The Belligerent Optimist
@sharestuff.bsky.social
Doing democracy, policy, transparency, participation and space things. Occasionally at the same time.
Also writing scifi.
https://thebelligerentoptimist.ghost.io/
IDIC🖖
Also writing scifi.
https://thebelligerentoptimist.ghost.io/
IDIC🖖
Pinned
Hi folks. I used to do refugee support. Then I mapped social geometry and trust networks in revolutions for 5 years, was a diplomat for a bit, built a research transparency tool. Now I lead projects in democratic sustainability, disinfo response for local gov & citizen space policy. #Introduction
Tens of thousands of Iranians being slaughtered. Continued suffering for Gaza. Yet the world is fixated on America.
This is not me diminishing anything. ICE is awful. But we need to get radically better at processing more if we want to actually mount a serious challenge to the avalanche of evil.
This is not me diminishing anything. ICE is awful. But we need to get radically better at processing more if we want to actually mount a serious challenge to the avalanche of evil.
January 25, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Tens of thousands of Iranians being slaughtered. Continued suffering for Gaza. Yet the world is fixated on America.
This is not me diminishing anything. ICE is awful. But we need to get radically better at processing more if we want to actually mount a serious challenge to the avalanche of evil.
This is not me diminishing anything. ICE is awful. But we need to get radically better at processing more if we want to actually mount a serious challenge to the avalanche of evil.
With everyone saying "I didn't have xyz on my bingo card"... I decided to make one.
I present - my 2026 bingo card.
I present - my 2026 bingo card.
January 21, 2026 at 1:14 PM
With everyone saying "I didn't have xyz on my bingo card"... I decided to make one.
I present - my 2026 bingo card.
I present - my 2026 bingo card.
Reposted by The Belligerent Optimist
I am very far from versed in geopolitics but I don't get the phrase "rules-based world order"
Israel set about committing weaponised mass murder of tens of thousands of families a few years ago which you'd think would be against the rules, and a western countries responded by giving them more guns?
Israel set about committing weaponised mass murder of tens of thousands of families a few years ago which you'd think would be against the rules, and a western countries responded by giving them more guns?
January 21, 2026 at 10:33 AM
I am very far from versed in geopolitics but I don't get the phrase "rules-based world order"
Israel set about committing weaponised mass murder of tens of thousands of families a few years ago which you'd think would be against the rules, and a western countries responded by giving them more guns?
Israel set about committing weaponised mass murder of tens of thousands of families a few years ago which you'd think would be against the rules, and a western countries responded by giving them more guns?
I wish the Total Perspective Vortex was a real thing.
January 21, 2026 at 10:40 AM
I wish the Total Perspective Vortex was a real thing.
I know this doesn’t apply to a lot of of you, but listening to Americans apologise and opine to each other and the word about how “Americans are too…” or “Americans won’t act until…” really is the most spectacular case of the bystanders effect I’ve ever seen. It’s you. You’re them.
January 20, 2026 at 7:35 AM
I know this doesn’t apply to a lot of of you, but listening to Americans apologise and opine to each other and the word about how “Americans are too…” or “Americans won’t act until…” really is the most spectacular case of the bystanders effect I’ve ever seen. It’s you. You’re them.
Our grandchildren will despise us.
And they’ll be right to do so.
And they’ll be right to do so.
January 19, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Our grandchildren will despise us.
And they’ll be right to do so.
And they’ll be right to do so.
Europeans slowly realising why burning American flags seems to be such a prominent pastime in other parts of the world.
And like, not one European has even been bombed yet.
And like, not one European has even been bombed yet.
January 19, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Europeans slowly realising why burning American flags seems to be such a prominent pastime in other parts of the world.
And like, not one European has even been bombed yet.
And like, not one European has even been bombed yet.
Gotta wonder if this whole thing would just evaporate if someone showed trump a globe instead of a Mercator projection.
January 19, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Gotta wonder if this whole thing would just evaporate if someone showed trump a globe instead of a Mercator projection.
Just think where we might be if everyone were just a tad less racist and a smidge less greedy.
January 17, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Just think where we might be if everyone were just a tad less racist and a smidge less greedy.
Trump won’t be judged like Hitler. And Republicans won’t be judged like Nazis. History will pick them apart as unique precisely because of their significance. But ordinary Americans on the other hand, will be judged like the Germans and treated with far less nuance.
January 11, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Trump won’t be judged like Hitler. And Republicans won’t be judged like Nazis. History will pick them apart as unique precisely because of their significance. But ordinary Americans on the other hand, will be judged like the Germans and treated with far less nuance.
This song is etched into my memory from childhood. It’s always been relevant. And it sadly will continue to be for some time yet.
Patriot Game (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - March 17, 1963)
YouTube video by The Clancy Brothers - Topic
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 6:59 AM
This song is etched into my memory from childhood. It’s always been relevant. And it sadly will continue to be for some time yet.
The internet sucks. Time for a reboot. May I suggest…
Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net
Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net is Homer's Internet company from the episode "Das Bus". The company's headquarters is the dining room of 742 Evergreen Terrace. It is never made clear what the company sell...
simpsons.fandom.com
December 16, 2025 at 6:49 AM
The internet sucks. Time for a reboot. May I suggest…
All the coolest people were in Cairo
November 5, 2025 at 6:57 AM
All the coolest people were in Cairo
I fully support a Kirk Remembrance Day.
Wait I’m just being told… I’m sorry what’s that?
Who?
Wait I’m just being told… I’m sorry what’s that?
Who?
September 20, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I fully support a Kirk Remembrance Day.
Wait I’m just being told… I’m sorry what’s that?
Who?
Wait I’m just being told… I’m sorry what’s that?
Who?
I'm not over the moon that I turned out right about all this 8 months before the orange dickhead won his first election. But I stand by the analogy.
September 19, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I'm not over the moon that I turned out right about all this 8 months before the orange dickhead won his first election. But I stand by the analogy.
Hope is punk now.
And being the eternal belligerent optimist I am, I guess that makes me cool.
It took a while, but you were right all along Mum.
And being the eternal belligerent optimist I am, I guess that makes me cool.
It took a while, but you were right all along Mum.
September 10, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Hope is punk now.
And being the eternal belligerent optimist I am, I guess that makes me cool.
It took a while, but you were right all along Mum.
And being the eternal belligerent optimist I am, I guess that makes me cool.
It took a while, but you were right all along Mum.
Age turns music from a parade of dreams to a procession of memories.
September 9, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Age turns music from a parade of dreams to a procession of memories.
This (what the emperor said), but unironically.
I’m sick of folks buying into the images authoritarians have painted on the inside of our eyelids. Democracy is the engine of human freedom and one of the best damn ideas we’ve ever come up with. It just needs fixing.
I’m sick of folks buying into the images authoritarians have painted on the inside of our eyelids. Democracy is the engine of human freedom and one of the best damn ideas we’ve ever come up with. It just needs fixing.
The 'Do Nothing' Democracy (and what to do about it)
Democracy has stalled. It lacks vision. It's consumed by feckless conflict. And it's starting to believe the bullshit authoritarians say about it. But we can fix it. We have the technology.
thebelligerentoptimist.ghost.io
September 9, 2025 at 11:38 AM
This (what the emperor said), but unironically.
I’m sick of folks buying into the images authoritarians have painted on the inside of our eyelids. Democracy is the engine of human freedom and one of the best damn ideas we’ve ever come up with. It just needs fixing.
I’m sick of folks buying into the images authoritarians have painted on the inside of our eyelids. Democracy is the engine of human freedom and one of the best damn ideas we’ve ever come up with. It just needs fixing.
So here’s my pitch. A late night show, with all the trimmings, but they just pull randoms off the street and introduce/treat them like they’re ‘important’ celebrities.
We got a great show for you tonight. Josh is here! He waited tables for 3 years and now he’s starting an animal shelter!
We got a great show for you tonight. Josh is here! He waited tables for 3 years and now he’s starting an animal shelter!
July 18, 2025 at 6:08 AM
So here’s my pitch. A late night show, with all the trimmings, but they just pull randoms off the street and introduce/treat them like they’re ‘important’ celebrities.
We got a great show for you tonight. Josh is here! He waited tables for 3 years and now he’s starting an animal shelter!
We got a great show for you tonight. Josh is here! He waited tables for 3 years and now he’s starting an animal shelter!
I’m convinced that history will judge Millennials even more harshly than their boomer parents. We grew up so consumed with expectation and self righteousness and believing we deserved what our parents had, that we gave up the last chance to properly change things before it all turned to shit.
July 4, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I’m convinced that history will judge Millennials even more harshly than their boomer parents. We grew up so consumed with expectation and self righteousness and believing we deserved what our parents had, that we gave up the last chance to properly change things before it all turned to shit.
The Great War for Peace continues.
June 23, 2025 at 10:56 AM
The Great War for Peace continues.
Just read that @nature.com is adopting transparent peer review across the board.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
You folks should really look at using Stone - the free tool built explicitly for that purpose. Produces embedable records of review.
www.writeinstone.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
You folks should really look at using Stone - the free tool built explicitly for that purpose. Produces embedable records of review.
www.writeinstone.com
Write In Stone
Research is valuable. Make it visible.
www.writeinstone.com
June 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Just read that @nature.com is adopting transparent peer review across the board.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
You folks should really look at using Stone - the free tool built explicitly for that purpose. Produces embedable records of review.
www.writeinstone.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
You folks should really look at using Stone - the free tool built explicitly for that purpose. Produces embedable records of review.
www.writeinstone.com
Happy Captain Picard Day!
June 16, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Happy Captain Picard Day!
Mass protests > Military parades
June 14, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Mass protests > Military parades