Is there a typo here? If you make 140k a year in the US it puts you in the top 10% of earners, but still below average. Yes, part of the richest in the sense that most of the world probably makes less than you, but nowhere near the richest in terms of what these statistics are talking about when they refer to the top 1% - ie. people who make close to, if not more than, a million dollars per hour.

That is to say - someone making 140k is not capable of the levels of pollution that people with private jets, who take dozens of flights every year - not even scratching the surface of their shopping and eating habits, and the pollution caused by their businesses and investments.

I think it’s a super complicated topic. My understanding of the quote is that ableism is much bigger and more complicated than language, but we should be aware of how our language reflects ableist views - like the normalization of ableist slurs into our everyday vernacular, for example. In other words, our society is so comfortable with ableism, that even disabled people and advocates for disability rights may use ableist terminology regularly, whether or not they’re aware of the origins.

I, personally, don’t believe that “lame” is necessarily a word that needs to be changed, but I do believe it’s a word with ableist origins. Like our conversation on “dumb”, IMO most people don’t think about the technical definition of “lame” anymore - but I might be wrong, or it might be regional. It’s ultimately a personal choice whether or not it feels hurtful - and obviously, if someone tells you to not use a term around them, that’s important to respect.

The key takeaway, to me, is that we should be mindful of how much ableism is normalized in our lives. I think you’re definitely doing that, based on this post. It doesn’t mean that using terms on this list is only ableist if you’re thinking negatively about disabled people when you use it; it means that we should be thoughtful with our language, but more importantly, thoughtful of how our words and actions may be reinforcing hurtful systems. To use the example from before - if someone doesn’t use the word “crazy” except when describing mentally ill people, that can speak to how they see mentally ill people as not just people who are ill, but as people who are undesirable boogeymen.

Take it on a case-by-case basis, IMO, and follow your gut if you feel shitty about certain words - better safe than sorry. But, at the end of the day, it’s just… complicated!

NO STRAWS NO STRAWS NO STRAWS NO STRAWS

The dentist will probably tell you everything you need to know, but after having spoken to someone who had 3 dry sockets due to using straws after removing her wisdom teeth, it feels like the most important point to drill in.

My partner had a lot of soylent, fruit/veg juice, soup, apple sauce after the procedure. Get some ice cream or a shake (WITH A SPOON) afterwards if you’re not nauseous - you deserve a treat. Apparently the weird ice from Sonic is really good when you get a tooth out, I’ve never had it lol. Good luck on your procedure, and don’t delay it!! Just get it over with so you never have to think about it again. You’re gonna be fine 💖

I’m not mute, but to me, using “dumb” to describe someone who is mute sounds… worse? It feels like the equivalent of recognizing that “crazy” has baggage and not using it in everyday speech, but continuing to use it to describe mentally ill people. I understand that it’s not a perfect comparison, but it feels like sometimes, words become too enmeshed in their modern-day insulting uses to feel okay using them to describe a community, even if it is the technical definition of the word.

If anyone who is mute/nonverbal/nonspeaking sees this and I’m wrong - please let me know!! I don’t mean to overstep, I just want to share my perspective.

The YA series Uglies will always be one of my favorites. I remember reading it as a tween and not knowing quite how to describe it; a friend called it a dystopian novel, which is true, but… it didn’t feel quite “right”, or at least, like the complete truth. The setting is utopian, bordering on solarpunk; no more worrying about climate change or overconsumption - we’ve fixed the climate, everything we own is infinitely recyclable in minutes, nature is healing! - the only thing we need to worry about is looking good at the party. But, it turns out, living in a society where the most important thing in the world is being beautiful - even if everyone is beautiful - is maybe… not great? Almost by design?

It was written to be a critique of plastic surgery, but I think there’s so much to dig into even as an adult in 2023. It probably lit a nice rebellious fire in teenage me, questioning authority and the seemingly unquestionable rules of the world. The relationships between the characters are still fascinating to me, and I’m still mesmerized by the beautiful, terrible world they live in. Even though the writing style is very simple to be easily digestible to early readers, the ideas the book explores are as complicated as you let them be. Surveillance, nature vs. nurture, institutionalized self-hatred, autonomy, sustainability, forced metamorphosis… there’s a lot to unpack.

Get some rest! Hopefully when you come back the mental load is lighter and things work out, but at the end of the day, none of this is more important than your health and well-being.

Yay!! Lost has become a pretty underrated show, it always makes me happy when people are still watching and talking about it ♥

Thank you!! That’s very validating to hear 😊

The Princess Bride is as wonderful a book as it is a movie! You’re gonna love it 😊

I’m gonna be cleaning my apartment because we’re finally getting a couch!! And I need to get the place in order so it’s easy to maneuver it in. We’ve lived in our place for a few months already but still in box city… so it’s nice to have something to force me to unpack and make it look presentable.

Another thing that came to mind just now - while there are often organizations and government resources for homeless people, they might not always have access to them. Trying to get a psychiatrist who takes Medicaid took me 2 entire days of phone calls to find even one who would accept a new patient, and then another 2 months’ wait to get seen. I’ve also heard from people in my last city that they wouldn’t stay in shelters because they’re too unsafe and they’d rather risk sleeping outside in the cold. So, when you wonder if it might’ve been better to donate to an organization, well, maybe, but there will always be limits to how many people they can serve and there will always be people falling through the cracks who need help. Just some more food for thought.

1. Head empty
2. I think these feelings are normal… kind of. They are normal in the sense of, you did something that contradicts what you were taught your whole life. They are also normal because you’re trying to weigh the pros and cons of a complicated issue that has no one-size-fits-all answer because every individual human is different. I can somewhat but not completely relate to these feelings, because I’ve lived in areas with very large homeless populations my whole life, so I don’t really analyze it too much, but I get how it’s different for a new experience.
3. If you can do it, I say do it. No matter what they choose to spend it on, they need money to eat and have water and eventually have somewhere to stay. Making money when you don’t have a job or an address or savings is nearly impossible; saving up, or amassing things to make life easier, are both also extremely difficult, since you can lose everything at any moment. So, yes, the person may choose to use that money in a way that hurts them… IMO that’s their decision to grapple with. I just know that, without any resources, they will likely be in a worse position regardless.

I also think that anyone living in that kind of situation would really appreciate kindness and dignity, which are both sorely lacking in how most people react to a homeless person asking them for help. So, even if you can’t help financially, recognizing your fellow human being is a start, miles above “look away and move on”.

Don’t feel bad for giving someone who needs money some money. Don’t beat yourself up for being unsure how to proceed. Just try to be compassionate; asking these questions is definitely a move forward, IMO.

Here’s a really interesting video by Philosophy Tube about Effective Altruism. It digs into the assumptions behind EA, the way good intentions can lead to great consequences (a different type of effect of altruism - whoops), how those at the forefront of the movement themselves are not quite as altruistic or effective at giving away their money as they claim, criticisms of the philosophies themselves, just a whole lot of really good food for thought.

STRFKR - Girls Just Want To Have Fun, synthy goodness

Kishi Bashi - This Must Be the Place - more orchestral version of the Talking Heads song

Gorillaz - Crystalized - somber cover of the XX song

Placebo - Running Up That Hill - Running Up That Hill but… a Placebo song. Exactly what it says on the tin

This is how I feel. I’d rather have things be fragmented than be too big to fail. A lot of people have joked in the past few years that it feels like the internet only has 4 sites on it now; I’m pretty happy to be back to browsing multiple. It reminds me of following multiple forums around the same topics back in the day. Variety is the spice of life!

I try to get used books over new almost always. The only exceptions are for books that just came out that I desperately need to devour instantly and the library physical/digital wait is months.

This is pretty much true for most things in my life, I look for used/freecycle first for anything I need for environmentalist reasons. I remember seeing a comment years ago about how even those who are anti-consumerist still have a huge blind spot when it comes to books, and that was totally me - I had dozens of books I’d bought before ever reading, only read once, and didn’t even like that much. Having to declutter all of those books for a move was exhausting - used bookstores wouldn’t even take most of them for free, regardless of condition or how much I’d originally paid for them - and I’ve been trying to only purchase books I’ve already read, know I’ll reread, and that I can find used in good condition.

As a transplant, my view is that the most productive discussion around reddit is how to replace the spaces people lose when they stop using it. I enjoy beehaw way more than reddit overall, but a lot of my favorite communities don’t have equivalents on Lemmy. I didn’t use it as a content aggregator, I used it as a community space, and that’s much harder to replace.

On the official app and site, subs that went private completely disappeared from search and subscriptions, even if you’re still able to go to the url. I figure the same is true across various apps.

Scraped, but rearranged into a perfectly readable word salad.

This is how I feel, too. I’m leaving my posts and comments up; ironically, I used to habitually purge my profile every year or so because I was worried about IRL people finding me through my activity, but now, I’d prefer to just leave it. Even if I stop being active on Reddit, it’s currently one of the best ways to find answers to niche problems; I’d like to keep my stuff accessible for anyone looking for extremely specific answers. I’ve been fairly private on Reddit, though, so it feels less sentimental and more practical. (Twitter, on the other hand… I never use it, but everything on it is way too sentimental to nuke.)