This article was great! Thank you so much for writing it.

Personally I have no issue with it as long as the artist / performer doesn’t lie and say they write their own music.

You did leave out the part connected to that where I added, “but to totally disregard him…”. A number of comments here are just essentially “Bernie sucks and is a Dem shill” in so many words. If that’s a genuine opinion of Bernie, so be it, and I know I won’t sway any opinions on Lemmy. But my sincere ask is, how can we channel our general leftist / progressive agreements into something tangible rather than political philosophy debates online? Again, be it Bernie or DSA or Working Families Party or whatever- you name it- there’s always voices on the farther left who want to tear them all down, claiming they’re not good enough, but these same critics typically don’t present real world alternatives or proposals. And if this wasn’t obvious enough, as a person who respects Bernie and appreciates him, I find it frustrating that people can so easily throw away all of his positives and focus only on his negatives.

It’s obviously unclear who actually fact checked Sanders here, but assuming it is indeed in good faith, this is why it’s so hard to mount a resistance to the fascism the US now has in power. There’s countless examples, but more or less they all revolve around (insert name) not being left enough or not being good enough, or in this case, not being honest enough. I don’t even disagree with the countless replies here that are rightfully pointing out that the US has propped up many non-democratic governments all over the world for its own moneyed and geopolitical interests - no shit. And I for one don’t defend it. But as an American myself who’s on the left, I’d gladly take Sanders for all his flaws compared to the bullshit fascist regime my country now has. I just don’t see how shitting on Sanders in this way is truly constructive in any capacity. I should add the caveat- by all means critique him, correct anything false he says- but to totally disregard him as this negative force? To my mind though, this is the so-called Internet left’s favorite pastime- shit talk people actually doing stuff, all while offering zero concrete proposals or actions themselves to make the country better. It’s very easy to sit and post to Lemmy about your self proclaimed radical leftist views, but your views mean fuck all if they never get implemented. Perhaps just sitting in your online echo chamber is all you really want though, so you can feel good about your personal political and social beliefs.

I have a huge respect for Bernie. During his first presidential run, he got many young people at the time (myself included) engaged politically and hopeful. I know he’s got lots of detractors, but frankly, lots of people online shit talk lots of things be it about politics or anything else, and typically don’t offer tangible solutions themselves.

All of this is so far beyond the pale.

Classic 90s pop rock. Nice!

I am a public school teacher. I’ve always had to worry about budget cuts, even under Dems. Now it’s a whole new level of bullshit to deal with. Let alone what the poor kids have to put up with. These asshole Christian nationalist fascists won’t be happy until they gut the core of this country out and privatize everything in their dystopian vision of the world.

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond in detail! Much appreciated.

Thanks for the speedy reply. Can you explain any downsides to Tor? I know next to nothing about it other than something I read online where someone suggested using it over a VPN, particularly a VPN service based in the USA. They suggested traffic using a VPN is just as prone to being monitored as non-VPN internet use, but potentially by different parties. Is there any truth to that? Again, I’m not a tech person by any means, so sorry for these noob questions.

I second Clozemaster and LingQ. Both are excellent.

I use the paid versions of all of the following: Duolingo, Clozemaster, Memrise, Mondly and LingQ. All are good. If I had to get rid of one, it would probably be Mondly as the sentences are sometimes incorrect, but Mondly has many, many languages, including Greek which I study.

I can’t vouch necessarily for the free versions of any of these, as I understand that the ads can be annoying and/or content is super limited, depending.

Another user gave an excellent list of seemingly free or low cost resources. I’ll also add that googling “free ____ language book PDF” usually produces some sort of book PDF as well. Not to mention using a library system to access free online ebooks to study.

Arguably the best Mustard Plug song! Good pick.

Jason Isbell is awesome!

It’s super easy to talk trash and criticize while offering zero solutions yourself. Bernie shifted the national discourse to the left and has a moral compass, whether or not you agree with him on all issues. He’s doing what he can to better the country. The left needs to coalesce and figure out real world ways to better it. I read lots of voices online in leftist spaces who talk disparagingly of Bernie and others, all while offering literally no solutions themselves. I’m sincerely hoping people on the left can unite for a positive and real world change. We need to go beyond “Bernie sucks” to tangible ways we can better this country and world. If you have a real idea, share it.

deleted by creator

I understand why Ro Khanna is being questioned for his progressive ideals, or lack thereof. I’m genuinely asking you why this person, who I’ll be honest, I had never heard of, would be getting a comparison to Khanna. This article doesn’t suggest anything about him flip flopping or having questionable ethos. So beyond having a south Asian heritage, I don’t see the connection to Khanna…

Because he’s of Indian heritage you’re comparing him to Ro Khanna? Come on.

We’re in a country with very little organized labor compared to other countries in Europe or Latin America where strikes are common. Also cops here are highly militarized. Plus we are a massive country. Still, I think Americans need to consider a general strike and organize if need be. Is it easy? Obviously not. But I’ll happily take some optimism in these dark times.

deleted by creator