Best way to oppose authoritarianism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m gonna write a letter to my Senator!

Like that’s gonna help. Dems are powerless.

Well, in that case, I will call and speak to a 19-year-old intern in his office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the thing fascists lack the most - a sense of humor. And that's why Kimmel is gone but we can be sure we haven't heard the last from him.

The oligarchs may control the media but they dont' control the streets. Not yet. Just keep poking them. In numbers, we can be the giant cloud of annoying mosquitoes that keep bothering them, keep mocking them, keep ridiculing them. They can swat one of us away but they can't get all of us.

100%

Ever look at Babylon Bee? So painfully UNfunny.

Humor requires meta-cognition, and a lot of right-wingers lack that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is rich coming from a site admin that deletes every post that doesn't comport with his worldview and bans all dissent against the site dogma.

Do you have any self awareness?

I'm sorry, you are the one who lacks self-awareness. You are comparing having a post removed from a privately-owned website to government oppression. I can't fire you because i don't like what you post. I can't arbitrarily raise taxes on you depending on my mood that day. I can't arrest and deport your neighbors, including those who were here legally. Do you really expect anyone to take you seriously with this type of post?

DCUM is a privately-owned business. I have the right to decide what content I am willing to publish. If you want to say something that I won't allow here, there is nothing preventing you from saying it elsewhere. You can even set up your own forum and post whatever the hell you want. I am not the government. I can't stop you. Use your head for something other than a place to put a hat.

All true, but fails to take accountability for attempting to surreptitiously delete certain viewpoints while promoting others in an attempt to distort public sentiment.

But keep telling yourself that you’re one of the good guys. The irony is that You look down your nose at outlets like Fox News and OAN while creating exactly the same thing.

OAN is where my SIL got the notion that 400,000 illegals were entering the US every single day.
There is a difference between looking down your nose and taking active steps to threaten, intimidate, coerce, blackmail expression.
Just like some of the law firms Trump used federal power to extort that knew this was wrong but felt the consequences of resisting would be too dire.
Just like the universities.
Just like CBS and now other media.
Meanwhile, Trump turns a criminal drug organization into a terrorist organization for the purposes using unlawful means to carry out deportation (this is not an argument against deportation, it is an argument against unlawful means). Then Trump uses military forces to carry this out, uses military forces to carry out unlawful attacks in international waters. Trump sends federal troops into DC (for starters) because he can claim federal jurisdiction (and forcibly removes a protest that has continued for more than 40 years just because he doesn't like it).
Meanwhile, Pam Bondi says they will go after hate speech. (I am not aware of any hate speech crime defined in the US criminal code).
Meanwhile Trump declares antifa a terrorist organization.
This will justify the use of military force domestically in case of protests alleged to be antifa.

If they can go this far in less than 8 months, how far can they go in 48?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Support the arts, support education, support your local library. Teach your kids critical thinking and media literacy.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virtually every tech and big media CEO were at the Trump/King Charles Dinner last night, if people want to understand where this going.

Your newest conspiracy-theory is:

- King Charles is secretly conspiring with trump? OMFG.

Last year, your theory was Charles was conspiring with the WEF to destroy capitalism and take away all that you own. At least that one had a little evidence to support it:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is rich coming from a site admin that deletes every post that doesn't comport with his worldview and bans all dissent against the site dogma.

Do you have any self awareness?

I'm sorry, you are the one who lacks self-awareness. You are comparing having a post removed from a privately-owned website to government oppression. I can't fire you because i don't like what you post. I can't arbitrarily raise taxes on you depending on my mood that day. I can't arrest and deport your neighbors, including those who were here legally. Do you really expect anyone to take you seriously with this type of post?

DCUM is a privately-owned business. I have the right to decide what content I am willing to publish. If you want to say something that I won't allow here, there is nothing preventing you from saying it elsewhere. You can even set up your own forum and post whatever the hell you want. I am not the government. I can't stop you. Use your head for something other than a place to put a hat.

All true, but fails to take accountability for attempting to surreptitiously delete certain viewpoints while promoting others in an attempt to distort public sentiment.

But keep telling yourself that you’re one of the good guys. The irony is that You look down your nose at outlets like Fox News and OAN while creating exactly the same thing.

Please give us links to fox or oan where there is any debate at all. Your claim that Jeff silences debate is pure BS.

[Anonymous]

Do not d eate MAGA trolls. They love wasting your time. Spend your time fighting. Chicago lady, drive around town filming ICE, so they run away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not d eate MAGA trolls. They love wasting your time. Spend your time fighting. Chicago lady, drive around town filming ICE, so they run away

If you’re looking for a little hope, look up the gothamist story about the good citizens of Rochester turning out to run ice out of their neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

The only thing authoritarianism listens to is money.

Boycott companies that support Trump. https://www.opensecrets.org/2024-presidential-race/donald-trump/contributors?id=N00023864

Or move out of this country and take your money with you.

[Anonymous]

Spend as little money as possible. Boycott the other side. Imagine if every dem canceled their prime, X, instagram and facebook accounts today. Look what happened to Tesla in just a few months. Will never happen, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is rich coming from a site admin that deletes every post that doesn't comport with his worldview and bans all dissent against the site dogma.

Do you have any self awareness?

Didn’t your side just delete Jimmy Kimmel? Go look in the mirror.

My side is not Disney/ABC. So no.

Oh, FCC chairman Brendan Carr is very much your side.

And George/ Alex Soros and Neville Singham on yours.

Take a step out of the Fox News bubble, bro. Try NPR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people saying wringing congresspeople is a waste, you’re wrong. Research shows that Republicans contact their elected officials more than Dems.

You can also write a note of thanks to encourage them or write to tell them to do something within the party (fire Schumer).

This is correct but call! Republicans call much more. I call my D reps daily, takes 1 min. Use 5calls.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is rich coming from a site admin that deletes every post that doesn't comport with his worldview and bans all dissent against the site dogma.

Do you have any self awareness?

F off.
-not Moderator. NP

Well, it was nice to feel for a while a lot of us had a place to discuss things and maybe see our commonalities but these recent comments point to a definite agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Support the arts, support education, support your local library. Teach your kids critical thinking and media literacy.

+1

Stop paying for cable and internet and get everyone a library card. Go guy some board games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it seems we are living in an authoritarian state. What is the most effective way to oppose it? All of you political scientists/history buffs, what has worked in the past? I have no confidence we will have any more free and fair elections, if we even have them going forward.

You asked a serious question, and I am going to give you a truthful answer firmly rooted in history. It comes down to this: become ungovernable by disentangling your life from the federal government to the extent possible. Do these things:

Go to church and grow in your faith.

Get married, have kids, and build a strong family.

Homeschool your children.

Eliminate your debt and increase your wealth. Build your human capital via education and/or experiences. You got the degree and landed the job—great, but don’t exhale—keep going. Become a lynchpin in your workplace; learn that skill that makes you indispensable. That might mean reading books in your field after hours. Over the course of your career, convert your human capital to enough financial capital that your assets make work optional and you can give generously to causes that help people in your community.

Do not subscribe to cable television. TV entertains you at too great a cost; it makes you docile and therefore dependent. It also is there to notify you about what you are supposed to be outraged over at any given point in time. You will save a ridiculous amount of money, increase your competitiveness, and your dreams will be more vivid. You will not regret trying this. Sadly, many people reading this post will reject it reflexively, largely because they have been programmed by their television to reject approaches to life that have been proven to yield extraordinary results. They call it television programming for a reason.

Consider starting a business.

Consider becoming a responsible gun owner. The second amendment is there to take all the fun out of authoritarianism. Use it and champion it.

If you must invest your time and energy in politics, do so at the local level.

Get healthy by only eating food from the outer edge of the grocery store (e.g., meat, eggs). With few exceptions, the middle section contains substances (much of it not even “food”) that are there to kill you slowly and profitably. Move your body; use it or lose it. Don’t poison your body with drugs or alcohol. Make getting good sleep a priority.

None of these things are easy and all require discipline, as well as trial and error. Therefore, make sure you enjoy the journey and practice self-contentment.

Get as many people in your community as you can to do these things with you. These things will elevate the American experience more than anything. And note that some of these things are not even possible in other countries. We are so incredibly fortunate to be in the United States.

The more of these things you do, the more the current occupant of the White House becomes a trivia question instead of a hyper-consequential facet of your life. It won’t matter what clown the uniparty has foisted upon us, you will be enjoying life too much to care and your family be insulated from much of the nonsense.

It’s a good life. Don’t squander it.