Hey, remember when Friday was meme-day here at We Hunted the Mammoth? We’ve missed a couple, mostly because of horrible things happening in the world, but we’re back!
Today, some of the weirdest pro-Trump and anti-Hillary memes I’ve run across lately. Most of these are from Reddit — in particular, from r/The_Donald and r/HillaryForPrison. Enjoy, I guess.
Now this last meme — which I’ve censored a little — isn’t really all that weird. It’s just kind of revealing, at least about the sort of people who sit around making anti-Hillary memes.
Yikes.
@ moggie
She probably is; ‘witch’ is a pretty big demographic down here 🙂
I imagine it looks even better when it is actually off the back off the truck.
@ Dalillama, yes, that is exactly what I knew I wanted.
@ ViolinlessHoax, I hadn’t realised that was also what I wanted.
Thank you both.
@ Alan, Virgin Mary: at least being a jousting vehicle is less likely to result in falls and injury to horses than steeplechasing is. And less likely to result in routine culling of all but the very above average than greyhound racing is. A good reason to hope that jousting remains a niche preoccupation.
@ Moggie, Alan: waiting for the iron man engine chain of free association makes me think of Philip K Dick’s 6 foot high block of hash. I don’t think it made it to the movie.
@EJ (the other one)
re-informed consent in contact sports
I tend to agree, especially with more mainstream sports like football and hockey anyone playing as adults started playing as children and people playing in the NFL and NHL or even the college level pretty much had to start playing as children and we tend to agree that children can’t give informed consent especially in cases where the risks are high. Also, for a lot of poor people and a lot of black people sports and athletic scholarships are sometimes seen as a ticket out especially for kids that are athletically gifted and that pressure makes informed consent even harder.
Idk, I kind of feel like the “well, they know the risks” argument is a way to not have to think about whether or not being a fan of the sport makes you complicit in the player’s health problems
@Croquembouche of patriarchy:
The MISSPELLING IS SHOWING DISRESPECT, Y’HEAR??? was definitely the funniest part to me. But sorry, all alliances are off the table, as another wordsmith somewhere here said: ‘smacks too much of war talk!’ (Ding dong)
Maybe if some didn’t use ‘Blahblah Communist WTF bonobo SLUT (the real one)‘ type monikers, misspellings and typos in acronyms would happen less? No worries, I’ve just learned to cut and paste! 😉
‘Paranoiacs = ableism’ was also funny. Genuine apologies to any actual sufferers of paranoia, though. 🙂
@ sparkalipoo
You make some really good points; I am still however firmly of the view that people can do what they want with their own bodies.
It’s not good if parents force their kids into anything of course, especially when they’re trying to vicariously re-live their own lives; but that’s the same for stuff like academia. Forcing a kid to cram until they have a breakdown is equally wrong. If a kid enjoys an activity though then good for them. Let’s cheer them on in their choice.
And I see your point about scholarships, but do you really think people can strive to become top of their game if they aren’t fundamentally driven by a love of the sport? If it’s an activity they enjoy anyway why shouldn’t it also provide opportunities they wouldn’t otherswise have?
To me, some of the most oppressive behaviour starts with the attitude “We know what’s best for you”. It’s especially insidious when it’s masked with concerns about ‘health’.
It’s a quality of life thing. I engage in some pretty risky activities but we do these because we enjoy them. People who take part in contact sports are well aware of the risks. It’s not like anyone’s ever gone “you mean getting kicked in the head can be bad for you?! I never knew” and in the long run I’m happy to trade a possible future of pain killers for the general level of well-being and fitness I’ve enjoyed to date.
People must be allowed to make their own choices; even if they’re choices we wouldn’t make for ourselves.
@David
Gert is now openly mocking ableism and doesn’t seem to understand that the comment policy applies to him, too. Plus, he’s not even being interesting. Is it time yet for a ban?
Edit:
@Alan
But we allow them to start before they are capable of comprehending the ling-term consequences of their actions and if they’ve invested decades of their life in this thing by the time they start to realize what’s actually going to happen it’s a bit too late and they don’t have as many options as they would have if they’d studied other things.
@sparkalipoo:
You make a very good point there.
Thinking about it, “they knew/accepted the risks” is basically pure victim-blaming. A truer formulation of that line might be “they were vaguely aware that there were risks, but we encouraged them to ignore those risks and focus on how cool they’d look and how much peer respect they would achieve doing it.” That sounds a lot like the logic of a tobacco salesman.
@Gert:
I think the words you’re looking for are “I apologise for being an asshole; I won’t double down on it or speak further on the matter until I understand what I’ve done wrong; and thank you for taking the time to educate me.”
They are not hard words to say.
@Gert,
Well I’m disappointed of course, but thanks for not letting me hold on to any false hopes.
[goes off to riffle through vocabulary for more words to add to moniker, makes mental note to switch off spellcheck in future]
@ kupo
That’s a very valid point you make. It’s cropped up here with some controversy over rugby. But I played rugby (both codes) at school and even then we were aware of the risks.
It’s true that at that age you don’t quite have that sense of your own mortality, but we weren’t stupid and whilst there is a risk it’s small, and IMHO the benefits outweigh them. I’m really glad I did it.
And of course allowances are made. Lots of kids now enjoy stuff like MMA and kickboxing, but they don’t compete under the same rules as the older athletes. You can die hiking, you can get run over on your bike, you can drown, heck you can break your neck on a bouncy castle. I fell out of so many trees as a kid I was on first name terms with the staff at the local infirmary.
Life can never be 100% safe, even for kids, and there will always be rare tragic occurrences, but on a cost benefit analysis it’s probably worth it.
And it’s not a zero sum game. You can enjoy physical activities without it impeding on other pursuits. I still had plenty of time to read books. I’d suggest it actually increases your options.
I think so long as you allow kids to pull out of stuff when they stop enjoying it then that’s a fair way of dealing (and I’d include stuff like music lessons in that).
Well dayum, Gert! Didn’t see that shit coming. I guess I was wrong about you half apologizing/pretending it never happened. Kudos on the sticktoitiveness or shame for… everything else. Hmm… Decisions, decisions. In the mean time, seconding calls for banning. This space doesn’t need this shit, does it?
Kids these days need to be encouraged to do physically challenging things. I did stuff when I was age 8 and 9 of Jackass level stupidity and it didn’t do me any harm. Erm, apart from a broken collarbone that one time. And a dislocated kneecap another time. And severe burns to my hand and do you know what? Maybe kids are better off with games consoles and the internet after all 😀
@Axe
Honestly, the biggest thing I have with The New Thor is the fact that, well, she kinda stole Thor’s actual, parentally given birth name.
@Bort
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/9331858011_501e0a26fa_z.jpg
I couldn’t decide whether to tell you to go step on Legos or sit on a cactus, so let’s split the difference. Step on half, sit on the rest.
@ varalys
If you’ll pardon the pun; snap! 🙂
ETA: I broke my collarbone falling over a gate, so not sure if that’s physical activity or jackass levels of stupidity. Probably a bit of both.
What kupo said. I was a child maths prodigy; I burned out; it sucked. Looking back it feels a lot like betrayal.
Putting intense pressure on children and teenagers in order to allow adults to gain prestige from that child’s talent, is IMHO not the act of a virtuous person.
Hmm, I wonder why, out of all those words, Geert decided to randomly capitalise that one…
(That’s sarcasm, Goat. Go fetch a second Lego cactus, you’ve earned it.)
@ SFHC: A bonobo wronged Grunt and he applied the traditional coping mechanism of his people is what I’m assuming.
For me, with that last reply, Gert’s shtick has graduated from irritating and exhausting to engage with, to deeply upsetting. To be completely fair, I’m pretty fragile at the moment, so it might be more of a me thing than a Gert thing. But I had him pegged as “gives a damn, but is a bit clueless and has a big ego which makes it hard to accept that he’s ignorant about some stuff,” and now what I’m seeing is “doesn’t give a damn at all.” Punch to the gut.
@Josh
Whosoever holds this hammer, if [they] be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor…
She’s got the hammer, she’s Thor. Besides, ‘Thor’ and ‘Odinson’ are each probably equally his name in his mind. That’s just how he and Laufeyson and them roll. He’d more likely be confused that others think it’s a big deal than have any issue with it himself. I mean, if we didn’t decide it was weird for some reason, I’d be more than OK with going by my last name forever
And the last thing we need is another Thor Girl or a Thora/Thoress. An executive decision had to be made to avoid those monstrosities
Did throw me for a loop tho. Don’t think I’ll ever be fully used to it, but I think Marvel made the right choice
@Alan
Can we not use the ‘I did it, and I turned out fine’ argument. It has never, ever, been a worthwhile thing to say. 1stly, nobody has any way of knowing exactly how well you turned out. And, 2ndly, you not having died is not sufficient rebuttal to those that have and still do. The fact that this line is used all the time to justify pretty repugnant shit doesn’t help either
Hugs, Viscaria.
@ EJ
I completely agree that no child should be forced to do something they don’t enjoy; and it’s incumbent on parents to monitor that and ensure their kids know they can quit anytime they want without incurring any disapproval.
But if a kid likes maths, or sport, or writing stories or whatever, then I think it’s great that they’re supported and encouraged.
I get what you say about social pressure, but is it wrong that people like Jennifer Ennis-Hill or Carl Sagan are considered role models by so many kids? We’ve got the Olympics soon. If some kid gets inspired by say a gymnast (who may be pretty young themselves) is that on a par with tobacco advertising?
Obviously soviet style hot-housing of young athletes with no regard to their actual wants is wrong, but if a kid gets inspired to learn how to tumble then I wouldn’t want that discouraged, even though that might well be a risky activity. Or do we say, you can’t start gymnastics until you’re over 18?
I dunno. I can see your arguments; but I still shudder a bit at the idea of ‘people shouldn’t be allowed to make (what we consider to be) bad choices’.
ETA: @ axe, yeah, sorry. Didn’t mean it to come across like that, but see how it could. Perhaps I should have been more general. It’s a choice a lot of people made and are glad they did. That’s doesn’t mean other people can’t make different choices of course.
ETAA: yeah, also hugs viscaria
Nice shift to the passive voice! It’s not something that you in particular fucked up on; misspellings and typos are just a thing that happen because of how complicated some names are!
Seriously though, could you possibly be more of a disingenuous shit? The names you misspelled aren’t anywhere close to as complicated as your example, so what does that have to do with anything? SFHC is really quite straight forward, but you couldn’t bother to make sure the four letters were in the right order. But some people have complicated names, so you shouldn’t need to bother to spell any of them correctly? Such reason. Very sense.
Thanks EJ and Alan! That really does help.
I’ve been getting a lot of offers of hugs and good wishes in response to my comments lately, which is absolutely lovely. I do hope that I’m not taking advantage of the goodwill here and turning anything into the Viscaria show. I’ll try to watch for that myself, but if anyone notices that I’m doing that, I hope you’ll be willing to tell me.
@Alan:
There’s a distinction between “people should be allowed to do as they please with their own bodies and minds” and “people should be allowed to be exploited by systems which require a steady supply of the bodies and minds of others.” In the case of gymnastics (or child maths stuff in my experience) it’s very much the second.
Offhand I don’t know what a good distinguishing test would be to differentiate the two. However, in my opinion the human cost of such systems is greater than the benefit gained, and therefore we should err on the side of caution wherever possible. Personal autonomy requires us to be allowed to squander our talents if we wish, after all, as much as it requires us to be allowed to develop them if we wish.
@Viscaria:
I can’t speak for anyone else, but in my opinion you are my friend and I’m happy to support you when you need it.
As a former athlete, I’ve got to say that I don’t feel like a victim. I got hurt diving from time to time, but I did it because I wanted to. I liked diving. Obviously parents and coaches shouldn’t use abusive tactics or pressure the kid into doing something they don’t want to do, but to keep kids out of sports on the off chance they might be injured seems ridiculous to me. Kids are probably at a greater risk of harm to their health from not getting enough exercise than from doing sports. Most people who are participate in sports are not harmed by it.