77 million / 155 million eligible voters.

this is what the ultra wealthy made them want. the lumpen’s desires are as manufactured as the hot cheeto dust caked upon their lips.

Now, say it all together class:

FUCK.

THE.

OLIGARCHY.

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Political parties won’t help us

Corporations won’t help us

Government won’t help us

We have to help each other.

they knew what they were signing up for.

godspeed you glorious kamikaze children!

I believe people who study public opinion about science have noted that confidence drops during outbreaks and epidemics… if that’s the case, Covid does stand out to me as the first time in my life when laypeople began misusing and misunderstanding science at scale, loudly and as part of their proclaimed identity.

makes sense that when a story of global 24/7 proportions eclipses all other news for 2+years straight, that it would become politicized and weaponized in the culture. our winner-takes-all first-past-the-post lesser-of-two-evils duopoly political system, combined with news as entertainment, and now we have folks that have made anti science their entire fucking identity.

Carl Sagan refered to it as The Demon Haunted World (good book btw). Goya criticized it in his paintings. the Catholics burned people at the stakes because of it.

History repeats; reactionary political/theological movements help ensure that it does.

far as I know, you can’t. they want your sweet sweet monetizable personal data. for Meta, every human interaction needs to be commodified, sold for ad revenue, and charged back to you as a subscription or AI pump and dump scheme.

I use Craigslist personally, the founder has repeatedly refused to sell his business or users data.

‘I Don’t Need Billions. You Should Know When Enough Is Enough’ – Craig From Craigslist Says He Rejected Billions To Redesign The Platform

from the article:

By design, the company doesn’t make a single cent on most transactions. … If you’ve ever used Craigslist, you’ve probably noticed it hasn’t changed much since the 1990s. No sleek designs or flashy updates – just a simple, functional interface. “People want it simple, fast and effective,” Craig said.

Over the years, venture capitalists have approached Craig with massive offers, urging him to monetize more aggressively or sell. They saw a gold mine in Craigslist’s scale and suggested ads, subscriptions or transaction fees. But Craig wasn’t interested.

“I don’t need billions,” he said. “I’ve met a bunch of rich people and none of them are all that happy.”

Colby Jack… tell me you’re indecisive without telling me you’re indecisive.

agreed. that’s literally their job. oppose the other party by whatever means at their disposal. use the press, support union actions, so many ideas. be bold be creative.

they at least should stop pretending that “playing by the rules” and “trusting the system” is an appropriate response to illegal orders, illegal firings, violations of constitutional doctrine, and open defiance of judicial and legislative oversight. relevant video from InnuendoStudio, sadly aged like wine

thank god! the websites!

I was really worried there for a second!

(meanwhile at Guantanamo, sanctuary cities, the southern border, EPA, USDA, TSA, USAID, climate summit, CFPB, and every major research and academic institution…???)

most people aren’t aware that Air Traffic Controllers are forced to retire at 55. no old, slow reaction employees allowed.

when Reagan fired thousands of ATCs in the 80s, then hired and trained all new scabs, he inadvertently created an enormous cohort who would all be retiring at around the same time due to forced retirement.

fast forward to today,

• thousands of ATCs were aging out and being replaced with less experienced people (less of a prob now than 10ish yrs ago but still staffing is extremely lean due to Reagan)
• add to that the obsolete legacy tracking tech
• add to that cost saving (corner cutting) by aerospace corps like Boeing
• add to that major dysfunction in pilot training, screening out baddies, inexperienced pilots, and dissatisfied airline workers and unions
• add to that Trump administration purges and demoralization of federal workers
• add to that Musk getting his SpaceX cronies hands all over the system to make ‘upgrades’

data nerds can point to historical accident statistics from the past 20 years up to what, 2020? all you like. trend lines don’t often accurately predict the future, they merely describe the past.

I recommend thinking twice before placing all your loved ones on a plane over the next couple years. there’s going to be more of this.

collapse is almost definitely coming. I for one accept it though and believe there’s a low probability of a silver lining outcome for a small number of survivors to build something new after society as we know it comes crashing down.

post collapse Earth will be irrevocably different from the one we inhabit today, but it won’t be all bad. i suspect not everyone will suffer the same fate from war, famine, or catastrophes. humans inhabit every corner and valley of this immense planet and not every place will be made uninhabitable for everyone, simultaneously.

those who decouple from capitalism now and work towards a different kind of society, might fare better. it will be challenging, brutal, and at times exhausting for sure. but at least the orphan crushing machine we know today will finally come to a grinding stop.

bingo. to those accustomed to a lifetime of privilege, equality feels like oppression.

I don’t believe for a second that some sleuthing podcasters have created some impeachable, wholly accurate representation of a whole ass person based solely on their goodreads posts or random trail of breadcrumbs left in Facebook selfies… give me a break with the parasocial psychoanalysis. no one fucking knows shit about anyone if all you have to go on is their posts or what their college classmate said.

more importantly, who fucking cares? folks need to stop pretending they were best friends with Anthony Bourdain or they SO RELATE to Taylor Swift. you don’t know someone because you listened to a podcast or followed their insta. same applies to Luigi.

Actions >> (online bullshit, speculation, hype)

that’s kind of incredible.

spineless cowards, all of them.

facts.

sadly though, even if they stop one thing, they will not stop em all. he’s setting a precedent every future President king of America will use to further the agenda of the ruling class (unless an FDR figure emerges to redirect that power at wealth redistribution).

the president may in fact now be a king and both parties (one party really - the ultra rich) has either actively enabled or done almost nothing to dismantle executive authority since at least Reagan.

the monarchists won control of the country, backed by corporatist billionaires. time will tell if it’s reversible or even salvageable. might be wise to begin building the figurative life rafts.

no, i do not mean Hollywood… that’s weird… why would anyone think corporate media means what, marvel movies?

I’m talking about Time Warner, Sinclair, CNN, Netflix, Comcast, Amazon, NBC, Fox, every single source of online professionally written articles, video segments, the evening news, and mainstream platform owned by someone with a net worth exceeding $1 billion dollars. the corporate media, ya know, the ones who manufacture the consent as described in “Manufacturing Consent” or a dozen different media criticism books available at your local library or on youtube (if you prefer).

I’m hoping that too. either way, I’m not advocating hopelessness or doomerism. I’ll be working harder than ever this year to decouple my life from corporations and govt reliance. community building, strengthening friendships, helping others when I can. it’s going to be a long road ahead and we won’t survive as isolated individuals.

I don’t think you realize just how long it takes to hire federal employees, or reconstitute entire agencies (like CFPB).

tens of thousands of people forced out, thousands of research grants and projects canceled, hundreds of programs stifled…

this is the end of the federal government as we know it, and it will take a generation (20+ yrs) of back to back Democrat administrations to rebuild it. that’s not going to happen.

the oligarchs won dude. kids growing up today will never know how much has been lost. the corporate media will make sure all they know is ‘we’ve always been at war with eastasia’’