I think I'm beginning to sound like a broken record... in Those Public Entries

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5, New King James Version

I deleted Threads from my phone today. Again. I think I’m on my tenth time deleting it? What can I say, one-click social media is like a slot machine for my dopamine-deficient brain.

So, let me lay out the things I agree with Leftist Threads about: I think Kamala Harris and the DNC fucked up big time by not letting a Palestinian person speak, while letting the families of Israeli hostages speak. She should have allowed both, because let’s be real here, both Palestinians and the Israeli hostages are victims: Of Netanyahu, of the IDF, of Hamas, of western colonialism and imperialism, and especially Palestine is the victim of the US’s ongoing military presence and meddling in the Middle East. (The fact that the DNC was held in Chicago, the US city with the highest Palestinian population, makes it even worse.) I agree that this is going to lose them a lot of votes, and that it’s especially losing face for them. There’s not much to be said in defense of this.

On that, Leftist Threads and I agree and are friends.

Here’s where we’re disagreeing, and where I become a facist-humping, bootlicking shitlib.

I’m still voting for her.

Yes, I’m disappointed that she didn’t take a stronger stance against Israel. Yes, I’m disappointed that she didn’t let Palestinians speak at the DNC. Yes, I think it’s incredibly tacky for her to let the family of Israeli hostages speak while excluding Palestinian voices. I am incredibly disappointed by all of this.

Disappointed, but not surprised. Because I, unlike the majority of online leftists, live in the real world, and I understand that Harris needs to appeal to a majority of voters, not the online fringe groups. And the simple truth is, the majority of everyday voters do not care about Palestine or Israel. They care about themselves. They care about the things that are directly affecting their lives, like corporate greedflation, the economy, and how much they’re going to cry the next time they go to the grocery store.

In her 2020 video essay, Voting, Natalie “ContraPoints” Wynn said, “I think a lot of Internet leftists have a vastly overinflated sense of how big and important they are. […] what we’re all seeing on our feeds, is a finely curated and very unrepresentative sample of the population. You have to remember that only 22% of Americans use Twitter at all. Most users rarely tweet, and 80% of tweets come from 10% of users. So 80% of tweets come from 2% of Americans. And it’s not a representative 2%. According to Pew Research, Twitter users differ from the general population in that they’re on average younger, more likely to identify as Democrats, more educated, and higher income. And far-left hammer-and-sickle Twitter is an even smaller, even more unrepresentative sample within a sample. We’re talking about less than 0.1% of Americans. And that less than 0.1% does have an outsize influence, because they’re prolific Tweeters and their tweets get seen by public figures who use the platform.” (I posted her video, and its full transcript, in this post.)

This is even more true of Threads, which does not, and likely will never, have the social and cultural capital that 2020 Twitter did. Hell, it doesn’t have the social or cultural capital that shambling Zombie Twitter does in 2024. (Hey, if Elongated Muskrat is going to deadname his estranged daughter, I’m going to deadname his site. Turnabout is fair game.) And the number of, as Natalie termed them, “far-left hammer-and-sickle” Threaders is even fewer than it was on Twitter. It’s an echo chamber within an echo chamber. And it does not care about the material reality of Americans right now.

A majority of Americans are struggling right now, especially financially. To use myself as an example: My grocery bill has gone from about $40 a week to almost $80, and I haven’t changed my eating habits all that much, except that I don’t buy beef unless it’s on some kind of amazing sale. My salary is a little over $49k/year; once taxes, Social Security, medical insurance, retirement, and union dues are taken out, that’s about $31k/year take-home. $31k/year, to pay for my car, my house, my cats, my bills, and myself. I don’t know how I’m making it work. And I’m just one of millions of Americans in this boat.

Sure, I could point out how capitalism is screwing all of us over. I could point out that this is the end result of centuries of white supremacy. I could quote a ton of different economists and philosophers on why capitalism is evil… But to what point and purpose? Who’s going to listen? And why should I waste my time talking, when there’s so much work that needs doing?

Just like in 2020, the do-nothing Terminally Online Leftists are pissing me off more than the MAGAs. Because at the end of the day, I have to (very, very grudgingly) give MAGAs this, they’re out there doing. We saw how far they’re willing to go, and how much they’re willing to do, on January 6th, 2021. I mean, we all knew the Orange Shitgibbon wasn’t going to leave the White House quietly, but I thought that meant a group of Navy SEALs would carry him out of the White House by his wrists and ankles. I wasn’t expecting a whole-ass insurrection! But that’s what happened. That’s what MAGAs are willing to do, at the very least, to put their people in power.

Whereas Terminally Online Leftists (TOLs for short)… There’s no nice way of putting this: They’re all talk and no walk. They don’t believe in shitting or getting off the pot. They’re not going to do anything, because doing would involve getting off social media, the only place they get any attention. They call the DNC political theater, and it is, but their refusal to act is just as bad. Their “politics posting” are also just political theater, but instead of Hamilton, they’re the not-even-on Broadway avant-garde theater that thinks dancing to radio static is A Statement (tm).

And the worst part is when they post about how politics “corrupts” everyone, so no, even voting for Jill Stein is bad. Voting BAD, according to them, even if it is the only way things have even a chance at getting done. And by “corruption,” they probably mean “a person getting elected to a position and then realizing that they have to serve everyone, not just their voters, and that they have 333 million pairs of eyes on them at all times, and there’s no possible way to make every one of them happy.” Unfortunately, understanding that takes nuance and critical thinking, abilities that Terminally Online people in general simply do not have.

Proof? Okay. One of the last Threads I shared sums up the entire Terminally Online Left in one sentence: “wait, you want a communist revolution but you’ve never met your neighbors?”

Or, for a little more detailed explanation:

Twitter user Erika Chappell - Professional Simp:
essentially an enormous part of the reason that online leftist spaces suck so much is that they are filled with people who believe it is more important to do nothing wrong than it is to do something right

You know how guys on incel forums talk about being “blackpilled”? The idea that life will never get any better, no one will ever love you, and there’s nothing you can do about how much your life sucks, so you may as well just rot? TOLs have basically the same thing: “The system is rigged, it’s entirely bought by Wall Street and AIPAC and the Koch Brothers, nothing is ever going to change, so we might as well just rot.”

Not only that, but TOLs have absolutely no respect for the people who actually go out in the community and make connections. People like me, who talk to our neighbors and coworkers and get the feel for what’s actually on peoples’ minds, politically speaking. People who run soup kitchens or volunteer at them, or who organize food and clothing drives, or who even give what little money they can to homeless people and shelters. TOLs will rant and rave about the housing crisis, but then scorn the people who are going to the state capitol and talking to the governor’s office about the empty hotel on the freeway that, with a grant, they can turn into low-income housing. TOLs will cry about how little girls are being forced to have their rapists’ babies, but then refuse to act as an escort at Planned Parenthood, or even to write an email or call their representative, telling them that they need to vote against hardline abortion bans. And of course, they won’t vote for anyone who doesn’t say exactly what they want to hear, and then scorn those of us who are going to vote, because we’re just holding to the status quo.

But all the while, they wish the genocide in Gaza would stop. (It’s in all of Palestine, but “Gaza” has fewer syllables. …I’m sorry, that was mean and a bit uncalled for.) They wish the minimum wage would go up to $20 an hour. They wish the Electoral College would be disbanded. They wish, they wish, they wish. If they’re not careful, Disney is going to sue them for copyright infringement, as often as they’re wishing. (And then turn around and claim that it needs to go to arbitration, because they watched Disney movies on VHS growing up.)

Well, TOLs, I’m going to tell you what my mother told me growing up, when I’d say “I wish” about things: “Wish in one hand and spit in the other. See which one fills up first.” …Actually, the saying is “shit in one hand…”, but my mother was really sanctimonious about not swearing until a few years ago. But the point still stands: Wishin’ and hopin’ and prayin’ feels like you’re doing something, but in reality, you’re spinning your wheels at best. Remember? That’s why we turned “thoughts and prayers” into an insult?

That’s why we take action, even if the action is voting.

[lotsa dumb TOL shit, honestly, but the important part is]

Natalie Wynn: Why agitate for the right to vote if voting isn’t worthwhile?

Voting is cringe, I get it. It’s “cheugy,” as Gen Z says. It’s “giving skibidi Ohio rizz,” to use a Gen Alpha-ism. It’s “bogus,” in the great, nearly lost, Tongue of the Gen Xers. I get that. But you know what, I can deal with that. One of the actually good results of being bullied all throughout middle school is, you’re armored against people who think you’re “not cool.” And one of the great things about growing up and being in your mid-30s is that you no longer care about being cool. At least, I don’t care about being cool, unless it’s my nieces telling me I am (and they do think I’m cool; what can I say, the one job I have in this life is being a “cool aunt,” and according to my brother’s kids, I am crushing it). And I especially don’t base my entire sense of self-worth by which strangers on the internet give me likes and updoots, as long as I say exactly the right things and exactly toe their party line.

I am not cool. I have no rizz. But I do have my vote and a working knowledge of the American government and political system. I understand that voting is a powerful tool, even if it doesn’t always look like it.

And if you still doubt that voting is a powerful tool, then ask yourself this: If voting isn’t powerful, why are the Orange Shitgibbon and his ilk so scared of you not voting for him, that they are willing to literally commit election fraud? If voting isn’t powerful, why does he want yours so badly?

Things suck. Things have sucked for a very long time. We’re all tired and bogged down, I understand that. We’re burnt out. But doing nothing isn’t going to make things suck less. It’s not even going to make you feel better, when you get right down to it. It’s like when your mother tells you to get your ass off the computer and go outside, take a walk, drink some water, and take your meds. By themselves, these things won’t make you better, but if you don’t do them, you’ll never even have a chance at getting better.

If you’re feeling defeated and like things aren’t ever going to get better, I understand. Take a break. Lie down for a day. Cry. Eat as much ice cream and junk food as you want. Scream. Let off some steam by shitposting.

Then pick yourself up. Take a shower. Put on your nicest clothes. Lace up your shitkicker boots. If you’re into makeup, put some on. While you’re doing all of that, play your best pump-up music, as loud as you can. And go forth and DO SOMETHING.

Give a dollar to a the person panhandling at the grocery store. Buy a couple of cans of soup and give them to your local food pantry. Clip coupons for diapers and give them to a neighbor with babies or toddlers. Go to the library and ask the librarian about ways you can help out in your community. Learn to knit or sew or cook, and then use those skills to make clothes and food for people in need. Go to a protest, or a sit-in at the State House. Create and hand out fliers. And most importantly, talk to people. Like that one Thread pointed out, you can’t have a “communist revolution” without a community.

I am sorry to tell you that not only does systemic change take a long time and it’s slow as fuck, but it also starts with small acts of mutual aid. If you can’t even reach out and make connections in your own community, you stand absolutely no chance of changing anything on a grander scale.

Also, TOLs, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining. I know for a fact y’all aren’t out there creating or giving to mutual aid funds. I know for a fact y’all aren’t out there creating civilian militias or stockpiling weapons, or actually planning this revolution you’re so horny for. I know for a fact y’all aren’t out there protesting. I know for a fact y’all aren’t even checking in with your neighbors or saying “hi” to them. You’re do-nothing, say-everything, know-nothing know-it-alls, and because apparently no one else is going to tell you, SHUT THE ENTIRE FUCK UP. Sit down, shut up, and get out of the way of those of us who are doing.

Last updated August 23, 2024