In the past week or so, the courts have begun to try to set some boundaries on the MuskāMillerāTrump administrationās early blitz of recklessness.
. . .
This judicial review provides at least a small reprieve, hope that some of the administrationās most destructive impulses will be stopped. Or at least pared back. But even with the courts stepping up, and even with the reality of the administrationās ineptitude sinking in, this early MuskāMillerāTrump blitz remains veryāmaybe irreparablyādamaging. Of course, there are a lot of moles to whack: the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are being dismantled at an alarming rate, and the court system is not known for being nimble. The administration is betting, perhaps rightly, that at least some of its thoughtless, lawless efforts will slip through the cracks.
But even if the courts caught them allāand even if every court facing each lawless escapade said, āNope, thatās not a thingāāstill the entire process would be doing serious damage to our institutions. Think of it as someone spoofing your identity and going on a shopping spree with your credit cards. Even if the goon gets caught, you still have to go store by store to argue that the fraudulent purchase wasnāt legitimate and hope the debt is forgiven. And all the while, perhaps long after all the debts are dealt with, the torrent of uncertainty kills your credit score.
I actually do.
Weāre entirely fucked.
Weāre going to spend the rest of our lives witnessing the enshitification of this nation. Even if we completely turn this crash and burn around, weāll then spend the rest of our lives watching things being slowly rebuilt as traitorous Republicans continue to obstruct.
I donāt think a lot of Americans are grasping exactly how hard we fucked ourselves by refusing to responsibly inform ourselves even to a minimal degree.
As someone currently living in Canada, the US is badly fucking up a lot of itās international relations too. Iāve heard several people here say that even if if the US unfucks itself right away (which it wonāt), itās still going to be a long time before things will be right again.
You donāt go around threatening neighbours and allies like this and then expect to be able to just walk it back overnight.
USAID was, more than anything, a means of positive international relations. It was a 2 prong approach of foreign aid and foreign good will. The mid 1900s US made a lot of fucking enemies, and USAID was one very solid method of trying to overcome the damage wrought by our government.
And now TB supplies ā that were already paid for ā are rotting in warehouses (among many other issues). Not only will that harm people, it will harm our reputation, AND increase antibiotic resistant TB, which will in turn affect the rest of the world including the US itself.
And thatās only one piece of the very large clusterfuck.
USAID was a great investment, a cheap investment that returned good value, even beyond things like lives saved and people brought out of poverty. In many ways it was being a good neighbor.
It would still be a great way to spend our money if we doubled it or tripled it or more
It was a great source of corruption too, we must be real at this point, end USAID is a joke and a stupid move but probably half of it was doing corrupt business with Americans money. Its not an easy subject
I very much doubt it, and the white house press secretary holding up a contract that was lawfully fulfilled as an example of fraud, is not going to cut it
Iām more worried about future fraud, if we really do continue spending the money but at personal whim and with no one to manage the process. A no-bid procurement order describing $400M of āarmored Teslaāsā is a much clearer case of fraud, as-is firing inspectors and watchdogs for doing their job
Weāre going to have TB outbreaks in the states. Itās already happening.
Oh I know. I hate it because a) I love yall, Canadians, Danes, Germans opposed to the afd, etc. Youāre our friends and neighbors and Iām horrified seeing people not treat you as such, but also b) we had a real good thing going and weāre never getting it back.
Yeah, even just kicking out these crazies isnāt a good fix because theyāve already demonstrated theyāre more than willing to lie, cheat, and steal to hold on to or gain power.
The only justice Iād trust would need to come at the end of a rope, and itād need to include a LOT of colluders at the very least in cells as well. That includes certain media organizations that helped enable this shit-show as well.
After all that, the American public needs to force better, including proper regulation and enforcement of public over corporate interests. While some of it has been astroturfing, the embedded cleptocracy and corporate interest in the Democratic party also needs to be fixed (or both parties turfed and new better choices), because ālesser evilā is not good enough.
Other countries should also take heed from the US situation. This is what happens when you continually tolerate the intolerable, and when your government is owned by a billionaire+ untouchable aristocracy with a corporate shield protecting them from consequences.
I would argue that America needs a whole new economic system. A big problem with what we had up to now, is that people are too poor, tired, unable to form communities, and lack the time to do all the things that are needed for a democracy. If you canāt afford the price of travel, shelter, food, and losing your job, you canāt visit Washington to protest, let alone long enough to make a difference with like-minded people.
The wealthy, on the other paw, can freely travel, network, and simply not worry about being ruined if they dare to do something beyond basic survival.
America needs an economic system that promotes agency of every single citizen. That means guaranteeing survival, ensuring enough vacation time to permit protesting, and decent wealth accumulation for the poorest American. Without that, it isnāt possible for the ordinary person to exert meaningful political influence.
You mean we should stop enslaving citizens to corporations yes? That is practically capitalist kryptonite.
I donāt believe anyone should be able to be worth billions if we actually value humanity.
Indeed, could you simply annex all the Blue States?
We entirely are. Our lifetimes in this country will never see another good day of it.
a purge could fix it all tomorrow.
As much as I agree, it will take things getting a lot worse before people do anything like that. A lot of the most heavily armed are the ones who voted for this. The pickup full of hillbillies are still in the denial phase. They still think things wonāt affect them, or that itāll be temporary. They are all for āthose peopleā taking the brunt of the actions right now. Theyāve convinced themselves that only the ālibtardsā are affected, and they arenāt.
Itās going to take a deep hit to their way of life for anything more than peaceful protests and voting advocacy (which definitely fucking vote) happens.
agree completely. we are as a nation and as a community too desperate or complacent to ātake to the streetsā at this point. until fascism and austerity reaches oneās own doorsteps, most will wait and see and carry on with their boring daily routines.
that said, it will gradually change though, already has. itās reached the doorstep of more people today than it did 10 years ago. what will be your personal breaking point? what is your neighbors breaking point? no one knows. I for one wonāt be sitting back doing nothing until then. itās time to talk to the neighbors friends and family and decide in advance as a community what weāre going to do before they drain us dry or drag off grandpa for re-education at Guantanamo.
sounds to me like we shouldnāt wait around for those guys to wake up. maybe some of us on the left should arm ourselves instead?
Iāve been sorting plans with family and friends as well. Unfortunately, most of my neighbors are idiots and bought it all hook line and sinker. When COVID started, the guy 2 doors down from me tried to say that the dew on our vehicles one morning was the AF dropping COVID from the tankers. I think I saw the moment the gerbil wheel in his head froze up when I told him Iāve seen them inside and out and that there was nowhere for some ābags of COVIDā to be stored.
I have some firearms, but Iāve been making an effort to ready myself. Iāve been making sure I have short, mid and long range covered. Sights on and the sights adjusted properly. I hate, hate, hate how crazy that makes me sound, but I donāt trust these nut jobs at all when things get rough. I donāt have any option for leaving the country, and I donāt think Iād want to leave it to them anyway. I swore an oath many, many, years ago. Iām long out. My body is wrecked (mainly my nervous system), but I still take that seriously. Many others do as well. I can only hope that those of us who actually realize what it means are able to keep the corrupt from taking over.
If you expect being in a riot down the line, you might want to get some protective gear. I am thinking a forestry helmet - it has face plates, hardhat, plus earmuffs that you can raise or lower. Bonus points for not being fascist-tacticool style, and you can use it for practical work. While not good when compared to milspec gear, it should be enough to offer mild protection against nonlethal weaponry. I assume military gear would cost more and be tracked.
You described the AmeriKan Taliban.
I donāt think a lot of Americans are grasping exactly how hard we fucked ourselves by refusing to responsibly inform ourselves even to a minimal degree.
This! Methods that lower general intelligence:
Content Streaming - its starts with Bluey
Gaming - iPads have replaced paper in schools, in car trips colourful gems pop instead of engagement with the world. Adults game the night away, streaming live. Kids aspire to be them.
Social media - Algorithms, echo-chambers, bots, keyboard warriors, content cencorship and manipulation, advertising, yuck.
Dating Apps
AI - Weāll become dependent and lower general critical thinking skills.
Legalisation of marijuana. - Its political support should be a concern. While it may be seemingly harmless at an individual level, there seems to be issues with mass use. How many users abstained from voting?
Underfunded, cookie cutter lower education. There is no flexibility for the diversity of people and development potentials. Teaching children non-denominational meditation and concentration, or helping them observe but reconcile simple contradictory expressions of duality in existence, would strengthen their conciousness significantly.
Over emphasis on technical STEM in higher-education without equally supporting the arts and philosophy.
Cultural over-emphasis towards individual monetary wealth over knowledge, spirituality or even concern for the wealth of those around them. Prevents empathy.
All of these focus on separating the individual from other individuals. The darkness does not want connected families or communities. It wants you to feel alone, helpless and willing to hand over your power.
We have all seen the US police forceās brutality under democratic law. How much worse could it be under authoritarian rule? My advice would be to immediately set up public meetings with local law enforcement at the officer level, start a collaborative dialogue and get to know each other, fast.
If you think Bluey lowers kids intelligence or āseparates the individual from other individualsā then youāve never watched Bluey.
Itās a great resource for teaching emotional intelligence to kids and empathises the importance of quality time with family. I donāt think you could have picked a worse childrenās TV show example.
Also Blueyās Aussie, not even made in the US.
Cocomelon would have been a proper choice for OP to argue. Itās sensory overload brainrot that causes addiction rather than any sense of morals.
Ridiculous take.
You had me on your side until you went in on weed. Letās focus on the bigger issue of alcohol addiction and drunk driving before we go after something less harmful.
What kind of new age crazy are you?