Just some ramblings and hcs @cartoonfangirl1218 - Tumblr Blog

You know that whatever character did those problematic things isn't like. Real, right?

You are aware that a fictional character is just a rhetorical construct designed to fulfill a narrative/thematic purpose right? That their actions are written by an author who wants to use them to explore complex ideas and moral gray areas within the safe confines of fiction right? That they aren't a real person who has killed real people right?

swan2swan

Where's that tweet about how American chants are "let's go [team name] and some other country (Irish?) fans are "I've made up a song about the other team's drinking problem to the tune of London Bridge Is Falling Down one two three"?

luimnigh

ladydevoir

ignorethisatyourperil

voidscreamingformillenials

There was a massive shift in how our culture understood morality when, after World War II, the general public realized “just following orders” was not an excuse for crimes against humanity. Now we need another moral shift in which we decide, as a culture, that “for the benefit of the stockholders” is not an excuse for anything.

speciesofleastconcern

We kind of need to relearn the “just following orders” part again

icemankazansky

Late last year in the US, a Senator with a military background released a video reminding military personnel that they have the legal right to refuse unlawful orders, and the President of the United States tried to have him tried for treason. [x]

So. Yeah.

thatgingerowl

sad they don't share much matching outfit

silviacrossdresser

Bugs Bunny and Lola Bunny reinterpret this cartoon first published in German magazine Lustige Blätter in 1932:

zombiegirl01

New season, new Nightcrawler piece~

ishowdespair-deactivated2026012

when the curse is lifted

tearsofrefugees

Two Utah court clerks have been dubbed "anti-ICE vigilantes" after they were allegedly caught "sneaking" immigrants out the back door of the

antifainternational

That's how you show real solidarity!

"After they overheard that ICE was at the courthouse to arrest someone, they improperly accessed court databases to determine who was not born in the United States," a DOJ detention filing says. "They then snuck every suspected illegal alien who was at the courthouse out a back door, where ICE, who was waiting in the parking lot for their target to leave the building, could not see them."

Think about what you can do at your job or in your daily life to resist fascism when the opportunity presents itself!

cloudabserk

WARNING do NOT start reading books and comics or watching movies or looking at art!!! you will start wanting to create art yourself. or god forbid. writing.

cambriancrew

thebluemallet

bUT mAry wAsN't liKe tHaT iN tHe bOoK!

Ah, yes. The book. Pride and Prejudice. The book that's famous for its heroine being absolutely spot on with her impressions of the characters around her.

It's not like she got things wrong about Mr. Darcy.

Or Mr. Wickham.

Or even Jane.

And as we all know, there has been no teenage girl, fictional or otherwise, that has turned to intellectualism in an effort to make up for her perceived shortcomings and insecurities, but ended up coming across as preachy and insufferable to those around her.

aspyns-httyd-thingies

there's a ruffnut on one shoulder and a tuffnut on the other and they tell me what to do

timetravalor

his incredible cuteness

girlactionfigure

Happy 4th of July

There’s a strange kind of certainty in the way some people talk about America - as if it’s not just flawed, but uniquely immoral. As if everything outside it is either equivalent or somehow better.

That confidence usually comes from one thing: not knowing how most of the world actually works.

Because step outside the Western bubble and the baseline changes fast.

In Iran, dissent is not a lifestyle choice - it’s a risk. Public executions, including hangings, have been used as punishment. Speech, dress, and behavior are regulated. Even something as mundane as pet ownership has faced restrictions, with authorities periodically cracking down on dog walking as “un-Islamic”. You don’t test the limits of the system there - you live within them.

In Gaza Strip under Hamas, there is no functioning liberal democracy. Opposition is violently suppressed. Reports from human rights groups have documented beatings and intimidation of political rivals, journalists and even citizens suspected of different "crimes". This is not a society where you organize a protest against the authorities and expect to go home afterward.

In Qatar, wealth and modern infrastructure sit alongside tight political control. There is no meaningful electoral system, and speech is limited. Religious minorities can exist, but within clear boundaries. Migrant labor - forming the majority of the workforce - has long been criticized for conditions that many would not tolerate for a moment in the West.

In Nigeria and Sudan, Christian communities have faced lethal violence from extremist groups. Churches attacked, villages burned, civilians targeted for their identity.

In China, the state has built a system of mass detention and surveillance in regions like Xinjiang - what many governments and organizations have described as internment or concentration camps targeting Uyghur Muslims.

In North Korea, the concept of free speech simply does not exist. The state controls information, movement, and thought to a degree that is difficult to grasp from the outside.

In Yemen, child marriage still occurs, sometimes at shockingly young ages, reflecting deeply entrenched social norms and the absence of enforceable protections.

Across multiple countries, including Iran, same-sex relationships can carry severe penalties, up to and including execution under certain legal frameworks.

And then there’s the broader point that often gets ignored entirely:

most of the world does not live in a liberal democracy at all. According to global indices, a majority of people live under systems that are authoritarian, hybrid, or only partially free. The idea that open dissent, free elections, and protected speech are the norm is simply wrong.

That doesn’t make America perfect. It has real problems - historical injustices, inequality, polarization. But the ability to argue about those problems, publicly and aggressively, without fear of state punishment - that is not trivial. That is the difference.

The same goes for Israel, which is often singled out in global discourse as uniquely illegitimate or oppressive. Yet it operates as a pluralistic democracy with elections, a free press, and an independent judiciary - features that are rare in its region. You don’t have to agree with every policy to recognize the structural distinction.

The deeper issue is not criticism. Criticism is necessary. It’s the absence of comparison. When every flaw in a free society is magnified, while systemic repression elsewhere is minimized, ignored, or excused, something has gone wrong in the analysis.

And here’s the part that people in the West struggle to grasp.

You’ll notice something about many of the countries above: you don’t hear constant waves of public outrage from within them. You don’t see mass open criticism of the regime on social media. You don’t see daily viral posts attacking leadership the way you do in America.

That’s not because people there have nothing to complain about.

It’s because they can’t complain.

In Iran, you don’t casually criticize the system - you calculate the risk. In Gaza Strip, opposition is not a protected activity. In China, speech is filtered before it ever becomes public. In North Korea, the idea of criticizing leadership isn’t just dangerous - it’s inconceivable.

So when someone says, “You don’t see people there complaining like in the West,” they’re accidentally proving the opposite of what they think.

Silence is not evidence of justice.

Silence is evidence of constraint.

There’s an old Soviet joke that captures this perfectly. Someone replies to how are they doing with, “we can't complain.” Another replies, “Really? Everything is that good?” And the answer comes: “No, no, but we can’t complain.”

It sounds absurd - until you realize how much of the world still operates that way.

The fact that people in America can loudly, aggressively, even unfairly criticize their own country is not a sign of collapse. It’s a sign of capacity. It’s the system allowing itself to be challenged without crushing the challenger.

The noise is not the problem.

The noise is the privilege.

The real question is whether people understand that before they start praising the silence elsewhere.

@destinationXIX