Piedra Fiera @PiedraFiera@qoto.org

In the coming times of economic hardship, destigmatizing sexwork should take a priority. Punishing people that do sexwork or their clients is punishing poverty and consent. I hope that people that explore sexwork as an alternative income know that there are networks and ways to reduce possible risk and harm. That they have rights because they are workers and sexwork does not devalue them.

Since I was young, I have been proud to have some friends that according to some "looked like hoes". When I was still child, and some of my friend were still girls, they were getting sexualized by adults and older kids and told that they somehow were trying to appear seductive. Harrassed.
And I can assure all: it was not about the type of clothes they wore, or how they behaved. It was about some people, specially racialized and fat folks, being read as sexually explicit, pornographic.
My young friends knew it was wrong and stood up for themselves and since then I revere people that fight against oppression.
I hope for a future where we no longer stigmatize sex work, sex workers and their clients. In which a child can hope to grow up to be a sex worker without getting reprimanded.

I think that STEM people tend to lean into "beyond left and right" perspective. Sometimes the "beyond left and right" scenes are just hooks into right wing propaganda. But sometimes they lead to opportunities to analyze beyond the usual talk points. I think Dr Shiva accomplishes that on his last videos on the current geopolitical situation.

Dr.SHIVA LIVE: US-NATO & Russia: Irreconcilable Differences? Negotiations or Nuclear War?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXe4qBNYWIU

Telling someone off can be a right response given the right prelude. It can actually be quite beautiful. Like punching back.

Showing anger is believed by some to be inherently violent. Others make room for it depending on the situation. However, it can be violent to demand people repress their emotions to suit your comfort or that they not defend themselves when it inconveniences you.

Inadequate responses often lack scale. A response being out of proportion to what triggered it is not necessarily in denial of what happened it, but the usage of scales might be way off.

Even when the situation did not "demand" it, showing anger is okay. Anger is just an emotion, but who decides how it should be expressed? Some scenes decide to right out banish it. Others limit it. Because it serves a purpose.

Instead of focusing on whether it is proportional, we can figure out what triggered it and what can be done about it instead of ignoring it or shoving it under the rug. Showing anger can be disruptive and we can make room for that and benefit from it.

Even if such an expression is retrospectively out of proportion, opportunities might arise. Misunderstandings may be cleared out and the usage of scales, because they were tested may be improved. Embrace disruption, moving on is actually easier if we collectively make room for big emotions.

I hate some national flags more than others. I am okay with those that have not been flown over colonized nations to signal their subjugation.

There is no such thing as unbiased history. Historians can try to portray different sides to an issue, just like journalism. But thinking you can "get the truth" is naive. The closest you can get is the refuting lies.
Propaganda is made out to be different from journalism and history but the most efective propaganda is really hard to refute because it is based on facts. Any history book can be made into propaganda, because it is not a matter of truthfullness but of how it is used.

Most schools suck. Being a teacher sucks, just like being a cop. Not much different when you consider the "school to jail pipeline". Both jobs are very much enjoyed by people that like having power over others. I am many of those in such position believe that the good they do, outweighs the bad. And many of the do not care, it is just their job. And some really get off on the impunity to harm.

Resist the urge to reinvent warm water. Some solutions have already been worked out. Getting schooled on some history is a bit harder than hitting up a search bar but most of the time it is worth it.

Humans also change rivers and lakes and entire ecosystems. Our actions can drive for richer biodiversity. Leaving Nature untouched is about driving poor people out. Agriculture can drive us to greater biodiversity. Mind you, a lot of agricultural practices do not.

four minutes and a half of
"How Wolves Change Rivers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

I hope our westernized ways give way to less thinking ourselves detached and in oposition to nature. Conquering nature is such a petty objective. And yet it sets the foundation for so much.

Los ejércitos tienen estados, más o menos abiertamente. Aún activamente "desmilitarizando" un estado, se corre el riesgo de sólo estar encubriendo una militarización. Ya sea porque la vida civil fue regimentada, el ejército fue "outsourced" a la vida civil, o porque es así más eficiente gestionar el control de otros estados-ejércitos sobre esa población-territorio.

Una de las conclusiones más brutales jamás para mí es que las masas escogieron el fascismo. La democracia no fue subvertida, fue necesario plantear que lo fue porque aceptar que el fascismo es un momento de la democracia implica demasiado. Implica que va volver a pasar. Y hemos aquí.

"Human progress" is one of the foundational myths of the West. It helps justify colonial atrocities. It helps erase all that was lost.
The end of the world started over 500 years ago and continues to this day. So many worlds were destroyed and yet the resistance of those forced into being our "other" into the backwards peoples continues to this day. Stopping the killing machine called human would not be progress but respite.