Arcanepotato
@Arcanepotato@crazypeople.online
Like if your vegan anarchist grandma and vegan anarchist dad were the same person.
I am an engineer (closer to toot toot then clicky clacky) cosplaying as a farmer in unceded aninstanabe territory in eastern ontario.
- canada plant hardiness zone: 5a
- extreme minimum temperature zones: 4b
Maybe the real vegan theory club were the friends we made along the way ✨
- Comment on How should leftists respond to the integration of Israel into the American military? Is it even real? 20 hours ago:
Is this a shitpost because anything to do with isreal is pissing in the ocean of piss that is the irredeemable US military?
- Comment on 🧼🫧 🥑 4 days ago:
Super awkward scene to watch with slavic parents I’ll tell you hwat
- Comment on 🧼🫧 🥑 5 days ago:
It smells like it tastes good but I don’t think it will. I don’t think it’s vegan so I’m not going to find out.
- Comment on 🧼🫧 🥑 5 days ago:
For me there is a good soap taste and a bad soap taste. Cilantro is the good soap taste.
- Comment on How does a normal person without any "connections" anymore go about getting a law passed? How do you grassroot it or whatever? What is the whole process? 1 week ago:
I’m sorry for your loss.
I think what would be helpful to do is to outline your goals because I am seeing a few different ones in there. Once that’s established, you could look at the best path.
You mention that it’s not illegal federally. US federal laws about illegal drugs come from their inclusion on the controlled substances list. It’s not on this list. But that doesn’t mean it’s legal to sell at gas stations.
It is currently illegal to sell Kratom as a drug product (i.e. prescription or over the counter product) on the federal level because it is not a registered drug with the FDA. It is also currently illegal to sell it as a dietary supplement or food additive.
So it’s already illegal. But it still happens all the time, right? Is the goal more enforcement then?
- Comment on Do all popes have to use name's from past popes or saints? Or could I be Pope badassmotherfucker? Or just my regular name? 1 week ago:
The Pope is asked what name they will use. This is after they accept the position of pope, which means they are already pope at that moment.
So they can pick whatever name they want. They aren’t going to be fired.
Seriously though they don’t have to pick a new name at all. It’s often meant to be symbolic or recognizing a mentor or influence.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 1 week ago:
Idk I’m not american
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 1 week ago:
I did, in the comment that this thread is replying to.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
The goals are to put pressure on the government by causing disruption, which is not necessarily done with the matches/riots but with other acts.
Speaking in general, the french tend to do rallies and protests in combination with strikes. So the protest is to draw attention to the strike or is populated by the strikers and their supporters. It is the strike that applies pressure. Occupying some area that disrupts normal business is another common tactic.
The yellow vest movement blocked roads and fuel depots, which was a direct action to disrupt access to fuel and the movement of vehicles. Their (initial) grievance was high fuel costs. They also organized to block tollbooths on 20 roads and blocked airport runways, all disrupting commerce.
With the current student protests occupations (sit ins), walk outs and blockages are being used. These are paired with teach-ins and more theatrical type street demonstrations to raise awareness.
In contrast, a protest like the No Kings protests are (generally) not taking people away from their jobs and are in pre approved routes and locations which cause minimal disruption to the daily lives of others and the function of the state.
This is what I mean when I say it’s important to look closely at why these movements are successful. Rolling walkouts or strikes wouldn’t necessarily attract violence from the state but would disrupt the systems that allow the state to continue doing what they are doing.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
What in tarnation
So, no acknowledgement of anything in their message that might be agreeable or correct?
I replied to them to call out some ignorant remarks they made. They started talking about something else. Why would I continue the conversation?
Just a denial of a tangential assumption, as if your “French nationality” were the core of that comment.
I was correcting another incorrect remark. I don’t think they read what I wrote if they think I am french.
Was a pretty cogent request and the final of only 2 “paragraphs”, so confused on how you might have misplaced it.
Why am I expected to respond to this person’s request?
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
So when you said “Why is cooperation and mutual aid so invisible to americans”, what did you mean? I understood it to mean that you didn’t think anybody was doing anything.
I think there are clearly linguistic and cultural differences between us. It’s fine that you’re asking. I’ll explain. But first I want to tell you truly that when someone makes a generalization about a group I belong to, I don’t take it personally. It’s a short cut. If I had to list every single man who isn’t sexist when I complained about systemic sexism I wouldn’t get to say anything at all!
So for this specific comment, I didn’t want to criticise the individual making the comments. My response isn’t about them as an individual. So I can’t say “why are they so invisible to you”. I also have observed this sentiment (americans can’t afford to do anything but comply because they are dependent on the state and pro-state structures) quite a bit, so I knew it wasn’t just this one person’s thoughts. It’s a systemic problem. So I chose the generalization.
The only reason I replied to you is because you asked a question. Otherwise I would ignore it because I’m not really in the habit of telling people they are “one of the good ones”. I think that concept is fundamentally dangerous. We should all be open to criticism, we just need to decide if the criticism is useful or not.
But I’ve literally experienced the opposite, lol. I hear from the people themselves that they’ve just never thought that it could happen out here until they saw it happening out here. Propaganda affects us all
Yes, I hear these things too. I spent my first 35 years in my country’s biggest city. My spouse is from a rural community and he wanted to go back to that way of life. So we did. Rural people also talk a lot of trash about city folk too. Some of it deserved.
It benefits people who hold power to sow discord. I’m sure we can all think of a time we lashed out in a way we regret. So I try and save my energy for people who actually know me. Or if someone who doesn’t know me at all says something and I get super defensive about it I’ll try and sit with why I’m getting so mad. Maybe they are on to something. Maybe I’m just hungry lol
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I’m not french
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
There is absolutely benefit to countering the false rhetoric that nobody is doing anything.
That’s my point though. The rhetoric isn’t nobody is doing anything. I didn’t make this meme but I can’t imagine a way to make a meme that also says “this doesn’t apply to you if you are doing something, carry on”.
Nobody believes an anti-hierarchical grassroots movement could form in a rural town,
People who believe that are foolish, and aren’t interested in hearing from rural towns because they have already made up their mind.
(I’m rural btw)
Anyways, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, just trying to share things I think are helpful. I don’t take offence to being told I’m wrong and it’s not useful. Good luck, I hope you are successful with your initiative…
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I think that’s a pretty universal opinion.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
Oh, I see.
I don’t think the US can be said to be exerting imperialist power over the Chinese though. China is probably the place least vulnerable to the US trade sanctions, for example.
Imperialism is the export of capital and the import of resources, profit from capital and labour.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I think you might be misunderstanding my comments or maybe I’m misunderstanding yours because I am very lost.
I added the “protests aren’t totally useless” thing as a way to combat defensiveness after I replied to the top level comment comparing recent US protests (such as No Kings) to the protests shown in the meme. It’s absurd to compare the two, and not because of the violence that occurs at them. The reason the type of action shown in the image can be impactful is because there have specific goals and targets in contrast to what amount to an awareness campaign or parade.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I mean this in the least antagonist way possible: I don’t think anything I said excludes fighting tyranny.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I say this with kindness: If a criticism doesn’t apply to you then it doesn’t apply to you. Anyone can get online and say whatever they want. There is a lot of nonsense out there. A lot of people playing fantasy.
I know it’s hard to let people talk shit directly about you and your initiatives but you don’t owe them an explanation and there is no benefit to convincing them if they are strangers on the internet.
It’s easy to just say that Americans are incapable of doing anything, and then be derisive when somebody attempts to do something. I live in a rural town of less than 3k, thousands of miles from DC, so nothing I do will ever be big enough or good enough to change federal policy, and is therefore considered a waste of time by your average commenter here.
Some people might be saying exactly that, but I think people take criticism of the american system really personally and make it about themselves.
When people criticize my government (and there is a lot to criticise) I don’t get defensive because I have no interest in defending the state and I know I am doing what I can to improve conditions locally and disrupt the systems that enable our own brand of imperialism.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
You can give me a dictionary definition but I don’t think you understand it. Parliaments don’t prevent people from “doing something”, they make it easier to prevent an individual like Le Pen from being in power even before looking outside of formal processes. Which is why she isn’t in charge of the country’s nukes, unlike trump.
She has run for the presidency and lost three times. What more do you want the french to do?
I can break down her current positions if that helps
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Leader of the National Rally National Assembly Group - this is an alliance of political parties that vote in a block, not political office (although she holds an elected position in the national assembly as well).
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President of the National Rally - again, this is not an political office. She’s the leader of her party.
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Chair of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group - this time it’s a block in the European Parliament not the french National Assembly. She does not hold a seat in the European Parliament.
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Member of the National Assembly for Pas-de-Calais okay, so here she is elected. She holds one seat, so has one vote in a sea of 577 other votes.
Yes, she leads her party, which currently hold 118 seats and the block she represents hold 126 votes. Not enough to do anything on their own.
I imagine you are not thinking, “but none of that is telling me what they are going to stop her”. I think a lot of my confusion comes from the fact this question is being asked in a thread with a meme showing people in France taking to the streets.
Yes, some of it is about her, specifically.
afp.com/…/far-right-leader-le-pen-kicks-presidenc…
Le Pen, who will address 10,000 members of her National Rally (RN) party in the city of Orleans, has accused Macron’s centrist government of being soft on violent protesters and lacking authority.
Police were on Sunday filtering traffic going into Orleans, after thousands of counter-protesters opposed to Le Pen and her anti-immigration, nationalist RN marched in the city on Saturday chanting anti-fascist slogans.
Police put their numbers at 13,000, while organisers estimated the turnout at twice that.
One protester on Saturday, 35-year-old yoga teacher Antonine Rochet, said: “One of the risks of the National Rally coming to power, beyond the implementation of its policies, is the atmosphere it could create.”
“If the far right comes to power, we fear things will become much worse,” she added.
Another anti-fascist rally was called for Sunday on the southern outskirts of Orleans.
I hope you can how understand why the comparison is absurd, and maybe have a little inspiration of an idea you all can try when you figure out that passing the crown between two teams isn’t actually preventing bad things from happening.
(I have nothing nice to say about france and I’m going to have to take a shower after writing this reply)
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- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
Lol
But a genuine comment because people think I’m a big meanie:
It’s helpful to know that folks aren’t alone and also helpful for orgs who are already doing things to improve the material conditions of their community to get some publicity and maybe some new helping hands.
Maybe then america will realize they have power, and the revolution might not be exactly the same as their last one
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
Maybe I’m wrong but I thought charity was commonly used for tax benefits? Also shame. People donate to avoid looking to closely at themselves. And some people just realise they have more than they need.
I participate in charity, I don’t think it’s the worst thing although I understand the criticisms. If the choices are stretch myself further beyond my current capacity or auto donations to a rent bank I’m going to pick the donations.
I haven’t seen the criticisms you received so I can’t guess at what their issue was. Perhaps they were just starting shit.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I see. So when I tell someone if they aren’t doing the thing in the meme the meme isn’t about them I will also add “and that’s why you are such a good person”.
Deal, but only if we get a chapter on why shame and revenge are poison and how lessons from prison abolitionists can help them be even gooder people.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
How is that not what I’m describing though? We want to break away from the formal system, that has failed us, and set up a parallel system of localized support.
Again, maybe I am not understanding the details.
Are the people who are providing the food/funding/organization realistically likely to depend on this system in the future? I think it’s more important that they understand that they are building a system they will also rely on vs any “there but for the grace of god I go” type thought.
If so, then it’s mutual aid. If instead the parallel system depends on people with no connection to the need, it’s charity.
I fail to see how bidding on a pot of mone
I knew that wasn’t the best article but I didn’t want to depend on my own second hand experience to describe it because I am not Tamil.
The bid example didn’t include uses like the author describes in the beginning:
He depended on Seettu to meet emergency needs: when his wife and children arrived after he sponsored them, he used the money from Seettu to fund their settlement expenses.
It’s pooling money to be dispersed for the good of the community in the manner the community decides. It’s not perfect of course.
I’m getting too wordy here I think but the key idea is that in order for it to be mutual aid, all involved must be building a system they themselves rely on. That removes the power of the state to cut it off by threatening the most privileged.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I’m not sure the connection? (Genuine)
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
How would americans like to receive criticism
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
I’m not saying that your plan is bad or wrong but it’s not necessarily mutual aid.
What you are describing is one way aid, unless I am jumping to conclusions about the people who are organizing it. The problem with one way aid or charity is that it doesn’t build parallel systems to protect people when the state takes away things they depend on. This is why it’s not an effective support for direct action. If the people supplying the aid get scared or they lose their privilege, the aid stops.
I’m going to use strike support as an example. Striking workers may get strike pay, but it’s not enough to live off. They depend on the support of friends, family and other workers who are not on strike to meet their needs so that they can continue to strike until a fair(er?) deal is made. The idea is that when these people are back at work they can support another group who is striking.
In a more general example, I am a gardener. I can take my time to teach others how to garden. I can share my seeds and my produce. Maybe my neighbor can put aside his raked leaves for me to mulch my beds with? It might be easier to think of mutual aid as an informal economy where the goal is to distribute resources and knowledge for the purpose of making sure people are taken care of vs profiting. IRL my neighbor has offered his front lawn for more growing space, but I haven’t been able to take him up on it because poor health has stopped me from using all the land I have already. He can’t spare the time or labour to help rn but I know our produce delights him so I’m not going withholding it because I’m not getting anything in exchange.
Seettu is another example although it’s not a static thing and different applications may be closer or further from mutual aid than others.
I hope this helps.
Good luck with your food drive.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
Do I know what a parliament is
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
Yes, but if you understood the office of President I. France and the office Le Pen currently holds you’d realize how bizarre of a choice this comparison is.
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
what the fuck are they putting in your drinking water
- Comment on It's a wild life out there! 2 weeks ago:
Okay, so now I see the issue.
Americans have no idea how political systems in other countries work. If they did, I don’t think they would be so fanatical about defending their own.