None of this possible without the complicity of the 4th Estate. America resembles Orban's Hungary more than we realize. Indeed the media is the enemy of the people, most def the enemy of democracy, it enabled Trump and he would not be president had it not been for the media and billions of free advertisement, especially now. He dominates the headlines, he dominates the conversation and he is having an orgasm.
Trump was on the air blasting that the shooter was anti Christian, but the media has not contradicted him, his manifesto is just the opposite, he chose to assassinate Trump believing he is an anti Christ.
Another example is Iran.. Iran won, The religious authorities, the ayatollahs, are not in charge in longer, that regime has been decapitated, there is a new regime, the IRGC is now running Iran, making all of the decisions, and they are militant to an extreme, not all concerned about the welfare of the people. And the press has given this short shrift.
I turned on MSNOW yesterday, and listened to a bunch of "expert analysts" bloviating, and switched ot netflix
The only quarrel I have with this post is that Thom characterizes democracy as "collateral damage" of the "hate-industrial complex", but then he later quotes Peter Thiel opining that capitalism is incompatible with democracy. It naturally follows that democracy is not collateral damage, but the intended target of the Tech-bro Mafia.
American capitalism is rigged, repressive, and ruthless. If one does not take the time to learn how it is rigged and actively avoid its many traps, capitalism will indenture you for life, limit your social mobility, and trap you in misery. Capitalism promotes the notion that the more wealth and power you acquire, the happier you will be in life.
Of course, money never buys happiness. Most billionaires wind up having to live in bubbles as they begin to view everybody as wanting to exploit them for their wealth and influence. They cannot walk down the street or eat at a restaurant without being mobbed by fans of their power and influence.
In time, the super-rich realize that capitalism has trapped them in misery just as it traps those with no wealth. The super-rich have to travel in limousines, enter buildings through the side door, and dine at exclusive restaurants that provide private dining rooms. The poor have to travel by bus, enter buildings through the back door, and dine out at burger joints. In both cases, rich or poor, a great many people vainly search for happiness in wealth. That is fertile ground for hate.
All of the Zucks and Musks are just The "Twilight Zone's" Henry Bemis:
The moment they finally get what they want: solitude / free time, it'll arrive only after society / the planet collapses.
Henry Bemis, a book‑obsessed bank teller, survives a nuclear blast because he’s hiding in the bank's vault to read. He emerges into an obliterated world.
He finds the remains of a library — to him, like winning a lottery — but then his glasses slip, fall, and shatter.
The Technate of America (see WIKI) is a real plan to dominate the people of the Western Hemisphere. That's a billion people here, and the Tech Bros and Crypto Creeps have made it possible for other fascists to adopt similar systems in their part of the world.
The people divided will always be defeated. The robots envisioned will always take their jobs. That is the plan---unemployment. Layoffs have just been announced, yet the Tech Bros just keep getting those tax breaks and making billions.
Believe it. This has to stop. The time is now. See you in the streets.
I just had to tune in to FOX for a bit to hear the hypocrisy parade as pundits blamed Democrats for violent rhetoric while they ignore the most vile rhetoric from their ugly dear leader. Crazy times.
We need big wins in 2026 and 2028. Have to expand Supreme Court to 13 Justices. Have to over turn Presidential immunity and Citizen United decision. Money is not speech and need to reinstitute federal bribery laws.
What is the book which Thom has read from about the free speech question? I don't recall the title. I am inclined to think that we could clarify free speech issues and find ways to prohibit some of the speech which is not honest opinion or debate but is simply an attack on American values and constitutional rights or which is so rooted in ignorance and contempt for human decency or scientifically validated principles that it is beyond offensive and invites or incites violence. I am close to finishing a new Substack article which argues for Democrats and liberal/progressives to reclaim their rights and their duties to denounce ideas and rhetoric which is based on purely superstitious or dark ages thinking and irrationality. We are not obligated to accept chronic bullying by sanctimonious and self-righteous or supposedly superior morons who use religion and political positioning as a cover for hate and abuse.
A superb prescription of real solutions for a deadly problem. But the thing is, we cannot hope to implement any of them without regime change. I say that as opposed to electoral victory because we do not have a properly elected government today. It is the product of manipulation, lies, bribes. We an perhaps make a start in November, but to get where you suggest will require as well activist judges prepared to rein in absolutist interpretations of the First Amendment and undo the damage done by Citizens United and its predecessor and successor opinions.
Can we do this? Yes. Will we do this? I seriously doubt it. Sorry for the pessimism, but I just look at the landscape and the mediascape and hope drains away...
I specifically looked up (again) the defs of hate and love as motivators and emotions and I swear to God that 5 or 10 years ago hate came out on top. Now it's the reverse. Now there are terms like short term hate and long term love. Let's get real as to what these terms seem to mean. What does in the short term actually mean in real time? Is it tomorrow, next week or month, next year, next election cycle, next decade or next lifetime? What is the long term mean - seems like it is not tomorrow or next week or month or possibly even next year or beyond.
I find the nuances of both a bit unfathomable. Let's say in the short term somebody comes in and wipes out your town or village. What's left for long term love to have an effect - there's no one left to attempt love. Let's say somebody comes in and wipes out the right of certain people to vote "love". These people want love but can't access the levers of social power to get it. Is this a lack of social love or the expression of social hate? Yeah, I know a bit simplistic but why does everything have to be rocket science.
It seems that when applied to real world situations things change - are there no people in Russia or China or North Korea or any African nation in turmoil or any nation where the people actively want a social "love" environment but can't get it? Well, let's talk USA. Again, kind of simplistic but -
Then talk the other word - MONEY. MONEY changes everything! in the short term and in the long term.
One word I never hear in commentary is “disproportionate”. Both sides do it ?! Technically yes BUT, it’s usually tilted far more to one side. GOP are far more likely to take fossil fuel money, or political violence is far more likely to be done(in this country)by white racist males than immigrants. Only a handfull of black men were involved with Jan.6 while close to 100% were white men & women. (go ahead and fact check me on that). See a difference of a Palestinian boy throwing a rock at an Israeli soldier, then a Merkava tank blows up the kids house, or an Israeli sniper takes out the kid from 2000 yards away ?! Maybe our mainstream corporate media can’t or doesn’t want to point that out. There are all sorts of things that are disproportionate but it’s never nuanced in that regard. Poor or negligent journalism for sure. Something to ponder when we listen to the news.
The crucial key now is to consolidate efforts now to assemble meaningful organization. There have been a litany of woes and righteous discontent but never the need to make those voices into one voice, joined together. Think of the efficacy of boycotting as an example of effective organization. Boycotting, by the way, has the power to defeat corporate gangsterism--they know they must protect their interests., the interests of their investors. They virtually will in the end need to cave. My biggest fear is that people will continue to believe that the sitting Democratic Party is the assemblage they need. The far right has their fingers crossed that people will continue to believe in those democrats that polls show have no national confidence. Far from it.
..." when ordinary people refuse to be divided, no oligarch or billionaire can stand against them."
Mayday is coming up.
None of this possible without the complicity of the 4th Estate. America resembles Orban's Hungary more than we realize. Indeed the media is the enemy of the people, most def the enemy of democracy, it enabled Trump and he would not be president had it not been for the media and billions of free advertisement, especially now. He dominates the headlines, he dominates the conversation and he is having an orgasm.
Here is the most current travesty as reported by Salty Politics https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/the-medias-gross-performance-after
Trump was on the air blasting that the shooter was anti Christian, but the media has not contradicted him, his manifesto is just the opposite, he chose to assassinate Trump believing he is an anti Christ.
Another example is Iran.. Iran won, The religious authorities, the ayatollahs, are not in charge in longer, that regime has been decapitated, there is a new regime, the IRGC is now running Iran, making all of the decisions, and they are militant to an extreme, not all concerned about the welfare of the people. And the press has given this short shrift.
I turned on MSNOW yesterday, and listened to a bunch of "expert analysts" bloviating, and switched ot netflix
The only quarrel I have with this post is that Thom characterizes democracy as "collateral damage" of the "hate-industrial complex", but then he later quotes Peter Thiel opining that capitalism is incompatible with democracy. It naturally follows that democracy is not collateral damage, but the intended target of the Tech-bro Mafia.
More likely Krasnov fulfilling his mission. Everything else is collateral damage.
American capitalism is rigged, repressive, and ruthless. If one does not take the time to learn how it is rigged and actively avoid its many traps, capitalism will indenture you for life, limit your social mobility, and trap you in misery. Capitalism promotes the notion that the more wealth and power you acquire, the happier you will be in life.
Of course, money never buys happiness. Most billionaires wind up having to live in bubbles as they begin to view everybody as wanting to exploit them for their wealth and influence. They cannot walk down the street or eat at a restaurant without being mobbed by fans of their power and influence.
In time, the super-rich realize that capitalism has trapped them in misery just as it traps those with no wealth. The super-rich have to travel in limousines, enter buildings through the side door, and dine at exclusive restaurants that provide private dining rooms. The poor have to travel by bus, enter buildings through the back door, and dine out at burger joints. In both cases, rich or poor, a great many people vainly search for happiness in wealth. That is fertile ground for hate.
Resentment. I resent people who do not pay their fair share.
That said, despite the fact that the system is rigged, lots of ways to take advantage of it.
All of the Zucks and Musks are just The "Twilight Zone's" Henry Bemis:
The moment they finally get what they want: solitude / free time, it'll arrive only after society / the planet collapses.
Henry Bemis, a book‑obsessed bank teller, survives a nuclear blast because he’s hiding in the bank's vault to read. He emerges into an obliterated world.
He finds the remains of a library — to him, like winning a lottery — but then his glasses slip, fall, and shatter.
No one's there to repair them.
#Vote to end Palantir
And the Technocracy marches on....
The Technate of America (see WIKI) is a real plan to dominate the people of the Western Hemisphere. That's a billion people here, and the Tech Bros and Crypto Creeps have made it possible for other fascists to adopt similar systems in their part of the world.
The people divided will always be defeated. The robots envisioned will always take their jobs. That is the plan---unemployment. Layoffs have just been announced, yet the Tech Bros just keep getting those tax breaks and making billions.
Believe it. This has to stop. The time is now. See you in the streets.
If you believe that, the battle for world dominance is in a courtroom in Oakland today.
I just had to tune in to FOX for a bit to hear the hypocrisy parade as pundits blamed Democrats for violent rhetoric while they ignore the most vile rhetoric from their ugly dear leader. Crazy times.
We need big wins in 2026 and 2028. Have to expand Supreme Court to 13 Justices. Have to over turn Presidential immunity and Citizen United decision. Money is not speech and need to reinstitute federal bribery laws.
What is the book which Thom has read from about the free speech question? I don't recall the title. I am inclined to think that we could clarify free speech issues and find ways to prohibit some of the speech which is not honest opinion or debate but is simply an attack on American values and constitutional rights or which is so rooted in ignorance and contempt for human decency or scientifically validated principles that it is beyond offensive and invites or incites violence. I am close to finishing a new Substack article which argues for Democrats and liberal/progressives to reclaim their rights and their duties to denounce ideas and rhetoric which is based on purely superstitious or dark ages thinking and irrationality. We are not obligated to accept chronic bullying by sanctimonious and self-righteous or supposedly superior morons who use religion and political positioning as a cover for hate and abuse.
A superb prescription of real solutions for a deadly problem. But the thing is, we cannot hope to implement any of them without regime change. I say that as opposed to electoral victory because we do not have a properly elected government today. It is the product of manipulation, lies, bribes. We an perhaps make a start in November, but to get where you suggest will require as well activist judges prepared to rein in absolutist interpretations of the First Amendment and undo the damage done by Citizens United and its predecessor and successor opinions.
Can we do this? Yes. Will we do this? I seriously doubt it. Sorry for the pessimism, but I just look at the landscape and the mediascape and hope drains away...
I specifically looked up (again) the defs of hate and love as motivators and emotions and I swear to God that 5 or 10 years ago hate came out on top. Now it's the reverse. Now there are terms like short term hate and long term love. Let's get real as to what these terms seem to mean. What does in the short term actually mean in real time? Is it tomorrow, next week or month, next year, next election cycle, next decade or next lifetime? What is the long term mean - seems like it is not tomorrow or next week or month or possibly even next year or beyond.
I find the nuances of both a bit unfathomable. Let's say in the short term somebody comes in and wipes out your town or village. What's left for long term love to have an effect - there's no one left to attempt love. Let's say somebody comes in and wipes out the right of certain people to vote "love". These people want love but can't access the levers of social power to get it. Is this a lack of social love or the expression of social hate? Yeah, I know a bit simplistic but why does everything have to be rocket science.
It seems that when applied to real world situations things change - are there no people in Russia or China or North Korea or any African nation in turmoil or any nation where the people actively want a social "love" environment but can't get it? Well, let's talk USA. Again, kind of simplistic but -
Then talk the other word - MONEY. MONEY changes everything! in the short term and in the long term.
One word I never hear in commentary is “disproportionate”. Both sides do it ?! Technically yes BUT, it’s usually tilted far more to one side. GOP are far more likely to take fossil fuel money, or political violence is far more likely to be done(in this country)by white racist males than immigrants. Only a handfull of black men were involved with Jan.6 while close to 100% were white men & women. (go ahead and fact check me on that). See a difference of a Palestinian boy throwing a rock at an Israeli soldier, then a Merkava tank blows up the kids house, or an Israeli sniper takes out the kid from 2000 yards away ?! Maybe our mainstream corporate media can’t or doesn’t want to point that out. There are all sorts of things that are disproportionate but it’s never nuanced in that regard. Poor or negligent journalism for sure. Something to ponder when we listen to the news.
The crucial key now is to consolidate efforts now to assemble meaningful organization. There have been a litany of woes and righteous discontent but never the need to make those voices into one voice, joined together. Think of the efficacy of boycotting as an example of effective organization. Boycotting, by the way, has the power to defeat corporate gangsterism--they know they must protect their interests., the interests of their investors. They virtually will in the end need to cave. My biggest fear is that people will continue to believe that the sitting Democratic Party is the assemblage they need. The far right has their fingers crossed that people will continue to believe in those democrats that polls show have no national confidence. Far from it.
The Democratic Party is the ONLY opposition.