The strike took place following months of protest from Indian farmers, a response to three farm acts passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. According to protesters, the farm acts would leave small farmers, the vast majority, at the mercy of large corporations. Poor farmers were already desperate before the laws were passed - in 2019 alone, 10,281 agricultural workers committed suicide.
Dozens of farm unions began organizing protests demanding the repeal of these laws. After failing to get the support of their respective state governments, the farmers decided to pressure the Central Government by marching to Delhi en masse.
The farmers arrived at Delhi on November 25th, 2020 and were met by police, who employed the use of tear gas and water cannons, dug up roads, and used layers of barricades and sand barriers to try and stop their march.
On November 26th, 250 million workers from all over the country initiated a general strike in solidarity with the farmer’s struggle. According to Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, trade unions issued a twelve-point charter of demands which included “the reversal of the anti-worker, anti-farmer laws pushed by the government in September, the reversal of the privatisation of major government enterprises, and immediate [Covid] relief for the population”.
Farmer protests continued for more than a year, featuring mass marches, clashes with police, and many failed negotiations between farmers’ unions and the government. Rakesh Tikait, a leader with Bharatiya Kisan Union (English: Indian Farmers’ Union) stated in October 2021 that approximately 750 participants have died in the protest.
Among the dead was a Senior Superintendent of Police in the city of Sonepat, who committed suicide, saying he could not bear the pain of the farmers. His suicide note read “Bullets fired from the guns kill only those whom they strike. The bullet of injustice, however, kills many with a single stroke… It is humiliating to suffer injustice.”
In a televised address on November 19th, 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that his government would repeal the three acts in the upcoming winter parliamentary session in December. The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed.
The film actor Deep Sidhu also joined the protests, and was quoted as having told a police officer the following: “Ye inquilab hai. This is a revolution. If you take away farmers’ land, then what do they have left? Only debt.”
We Are Grass. We Grow on Everything: The Forty-Ninth Newsletter (2020).
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
- ❤️ Come listen to music and Watch movies with your fellow Hexbears nerd, in Cy.tube
- 💖 Come talk in the New Weekly Queer thread
- 💛 Read and talk about a current topics in the News Megathread
- 💚 Come and talk in the Daily Bloomer Thread
- ⭐️ September Movie Nominations ⭐️
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
- 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
Theory:
Okay I’ve nowhere “fitting” to post this on any uh spaces online but I wanted to post this… A tarot creator I had supported and bought their deck (I collect them) just came out with a stance against trans people and general “wokeism” loads of “biology” and “standing up for women” shit, the usual and ignorant spiel you’d hear from these types, while saying he’s gay and about he cares for his trans friends in the same breath… I’ll spoiler the exchange to keep this a bit shorter.
spoiler
I knew not to try to argue with his logic because he’s not going to consider anything, hard stance on the subject and all that. But I had to say something… So I just said he is “clearly ignorant and bigoted and needs to educate himself.” He then proceeds to try to attack me with stuff like “Love how they always go straight to the “Name calling and insults”… Just proved my point, as mentioned in this podcast. Whilst hiding behind a faceless profile. No ignorance here (sadly I wish there was) that would at least save me from this sick fuckery, just straight facts here” And `In order for it to be a community there would have be some actual consensus on what it even is. And there just simply isn’t any more. And the idea that a man can put on a dress and take away biological woman’s rights is beyond sick and degrading to woman. Trans woman are (trans woman) no denying that. But if a man can be a woman simply by saying it, why can’t I say I’m black? Going by that level of logic." I replied to that with “Never believe that fascists are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The fascists have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
He never replied. That’s the first exchange of that kind I’ve ever had.
Not surprising that a woo peddler is a bigot
Tarot isn’t woo if you really understand them. They are actually a great aid to self reflection. Kinda like therapy but only on one issue at a time. All they do is allow people to talk about what is on their mind and get a new perspective on a situation. I can explain it more if you care.
Do you mind sharing who? I wonder if I have this persons deck…
el goliath tarot, also been checking the comments on that video to see if any other creators pop in to support that rhetoric
Eh. His tarot is trash. Anyone who can draw can make little pictures with a certain number of things and symbols on them. I can’t see the meanings in any of his cards. WTF does a deer with a dream catcher in its horns mean to an average person? The whole point of the tarot is to be able to show what the card means so that the questioner can connect it to their situation. If you can just make up whatever meaning you want in the moment the cards don’t work.
The reason the Rider Waite deck is so good is that the meanings are right on the face of the card and the cards cover the breadth of human experience and state of being. When people start making up their own cards they fuck with that balance. The major arcana is a pretty forgiving because there are so many examples of the archetypes in popular culture but most of the tarot I’ve seen get sloppy with the minor arcana. If you start fucking with the imagery of the minor arcana its so easy to make a mess or just make random images that don’t convey meaning.
I have other decks including thoth decks plus I’m fine with the artist straying from the rider decks/clones to give their own interpretation. I know the meanings, I could use playing cards if need be for instance.
Art is subjective and not all decks appeal to everyone.