Re: Re: I'm probably delusional, but
Feb. 13th, 2025 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI'm not saying that a Pokémon fan artist who doesn't want to get DMs with creepy commission requests is as bad as Elon Musk. Obviously. Still, I do believe it's significant that both of these groups are directing their political energy into a fantasy.
I don't have children of my own, but I grew up in what might charitably be called "a hostile home situation." Speaking as someone who once needed help, this is what I would do if I wanted to "protect children."
(1) Enable better-funded and more nutritious school lunches;
(2) Fund local libraries to encourage after-school programs;
(3) Make public transportation cleaner, safer, and easier to access;
(4) Make higher education less expensive and more accessible;
(5) Reform the minor emancipation system; and
(6) Lower the legal voting age.
In other words, I would focus on concrete local systems that provide a social safety net while campaigning for state and federal reform regarding how "minors" are legally defined. Personally speaking, I used libraries and higher education to escape from a difficult situation, and that's what I now contribute my energy to.
Even as a teenager, campaigning for increased funding for schools, libraries, and buses is one of the easiest political activities you can engage in. There are tons of pre-existing groups to join, and everyone will support you. This is completely non-controversial, and it looks good on social media. It's also extremely necessary and not just "do a Sunday at a soup kitchen" court-assigned community service bullshit.
This should go without saying, but "protecting children" has nothing to do with conspiracy theories about politicians injecting themselves with adrenochrome harvested from orphans; nor does it have anything to do with the stories people post about magical space wizards on AO3 dot org. People can (and should) believe whatever sort of weird nonsense they want, but problems arise when significant demographic groups become convinced that their political power lies entirely in controlling what they see in the media they consume.
There's more to say, but the headspace is too depressing for me to handle right now.
I don't have children of my own, but I grew up in what might charitably be called "a hostile home situation." Speaking as someone who once needed help, this is what I would do if I wanted to "protect children."
(1) Enable better-funded and more nutritious school lunches;
(2) Fund local libraries to encourage after-school programs;
(3) Make public transportation cleaner, safer, and easier to access;
(4) Make higher education less expensive and more accessible;
(5) Reform the minor emancipation system; and
(6) Lower the legal voting age.
In other words, I would focus on concrete local systems that provide a social safety net while campaigning for state and federal reform regarding how "minors" are legally defined. Personally speaking, I used libraries and higher education to escape from a difficult situation, and that's what I now contribute my energy to.
Even as a teenager, campaigning for increased funding for schools, libraries, and buses is one of the easiest political activities you can engage in. There are tons of pre-existing groups to join, and everyone will support you. This is completely non-controversial, and it looks good on social media. It's also extremely necessary and not just "do a Sunday at a soup kitchen" court-assigned community service bullshit.
This should go without saying, but "protecting children" has nothing to do with conspiracy theories about politicians injecting themselves with adrenochrome harvested from orphans; nor does it have anything to do with the stories people post about magical space wizards on AO3 dot org. People can (and should) believe whatever sort of weird nonsense they want, but problems arise when significant demographic groups become convinced that their political power lies entirely in controlling what they see in the media they consume.
There's more to say, but the headspace is too depressing for me to handle right now.
