Ben & Jerry’s co-founder arrested after disrupting Senate hearing with pro-Gaza protest
Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested after disrupting Senate hearing with pro-Gaza protest
Wait, has Ben & Jerry's always been this based?
Yes. Which is why I don't mind spending 8 fucking dollars on a pint of Cherry Garcia every now and then (it is really good though).
The parent company that bought them a while back, Unilever, sucks though. Part of their agreement included making sure they wouldn't interfere with their political activism.
Well, they did. I think they're currently in court over it.
Yes.
Colin Kaepernick's flavor slaps. And not just because it pissed off Conservatives. It's one of their best flavors.
Never even seen that one... My all time favorite is the Willie Nelson Peach Cobbler flavor, but apparently that ones gone forever 😢
You may still be able to get it at one of their creameries.
If I make it back to Burlington VT I'll def see if I can try it
I looked it up a while back, and I'm pretty sure it's retired. But maybe not...
In march, Unilever (B&J's parent company) fired B&J's CEO because he was expressing too many activistic opinions on social media. They're a bunch of hippies. Than they sued Unilever and they got their CEO back. Now the founder is getting arrested.
Pretty sure they endorsed Bernie back in the day. They're definitely hippies.
Shame that whole "peace and love" thing didn't catch on
Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era—the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .
History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of “history” it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time—and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.
My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights—or very early mornings—when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
—Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
The hippie movement was coopted by the elites early on, which is why they stopped talking about economic justice and focused more on concepts like "free love", "equality", drug use, and other cultural focuses.
Those hippies (namely Steve Jobs) later went on to define our current Big Tech industry.
Meanwhile, when a strong leader arises who starts to sound a little too much like a socialist (MLK Jr.), the state murders them.
MLK has a good rep today because of the non violence. Malcolm X and the Black Panthers were just as if not more influential for change, but they're completely ignored in schools and media today.
For anyone who grew up learning about MLK Jr and not Malcolm X -
I'd recommend a book called "The Sword and The Shield"! I thought it did a dope job comparing and contrasting the two figures. Importantly, MLK Jr was way more radical than many of us were taught in school, and by the end of his life he was changing his approach, having been forced to acknowledge that non-violence alone wasn't going to cut it. In other words he became more aligned with Malcolm's principles and beliefs as he watched the civil rights movement struggle and falter, and I believe this is ultimately why he was killed.
And then our lords and masters de-fanged his legacy, teaching generations of kids only the non-violence, giving millions the false idea that non-violence alone is enough, and not just enough, but the preferred and historically-proven method of achieving change.
It never has been and never will be, non-violence is only effective alongside credible threats of violence (at a minimum), and Martin and Malcolm both knew that to their core. That book helped me correct what was a confusing hole in my understanding of the world.
Thanks for the book recommendation!
You're very correct, but that's not the point I was trying to make.
Also schools definitely cover Malcom X and the Black Panthers just as much as MLK Jr., or at least my public school did.
Not my experience. Maybe briefly covered Malcolm, but if we learned anything about him and/or the Black Panthers at all, it was always in a negative light.
I had never even heard the name "Fred Hampton" until I was in college.
That wasn't my experience whatsoever and to me yours sounds uncommon. Not being combative with you, I promise, I just worry and wonder how successfully Malcolm X (et al.) has been whitewashed from history.
Edit: redundancy
Both Malcolm X and MLK Jr. (and every other civil rights activist throughout history) have been severely whitewashed in general.
I would argue Malcom X might be more demonized than white washed. They told me his violence was why he didn't succeed.
Same here, Malcom X practically read like a footnote to me when I was taught by my school
I wasn't countering you, just adding my voice to your plea.
That's good that those were covered for you. I can tell you the coverage on that in my corner of the South is absolutely lacking.
I think we forget that the peace/love hippie generation is the same one that's been leading America for the last 30 years.
I think we forget that generations aren't monoliths but rather the product of a pluralistic world.
I still hear "don't worry the old people will die out" as if young people can't be morons and don't vote, say, far-right
Yeah, it’s funny (🥲) too since younger Zoomers are even more right wing than Boomers…
Citation needed
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Generation_Z
https://unherd.com/2020/07/are-the-jordan-peterson-generation-of-zoomers-turning-right/
https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-changes-political-divides-2019-7?op=1
It’s a bit of a divide between women and men though. Young men are turning to the right because of manosphere sort of influencers while women are turning more to the left. It’s quite depressing to see young men being pipelined into the alt right
Used to identify as a man. Can confirm that manosphere shot is everywhere. Even relatively smart people have fallen for the propaganda.
Ben & Jerry’s gives out free ice cream at various progressive protests here in Australia. It is delicious and amazing for morale.
Pretty much, yeah. Although they did sell their company to Unilever, so the company itself is not so based.
Yes.
I think there was something I read about current leadership being not as good or something, so look into that, but this guy at least is fucking cool so far.
Y'all missed the years right after Citizens United when Ben & Jerry were selling stamps to mark up dollar bills in red ink that said things like "corporations aren't people." It's illegal to use them, but I sure did! I also loved getting change back at the grocery store that other people had already stamped.
Edit: They're still around! https://www.stampstampede.org/ and it looks like it was all Ben.
The former owners are not the brand. Only the name is the same.
I don’t remember the exact debate but Unilever (who purchased the brand at some point) is trying to make changes but the company is supposed to have its own say per their agreement.
I hope they can hold out against those changes: Unilever bought Talenti and it went from being pretty good to garbage that I won’t ever buy again
Yep.
I think so
Yep
