Sleepless...

I woke up last night (this morning?) at 3 AM and I couldn't get back to sleep. 

My brain latched on to the idea that Trump is going to win this November and that was that. No more sleep.

I am incredibly worried that he will. I went from being really optimistic in January, that there was no way that the country that sent him packing in 2020 would be stupid enough to welcome him back in 2024. Right? I mean, that would be insane.

To now looking around and thinking, have you all lost your damn minds?

I've said over and over that I will vote for whoever is at the top of ticket, but I also believe that the dems are being set up to fail. The media (owned by a lot of very wealthy people who would benefit from the tax cuts and deregulation that a Trump presidency would bring) is pushing a strong narrative. We keep getting reports of top dems saying, Joe Biden saved us from Trump and restored the US standing on the world stage. He accomplished more in his 3 1/2 years than any president in recent history. The economy is strong. Inflation is falling. Job growth is amazing and for these reasons we need to look at one 90 minute stretch of time, in an area that isn't part of the job description, and kick him to the curb. Because, oh yeah, our wealthiest donors say we have to. 

What the actual fuck? 

How about instead of trying to push Biden out we spend that energy on why Trump should never get in? How about touting Biden's actual record instead of the made up one that is being blasted in the RNC right now? 

You know the RNC where the media is ignoring who JD Vance actually is and how he got in the position he is in. The RNC where "They keep saying unity so we are believing it even as they wave signs calling for mass deportation." The RNC where the latest fashion accessories is a giant ear bandage. And oh by the way, where are the reports from his doctors as to what his injury is really like and the treatment he received and why a tipped ear needs a massive bandage? The RNC where Navarro went straight from jail to the stage to give a speech? The RNC where Paul Manafort was on the floor last night? CAN WE GET SOME REPORTING THAT IS MORE THAN THE RNC IS HAPPENING, WHY THIS IS BAD NEWS FOR BIDEN??

I mean fucking Van Jones last night said that a bullet didn't stop Trump but a virus stopped Biden. 

Yeah, Van, that virus stopped a lot of people in a lot bigger way than just having to work from home for a few weeks. The big stop. Including family and friends. And if you remember, which I'm sure you do, Van, during the last election cycle Trump was positive with Covid during the debate and went on to do it anyway, potentially infecting everyone around him. Because he doesn't care. He didn't care then, he doesn't care now. So yeah, Biden did the right thing when he tested positive, because that's who Biden is. 

He's the man who does the right thing. 

And his reward is getting treated incredibly badly by the media, by the pundits, and by people in his own party. Thanks, Joe, but off you go. 

And if the loss comes in November, because the party is in shambles and is not focusing on the things they need to to win, somehow that will be his fault as well. 

These were my 3 AM no sleep thoughts. 

One of the questions on the floor the first night is "Are you better off now or four years ago?" The honest answer for anyone is now. Four years ago we didn't have product on the shelves in stores. We had no vaccine. We had refrigerator trucks outside of hospital morgues for the overflow. This isn't fucking hard to decide. 

The other thing I keep thinking of is 8 years ago when the election results came in. That sick feeling that hit. The tears. Literal tears. And then watching my greatest fears about his presidency come to fruition with a Supreme Court that is currently working at dismantling our country as we know it. And now seeing that for some reason after that, after January 6th, after felony convictions, after a judge saying that yes, that decision to pay E Jean Carroll means he raped her, HE'S A RAPIST, that an angry young white kid shooting at him with a gun that Democrats have been trying to get outlawed as Republicans scream SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED each time, that now he's going back in? We are just going to sit back and fight with each other about Joe being old while tfg goosesteps back into the White House?

I have always made the joke that I'm not a Republican because socially I cannot be, and I'm not a Democrat because I like to get shit done. But, for fuck's sake, this is beyond!

He's the one who got shot. 

The dems respond by shooting themselves in the foot.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's just 3 AM gloom. I hope that no matter what happens, if the push is successful or isn't, I hope that dems, independents and moderates band together and remember that a Trump presidency is a terrible idea. We don't get two bites at the apple like France. They got their scare in the first round of voting and it looked like the far right were going to sweep in. So they rallied together and said not today, Ms. Satan, not today. 

We have to rally right fucking now. 

And whatever decision is made we need to move past it and regroup and get to work. Because if we don't we will have let the media and the pundits and the Republicans walk us right into a theocracy, oligarchy, fascist, no longer the Republic we had.

If you need me I'll be researching ex-pat communities. 

Oh FFS...

I'd like to say I'm disappointed not angry but that's a lie. I'm disappointed and I'm angry. It hurts more because it means more.

You all know I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's work. When I recommend books to people I always start with his. I've read probably 70% of his work. The only reason it's not 100% is because he's so prolific. And I don't like Dr. Who so any of that I just skip.  The mythology of his worlds is built into mine. 

And if you noticed I phrased that first sentence differently than I would have last week. 

I'm a fan of his work. Before I would have said I'm a huge fan of his. 

Ugh.

If you are unaware Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault by two different women. Both of them are cases of he said she said. Both are cases of a consensual relationship as a whole. But both are accusations of nonconsensual sexual contact within the confines of the relationship. 

Innocent until proven guilty meets believe women with a dash of separating the art from the artist thrown in there as well.

His responses to the charges are... well not good. Yes, there is the standard denial which is expected. The whole they were consensual relationships. Okay. Fine. But then...well...he goes on to say that one of the women just regrets the relationship so has changed her idea of what happened and the other one has a problem with false memories. That this is a mental health issue of hers. She just makes shit up. 

What? Really? You're going to go with that? If you knew she was mentally ill wouldn't that have been another reason to not get involved with her? Like, if she wasn't in control of her own reasoning and memories could she have ever consented? AND YOU ARE SAYING YOU KNEW THAT.

*sigh*

I'll follow the story and see what else comes out. There is probably nothing that will prove innocence or guilt out there. It will always be a how do you see it case. But it's already changed my relationship to him as a person and I don't know how badly it will change my relationship to his work. But odds are the joy will be gone. 

I have to be fair here and say that I already had my "perfect" illusion shattered. During the pandemic he and his wife were having some issues and he left New Zealand where she had been on tour when it all started and went back home to Skye. Now, it was the pandemic, borders were locked. Once he left he couldn't get back. So he left his wife and his child (the important part to me, Amanda Palmer is an adult, their child was not) and went back to Skye. He also drove across the country when he got there even though everything was locked down and he wasn't supposed to. The whole thing just struck me as selfish and self important. But there was a lot of that going around back then. And to be fair he had no idea how long the lock downs were going to happen. It probably wasn't his intention to be away from them for so long. But...it still made me view him a little differently. Instead of seeing him as a gifted artist who hadn't seemed to be touched with that I'm better than you brush I saw him as entitled. But I also understood that I have a particular sensitivity around pandemic behaviors and honestly what happened was between him and his family. 

But now...

The first woman in the accusations was 18 when they met. They didn't start a relationship until she was 20. But...he was 38 when they met, 40 when they became intimate. Your prefrontal cortex doesn't finish developing until you are 24. So his reasoning that she just regrets the relationship now might actually be true. That's why if you are 40 you shouldn't get involved with 20 years olds. Especially not ones you've been in contact with since they were 18. The word for that is grooming. 

The only thing that makes that seem less creepy is that the second woman was 21 and he was 59. And her boss. And she was a nanny so he wasn't in control of just her job but also where she lived. So sure, it might have been a consensual relationship over all, but what does that mean in this context? He's a celebrity. He's incredibly famous. He's incredibly beloved. Or at least was, we will see if that sticks. And he was her boss. AND he had 40 years on her. The power dynamics are completely skewed. What does consensual even mean in that context?

And he knew that. 

He and his wife got divorced in 2022. The nanny says the abuse happened in 2022. He and Amanda had an open relationship so extra marital sex wouldn't have been the tipping point. None of it looks good. 

There have been a lot of people saying that this has been an open secret for ages. That he pursues and sleeps with much younger women. That shit drives me crazy. Open secrets. Make it well known. Open secrets just means someone knows but it's still a secret left to fester and trap anyone who doesn't know. The nanny was 21. Do you think she knew this open secret or do you think she was just swept away with the thought that Neil Gaiman was pursuing her? 

And the other part that just pisses me off is that it's so fucking cliche. Rich, old, white guy sleeps with nanny and has issues understand consent. It's not even original. I expect more from a Gaiman story. Not a trite and tired trope. 

Fuck.

I mean it's not my first experience where the people that create the art I love turn out to not be great but it sucks every time. I have a friend who only reads books by dead authors so this doesn't happen to them, all the bad shit is already out and you can weigh it with the work ahead of time. You don't get nasty surprises like going back into the Harry Potter universe and seeing how mean it really was. It was all there, we just didn't pay attention until she made us. 

Joss Whedon. Neil Gaiman. My art that I loved. My feminist heroes. The guys that get it. Tired, trite, tropes. Fuck. 

Now to decide if the good of David Tennant (he and his wife Georgia Tennant are huge allies for the trans community) and Michael Sheen (he declared himself an not for profit actor and donates all of his earnings to charity) is enough to make me finish out Good Omens when season 3 finally arrives. If the idea of the hundreds of people who are working on Sandman can make me override the feelings I have about the person who wrote the source material. And can I even engage with the source material in the same way? 

Do I know if he is guilty of sexual assault? I don't. I probably never will. Do I know that he's an old, rich, white, guy who uses his position to sleep with way too young women? Yeah. I do. And isn't that enough to be disgusted by? 

He was 40 years older than her.
He was her boss. 
When he was called out he accused her of being mentally ill.
What does consent even mean in this context? 

Ugh. 

I promise you I'm not perfect. I promise you that I've done things that might make you question what you think of me as a person. We all have skeletons. But I also promise you that none of those skeletons involve men or women 20 to 40 years my junior that I have held a position of authority or celebrity infatuation over. So when I become a famous author you are free to follow me and know my work is safe from horrific reinterpretation. 

Ugh. 

Pessimist, Optimist, Just Pissed...

Anyone who knows me knows that I've never believed that Trump will be punished for anything he's done. Even as case after case is decided against him, nothing seems to touch him.

He's guilty of rape. That's what the judge said. That the judgement against him for defamation against E Jean Carroll meant that yeah, he raped her. And it was a hefty judgement against him (he had to pay for the defamation, he will never go to jail for the rape). But he hasn't paid her a dime. 

He is now appealing the judgement against him in the election finance fraud case (it wasn't about sleeping with Stormy Daniels or even paying her off to be quiet about it, it was always about hiding the payments) because the Supreme Court said he can do whatever he wants. Even though this case is about something he did before he was president and it's a state case. But okay...

The guilty verdicts keep rolling in, but nothing ever happens to him. 

And now the Supreme Court, and I keep making a face every time I type that because they are more like the Burrito Supreme Court as in you can buy them if you want to. Just call it a gratuity and you'll be fine. Anyway...that court has said that he has absolute immunity for anything he did as president, as long as he believes, and they agree, that he thought it was official duties he could have. So he will be untouchable for everything else. If he thought he could officially take the documents, then he could take the documents. If he thought he could lead an insurrection then he could lead an insurrection. It makes mockery of the fact that we all knew when Nixon said if a president does it then it's not illegal that that was wrong. What Nixon did was still illegal. But apparently not according to this court. 

Nothing's changed. I mean. Not really. Not the big picture as far as what we need to do, and that's vote in November but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more and more worried about it. I don't think he will win. I think he'll lose the vote. But I'm not sure he won't be installed as president anyway. You saw dry runs of vote manipulation during the primaries. People testing the waters to see if they could delay or deny the votes were legitimate. And we've seen a Supreme Court decide the presidency before, and they were only slightly corrupt compared to this court. 

And because the court has been busy this term setting themselves up so tidily it might not really matter. The past few weeks they've gutted regulatorily agencies and said that it's up to the courts to decide on matters of regulation. With the Supreme Court being that highest opinion. They've said that it's okay to bribe elected officials, as long as you don't call it a bribe and it comes after the decisions are made, so they've blessed the over 4 million and counting Thomas has received from the Nazi memorabilia collector. They've said that a president has absolute immunity over any official acts and that THEY GET TO DECIDE what is official. So yeah, they've set themselves up pretty well. 

We're screwed. 

It's been a slow rolling plan and they executed it about as well as you could. They've taken over the courts. They've taken over local governments at all levels. They've instilled these weird ideas in a lot of people's heads about what the real problems in America are. Not the rich getting richer, not the loss of actual freedoms, but who is doing what in the privacy of their own bedrooms with other consenting adults. THAT'S the problem. And where people pee! And who is running next to you on the track! OH MY GOD THAT'S THE PROBLEM! Now empty your wallets, hand over your right to protest, and don't mind the brown water coming out of your tap the court says it's fine.

I'll still vote in November. Like I said, that's all we can do right now. Vote and vote in large numbers and hope that there is still a shred of actual decency in the court system that believes we should have a democracy for at least a little while longer. And, no, I don't give a fuck that Biden is old. I knew he was old before. I trust Harris to be a good president if he doesn't make it another four years. I trust the people he has around him right now to run the country in a way that is closer to my own values than anyone on the other side of the aisle would. I'm not entertaining should haves and if onlys, I'm dealing with what we have and this is reality. 

And the reality is we need majorities in the House, in the Senate and a Democrat in the White House. And then we need to undo some of the damage this court has done, and oh by the way, do some court reform as well. There isn't anything in the Constitution that says we have to have 9 justices, and there isn't anything that says they have to serve for life. They could either add 4 to make it the same number as there are appellate courts, or limit the number of years a justice could serve to make it less likely that you get a court that does not move with the population.

So if you went with a time limited court let's say, twenty year terms. That's a significant amount of time. The justices we have now could start to be replaced in two years until we were on cycle with justices serving 20 years. Say, two justices replaced in 2027. That would be Thomas and Roberts, their replacements would serve until 2047. Then Alito and Sotomayor would be replaced in 2029 with their replacements serving until 2049. Next would be Kagan and Gorsuch in 2031 with their replacements serving until 2051. Kavanaugh would stand alone at replacement in 2033 with his replacement serving until 2053. Coney Barrett would serve a twenty year term leaving in 2040 and Jackson would end her 20 year term in 2042. And then the two justices that replaced Thomas and Roberts would be up for replacement in 2047. The court would always be in play during elections. You would know exactly how many justices were up for replacement during a presidential term instead of playing WHO DIES NEXT? Of course if a justice did die, or decided to retire then there would have to be determination if a new justice served out their term or if it started a new 20 year clock on whoever was confirmed. 

I'm sure there are better ways to do it but that's the one I came up with earlier. 

The courts made a mockery of our whole nobody is above the law belief system yesterday. But it wasn't all bad, Bannon, one of the people responsible for the undermining of America did go to jail yesterday. I have no idea how bad it will be for him, a lot of guards are MAGAts. But at least it's something. 

That's what we have to hold on to now. At least it's something. 

Vote in November. 

Old is New Again...

Well since I'm on the old topic new post wagon I might as well stay here.

When I was setting my intentions for this year (not goals so just shush!) back in January one of them was to not get really wrapped up in the political season. I know what I'm doing. I know that a lot of the hate and discontent you see is actually started by foreign governments trying to destabilize us. I know that the loudest ugly voices aren't actually the majority and that I need to use my focus and time to keep presenting ideas to those that can be swayed. 

So I'm going to do my best to just keep a low profile. Not let it eat at me. Not get involved or engaged in pointless discussions. 

Not post FUUUUUUCCCCCKKK YOUOOOUUOOUU on any and every post that tries to both sides the two main candidates for the presidency or acts as if they are somehow morally superior by tossing out phrases like "If you vote for the lesser evil you are still voting for evil." Here's a fucking clue, anytime the options are evil and less evil you choose less fucking evil, you dipshit.

Also, the two major political parties are not the same. They aren't. And if you insist that they are then I know you are not a serious person with serious ideas who deserves to be taken seriously. I know you are a talking points regurgitator who hasn't actually "done the research" or "read beyond the MSM." And I also know you think I am being condescending and dismissive and you really think that you know what you're talking about and I'm just being a tool of the one party system. 

You are trying to tell me that the party that is working it's hardest to vilify my daughter and people like her. To make her existence illegal. Is the same because the other party didn't relieve all of the student debt out there (though they relieved more than any other administration and would have relieved even more if not for losing in the courts). You are trying to tell me that the party that wants to take away all women's (not just trans women's) body autonomy from abortion rights to birth control to no fault divorce is the same because you are mad that this administration hasn't stopped you from getting fewer potato chips in your bag even though they cost the same. 

You want to bring up Palestine and blame this administration for what is happening even though they have been working on getting Israel to comply (subtly at first; within the first few days after the attack warning Israel to not overreact the way we did after 9/11 which COME ON that's an amazing thing to hear any American politician admit just on its own; to more forcefully now). You think that a Trump administration that thinks Netanyahu is doing the right thing is a better idea? Are you fucking high? And if you are then enjoy it now because a Trump administration would go back to trying to make sure that legalized weed is no more. 

And that's the truth that you have to face. This is a two party gig. No matter what you want to think, no matter how you want to justify it, you are either working to keep Trump out of the White House or you are working to put him back in. We do not have a system that supports multiple parties and voting third party during a presidential election is not the way to get us there. The whole system would need revamped from the bottom up. Some municipalities are working on that. Using ranked choice voting and open primaries which, if they are successful, could end the two party system and open us up to the best ideas win. I'm all for that. I have advocated for that for years. Get rid of the Electoral College, get rid of the two party system, get rid of a lot of this bullshit and rework it all. 

But we are not there yet. 

Right now either Trump or Biden is going to win in November. And you trying to claim some sort of moral "oh I couldn't vote for either of them" high ground is bullshit. 

It's a weird way to say fuck your family, but that's what it is

And it's not just my family. It's a lot of families. 

It's not hyperbole to say it's the entire United States of America. Just go read their plans for what they want to do and ask yourself if you or someone you love will be negatively affected by them. Odds are your answer will be yes. Even if you used to identify as a conservative and feel that you should vote Republican because you always have. This is not the Republican Party of yesteryear. It's just not. 

I would argue that it's the Republican Party that the path of movement conservatism leads to, but that's another rant for another day. 

So I'm writing this and if you need to refer to it during the year, feel free. 

I will be voting Blue up and down the ballot again this year because the Red wants my family dead. And that's the truth of it. 

So if you are not doing what you can to prevent Trump from taking that office, and if you are proudly posting about it, know that my silence and absence from your life is actually a really loud FUUUUCCCKK YOOOUUU!

Speak Up...

I was going to do a blog about religion today, and I still am, at least part of it. But there will be a turn and this is going to be two, two, two rants in one!

So...

Listening to NPR this morning and they were doing a news story on the terrorist threat level in Sweden being raised because a few people burned pages of the Qur'an in front of a mosque. This was following a story about Christians in Pakistan being attacked because of rumors of the same thing, that someone desecrated a Qur'an.

I told Brent that when you value a book over actual people there is something wrong with your religion. 

And I know, I know, they view the book itself as sacred no matter how many times it's been reprinted, each version is supposed to be exactly as it was written originally and as such it's sacred. 

Okay. Fine. 

But people are still more important. 

Now on the flip side. Why the fuck are you burning or tearing up the Qur'an? Stop it. It's just rude. It's not your holy book, it's not your religion, you might think that there are people doing horrible things because they think this book tells them to but you KNOW that if you burn it or desecrate it you are going to tip off a wave of violence. People are more important than your act of aggression. 

It's my life philosophy, right? Don't be rude. Just don't. So much of the world's issues could be solved if we stopped being rude to each other. If we stopped being dicks about every damn thing. Just stop. Your religion is yours. Keep it to yourself. Don't try and force it on me through laws, that's just rude. My lack of religion is mine. I will keep that to myself in that I don't burn your holy books or trash your holy sites and I don't make fun of your religion. Your religion is private and I don't care about it.

And right now a lot of you are like WAIT! You criticize my religion all the time!

Yeah, kind of. 

What I do, as I do this with Christianity above other religions because I was raised Christian and I know your rule book, what I do is try to point out when you aren't living by that book. I point out when you are forcing your religion on others in a way that isn't not Christian like at all. When you are practicing bigotry and trying to justify it as part of your religion and I know that it isn't. Because it's important that people do it. But it would be better if it was coming from people who are still practicing the faith. 

Because when I post about terrible Christians I often get the #NotAllChristians response with various levels of defensiveness. And I get it, you don't want to be associated with the Christian Nationalists that are trying to lead us into Fascism for their name's sake... So you should be posting those articles and calling them out for the bullshit they are. You should. You shouldn't be arguing with me about how great you are, you should be using your platform to separate yourself and others like you from those that are using your religion as a shield for hatred. It would mean a lot more coming from you than it does from me. 

I know a few people who are cops. Decent people. Love their families. Doing a job they feel is important. I've posted a few times that the ones that should be the angriest about bad cops are good cops. The bad cops, how many of them they are, how the Police union rallies around them and protects them from any sort of consequences, how EVERY TIME the DOJ does an investigation into a local precinct they find systemic issues, all of that makes it really hard to argue that the A doesn't stand for All. Good cops needs to be railing against the bad ones. They need to be calling attention to bad behavior and challenging it. They need to be the change. The actual change, not the #NotAllCops change, but the ACTUAL change. It would mean a lot more coming from them, with results, than it does coming from me. 

There are people who have left the Republican party. They just couldn't accept what this new party stands for. And...I actually have one friend who is pretty conservative who did as well. Not like sort of politically conservative but actually old school conservative (though you have to go older school than you are thinking because he has no urge to regulate anyone's uterus, that's not the government's job old school conservative). And as an old school conservative you can imagine that we don't agree on a lot, but we do agree on the state of the current Republican party. And he posts articles and opinions (he's a political science major so it's right in his wheelhouse) and points out over and over again that this is not the Republican party he signed on to. And it's why he's not a Republican any more. And it means more coming from him than it does me. Because OF COURSE I think they are awful, they aren't my party, but they were his, until right around 2016... More Republicans need to do the same thing. Stop telling me #NotAllRepublicans and that I'm being horrible and lumping people together if you can't stand apart from them. Point out when they are doing things you don't agree with. It would mean more coming from you than it does me. 

We all know that it should be done. You see people clamoring for people in groups to denounce members of their own group when something happens. "Where are the moderate muslims?" the Republicans cry when there is an attack by radicals. Well where are the moderate Republicans and why aren't they denouncing Trump and January 6th and stealing documents and trying to erase security tape and and and and...Why are they telling you to look at Hunter Biden instead of rallying around ANYBODY else for the 2024 election? It would mean more coming from them. It might even mean they had a shot at the White House again... Which I would fight against tooth and nail, but it would be because I don't like their political policies instead of that I don't want my daughter's life to be in danger, I don't want women to be treated as nothing but brood mares, I don't want marriage equality to be revoked, or any of  the other hateful othering nonsense they are pushing... 

If the call is coming from inside the house you need to answer it, it means more coming from you.

Call it out. 
Speak up.

If you are part of that group, or you were part of it, then speak on it. Use the language you were taught in that group and call the bullshit out.

Make it mean something. 

You're Next...

So the worst of the worst met last week. CPAC. It's the nexus of the worst of them. It's so bad that people you usually think of as being awful people and also republicans skipped it this year. But still, there were the vile, awful, humans who pretend to hold the morals of the nation in their grubby little claws. And they called for eradication of trans people. 

Of course that makes me sick to my stomach and scares the crap out of me. Not that one hateful human said it, but that he is cheered for it among others who vote for republicans. 

And even if for some reason you are reading my blogs and still feel like genocide against trans people would be hunky dory, you should be scared too. 

Because if they were able to eliminate trans people (spoiler alert, they can't, the "best" they could ever accomplish would be to scare a lot of people into hiding), if they were able to pull off that horrific campaign, they would still have problems. And when they still had problems they would start looking for the next group to blame for them. 

Right now they blame immigrants, members of the LGBTQIA+ community with a special emphasis on trans people and trans women in particular, and people of color; for why they aren't doing well. Or as well as they think they deserve. 

The ironic thing is that they have been spoonfed this hatred of others by people who do not view them as part of their own in group. The ones that view them as the others. But others that can be used to maintain a system that keeps the money flowing upward into the hands of a smaller and smaller group, they are the useful idiots keeping the system running. A system that makes it possible that you are one serious illness away from bankruptcy. A system that allows people to live on the street and blame THEM for not being able to afford housing.

They do it by focusing that hatred on any other group than the one that is actually hoarding the resources. 

Oh you aren't a wealthy billionaire? You know why? Because a 13 year old trans girl is running track. Yup. Or maybe it's because your neighbor took her 3 year old to a Drag Queen story hour. Somehow that is making your life worse! It's not that the CEO of the company makes about 399 times what the average employee makes. I mean, that would just be crazy right? To think that you don't have enough money to live on is because someone else is making millions, when really it's because trans people exist.

But if they get trans folks all back in the closet. If they get the rest of the alphabet family living in fear again. If they get their wall built. If they disenfranchise every person of color that they can. If they do all of that, they will still be making scratch wages while the dude in the corner office debates which one of his houses to go stay at for the week. And then what will they do? 

They will target someone else. Because that dude in the corner office will already be working to give them a new target. They don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than you, so to speak. If they can keep throwing targets up for you to hate then you won't realize that you could instead be working toward income equality and health coverage for all and housing the homeless and feeding the starving and educating people without bankrupting them and...and..and...

But if we did that then the hoarders would have to let go of their stockpiles of things they couldn't even use in one lifetime. They would have to stop their who got to this level of billionaire first race. They would have to seek help for whatever disease has twisted their minds from this is enough to there is never enough. From being rich is really nice to I need to always be richer. From their hierarchy of needs being met to having to meet their wants as well and find new wants all the time. And part of that wanting is being so much better off than everyone else that the idea of everyone else getting their needs met feels like backsliding to them. Closing the gap terrifies them. 

So instead they make sure to focus the anger on someone else. 

It's trans people right now. 

But please believe you're next. 

Camels and Needles...

I hate the prosperity gospel.

I know, I know, hate is a really strong word. But I hate it.

Now I know a lot of you are saying that I don't like organized religion as a whole, and you're right I don't. I think it's possible, and even preferable to be good for good alone instead of for the shot of a reward after you die. But the prosperity gospel is the worst of the worst. 

And it's woven itself through most of America and on to a good chunk of the rest of the world. It's deep in the Republican party view of life. It's in there with a lot of Democrats as well. It's odious. 

Basically the prosperity gospel tells you that if you are a good Christian, god will show you his love by giving you things. That if you just are pious enough and pray hard enough you too can be rich. 

What?

What god is this? It's not the one I grew up learning about. The one who said there was a better chance for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven. Whose son said that if you did not take care of the least of these then you've not taken care of him? Who told his followers to sell everything they had, give it to the poor and THEN they would have riches in heaven? 

He didn't say hey, pray harder and I'll spot you a few million. 

And remember before when I talked about to believe a thing you have to believe everything that goes with it?

If you believe in the prosperity gospel teachings, that if you are good enough you will be rewarded here on earth with material things, then what does that say about the rich and the poor? What halo effect do we give the rich? Well obviously they are good people because god has blessed them. We think the rich are smarter than everyone else. We think they are better people overall. They must be, they are rich. God gave them these blessings. Who are we to deny that they are favored?

And if the rich are blessed by god what does that say about the poor? Not a tough through line there. And we see policy decisions based on those beliefs. If the poor were just smarter, worked harder, were better people they would have money of their own. Why should I give away anything that I've earned to those lazy bums? And the prosperity gospel tells you that they are just ungodly so you can feel pretty good about not supporting their wicked ways. Maybe you should just pray with them? 

And then there is the grift. The prosperity gospel ministers who ask you to cast your bread upon the water so it will come back to you greater. With them being the water, of course. See, when I was growing up casting your bread upon the water so it would come back to you was good deeds. Doing good things for other people. If you do good for others, good things will happen for you. Not monetary rewards, just blessings or that heavenly reward. You were supposed to take what you had and give it to people who needed it. Be that money or time or support. Cast your bread upon the water wasn't supposed to mean send it to the preacher on TV who needs a new jet.

And that grift is in our politics as well. Prosperity gospel writ large. We give tax breaks to the wealthy. We charge a different tax rate on income from investments than we do income from slinging burgers. We say if you die rich your wealth is protected from taxes to those that inherit it. We protect the money of the well off. And we use bullshit terms like "job creators" to make it seem righteous. Not those greedy job workers. Fuck those guys. But the job creators? Well they are special.

And the churches support it. 

And I hate it.

We shouldn't be protecting the billions in dollars that are stashed away in investments and bank accounts and real estate and whatever. We should be using that money to move people out of poverty. Off of the street and into homes. Making sure healthcare is covered. Assuring that nobody is going hungry. Freeing up that lower level of Maslow for EVERYONE. 

Oh and I know...I have friends who are cringing at this. "Why shouldn't I do what I want with my own money? Why should I be punished for being successful?" I'm not saying you should be punished and I'm not saying you can't have nice things. But there should be a level where we all say, that's enough. And fuck the "Who gets to choose that?" we all know there is level where it's more than enough. And anything after that gets taxed at an extraordinarily high rate, because apparently all of these blessed by god people can't be trusted to give away the money to the least of these. 

I hate the prosperity gospel.

I hate justifying the belief that somehow rich people are just better than poor.

I hate that there are people out there that believe this. On both sides. The rich who think that they somehow deserve their wealth. That somehow it does make them better, smarter, more loved by god. And poor people who think they've done something wrong. That if they just try harder to be good Christians, if they send just a little more money to that preacher, that then they will be blessed with wealth. Or the ones who have given up. Who think that god doesn't love them, or that they have done something so awful it cannot be forgiven. 

The prosperity gospel has wormed its way into so many aspects of our lives and we need to root it back out. 

Do you really want to be rich? Try being rich in kindness. Try having an abundance of compassion. Try to understand that your daddy leaving you money makes you lucky, not blessed by god. 

I hate the prosperity gospel.