barrbaric [he/him]

I did this at my work and got a little dongle that displays a string of numbers I have to enter when prompted.

Blowback, The Dollop, and occasionally Citations Needed but I’ve let that one accrue a huge backlog I may never get through.

“Patriotic Socialist”, which should set off alarm bells for being awfully close to “National Socialist”. They’re doing the exact same thing the nazis did, attempting to use some bits of left-wing rhetoric to appeal to the working class while simultaneously espousing extreme right wing and anti-socialist political beliefs, in this case usually Trump’s. Some of them seem to be suspiciously well-funded for what you’d expect from tiny fringe political organizations.

to news weirdos.

Doesn’t it have something like a two-hour battery life? Feel like that excludes it from being something you carry around with you like a phone.

IIRC there’s some evidence that cold temperatures weaken the immune system. Assuming it’s valid, that does mean that cold could be the deciding factor between contracting a cold or fighting if off.

Now obviously germ theory is correct and it takes external infection to catch a cold, but it’s a pretty safe bet you’re being more or less constantly exposed to COVID and the flu whenever you’re in an indoor public space.

I desire the end of America and indeed all capitalist states, ideally before they slide even further into fascism in the near future. Death to the Israeli state, and death to any states that support it.

Beans is one thing, but cold beans??? That’s a step too far, I now uncritically support Xi.

I just pirate everything because it’s easier.

Lemmy poster says capitalism gave us bad habits, prescribes CEOs be eaten alive.

July 26th 2020, a day that will live on in infamy as the first day of Hexbear.

You can always just pirate and have a copy of it stored locally.

The Foundation TV series. No, it’s not a movie, but it’s so bad I feel it should count anyway.

You’re thinking of wage theft. “Time theft” is when you slack off on the job.

The action that leads to security and a better life for yourself and those around you is to organize your community along whatever lines are possible. Unionize with your coworkers, form a tenant’s union with your neighbors, physically get out in the street and provide security for LGBT+ events and spaces. Build up parallel structures so that when the government fails, you and those you care about will still have access to food and water, a place to live, and security. Join a political organization that’s active and actually does things in your area (one of the communist parties, DSA, or even just Food not Bombs) and do all you can to prepare for a revolution that might never come.

I’ll close this by saying that I’ve been harsh on voting and the electoral system in general during this conversation, and probably too hostile in tone towards you. I apologize for that, because it’s sometimes hard to tell when someone is actually acting in good faith, this being the internet and all. Voting isn’t something I think is particularly useful, but if you vote for the democrats because they’re less openly fascistic, that’s up to you. The key is to not let your political activity start and end at voting, because direct action in the real world is by far the best way to achieve positive change. I wish you and yours the best in surviving the collapsing fascist hellhole we find ourselves in.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.

What word did I say that made you think I’m happy with the Democrats?

I never said you were. I was addressing the claim that they’re a lesser evil, which I’m not convinced by.

It’s all fucked.

Agreed!

And the Supreme Court was stacked by the last administration

Largely irrelevant. Biden could stack the court, or just tell them to fuck off since they have no real power, or codified Roe into law when the dems controlled congress. There are excuses for why they couldn’t do any of those things, sure (not least of which that Biden opposes abortion rights himself because he’s a fucking monster). But all of them show that they’re fundamentally unserious in fighting back against the fascists. I’m not going to vote for von Hindenburg 2.

In short, the working class need to be better organized, class-conscious (IE aware that they are members of the working class and opposed to the capitalist class), and militant, and the repressive organs of the state need to be much weaker. Organization is trending up with things like increased unionization rates (though many of those unions are collaborationist and not revolutionary) and increased membership in revolutionary orgs like the PSL or even reformists like the DSA. Class consciousness is increasing naturally as the social contract that bought off the working class of the USA (and the rest of the imperial core) is torn up and people begin to look outside the status quo for alternatives. Likewise, militancy will come once people have nothing to lose, and as you say, the younger generations are well down the path, but the key element missing is the aforementioned organization.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. This mass radicalization will be slowed, and worse, redirected towards fascism, by that omni-present multi-billion dollar propaganda network controlled by the capitalists. Further, any increases in worker organization will be met with increasingly brutal crackdowns by the cops, FBI, and other alphabet agencies. Ultimately I find it far more likely the US will descend into fascism; it would not be unreasonable to argue that it’s already there. That said, we must still fight for the better tomorrow we know is possible.

Roe V Wade was repealed under Biden. The concentration camps at the border are still open. In response to the mass murder of black people by cops, Biden gave more money to the cops. The extermination of trans people is continuing apace at the state level and the dems are doing nothing to stop it. This is all to say nothing about foreign policy, where the US is still complicit with killing thousands if not millions since 2020 through sanctions and facilitating genocide in Yemen. Or lifting all COVID restrictions despite the massive danger still posed.

There is a rhetorical difference between the two parties, but there isn’t much evidence of a material difference.