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I earnestly hope enough Americans read and learn from history. The biggest pattern to glean in my opinion is that often when the majority populace realizes some

I earnestly hope enough Americans read and learn from history. The biggest pattern to glean in my opinion is that often when the majority populace realizes some action needs to be taken, it is too late. There is no way around preemptive action (and for clarity, I'm not talking about violence, since that would violate rules here, I mean things like general strikes, forming a new political party, aggressive political ads, consumer activism,etc.. but whatever is needed). You can't do much as an individual, but you can do a lot as a large group. There is real power in numbers, and now more than ever, there is tech that enables unrelated people with common ideals to organize and collaborate. A second lesson history teaches us is that career politicians in power are ineffective when it comes to taking drastic and crucial action. They calculate using outdated variables and formulae. The game has changed and they find it difficult to even accept that fact. They know the stakes are high, but their focus is preservation and restoration of the game, even when have good intentions, they are incapable of protecting what is most important. A certain critical-mass of people that actually like their country and are willing to do whatever it takes to preserve it is needed to prevent a nation from collapsing. If those people expect politicians or some other established official entity to take action, by the time they realize there is no one but them who can take action, it will be too late. The time to act is yesterday.

ffsm8 2y ago
[flagged]
- KittenInABox 2y ago
  Could you specify what actions they are doing that would be classified as criminal 20+ years ago? Mind you that students also occupied academic buildings, sometimes forcefully, during Vietnam war protests.
  - kbelder 2y ago
    >students also occupied academic buildings, sometimes forcefully, during Vietnam war protests. Well, that is criminal.
  - kasey_junk 2y ago
    And during the apartheid protests and both gulf war protests.
- 98codes 2y ago
  > would be classified as a criminal if they did what they're doing today... 20+ yrs ago American that was alive and adulting in the 90s checking in: no, they wouldn't have. Even after 2001.
- TYPE_FASTER 2y ago
  I was in college in the 90s. People were protesting and taking over admin buildings. Speaking was not a crime. There has been no evidence that Mahdawi has done anything other than speak or contribute to organizing a protest. Neither of these activities are criminal activities.
  - ffsm8 2y ago
    Speaking isn't, but vandalism is. And a lot of the things they've done can only be called that. While vandalism is technically still against the law, in this particular case it's rarely enforced for politicial reasons. If you'd read my comment you should've been able to understand that I'm talking about a subset of the protestors - not the person this case is about. Like it or not, if you're part of a group which doesn't actively expell such participants, you end up destroying your own image. And people related to that group usually get judged by the actions of the worst of it's members. Hence why it'd be impossible to convince anyone with an example like this article. To be abundantly clear: I never meant to imply that this isn't a problematic case (nor did I write that). I'm merely pointing out that nobody will be convinced of the grandparents call to action with this example
BuckRogers 2y ago
[flagged]
- mplanchard 2y ago
  Oh? Your “Triune God” is cool with innocent people being sent to inhumane prisons, with the rich plundering the poor, with a leader whose entire life has been built on deceit and lies? We must have read a different gospel.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- dang 2y ago
  You've been posting a huge number of political, ideological and even religious flamewar comments to HN. If you keep this up, we're going to have to ban you. Actually you're already way over the line at which we'd ban an account (and yes, we do this regardless of what positions they're flaming for or against). But you've also posted good-for-HN comments, and your account has been here a while, so I'm going to give you a warning first. No more posts of this kind, please. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
fleek 2y ago
You misunderstand. America was collapsing under the weight of ineffective liberal leadership kowtowing to special interest groups and putting DEI above all else. Now we are righting the ship and removing leftist influence from government agencies, academia, and media. We are acting, and it is glorious.
- collingreen 2y ago
  It's funny and sad when it's hard to tell the difference between satire and an earnest post. I don't understand opposition to diversity, especially in this country, but hey at least we agree on the the fact that "kowtowing to special interest groups" is probably a bad thing to do. If you're serious, I hope you reflect on the fact that you're bragging about intentionally removing opposing views from society. I don't believe I can change anyone's mind with a comment but just asking you to double check your internal compass on if you think that kind of thing is actually a good idea.
  - fleek 2y ago
    There is nothing wrong with diversity. The problem is quotas to prove you are trying to foster a diverse environment, that pushes everyone in the majority class down a peg to meet some moral goal. Then there is living in a constant state of "walking on eggshells" at work, at school etc. employers hiring diverse applicants to use as show ponies for photo ops, the majority class employees being terrified of ever giving honest criticism for fear of being labeled a racist or sexist or whatever-ism that people want to throw around. Being told subliminally in k-12 and then overtly in higher education that "white people" are the problem or white men are the root of all ills in society. Seeing all the high school and college valedictorians being mostly female but then reviewing their work and seeing nothing original or meaningful come from it. Wonder what's going on there? I am for a fair playing field, it if the landscape is such that your appearance gives you an unfair advantage in life then I am against it. And no, being white in America is not an unfair advantage, I am white and I feel like I have been passed over for everything in favor of someone who is presumed to have a harder life than I have. For the record I grew up in poverty and use a wheelchair daily yet I went to college and got a cs degree and took out the loans and put in the years of work. I overcame all my obstacles WITHOUT someone giving me a leg up because I WORKED HARD and bit the bullet. And I paid back the loans! Seeing all these woke crybaby actors and special interest group people cry because they didn't get a golden escalator to the top as if it was their due is why this conservative revolution is happening. There are too many softhearted fools who honestly believe the world owes them something for whatever happened to their ancestors generations ago, whether it was slavery, or the church, or the pilgrims/colonizers whatever. They fail to realize you don't get anything by whining. You take it, or you work/trade for it, but you will never get and keep power by crying for attention. They took it for a while, but now we are taking it back. Damn the fucking rules.

ffsm8 2y ago

[flagged]

KittenInABox 2y ago
Could you specify what actions they are doing that would be classified as criminal 20+ years ago? Mind you that students also occupied academic buildings, sometimes forcefully, during Vietnam war protests.
- kbelder 2y ago
  >students also occupied academic buildings, sometimes forcefully, during Vietnam war protests. Well, that is criminal.
- kasey_junk 2y ago
  And during the apartheid protests and both gulf war protests.
98codes 2y ago
> would be classified as a criminal if they did what they're doing today... 20+ yrs ago American that was alive and adulting in the 90s checking in: no, they wouldn't have. Even after 2001.
TYPE_FASTER 2y ago
I was in college in the 90s. People were protesting and taking over admin buildings. Speaking was not a crime. There has been no evidence that Mahdawi has done anything other than speak or contribute to organizing a protest. Neither of these activities are criminal activities.
- ffsm8 2y ago
  Speaking isn't, but vandalism is. And a lot of the things they've done can only be called that. While vandalism is technically still against the law, in this particular case it's rarely enforced for politicial reasons. If you'd read my comment you should've been able to understand that I'm talking about a subset of the protestors - not the person this case is about. Like it or not, if you're part of a group which doesn't actively expell such participants, you end up destroying your own image. And people related to that group usually get judged by the actions of the worst of it's members. Hence why it'd be impossible to convince anyone with an example like this article. To be abundantly clear: I never meant to imply that this isn't a problematic case (nor did I write that). I'm merely pointing out that nobody will be convinced of the grandparents call to action with this example

BuckRogers 2y ago

[flagged]

mplanchard 2y ago
Oh? Your “Triune God” is cool with innocent people being sent to inhumane prisons, with the rich plundering the poor, with a leader whose entire life has been built on deceit and lies? We must have read a different gospel.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
dang 2y ago
You've been posting a huge number of political, ideological and even religious flamewar comments to HN. If you keep this up, we're going to have to ban you. Actually you're already way over the line at which we'd ban an account (and yes, we do this regardless of what positions they're flaming for or against). But you've also posted good-for-HN comments, and your account has been here a while, so I'm going to give you a warning first. No more posts of this kind, please. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

fleek 2y ago

You misunderstand. America was collapsing under the weight of ineffective liberal leadership kowtowing to special interest groups and putting DEI above all else. Now we are righting the ship and removing leftist influence from government agencies, academia, and media. We are acting, and it is glorious.

collingreen 2y ago
It's funny and sad when it's hard to tell the difference between satire and an earnest post. I don't understand opposition to diversity, especially in this country, but hey at least we agree on the the fact that "kowtowing to special interest groups" is probably a bad thing to do. If you're serious, I hope you reflect on the fact that you're bragging about intentionally removing opposing views from society. I don't believe I can change anyone's mind with a comment but just asking you to double check your internal compass on if you think that kind of thing is actually a good idea.
- fleek 2y ago
  There is nothing wrong with diversity. The problem is quotas to prove you are trying to foster a diverse environment, that pushes everyone in the majority class down a peg to meet some moral goal. Then there is living in a constant state of "walking on eggshells" at work, at school etc. employers hiring diverse applicants to use as show ponies for photo ops, the majority class employees being terrified of ever giving honest criticism for fear of being labeled a racist or sexist or whatever-ism that people want to throw around. Being told subliminally in k-12 and then overtly in higher education that "white people" are the problem or white men are the root of all ills in society. Seeing all the high school and college valedictorians being mostly female but then reviewing their work and seeing nothing original or meaningful come from it. Wonder what's going on there? I am for a fair playing field, it if the landscape is such that your appearance gives you an unfair advantage in life then I am against it. And no, being white in America is not an unfair advantage, I am white and I feel like I have been passed over for everything in favor of someone who is presumed to have a harder life than I have. For the record I grew up in poverty and use a wheelchair daily yet I went to college and got a cs degree and took out the loans and put in the years of work. I overcame all my obstacles WITHOUT someone giving me a leg up because I WORKED HARD and bit the bullet. And I paid back the loans! Seeing all these woke crybaby actors and special interest group people cry because they didn't get a golden escalator to the top as if it was their due is why this conservative revolution is happening. There are too many softhearted fools who honestly believe the world owes them something for whatever happened to their ancestors generations ago, whether it was slavery, or the church, or the pilgrims/colonizers whatever. They fail to realize you don't get anything by whining. You take it, or you work/trade for it, but you will never get and keep power by crying for attention. They took it for a while, but now we are taking it back. Damn the fucking rules.