Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Justice is the concilation prize

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially with the murder of Trayvon Martin. Everybody wants justice for his stupid, shitty death and for his grieving family.

But justice is the thing you go after only after someone has caused harm. Never before.

I'd rather have fucking safety, equality, and a society that functions for everyone than after-the-fact justice. I think Trayvon's parents would rather have him alive and happy and unknown than some martyr for Kids and People of Color who are killed by racists.

Justice doesn't actually fix what it broken. It just gives some measure of relief for the ones left behind.

Which leads me to the phrase Social Justice. You know, I don't give a flying fuck if people who are shitty acknowledge racism or sexism or classism or ableism or homophobia or transphobia, etc etc. I don't care what they think or feel. I don't give a flying fuck if they never change their minds about what horrid things they believe. I care that their horrid thoughts and beliefs are allowed to form actions that do others immense harm.

Maybe that's where the failure of social justice is (not complete, little baby steps happen and then bigger steps happen. But so mind numbingly slow that the costs are monumental in terms of lives and burnout). Maybe we have to say fuck the changing of hearts and minds and just start isolating abusive shitheads from the populations they would hurt. Racist cops could no longer be cops. Misogynist politicians could no longer be politicians. Anti-choice doctors could no longer be OBGYNs. And shitty-ass murdering douchenuggets would not get access to a gun.

I don't know. Maybe this shit doesn't translate into the bigger picture. I know that the Trayvon stuff is making my heart break and my stomach turn. I know I am lucky that I will never have to get the kind of phone call Trayvon's mom must have gotten. Kid's white like paper. He could be wearing a hoody and firebombing doctor's offices and he wouldn't raise much of an eyebrow.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

37 and 6

Years old and years blogging, respectively. This here is my birthday blogiversary day.

This year is the first time since I started blogging that I didn't have to curse Georgie W. for starting the Iraq war on my birthday. Instead I get to worry along with all of you that Obama is rattling the sabers for MOAR WAR: Iran Edition. I read rumor a few weeks ago, and granted it was a rumor, that Israel had already knocked out most of Iran's nuclear possibilities. But Israel's not talking cause they want MOAR WAR sponsored by the US and Iran's not talking because they like to swing their dicks and never admit weakness.

Sometimes at ye old blog I feel like I've said the same thing a thousand times over and that nothing ever changes. Except that's not true. When I started this blog I still believed the Democratic party was worth voting for, as they were the only ones to treat us be-uterused as sentient human beings and would never be the party of the have mores and warmongering. I don't believe any of that anymore. Haven't since 2008. Us ladies, despite making up 60% or democratic voters, only matter to the party as political footballs. Suddenly we're only autonomous human beings in an election year.

Fuck that. I am a full-fledged human being every single damn day of every single damn year.

I also started out writing this blog while I still had the tiniest thread of faith in a possible higher power. I don't have that anymore. You would think a loss of faith like that would be a blow to ones optimism. On the contrary, since I gave up trying to figure out how some higher power could possibly be okay with shit heap that this world is, I have more hope. Lives are hard because of some secret master plan. Inequality isn't a test from a higher being. The world sucks the people we let rule us are assholes. That's it. I am much more hopeful knowing that it's possible to change a super fucked up system created by humans that I was thinking that I was some stupid pawn in a celestial chess game.

I know I haven't been the most faithful of blogmistresses. I think I wrote more on my crappy cell phone without internet access or a home than I do having moved up to the top of the bottom 20 percent. It's a time thing. Full time work is full time. They ain't fucking kidding about that. Thankfully, the Kid is learning to cook and is (mostly without nagging, sort of) responsible for the housecleaning. (I'll be damned if any boy of mine grows up not knowing how to make dinner or clean a toilet. NOPE!)

Thanks for sticking with me all these years. You peeps are the awesome sauce on my sundae.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Oh shit! How did I not see it before?

The Hunger Games is World Systems Theory structuralist.

Center= capital (also see district 13)
Periphery = outer districts
Semi-periphery= the close in districts that supply soldiers and tech

And without putting in too many spoilers, I have to say I loved the last book especially for its bold faced critique of imperialist regime change. I know there are others who hated it. But fuck 'em. Collins managed to put some complicated political machinations into a book for teenagers.

I can't wait for this fucking movie to come out.