open borders now

so kinda, but also, as someone who has been in the front lines of job hunting, and with a MAJOR CAVEAT being that I am Black and transgender and thus have systemic disadvantages in capitalist labor markets to begin with, it has been this bad for a long, long time.

But this is being driven by structural factors that have made the experience of getting a job more and more miserable, even though the actual rate of people not getting a job hasn't gotten worse in aggregate

so kinda, but also, as someone who has been in the front lines of job hunting, and with a MAJOR CAVEAT being that I am Black and transgender and thus have systemic disadvantages in capitalist labor markets to begin with, it has been this bad for a long, long time.

AI is making this worse, yes, because it's being used in applicant tracking systems, but also being used to *beat* applicant tracking systems. It is convincing firms they do not need entry level employees

so kinda, but also, as someone who has been in the front lines of job hunting, and with a MAJOR CAVEAT being that I am Black and transgender and thus have systemic disadvantages in capitalist labor markets to begin with, it has been this bad for a long, long time.

obviously we're aware of nepotism and all that, but that's sort of the tip of the iceberg compared to where the personal connection influences candidate selection *between* competent applicants.

so kinda, but also, as someone who has been in the front lines of job hunting, and with a MAJOR CAVEAT being that I am Black and transgender and thus have systemic disadvantages in capitalist labor markets to begin with, it has been this bad for a long, long time.

It is very, VERY difficult to change fields, and you require a strong network to even contemplate it. Getting entry level work basically *requires* a relevant degree, and in most cases, they want people actually college-aged.

so kinda, but also, as someone who has been in the front lines of job hunting, and with a MAJOR CAVEAT being that I am Black and transgender and thus have systemic disadvantages in capitalist labor markets to begin with, it has been this bad for a long, long time.

been saying this shit for close to two years oh my fucking god

Also - I actually take seriously the idea that all of these people are lying out of their ass. But: - I question the utility of lying, especially when you can just look up a candidates previous pro-trans votes and positions in 5 seconds with the supercomputer in your pocket

Even if you don't mean it, referring to trans women with terminology that is *worse* than referring to Black people as n**gers is morally reprehensible and cannot be supported, regardless of motive.

Also - I actually take seriously the idea that all of these people are lying out of their ass. But: - I question the utility of lying, especially when you can just look up a candidates previous pro-trans votes and positions in 5 seconds with the supercomputer in your pocket

also, going back to the "trans people are uniquely traumatized" - it's not very trust-building to essentially retraumatize that group by calling said group slurs for the sake of maybe getting a few low-engagement Republicans who *might* turn out to "protect women's sports" or whatever to stay home.

Also - I actually take seriously the idea that all of these people are lying out of their ass. But: - I question the utility of lying, especially when you can just look up a candidates previous pro-trans votes and positions in 5 seconds with the supercomputer in your pocket

- In order to lie to your enemies, you have to lie to your friends, without any real way to signal to your friends that you're lying (and these friends are a pretty uniquely traumatized group) - Once you start lying politically, it becomes hard to trust any position.

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

Yeah, uhhh, we DEFINITELY won't win any kind of revolution. So what's left? Well, the Dems calling us slurs can get fucked, but we have to engage in political struggle so it becomes unacceptable for Dems to call us slurs. So triage Iowa, whatever. Don't need that seat for the gavel.

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

I'm a socialist of the Kautsky/Bernstein line, the socialists that have actually gotten shit done in the world, despite their flaws (fuck Ebert and Noske for example), and fundamentally, you're not going to change shit by pining for a miracle to occur in the form of a violent collapse of society

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

Look, I'm an electoralist, like 95-99% of the time I believe you should vote Dem to make the country and the world a better place. I don't believe the firebomb the walmart shit you see on here works. But I can't ask people to vote for people calling them slurs!

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

Yeah like, the Republican is way worse on policy, and transphobia, but at some point we're talking about thymos, and recognition, and all that, and I do not think any other demographic in the coalition would be berated to essentially submit to degradation for pragmatic reasons.

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

but then again we punch above our weight electorally too so what is all this "hey lets complain that trans people don't want to vote for Dems that call us slurs" talk? Like, what are you trying to accomplish? The vast majority of us are going to vote straight-ticket D, including me.

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

People talk about Black electoral pragmatism, and it's real, but it's also earned community loyalty. Call me when a combination of ENDA with teeth, absolute self-ID as federal law, and massive downward wealth redistribution coupled with trans affirmative action gets through.

i don't know how to tell "pragmatic" liberals that trans people are not going to "pragmatically" accept being called the equivalent or (in my view, as a BLACK trans woman) worse of n**ger over and over because they're terrified of Elon Musk ad spend even if it's like 1% of Democrats

Sorry we have mass media and you can't hide the Jim Crow Democrats like you could in the 40s (and that tore the party apart then as it is.) And that was with like half of us being able to vote at the time.

with that said, I think critiques of shitty Democrats should be framed as critiques of shitty Democrats, not of "the party" - it is important to note that party discipline is structurally only bottom up, because of McGovern-Fraser and other reforms.