2024 US Election

tensions are high in america no question - a lot of citizens are understandably afraid, worried, distressed even - we all would be wise to take a page out of Kim's playbook in the coming months, focus on the important things . . .

  On 11/7/2024 at 7:22 AM, ignatius said:

Yeah. It doesn’t necessarily make sense except that it’s what happened. I think there is an element of “fuck the system” and trump is the guy to do it.  But also does t make loads of sense. There’s just so much uninformed horse shit takes on things. It’s always been this way. Dems don’t know what to do with power when they have it. It’s a failure of the party and dnc. Dems are also owned by elites and financial system. In 2008 they got bailed out and the people didn’t. No one went to jail after that whole crash soaked with fraud. Nothing changed. It’s broken and no one is saying they’ll fix it or change it but here comes trump spewing all kinds of bullshit

im also not watching any news or politics YouTube etc its better to be productive. Say hi to your neighbors. Work on music, Go ride bike etc. 

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All the takes are correct and yet they also miss the point.

Yes, it was insane for the Democrats to think they could win by running a soulless candidate, without a shred of progressive policy vision, pursuing endorsements from neocon war-hawks everybody hates, while arming and funding a genocide, and belittling and crushing those who have enough morality to protest it. It is enraging that the Democrats are so smug and blind to this.

But these are all just symptoms. The deeper reality is that liberalism has failed, liberalism is dead, and people urgently need to wake up to this fact and respond accordingly. It is a defunct ideology that cannot offer any meaningful solutions to our social and ecological crises and it must be abandoned.

Democrats have proven over and over again that they cannot accept even *basic* steps like public healthcare, affordable housing, and a public job guarantee - things that would dramatically improve the material, social and political conditions of the working classes. And they cannot accept a public finance strategy that would steer production away from fossil fuels and toward green transition to give us a shot at a liveable future.

Why? Because these things run against the objectives of capital accumulation. And for liberals capital is sacrosanct. They will do whatever it takes to ensure elite accumulation, it is their only consistent commitment. At home, they suppress and demonize progressive and socialist tendencies. Abroad, they engage in endless wars and violence to suppress input prices in the global South and prevent any possibility of sovereign economic development.

The Democrats have done all this purposefully and knowingly, for my whole life, not as some kind of "mistake" but in full consciousness that it is in the interests of capital.

And because liberalism cannot address our crises, and because it crushes socialist alternatives, it inevitably paves the way for right-wing populism. They know this pattern, and yet they risk it every time - this election being only the most recent example. They did it in 2016, when they actively crushed the Sanders campaign and sent Trump to the White House. They do it because ultimately they (and I mean the liberal ruling class here) don't really mind if fascists take power, so long as the latter too ensure the conditions for capital accumulation. They 100% prefer this to the possibility of a socialist alternative.

So, progressives have to face reality. The dream of "converting" the Democratic party is dead. This is now a fact and it must be accepted. The only option is to build a mass-based movement that can reclaim the working classes and mobilize a political vehicle that can integrate disparate progressive struggles into a unified and formidable political force and achieve substantive transformation. This will take real work, actual organizing, but it must be done and that process must begin now

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Perhaps a bit overbaked but perhaps kinda not?

Imagine being one of those weird mental cases that is fuckin balls deeep down the qanon rabbit hole and the sense of validation it gives them. 

shitlibs fully unmasking themselves as no better than MAGAs. good work, guys. USA best invention of mankind.

  On 11/7/2024 at 6:59 AM, chenGOD said:

Progress takes time, is hard fought for, but so easy to reverse, and Trump's admin will make things worse for the average American worker.

point by point: Americans don't want to wait (for anything, really), don't want to have to fight in that way among the other ways they feel like they're fighting, and then some of them don't actually want to reverse things entirely....some are totally okay with worse on average if it makes their particular lives better.

  On 11/7/2024 at 12:34 PM, EdamAnchorman said:

Perhaps a bit overbaked but perhaps kinda not?

the two party system has to be taken down. no real true path forward in America will work until then.

  On 11/7/2024 at 1:25 PM, usagi said:

humans are no better than humans. good work, guys. USA best invention of mankind.

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ftfy. there's plenty of shitty asshole tendencies of all of us, libs, dems, whatever, whoever. welcome to the human race, my friend.

  On 11/7/2024 at 12:34 PM, EdamAnchorman said:

Perhaps a bit overbaked but perhaps kinda not?

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I'd mostly agree with this. it dovetails with the idea that the Dems lost a lot more than they gained by pandering rightwards to try and tempt more voters, without actually connecting meaningfully with people at the low end of society struggling on a day to day basis. I think that was the basic failure that produced this outcome.

  On 11/7/2024 at 1:40 PM, auxien said:

ftfy. there's plenty of shitty asshole tendencies of all of us, libs, dems, whatever, whoever. welcome to the human race, my friend.

that is both the point (that the shitlib, a specific type of lib mind you, is little better than the conservative) and also a distraction from what I'm pointing to (that the shitlib tries hard to hide this fact until something provokes the unmasking). generalising doesn't add anything here.

in 2024, you get the people to cover up your wrong-doings, for you.

people love the tucker/trump/gop narrative "the libs are doing a hoax"

people feel compelled to tell me about how they've decided to believe that half of the negative things reported about trump must be made up (it's the worse half)

people's brains are inverted. they elected the guy that caused inflation, rather than the person who helped fix inflation, because of inflation. just one example. it's basically the same inversion across all issues. people's brains are inside out. it's not good for them. we're on a dangerous trajectory.

you know who pops up everywhere? bannon. weirdly, he is found saying things before anyone else. like insider parts of trump's 2020/2021 coup plan.

  On 11/7/2024 at 1:55 PM, usagi said:

that is both the point (that the shitlib, a specific type of lib mind you, is little better than the conservative) and also a distraction from what I'm pointing to (that the shitlib tries hard to hide this fact until something provokes the unmasking). generalising doesn't add anything here.

what i was getting at (not very well, admittedly) is that everyone tends to be a shit___ at moments or in ways, that there’s not a ‘class of libs who are 100% of the time shitty despite presenting as better than others, empathetic, high minded evolved blah blah looking for their moment to have a reason to be shitty towards the underprivileged’ (or if there is they are vanishingly small)…this is just a trait of any human. Bernie was glad to jump on the Harris bandwagon until the moment she lost and then he’s all anti-Dems, anti Harris policies (he wasn’t lying about this before but he certainly wasn’t as vocal before the election…) …i guess my point is, everyone is trading their faces shown, and everyone is capable of being a shitty person to others. i don’t think the specification of shitlib is necessarily helpful, despite being not technically incorrect

  On 11/7/2024 at 3:06 PM, auxien said:

what i was getting at (not very well, admittedly) is that everyone tends to be a shit___ at moments or in ways, that there’s not a ‘class of libs who are 100% of the time shitty despite presenting as better than others, empathetic, high minded evolved blah blah looking for their moment to have a reason to be shitty towards the underprivileged’ (or if there is they are vanishingly small)…this is just a trait of any human. Bernie was glad to jump on the Harris bandwagon until the moment she lost and then he’s all anti-Dems, anti Harris policies (he wasn’t lying about this before but he certainly wasn’t as vocal before the election…) …i guess my point is, everyone is trading their faces shown, and everyone is capable of being a shitty person to others. i don’t think the specification of shitlib is necessarily helpful, despite being not technically incorrect

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oh but there does exist such a type of lib, I assure you. the minorities of any given society develop a radar for them. when they do act correct it's either in their interest to do so or it costs them nothing. disputes about how many there are are neither here nor there, as is arguing about whether they exist in essence or whether people simply "act" like shitlibs. what matters is what happens, the result of this type of thinking. you need only look at how utterly inadequate things are on multiple fronts - socially, economically, internationally - to get that.

the Bernie example... you know that's not a good example. idk how you would call endorsing Kamala "bandwagoning" when it was what was expected of him, to throw his weight behind the party and its chosen candidate, the best realistic shot of averting complete disaster. it was simply the thing to do at that point. putting out a statement after the loss highlighting the reasons for it doesn't go against that logic.

  On 11/7/2024 at 2:49 PM, may be rude said:

in 2024, you get the people to cover up your wrong-doings, for you.

by making endless excuses for the failings of their chosen gods, up to and including dismissing Palestinian genocide. I should've laid into you for that post then and there but I refrained. until you decided to take a swipe at one person on the other side of the world for your country's endless fuckups.

you are the shitlib, in this scenario. fortunately in your case, you live in an online bubble and are completely incapable of doing anything that has any practical impact, but there are people out there who think like you who would do actual damage. I have no sympathy for you types rn, even if I do for many of your fellow Americans.

if you have money, you can dodge the draft

If you have money, you can skirt the legal system

if you have money, you can run for president of the USA 

if you have money, you can…

Trump called American troops who died ‘losers’ and he won the popular vote in this election. 

^ That subreddit is called 'unethical life pro tips' so I think the whole point is to come up with arsehole things

^^ That tweet from Jason Hickel is kinda right but for a long time the USA has been run by and for the benefit of corporations, its pretty obvious why the Democrats have to suck up to corporate power, they're not getting anywhere otherwise. Its like they're trying to explore the space of possible progression within that constraint. I thought this was common knowledge? I hope someone can find a way to break through that someday but neither the Republicans or Democrats are interested in doing that.

This BBC article has lots of interesting stuff:

'It's simple, really' - why Latinos flocked to Trump's working-class coalition

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cze3yr77j9wo

how do you spell schadenfreude?

  On 11/7/2024 at 1:40 PM, auxien said:

ftfy. there's plenty of shitty asshole tendencies of all of us, libs, dems, whatever, whoever. welcome to the human race, my friend.

Don't go to deep into this politic shit, u gonna become crazy 

I don't think much will change at all 

God I hope trump fucks rfk jr off now that his use has been served

nobody that dumb should be anywhere near a public health agency

  On 11/7/2024 at 6:50 PM, custom knob said:

God I hope trump fucks rfk jr off now that his use has been served

nobody that dumb should be anywhere near a public health agency

i know it's a shitty thing to say but i also just hate the way he talks because of his nerve injury or whatever.. i hear him speak and i just want a giant bully the size of a gorilla to come out of nowhere and give him a mega wedgie and turn him upside down and make him cry just so he'll shut the fuck up. 

I just want somebody to regulate how bright car headlights are these days. 

  On 11/7/2024 at 6:56 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

I just want somebody to regulate how bright car headlights are these days. 

if trump actually drove a car he'd have thoughts on it but i don't know if he has driven a car since the bright headlight era began

  On 11/7/2024 at 6:19 PM, ignatius said:

 

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RFK been listening to boc with the sunshine and psychedelics, he probably was listening to that track Devil is in the Details too, which is about exercising I believe

If anything Trump's going to deregulate how bright headlights can be. The free market will regulate itself.

this is probably a made up story but i think it's something that will be happening in different ways. 

  On 11/7/2024 at 3:49 PM, usagi said:

oh but there does exist such a type of lib, I assure you. the minorities of any given society develop a radar for them. when they do act correct it's either in their interest to do so or it costs them nothing. disputes about how many there are are neither here nor there, as is arguing about whether they exist in essence or whether people simply "act" like shitlibs.

those types of 'lib' are vanishingly small, i imagine, but i'm just a white dude so maybe i don't have radar to catch that idk. how many is important i think....what's the point of talking about 0.001% of the population within an already niche group? i mean, go ahead, it's just a bit...idk, silly i guess. if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck....

  On 11/7/2024 at 3:49 PM, usagi said:

what matters is what happens, the result of this type of thinking. you need only look at how utterly inadequate things are on multiple fronts - socially, economically, internationally - to get that.

yeah, exactly. if that 0.001% is outsized in their voice, then yeah it's probably important af to talk about and recognize. idk that they are tho? i know the 'type' you're describing but like....i don't know that i've ever seen anyone, even online, who is like that 90+% of the time.

things are not perfect on those fronts, and it has absolutely nothing to do with 'shitlibs' i don't think? i'd listen to an argument tho, i just don't think i've ever seen the Ukrainian war chalked up to about 75 different American shitlibs from Reddit?

  On 11/7/2024 at 3:49 PM, usagi said:

the Bernie example... you know that's not a good example.

fair yeah, it was the first that came to mind, not a great one-to-one tho.

  On 11/7/2024 at 3:49 PM, usagi said:

idk how you would call endorsing Kamala "bandwagoning" when it was what was expected of him, to throw his weight behind the party and its chosen candidate, the best realistic shot of averting complete disaster.

i mean...if he didn't want to support her, he didn't have to. he knew the consequences of not supporting could be worse than falling in line so he did fall in line...that was his choice, i'm not saying he's wrong or bad.... but the moment Harris lost he's out there wrecking her and the dems for their approach? it seemed a bit of a headturn, and essentially if he felt that strongly about those issues she/Dem ticket represented, he should've kept quiet or not endorsed. Tlaib did as much and she won (relatively a much different race & obv a much much much smaller constituency) without an issue.

i hope Bernie and some others are starting some real independent party contender discussions basically. lots of Americans are listed as independent/no party/third party, it's just a matter of making it viable, what groups fall in line and in what sorts of political races they can gain traction and movement.

  On 11/7/2024 at 3:49 PM, usagi said:

it was simply the thing to do at that point. putting out a statement after the loss highlighting the reasons for it doesn't go against that logic.

naw, but it goes a bit against honesty (yeah, he's a politician and a pretty savvy one at that so i get it...) but that/above is all my point on that really