Politics & Injustice

Politics

• Left-wing values: equality, democracy, inclusivity, rights, justice, peace
  Right-wing values: hierarchy, military, tradition, nation, borders, war (Steve Best)
  • Linkse waarden: gelijkheid, democratie, inclusiviteit, rechten, rechtvaardigheid, vrede
    Rechtse waarden: hiërarchie, krijgsmacht, traditie, natiestaat, grenzen, oorlog
• Nationalism teaches you to take pride in things you haven’t done, and hate people you’ve never met
• The threat we face isn’t refugees, it’s a politics devoid of empathy (Choose Love, IG)
• You won’t have to host refugees if you stop destabilizing their countries
• Why should immigrants ‘respect our borders’? The West never respected theirs. Immigration quotas should be based on how much the host country has ruined other countries (Suketu Mehta)
• The violence of the left is symbolic, the injuries are not intended. The violence of the right is real – directed at people, designed to cause injuries. Vietnam, nuclear weapons, police out of control are intentional forms of violence. The violence from the right is aimed directly at people and the violence from the left is aimed at institutions and symbols (George Carlin)
• ‘Both sides, left-wing and right-wing’, the Dalai Lama said, ‘agree about the goal: what is best for the people’. There should be dialogue between both sides, he highlighted, instead of icy silence and hostility. Say what you think, criticize the opinion of the other (Daniel Goleman)
• Even people who hold on tightly to ideologies that are dividing us, can in the end identify themselves with a series of fundamental ethical values of humanity, that enhances qualities like self-discipline and contentment, compassion and forgiveness (Dalai Lama)
• Wanneer je jezelf namelijk ruimte en dominantie hebt toegeëigend en alle anderen daar heel lang in zijn meegegaan, voelt het alsof jij ruimte moet inleveren en jouw ruimte wordt afgepakt, terwijl het eigenlijk gewoon mensen zijn die hun gelijkwaardige plek en ruimte aan tafel opeisen. Transmensen, gekleurde mensen, vrouwen, homoseksuelen bestonden altijd al en hadden altijd al hun plek aan die tafel. Ze zaten alleen verschoven en verscholen uit het zicht en op elkaar gepakt, omdat jij in hun ruimte zat (Emine Uğur)
• When you argue that fascists should be defeated through debate what you’re actually suggesting is that vulnerable minorities should have to endlessly argue for their right to exist and that at no point the debate be considered over and won (michaelxdolan, Twitter)
• Being anti-antifa means you are against those that oppose fascism; you oppose those who fought Hitler, those who fight for democracy and against oppression
  • Anti-antifa zijn betekent mensen belemmeren die tegen fascisme strijden; mensen die tegen Hitler vochten, die vechten voor democratie en tegen onderdrukking
• Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of one who can fabricate it (Hannah Arendt)

Géraldine Schwarz on populism:

• The basis of democracy is pluralism. Populist parties talk about ‘the people’, everyone outside of that is not part of democracy, so the pluralism is denied and there’s only the voice of hate.
• Playing the masses is easy – spread experiences that don’t match the reality, like mass immigration – people resort to a national identity and tell others that’s how one should be.
• Historical self-research makes people less sensitive to manipulation, but it is opposed by populist parties – they wipe out the notion of bad vs. good or lies vs. truth, trying to make people feel good about themselves.
• Demanding consensus can be an excuse for cowardice – knowledge of the past makes us responsible for the present.
  • De basis van democratie is pluralisme. Spreken over ‘het volk’ is een tactiek bedoeld om mensen buiten te sluiten met haat
  • De massa wordt makkelijk bedrogen met leugens over bijvoorbeeld massa-immigratie
  • Historisch zelf-onderzoek maakt mensen minder vatbaar voor manipulatie, maar populistische partijen belemmeren dit
  • Gevoeligheid is een zwakte, volgens nazi’s – zonder deze herinnering is de menselijke waardigheid in gevaar

We must bear this in mind: mass apathy kills more than individual monsters do. One of the mottos of the SS was, “Empathy is a weakness.” Without this memory, human dignity is in danger, and not only that of others. Because once you begin to ride the wave of exclusion, the circle of “enemies of the people” continues to expand under the effect of paranoia and finally swallows everyone up.

Systems

• Certain groups are more vulnerable because of how structures were designed to benefit certain people at the expense of others. Everyone out for themselves erases the reality and influence of systematic injustice in shaping people’s opportunity. Meritocry and capitalism erase what’s beyond our efforts. People with more money don’t deserve to hoard it rather than share it with those who need it (amarsivegan, Instagram)
• People mention the victims of atrocities in the Soviet Union and PRChina as victims of communism, while barely knowing what socialism and communism should be, and how many victims capitalism has caused (Dominik Fraunholz)
  • Mensen die de slachtoffers van gruwelijkheden in de Sovjet-Unie en China zien als slachtoffers van communisme denken er vaak niet aan hoeveel slachtoffers kapitalisme (heeft ge)maakt
• Capitalism tends to destroy its two sources of wealth: nature and living beings (redfishstream, Instagram)
• We really deserve 3 day weekends. 1 day to do nothing and recharge, 1 day for chores, 1 day for fun and joy (Kyle Shevlin)
• Destroy the idea that you gotta be good at artistic things to enjoy them. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not monetized. Sing offkey, draw poorly, write badly (bookavid, Twitter)
• The only reason you think 20e an hour is too much as minimum wage, is because your mind has been corrupted by people making like 9000e an hour (Justin Jackson)
• “Anyone who says to me that universal basic income means people will not be motivated to work, I say, what?! Zuckerberg has billions! And he works day and night, you know? The rich never say this about their kids. They never say, ‘Oh no, he shouldn’t have a trust fund. If they aren’t starving they won’t be motivated.’ Only about the poor do they say this.” (Yanis Varoufakis)
• If every billionaire on earth stopped working, nobody would even notice. If every billionaire’s workers stopped working, society would collapse. We don’t need them. They need us (Existential Comics, Twitter)
• Over the past 30 years, the top 1% gained 21 trillion dollar in wealth & the bottom 50% lost 900 billion dollar. It happened because capitalism props up the ruling class & exploits the working class (ProudSocialist, Twitter)
  • De afgelopen dertig jaar, heeft de top 1% 21 biljoen verdiend & de onderste 50% heeft 900 miljard verloren. Kapitalisme blijft de heersende klasse dienen en de werkende klasse uitbuiten
• You can’t state that all negative cases in the human world are caused by or related to capitalism; only 3% of recorded history doesn’t know armed conflicts, and such statement doesn’t take into account parts of the world that have done without capitalism throughout history
• The wealthiest, most powerful people who are committing crimes against humanity aren’t policed heavy because they own the police (Bree Newsome Bass)
• Defunding the police doesn’t mean eliminate all police funding. It means police should focus on crimes fairly; they’re not mental health or social workers, they’re not education specialists and medical professionals; there should be investment in communities, hospitals, schools (La Resistance, Facebook)

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(In)justice

• Activism is the rent paid for living on this planet (Alice Walker)
• Radical activism simply means addressing the roots to solve a structural issue
  • Radicaal zijn betekent een probleem bij de wortelen aanpakken
• Questioning whether online activism is real activism is such a privileged stance to take. Disabled/chronically ill people organize, mobilize, and amplify via social media. No, it’s not perfect – inaccessible/performative at times. Overall, it is real and valid activism (Mary Fashik)
• It is not your choice to determine how an oppressed group protests (Yolanda Renteria)
• There is no right way to protest, because that’s what protest is, it can’t be considered right by the system that it’s protesting (Trevor Noah)
  • Er is geen juiste manier om te demonstreren, dat is juist het punt van een protest, het wordt als fout gezien door het systeem waartegen gedemonstreerd wordt
• If it’s difficult for you to understand why people resort to violence, it probably means your privilege has protected you from being put in a situation where you feel you have no other choice (Yolanda Renteria)
• Implying there are other ways minimizes the frustration and provides no answers, or solutions. It just points, with privilege, to do things a different way that doesn’t disturb your comfort (Yolanda Renteria)
• We may not always be able to change someone’s beliefs that go at the expense of others, but we can make it costly to articulate them – politically, economically, socially etc. (versobooks, Instagram)
• Privilege means you’re life hasn’t been it hard, it means you’ve never had to wonder if you’ve been held back or passed over or treated differently because of either your skin color, race, gender, sexual orientation, or other things fundamental to who you are as a person (Pamela Capalad)
  • Privilege of voorrecht betekent niet dat je leven niet moeilijk is geweest; het betekent dat je het niet moeilijk hebt gehad door bijvoorbeeld je huidskleur, geslacht of andere kenmerken die je maken tot wie je bent
• When you’re not hungry for justice it’s usually because you’re too full with privilege (Carlos Rodríguez)
  • Als je geen rechtvaardigheid wilt, heb je waarschijnlijk veel voorrechten
• Staying out of politics is privilege in action. It means in some way your life or safety is not at stake. Self-care remains essential, but politics can’t be annoying when people’s dignity is at stake (freely based on Kirsten Tea)
• The wealthiest, most powerful people who are committing crimes against humanity aren’t policed heavy because they own the police (Bree Newsome Bass)
  • De rijkste en machtigste mensen die misdaden tegen de mensheid begaan worden niet aangepakt, aangezien zij politie en justitie beheren
• Traditie [tra·di·tie (de; v; meervoud: tradities)] – Een woord dat vaak onverschillig in de mond wordt genomen ter aanduiding van handelingen ten koste van andere mensen, dieren of de natuur, en waarbij de aanhangers niet het rationeel of empathisch vermogen hebben om dat in te zien