11:eleven Photography

If you’re only here for the photos. Cool, stop here. If you want to read the ramblings, continue on.

Now, if you’re looking for a way to ruin a nice family get-together, poilitics is a sure bet. There is no quicker way to divide a room of people who love each other than bringing up the big P.

And I don’t know if this will fal on deaf ears, get lost in the void, or strike a nerve in someone somewhere… but I have to tell you, I attended my very first political rally last night, and even though I felt the energy was lacking from the crowd, I did catch a few bits that resonated with me.

Fighting Oligarchy. That is the title of the mission AOC and Bernie are currently on. And if you believe the right-wing propoganda machine “they” are part of the oligarchy, “they” are part of the machine they claim to be fighting against. I haven’t spent a ton of hours digging deep into their financials, but from what I can tell, this simply isn’t true. Does Bernie own 3 homes? Yes, but I know ordinary people who have also owned multiple homes. Is he worth more than 2 million? Yes, but still sits at the bottom of the Senate when ranked by wealth. AOC is reportedly worth 29 million. In reality, if you look at her last financial report, her net worth is less than 100k, and she is still carrying student loan debt. Much like hundreds of thousands of average everyday Americans.

I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I do not align myself with the democratic party. I honestly do not believe either party is the party of the people any longer. Both sides have blood on their hands. Both sides. When I hear people like AOC and Bernie speak, I do hear some hope. I hear a message that resonates with me. They do not try and stand there and claim the Democratic party is the answer and that the Republicans are the evil. I heard them say last night that the solution will not be coming from the dems in Washingtom D.C., it will be the people who fix this. And their goal is to unite the people, to give them the strength to stand up for ourselves in these times.

What are these times? What the actual fuck is going on? We are standing here while the government is trying to pass a new budget with billions in tax cuts for the wealthiest group in America. Where is that money going to come from? Is it going to be from all the money Elon and DOGE are saving the government? That DOGE is a scam, a front. It is being used to gather information on people so they can be rounded up and disappeared. And before you start saying, “Don’t be crazy, that’s not happenning”, take a closer look. It was supposed to be only the violent and dangerous illegals. Then, it became all illegals. Then, they started revoking legal status. Then, they started deporting people who protested against the government using their status as the reason. Now, they’re openly discussing finding a way to deport citizens.

Here’s the deal. The government does not care about you, your freedoms, your rights, your beliefs, your safety, or your life. They want to keep you barely alive, healthy enough to keep working and paying taxes while they sell you all the things they say you need to make you feel better about your existence. Are you thriving? Are you living your best life? Did you get the education you wanted or deserved? Do you get the healthcare you want and deserve?

Why? In the land of excess and gluttony, surely there’s a way to give everyone an education and healthcare, right?

Well, would you look at that. I’ve gone off on a tangent again. One more thing before I go. Something that they said last night really stuck, and it was that 99% is more than 1%. We need to do this together. We need to stand for each other. Stronger together is a popular saying for a reason. That is the reason they do everything they can to keep us divided. We don’t need to agree on everything, I’m not a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. But when the time comes, we need to recognize who the real emeny is, and it’s not our neighbors. Fuck Trump. He’s a 34 time convicted felon (nothing against felons) for fraud, and he is defrauding the American people and according to many reports there are many people still falling for his scam. Friends, the entire world can’t be wrong.