#class awareness

[miiju86]

let that sink in....

[free-luigi]

We knew censorship was coming

I hope this blog doesn’t get shut down.

[mistprints]

[unapologeticmelancholy]

Some humor amidst this delightful paradigm shift and en-masse class awareness awakening!

Of course, it's not about left versus right. It's about up versus down. We know that. This joke is just too funny not to share.

Okay, back to business: Do. Not. Let. This. Flame. Die. Keep fanning it. Keep up the conversations with friends and family. Keep up the boycotting. Keep calling them out!

Picture credit: unknown. Please let me know if you know the original author!

[intooned]

This is Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer,

who implemented the would-be mandatory vaccines that led to tens of thousands of people with no pre-existing conditions, including children and elderly, getting life-changing "vax injuries" such as chronic blood clots, various heart complications, and ferrous graphine oxide, which is toxic, found in the blood of the afflicted. Most of which still haven't fully recovered to this day. ANYWAY, HERE'S A BUNCH OF RANDOM PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HIM!

[rottingviera]

From ‘I Could Be So Good For You: A Portrait of the North London Working Class’ 📚

[helloamhere]

Can I ask more then? :D You've mentioned the class difference between them. Can we focus on that? Because my family has always been ok, never above the "ok" level but sometimes below it. I find myself holding (unintentional) resentment towards my peers who could afford things and opportunities I could only dream about. This weird "it's just not fair" feeling. Does Louis have the same problem? Does he get irritated by Harry's habits and he can even put into words why? How is he dealing with it?

Yasss you can of course, another fantastic Etched in Salt question I’ve been intrigued to answer~! I totally get this. I think that a lot of us feel this way–particularly in a world with increasing income disparity. The older I get, the more I realize just how intense the trajectories can be. I do not think it’s weird to feel that, truly. I think it’s a painful reality in this world and that acknowledging our loss is a valid thing. But it can be intense! And important to give love to ourselves for where we’ve come from and the gifts even hard things give us.

I think a lot about class and income differences. I have been “very not ok” at certain times, and it has left an indelible mark on me, like scar tissue. It’s in almost everything that I write, even if the characters are wealthy I am conscious of their wealth and conscious of how they move in a world full of complexity. So in Etched in Salt, I strongly think there is a class tension there and that Louis is conscious of it. However, Harry has been driven to join the Division and work with people who are in real need, and I think that creates a deep bond between them that is bigger than their childhood backgrounds. 

I didn’t get the chance to fully explore Harry’s backstory, and that’s something I would be interested in diving more into if I ever did finish this sequel. I think that Harry has some obvious privilege issues, but he also is kind of a showboat. In fact, he is not nearly so concerned with his own comfort or self-indulgence as he pretends. I think that Harry is actually deeply emotionally sensitive, like Louis, and that he is an empath in his own way. They both care down to the bone about the people that they are trying to save. In the second chapter of Etched in Salt Harry says this, which i think is very revealing: 

“Well, not that,” he says. “I’m here because I think that my powers mean something, just as much as yours do. It’s not some accident I take advantage of. It’s a choice. And the experience, the hedonism, I dunno. I’m honestly not trying to fight about it. It’s just how I cope with it all,” Harry says. “The crimes. The near crimes. The people with all their awful stories. Watching you have to go through what you have to go through. The division is…well, you know. I don’t know what it’s like for you but even for those of us who aren’t—even for the rest of us it’s hard. I like to experience as much, as many good things as I can.”

So Harry is good at seeing the good in the world, you know? He’s wants pleasure in a way that Louis doesn’t let himself. I imagine that in their relationship, Harry is good for Louis because Louis needs more of that indulgence. And Louis is good for Harry because he grounds Harry in the real world experience and humility that Harry needs more of. I DO think Louis gets irritated when Harry doesn’t understand growing up poor. I think it bothers Louis that Harry by default expects to get the things that he wants. I think it bothers Louis particularly because Louis does not often voice his own desires, or know how to reach out for them. However, I think a truly lovely thing about their relationship is that Harry is just as interested in Louis getting what he wants, as in getting his own things. This is a way that they work together. So all of the surface things that Harry is sometimes oblivious about (the anxieties that Louis will carry with him from not having enough, or the sharp way that Louis is tuned into the needs of their victims faster than Harry is), they are compensated for because Harry pays so much attention to Louis, and has an equally big heart. 

[free-luigi]