Everything that is happening right now is because Musk has kicked into high gear the broligarchy’s plan to destroy our government, so that the US will fall apart and replaced with fiefdoms owned by Musk, Zuck, and the rest of the tech bros.
politics
The family group/tribe is built on mutual support, but the modern conservative version is transactional, based on membership and loyalty. Actions that look like kindness are in reality actions to reinforce tribal loyalty. I think this is why so many people in conservative communties, who are trapped in entirely conservative information spaces, have a hard time breaking free. They see examples of community support as affirmations of their community goodness, and this narrative is drummed into them constantly. Conservative leaders have the advantage of labeling any disruptive people or ideas as 'foreign' and a threat, even if from within the community, so that they never even have to engage with new ideas on merit.
Kindness isnt a relevant trait to their tribal functioning, because the ability to be unkind and cruel to people who arent toeing the tribal line is necessary to upholding 'family law'. Kindness in others undermines their attempts to police peoples behavior (this is why its so important that men are in charge). Therefore, not only is kindness devalued, it is actively persecuted as a threat to conservative values. And that is only treatment of your in-group. If you reject kindness internally, imagine how easy it is to subject an out-group to cruel inhumanity. You can literally justify anything. What is horrifying is the degree to which everyday members of conservative communities have become willfully blind to the terrible treatment of others in order to hang on to an image of community goodness. I have witnessed far too much of this in my life.
Its worth stating that the left has its own, different kind of tribalism. They embrace kindness but there is a lot of pressure to prove the right kind of worth. It has a distinctly multicultural, anti-authoritarian tribalism, where the rules of the tribe are under constant negotiation. This makes communicating a platform challenging. Its a lot simpler for conservative platforms whose rules come from demagogues and an old book.
The flaw of designing a system without compassion is that the cruelty eventually becomes impossible to hide from the tribe, and the cruelty comes for everyone. #uspol #politics #disability #sociology #anthropology #kindness #geopol
Edited 71d ago
VULGAR DEMAGOGUE
Book blurb for "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis (1935)
"Vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected.. He was an actor of genius"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here
#Fascists #Nazis #UnitedStates #politics #PresidentMusk #VicePresidentTrump #broligarchy
Hey everyone,
With all the craziness going on, please check out and share:
http://www.dontcallthepolice.com
It’s an online directory of local resources available as alternatives to contacting law enforcement if you need help with DV, mental health, housing, LGBTQ+ support, protecting your vote, crisis management, addiction, etc.
#politics #uspol #ice #Police #mentalhealth #housing #lgbtq #votingrights #addiction
BREAKING: A bunch of U.S. Digital Service employees (including me) were fired tonight. It's still unclear exactly how many. There is no visibility whatsoever into what determined who was let go. Legacy USDS (i.e., pre-DOGE) leadership was not involved in the decision about whom to let go and was not notified in advance that people were going to be fired.
#politics #USPol #DOGE #coup #USDS
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Many nonprofits rely heavily on federal grants and AmeriCorps members. These nonprofits are being told that they need to scrub anything mentioning diversity, equity, and inclusion if they expect any federal funding or assistance moving forward. (Attached are a couple of examples from a literacy nonprofit called Reading Partners). It's possible that many of Trump's executive orders will be defeated in court, but--even if that happens--the legal process can be slow. Funding is being pulled from programs / nonprofits / research that cannot survive long without it. So, if you see an organization complying with these orders, please do not immediately think less of them. Do not assume they are making these changes because they want to. In most cases they are simply trying to weather the storm and survive long enough to continue helping the communities that depend on their services.
#USPol #politics #nonprofits #americorps #dei
#USPol #politics #nonprofits #americorps #dei
"Dear White People:
It takes a lot of white privilige balls to stand on this stolen and occupied continent and complain about IMMIGRATION."
#IndigenousPeoples have lived in the Americas for more than 23,000 YEARS! white colonizers have been here for several hundred years
https://www.blueamp.co/p/the-us-can-survive-without-almost #news #politics #trump #donaldtrump #elonmusk #musk #us #usa #eu #europe #america #china #russia #ukraine #canada #video #tech #uk #writing #ai #tv #fascism #france #democracy #germany #substack #cliffsedge #blueamp #cliffschecter #davidhuster #briankarem #cliffsnote
The NRA Wanted Her Silenced. Instead, She Built a Grassroots Army https://www.blueamp.co/p/the-nra-wanted-her-silenced-instead
"[Shannon] Watts details threats—sexualized, targeted, relentless—as the right tried to make her a cautionary tale. Instead, she became a symbol of what happens when you refuse to shut up and sit down"
#news #politics #terrorism #cliffsedge #cliffsnote #shannonwatts #blueamp #cliffschecter #davidshuster #interview #guns #guncontrol #women #firedup #video #podcast #streaming #usa #us #trump #musk #media #press #activism
In Germany, social media algorithms are pumping out huge amounts of far-right, pro-AfD content.
A new study found that, on TikTok Twitter, nearly 3/4 of all partisan content being pushed algorithmically to German users favored the party best known for its ties to neo-Nazis.
#news #politics #elonmusk #nazi #corruption #firemusk #germany #afd
I'm impressed that #StarTrek #DS9 was only about nine months and half a state off in their prediction about the Bell Riots.
I'm still holding out hope for their Irish Reunification prediction.
#LosAngeles #politics
I have been thinking about this very thing and now here is Contrapoints on 'Daddy Politics' and cultural semantic metaphors.
Edited 70d ago
Hi. To escape the madness of the next few days (german election, election worker, wrong election winners, USA madness, Ukraine 🥺, TV duels, right-wing extremists, stupid social media comments, etc.), I'm avoiding all media for a few days and taking a vacation from the madness. Hang in there, friends, and I'll see you next week. 🤧👋🏻🫶🏻
#Streetart #Art #Politics #BeQuiet and don't slay any FDP voters.
(Artist Pic by: #Themisfortuneteller https://themisfortuneteller.org/ )
How El Salvador’s Government Impeded a U.S. Probe of MS-13
—
President Donald Trump has praised Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as a crime fighter, but new reporting based on interviews and documents reveals how senior Salvadoran officials have impeded a U.S. investigation of the MS-13 gang.
https://www.propublica.org/article/bukele-trump-el-salvador-ms13-gang-vulcan-corruption-investigation?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #ElSalvador #Trump #Bukele #Crime #Government #Politics
Awfully quiet at the Xitter site, hardly any tweets on trump's vanity parade, which started 30 minutes early at 6:00 EDT to avoid the rain.
No one seems to be crowing about crowd size or posting images.
We wonder why 😉
These images are from a CSPAN video, with a very small crowd along the parade route. What a waste of taxpayer money.
#Politics
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Edited 63d ago
Welcome to the March/April 2025 issue of Texas Observer magazine! Editor-in-Chief Gus Bova introduces our latest by examining the "biannual dread” invoked by the Texas legislature and what we can do about it. https://www.texasobserver.org/editors-letter-introducing-our-march-april-2025-issue/
Edited 169d ago
It's that time of year again: Submissions for the 2025 MOLLY National Journalism Prize for Investigative Journalism are now open!
Submit your entry and/or help us spread the word! 🤠 Deadline for entries is Friday, April 11. https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-awards/the-molly-awards-submissions/
NEW #SUBSTACK: 11 MILLION Americans Stand Up! #Trump 's Sad, Flaccid Parade Can't Get It Up
https://www.blueamp.co/p/11-million-americans-stand-up-trumps #news #nato #usa #politics #media #press #protest #la #losangeles #california #stockmarket #nokings #donaldtrump #elonmusk #us #unitedstates #europe #america #russia #ukraine #eu #canada #germany #tech #france #uk #italy #ai #writing #fascism
U.S. agents suspected Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and some in his inner circle of diverting USAID funds to MS-13 leaders. Agents sought to review any U.S. bank accounts held by 15 Salvadoran political figures including Bukele, other senior officials and their relatives.
#News #ElSalvador #Trump #Bukele #USAID #Politics #Government #Crime
A friend asks, how can Trump abandon millions to invaders in Ukraine then complain about ‘Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat’?
Kōbō Abe, who wrote thoughtfully about crime in his dystopian, edge-of-society prose offers a helpful point:
‘The cleverest thief is the one who pretends he’s been robbed.’
Edited 158d ago
If Trump is not stopped soon, he’ll no longer be necessary to Putin.
Give that a think.
The poison spreads like a spider’s paralytic.
The GOP, half the dems, the top of the military, most of corporate America & the ‘MSM’—
—already frozen