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)?
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 your skills to your community.
In Klein’s own words:
Trump is a rolling shock machine, which a recipe for keeping us scattered and reactive to the latest shocking news. There will be moments when we need to react forcefully and meaningfully to protect one another.
EDIT: This also seems relevant right now:
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
-Fred “Mister” Rogers
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.
A best of post right here, thank you for the run down
There is [email protected] to help keep track of all these things
Thank you! 🙏
Have to be honest, the shock is working on me.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
The stun lock keeps on as planned
I hate white Jesus
Indeed. Western portrayals of Jesus are likely historically inaccurate, it’s more probable that he was dark skinned
And I hate flappy lipped, diaper-wearing, orange peel wannabe Jesus.
Yeah, white Jesus is kinda a dick. We should deport him.
Edit: but not like the Romans did.
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.
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.
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.
When has cognitive dissonance and being contradictory stopped the right wing in the US?
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.
Who is Mike Pineapple?
Most of the safeguards were removed in trump’s previous term, and now the way’s open.
Good luck.
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.
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).
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!
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
Just take the L, dude.
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s like reading some garbage from chatGPT.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.
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
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
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.
I AM the one who knocks out your nazi face to the pavement
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.
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 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.
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.
Open the fucking door!!
MAGA ICE Jesus no hablo ingles
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)
🙄
I have some reeeeeeal bad news for you: the American voters handed Trump and the Republicans not just 1, not 2, but ALL 3 fucking branches of government, on top of a media in which at least 33% is in his fucking pocket and at least another 33% is too stupid to see through his bullshit.
I’m not sure what kind of push back you’re expecting or who you’re expecting it from exactly, but to whatever extent there IS push back it’s gonna be 90% performative gesturing and hand-wringing until at least 2026. And that’s the best case where people are smart enough to vote in their best interest, which knowing how fucking stupid you all are, I’m not gonna hold my breath.
GLHF.
