#class struggles

[investmentofmyheart]

Bridgerton 4 part 2 trailer has me going feral. I’m still pissed they won’t just drop one or two episodes weekly or do it all at once but. This might end up my favorite season of this shit by far, oh my god-

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

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𝔐𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔶 ℑ𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔵 - 𝔊𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔞𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔞

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

the lubitsch touch

[hmaitla]

Homeworld’s hatred for fusions

So Hessonite made me realise something today.

For a long time my understanding of different-gem fusions was that the reason they’re so despised is because they’re a way for weak gems to become stronger in a way that upsets Homeworld’s social hierarchy and threatens higher up gems like the Diamonds or the Quartzes. These gems rule because they are powerful, because they are strong. A caste-based kratocracy. Weak gems fusing creates social mobility and gives the lower castes more power, threatening the higher up gems. So those higher up gems create a culture that regards fusing with disgust. This discourages fusion and protects their positions in the hierarchy. Same-gem fusions are more acceptable because they don’t threaten this hierarchy - six Rubies fusing just creates a bigger Ruby. The Hexa-Ruby might be stronger, but it remains on the Ruby caste rung in the ladder.

Now, I’d assumed different-gem fusions differed from this in two key ways: firstly, the gems created through different-gem fusions were much more powerful than those created through same-gem fusions. Sardonyx and Sugilite were some of the most powerful gems we’d ever seen on the show that weren’t Diamonds (don’t even get me started on Malachite). Secondly, I’d assumed that each gem created from different-gem fusions was utterly unique.That each one was different because the gems that make them up and their relationships to each other were unique. There was only one Sardonyx, only one Sugilite, etc.

I’d assumed that the higher up gems hated these fusions because these new gems were not only powerful, but existed outside the social hierarchy. Different-gem fusions were not useful to the Diamond Authority, they didn’t have a role or purpose that allowed the Diamonds to benefit from their existence the way they benefit from other gems. So fusion was not only a way for weak gems to become more powerful - it was of zero value to the Diamonds. Hence the amount of scorn and derision heaped on different-fusing gems.

Hessonite disproves this. Hessonite is a non-fusion Garnet. When Ruby and Sapphire fuse to form Garnet, they aren’t creating an entirely new gem, they’re creating a gem that’s higher up the kratocracy ladder. A more powerful gem, but one that already exists inside the Diamond Authority.

This is interesting because it raises other questions. Are there other Sardonyxes? Sugilities? Malachites? I assume there aren’t any Stevonnies running around but you get my point. Some, if not most different-gem fusions could be creating gems further up the hierarchy than the sum of their parts.

These gems could still have value to the Diamond Authority, but this revelation also means Diamonds could have another, far worse reason to fear them:

Fusion could create new Diamonds.

Think about it. Get enough different-gems together, or just the right different-gems together, and there’d be a new Diamond. This would be a major concern for the current Diamonds. All of their power is based around being the Diamonds in the Diamond Authority. Their role in the kratocracy comes from an almost divine right to rule - a level of power so far above everyone else they MUST be the intended rulers of gemkind. If weaker gems can become Diamonds it upsets the whole kratocracy. Dogs and Cats getting along. Rain falling upwards.

Or worse - different-gem fusions creating something ABOVE the Diamonds.

So yeah. Just something I was thinking about.

[gwuscrc]

Radical America #11.06: American Leninism in the 1970's

Radical America was a left wing political magazine in the United States established in 1967. The magazine was founded by Paul Buhle and Mari Jo Buhle, activists in Students for a Democratic Society and served during its first few years of existence as an unofficial theoretical journal of that organization. 

During the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine changed to take on more of an academic Marxist flavor. With contributions from academics dwindling during the decade of the 1990s, the magazine was terminated in 1999.

Our colleagues at Brown University Library have digitized versions of Radical America online.  

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

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Misery Index - The Weakener

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

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Misery Index - Theocracy

[esperanzapretila]

What if the person you’re forced to marry is nothing like the one who truly fascinates you? Wealth and Privilege unravels this dilemma—read on to discover where Thomas Baldwin’s heart truly lies.

Book Review: "Wealth and Privilege" by Jeanette Watts