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I would laugh about the current state of US government if it wasn’t so sad.

pstuart 1y ago
It's surreal watching the collapse from the inside. Part of me is at the point of "fine! you all get what you deserve", but then I think of my kids and the others, future generations getting completely fucked for no fault of their own.
- Insanity 1y ago
  Yeah, I have a strange kind of fascination with it. I read a lot about the Roman republic, it's rise and demise, and it feels like living through the fall of another 'empire'. Writings were on the wall for the Roman republic for a long tine before it happened. Same with the US today.
  - AnimalMuppet 1y ago
    Well, if history rhymes, I'd guess we're about at Sulla.
  - senectus1 1y ago
    I get really annoyed with the constant comparison with the "Fall of Rome". This is not the same thing. This is a concerted attack from within, these people are deliberately dismantling a democratic society for personal profit.
    - Insanity 1y ago
      Do you mean fall of Rome (empire) or fall of Rome (republic)? Fall of Rome’s republic was deliberate and for personal gain / profit. Edit: And I’m not saying it’s a one-to-one comparison, like a bad sequel film.. I’m saying that it’s comparable at a layer of abstraction. The fall of two large “empires” with a ton of influence on the world.
      - senectus1 1y ago
        fair point.
        IAmGraydon 1y ago
        It’s really not. It’s blatantly wrong, actually. Money did not motivate the fall of the Republic. Literally reading even the most basic text on the period would make this obvious.
  - IAmGraydon 1y ago
    How do you think this compares to the fall of the Roman Republic? With all due respect, I would argue that your line of thinking tells me that you don’t really read about the Roman Republic, or at least don’t understand what was happening at the time. The political disfunction, powerful military figures, extreme wealth divide, and the dynamic of the First Triumvirate all make what the US is going through today look downright civilized. The sheer amount of turmoil made the people in Rome desperate for authoritarianism. The rise of Roman Empire is what they wanted, and what they got. This is the same dynamic that unfolded in 1930s Germany. I do not at all believe that most people in the US want an actual authoritarian. Trump may think he can implement authoritarianism, but I suspect he will find out just how misguided he is if he truly pushes it.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
  It is so frustrating. Even if these idiots disappear tomorrow, it will take decades to recover. Why go into science/government to make a positive difference if you know the next hate-filled administration could end your career for some cheap political wins?
  - Insanity 1y ago
    Honestly I think people don't talk about this long-term impact often enough, and you're 100% right. It's not just the impact today - it's the future state. What used to be a job with 'security' is now a lower-security and often lower-pay job.
  - mwpmaybe 1y ago
    The only people who will work for the government are the people who know they can abuse and personally profit from it.
    - pstuart 1y ago
      There's plenty that want to do the right thing for the right reasons, but this admin is not the place for that. If we ever recover from this fiasco, we're going to have to do some serious reckoning of how to avoid it in the future.
- truro 1y ago
  [dead]
complianceowl 1y ago
[flagged]
kulahan 1y ago
"How then shall we perform it?--At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." -Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum speech, 27 Jan, 1838
- treetalker 1y ago
  “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. “Against stupidity we are defenseless. “Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.” — D. Bonhoeffer
  - JohnFen 1y ago
    Fear is even more dangerous and crippling than that. In part because fear makes us stupid.
  - kulahan 1y ago
    Eh, ~50% of us are dumber than average, and that average can seem a bit surprising at times. I'm not a fan of these attitudes against dumb people, personally.

It's surreal watching the collapse from the inside. Part of me is at the point of "fine! you all get what you deserve", but then I think of my kids and the others, future generations getting completely fucked for no fault of their own.

Insanity 1y ago
Yeah, I have a strange kind of fascination with it. I read a lot about the Roman republic, it's rise and demise, and it feels like living through the fall of another 'empire'. Writings were on the wall for the Roman republic for a long tine before it happened. Same with the US today.
- AnimalMuppet 1y ago
  Well, if history rhymes, I'd guess we're about at Sulla.
- senectus1 1y ago
  I get really annoyed with the constant comparison with the "Fall of Rome". This is not the same thing. This is a concerted attack from within, these people are deliberately dismantling a democratic society for personal profit.
  - Insanity 1y ago
    Do you mean fall of Rome (empire) or fall of Rome (republic)? Fall of Rome’s republic was deliberate and for personal gain / profit. Edit: And I’m not saying it’s a one-to-one comparison, like a bad sequel film.. I’m saying that it’s comparable at a layer of abstraction. The fall of two large “empires” with a ton of influence on the world.
    - senectus1 1y ago
      fair point.
      - IAmGraydon 1y ago
        It’s really not. It’s blatantly wrong, actually. Money did not motivate the fall of the Republic. Literally reading even the most basic text on the period would make this obvious.
- IAmGraydon 1y ago
  How do you think this compares to the fall of the Roman Republic? With all due respect, I would argue that your line of thinking tells me that you don’t really read about the Roman Republic, or at least don’t understand what was happening at the time. The political disfunction, powerful military figures, extreme wealth divide, and the dynamic of the First Triumvirate all make what the US is going through today look downright civilized. The sheer amount of turmoil made the people in Rome desperate for authoritarianism. The rise of Roman Empire is what they wanted, and what they got. This is the same dynamic that unfolded in 1930s Germany. I do not at all believe that most people in the US want an actual authoritarian. Trump may think he can implement authoritarianism, but I suspect he will find out just how misguided he is if he truly pushes it.
0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
It is so frustrating. Even if these idiots disappear tomorrow, it will take decades to recover. Why go into science/government to make a positive difference if you know the next hate-filled administration could end your career for some cheap political wins?
- Insanity 1y ago
  Honestly I think people don't talk about this long-term impact often enough, and you're 100% right. It's not just the impact today - it's the future state. What used to be a job with 'security' is now a lower-security and often lower-pay job.
- mwpmaybe 1y ago
  The only people who will work for the government are the people who know they can abuse and personally profit from it.
  - pstuart 1y ago
    There's plenty that want to do the right thing for the right reasons, but this admin is not the place for that. If we ever recover from this fiasco, we're going to have to do some serious reckoning of how to avoid it in the future.
truro 1y ago
[dead]

complianceowl 1y ago

[flagged]

kulahan 1y ago

"How then shall we perform it?--At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." -Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum speech, 27 Jan, 1838

treetalker 1y ago
“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. “Against stupidity we are defenseless. “Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.” — D. Bonhoeffer
- JohnFen 1y ago
  Fear is even more dangerous and crippling than that. In part because fear makes us stupid.
- kulahan 1y ago
  Eh, ~50% of us are dumber than average, and that average can seem a bit surprising at times. I'm not a fan of these attitudes against dumb people, personally.