly.

Our man tells the EMT, “Well, he just came in, looked around, came up to the counter and asked for a specific pack of cigarettes, so I turned to get them–”

And he demonstrates by turning his back to the EMT, who suddenly starts shouting, “–Sir! Sir! Are you okay? Don’t move!”

Our man feels the EMT groping his upper back, and then the EMT asks,

“What the hell are you WEARING?”

“A chainmail shirt. I have to get used to the weight of it, so I wear it a lot. Why? Is something wrong?”

“You have a KNIFE in your back!”

“Uhh…no, I don’t? I mean, I don’t feel hurt? He only, like, punched me or something. There’s no knife back there–I mean, I’d KNOW if there was a knife back there, right?”

EMT grabs the knife and pushes on his shoulder, yanking it out. “THIS knife! I’m going to need to examine your back!”

So they manage to get him out of his uniform shirt and out of the hauberk and out of the linen shirt under it (because chainmail bites suck, plus it’s not nearly as fun as a Brazilian waxjob, because my SCA friend was hairy)…and it turns out he only had a very small scratch from the tip of the knife…which had gotten lodged in the riveted links.

…That was why the guy fainted. He’d stabbed the store clerk, who had turned around angrily, knife still lodged in his back.

Manager was so happy to have hired the guy, as that was the first time in like eight or nine months that the store hadn’t been successfully robbed.

catboybiologist:

theconcealedweapon:

ALWAYS get everything in writing

the-wannabe-hero:

aqwult:

deepest desires:

• smoke that’s good for your lungs
• comfortable tight clothes

May I pridefully add;

• Mid-day nap that doesn’t make you wake up feeling like you’ve died underneath the heaviest rock in the deepest pit of hell and have now been revieved against your will

skulki-d:

o-kurwa:

I don’t say this often, but the French really know what they’re doing with this one.

yuritrash14:

onlytiktoks:

fiendy:

>Jade: Poke water.

fantaboy91:

sandmandaddy69:

kaispeakshermind:

luccorvus:

sillymarillion-comics:

solepunk:

tiwaztyrsfist:

barduils:

gayarsonist:

it fucks me up that tolkien only died in 1973. dude has the vibe of a victorian scholar who wrote all his manuscripts by candlelight but then you look him up and realise that he knew what color tv was. what the fuck.

Tolkien had personal beef with the Beatles

He actively encouraged Led Zeppelin to write songs based on the LOTR series and considered it an honor

When the current queen of Denmark was young, she made illustrations for his books and sent them to him under a pseudonym. He liked them and they were printed in the Danish version of the book.

WHAT

memorycycle:

cottoncandylesbo:

women.

clap for women

vamprisms:

vamprisms:

i feel like a lot of the ‘i hate kids’ crowd would be more tolerant if they understood that due to a kid’s limited experience of the world that 4 hour flight might just be the longest they’ve ever had to sit still for or that trapped finger might literally be the most pain they’ve ever felt in their short life or they might not have ever seen a person with pink hair ever so of course they want to touch it or nobody’s told them yet that they can’t run around the museum and they only just learned cheetahs are the fastest animals so of course they want to put that to the test. how were they supposed to know etc etc.

some of you in the notes.. i would say read the room but you didn’t even read. the post

gynoidgearhead:

anarchblr:

probablyasocialecologist:

serenata-your-neighborhood-lefty:

“Shouldn’t the man who invented the iPhone own his own creation?”

An explanation by anti-capitalist brad pitt.

“Mazzucato lists twelve crucial technologies that make smartphones “smart”: (1) microprocessors;(2) memory chips; (3) solid state hard drives; (4) liquid crystal displays; (5) lithium-based batteries;(6) fast Fourier transform algorithms; (7) the internet; (8) HTTP and HTML protocols; (9) cellular networks; (10) Global Positioning Systems (GPS); (11) touchscreens; and (12) voice recognition. Every last one was supported by the public sector at key stages of development.”

Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski, The People’s Republic of Walmart

“A critical history of technology would show how little any of the inventions [..] are the work of a single individual.”

–Karl Marx, Capital

[Video caption for original post: screenshot of a comment that reads “So you’re saying the man who created the iPhone and made the whole thing possible, shouldn’t own his creation?”

The response by Cody Taffet (@thetranscending) on TikTok, spoken, is as follows.]

I’m not trying to ridicule anybody; I think life is hard enough as it is. But I really want to use this comment as a reference, because this type of ‘great man’ sort of Ayn-Randian idea is really pervasive and insidious.

Y'all - “a man” did not “invent” the iPhone, okay? Smartphone technology is the result of teams of people working together over many decades: liquid crystal technology; transistor technology… all of these technologies that we associate with capitalism and innovation - they were developed in the public sector, mainly by underpaid and overworked researchers funded by public grants.

Lots of these cool technologies that we enjoy are just the result of human beings working together and making cool shit - not “great” ingenious white men who, like, then deserve all the money, or something. So yeah, food for thought.

[End caption.]

juney-blues:

juney-blues:

let’s hear it for the people who have been denied autonomy so long they are now incapable of exercising it. do any beautiful women want to literally own me like a dog.

it turns out if you spend your entire childhood shepherded from one task to another by adults, then you’ll be entirely lost once they stop doing that one day, and making online purchases will fill you with a dread usually felt only by soldiers in trench warfare

arobotmadeforjerkinu:

deanky:

big-boss-official:

*character has cybernetic hand*

me: hehe…. so do they. you know. do…. what do they.. do they use it…. ohh… do they… is it…….. do you think they…. hehe…. well, uh….. hehe…. so.. so.. so when they………… when they…. uh…. heh…… when they, uh…. when they……….. sometimes, do they……. with their…… with their robotic hand, do they.. use it to…. to…. ahehehe… do OH god do they fucking…. have they tried…… maybe….. have they tried, y’know…. you know……… have they, like…. uh…………. like, have they……………….. have they…………………………. well………………………………………………………………… you know…………………………………. have they used it to……………………………………………………………. you know…………………..

@arobotmadeforjerkinu

I had never considered this as a possibility. I always thought the machine had to be a separate entity, solely built for jerking. You’ve given me something significant to think about here, thank you.

swagforbirds:

swagforbirds:

stop calling me “my fragile little flower” or “my beautiful delicate pet” im literally going for a glass cannon build. i can one shot most adults

no . wait . come back im sorry. im your fragile little flower and there is a scary man charging up a beam to turn my beautiful fragile petals into ash

feuervogel:

roach-works:

darthflake:

daitoshi:

a-gremlin-for-my-thoughts:

mercuryfountain-deactivated2024:

The pastoralist fantasy of “modern life is too stressful so I should move to a remote area and do hard labor” is so funny

I have a theory about that.

I think that what people want, when they talk about a pastoralist fantasy is actually an anti-capitalistic fantasy: i noticed, even from my experience, that most people don’t mind phisical labour if it gives them results: actual, tangible, results.

Once my boss asked me to copy every article from a website and paste them in the new one. It took me roughly four hours for three days to do and my soul was slowly leaving my body. It was easy work, i mean who wouldnt want to earn money to just click here and click there, rinse and repeat? But it was boring, ripetitive and basically useless.

But when I take some time and clean my house, i sweat, i am tired but… satisfied. I see in front of me the result of my hard labour and I am happy, or at least i don’t think i wasted my time.

So the fantasy of working hard but at least getting something out of it is appealing: why do people work in kitchens? Or bakeries and wake up at dawn to make bread? Or any hard job like that? I knew a guy that had the possibility of having every job he wanted, but he opened a bar and couldnt be happier.

This is my idea, i’m not a student in sociology or anything but I hope i made a point.

I have two degrees, and my previous job was the marketing department head for an international biotech company. I was well-paid, but dreaded work every morning. The endless cycle of low-grade manipulation and feeling like “making money for someone else to pocket, HELPING no one else” felt miserable.

I left and now work at a garden center. I haul around plants and educate people about them, so they can make informed choices. I help people, and seeing the plants grow under my care is wonderful. My soul is flourishing, my heart is at peace. My coworkers are all honest (as far as I can tell), and there’s no push for upselling or pushing people to buy stuff if it’s not very suited for their landscape.

Even if my wallet is a lot lighter these days, so too are my worries!

I worked IT in a city and fuck. People try to controll your every second. Faster! More efficient! You took a second too long to type that. You drove 56 kmh but could have gone 58 without getting caught. I messaged you a minute ago but you didn’t reply so I walked to your cubicle to ask you. Also let’s have an efficiency meeting. You are too slow. That’s your feedback. How long will that task take? Can we somehow shorten that?

And all for what? To manipulate the user to buy product. Not to improve the website mind you. Whenever I suggested: hey, our website is not useable for the visually impaired/people with motor problems. I got back an: we don’t care they’re too small of a market value

So can you really blame me for fantasizing about a life where I can just plant flowers and vegetables and walk everywhere without the need of manipulating people and mikromanage my every second

my current job is managing a plasma cutting machine, so i have to spend a lot of time dragging big chunks of iron on and off conveyor belts and i end up sore and filthy at the end of every shift, and usually a bit scratched up.

but it’s third shift and there’s no supervision whatsoever, so while the machine is running, i can type on my phone. i’ve written most of a novel so far with my thumbs, covered in grease and iron dust. and i also produced a lot of construction materials for bridges, dams, warehouses, and skyscrapers.

i really like my job.

This is Marx’s theory of alienation.

When people are removed from the tangible results of their labor, they become distressed and dissatisfied - and this is the result of capitalist profit-focused processes.

feuervogel:

roach-works:

darthflake:

daitoshi:

a-gremlin-for-my-thoughts:

mercuryfountain-deactivated2024:

The pastoralist fantasy of “modern life is too stressful so I should move to a remote area and do hard labor” is so funny

I have a theory about that.

I think that what people want, when they talk about a pastoralist fantasy is actually an anti-capitalistic fantasy: i noticed, even from my experience, that most people don’t mind phisical labour if it gives them results: actual, tangible, results.

Once my boss asked me to copy every article from a website and paste them in the new one. It took me roughly four hours for three days to do and my soul was slowly leaving my body. It was easy work, i mean who wouldnt want to earn money to just click here and click there, rinse and repeat? But it was boring, ripetitive and basically useless.

But when I take some time and clean my house, i sweat, i am tired but… satisfied. I see in front of me the result of my hard labour and I am happy, or at least i don’t think i wasted my time.

So the fantasy of working hard but at least getting something out of it is appealing: why do people work in kitchens? Or bakeries and wake up at dawn to make bread? Or any hard job like that? I knew a guy that had the possibility of having every job he wanted, but he opened a bar and couldnt be happier.

This is my idea, i’m not a student in sociology or anything but I hope i made a point.

I have two degrees, and my previous job was the marketing department head for an international biotech company. I was well-paid, but dreaded work every morning. The endless cycle of low-grade manipulation and feeling like “making money for someone else to pocket, HELPING no one else” felt miserable.

I left and now work at a garden center. I haul around plants and educate people about them, so they can make informed choices. I help people, and seeing the plants grow under my care is wonderful. My soul is flourishing, my heart is at peace. My coworkers are all honest (as far as I can tell), and there’s no push for upselling or pushing people to buy stuff if it’s not very suited for their landscape.

Even if my wallet is a lot lighter these days, so too are my worries!

I worked IT in a city and fuck. People try to controll your every second. Faster! More efficient! You took a second too long to type that. You drove 56 kmh but could have gone 58 without getting caught. I messaged you a minute ago but you didn’t reply so I walked to your cubicle to ask you. Also let’s have an efficiency meeting. You are too slow. That’s your feedback. How long will that task take? Can we somehow shorten that?

And all for what? To manipulate the user to buy product. Not to improve the website mind you. Whenever I suggested: hey, our website is not useable for the visually impaired/people with motor problems. I got back an: we don’t care they’re too small of a market value

So can you really blame me for fantasizing about a life where I can just plant flowers and vegetables and walk everywhere without the need of manipulating people and mikromanage my every second

my current job is managing a plasma cutting machine, so i have to spend a lot of time dragging big chunks of iron on and off conveyor belts and i end up sore and filthy at the end of every shift, and usually a bit scratched up.

but it’s third shift and there’s no supervision whatsoever, so while the machine is running, i can type on my phone. i’ve written most of a novel so far with my thumbs, covered in grease and iron dust. and i also produced a lot of construction materials for bridges, dams, warehouses, and skyscrapers.

i really like my job.

This is Marx’s theory of alienation.

When people are removed from the tangible results of their labor, they become distressed and dissatisfied - and this is the result of capitalist profit-focused processes.

feuervogel:

roach-works:

darthflake:

daitoshi:

a-gremlin-for-my-thoughts:

mercuryfountain-deactivated2024:

The pastoralist fantasy of “modern life is too stressful so I should move to a remote area and do hard labor” is so funny

I have a theory about that.

I think that what people want, when they talk about a pastoralist fantasy is actually an anti-capitalistic fantasy: i noticed, even from my experience, that most people don’t mind phisical labour if it gives them results: actual, tangible, results.

Once my boss asked me to copy every article from a website and paste them in the new one. It took me roughly four hours for three days to do and my soul was slowly leaving my body. It was easy work, i mean who wouldnt want to earn money to just click here and click there, rinse and repeat? But it was boring, ripetitive and basically useless.

But when I take some time and clean my house, i sweat, i am tired but… satisfied. I see in front of me the result of my hard labour and I am happy, or at least i don’t think i wasted my time.

So the fantasy of working hard but at least getting something out of it is appealing: why do people work in kitchens? Or bakeries and wake up at dawn to make bread? Or any hard job like that? I knew a guy that had the possibility of having every job he wanted, but he opened a bar and couldnt be happier.

This is my idea, i’m not a student in sociology or anything but I hope i made a point.

I have two degrees, and my previous job was the marketing department head for an international biotech company. I was well-paid, but dreaded work every morning. The endless cycle of low-grade manipulation and feeling like “making money for someone else to pocket, HELPING no one else” felt miserable.

I left and now work at a garden center. I haul around plants and educate people about them, so they can make informed choices. I help people, and seeing the plants grow under my care is wonderful. My soul is flourishing, my heart is at peace. My coworkers are all honest (as far as I can tell), and there’s no push for upselling or pushing people to buy stuff if it’s not very suited for their landscape.

Even if my wallet is a lot lighter these days, so too are my worries!

I worked IT in a city and fuck. People try to controll your every second. Faster! More efficient! You took a second too long to type that. You drove 56 kmh but could have gone 58 without getting caught. I messaged you a minute ago but you didn’t reply so I walked to your cubicle to ask you. Also let’s have an efficiency meeting. You are too slow. That’s your feedback. How long will that task take? Can we somehow shorten that?

And all for what? To manipulate the user to buy product. Not to improve the website mind you. Whenever I suggested: hey, our website is not useable for the visually impaired/people with motor problems. I got back an: we don’t care they’re too small of a market value

So can you really blame me for fantasizing about a life where I can just plant flowers and vegetables and walk everywhere without the need of manipulating people and mikromanage my every second

my current job is managing a plasma cutting machine, so i have to spend a lot of time dragging big chunks of iron on and off conveyor belts and i end up sore and filthy at the end of every shift, and usually a bit scratched up.

but it’s third shift and there’s no supervision whatsoever, so while the machine is running, i can type on my phone. i’ve written most of a novel so far with my thumbs, covered in grease and iron dust. and i also produced a lot of construction materials for bridges, dams, warehouses, and skyscrapers.

i really like my job.

This is Marx’s theory of alienation.

When people are removed from the tangible results of their labor, they become distressed and dissatisfied - and this is the result of capitalist profit-focused processes.