@starbreaker @ayachan @a_breakin_glass That's the point. And it makes me sad in... many, many ways.

But well.
Can't do much right now about it.

@Morgane @starbreaker @a_breakin_glass Well, it begins with conversations and awareness-raising. ^_^ Which is what we are doing!! <3

@starbreaker @Morgane @a_breakin_glass

You know, I'm not sure I have anything to add to this outside of "wow, you make an amazing point that I've never thought of before!!"

Keep on being amazing. ^_^

@ayachan @a_breakin_glass @Morgane

Thanks. I'm talking from personal experience here. My parents thought I'd be the second coming of Albert Einstein.

Instead, I'm just a long-haired metalhead with delusions of eruditon.

"If only he'd apply himself," they said. But none of them ever asked me what I wanted.

Probably just as well. They wouldn't have liked the answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRwrg0db_zY

@starbreaker @Morgane @a_breakin_glass Gotta love projected parental bull****. :( Thank you for sharing your story.

I wish you a continued recovery from the trauma.

@starbreaker @ayachan @Morgane the phase 'apply themself' seems rather...capitalist.

@a_breakin_glass @starbreaker @Morgane *nods* It is reminiscent of "bootstraps mentality."

@Morgane @ayachan @starbreaker every person has to have an application, to make themselves useful, or else they're worthless.

@a_breakin_glass @Morgane @starbreaker The cardinal issue with capitalism, for sure. It sits at the very root of capitalist thinking. :/

@ayachan @Morgane @a_breakin_glass I call it "exploitation culture".

@starbreaker @a_breakin_glass @Morgane That's essentially what it is. :(

@starbreaker @ayachan @Morgane this idea is implicit in the hate of welfare recipients, the homeless, the unemployed, and anyone else who cannot make themselves employable or 'productive' within the system of capitalism for whatever reason

@Morgane @ayachan @starbreaker it also reproduces itself (ha) on the territory of social relations. non-conventional relationship structures and sexualities are shunned for their inability to reproduce the structure of the family as a site for capitalist exploitation or the ability to produce children for 'productive' use. the same applies for gender, as much of capitalism bases itself on the promulgation of gendered products and ideas.

@a_breakin_glass @Morgane @starbreaker Yep... Capitalism loves its isms and classifications that further categorise people into areas for them to marginalise. :/

@starbreaker @ayachan @Morgane nontraditional thoughts on gender break the idealised ideas of gender used to market and sell products, ideologies, lifestyles, opinions, etc under the captialist-spectacular system, as well as the interlink between expressions of both toxic masculinity (i.e. stoicism suppressing anger and desires to be rid of the capitalist system) and femininity (i.e. women-as-caregiver, and the division of 'caring' jobs onto women) into the systems of domination.

@a_breakin_glass @starbreaker @Morgane You're absolutely right, of course. And when people fight these ideas, they are further marginalised and shoved down by society. :/

We must continue to fight the power!!

@a_breakin_glass @starbreaker @Morgane Precisely!! And these are the people who are targeted by the IQ test the most...and (surprise, surprise) the ones who get the lowest scores aren't white. -_-

@ayachan @a_breakin_glass @starbreaker @Morgane But the same criticism isn't levelled at the idle rich, who don't "apply themselves" but since they have money don't have to in a capitalist system. It's a double standard.

@ND3JR @Morgane @starbreaker @a_breakin_glass Actually, the fact that they have money is what gives them the most power, so they don't have to follow the rules. #Oligarchy #Plutocracy

It's f***ing disgusting is what it is...and it's all institutionalised. :/

@ayachan @a_breakin_glass @Morgane @ND3JR

All we have to do is refuse, en masse, to play their game. We could refuse to work. We could refuse to buy things. We could take what we need to survive. We could refuse to acknowledge our alleged debts.

Their power rests on our obedience. Were we to rise together in solidarity and defiance, even their God would learn to fear us.

@starbreaker @ND3JR @Morgane @a_breakin_glass Everything you say is why I believe in revolutionary socialism!!

@ayachan @a_breakin_glass @Morgane @ND3JR I don't believe in anything, but it's obvious that the way things are doesn't work for the vast majority of people. I think libertarian socialism might be a better way to organize society and would like to see it put to the test.

@starbreaker @ND3JR @Morgane @a_breakin_glass I’ll admit I’m more of an old-school communist, but all leftists are needed to secure our future!! ^_^

@ayachan @starbreaker @ND3JR @Morgane @a_breakin_glass I'm a democratic socialist myself.

@ND3JR @a_breakin_glass @Morgane @ND3JR @starbreaker All leftists are needed to secure our future. ^_^

@starbreaker @ayachan @a_breakin_glass @Morgane I've never had an IQ test but I can relate. I was in the talented and gifted program startibg in the second grade. Basic math came easy for me.

Then came algebra, which wasn't so easy. I ended up not wanting to do the work. My parents responded with the same thing that @starbreaker's parents did, and called me "lazy."

IQ and standardized tests can create unrealistic expectations for parents, which can lead to psycgological issues for the child.

@ND3JR @Morgane @a_breakin_glass @starbreaker I've had various IQ tests over the years and always got the obscenely high scores, so people had very high expectations of me. However, I was raised by a Hippie mom and Anarcho-Punk dad and therefore stubbornly stuck to my guns. xPP

But...I actually did spend most of my life downplaying any intelligence I felt I had due to abuse and bullying I'd suffered over the years in school and at home during my teenage years; I internalised everything... (1/2)

@ND3JR @Morgane @a_breakin_glass @starbreaker ...and actually would say things like, "oh, I'm not smart at all!"

It wasn't until my fiancée came into my life and taught me I was worth something that I actually began to value my intelligence, amongst other things. And I do not use my IQ to qualify it, since according to society at large, I am completely useless and non-functional in the first place. xP

I am me. <3 I am finally proud of this fact thanks to my fiancée. And IQ tests can die. (2/2)

@starbreaker @ayachan @a_breakin_glass @Morgane

Hard agree.

I was tested in school, tested very well and grew up with my parents thinking anything less than "A" grades was a disappointment. This has warped my self opinion and worth my entire life.

@AKAHayling @starbreaker @a_breakin_glass @Morgane Yeah... Ableism is a social disease. :/