What you feel about new America under Trump:-) ?

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better be careful, that kellyanne Conway [expletive] has been saying that people better not diss bullies such as her and trump because there may be legal consequences. bullies everywhere could do likewise.

socially speaking, it seems like the tone of the campaign was enough to do a lot of damage. it wouldn't necessarily reflect politically though ("he'll be different now that the campaign is over", which yes, he probably will be). but... it sounds more and more like the u.s. has practically become a one-party nation overnight. and that... is not good. waaay too many parallels with spooky episodes of 20th-century world history

he was elected, and he's supposed to be president. that's something that just has to be accepted, unless someone is actually serious about a revolution (which is usually no good unless there's really no other alternative, which is not really the case). but, the one-party thing, that's not something to be simply accepted as reality. it's something to be watched very closely (although it's always worth noting that the opposite of "one-party rule" isn't "another-party rule"...)

I am serious about a revolution, though I don't think we're at that point yet. It is an inevitability, but Trump hasn't moved the needle quite enough. He's just gotten it going a little faster.

Anyway, the issue you're noticing is that the two major US political parties aren't bringing enough to the table to address the concerns and grievances of most Americans. Trump is in fact a rebuke of both of them, and neither will be able to actually offer reasonable solutions to the problems we face without totally overhauling their platform; something the US political system and American culture (which has a ton of issues too) leaves them ill-equipped to do.

among our many original sins is expressed in the meme, "if I only work hard enough, I can get rich too!" which tends to blind people to the struggles of their neighbors.

Insidious propaganda, isn't it?

alarmingly so. it is coming to a head now.

in that case, make sure you understand the game being played

https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs

(i don't think it explains as much as it claims to, but it sure raises a lot of good points. spoiler alert though: it's depressing )

Basically, Political Science 101.

so... how would it be a good idea to either promote or participate in a revolution? that's the thing. being right in the middle of it seems like the worst strategy unless you're motivated by ambition (which, itself, is one of the cultural problems you would like to address, if i'm not misinterpreting you)

very depressing look at human nature and the banality of evil.

i think the main thing about it is that it's not really about human nature itself, but the nature of power structures. having any faith in rulers is dangerous. i think they're supposed to be viewed with skepticism no matter who they allegedly represent, no matter if they're actually being good leaders in practice or not. not because whoever is in power is necessarily worse than those who aren't, but because it's the nature of power itself

Deeply entrenched sociopolitical systems occasionally reach a degenerate state, where they are no longer able to serve the needs of their people. In the past, there has been more clarity about when this has occurred. With all our advances in technology though, it's not as readily apparent. It's not clear to the average person on the street that the economy they are participating in is out of control, because they are still getting paid. It's not clear that human civilization is on the brink, because they still have gas in their car. It's not clear that life itself is at stake, because the planet's climate doesn't change in a timeframe that they notice. None of this is so obvious as it has been in the past, when peasants could see that there is no food on the table. On the other hand, it is far more dangerous. It is existential in scale, and capitalism (whether of the mixed variety or classically liberal) does not offer any solutions to these problems. It just leads humanity right off a cliff. That's all it can do. It is the nature of that particular beast; it hungers for more, more, more... it cannot be told "too much!"

When one takes this into consideration, taking it out behind the shed and shooting it looks pretty appealing. I favor socialism as a replacement, but I'd hear out other alternatives.

power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. we just gave one party absolute power so we couldn't be surprised at the corruption that is showing itself even now. just wait 'til after I-day, it's gonna get ugly.

i saw this video yesterday, it was kind of an eye-opener:

https://youtu.be/eNx9tvCrvv8

i thought only in the u.s. (where creationism for example somehow is still a thing. i really don't get it. how can a country be so advanced but at the same time... creationism?) the idea that "climate change caused by humans is controversial" was also a thing, or that people had no idea what climate change really means. but now i'm questioning if it's not everywhere. i have the impression that people here (educated people at least) do understand it, because everybody around me always did, afaik. and i was taught about it in school, iirc. but then again, "everybody around me" is not necessarily a very representative portion of the population, and there's the "afaik" and "iirc", so i don't know anymore


yes. that sums it up


that's the point where we diverge, because i don't see how doing that can improve things. i don't think it can be reversed by force. it's like just telling a kid what they're not allowed or supposed to do, without giving them something that they'll want to do. they'll probably just do something worse instead that you haven't thought of yet. there have to be positive motivations. there's not much you can do against the sentiment that "well, in that case, we might as well just wait for the end of the world, why bother". or is that the very sentiment that motivates you against the odds?

It's unfortunately widespread for two reasons; the ruling class benefits from denialism as they will be the last to suffer from the consequences... and also, it's terrifying. this is not far removed from reality. The media does not give an accurate assessment of how severe or how urgent the matter is. Depending on the model used we have 1-3 years to avoid a tipping point for catastrophic change. That's it. Beyond that, we're reaching the point where nothing short of banning fossil fuels will work. We passed the point where we could do this painlessly a long time ago.

That's scary. People don't like being scared.




I think we have some understanding, here. That sentiment is a big part of it!

As regards revolution, it does not need to be a bloodbath. Just as technology has changed the nature of the apparent need for it, it has changed the nature of the activity itself. Mass media and social media mean people are able to organize far more efficiently, while it is also much harder for those in power to be violent and repressive. That does not preclude them from resisting change with force, but it does inform how they will do so.

People need to be made aware of the problems facing them and be presented a proposed solution. This is easier now than ever. While some people are too caught up in their little bubbles to listen, most are not so invested and are amenable to reason if you can get them to listen. As things get worse, they will want to listen. I am not so naive as to think a lot of damage will have been done by then but I am not one to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Wow.. I just read that apparently Trump is planning a "victory tour" for sometime in the future. He just thinks others will do the work while he just talks to people about making "America great again"? He doesn't even have a full cabinet yet! A silly tour can wait and shouldn't even be talked about yet, if ever. So stupid. He's a crook/conman/egomaniac/racist that has no place in politics, period.

I'm saying this now- Trump will be lucky if he lasts as president for 4 months. Pence as president likely wont last much longer I bet (his sick mindset with conversion therapy GARBAGE, anti-LGBT, etc) simply wont fly. Hell... I think most of Trump's friends will likely be in trouble at some point- especially Steve Bannon. While I don't agree with Republicans much- I think many are smart enough to catch onto the crap that is about to enter the White House.