Personally I find that I'm kinda lured into commenting on political stuff a lot. When I see that a side of the conversation or a viewpoint isn't represented (or someone is WRONG on the INTERNET - I get mad too easily for a robot) it's hard to push down the urge to come in and represent that position. Usually it ends up being something that seems like a right-leaning position but it's only due to everyone going to bat for the left.

But if I'm not getting immersing myself in this crap, I feel no emptiness in my soul for not putting my dumb opinions out there. It always seems to find its way to me somehow but I tend to spend a lot more time these days not engaging in it because I know what to avoid. I don't touch journals often, tend to avoid any headlines/titles that seem clickbaity or heavily political on any social site, and generally don't use Twitter. Quitting Tumblr made me a lot happier because that site felt like it was tailor-made to push me to respond to everything because by its very nature the only time someone would have their total BS called out is when someone directly responds to it. Seeing misinformation and manipulative posts spreading like wildfire was a multiple-times-daily experience that's just emotionally exhausting.

I'd say the reason you're lured into it is because you give a shit about what's happening to the world around you. It is a lack of selfishness on your part to recognise the importance of politics and culture.

I just ignore it. I don't come here for anti-leftist preaching, I come here for furry art. If it makes you feel better to post the political stuff, go right ahead.

It would be silly for me to complain about wanking material occasionally being pre-empted by someone else's wanking material.

Furry art can't be political...?

There isn't already enough politics out there? Why argue politics here, too?

I would totally agree if nobody talked politics here, but the problem is, many do, and they go unchecked... which is not good.

Why would it have to be checked? If I disagree with an artist's politics, I can still enjoy his art. Salvador Dali admired Hitler, supported Franco, and tried to get one of his fellow artists executed. Other than that, he's still a hell of an artist.

True, but it doesn't mean you have to agree or tolerate it when these people are then enboldened enough to form report mobs and get people they don't like banned.

As they're not a government entity, it seems to me that the site owners freedom of speech would include the right to not transmit messages they disagree with.

You're just saying they're not breaking a law, doesn't mean there's not a problem

I disagree. They're actively promoting their rights.

Look, it's really simple. You have freedom of speech, so do I. I don't need to let you speak in my living room, and I don't need to publish your article in my newspaper. You have the SAME right.

It's silly to claim that the 'other side' of every issue must be given a platform. The maths class doesn't need to bring in a guy who believes that 2+2 = 5, and the history channel doesn't have to bring in a Holocaust denier to give a rebuttal to a show about the Holocaust.

Ok then; let's say FA decides to ban all porn tomorrow, you wouldn't complain?

I wouldn't claim that it was 'censorship'. I'd just go where the porn is. Or, if no such site existed, I'd START one. When there's a market for something, then someone eventually decides to supply it.

What do we call a system where the State can force a person to transmit opinions that the person disagrees with? Right, socialism.

k

"What do we call a system where the State can force a person to transmit opinions that the person disagrees with? Right, socialism"

...WHO calls it that..? because that's not what it is lol

I was actually joking, but you understand the issue, I assume?

People spend too much time trying to avoid politics, that they forget every relationship and interaction is often political in some way as EVERYONE has their opinions and biases.

It is nice to see an artist putting political toons out there challenging the big money SJW and Marxist narrative of this time.

Artistic expression and free speech don't work when one particular group wants to censor or attack anyone they disagree with. There is no freedom, liberty, or equality, when certain groups are treated worse than other groups by not being allowed to speak. If someone wants to say smart or stupid shit, they should be allowed on all sides.

I wish more artists called out these authoritarian/totalitarian supporting idiots that have become so prevalent in the furry fandom.

Keep up the good work man!

It makes you feel better => KEEP IT UP!

You make it a very interesting mix of toony cutesy + politics.
While I understand that the points expressed may trigger some debate and/or plain offend more than one fella, it's clear that there needs to be more communication on ideas, rather than personal attacks.

Thank you, hope it entertains XP.

Most of your political rants seem to have a British take on them. I only have an American take on politics but some of your stuff seems to apply to both countries. BTW what the deal on Brexit? Miss May seems to have gotten nothing but grief over it - sounds familiar what with our democrats always on some outrageous investigation on our president out of, it seems, sheer pettiness.

Basically since the vote to leave, the government and parliament in general have done nothing for 3 years but do everything in their power to hold up, botch and refuse to do what the public wants.

Sounds familiar.

I don't think Brexit goes far enough. Britain should leave the United Kingdom completely.

Then it wouldn't be the "United Kingdom" any longer right?

Absolutely. Why should England carry the Scots and Irish? And, if the Canadians want to continue to use the Queen's image on their money, they can damned well pay to.

I'm glad you do-it's nice to see people out there who think for themselves and not just parrot every leftist talking point there is.

Thanks, glad you like 'em XP.

i find the political stuff cringe af but you draw well so idc

Well maybe when you're older you'll grow out of finding important issues that affect us all cringy.

i don't visit pornsites for the politics

This isn't a porn site, it's a furry art site. If you don't like a certain type of content, don't consume it. The same way you don't jerk off to every adult pic on here. You don't pay for the art you can consume here every day, fuck knows how much content is regularly added but there's a mountain of it. Not that anybody should give a shit what you want.

ok

Damn right.

Entertaining as it is, I learned long ago that ideologues disregard facts and evidence as it suits them. For instance, remember back around 2010 or so when every hostile act in the US was caused by "angry white male TEA party member!" in the news? Each time it turned out to be something else, but Libs just shoved their previous outrage down the memory hole and leapt like a pack of young gazelles to the next false accusation.

It's the same thing now. Just listing the failed claims and predictions sends people off the rails for a few seconds before--like a goldfish's memory--they go right back to the patterns they've been told to repeat.

Tbh, I like it. Keep up the great work!

Thank ya XP.

People can proclaim themselves to be free speech and against violence, but most of these people finger-point and blithely ignore their own sins. Like the Westboro Baptist Churcxh proclaim themselves Christians but no other Christians recognize them as such. Just as "friendly fire-isn't", antifas aren't.

I've been political with my art for as long as I've been drawing it, but it wasn't an issue back when I was on the left. I try to stick to basic principles now, the reception for which has been mostly positive. You've dismissed all those points I've made in your comment, as though I'm just saying obvious things that everyone agrees with already. If they weren't referring to actually genuine problems that currently exist and affect people's lives I wouldn't have drawn them in the first place. My cartoons aren't vague, they're succinct and focused. There's not much more that cartoons can be and mine are less vague than most because I add plenty of text in them. Usually cartoons are purely visual affairs that make even narrower points.

No, everyone does not believe in free speech. I've also never made a cartoon that is "against hate" because that is meaningless. My "job" with my art is to use it to express myself how I see fit, that's it. All you've effectively done here is pretend nothing I'm drawing attention to either exists or is an issue to begin with, or you've not bothered to understand what a cartoon is about in the first place.

A regular insult would've been much quicker to read.

I haven't tried to bully you ive responded to your misrepresentation of my artwork. Who do you think would appreciate that? Yeah you've got this body of work but it's basically vague, about nothing that matters and it's obvious. Yet it causes controversy. Aight.

"Everyone is pro-free speech"

You are not allowed to support right-wing views on FA or your account gets banned. Just look at how it's against the TOU to link to right-wing websites or "misgender" people. The furry community is overwhelmingly left wing, mostly because of nepotism and deplatforming, and most such people are absolutely fine with censoring their political opponents. If they weren't, such censorship wouldn't be happening. The problem is that if we just stop talking about it, it stays overwhelmingly left wing, and that becomes the norm. Which, unfortunately, is not the apolitical hobby that you desire.

Again, you refer to controversial areas of discourse as things that everybody agrees on. Controversy doesn't occur on non-controversial topics on which almost everybody agrees. Your argument is a contradiction, a denial of reality. Simple as that.

How is a popular artist dissing a watcher deplatforming?

You have a platform to express your views and opinions, own it! Don't let anyone bully you into staying quiet.

It comforts me to see people like you speaking sense in a world where we are surrounded by nonsense.

Thanks dude, it means a lot XP.

I literally couldn't give less of a shit about either side because they both make stupid comments while using bad 'facts' and making themselves look like idiots.

However, as long as you aren't shoving it down my throat, you can go ahead and draw whatever you want. :P

I'm not a partisan, my cartoons are about general principles to avoid that completely biased divide. I mean you've agreed with a bunch of em, haha.

You are right, I do tend to agree with that line of thinking. Of course, you also draw cute characters during it that make me hope you punish their idiocy, so there's that as well.

Thank you so much for posting it, those are things that need to be said

You're very welcome XP.

Honestly, there were a lot of issues in the world that I didn't know about because I tend to avoid politics and... well the news in general. Then you started posting some stuff after that one college went crazy holding the teachers hostage, I forget what it's name was I think it's in California.

Since I've never been political I've never actually cared to find out what's supposed to be "right wing" and "left wing" and when people try to make things an either or issue I tend to take issue because reality is more complex than "left or right"

My youtube feed got super political thanks to your links to that college controversy lol... I still try to avoid politics because I mostly don't care either way, but I tend to agree with what you say. Though I do bristle a bit at how your comments come off but that's because I'm non-confrontational by nature and you take a very "I'm not taking any shit" attitude that I can respect but would naturally avoid you in real life because I'd be afraid of you... afraid doesn't seem like the right word there but it's the only one that comes to mind.

I know you posted this journal like a week ago, but I only caught it now because I usually don't read the journals but I saw this title and figured I should.

All in all it's been mostly a net positive for me since you posted political stuff. I find it at least interesting and I'm always a bit morbidly curious to read the comment section when you post stuff like that.

Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it! One of the reasons I am particularly confrontational with my behaviour and cartoons is down to how saturated, how complete the control of the far left is in our fandom. I want to encourage people to speak their minds in opposition to it, so what people need to see is someone who will not bend or back down, but will openly and clearly condemn the indefensible behaviour of vicious leftists. I've been through a great deal of shit in my life and I'm not about to concede ground to intellectual cowards who would rather see those who think differently gone from discourse than actually have the argument. Because, being so implacably full of shit, they would lose. Tolerating immoral behaviour simply because those engaging in it are politically aligned with oneself is to justify the means by the intended ends, which was the great failing of communism and fascism in the 20th century. A lesson with the cost of so many millions of men, men who just wanted to live a peaceful, hardworking, family life. These ideologies robbed those men and their families of their futures, only for the ideologies to surface again as though they are capable of saving our lives. Appalling in the furthest of extremes.

Yeah, I totally get that. The confrontational nature of it all is just something I don't have the personality for, so I can totally respect that you can do it. I imagine it's not actually that easy in a lot of ways.

I'll continue to watch with at least morbid curiosity to see what you make and what the comments say in between my google searches for science related stuff.

For the record, I tend to agree with your cartoons and points, just figured I'd make that clear. Good luck to you as you continue.