Category: Rant

  • The anonymity of the url has bolstered some people’s egos to the point where they believe that if their url is known, and they’re not deliberately anonymous, then it makes them sincere. Tumblr has effectively redefined the minimum requirements for sincerity and integrity. 　

  • I’ve seen a ton on the Facebooks about ‘thanking veterans for their service’. As a veteran, let me just be very straightforward and honest with you: We didn’t ‘serve our country’; we don’t actually serve our brothers/sisters or our neighbors. We serve the interests of capital. We never risked our lives or spent months on deployment away from our family and friends so they can have this abstract concept called ‘freedom’. We served big oil, big coal, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, Brown and Root, and all the other big Capital interests who don’t know a fucking thing about sacrifice. These people will never have to deal with the loss of a loved one or the physical and/or psychological scars that those who ‘serve’ and their families have to deal with for the rest of their lives. The most patriotic thing someone can do is to tell truth to power and dedicate yourself to building power to overthrow these sociopathic assholes. I served with some of the most real and genuine people I’ve ever met. You’ll never see solidarity like the kind of solidarity you experience when your life depends on the person next to you. But most of us didn’t join for that; we joined because we were fucking poor and didn’t have many other options.

    An anti-capitalist veteran  (via rootof-three)

  • roxygen replied to your post: Further to my earlier post, I find it morbidly…

    I think the problem is few people actually believe democracy works, therefore they do not exercise justified measures to prevent some of the things you listed. I mean it in the very general sense of democracy. It requires emphasis on self-reliance.

    The problem I have with democracy is that the majority will always over rule the minority regardless of how many millions that minority may be. So it’s a game of numbers that trivialises the real issues.

    But I’m still more intrigued and disgusted by how men can behave with such ruthlessness when attacking men, women and children from their own communities. In South Africa I could still rationalise it. It was based on racial and cultural hatred albeit based on gross ignorance. But in the Arab world, it doesn’t make sense to me. I struggle to understand how a man can gun down, brutally rape, torture or maim people simply because they don’t support the man that’s paying his salary? Let’s forget that this is often Muslim on Muslim violence, because that would take the insanity to an entirely different level.

    This is just beyond my level of comprehension. Every single one of those men that shoot innocent civilians is a father, or husband, or son. How deep must their allegiance and hatred run for them to act in such a barbaric manner sincerely believing that they’re carrying out a justifiable and meritorious duty for a dictator? The brainwashing and indoctrination is just absurd!

  • This is not Africa

    thisisnotafrica:

    TRIGGER WARNING [RAPE]

    praisethelorde:

    perrrolike:

    ourafrica:

    The Silent War is a social awareness campaign about rape in South Africa illustrated and designed by Greg Richards.

    “As there are six colors in the South African flag I developed six different areas of rape to raise awareness towards. Each poster carries a different colour of the flag. The six areas are: child rape; why men rape; woman’s chance of being raped versus learning to read; South Africa being the rape and HIV capital of the world; women are primitively referred to as fair game by men; and the frequency of rape incidents per day. For each image the person is looking directly at the viewer to create a direct communication of the campaign’s message.” writes Richards.

    OK but where is the racial diversity? One the issues with rape in SA is that yes, although it does affect the black population at a higher level than other groups, it doesn’t mean that it is exclusive to black people in this country. It’s the same way that people think that black people are the face of HIV/AIDS. This campaign also seems to over-simplify the issue, from what is shown above.

    “Still proud to be South African?” – urgh, that tag line gets to me. I may not be South African by birth but I’m very emotionally attached to this country and honestly, I just don’t like the worth and pride of South Africans being linked to this issue. There are many reasons to be proud of being South African and I haven’t met a single person here that goes around boasting about rape or HIV/AIDS rates in this country so I don’t see why there’s a need to question their pride.

    Also, something about the way these ‘people’ were drawn doesn’t sit well with me. They all look like they were inspired by a UNICEF or UNHCR handbook. 

    why wouldn’t people be proud of their country ? yes, it’s not perfect, but it’s a beautiful country with beautiful people !  as you said it’s not like people are proud of the rape issues so much that they have included them in their national anthem or what not… I feel like this campaign is somehow racist. Those people are just black people who look kind of sad/abandoned, so it’s like those are the only people here who get raped and rape each other : black people. “Strangely” when they want to claim good things, it’s like there are 200 billion white people in this country, but rape? oooh, the blacks. There’s no set profile for rapists or people who get raped, but do all these folks look alike?

    hmm thats weird, i thought there were white people in SA too, or rape just happens to black people living in SA now? what? the artist is white? supriseeeee

    To add to the responses above, the writer is obviously ignorant of many dynamics in South Africa, and South Africans themselves have had more powerful and meaningful anti-rape campaigns, some even headed up by Charlize Theron. So this is opportunistic, if nothing else. Another little known fact, or seldom reported fact is that in many rural areas, black witch doctors (a.k.a. sangomas) have been stupid and irresponsible enough to tell their patients that sleeping with a virgin (including babies) is a cure for AIDS. This was a major trigger in child rape a few years ago. So the moral of this story is, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, keep your elitist bull to yourself. South Africa has a lot more going for it than just rape and crime, and if you bothered to take a holistic view of the country, you wouldn’t find any reason to include that supposedly catchy phrase about being proudly South African. If you have money to waste on advertising campaigns, use it to expose to corruption and greed in the ANC-led government. That is by far the biggest threat to democracy and service delivery in South Africa, not crime, or rape, although both of these are strongly opposed by numerous civil groups and society as a whole. 

    Sensationalistic bullshit. That’s all this is. What irks me even more is that it’s the colonialists that want to teach us how to undo what they entrenched through the policies that they established in South Africa that gave rise to apartheid and gender inequality in the first place. Talk about selective amnesia, you arrogant pricks!

    (sorry, I needed that rant!)

  • Contaminated

    It’s sad that the moral decay of society has resulted in so many wholesome phrases becoming an embarrassing utterance no matter how innocently they may be stated. A few that came to mind this morning include:

    • “Bend over and take it like a man” – this was a common statement by friends and teachers alike when corporal punishment was still allowed in schools in South Africa, and I was due for a ‘6 of the best’ with the teacher’s cane. (Damn, even ‘teacher’s cane’ has taken on a different meaning these days!)
    • “We were so happy and gay” – another phrase that cannot be uttered by anyone that has no desire to want to be assumed a homosexual. We can effectively change the definition of the word ‘gay’ in the English dictionary to one that has explicit sexual connotations since no one in their right mind would use it to describe their happiness any longer.
    • “I’m going to walk the dog” – for those that may not be familiar with this awkward statement, specifically if uttered by a man, consider yourself blessed. 
    • “I gave my wife a pearl necklace as a wedding gift” – such a beautiful sentiment and profession of generosity defiled by the twisted mentality of society. Again, if you’re unfamiliar with this, consider yourself blessed, and I therefore apologise in advance if this post leads you to research the meaning of this. (btw, Urban Dictionary would be a good place to start!)
    • “I’m coming” – by far the most innocently used phrase that has led to far too many embarrassing moments for grown men with modesty, especially if yelled out from another room while a group of people were waiting for him to leave for some place.

    Sad, isn’t it? :-/

  • On Opinions and A-holes

    Something I realised this morning, and this may seem like a retarded realisation because it’s so obvious, but I realised that opinions most often reflect the mentality and competence of the person offering it, rather than defining what is being critiqued. It’s obvious that an opinion is simply someone’s point of view about something or someone, but given how often people feel damaged because of the opinions of others, I suspect that like me, many know the truth about opinions but few realise it.

    It’s like knowing that if you touch a hot coal, you’ll burn. But realising how painful that burn is only happens when you actually touch it. Same with opinions. Knowing that someone is an ass-hole for offering an uninformed opinion is one thing, but unless you realise it, you’ll allow that uninformed opinion to negatively affect you. In some cases, it could also lead to you being unrealistically deluded about your supposed greatness if you focus on the positive opinions of others only. 

    Tumblr is opinion heaven! We have undiscovered sages, gurus, geniuses, professors, scholars, legends and so much more. And then we click on their ‘About’ page and we realise that they’re still in high school, or still trying to figure out what it means to live independent of their parents, or worse still, they’re trying to figure out if there’s a life beyond Tumblr! 

    This week I’ve been in a decidedly abrasive mood with many around me. I’ve dumped my considerate tone and disposition in favour of a more frank and in-your-face demeanour instead. It probably won’t last, but at times I think it’s needed because often people take advantage and become lazy to apply their minds if they know that I’m always willing to take the time to explain the same thing over and over again until they eventually get it. So I guess I’m just as opinionated as many others on here. The difference is, most people’s opinions of me are like water off a duck’s back. Like farting against thunder. Like crying in the rain. It has no impact because I have learnt to be very selective about who I take advice or opinions from.

    This has been an opinion by one that many may consider an ass-hole. Not that I care. 

  • About Reverse Racism

    Thank you a thousand times over for that post. These race debates are doing my head in. I’m goffal/coloured from Zimbabwe, with family from SA, my dad was a freedom fighter. As stated in a previous post; the most discrimination I’ve faced has been from other ‘people of colour’. In the West white people might have privilege but in our countries? I don’t think so. (White farmers in Zim being killed, and ripped off their farms; where’s the privilege in that?)

    My sentiments exactly! People that pull the race card are too bloody cowardly or lazy to get out of their self-imposed limitations and brave a new approach to life other than the hatred and discrimination of the past. Even those that do still experience this absolutely must realise that it is actions of individuals and not race groups. Even if the group is of a predominant race, it is still the acts of individuals that speak on behalf of their demented group, and not an entire race.

    The entire debate about racial supremacy and privilege is a moot point. Oppression has long ceased on that basis and has, for a long time now, shifted to simply oppression of class and wealth, and nothing else. The colour of your skin only matters to people that are still influenced by the bigoted realities of the past. White supremacy may have established the slums and the informal settlements, but it certainly is not what is maintaining it.

    And those that still believe that it is an active force to be reckoned with are exactly the same ones that are abusing their authority to establish reverse racism in so many parts of the world. So at this rate, in a few years’ time, we’ll be talking about black privilege, and nothing would have changed except the reversal of the skin pigmentation of those enjoying the privileges.

  • By all accounts, I am indeed a madman. I have desires and yearnings that appear to be normal but reflect a weakness of spirit that is pitiful. I have been painfully tutored about the nature of people, yet my belief in their inherent goodness and potential wholesomeness remains strong.

    A wise physicist once said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same behaviour and expecting a different result. So by definition, I am a madman. I see and experience the hypocrisy of the closet sincerests among us, yet I continue to believe that there is an inherent goodness that lurks beneath. Not only do I believe it, I plan on it, I count on it and I expect it.

    There are exceptions of course. But here’s the coup de grace of it all. In believing in this flawed human spirit, and in living a naively misguided life, my reputation has been tainted because of good intentions associated with bad outcomes. And these exceptions that I admire and appreciate so much would rarely feel inclined to be acquainted with the likes of such a tainted soul. From afar I’ll continue to desire and yearn, but I dare not step close enough to tarnish them with the putrefaction of a decaying soul.