After The Crash

Identities: Race -- Undermining the Overclass

Published on 2012-02-13 02:17:46

I was planning on doing something about sexuality next, but I've read some really good articles lately speaking specifically to white privilege and so I would like to work through some of my own thoughts about the matter.  This is something I have difficulty speaking to, so I'm outside my comfort zone and I would really appreciate some critique if anyone cares to address what I'm saying here. I am socially identified as a 'white' person.  It's not a label I want, nor one I embrace. &n

Blood From a Stone

Published on 2012-02-10 01:59:31

Today I went down to the local blood bank and allowed them to siphon away a considerable quantity of my precious, precious blood.  It was my first time; I was inspired to donate by a book I recently read, The Red Market, a fascinating (and frequently gut-wrenching) examination of worldwide markets in human tissue from 'blood farms', kidneys and anatomical skeletons to human eggs, surrogate pregnancy, and international adoption.  The book takes a severely critical stance toward the mand

Identities: On Labels

Published on 2012-02-06 01:06:17

When the topic of socially-constructed identities -- 'labels', as some would have it -- is discussed in an open forum, particularly when the topic at hand is the proliferating, often ambiguous and confusing set of identities associated with gender and sexuality, a certain peculiar attitude almost inevitably shows itself.  This attitude is communicated by certain slogans, such as 'labels are for clothes' or 'we shouldn't put people in boxes'; or by such exasperated questions as 'Why do we ha

Why I'm not a Libertopian

Published on 2012-02-01 23:59:38

Today's political right-wing, which refers to itself as 'conservatism' while advocating a rewriting of the rules of civil society as radical as any communist utopia (but regressive rather than progressive in nature), is built on a confluence of three distinct movements.  The first is a Christian theocratic ideal which would have certain people's idea of 'biblical' principles written into the law of the land (but with considerably less emphasis on the feeding of the hungry or replacing viole

Identities: Sex and Gender II -- Being Male, and Being Not

Published on 2012-01-30 00:16:50

What, specifically, is it I hate(d) so much about having been sexed and gendered as 'male' for half of my life?  What is it that has driven me to the extreme of leaving the gender-binary behind entirely and setting out for the uncharted territory of the genderqueer/androgynous/trinary/othergendered/don't-have-a-really-satisfying-name-for-it-yet?  I mean, there's simple revolt at the sheer arbitrariness of enforced gender-conformity, an ideologically driven sense that we should all just

Identities: Sex and Gender III -- Dysmorphia

Published on 2012-01-30 00:16:25

There are a lot of things I absolutely loathe about my own body.  I hate the colour of my hair; I never quite feel right unless it's been dyed.  My body hair is coarse and fairly thick, and my facial hair grows quick and full; I prefer to be clean-shaved, all over.  The hair on my arms is especially offensive to me; not only is it the most difficult to cover up, but it's thick and wiry and it just makes me shudder.  I even like to shave my eyebrows on a regular basis, which i

Greenpunk: On Having your Cake, and on Eating It

Published on 2012-01-26 00:53:43

My garden was a bit of a disappointment this year; it was largely my own fault, though, as depression kicked my ass and I was unable to plant as early or on as large a scale as I wanted to.  My experiment with a 3-sisters field was too heavily interplanted, leading to a paucity of actual harvest; tomato starters were purchased too early in the year and put out too early, resulting in severe frostbite.  My entire harvest totaled a few pounds of assorted greens, a few pounds of beans, a

Identities: Sex and Gender -- The Long and Short of It

Published on 2012-01-22 23:35:17

We are defined by the identities society assigns to us and by the ones we assign ourselves to.  In order to get down to the meat of what is true about ourselves, we must peel away layer on layer of superfluous labels and frames.  This series of posts is part of my attempt to define what and who I really am. I begin with the topics of Sex and Gender, two separate but inextricably connected types of identity.  Our sex is the identity constructed for us by society based on our perce

The Artists's Work

Published on 2012-01-19 02:18:46

In modern capitalist, market-driven societies, human labour is commodified.  It is a product for sale to the highest bidder (where 'bidding' is taken to mean giving someone a job - an odd sort of role reversal, in that it implies that the employer is the one attempting to convince the worker to provide their services, whereas in the vast majority of cases the reverse is true -- but that's a subject for an entirely different post.)  Workers sell their labour time as a 'factor of product

Tips for Life in the Post-Apocalyptic Hellscape: Basic Survival Skills

Published on 2012-01-11 23:35:00

Always be ready to leave immediately. Always have a place to hide. Stockpile food and water. Always know where you can get food, water, and medical care. Never sit with your back to an entrance. Always have weapons ready to hand. Including both melee and ranged weapons. Learn how to use them. Learn how to do without them. Keep your mind and your body fit. Always lock your doors. If possible, always have someone on watch. Never fight back if you know you can't win. If you fight back and win, crip