Bullying takes many forms both overt and subtle: racism, discrimination, emotional manipulation, domestic violence, and down to the occasional sneer. Some power imbalances are natural like in parent/child relationships or Governments and the people they govern. Social convention and law regulate these situations but can never truly anticipate how creatively they can be warped. Ultimately we are talking human beings abusing other human beings.

There are many individuals, groups and governments that I could point to as an example of becoming the bully but the one that I think is most illustrative is, as Dave Chappelle says, the “letters folks”. This because it demonstrates how dangerous becoming the bully is and but also, how much potential there was to change things for the better for everyone and how that got lost. So tell me, letters folks, how do you feel when you insist other people use your pronouns? Is it a rush, do you feel vindicated, justified, satisfied? Do you feel… superior? Think about that. Because pronouns are not the problem. People are. Second person pronouns describe biological sex — in a dimorphic species you got XX and XY. He/She Him/Her. The problem is conflating biological sex with gender. Maybe though, changing up pronouns might change perception - it would depend on if it was offered or coerced.

The objective here is to change language and in this case you have to convince 50% of normies this is necessary. A daunting task but not impossible, language changes all the time. Take for instance the honorifics Mrs, Miss (long established) and Ms (the new girl on the block.) This came up through Gloria Steinem and feminism in the seventies. What sold it though was that the government, marketers and anyone else mass mailing had no idea if the honorific for a woman was Mrs or Miss. At the time this was a problem, so while Gloria was trying to stop people from defining women as objects based on marriage status, the real change came via necessity by entities with other purposes. It worked — but 55 years later honorifics are rarely used so the next change was obsolescence of this form of language.

So, first, you used third person plural pronouns for second person singular pronouns. Seriously? This is just lazy and will never work because it causes confusion. Hey look let’s borrow this already existing set, and confuse the crap out of singular and plural. Somebody figured that out eventually and went to the effort of creating pronouns for every kind of wedding. It will never cease to amaze me that people who have been bullied and demeaned and discriminated against for gender reasons, would create even smaller gendered boxes and climb in of their own volition. You hurt yourself when you do this. What happens in ten years when you decide you want to trade up, use a different pronoun, be a different person? Yes, you trapped yourself. In addition, if I’m talking about several people in the second person I have to remember half a dozen different pronouns? Not happening, doomed to failure, way too complicated even for people that care.

Second, look around the world… hell, look around the USA. Big ole authoritarian movement. Hispanics, then Somalis (code for Black) and you don’t think letters folks won’t be next? How naive. How easy will it be for the new purity crew to just go look for pronouns, eh? Yeah, didn’t think about that.

Third, now you’ve created a precedent. What if racists want pronouns for white and not-white. What if the 1% want pronouns for themselves and something else for the rest of us?

This is what happens when you don’t think it through and you become the bully; that thing you hated — you have now become. The worst of becoming the bully is that it is truly self-centric, and it preferences the pain of the individual with more of the same. It just boomerangs into more bullying, aggravated bullying. Fear. Division breeds fear. Lots of little divisions create lots of little persecutions.

Worst of all, you had the opportunity to change social norms for everyone, to create unity, to invite everyone to participate. Like this: pick one pronoun, just one, as the neutral second person. For instance “ta”. “I saw Jan last week, ta had gone to the diner and ta picked up dinner for taself and all the folks at the homeless shelter.” And in this, “ta” means “gender fluid”. It celebrates gender for everyone as being mutable, infinitely variable, a gift of self. It doesn’t differentiate, it doesn’t exclude, it includes everyone, everywhere. It transcends the gender box entirely. It says, this is personal space and we respect that, because this is what it means to be human. That is how you change perception with pronouns. You don’t require it; you use it, you explain, you offer it to others to take or leave as they wish. This is what it means to not become the bully. To put the pain of your life into unity and change and making being human a much better place for all those that come after us, and won’t have to ever deal with gender bullying again. It frees everyone at every level in the process because it teaches acceptance. It says “we will not discriminate” and that could flow over into every other disproportionate use of power. All because we made a choice not to become the bully.

So, these are the reasons why I can’t use your pronouns. I hope you understand.

10/8/25 on Briahna Joy Gray’s “Bad Faith” Youtube channel, she and Max Blumenthal talked about Matt Taibbi’s reluctance to discuss Gaza or Zionism. The link above is just a few minutes of that conversation and Max points out that the reason Matt gets asked about this is because he is respected. That these aren’t “gotcha” questions — that an unwillingness to engage is going to lead to irrelevance, a disengagement by those that do care about what Matt thinks, that what his opinion is on the subject as an excellent journalist is important. Matt Taibbi earned that respect for at least 17 years of work from the 2008 financial crash onward, if not actually back to his Rolling Stone days. Consistently and persistently, he spoke a very direct, nonpartisan, truth to power.

I have that respect for him but the last few months of his posts in particular are difficult to reconcile with the guy that wrote Insane Clown President with its very prescient take on the decline of our democracy on both sides. I remember, during Occupy Wallstreet, wondering WTF that was all about. I lived in Jersey (exit 9), none of my friends, liberal or otherwise, had any interest in it. It was Matt that pointed out, and I am just vaguely paraphrasing, that it was pretty much trust fund kids being pissed they weren’t getting a bigger piece of the pie and when they yelled “Jump” it was at their bosses. :-)

Now we get a post on Bari Weiss (9/5/25) that posits that everyone upset about her taking over CBS is envious over a big payday. It is a serious extended diatribe against journalism, and journalists, it feels like quite the personal grudge match: “What a bunch of jealous, worthless losers.” Really if we have to allow Bari Weiss to be who she is and opine as she does, why slam everyone else for doing the same. Where’s the engagement with the very serious issue of Larry Ellison and money continuing to corrupt media, and in particular how Ms. Weiss is now the voice of Hasbara v2? Matt isn’t wrong about all the problems he cites but it isn’t an easy read for sure. It isn’t a relevant read either.

Then there’s the 10/8/25 post on James Comey. It is a very truthful, well documented, indictment of the man, the machine and the corruption of democracy he represents. Again, though—relevant? Well, Matt ends with “Characters like Comey can’t just ride off into sunsets of inflated book deals and teaching gigs anymore. They can’t all get away with it, can they?” Yes Matt they can, they all can. You were the one who equated Russia, Russia, Russia with WMD. Ummm how many of the Bush, Jr central cabal were brought to justice? You told us about how many of these assholes just keep showing up, administration after administration. So YES, they will all get away with it. Not really relevant, sadly.

10/27/25’s “The Great Leftist Ignorance Scam”. Oh my god. The entirety of the Left knows that some kid who was stupid enough to get a Nazi tat (no one is ever that baked) is probably still stupid. Let’s review. DNC has 25% approval, FLUFFING FINALLY, everyone but boomer Dems know it is a rigged game and we cannot do this anymore. The Left has to do what republicans did when they first chose Trump — in order to completely convey to their party that party choices suck, they went for the outsider. Dems have to do that now and Platner and Mamdani, these are the first shots across the bow that says FU to Chuckie Schumer and the morally bankrupt Party. Mamdani isn’t any worse than Cuomo and Platner, well if Mainers choose him he isn’t worse than Susan Collins. You wanted change, this is where it starts by not going with the DNC choice. Nor will the discontented Left go Right. Not just irrelevant as a post, atrociously missing the point. [Just as an aside, the age 30 and unders, they reject electoral politics altogether and are fine with Socialism.]

Maybe I’ve moved some other direction but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels way more like vendetta journalism. Maybe after 20 years of screaming as loud as he could, “the end is nigh” and it seemed to have made very little difference, Matt’s just tired. Maybe having the Dem establishment send the IRS to your house as an intimidation tactic, and being smeared by the left, despair sets in and I can see a case made for journalistic PTSD. Although honestly, yer not doing it right if someone doesn’t like you and you really know you’ve made it when everyone hates you. It seems like it’s not fun for him anymore and no we don’t want him to be a dancing monkey. Maybe you hit 55 and you just miss enjoying your work; I know I got there. Matt still is telling the truth and he still is on the right side of history. Maybe the answer to what is relevant while Rome burns is “fuck all”. On the other hand, maybe a month off and some self-medication would help? A hug and a thank you?

Kath

In the beginning it will need to be a sort of Marshall Plan for the country; a way to recover from whatever chaos descends on us as well as a means from which the past will not recreate itself over and over again. By that I mean the Masters of the World versus everyone else — from time immemorial. So we have the construct of a digital world with instant communication — and the ability to create many coalition parties. We also have a constitution written very carefully by — well honestly, by white, educated, landowning men — but still, men who revolted against Monarchy, and against the abuses of Monarchy where the people were concerned.

Coalition; those temporary alliances of intersecting interest. The two party system is deeply allergic to any kind of power sharing — but power has in the past never lain within the demos. We continue to be, in the United States of America, the great experiment of Democracy. When you see the chaos and get glimpses of the horrors of authoritarianism literally running through the cities of this country, see it as a last gasping effort of the 1% to hold onto money and power. The institutions that are required to maintain the 1% are failing — not just the finance sector, but corporations, media, government, education and war. The people have been able to remove energy from these bastions of the elite and down they will fall. This is because it was with the tacit participation of the people that created and held them up as an ideal to begin with. Ideals change, the world changes.

What do we want this new world to look like? To me everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to think about a platform for a political party. Small parties formed by regional interest, personal conviction, or harsh realities. On the Left there could be a dozen general coalition parties right now, but even smaller, looser confederations will feed them. Rapidly coalescing, certainly some will cool and fade, but this becomes the way to create positive change from the bottom up. This forces compromise and has within it the way in which the final coalition can be punished for failing to meet their coalition goals.

I went and read the DNC platform; so very out of step with people and really, the times. We know though that the uni-party has to be replaced. Bought as they are by lobbies, special interests, greed, corporations and in one case, another county, they no longer represent the people. The thing is that the people have to find the time to step up and do the very difficult work of figuring things out. So as I contemplated a way forward for the Left that isn’t distracted by the hostility of the right, it seemed to me that we need to figure out what we want. We the People. The Left for everyone.

So I thought, ok Blue32 — it harks back to 1932 and looks forward to 2032. So an immediate, practical plan for the long term ideal of “love the other as the self” in action. Uplift, children first, peace, equity, health and safety with the ideal being Equality. Positive inclusive, from the far left socialists to moderate republicans to MAGA christians. Can I make a platform and an argument for a coalition party that is something closer to a cooperative democracy? Ambitious, and it will take a lot of people with new ideas working together, but that is the demos and that is our strength though we rarely use it. I committed, I bought the domain name Blue32.xyz and I am out here learning Substack and throwing myself at the brick wall of new ideas but also of giving myself permission to be that. We all have to be willing to learn and change and commit and do it ourselves. Don’t look to any one leader, no matter the charisma or the rhetoric — those things are lies. Look for ideas, look for conviction, look intensely for truth that resonates for you.

Blue32. The Compassionate Left. Americans with a plan for all Americans. Yeah, we can do that — one little political movement among many. Next up — a platform.

Kath

At 65, I have spent most of my life watching manufacturing get offshored. I worked for Apple Computer in their Carrolton, Texas plant from 1981 until they closed it down and sent the work to China in 1985. The destruction of the 99% has become very nearly complete. Now I watch the right scream at the left and the left fear-monger and censor with deranged glee. Worst of all, the damage to children gets deeper every day now. A culture of fear, a civil war of words… and it accelerates despite the fact that we are evenly divided politically and it won’t end at all well. In the meantime the rich get even more fabulously rich.

I can’t even grasp how we got here but it’s been coming for a long time. I know MAGA folks, I have lived in Kansas, Texas, Florida, I have family in Tennessee. I know that red states are about to be destroyed, damaged beyond belief because for the most part they are working class, they are poor. Snap, Medicaid — even the ACA’s growth has been in the Southeast since those states didn’t expand Medicaid. Migrant workers in the South are a big deal for the farms and ranches, and crops are rotting in the fields since the ICE paramilitary has created its atmosphere of terror. The destruction of tourism has devasted Florida, the upcoming housing crash will start there. Tariffs will hit around Thanksgiving this year because the arc of import goods means the effects take about six months to really land.

I have spent hours watching and listening and trying to figure a way out. Today, I saw vector probabilities converge into what looks rather like 1932. A very desperate time but here’s the thing: When the left can get out of its own way, it is at its best at uplift. FDR and a big blue wave brought a very activist congress into play. They didn’t say, hey let’s save the Dems, they said let’s save everyone. There were two parts to the New Deal but overall, reflect on the heavy lifting that they did:

Employment/Relief

• The Civilian Conservation Corp — millions of jobs for young men hired by the government for environmental conservation.

• Civil Works Administration — Temporary manual labor jobs

• Federal Emergency Relief Administration

• Public Works Administration

• Works Progress Administration — 8.5 million jobs in public infrastructure as well as funding arts, drama, media and literacy.

• National Youth Administration

In Finance:

• Emergency Banking Act

• FDIC

• SEC

• Home Owners Consolidation Act — preventing foreclosures, stabilizing the housing market.

Farming — The TVA, subsidies, stabilization of crop prices, electricity run to rural areas.

Legacy Programs

• Social Security

• Fair Labor Standards

• Natl Labor Relations Act

• FHA

We forget, I think, just how much that Blue Congress accomplished. For everyone. This what compassionate and dedicated Liberals can do. And I believe we need to get ready to do this again. Leave behind the rhetoric of division, ignore the delusions of the right — we know they are frightened and lashing out really like any child would. This was the draw of DJT, the father figure — “Protect us, Love us.” We know on the Left this is a lie but we also fell for Obama, for someone who we handed a fully Blue congress and which he squandered. We can’t look for one person to do the heavy lifting, it is us together with compassion and a drive to uplift everyone that has to be engaged. The right will never be able to understand that the main difference between left and right, is that we don’t want a father figure, we want guidance and a challenge to be the best we can be for everyone. No more DEI but equity for all. Uplift and a moral theme of “Love the other as yourself” put into motion.

This is the base of a new platform and we need to start to develop this independently of the DNC, the Oligarchy, and the Tech Lords. We want no more war ever if diplomacy can do the job. No more imperialism, a redistribution of wealth in a major way, justice that is constitutional, inclusion that is not defined by specific labels but by being human. And if we have to give up abortion rights, we can say ok, the compromise is no unwanted pregnancies and make that happen. Children have got to be put first in consideration in any law congress makes — they have too long been shorted in education, in health, in uplift and now in safety.

What else? AI should be heavily regulated, nationalized, limited and never allowed to be a for profit project. AI is the future ok, but not to beggar us. Fuck That.

It’s time to ignore the hysterics, to ignore Trump, to continue the good fight in the streets and against Genocide. The entire Congress is compromised and they have to go. What does it say about Dems in congress that MTG and Thomas Massie are on the right side of history and our representation is not. The Left may have to go independent to get this done, but we know we can do this because we did it a hundred years ago. Term limits, Guaranteed Income, Development of Robotics and Digital New Tech. A push for education equity across the country. Amnesty and citizenship for anyone currently here. Gun Control and Weapon Surrender. And hardcore control of finance. Taxes and more taxes of the rich, the guillotine of the modern age. No more generational wealth. Build it because it’s the right thing to do, because this is who we are, when we are the best we are, as the compassionate Left.

And then we have to hold it.

Kath