Oh Someone At The Guardian Has Lost The Will To Live

Jumping spider mimic planthoppers in the genus Rhotana

Photo 1 by tenebrionidfan, 2 by gancw1, 3 by budak, and 4 by deeqld

I must say. I have never, in my life, seen such a display of divine punishment. It was almost poetic, like a hero from the epics of old rising in vengence and rage, a symbol of the people. As someone vehemently against the death penalty I should feel disgusted, but I really cannot help but be in awe at this man.

Sometimes, money and power rise you so above justice that you must be brought down to earth and reminded you're mortal. The passing of a soul is always a shame, but when a soul kills thousands and views lives as mere numbers to fill his pockets? I may no longer be that religious, but I will say even Jesus Cristo - known hater of the rich and despiser of fucking other people over - would find it hard to keep up with "love each other as I have loved you" motto. Perhaps that's why he's a religious figure and I am not, for my heart hasn't experienced this catharsis in ages.

The governor of Pennsylvania (the state the Adjuster was found in), Josh Shapiro (who was on the shortlist to be Kamala's VP pick lol) just said at a press conference: “In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint."

What, Josh, exactly, are we supposed to do?

Vote? Thanks to gerrymandering, the electoral college, politicians being funded by corporations, and "news" organizations peddling propaganda, that does shit all.

Protest? We try doing that and we are just ignored. The right makes jokes about running over protestors (because apparently only the lives of rich white people matter).

Call our politicians? They don't fucking care. We've been trying that for decades and they barely passed Obamacare, which Trump now wants to dismantle.

MLK said "a riot is the language of the unheard." We have been screaming at the tops of our lungs that these "policy differences" are killing us. Costly private medical insurance is killing us. Lack of gun control is killing us. Rising food and fuel prices are killing us. Microplastics everywhere is killing us. Fossil fuels are killing us.

And people like you, Governor Josh Shapiro, do nothing except protect your rich friends.

I'm surprised it's taken this long, and I'm surprised there haven't been copycats yet. Let me know when I should grab my torch and pitchfork, because my student and medical debt ridden ass is very ready for some good old-fashioned revolution.

So, Ben is going through some things these days.

Hey listen. A bunch of people will now try to convince the public that the killing of Brian Thompson was ethically wrong. They will try to use the same old tired arguments: that murder is always wrong, that we should stand against political violence in all forms, that CEOs are people too, etc.

Now, you probably won’t fall for all that bullshit, but a lot of people might. Here is what you need to tell them in return - it’s not guaranteed to change their minds, but every time you offer someone a chance to accept the truth you’re making it ever so more likely to take it.

In philosophy, the idea that people should never do certain “bad” things (e.g. killing) is called deontology. The thing is, unlike utilitarianism (which states people should choose actions that create the most wellbeing in society), deontology is inherently flawed as a morality system.

See, only through deontology can people end up finding themselves having to choose outcomes that will lead to more suffering in the world; think, the trolley problem. Now, ask yourself, what kind of morality system expects its followers to selfishly pick the choice that ensures their own moral purity, even if it dooms the wellbeing of possibly hundreds or millions of others?

Understanding this, you might ask yourself: who benefits from having deontology be the crux of understanding morality for so many people? Who benefits uplifting rules like the Ten Commandments as the ultimate guideline to ethics, as opposed to what it was in the original context of it’s religion - a simple list of base laws meant to instruct a small group of escaped slaves several thousand years ago?

The answer is twofold. First, there are the authoritarians, who wish to instill obedience by making people believe that breaking their rules, no matter how justified, is wrong. Secondly, there are the bystanders, who watch nervously as the world crumbles around them, but excuse their inaction by latching onto a false belief that they are still somehow better than the people who are doing something about it in a way they find aesthetically displeasing.

Therefore, it is imperative to look at the world through a utilitarian perspective, and judge every incident like so. Brian Thompson is part of a very exclusive club; he had wronged so many people so severely that the suffering caused to him and his loved ones by his murder is still innumerably outmatched by the joy his unlikely retribution will give the literal millions of people he’s wronged.

Remember, by similar logic it is still very unethical to kill 98% of people, so think of all the choices Thompson had to make to put himself in the top 0.1% of the 2% of people who’s murders can be justified. In a better society, a society that prevents and punishes exploitation, it would be hard to even conceive of a murder that could ever be so righteous.

In fact, in a society that uses classism and bigotry to block people from achieving their fullest potential through non-violent means, we must celebrate those who risk their lives and legal rights to push humanity forward, bringing to justice the true criminals of decency.

TLDR: Brian had it coming.

little creature of the day: lemming

Whoever’s idea it was to throw all those lemmings off of that cliff should be in jail

image source

If there’s a heaven, undoubtedly he has found his way there. R.I.P.

blogs that i dont follow back but will take their side in anything that happens to them ever and block whoever is weird or mean to them. reverse-parasocially