Literacy

If you're female and can read this, thank feminism.
If you're nonwhite and can read this, thank civil rights activism.
If you're below the upper-middle class and can read this, thank socialism.

Literacy is extremely powerful and privileged. Tyrannical ruling classes know well to either limit the literacy of their peons or provide brainless propaganda to them. Out of the oppressed classes, the educated effectively rebel (as opposed to those with nothing left to lose, who lash out and make everyone look bad).

If you can read this, thank the minute probability that you were born into the right time period, location and culture. It is class privilege that allows you to read this now.

A Year Since Undergrad Part 2, Conservatism

Firstly, I'm feeling better about being out of school now; I really needed to rant. There are some noticeable benefits of being out of school:

- NO HOMEWORK!!! No reading assignments, no papers, no assessments, no poopy group work!
- I didn't want to believe it but, once I got my narrative transcript, there's no denying the homophobia of at least two art therapy instructors. I know another semi-out art therapy major who was adored by these same instructors, but she was inactive rather than militant and never made anyone squirm through gender-neutral pronouns (yes. This happened.).
- The art therapy internship programs altogether. I know you guys had mostly great experiences and I'm glad for you...but mine went from bad to terrible very quickly. "Jeanne Zilske" - need I say more?
- LESS BULLSHIT!! I have to bullshit customers, but that never lasts more than ten minutes.
- Less drama. It's ALVERNO
- Alverno's in denial of how it's a lesbian school. Either you're queer (Lauren, you're an honorary lesbian) or you're pregnant there, but everyone is in denial that that's how it is. Don't have to put up with that anymore!
- CHICAGO!!!
- The majority of my weekends were spent traveling...the majority of my time in school was defined by long-distance relationships. NO MORE!!!


Secondly:

At work, we're getting more and more conservative books. The tea-baggers are getting louder - greater in numbers and power perhaps. In one of our most popular stores at the airport, I counted a dozen books:
1) "Voices of the True Woman Movement" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
2) "Radical" by David Platt
3) "To Save America" by Newt Gingrich (TAKE A HISTORY LESSON, YOU DUMBNUT!!)
4) "Conservative Victory" by Sean Hannity
5) "2010 Take Back America" by Dick Morris & Eileen McGann (AMERICA HAS BEEN SECULAR WITH SOCIALIST LEANINGS FOR A LONG TIME, IDIOTS!!)
6) Glenn Beck...vomit
7) Ann Coulter...double vomit
8) "Losing Our Religion" by S.E. Cupp
9) "Defining Conservatism" by Jonathan Krohn
10) "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark R. Levin
11) "Obama Zombies" by Jason Mattera
12) "Catastrohpe" by our stupid friends Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

To summarize all these books: True Christians have to choose between Jesus and the corrupt American ways because Americans, lead by Obama, are waging a crusade against True Christians. Up until Obama, secularism, science and socialism* didn't exist in America, just Christianity. Some of these authors even cry that Obama is COERCING WORKERS INTO UNIONS!! GOD HELP US!! Anyway, the majority of these books were written and published after Obama was elected and some of them are selling very well. I'm worried that the tea-baggers will succeed with whatever fart-hole they present at the primaries. It's not that far away!! Obama hasn't lived up to his promises to the LGBTQ community and, if tea-baggers do regain power in '12, we're doomed.



*Public schools, public libraries, free clinics, food pantries, collectives, co-ops, Red/Yellow Bike programs, etc. are all fruits of socialism.

Capitalism: A Love Story

I'm really glad that I went to the International Socialist Conference in Rosemont in July before seeing this movie. That's the best way to go into this movie: informed.

The biggest issue around "Capitalism: a Love Story" is that it's a Michael Moore movie; considering a lot of people don't know what capitalism and socialism actually are or why they should care, that may be what keeps the movie afloat in the box office.

Don't get me wrong, it is a very good movie - repetitive and scattered at some points, but poignant and honest - and I'm glad that it exists and that I saw it! Moore knows that there is a stigma around him and he uses that to get attention . . . good for him! Were he to attempt a more pleasant association, he would end up on Hollywood Square. "Capitalism: a Love Story," unlike some of his other films, reminds the viewer of the cold-heartedness of execs and CEOs and Chris Dodd rather than using shock value. And instead of one or two sob stories to pull the heartstrings of the viewer, signs of a growing class movement are shown. That is what really gives this movie its strength, it shows what actually is rather than waving a big, attention-grabbing flag.

When I left the theater, though, I couldn't help but wonder, "Now how much money has Moore made off this movie and what does he do with it?" What defeats his message most is the fact that he isn't among the working class or even the middle class (anymore, he did refer to his childhood with relevance) and makes a ton of money off us watching his films.

I do recommend seeing this movie as a mere part of studying political economics and class warfare.