Category: Uncategorized

bernie sanders voters be like

prismatic-bell:

systlin:

azuuure:

isiwashere:

stappls:

nierfenhimer:

soundlyawake:

phineaslightfoot:

hollowedskin:

phineaslightfoot:

hollowedskin:

queercatmermaid:

hollowedskin:

fullten:

ohmygil:

fullten:

mostlyjudson:

fullten:

mostlyjudson:

What 16 trillion dollar debt? I have no idea how my free stuff is going to appear. I just know I want it.

He’s raising taxes on the rich

He’s planning on stealing more from people… ok that makes sense. Just because *They* are rich doesn’t mean those people deserve to have more of their wealth stolen from them.

Yes because the wealthy billionaires that steal and undervalue labor, and companies that scapegoat paying taxes are really hurting

why even bring up the national debt if you don’t want people to pay taxes

I’m on the phone half asleep, but yeah, Thank you for real

I don’t think OP understands what rich people are.
Like
they literally won’t even notice the taxes. It will make no impact on the wealthy at all. You could take literally 50% of the income of the top 10% and they would have to make zero changes to their lifestyle.

Money to them is just a high score. They whinge when you take them down a bit but it makes literally no difference because they’re still winning the fucking game.

They do actually 100% deserve to have their money taken. People are starving to death because we think disability payments shouldn’t be enough to live on and minimum wage should be half of what you need to survive so yeah, I think millionaires and billionaires deserve to have a tiny fucking fraction of the money they could never spend in a fucking lifetime so I can fucking EAT AT ALL.

I also don’t think people understand actually how much a billion dollars is. Like. it’s such an enormous number.

We think of numbers that big like a set of stairs, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, ten million, a hundred million, a billion.

With each jump just being another step on the staircase and not realising HOW FUCKING HUGE each step is, and how vast the gap is between each of them.

Aside from the fact that even a million dollars is far more than you need, a billion is disgusting excess. There is no conceivable way one person could justify needing a billion dollars when you know HOW MUCH that is.

To put it in perspective:
a million seconds is 11 and a half days
a billion seconds is 31 years and 9 months.

Another example would be Warren Buffett:
He made $US12.7 billion in 2013. That was his yearly income, not his total worth. Just his income for 2013.

That’s $37 million per day;
$1.54 million per hour;  
$25,694 per minute 

How much do you get per hour? Is it enough to live on?
the minimum wage in america is $15,080 per year
That man makes more money per minute just for being alive, even in his sleep than most of you do in an entire year.  

also, just using seconds for reference again

15,080 seconds is just over 4 hours.
12.7 billion seconds is 402 years and 4 months.

Can someone please make a staircase graph with dollar amounts?

I have discalcula and have a hard time conceptualizing numbers.
I feel like that’s a great analogy and would help me.

Ok so I tried and the number differences broke the weird little graphing thing I was using.

so here we have one thousand (1,000) not showing
one million (1,000,000) at one pixel

and one billlion (100,000,000) is the big pilon there.

I added fifty million in to show because that graph goes in increments of 50 million.

So how much is 50 million compared to a million though, it’s only one pixel? 

so smol.
But still we’re trying to get down to a thousand, (which is ten hundred-dollar-bills.)

So what does a million look like compared to a thousand?

oh. We broke it again. It will only go in 50 thousands. 
So we got to look at how big 50k is compared to our wad of hunjies.

ok.

This is why i like using the seconds instead of graphs… 
But I won’t give up here. 

the reason it’s so so hard to process is because a BILLION is an enormous number. there comes a point with numbers where we can’t actually process them and its just like…a lot. And more than “a lot” is still “a lot”.

So we need visual representation. Lets use pennies (thanks megapenny)

Imagine a penny. Just one.

Ok, you get a thousand pennies a week, and you end up with 52 thousand in a year. If they were dollars that’s a nice paying wage.

with me?

now this is a thousand pennies. 

this is 50 thousand pennies (1 square foot solid of pennies! COOOOL)
It’s roughly how many pennies you would have in a year if you got a thousand pennies a week.

This is a million pennies

And this is a billion pennies

(Which is 5 schoolbuss sized blocks of solid pennies.)

that is so many.

.

The problem with numbers is that we see them written like this

1
100
1000
1000000
1000000000

And we kind of subconciously go “well… it’s only increasing a little at a time, like a staircase. When the progression is more like 

1.

10……….

100……….

……….

……….

……….

……….

……….

……….

……….

……….

……….

1000………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ……….

………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. 

And so on. which is not a staircase I want to climb because it starts off reasonable and then jumps to building size, then mountain size.

We ‘add a zero’ which is confusing because it’s timesing (x) not adding (+).

to make ten thousand dots, I would copy all the dots in my thousand pile, and paste them ten times. to make a hundred thousand, I would copy all the dots in my ten-thousand-dot pile and paste them ten times. thats what “times by ten” means. 

That’s what adding a zero is, it’s multiplying (x) the last number we had by ten. (i also say timesing: as in copy and pasting it ten times)
try it with a word document and see how many pages it takes to get you a billion dots, and how many it takes for 15 thousand (minimum wage anual)

hopefully this was at least somewhat useful.

Anyway, the point is that if we imagine them as dollar coins, and one square block is established as good enough to live by a year, there’s no reason one individual deserves 5 bus-worths.

Omg this is excellent!
Thank you so much, that does really help!
The pennies in particular

Check out this awesome visual representation of how messed up our society is, everyone!

I literally was about to google a visual representation of this and then THERE IT WAS IN THE POST

Seriously. It’s time for people to wake the fuck up. I’m sick of the godsdamned wilful blindness.

We had this conversation in my sociology class.

If you dont understand the wealth distribution in america, here you go

This is what OP and America thinks it is

What it actually is. Evaluate your life. Evaluate your income. This is why we need to take from the 1%

The 1% makes so much money its off the grid. 

If you stack the 1% money next to eachother it would be like this

That 0% is your college students and people working fast food. Its below the poverty line. So taxing the 1% wont do shit to him.

This post got so incredibly awesome I’m almost glad OP posted it in the first place-almost

Idgaf how much a billion is. You not about to take MY money and spend it on who knows what to pay a debt when you shouldn’t have been borrowing the money in the first place.

People be making policies with the mindset that they going to be poor forever.

Socialism and more government intervention is NOT the answer

They’re not taking YOUR money. You are not at the top of that graph. 

And you’re not gonna get there either. That’s the myth they sell you, but it’s just that; a myth. 

My problem isn’t loans, asshole, it’s that food costs money. I’d like to NOT die of malnutrition because in my world broccoli is a LUXURY ITEM, you feel me, asshole?

waspwidow:

clint owes natasha many things.

his life, his hope, his family.

the least thing that he can do is go get her body, give her a funeral.

sam volunteers to come with him, but clint goes alone. they only have so many pym particles, after all, and clint isn’t sure what he’ll do when he sees nat, isn’t sure if he wants anyone to see him break down.

when he comes back to earth, the other avengers are kind enough to ignore the tear stains.

clint almost doesn’t give the eulogy.

he asks maria to do it, after tony’s funeral, knows that she can come up with one off the top of her head, one that would probably be better than the one he had worked on for hours.

she shakes her head, though, gives him a sad, small smile.

“she was your best friend, barton. you knew her best. and you were there when…you were there for it. it’s only fitting that you’re the one to do it.”

the podium looks like a gallows to him.

he can’t do natasha justice in one speech, can’t even begin to scratch the surface of her.

but he has to try.

shuffling the note cards that his speech is written on, the words dry up in clint’s mouth as he looks out at the assembled crowd. they feel fake, forced.

so he puts down the cards, and just talks.

“i, uh…i met natasha when she was still working for the russians. sent to kill her, actually. she was – she was fucking terrifying, honestly, in that uniquely tasha way of hers, y’know? people make threats, but tasha never really had to. she’d just fix you with that look, and you knew what was coming. but she was more than that. she was so much more than a scary badass assassin, though that was pretty cool of her, too.”

he has to stop for a moment, try to gather his thoughts and fight back the sobs that are already rising up in his eyes.

“i had the honor of being her first friend at shield, and getting to know her and help her become the hero she died as. she was funny and kind and wicked smart, and seeing her open up was…it meant a lot. she’d spent so much of her life being hurt and hurting people, never allowed to make her own decisions, and living like that – it fucks you up. but she didn’t let that slow her down. she never let anybody define her. honestly, this speech feels kinda ridiculous, ‘cause i know i can’t explain her with it.”

maria gives him a comforting smile from the front row, and clint takes a deep breath, forcing himself to continue on.

“another thing about her was…she liked sugary foods. a lot. like, seriously, you couldn’t have any cookies or candy around her, she’d always find it and steal it. thor lost a lot of poptarts that way.”

thor nods solemnly, and clint almost laughs.

“but yeah, she always treated having sugar like it was some kind of present. she wasn’t used to it, y’know? didn’t have much of that stuff growing up in the red room. didn’t have much of anything, really. and she…she could’ve used that as a reason to be selfish, i guess. but i don’t think that ever crossed her mind. she was selfless, only ever wanted to help people, make sure that they were all okay before she even thought about herself. and she…she died to save the universe.”

the room is quiet, the stillness only broken by a few tears.

“she died to save me. she did so fucking much for me, and i-now i’m never gonna be able to pay that back. the black widow was so many things to so many people, but above everything she was just tasha. she was my best friend. and if i could see her again, i’d-i didn’t tell her i loved her as much as i should have. ‘cause i did. i do. always.”

he has to take a moment, then, to bury his face in his hands and try not to cry, even though they all know that he’s sobbing.

“but we…we have what we have when we have it. that’s what she always said. so let’s make the best of it, everybody, you hear? it’s what she’d want us to do. just make the best of it.”

s-s-s-senp-p-p-pai:

vermofftiss:

secretladyspider:

sharing-of-words:

dvasxmeka:

trinandtonic:

dragonkitty:

hoppers-eleven:

the-sui:

leeferal:

goldenmeme:

catsuggest:

lord-kitschener:

instructionsfordancing:

artaeum:

lord-kitschener:

Obviously I want you to take care of your pets and make sure they get food and fresh water on a regular basis, but cats being huge drama queens and screaming hysterically at you and acting like they’re tragic famine victims who haven’t eaten in weeks and are about to drop dead from starvation right mcfuckin now, because you’re 10 minutes late feeding them is always going to be one of the funniest things to me

the cat who lives at the vet clinic i volunteer at was mad yesterday because his dinner was half an hour late due to a busy day. he proceeded to go to all the (empty dw) garbage cans and tried to knock them over and started desperately scavenging for scraps of food because obviously no one loves him or cares about him and if he must eat garbage to survive then so be it

not food related, but one time my cat cried at me for 20 minutes before i worked out that the reason why she was upset was because there was a coat hanger on her favourite cushion

This is absolutely beautiful and changed my life, thank you so much. Please protect her from hangers at all costs

wow. am STORVING and humaines here making joke laugh at cate honger ?!

My cat is a social eater who is not food motivated at all, so I was baffled when I first got him because he didn’t seem to care about food but he would SCREAM at me for hours when I knew his bowl was full. Any time I went to double check that he did indeed have food, he’d book it to the bowl and snarf like his life depended on it, but as soon as I walked away he’d follow me screaming again.

Eventually I figured out that he just wanted a dining companion and was screaming about how we’re a family and families eat together, god damnit! I moved his food bowl under my computer desk and it fixed the problem. But if I’m ever out for more than 12 hours I’ll come home to find him in a passive-aggressive kitty huff because dinner has been ready for hours but he’s been trying to be considerate (unlike some humans) and waiting for me to eat it. 

My cats are indoor cats. Being indoor cats, they can’t go outside to hunt for food (mice, rats, birds, etc) to gift to my sister and I.

But they know that the kitchen has food. They know where the easily accessible cat food is. And obviously my sister and I are just Really Big Stupid Hairless cats.

So if my sister and I go without leaving our rooms for too long? My cats will sit outside our doors and scream for our attention, lead us to their food bowls, and then only stop the screaming and leading once they see us sit down at the table and eat something. Because they think we’re hungry.

Your cats are the sweetest beings on the Earth, it makes my heart warm knowing that they exist. They love you very much and they care so much, they want you healthy and happy and will make sure you don’t neglect yourself and oh god they are so perfect. Real pure love exists, I am happy to be alive today.

My neighbor is a hardcore drunk. Like, 9am and dude is drinking vodka, but he had a cat that’s pretty much his honest to god caregiver because I have seen this cat visibly screaming at this man to keep him from hurting himself and sometimes when he hasn’t been outside for a while, the cat will scream at my door until I go outside to knock on the door to check on him. Cats are literal angels.

I have a cat named a Kitty Pryde who has an extra thumb and these giant paws and while she’s not super bright she did learn that she likes being pet. So I must like being petted right? So if I’m watching TV alone she’ll come up and just with her giant paw gently stroke my arm or hand until I pet her back and she waits and pets me again and it goes on a while. Cats are angels.

My cat once stuffed my bath mat into the litter box

Mine wakes me up if I sleep in too long cuz she wants me to take my pills. Fiance said she was yelling at him all day yesterday. She stopped whwn I got home…and asked him if he tooks his meds. He hadn’t.

My girlie screams at me if she thinks I’m up past bedtime. Apparently this transfers to my new roommates too: Maeve led @katculator to her room, yelled until she was under the covers, then came back to the kitchen to do the same to me.

BABIES

My cat scratches at my tv when he wants my attention because he knows the sound is the one thing that I absolutely Want To Stop. He does this for many reasons:

  • It’s 7:01 and I haven’t been fed yet
  • It’s 5:01 and I haven’t been fed yet
  • It’s 10:30 and past bedtime
  • It’s not 10:30 but I’m tired
  • I want to sit in the window
  • I can’t find the dog and I miss her
  • And more!

Also, if I get up late, he’ll come into the bathroom with me and sit on the counter until I’ve taken my medication. Then he goes about his day.

Cats are good.

I want a feline guardian angel please, they seem more competent than I am and WILL take care of me in the process, dang

systlin:

lordkevington:

systlin:

caffeinatedkt:

systlin:

systlin:

So I just googled “starter house” because I’d seen someone use the term and went ???

And if you heard someone shrieking in rage from the astral plane that was me just now

Also this article gave me hives

Thanks, I hate it.

But seriously, over half of the things on that list we actively DID NOT WANT in our house search.  We LIKE older homes, we WANT actual rooms and hate the modern open floor plans, we LIKE older neighborhoods with trees, and leaves, and frankly, our home is more efficient because of rooms. If we heat our kitchen up in the summer, it’s separated from the main living area by WALLS.  Also, there was absolutely no mention in that rash-inducing article of what quality of materials you get buying an older home.  We have oak hardwood floors on both floors that just needed some TLC. Our neighborhood has brick homes (not just the decorative brick on the street side of the property for that “look”). To get that kind of material in a modern home, you’re paying well over 3x what we did for a home of similar size (granted, we got a home that needed some cosmetic work, so I lucked into a pretty good deal for this 3 bed/3 bath, 2000sq ft place). Also! Because we live in an established neighborhood, we’re 10 minutes away from downtown where we both work, rather than a 40 minute commute from the new ‘burbs. 

I FUCKIGN HATE OPEN FLOOR PLANS I HATE THEM SO GODDAMNED MUCH HATES THEM PREIOUS

Last year my parents almost couldn’t sell their AWESOME older (not THAT old) house because all these new money tech bro families had it in their head that they NEEDED an open floor plan. When my dad asked “Why?” The answers were mainly “Because that’s what’s ‘in’ right now.”

They ended up having to sell for $90,000 under asking price, just because it was built in the early 80’s, and nobody back then planned on bad home planning being what idiots wanted in the 2010’s.

I’m waiting for the granite countertops trend to die away too, because I bet you a LOT of $$$ that twenty to thirty years from now people will think it looks “dated” and you’ll see all these guides on how to rip out granite countertops or paint over them or something, and I intend to laugh forever. 

Title VII and the Supreme Court

trans-parenting:

Longer/in-depth read for those interested.

Almost exactly five years after the Supreme Court’s hearings and landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges making same-sex marriage the law across the country, the Supreme Court will once again be hearing important cases on LGBTQ+ rights.

Let’s forward this by saying that it’s insulting that our rights are up for deliberation, period. But they are, and this is where we are at now.

In brief what these cases boil down to is: Whether it’s legal under existing federal law to fire someone solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

That’s an important distinction, because unlike in Obergefell where there was a question about the broad constitutional basis for marriage equality these cases rest specifically on whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity within the framework of “sex” as an established protected class. While it could get messier (especially if the Justices attempt to bring First Amendment issues into play), the underlying legal question isn’t about whether or not LGBTQ+ folks should have a right to non-discrimination protections, it’s whether they are currently protected.

From what I understand the Title VII argument started under the Obama-era as a parallel to legislative efforts to get what is now The Equality Act signed into law. That law would formalize the inclusion of gender identity and sexual orientation in federal civil rights law; largely rendering this legal argument moot. But in lieu of Congressional movement, and with a patchwork of state and local laws providing inconsistent protections, the Title VII argument provided a workable and – might I add, clever – argument to try and win protections through the courts for folks across the country. And they were moving in a positive direction until the 2016 election utterly derailed things.

In short, the Title VII interpretation that LGBTQ+ rights advocates are working with (and one that the Obama-era Department of Justice, and even the current Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concurred with) is that discrimination based on LGBTQ+ status is inherently a function of discriminatory attitudes rooted in our stereotypes of sex itself.

You can see it here in the ruling around one of these upcoming SCOTUS cases –  R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC & Aimee Stephens:

”Discrimination against transgender persons necessarily implicates Title VII’s proscriptions against sex stereotyping….an employer cannot discriminate on the basis of transgender status without imposing its stereotypical notions of how sexual organs and gender identity ought to align.”

The grounds in Zarda v Altitude Express are similarly expressed by a circuit court opinion:

“’Stereotypes about homosexuality are directly related to our stereotypes about the proper roles of men and women…the gender stereotype at work is here is that ‘real’ men should date women, and not other men’…Beliefs about sexual orientation necessarily take sex into consideration.”

Interestingly enough, Chief Justice John Roberts in the arguments on Obergefell seemed to at least nod towards this overlap; asking:

“I’m not sure it’s necessary to get into sexual orientation to resolve the case. I mean, if Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can’t. And the difference is based upon their different sex. Why isn’t that a straightforward question of sexual discrimination?”

It’s a compelling argument, but unfortunately, the Supreme Court (particularly with its now entrenched conservative majority) is going to be difficult territory. And – much to my dismay as I took some time to re-read them – the Obergefell dissents of sitting Justices Roberts, Alito, and Thomas paint a pretty clear picture of how they might seek to rule here. (Scalia also dissented, but he’s no longer on the Court so I’ll skip his grandstanding in this piece).

There’s Thomas with the argument that the Government should stay out of these things entirely: “Our Constitution–like the Declaration of Independence before it–was predicated on a simple truth. One’s liberty not to mention one’s dignity, was something to be shielded from–not protected by–the State.”

Then Alito delivering a scathing attack on “five unelected Justices…imposing their personal vision of liberty upon the American people.” And the “deep and perhaps irremediable corruption of our legal culture’s conception of constitutional interpretation.” No beating around the bush there.

And then there’s Roberts who is more measured but not less firm: “Understand well what this dissent is about: It is not about whether, in my judgment, the institution of marriage should be changed to include same-sex couples. It is about whether, in our democratic republic, that decision should rest with the people acting through their elected representatives, or with five lawyers who happen to hold commissions authorizing them to resolve legal disputes according to law. The Constitution leaves no doubt about the answer.”

I don’t have a crystal ball on the Supreme Court, and they’re enigmatic enough that there’s a possibility that maybe, just maybe, a victory could be won on the merits of the logic driving this case. But if I would have to guess, I’d predict the conservatives of the court (those above, joined by Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) knock this down on the grounds that if the Congress sought to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity in Title VII they would have, and that if they want to include it now, they could.

On its face a ruling against LGBTQ+ rights in this case would have minimal impact. While it would certainly be a loss for those directly involved in these legal proceedings, the general status quo of the country would not be changed: people in states/localities with protections would still have them, the rest of the country would not.

But a loss here would also be a hit to morale on a community that has endured a lot over recent years; and it would embolden those who seek to further erode LGBTQ+ rights in an effort to push us back out of the public square. 

While fretting about Supreme Court decisions a year out is much like worrying about the weather (there’s little to be done but prepare and hope for the best), especially when it’s all so speculative; it’s hard not to. Especially when these decisions could have such far-reaching impact. And especially when chance of passing The Equality Act or any other meaningful federal legislation is a long-shot dependent – at least in our current paradigm – on Democrats taking the majority in Congress and the White House.

I share all this not to be a downer, but because I think it’s crucial that we all recognize the gravity of our present moment and the importance of actions between now and 2020 when both this ruling and the next major election will take place. In short: we have a long fight ahead of us, and we need allies more than ever.

Strength to you all.

systlin:

wodneswynn:

karama9:

systlin:

wodneswynn:

val-ritz:

systlin:

wodneswynn:

wodneswynn:

wodneswynn:

As part of my recent deep dive into philosophy and political economy, today’s audiobook is The Federalist Papers, and man…I really wish they’d teach The Federalist Papers in more detail in civics class, because Hamilton, Madison, and Jay are very up-front about their desire for an American empire and their suggestions for making one. They’re not even subtle.

Madison is such an absolute hawk. He’s all like “The democratic-republicans think we shouldn’t have a standing army, but if we don’t maintain a peacetime army then how are we gonna use the threat of force to bully our neighbors into compliance? Or finish doing genocides on the natives? And what if someday we need to kill a whole bunch of our own citizens and establish a police state? Betcha didn’t think about that!”

I try to avoid commenting overmuch on pop culture negatively or taking a dump on people’s favorite media but I swear to God if anybody from the Hamilton fandom comes on this post all like “Oh there go my faves being drama queens again :3” then I’m gonna come to your house and tar and feather you and force you to move to Kentucky.

These people were goddamn animals.

In the latter, it has reference to the proportion of wealth, of which it is in no case a precise measure, and in ordinary cases a very unfit one. But notwithstanding the imperfection of the rule as applied to the relative wealth and contributions of the States, it is evidently the least objectionable among the practicable rules, and had too recently obtained the general sanction of America, not to have found a ready preference with the convention. All this is admitted, it will perhaps be said; but does it follow, from an admission of numbers for the measure of representation, or of slaves combined with free citizens as a ratio of taxation, that slaves ought to be included in the numerical rule of representation? Slaves are considered as property, not as persons. They ought therefore to be comprehended in estimates of taxation which are founded on property, and to be excluded from representation which is regulated by a census of persons. This is the objection, as I understand it, stated in its full force. I shall be equally candid in stating the reasoning which may be offered on the opposite side. “We subscribe to the doctrine,” might one of our Southern brethren observe, “that representation relates more immediately to persons, and taxation more immediately to property, and we join in the application of this distinction to the case of our slaves. But we must deny the fact, that slaves are considered merely as property, and in no respect whatever as persons. The true state of the case is, that they partake of both these qualities: being considered by our laws, in some respects, as persons, and in other respects as property. In being compelled to labor, not for himself, but for a master; in being vendible by one master to another master; and in being subject at all times to be restrained in his liberty and chastised in his body, by the capricious will of another, the slave may appear to be degraded from the human rank, and classed with those irrational animals which fall under the legal denomination of property. In being protected, on the other hand, in his life and in his limbs, against the violence of all others, even the master of his labor and his liberty; and in being punishable himself for all violence committed against others, the slave is no less evidently regarded by the law as a member of the society, not as a part of the irrational creation; as a moral person, not as a mere article of property. The federal Constitution, therefore, decides with great propriety on the case of our slaves, when it views them in the mixed character of persons and of property. This is in fact their true character.

Alexander Hamilton, Federalist no. 54

So yeah. I’ll help you with the tar and feathering. 

That passage in particular is… complicated. Hamilton’s argument is less that slave shouldn’t be viewed as people, and more that Southern slaveowners were perfectly willing to call slaves “people” when it came to things like determining population for governmental seats, but “property” for things like. Rights, and freedoms, and stuff. The man himself was nowhere near perfect, but he was an abolitionist.

“This is in fact their true character.” is a glaringly unambiguous statement

“Like, yeah they’re people, but we can still own them.”

I dunno how you interpret that any way but “Wow fuck this asshole.” 

It’s far more than just they’re people but we can own them. There is a blatant contradiction between the admission that their ‘master’ can chastise them in their body whenever they damn well feel like it (by the capricious will) and the later claim that they’re life and limbs are protected from harm, that I guess is meant to balance out the next little gem:

Although they can be ‘chastised’, and sold, and ordered around, etc, they can be prosecuted if THEY commit any kind of violence. 

When it comes to they’re having rights, they’re degraded to below human ranks and likened to “irrational animals”. Property. But when it comes to having the option to throw them in jail (despite the fact prisoners did force labor, that hardly seems like a consequence that would satisfy many prosecutors – just a guess) or execute them (I’m guessing that one was more common – guess again), they’re people and responsible for their actions. 

Slavery was fucking disgusting. Historical figures, regardless of what else they did, do NOT get a pass. You like some accomplishment by Random Early Important American but he had slaves and/or approved of slavery? Fine, like the accomplishments, but also be very clear that that person’s stance on slavery WAS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DISGUSTING. If they’re not known to have ever changed it and actively tried to make reparations, it is UNFORGIVABLE. Whatever they accomplished is still there. But it was done by a monster and it’s not right to deny it.

And before anybody tries to call any of these analyses “anachronistic” or otherwise tries to resort to “well, they were a product of their time”:

John Brown

Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit; so let it be done!

John. Motherfuckin. Brown.