#our tax dollars in the west are funding this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomthoughtswhileeatingdonuts · 2 months

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CONGO

https://cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo

https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/situations/democratic-republic-congo-situation

https://freetheslaves.net/our-work/where-we-work/dr_congo/

https://x.com/silvergrassleaf/status/1758832748649685247?s=20

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/report-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/

Congo Genocide Explained: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. (youtube.com)

CONGRESS: Do Not Allow Our Tax Dollars To Fund Conflict In The Congo! - Action Network

Congo Campaigns - Friends of the Congo

AeonThespain on Tumblr: Congo Action 3

healafrica.org

(1) Elbit Systems,... - Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement | Facebook

SUDAN

https://eyesonsudan.net/ & https://eyesonsudan.net/reading

https://ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/sudan

https://salesianmissions.org/salesian_country/sudan/

https://twitter.com/longlivemireia/status/1721105158736658897?s=46&t=03WDSopg10j_4l7ZJXSPZQ

https://twitter.com/hkzuk/status/1722122606453661940?s=46&t=03WDSopg10j_4l7ZJXSPZQ

from the river to the sea 🍉🕊 on Tumblr: sudanese-led causes to donate to!

NasAlSudan on X: "The War in Sudan - A Thread. (1/5) #KeepEyesOnSudan #SudanActionWeek https://t.co/4B7BGgaAUk" / X (twitter.com)

HAITI

https://theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/12/haiti-crisis-jovenel-moise-gangs-water-way-out

https://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/abyss-despair-need-act-haiti-and-its-children-november-7-2023

https://aljazeera.com/where/haiti/

https://rescue.org/article/crisis-haiti-gang-violences-vice-grip-amidst-political-turmoil

https://nacla.org/guns-gangs-and-neocolonialism-hait

YEMEN

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LWER5czCh8xqWDe32f1XqU843t4dkwYNMyvm8OkYVNc/mobilebasic

https://launchgood.com/campaign/water_4_yemen_1#!/

https://thepetitionsite.com/1/endhungerinYemen/

https://linktr.ee/helpsaveyemen

https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/a-timeline-of-the-yemen-crisis-from-the-1990s-to-the-present/

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvP9M_2fl-eN5-GOOFSqKcCAmbD4sF0Ep

https://x.com/absolutelacunae/status/1760728489102332215?s=20

https://theworld.org/stories/2017-11-29/heres-how-you-can-send-help-people-trapped-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1032811

A Timeline of the Yemen Crisis, from the 1990s to the Present (arabcenterdc.org)

TIGRAY

Ways to help Tigray: https://x.com/shimmeringolds/status/1719186653187613101?s=20

Urgent Petition to Save Lives: Resume Food Aid in Tigray, Ethiopia

Text SIGN PDPAKY to 50409 to send this to your officials.

RESISTBOT

Resources: https://x.com/GLITCHDXCTORTTV/status/1759580042877599986?s=20

Ethiopia’s Invisible Ethnic Cleansing | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

Ethiopia’s New Year’s ledger: A controversial new port and domestic challenges | Brookings

Ethiopia in Troubled Waters | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Ethiopia Humanitarian Crisis - Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Conflict in Ethiopia | Global Conflict Tracker (cfr.org)

X (twitter.com)

Free Tigray Movement

- (tigrayactioncommittee.com)

Tigray Genocide: Everything you need to know. (youtube.com)

United Tegaru Resource Carrd (stopthewarontigray.carrd.co)

Tigray needs YOUR help! | Linktree

WEST PAUPA

What's going on in Papua?: https://x.com/shimmeringolds/status/1761073053880942781?s=20

https://freewestpapua.org/Resources & info: https://x.com/folkoftheshelf/status/1746154482009018614?s=20

https://www.freewestpapua.org/documents/the-neglected-genocide-human-rights-abuses-against-papuans-in-the-central-highlands-1977-1978/ https://news.un.org/en/audio/2014/05/589082

sof’s library ✧˖°. 🥄 on X: "‘what’s happening in West Papua?’ — resources + info + how you can help: a thread https://t.co/4hWOTY6lFA" / X (twitter.com)

PUERTO RICO

𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐮𝐭𝐬 🫐🐾 on X: "since not enough people are talking about puerto rico heres a master 🧵 on information about the genocide going on, how the us is trying to make puerto rico an "american state", and how you can help !! https://t.co/NBJDIQiesi" / X (twitter.com)

‘Cultural Genocide’ in Puerto Rico Displaces Population, Destroys Heritage (sputnikglobe.com)

Puerto Rico | Genocide Studies Program (yale.edu)

Puerto Rico — 500 Years Of Oppression on JSTOR

Puerto Rico faces genocide – Workers World

2020 Plan Means Genocide for Puerto Rico! - Puerto Rican Cultural Center (prcc-chgo.org)

X (twitter.com)

HAWAII

X (twitter.com)

Decolonizing genocide in Brazil: challenges to defending Indigenous collective life - IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

2023 Point in Time Counts – Hawai'i Health Data Warehouse (hhdw.org)

Tourism's Negative Impact on Native Hawaiians (tripod.com)

Hawaii Tourism: Opposite of a Paradise for Locals (irreview.org)

X (twitter.com)

YANOMAMI

Decolonizing genocide in Brazil: challenges to defending Indigenous collective life - IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

Yanomami (survivalinternational.org)

thread

KASHMIR

Profile / X (twitter.com)

X (twitter.com)

Template for arms sales email - Google Docs

MYANMAR

Future Bleak for Rohingya in Bangladesh, Myanmar | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

Myanmar’s Troubled History: Coups, Military Rule, and Ethnic Conflict | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

BETTER BURMA

PAKISTAN

Pakistan dispatch: violent crackdown on peaceful Baloch protesters in Islamabad highlights ongoing injustices in Balochistan region - JURIST - News

EAST TURKISTAN

Camp Album Project – Art to Fight Xinjiang Abuse (camp-album.com)

IHH releases new report on East Turkestan | İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation

Elderly Uyghurs die alone in jail, detained on trumped-up charges – The China Project

N 🖋️ on X: "A 🧵 about East Turkistan. What's going on and what can you do? From an Uyghur Girl: https://t.co/XPLS19T7fh" / X (twitter.com)

thread

ARMENIA

Learn for Artsakh

RESOURCES_COMP.xlsx - Google Sheets

Artsakh Genocide Action Toolkit

GOOGLE DOCS

TIBET

International Campaign for Tibet (savetibet.org)

Free Tibet - Take Action, Donate, Learn. - Our vision is a free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected.

International Tibet Network

PAVIA MAIN 🐺🍬🔪 on X: "🧵from a 🇲🇳 person on some ways to help Tibet and Inner Mongolia - SPREAD THE WORD!! https://t.co/jtRrYtQsKY" / X (twitter.com)

PLACES IVE MISSED

Cheaper & Deeper!! on Tumblr: People & countries mentioned in the thread: DR Congo - M23, Cobalt Darfur, Sudan - International Criminal Court, CNN, BBC...

a𓂆sa on Tumblr: IMPORTANT CRISES THAT ARE BEING IGNORED BY THE WORLD

#free hawaii #free yemen #free west paupa #free tigray #free syria #free sudan #free puerto rico #free haiti #free congo #free armenia #free yanomami

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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The IRS will do your taxes for you (if that's what you prefer)

This Saturday (May 20), I’ll be at the GAITHERSBURG Book Festival with my novel Red Team Blues; then on May 22, I’m keynoting Public Knowledge’s Emerging Tech conference in DC.

On May 23, I’ll be in TORONTO for a book launch that’s part of WEPFest, a benefit for the West End Phoenix, onstage with Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics), Ron Diebert (Citizen Lab) and the whistleblower Dr Nancy Olivieri.

America is a world leader in allowing private companies to levy taxes on its citizens, including (stay with me here), a tax on paying your taxes.

In most of the world, the tax authorities prepare a return for each taxpayer, sending them a prepopulated form with all their tax details — collected from employers and other regulated entities, like pension funds and commodities brokers, who must report income to the tax office. If the form is correct, the taxpayer signs it and sends it back (in some countries, taxpayers don’t even have to do that — they just ignore the return unless they want to amend it).

No one has to use this system, of course. If you have complex finances, or cash income that doesn’t show up in mandatory reporting, or if you’d just prefer to prepare your own return or pay an accountant to do so for you, you can. But for the majority of people, those with income from a job or a pension, and predictable deductions, say, from caring for minor children, filing your annual tax return takes between zero and five minutes and costs absolutely nothing.

Not so in America. America is one of the very few rich countries (including Canada, though this is changing), where the government won’t just send you a form containing all the information it already has, ready to file. As is common in complex societies, America has a complex tax code (further complexified by deliberate obfuscation by billionaires and their lickspittle Congressjerks, who deliberately perforate the tax code with loopholes for the ultra-rich):

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the-canada-variant/#shitty-man-of-history-theory

That complexity means that most of us can’t figure out how to file our own taxes, at least not without committing scarce hours out of the only life we will ever have to poring over the ramified and obscure maze of tax-law.

Why doesn’t the IRS just send you a tax-return? Well, because the tax-prep industry — an oligopoly dominated by a handful of massive, ultra-profitable firms — bribes Congress (that is, “lobbies”) to prohibit this. They are aided in this endeavor by swivel-eyed lunatic anti-tax obsessives, like Grover Nordquist and Americans for Tax Reform, who argue that paying taxes should be as difficult and painful as possible in order to foment opposition to taxation itself.

The tax-prep industry is dominated by a single firm, Intuit, who took over tax-prep through its anticompetitive acquisition of TurboTax, itself a chimera of multiple companies gobbled up in a decades-long merger orgy. Inuit is a freaky company. For decades, its defining CEO Brad Smith ran the company as a cult of personality organized around his trite sayings, like “Do whatever makes your heart beat fastest,” stenciled on t-shirts worn by employees. Other employees donned Brad Smith masks for selfies with their Beloved Leader.

Smith’s cult also spent decades lobbying to keep the IRS from offering a free filing service. Instead, Intuit joined a cartel that offered a “Free File” service to some low- and medium-income Americans:

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free

But the cartel sabotaged Free File from the start. They blocked search engines from indexing their Free File services, then bought Google ads for “free file” that directed searchers to soundalike programs (“Free Filing,” etc) that hit them for hundreds of dollars in tax-prep fees. They also funneled users to versions of Free File they were ineligible for, a fact that was only revealed after the user spent hours painstaking entering their financial information, whereupon they would be told that they could either start over or pay hundreds of dollars to finish filing with a commercial product.

Intuit also pioneered the use of binding arbitration waivers that stripped its victims of the right to sue the company after it defrauded them. This tactic blew up in Intuit’s face after its victims banded together to mass-file thousands of arbitration claims, sending the company to court to argue that binding arbitration wasn’t enforceable after all:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/24/uber-for-arbitration/#nibbled-to-death-by-ducks

But justice eventually caught up with Intuit. After a series of stinging exposes by Propublica journalists Justin Elliot, Paul Kiel and others, NY Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of AGs from all 50 states and DC that extracted a $141m settlement for 4.4 million Americans who had been tricked into paying for Turbotax services they were entitled to get for free:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/turbotax-to-begin-payouts-after-it-cheated-customers-new-york-ag-says/ar-AA1aNXfi

Fines are one thing, but the only way to comprehensively end the predatory tax-prep scam is to bring the USA kicking and screaming into the 20th century, when most of the rest of the world brought in free tax-prep for ordinary income earners. That’s just what’s happening: the IRS is trialing a free tax prep service for next year’s tax season:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/15/irs-free-file/

This, despite Intuit’s all-out blitz attack on Congress and the IRS to keep free tax-prep from ever reaching the American people:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/turbotaxed/#counter-intuit

That charm offensive didn’t stop the IRS from releasing a banger of a report that made it clear that free tax-prep was the most efficient, humane and cost-effective way to manage an advanced tax-system (something the rest of the world has known for decades):

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5788.pdf

Of course, Intuit is furious, as in spitting feathers. Rick Heineman, Intuit’s spokesprofiteer, told KQED that “A direct-to-IRS e-file system is wholly redundant and is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem. That solution will unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars and especially harm the most vulnerable Americans.”

https://www.kqed.org/news/11949746/the-irs-is-building-its-own-online-tax-filing-system-tax-prep-companies-arent-happy

Despite Upton Sinclair’s advice that “it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it,” I will now attempt to try to explain to Heineman why he is unfuckingbelievably, eye-wateringly wrong.

“e-file…is wholly redundant”: Well, no, Rick, it’s not redundant, because there is no existing Free File system except for the one your corrupt employer made and hid “in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.’”

“nothing more than a solution in search of a problem”: The problem this solves is that Americans have to pay Intuit billions to pay their taxes. It’s a tax on paying taxes. That is a problem.

“unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars”: No, it will save taxpayers the billions of dollars (they pay you).

“harm the most vulnerable Americans”: Here is an area where Heineman can speak with authority, because few companies have more experience harming vulnerable Americans.

Take the Child Tax Credit. This is the most successful social program in living memory, a single initiative that did more to lift American children out of poverty than any other since the days of the Great Society. It turns out that giving poor people money makes them less poor, which is weird, because neoliberal economists have spent decades assuring us that this is not the case:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/16/mortgages-are-rent-control/#housing-is-a-human-right-not-an-asset

But the Child Tax Credit has been systematically sabotaged, by Intuit lobbyists, who successfully added layer after layer of red tape — needless complexity that makes it nearly impossible to claim the credit without expert help — from the likes of Intuit:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/29/three-times-is-enemy-action/#ctc

It worked. As Ryan Cooper writes in The American Prospect: “between 13 and 22 percent of EITC benefits are gulped down by tax prep companies”:

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-05-17-irs-takes-welcome-step-20th-century/

So yes, I will defer to Rick Heineman and his employer Intuit on the subject of “harming the most vulnerable Americans.” After all, they’re the experts. National champions, even.

Now I want to address the peply guys who are vibrating with excitement to tell me about their 1099 income, the cash money they get from their lemonade stand, the weird flow of krugerrands their relatives in South African FedEx to them twice a year, etc, that means that free file won’t work for them because the IRS doesn’t actually understand their finances.

That’s a hard problem, all right. Luckily, there is a very simple answer for this: use a tax-prep service.

Actually, it’s not a hard problem. Just use a tax-prep service. That’s it. No one is going to force you to use the IRS’s free e-file. All you need to do to avoid the socialist nightmare of (checks notes) living with less red-tape is: continue to do exactly what you’re already doing.

Same goes for those of you who have a beloved family accountant you’ve used since the Eisenhower administration. All you need to do to continue to enjoy the advice of that trusted advisor is…nothing. That’s it. Simply don’t change anything.

One final note, addressing the people who are worried that the IRS will cheat innocent taxpayers by not giving them all the benefits they’re entitled to. Allow me here to simply tap the sign that says “between 13 and 22 percent of EITC benefits are gulped down by tax prep companies.” In other words, when you fret about taxpayers being ripped off, you’re thinking of Intuit, not the IRS. Just calm down. Why not try using fluoridated toothpaste? You’ll feel better, and I promise I won’t tell your friends at the Gadsen Flag appreciation society.

Your secret is safe with me.

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/17/free-as-in-freefile/#tell-me-something-i-dont-know

[Image ID: A vintage drawing of Uncle Sam toasting with a glass of Champagne, superimposed over an IRS 1040 form that has been fuzzed into a distorted halftone pattern.]

#pluralistic #earned income tax credit #eitc #irs #grover nordquist #guillotine watch #turbotax #taxes #death and taxes #freefile #monopoly #intuit

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acesincomics · 7 months

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#IStandWithPalestine

I stand against genocide.

I call on the asexual community, the queer community, the comics community, and all people of conscience to take a stand NOW against the ethnic cleansing which is unfolding in Gaza.

We cannot be silent!

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

If you live in the U.S. your tax dollars are funding a genocide against 2 million people, 50% children, in Gaza. If you live in a Western country your government is supporting a genocide.

It is up to all of us in the West to do what we can to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Speak out!

As asexual people, as queer people, we should understand that our oppression is tied to that of every other oppressed group and that includes Palestinians.

This issue affects our community. There are asexual people who are being ethnically cleansed in Gaza at this very moment.

If you are an asexual organization or group, or activist, or educator, or person with a platform of any size who lives in the West, I urge you to take an immediate stand in support of Palestine.

We cannot afford to be silent.

Silence is complicity in genocide.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Edit: Transnational resources to take action to stop the genocide in Gaza can be found here

#I stand with Palestine #IStandWithPalestine #Gaza Genocide #Stop the Gazan genocide #asexual #ace #acespec #queer #lgbtqia #lgbt+#lgbtq+#comics #queer comics

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smelly-fozzy · 2 months

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Don’t vote biden or trump. Look into Dr. Cornel West.

I’m begging you DO NOT vote biden or trump. Our tax dollars will continue to fund genocide if either one has anything to say about it, our tax dollars will continue to oppress and restrict trans people especially trans teens if they have anything to say about it, our tax dollars will continue to criminalize basic human autonomy especially Bipoc women’s autonomy if they have anything to say about it, our tax dollars will continue to make living situations worse if they have anything to say about it.

Don’t vote biden or trump, you have absolutely no excuse to vote either of them. If you care about climate change, or poc, or lgbt+, or disabled people, or poor people, or women, or immigrants, or your neighbors, or your family, or your friends, or your coworkers, do not vote biden or trump. Please look into third party candidates, especially if they have spoken up and are actively routing against genocide. And ask yourself when is the last time biden or trump have done anything that actually benefits you.

#Vote third party #look into Dr. Cornel West. Please consider giving him your vote.#palestine #gaza #sudan #Yemen #west papua #congo #Iraq #iran #no one is free until everyone is free

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cock-holliday · 7 months

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“Westerners’ opinions on this don’t matter, you are not part of this, you cannot fathom what living under bombing is like,” says fellow westerner who has been incessantly giving their opinion, who lives in a luxury apartment built on the remains of the MOVE bombing in a state that manufactures the weapons Israel uses to commit their atrocities, with a state and reps and universities and businesses who fund the atrocities, who is neighboring states where the police force is trained by the IDF in a partnership camp paid for by US tax dollars and then tries out these techniques on Americans, and whose facebook profile picture is from a gay Israeli cruise trip.

I’m not sure if you’re aware but Westerners’ interest in the conflict is how we are where we are now. The West’s relationship with Israel is symbiotic and they learn from one another’s brutality. Struggles for liberation are interconnected. Boycott-Divest-Sanctions didn’t spring up out of nowhere, it came from The US being responsible. From Americans funding genocide through our active fundraisers and through inaction. Palestinian Liberation movements and Black Liberation movements found deep solidarity decades and decades ago through similar government repression, through the ADL calling both groups terrorists and supporting apartheid twice, through the violent and horrific police and military tactics placed upon both.

“You don’t need to be involved” gets reserved for pro-Palestinian support as if apathy and “staying out of it” is not Israeli support. Inaction allows this. Apathy allows for a quiet genocide. Every conflict is “complicated” in that none exist in a vacuum and are always the culmination of hundreds and thousands of years if you want to go back that far. Every country is formed on stolen land. That didn’t make Ukraine assault “complicated” to people because the issue is happening right now, the specific injustice is happening now. If the Nakba is ancient history to the cause of conflict then sorry but so is the Shoah.

You cannot claim to support liberation movements in the US and then think support for them abroad is all for brownie points. You do not support land back and self-determination in the states if you then reject them abroad. You cannot believe in the right of Ukrainians to fight back and then see all Palestinian struggle as terrorism.

All Israeli deaths are being framed as civilian deaths whether they are soldiers or not. When your civilian population is mandatorily a solider, it’s easy to conflate the two. The targeting of military bases and killing of military leaders is “civilian deaths”, then the bombing of residential neighborhoods is a “strike on Hamas.” All Palestinian deaths are being framed as terrorist deaths if we even bother to count them. “40 beheaded babies” vs silence on 300 children. A bombed children’s hospital. Children burned to death by white phosphorus. A newspaper headline read “mutilated Israeli children” and showed a photo of injured Palestinian children.

It’s not about loss of life to people, it’s not ‘complexities’ in a struggle for freedom, it is the expectation to die in silence lest you make us feel bad for our complicity.

President Isaac Herzog’s words are atrocious, but unfortunately he is not alone in his sentiment that, “[Palestinians] could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d'etat.”

Fighting Israel is justification for your death, not fighting Hamas is justification for your death. There are no innocent Palestinians and there are no guilty Israelis. Vigils for just Israelis is “caring about human life” but any vigils or supprt for Palestinians whether it is coupled with support for Israelis or not is labeled as antisemitic and terroristic. If you oppose the atrocity you are a terrorist, if you take action to try to stop it you’re a terrorist, if you sit on your hands and pass judgement from “the other side” then you are simply a reasonable and wise voice in a tricky situation with no remedy but to suggest both uneven sides kiss and make up.

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p0ison-moon · 11 months

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I have what’s going to be a really unpopular take but please just hear me out. Lately a lot of fellow Jewish bloggers on this website have (rightfully!!) been getting annoyed by random people going into their inboxes and asking if they’re Zionist, how they feel about Israel, etc. And I totally empathize with that because I’m an anti-Zionist Jew so I spend a lot of time correcting people’s assumptions that I must support Israel because I’m Jewish. Furthermore, I want Zionism to stop being seen as a central, undeniable part of being Jewish because that makes Jews like me feel pretty unwelcome. And I am aware that those asks often accuse us of dual loyalty, an antisemitic stereotype. So I’m not saying bloggers should have to answer those asks, or that they can’t get mad about them.

However, I think bloggers are wrong when they say that they can’t affect or change what happens in Israel because they’re American Jews (or otherwise diasporic, but it is almost always Americans who say this), not Israeli Jews.

Look. It’s one thing if you just don’t want to get involved (although I am totally judging you). But I can name a billion different ways American Jews have changed things in Israel, and stuff we can do right now! For example:

- protesting our tax dollars paying for weapons and bombs Israel uses to kill Palestinians, by pressuring our elected representatives, senators, and president into taking a stand against Israel

- supporting the Not on Our Dime Act, which is aiming to prohibit tax-deductible donations from being used to fund illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank

- working to change Jewish studies curriculum and summer camp + youth group programming to provide kids and students with more options than just Zionism, and a more complete + less biased education about Israel

- no tech for apartheid: Jewish Google workers protesting against Project Nimbus, which helps the Israeli government with surveillance of Palestinians

- using our position to educate people and make our opinions heard, so we don’t let Jewish Zionist organizations speak for us all and influence what gentiles think about Israel and current-day antisemitism

- I have my own opinions about the recent protests over Netanyahu’s judicial reform, but lots of American Jews supported them and they were definitely effective

- and that’s just a few of the many ways I’ve seen American Jews work towards creating real change in Israel. are we the only ones who can do this? no. but gentiles can’t shape the future of the American Jewish community, which altogether has quite a lot of influence in Israel. only we can do those things.

Saying that as American Jews our voices and actions don’t matter when it comes to Israel is actually such a weak, lame-ass excuse for refusing to take a stance for or against Israel. This isn’t something we get to be neutral about; silence equals support for Zionism.

That being said, I can’t control what individual people do. If you seriously want to refuse to support Palestine, fine. Whatever. Just please stop using “American Jews can’t help anyways!” as your excuse when that’s such a blatantly false claim.

#mercy.txt #anti zionist #jumblr #palestine #imo you can’t be Zionist and genuinely support Palestinians btw #so-called liberal Zionists do not get a free pass <3 #also: this post is not about me or my belief that Zionism is morally reprehensible #however I do think that and I’m not going to hide or apologize for it. and yeah I do really judge people who are Zionist!#I am sick and tired of toning down my beliefs and ignoring my values for the sake of a peaceful community irl #and I know what happens when I’m vocally anti-Zionist & I’ve been treated awfully in the past.#so forgive me if I’m not super understanding or accepting of Zionist Jews.#I get it that the indoctrination was rly strong and people get pretty attached to Israel #but after all the stuff I’ve experienced and witnessed I’m honestly out of empathy! we should know better & I’m disappointed that we don’t.#I just don’t see how anyone can still support Israel while knowing what they do to Palestinians #and I have other issues with Zionism too but those are too complicated for tags

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deansmom · 6 months

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I keep circling back to the people saying that Gaza is complicated, doesn’t isr*el have a right to defend itself, etc etc - and just… yes, the history between these two groups of people, is Complicated. But THIS? Literal war crimes, every member of the UN except for us wanting to stop it, entire bloodlines being wiped from the face of the earth???? THAT isn’t complicated. That isn’t nuanced and y’all sound goofy as hell.

When it’s yt guys with g*ns, it’s a mental health crisis.

When it’s innocent Palestinian people being m*rdered, the guys aiming the b*mbs have a right to defend themselves against their own hostages? When they don’t seem to have made any sort of effort to get the people they’re supposedly fighting for back, and instead are just indiscriminately b*mbing the place that they think they’re being held???? When it’s them, it’s “well don’t you think they have a right to defend themselves?” “What were they supposed to do?” “Oh so you’re antisemetic?”

1000+ children have been killed in less than two weeks. They’ve (allegedly) b*mbed hospitals. Again, they told them to evacuate and then b*mbed the evacuation routes. If you still think this is complicated or nuanced, you’ve fallen for the propaganda. Congratulations.

The other side of this coin back here on the home front: non yt people I’m not gonna tell you how to conduct yourselves during the next presidential election. It’s not my place.

Fellow 👋🏼 colored people: we’ve got a hell of a lot of power because of the color of our skin. Those of you who claim to support Palestine, I expect to see all of you calling, emailing, tweeting, protesting, sending letters and post cards and whatever other forms of communication, etc etc to your representatives and the president. Because there’s a reason that they’re doing what they’re doing, but if we’re loud enough they might listen to us. They’re not going to listen to our BIPOC friends as easily, so get off your ass and use our yt privilege for some good in the world instead of just ranting about not voting for our current president and equally ranting about how BIPOC are going to destroy our democracy if they don’t vote for him. That’s not productive. That’s not helpful. You have a voice yt people in power might listen to, so fucking use it for once.

A US b*mb was dropped on the West Bank yesterday/last night. Our tax dollars are funding a g*nocide. You should be furious that people in this country can’t afford to buy groceries, and they’re spending our tax dollars k*lling children and assisting in war crimes. What the hell is wrong with you people.

#it’s complicated my ass 🤨#anyways! call your representatives! call the White House! there’s scripts out there!#do not tell marginalized people how to protest and be angry and grieve the atrocities we’ve committed against them you fucking weirdos #🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤#personal #genocide TW //#I’m just so angry and I have to be NORMAL?? I have to sell dog food???????#we have holiday toys out and I just want to put a sign under the Hanukkah display ‘free Palestine support Jewish people’ or sth #every person who comes in and is all chipper I want to be like WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU #every report I have to send to my boss I just. there are so many bigger things going on guys. does this really matter?#can’t the secret shop questions wait???????

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zoramones · 4 months

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MORE INFO ON CONTACTING CANADIAN REPS ABOUT A CEASEFIRE IN PALESTINE:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C07AO2kAKQg/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

on the fourth slide of this post, there is a list of canadian representatives and their contact information. feel free to refer to the phone/email script a few posts down my blog and keep reaching out to demand an immediate ceasefire.

UPDATED PHONE SCRIPT TO CONTACT CANADIAN REPS FOR CEASEFIRE IN PALESTINE:

“Hello [Contact Name],

My name is [xxxx] and I am a deeply concerned resident of [city or riding]. I am calling on you to demand that you call for a permanent ceasefire, an end to the siege on Gaza to allow to immediate medical aid, and an end to all material and diplomatic support of Israel's war crimes, genocide and colonization of Palestinian land.

The civilian death toll is now over 17,000 (*to my knowledge*) due to indiscriminate bombing, the mass arrest and detention of Palestinians, and countless other violations of international law like collective punishment, withholding access to food and electricity and the use of toxic white phosphorus. This has been ongoing nonstop for over 60 days now. This is not a war, it is genocide which is currently being funded by our tax dollars.

During the 5 day ceasefire, we saw a majority of the released hostages from Palestine were children who had been imprisoned for years for minor offenses like throwing rocks. We also saw Israel shooting civilians still, and kidnapping people in the West Bank.

Now the bombing has resumed, and again, [country] stays silent and complicit.

It is high past time for [country] to stand against genocide. You, and all of Parliament, must call for an end to the root causes of all this violence: the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and the Israeli government's apartheid regime.

I will not be voting for you or [your party] in the next election based on your lack of response on this emergency unless you are willing to stand against apartheid and call for a ceasefire.

Thank you for your time and we will all be watching to see if [country] will stand against apartheid and genocide.

Sincerely, (Your Name)”

#heyo it's zo!#zo’s info #🇵🇸🍉#phone scripts for ceasefire in palestine #CANADIANS ON TUMBLR!!#call your reps #call your mps #emal them or write letters i don't give a shit how #just CONTACT your local representatives #demand for a ceasefire in palestine #spread the word #share to different social media platforms #keep speaking up for palestine #expose israel #MAKE THEM LISTEN #doing what you can is better than doing nothing at all!!#hold this facist ethnostate accountable #this isn’t a war it’s a genocide #people need to be aware and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING about it #especially in our government #our voices cannot go quiet #ceasefire now #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #israel is a terrorist state #no one is free until we are all free #free palestine #free the people from oppression #zo ✬#zoramones

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ausetkmt · 4 months

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for reparations funding to reduce violent crime

Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson insisted to CNN that funding for reparations in his new budget will help get to the root of the city’s record violent crime epidemic.

While speaking to network anchor Poppy Harlow on "CNN This Morning" Wednesday, Johnson acknowledged the high crime rate in Chicago and declared that the "full force of government" is required to solve it, including the city throwing $500,000 at reparations programs.

Harlow prompted his answer by citing Chicago Police Department statistics revealing that although "the murder rate is down from 2022," "all other forms of violent crime, Mr. Mayor, are up from a year ago, up 17% overall."

ACTIVISTS DEMAND HIGHER PAYMENTS FROM CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS TASK FORCE: '$200 MILLION' PER PERSON

"Are Chicagoans going to be safer in 2024?" the anchor asked.

Johnson, who has been mayor of the Democrat-run city for about seven months, claimed the solution to the problem lies with a major government response, and the "full out community safety plan," he claimed, "not only gets at the root causes of violence in the city of Chicago," but makes "critical investments."

He listed the investments: "A quarter of a billion dollars to address homelessness, $100 million for violence prevention. We added 80 million more dollars to our youth employment program of which we hired 25,000 young people just this summer. That’s a 20% increase from the previous year."

Johnson also touted his proposal "to hire 4,000 additional young people this summer," adding, "We have stood up an entire office dedicated to re-entry. So individuals who are returning to our communities who have been incarcerated because of failed policies will have a welcoming space for them."

He then spoke about city funds being diverted to providing reparations for its African American community. "I’ve added a half a million dollars for restoration and reparations to address, again, the cycle of violence, which looks like school closings, closing of mental health facilities, of which I’ve invested in now. We’re going to open up two mental health clinics that were closed from two previous administrations ago."

CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS PANELIST BLASTS WHITE MEN AS A ‘DANGER TO SOCIETY’: THEY'RE ‘SHOOTING UP SCHOOLS’

"And so, in order for us to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago, it requires investments," he reiterated, "and that’s what this budget has done – a $16.77 billion budget without raising property taxes, and we’re just getting started in the city of Chicago."

Johnson also described being personally affected by the city’s struggles, telling Harlow, "Look, my wife and I, we’re raising our three children on the West Side of Chicago. It’s a beautiful part of the city. We love it. But it also has been the side of the city of Chicago that has experienced gross disinvestment, from school closings, from lack of transportation, from lack of investments; and so, I wake up every single day in one of the most toughest parts of the city."

"And so, there is no one in this city that thinks about public safety more than someone like me, who is raising a family on the West Side of Chicago," the mayor added.

Johnson’s reparations plan is the latest in Democratic Party leaders pushing the controversial policy. Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., signed a bill this month creating a state commission "to study the history of slavery in New York state" and examine its impact on African Americans throughout the state’s history.

Earlier this year, California's Reparations Task Force proposed Black Californians receive up to $1 million in payment for the state’s treatment of their ancestors.

Original article source: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for reparations funding to reduce violent crime

#Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for reparations funding to reduce violent crime #chicago #Reparations

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jyndor · 6 months

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Russia's attack on Ukraine is not a fucking proxy war. Weapons support from the US is literally mostly old things that would cost you tax dollars to dismantle. Now they get used in Ukraine instead and the US citizens can use that money elsewhere. I don't think you have much understanding of what military assistance in practice means. It's material help. Tangible things that already exist and have already been paid for years ago. What are the poor USAmerican citizens going to do with soon expiring ammunition?

lmao rebelcaptain secret santa this is what i get for opening up my anons again just so you know

so many things lol

i support the us sending weapons to ukraine because i believe that ukrainians deserve the right to not be butchered by russia, i do believe that support does have limits - those limits are fairly high (like nukes? did i have to say i specifically do not think nuclear war is good? that's pretty much my line, i literally said i support a word that sounds like ass and nation lmaoooo) and not likely to ever even need to be talked about but like yes i do in fact have limits, and the military assistance that we've been doing i am fine with, trust me i'd rather you have them. also the us prints its own money i personally think we can do both but americans don't understand our government soooo

russia's attacking of ukraine is not the proxy war of course, which i never said and idk maybe i wasn't clear but i think i was. the us and the west frankly caring about ukraine is about russian power and not about ukrainian lives, and never forget that. this is why i said that it's a proxy war FOR THE US. as in a us proxy war. i'm sorry that that probably feels shitty to think about but that's what ukraine is to the us. geopolitics sadly aren't about morality and justice for governments. it's about power and hegemony. we are more concerned with russian power than we are human rights. and by we i do mean my government and not me or even other americans.

btw of course the us has spend money on not just nearly expired weapons but also humanitarian aid, financial aid and of course training and logistical support. again i don't care about the money, but don't fucking act like the us hasn't sent billions of dollars of aid in the past few years, it has which is why it is so important that the us continues to send billions of dollars of aid to ukraine in order to continue to fund the war effort.

i'm going to support marginalized people every and that includes here in the us where the empire harms its own and has from the inception of this country. yes us americans have a right to be annoyed at not having basic human rights like healthcare, a decent education system, livable wages, and lack of housing and shelter. but they're probably not the ones hemming and hawing over the dollars spent abroad btw - that's more likely to be upper and middle class americans and republicans/conservatives. but we can do both - provide for the general welfare of americans and also provide for the general welfare of everyone else. and fight fascism, but we don't have a good track record on that one.

#if this is the same anon... lmao wow #ukraine #war tw #reading comprehension is neat #us politics #anonymous #asks #answered

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randomthoughtswhileeatingdonuts · 2 months

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MY MASTERLIST OF EVERYTHING IMPORTANT

CONGO

https://cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo

https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/situations/democratic-republic-congo-situation

https://freetheslaves.net/our-work/where-we-work/dr_congo/

https://x.com/silvergrassleaf/status/1758832748649685247?s=20

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/report-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/

Congo Genocide Explained: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. (youtube.com)

CONGRESS: Do Not Allow Our Tax Dollars To Fund Conflict In The Congo! - Action Network

Congo Campaigns - Friends of the Congo

AeonThespain on Tumblr: Congo Action 3

healafrica.org

(1) Elbit Systems,... - Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement | Facebook

SUDAN

https://eyesonsudan.net/ & https://eyesonsudan.net/reading

https://ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/sudan

https://salesianmissions.org/salesian_country/sudan/

https://twitter.com/longlivemireia/status/1721105158736658897?s=46&t=03WDSopg10j_4l7ZJXSPZQ

https://twitter.com/hkzuk/status/1722122606453661940?s=46&t=03WDSopg10j_4l7ZJXSPZQ

from the river to the sea 🍉🕊 on Tumblr: sudanese-led causes to donate to!

NasAlSudan on X: "The War in Sudan - A Thread. (1/5) #KeepEyesOnSudan #SudanActionWeek https://t.co/4B7BGgaAUk" / X (twitter.com)

HAITI

https://theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/12/haiti-crisis-jovenel-moise-gangs-water-way-out

https://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/abyss-despair-need-act-haiti-and-its-children-november-7-2023

https://aljazeera.com/where/haiti/

https://rescue.org/article/crisis-haiti-gang-violences-vice-grip-amidst-political-turmoil

https://nacla.org/guns-gangs-and-neocolonialism-hait

YEMEN

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LWER5czCh8xqWDe32f1XqU843t4dkwYNMyvm8OkYVNc/mobilebasic

https://launchgood.com/campaign/water_4_yemen_1#!/

https://thepetitionsite.com/1/endhungerinYemen/

https://linktr.ee/helpsaveyemen

https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/a-timeline-of-the-yemen-crisis-from-the-1990s-to-the-present/

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvP9M_2fl-eN5-GOOFSqKcCAmbD4sF0Ep

https://x.com/absolutelacunae/status/1760728489102332215?s=20

https://theworld.org/stories/2017-11-29/heres-how-you-can-send-help-people-trapped-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1032811

A Timeline of the Yemen Crisis, from the 1990s to the Present (arabcenterdc.org)

TIGRAY

Ways to help Tigray: https://x.com/shimmeringolds/status/1719186653187613101?s=20

Urgent Petition to Save Lives: Resume Food Aid in Tigray, Ethiopia

Text SIGN PDPAKY to 50409 to send this to your officials.

RESISTBOT

Resources: https://x.com/GLITCHDXCTORTTV/status/1759580042877599986?s=20

Ethiopia’s Invisible Ethnic Cleansing | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

Ethiopia’s New Year’s ledger: A controversial new port and domestic challenges | Brookings

Ethiopia in Troubled Waters | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Ethiopia Humanitarian Crisis - Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Conflict in Ethiopia | Global Conflict Tracker (cfr.org)

X (twitter.com)

Free Tigray Movement

- (tigrayactioncommittee.com)

Tigray Genocide: Everything you need to know. (youtube.com)

United Tegaru Resource Carrd (stopthewarontigray.carrd.co)

Tigray needs YOUR help! | Linktree

WEST PAUPA

What's going on in Papua?: https://x.com/shimmeringolds/status/1761073053880942781?s=20

https://freewestpapua.org/Resources & info: https://x.com/folkoftheshelf/status/1746154482009018614?s=20

https://www.freewestpapua.org/documents/the-neglected-genocide-human-rights-abuses-against-papuans-in-the-central-highlands-1977-1978/ https://news.un.org/en/audio/2014/05/589082

Explainer: What’s Going On in West Papua? – New Naratif

Little is known about West Papua, a region usually closed off to human rights groups and foreign journalists. Yet the human rights situation

NEW NARATIF

Free West Papua Campaign - Take Action

All around the world, so many people are Taking Action to help spread the message and raise support for the people of West Papua. We…

FREE WEST PAPUA CAMPAIGN

Explainer: What’s Going On in West Papua? – New Naratif

Little is known about West Papua, a region usually closed off to human rights groups and foreign journalists. Yet the human rights situation

NEW NARATIF

sof’s library ✧˖°. 🥄 on X: "‘what’s happening in West Papua?’ — resources + info + how you can help: a thread https://t.co/4hWOTY6lFA" / X (twitter.com)

PUERTO RICO

‘Cultural Genocide’ in Puerto Rico Displaces Population, Destroys Heritage (sputnikglobe.com)

Puerto Rico | Genocide Studies Program (yale.edu)

Puerto Rico — 500 Years Of Oppression on JSTOR

Puerto Rico faces genocide – Workers World

2020 Plan Means Genocide for Puerto Rico! - Puerto Rican Cultural Center (prcc-chgo.org)

X (twitter.com)

we need to talk about papua

HAWAII

X (twitter.com)

Decolonizing genocide in Brazil: challenges to defending Indigenous collective life - IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

2023 Point in Time Counts – Hawai'i Health Data Warehouse (hhdw.org)

Tourism's Negative Impact on Native Hawaiians (tripod.com)

Hawaii Tourism: Opposite of a Paradise for Locals (irreview.org)

X (twitter.com)

YANOMAMI

Decolonizing genocide in Brazil: challenges to defending Indigenous collective life - IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

Yanomami (survivalinternational.org)

thread

KASHMIR

Profile / X (twitter.com)

X (twitter.com)

Template for arms sales email - Google Docs

Home - Stand With Kashmir

MYANMAR

Future Bleak for Rohingya in Bangladesh, Myanmar | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

Myanmar’s Troubled History: Coups, Military Rule, and Ethnic Conflict | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

BETTER BURMA

PAKISTAN

Pakistan dispatch: violent crackdown on peaceful Baloch protesters in Islamabad highlights ongoing injustices in Balochistan region - JURIST - News

EAST TURKISTAN

Camp Album Project – Art to Fight Xinjiang Abuse (camp-album.com)

IHH releases new report on East Turkestan | İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation

Elderly Uyghurs die alone in jail, detained on trumped-up charges – The China Project

N 🖋️ on X: "A 🧵 about East Turkistan. What's going on and what can you do? From an Uyghur Girl: https://t.co/XPLS19T7fh" / X (twitter.com)

thread

ARMENIA

Learn for Artsakh

RESOURCES_COMP.xlsx - Google Sheets

Artsakh Genocide Action Toolkit

GOOGLE DOCS

#free palestine #free congo #free sudan #important #reblog

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rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world · 1 year

Photo

What do you call Israel’s treatment of Palestinians if not genocidal? @potus @vp @secblinken - stop funding crimes against humanity with our tax dollars! @unitednationshumanrights @unitednations - what will it take for you to act? #Repost @jewishvoiceforpeace with @use.repost ・・・ Last night, the Israeli army killed at least nine Palestinians in an attack on the Jenin refugee camp, including an elderly woman and two teenagers. During the attack, Israeli forces raided a hospital and fired teargas, forcing families to flee a pediatric ward. All eyes on Palestine. Israeli forces have now killed at least 27 Palestinians already this year. 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2004, and this year is already on track to be twice as deadly. This attack signifies another horrific escalation in violence by the new far right Israeli government. @palestinianyouthmovement points out the goal of last night’s violence: “Rooting out the native people of this land, thwarting our resistance, and stamping out any hope of liberation of return.” These atrocities are the inevitable and escalating consequences of Zionism. “The Israeli government is slaughtering Palestinians every night, massacring people in their homes, schools, and hospitals. There are no sidelines. Jewish tradition commands action in the face of grave injustice, and the time to rise in solidarity with Palestinians is now.” — Stefanie Fox, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace Read our full statement at the link in our bio. #palestine #freepalestine #jenin #israeliwarcrimes #israel #israeliapartheid #apartheid #ethniccleansing #warcrimes #genocide #humanrights #zionism #settlercolonialism #anticolonial #antizionist #jewsagainstzionism #antizionistjews #palestine🇵🇸 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn5LgJguY2x/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#repost #palestine #freepalestine #jenin #israeliwarcrimes #israel #israeliapartheid #apartheid #ethniccleansing #warcrimes #genocide #humanrights #zionism #settlercolonialism #anticolonial #antizionist #jewsagainstzionism #antizionistjews #palestine🇵🇸

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kp777 · 2 years

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By Brad Plumer

Brad Plumer spent time in the oil fields of California, where many communities are built on fossil fuels.

Photographs by Alisha Jucevic

The New York Times

July 7, 2022

TAFT, Calif. — Every five years, this city of 7,000 hosts a rollicking, Old West-themed festival known as Oildorado. High schoolers decorate parade floats with derricks and pump jacks. Young women vie for the crown in a “Maids of Petroleum” beauty pageant. It’s a celebration of an industry that has sustained the local economy for the past century.

This is oil country, in a state that leads the country in environmental regulation. With wildfires and drought ravaging California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wants to end oil drilling in the state by 2045. That has provoked angst and fierce resistance here in Kern County, where oil and gas tax revenues help to pay for everything from elementary schools to firefighters to mosquito control.

“Nowhere else in California is tied to oil and gas the way we are, and we can’t replace what that brings overnight,” said Ryan Alsop, chief administrative officer in Kern County, a region north of Los Angeles. “It’s not just tens of thousands of jobs. It’s also hundreds of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue that we rely on to fund our schools, parks, libraries, public safety, public health.”

Across the United States, dozens of states and communities rely on fossil fuels to fund aspects of daily life. In Wyoming, more than half of state and local tax revenues comes from fossil fuels. In New Mexico, an oil boom has bankrolled free college for residents and expanded medical care for new mothers. Oil and gas money is so embedded in many local budgets, it’s difficult to imagine a future without it.

Disentangling communities from fossil-fuel income poses a major obstacle in the fight against climate change. One study found that if nations followed the urging of scientists and cut emissions from oil, gas and coal deeply enough to avert catastrophic warming, United States tax revenues from oil and gas production, currently about $34 billion per year, could fall by two-thirds by 2050.

While Kern County produces 70 percent of California’s oil, it is also the state’s largest supplier of wind and solar power. But renewable energy doesn’t generate as much tax revenue as fossil fuels, partly because California exempts solar panels from property taxes to spur construction. And jobs in the wind and solar industries generally don’t pay as much or last as long as those in the oil fields.

So Kern County is feuding with the governor. Local officials, who have unsuccessfully sued to block Governor Newsom’s restrictions on drilling, are backing a plan for up to 43,000 new wells and have threatened to halt solar projects in response to the state’s oil crackdown.

Whether Kern County can transition to cleaner energy could offer a model, or a cautionary tale, to the rest of the nation.

“California is about 10 years ahead of other places on climate policy, but I expect we’ll see similar issues pop up across the United States,” said Kyle Meng, an economist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “When you look at how deeply oil and gas is woven into the fabric of many communities, providing money for schools and hospitals and roads, the shift to clean energy can get really complicated, really fast.”