Laura Kittel, PhD 🦋
@drlaurakittel.bsky.social
Taught ethics and social jusice, now defending democracy. Still researching human rights and happiness. Looking for new aligned projects and a long-term position. PhD in Philosophy.
Supplicant to two 🐰.
📍Minnesota
Supplicant to two 🐰.
📍Minnesota
Tyrants, whether fascist, authoritarian, or some other type, rule illegitimately. Even if they gained power through democratic means, a tyrant is never legitimate, because TYRANNY ITSELF UNDERMINES & NULLIFIES ANY CLAIM TO RIGHTFUL GOVERNANCE.
September 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Tyrants, whether fascist, authoritarian, or some other type, rule illegitimately. Even if they gained power through democratic means, a tyrant is never legitimate, because TYRANNY ITSELF UNDERMINES & NULLIFIES ANY CLAIM TO RIGHTFUL GOVERNANCE.
Human rights are non-partisan. They include & protect everyone: Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc. Rights are the good towards which the gov't is geared. Groups can have different ideas about how to implement them, but if groups become hostile to rights; they're no longer operating justly.
August 22, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Human rights are non-partisan. They include & protect everyone: Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc. Rights are the good towards which the gov't is geared. Groups can have different ideas about how to implement them, but if groups become hostile to rights; they're no longer operating justly.
Human rights are the justification of the modern nation-state. Meaning that human rights are *the* reason for establishing a nation & its govt. This innovation came about during the American Revolution. The purpose of America--& all modern nations--is to protect & advance human rights.
August 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Human rights are the justification of the modern nation-state. Meaning that human rights are *the* reason for establishing a nation & its govt. This innovation came about during the American Revolution. The purpose of America--& all modern nations--is to protect & advance human rights.
If you think that people accessing basic human rights like food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services, w help from gov't, *prevents* them from becoming self-reliant or self-actualized, then my advice on your views: revise & resubmit.
August 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
If you think that people accessing basic human rights like food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services, w help from gov't, *prevents* them from becoming self-reliant or self-actualized, then my advice on your views: revise & resubmit.
Reposted by Laura Kittel, PhD 🦋
DOGE was never about savings. It was always about surveillance.
Over the weekend, we released new details—and now whistleblowers are coming forward too. What’s becoming clearer by the day: DOGE isn’t a government efficiency program. It’s a data weapon aimed at the American people.
Over the weekend, we released new details—and now whistleblowers are coming forward too. What’s becoming clearer by the day: DOGE isn’t a government efficiency program. It’s a data weapon aimed at the American people.
April 15, 2025 at 8:08 PM
DOGE was never about savings. It was always about surveillance.
Over the weekend, we released new details—and now whistleblowers are coming forward too. What’s becoming clearer by the day: DOGE isn’t a government efficiency program. It’s a data weapon aimed at the American people.
Over the weekend, we released new details—and now whistleblowers are coming forward too. What’s becoming clearer by the day: DOGE isn’t a government efficiency program. It’s a data weapon aimed at the American people.
I was an international visa-holding doctoral student speaking truth to power in Australia.
Never once did I fear being disappeared.
Never once did I fear being disappeared.
April 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
I was an international visa-holding doctoral student speaking truth to power in Australia.
Never once did I fear being disappeared.
Never once did I fear being disappeared.
You can't appease a madman.
April 1, 2025 at 1:37 AM
You can't appease a madman.
"In democracies, universities are there to teach facts." - Jason Stanley
In fascist regimes, they teach falsehoods so that students are coerced into approving the fascist state without question.
In fascist regimes, they teach falsehoods so that students are coerced into approving the fascist state without question.
March 28, 2025 at 2:40 PM
"In democracies, universities are there to teach facts." - Jason Stanley
In fascist regimes, they teach falsehoods so that students are coerced into approving the fascist state without question.
In fascist regimes, they teach falsehoods so that students are coerced into approving the fascist state without question.
Thought of the day: Thank God for Bernie Sanders 🙏
March 13, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Thought of the day: Thank God for Bernie Sanders 🙏
Reposted by Laura Kittel, PhD 🦋
It really says a lot about the state of the world when this is one of the least alarming headlines I've read all day.
Asteroid's chances of hitting Earth have nearly doubled in a week, ESA scientist warns
An steroid up to 300ft wide now has a 2.2% chance of colliding into Earth. It could prompt a space mission to intercept it.
uk.news.yahoo.com
February 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
It really says a lot about the state of the world when this is one of the least alarming headlines I've read all day.
Fascism "aims at refashioning not only the forms of life but their content--man, his character, and his faith. To achieve this purpose it enforces discipline and uses authority, entering the soul and ruling with undisputed sway." -Benito Mussolini, 'The Doctrine of Fascism," 1932
January 21, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Fascism "aims at refashioning not only the forms of life but their content--man, his character, and his faith. To achieve this purpose it enforces discipline and uses authority, entering the soul and ruling with undisputed sway." -Benito Mussolini, 'The Doctrine of Fascism," 1932
Day One of our mission to save democracy. Stay hopeful, active, and engaged. Learn how you can help your community to preserve its strength and support of democratic norms.
January 20, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Day One of our mission to save democracy. Stay hopeful, active, and engaged. Learn how you can help your community to preserve its strength and support of democratic norms.
"Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
January 19, 2025 at 2:07 AM
"Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
Glad I didn't waste my time going to law school. And instead invested in something that exists, like philosophy.
So as expected nothing came of the sentencing. We have all been screwed over in so many ways. Oligarchs are above the law.
January 11, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Glad I didn't waste my time going to law school. And instead invested in something that exists, like philosophy.
Weakening and stripping the state of democratic institutions is the point of Trump's cabinet picks. When gov't fails by this design, will supporters correctly understand who is to blame?
Valuable reasoning here. Worth adding: when Musk and Trump make government fail, they will then try to blame and punish chosen enemies.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/31/o...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/31/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Dismantling the Systems That Keep Us Safe. All Americans Will Suffer.
Eviscerating modern state institutions almost always clears a path for a different political order, built on loyalties and connections to the ruler.
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Weakening and stripping the state of democratic institutions is the point of Trump's cabinet picks. When gov't fails by this design, will supporters correctly understand who is to blame?
Reposted by Laura Kittel, PhD 🦋
January 8, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Entering the resistance era. 👇
January 7, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Entering the resistance era. 👇
Excellent thread of advice for the new year, which promises to test us beyond current limits.
👇
👇
Tips to keep democracy alive in 2025:
1. Be Brave. Avoid helpless/hopeless talk. Authoritarians want you to feel powerless because it makes their work easier. Courage, faith, and optimism are essential. Fascism feeds on cynicism and pessimism. Starve it.
www.theframelab.org/how-to-thriv...
1. Be Brave. Avoid helpless/hopeless talk. Authoritarians want you to feel powerless because it makes their work easier. Courage, faith, and optimism are essential. Fascism feeds on cynicism and pessimism. Starve it.
www.theframelab.org/how-to-thriv...
2025: Keep democracy alive. FrameLab New Year's resolutions
Advice for defeating the authoritarian threat
www.theframelab.org
January 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Excellent thread of advice for the new year, which promises to test us beyond current limits.
👇
👇
Reposted by Laura Kittel, PhD 🦋
What we actually crave—& what capital has almost totally destroyed—is real, lived meaning in community. Its absence has caused so much fraying, but it’s not something that can be manufactured or mass produced. It requires shared purpose built in space.
What trashed most social media for most of us was that The Algorithm was designed to funnel people who'd fight into one another, because one of those long Twitter-style back-and-forth arguments farms a ton of engagement for them. Quotes, dunks, supportive replies, likes.
January 3, 2025 at 3:33 PM
What we actually crave—& what capital has almost totally destroyed—is real, lived meaning in community. Its absence has caused so much fraying, but it’s not something that can be manufactured or mass produced. It requires shared purpose built in space.
US is still failing to secure this human right. Only developed nation to violate it.
70% of the world’s population has universal healthcare, but not the US
We are the only highly developed nation without it
Our healthcare is twice as expensive as the average wealthy nation
US ranks last among industrial nations for deaths that could be prevented with timely access to healthcare
We are the only highly developed nation without it
Our healthcare is twice as expensive as the average wealthy nation
US ranks last among industrial nations for deaths that could be prevented with timely access to healthcare
January 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM
US is still failing to secure this human right. Only developed nation to violate it.
Jimmy Carter once spoke at my college, sharing about his work in Africa. Hearing about how many people died for lack of clean water, he worked to help bring it to them. From start to finish, Carter's life exudes goodness and the active desire to alleviate the suffering of others. RIP PresidentCarter
December 30, 2024 at 4:55 PM
Jimmy Carter once spoke at my college, sharing about his work in Africa. Hearing about how many people died for lack of clean water, he worked to help bring it to them. From start to finish, Carter's life exudes goodness and the active desire to alleviate the suffering of others. RIP PresidentCarter
I wonder what would happen if we elected leaders that actually care about us. 🤔
December 29, 2024 at 5:34 PM
I wonder what would happen if we elected leaders that actually care about us. 🤔