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Asklemmy @lemmy.ml
chetradley @lemm.ee

What are you going to do, no matter how small, to make the world a little better?

Lots of people are feeling hopeless and upset right now, and for good reason. It's normal to feel like no matter what you do, things are going to get much worse for a lot of people. Blame, despair and anger are natural reactions, but as the shock of the situation dulls, what's your plan going forward?

Call me naive, but seeing hate have a resurgence makes me want to do more to help the people that are going to suffer the most. I'm going to make a plan to volunteer more of my time and resources to help organizations that need it. I'm going to see if my friends can organize with me to sponsor a migrant family. I may not be able to do much, but my personal way of coping with shitty situations is to try to make the world a little less shitty.

I'm going to try to be kinder and more forgiving with people, and be a better role model for my kids. And I'm going to resist and fight back against hate when I see it.

Lastly, I'm going to be a more supportive friend to the people in my life. And to anyone reading this that feels like this world's gone insane, and you're all alone: you're not. We're still in this together, and I appreciate everything you're doing.

62 comments

  • I try to get people to read Marxist theory, and correct common misconceptions. Part of why people feel despair right now is because they don't see a way out of this, because they don't have a background in leftist theory. I keep a basic beginners reading list I can link, if anyone wants it, I'll spare the copypasta.

    It also includes a section at the end with my own personal practical suggestions for how to conduct yourself in your daily life to remain effective and optimistic.

    I also try to combat problems like queerphobia, racism, and misogyny when I see them.

    • How do you get past the initial brainworms even bringing up the word communism? Like someone else said above, I feel like I can't even bring up an alternative path or get them to pick up a book without them yelling about China and Tiannamen Square, or Stalin and his killing a bajillion millon people, or how "communism has never worked". It's so annoying to have to go back to these basic, first-grade points every time.

      • As much as you can try, debatelords will be debatelords. You can be 100% correct with flawless evidence and debate skills, and some will cry and bleat about whatever. Those people typically are never going to be convinced by some magic formula of debate or combination of words.

        Instead, I meet people where they are at. I let them know I can try to answer any questions they have, I can provide a basic reading list, etc etc. I don't speak about what I don't know, I speak on what I do. I pick my audience based on those who are receptive. My goal is to educate those who want to be, and help guide radicalization, which happens without my will simply due to dying Imperialism every single minute of every single day.

        At the end of the day, there will be debatelords, you can chuck Yellow Parenti and Blackshirts and Reds, but that's about it unless you have a lot of time and can debunk every bit of gish gallop so others watching can see. Other comrades are great at that, so I try to fulfil a gentler role that catches others.

    • I would be interested in your list if you don't mind sharing :)

      • Here it is, Cowbee's "Read Theory, Darn It!" beginner reading list. All except one work has an audiobook alternative linked, otherwise there are text links directly to said works. It starts off with foundations, then builds on said foundations, ending with some practical advice on how to conduct yourself as a Leftist in general. I also include intersectional theory regarding trans and enby liberation, gay rights and history, and decolonialism.

        Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

  • I ride my bike/take public transit in my car-centric city

  • I keep extinct in the wild and critically endangered species of fish in my aquariums and am a member of a couple of fish focused associations who work with universities for the goal of preservation of species. been considering getting into red listed frogs and cactus, but the communities are smaller (so less access to species) and space is a premium when living in an apartment.

    i wish there was more exposure of this hobby because it's such an affordable, easy and "low effort" thing to do, but a lot of people who care about the environment and animals basically get offended when you keep animals "locked up" in an aquarium. in my opinion, serious aquarists (not the pet store furniture mentality) are invaluable, as a lot of species has been saved from extinction through aquarist efforts and university collaboration to reintroduce them to their native ranges after restoration work is completed (at least Lenoardo DiCaprio made a little bit of social media impact for one of the associations in 2022).

    I should add, overfishing is not the leading cause for extinction in freshwater fish, it's pollution from agriculture, as the vast majority of fish threatened with extinction have no utility to us (or bright enough colors to benefit the commercial pet trade - brightly colored species are generally not even found in the wild, and have their colors from decades of selective breeding by dedicated aquarists).

  • My current activities : -Finding caring doctors for an elderly woman

    -Counsel colleagues at my work about mental health and/or unionization

    -Help two refugees friends for their paperwork for citizenship.

    I wish I could do more, but on top of work, I'm already exhausted.

  • Pick up any trash that I touch/step on/kick and dispose of it into the nearest bin.

    This started from the bottles and soda cans kicking, I just loved how they sound when kicked to the max. I still do to this day :)

    My dad hated it so much. He probably smacked my young tush once or twice for that. So i would pick the dirty bottles and cans if he's in the vicinity and kick them hard out far back. Yap, I know how silly this is. He still heard the kick sounds, tho LoL

    So he came with a truce: "You wanna kick bottles? Fine. You kick a bottle, you ensure a proper disposal of it on the bin."

    He even gave me a tactic to kick them higher up that day LoL, thanks, dad.

  • I took a drive today. Around my old stomping grounds, streets I haven't driven down in years if not decades. Past the hospital where I was born, past the high school I graduated from. Down the highway where my driver's ed teacher when I was 15 kept bitching at me to lift my head off the headrest. I made sure to drive that stretch of road with my head on the headrest.

    I drove past my great grandmother's old house, where some of my earliest memories were formed. It's been standing abandoned long enough that trees are growing through the porch now. Past the Yamaha dealership where I bought my first motorcycle, which is now a machine parts warehouse. Past the airport where I got my pilot's license.

    I stopped at the lake by my old college and walked the trail around it, stopping at some of the little fishing piers, benches to look at the lake and the woods. I stopped at the foot bridge over the creek that feeds the lake and just looked upstream and listened to the water babble over the tree roots.

    The entire time I was out, my mind could only do two things: hum Auld Lang Syne and envision swimming straight out to sea.

    On a related note, the above text felt like an answer to this question.

62 comments