this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
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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)?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

You are still on the acid trip, just ride it until it's over. It'll be more fun if you just let it do its thing.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 13 hours ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 22 hours ago

Most of the safeguards were removed in trump's previous term, and now the way's open.

Good luck.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 20 hours ago

Thats all fine and well until youre shot on the front lines or happen to be one of the minorities being drowned

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 day ago


Who just knocked?

[–] [email protected] 88 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

The Inspectors General that Trump is trying to fire basically told him to fuck off.

Under a law passed in 2022 (you know, when the Dems were doing nothing 🙄) the president has to give Congress 1) 30 days notice of firing an IG and 2) enumerate the reasons why that IG was being fired. The second any reason is given to Congress these people are going to sue for wrongful termination since it's blatantly obvious to everyone Trump is trying to rid the government of anyone who could hold him accountable.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What is the consequence of not following these rules?

If the only consequence is a lawsuit he doesn't have to pay personally, then I don't think he cares.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 21 hours ago

I suppose if the firings are regarded as "official acts," the courts will support POTUS on this one.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Currently the consequence is they aren't accepting the termination of their enjoyment and aren't leaving.

If the consequence of not following the rules means it doesn't get enforced then he cares very much.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 22 hours ago

Why does trump care if someone he tried to fire refuses to accept that they're fired. He can still hire a replacement and pretend the person he "fired" doesn't exist, and as long as the rest of the bureaucracy plays along with him (which it always seems to) then trump faces no consequences for breaking the rules.

This happened time and time again last term where he broke norms and rules that had no codified repercussions. Dems would say "you can't do that, it's not allowed" but he'd do it anyways and succeed.

The checks placed on the POTUS need to have actual teeth and not just be a gentlemen's agreement

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Oh yeah I saw that headline when I got up this morning and it made me happy to see. But talk me down the tree a little further if you can.

In the current state I don't see how it matters. I'm glad they did it. I appreciate the gesture, and I think it was an important one. But I feel like we're all still pretending that laws and norms matter when clearly they no longer do for Trump and anyone under him.

What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?

What stops him is people willing to ignore obviously illegal demands, and the more people that stand up to him the more people will be encouraged to do the same. Now, if Trump openly defies court orders and the executive branch has enough sycophants in it that they're willing to help him, then it becomes up to us to solve that problem.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 21 hours ago

Solid summary, the best way to deal with authority in general is to ignore them. Mind you someone can always use violence but often times thats a sign of weakness from someone who is trying to claim they have power.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?

Trump doesn't directly do any of those things, he would have to order other people to do so, and the risk of doing so is that if he encounters more resistance people start to notice that the emperor has no clothes.

The more people resist the more it encourages others to do the same. The president is not a king that can dictate commands, and the more people stop obeying the more Trump runs into those protections that stop him being a tyrant.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

My concern as well. Trump really doesn’t seem to give a damn this go-around. There were people in place that hit the brakes on him last time, but this time nobody’s doing shit.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 22 hours ago

All I’ll say is you’re not taking the “reality is a simulation” angle far enough, because you still believe that there is some sort of outcome that is both objectively good AND long term stable. But the only such outcome is that the simulation goes on, with or without you.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Some reporting is saying impeachment is being floated, suing the president has been a matter of course since Obama took office and hasn't stopped since, he's already issuing orders that are blatantly illegal and clearly violate the constitution. There are a lot of openings to fight back right now. Is anyone? Idk.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

Are you un-ironically suggesting that impeachment is actually a viable check on a US president?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I doubt this to the point I would bet money against it if I could.

Did you not see that a proposal to amend the constitution for 3 terms was ACTUALLY proposed by a Congressperson from TN?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The republicans do not have enough of a majority in either house to get that through.

I sincerely doubt they are going to convince a third of the Dems to support it either

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

Remember that you'd have to get at least 38 state legislatures to ratify it as well. Getting any amendments passed in the modern day is a whole circus in and of itself, and I highly doubt there's enough political capital to get such an obviously targeted amendment (since the candidate in question would've had to have two nonconsecutive terms - meaning this applies to Grocer Cleveland and Donald Trump) passed.

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[–] [email protected] 210 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (10 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

There is [email protected] to help keep track of all these things

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I want to add a running theme in GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire is that doing gross and inhumane things may horrify us in the moment and make us feel overwhelmed but tends to turn around on those who would resort to such methods despite Tyrion Lannister's opinion that those methods are not to be taken off the table when considering options.

The most well known example in the series was the Red Wedding, the marriage of Edmure Tully, Roslin Frey, which was followed by the massacre of Rob and Catelyn Stark and many others, while under the protection of the tradition of hospitality. If we ignore the GoT Season 8 revenge by Arya Stark (which isn't canon but is based off an implied plot by Lord Manderly), reputation of fell deed figured in House Frey losing allies and trade, and Frey casualties numbered to exceed all its gains and those inflicted on Stark and its allies.

IRL, Trump's heavy-handed response to the George Floyd protests in 2020 only doubled the protest sizes in the following days. Notoriously after Putin-style LGMs (unmarked uniformed men in military gear abducting citizens without due process) and brutal police action at the Portland ICE building resulted in the moms joining the protests and then the dads (who brought their wireless leaf blowers, handy against CS gas).

An example that will be applicable to the US is the rise of the French Résistance during the German occupation of France. Despite efforts by German administrators to advice soldiers to stay polite, they couldn't help themselves and were brutal to the French civilians. The people started engaging in light direct action, tearing down or defacing German propaganda, slashing tires, cutting phone lines, until they found each other and organized. Within two years, they were a formidable fighting force.

Yes, the find out portion of the upcoming era is going to be harsh. People who need services and supplies will not get them. Police will be cruel to folks at the border, and may even hunt down migrants and Trans folks like the SS after Jews. It will be fucking scary, but it will turn bystanders into resistance sympathists, sympathists into activists and activists into militants. And yes, it appears police just can't help themselves but be brutal, and the resistance will not only feel justified in cutting them down, but will eventually hunt them to the ends of the earth to assure they see tribunal, even when the last guard and bureaucrat is ninety.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Plenty of despots around the world stayed in power for decades and died peacefully in their beds. Tyranny as a means of maintaining power is a "solved problem" and Americans are no smarter or more sophisticated than the citizens of North Korea, Cameroon, Congo or Uganda. Or Spain or Portugal for that matter.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes. And if we go down that path, not only will millions perish in the purges, but then China will take us economically, and may be the Allies to our Axis.

And much like Germany, the brain drain and infighting at the top ranks will slow them down and become an exploitable weakness.

If we're not careful, we'll organize a rebellion and overthrow the Trump regime only to have it replaced with another despot, and then (as the pattern goes) another and another and another until everyone knows someone who's perished in the fighting. And that's no guarantee of a democracy.

It's one of the reasons I've advocated we do something that (AFAIK) we've never tried before, and create a constitution before we try to overthrow the government. Make it public; get legal experts to pick at it for loopholes and exploits to close until it's ironclad. And then, unlike the constitutional framers of the US, don't let the fighting leaders take place as administrative officials.

But I'm a novice at history and sociopolitical studies. Maybe we are doomed to a century of tyranny and all we have wrought will burn in fire. But I know instances have occurred in which something different happened, via non-violent resistance, even.

At this point get involved with your mutual aid orgs and community orgs. The more of us that organize to resist, the more likely it will actually succeed.

PS: To borrow some phrasing from Donald Rumsfeld, You build a society with the people you have, not the people you wish you had or might have at a later time. But we do still have access to the internet, and not just Facebook and Twitter, even if a lot of people barely move beyond social media. We have the resources to train people to think critically, to develop class consciousness and civic and political literacy.

ETA: PSS: Feel free to use that phrase and accredit as Rumsfeld's law. I'll enjoy the schadenfreude of the guy who tried to justify state-sanctioned torture programs being grossly annoyed that he is attributed with a left-wing adage.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Having an idea of the government we want to have before shit goes down is a great idea. I've thought about writing down my thoughts for what a better government would look like and maybe I should do that. I'm sure none of us randos on Lemmy would be the people in the room where it's happening, but if we talk about it maybe we can influence it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

If you're near a university, get your butt to the law school department and ask professors how feasible this is. (Buy them lunch if possible / necessary) And if it's as brilliant as it sounds, they might be able to hook us up with the legal experts necessary to follow through.

We are in very interesting times, which may give the notion more traction than a far off whimsy.

We have colleges here in Sacramento. I'll see what I can do here.

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