Why we are doing this and why is this thread necessary? Basically, you have to get political sometimes and many of us no longer have the luxury of neutrality. I can't speak as much for outside the US, but there has been a frightening rise of white nationalism and fascism across the world and my country in particular is already knuckle deep in fascism and well on its way to becoming a full blown fascist police state.
Before I go on, a disclaimer:
This is not a thread for talking about how much people organizing to defend their basic humanity upsets you. Or how inappropriate you think it is that people are angry and marching. Or how offended you are when the oppressed complain about being oppressed. Or about how non-minorities will be, at worst, mildly inconvenienced by equality. LunarNET is foremost a Lunar-centric gaming site, but we still have forums to talk about other things. There're hundreds of other non-political topics you can post on; this thread doesn't change that, and no one is forcing you to read it. You don't have to come in here mansplaining with your hot takes. You can post literally anywhere else.
Now then...
This poster is displayed at the U.S. Holocaust Museum. See how many you can check off then ask yourself how many checks there needs to be before it's fascism.
If you want to fight this sudden overt push for fascist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, xenophobic, racist, white supremacist, etc. agendas, you need to understand that these people don't care about the truth. They're telling their supporters, and you, what needs to be true for them to achieve what they want. They're telling you who is or will be under attack. And so we're clear, nothing they say is a distraction from some other, more important, thing because everything is an attack, and everything is important.
We can't collectively pick and choose one issue over another, because everything unchallenged is another foothold for them -- we don't have the luxury of living single issue lives. And when Donald Trump or any of his talking heads, GOP or Democrat or whatever, spouts some garbage, it's fine to point out what they're saying is false or terrifying, but also always remember to mention who they're targeting.
About things to do...
- Remember self care, take time for yourself to recharge and rest because we are under constant assault. You can't fight a forever war, you'll burn out. It's okay to stop for awhile.
- Go to town hall meetings and be seen and heard by your local, state, and federal representatives. This is the most effective method of putting a face and voice to the humanity that they are trying to deny you.
- Call or mail your representatives. Our politicians have already said how the immensity of calls is overwhelming and I hear Donald Trump literally disabled the White House phone (so we started calling his hotels and stuff.)
- Volunteer with an organization that promotes your interests, for me it's disabled rights and women's rights, though I also care about all the other things (Black Lives Matter! No person is illegal! No Dakota Access Pipeline! Etc) but I am only one person and can only do so much.
- Donate to an organization to help, I recommend CAIR, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, RAINN, the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, the National LGBTQIA Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Immigration Forum, the International Refugee Assistance Project, and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. But there are many others.
- Post. Tweet. Blog. Protest. Speak out however you can. Your voice matters, your story matters, you matter and you are important. You might not convince the people against you with your words and actions but that's an incredibly high victory condition. Your words, your support, and your visibility aren't just for your opponents, they're also for the people being oppressed and victimized, so they can SEE that they are not alone. And they're for the people on the sidelines, so they can see humanity at work. And, most importantly, it's for you. So that you can know in your heart that when this crap came down the pipe you said, "No, never again" and resisted. That you know where you stood in the biggest civil rights battle in our generation. That if people ask you what you would have done during the abolition movement, or the civil rights movement, or woman's suffrage, or Stonewall, you won't even have to hesitate to wonder. You'll know. Because you're doing it now.
- Finally, for God's sakes vote. There is an election every damn year in my state, and even these tiny community elections can have a huge impact on your day to day life. So find out when your local election is and vote. Vote in every election. The mid term elections are coming up on November 6th in 2018 and we need to vote these fascists or fascist enablers out of office. If there is nobody worthwhile to vote for find someone who is and encourage them to run and vote for them, or run yourself. Primary the current GOP and weak Democrats. Campaign for your candidate and vote the fascists out. Over 200 House seats are going to be up for grabs on November 6th 2018, if we organize we just might be able to take the House and there are enough Senate seats up for grabs that I think we could take the Senate too. Let's try! It's important!
And a final repeat of that disclaimer:
I want to make it clear, again, that coming into the thread and complaining that people are protesting and demanding their equality (no matter how you dress it up), or telling people who are oppressed or facing discrimination that they have it all wrong, is not what this thread is about -- and it's absolutely pointless.
Because none of that is new. We've been forced to have this goddamn debate for 150+ years and the arguments are the same, just with different words and other minorities filling in the blanks. I'm not interested in humoring or entertaining it any further. I'm not interested in having yet another thread about social justice being derailed off topic by certain people who demand that we explain why we want equality, or basic realities like how inequality exists in the first place. There are plenty of other sites where you can complain about SJWs and you're welcome to make your own thread here. Just don't be surprised if it spins off into intolerance and hate speech and gets locked or deleted, because that -Dragon Diamond- isn't welcome here.
And, I really don't want this thread derailed. I'm a bit mad at myself that I took the bait and nuked Arlia in the last one and I'm not gonna mess around with this one. It's not personal and I love you all.