no you see hes right, the zeitgeist isn’t something that represents current sociopolitical trends, its a literal earth sized ghost that makes things communist
karl clarified this in one of his later writings, heres a scan:
hes friends with santa and the easter bunny and he visits earth to bring us communism and wave his mystical powers over human affairs!
in Alabama, Amendment 2 would restrict abortion rights, completely banning it if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 2 would disenfranchise voters by requiring photo ID.
in Florida, Amendment 5 would make it much harder to raise taxes.
in Louisiana, Amendment 1 would ban people with felony records who’ve served their time from running for office for 5 years, even if their offense was just e.g. marijuana possession.
in Oregon, Measure 105 would repeal its sanctuary state law protecting immigrants, and Measure 106 would restrict abortion rights by banning public funds from being spent on abortions.
in West Virginia, Amendment 1 would completely ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 5 would raise the minimum wage to $11.
in California, Prop 2 would fund housing for the homeless, and Prop 10 would allow local rent control.
in Colorado, Amendment A would fucking ban slavery as punishment for a crime. (yes, that’s a real thing.) Amendments Y and Z would hopefully limit gerrymandering. Amendment 73 would tax the rich to pay for education. Proposition 111 would crack down on predatory payday loans.
in Florida, Amendment 4 would restore voting rights to people with felony records who’ve served their time, and Amendment 9 would ban offshore drilling (and also vaping in the workplace, because Florida is weird).
in Idaho, Proposition 2 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Maine, Question 1 would fund a universal home-care program for disabled people and older adults.
in Maryland, Question 2 would allow election-day voter registration.
in Massachusetts, Question 3 would protect the state’s transgender anti-discrimination law which is under attack.
in Michigan, Proposal 1 would legalize recreational marijuana, and Proposal 3 would strengthen voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration, expanding absentee voting, pushing back deadlines, and more.
in Missouri, Amendment 2, Amendment 3, and Proposition C would all legalize medical marijuana (but they’d tax it different amounts and use the taxes for different things — you be the judge). Amendment 1 would make reforms to lobbying, campaign finance, and redistricting, and Proposition B would raise the minimum wage to $12.
in Montana, I-185 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nebraska, Initiative 427 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nevada, Question 5 would allow automatic voter registration, and Question 6 would require renewable energy.
in North Dakota, Measure 3 would legalize recreational marijuana and expunge existing marijuana convictions.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
in Utah, Proposition 2 would legalize medical marijuana, and Proposition 3 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Washington, Initiative 940 would train cops not to murder people, and Initiative 1631 would charge polluters a fee on carbon emissions and fund environmental programs.
the outcomes of these and other important initiatives will be determined at the ballot box. you can make a direct impact on these issues in your state by doing your research and voting.
can’t vote? search for an organization supporting (or opposing) the initiative you care about, and consider donating your time or money to help them out.
(please note that i’m not an expert on all of these initiatives. you may conclude for example that one of them sounds good, but isn’t implemented well so you can’t support it. that’s fine! but now you know what’s going on in your state and can have your say, and that’s a good thing.)
Prop 2 in Michigan is designed to rectify the gerrymandering fiasco there too. All three Michigan proposals are good progressive steps!
Ditto on Michigan’s Prop 2, I volunteered with the group that got it on the ballot. It’ll make it so the voting districts are drawn by an independent commission and they’re going to put the whole process out in public. (Currently the state legislature does it, so whichever party has the majority on census year gives themselves the advantage for the next decade).
cool! yeah, i skipped a few redistricting ones because they can be tricky to evaluate, but i’m glad to hear good things about it
And the elected offices aren’t all about Dem/Rep legislators either; many judges are elected, and you want to have a say in that – you could get judges who accept “affluenza” and “gay panic” defenses, or you could have judges who throw out trumped up charges and rein in sentencing for marijuana convictions of Black people.
Never let the big races/personalities distract you from everything else that can go on a ballot. That’s how horrible shit gets legislated, they put stuff on ballots when they can be sure of low turnout because there are no high-profile contests.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
ISSUE 1 IS IMPORTANT. GET YOUR BUTTS OUT TO THE POLLS.
GO TO THE POLLS. VOTE.
seriously. Drug offenses disproportionally effect people of color and are used to incarcerate non-violent offenders
a lot of my friends have been noting that none of the “get out there and vote!” posts actually have any resources attached to them, so they’re great for motivation but if you don’t know how to vote they can really stress you out. so i compiled a list of resources that hopefully can help!
Here’s the most confusing bit! Figuring out who you’re voting for. Don’t know who’s running? Ballotpedia is a godsend. The page in the link looks very confusing, but all you have to do is click your state in each of the right-hand boxes. Those will take you to a page that will explain who from each party is running for the Senate and the House. Ballotpedia will also tell you if your state has same-day voter registration. If you’ve missed the cutoff to register, you might still be able to do it on election day, so check that on your state’s voting page!
Polling places can be crowded and the wait can be long to vote. Don’t freak out! Bring a book or some music/podcasts to listen to while you wait.
If you can’t make it on the day, you still have options! Find your state on this Ballotpedia page and click to learn more. The page it takes you to will have links and information on how to get an absentee ballot in your state. If you plan on absentee voting, hurry! The deadlines to apply and vote are usually sooner than the actual election day.
Most of all, remember: this election could swing the house and the senate, giving Democrats more control over new laws and legislation for years to come. You’re not a bad person if you can’t vote, but it’s a lot easier than you might think!
in Alabama, Amendment 2 would restrict abortion rights, completely banning it if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 2 would disenfranchise voters by requiring photo ID.
in Florida, Amendment 5 would make it much harder to raise taxes.
in Louisiana, Amendment 1 would ban people with felony records who’ve served their time from running for office for 5 years, even if their offense was just e.g. marijuana possession.
in Oregon, Measure 105 would repeal its sanctuary state law protecting immigrants, and Measure 106 would restrict abortion rights by banning public funds from being spent on abortions.
in West Virginia, Amendment 1 would completely ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 5 would raise the minimum wage to $11.
in California, Prop 2 would fund housing for the homeless, and Prop 10 would allow local rent control.
in Colorado, Amendment A would fucking ban slavery as punishment for a crime. (yes, that’s a real thing.) Amendments Y and Z would hopefully limit gerrymandering. Amendment 73 would tax the rich to pay for education. Proposition 111 would crack down on predatory payday loans.
in Florida, Amendment 4 would restore voting rights to people with felony records who’ve served their time, and Amendment 9 would ban offshore drilling (and also vaping in the workplace, because Florida is weird).
in Idaho, Proposition 2 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Maine, Question 1 would fund a universal home-care program for disabled people and older adults.
in Maryland, Question 2 would allow election-day voter registration.
in Massachusetts, Question 3 would protect the state’s transgender anti-discrimination law which is under attack.
in Michigan, Proposal 1 would legalize recreational marijuana, and Proposal 3 would strengthen voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration, expanding absentee voting, pushing back deadlines, and more.
in Missouri, Amendment 2, Amendment 3, and Proposition C would all legalize medical marijuana (but they’d tax it different amounts and use the taxes for different things — you be the judge). Amendment 1 would make reforms to lobbying, campaign finance, and redistricting, and Proposition B would raise the minimum wage to $12.
in Montana, I-185 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nebraska, Initiative 427 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nevada, Question 5 would allow automatic voter registration, and Question 6 would require renewable energy.
in North Dakota, Measure 3 would legalize recreational marijuana and expunge existing marijuana convictions.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
in Utah, Proposition 2 would legalize medical marijuana, and Proposition 3 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Washington, Initiative 940 would train cops not to murder people, and Initiative 1631 would charge polluters a fee on carbon emissions and fund environmental programs.
the outcomes of these and other important initiatives will be determined at the ballot box. you can make a direct impact on these issues in your state by doing your research and voting.
can’t vote? search for an organization supporting (or opposing) the initiative you care about, and consider donating your time or money to help them out.
(please note that i’m not an expert on all of these initiatives. you may conclude for example that one of them sounds good, but isn’t implemented well so you can’t support it. that’s fine! but now you know what’s going on in your state and can have your say, and that’s a good thing.)
Prop 2 in Michigan is designed to rectify the gerrymandering fiasco there too. All three Michigan proposals are good progressive steps!
Ditto on Michigan’s Prop 2, I volunteered with the group that got it on the ballot. It’ll make it so the voting districts are drawn by an independent commission and they’re going to put the whole process out in public. (Currently the state legislature does it, so whichever party has the majority on census year gives themselves the advantage for the next decade).
cool! yeah, i skipped a few redistricting ones because they can be tricky to evaluate, but i’m glad to hear good things about it
And the elected offices aren’t all about Dem/Rep legislators either; many judges are elected, and you want to have a say in that – you could get judges who accept “affluenza” and “gay panic” defenses, or you could have judges who throw out trumped up charges and rein in sentencing for marijuana convictions of Black people.
Never let the big races/personalities distract you from everything else that can go on a ballot. That’s how horrible shit gets legislated, they put stuff on ballots when they can be sure of low turnout because there are no high-profile contests.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
ISSUE 1 IS IMPORTANT. GET YOUR BUTTS OUT TO THE POLLS.
GO TO THE POLLS. VOTE.
seriously. Drug offenses disproportionally effect people of color and are used to incarcerate non-violent offenders
Do not just assume that the Democrats are going to win…the only way we can GUARANTEE that the Democrats make gains in these midterms is for people to go out and vote
Whatever the polls say, get out there and vote democrat, whereever you are
Do not just assume that they’ll “Definitely win” and so it doesn’t matter if you go out and vote or not
Listen, staying home is what got us here. We can’t afford to assume anything. Get your ass out there!
Unless you live in Oregon where you vote BY staying home because we all get mail in ballots sent to us in the mail hahaha see how this joke worked OH MY FUCKING LORD PLEASE VOTE VOTE VOTE JEEBUS
They sent pipe bombs to Obama, Clinton, CNN, and a major Democratic donor. They marched through the streets chanting “Jews will not replace us.” They jailed and brutalized and outright killed Black protesters. They ran a woman down with a car for protesting their hateful rhetoric.
They threatened from the start to resort to violence if they didn’t get their way, and then got their way…and resorted to violence anyway. They are the purveyors of a body of politics that sees most of us as subhuman and undeserving of life, and actively works toward our destruction.
Remember that during this election.
This is not a matter of choosing the “lesser evil”. This is flawed politicians vs. actual fucking terrorists. This is human failings vs. inhumanity. This is not being progressive enough vs. silencing the opposition with violence.
No fucking contest. Get out and vote.
It was a terrorist attempt on several people, including two previous presidents. And our current president decided that the best thing to do tonight would be to hold a political rally.
You have to vote. Lives are on the fucking line here.
Hey there US friends! If you’re voting using these machines (Hart eSlate) or similar ones right now or in the near future, make sure that the machine has NOT changed your ballot before casting it, ‘k? It’s apparently an already known problem, and has been for years, but has never been fixed.
The point of voting blue in 2018 isn’t to make the US perfect. We cannot accomplish that in one fell swoop. There’s gerrymandering, voter apathy, voter suppression, and generations of older party-line fucks we have to deal with.
Voting blue in 2018 is to make it lessimmediately threatening for PoC, LGBT+ people, the disabled, and any other marginalized demographic. It’s a stopgap against Republicans who are aligned with Nazis, white supremacists, and sexual abusers.
Correcting politics in the United States is going to take decades of new voters staying on top of politics and not falling prey to apathy, like our predecessors.
People telling you not to waste a vote on 3rd Party this midterm aren’t saying “never vote 3rd party.” Republicans have united behind one utterly heinous front.We need to unite behind Democrats, for the time being.
In Canada, splitting the leftwing vote between the Liberal and New Democratic Parties was how we wound up with almost 10 years of Stephen Harper. Holding our noses and voting for the party that had the best chance of winning was how we got Justin Trudeau, who isn’t perfect, but is leagues better than a Conservative government. Yes, it sucks to have to make sacrifices, but you need to look at your alternatives. -V
I think the most important thing people have to remember is that it’s easier to make forward progress when the people in power don’t inherently want you dead.
We’re not going to have a utopia. Let alone a utopia in our lifetime. But we can make a better society. We don’t do that by only allowing perfection. Perfectionism gets you nowhere. What we need is “good enough”. Is the bar for “good enough” really low right now? Yes. Does that change that that IS good enough? No. Good enough saves lives, helps us maintain energy to work on raising the bar, and gets us at least pointed in the right direction.
So just hold your nose and fucking vote blue. Keep voting blue. Because we can’t really raise the bar until we’ve not only made some changes – Obama made changes and we tried to raise the bar too early – but sustained those changes.
Social progress is not a sprint. It’s a marathon of lifetimes. It takes lives. Susan B. Anthony’s life went to social progress. Sojourner Truth’s life went to social progress. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life went to social progress. Marsha P. Johnson’s life went to social progress. People have fought and died for social progress, and it’s not fast or easy.
But it’s worth it.
This is the race of the tortoise and the hare, and we must be the tortoise. Even though it’s not exciting, or fun, or easy, let alone fast.
This Is a Backup Blog 