u/infinite-long-stocki

I'm really interested in reading more books that deal with a post-collapse society, along the lines of Station Eleven or the album The New Faith. I'm primarily interested in books that deal with the aftermath of climate collapse, and I'm happy to read across genres and age ranges. I'm not as interested in high-tech stories like Becky Chambers writes, but I did enjoy A Psalm for the Wild-Built!

I've read The Dispossesed and loved that, and some other Ursula K. Le Guin like Always Coming Home.

Thanks in advance!

Basically the title. I'm a Quaker which makes me both an anarchist (the natural outgrowth of Quaker values for me) and a pacifist (a value Quakers have held strongly for centuries that is also a natural outgrowth of our beliefs) and I'm curious how other anarcho-pacifists do/don't explain their beliefs and interact with other anarchists.

For me, I'm generally a bit reluctant to openly be a pacifist because I feel like it gets frowned upon in a lot of leftist space. This post is a bit scary to make actually lol.

I don't want to get into debates about violence, I genuinely just want to hear from other anarcho-pacifists about their experience.

How far have you moved to join a community? I'm in Ireland and there's very few here so I'd have to move, probably to the UK, if I wanted to join one. (For USians, it'd be the same leap as moving from West Virginia to Kentucky). I'm curious if it's common to move long distances or even countries in search of community and how people handle the move when it comes to finances, family, immigration, notifying the various powers that be, settling in, etc.

I've noticed a lot of discussion on this sub focuses on brands and I'd love to see more people talking about crafting in sustainable fashion! Mending to me plays a big role, but having to make your own clothes slows production right down which means you end up with less new garments overall regardless of how much money you have to spend.

There's also the flip side where a lot of fabric is non-organic cotton or viscose and it's rare to find fabric brands with certifications around worker exploitation, although there is GOTS and OTO-TEX which certify on environmental impact. One thing I like that can counteract this is the coupon rationing system used by Retro Claude. She's adapted the clothes rationing system of WWII in Britain to her own life, which limits how much new fabric and clothes she can buy in a year. I've used it before and swapped out wool (which uses more coupons) for synthetics and non-organic cotton. Secondhand items don't require coupons, which encourages you to look elsewhere for fabric.

For me though, learning to knit and to mend were the first steps I made in my sustainable fashion journey. I was 13 (bless my socks) and thought if I could knit and make my own clothes, then I could avoid all the issues with fast fashion. It's not as simple as that but it got me to start thinking about what impact I had on the planet and why the system was set up to be so destructive in the first place. I'd love to hear other people's thoughts!

For context I use a manual chair (Progeo Ego) with a Smart Drive and my chair drifts to the right no matter what I do and the wheelchair mechanic can't fix it (we think it's to do with the way I sit but no matter how I sit it does this) which means I have to use my left brake all the damn time (can't use the pushrims instead because it hurts too much) and even that aside my breaks wear out so quickly?? I had my first set for about two years but literally wore a crescent into them before I got them replaced (should have done it way earlier). It's about €400 and neither insurance nor the HSE will cover it. I'm wondering what you guys do to make your brakes last longer. Can i just flip the metal brake bit around so it wears down the other side? Can I get cheap replacements for the metal bits at a bike shop? Genuinely​ would love any advice because they're both starting to wear out again and be unsafe.

Hello Friends! Thee Quaker Podcast recently made two episodes on Quakers in Ireland, one general and one about the Troubles specifically. As an Irish Friend, I'm interested to hear the thoughts of anyone who listened to the episode! I've discovered that we're different in many ways from Friends elsewhere (for example, what we call 'Evangelical' Friends, most class 'Conservative' or 'Christ-centered') and I wonder what differences stand out to people not from here.

I have chronic pain and it means (among other things) that any pressure on my ribs for prolonged periods really hurts. I can't wear bras because of it and I have tried many sizes and styles with no luck. I've been interested in historical and vintage fashion for years and am finally starting to make some stuff but I'm worried that a corset or stays will trigger the same problem as bras do.

Another concern is that wearing a corset or the like frequently enough would lead to some loss of the muscles in my back because it's a supportive garment. I'm a wheelchair user and I've already lost some of my paraspinal muslces from that and have had to work hard to rebuild them. It's ironic given how many people with my condition (hEDS) find corsets to be great support lol, I seem to be an outlier.

I have a few questions I hope people might be able to share some insight on:

1. I've heard that in the early 19th century there were stays/corsets that were mostly or even fully corded with quilting instead of using boning. Does anyone have any resources for more information or patterns for this kind of thing?

2. The main eras I'm interested in that have corsets are the 1840s and to a lesser extend some edwardian stuff. Is there anyway to get around wearing corsets for this? Or using a different kind of undergarment? I'm interested in history bounding as well as just recreation so 100% accuracy isn't my main priority.

3. Related to the above, I've seen some corset-like stuff floating around from the 50s and I wonder if that could be used at all for 19th century garments?

I know this is a lot and somewhat complicated! I really want to be able to explore these eras in some form. Thanks in advance for any advice, sorry for the ramble!