Hello. Iām from Germany and I have bad news for you. If our own history taught me anything, itās this: When there is a critical mass of citizens (including military personnel) who are willing to ignore common societal values and at the same time there is a corrupt justice system which can just bend the law to their will, there is very little in the way to full scale fascism. You guys have the groundwork for this right in front of your face. Your supreme court is only inches away from fulfilling that role and the last election showed that a majority of people are already blindsided enough to wholeheartedly believe the bullshit that they are being fed.
So please donāt take this lightly. Democracy is not for granted and it can be taken away. Itās a slow process up to a point where things fall in place and then it happens very quickly. In Germany the rise of the Nazis didnāt happen over night. Warning signs were there from the first world war on, and the slow erosion of society along with economic factors was a key element. Hitler himself was widely regarded as a loud mouthed clown with little chance to actually accomplish anything.
The erosion part has been going on in the US for decades now. This time, most of the puzzle pieces needed are already in place.
And about the āthey are incompetent, it wonāt be that badā argument. They donāt need competence to break things when they are in power. Breaking things is precisely what these people are looking for. Destruction of democratic values, economic instability, fear, poverty, chaos and social unrest are the key to more power. You just need to look at the designated cabinet positions. Those candidates were specifically chosen to fuck things up in the worst way imaginable. This is not a coincidence. This is a recipe taken right from the fascistās handbook.
Please find your groups, organize, protest, demand change. We, the rest of the world, saw how big youāve protested for good before, and itās needed now more than ever in your country. Youāre not powerless, youāre not alone, and your actions matter.
You live in a country that used to pride itself as a world leader, and while that image is long gone and lost, weāre still watching you guys.
You are correct, and those of us who arenāt fucking morons have known this since even before he came into power the first time. We have a lot of horrible and/or apathetic people. Democracy is worthless if the populace is uninformed or doesnāt participate. Now itās dead here.
Education should be free, even for the kids if the neighbor you donāt like.
Of course itās not free, it costs tax money, but itās okay. Id rather my neighbors had free education, then maybe Iād like them.
The problem is this is the US. This is the worldās most major superpower. This is the nation whose companies fed and propped up the Nazis. Because what little of democracy there was in the US is now certainly going to fall, itās going to drag the whole world with it. Too many shitheads in too many countries, including Germany, will be willing to follow suit, and all the major superpowers left will be all too willing to prop them up with little to no regard for what rules they wonāt break in the process. We might even see the US trying to strong-arm nations in the same way China has been trying to strong-arm Taiwan. At a time where the surveillance and control tools at their disposal are at a dystopian high. At a time ramping up for chaos due to major environment and resource collapses that we have been foreseeing for decades.
Absolutely. The tendencies are visible all over the world and there will be grave consequences for all of us. However, there are differences. In Germany for example after the horrors of WW2 the political system was specifically designed to prevent something like this from happening again (ironically the creation of the german constitution was heavily influenced by the US). Which sounds like a good thing at first, but what happened in the last decade was basically this: The right wing parties became stronger at every election and as a result there were coalitions forged between opposing parties to prevent right wing parties from taking over power. And this in term lead to years of standstill in political decision making, dragging down the country, because opposing parties tend to block each others ideas. Which in turn made the right wing even stronger, because they now had someone to blame for the resulting mess. Germany and by extension Europe as well have a lot of bureaucracy, which on one side gives a bit of a shield against hostile takeovers, but has a downside of inefficiency in acting to protect democracy too. Itās not looking too good, but Trumpās habit of pissing off his allies might have a net positive effect of uniting people against this bullying and encouraging them to get their shit together. But I think itās to early to tell. Could as well sway in the other direction and produce Trump bootlicking countries like you said.
About surveillance technologies, indeed the possibilities set our current situation apart from when Nazis came to power in the past. Itās absolutely crazy to witness how a commercial surveillance industry disguised as ad services (Google/Meta/ā¦) created a monster that makes Orwellās 1984 look like a childrenās book, and most people still donāt even understand the implications in order to realize what theyāre up against. From a european perspective, there is an upside in that at least for now the EU is actively trying to limit the power of those mega corporations. These processes however are chugging along at snail pace due to the aforementioned bureaucracy. Slow, but steady. Which is at least something.
Sorry for the lengthy reply. Itās such a broad topic and there are no easy answers.
Thereās a lot one can do. This is a nice starter:
I would have framed a few things differently, so hereās my take:
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The system thrives on fear and isolation of individuals. So, obviously, do not succumb to fear and apathy.
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Be kind to your fellow humans (that includes people who believe the bullshit! Most of them arenāt evil just very misguided).
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Offer help and look out for each other.
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Get organized, donāt isolate yourself hidden behind your phone. There are organizations in which you can help a good cause and gain a network of trusted people in return.
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Stay alert and aware of the situation.
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Donāt assume safety just because you think youāre not the target right now. They start with the weakest ones but thatās just the beginning.
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Plan ahead and have an escape plan ready just in case.
Bracing for āWait, I didnāt think you meant me?!?!?ā
Next up: arson attack on US Congress. And then the Enabling Act.
My crazy prediction is that trump will try to duplicate the burning of the Reichstag. Except, in typical fashion, he will do so in a comically inept fashion. Heāll try to burn down the Reichstag, and heāll actually succeed! Unfortunately, heāll burn down the Reichstagā¦the actual Reichstag, not the US capital, but the present-day German parliament building.
Like the German version of Nazis before them, they arenāt coming for their biggest target first. Theyāre coming for their political opposition, the āabortionistsā, the atheists, the drug users, the mentally illā¦
RFK Jr.:
āIām going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also illegal drugs, other psychiatric drugs, if they want to, to get off of SSRIs, to get off of benzos, to get off of Adderall, and to spend time as much time as they need ā three or four years if they need itā to learn to get reparented, to reconnect with communities,ā
Re-education camps, huh.
āprepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.ā
- TrumpĀ repostedĀ Fittonās comment Monday with the caption, āTRUE!!ā
I donāt even know what to say. Iām gobsmacked to depression daily that youāre ok with this.
But EGG PRICES! The economy!
And heās such a strong leaderā¦
(I am paraphrasing actual interviews our local networks did with college students)
I think we need to start using strongman in conversation more for the people who donāt know what it means.
I think those colleges need to stop charging tuition. Clearly, their education is worthless.
