How about instead just abolish the monarchy…

I never said or even implied we have no agency, but I’m also not deluded enough to think we have free choice under capitalism. We are not only literally indoctrinated from birth and essentially brainwashed our entire lives from that point in to consumerism and “keeping up with the Joneses”, but we are also entirely dependant on participation in the system for survival because it is designed that way. You wanting to think you’re somehow above it (even if you have learned to identify some of the propaganda and try to avoid it, which is simply impossible to do), or wanting to blame those who aren’t “above it” for the system instead of those actively implementing and profiting directly from it, doesn’t change that.

Freedom, and specifically freedom of choice, is capitalism’s biggest con.

The point is that the “desire” is entirely artificial and enforced on us as society by those who profit from doing so (and their trillion dollar industries dedicated to this task), not that some people are struggling, because all of us but a tiny miniscule percent of humanity, are struggling (including the non-existent “middle class”, another lie there to maintain division in the working class, and the illusion of “aspiration”), we’re just made to believe it’s normal and part of human nature, when it is anything but.

Whatever “truth” Buddhism has is honestly irrelevant, especially because it predates Adam Smith and the levels of unprecedented social engineering and indoctrination we’re subjected to in the name of capitalism by so long, its idea of “desire” is completely detached from yours, but even if it wasn’t, all that “truth” is is victim blaming, and shifting responsibility for systemic issues on to individuals, which is a classic tactic employed by those in charge (be it kings, feudal lords, “gods” prophets and whatever other religious figurehead, or capitalists) because it serves them and only them, for us to be pointing fingers at one another (while ignoring literally all of the environmental factors they impose on us) instead of at them.

But most people don’t directly benefit from, and are directly involved in, the systems that encourage such behaviour, like the ones at the top are.
Most people are just grinding away selling their labour to survive while convinced by the wealthy-owned media and trillion dollar marketing industrial complex that they’re just temporarily embarrassed millionaires who just need to consume more to make their lives better.
*Insert “we are not the same” meme here*

Thanks for the reminder…

(though I second them being a little creepy)

I love how they’ve given Ireland the most weight in the UK by far for some reason… 😂

Sleepy kitty = safe for belly rubs
Any other mood of kitty = it’s a trap!
In our house, anyway…

Not with the half black flag it isn’t, that’s "an"caps.

One of these is not like the others (throw that yellow crayon in the bin).

Yeah, it’s a good share, and of course I’m not encouraging people to shop at these places, just pointing out that the alternative won’t be much better…
I’m not American either, but as you say, the problem is global and local to each country (in different ways, sure, but even in the UK many prisons are now run for profit, so things might not be on the same scale, or as explicit as in the US, but there are similar problems in different variations everywhere you look) which is why representatives within the existing system aren’t going to get any significant change either. The whole system is designed to withstand “reform”, which is why it needs abolishing, and you can’t do that playing by the rules they set, you have to be willing to unlearn a lot and build networks of solidarity and mutual aid and resistance, create alternatives within the local and global community that they can’t profit from or control, then go after about 2000 people that are holding the rest of the world hostage, and end this shit.

Costco isn’t the problem, they are a symptom, and there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Whatever alternative you choose will either have similar practices or be owned by the same/similar people.

The problem is capitalism, and specifically in this case also the white supremacy that supports it.

Aim to ween yourself, and everyone around you, off those (this is not to imply you are a capitalist or white supremacist, but we all exist under those systems, and others, and there is no escaping their impact - you are either oppressed by them or benefit from others being oppressed by them even if not directly or even willingly). Combat the system, not its symptoms, that battle is futile, which is why those in charge want you to keep fighting it so much.

And roll…
Lol, sorry… 😂

Thanks.

Yeah, same. I don’t often leave the house, but when I do being a wheelchair user I know I already draw attention from all sorts of people, some good, some bad, so I just lean in to it and have a load of pins on my jacket, some progress pride flags, some “immigrants welcome” type messaging, some autism and disability visibility… Might as well…
Lets those who need it know they’re not alone, and others know their bullshit won’t be tolerated.

Probably why the person made that comment - they’re privileged enough to not even consider that apart from potentially making Nazis feel unwelcome (because literally no one thinks stickers will “defeat Nazism”), and more importantly, this kind of action makes those the Nazis target feel seen and know that at least some locals would have your back…

I need an adjacent meme, a cat tagged “me getting my hopes up” getting slapped in the face by a hand tagged “life”

This would only be valid for new-borns, since the implication is that no experience you had before year x, x being a number arbitrarily agreed on a couple thousand years ago by humans, exists. Which could potentially be great trauma-wise, but not really in any other sense.
All those decades of experience (and skills, and trauma…) are vital since they inform and shape the opportunities you not only have access to, but how you can or can’t deal with them if you do.

The theme of the show was “coronation”, it was the final, he was going around asking the kids what they think of the royal family, it was a perfectly appropriate topic. Another kid said she loved them, if we were watching that clip, I doubt we would be having this conversation…

There are other meme worthy bits in that short clip, but her very slight smile and casualness as she said this just got me…

It’s from the junior version of Great British Bake Off

Yeah, the whole framing is just so white-saviour/noble savage esque…

E: and before I get a “well how are they supposed to frame it??!1” - “kids given tablets for the first time easily learn not only how to use them, but personalise them too”. Simple.