The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
The nice thing about digital art is it never has to be finished. On this one I got too deep into the image. There's a lot going on you can't see cuz the midtones are too dark...
The non-gendered warrior SHOULD be creating themself (to coin language) out of and battling dark chaos, a bright spark headed toward a dim light... they never know if there's a goal...
"#Poverty does not breed nobility of character. Or humility. It just breeds hunger of body & soul.
#Trauma does not breed compassion. Just pain. And the spreading of pain.
#Disability does not secretly empower you with courage & persistence. It just limits what you can do.
Toxic Positivity is a modern cultural plague. It just keeps you buying stuff. And working harder and harder... to buy more stuff.
Religion for consumers.
This kind of positivity is not spiritual. Or uplifting. Just one more yardstick measuring my failures. Inspiring movie by inspiring movie.
What doesn't kill you? Does NOT make you stronger. Not often enough. It just doesn't kill you. Breath after breath... after breath.
The difference between Strength and Misery?
Not a choice. But it is very real.
Honor it.
This is a raw, unfiltered truth. Many of us who are autistic... live it. But we don't talk about it.. much. At least not out loud. Not with typical folks. Not among other neurodivergents, either. Maybe not even to ourselves.
I don't know about you. But I mask a secret shame in colors of anger, resentment, regret.
Why? TV, Hollywood, the damn New York Times Best sellers list...? Together, media create our social mythology. Championing only the lifestyles of effective people. Ya know, folks who turn out tons of widgets. And consume mass quantities while flicking screens...."
Today in Labor History November 17, 1942: Ben Reitman, hobo organizer, anarchist and one-time lover of Emma Goldman, died. Reitman served as a doctor for hobos, prostitutes and the downtrodden. He participated in numerous free speech fights and anarchist causes, getting beaten, tarred and feathered, jailed, and run out of town for his troubles, most notably during the San Diego free speech fight. He also wrote the book, “Boxcar Bertha.”
📝 Recent research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health links the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion to significant improvements in adult mental health.
Among the lowest-income adults, anxiety symptoms improved by more than 13% and depressive symptoms improved by more than 9%, finds a study by Akansha Batra, Kaitlyn Jackson, and Rita Hamad.
Worthwhile research on contemporary #poverty and #money (to reduce 1, give 2).
As an historian, specifically one who studies the development of prejudice re: marginalized communities and proscriptions around the provision of cash, nothing could be more obvious. Money is a form of power, as is withholding it or making the impoverished jump through humiliating hoops to get limited in-kind prestations. This is anything but new. #histodons#history@histodons
Today in Labor History August 16, 1819: Police attacked unemployed workers demonstrating in St. Peter's Field, Manchester, England. When the cavalry charged, at least 18 people died and over 600 were injured. The event became know as the Peterloo Massacre, named for the Battle of Waterloo, where many of the massacre victims had fought just four years earlier. Following the Napoleonic Wars there was an acute economic slump, terrible unemployment and crop failures, all worsened by the Corn Laws, which kept bread prices high. Only 11% of adult males had the vote. Radical reformers tried to mobilize the masses to force the government to back down. The movement was particularly strong in the north-west, where the Manchester Patriotic Union organized the mass rally for Peter’s Field. As soon as the meeting began, local magistrates tried to arrest working class radical, Henry Hunt, and several others. Hunt inspired the Chartist movement, which came shortly after Peterloo.
John Lees, who later died from wounds he received at the massacre, had been present at the Battle of Waterloo. Before his death, he said that he had never been in such danger as at Peterloo: "At Waterloo there was man to man but there it was downright murder." In the wake of the massacre, the government passed the Six Acts, to suppress any further attempts at radical reform. The event also led indirectly to the founding of the Manchester Guardian newspaper.
Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote about the massacre in his poem, “The Masque of Anarchy.” The authorities censored it until 1832, ten years after his death. Mike Leigh’s 2018 film Peterloo is an excellent portrayal of the massacre, and the events leading up to it. Many writers have written novels about Peterloo, including the relatively recent “Song of Peterloo,” by Carolyn O'Brien, and “All the People,” Jeff Kaye. However, perhaps the most important is Isabella Banks's 1876 novel, “The Manchester Man,” since she was there when it happened and included testimonies from people who were involved.
Today in Labor History August 11, 1894: Federal troops drove over 1,000 jobless workers from the nation's capital. Led by Charles "Hobo" Kelley, an unemployed activist from California, and Jacob Coxey, they camped in Washington D.C. starting in July. Kelley's Hobo Army included a young journalist named Jack London and a young miner-cowboy named Big Bill Haywood. Frank Baum was an observer of the protest and some say it influenced his Wizard of Oz, with the Scarecrow representing the American farmer, the tin man representing industrial workers and the Cowardly Lion representing William Jennings Bryan, all marching on Washington (Oz) to demand redress from the president (the Wizard). 650 miners, led by a "General" Hogan, captured a Northern Pacific train at Butte, Montana, en route to the protest. The Feds caught up with them at Billings, forcing a surrender, but a few eventually made it to Washington.
It's inceribly freeing to realize that after decades of poverty and now working in a middle class income lvl job the income has no real power over me.
If the conditions worsen, I'll just withdraw my labor. Doing this gives me zero anxiety. I know perfectly well that I'll be fine regardless.
In many ways poverty makes you ungovernable. And also reveals our real power as workers. And I suppose that is why the ladder to decent income has to be kept as steep as possible, so not too many find this out.
🗣 We’ve just open the #CFP for the online congress on the practice of #Commoning throughout history, with the primary objective to present innovative research informed by critical interculturality.