Justin Foster

Curiosity didn’t kill the cat. Curiosity is a killer app.

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What Frida Reminded Me Of Yesterday afternoon, Virginia and I paid our first visit to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Coyoacán.

When you are afraid, go create something.

Just one of many reminders that Frida shared with me when we visited her home.

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Justin Foster (@fosterthinking) I grew up in the cattle business. My family still is and they have been fierce Trump supporters from the start. Despite his complete lack of experience in hard work and rural life, they believed he be...

The only thing Trump has in common with ranching is his ability to produce bullshit. And now he’s left American ranchers the job of shoveling it.

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That the response by Republicans to the No Kings rallies was their usual blend of juvenile and low intelligence snark is exactly why we have the No Kings rallies - and also exactly why the rallies are not enough. Time for them to get a lesson on free market economics.

If you think their explaining the Young Republican text messages is a bullshit salad, wait until you hear their explanations after the Epstein files are finally released.

Here Lies History It has been said that the victors write history.

Happy White Grievance Day!

When you lie about history, you lie about everything else. True in relationships, resumes, therapy, and a nation’s story.
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On brand

Resist or Enable? The Choice of our Times I arrived in Portland, OR on Friday evening to celebrate my grandson’s fifth birthday and to spend time with my family here.

If you have privilege, silence is the same as wearing a red hat. That’s the uncomfortable truth most of us white people would like to avoid - especially business owners and executives.

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Brilliant.

If you lie about history, you lie about everything else.

OMG, this afternoon's ANTIFA Board of Directors meeting went on and on. I thought Jesus would *never* stop talking!

Justin Foster (@fosterthinking) Most people in the US live inside a dimension that feels real because it is all they see. The walls are built from mythology, the light is shaped by inherited systems. What passes across the surface l...

Most people in the US live inside a dimension that feels real because it is all they see. The walls are built from mythology, the light is shaped by inherited systems. What passes across the surface looks like truth, yet it is only a projection.

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How fucking fragile are you to get offended because someone isn’t mourning Kirk enough? Premium example of narcissism.

“I was a convicted criminal, but I was proud of my crime…. It was above all the crime of seeking to convince my people that NONCOOPERATION WITH EVIL IS JUST AS MUCH A MORAL DUTY AS COOPERATION WITH GOOD.”

-Dr. King, on his conviction for violating Alabama boycott law

*emphasis added

It is easy to lament the rampant levels of stupidity, cruelty, venality, callowness et al. But the real work begins inward.

If enough of us work on elevating each of these in ourselves and others, then those who run a deficit in these will never be put into positions of power.

I have been struck with something. We all mourn the death of Charlie Kirk. It absolutely was pure evil.

But there have been an immense amount of school shootings… against children.. and the GOP doesn’t show 1/456th of the remorse they demand America shows for Charlie

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."
- William O. Douglas

Suddenly "hate speech" is bad. Suddenly "dehumanizing" people is bad. Suddenly "cancel culture" is good. Suddenly words have consequences.

The modern American right in 2025, folks.

I Left. Now I'm Leaving. Charlie Kirk’s murder broke something in me.

Charlie Kirk’s murder showed me America cannot unify, only feed its addiction to ideology. Like Jeremiah in exile, I grieve the relationship I finally had to end.

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The Hammer, the Nail, and the Wall In 1517, a German monk approached the doors of his own church with a hammer in his hand.

No one’s calling is to keep things the same. While Trump, extractive capitalism, and Christian nationalism rot the core, business leaders hold the hammer. The Hammer, the Nail, and the Wall is a summons: act, or be remembered for silence.

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If you are MAGA, I’m not saying you are stupid. But your leaders are relentlessly stupid, as displayed here. So continuing to support stupid people is kind of … stupid.

CHICAGO…

Like many damaged men with power, Trump has no true friends. He has people he pays and people he admires. The problem is that most of the people he admires are either war criminals, authoritarians, or sexual predators.

I am a white American man with rural roots, and I know exactly who that “Defend your culture” ad from Homeland Security is a thirst trap for. It was directly targeting white men who think patriotism means feeding their fragilities and cruelty kinks; men who think their masculinity will be found by wearing uniforms, guns, and badges. Fuck that. If you think your “culture” is under attack because the world no longer revolves around your whiteness, that is not a crisis. That is an invitation to grow the fuck up. If you really want to defend your “culture,” then get your ass involved in something that actually strengthens it. Mentor a kid who doesn’t have a father. Show up to a school board meeting and advocate for real civics education. Start a local business and pay your employees well. Learn a second language and stop being terrified of bilingual grocery stores. Volunteer at a food bank. Sit with a veteran in a hospital and listen instead of talking. Support journalists who still give a shit about truth. Raise boys who know how to feel. Heal your addictions. Apologize to your ex. Pay your taxes. Stop watching porn that degrades women. If your heart went pitter patter when you saw that ad, then you are not a defender of anything. You are a man-boy in search of permission to act out your insecurity on someone with less power. There is zero honor in being an instrument of authoritarianism. There is no valor in terrorizing immigrants. You are not brave. You are not strong. You are a taxpayer-funded bully.

@fosterthinking.bsky.social is one to read. His response to the propaganda to recruit for ICE is spot on.

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Statistically, nothing is more trendy than apathy.

If you are still a Trump supporter, here is what the bit in your mouth tastes like:

You are either a supporter of a sexual predator or you are supporter of someone who uses their power to give cover to sexual predators.

Suck on that for awhile and then tell me again how you are a free thinker.

Texas GOP Rep. Giovanni Capriglione...the same man who rammed through a six‑week abortion ban...has been exposed: a 17‑year affair and allegedly paid for multiple abortions. These aren't leaders...they're hypocrites in power. If that doesn’t make you furious, you’re not awake.

The Wisdom Drought By Justin Foster

Wisdom didn't die, it just got replaced by platitudes and slogans. And now there's a Wisdom Drought that only restoring the Oracle will solve. open.substack.com/pub/makingit...