If you follow me online at all, you know that I've taken to video to express my outrage. There has been plenty of things to be outraged about in this country for a long time, but we've gotten to a point that is so absurd and fucked up, I simply could not take it anymore. If I didn't scream for at least a minute every day about what's bothering me, my head would have exploded. It's a mental cleanse. You all should try it!
I figured I'd scream into the camera instead of into the void because I like the interaction with people; I think it's good to express our outrage together. I knew I wasn't the only one feeling like this, but the response to the videos has reassured me that there are more sane people out there than it seems at times.
The first video I did was a spur of the moment rant about Trump giving himself an A+ on his response to Puerto Rico. The absurdity of that claim literally made me want to scream, so I did.
The video was pure anger, and I did it in one take because I wanted to capture that natural, instinctive fury, even though there's not much substance there. The next day, he said the official tally of the dead in Puerto Rico wasn't true. Insanity. Yet his supporters believe it and the media "debates" the truth of the claim.
I knew after that video that this was going to become a consistent activity. We are far through the looking glass, and I need to document the absurdity. Plus, it just felt great to vent.
It is absolutely infuriating reading the news. I could do 10 of these videos a day, but I decided to limit myself for mental health reasons. Also, some take a while to get the right take and I got like 3 jobs. I try to have a good mix of humor with the anger and information so it's not all doom and fury (and sometimes you just have to laugh at these clowns). But mostly I try to be informative as possible while also expressing appropriate rage at whatever the topic is. There have been a few where the rage overtakes everything, and although it may not be informative, I'll go with it, because honestly, this shit truly pisses me off. Besides, pure emotion is much more effective than stats and data. In fact, that's part of the reason we're in this mess; people's fear and hate is much more powerful and persuasive than facts.
Generally, I am a happy person. Happiness requires work, and it's been a hard battle at times, but I can finally say I'm truly happy. Buddhists and certain philosophers teach us that we can only control the internal; if you focus on yourself and what you have control over, you won't be affected by external forces. I mostly agree; however, even Buddha was affected by the external. He set out from his palace as a child because he couldn't just sit back in luxury and let people suffer. I'm at a point where I'm happy and comfortable, but I can't stay quiet about all the awful shit that's going on and I don't think anyone should.
Will these videos have an actual effect? I don't know. I tend to doubt it. But it feels good, and the videos are getting more of a response than anything else I've done. I think I've tapped into the zeitgeist.
I wish progressive politicians would do the same. Maybe the problem is they're not really progressive. Some of the stuff I yell about (police brutality and gun violence in particular) I was yelling about when Obama was in office, and Democratic politicians weren't doing much about it then, either.
The difference is, with somewhat competent and decent people in charge, we tend to overlook some of the horrors of the world. With an absolute incoherent shitshow leading every branch of government and every government agency, all the horrors are brought to light constantly. Maybe that's what we need to make real change?
Possibly. The problem is, real people suffer in the meantime. Yet even with everything going on under Trump, I've seen so many Democratic politicians talk about "we need to bring back civility!" Not to mention, some outright support Trump's policies or nominees. Ultimately, I agree that a civil society is best (obviously?) but we can't talk about civility until we start getting justice. And sanity. There should be no talk of civility when the most uncivil person in the world is President. The guy openly mocks sexual assault victims! He did it recently, and he did it during the 2016 campaign. It's who he is, and there should be no rest for Republicans (or Joe fucking Manchin) as long as they are supporting him. People act like both sides are to blame for the incivility. I'm a harsh critic of the Democrats, but if you think anyone but Trump (and the people that have propped him up) are responsible for the shitshow we're currently in, you're being disingenuous. This isn't like our foreign policy, where both parties are the exact same. There is one side to blame here. There has been a hostile takeover of the US government, not by a foreign government (maybe?) but by one of the major political parties in the US.
Republicans talk about the "hate on the Left" as if they didn't elect the most hateful man in the country, based purely off the hate he expressed for the previous Black president, his female opponent, immigrants, and anyone that dared challenge him--even the very same Republicans that now support him! They tell us, "Don't yell at us out in public! Don't demand that we hold town halls and answer questions! Let us do whatever we want and respect this President who has never respected anyone in his life!"
And Democrats/liberals/progressives fall for it! Even after they steal a Supreme Court seat, even after Trump separates immigrant families and bans Muslims, even after his EPA dismantles environmental regulations, even after his former campaign manager and several other people in his campaign are indicted, even after Trump and his supporters attack sexual assault victims, Democrats still call for civility. High level Democrats shake their head and scold activists for yelling at these assholes in public, while spouting off on Twitter about how inhumane Trump's policies are. How can you (and why would you) be "civil" to the people who are instating inhumane policies?
The game really changed moment prominent Republicans refused to denounce birtherism (and the assholes who promoted it). Democrats simply refused to recognize the change, so much so, that when Turtle McConnell and the rest of the GOP blocked Obama's Supreme Court candidate, they just rolled over and let it happen.
Now there are white supremacists running the country, immigrants are being unlawfully imprisoned indefinitely, and the Democrats still think bi-partisanship is the answer. Too many people think anger is bad. No! Hate is bad, anger can be righteous and powerful if justified. It's all how you use it. We all feel emotions (even the assholes who shout things like "I make decisions based on fact not feelings!" No, you don't.) and we need to learn how to react to our emotions and channel them for good, instead of suppressing them. The anger has been building in me (and the country) for quite some time now, and the past year and a half with Trump as president has been simply infuriating. Personally, I needed a release, and this has been working.
Democratic leaders need to recognize and channel the anger of their constituents and the general population if they want to win any time soon. Obama was civil and polite and courteous and avoided any personal scandals whatsoever, and they still called him a Muslim African terrorist and blocked every single thing they could. At what point will we learn that one side is not playing by the rules? Let them scream about the Left's "hate" all they want. Stop letting what the other side says stop us from accomplishing anything. Stop being cowards. Get angry.
I don't enjoy getting angry; it is simply a natural response to all this bullshit. It's fucked up because anger and yelling also seems to attract the most attention. I mean, it's one of the many reasons Trump won. He tapped into the rage that white America felt at the Black President, black athletes, immigrants, protesters, the possible female President, and some legitimate anger at the government. Of course, anything shitty that our government was doing before, he has ratcheted up by 100%. It turns out, the only thing his supporters had real anger towards were immigrants and Black people.
I do believe there are rational Republicans, but there are none currently in office (except Dr. Petit; see I don't discriminate!). There is no rational debate to be had with people who think there are "good people on both sides" of a Nazi rally. There is no rational debate to be had with people who are okay with detaining thousands of immigrant children indefinitely. There is no rational debate to be had with people who support a racist, buffoonish conman. The few Republican Senators who call out Trump every now and then, vote with him 99% of the time, so they are as bad if not worse than his most outspoken supporters. Progressives need to focus on absolutely crushing these cruel assholes through voting and direct activism (maybe making some videos!) and making sure none of them ever have a position of power again.
GET ANGRY!
I Love You All...Class Dismissed.
I figured I'd scream into the camera instead of into the void because I like the interaction with people; I think it's good to express our outrage together. I knew I wasn't the only one feeling like this, but the response to the videos has reassured me that there are more sane people out there than it seems at times.
The first video I did was a spur of the moment rant about Trump giving himself an A+ on his response to Puerto Rico. The absurdity of that claim literally made me want to scream, so I did.
The video was pure anger, and I did it in one take because I wanted to capture that natural, instinctive fury, even though there's not much substance there. The next day, he said the official tally of the dead in Puerto Rico wasn't true. Insanity. Yet his supporters believe it and the media "debates" the truth of the claim.
I knew after that video that this was going to become a consistent activity. We are far through the looking glass, and I need to document the absurdity. Plus, it just felt great to vent.
It is absolutely infuriating reading the news. I could do 10 of these videos a day, but I decided to limit myself for mental health reasons. Also, some take a while to get the right take and I got like 3 jobs. I try to have a good mix of humor with the anger and information so it's not all doom and fury (and sometimes you just have to laugh at these clowns). But mostly I try to be informative as possible while also expressing appropriate rage at whatever the topic is. There have been a few where the rage overtakes everything, and although it may not be informative, I'll go with it, because honestly, this shit truly pisses me off. Besides, pure emotion is much more effective than stats and data. In fact, that's part of the reason we're in this mess; people's fear and hate is much more powerful and persuasive than facts.
Generally, I am a happy person. Happiness requires work, and it's been a hard battle at times, but I can finally say I'm truly happy. Buddhists and certain philosophers teach us that we can only control the internal; if you focus on yourself and what you have control over, you won't be affected by external forces. I mostly agree; however, even Buddha was affected by the external. He set out from his palace as a child because he couldn't just sit back in luxury and let people suffer. I'm at a point where I'm happy and comfortable, but I can't stay quiet about all the awful shit that's going on and I don't think anyone should.
Will these videos have an actual effect? I don't know. I tend to doubt it. But it feels good, and the videos are getting more of a response than anything else I've done. I think I've tapped into the zeitgeist.
I wish progressive politicians would do the same. Maybe the problem is they're not really progressive. Some of the stuff I yell about (police brutality and gun violence in particular) I was yelling about when Obama was in office, and Democratic politicians weren't doing much about it then, either.
The difference is, with somewhat competent and decent people in charge, we tend to overlook some of the horrors of the world. With an absolute incoherent shitshow leading every branch of government and every government agency, all the horrors are brought to light constantly. Maybe that's what we need to make real change?
Possibly. The problem is, real people suffer in the meantime. Yet even with everything going on under Trump, I've seen so many Democratic politicians talk about "we need to bring back civility!" Not to mention, some outright support Trump's policies or nominees. Ultimately, I agree that a civil society is best (obviously?) but we can't talk about civility until we start getting justice. And sanity. There should be no talk of civility when the most uncivil person in the world is President. The guy openly mocks sexual assault victims! He did it recently, and he did it during the 2016 campaign. It's who he is, and there should be no rest for Republicans (or Joe fucking Manchin) as long as they are supporting him. People act like both sides are to blame for the incivility. I'm a harsh critic of the Democrats, but if you think anyone but Trump (and the people that have propped him up) are responsible for the shitshow we're currently in, you're being disingenuous. This isn't like our foreign policy, where both parties are the exact same. There is one side to blame here. There has been a hostile takeover of the US government, not by a foreign government (maybe?) but by one of the major political parties in the US.
Republicans talk about the "hate on the Left" as if they didn't elect the most hateful man in the country, based purely off the hate he expressed for the previous Black president, his female opponent, immigrants, and anyone that dared challenge him--even the very same Republicans that now support him! They tell us, "Don't yell at us out in public! Don't demand that we hold town halls and answer questions! Let us do whatever we want and respect this President who has never respected anyone in his life!"
And Democrats/liberals/progressives fall for it! Even after they steal a Supreme Court seat, even after Trump separates immigrant families and bans Muslims, even after his EPA dismantles environmental regulations, even after his former campaign manager and several other people in his campaign are indicted, even after Trump and his supporters attack sexual assault victims, Democrats still call for civility. High level Democrats shake their head and scold activists for yelling at these assholes in public, while spouting off on Twitter about how inhumane Trump's policies are. How can you (and why would you) be "civil" to the people who are instating inhumane policies?
The game really changed moment prominent Republicans refused to denounce birtherism (and the assholes who promoted it). Democrats simply refused to recognize the change, so much so, that when Turtle McConnell and the rest of the GOP blocked Obama's Supreme Court candidate, they just rolled over and let it happen.
Now there are white supremacists running the country, immigrants are being unlawfully imprisoned indefinitely, and the Democrats still think bi-partisanship is the answer. Too many people think anger is bad. No! Hate is bad, anger can be righteous and powerful if justified. It's all how you use it. We all feel emotions (even the assholes who shout things like "I make decisions based on fact not feelings!" No, you don't.) and we need to learn how to react to our emotions and channel them for good, instead of suppressing them. The anger has been building in me (and the country) for quite some time now, and the past year and a half with Trump as president has been simply infuriating. Personally, I needed a release, and this has been working.
I've also taken to cycling my anger out.
I don't enjoy getting angry; it is simply a natural response to all this bullshit. It's fucked up because anger and yelling also seems to attract the most attention. I mean, it's one of the many reasons Trump won. He tapped into the rage that white America felt at the Black President, black athletes, immigrants, protesters, the possible female President, and some legitimate anger at the government. Of course, anything shitty that our government was doing before, he has ratcheted up by 100%. It turns out, the only thing his supporters had real anger towards were immigrants and Black people.
I do believe there are rational Republicans, but there are none currently in office (except Dr. Petit; see I don't discriminate!). There is no rational debate to be had with people who think there are "good people on both sides" of a Nazi rally. There is no rational debate to be had with people who are okay with detaining thousands of immigrant children indefinitely. There is no rational debate to be had with people who support a racist, buffoonish conman. The few Republican Senators who call out Trump every now and then, vote with him 99% of the time, so they are as bad if not worse than his most outspoken supporters. Progressives need to focus on absolutely crushing these cruel assholes through voting and direct activism (maybe making some videos!) and making sure none of them ever have a position of power again.
GET ANGRY!
This one took a stupid amount of takes, just to get Donnie Jr's face right.
I did this in one take. It was an upsetting day.
I Love You All...Class Dismissed.
