The most important pieces of the last few weeks

The last week has been really high-volume for this little blog, and I want to thank everybody who has visited and in particular the three new patrons who signed up on the Patreon! Wasn’t expecting that but super appreciate it! Thank you!

Last night I posted a bit of meta about the kinds of articles I write, and how they serve purposes and that I should probably label them better. I want to do a recap on the ones I think are the most important, whether or not they’re actually the most popular.

Analysis posts – explainers, really, telling people why certain things are happening – are the most popular. At their best, I can provide relevant history and context, and they can make the world make a lot more sense.

Here are two of the three I think are most important of the month so far. If you haven’t read them, I really hope you will, particularly if you’re a Millennial or a Zoomer. I even more hope that you’ll then share them with others, because people need to know there are reasons why elections have been like this, but even more so, I explain why it doesn’t have to be like this anymore after this year:

• Stop surrendering and get back on the goddamn line
• The Long Arc of Boomer Politics, and what Millennials and Zoomers can now win

The third is ⁠”let’s talk about the only punishment that matters to politicians.” That one’s been slept on, despite my best efforts to promote it. Once you understand the core point – that the only real way we have to reward or punish politicians in a way they care about is to either give or take away power – then you will understand so much more about electoral politics in this country.

And that’ll make you much, much more effective in your political work.

Seriously, once you understand it, all the parts of politics that make no sense start falling into place. It doesn’t matter what their positions are, what their governing philosophies are, either. It’s the one common, uniting thread.

Some people may see it as venial, corrupt, or even evil. I don’t. I just see it as realistic; after all, even if they really do want to do better than they actually do, they can’t do anything if removed from office.

That’s why it’s number one.

I’ve also written a bunch of toolkit articles, posts which try to give you a tool you can use when talking with people about the mess we’re in, particularly ones you can reach on a personal level. They’re written mostly as example arguments you can use yourself. They aren’t scripts, don’t treat them like that; they’re basically example arguments you can to adopt to your specific situation.

Or you can forward them to people if you like, that works too.

I think the most important of these from the last few weeks were:

• My article on how to tell people who “ignore politics” that ignoring politics is never, ever an option in an authoritarian government. Authoritarian governments may you spend more time on politics, not less. This should be effective against the “politics is boring and I don’t do it” crowd.
• My article on how to show people that Biden may talk more like a neoliberal, but his administration governs quite a bit left of that, more like a “New Deal Democrat” and does so than anything since… LBJ maybe? At very least since before Reagan. That’s important for people who have been convinced that he’s “basically a Republican,” and he’s really not.
• How to talk to your Trumpy or Trump-leaning family and friends in an effective way. This provides the most important piece of advice I have, which is don’t charge in guns blazing, don’t try to do anything all at once. Chip away, piece at a time, using issues they care about, regardless of whether they concern you. You’re not the one you’re trying to convince, they are. So you talk about the things they care about, not you.
• And fourth, an article on how you have to win the argument with the people before you can demand anything from the politicians. This is for people who are enraged that Biden hasn’t done X or Y or Z, where the American public including Democrats have not been sold on X, Y, or Z, or even strongly oppose X, Y, or Z. This particular example is about policing, and how expecting Biden to adopt a position supported by like 10% of people and opposed by 80% of them is batshit insane, as well as being a guide to how to lose an election. (See also, as above, the only punishment that matters to politicians.) But it applies to any topic with similar lack of support.

Finally, here are some of the more important action posts. These don’t spend much time on how to do something; instead, they tell you what would be good and helpful to try to do. They’ll usually contain links to important information to help you do the job. Continuing to tie Trump to Project 2025, particularly but by no means only its abortion and birth control agenda is a good start. Also, tying him to climate destruction and anti-queer content, both of which are horrific, are good options.

I’ll be writing more about climate change this coming week, but for now, here a couple of posts to get you started:

• Trump is neck deep in Project 2025, and we have proof
• Climate Change is real, and Trump wants more of it.
• The general statement that everyone has to try – yet again in some cases, I know – to get through their Trumpy family and friends, and find a way to make them understand what they stakes are. If you can’t change their vote, you can at least bring down the enthusiasm and level of work they’re willing to put into his re-election.

Hi ho, this one got long too. I simply must be in more time so I can write shorter posts! Regardless, welcome new followers, welcome especially new patrons, thanks for reading this far down, and:

Brave hearts, everybody.

Know that we have the numbers, and they don’t. And so, in the end…

We win this.

If we do the work. If we fight the fight...

We win.

107 days remain.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

Meanwhile, back on the bike

So just before the pandemic, I got an eBike. People who have been following me a while know that I go on bikeposting benders sometimes, too, so here’s your heads up that that can happen lol.

I also maintain the Greater Northshore Bike Connector Map and MEGAMAP, the former a bike map of northwest King County and north Seattle, the latter a combination of maintained bike maps from difference sources that covers from south Snohomish County to the southern tip of Lake Washington. It’s Creative Commons, you can download it at full resolution and even print it if you want.

Despite my main ride being an eBike, the assist stays off most of the time. It’s on when I’ve really got to get somewhere quickly, for the giant hill home that is the reason I bought the thing, etc.

But! I’ve also been using the assist for a starter boost in busy intersections, when I’m on a car road. I’m not really going faster overall when I do this, but dang, do I get started more quickly.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try not doing that for a little while. Mostly, I wanted to see if I could build starting power, but partly, I just wanted to see what happened.

And what happened is that automobile drivers instantly because way bigger dicks at me, and intersections got way more dangerous. Not because of the speed, but, again, because of car drivers being much bigger dicks about me being there at all.

This included two cases of people driving into oncoming lanes of traffic deciding to get around me, including one trying to then merge into me after doing so, even though when they did it I was at or close to the speed limit.

The difference was fucking stark holy shit is what I’m saying.

A few days ago I went back to using boost to get started across intersections, and it’s back to normal.

I’m thinking that something in car drivers’ brains see quick acceleration as “that’s a car” triggering the according respectful behaviour, even though they actually see a bike. And that those same people see slower acceleration as “get that fucking piece of shit off my road” and also behave accordingly, disrespectfully and dangerously, towards the bike.

This is again despite the difference in speed at the halfway point being negligible.

One woman’s playing around with the world at an intersection does not a study make, but damn, it was, as I said, a stark difference. I do wonder if bicycle messengers all figure this out too, and get a rep for it that – surprise! – turns out is as much about personal safety as getting places quickly.

I will definitely continue to use boost to launch across intersections. I can be faster out the gate than a car, and will absolutely continue to be.

Might be something to think about, either as a biker or a driver of a car.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.