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)?
MAGA ICE Jesus no hablo ingles
Who is Mike Pineapple?
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
–
The Gospel According to MatthewLiberal Talking PointsThere are trumpers that read the bible. I always wonder what goes through their heads when they read the teachings of Jesus.
In verse 40, “brothers and sisters of mine”, they think it means white, middle class, cisgender, heterosexual, neurotypical, conservative people.
They really love using
Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me
in the context of abortion.
Project 2025 won’t go exactly as planned, but at least half of it will and the rest will sow enough discord during the attempt to run the country into the ground. We will most likely still be the most powerful nation unless we split, just because of the massive population and resources available.
There are two countries on this planet with more than three times you population and enough resources to take over your position of most powerful nation if they stop fucking around and you guys screw up badly enough.
China? Maybe. India? Fucking no. We’re not even going to hit middle income trap like China. We’re going to remain underdeveloped country for the foreseeable future.
I don’t know, China is kind of closed off. On the other hand, there are Indians all over the planet, they go and become successful in every country on earth. They could easily achieve a Cultural Dominance Victory a la Civilization simply due to the breadth of how far their culture could expand at this point. Bollywood is way bigger across the world than Chinese cinema. I can see it happening for India, even if the country itself doesn’t develop like you think it will (which it sounds like you’re much more familiar with than I, of course, being from there it sounds like). Cultural dominance is part of what allowed Britain to dominate half the planet for a good long time, I can see Indian culture achieving a similar cultural dominance.
India still has a lot of issues and hurdles to overcome before it solidifies itself as a major super power.
If you keep voting for people like modi yes, but you guys still have more of a democracy than China so there’s still a possibility
Nice to see you believe in my county more than I do. I’ve no hope from my country. It’s going to hell.
I don’t have an article about it on hand, but there was one judge who blocked Trump’s attempt to remove birthright citizenship.
I don’t know if its different in the US, but over here a judge would not be considered “in the government”.
Yeah we have three branches of government.
Executive Judicial Legislative
The President heads the executive branch. The Legislative branch is split into the Senate (2 representatives from every state) and Congress (number of representatives depicted by state population size). (The Vice President actually sits in the Senate and can be used as a tie-breaker (101 votes instead of of 100 senators). The Leader of the House (Congress) is third in line for the presidency. The judicial branch is mostly known to be the Supreme Court but also contains the Federal Judicial Center.
Basically. For a law to exist you have to get a Majority vote from Congress and the Senate. Then the president signs it into law, or can Veto it. (If Congress has 2/3 vote the president veto would be overwrote). Same is required to amend the constitution itself (2/3)
Also if the people don’t feel representatives have gotten their issue to the floor there are petitions. If a petition gets a lot of signatures it requires a formal response by the legislature. During the Obama administration he opened a website called We The People that allowed signatures for petitions and if 100,000 signatures were garnered it was required to get a formal response. This website was shut down during the first Trump administration in 2018.
So the Judicial branches job is to review any bill being signed into law and ensure it is not in conflict with previous laws, or deemed “unconstitutional” which would block the law and send it back to the legislature requiring them to acquire a 2/3 vote to amend the constitution where it conflicts.
The legislative branch also holds the power to oust the President if they overstep. Essentially if over 50% of Congress believes the president should be removed they can impeach him. Which sends it to the Senate. (Most every president has removed themselves upon a majority of Congress but they aren’t required to yet). When it goes to the Senate they hold a trial. A 2/3 vote of the Senate implements the presidents removal. (The Republicans in the Senate did not vote to remove Trump, and thus they never had 2/3s of the vote and he refused to step down.). John Tyler and Richard Nixon both resigned before the Senate voted.
In the US, people consider any public sector job to be working in/for the government. Judges, Legislators, the president, TSA security, Park Rangers, Cops, Clerks at the driver’s license office, etc. would all be considered government roles. Sometimes you need to clarify if you mean federal government or state government.
The president, his staff, and his political appointees are called the administration.
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.
There’s the Reagan-appointed federal judge who near instantaneously ruled that trump’s birthright citizenship EO was unconstitutional and expressed disbelief that anyone recognized by the Bar Association would argue for such a position.
Thank you this is what I’m talking about! (Holding my breath to see if he’s somehow overridden or disbarred.)
He only issued a TRO, though. I am unfortunately confident they will find a way around this.
I don’t think they expect this one to hold water, but it does serve as an excellent distraction from all the other nefarious shit coming down the pipe. Don’t lose sight of that other stuff - especially attempts to liquidate the treasury into $doge, $trump, or any other shit coin. That is the monumental heist they’re gunning for, make no mistake.
It’ll be like Roe. Where they lose at every level because it’s obvious until they get to SCOTUS. Who will decide in the GOP’s favor based on the Papal Bull of 462.
Who just knocked?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.
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
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).
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.
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
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
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 was gonna mention that, but my response was getting too scattered
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.
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 couldn’t even imagine being as stupid as you, bravo on your achievement!
You are experiencing what they want you to experience in this situation: A state of shock.
This is “Shock and Awe.” It’s a blitz to make the enemy feel like the task to fight back is insurmountable and to give up before trying.
Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy’s perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight
This is not a military battle, but it is clear that Trump is practicing rapid dominance. He is using the Project 2025 pre-written Executive Orders to execute rapid dominance over the US government and make us feel shocked, confused, and desperate.
Naomi Klein wrote The Shock Doctrine in response to the Iraq War, and this is the Shock Doctrine being used on the US citizenry to whip them into submission.
We must resist this shock. The feeling you have, that it is hopeless, that no one is pushing back, is exactly how they want you to feel.
Get involved in Mutual Aid. Give back to your local community. Check out of national politics, we can’t affect it anymore. Focus on building parallel systems (food banks, community gardens, community mesh-networks, community first aid) for people to rely on since we can no longer rely on the systems that Trump is actively trying to dismantle or twist to harm the American populace.
Losing hope right now means losing the long-term battle against this. Losing hope is what they intend to force you into, broken, submissive, no hope. Do not go silent into that good night.
If you’re asking for someone to push back with effectiveness, you can be one of the first by giving you skills to your community.
Yeah grow a food coop for the first band of fascist thugs that show up with guns. We need to arm ourselves and train just as much as decentralize our food. If you think they’ll go away peacefully and leave our gardens alone you’re horribly naive.
Have to be honest, the shock is working on me.
Thank you! 🙏
I literally went and bought her audiobook after reading this post A few chapters in and it’s hard to believe it was written 20 years ago and not, like, last week.
I agree with all except the “Check out of national politics” part. You cant decide who is President anymore, but you should still keep an eye on what national laws they may pass or should be prevented from passing
Naomi is brilliant and you’re right, her book perfectly describes what is happening to us right now. Thanks for elevating it into the conversation!
A best of post right here, thank you for the run down
Yes, OP’s asking where the alleged helpers are.
Putting a much finer point on it, we just got a 4 year long demonstration of how utterly disinterested Democrats are in helping.
Thanks, lots to think about there and just the sort of thing I needed.
You’re welcome. There’s lots of other real efforts, too. There’s been various successes at people preventing ICE from getting at people. I know a lot of people in /r/Seattle were doing the legwork of communications to help people avoid getting snared by ICE. The West coast will be a hold out. A school in Chicago also successfully repelled ICE agents from entering the school. Look for the helpers, they won’t be from the government anymore, they will be people like you and me.
There is !keeptrack@lemmy.world to help keep track of all these things
I dunno, man, it just feels like the ol’ fascist/totalitarian tactic of flooding the zone with shit until people get exhausted from fighting it has worked, people are exhausted, and there’s this energy of elated resignation, like, we can’t swim upstream anymore, so fuck it, riding the current is kind of fun (and the inevitable waterfall is out of sight and out of mind for the moment).
Thats all fine and well until youre shot on the front lines or happen to be one of the minorities being drowned
Not a single soul in the government is going to help or save you. I’m sorry you’re only realizing this now, but the U.S. government has never been your friend or given a shit about you. It was captured by corporate forces at least 20 years ago, and set down this path to fascism over 40 years ago by Reagan. At this point, you will have to be one of the ones to resist, and you should reach out to local organizations to resist with them.
Can the US government just fire anybody they want for whatever reason? (I’ve seen lots of things implying they can, but I’ve never seen anything stating it clearly.)
Because if that’s the case, yeah, nobody there will help. You’ll just see a lot of people exiting it.
The first day of his inaguration, Trump put forth an executive order that will attempt to make all federal employees Schedule F, basically, the same protections as a political appointee instead of a civil servant. This will make them basically at will employees.
DunkinCoder is correct they are also making it really awful to work for the federal government with RTO and freezing of funding. And the hiring freeze. But it’s not the complete picture, its actually much worse.
There will be court cases with federal employees trying to keep their jobs. I suspect they will fail, due to how the courts are republican controlled right now. The firings haven’t started yet. Expect them soon. There will be loyalty tests. There’s an email floating around asking federal employees to rat on “DEI hires”, whatever that is. Are minorities that are actually entirely qualified for their federal position a “DEI hire”? Do you get fired if you don’t pretend that they are?
Edit - article: link
Who’s going to stop them?
Can the US government just fire anybody they want for whatever reason?
Only when a Republican is in office. When a Democrat is in office, we have to keep DeJoy running the post office.
Not really. The goal aside from probationary employees is to make the workforce miserable so they quit and starve itself in the process. RTOs (especially for those hired remotely, say states away), is one example.
“Hey the government is even more inefficient, let’s fire all the low performers.” - To the employee left doing 5x usual workload at 50% efficiency.
Did you not see Obama and Trump joking around? If it was serious Obama wouldn’t be joking like that. He’d be busting heads.
Trump triedcseveral times before Obama, polite as he is, answered.
Maybe constant new outrage bait “content” drama has caused people to emulate it in real life at scale unconsciously?
Most of the safeguards were removed in trump’s previous term, and now the way’s open.
Good luck.
