77 million / 155 million eligible voters.

this is what the ultra wealthy made them want. the lumpen’s desires are as manufactured as the hot cheeto dust caked upon their lips.

Now, say it all together class:

FUCK.

THE.

OLIGARCHY.

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Political parties won’t help us

Corporations won’t help us

Government won’t help us

We have to help each other.

I believe people who study public opinion about science have noted that confidence drops during outbreaks and epidemics… if that’s the case, Covid does stand out to me as the first time in my life when laypeople began misusing and misunderstanding science at scale, loudly and as part of their proclaimed identity.

makes sense that when a story of global 24/7 proportions eclipses all other news for 2+years straight, that it would become politicized and weaponized in the culture. our winner-takes-all first-past-the-post lesser-of-two-evils duopoly political system, combined with news as entertainment, and now we have folks that have made anti science their entire fucking identity.

Carl Sagan refered to it as The Demon Haunted World (good book btw). Goya criticized it in his paintings. the Catholics burned people at the stakes because of it.

History repeats; reactionary political/theological movements help ensure that it does.

far as I know, you can’t. they want your sweet sweet monetizable personal data. for Meta, every human interaction needs to be commodified, sold for ad revenue, and charged back to you as a subscription or AI pump and dump scheme.

I use Craigslist personally, the founder has repeatedly refused to sell his business or users data.

‘I Don’t Need Billions. You Should Know When Enough Is Enough’ – Craig From Craigslist Says He Rejected Billions To Redesign The Platform

from the article:

By design, the company doesn’t make a single cent on most transactions. … If you’ve ever used Craigslist, you’ve probably noticed it hasn’t changed much since the 1990s. No sleek designs or flashy updates – just a simple, functional interface. “People want it simple, fast and effective,” Craig said.

Over the years, venture capitalists have approached Craig with massive offers, urging him to monetize more aggressively or sell. They saw a gold mine in Craigslist’s scale and suggested ads, subscriptions or transaction fees. But Craig wasn’t interested.

“I don’t need billions,” he said. “I’ve met a bunch of rich people and none of them are all that happy.”

Colby Jack… tell me you’re indecisive without telling me you’re indecisive.

most people aren’t aware that Air Traffic Controllers are forced to retire at 55. no old, slow reaction employees allowed.

when Reagan fired thousands of ATCs in the 80s, then hired and trained all new scabs, he inadvertently created an enormous cohort who would all be retiring at around the same time due to forced retirement.

fast forward to today,

• thousands of ATCs were aging out and being replaced with less experienced people (less of a prob now than 10ish yrs ago but still staffing is extremely lean due to Reagan)
• add to that the obsolete legacy tracking tech
• add to that cost saving (corner cutting) by aerospace corps like Boeing
• add to that major dysfunction in pilot training, screening out baddies, inexperienced pilots, and dissatisfied airline workers and unions
• add to that Trump administration purges and demoralization of federal workers
• add to that Musk getting his SpaceX cronies hands all over the system to make ‘upgrades’

data nerds can point to historical accident statistics from the past 20 years up to what, 2020? all you like. trend lines don’t often accurately predict the future, they merely describe the past.

I recommend thinking twice before placing all your loved ones on a plane over the next couple years. there’s going to be more of this.

collapse is almost definitely coming. I for one accept it though and believe there’s a low probability of a silver lining outcome for a small number of survivors to build something new after society as we know it comes crashing down.

post collapse Earth will be irrevocably different from the one we inhabit today, but it won’t be all bad. i suspect not everyone will suffer the same fate from war, famine, or catastrophes. humans inhabit every corner and valley of this immense planet and not every place will be made uninhabitable for everyone, simultaneously.

those who decouple from capitalism now and work towards a different kind of society, might fare better. it will be challenging, brutal, and at times exhausting for sure. but at least the orphan crushing machine we know today will finally come to a grinding stop.

bingo. to those accustomed to a lifetime of privilege, equality feels like oppression.

that’s kind of incredible.

spineless cowards, all of them.

facts.

sadly though, even if they stop one thing, they will not stop em all. he’s setting a precedent every future President king of America will use to further the agenda of the ruling class (unless an FDR figure emerges to redirect that power at wealth redistribution).

the president may in fact now be a king and both parties (one party really - the ultra rich) has either actively enabled or done almost nothing to dismantle executive authority since at least Reagan.

the monarchists won control of the country, backed by corporatist billionaires. time will tell if it’s reversible or even salvageable. might be wise to begin building the figurative life rafts.

Rest In Piss

(not a financial advisor) unless you’re making orders of magnitude more money than the rest of us plebs on Lemmy, you don’t get taken to jail for minor tax evasion. you just get a bill at most a couple grand. at this point I’m starting to think millions of Americans should consider the option, even as as form of protest against an injust tyrannical government.

As much as I agree, it will take things getting a lot worse before people do anything like that.

agree completely. we are as a nation and as a community too desperate or complacent to ‘take to the streets’ at this point. until fascism and austerity reaches one’s own doorsteps, most will wait and see and carry on with their boring daily routines.

that said, it will gradually change though, already has. it’s reached the doorstep of more people today than it did 10 years ago. what will be your personal breaking point? what is your neighbors breaking point? no one knows. I for one won’t be sitting back doing nothing until then. it’s time to talk to the neighbors friends and family and decide in advance as a community what we’re going to do before they drain us dry or drag off grandpa for re-education at Guantanamo.

A lot of the most heavily armed

sounds to me like we shouldn’t wait around for those guys to wake up. maybe some of us on the left should arm ourselves instead?

if 10,000 people in a stadium are shouting “Fuck Shit Up! Fuck Shit Up!” it gives that 1/10000th person in the crowd -courage- perhaps even a primal ‘permission’ to ya know, Fuck Shit Up.

if an old lady is standing outside a burning building on the sidewalk and pointing up at a window says “someone should do something”, you wouldn’t start yelling at her to shut up and intellectualizing how she has no right to tell others what to do. in fact, you telling her that makes you worse than her. she’s at least encouraging action while you advocate…what? silence?

scolding others who SAY the right thing, because you’re unhappy they should DO the right thing (themselves) is peak hypocrisy/braindead logic and misapprehends basic group psychology and the nature of humans as social mammals that yes, god forbid, do need some encouragement from the crowd sometimes before taking action.

no one is volunteering anyone else… we’re telegraphing to the person who finally does take action that we approve of their decision to act.

Crooks happened July 13. Vance was announced running mate July 15. No candidate = no running mate announced.

Also, when the presidential candidate is removed from a race, it does not automatically fall to the their running mate. there is no 25th amendment for election campaigns 🤦

if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

the overarching goal of the administration is to enrich US based billionaires and business elites… if regular Americans need to suffer in the short and long term, then so be it. the rest of the media blitz is smoke and mirrors to distract from the pilfering of the masses and inevitable privatization of public services.