amber (she/her)

We’d rather not take risks. Plus, we’d like to not accidentally contribute to the spread of disease ourselves if we can help it.

Key word being occasionally, and also not with a disease that causes serious health complications, cognitive decline, and that itself damages your immune system.

COVID linked to 65% of new onset cognitive impairment, dementia

Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including significant drops in IQ scores

Every COVID Infection Increases Your Risk of Long COVID, Study Warns

SARS-CoV-2 infection weakens immune-cell response to vaccination

Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid

Cognitive performance of post-covid patients in mild, moderate, and severe clinical situations

Incidence of diabetes after SARS-CoV-2 infection in England and the implications of COVID-19 vaccination: a retrospective cohort study of 16 million people

Mask. N95 or better. My wife and I never stopped, and she never gets sick despite being immunocompromised. I work in a place where illness is common due to the environment and I’ve been sick once in the last year, meanwhile all of my coworkers come in sick like twice a month. Apparently they’d rather be sick and miserable all the time than wear a mildly uncomfortable thing on their face.

So when people constantly call us deluded, cult followers, bots, shills, brainwashed, fascists, bigots, trump supporters, and any other number of dehumanizing insults, often coming into our spaces to do so, all the while themselves defending some of the most violent and evil people in history in the name of “lesser evil”, are we supposed to just turn the other cheek and never respond in kind? When we witness the regular defense of the people ensuring the destruction of Palestine continues, are we supposed to just patiently and calmly explain how genocide is bad, actually? When dot worlders accuse me of faking being trans and being a privileged child, am I not justified in losing my temper? Y’all do not even try to understand where we are coming from, constantly use strawman arguments and put words in our mouths, but we’re supposed to smile politely while you spit in our faces? Like this is literally a thread spawning from an OP that is just an ableist insult, and yet some of us are still in here trying to talk things out despite that!

And it’s not like it’s limited to Lemmy, right? Literally everywhere I go I have to either tolerate anti-communist red scare bullshit, transphobia, ableism, misogyny, etc., or I have to try and have stressful and exhausting conversations with people who never, ever take me seriously. So yeah, we’re kind of on edge! If you get shit on for that when it wasn’t deserved, then I’m genuinely sorry, and I wish it wasn’t something that happens. But can you at the least understand that it is not a one-way street here?

I wonder what that something is?

I highly recommend you give Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism and On Authority a read. At least On Authority, as it’s a very short piece, but the two combined should give you a basic understanding of the historical and theoretical basis of why marxists defend the use of authority. I can understand where you are coming from, I was more than a little skeptical of authoritarianism when I was younger and still identified as an anarchist, but I think if you take the time to honestly engage with our position then you will at least understand why our stance is what it is, and how we are diametrically opposed to fascism, even if you don’t agree with us.

That’s right folks, remember not to engage with any opposing ideology in an honest or intellectually rigorous manner! If someone is critical of your beliefs, it is important to simply ignore them and never seriously consider either of your positions.

Harris is sitting here telling you that she will not stop funding/supplying the genocide of Palestinians, that she will take a stricter border policy and continue building the wall, that under her the US military will be the most lethal fighting force. Not to mention her horrific track record up to this point. A vote for Harris is just as much a vote for fascism as a vote for Trump is. Not that voting out fascism in the USA was ever a realistic option to begin with.

nice, good work mods

Trump and Biden, or rather Democrats and Republicans, are functionally the same. If you don’t see that it’s either because you aren’t affected by their violence and don’t care about people who are, or because you’re a fool. Quit wasting your time on these dead ends and recognize reality, the bourgeoisie are the only people with real power in the US. Any choices the masses are given electorally that may come to pass are insignificant to the greater capitalist and imperialist power structure. At most they are concessions (which can later be rolled back) to pacify you. Stop being the obedient dog of your owners! If you really want to improve this dumpster fire of a country, join your local communist party and start building the foundation for a better future. And for fucks sake, read some books about how capitalism works so you stop getting caught with your pants down. If you actually care at all and want some recommendations or links I’d be happy to provide what I can.

Fascists are already in power, that is the whole problem! No matter who you choose, all of the problems I listed and more will continue to get worse and worse.

lmao speak for yourself, i sure as fuck won’t be voting for butcher biden

He sure is effective at killing brown people at least! Good at disabling as many people as possible with COVID too. He’s quite effective at opposing the rights of trans people as well. Oh, and he’s the best at deportation, can’t forget that!