this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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[–] Aceticon@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

The very same people whose Election Campaign Strategy was "Not voting for us is the same as voting for a guy who will round up Transexuals and put them in concentration camps whilst turning America into the Fourth Reich" rather than, you know, actually having a list of measures to make life better for most people, have continued with the hyperbolic alarmism so as to keep their supporters enraged against the "other" lest they stop, think, and figure out that the Democrat Leaders could have done way more than they did to appeal to voters and hence have a large slice, maybe even most, of the blame for Trump getting elected again.

The reality is that people mostly have to wait and see, since there are a lot of ways to stop or at least undermine the most autocratic Republican tendencies, plus the most intelligent Republicans (i.e. the sociopaths at the top of the party doing it for their own personal upside maximization rather than the "true believer" useful idiots) are well aware that the system only works as well as it does (i.e. from their point of view, only produces maximum wealth for their wealthy patrons and hence they themselves) if people in general think they live in a Democracy and their vote counts.

Also keep in mind that the factions of the real power in American - the Wealthy - will carry on fighting for themselves as they've always been doing, no matter what the façade which is the Theatre of Politics looks like (they're apolitical and buy, bully or swindle people on both sides of the aisle).

America is an experiment in seeing how far the squeezing machine can be made to squeeze the masses without breaking, but none of the real power of the land is interested in it actually breaking and stopping delivering them maximum wealth increases, and as a country which doesn't have enough natural resources for the wealthy to extract maximum wealth without most of the population going along with it, they too are not interested in letting it get to the same kind of situation as for example Russia. Absolutelly, their process doesn't deal well with systemic problems of the Tragedy Of The Commons kind - hence things like Housing Inflation starting to asphixiate the rest of the Economy - but it does work for stopping direct singular actions that would mess with the interests of Wealth, such as the kind of legislation required to establish an Autocratic Regime in the US.

I'm not saying that the Wealthy will save the rest because they care, but as it so happens it's in the best interest of the real power of the land - Money - that the machinery that keeps the rest producing wealth to enrich them does not break, so their interests are aligned which those of common people who don't want Autocracy.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 46 points 15 hours ago (9 children)

The Democrats gave up so easily and went "I guess we hate transpeople now? Is that why we lost? We didn't hate transpeople enough?" so quickly, that I"m wondering if Trump's election was part of the fucking plan to begin with.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 15 points 12 hours ago

No, some of them were already transphobic but thought they'd lose an election for admitting it. Now they think they will win because of it. They need to learn a lesson.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 7 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Second time I've seen this commented, but I must have missed a headline - can someone point me to what this is referencing?

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[–] pyre@lemmy.world 17 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

dude they banned a trans congresswoman from the women's bathroom and being a democrat she just went "ok, I'll pee in the men's room I guess"

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 12 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

That I get from a certain angle. There's immense pressure on "firsts" to show that they're not there to implement radical change. That they can just be a functional member of an organization. First woman in a fighter jet, first trans person in Congress, it's the same pressure mechanism. They want to show they can do the job first and foremost.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 15 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (2 children)

how did that work out for Obama? he capitulated and capitulated, and removed progressive options from the table just to get them to sit on it, and negotiated with himself on their behalf, compromised on his compromises. what happened? radical Marxist. lol.

you think she's suddenly going to be accepted because she basically agrees she's kind of a man, a little bit, actually? no.

nah democrats just don't have a spine. and that is a really bad thing to lack when the things the other side lacks are shame and honesty.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 8 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

You're conflating Democrats generally with "firsts". This is something you can find all the way back to women entering the metal work space in World War 2. It's about proving that you're not actually special, you're just a normal person whose capable of doing the job without special accommodations.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

no. rashida tlaib is the first Palestinian American woman in congress. it would be fucked up if she never raised any concerns on Israel's genocidal government just because she doesn't want to rustle any feathers.

no, it is about democrats, not firsts. weird how democrats always have to seem normal when republicans go fucking weirder by the minute.

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

You're absolutely right.

The right move would be to make a big show of this, point out the absurdity, rightfully point out that you're being accused of being a rapist without proof, and give a speech where you point out that you just need to pee.

The Right isn't going to say "Oh, so you agree you're a man. Maybe you aren't a man, pee wherever, on my face if you want!"

They're going to say "Glad you know your place [Insert Transphobic Slur Here] now if we can get the rest of your putrid kind to get the memo."

By giving up this fight, she's well on her way to go as far in her career as Ernst Rohm did in his.

Don't know who that is? One of Hitler's closest allies, a commanding officer of the Nazis, a leading member of the Nazi Party, on a first name basis with Adolf himself...

He was also a homosexual who agreed with carting the [Insert Homophobic Slur Here]s off to camp even though he was openly gay because "Me and Hitler are bros, he's not going to....."

We'll never know how that sentence ended because they put the chloroform over his face and then he found himself waking up in line for the gas chamber.

[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 19 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

If you ignore the urinals, there really isn't much point in separate bathrooms anyways. Especially in posh bathrooms like I'm sure they have in Congress where they pay the extra bucks to have actual doors on the stalls. This is one of those cases where arguing with idiots just makes you look like the idiot. Going along shows how ridiculous the moral panic was in the first place.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 13 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

idk why you're downvoted, I agree. gendered bathrooms are pointless; it's not like people get naked there anyway. and fuck urinals. they're dumb.

that being said of you're gonna have gendered bathrooms you can't police genitals; gonna have to go with the honor code.

it's all pointless and the security excuse is bullshit. it's ridiculous that these rules would assume a rapist wouldn't get deterred by the laws against rape but would totally be stumped by a fucking sign that says "biological".

[–] NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth 5 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

What’s wrong with urinals? They’re super quick and easy

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 16 points 15 hours ago (12 children)

For fuck's suck.... Anywhere else in the country and that's a discrimination lawsuit.

What the fuck?

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[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 66 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (9 children)

I want to be more optimistic, but I'm looking for the ingredients we'd need to push back effectively on the creeping fascism any time in the near future, and they don't seem to be here.

Democrats need a massively leftward and populist shift to differentiate themselves from Republicans in the eyes of uninformed voters, and I think there's just too much pushing against it. All the biggest channels of information are controlled by billionaires. They are not going to present any progressive efforts in a positive light, and they've become really effective at setting people who have common interests against each other. That, or inundating us so much that people understandably become numb to it and tune out. Trump was about as blatantly awful as a candidate could ever be, and he still won.

I'm fearing all we have to look forward to is 10 steps back under Republicans then 1 step forward under Democrats before Republicans take control again. Democrat leadership seems to prefer losing to winning with a progressive agenda.

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 35 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

A foul-mouthed, shit-talking, no-bullshit pro union pro lgbtq pro healthcare ballbuster who's sick of pussyfooting, eggshell walking, and capitulating could do wonders.

Trump's irreverance, but paired with competence, a heart, and basic, decent, sensible views.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 6 points 9 hours ago (11 children)

The DNC would never allow such a person to pass through their filters. In many ways, the Democrats themselves are as much an enemy of the people as the most extreme Republicans.

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[–] Xanis@lemmy.world 23 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

It's been what? Two weeks? We sure give up quickly.

Fighting against fascism is about constant small victories. Saying no. Suing at every step. Making it to the next election with things as intact as we can make them. Maybe it won't work, though it is sure as hell better than expecting the Democrats to step up. If we want reform, let's cause reform.

Trump won by 1.6% of the popular vote. Not a single one of us are as alone as we think. Yeah, sure, a break would be great. We don't get that. Moreover, we are a young country and in that time there have been governments who to many people were fascist in nature, repressive on a good day. We came out of those times better than we were because we stood up together. It's time to hold accountable those who deserve it once again. Freedom has a price and we are mostly here because of our apathy, make no mistake, and our unwillingness to engage in greater numbers locally and in midterms. However, from there it's on the people near and at the top.

We are the ingredients. Every action we take, even something as small as standing up for a couple in a restaurant, is a small push back.

[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 10 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

.Fighting against fascism is about constant small victories.

That's not generally the way fascism is defeated. Sometimes yes, but it usually takes a somewhat more aggressive approach. We should take that possible future seriously as well, even as we work to avoid it.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 3 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, this "shavings make a pile" strategy is quaint, but fascists generally only understand one message, and it's historically delivered at the end of a fist. And Democrats are proving themselves to very much NOT be a party of fighters.

Biden has essentially been granted a King's powers and is showing the world exactly who he is by accomplishing exactly nothing, when there are no recriminations for pushing to do ALL that he claimed he would when he took the office. He is the worlds most self-impotent empty suit.

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago

People are dealing with a serious fucking blow. Emotionally.

Probably a liiiitle soon to declare a give-up.

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago

Demolish Citizens United. That would make a world of difference.

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[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 28 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

Im sure compared to the interment camps, this is nothing.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 14 points 17 hours ago (4 children)

We don't have internment camps again yet.

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