Apparition of Jack

It’s more “trickle-down” nonsense. The idea is that giving people who already have more money than God even more tax breaks, they’ll use that money to “create jobs” and “stimulate the economy.” The problem is, you give a rich person a tax cut and they’re most likely just going to save that money, rather than actually spend it on anything useful, let alone public goods like roads, healthcare etc. Not only that but it makes Medicaid much harder to access, putting the physical health of millions of Americans in jeopardy. Republicans are ideologically opposed to any social programs and they see it as a way to give “handouts” to “freeloaders”, rather than the basic, reasonable investments in the health of their citizens that they actually are. It’s really bad. Who knows how this is going to play out down the line.

Republicans are ghouls. When we finally defeat them our victory will taste all the more sweeter.

I’m burnt out, man. The Republicans just passed their big bullshit bill that will almost certainly get hundreds of thousands, if not more, Americans killed, and we seem helpless to stop it. The No Kings protests were good but they didn’t result in any material change. Trump’s brand of late-stage fascism seems to just be undefeatable. Mamdani winning was a good sign but he’s just the mayor of one city. It’s like no matter how much we protest, how much we fight, no matter how many important victories we take, Trump will just ruin the lives of millions of people no matter what. I’m fucking sick of this shit but the American political machine seems like an evil beast you can’t destroy. I’m so fucking tired. I want this madness to end, but it seems unstoppable. Genuinely don’t know what to do.

Frankly I don’t know. This is something I’ve struggled with as well. I mostly try to rely on my heart / intuition / good advice to keep me going, and hope for the best.

I’ll put it this way. If you’re: - gay - a woman - trans - effeminate - socially avant-garde - worldly/liberal/progressive etc etc. then you’d be far, far safer in the West than you would be basically anywhere else. Even new powers like China still have massive problems with racism, homophobia, etc. This isn’t just some liberal talking point either; in absolute terms the number of people migrating from the Global South to the Global North just utterly dwarfs the opposite. People want to move to Western countries because their own countries are riddled with crime, corruption, poverty, drug abuse, etc. Despite the bad wrap the West gets (a lot of it deserved tbh), it is still, for billions of people around the world, an democratic “safe haven” and an aspirational model of what prosperous, stable societies look like. Third world countries shouldn’t be demonised, like I said every society has its good points, but neither should we encourage them to overlook their multitude of shortcomings that still harm the lives of countless of their citizens.

I’m sorry, but there are very real differences in the level of social development between countries, it’s not “reactionary” to point that out. Of course, all societies have good and bad, and if you just want a simple life of fishing and drinking hooch vs grinding your whole life you’d probably do better in some Filipino fishing village than New York, but on the whole the Philippines just has way more crime, corruption, poverty, murder, sex trafficking etc than the US does. Be careful not to flatten differences too much in the quest to make everything “equal.” Third world countries need to engage in serious developmental reform if they want to break the poverty trap.

Australia 9/10 Even just ignoring the fact that I was born here, it’s objectively one of the safest and most prosperous countries on the planet. Sure it has its problems but when you compare to third world countries (and even some places of Europe / USA), it’s basically a paradise. I try not to take it for granted every single day.

He looks way worse than that tbh. Not even saying this because I think he’s a clown (although I do), he just genuinely doesn’t look healthy and natural in the slightest. He looks like a worn leather shoe lmao.

We always come back to this point Leo. Just because something is true now doesn’t mean it has to be true always. If you were a black South African in 1975 Apartheid would’ve seemed like an all-encompassing beast that was going to last forever, and yet less than two decades later it was abolished for good. Or if you were a Brit in 1940 after the fall of France, Hitler would’ve seemed unstopped and that democracy was doomed, and yet again less than five years later he had put a bullet through his skull and Europe was free. I mean, you’re the guy who literally has multiple 2hr+ videos on the power of vision, and yet it comes to actually using our vast human resources to actually meet the challenges of the world, suddenly we’re all “helpless realists?” There’s a difference between being grounded and being defeatist. Sometimes it’s hard not to feel like your err towards the latter.

I think he’s definitely personally sympathetic to the Marxist worldview, but in practice he’ll just run on a platform of social policy reform. I don’t think it’s actually feasible (or even desirable) at this point to actually seize all private property, that worldview died in the 1800s. What is feasible though is reining in late capitalist insanity, ending corporate capture of politics and providing for everyone’s basic needs, which Mamdani will help greatly with achieving.

Just ignore them. Change the question. Call them out on their bullshit. “Socialism,” “capitalism” etc are just buzzwords at the end of the day. Just point out how popular these policies are and how they’ll help countless people. We don’t have to play the geriatric neoliberal’s game.

Freedom is inevitable. MLK wasnt just making stuff up when he said “the moral arc of the universe is long, but it always bends to justice.” Humans are far more conscious, forgiving, resilient and thoughtful than we give ourselves credit for. If we weren’t, we would’ve destroyed ourselves a thousand times over over the course of history. There are times when we are tested but it’s only so the victory can be even greater. Any human, institution, organisation or system that fundamentally seeks to dominate and control, that fundamentally believes people are cattle and can’t be trusted - will have a very bad time indeed. Freedom isn’t some nebulous idea, it’s inherent in the human condition, and only resisted by those too afraid or too stupid to accept it. Sooner or later, every tyrant, every injustice, every evil deed or bold-faced lie will be revealed under the sun of truth. Control and domination collapses. The world is reborn.

“Why should us Romans care about Egypt or Spain? From now our we’re putting Italy first!” - Roman populist, circa 200 AD

Holy shit Mamdani might actually do this

All the ego and none of the skill. A dangerous combination.

Unicorns attacked the WTC and Bigfoot killed Kennedy 🤪

Why are Americans so paranoid? Their nuclear arsenal alone makes them basically untouchable; the two giant oceans on either side made them impenetrable. Why do Americans act like middle powers like Iran or NK are a threat to them? America’s nuclear arsenal could wipe out every country on earth 20 times over. The only other country with a comparable nuclear arsenal (on paper) is Russia, but 90% of their bombs are decaying Soviet relics anyway. America reigns supreme in the military world for this one fact alone. Why do they still act like a bunch of woodland rebels?

No one can trust America now. Unfortunately you’ve become a rogue state.

You’re right. I apologise. I am simply far too naive for this cruel and hard world full of cynical self-interested actors: That’s why I can’t explain why the US and USSR destroyed the world in 1962. That’s why I can’t explain why Iran rejected Obama’s nuclear deal in 2015. That’s why I can’t explain why America failed to pass civil rights legislation in the 60s, or elected a black man in 2008. Oh wait. None of those things happened. Turns out human generosity and goodwill actually has power. EDIT: Remember when there were mass killings of Muslims citizens after 9/11? Or all those Chinese internment camps during COVID? Remember when the EU broke apart in 2012 during the financial crisis? Remember when North Korea launched a nuke at Hawaii in 2017 after restriction talks broke down? Oh wait. Again, none of those things happened. The worst part is all of this is just insights I’ve developed from Leo’s ideas about social evolution and the collective development of humanity, but no, apparently we’re all just cynical Cold War-era warhawks right?

America has severe mommy issues.

So you guys are prepared to accept 10 million Iranian refugees into your countries right? Right??

Obama LITERALLY had a deal with Iran in 2015. It was WORKING. Iran was COMPLYING. Trump tore it up out of arrogance and pride. NONE of this is necessary. There’s a sick, twisted force in the collective US psyche that demands blood no matter what.

The US raped Iraq for a decade, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths and the rise of ISIS and the European refugee crisis. To this day it’s still not a stable country. It’s now declaring war in Iran for weapons Iran doesn’t even have, threatening to create a far worse quagmire than Iraq ever was. Millions of people could die from this. America is a blind, stupid, arrogant dog full of bloodlust and ill-will that cloaks its violence in “prudence” and “strategic thinking.” America does not bring peace. It brings death and insanity. It has no room to ever lecture others on geopolitically morality.

@Basman Cop’s don’t bomb random suburbs because someone bought a BB gun

Well said.