My child told me they need a topic for an argumentative essay they have to write for school.
I am happy to announce they are now writing an essay on how cash bail for non-violent offenses merely serves to deprive the poor of their right to a presumption of innocence and the ability to effectively defend themselves.
This is the Lizzie Lincoln house, a reputed heavily haunted house. Normally obscured by trees, the dilapidated structure - built for Isaac Huyett and once the summer home of millionaires (including Alexander Boardman, a railroad conductor who conceived of the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk before marrying a rich widow) - it is reputed to be haunted by Lizzie Lincoln, who was killed by her philandering Philadelphia Lawyer Husband.
EXCEPT IT ISN’T.
All of these hot takes about how Mastodon is too hard to use for mass adoption are missing the point entirely. We are not some tech startup trying to "disrupt" the social media ecosystem. We don't have VCs breathing down our necks pushing for continuous growth at all costs. We're just regular people out here building communities.
If people don't like Mastodon and decide to go back to Twitter, that's fine. They are not commodities to be exploited. If people like Mastodon and decide to stay, that's great! They are going to be more invested in the community because they are actually deriving real value from it.
If there's one thing the global capitalist system cannot fathom is that value can exist that is not fungible with monetary value. There are plenty of ways to create value for people that do not involve buying and selling. In fact the whole notion that value = monetary value is a relatively recent innovation in human history.
I'm not saying that capitalism doesn't have its benefits, but our minds have become so warped by its zero-sum game vision of the world that it's easy to believe that generating profits is the only thing that matters. We may have to play that game to justify our existence on this planet, but there's a whole world of value to be found outside of it. Just because we're forced to play the game doesn't mean the game is all there is.
Do you remember the flash animation *There She Is*? Did you know it was part of a set of five? And they're about racism? Here, check it out: https://press.invincible.ink/story-pile-there-she-is/
maker of tiny games | navigator of retail chaos | artist | FFXIV fan (Ryusui Teira@Brynhildr) | he/him | trans rights are human rights | death to crypto