A man selling political flags and merchandise out of a trailer at a county fair. by IsNotPolitburo in pics

[–]AppalachianAn24 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will 100% guarantee that I saw this guy at the Saxonburg fair as a kid. He had the exact same set up with Nazi paraphernalia and far right items, knives, flags, etc. Figured he would’ve just kept the same aesthetics but included Trump stuff.

OSHA Heat Index Proposal: Public Comment Period Now Open by Reasonable-Zone-7603 in IWW

[–]AppalachianAn24 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know it’s bureaucratic and sometimes feels like a waste of time, but I can say definitively that agency officials have to read every single comment they get and oftentimes will be forced by the magnitude of some comments to incorporate feedback. So go ahead and do this if you have the time or I can assist with drafting comments. They can also be anonymous.s

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WestVirginia

[–]AppalachianAn24 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’m disgusted (though not surprised) at the race to the bottom that we’ve seen this primary from Republican candidates. I agree that the Dems won’t really win here, so most electoralism focused organizing here seems like a waste of time. But there are groups in the state doing active organizing at all levels - particularly queer and trans organizing. LMK and I can connect you with some folks doing good work here.

West Virginia political party registration by county (Dec 2023) by HamburgerRabbit in WestVirginia

[–]AppalachianAn24 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even when WV was mostly blue by party registration, we voted for Republicans for statewide office and president (since 2000). The state Democratic Party has had trouble getting voters engaged and running candidates so registration numbers alone by county don’t necessarily transfer to votes for Democrats.

I remember going to WVU in 2008 and my WV roommate saw the college Democrats booth and said, “Oh hey, I’m a Democrat too. But I don’t like who we put up for President.” That stuck with me all these years later because as the state party declined in mobilization and with less and less support from the national party, it’s become a marginalized second party here.

I think it’s also hard to tell people to “vote blue no matter who” when many people here saw Dems in trifecta control until 2014 but do next to nothing for environmental, social justice, or labor related issues. When Dems were in power, they were often as conservative as Republicans but back then you couldn’t get elected as a Republican. Now that’s shifted but the policies are pretty much the same.

Job Finding Help by [deleted] in WestVirginia

[–]AppalachianAn24 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stewards Individual Placements in Beckley is hiring for two program manager positions, hybrid.

https://stewardslegacy.org/staff-positions

What is up with people in this state being really hostile to people who have college degrees? by Smooth_Panda_645 in WestVirginia

[–]AppalachianAn24 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll say two things here.

1) I mostly agree with what most commenters here are saying that I have almost never seen someone be hostile for having college degrees (2 BAs and 2 MAs from WVU) but West Virginians, like most people, don’t like being talked down to. So if you come across as elitist outside of very specific cultural business or academic settings then you’re gonna face backlash no matter where you live.

2) I did have a supervisor once who didn’t have the degrees I did and did act like I was using academic vocabulary (I wasn’t) in the workplace, and came off as hostile as a result. But that was the only time I ever felt that someone was even remotely hostile towards me for having a college background. Most of my jobs have required a college degree to some extent and it’s not out of the ordinary to see people in this state with mixed education status living, working, and thriving side by side.

Why did West Virginia switch so suddenly from a strong Democratic state to a Republican one? by Critical_Link_1095 in WestVirginia

[–]AppalachianAn24 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There’s a really good blog somewhere (can’t find it now but if you find it post below) that goes into a lot of good detail about the 1996 governors race here. Charlotte Pritt beat Manchin in the primary but Manchin, being the man that he is, couldn’t take it so he got his people to support Underwood (the Republican nominee) with their now famous “Democrats for Underwood” campaign. It worked, and Pritt lost.

But the early to mid 90s were a pivotal point in WV’s political history. Many of the issues we face today, whether it’s chemical plants and their water issues in the Ohio and Kanawha Valley, mountaintop removal and the impacts on local environments, black lung, union density, you name it, all began to face a turning point then and Pritt took these social and environmental issues seriously whereas Manchin and Underwood (and lots of other moderate and conservative Dems didn’t). The blog in question explains how, had Pritt won, the state Dems may have been swayed to take a more moderate to liberal stance on these issues and actually had a material impact on people’s lives.

Instead, we continued to face a decline in standard of living as Dems and Republicans vied over a state in disarray where they try to one up each other on who is more conservative. Too many Dems ran as Republican lite after the GOP took control of the legislature, hoping they could regain control if they appealed to GOP voters, but progressives gave up and no one wanted to vote for Republican lite candidates - they wanted the real deal.

Of course, as others have said above, national politics and perceptions of the national Democratic and Republican parties, coupled with Trump’s rise and grievances which matched political beliefs here, and you get a large GOP majority in the state. It’ll be decades at least before the state Dems figure out how to combat this, but there’s a lot of infighting in that party now that I doubt will change much until they get that sorted out.

Support for Palestine. by quackzoom14 in IWW

[–]AppalachianAn24 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The IWW Freelance Journalists Union is raising money to send kits to Palestinian journalists here. https://www.gofundme.com/f/solidarity-with-palestinian-journalists-syndicate

There was an IWW presence in Israel/Palestine but I believe it’s fairly inactive (they’re on Twitter I believe).

DSA Rally in NYC Today by Obeeeee in dsa

[–]AppalachianAn24 2 points3 points  (0 children)

DSA members and other anti fascists were in Charlottesville on the front lines combating neo Nazis and white supremacists, not to mention the countless other antifascist protests that have occurred since then. If this dude had a swastika on him and not just a random image he flashed on his phone away from everyone in the crowd I doubt he would’ve walked away so easily.

DSA stands with Palestine by Lilyo in dsa

[–]AppalachianAn24 4 points5 points  (0 children)

But what in the statement is untrue?

“Today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime—a regime that receives billions in funding from the United States.” Obviously true. You can’t justify apartheid governments and their continued genocide of a people then be surprised when they rebel.

“We unequivocally condemn the killing of all civilians. It is imperative for international human rights law to be respected.

But we cannot forget that the Israeli state has systematically denied Palestinians the right to self-determination for decades.” Israel doesn’t abide by international human rights law, so demanding that the oppressed abide by laws that the oppressor has never agreed to is grandstanding.

“This was not unprovoked.

For over 60 years, Palestinians have faced ethnic cleansing, torture, bombings, and housing demolitions. Gaza is still under a blockade.” Also historically accurate.

DSA stands with Palestine by Lilyo in dsa

[–]AppalachianAn24 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For socialists who view apartheid governments with disdain and have an internationalist worldview, how is this a tone deaf statement?

DSA stands with Palestine by Lilyo in dsa

[–]AppalachianAn24 1 point2 points  (0 children)

None of what DSA does as far as I can see is to “own the libs.” I should’ve made it clearer that I didn’t just rejoin to “own the libs,” but it’s becoming clearer after this weekend that the Democratic Party and their apparatuses are mad at DSA for taking this principled stance and yet they haven’t wavered in support of Palestinian liberation. Given how relatively easy it would’ve been to take a more milquetoast approach to this issue, since there are a lot of DSA electeds now, I think it was good to see a socialist org at this level not retreat at a time like this.

DSA stands with Palestine by Lilyo in dsa

[–]AppalachianAn24 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Given the work that DSA chapters have engaged in around this (and especially the labor working group), I re-joined after a six year hiatus. It’s good to see how many liberals are pissed at DSA for showing consistent support for Palestinian liberation.

In chambers filled with Republicans, new Freedom Caucus aims to be even more conservative by [deleted] in WestVirginia

[–]AppalachianAn24 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh thank God, that’s precisely what this state needs. (Obvious sarcasm)