The Politics Megathread

[Tamerlane]

Remember when I mentioned that we needed a forensic audit?

Well one county did that... And the results are rather striking.

The judge allowed the document to be released today and I think this is pretty damning evidence

https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20423772-antrim-county-forensics-report

Also, the Wisconsin Supreme Court said that you can't be indefinitely confined with COVID, meaning up to 200,000 votes might be thrown out
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news...ves-voters-decide-confined-status/6539363002/

 

[Ceildric]

The mainstream media will never give that evidence the weight it deserves, nor adequately dig into the Hunter Biden investigation, or the the connections Biden's campaign has to China.

The courts have already shown they are not to be trusted to act quickly or punish those that act in contempt.

And if Biden makes it into office, it is highly unlikely he will be impeached. Democrats still have a majority in the House, and mainstream / establishment Republicans just want things back to "business as usual" where corruption reigns supreme.

 

[immortalartisan]

Hey I have a good idea why not just put term limits on every office? I mean it would probably help with a lot of the corruption. It’s worked out well for the UK so.. it’s worked out most of the time.

 

[hazzack]

limits? that's one not-so-freedom word you use there.

 

[BroederTrapist]

Anarchy has most freedom and few limits.
Is that what the US wants these days?

The illusion of freedom is overrated.

 

[Teddy]

The problem with anarchy is that they can't have designated specialised workers that means no cops, firefighters, medics, researchers or most importantly mangakas and animators

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

Is [anarchy] what the US wants these days?

Some people unironically do. (Not me though.)

The only good thing about Anarcho-capitalism is the memes making fun of it.

 

[wowfucktron]

So I'm just going to post something I've slowly noticed over these past five years. Feel free to comment.

I've noticed there's been a widespread effort by the "woke" crowd to redefine certain words. Perfect example: the word Nazi. It used to mean a party member of the German National Socialist Party. Today it now means hateful individual.
This boggles my mind because I feel like I'm going down the route of "was /pol/ actually right?" But I genuinely am horrified at the attempts to warp words to fit meme mentality in the vein of headlines, audio clips, video clips, meme imagery, slogans and other propaganda. Doing stuff like that seems like some bizarro attempt at downplaying genuine monster's atrocities by turning a historical political party's name into an insult to call someone you disagree with on the internet.
This doesn't feel like a natural evolution of language when it's primarily being promoted by those who work in higher education and media.

Was 1984 a manual masquerading as a dystopian novel? Was Ted Kaczynski right? Am I just some idiot shouting into a sea of fellow idiots on the web?

Spoiler

Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!

 

[DeusNine]

I do see this on the internet quite a bit. People often choose to mistake bigotry for Nazism.
What I saw a lot with the riots and other such events were people with Nationalist ideologies getting the name ¨Nazi¨ handed to them like a business card or something.

 

[wowfucktron]

I think the reason for that is because it's easier to hate someone if you can depersonalize them by boiling their entire existence down to an ideology you don't really understand. It's why a lot of the middle class wannabe commies spout "nazis get the wall." Easier to stomach killing someone if you decide they're irredeemable.

 

[immortalartisan]

Problem is that facishm is literally government built around the idea of a supreme race aka racism.

Also @hazzack we aren’t free anyway in the USA no one is I prefer to live in a stable dictorship then live in “free” America. I’d prefer to be ruled by people who want to improve the country not corporations trying to wring me dry of all my money.

 

[schlo]

@wowfucktron i see it a lot for a lot of words, redefinition or just misuse words. In the case of the word Nazi, while I believe it does downplay the atrocities I don't think that is there actual intent. I don't think they truly understand or have enough knowledge of what happened or just don't care. Instead I think it is a blind attempt to depersonalize or undercut people.

I think misuse of words is done for a combination of reasons. Sometimes they are used to depersonalize, your example of Nazi is one, but other times they are used to undercut other peoples word rather then debate or argue with someone else. Phrases "that's racist" or "you are unpatriotic" are unfortunately often used this way. I always figure those who do this aren't smart enough to argue the other persons points. The bigger problem is it slowly destroys the ability of people to communicate and promotes abuse.

The depersonalizing that you mention is sometimes done out of spite but sometimes it is done innocently without thought.
It allows them to distance themselves from things they would rather not have to deal with. To me an example of this is when a police officer, firefighter or soldier is killed while doing their job. I've had people say to me that is their job. No it is not their job, it is an unfortunate and tragic event that occurs while they are doing their job.

 

[Tamerlane]

I prefer to live in a stable dictorship then live in “free” America

I prefer to live in a stable dictorship then live in “free” America

I prefer to live in a stable dictorship then live in “free” America​

Do I even need to explain why living is a dictatorship is worse than any other possible model for a country? Do I even need to cite cases like Pol Pot or the USSR at this point? (Also the fact he spelled dictator wrong is funny, even if it is irrelevant to the case)

 

[wowfucktron]

@immortalstisan Your definition of fascism that you listed is the reductionist definition. The racism attribute is only manifested when using the more extreme version of the ideology. Unfortunately people respond to emotional messages more than logical ones so that is why that version worked and why that version is used to demonize the ideology. Fuck me, I sound like a communist.

I will agree that the US is better off with an authoritarian government, it would just need to be done right. A good democracy is better than a good dictatorship and a good dictatorship is better than a bad democracy. Democracy just doesn't work in an era where corporations can manipulate information distribution, foreign agents can disseminate propaganda and misinformation, and, the worst part, the average individual having a platform to spout their ideas.

But then again, no governance style is perfect.

@schlo The part where I mentioned /pol/ is where I start to wonder if it is intentional, like a conspiracy is at play. "Who is accelerating who" so to speak. A lot of these seem intentional after so many apparent coincidences.

Take for example the BLM protests during this past year and a half. I'm starting to be convinced the CCP is currently inflaming American racial tensions to distract the world stage from the genocide of the Uyghurs. Once you realize the Chinese have a lot of tech firms specializing in AI, that Tencent has majority shares in just about every American social media company and the Chinese have successfully waived US criticisms of human rights violations away with cries of racism, you start to realize maybe, just maybe, those people we called tinfoilers might actually be onto something.

 

[immortalartisan]

@tamerlane a dictator ship relies on one individual or small group wanting to do the greater good problem is that most people who would make good rulers prefer democracy. Problem is that democracy is mostly controlled by said corporations. I prefer to have my life then sacrifice it for the idea of “freedom”. Most dictatorships in real life are inherently self destructive due to the people who rule them being paranoid idiots mostly which manifests as government mandated love of their leader.

 

[Nako]

@wowfucktron "Nazi" is not the name of a historical political party. It's simply a short form for "national socialist" and refers to people who follow that kind of ideology. The historical party's name was "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" = National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Calling someone a nazi is like calling someone a communist/commi (in German: “Sozi" - which is short for socialist/social democrat).

 

[wowfucktron]

@Nako The problem I was trying to address was about how an entire ideology is just being used to label a complex issue. Calling someone a Nazi is a reductionist attempt to belittle, shame or threaten someone into compliance with a philosophy they might not agree with. It also isn't lost on me when I dismiss a lot of the economically disaffected by labelling them communists. In reality when I say communist I mean "College graduate who followed their 'dreams' and doesn't understand economics beyond a high school level."

The words people are looking for to label the individuals demonized as 'Nazis' are the words "close minded." The people that gravitate towards bigotry tend to be socially disaffected and looking for acceptance among like minded individuals.

This is all part of a larger symptom of western society trying to simplify extremely complicated issues so the layman can be swayed via omitted truths.

 

[Tamerlane]

@immortalartisan

That is the philosophy that lead to the Caesars ending the Roman Republic and instating the Roman Empire.

Power is corruptive, so even if your intentions are pure, they will twisted over time by what you are able to get away with. It is the inevitable end result of such a centralized system.

Corporations are accountable to the people in that they must provide service to the people to stay in business, so they must at least attempt to satisfy the people. The politicians have to be reelected so must at least seem to serve the will of the people.

But dictators? They are only accountable to themselves and no one else. It's as twisted as divine right.

Republics don't tend to produce Caligulas, Neros, King Johns, etc. Things like Dictatorships produce Pol Pots, Stalins, Hitlers, Francos, Pinochets, and the Jong dynasty. It will never end well, no matter how well your intentions are, they will be twisted and it will fall to ruin

 

[EOTFOFYL]

Most dictatorships in real life are inherently self destructive due to the people who rule them being paranoid idiots mostly which manifests as government mandated love of their leader.

The danger of a coup exists in all states, not just in dictatorships, the possibility is higher because absolute power is absolutely alluring.

A system of government is nothing more than a means to an end, what kind you want to live under is up to you whatever the reason may be.

 

[crazybars]

@Tamerlane

Would also like to add that Stalinist style Communism and the Fascist Nazis are both examples of authoritarianism.
The political component and views are irrelavant. Paint on the exact same centralized government murder hoboing scam.

Stalinist Communism is Far left authoritarianism, Fascism ( Hitler's Nazi) tends to be Far Right conservative authoritarianism. When a government forces values through murder, force and censorship for "the right way" by order of a few people through centralized government, this tends to happen.


Would like to point out It's also incredibly inefficient because being efficiently fast on decisions also means mistakes and corruption are missed and get fixed VEeeerrrryyyy slowly. Also bribing the guy in charge becomes common, and trying to force people to do things ignoring incentives and efficient motivation.