Thom Ratkos
@thomratkos.bsky.social
Studying behavior, all the time. Antifascist. BCBA-D, PhD. Associate professor. he/him
I hope I live to see the fall of the United States
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
January 5, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I hope I live to see the fall of the United States
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
Had Ursula K. LeGuin’s Omelas on my mind lately “for no particular reason”...
If you’ve never read it before, you should take the time to do so. It’s very short, prose wise, very much worth taking the time to do so and… it resonates in ways that should be strikingly obvious.
If you’ve never read it before, you should take the time to do so. It’s very short, prose wise, very much worth taking the time to do so and… it resonates in ways that should be strikingly obvious.
shsdavisapes.pbworks.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Had Ursula K. LeGuin’s Omelas on my mind lately “for no particular reason”...
If you’ve never read it before, you should take the time to do so. It’s very short, prose wise, very much worth taking the time to do so and… it resonates in ways that should be strikingly obvious.
If you’ve never read it before, you should take the time to do so. It’s very short, prose wise, very much worth taking the time to do so and… it resonates in ways that should be strikingly obvious.
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
"Maduro is a brutal authoritarian dictator," I wisely intone, as the corrupt demented paedophile US President violating Constitutional Law while operating a gestapo and concentration camps illegally arrests a foreign leader on charges which read like they were written on a paper placemat in crayon.
January 3, 2026 at 1:24 PM
"Maduro is a brutal authoritarian dictator," I wisely intone, as the corrupt demented paedophile US President violating Constitutional Law while operating a gestapo and concentration camps illegally arrests a foreign leader on charges which read like they were written on a paper placemat in crayon.
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
This Nazi passed a bill to imprison trans kids' parents two weeks ago.
“Our side has been trained by Donald Trump to never apologize and to never admit when you’re wrong.” Read the inside story of how Marjorie Taylor Greene went from zealous Trump cheerleader to his loudest Republican critic: nyti.ms/3Lbzi88
December 29, 2025 at 3:45 PM
This Nazi passed a bill to imprison trans kids' parents two weeks ago.
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
In 249 years, this country has yet to outlaw slavery. We change its form, we change its name, but slavery has been constant. Powerful people and businesses just really love slave labor, and a chunk of our economy is built on that.
Private prison company GEO Group allegedly made immigration detainees work for no pay. Now it's at the Supreme Court trying to prevent the detainees from suing. bit.ly/4pfafj2
Supreme Court Considers Private Prison Case
A private prison company seeks a ruling that could help all government contractors evade liability.
www.brennancenter.org
December 29, 2025 at 2:10 PM
In 249 years, this country has yet to outlaw slavery. We change its form, we change its name, but slavery has been constant. Powerful people and businesses just really love slave labor, and a chunk of our economy is built on that.
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
On #marxistmonday remember that the class which has the power to rob you on a large scale, also has the power to control the government and legalize their robbery.
-Eugene V. Debs
-Eugene V. Debs
December 22, 2025 at 12:52 PM
On #marxistmonday remember that the class which has the power to rob you on a large scale, also has the power to control the government and legalize their robbery.
-Eugene V. Debs
-Eugene V. Debs
When you know your field well enough to correctly guess your reviewer 5 sentences in 😅
December 19, 2025 at 6:29 PM
When you know your field well enough to correctly guess your reviewer 5 sentences in 😅
I hope MTG moves away once she resigns. I have half a mind to email her and offer to help load the truck.
December 16, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I hope MTG moves away once she resigns. I have half a mind to email her and offer to help load the truck.
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
ICE sprayed a one-year-old in the face with pepper spray.
The child and parents are US citizens, but that doesn't even matter.
These monsters pepper-sprayed a baby.
We cannot allow ICE to continue this behavior, and they aren't going to reform themselves.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
The child and parents are US citizens, but that doesn't even matter.
These monsters pepper-sprayed a baby.
We cannot allow ICE to continue this behavior, and they aren't going to reform themselves.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
December 15, 2025 at 3:24 AM
ICE sprayed a one-year-old in the face with pepper spray.
The child and parents are US citizens, but that doesn't even matter.
These monsters pepper-sprayed a baby.
We cannot allow ICE to continue this behavior, and they aren't going to reform themselves.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
The child and parents are US citizens, but that doesn't even matter.
These monsters pepper-sprayed a baby.
We cannot allow ICE to continue this behavior, and they aren't going to reform themselves.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Congratulations to the newest addition to my muted words. I don't know who Tilly Norwood is but apparently they were annoying me at some point
December 12, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Congratulations to the newest addition to my muted words. I don't know who Tilly Norwood is but apparently they were annoying me at some point
Crying in the club saying goodbye to my lab rats getting adopted tomorrow 😭🐁🐁
December 8, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Crying in the club saying goodbye to my lab rats getting adopted tomorrow 😭🐁🐁
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
Every revolution was impossible until it wasn’t.
Get organized. Study liberation theory. Set up networks of mutual aid. We have a world to win.
Get organized. Study liberation theory. Set up networks of mutual aid. We have a world to win.
December 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Every revolution was impossible until it wasn’t.
Get organized. Study liberation theory. Set up networks of mutual aid. We have a world to win.
Get organized. Study liberation theory. Set up networks of mutual aid. We have a world to win.
Happy Thanksgiving to my rats and some people too I guess
November 27, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Happy Thanksgiving to my rats and some people too I guess
Thankful today for all the people, throughout history to the present, who have resisted oppression in any way, but especially in the effective ways
November 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Thankful today for all the people, throughout history to the present, who have resisted oppression in any way, but especially in the effective ways
Great article. Increasingly important to not allow under-examined antizionism to let any antisemitism into our movements. Be informed! Be vigilant! Stamp it out!
I think it’s time to put this one back out into the ether, friends
Come and learn about how the tropes undergirding anti-Jewish hatred and conspiracy theories as they exist today came to be…
Come and learn about how the tropes undergirding anti-Jewish hatred and conspiracy theories as they exist today came to be…
The Antisemitism Post (tm)
Gotta get the history to know where the tropes live in the discourse today.
www.lifeisasacredtext.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Great article. Increasingly important to not allow under-examined antizionism to let any antisemitism into our movements. Be informed! Be vigilant! Stamp it out!
After reviewing rough drafts, I'm cancelling my students' final presentations like a disappointed father.
November 23, 2025 at 10:09 PM
After reviewing rough drafts, I'm cancelling my students' final presentations like a disappointed father.
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
hey so even if you do sweep Dems into power again all those people who are openly calling for your murder will still exist so what is your plan because last time Dems were in office they didn’t do anything about it and now we’re here and my god we can’t keep doing this why do you refuse the lesson
November 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
hey so even if you do sweep Dems into power again all those people who are openly calling for your murder will still exist so what is your plan because last time Dems were in office they didn’t do anything about it and now we’re here and my god we can’t keep doing this why do you refuse the lesson
An anonymous student put a nice complimentary note in my mailbox today 🥹
November 20, 2025 at 11:32 PM
An anonymous student put a nice complimentary note in my mailbox today 🥹
Today in class discussion it was a student, not me, who brought up capitalism. Then I asked the class what capitalism is and got the actual correct answer 😳😳😳
November 13, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Today in class discussion it was a student, not me, who brought up capitalism. Then I asked the class what capitalism is and got the actual correct answer 😳😳😳
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
The specific edition of The Communist Manifesto that I recommend is this annotated one from @haymarketbooks.org
www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2107-t...
www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2107-t...
The Communist Manifesto
www.haymarketbooks.org
November 13, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The specific edition of The Communist Manifesto that I recommend is this annotated one from @haymarketbooks.org
www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2107-t...
www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2107-t...
Reposted by Thom Ratkos
Fuck right wing populism, fuck the cross crass alliance, in which the white working/lower class allies with the white owning class against, or at the expense of, people they deem others. It's not cool, it's a deadly scam. Abandon whiteness, destroy class society.
You do not, under any circumstances, "Gotta hand it to Marjorie Taylor Greene."
November 9, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Fuck right wing populism, fuck the cross crass alliance, in which the white working/lower class allies with the white owning class against, or at the expense of, people they deem others. It's not cool, it's a deadly scam. Abandon whiteness, destroy class society.
I think there's probably a silver lining to Bovino being the visible face of the American gestapo. Pic unrelated
November 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM
I think there's probably a silver lining to Bovino being the visible face of the American gestapo. Pic unrelated
Read this thread and try to tell me that fascism is some far future hypothetical danger or that concentration camps are a historical topic
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Read this thread and try to tell me that fascism is some far future hypothetical danger or that concentration camps are a historical topic