Moral of the story: If you are angry, frightened, and unsure what to do, turn your energy toward your community. Doing so not only serves those who need it, but it also is a balm to these emotions, strengthens individual support systems, and allows for greater resiliency from outside threats.
Not everyone wants to volunteer for bandaiding the hopelessly endless, daily consequences of capitalism with no end in sight. It is depressing. I'd rather volunteer to burn down the capitol, coup the regime, and pull the lever on guillotines.
We should all be day dreaming about burning the most demonically evil empire to the fucking ground and doing it. Bringing an end to this fascist dystopia, the globe spanning imperial tyranny, will help ALL the hungry far more than any soup kitchen.
Then do it. Start organizing for it. Preferably offline where the NSA can't track you. But you will never convince me, nor should you convince yourself, that daydreaming is better than actually doing anything.
I absolutely love volunteering for different things (gardening, food bank, you name it), but I barely have the time to do any of it because my work schedules get in the way. I’m hoping in the near future, I’ll be able to get in a financial and job position where I’ll have more time for that
I really feel like you gotta figure out how to find the time to make your fucked up little guys while having the energy to make an impact in your community. You can definitely do both, feel sorta bad for this guy because I've been there
Not though, sculptures are tiring to work on. If I was in this scenario, I’d volunteer the next day or the day after. Sculpting can be hard on the neck, back, and arms, not to mention they can be mentally taxing
This comic perfectly encapsulates the trap of late capitalism. An artist expresses dissatisfaction with aesthetics. This is pure, uncut ideology: we articulate our anger through art instead of engaging in action. The grotesque sculpture is a foul pacifier. A way to feel radical while doing nothing.
This is entirely why I do my best, at every opportunity, to volunteer time where I can. It's one thing to say, "Be blessed and well-fed." It's another to actually feed people.
This hit home so fucking hard. I want to do volunteer stuff but I'm disabled and I worry that I am that person in the comic. I donate and spread the word about things at least.
If you're promoting stuff online and talking to people who might have the energy to help, you're actively helping.
That said- a lot of local groups may be able to provide accommodations. At my last job one of our best volunteers had a walker and she was an absolute badass.
I have a prosthetic leg and I am fully capable of walking but I spent so long in bed after recovery that I got some muscle atrophy my back gives out after a few minutes. I just think about like...carry this here and stand over here and I go '....I would die' Might look into it though!
I am in the same boat of wanting to help, but muscle atrophy from a chronic illness makes it so standing for too long is impossible, my muscles give out so quickly. I have been doing ot to get better but it is slow going.
I have lately been trying to do some exercises to get some strength back but it is slow going. Once you're weakened like that, as I am sure you know, it is a journey coming back.
Definitely do! Not all volunteer work is building, lifting, grunt stuff. There's other types of orgs that do all sorts of works.
I used to routinely go to Books Thru Bars, which was mostly like punk library work. I think, find an issue or population you want to help with, and then see where you can
But also, no one should beat themselves up about not being able to "do" as much or as often. Like, I stopped going bc my social anxiety got too bad, but that doesn't mean I suddenly have changed my ethics.
Even small acts can have big effects.
A small act, regularly done can inspire others to action.
For instance, I run social media for a local group, right? There's one follower who reblog every event build I post. Every. Time. She's gotten us probably 30 people, even if she can't make it herself.
and that has been fed to them acceptingly by social conditioning, religious conditioning , parental conditioning, social media , sport, fashion, etc
FEAR and PUNISHMENT and DEATH being the tools used most often to accomplish it.
I don't think this applies to artists in general, many of which are actually very active in materially contributing to their communities. This definitely applies to me tho. I am very petty and self-involved.
Are you self-involved or just focusing on the most important task you have right now, which is staying alive? All an ego is is an advanced sense of self-preservation.
If you're really feeling bad, there's many less exhausting things that help. Picking up litter is a do-as-you can with a huge impact.
You have to take care of yourself before you can help others sometimes. If you feel guilt about it, keep that in mind and maybe make a deal with yourself to do Art one week, then volunteer the next, switching back and forth. I will say, helping others has helped my own mental state enormously.
It's appropriate reading after listening to a podcast about the Kony 2012 debacle, though. Although I suspect yours has way less weird Fundie church involvement than "let's fight a foreign dictator with musicals".
I mean, if you’re tired then you’re tired, you know? I had to learn the hard way not to feel bad for not doing more when I’m always too exhausted just from taking care of myself.
as trans people, the way the world is unjust and unfair is directly targeting us specifically right now. armies have guns trained on our backs. you cant blame yourself for not being a scion of righteousness 100% of the time. we're human, not perfect, and the weight of everything is crushing
Art is integral to fighting fascism and building better worlds. But like with everything in our capitalist hellscape, there are wholly selfish cycles people fall into. Kill the myth of the lone genius. Make art to galvanize yourself & your communities to action. 🧵🪡
This doesn’t mean personal projects just for yourself are selfish & bad. They can be rejuvenating. But focusing so hard on yourself to the exclusion of all else or as an excuse for why you can’t engage with the world is selfish. Art isn’t made in a vacuum. You’re not a lone genius
It is not the job of the individual to fix the issues caused by the powerful. The people with the ability to end the need for Food Bank are the ones with that responsibility.
What’s the material difference between someone who sits at home bc the problems are caused by the wealthy and their effort won’t do anything and someone who sits at home because they don’t care about the problems?
This is more about people who want to do something feeling guilty when they aren't.
My point is simply to not blame yourself and to remember to keep holding the people responsible for this shit to account. Keep annoying the politicians. Keep hurting the billionaires.
For people feeling guilty, I don't like volunteering at food banks/soup kitchens because of my social anxiety. A less social place to volunteer are food *pantries*, which are effectively warehouses for donated foodstuff from big retailers. It's almost all manual labor of repacking boxes!
I recently started working with a mutual aid group after spending a long time in your position. My best advice is to just throw yourself into something today. It's going to be scary to take those first steps, adderall or no.
Google food not bombs (your area) and see if you have a chapter in reach.
What we need today more than ever are local friends, purpose, and access to the larger community. If you spend hours a day doomscrolling like me, you really do owe it to yourself to see the effects of the good you can do.
Years from now, the art of this era will speak volumes. I know artists personally that care a lot. Their art is a huge contribution to the resistance and to future generations that will be inspired to fight fascism before it gets this far.
Can’t help but wonder how many of those showing up for *a* protest, and are screaming at Democrats to “DO SOMETHING!!!”, gave Trump and Republicans full control of our government, because they couldn’t be bothered to vote.
Can’t help but wonder how many of the idjits claiming there was “election interference” -with no credible evidence- whenever I point out how many refused to vote for Harris and Walz, are among those who refused to vote for Harris and Walz.
Comments
1. Ship in a bottle
2. WW2 dioramas
3. Warhammer
4. Doomscrolling
(But seriously you gotta do the self care, and I feel like art can have that going for it.)
(Also the world needs more fucked up lil guy statues.)
Do you want to help or do you want to be a hero?
https://www.google.com/search?q=zero+day&client=safari&sca_esv=1ce1c2e72280d3ca&hl=en-us&ei=4ljcZ6f4N96GptQPkdbf8Qo&gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0LC6ryEgvybYwYPTiqEotyldISawEAGf6CCc&oq=Zeo+dat&gs_lp=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&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=vclbx
That said- a lot of local groups may be able to provide accommodations. At my last job one of our best volunteers had a walker and she was an absolute badass.
https://www.youtube.com/live/pfnEpNQ4boU?feature=shared
I used to routinely go to Books Thru Bars, which was mostly like punk library work. I think, find an issue or population you want to help with, and then see where you can
Even small acts can have big effects.
For instance, I run social media for a local group, right? There's one follower who reblog every event build I post. Every. Time. She's gotten us probably 30 people, even if she can't make it herself.
and that has been fed to them acceptingly by social conditioning, religious conditioning , parental conditioning, social media , sport, fashion, etc
FEAR and PUNISHMENT and DEATH being the tools used most often to accomplish it.
I am adopting this as my slogan.
If you're really feeling bad, there's many less exhausting things that help. Picking up litter is a do-as-you can with a huge impact.
Got it.
And it's not wrong.
Not really a time to moralise, is it? Call the fire department. Grab a bucket!
We need to keep reminding everyone it is the wealthy and politicians that we need to blame.
Don't blame yourself. Individuals do more for the world than the powerful.
My point is simply to not blame yourself and to remember to keep holding the people responsible for this shit to account. Keep annoying the politicians. Keep hurting the billionaires.
Google food not bombs (your area) and see if you have a chapter in reach.
going to a protest but not voting seems highly unlikely
the real problem is the people who are 100% checked out and probably haven't even noticed yet what's going on
which is like, ⅓ of the country at least
Sweet
Can’t help but wonder how many of the idjits claiming there was “election interference” -with no credible evidence- whenever I point out how many refused to vote for Harris and Walz, are among those who refused to vote for Harris and Walz.
Otherwise, why bother?