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[–] 119 points 4 months ago

He's right, though. America does need to take this seriously. And elect all of them. To save the Republic.

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  • [–] 102 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    Save the republic from… AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE!!!

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  • [–] 62 points 4 months ago

    I am a Mamdani!

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  • [–] 119 points 4 months ago (8 children)
  • [–] 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (7 children)

    Damn, beat me to it. Needs a shot of the bug, though. Those bugs are a great metaphor for our current ruling class.

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  • [–] 28 points 4 months ago (6 children)
  • [–] 19 points 4 months ago (5 children)
  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    Verhoeven: make these protagonists as fascist as possible. Even make them from Argentina. Make it as obvious as possible

    Average viewer: They just really wanna kill bugs, man. Is that so bad?

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    What does being from Argentina have to do with being a fascist?

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  • [–] -1 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    A lot of Italians and Germans went there after WW2 (to hide from their war crimes). You'll see a lot of Italian and German last names down there.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    That's a stereotype, and complete misinformation.

    Most germans in Argentina were Volga germans, regular Germans, Jewish Germans and antinazi Germans who arrived in different waves before WW2. The nazis who fled to Argentina are estimated to be 5,000 vs 1.6 million who moved there between 1919 and 1932. Argentina was chosen so a tiny number could hide among a large preexisting population of the same ethnicity, they are not the origin of that large number.

    It's the same story with Italians: 2 million arrived between 1880 and 1920, before WW2. When fascism arose in Italy, immigration slowed down to a trickle. After the war only 380,000 arrived, a smaller number than the original wave and their descendants.

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  • [–] 52 points 4 months ago (6 children)

    It's okay, MAGAs. When we get free health care for ALL Americans, you'll get it too.

    When we have free day care, you'll get it, too.

    When we have free college or trade school, you'll get it, too.

    No thanks necessary, not that we were expecting any. Clearly you weren't raised properly.

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

    Didn’t they rally to get rid of Obama care, then cry foul when it turned out it was the same as the ACA?

    Even if Americans achieve these things, the next Republican government would slogan them out of existence

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Obamacare and Medicare are wildly different.

    I think what you're surely referencing is that the so-called Obamacare was the ACA, and somehow some of the benefits of the ACA got through to their awareness - so they supported the ACA but were against Obamacare, which was… the nickname for the ACA.

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  • [–] 41 points 4 months ago (6 children)

    Will America finally get a proper left wing?

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  • [–] 13 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Anytime soon? Probably not.

    But as someone who is decently US-left, I think that's not so important. If we can get people to the point of fighting for equal rights, human rights, universal health care, wealth equality, and social safety nets, we can worry about what's next after that.

    For fuck's sake, we're dealing with fascism. Just getting us back to merely right-wing-centric politics would be a magickal feat.

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  • [–] 23 points 4 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago

    indeed. very dangerous for the old pedo grifter gang

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Speaker Johnson has lost the plot entirely. His comments are showing consistently he has neither empathy nor perspective regarding the working class experience, and working class concerns.

    Johnson has become a running trend of let them eat cake.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Yes, but his betrayal of the US public and his own constituency is a conscious choice. I think his recent comments show he's unaware of his appearance to the public.

    Without the massive propaganda machine that keeps people voting Republican via social pressure, he would not be able to retain his position.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    They will quite literally lock up socialist political dissenters before they allow any sort of socialist foothold to take.

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  • [–] 12 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    How quaint that you think they will just lock them up.

    "Ya know they murdered X and tried to blame it on Islam" "You know they went after King when he spoke out on Vietnam"

    No, actually they got rid of King after he started speaking about socialist/redistribution policies.

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  • [–] 13 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    I don’t ever hear why the left leaning policies are bad, just that they are & should be hated. All I see is right leaning policies result in a reduction of liberties. What liberties would I be trading for left leaning policies? Which one isn’t a nanny state that tells me what I can and can’t do in situations that do not interfere with the liberty and health of another person? I’d prefer my tax dollars go to PSAs about good responsible parenting instead of having to prove my age to join a social media site. Parental control technology already exists. Tell people to use it.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    This • 1000.

    People gotta start getting Socratic about everything, but especially their news and politicians.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    We've lost many critical thinkers in our time, with clickbait titles (many don't really read the articles), "talking points" instead of substantive conversations, and lack of reading good literature (which I believe help to spur creative thought and can lead people to question things more often).

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  • [–] 24 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    Do bear in mind that the root of the problem in the US is our oligarchs. We must deal with them FIRST, or it doesn't matter what else we do. That's why half (give or take) of the Democratic party is useless - because they have been corrupted by the oligarchs as well.

    I don't care the terms people use - we're now calling it Democratic Socialism. Whatever we call it, we need to drive support for that until that part of the party can take over. But it will not happen if we don't remove the corrupting pressure from the oligarchs.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    Technically oligarchy means rule by the few, but I think it helps to specify how they became the "few": divine title, descendance, or money? It's money so they should be called plutocrats.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Part of the benefit of "oligarch" is to point out how common this problem really is, just with different flavors. After this batch is gone, we'll need to remain vigilant against future oligarchs from any source.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    Yes, for about a generation, then it becomes a boring footnote in high school history class... and human nature re-asserts itself.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    Human nature is where material conditions and social values intersect. A society that places mutual responsibility and collective wellbeing over wealth and status would likely regard greed, domination, and hedonism as character flaws rather than virtues. Those who exploit others for personal gain would be held with the same contempt as other kinds of antisocial behavior. In short, self-serving opportunists would be seen as criminals rather than as being especially clever or successful. The traits a culture rewards are the traits it reproduces.

    The common belief that human beings are naturally selfish and chaotic says more about our own values than it does about human psychology. In reality, the overwhelming majority of people are deeply prosocial; we seek belonging, reciprocity, and meaningful community. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, we have an opportunity to outgrow the tribalism and rigid hierarchies that has characterized our species' infancy, and foster cultures that reward cooperation instead of competition as the highest expression of human nature.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    I would argue the root of the problem is the systems and institutions that enable these oligarchs to exist in the first place and give them the perceived social authority over this country.

    The French Revolution didn't start after they removed the nobility, it started when the people began to unite and build alternatives to the systems they were living under which helped to establish mutual aid and other community networks of support that allowed them to eventually abandon their reliance on the systems of their oppressors.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    My only counter is that the tools were put in place by the people with the money. So I have no disagreement with you - I see that distinction as unimportant because I believe we must deal with the rich and their tools already, so… I agree with you :)

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  • [–] 11 points 4 months ago

    Pedophile protector says what?

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  • [–] 11 points 4 months ago (8 children)

    How does one become a mini-madami?

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  • [–] 12 points 4 months ago (6 children)

    Run for office... any office. My town has elected positions they have to beg to have filled. Many running unopposed. It's stuff like "library board", etc. but you get your foot in the door somewhere

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    Its just that im missing my two front teeth and that is easy attack material. Id have to wear my partial every time i go in public ill have to wear my partial if i were to run

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  • [–] 11 points 4 months ago

    Save the Republic from what, Mike?

    Fulfilling our moral obligations to one another as Americans? Our duty to the sick, to the elderly, to the poor, as commanded by your God? Honoring the sacrifices of our soldiers by actually living up to the Constitution?

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago

    Is this that protection racket he was bragging about the other day?

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (5 children)
  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago* (3 children)

    I will build ONE MILLION state owned grocery stores!

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    I know it's slop but I find it so fascinating how the AI "thinks" about my request. I took your pic and asked Gemini to replace Dr evil with zohran mamdani, mayor of NYC. The insane random details are kind of funny, like if you zoom in on the chair it has text on it talking about budgets, some gibberish some actual words.

    Admitting this is ai will no doubt invoke the wrath of lemmy but it did give me a laugh.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    This is one of the only benefits of Trump winning in 2024

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    545 people


    Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

    Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

    Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

    You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

    You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

    You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

    You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

    You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

    One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

    I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

    I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

    Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

    What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

    The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? They are the leader of the majority party. They and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

    It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

    If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

    If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

    If the Marines are in IRAN , it's because they want them in IRAN .

    If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

    There are no insoluble government problems.

    Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

    Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

    They, and they alone, have the power.

    They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

    We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

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  • [–] 11 points 4 months ago

    In June, Mamdani said:

    "For far too long our party has seen its job as managing decline instead of delivering material change for working people. It has seen its job as explaining why we cannot instead of showing how we can."

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I think the problem is systemic. These representatives are vulnerable not just to bribery, but to threats as well. The core concept of giving your political power to another person introduces a principal-agent problem.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    Campaign Finance Reform is the issue from which ALL other issues flow. It should be the absolute top priority for our entire government, starting with ending the legal bribery of Lobbying. Any excuses they offer for keeping it need to be instantly dismissed. It is the main cancer in our government, and has to be ruthlessly carved out and destroyed.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    How Money Works notes there are about 100,000 lobbyists in Washington defining reality for all these elected representatives. And that's just the ones with Lobbyist on their business card. Plenty more are unofficial but have the occupation of bribing government officers.

    This is one of the reasons we see so many Let them eat cake moments.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    Yes, Representative Republics are designed to be that way, which is why they won't solve their inherent systemic issues unless you manage to get a candidate in that replaces the whole thing with either a modernized Democracy (as in people have power instead of representatives) or rips out the least democratic aspects out of the system and replaces them with something more democratic.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    I love how upset they get about Mandani. His crime, not been corrupt. Oh, the horror.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    Lord Commander Johnson is a teensy tiny bit insecure methinks

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    I get it now

    I get the "own the libs" thing

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    Other than the woman in Colorado and Mamdani, who else is there? I keep hearing about this wave of democratic socialists, but 2 people are not a trend.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago*

    They've always been there, only now can they be seen.

    One of the good side effects of the internet; the government has a much harder time controlling the narrative. Those socialists have always been there and fighting for higher minimum wage and unions since 1910 or so. Prior to internet, they were simply ignored for the most part. I'm not even a socialist, and would have never known about them if I wasn't involved in local politics. I do agree with some of their platform, though (pro-union, etc.)

    Registered Independents are now the majority of voters for a reason (40%), the majority of voters no longer support the major parties.

    Government control of media remains a huge problem... don't trust any one source, verify everything as much as possible.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago

    So happy mini moral people are flourishing

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    It is indeed dangerous. For people like him, who see the writing on the wall that they will face consequences.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    Who or what is this Republic these clowns are always talking about?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    🔥💥Zohran the Destroyer💥🔥 and his horde army!

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago* (2 children)

    Corporations didn't do this.. the average voter did.

    Discuss..

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  • [+] -12 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    There are so many completly shitty politicians I'll never belive anyone running for office isn't also trying to fuck me in the ass. God damn republicans have ruined any chance of me every thinking any politician has good intentions.

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  • [+] -9 points 4 months ago

    Electoralism is a joke. Even if they get elected, they become beholden to the interests of maintaining the state hegemony in order to protect any meager concessions they may have managed to carve out. Then they begin to compromise in order to get legislation passed and before you know to they are just another establishment shill and the boot is no further from being off our necks than the last hundred times a politician promised to change things.

    Our entire system is fundamentally fucked and I have no faith in it. The people need to organize to tear it the fuck down and replace it but no one wants to start having that discussion in their local communities.

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  • [+] -14 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I think most decent and intelligent people would never consider going in to politics a good move career wise

    Only way it is worth it is by stealing money from the country in one way or another

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  • [–] 10 points 4 months ago

    Maybe some people don't go into it because it's a good career move, but because they want to actually make a difference.

    For all the people out there crying about how nobody is doing enough to make a difference, it sure seems strange to get so hung up on the relatively few who actually do try to take some initiative...

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