4 ms·

Theres a sliding scale of it though. The disinformation and anti-intellectual campaigns are generally weaker in mainland Europe and as a consequence the governm

by zanny 6y ago

Theres a sliding scale of it though. The disinformation and anti-intellectual campaigns are generally weaker in mainland Europe and as a consequence the governments are less broken. The US is at the point where 30-40% of the country would drink bleach and shoot their neighbor at the presidents command while probably similar numbers are functionally illiterate. Not to say the democracy has been functioning, but you can't have a functional one with these preconditions. And its structurally intentional. This is all a product of decades of machination and effort to craft this cultural zeitgeist of zealotry and active war against one another while robber barons pillage the commons.

howlgarnish 6y ago
With all due respect, you're engaging in the same zealotry yourself here. Trump is an idiot, but his ramblings about disinfecting the lungs do not mean "30-40% of the country would drink bleach" or that his voters are "functionally illiterate".
- treeman79 6y ago
  He was correct on the lungs issue. There is a treatment that involved UV light tube inserted into the lungs. I don’t think it panned out, but it is a real thing.
  - monocasa 6y ago
    He was literally talking about consuming disinfectants. His fans somehow retconned that to a soviet study from the 70s that went nowhere, and somehow acted like that was better.
  - gonesberg 6y ago
    No he wasn't, he was just standing there spouting bullshit. As usual.
tommoor 6y ago
> The US is at the point where 30-40% of the country would drink bleach and shoot their neighbor at the presidents command It sounds like you may have succumbed to some of that disinformation yourself
- zanny 6y ago
  Then talk me down from my lofty vantage because looking at ICE internment camps and seeing women forcibly sterilized en masse is making it awfully hard to not conflate my WW2 history curriculum with the present day.
  - TuesdayS77 6y ago
    You really do absorb the disinfo like a sponge. That must be exhausting.
  - p1esk 6y ago
    Why don't you live somewhere else for 10+ years and then report back how much better it is over there. Until then your opinion is not worth much.
  - anon9001 6y ago
    To be fair, there was only one doctor forcibly sterilizing women, and it appeared to be for personal profit rather than some eugenics directive from above. It's bad, but it's quite as bad as you're making it out to be.
    - js2 6y ago
      [deleted: irrelevant to RGB]
      - anon9001 6y ago
        If we're going to compare it to WW2 where they were doing experiments on humans and running eugenics projects, I think we should acknowledge that this is fundamentally different than that. Someone who didn't read the intercept story [1] might take the WW2 comparison too literally and think we've begun official mass sterilization programs. We haven't. What happened is tragic and awful, but it's not the same thing that Hitler did. [1] https://theintercept.com/2020/09/17/forced-sterilization-ice-us-history/ https://theintercept.com/2020/09/17/forced-sterilization-ice...
bilegeek 6y ago
Unfortunately, in a global world run mostly by the US, China and Russia, Europe won't be immune from these effects; in fact, it isn't, since such ideology is clawing through there as well. Moving away will work in the short run, but it will only delay the inevitable. The only way the entire world gets through this is an equal amount of intelligent, thrifty democratic zealotry and luck. If we fall, it's only a matter of time until the entire world goes with.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 6y ago
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_qulr 6y ago
There's a tendency to overstate the popularity of our politicians. The President received 46% of the vote with 56% turnout, which means only 26% of the eligible vote. And many of those voters "plugged their nose" at the polls (though they may do it again). We have minority rule in this country, and many people don't realize how small the minority is. Both political parties are hugely unpopular (even with their own members sometimes) and fail to represent the majority.
- nr2x 6y ago
  The minority is even smaller if you consider how few states determine the outcome, especially with primaries.
- sudosysgen 6y ago
  It's by design. I've said, and I'll say it again, from 1776 to 2020, the US was never really a democracy. The power was not in the hands of the people.
xpe 6y ago
Your exaggeration hurts your argument.

by zanny 6y ago

howlgarnish 6y ago

With all due respect, you're engaging in the same zealotry yourself here. Trump is an idiot, but his ramblings about disinfecting the lungs do not mean "30-40% of the country would drink bleach" or that his voters are "functionally illiterate".

treeman79 6y ago
He was correct on the lungs issue. There is a treatment that involved UV light tube inserted into the lungs. I don’t think it panned out, but it is a real thing.
- monocasa 6y ago
  He was literally talking about consuming disinfectants. His fans somehow retconned that to a soviet study from the 70s that went nowhere, and somehow acted like that was better.
- gonesberg 6y ago
  No he wasn't, he was just standing there spouting bullshit. As usual.

tommoor 6y ago

> The US is at the point where 30-40% of the country would drink bleach and shoot their neighbor at the presidents command It sounds like you may have succumbed to some of that disinformation yourself

zanny 6y ago
Then talk me down from my lofty vantage because looking at ICE internment camps and seeing women forcibly sterilized en masse is making it awfully hard to not conflate my WW2 history curriculum with the present day.
- TuesdayS77 6y ago
  You really do absorb the disinfo like a sponge. That must be exhausting.
- p1esk 6y ago
  Why don't you live somewhere else for 10+ years and then report back how much better it is over there. Until then your opinion is not worth much.
- anon9001 6y ago
  To be fair, there was only one doctor forcibly sterilizing women, and it appeared to be for personal profit rather than some eugenics directive from above. It's bad, but it's quite as bad as you're making it out to be.
  - js2 6y ago
    [deleted: irrelevant to RGB]
    - anon9001 6y ago
      If we're going to compare it to WW2 where they were doing experiments on humans and running eugenics projects, I think we should acknowledge that this is fundamentally different than that. Someone who didn't read the intercept story [1] might take the WW2 comparison too literally and think we've begun official mass sterilization programs. We haven't. What happened is tragic and awful, but it's not the same thing that Hitler did. [1] https://theintercept.com/2020/09/17/forced-sterilization-ice-us-history/ https://theintercept.com/2020/09/17/forced-sterilization-ice...

bilegeek 6y ago

Unfortunately, in a global world run mostly by the US, China and Russia, Europe won't be immune from these effects; in fact, it isn't, since such ideology is clawing through there as well. Moving away will work in the short run, but it will only delay the inevitable. The only way the entire world gets through this is an equal amount of intelligent, thrifty democratic zealotry and luck. If we fall, it's only a matter of time until the entire world goes with.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

_qulr 6y ago

There's a tendency to overstate the popularity of our politicians. The President received 46% of the vote with 56% turnout, which means only 26% of the eligible vote. And many of those voters "plugged their nose" at the polls (though they may do it again). We have minority rule in this country, and many people don't realize how small the minority is. Both political parties are hugely unpopular (even with their own members sometimes) and fail to represent the majority.

nr2x 6y ago
The minority is even smaller if you consider how few states determine the outcome, especially with primaries.
sudosysgen 6y ago
It's by design. I've said, and I'll say it again, from 1776 to 2020, the US was never really a democracy. The power was not in the hands of the people.

xpe 6y ago

Your exaggeration hurts your argument.