Bernie beating Trump is a nice fantasy, but it wouldn’t happen either.
This election was an information war, and the Democrats fought it like they’re in another century. And they’re going to lose again if they think sensible policy, however revolutionary and in-touch, and hopeful TV ads are how you win elections.
They need their own form of MAGA. And they need to flood and poison the internet and airwaves just like the Republicans did.
Honestly… yeah. Literally.
Make it even simpler, just send everyone a check with Trump’s face on it like during Covid.
Most Americans don’t really understand macroeconomics and are just looking at super-market prices for their next meal and trip. And those covid checks worked, people freaking loved Trump for that.
I mean, Covid-19? Our handling of that was a disaster, and it hardened support.
What would be enough of a shock, even theoretically?
WWIII? A US Tiananmen Square? I don’t think anything short of nuclear war would cut it, and even then his polls would only fall like 20%.
I think its half that. The Dems need a reckoning.
But the other half is that they don’t play dirty like Trump. They don’t understand that engagement is all that matters, lying does not, because us Americans have the critical thinking ability of an ant.
If they want to win, they need their own reality distortion field.
American here.
If Linus Torvalds bans Americans over something stupid we did, and my nationality gets insulted, this will be me:
(I am actually Central Texan, TYVM. Bring the insults.)
American here.
Americans are idiots. All of us are morons. I accept the insults on my nationality, even personally. Bring it. I don’t know how else to say/generalize it, because it’s true.
I’m gonna nod my head if something happens and Linus Torvalds bans us too.
2028 will likely be a Republican rout, at least.
Bingo.
I get downvoted for saying “there’s no such thing as bad attention,” and here we are. This is 2024, there is no such thing as bad engagement. Even the US presidency is a straight-up name recognition contest.
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You know who I blame?
Facebook.
They’ve abandoned cable, so where does all my conservative family live. Where do they get news and basically their entire world-view?
Facebook.
And they live in a totally different universe.
Meta made mega bucks electing Donald Trump because he’s so engaging. Trumpism is just too profitable. And I’m not sure I can forgive that in my lifetime.
“We have the Palestinians and we have everybody else rioting all over the place. You talk about Charlottesville. This is one hundred times Charlottesville,” Trump said during a presidential debate in July, equating pro-Palestinian activism with a 2017 attack by White supremacists in Virginia.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/27/trump-israel-gaza-policy-donors/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/donald-trump-middle-east-foreign-policy
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/trumps-plan-quell-protests-deport-hamas-radicals-rcna166168
I hope you enjoyed your high horse. Because this might be the last Palestine protest you can effectively make.
He’s already said he won’t run again. He probably physically can’t.
It’s not a political problem though, he’s all but god to so many people. Honestly I don’t know what’s gonna happen to a void he leaves behind when he passes away.
Oh, I forgot about that.
Why should he care? As long as he pushes Trump over the edge, he’s set for life. He’ll probably run for President.
I can’t imagine (as a unmarried guy) living in a marriage where my wife would be afraid to tell me who she voted for. Even if she votes Trump, she’s my spouse, and that comes way before that. She should chew me out if I make her feel afraid.
…It makes me feel shame for the culture some men are raised in.
Oliver said voting for Harris would mean the world could laugh at this past week’s photo of an orange, gaping-mouthed Trump in a fluorescent vest and allow Americans to carry on with life without worrying about what he might do next.
This sounds like my dad. He’s kinda a Republican, but doesn’t like Trump, and asserted that Trump would just go away after the last election.
Trump and Trumpism are not going away. If Harris wins, even by a lot, it’s only going to validate his follower’s fears, if it doesn’t start an all-out conflict.
I’m leaning towards the cult leaders here.
Tech companies literally pour billions into optimizing thier products for engagement, aka making them addictive. Its historically unprecedented.
Sure, people are individually responsible, but as a whole, how is the population supposed to fight that?
Oh, every day is going to be like this if Trump wins.
Most of it probably won’t be followed through on, but it’s going to be some outrageous plan or statement like this every single day.
Like, what other administation could make a scandal out of a NOAA weather prediction? It ultimately meant nothing, but still…
Though as an addendum, my mom grew up Republican, but doesn’t know how to use Facebook or anything, and she hates Donald Trump with a burning passion. Its kind of hilarious. She would literally, actually vote for Hitler over him, as his personality is so fundamentally incompatible with her, lol.
I mention that, as it feels like a test case for someone that hasn’t been conditioned to view him as a superhero or whatever.
My level of worry hasn’t lowered in years…
But honestly? Low on the totem pole. Even with Trumpy governments.
Things like engagement optimized social media warping people’s minds for profit, the internet outside of apps dying before our eyes, Sam Altman/OpenAI trying to squelch open source generative models so we’re dependent on their Earth burning plans, blatant, open collusion with the govt, everything turning into echo chambers… There are just too many disasters for me to even worry about the government spying on me.
If I lived in China or Russia, the story would be different. I know, I know. But even now, I’m confident I can given the U.S. president the middle finger in my country, but I’d really be more scared for my life in more authoritarian strongman regions.