PRE-RAMBLE:
I don’t spend a lot of time actively online; especially in the space of consumption.
A lot of my work and study revolve around being on the internet towards the creation end of the spectrum; so I like to find as many reasons as possible for hurling my devices into the ocean during my personal time.
I am a huge fan of the spam and log off tactic - which I think can be quite deceiving as to the amount of time one might perceive themselves as having observed me existing online.
However, lately I have found myself increasingly pissed off both IRL and within the digitalscape at overlapping (and what seem quite simple to me) topics in regard to current world news + events.
Even my curated algorithm of cute animals and wholesome memes is beginning to frustrate me if I venture into reading comment sections.
I’ve taken to trolling to let off steam…which is not ideal and not something Im aspiring towards long term hobby-wise…so if you will allow me for a moment…this week I am going to go off my nut about how you need to possess more than good intention and a social media account to make real, meaningful change and a how lot of you are doing more harm than good with your well-meaning intentions + posts.
(Also I want to highlight right at the start of this post that I have embedded to a lot of content made by other people this week(and others, honestly)and while their posts are there to support my points - they are also there to provide quick exploration avenues for those interested. I would like to make it known that despite those facts it does not mean I agree with all of what is being said, I am just not interested in censorship.)
98% of the content and conversations I mention or link in my blogs I specifically sought permission to include because they came from people I know personally and/or love and adore. I am yet to be told ‘no’ by anyone which is shocking because I was expecting a 50/50 yes no hit rate- instead I’ve actually discovered some of you are unexpected regular and enthusiastic readers – which, is a little intimidating! So, instead of dwelling on it here is an exclusive of one of the conversations behind this weeks post.
Anthony Albanese was right when he was caught hating on Naarm Student Socialists!1
Not only is this hugely embarrassing (especially when Naarm activists have been the only ones brave enough to hurl actual feces at cops) but
If you have recently been to a public rally, student encampment, community meeting; or anything Pro-Palestinian in the public sphere – it’s important that you fix this potential gap in knowledge ASAP! It is one thing to be talking to your mate at the bar or your nan in the living room and not be able to find Gaza or Jordan on the world map, that’s irrelevant. You have a multitude of other angles to get your message across and still look reliable without involving your geography skills, this is one of the many benefits of close, trusting relationships.
You do *not* have close, trusting relationships with the general public…
It’s a whole different kettle of fish to be demanding things from people in power or advocating for change in public spaces, while allowing yourself the vulnerability of one basic FAQ from a stranger, to hold the possibility of derailing any shred of credibility you may have been entrusted with.
Mildly Inaccurate but a suitable starting point.
Picture This:
You have been performing a Camp Out with a small group of fellow activists, it has been 3 days and instead of issuing you with a violent move-on order via overly armed police – your local MP grants you a meeting to address your concerns.
After a successful lunch and surprisingly pleasant debate – your local MP says “Forgive me for being naive, but just for frame of reference could you show me the Rafah crossing on a map?”
“Sure!” You say nervously eyeing your comrades, you don’t quite know but surely one of them is bound to have researched this and will notice your non-verbal signals for them to take over.
“Uhh,”
“Uhm…”
You all trip and bumble over sheepishly admitting that, in fact, you are unable to pinpoint it’s location on a map, too. Your local MP is unimpressed, displeased and offended such uneducated ruckus makers have wasted their time and boots you out of their office while taking back all of their previous promises.
Shame Job, guys- This is only the tip of the iceberg and think about how many people already got let down by you in that scenario (imagine if the media had been there prepared to provide you a platform)!
There are more nuanced layers to this than genocide and elections, too. I’ll come back to them, though – do not fucking worry – but first:
for the apolitical or politically apathetic amongst us I want to explain how this blog post is still important before you close your tab (and do something worse for your brain like doomscrolling or vaping)
Your disinterest in your own human rights does not excuse you from the relevancy of a Lily Callaghan Yapping™️!
I once had a bestfriend + roommate who I no longer speak to, which I am actually extremely grateful for, and I hope to never see her again with any luck. Our time together did leave me a lot of stories, though. One of these stories is about her constant struggle with attempting to balance her dedication to wilful ignorance + political apathy while claiming me (Blak, Gay, Politically Loud etc,) as her best friend and consistently advertising one of her favourite bands of all time as Green Day.
*(For the sake of an easy read + write let’s give my aforementioned roommate the fictional name Casey.)*
Y’kno? These guys? Punk* 2 Rock Royalty? The Brains behind one of the most (self admittedly, even!) political albums ever:
Here is the band explaining their political angle!
UNRELATED TIDBIT! CLICK ME!
This reddit post/thread is another one of my favourite random things to come out of 9/11 that resulted in insane butterfly effect cultural impacts 20+ years down the line.
If you listened to the song, watched that video and you’re still a little confused on how Green Day is inherently political – no judgement here!
Lyric and media comprehension isn’t for everyone. I have dyscalculia so catch me trying to do basic mathematics without a pen and paper or a calculator and whatever answer I take an embarrassingly long moment to conjure will be incorrect. I never even learnt my whole timetables set.
I have provided the youtube essay of a likely also neurodivergent man below who touches on the topic a little deeper.
Whenever anyone confronted Casey with this undeniable reality of the political contexts surrounding the very foundational core of one of her all time favourite bands she would simply shrug and say something to the gist of
“I know, I don’t care. I ignore it.”
Any further questions or comments posed (there were more than a few people with discombobulated follow-ups) would immediately be shutdown and ignored. In her defense she was never a fan of personal growth or having her opinions challenged.
Unfortunately for her, in the end though,
“To notice, and to be noticed, is deeply political.”
– Coming Of Age In The War On Terror by Randa Abdel Fattah
And walking around decked out in Green Day merch almost 24/7 without a doubt meant politically aware and active punks were repeatedly noticing Casey; drawn in by her loud visual indicators of an affiliation with punk culture (on top of the limited + niche wardrobe she is heavily pierced and tattooed) only to be promptly and deeply dissappointed by her when it came down to displaying actual ideologies and behaviour.
I recall her spending a lot of our discussion time expressing frustration towards the people around her frequently wanting to discuss politics; while seemingly also never piecing together the glaringly obvious reasons she kept encountering more radically left acquaintances than the average person (It must have also been easy to pin it on the person she spent most of her time with: Notoriously Blak, Gay, Politically Loud etc). Working in the social services sector isn’t exactly the traditional buzzing career hub for right wing or centrist humans, either, really.
It was almost identically excruciating to witness from the outside as those women who date homophobic men, do nothing to call them out on it, yet never miss the chance to loudly detest and complain about people calling them homophobic as if defending (or literally just not dumping) their aforementioned bigot boyfriends isn’t moving them directly over the line from passive to active homophobia.
There are endless reasons to be aware of how the personal is political despite a lack of desire to be actively political or associate with those who are.
However, as I hope I was able to demonstrate with my offtopic anecdote/tangent; being aware of the ways and reasons others are perceiving and interacting with you throughout your basic day-to-day interactions and how to be in control of that could be one of the highlights. If the knowledge doesn’t improve your social relationships and wellbeing at the very least it will stop you from looking as foolish as Casey and women who stay with their homophobic boyfriends, both of which remain wilfully ignorant and displeased, at the expense of their social circles and mental health.
Got it? Great, glad to have you along for the rest of the post!
LilyInteractive 
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