I’m starting to really consider the whole “reality is a simulation” angle, and whoever is running the game has put in a cheat code. (not really really, but more than I ever have before)
It’s like a shitty unrealistic movie plot has unfolded over the past decade. And every time it looks like maybe things are heading back on track, BOOM, we get another event that just turns us right back on the track to crazytown.
I’m having a hard time coming up with anything I can cling to in the hopes that Project 2025 isn’t going to go exactly as planned down to the last detail.
How are we not going to become real-world Gilead (but with more racism)?
If it makes you feel any better, the reality of Biden and Harris being equally complicit in genocide as Trump reveals that the same people were in charge under the last Democrat administrations as well. It is in fact a simulation, a simulation of a Republican-run fascist takeover, when in reality the system was already completely compromised, and this is just an ideological pretext to expand authoritarian control.
💯
I can’t let myself believe that. I’m not saying you are wrong, just that I’m not there yet.
It is what it is. Let the evidence speak for itself, never let your emotions or what you desire to be true cloud your judgment.
You can’t push back against the person who doesn’t care. These “trump” things aren’t likely coming from trump. All he wants is attention. So as long as someone spins an idea to him that will get him attention, he will sign it. He hasn’t had an original idea in decades. So you won’t see push back in public much. It will happen between the people behind the scenes.
This is something people should point out more often. For me, in terms of policies, the real president are Vought and Peter Thiel. Two very dangerous men because unlike Trump, they are very smart and actual ideologues. The one foil they have is that their ideologies are only compatible so long as they have a common enemy in liberals. If they managed to beat the liberals they would inevitably have to fight one another for ultimate control over the ideological direction of the party (at this point in my hypothetical future perhaps the only party in America)
The next election will be very interesting.
If trump is still functional (in the goes to rallies for a successor sense), will there be someone he can or will transfer his popularity to. I kind of doubt it. Anyone able to take on that popularity is a threat to him. Maybe he would do it for one of his kids, because he might think he could control them, but I still doubt it. So he might submarine his own party.That would open the door for another boring centrist from the democrats that “plays ball” with the party elites.
If trump is too feeble to do any rallies and such. That would allow a trump like replacement to pick up the republican torch. This would push the dems toward needing a progressive trump like populist to try to win. The dem “party” (the people behind the scenes) would fight that. Just like they did when Bernie was up against Hillary. And could end up handing it to the new trump like person. This would be the path to your future one party system.
The third scenario would have trump die in office somehow. Vance would “play ball” with the rep party elite in a heartbeat. And he is more like a pre-trump politician. We saw that in the vp debate. But the party elite would probably back him. It could end up with the return of the pre trump days with boring poloticians who just do what the party elite say, with the party elite m9ving back into the shadows.
Can I ask a real question here? We know from being here on Lemmy that some people have a real hard-on for Marxism/Stalinism/Leninism. Why do these people think their pov is morally or ethically superior?
The whole DEI stuff seems a bit like a Trojan horse to sneak in Marxist propaganda. Forcing people to accept immigrants with different cultural pov in a democracy is dangerous because you can end up relinquishing your country to another country’s agenda.
Should people be more humane and considerate? Yes, fucking definitely. Should there be more regulations against some damaging effects of capitalism? Certainly.
Does that mean people want to give up the means of production? Absolutely not. Does that mean people want to live in a China-like situation where you cannot own the land your property is on? No.
Countries should be free to control immigration. That’s what sovereignty is. But the truth is simply this, all countries need immigrants, the natural competition created via the current state of capitalism demands this.
DEI. Diversity, equity, and inclusion. Efforts within a company to NOT bar Black, Otherwise not white, and minority people WHO HAVE A LEGAL RIGHT to work in the country of the business, from being hired or promoted.
The active effort of a company to not refuse to hire, or refuse to promote black folks from working there. Nor Women, lgbtq folks, or other minorities of any protected class. Which, just to be very clear here, doesn’t include any person who doesn’t have a proven right to work in the country of said company.
Is creating an opening for other countries to change the priorites of the business’s country.
Do YOU understand what what your saying is such insane racist bullshit, that it doesn’t even make sense to anyone who owns a dictionary and knows how to use it?
Anti-DEI rhetoric is a very clear racist line of talking points Christo-Fascists in the US are currently using to justify overt racism, overt authoritarianism, and creating fear and division in a populace, The populace of the USA, that’s been extremely diverse with a large immigrant work force for literally mine and your entire lives, to weaken social bonds in the hopes that Trump and Republicans, who currently are eliminating goverment anti-corruption mechanisms, can get away with killing minorities, revocking civil rights, and looting the county.
Why are you like this? Why do you think Racism, the only thing your defending in you’re reply, is such a gosh darn good ideology, that you’ll gladly give up every right and economic stability you might have had in life, just for the satisfaction of watching Hispanics get ethnically cleansed?
Oh please, if you’re reading anything I am saying as racist you’re just fucked in the head
No I’m very smart, and your regurgitating racist shit. Seriously, no amount of your pathetic flailing erases that. As long as you’re doing all you can to attack ME for being different from you, you don’t get a sliver of benifit of doubt from me. You want to push racist talking points? Then go ahead and stand up proud and wear your disgusting stupid beliefs.
I’m not sure that you’re asking a real question because your question contains a moral judgement which you then use as a bludgeon to attach boogyman words to concepts you don’t seem to like.
DEI is completely unrelated to Marxism, and immigration policy. I get the distinct feeling that you either didn’t know what any of those words mean, or you’re hoping that the people reading this won’t know what they mean
Also “Does that mean the people want to give up the means of production?” assumes the people own the means of production which would be communism and/or anarchism. Not sure what they think the means of production is or if it’s just a buzzword they hoped to toss in there.
I meant private ownership of the means of production,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalist_mode_of_production_(Marxist_theory)
Ah, still this wouldn’t really apply because the workers/ people don’t own this mode of production because, so they can’t give it up.
The people you are thinking of are the ~400 individuals who own the means of product, and you are correct that they won’t willingly give that up.
Dude you read what I wrote wrong, or you didn’t get the context, it’s okay to say that instead of whatever verbal gymnastics you’re saying now. Grow up lol
Well that wasn’t very Mr. Rogers of you, please be kind here.
It seems a little unnecessary to spin words to be correct, you can just say you read it wrong or don’t respond 🤷♀️
Besides that, it’s okay. I know my anti-Marxist pov will always attract downvotes. I want to challenge the premise that a Marxist world is socially just or morally or ethically superior. I don’t want to troll or cause grief.
Just take the L, dude.
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s like reading some garbage from chatGPT.
I was gonna mention that, but my response was getting too scattered
The climate justice aspects of DEI are philosophically meant to normalize “anti-Imperialism”.
https://lawliberty.org/the-philosophy-underlying-dei/
Meanwhile there’s nothing anti- imperialist about something like Marxism or Stalinism, the only difference is you’re ruled either by a single tyrant or a committee of tyrants.
Edit I’ll just say this though, the sad thing to me is that so much of LGBT rights is wrapped up in postmodern ideology, but LGBT rights speak to fundamental aspects of being a person. LGBT rights don’t need postmodern ideology to validate those rights.
It seems like you’ve disproven your own argument that DEI is a Trojan horse for Marxism, because in your words “there is nothing anti-imperialist about Marxism”
And then you go of on another tangent to pass judgement on something unrelated which you seem to very much want to relate
Maybe a helpful starting point, if this is a real question, is for you to define what it is you mean by Marxism and what you find unethical about it more specifically. I’m asking the ideology as a whole, not a specific instance or country that claims to have it. For example I don’t think all marxists would be in agreement about if China’s government is a good representation of marxism (even if they call themselves communists).
I couldn’t even imagine being as stupid as you, bravo on your achievement!
Looks like you do not know a single thing about what Marxism/Leninism/stalinism is. Nothing in the US comes even close to this. The most lefties in the US would still be considered a far-right extremist compared to Marxism. Right now the democracy is going down the drain in the US and they Trump is doing his best to make it a dictatorship like in Belarus and Russia.
Does that mean people want to live in a China-like situation where you cannot own the land your property is on? No.
I mean good luck with that basically anywhere.
If you don’t pay your property taxes, your fucking neighbor can just take your home by paying them for you, and that’s if the State doesn’t take it and sell it first.
Depends on the state in the U.S., don’t know about other countries
Who is Mike Pineapple?
Who just knocked?I want to add a running theme in GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire is that doing gross and inhumane things may horrify us in the moment and make us feel overwhelmed but tends to turn around on those who would resort to such methods despite Tyrion Lannister’s opinion that those method are not to be excluded from all options considered.
The most well known example in the series was the Red Wedding, the marriage of Edmure Tully, Roslin Frey, which was followed by the massacre of Rob and Catelyn Stark and many others, while under the protection of the tradition of hospitality. If we ignore the GoT Season 8 revenge by Arya Stark, reputation of fell deed figured in House Frey losing allies and trade, and Frey casualties far greater than those inflicted on Stark and its allies.
IRL, Trump’s heavy-handed response to the George Floyd protests in 2020 only doubled the protest sizes in the following days. Notoriously after Putin-style LGMs (unmarked uniformed men in military gear abducting citizens without due process) and brutal police action at the ICE building resulted in the moms joining the protests and then the dads (who brought their wireless leaf blowers).
An example that will be applicable to the US is the rise of the French Résistance during the German occupation of France. Despite efforts by German administrators to advice soldiers to stay polite, they couldn’t help themselves and were brutal to the French civilians. The people started engaging in light direct action, tearing down or defacing German propaganda, slashing tires, cutting phone lines, until they found each other and organized. Within two years, they were a formidable fighting force.
Yes, the find out portion of the upcoming era is going to be harsh. People who need services and supplies will not get them. Police will be cruel to folks at the border, and may even hunt down migrants and Trans folks like the SS after Jews. It will be fucking scary, but it will turn bystanders into resistance sympathists, sympathists into activists and activists into militants. And yes, it appears police just can’t help themselves but be brutal, and the resistance will not only feel justified in cutting them down, but will eventually hunt them to the ends of the earth to assure they see tribunal, even when the last guard and bureaucrat is ninety.
Plenty of despots around the world stayed in power for decades and died peacefully in their beds. Tyranny as a means of maintaining power is a “solved problem” and Americans are no smarter or more sophisticated than the citizens of North Korea, Cameroon, Congo or Uganda. Or Spain or Portugal for that matter.
One BIG thing to consider is that in other countries citizens weren’t nearly as well armed as the U.S.
An even BIGGER thing to consider is that in other countries the armies under the control of the leader weren’t nearly as well armed as the US
Yes. And if we go down that path, not only will millions perish in the purges, but then China will take us economically, and may be the Allies to our Axis.
And much like Germany, the brain drain and infighting at the top ranks will slow them down and become an exploitable weakness.
If we’re not careful, we’ll organize a rebellion and overthrow the Trump regime only to have it replaced with another despot, and then (as the pattern goes) another and another and another until everyone knows someone who’s perished in the fighting. And that’s no guarantee of a democracy.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve advocated we do something that (AFAIK) we’ve never tried before, and create a constitution before we try to overthrow the government. Make it public; get legal experts to pick at it for loopholes and exploits to close until it’s ironclad. And then, unlike the constitutional framers of the US, don’t let the fighting leaders take place as administrative officials.
But I’m a novice at history and sociopolitical studies. Maybe we are doomed to a century of tyranny and all we have wrought will burn in fire. But I know instances have occurred in which something different happened, via non-violent resistance, even.
At this point get involved with your mutual aid orgs and community orgs. The more of us that organize to resist, the more likely it will actually succeed.
PS: To borrow some phrasing from Donald Rumsfeld, You build a society with the people you have, not the people you wish you had or might have at a later time. But we do still have access to the internet, and not just Facebook and Twitter, even if a lot of people barely move beyond social media. We have the resources to train people to think critically, to develop class consciousness and civic and political literacy.
Having an idea of the government we want to have before shit goes down is a great idea. I’ve thought about writing down my thoughts for what a better government would look like and maybe I should do that. I’m sure none of us randos on Lemmy would be the people in the room where it’s happening, but if we talk about it maybe we can influence it.
If you’re near a university, get your butt to the law school department and ask professors how feasible this is. (Buy them lunch if possible / necessary) And if it’s as brilliant as it sounds, they might be able to hook us up with the legal experts necessary to follow through.
We are in very interesting times, which may give the notion more traction than a far off whimsy.
We have colleges here in Sacramento. I’ll see what I can do here.
Buy a gun and practice marksmanship, you limp-wrist coward. Complain online while doing nothing and watch the world burn or do what I do and join an LGBTQ marksmanship club, protest, give back to local community with volunteer hours,.
Using a slur and telling someone to join an LGBT group is certainly a choice.
Is “limp-wrist coward” a slur? Seems more like an insult of someone’s habits.
On the off chance you’re somehow unaware, limp wristedness is an extremely common negative stereotype of gay men.
I can only say I was genuinely unaware of that. I’m now curious as to the chances someone might “invent” such a phrase aimed at political keyboard warriors, not knowing its homophobic nature.
What habits?
Complaining about politics online instead of taking action.
Join a LGBT+ friendly group, don’t be a a fuckin fairy about it.
Please don’t demand that people casually buy guns. They are a massive responsibility and require total vigilance of all safety rules at all times when being handled or carried. Get armed, but only if you’re willing to handle the responsibility. Not everyone can own a gun, it’s always best to advocate for educated self defense with an emphasis on de-escalation.
MAGA ICE Jesus no hablo ingles
I mean Jesus did literally walk into temples and flip tables over and kick people out for bad behavior, so this isn’t far off.
I actually have more hope. Every fascist regime ultimately fell and outside of the billionaire controlled media it will be difficult to burn the records.
The reality is that a two tiered justice system will always create a group of people who feel emboldened. The correct response is to document these people’s crimes, and stay mad. If the opportunity to hold them accountable comes, take it.
The democrats still aren’t taking this seriously because they will be among the last to be targeted directly. Their friends are still people like Netanyanhu who flout a similar multi tiered justice system.
Work toward building local governments who will push back and provide resources for people who need it.
I don’t know if this is necessarily a good thing, but I’m a firm believer in the political pendulum, and I believe that if Trump fails to provide what he promised to the working class in terms of economic prosperity we will see the rise of a left wing populist movement in America (perhaps the first of its kind?). I’m not talking a Bernie Sanders Social Democrat but a full blown socialist movement. The risk here is that this movement could rise from within MAGA itself, keeping the cultural/social framework (aka white nationalism) but ditching the economic framework (capitalism). Already there are factions within the alt and new right that flirt with socialist ideals.
Already there are factions within the alt and new right that flirt with socialist ideals.
Examples? Seems inherently contradictory.
When has cognitive dissonance and being contradictory stopped the right wing in the US?
https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/imitation-game-the-rise-of-conservative-socialism/
This next article describes it very well
https://quillette.com/2022/12/27/on-conservative-socialism/
This is more relevant to Europe but I have seen discussions in online boards with similar ideas in the US. The alt right is defined more by its desire to remove immigrants and anti elite sentiment than any economic ideology. For proof see how protectionist policies are very popular among them, when anyone who is fundamentally capitalist would be against them. They see globalism, a fundamental feature of capitalism as a threat to an ideal white Christian society.
Remember how Athenians called themselves a democracy but excluded everyone but rich males from participating in it? It’s a similar concept.
I actually have more hope. Every fascist regime ultimately fell
Sometimes it takes a world war to do that.
If the opportunity to hold them accountable comes, take it.
We had that opportunity. Biden and the AG he appointed squandered it, and there’s no indication that it won’t happen with the next corpodem.
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The stun lock keeps on as planned
Some reporting is saying impeachment is being floated, suing the president has been a matter of course since Obama took office and hasn’t stopped since, he’s already issuing orders that are blatantly illegal and clearly violate the constitution. There are a lot of openings to fight back right now. Is anyone? Idk.
I’m beginning to think this term is more about Vance more than Trump. At least, that’s the plan by those behind Trump.
Let Trump go mad and do everything evil at a hundred miles an hour, which is what’s underway. Create utter chaos and make it impossible for anyone to draw breath and structure a defence. Then when the country finally pushes back (Maybe after about year) and he’s impeached, slip in JD Vance as a more moderate leader and everyone will be so grateful the Republicans secure several terms by turning against and blaming everything on Trump.
I could be wrong. Anyone making predictions in this chaos is guessing.
I doubt this to the point I would bet money against it if I could.
Did you not see that a proposal to amend the constitution for 3 terms was ACTUALLY proposed by a Congressperson from TN?
The republicans do not have enough of a majority in either house to get that through.
I sincerely doubt they are going to convince a third of the Dems to support it either
Remember that you’d have to get at least 38 state legislatures to ratify it as well. Getting any amendments passed in the modern day is a whole circus in and of itself, and I highly doubt there’s enough political capital to get such an obviously targeted amendment (since the candidate in question would’ve had to have two nonconsecutive terms - meaning this applies to Grocer Cleveland and Donald Trump) passed.
Are you un-ironically suggesting that impeachment is actually a viable check on a US president?
The Inspectors General that Trump is trying to fire basically told him to fuck off.
Under a law passed in 2022 (you know, when the Dems were doing nothing 🙄) the president has to give Congress 1) 30 days notice of firing an IG and 2) enumerate the reasons why that IG was being fired. The second any reason is given to Congress these people are going to sue for wrongful termination since it’s blatantly obvious to everyone Trump is trying to rid the government of anyone who could hold him accountable.
Oh yeah I saw that headline when I got up this morning and it made me happy to see. But talk me down the tree a little further if you can.
In the current state I don’t see how it matters. I’m glad they did it. I appreciate the gesture, and I think it was an important one. But I feel like we’re all still pretending that laws and norms matter when clearly they no longer do for Trump and anyone under him.
What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?
What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?
What stops him is people willing to ignore obviously illegal demands, and the more people that stand up to him the more people will be encouraged to do the same. Now, if Trump openly defies court orders and the executive branch has enough sycophants in it that they’re willing to help him, then it becomes up to us to solve that problem.
Solid summary, the best way to deal with authority in general is to ignore them. Mind you someone can always use violence but often times thats a sign of weakness from someone who is trying to claim they have power.
What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?
Trump doesn’t directly do any of those things, he would have to order other people to do so, and the risk of doing so is that if he encounters more resistance people start to notice that the emperor has no clothes.
The more people resist the more it encourages others to do the same. The president is not a king that can dictate commands, and the more people stop obeying the more Trump runs into those protections that stop him being a tyrant.
My concern as well. Trump really doesn’t seem to give a damn this go-around. There were people in place that hit the brakes on him last time, but this time nobody’s doing shit.
What is the consequence of not following these rules?
If the only consequence is a lawsuit he doesn’t have to pay personally, then I don’t think he cares.
I suppose if the firings are regarded as “official acts,” the courts will support POTUS on this one.
Currently the consequence is they aren’t accepting the termination of their enjoyment and aren’t leaving.
If the consequence of not following the rules means it doesn’t get enforced then he cares very much.
Why does trump care if someone he tried to fire refuses to accept that they’re fired. He can still hire a replacement and pretend the person he “fired” doesn’t exist, and as long as the rest of the bureaucracy plays along with him (which it always seems to) then trump faces no consequences for breaking the rules.
This happened time and time again last term where he broke norms and rules that had no codified repercussions. Dems would say “you can’t do that, it’s not allowed” but he’d do it anyways and succeed.
The checks placed on the POTUS need to have actual teeth and not just be a gentlemen’s agreement
It’s the rich buying off both major political parties in the US. One is paid to implement a fascist oligarchy. The other is paid to pump the breaks on the fascist oligarchy when the population freaks out.
In both cases, political bribery has run amok and unchecked. Neither party is beholden to the will of the people. Low voter turnout means Republicans and oligarchy wins. High voter turnout means Democrats and the same oligarchy wins.
The world could really do with a few more Luigis.
