#its literally THE french revolution event

[black-lake]

astro observations 9

hey folks, I found new stuff to talk about. this is more of an outer planets and generations obs 🚀

——

✮⌁ when uranus conjunct pluto happened during 1964, we saw a lot of rebellious music, fashion and other forms of expression, the beatles, bowie's debut album, twiggy, bob dylan.. etc. It was an important decade for many changes and revolutions. It's why so many people are still influenced by the art, music and appeal of that era. Even though it was a relatively short period, the intense need for freedom was loudly expressed that decade. I think with pluto in aquarius we may see similar events, but on a larger scale and with a far more lasting impact. 

✮⌁ neptune will move into aries in 2025, and boy when I tell you I can't wait, I terribly mean it. I think neptune in pisces wasn’t doing it for me, I had creative expectations for it but it was all about spirituality and faith practices on the internet and an unhealthy addiction to it. this was right after neptune in aquarius which we all know made the internet an addiction in itself. 

✮⌁ It had its positive impact, being open-minded about different beliefs, exploring our intuition and faith and other abstract topics. but we've already seen the negative impact. It's mainly the spirituality addiction on the internet that has became almost inescapable, replacing reality, practices performed and consumed by really young individuals which could distort their view on the world at an older age. living in an illusion and assumption of everything and everyone, believing everything you hear blindly, because of your or someone else's false sense of intuition will make the world more closed-off and less likely to evolve. it can create a reversed effect, inducing fear of real life interactions, closed-mindedness and seclusion.

✮⌁ with neptune in aries, we will come out of our shells and live in the real world, we will explore the world with a new set of eyes and a fresh sense of passion and childlike wonder. We're less likely to listen to our fears and other people's assumptions and bs. It's a new astrological cycle. Our collective hopes, dreams, fantasies and passions are reborn. Now especially when uranus moves into gemini, the same year, people will be more encouraged to become social and intimate, more fun talks and activities, I hope 🥹 this will also help fuel the inventive ideas pluto in aquarius brings with it.

✮⌁ y'all there's more to astrology than just money, success and fame. you can explore the world with that tool, thousands of things to talk about. there're topics that aren't given as much attention here. if you have something interesting and new you posted or you wanna talk about and are shy plssss just share it in the comments I'm all for ittt I wanna see it. 

✮⌁ last time pluto was in aquarius 1778-1798, there was an industrial revolution going on, the peak of "the age of enlightenment", the french revolution, and many other political revolutions. the battery, hot-air balloon and parachute were some of the things invented. uranus was discovered in 1781. fun fact, the airplane was invented when pluto was retrograde in gemini in 1903, which makes sense since it rules over flying and air travel, also uranus was in sagittarius which rules travel as well, so interestingly enough there was a uranus-pluto opposition.

✮⌁ when uranus moves into gemini (ruling air travel) and with pluto being in aquarius, we literally may see spaceship inventions or spacecrafts and rockets that will launch to space. we may even be able to travel to a certain planet or at least find something new about it. we may find creatures or living things in space. air travel may look different, hydrogen-powered planes, cleaner and eco-friendly energy sources. at the very least we may hear of new scientists, and keep up with them.

✮⌁ any outer planet in libra, is a timeline I'd like to skip if I ever lived in, which I won't thankfully. It's by far the least sign that has potential to bring evolution and advancement to a generation, excluding aspects, it just ain’t doing much. Idk what it is, but maybe people are less likely to do anything considered immoral or unaccepted, they're more likely to do things like pleasing the generation's expectations and opinions. It brings a sense of connectivity, an understanding of comprise to connect and relate to our environment, and a focus on relationship matters, which of course is a building brick to bigger changes like all the transits are. but for me, not an exciting time, ig it's why I'm born in neptune and uranus in aquarius gen 💀

✮⌁ many of us have parents that have uranus or pluto in libra, and tbf, they likely were closed minded, people pleasing or even racist at times. but our pluto sag ass knew how to deal with it. how many of y'all gen z's gave your mommy a lecture on lgbt+ rights and the people with other cultures and backgrounds? 🖐🏼 also butting heads over someone wearing something on the streets, I'm like "THEY CAN DO whatever they want, let them live" 

✮⌁ speaking of pluto in sagittarius, I'm a little underwhelmed. dgmw we made so many changes and paved the way for future generations, but moreso, perspective wise. I didn't see many tangible changes from this gen compared to pluto in scorpio, which was wild in terms of sexual expression, experiments, conspiracies, institutional corruption, societal and medical change. pluto in sag was kinda mild, we allowed everyone's voice to be heard, explored other cultures and lifestyles, probably have friends from all around the world, we're willing to learn and are open to all sources of knowledge, we're truth tellers and we won't shut up. I guess our mission was too easy for us.

✮⌁ pluto in sag gen probably have challenging experiences relating to higher education, college years may have been dark and even traumatic for many esp if you also have it conjunct chiron 🏴‍☠️ even our sense of belief in ourselves and optimism is wounded, we put on a happy front because we see a better future for the world at large, but not for us, like we're some type of teachers or gurus raising a child.

✮⌁ if you have pluto conjunct chiron, you may feel dismissed or misplaced. things can hurt deeply with this. this also may indicate some family karma that needs to be resolved. your ancestors may have done shady stuff that cost them a lot. you are here to change that and find the light that future generations will thank you for. you got the resources to do so since conjunction is the most beneficial of all. you got a lot of healing and transformative powers. since it's in sag, it may be about clearing up nasty beliefs and perceptions of people and the world, even harmful actions and disrespect towards different individuals. you're the truth-seeker that refuses to take on outdated traditions and beliefs.

✮⌁ pluto in capricorn gen understand the value of monetary resources because they experienced a restriction of it at some point in their lives. there's this feeling of restriction coming from societal rules or memories of such repressive time, which they may feel the need to go against and prove themselves by working and gaining more power. they know how to survive in times of chaos and make the most out of what they have. they may have goals of creating some type of legacy for themselves and future generations. also maybe capricorn ruling the skeletal system is why caps give the 💀🩻🪦🏴‍☠️ impression, sry I keep making jokes about y'all, but ya dgaf 🫶🏼

#pluto in aquarius #astrology #astro observations #astrology aspects #astrology signs #pluto in the signs #pluto in sagittarius #pluto aspects #pluto transits #neptune in pisces #neptune in aries #uranus in taurus #uranus in gemini #pluto in libra #pluto conjunct chiron #pluto in capricorn #uranus #neptune #uranus aspects #uranus opposite pluto #pisces #aquarius #aries #sagittarius #neptune in aquarius #pluto in scorpio

[fortuna-et-cataclysmos]

Ms. Sans-Culotte and the obvious French Revolution symbolism

This episode is a field day for me, so I'll need to analyse it bit by bit. Let's first start with the obvious and less obvious French Revolution references in this episode. This will be especially obvious for French viewers, but I thought that it may be interesting for others.

Sans-culotte

I know that the term sounds funny to most, but sans-culottes are a key figure in the French history. Those were the commoners who revolted to the King and aristocracy, and undertook the French Revolution of 1789. As Mademoiselle Bustier explains in the beginning of the episode, the sans-culottes were called so because:

Contrary to rich aristocrats, they would wear simple pants.

So when Mlle. Bustier is akumatised, we see the following character design:

THE PANTS. Very obviously the pants. But there are more obvious symbols in this character design.

Marianne

Marianne is the national personification of the French Republic. She is very much synonymous with the free and republican spirit of France. Yes, that's also the name of Master Fu's girlfriend, and for good reason (she was a Résistance fighter during the German occupation of France!).

By the way this exact painting is in the background in the few seconds after Mlle. Bustier is akumatised:

Marianne is usually depicted with the following symbols:

the Phrygian cap

Greco-Roman clothes

Partial nudity

We see these signs in Mlle. Sans Culotte's character design.

Mlle. Sans Culotte's helmet has the unique shape of the Phrygian cap.

2. Mlle. Sans Culotte is dressed in a Greco-Roman armour. The usual depiction of Marianne is in flowy Greco-Roman clothes, but the helmet and armour really add to that fighter spirit of Mlle. Sans Culotte. Also, even though rarer, there are some depictions of Marianne with a Greco-Roman armour.

3. Partial nudity. Obviously they couldn't actually show that on a kids show. However, I think that the character design does hint to a type of nudity. The fact that the white of the French flag covers all of Mlle. Bustier's face and body make it seem like it is not actually her clothes but her skin. And other than the golden armour she wears, she has no other clothes on her.

The Guillotine

Mlle. Sans Culotte's weapon of choice is a freaking guillotine knife. This was a device used by the French revolutionaries to behead their opponents. To this day, it is associated with the violence of the French revolution.

Now to more implicit references:

Ça ira

When Mlle. Sans Culotte hits people, they turn into balloons that chant:

Ça ira, ça ira, ça ira!

Which is a song sang by the sans-culottes during the French Revolution (thanks to @2manyfandoms2count for helping out with this one!)

Other quotes and remarks

There are various quotes throughout the episode with a revolutionary lexicon.

Monarch: The power of Jubilation will help you show the people their dream of freedom, and as such gain partisans/supporters to your cause.

Monarch: To arms, citizens! Form batallions!

This one is especially striking for me, because it is very explicit call to violence (frequently used in French revolutionary history too).

Mlle. Sans Culotte: No one stops the revolution. Long live the revolution!

She quite literally says Vive la révolution. Seriously, it doesn't get any more obvious than that.

She literally runs head-first into a group of policemen, paralleling the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. And literally afterwards Chat Noir mentions this same event:

Chat Noir: It is not the 14th of July, my Lady. Do you think that this akuma victim wants to celebrate the Bastille Day early?

And later on:

Mlle. Sans Culotte: Ladybug, Chat Noir! Help the sans-culottes (plural!) to liberate Paris from its aristocratic Mayor!

Ladybug: Terror is not the solution!

Chat Noir: To get your voice heard there are the elections!

Ok, the word "terror" here is important. I had previously mentioned in my post on Felix's anarchist revolution that the French Revolution was followed by a period of violence where all those against the revolution were murdered. The name of the period is literally the Reign of Terror. We see that Ladybug's words is a reference to that.

Ladybug: (after receiving her lucky charm) Revolution, sans-culotte, and the Mayor of Paris who acts like the King?

The parallel is there. They're not even trying to be subtle. This is the retelling of the French Revolution.

Except that it doesn't turn out like the French Revolution. In the end, Mr. Bourgeois willingly steps down, Mlle. Sans Culotte rejects Monarch's powers (as in, she drops her weapons), so there is no revolution and no bloody reign of terror.

But still, the power dynamics end up shifting tremendously in the Miraculous Paris. How and why? I'll make a post specifically analysing this. Stay tuned for part two!

(Also, I have likely forgotten or omitted some other symbols, feel free to add them to the comments - if there are enough, I can make an addition to the post :))

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #ml season 5 #ml collusion #from fortuna #ml analysis

[my-deer-friend]

Jeanne du Barry: A review

I watched it, so you don’t have to!

There was a preview screening of Jeanne du Barry that coincided with a presentation on 18th century fashion and hygiene, so I figured that would make for a pleasant Sunday. The lecture by Marta Veil was splendid.

The movie was… not.

I wasn't expecting greatness, really, but I also wasn't expecting it to fail in quite so many ways. Shall we count them?

First, it falls flat as a piece of cinema. The ponderous shots just scream second-year-film-student-auteur. The narration, usually a gimmick, is critical because the directorial vision seems to have been “tell, don’t show”. It’s all glamour with no heart, a faux-profound fashion parade that fails to let its consequential story beats resonate on any emotional or narrative level. Despite being told about the constant danger than Jeanne is in, we never feel it. Despite witnessing her tragedies, we don't empathise.

The lead actor-director gives du Barry none of the wit, charm or depth you would expect of the subject of a biography, and most characters are either outrageous caricatures (the evil, Alice in Wonderlandian step-daughters, complete with heart-shaped perms) or have the nuance and magnetism of an untoasted slice of white bread (the Dauphin, a key side character, shows not a single discernible character trait besides “aloof”).

Second, it fails as a biography. Maïwenn, the woman responsible for this mess, has apparently been trying to bring this story to life for over a decade - and then manages to give us nothing more than the blow-for-blow you can get from the du Barry Wikipedia article - dryness and all.

(It’s also exceedingly clear that Maïwenn got more than a little 'inspired’ by Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, and ironically - given their historical rivalry and the way Coppola's Antoinette was lifted wholesale from her film - the Dauphine outshines du Barry completely here.)

Despite being a biography, the movie devotes very little attention to Jeanne’s coming of age - and almost no time (literally, a 30-second narration) to the 12+ years of her life after Louis’ death, which include such dramatic things as her being betrayed by her servants, tried and executed in the wake of the French Revolution. Very little of her internal world is explored - so we don’t really understand what drives her, and even when she expresses her goals it comes across as insincere.

The bulk of the movie focuses on Jeanne’s time as Louis XV’s lover. That’s understandable, I guess - people want the sexy, sparkly intrigues, not the convent drudgery - but the movie doesn’t do any work to embrace the politics and scandal surrounding her on more than the meanest surface level. I mean - "this is Versailles!" (A line that’s cribbed verbatim from Coppola.) Where are the machinations, the manoeuvres? The only meaningful drama we get is domestic. Louis’ daughters don’t like his mistress. They’re mean to her. And… that’s it.

Most egregiously, the movie makes the unrecoverable error of losing grasp of its own point of view. We ostensibly follow Jeanne for most of the movie, in what is made out to be a limited first-person perspective. But when she’s banished from Versailles, we get to witness the unfolding events without her. After all, the death of Louis XV is surely more interesting than some woman bundled off to a convent (wait— who is this movie about…?) and so we stay with him - and miss the opportunity to follow Jeanne and empathise with her isolation, fear and grief.

If the goal of the movie was to humanise and rehabilitate du Barry, then maybe she shouldn’t have been made so vapid, boring and lacking in agency that her own biography lost interest in her.

Third, it fails as a historical piece. Not entirely - some of the men’s fashions are sumptuous and on point, Marie Antoinette is chef’s-kiss, and Versailles looks splendid on screen - but that makes the rest worse, somehow.

Again, we get Coppola plagiarism, in the form of Louis’ morning dressing routine (with the same comical play on the endless steps and bored attendants), as well as in many of du Barry’s fish-out-of-water moments.

But the movie forgets its own rules and context. For example, we’re told that “no one except the Dauphin is allowed to turn their back on the king” - a rule that’s respected until about midway in the movie, at which point, its plot purpose exhaused, it's forgotten entirely. Jeanne is also surprisingly enlightened about racial equality, showcased in painful scenes with Zamor, her black… servant? slave? Although it’s not really clarified on screen, the former is heavily implied, which would be gross revisionism.

Even Louis is treated with a strange sort of familiarity, left to mill around with his guests in the hall of mirrors or stroll the gardens with his hair undone.

As for the clothing… I can’t bear to deep-dive into the entirety of the mess, but here are a few examples of just how lazy the styling is.

Now, when he’s done up in his finery, Louis XV actually looks grand - and even (what a rarity) has very decent period men’s make-up. But then it’s clowns all the way down. Take this shot.

Just behind him is his daughter, sporting a top-of-the-pops 1980s crimped blowout, and beside her is the Dauphin of France - though you could be mistaken for thinking he’s some fella getting to pose for a romance novel cover in the world's most ill-fitting suit. (I don’t recall this man tying his hair up one single time for the duration of the movie.)

Some of the critique is a little nitpicky, yes - for example, du Barry wears this outfit to be formally presented to the king:

The big hair and ostrich feathers are a decade too early (stop trying to be Marie Antoinette: The Unauthorised Prequel already), the makeup is mid 2000s, and the necklace... the less said about it, the better. But at least an attempt was made!

But this?

And this???

0.5 out of 5 stars. It would have been zero on account of all the plagiarism, but a half-star is given for the cameo of Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun.

#jeanne du barry #jeanne du barry movie #18th century history #18th century fashion #but only just barely

[the-crow-binary]

Im quite curious about your opinion on the portrayal of the french revolution; I know it was a super complicated political moment with multiple fronts from the commoners wanting better life conditions, the bourgeoisie wanting to get the nobility out of the way (which it's part as to why it cant be directly translated into 21'st century american capitalism analogy 🙄), how multiple nobles supported the revolution for moral values despite going against their families interests (bc social class influences but doesnt instantly determines your morals) and that many revolutionary groups supported the independence of Haití (heck, many members of my countries independence participated and almost got beheaded in the resulting mess. And ad hundred and something years later France would try to invade us lol). What im trying to say behind my ramble here (sorry for that lol) its that im sure nfcv made it a slavery bad black ppl vs white ppl american dilemma without getting into the complexity of it and i say this as a foreigner with basic history knowledge, so i do wanna see your take on it

Which portrayal of the French Revolution? 🙃

I swear this very important Historical event that affected not just France but all of continental Europe and is considered as one of the world's biggest events was just used as background for the characters to fight and be racist. The characters keep throwing around the word "revolution" from all sides, but we don't see shit. Maria gives context in the first episode (there's a revolution, they overthrown the monarchy and declared a republic, they arrested the king...), talking to a group of revolutionaries, and from then on the story could've literally taken place in an imaginary country with imaginary politics it would've been the same.

Oh, what am I saying, there IS one thing. Our motto. 🙃"Liberty, equality, fraternity" 🙃 Yeah it has been thrown here and there... Except that it wasn't our official motto yet. We had the notion of liberty and equality, sometimes fraternity, and it was in the middle of other words such as "friendship", "sincerity", "charity" and "union". There is some people and even some books who used this motto but it was abandoned then taken back later... Just this is a mess lmao but the point is. I cringed everytime the characters screamed "Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!". And while we're on the subject, Richter, at some point, meets three girls during a festival (I suspect one of the girls to be Marianne, who wasn't a real person but the symbol of Liberty) talking about dressing up as Liberty and Equality and Fraternity. And Richter, thinking he is so smart, say that you need to be a man to dress up as Fraternity, because it means "brotherhood" (and the girls go "sisternity then" and don't correct him). Oh, and the writers clearly thought it was very clever too, since later on Annette's teacher (and even the Messiah I think??) will ALSO talk about the motto, saying "liberty, equality, brotherhood". IT DOESN'T MEAN "BROTHERHOOD". I MEAN IT CAN. BUT IN THIS CASE IT MEANS "FRATERNITY". IT'S A TERM TO TALK ABOUT A BOND EXISTING BETWEEN PEOPLE CONSIDERED AS MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. AKA IT CONCERNS EVERYONE. YOU ARE NOT CLEVER, AMERICAN WRITERS.

Also I thought a fucking festival at a time like that where people dress up at the concepts of our not-exactly-official-motto-yet was stupid, and it is. There was no such festival, however, we did have the "cult of the reason". To put it simply: it was a serie of events and civic holidays wich were organized by a group of atheists. In it there WAS an event called "Fete of the Reason"... Where one ACTOR dressed up as Liberty. It was NOT multiple people representing liberty, equality or fraternity.

The fun fact is, the French Revolution was a pretty good occasion for NFCV to promote it's CHURCH BAD mentality. We were taking away the church's power, more people became atheists, anti-christian vandalism and blasphemy was actually encouraged, it was a mess. Paris even ordered to shut down churches at some point, wich did not happen in the end. So yeah, this precise moment, right before the Vendée War, was perfect for the church-haters those writers are. And it ended up just being as bad as the original show, without any nuance... Ok there might be a little bit of nuance because of Mizrak, a guy who served the church and in the end actually team up with Richter and the gang, and it looks like he's there to stay. Emmanuel (the abbott) tries to be complex, but in the end, he is still a God-obsessed man that makes terrible decisions and is not a good representation for the church. So okay, it might be a BIT better than the original show thanks to Mizrak, but it's not saying much.

Another thing. Only the main characters are shown to have a dislike for the church. We don't see ANY of the french people doing anything against the church (but we do hear the church complaining about the revolutionaries, tell don't show y'know), not even talk about it. It's mostly jokes about how haha priests are sexual predators/they can't keep it in their pants (with the occasional "it exploits the people and take their money" line, and by occasionnal I mean once). There IS a few shades thrown at God here and there, honestly I didn't bother remembering the exact lines because they are so cliché and really not that deep. I think Maria is the one complaining the most.

What angers me the most is the lack of ANY ACTION FROM THE FRENCH PEOPLE. It's like nothing is actually happening except vampire killing people and vampire hunting (wich begs the question: WHY bother making it happen during the FRENCH REVOLUTION?). Nocturne literally made the french people the side (oh what am I saying, the BACKGROUND) characters in their OWN REVOLUTION. AND ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS. WHAT THE FUCK. Maria is supposed to be a revolutionary leader but she doesn't lead anyone. We never see anyone do anything outside of the main characters. The french are literal planks, except from those three girls from the festival and villains, they don't even have a voice. At some point the vampire Messiah arrives in town, in plain view, and people are like "OUR SAVIOR IS HERE! OUR DELIVERER!" and I thought the people shouting were vampires, but no, there is humans TOO. ALL TOGETHER. And you have no idea how much I hate that they basically portray the french people as not doing shit and needing someone else to save them 🙃 To do things for them 🙃 And also. That that someone else is not even french themself. 🙃 Even without the Messiah... the revolutionaries we saw were led by Richter (romanian/american/british idk at this point), Annette (Haitian, even if Saint-Domingue was owned by France at the time), Tera (Russian) and, of course, Maria, who's both Russian and French, at least. Those four were doing most of the work while the french people were in their houses cooking baguettes, I guess. And by "work" I mean fighting vampires and night creatures, there was nothing done about the Revolution. Almost like there is NO REASON TO MAKE A CV SHOW ABOUT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Oh and I just HAVE to talk to you about Saint-Domingue, and the BLACK PEOPLE ARE OPPRESSED theme going on with Annette. And that's when I'll have to take out this magnificent dialogue again:

"Even these french with their high ideas, what do they know about we've suffered? And what do they care? They're building new world, but it won't be freedom, or equality or brotherhood for US"

This is said by Annette's teacher. Worth to note that before that, in episode 3, she also shat on the French revolution and our motto. Basically, the show portray the French Revolution as being one thing and the slaves in Saint-Domingue having their own other revolution. And not just that, it implies that the French did not care about slaves, and that they do not know what suffering is (yeah, people just start revolutions because they feel like it y'know 🙃). And the anti-white dialogues are portrayed as normal and are even applauded, btw. And it is BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLSHIT. MY FUCKING GOD. OH THIS SHOW MAKE ME SO ANGRY.

First off: Only the colonies were pro-slavery. The french pretty much weren't. A "Society of friends of black people" was even created in France in 1788 to fight for the abolition of slavery. People fought for black people's rights during the French Revolution. Books written by black people to join the fight came out. The French Revolution scared the colonies who were very against losing their slaves and it led to Haiti's own revolution (slaves rebelling, killing their owners, burning the plantations... Nocturne at least got that part right). So both revolutions are very closely linked and the slaves might not have rebelled at this point if it wasn't for the French Revolution threatening Saint-Domingue's economics and creating social upheavals.

And what does those shitty american writers remember? BLACK PEOPLE OPPRESSED. BLACK PEOPLE SUFFERED SO MUCH MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE. LOOK AT THESE POOR BLACK PEOPLE. WHITE PEOPLE ARE SO POWERFUL. THE FRENCH ARE UNGRATEFUL ACTUALLY. BLACK CHARACTER IS RIGHT TO SHIT ON THE WHITE FRENCH WHO DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM.

FUCK.

Oh, and I mentioned the Vendée War earlier... So, fun fact, during the revolution, we have what we call "la Terreur". It's a pretty gruesome period of time during the Revolution that caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people. La Terreur happened from 1793 to 1794. So one year after this first season of Nocturne. 🙃 I'm just saying. It wouldn't surprise me if they used this for season 2. 🙃(I literally do not trust them)

And the vampires... Look the vampires have their own can of worms that I'm not motivated enough to open. I'll just say that, of course, in classic NFCV fashion, the message the show is trying to pass is not subtle at all. They're just evil. All of them. All of the french nobles. Evil evil EVIL EVIL!! NUANCE AND COMPLEXITY ARE FOR PUSSIES.

Also the count of Vaublanc? Annette's ex-owner? This guy existed. And he never owned slaves. He was pretty pro-royalty, at some point he voted against slavery, then later voted in favor of it... but he did not own slaves. But honestly I don't care about that guy much, I just wanted to show that NFCV really doesn't care about nuance. Everything has to be black or white (lol) and that's why we have no human nobility in Nocturne.

Urgh. UUUUUURGH. I SWEAR WATCHING THIS SHOW WAS A PAIN AND THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT THE MORE PAINFUL IT BECOMES. THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NFCV IS DOING JACKSHIT WITH IT. I MEAN IT'S SO MUCH FUNNIER TO SHIT ON THE BELMONT CLAN AND SHOW TIDDIES TO MAKE THE FANS HORNY.

So, my opinion on the portrayal of the French Revolution: CREATE YOUR OWN FICTIONAL REVOLUTION NEXT TIME AND LEAVE THE HISTORY OF MY COUNTRY ALONE.

#i'm sorry this show just makes me so ANGRY #FOR SO MANY REASONS #i bet i could find more things to say but i really wanna stop thinking about this shit for now #castlevania nocturne #anti netflixvania

[witchy-rook]

Please ramble more about the Treacle Mine revolution!

Thank you for asking! I'd be happy to!

But before I start, just for your convenience and anyone else's, I'm gonna link my answers to the two previous questions I got because it's become somewhat difficult to find them. Anyway, as always: spoilers ahead for Discworld generally but the Guards series in particular!

Now then, the Treacle Mine Revolution...What a revolution! Pratchett has a phenomenal capacity to capture what Revolutions actually feel like and how they progress, at least in my experience reading historical sources about them. Although I have no doubt that, to a certain extent, Pratchett is drawing on British history for much of the foundations of Ankh-Morpork's own history, with some Classical elements thrown in there for good measure, I think from the point of view of the city's Revolutionary History, we need look no further than the most famous (and infamous) of revolutionary lands: Revolutionary France.

Specifically, if you look at the history of Ankh-Morpork's various revolutions, I think you see a sort pastiche (if you will) for France's own myriad revolutions. There's a lot more going on in these books than a simple ripping of French history (nor is French history even the only history they're ripping!), but I think it's worth diving into the real-world comparisions clearly at play here.

Let's roll back to Feet of Clay for a second. In this book, we learn a lot about Vimes' lineage, and specifically the baggage he has inherited from 'Old Stoneface' Vimes. We learn that Old Stoneface was involved heavily in the revolution which ended the line of Ankh-Morpork's kings (certain present members of the Guards perhaps notwithstanding), and not only that, but Old Stoneface was the man that swung the axe that killed the King.

Now, I don't think it would be too much of a reach to compare this to the first French Revolution: the one of 1789 and the eventual beheading of Kings. Granted, the French Revolution is by no means the only time that Kings were beheaded, but I think it's notable for our Ankh-Morpork comparision because it was one of the first times that was done to put a kind of democratic system in place. I'd argue that the Patrician seems like more an oligarch than a president or prime minister, but I think this is also because, amongst its many influences, Ankh-Morpork and its neighbouring cities on the Sto plains are clearly vibing off the medieval Italian city states. Hell, one is even called Genua.

Anyway, with that context in mind, let's fast forward back to Night Watch. The thing you'll need to bear in mind about the first French Revolution (and the reason I brought it up at all), is that its status as a 'Triumph of the People!' and a victory for 'universal liberty' etc etc is actually quite disputed. You have to remember that, initially, all the Revolution did when they stormed the Bastille and what not is, essentially, apply a Constitution to the King - now this was still pretty avant-garde by the standards of European politics, but the British already had a Constitution, so it wasn't exactly wholly novel. Things moved in an increasingly republican direction in subsequent years, capping off in 1793 with the literal capping off of King Louis, but the legacy of the French Revolution was always rather up for debate, especially given that it ended with Napoleon, a self-styled Emperor. So if you're wondering why France saw countless revolutions thereafter, it was because, from a republican/radical perspective, it was a project that had never really 'properly' finished. Whether France should be a republic or a kingdom was something that was up for debate constantly throughout the 19th century.

Enter: the Paris Commune. I don't have the time or, frankly, the qualifications, to dive fully into the Paris Commune, because it's a little outside my time period, but suffice it to say that this event is part of the long legacy of French revolutionary politics stretching back to the first Revolution and, to some extent, the birthplace of modern socialism. As I mentioned in one of my other posts, it's probably the thing you think of when you imagine an urban revolution at all. Barricades along the streets with flags and banners flying? The Paris Commune wasn't the only one to do that, but it sure was one of the most famous.

And I think the parallels with the Treacle Mine Road Republic are very stark (I bet you thought this was just another historical tanget!) We only get a patchwork knowledge of what happened during the Treacle Mine Revolution the first time around, mainly from Vimes' attempts to pre-empt what he remembers from the history, but that's enough to build a pretty clear picture. We know that the Revolution started in response to rioting and military massacres elsewhere in the city; we know that the People barricaded Treacle Mine Road and its adjacent streets to protect themselves; we know that the military attempted both a kind of siege and an attack on the barricades; we know there was a kind of sense of community amongst those inside the barricades.

To me, this reads like a very clear analogue for events in Paris during the Commune. Granted, the reasons for the Commune were different, and the real Paris Commune last over 2 months, but the kind of 'city within a city' that is depicted in Night Watch did happen, and while I'm sure the Paris Commune is not the only example of this, it's a pretty damn good analogue.

And again, what's most interesting to me about the Treacle Mine Revolution, as I alluded to in my other post, is that, much like the Paris Commune, it was a failure. It was not the actions of the revolutionaries that led to change in Ankh-Morpork, it was the actions of political conspirators and hired assassins. But despite this, the revolution is clearly important in the minds of at least some Ankh-Morporkians, even if it's mainly just those who were involved. Perhaps some of them, like their own real-world counterparts, consider this a project that has still not 'properly' finished? Nonetheless, this sense of importance is true of many political events in our world, the Paris Commune among them: they may have been failures, but that doesn't mean they weren't significant.

So! To wrap up with some kind of conclusion, I think the Guards series frequently touches on the idea of historical legacies, but Night Watch is especially interesting because, through Vimes, we get to live through the formation of that legacy. And, if you were ever interested in reading more about this kind of thing, I'd highly recommend you look no further than France and its colourful, revolutionary history!

#discworld #the glorious 25th of may #night watch

[redladypaige]

@shonpota asks what I learned in Israeli school

What I learned in Israeli school is..

WHAT I LEARNED IN ISRAELI SCHOOL IS

honestly you're going to be disappointed

tl;dr it's not explicitly hateful, it's much more about emphasizing certain facts and ignoring others to create a narrative and lie by omission.

I don't think it's very different than other western education, but you'll be the judge of that.

I'll try to explain if it makes sense.

First of all, I studied in public school almost a decade ago (jesus), so things might have changed.

So this is the least religious education you can get. More religious schools have been caught with more explicitly hateful material, but that I can't tell you first hand.

Arabic class

From seventh to ninth grade you have mandatory Arabic in school.

Since it's such a short time you really only learn the basics.

The class doesn't really count towards your diploma grade, so you just have to pass it, so most people don't really take it seriously.

There are optional advanced classes to take later on, which in my case were took by Arab Israelis, people with interest in languages and people who wanted to be translators in the IDF.

Civics class

Mostly dry stuff about the system of government, how democracy works, elections, rigjts, stuff like that.

There is big talk about equal rights, mostly mentioning that women had equal rights by law since the founding and that Arab Israelis are regular citizens with equal rights.

Gaza and the west bank weren't mentioned at all, at least when I learned. This is stuff you learn from the news or from your parents.

And of course nothing about systemic racism or anything like that.

You can say that the class shows the ideal clean version of the vision of democracy without actually diving down to what's happening.

Putting "politics in school" is a very controversial subject over here, which I found similar to what's going on with the critical race theory thing in the USA.

Right wingers are in power for a while (and it's getting worse), and for them anything that puts Israel in not a great like is political and should be removed, though it is sometimes used against them too.

It constantly changes and stuff gets added and removed.

Tanach class

It might surprise you that even in secular schools you learn the Tanach (the old testament for you Christians) from first to twelfth grade.

It might surprise you more that we learn it not as a religious text, but much more of an historical one.

It was one of my favorite classes because it actually felt like it encourages skepticism and analysis.

There is talk about how the Torah was probably written by different authors because of contradictions which is literally sacreligous

We talked about which stories are or aren't corroborated by history, how to know about the author by the perspective of the text, events written on from different points of view, etc.

History class

You learn history from first to twelfth grade.

It's very very western.

Starting from Greek to Rome to the middle ages, enlightenment, the French and american revolutions and world wars.

Colonialism is displayed as neutral I guess - just an event that happened. Remember that they don't want opinionated teachers.

We gloss over stuff like slavery and native American genocide when learning about the us, its mostly the revolution and stuff.

Sometimes history from a specific place rotates in, but the rest of the world is mostly reserved for the optional advanced classes.

Of course, there is a big emphasis to ties to Judaism throughout.

Within those periods you learn about what the Jews were up to, usually under the lens of how the current ruler abused them.

World war 2 and the Holocaust obviously is a huge chunk of the material.

You don't get to modern history until like the 10th grade.

And then it's mostly the narrative of the creation of Israel, again viewed neutrally.

It starts from the Dreyfus trial, which had a Jewish officer been accused for a crime he didn't commit.

That caused a reporter named Herzel to think Jews will always be persecuted and to start the Zionist movement with the idea to find a homeland for the Jewish people.

We learn about different proposals for where it could be, raising money, the first Alyot (people who came to Israel to live there).

The Alyot are presented as good things generally, saying that the lands were legally bought and that the people wanted to live side by side with the Palestinians.

Of course the reality is more complicated than that.

We get the Balfour statement, explaining how it's the first time Jews got international recognition for a country but also how it's really non committal.

We learn the efforts to get a country against the British, both the diplomatic and the terrorist actions the early Israeli organizations did.

We learn about the UN division plan, with saying that the Jewish people were happy to share but Palestinians won't come to the negotiations table.

We talk about the declaration of independence when the British left, and how we were immediately attacked by the casus belli of killing all jews by all surrounding countries and still won at the end.

The atrocities of the war aren't mentioned at all.

The Nacba is mentioned, with the word it self constantly getting in and out from the books every year, but it's mentioned subjectively.

As in, "the Palestinians see the events of this war, when Israel took territory in a defensive war and people had to leave their houses as a day of tragedy with the intention to one day return" or something like this.

We learn about immigration after the Holocaust and Mizrahis from Arab countries (like me),surprisingly not shying away from the racism.

The narrative is "there might have been racism then, but now we are all a melting pot of a single culture" or something.

It gets as far as the Six Day War and Yom Kippur war at 1973, anything beyond that is not covered in school.

The main narrative we see about Palestinians is that most of them do want peace and are happy to live side by side with the Israelis, but every time their radical leadership hated their own people, and won't take any compromise.

They want to kill all Israelis and take everything, and Israel is only defending itself.

You can say that's the most radical narrative we learn.

There is little exploration of why, the assumption is anti semetism.

Every war is presented as justified and as part for Israels quest for peace, while being the constant victim.

Inner Palestinian politics aren't discussed, we don't learn their history, their views etc.

That's it I guess?

Feel free to ask anything and I'll try to remember

#israel #palestine #history #school

[thevividgreenmoss]

How can a person make up for seven decades of misrepresentation and willful distortion in the time allotted to a sound bite? How can you explain that the Israeli occupation doesn’t have to resort to explosions—or even bullets and machine-guns—to kill? That occupation and apartheid structure and saturate the everyday life of every Palestinian? That the results are literally murderous even when no shots are fired? Cancer patients in Gaza are cut off from life-saving treatments.2 Babies whose mothers are denied passage by Israeli troops are born in the mud by the side of the road at Israeli military checkpoints. Between 2000 and 2004, at the peak of the Israeli roadblock-and-checkpoint regime in the West Bank (which has been reimposed with a vengeance), sixty-one Palestinian women gave birth this way; thirty-six of those babies died as a result.3That never constituted news in the Western world. Those weren’t losses to be mourned. They were, at most, statistics.

What we are not allowed to say, as Palestinians speaking to the Western media, is that all life is equally valuable. That no event takes place in a vacuum. That history didn’t start on October 7, 2023, and if you place what’s happening in the wider historical context of colonialism and anticolonial resistance, what’s most remarkable is that anyone in 2023 should be still surprised that conditions of absolute violence, domination, suffocation, and control produce appalling violence in turn. During the Haitian revolution in the early 19th century, former slaves massacred white settler men, women, and children. During Nat Turner’s revolt in 1831, insurgent slaves massacred white men, women, and children. During the Indian uprising of 1857, Indian rebels massacred English men, women, and children. During the Mau Mau uprising of the 1950s, Kenyan rebels massacred settler men, women, and children. At Oran in 1962, Algerian revolutionaries massacred French men, women, and children. Why should anyone expect Palestinians—or anyone else—to be different?

...AT ANY MOMENT, without warning, at any time of the day or night, any apartment building in the densely populated Gaza Strip can be struck by an Israeli bomb or missile. Some of the stricken buildings simply collapse into layers of concrete pancakes, the dead and the living alike entombed in the shattered ruins. Often, rescuers shouting “hadan sami’ana?” (“can anyone hear us?”) hear calls for help from survivors deep in the rubble, but without heavy lifting equipment all they can do is helplessly scrabble at the concrete slabs with crowbars or their bare hands, hoping against hope to pry open gaps wide enough to get survivors or the injured out. Some buildings are struck with such heavy bombs that the ensuing fireballs shower body parts and sometimes whole charred bodies—usually, because of their small size, those of children—over surrounding neighborhoods. Phosphorus shells, primed by Israeli gunners to detonate with airburst proximity fuses so that incendiary particles rain down over as wide an area as possible, set fire to anything flammable, including furniture, clothing, and human bodies. Phosphorus is pyrophoric—it will burn as long as it has access to air and basically can’t be extinguished. If it makes contact with a human body it has to be dug out by scalpel and will keep burning into the flesh until it’s extracted.

...In 2018, the United Nations warned that Gaza—its basic infrastructure of electricity, water, and sewage systems smashed over years of Israeli incursions and bombings, leaving 95 percent of the population without ready access to fresh drinking water—would be “unlivable” by 2020. It’s now 2023, and the entire territory, cut off from the outside world, is without any access to food, water, medical supplies, fuel and electricity, all while under continuous bombardment from land, sea, and air.5 “Attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes,” pointed out Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. “Cutting off men, women, children [from] water, electricity and heating with winter coming,” she continued—“these are acts of pure terror.” Von der Leyen is right, of course, but in this instance she was referring to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. As for Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s infrastructure, Von der Leyen says that Israel has the right to defend itself.

#* #essays

[bigbongdongsolong]

Belladonna of sadness is such a

🪧

Kanashimi No Belladonna by Eiichi Yamamoto, 1973

Now that u watched this masterpiece time to throw some light into the ori go back of the story for future ref.

Via EG

The content of Belladonna's story was radically different from any other animated feature up to that point, Japanese or otherwise, but its method of storytelling was just as radical.

It becomes apparent early on when viewing Belladonna of Sadness (Kanashimi No Beradona) that this film is quite unique. Certainly the first, and possibly the only animated film that might be classified in the pinku genre. But even though the film is supposedly animated, nothing seems to be moving at first. You instead see a series of elegantly designed still drawings depicting a harmonious wedding between a peasant couple in 14th century France, as a woman sings her narration in the soulful style of a 70s rock opera.

This is the film's only joyous scene, as moments later the new groom is pleading with the local land baron to reduce the marriage tax he can't afford. The baron instead decides to exercise his "droit de seigneur" with the bride. It is here, several minutes into the film, that full animation is finally used, in order to depict the rape of the virgin bride with metaphorical imagery much more disturbing than what a literal depiction of the same events could provide.

A sign of things to come, as this is only the first in a series of tragic events that push this woman, through desperation, into the world of witchcraft.

Belladonna of Sadness is the product of an animation studio that knew it was doomed, and it shows. Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions, which had been so successful producing TV series like Astroboy and Kimba in the 60s, was faltering badly in the early 70s for a variety of reasons related to the oil crisis and Japan's economy in general. But in actuality, Mushi Pro's first venture into feature animation, 1969's 1001 Nights, had been successful enough to spawn a second film in 1970, Cleopatra.

Tezuka, always a trailblazer, had decided that Mushi Pro's feature films would be made to appeal to adult audiences so as to expand the potential for animation as a film medium (whether these first two films succeeded in that regard is debatable). But even though these two features did relatively well at the Japanese box office, the economy was beginning to take a toll on Mushi Pro, and Tezuka refused to downsize. When Tezuka left the studio in 1971 to focus on manga, the remaining employees must have known they were on the road to bankruptcy.

A filmmaker has two choices in a situation like this: cut your losses and go out with a whimper, or pour all your remaining resources and effort into one final, revolutionary labor of love. The folks at Mushi Pro chose the latter option and Belladonna is the result. Predictably, the film had a dreadful theatrical run of only 10 days and Mushi Pro went bankrupt within a few months.

A sort of late 60's psychedelic Art Nouveau revivalism inspired by the likes of Aubrey Beardsley's Victorian parodies, which were likewise inspired by erotic-grotesque shunga prints, thus coming full circle back to Japan.

Belladonna is an adaptation of La Sorcière, the 1862 novelized history of satanism and witchcraft in the late middle ages. The book was written by feminist, freethinker, and Frenchman Jules Michelet, who, like many other post-revolution French intellectuals, was eager to condemn the barbaric European forces of the prior few centuries. In Michelet's story, the practice of witchcraft is not simply the leftover trace of ancient pagan traditions, but an active rebellion against an oppressive church and system of government. While the church expected serfs to suffer and slave away during their time on earth with only the promise of a better afterlife to console them, witchcraft provided a glimpse of happiness in the here and now. Where the church feared the imperfections of nature, witchcraft embraced them. Where the church could only respond to ailments with prayer and holy water, witchcraft offered painkillers and psychoactive potions from datura plants.

According to Michelet, the spirit of rebellion and experimentation found in 14th century witchcraft was a progenitor of the enlightenment values yet to come. Furthermore, this was a movement led by women, those who likely suffered the most at the hands of the church and the feudal system. He insinuates that society's emancipation from oppression is contingent on female liberation and sexual empowerment. It's easy to imagine how these ideas must have resonated with the revolutionary leftist Japanese filmmakers of more than a century later (yes, they were working in animation too).

The film adaptation of La Sorcière is often very faithful to the book, to the point of replicating much of its dialogue. It tells the story of an archetypal witch (unnamed in the book, named Jeanne in the movie) who suffers a series of misfortunes that lead her down the path from being a chaste, obedient peasant's wife, to giving in to her awakened earthly desires, to finally blossoming into the bride of Satan himself.

The process of selling one's soul to the Devil can be interpreted literally or metaphorically, but keep in mind that at least according to Michelet, those who would enter into such a pact in the middle ages presumably believed they were literally sacrificing eternity for just a glimmer of relief from a cruel and bleak life. A pact with Satan was the ultimate act of desperation, not just a casual mistake. On the other hand, none of the "powers" that Jeanne acquires from the Devil require any sort of supernatural explanation. They are simply things that Medieval society has withheld from her: an independent spirit, a liberated sexual libido, communion with nature, an inquisitiveness that allows her to discover the medicinal properties of plants, an air of confidence that enhances her powers of persuasion.

Her relationship with the Devil may be nothing but a psychological coping mechanism for the brutality she suffers.

The content of Belladonna's story was radically different from any other animated feature up to that point, Japanese or otherwise (Ralph Bakshi included), but its method of storytelling was just as radical. The film was designed by illustrator Kuni Fukai, whose drawings may appear to be more Western than Japanese.

But his style seems to be a sort of late 60's psychedelic Art Nouveau revivalism inspired by the likes of Aubrey Beardsley's Victorian parodies, which were likewise inspired by erotic-grotesque shunga prints, thus coming full circle back to Japan. Much of the film features Fukai's drawings directly, with the camera panning over still frames, but the film often transitions seamlessly into full animation thanks to animation director Gisaburo Sugii.

This extra motion tends to happen during the film's numerous sex scenes, but they are generally not visually explicit. Instead, they are animated in a variety of highly stylized expressionistic ways, taking full advantage of animation's ability to caricature form and motion. Because of the film's aesthetic appearance and radical themes, it sometimes appears to be very much a product of its time--the early 70's--which is either good or bad depending on who you ask (the biggest giveaway is its great psychedelic rock / jazz fusion soundtrack which is occasionally reminiscent of J. A. Seazer). But it's important to remember that it is based on source material from over a century before, and that there really are no other comparable movies from that period that would justify an implication that it's at all derivative.

The story of an archetypal witch who suffers a series of misfortunes that lead her down the path from being a chaste, obedient peasant's wife, to giving in to her awakened earthly desires, to finally blossoming into the bride of Satan himself.

Japanese animation was still in its prolonged adolescence in 1973 (you could argue that it still is today). It was only five years earlier that adult political and social themes had begun to make an appearance in anime with Horus, Prince of the Sun. There had not been much experimentation with form or design aside from Tezuka's own independent shorts.

It's closest-related cousin is probably Hiroshi Harada's adaptation of ero-guro manga artist Suehiro Maruo's Midori, similar both for its technique of alternating short scenes of full animation with a "slideshow" of still images, and also for its story of unrelenting cruelty. The film probably has more in common with films from the likes of Koji Wakamatsu than it does with other anime.

Granted, it certainly took longer to make and cost a bit more than a typical pinku film (though it's clearly a low-budget flick), but like many of the best films in that genre, Belladonna manages to promote some form of feminist ideology while simultaneously exploiting the entertainment value of crass misogyny.

#kanashimi no belladonna #belladonna of sadness #internet archive #movies #cult #Japan #women #satanism #witchcraft #misogyny

[aedesluminis]

Studying the French Revolution is more addicting than anything I have ever tried in my life. I spend all my little free time digging into primary sources and learning everything I can. Even when I should be focusing on my studies, I literally cannot stop thinking about it, its main events and its characters.

I need help.

#frev #french revolution #i'm addicted #frev community

[qqueenofhades]

“ the 2nd Amendment was put in the Constitution to be sure that white slave owners would be able to put down revolts, ” wait WHATTTTTTT?

WELP. Just when you think "wow, I definitely know for sure how racist the founding fathers were,” there's always a bonus level!

If you're interested in reading more about this, and the other ways in which the modern-day Republican party has driven the original text of the entire Constitution as far-right and white-supremacist as possible, I hasten to direct you to Allow Me To Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution, by Elie Mystal. Mystal is both incredibly smart (Harvard and Harvard Law grad, award-winning fellow and justice correspondent at The Nation) and bust-a-gut-laughing funny. He is remarkably gifted with the ability to take deeply complex social, political, and historical topics and break them down in terms that even the most average layman can easily understand. Here, for example, is his introductory paragraph to Chapter 3, the aptly titled "Everything You Know About the Second Amendment is Wrong":

You cannot have a conversation with a Republican about the virtues of progressive policies in this country without running into that Republican's interpretation of the Second Amendment. The Republican might not be well educated, the Republican might not be functionally literate, but the Republican believes that the Constitution protects the right to bear arms. Our entire, intricate system of representative self-government carefully balanced with countervailing, overlapping spheres of power and protection of interests, gets reduced, in the Republican mind, to the ironclad right to shoot something that pisses them off.

And what is this thing that pisses them off the most? Yep, that would be black people. Mystal goes on to discuss the original context surrounding the creation and adaptation of the Second Amendment -- namingly that yet again, the founding fathers were trying to kick the slavery can down the road and come up with a way to avoid actually dealing with it. At the time, the post-Revolution state of affairs only gave the federal government the right to raise and arm a militia, and the Southern slaveholding states were afraid that if a slave revolt happened, the Northern free states would leave them out to dry and refuse to come to their defense. So as a compromise, James Madison included the text of the current Second Amendment as a way to be sure that the Southern slaveholders would be able to defend themselves in the event of an uprising (as happened in Haiti under 20 years later in 1804, which is still the only successful event in which black slaves successfully liberated themselves from a white colonial power, in this case the French, and is a key reason why Haiti has been left so poor and neglected by the western world ever since).

As ever, most Americans learn some nice red-white-and-blue version where Americans needed the right to bear arms to defend themselves against British tyranny and maintain their freedoms! Of course, that ignores the fact that the American Revolution ended in 1781, and the first Constitutional Convention gathered in 1787, six years past the point where major military operations were really a problem. So why would they still need to maintain "well regulated" (the "regulation" part is another that today's ultra-right-wing death cultists happily ignore) militias? As noted: yeah, it was for slaves, and once that was over, against black people. Republicans suddenly had no problem with gun control in the 1960s, when the Black Panthers decided that the best way to protect themselves was to carry weapons. As governor of California, Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford Act, one of the most sweeping pieces of firearms-restriction legislation in the nation, only to undo it on the federal level in 1986, as president, once the NRA had commenced its current "shoot anything and everything as long as we might need our guns to defend from black people" fascist lurch.

Mystal also discusses how the Supreme Court and the Constitution have never unilaterally granted the right to bear whatever the hell assault weapon you want, with no restrictions or qualifications whatsoever. The basis for that was laid in 2004, when George W. Bush let the federal assault-weapons ban expire, and in 2008, when Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion in Columbia v. Heller. This case (in, I repeat, 2008!) was the first time in American history where a clear legal right to own a gun simply for "self defense" was enshrined in law, and reflected the result of decades of Republican efforts to push the issue on the legislative level, just as they did with abortion rights. That is because, as Mystal once more puts it:

Gun rights are not about self-defense. They never have been. Gun rights are about menacing, intimidating, and killing racial minorities, if necessary. [....] As I said, the entire Republican argument on guns reduces down to the desire to shoot something that pisses them off. Until you can convince Republicans that shooting Black people is not okay, we will get nowhere.

I've written about the correlation between gun ownership and white supremacy before, and how the states that own the most guns are also home to the highest proportion of Trump voters. This isn't to say that every gun owner is a white supremacist; as noted, the Republicans suddenly got worried about guns as soon as the Black Panthers started using them. But the current Republican position on the issue is, as ever, entirely driven by white supremacy and fears of not being able to "defend themselves" against non-white people, who might, I don't know, hold a grudge or something for all the terrible ways they've been treated over the years. It's about maintaining privileged white access to guns, and to be able to use those guns however and whenever they want. Like, you know, Kyle Rittenhouse.

This was helpfully exemplified just two days ago, when a guy with a gun was arrested outside Brett Kavanaugh's house and confessed to making threats against him. Mitch McConnell went absolutely ape and demanded that Democrats pass legislation against threatening a justice ASAP! All those massacres of Hispanic schoolkids in Uvalde or Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo? Nah. Yawn. Business as usual. The instant Beer Can Kavanaugh gets threatened? Suddenly, miraculously, the Republicans discover that "thoughts and prayers" don't actually work as a solution. Weird.

#anonymous #ask #history #history of racism #american history #cw gun violence

[zblmarguerite]

Benjamin Franklin

Traversing through the cosmic expanse of Benjamin Franklin's life, as narrated by Walter Isaacson, one cannot help but marvel at the whimsical yet profoundly impactful journey of this 18th-century polymath. Here's a galactic tour of Franklin's universe, where science, politics, and letters intersect in a delightful nebula of genius.

A Young Star Emerges: In the cosmic dawn of his life, young Franklin demonstrated a penchant for rebellion and ingenuity, quite literally making waves by inventing swimming paddles. It's the kind of innovation that suggests, had he been born several centuries later, Franklin might have been tinkering with rocket propulsion instead of aquatic locomotion.

The Escape Velocity of Apprenticeship: Not content to orbit around the family's candle-making business or the ecclesiastical sphere his parents envisioned, Franklin jettisoned himself from these predetermined trajectories. With a propulsion fueled by curiosity and a bit of cheekiness (like suggesting a one-time, bulk grace over a barrel of salted meat), he embarked on a trajectory that would alter the course of his life and, indeed, human history.

The London Episode: A brief sojourn to London, initially under the guise of securing printing equipment, turned into an intellectual expansion phase. Here, Franklin absorbed the currents of Enlightenment thought, debated with the likes of Samuel Keimer, and refined his persuasive prowess, skills that would later prove instrumental in his political voyages.

A Literary Comet: Despite his ventures into various business orbits, Franklin's heart remained tethered to the written word. Under the pseudonym Mrs. Silence Dogood, he displayed an early knack for satire and social commentary, suggesting that if Twitter had existed in the 18th century, Franklin would undoubtedly have been a master of the art.

The Junto Cluster: Franklin's formation of the Junto, a group of like-minded individuals dedicated to mutual improvement and civic engagement, acted as a gravitational pull for many of his subsequent ventures, including the establishment of a public library and the University of Pennsylvania. It was a sort of intellectual think tank, or as we might call it today, a hackathon for colonial improvement.

Electric Interstellar Overdrive: Franklin's experiments with electricity, culminating in the kite experiment, not only debunked the mystical aura around lightning but also introduced the lightning rod, safeguarding countless lives. His scientific endeavors earned him the title of a "new Prometheus," a nod to his ability to harness the powers of nature for humanity's benefit.

The Diplomatic Voyager: Franklin's diplomatic missions, especially his role in securing French support during the American Revolution, showcased his adeptness in navigating the turbulent political ether. His ability to charm and negotiate across the Atlantic underscored the indispensable role soft power plays in the geopolitical arena.

The Constitutional Architect: In the twilight of his career, Franklin's influence permeated the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Advocating for a balance of power that would keep the young nation from imploding into a black hole of tyranny or chaos, he helped forge a document that remains a cornerstone of American democracy.

The Abolitionist's Light: Even as his life's journey neared its event horizon, Franklin turned his attention to the blight of slavery, advocating for its abolition. His actions remind us that the quest for liberty and justice is an endless pursuit, requiring the vigilance and courage of every generation.

A Legacy as Vast as the Cosmos: Franklin's death marked the end of an era, but his legacy endures, as vibrant as the Northern Lights, a testament to the power of curiosity, intellect, and empathy to transcend the bounds of time and space.

Thus, through the lens of Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin's life reads not just as a biography but as a guidebook for navigating the vast, often intimidating expanse of human potential, urging us to explore, to question, and to innovate, for it's in these pursuits that we touch the stars.

#benjamin franklin #walter isaacson #biography

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.20

AD 69 – Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian. 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade. 1334 – Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII. 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans. 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins. 1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands. 1848 – 1848 French presidential election: Having won the popular vote in a landslide, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is inaugurated in the chamber of the National Assembly as the first (and only) president of the French Second Republic. 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States with the South Carolina Declaration of Secession. 1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli. 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded. 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison. 1940 – Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published. 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers", in Kunming, China. 1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India. 1946 – It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews. 1946 – An earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan causes a tsunami which kills at least one thousand people and destroys 36,000 homes. 1948 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia. 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs. 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87 of the 115 people on board. 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom. 1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight. 1967 – A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 249 kilometres per hour (155 mph) on their New York Division, also present-day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. 1973 – Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. 1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines. 1984 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 24 km (15 mi) southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head." 1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day. 1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official). 1989 – The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega. 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina. 1995 – NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia. 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia, killing 159 of the 163 people on board. 1999 – Macau is handed over to China by Portugal. 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days. 2019 – The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.

#Events

[itsmemaycc]

Dream Destination France

France is the oldest and third-largest European nation with multiple cultural values. The country has six bordering countries which are; Italy and Switzerland towards the southeast, Germany and Belgium to the northeast, and Spain to the southwest. France has one of the most stable economies in Western Europe and is known for administrating a huge area of the sea. This country is located in the middle of western Europe. The history of France date backs to ancient times, which includes various battles, invasions, conflicts, and riots. France has seen a great number of era-defining events. The history of France is discussed later in the article to get a better understanding of the culture and the events that took place before France had become a wealthy and economically stable country.

The revolution of the French nation had a significant impact on building towards a stable and better nation and was considered an important part of the history of the European region. France has been an influential European country that takes an active part in different external affairs alongside civil affairs and governmental issues. The present government of France is providing the democratic states with inspiration on how a state/country should be administrated. The French movement made many reforms, and the French revolution was a noticeable growth for the coming generation.

The country is considered one of the most popular destinations for tourists as it has amazing architectural and natural beauty, multiple other activities, rich historical places, and buildings that became well-known tourist attractions.

The culture of France has been shaped by geography, by historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century and from the 19th century on, worldwide. From the late 19th century, France has also played an important role in cinema, fashion, cuisine, literature, technology, the social sciences, and mathematics. The importance of French culture has waxed and waned over the centuries, depending on its economic, political and military importance. French culture today is marked both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and strong unifying tendencies. A global opinion poll for the BBC saw France ranked as the country with the fourth most positive influence in the world (behind Germany, Canada and the UK) in 2014.[1]

Holidays and traditions in France – and how we celebrate them

The most important holidays in France are based on religion, changes in nature, or history.

France is a Catholic country so having a majority of holidays based on Catholicism should be no surprise.

A vast majority of French identify as Catholics, but when it comes to practising, it's a different story. Fewer than 5% of us go to church every week, with most people limiting church visits to Easter and Christmas − if that.

Even so, 6 of our 11 official holidays are Catholic.

These holidays, however, are rarely celebrated as religious feasts. They are opportunities to visit family, eat good food, or "faire le pont" − literally "make the bridge", say by taking Friday off when the holiday falls on a Thursday.

When it comes to holiday traditions in France, every opportunity is a good one.

The 11 official public holidays of France

OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS FOR FRANCE**

1 January − Nouvel An (New Year's Day)

Lundi de Pâques (Easter Monday)

1 May - La Fête du Travail (May Day)

8 May - Fête de la Victoire de 1945 (VE Day)

L'ascension (40 days after Easter)

Pentecôte (50 days after Easter)

14 July - La Fête Nationale (Bastille Day)

15 August - L'assomption (Assumption Day)

1 November - La Toussaint (All Saints' Day)

11 November - L'armistice (Armistice Day)

25 December - Noël (Christmas)

In this article, we’ll talk about the following:

Average cost of living in France

Average monthly expenses in different French cities

Rental prices in different French cities

Utility prices

Food prices

Transportation costs

Living costs in France relative to French salaries

So how much does it cost to live in France? To answer this question, let’s take a quick look at the average living expenses in France per month.

The average cost of living in France

The average cost of living in France per month for a single person is around €1,800. It's important to remember that this's just an estimate number, and your actual cost of living in France may be higher or lower depending on your location, specific needs, and lifestyle. For instance, if you live in Paris, the average cost of living can go up to €2,200 per month.

The average basic living expenses in France per month.

ExpenseAverage cost1-bedroom apartment€900 ($989)Utilities€189 ($207)Internet€30 ($33)Monthly public transport pass€64 ($70)Fitness club€35 ($38)Groceries€300 ($330)Leisure€280 ($307)Total€1,800 ($1976)

Average rent and living costs across French cities

Since the cost of living varies between French cities, we've gathered a list of some of the most popular cities in France to compare their cost of living.

Average rent and living expenses in some of France's major cities:

CityPrivate RoomStudioApartmentOther expensesParis€700 ($768)€1,326 ($1,455)€1,802 ($1977)€950 ($1042)Lyon€550 ($604)€1,000 ($1,097)€1,626 ($1,784)€900 ($987)Nice€595 ($653)€750 ($823)€1,061 ($1164)€947 ($1039)Bordeaux€550 ($604)€609 ($668)€1,020 ($1120)€885 ($971)Marseille€460 ($505)€600 ($659)€733 ($804)€880 ($966)Strasbourg€550 ($604)€659 ($723)€890 ($977)€800 ($878)Montpellier€495 ($543)€650 ($713)€800 ($878)€792 ($869)

It's worth noting that you can find cheaper or more expensive rentals, depending on your specific needs and location. So it's a good idea to research and compare prices before signing a rental contract.

Regardless of whether you’re going to France to study or work, it’s better to start looking for your dream home early. Then you’ll surely find something that fits your budget!

Average utility prices in France

ExpenseAverage cost per monthWater€40 ($44)Electricity€79 ($87)Gas€70 ($77)Internet€30 ($33)Waste Collection€20 ($22)

Depending on your contract, utilities can be either included or excluded from your rent. Considering the increasing prices for utilities across Europe, we advise you to search for places with fixed utility costs included in your rent. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can recklessly use them; otherwise, you might have to pay extra for the additional costs.

How much does food cost in France?

Overall, grocery shoppingin France is expensive compared to many other countries. Compared to other European countries, prices in France are 11% higher for everyday food products and 20% higher for fruits and vegetables.

Depending on your habits, diet, and where you shop, you can expect to pay €250–€300 per week for groceries in France. Let’s break it down:

Comparison of the average grocery prices across France:

ExpenseParisLyonNiceBordeauxMilk (1 litre )€1.15($1.26)€1.15($1.26)€1.40($1.54)€1.02($1.12)Eggs (12)€3.54 ($3.89)€3.42($3.75)€3.69($4.05)€3.08($3.38)Tomato (1kg)€3.75($4.12)€3.74($4.10)€3.11($3.41)€2.50($2.74)Potato (1kg)€2.21($2.43)€1.92($2.11)€1.74($1.91)€1.32($1.45)Apples (1kg)€3.19($3.50)€2.86($2.14)€2.58($2,83)€2.67($2,93)Banana (1kg)€2.03($2.23)€2.07($2.27)€2.27($2.49)€2.07($2.27)White Bread (500g)€1.96 ($2.15)€1.96($2.15)€1.36($1.49)€2.24($2.46)Local cheese (1 kg)€17.33($19.02)€17($18.66)€21($23,05)€18($19,76)Bottle of red wine (mid-range)€9($10)€7($7.68)€8($8.78)€11$12.07)

If you want quality and price ratio, do your grocery from supermarkets like Carrefour Intermarché. For good discount deals, check discount stores such as Lidl and Aldi. If you want bio or premium products, expect to pay higher prices.

Comparison of the average prices to eat out in France:

ExpenseParisLyonNiceBordeauxA meal in an inexpensive restaurant€17($18.75)€16($17.64)€15($16.54)€15($16.54)Dinner (2 courses)€38($41.90)€35($38.60)€35($38.60)€34($37.49)Cappuccino€3.80($4.19)€2.85($3.14)€3.62($3.99)€4.07($4.49)Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)€6.80($7.50)€6.50($7.17)€8($8.82)€5.50($6.07)Croissant in a café€2($2.21)€1.30($1.43)

DOs

1. Do say hello (“Bonjour”) upon entering an establishment (ie. store, restaurant, etc) before you begin browsing or asking questions. Say good-bye (“Au revoir”) upon leaving.

2. Do learn some French phrases. It will show you are making the effort to speak the language and shows respect. Some phrases:

Hello (“Bonjour”)

Thank you (“Merci”)

Excuse me (“Excusez-moi”)

Please (“S’il vous plaît”)

I am lost (“Je suis perdu”)

Where are the bathrooms? (“Ou sont les toilettes?”)

I don’t speak French. In English please (“Je ne parle pas Francais. En Anglais, s’il vous plaît”)

3. Do realize that to use the washroom in places such as a train station or department store, you will have to pay a nominal fee (ie. 0.35 Euros)

4. Do take the metro (subway) and hang onto your ticket until you leave your station.  You could be checked by the police and fined if you don’t have your ticket stub.

5. Do remember to validate your ticket before you board a train. Validating machines are located at the entrance to the “quai” or platform.

6. Do dress appropriately. Jeans are OK, but shorts, flip flops, and running shoes are not. They are for the beach and exercising.

7. Do shake hands with acquaintances or “air kiss” those who are close to you when you are greeting the person. Air kissing involves bringing your cheek close to the other’s cheek as if you are going to kiss the cheek. It is a ritual, called “Faire la bise” and indicates friendship. The number of kisses depends on the region. In most of France, one kisses each cheek once; however, in other areas, it could range from 3-5. What side to start on? I have read one starts on the right; however, opinions differ.

8. Do consider a “Prix Fixe” menu, which will include a starter, main course, and dessert at a fixed price. Some restaurants have prix fixe menus with many choices for each course. Some offer menus which include some wine.

9. Do consider ordering a “pichet” of wine. Technically, it is a “jug” of wine, but really it is a carafe of wine and comes in different sizes: 25 cl or 50 cl.  (250 ml or 500ml). It is the restaurant’s house wine and is very often very good and a good deal.

10. Do expect to find the sale of wine and liquor in grocery stores and the store, Monoprix.

DON’TS

1. Do not use “Tu” (you) to address another person unless that person is quite familiar to you. Use “Vous”, as it is more formal.

2. Do not take out coffee and drink it while walking down the street. Drink it at a cafe, either standing at a bar or sitting at a table.

3. Do not touch the produce at an outdoor market. Simply indicate to the seller what you want

4. Do not order a cafe au lait to end your meal. This drink is taken at breakfast.

5. Do not rush your meal.  The French enjoy their time to relax over a coffee or meal. You should too and take at least 2 hours to savor the flavors.

6. Do not assume all stores will be open between 12-2 pm as this is when most people have lunch.

7. Do not assume everyone speaks and understands English.

8. Do not (have to) tip as the 15% service charge is included in the bill most of the time. The bill will say, “Service Compris”.  However, it is a custom to leave an additional few Euros at dinner if the service was exceptional.

9. Do not expect to get ice in your drink. It is just rare to find drinks with ice in France as compared to North America.

10. Do not have dinner before 8:00 pm. It is more acceptable to have a pre-dinner drink (cocktail hour or “apero”) such as wine, beer, a kir or pastis between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. It can be served with nuts or crackers.

Climate and Average Weather in France

France is divided into multiple climate zones. The majority of the country has a temperate maritime climate which means it is generally cold in winter, mild in summer and rainfall is spread throughout the year.

The South and South West of France have a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot summers. The eastern part of the coastal area, the Cote D'Azur, is the sunniest part of France with more than 320 hours of sunshine in July. This month is the peak of summer and many tourists from all over Europe invade the south of France with caravans and tents.

References:

https://www.edrawmind.com/article/history-of-france.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_France

https://www.offbeatfrance.com/french-holidays-and-traditions.html

https://housinganywhere.com/France/cost-of-living-france

https://www.francetraveltips.com/10-dos-donts-france/

https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine-in-France

[humanlifehereandnow]

How 24 Events Changed the Course of World History

Introduction:

Throughout human history, significant events have shaped the course of the world, leaving behind lasting impacts on culture, politics, and society. From the invention of the printing press to the COVID-19 Pandemic, each event has brought benefits and losses, impacting various groups differently. In this text, we have listed and briefly analyzed some of the most significant events that have shaped world history, exploring their impacts, beneficiaries, and losses. By examining these events, we can better understand the complexities and nuances of history and how they continue to shape the world today.

The Invention of the Printing Press (1440) 

Benefited: Literate individuals, scholars, and the educated class. The printing press enabled the mass production of books, making it possible for knowledge to be disseminated much more widely and rapidly than before.

Lost: Monks, who were the primary scribes and copyists of books before the invention of the printing press, lost their monopoly on knowledge creation and dissemination.

Impact: The printing press significantly spread new ideas and knowledge, leading to the Renaissance and the Reformation. It helped to standardize the English language and allowed for the dissemination of scientific knowledge. It catalyzed the spread of literacy and education, profoundly impacting Western civilization's intellectual and cultural development.

The Reformation (1517) 

Benefited: Protestants who gained religious autonomy and the right to interpret the Bible. The Reformation also led to the formation of Protestant churches, such as the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans.

Lost: The Catholic Church lost its monopoly on religious authority and influence. The aristocracy also lost power as they were no longer able to use the Church as a tool to control the population.

Impact: The Reformation led to religious wars and conflicts for centuries. It also contributed to the rise of religious tolerance and the separation of Church and state. The Reformation significantly developed modern Western values such as individualism, freedom of conscience, and democratic principles.

The Age of Exploration (15th-17th centuries) 

Benefited: European forces who gained wealth, power, and influence through the colonization and exploitation of other parts of the world. The Age of Exploration also contributed to the exchange of goods, ideas, and cultures, leading to the globalization of trade and commerce.

Lost: Indigenous peoples who suffered from the violence, exploitation, and disease brought by European colonizers. The slave trade also had a devastating impact on African societies.

Impact: The Age of Exploration led to the creation of a global economy, the spread of Christianity, and the rise of European colonial empires. It also contributed to the growth of science, as explorers and naturalists studied and recorded the plants, animals, and geographies of the lands they visited.

The American Revolution (1775-1783) 

Benefited: The American colonists gained independence and the ability to form their government based on democratic principles. The American Revolution also inspired other movements for self-rule and liberty worldwide.

Lost: The British Empire lost one of its most valuable colonies and the opportunity to maintain control over the North American continent. The loyalists, who remained loyal to the British crown, lost their property and status.

Impact: The American Revolution marked a turning point in world history, as it challenged the notion of monarchy and absolute power and set the stage for developing modern democratic principles. It inspired the French Revolution and other struggles for self-determination and independence.

The Industrial Revolution (18th-19th century) 

Benefited: Industrialists, entrepreneurs, and capitalists who gained wealth and power from the new factories, technologies, and industries during this time. The middle class also grew in size and influence.

Lost: The working class suffered from poor conditions, low wages, and exploitation. Traditional craftspeople, such as handloom weavers, suffered as factories replaced their industries.

Impact: The Industrial Revolution transformed the way goods were produced, transported, and consumed, leading to the growth of industrial cities and the rise of consumer culture. It also contributed to the development of capitalism and the modern economy.

The French Revolution (1789-1799)

Benefited: The French Revolution benefited the bourgeoisie, who gained political power and influence. The peasants and urban workers also gained some rights and freedoms.

Lost: The French monarchy and aristocracy lost their power and privileges. The Catholic Church also suffered significant losses, as the Revolution led to the confiscation of church lands and the establishment a secular state.

Impact: The French Revolution marked a turning point in world history, challenging traditional notions of monarchy, aristocracy, and divine right. It inspired revolutionary movements and developed modern political ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, and nationalism. The French Revolution also significantly impacted the rest of Europe, leading to many wars and conflicts that shaped the continent for decades.

The Age of Enlightenment (18th century) 

Benefited: Intellectuals and philosophers gained influence and contributed to significant advances in science, philosophy, and politics.

Lost: The Age of Enlightenment challenged traditional religious and political authorities, leading to significant resistance and opposition.

Impact: The Age of Enlightenment contributed to the development of modern scientific and political thought, and it played a significant role in shaping the values and beliefs of modern Western civilization.

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) 

Benefited: The Haitian people gained independence and established Haiti as the first independent black nation in the world.

Lost: The slave-owning class in Haiti lost their property and status, and European powers lost their influence over the island.

Impact: The Haitian Revolution had a profound effect on the history of slavery and colonialism, and it inspired movements for abolition and independence in other parts of the world.

The Industrialization of Japan (late 19th century) 

Benefited: The Japanese government and economy gained significant power and influence, leading to the emergence of Japan as an important world power.

Lost: Traditional Japanese society and culture were disrupted and transformed by the rapid industrialization and modernization of the country.

Impact: The Industrialization of Japan had significant effects on global politics and economics and contributed to the growth of Japanese imperialism and the outbreak of World War II. It also significantly impacted Japanese society and culture, changing education, gender roles, and political institutions.

The Indian Independence Movement (1857-1947) 

Benefited: The Indian people gained independence from British colonial rule and established India as a sovereign nation.

Lost: The British government and economy lost their influence and control over India.

Impact: The Indian Independence Movement significantly impacted the history of decolonization and the development of modern India. It also inspired movements for independence and self-determination in other parts of the world.

World War I (1914-1918) 

Benefited: The United States emerged as a significant world power after the war. The Treaty of Versailles established the League of Nations, beginning international cooperation and diplomacy.

Lost: The war resulted in the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians. The Treaty of Versailles led to resentment and instability in Europe, contributing to the rise of fascist regimes and the outbreak of World War II.

Impact: World War I marked the end of the old world order and the beginning of a new era of global conflict and cooperation. It also contributed to the emergence of new technologies and weapons, such as chemical warfare and tanks.

The Russian Revolution (1917) 

Benefited: The Bolsheviks and other socialist and communist groups gained power and influence, leading to the establishment of the Soviet Union and the spread of Marxist ideology worldwide.

Lost: The Russian monarchy and aristocracy lost their power and privileges, and many people suffered from the violence and repression that followed the Revolution.

Impact: The Russian Revolution marked a significant shift in global politics and contributed to the development of socialism and communism as major political ideologies. It also led to substantial social and economic changes in Russia, including the collectivization of agriculture and the nationalization of industry.

The Great Depression(1929~1930s)

Benefited: The Great Depression led to the development of the welfare state in many countries, as governments introduced new social programs to help the unemployed and those in need. 

Lost: The Great Depression resulted in high levels of unemployment and poverty, leading to widespread suffering and social unrest. Many people lost their homes, savings, and businesses due to the economic collapse, and many more were forced to live in extreme poverty.

Impact: The Great Depression significantly impacted global politics and international relations, contributing to the rise of authoritarian regimes and the outbreak of World War II. And it led to the establishment of new economic policies and institutions, such as the New Deal in the United States and the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to help stabilize global economic systems.

The Holocaust (1933-1945) 

Benefited: Nazi Germany and other fascist regimes gained power and influence through the persecution and murder of marginalized groups, such as Jews, Romani people, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Lost: The victims of the Holocaust suffered immeasurable loss, and their communities were devastated.

Impact: The Holocaust profoundly impacted global consciousness and led to the development of international human rights laws and organizations. It also contributed to the rise of Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel.

World War II (1939-1945) 

Benefited: The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers after the war, and the war contributed to significant technological developments, such as the creation of the atomic bomb.

Lost: The war resulted in the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians, leading to significant political and social changes, including the emergence of the Cold War and the development of international human rights laws.

Impact: World War II profoundly impacted the course of world history, marking the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War. It also led to significant changes in global power dynamics and contributed to the developing of international organizations such as the United Nations.

The Chinese Communist Revolution (1946-1949) 

Benefited: The Chinese Communist Party gained power and influence, establishing the People's Republic of China.

Lost: The Chinese Nationalist Party and its supporters lost power and influence, leading to significant political and social changes.

Impact: The Chinese Communist Revolution profoundly impacted the course of world history, contributing to the emergence of China as a significant world power and the spread of socialist and communist ideologies worldwide.

The Cuban Revolution (1953-1959) 

Benefited: The Cuban people gained independence and established a socialist government under Fidel Castro.

Lost: The U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista lost power and influence in Cuba, leading to significant political and economic changes.

Impact: The Cuban Revolution significantly impacted Latin American history and contributed to the developing of socialist and communist movements in the region. It also led to tensions between the United States and Cuba that continue to this day.

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States (1954-1968)

Benefited: African Americans and other marginalized groups gained civil rights and legal protections under the law.

Lost: The white supremacist power structure in the United States lost some of its power and influence, leading to significant social and political changes.

Impact: The Civil Rights Movement profoundly impacted American history and contributed to developing international human rights laws and organizations. It also inspired movements for social justice and equality around the world.

The Vietnam War (1955-1975) 

Benefited: The Vietnamese gained independence from French colonial rule and established a socialist government under Ho Chi Minh.

Lost: The United States and its allies lost the war and suffered significant political and social changes, including protests and cultural shifts.

Impact: The Vietnam War significantly impacted the course of American history and contributed to significant changes in global power dynamics and international relations.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)

Benefited: The people of East and West Germany gained freedom and reunited under a single government.

Lost: The Soviet Union lost its influence and control over Eastern Europe, leading to significant political and social changes.

Impact: The Fall of the Berlin Wall profoundly impacted the course of world history, marking the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a new era of international cooperation and diplomacy. It also contributed to the development of the European Union and significant changes in global power dynamics.

The Cold War (1947-1991) 

Benefited: The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers, leading to significant geopolitical and technological developments such as space and arms races.

Lost: The Cold War contributed to the development of nuclear weapons and the threat of mutually assured destruction, as well as many proxy wars and conflicts that resulted in the deaths of millions of people.

Impact: The Cold War shaped global politics and international relations for decades, and its influence can still be felt today. It also contributed to significant cultural and technological developments, such as the rise of youth culture and the growth of the computer industry.

The End of Apartheid in South Africa (1994) 

Benefited: Black South Africans and other marginalized groups gained legal protections and political representation, leading to the establishment of a multi-racial democracy.

Lost: The white supremacist power structure in South Africa lost its power and influence, leading to significant social and political changes.

Impact: The End of Apartheid in South Africa profoundly impacted the history of colonialism and racial oppression and contributed to the development of international human rights laws and organizations. It also inspired movements for social justice and equality around the world.

The 9/11 Attacks (2001) 

Benefited: Islamist extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda gained publicity and support, and the attacks led to significant changes in global security and surveillance.

Lost: The victims of the 9/11 attacks suffered immeasurable loss, and the attacks contributed to significant political and social changes, including the launch of the War on Terror.

Impact: The 9/11 attacks profoundly impacted world history, significantly changing global politics and security and developing new digital communication and remote work forms.

The COVID-19 Pandemic (2019-present) 

Benefited: Medical researchers and scientists gained new knowledge about viral diseases, leading to the development of vaccines and new forms of treatment.

Lost: The COVID-19 Pandemic has had significant economic, social, and political impacts worldwide, including the loss of life and economic instability.

Impact: The COVID-19 Pandemic is a significant event in world history that has substantially changed how people live and work. It has also led to the development of new technologies and innovations in healthcare and public health.

Conclusion:

The events listed in this text represent some of the most significant moments in world history. These events have brought about substantial changes and lasting impacts shaping our world. Understanding the effects of these events is crucial to understanding how society has developed over time and how the past influences current events. We must continue examining and learning from these events to build a better future for ourselves and future generations. For more information, I recommend Arnold Toynbee's study of history.

#youtube

[this-is-a-name-dont-worry]

ryan not knowing what the Bastille is I-

#puppet history #sir #its literally THE french revolution event #like if its 1789 and not another date it's because of the storming of the Bastille #its not just some random event

[marat]

I just think that everyone who's into the Frev should know more about the comte d'artois because he's so fucking insane i couldnt come up with a decent way of academically describing him.

in 1777 he bought 365 pairs of shoes so he could have a new pair every day. When most monarchies were outlawing the play "the marriage of figaro" due to its anti monarchist sentiments, he and his friends did a production of it. Not because they were anti-monarchy, but because they were literally too stupid to interpret it as anti-monarchy. When the three estates continued to meet together, despite the king's orders, it was the Comte D'Artois who told the king that all the deputies should be held at gunpoint and told to disperse. It was the comte d'artois who wrote in a letter to his best friend that "heavenly vengeance will shine down upon the monsters and their infernal revolution" as like, the youngest brother of louis xvi, he was absolutely never expected to be king, and that's what makes the fact that he became king of france due to a series of wild events the most insane thing. Like this was the guy best known for rallying france's former enemies in order to form an army against the newfound french republic. This was the guy who so many libelles about marie antoinette include, because they assume he's the father of her kids, due to louis'... issues. This guy's life is fucking insane, right. Despite holding no realistic chance at being king, he's the most staunch monarchist, even beyond his brother, the king, and later, his other brother, also the king. He goes on insane rants about how the purity of his blood was passed down by his glorious ancestors ect etc. This is the guy who literally spearheads the émigré movement. And when his Gf, not even his wife but his girlfriend dies, he literally takes a vow of chastity and spends the rest of his political life trying to restore power to the catholic church. Like the funniest bit is that he was the First of the emigres: he fled france THREE DAYS after the storming of the bastille, because he was So hated. Literally one of his pals, the Baron De Beneseval wrote that "the royal family was so hated, but, and one cannot know why, the comte d'artois was hated above all, even the queen." Like the nicest things his own friends can say about him are "well I just don't get why everyone absolutely despised him." Anyway, most virulent monarchist, diehard traditionalist. He gets into a duel in like the late 1770s cause he assaulted the duchess of bourbon at a party, and instead of dealing with it, Louis XVI just sends both him and the duke of bourbon into exile. Well artois makes a habit of exile, as on the 17th of july, 1789, he bolts and sends himself into exile with the first wave of the emigres. Anyway, the funny bit is when he's so fucking terrible as a king (even his older brother, louis xviii is like "fuck he's gonna suck ass so help me god" on his Deathbed.) Anyway, this guy who built his whole life, mostly in exile, as a diehard monarchist, more diehard than any other monarchist of the time, is just so hated that he's forced into exile and dies alone of cholera. (AND THIS IS WHAT LES MIS IS ABOUT. SO MANY PEOPLE THINK LES MIS IS ABOUT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, NO, IT'S ABOUT THE COMTE D'ARTOIS SUCKING SO MUCH SHIT TRYING TO BE KING THAT THEY JUST TELL HIM TO LEAVE AND HE DIES OF CHOLERA)

#anyway! #this is insane but. #studying the comte d'artois turned him from someone i hate into someone i love to hate because he's such a fucking moron asshole dickshit #unlike the thermidorians who i just hate. #like artois is so immensely fucking stupid and dramatic that it genuinely becomes funny #anyway if this post is incomprehensible dont blame me because my life is falling apart