Fuckful Friday: Fuckwad
Fresh fucking yikes
Extra Fucks to Give
50 Fucks Given #25 was a trifecta of Fuckhead, Fucknuts, and Fuckwad. I never made a graphic for fuckwad because nothing stood out. Don’t have that problem, anymore.
The original post aged well:
Defined
obnoxious, stupid, contemptible, unbearable
In a sentence
Oh, no, fuckwad incoming.
He’s a dirty, rotten fuckwad. It was a dirty mess of an election season. We’ve done this before. Yes, growing fascism, globally. Yada-yada, ad nauseum.
I’ve dabbled in probability forecasting since 2018, learning to weigh data and predict what is most likely to happen within a closed answer question. For example, take the question:
Will Donald Trump be reelected as president of the US in 2024?
This question started on the Good Judgment Open political forecasting challenge in April 2023. In January 2024, I gave Don a 40% chance of reelection.
By the end of July, I raised his probability to 75% and decided not to make another forecast until right before the election.
On November 2nd at 9:54am, I accepted that Trump was absolutely going to be reelected and made my final forecast.
What’s interested, is that of the 1,492 people who made at least one forecast, the total group only gave Trump a 38.77% probability of being reelected. I gave him 100% before the election and justified my reasoning simply—the Harris campaign completely blew it, which they did.
How did so many forecasters, and voters, get it so wrong?
Because hope will fuck up your head when situations become dire. The first step is admitting there’s a problem. USAmericans are very bad at this. We’ve been taught that clinging to hope will somehow help us politically, and wow, is that a bunch of bullshit.
And honestly, do you care about political forecasting? Probably not. But I do, and it’s made me way better at adjusting my expectations towards reality, and not some hopeful delusion of a better world miraculously appearing out of thin air. I don’t have the privilege of hope right now, in any capacity.
It is good to see people who have been very quiet, or silent, now speak up about the genocide. That’s something. I mean that, for real. I’m not falling for the fatalism propaganda, because it’s not what I’m seeing, not by a long shot.
Fact is, a lot folks will only find their voice when something threatens them directly. How will this impact meeeeeee—that’s the American way.
That doesn’t give me a hope, but it’s a step in the growth direction, of realizing dangers are how to see them coming. It’s never too late to start growing again. Don’t fall for the fatalism or the shaming. Understand where you’re vulnerable in the system and work to protect yourself and others.
If you want to build solidarity and grow alliances, you have to meet people where they are, not where you want them to be. Activism and political advocacy isn’t magical, or even exciting most of the time. It’s long hours of consistent work, fueled by an inner belief that conditions can change, and that our life, and the lives of others, can get better, still.
If we embrace fatalism and say, “Oh, well,” and lay down for train, then why bother at all?
Why don’t we all jump off a bridge together right now?
Why delay??
Growth is the opposite of fatalism.
Growth is stepping out of the shadows some call fate, and into the unexamined future—one that will 100% involve fascism. Let’s be honest at this point. Realism is saying, “Okay, lots of fascism going on here,” while avoiding the fatalism of buying into, “Thank you, sir, may I have another?”
When society decides to lean into abuse, to take it and roll the game of deadly consequences for millions at a time, there’s no time for fatalism. Not when this many people are losing their homes, livelihoods, and lives; abroad and right here at home.
Each life—a universe, remember?
There are a minority of people blaming Arabs, Jews, and really, any 3rd party voter that refused to support genocide candidates. It’s a throw everything at the wall and see what sticks reaction. No self-reflection, or party reflection, no dignity, no shame; only projection, because it’s the easiest thing to do when thinking is hard. Yes, these people exist, but they are few.
As for the rest of us, what a sad bunch we are, and rightfully so. There’s a lot of work to do and that should be our focus now. There’s very little time before the world shifts again, and again, and again.
If you don’t have any fucks left after the election, try giving a fuck out of spite.
I'm with you very much on this, Laura. What you say makes good sense to me. The blame game is on but yes, ultimately to give up is exactly what the forces of greed and power want us to do. Let's keep fighting the good fight. In 4 years time it could all be so different. Probably not, but that's not the point. And many thanks for following me. I've followed you back because we have a lot in common on this fundamental attitude.