Don't Lose Sight of What Is Right

Don’t lose
SIGHTof what is
RIGHT

Table of Contents
How to Not Care: A Guide
How to Unlearn Something You Have
Always Known to be True:
A Reflection
How to Eliminate Dependence:
A Plan
How to Start a Revolution: A Letter
How to Ask Your Brain to Pay
Attention: A Questioning
How to Talk Shit to Power: A Review
CH. 1
CH. 2
CH. 3
CH. 4
CH. 5
CH. 6

The political climate of today is different from what it used to be.
The Presidential contenders of previous elections would debate
fiercely on their own position, but then go out for a drink after
their time was up. Respect was expected, and deserved, and
given. America’s issues were shared by all citizens. Whoever
spoke against integrity, honesty, empathy, and good moral
values like these were looked down upon, and thought to be
the outliers of American Society. But now, people who don’t
hold these values are looked up to, are tolerated, and are gaining
support everyday. Discrimination based on race, sex, gender,
sexual orientation, mental handicap, and other attributes are
now more public than ever, and aren’t questioned. We are
divided based on the differences we see in other people. It’s
not much different from America’s deadly past that most
people think we’ve moved on from. But the truth is, we
haven’t moved on at all. Things have only gotten worse.
We believe obvious lies to support our agenda, we don’t listen
to others, and we justify horrible acts from our idols because
we believe our idols will always be better than our opponents.
We have forgotten that the leaders of any political party are
just people. Nobody is above the morals we set for ourselves
as a society. They will be wrong, and they are never going to
be perfect. We should be loyal to our values, not to parties
or leaders, because people are imperfect and can change.
We need to remember this and hold on to them as we
move forward into tomorrow.
Preface

How To Not Care: A Guide
There seems to be a surge of apathy these days. An apathy that
claims that it’s cool to not care, to not put any importance in
anything, or to turn a blind eye in some cases. It grows by the
day, and is quickly becoming mainstream. In order to not be left
out of this rising trend, I have put together this guide to help
the poor old saps out of the sinking fad of being passionate and
interested in things. Note that, this trend is not all-encompassing.
It still requires you to care about this new way of being, to care
about not caring, and some people might call this hypocritical,
but frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.
To start, you must drop whatever means you have to make money.
Don’t get caught up in all the work you put into school, training,
and maybe college, to get you to where you are. Drop them. Don’t
even put your two weeks in! Just Drop It Like It’s Hot and never
go back to work again once home.
Do you have any hobbies? Drop them too. If you have an entire
schedule filled up with things you want or need to do, just don’t
do them. Don’t go to school. Don’t go exercise. Don’t paint or
write or watch movies or YouTube. This is not the trendy “in”
lifestyle these days!

Friends and family are an absolute no-no. The things you most
care about MUST be the things you least care about now. The
New You™ doesn’t need to care about them anymore. Don’t
return their calls, don’t talk to them at all. It doesn’t matter if
they get mad or abandon you. Nothing matters to you now!
Nothing outside of your home matters to you. Nothing inside
your home matters to you. Your house? Don’t care about it.
Let it rot. Have a car? Let it rust.
Do you need food to live? Psh, no you don’t. You don’t care
about such trivial things anymore. Water, especially, you don’t
care about. Let your body wither away from lack of hydration and
nutrition. Don’t acknowledge the pain and uncomfortableness of
slowly letting your physical vessel die.
If you are already a well-versed veteran in this new apathetic
lifestyle, I’ll include a very short summary to help you complete
your transformation and care as little as possible about reading
this guide.
TL;DR: You must not care about life.

This documentary follows Edward Burtynsky around the world
as he photographs lands shaped by human impact. Little talking
takes place as the shots themselves carry the weight of the movie.
He doesn’t formulate a narrative, he lets the viewers formulate
one themselves.
“I’ve been careful not to frame the work
in an activist or political kind of way. That
would be too restrictive in terms of how
the work can be used in society and how
it can be interpreted... If you see an oil
field and you see industrial heroism, then
perhaps you’re some kind of entrepreneur
in the oil business and you’re thinking,
‘That’s great! That’s money being made
there!’ But, if you’re somebody from
Greenpeace or whatever, you’re going
to see it very differently.”
-Edward Burtynsky
Manufactured Landscapes
A film by Jennifer Baichwal

Honesty, Equality, and Change are the top three values that are
essential to improving society to be a happier place for everyone.
Honesty is the only way to cultivate trust and teamwork, other
things that I value. Through honesty, we can all talk openly
about issues that concern all of us. Equality is a key value to all
Americans. I feel like it is a non-partisan issue, where equality
should be upheld by the law, as stated in the Constitution.
Change is also very, very important, because without change,
we can never move forward in the work and progress towards a
better future together. If we don’t change, nothing will get better.
Values

Empathy
Honesty
Charity
Generosity
Humility
Justice
Integrity
Right to Happiness
Right to Make Your Own Choices
Right to Healthcare
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of the Press
Freedom to Protest
Individuality
Goals
Efficiency
Hard Work
Being Open
Privacy
Trust
Time
Productivity
Sportsmanship
Genuinity
Respect
Equality
Change

How To Unlearn Something
You Have Always Known to
be True: A Reflection
I call my dad, dad. I call my mom, mom. But they
don’t mean the same thing anymore. I found out today that
I was adopted. I guess that makes a bit of sense; there’s not
much resemblance of my parents in me. Though I always
believed that I was my father’s son, not for any reason, really.
But I always thought I had something from my dad, since I
had his square jaw. But, I guess, it’s not his genes that I have
within me. I never once thought that my parents weren’t my
biological parents. Never even questioned it. So…
What else should I be questioning?
There’s Santa, the Tooth Fairy, leprechauns, the usual stuff that
I stopped believing in years ago. Those were probably the first
things I’ve ever questioned about and realized something was
different. I never saw, heard, felt, or had any evidence to prove
these fairy tale creatures were real. There was no sense to keep
up a faith when nothing benefitted me.
Thinking on it now, I don’t think my little dog Peppy actually
went on vacation when I was eight. I loved that dog more than
anything, and I’m sure that Peppy loved me just as much if not
more than I did. I’m not sure what happened. Did he get run over
by a car? Did he have to be put down because of cancer? Did my
adoptive parents get rid of him? ...I really hope it’s not that last
one. I don’t think I could forgive them if they did that.

You know, ever since starting high school, I’ve been noticing a
lot of different things about my new classmates. I see them
getting into fights all the time behind the school after the bell
rings, and it’s always a bunch of bigger, tough guys against the
younger kids with darker skin. Nobody tells them to stop or
gives them detention, and it’s not because the adults don’t see it
happen, because I see the teachers and even the principle walk
by them on the way to their cars after school. They don’t say
anything. If I were caught hitting somebody, my parents would
have grounded me for years. Probably until college!
I played baseball on a little league team growing up. I was
taught by my coaches and my dad that it’s okay to lose, that
winning isn’t everything. But recently, I heard a lot of rumors
about a guy on the football team getting hurt pretty bad after
the last homecoming game, where we lost by a dropped ball. They
say he was sent to the hospital after a freak accident in the locker
room. But it’s hard to believe it was an “accident”. One, because
everybody tells a different version of the rumor. Two, because
nobody has heard anything from the guy, and there hasn’t been
a statement from the school about it. I thought that people really
didn’t care that much about winning, but they just played for
fun. That’s not always the case. I guess other kids grew up
differently than me.

I have to start teaching myself all the things that nobody told
me growing up. I can’t rely on my parents anymore. I can’t rely
on the people who are supposed to be looking out for me. I gotta
start thinking differently, questioning everything, and looking for
other opinions before I fully believe something. I will unlearn the
way I was taught to view the world, and become more aware of the
reality I live in.

Yes Men
A film by Dan Ollman, Sarah Price, and Chris Smith
The Yes Men are a duo that pretends to be spokesmen for
a variety of companies, who make statements about their
companies they falsely represent, to make some truths come to
light. In this documentary, they tell a lie on live television saying
that Dow Chemical company was righting it’s wrongdoing of not
cleaning up the deadly gas leak in Bhopal, India, back in 1984.
They were found out within an hour.
“The idea is to make funny stuff that a
secondary audience (viewing the video of
the action, or reading your press releases)
will enjoy and understand, but that will
not clobber the primary audience over
the head so that they chase you into the
parking lot. (That happened to us once.)”
-Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos

Visible and Indivisible:
The Birth of a Resistance
Movement
An Progresive.org article by Kate Aronoff
Indivisible is a decentralized network of people who join
together under a shared list of goals, such as resisting the
Trump agenda, focusing on local, defensive congressional
advocacy, and embracing progressive values.
Most of what the group does is calling representatives,
rallying, civil disobedience, and going to public events to
make their demands heard.
“I don’t want to live in a world where
people paint swastikas at the beach.”
All of this is fine and dandy, if you’re part of the population
that wants to resist Trump on whatever he does, but later in the
article, the founder of Indivisible, Christina Brown, says “We do
say we’re nonpartisan... It’s a complicated line to walk, but I don’t
want to be part of a divisive group.” This is where I hold issue with
the group.
To be Indivisible is to be nonpartisan, so, if you are going to
resist everything that Trump does, you are in fact still dividing
yourselves and not being indivisible. You are going to be grouped
in with the Democratic party if you say you resist the Trump
agenda, right off the bat. If the goal is to be nonpartisan and
be “indivisible”, I believe the group must look at every action
objectively and on a case-by-case basis.

Not everything Trump does or says he’s going to do will be for the
worse, and some things will be for the better. I think it’s way more
important to figure out which actions they should hit him hard on
that will effect the people negatively, and help guide him towards
actions that will make America great for everyone.

I pledge allegiance
to the Flag (my party)
of the United States
of America
and to the “Republic”
for which it stands,
one Nation,
under God,
inDIVISIBLE
with liberty
and justice
for all.

How To Eliminate
Dependence: A Plan
Tomorrow, I turn 20. I’ve been a legal adult for almost 2 years
now, in the eyes of the law. To my parents though, I’m still a
small child in need of coddling and protection from the whole
world. To them, any kind of freedom or autonomy over myself is
too dangerous for me. They had me tied down, thinking I’m just
too weak to get up and take charge of myself. But they have no
idea what I have in store for me and my own future.
Growing up, I always knew my parents were a lot more strict
than other parents. Early bedtimes, ridiculous rules, constant
punishment. But they took it to an extreme level. They didn’t
trust me with basic things. I supposedly was never responsible
enough to hold a job, or take care of money, so I wasn’t allowed
to get a job or even earn money in any way. They didn’t trust the
friends I made at school. None of my friends were good enough
for my parents, so they never let me hang out with anybody
outside of school they didn’t approve of. They wouldn’t drive me
anywhere without them, and they wouldn’t let me get my license,
thinking it was just “too dangerous”. My thoughts and feelings
made no difference to them in the slightest. They kept saying
that it was the best thing for me, but they don’t have a clue what
the best thing for me is. I’m self-aware enough to know that
I’m not as emotionally mature as my friends; I shut down at the
smallest difficulty, I can’t make decisions on my own, and I lie
about everything for no reason at all. All the rules and restrictions
my parents put on me did not help me at all.

So I’m stuck here, in a soul-crushing house I don’t want to be
in, with parents I’m financially, emotionally, and physically
dependent on, for what my parents think will be forever.
But what they don’t know, is that
I’m not as alone as they think.
They can’t control what I do while I’m at school, so I have a
lot of friends that my parents don’t know about.
Before I graduated, they helped me secure some cash from
helping their own parents with chores or helping the neighbors
with their lawn. Then, using that cash, I bought the cheapest flip
phone I could find, and loaded it with as many pre-paid minutes
as possible. I’ve used it a few times to call my friends to help me
escape from my house a few times, in order to set up this perfect
escape plan of mine.
First thing I did was take my driving test. I convinced my parents
that I was going to one of my few Approved Friends houses, and
they let me go for a few hours. My non-parent-approved friend
picked me up, and drove me to the test. I passed on the first try,
thanks to my friend’s dad showing me how to drive his chevrolet
truck last summer. Then, I drove myself (in that same truck) to
open my first ever bank account. I put all of my money into it,
all $35 of it.

I got my card and hid it under a false bottom I added to my
drawer in my bedroom, because my folks like to search through
all of my stuff randomly every so often. Then, every chance I got
to go out, I searched for my own job. It took years just to find one
that understood my situation, and agreed to hire me as soon as I
found a way out of the house permanently.
So then, I just had to get out of the house. I signed paperwork
for a new apartment on the roof of my house, because I couldn’t
leave completely for quite awhile for some dumb rule about
asking permission before getting food from the fridge. A few of
my friends found the cheapest apartment possible a few miles
from where I lived, and invited me, saying this was my ticket
out of my parent’s place. I signed on right away.
I don’t have that many things I want to keep, so I only have a
small list of things in mind to pack when I get the chance to. I
can’t let them know I’m planning on moving out. They’d kill me.
So, as soon as my friends get here tomorrow after I give them
the all-clear, I’m grabbing only the things I can place in my old
backpack and I’m hauling ass out of here.
If it weren’t for my dedicated friends, I would still be completely
dependent on my parents now, and never would have gotten the
opportunity to be as free as I am going to be.

Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be
Neutral on a Moving Train
A film by Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller
Howard Zinn is a historian and activist that talks about the way
that history is written. He talks about how history is written by
the victors, and isn’t always an accurate representation of what
actually happened in the past.
“Human beings are not machines,
and however powerful the pressure to
conform, they sometimes are so moved
by what they see as injustice that they
dare to declare their independence. In
that historical possibility lies hope.”
-Howard Zinn

Slacktivism:
noun. informal
Actions performed via the
internet in support of a
political or social cause
but regarded as requiring
little time or involvement,
e.g., signing an online
petition or joining a
campaign group on a
social media website.

How To Start a Revolution:
A Letter
I’m writing this to warn those that come after me, heed my
advice. Hindsight is 20/20, but forethought is much more
valuable. I’ll tell you the events that occurred leading up to
my unfortunate dethroning, and I hope you heed my words
and never repeat the mistakes that I have made. I hope you
find this diary to be helpful in keeping a stable power.
I thought only of me and my friend’s needs and wants.
Anything they wanted, I would grant. Anything I wanted, I
would grant myself tenfold. I was able to do this for years
because I would give very little to the people I ruled over.
Thinking back, I think possibly 90% of the nation’s income
went towards furnishing my castle with gold everything. My
friends and fellow noblemen would get a hefty sum from me as
well. In the back of my mind, I knew that this was the reason
the nation’s money reserves were quickly depleting. But I never
stopped replacing everything in me and my friend’s homes with
gold, no matter how useless it was. This was my first mistake.
I ignored every person who I knew was not a nobleman or had
enough currency to be accepted into my circle of friends. Every
so often, a commoner would come to me and ask or demand
some kind of handout, whether it be food, water, shelter, or
money. I would always turn them away, telling them the half-
truth that we had no money to just be handing out money away
for free, and no money to dig more wells in the villages. The
unrest in the country grew more unkempt, and harder to control.

With every bad word against me, I took away something as
punishment and left them alone to suffer. I had an entire region
cut off from communication with the rest of the nation for an
entire year because they dared to say that I was a demon’s king.
I thought this would teach them respect and obedience, but it
did the direct opposite of what I had intended. The region was in
a state of unrest after the year was up, and looking back, I never
should have instigated it further. The traitorous feelings spread
like wildfire from there, and in no time at all, the entire nation
was upon me like a lion.
I tried to suppress them, the tiny little commoners who quickly
turned into warriors and knights, but they outnumbered me by
millions. I never saw them for the power they could have as a
group, but only for the power by themselves, separated.
It’s incredible how they behave just like an army, but without
a clear leader. I always thought that fear was what kept a
population from rising up, but it is by that same logic that
it is what drives a population to rise up.
Fear and anger cannot sustain a nation.
When there is nothing left to live for, those who suffer will
abandon their old lives and sentiments and attack the one
who is keeping them down. For what is there to lose if they
have nothing left? I have learned this, but it is too late for me.

I can hear the metal footsteps of a rebel who is going to take
me to the guillotine and say my last words. I must write quickly.
Do not ignore the people you rule. Keep them as happy and
healthy as possible. A happy populace will not rise up against
you. Do not turn the castle into a giant gold prison for yourself.
Be wiser than myself. Let these words keep our lineage in power,
and let it be a better and stronger power than I ever have achieved
in my lifetime. Don’t even try to get away with any of these
points, because it only takes a little bit to start the ball rolling
for a revolution against you.

The 1983 School of Art
Protests: How A Visual
Community Fights Back
A Stamps School of Art and Design article
Art departments all over the country have always gotten
the brunt end of the stick. With budget cuts and higher-ups
questioning our existence, art majors everywhere have worked
hard against the odds to make sure we’re still alive and well. It’s
a constant battle that many people don’t recognize happens on a
daily basis. But some of our struggles happen in the public
eye, and it’s only then that we get the attention we need to
keep interest high and our funding.

Artists take problem solving to the extreme. We come up with
ideas so creative it would put engineers to shame, and with added
pizzaz. Anyone can stage a public protest, but protests like these
University of Michigan art students put on generate way more
publicity and news than just picketing everywhere. The giant
X-acto blades and the synchronized marching calls attention to
the cause, and puts pressure on the administration to not cut
funding for these departments that already have low funding
to start out with.
In other words, the protest was very effective. If more art
colleges in the future are faced with lack of support from their
colleges and universities, I would hope that the students act with
as much coordination and care as these students used to enact
their protest.

Che
A film by Steven Soderbergh
Che was a revolutionary hoping to take down the oppressive
regimes of the Cuban government in the late 50’s and 60’s. His
tactics and ideals are very controversial, but nevertheless, he
remains an icon to this day as a progressive activist that fought
for the poor and the disenfranchised.
“I was drawn to [Che] because of the
things in him that transcended the
political ideas of the day: his will, his
commitment and his total willingness to
engage at all levels, all the time, in aid of
someone else, for people he hadn’t met,
he didn’t know. He never benefited from
any of this. He wasn’t interested in power.
He twice walked away from everything he
had to fight in a revolution - the second
time with real consequences.”
-Steven Soderbergh

Graphic Content | The
Designer as Activist
A New York Times article by Steven Heller
Graphic design has always been a tool for communication. From
the earliest use of the letterpress, graphic design and typography
was used to get ideas across to another, or to an audience. As time
moved forward, corporations and governments saw what a great
tool graphic design was with regards to marketing, that they hired
designers to sell their product, their agenda, their whatever. A
great example of this is the Uncle Sam poster asking you to join
the US army. This is an obvious example of graphic design as
propaganda, but is it also activism?
One can swing back and forth on whether or not it counts
as activism, but one cannot deny that it is political. Design
has always been political, whether it be directly tied to the
government or not. When a corporation screws up, they hire
a designer to re-create their brand and have them appear as if
they’re cleaning up their act. The only difference between then
and now, is that designers can now create their own platform
for their designs to spread their own agenda.
In this case, the designers used their abilities to create a logo
to bring awareness of a site that has a history to it, yet the
community doesn’t know it. Although it may be more passive
than many other forms of graphic design, it is still activating
and bringing awareness to an issue.

When going into the comments section of the article, three of the
four people who commented see a net positive to come from the
new logo. One person brings up a good point: that the logo isn’t
going bring back the lives killed in the holocaust, no matter how
iconic. Not that anything can, but another question can be asked
from this: is there more than can be done from graphic designers
than just create a logo? Can designers find a way to be more active
in their stances and more aggressive in their art? A logo can only
stretch as far as a person can show it and explain it.
Designers may only be able to be passive in their work unless
they think big. Propaganda posters and memorial logos can
only do so much. Designers, if they are to become more active
in the political sphere, must think bigger and more tangible
than what has come before.

Pussy Riot and the Guerrilla
Girls
Pussy Riot and the Guerrilla Girls are very similar groups that
very loudly voice their displeasure with the system around them.
Both of them act upon social issues and are very active femists.
While Pussy Riot is a punk rock band based in Russia that
performs in front of a camera, the Guerrilla Girls are a group
of artists that focus on visuals and humor to bring modern
feminism to the front and center of mainstream media.
“History isn’t a fixed, static thing. It
always needs adjustments and revisions.
The tendency to reduce the art of
an era to a few “geniuses” and their
masterpieces is myopic. It has been a
huge mistake. There are many, many
significant artists. We’re not going to
forget Rembrandt and Michelangelo.
We just want to move them over to
make room for the rest of us!”
-Georgia O’Keeffe (Guerrilla Girls)

Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as
thyself. Except
thine Mexicans,
homosexuals, and
Muslims, for they be
not your neighbours.
[Mark 12:31]

How To Ask Your Brain
to Pay Attention: A
Questioning
Do you know how hard it is to pay attention to something you
don’t give a rat’s ass about? Pretty damn hard. It’s not like it’s
just a switch you can flick on and off, it’s a mountain you have
to climb every second just to be able to listen to the meaningless
words being spoken in your general direction. It is so hard to
care about anything when everyone is speaking at you, expecting
you to just absorb information, instead of acknowledging my
existence and the existence of my own thoughts and ideas.
They want me to engage, but who or what is there to engage
with when I’m required to not speak?
Ask my friends, and they’ll tell you that outside of the classroom,
I’m a chatterbox. Nobody can get me to shut up. But during class,
when people force me to “engage” in ideas that are not mine and
I don’t agree with, where they force me to explain why their idea
is right and my unspoken one is wrong, I go silent. The classroom
is no place for a conversation or critical thinking, because those
teachers will never accept an idea or opinion from a student,
and will never give respect to one. This is why they don’t even
bother trying to start a discussion, and pass out worksheets
instead. What I’m getting from my “high-quality” education, is
that learning from a worksheet is fine, but learning from other
people’s ideas and experiences is crossing a line, and shame on
you for crossing it.

Imagine this brain-numbing ritual being repeated. Every day.
For several hours. Anybody would get tired of it. I’d get more life
experience out of staying home and helping my dad fix the car
than stay here and listen to the same cherry-picked story about
how great America is at everything.
Don’t ask about how to make
yourself pay attention.
Ask yourself why you have to pay attention. If you’re not paying
attention, why? Is it actually your fault, or is it because it’s not
that engaging? I don’t want to waste 8 hours of my day being
talked at, I want to be talked to, and talked with. I don’t just
want to learn the rules, I want to know why the rules are there,
and why we continue to follow them. I know our history books
tell warped versions of stories of what our ancestors did to others
and ourselves, so why do they still teach it to us as fact? I have no
time for lies.
I will pay attention elsewhere. If I get 2 hours of sleep the night
before and my eyelids weigh 100 pounds but I know what I will
be learning is worth it, I will force myself awake by any means
necessary. I don’t get chances like this too much. Mostly, they
come from outside of learning institutions. They come from
other average people who have something to say; who have
ideas and opinions and different world views than mine.

Because learning isn’t about knowing what one person thinks
about an event, it’s about learning what a whole population
thinks about the event, and all the hidden context that
surrounds it. I will never get that from any school I attend.

First Things First Manifesto
An manifesto written and published by Ken Garland
Written in 1963, twenty plus designers felt fed up with the way
that their talents were being used to advertise products that
seemed trivial in comparison to real issues of the time. They felt
their talents could be better used elsewhere, to better society in
ways that matter.
Over 50 years later, and we can see that still, nothing has
changed. Graphic designers are still being used as marketers for
companies of large and small scales, for materials that are still
no better for society than the materials of the 60’s. Cigarettes
are still being advertised, albiet with more clever wording to get
around their obvious harmfulness, cat food adverts have now
turned into annoying jingles on the television, and still, graphic
designers are questioning whether their art truly matters to
anyone besides the companies that are getting rich off of them.
I don’t think society is going to change anytime soon, if at all.
But designers still have a choice of what they personally want
to do. There are so many graphic designers in the world now,
that if one left their place at a deodorant company, another
would quickly replace them. The one that left can then freely
use their new-found time to engage in art and activities that
benefit society, such as bringing awareness to charities through
their work. Even if society as a whole doesn’t change, individual
designers can still make a difference in their community by the
choices they make.

The Corporation
A film by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott
This documentary talks about how the modern day corporation
came to be, and how it has fought its way to power and gaining
all the rights as an individual American citizen.
“My overriding objective in making The
Corporation and its sequel (in progress)
was, and remains, to foster in viewers
a critical distance on the corporations
and the corporate culture that envelop
us all. New perspectives on today’s
dauntingly complex problems come from
within as well as without, which is why
The Corporation films strive to include
the views of both critics and thoughtful
leaders of big corporations who are
working to advance significant value
shifts while contending with challenging
institutional constraints.”
-Mark Achbar

Graphic Design as Political
Practice: A Conversation
with Metahaven
A HyperAllergic article by Kyle Chayka
Metahaven is a small design studio based out of Amsterdam
that focuses their designs on small, away-from-the-mainstream
sort of groups or projects that would normally never get a
fully designed brand. Sealand is a micronation that was
born because of a loophole, and will likely never become
any sort of real nation with any kind of power. Of course,
Metahaven picked it up.
Metahaven also picked up the branding for Wikileaks before it
became a huge player in the political sphere. While a conceptual
design was really what they were aiming for, what Wikileaks
needed was money from merchandising, so Metahaven helped get
their store off the ground and started designing mugs and shirts.
In the second half of the interview with Metahaven,
HyperAllergic asks if they think graphic design can change
anything in the world. Metahaven responds realistically, saying
that it can affect “A lot, I guess, but only in combination with
other things, not so much on its own,” which I think summarizes
graphic design greatly. A poster or logo cannot change things as
drastically as real action can, but the action will be noticed more
if it has an effective brand in front of it showing it off, which is
exactly what Wikileaks has done.

A is for Activism
B is for Bigotry
C is for Campaign
D is for Discriminate
E is for Enmity
F is for Fight
G is for Government
H is for Homophobia
I is for Ignorance
J is for Justice
K is for Kindness
L is for Legal
M is for Military
N is for Never
O is for Ostracize
P is for Political
Q is for Question
R is for Racism
S is for Sexism
T is for Truth
U is for Unity
V is for Virtue
W is for Withheld
X is for Xenophobia
Y is for Yearning
Z is for Zealot

How To Talk Shit To Power:
A Review
Dear Congressman,
How dare you. How dare you cast aside your own people to
benefit your wallet. How dare you talk to the common people
like you know the struggle we live every day, but the only thing
you know is privileged. You were born into money, and you
fight not for the rights of the people you represent, but you
fight the rules and regulations put in place to keep us safe and
out of harm’s way from people like you. Passing sketchy laws to
keep yourself in office for years and taking bribes from greedy
billionaires is not the kind of thing I want my representative to
be doing. So guess what I’m NOT going to do? That’s right, vote
for a slimy bastard like YOU. How about you go shove your
million-dollar jet up your ass and go fuck yourself, cunt.
-Your Ex-Voter

Dear Boss,
While I have quite enjoyed my time here at your company,
I am sorry to announce that I am quitting. Right now, as you
read this. I have reached a point where your constant harassment,
touching, and overstepping of boundaries have gone way beyond
my tolerance limit. I have attached a restraining order to this
letter, that comes into effect immediately after you open this.
I have packed up my desk and I will be gone by the time this
lands on your desk. I’m sorry it had to end this way, but I just
cannot work or be around you anymore. I humbly suggest you
stop trying to call me during the night, or at all, and to focus
your attention on therapy.
-Sincerely, Not Your Personal Plaything

Dear Billion-Dollar Company,
You think you can get away with all the laws you’ve been
breaking? You think you can get away with destroying my
homeland, my water, and my food source? Think again. The
whole world knows what you value now, and it’s not human
life. It’s wealth and power. I’m not the only person who has
decided to boycott your stores and merchandise, you know.
I’m one of thousands, if not millions, of people who have
decided not to take another step inside your store! If you
won’t learn from your mistakes, we the people will punish
you with our money and our spending choices. Do not think
that you can get away with this again, because you won’t even
have the extra money to pull it off!

-Signed, Your Lost Customers

Don’t let your life be passive, there are too many wrongdoings
happening in the world to just sit back and let whatever is going
to happen, happen. Remember not to just stand up for yourself,
but for others too, because we’re all just trying to live the best,
most satisfying life we can. I’ve turned this book into one long
explanation of why I care, and why others should too, but it’s
nowhere close to being effective as a tool for change. I still plan on
using my designs to fight for what is right, but designs can never
be a substitute for being active in the community. Stand up and
be extremely loyal to your values, not a politician or a company.
Don’t sacrifice your rights because you’re afraid of retaliation. If
they shit all over you, then you have every right to talk shit all
about them. But, if you remember nothing else, please remember
this one thing:
Don’t lose sight of what is right.

Sincerely
An alternative song by Stephen
“Sincerely” is a song published in 2016, during the campaign
for Presidency. It’s part of Stephen’s debut album, also named
Sincerely. It’s part of the electronic and alternative genre and
isn’t too mainstream in the way that pop songs go, but in the
genre, it is pretty popular. An accompanying song off this album
would be “Crossfire” and “Crossfire pt 2”, which talk more about
the war that’s created between two groups and how innocent
people are caught in the middle of it. Crossfire is a bigger hit than
Sincerely was, but Sincerely is much more specific protest song,
and that’s why I chose this one over Crossfire.
As a quick summary, Sincerely talks about how the government
isn’t working for us, the American people, and how we should
rise up and change it. It especially has a place in a Trump
Presidency, talking about “Do you care for the truth if you’re
not entertained?” People nowadays will call anything “fake news”
or “alternative fact”. Even when it really is true, people refuse
to believe it, in favor of a narrative that already fits their views.
If it’s not in line with their own thinking, it’s not true. It’s not
entertaining to just accept what is true, it’s more fun to dispute
it and feel superior.

On the other hand, in his line, “The truth is like a black bouquet”,
it could be referring to all the secrets the government is
withholding (or leaking) to us. The hacking of the campaign by
Russia, the purging of information about climate change off
the government websites, and other such issues are good that
they came to light, but it’s still not a good situation. You get the
flowers, but they’re not ideal.
In the middle part of verse 1, he talks straight to the people who
would rather be complacent and lazy in a burning world than get
up and do something about it. He goes on throughout the song to
encourage people to stand up in the face of injustice, that if they
truly care about something wrong that’s happening, they have
the power to change it; but only if they take action.
This song was the first song to pop into my head when I thought
of “protest song”. It’s real, it’s emotional, and it has a lot of
meaning packed into a 4 minute song. His words are masterly
written in a way that doesn’t overly explain, and to the people
that understand his sentiment, can relate to very well. His
anger, frustration, and overall disatisfaction with how America
is operating can be heard through this song. In the heated
political climate of 2017, Sincerely resonates with a lot of young
people, including me, who are discovering and learning just how
unfair our society and government are to the people who live in it.

“My generation has been mislead.
We were told to fit in, pass our classes,
go to college and prematurely select
careers that we don’t love so we can
work the rest of our lives to pay back
the debt. Our curriculums smothered
our creativity and evaluated our worth
through standardized testing and
our willingness to accept indentured
servitude. We were promised
independence, but all that our efforts
have earned us is the illusion of freedom.

And we live in the illusion of democracy.
In exchange for the continued support
of a financial system that is structured to
benefit the rich and entrap the average
working adult, the majority of today’s
presidential candidates rely heavily
on large donations from billion dollar
corporations. These elected politicians
are not fulfilling their promises for
equality, sustainability and progress;
they are confined by the selfish agendas
of the ultra-elite that they are indebted
to – many of whom profit off of war,
disease, fear and resources that destroy
our environment.

I’m only twenty-four years old. I’m no
expert in politics, but I know that this
isn’t right. Music was the crane that
pulled me out of the machine, and now
that I can see what’s happening, I want
to pull you out too. “Sincerely” is my
invitation to the ones who are ready for
change, both within themselves and
within their country.”
-Sincerely, Stephen

[Verse 1]
I’m calling this the love crusade
The truth is like a black bouquet
Money’s got us all enslaved
The bullets and the bombs we make, oh, no
It doesn’t have to be this way
But I promise it’ll stay this way
If you would rather hear me say
That everything is all okay
I don’t care for your drugs, I don’t care for your fame
Do you care for the truth if you’re not entertained?
I can see through your eyes, I can see through your pain
And you’re scared to admit, you feel out of place
[Chorus]
Can you hear that, darling?
A revolution’s calling
No child of ours should have to starve
Should have to die for us
Can you feel that, darling?
The monster’s marching
This is it, this invitation is
For the ones who love
Sincerely

[Verse 2]
I’m telling you, the world looks perfect from a plane
A couple miles up and we all look the same
One love tryna show us the way
One love that is trying to change
And if we connect with that, then we should be enraged
These fat cats want us lost in the maze
And they’re scared ‘cause we’re breaking the chain
They’re scared ‘cause we’re ‘bout to escape
[Chorus]
Sincerely

[Bridge]
There’s a billion people
That could use a hero
Come together, we’re the tether
Of this love that’s spinning ‘round
We could be that miracle
[Chorus]
Sincerely

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