• utopianrevolt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        “All” it takes is for people to get tired of it and have a massive strike.

        Unfortunately, it’s really difficult due to a dystopian mixture of:

        • elite-owned and operated media

        • a “golden era” of distractions (phones, movies, television shows, video games) (see above)

        • overwork and exhaustion

        • struggle to survive and make ends meet

        • warranted desire for a quiet life for one’s children

        • fear

        • general negativity and toxic stances from one person to another

        • dramatic lack of funding and support for mental healthcare

        • abysmal lack of funding and support for healthcare. period.

        • Massive amount of debt and lack of financial freedom

        • lack of bodily autonomy and a safety net for unplanned pregnancies

        • failure of making people of other genders, cultures, and beliefs feel safe, instead threatening and taking their lives

        plus many other things. I tend to be generally positive and optimistic, and I’m very hopeful that we, the people, will change things incrementally… but it’s also hard to ignore how shit things are right now.

        Let’s just remember that it wasn’t a single person or party that got us here. It’s been decades of systemic failures choices by the ruling class, from people far beyond party lines, behind closed doors. Lobbyism is bipartisan, at least as far as some of the most powerful people in Congress go. Those failures choices led to the rise of fake populism in the form of Trumpism, and other equally disturbing movements.

        At the end of the day, I personally don’t think anything is going to happen for us. Instead, the people at large need to decide that they’re ready for it. I’m hopeful that it’s going to happen, but it won’t be easy.

        • stigmata@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Nah, it’s going to take more than a strike. It’s going to take something happening on Wall Street that gets you banned from forums for talking about.

          • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You way underestimate the power of striking in the US. Nationwide strike. I couldn’t imagine a week long strike. The impact to the economy would be staggering. Any longer then that you’re talking ending the US dollar.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You way underestimate the power of striking in the US. Nationwide strike. I couldn’t imagine a week long strike.

              I remember how quickly and enthusiastically centrist Democrats simped for rail bosses. Like, I bet at least one of them won’t read past that first sentence before dropping at least one long paragraph of condescension.

            • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              I think a combination of the auto workers and delivery drivers striking would probably do it. And the teachers. Society would collapse.

          • utopianrevolt@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I really hope not. I fear that any violence will only doom us to prolong the mass hatred and suffering going on right now.

            Realistically, historically, and regrettably, you may be right.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Trumpism is straight up populism. It’s the same shit as the Know-Nothing Party, almost literally.

          You’re parroting populist shit right now. Populism is a cancer.

          • utopianrevolt@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m not a political science major, local politician… hell, I’m not even a political activist as much as I’d love to convince myself that I am. I’m a multiracial guy from two immigrants who was raised in a melting pot of a city, being told my whole childhoold that I live in the greatest country in the world and I can never question it.

            From a quick search, populism is a political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite. From my interpretation of the definition, Trumpism is not populism, but capitalism under the guise of populism. That being said, at the end of the day, I prefer to use as little labels as possible (politician names, political parties, ideologies, etc). Everyone has their own interpretation, experiences, biases, and understanding of such labels. It feels almost self-defeating to discuss politics using labels instead of discussing the actual issues, at least to me.

            If you don’t mind, I’d rather discuss the core problem: Trump was able to exploit the working-class people who have, for whatever reason, felt disillusioned by both parties. It was a ruse that many people saw through, but many also did not. In the past few decades, wealth has been further distributed to those few that control most media, corporations, and legislation. The minimum wage has remained the same despite the massive increase in the cost of living. More and more people are feeling less and less fulfilled. More and more people are less and less likely to be able to retire. I can go on and on. That has been a slow, persisting threat that has spread throughout several administrations representing both parties.

            Whatever you choose to call my beliefs is on you, I’m simply offering my perspective to anyone who’s interested in listening. I’m just a random guy who doesn’t mean shit compared to the people in charge and sees the silent suffering of the people around me that I love and care about. And the people who I don’t know that are going through the same exact shit. Maybe all this is just my way of coping with the chaos of the world, but to me, it feels like more people agree than we’re led to believe.

            • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Spot on!

              Labels are a big problem and are imo related to the issue of echo chambers online. Along with memes that vilify other outside viewpoints.

              • utopianrevolt@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I completely agree with every single one of your points. At the same time… some of the memes are fucking hilarious when not taken seriously. It’s extremely difficult not to take it as such, though, with a topic as inherently severe as politics.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Populism is the mass appeal of demagogues involving simplistic, faceless enemies and equally simplistic solutions to problems. It is not evidence-based and it’s policies are often counter productive.

              Populism is a cancer and politicians that use populist rhetoric should be considered inherently untrustworthy.

              Problems do exist and the solutions to those problems should be found in sound, evidence-based policies, not conspiracy theories about global elites.

              Everyone one of your complaints, for instance, is reflective of a real concept but is inherently misleading to more effectively appeal to people like you, who are self-identifying as not very knowledgeable about policy. I am not being mean here - this is an intentional tactic, and it is a very real concept.

              Let’s take an example: “the minimum wage has not gone up.”

              This is misleading for several reasons

              1: state minimum wage has absolutely gone up in very many states, and exceeds the federal.minimum

              https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/

              As you check that (progressive, pro-$15 minimum wage) site, you’ll also note that 28 states have raised their minimum wage recently, 30 states + DC have a min wage higher than federal minimum, and 8 states effectively have no minimum wage.

              2: 98.5% of working adults do not make minimum wage.

              https://www.zippia.com/advice/minimum-wage-statistics/#:~:text=What percentage of Americans make,make the federal minimum wage.

              So what’s the real reason here? It’s obviously not a minimum wage concern. The real reason is simple: most Americans feel economically left behind.

              Only by addressing this actual fact, and debating and discussing policies about this thing both parties and most Americans can agree on, can we move away from dangerous, divisive rhetoric and back toward actual policy discussion.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              If you’d like I’d be happy to do this about all of your concerns, but it would make an extremely long post even longer so I didn’t do it all at once.

        • PRUSSIA_x86@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          This mindset and Trumpism are two sides of the same populist coin. It may be tempting, but beware the populist-fascist pipeline, lest you end up a left-wing magat.

          • utopianrevolt@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Personally, I believe this is a fairly big reason as to why the majority of people are disillusioned with politics and would rather not discuss it. I mean no offense to you or your comment. Truly, I only mean that in the grand scheme of things, your reply has many words that don’t address any substantial problems.

            Surely wanting an equally free, comfortable, and good quality of life for as many as possible while using empirical data is not the same as spreading hate and disinformation?

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If it makes you feel any better, the nation probably wouldn’t survive a president much worse than Trump. Can’t have a “history of the nation” anymore if there’s no nation!

        "roll safe" meme

      • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Certainly a strong contender for that title.

        Really just depends on the metric we’re using to evaluate. When if we’re talking body count, don’t forget that Trump ran a smear campaign against the voices of reason during the peak of covid, and promoting general distrust in health sciences - the influence of which spread across the entire globe, resulting in the deaths of millions.

        They both have a justifiable claim to “worst president to date”.

        • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The child separation policy he was behind at the southern border is within the Geneva Convention’s definition of genocide: “Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” The children were taken from their parents with no intention of returning them, many were adopted by American families when their own parents “couldn’t be found” because there was no system put in place to do so.

          • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Uggghhhhhh… I was so angry at everyone that whole time this was going on. The “just asking questions” guys at my job couldn’t understand why I was so enraged that America(!) Was taking children from parents who were peacefully trying to make a better life for themselves.

            “But it’s illegal to cross the border!”… Bro shut the fuck up before I feed you a monkey wrench.

            • Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              It’s also illegal to speed but 95% of drivers are actively speeding at any time. It’s so dumb, they act like they give a shit about laws and then cnn or some other garbage institution takes them seriously.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Within the definition, but Jackson was actively murdering indigenous Americans and wiping their nations from the face of the Earth. I would still call that worse, as horrific as Trump’s administration was.

    • ghost_of_faso2
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      1 year ago

      eh, il take trump over one of your other drones that killed millions of people in illegal wars, trump sucks and this is in no way an advocation for him, id just put that award to nixon or bush jr still just by virtue of ‘killed millions of people directly’ which trump hasnt done