The Cold War? Child’s play compared to what lies ahead, according to U.S. historian Robert Kagan. Trump, he says, is leading the world into the most dangerous era since 1945.

  • bunkyprewster@startrek.website
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    1 day ago

    There is a brutal man with a gun, controlling and threatening a group of good citizens with consciences. He’s going to do terrible things to them, and make them do terrible things themselves.

    They have him outnumbered, but he has the gun. If they rush him, they can easily defeat him. But, the first one or two or three or four people to move forward will be shot and probably die painfully. Going first is going to cost a terrible price and you don’t know for sure that anyone else will follow you, that your sacrifice will be for anything at all.

    You feel a little paralyzed and at the same time ashamed you are just standing there.

    What happens next?

    • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 hours ago

      Recently re-listening to ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADASS by Joey Bada$$, from 2017. I want to share the last verse of AMERIKKKAN IDOL here, it’s even more bitterly accurate than it was back then.

      What the government is doin’ amongst our people is downright evil

      Disturbin’, but not surprisin’, that’s for certain

      With all of the conflict of propaganda, I believe they are simply tryna slander

      Start a Civil War within the USA amongst black and white, and those alike

      They are simply pushin’ us to our limit, so that we can all get together and get with it

      They want us to rebel, so that it makes easier for them to kill us and put us in jails

      Alton Sterlings are happenin’ every day in this country and around the world

      The scary part, boys and girls

      Is most of these stories don’t make it to the news and reach mass consciousness

      It is for sure time that we as a people stand up for acknowledgement

      And accomplishment, of what we call human rights

      It is time to rebel, better yet, raise hell

      I just want everyone to be cautious about how they go about it

      Because this is all part of the government’s plan and what they been plottin’

      They’re literally beggin’ for this to happen, so they can kill us off

      Usin’ uprisin’ and rebellion as the excuse in a timely fashion

      The cancerous foods, the chemical warfare, economic sufferin’ is not workin’ fast enough

      There are many steps ahead of us and manifestin’ the future that they want

      We have to work together, not only rattlin’ them on a physical plane

      But to outsmart them on an intellectual mental level the same

      As black men, I think our gangs need to do a better job

      At protecting us, the people, our communities

      And not assistin’ in destroyin’ them brutally

      It’s time to even the score

      'Cause who do we call when the police break the law?

      We are so quick to pick up a gun and kill one another

      But not quick enough to pick it up and protect each other

      The code words to killin’ a black man by police is, “He’s got a gun”

      Damned if he do, damned if he don’t, damned if he runs

      Or what about them? Them murderers got it

      We need solutions, you better start plottin’ now

      It’s always been clear that they don’t value our lives

      My people been sufferin’ way too long

      And I’m tired of singin’ the same old song

      People actin’ like this shit isn’t happenin’, it’s downright wrong

      Justice won’t be served by a hashtag, and that’s the very reason I ask that

      What are we to do? We’re scattered around

      With no clue of this ugly truth

      All we know is who they ridiculed and who gets minisculed

      Time to wake the fuck up and do our own research

      And not form opinions based on just what we’ve heard

      Ameri-K-K-K-a is force feedin’ you lies down your throats with a silver spoon

      And eventually, we’ll all be doomed

      Real, real, real soon

    • PhoenixDog@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      This is what frustrates me most as a Canadian watching this from over the fence.

      I’ve seen ICE videos of them killing people. There are 6 officers and 75 people with phones. ICE shoots someone and none of the 75 people do anything. They let it happen. The 75 people just stood by and watched ICE murder a citizen in broad daylight. When in reality those 75 people could have not only stopped the murder from happening, but likely killed those 6 ICE agents and prevented a future tragedy.

      The fact no one wants to try and stop this is why it’s still happening. America is filled with keyboard warriors and when push comes to shove, a bunch of pussies.

      America is falling not just because of people not voting (Which 1/3rd of eligible voters allowed this to happen), but because of deliberate inaction as fascism takes over right in front of everyone with no resistance at all.

      But maybe we’ll have a protest on a Saturday afternoon. That’ll show em.

    • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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      22 hours ago

      Only half of those citizens have consciouses at all, and many of those are still confused about how bad the guy with the gun is. They still at least believe in there being a guy with a gun, just not this exact one, they want their handsome gun guy instead of this ugly gun guy. The other half rabidly love the guy with the gun.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      What happens next?

      Everyone pulls out their phones and starts scrolling for what’s new and trending, several people answer their discord messages.

      • exaybachae@startrek.website
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        9 hours ago

        I joined the fediverse and blocked all meme and shitpost feeds, so maybe take that everyone out of your goddamn mouth!

        😁

    • hector@lemmy.today
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      23 hours ago

      One man can’t keep a hundred of his peers in subjugation, but a million can keep 400 million so. It’s about organization and leadership. The analogy you give doesn’t really fit, and neither do my statistics as they’ve far more than a million at their disposal. Half the country still supports them to boot and they’ve millions under arms, following orders and we have, the democrats organizing what passes for resistance.

      • AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        There were about 1 million jews that died in Auschwitz, where they had about 10,000 guards. Quite literally a ratio of 100 people being subjugated by 1 person.

        • hector@lemmy.today
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          21 hours ago

          It’s a point made in decline and fall of the roman empire, that an organized group can hold a large population down even as in a smaller group that ratio could not.

          Looking at concentration camps is different, those people were already captured, you would want to look at the size of the police, and SS, and SA, and the like.

          Also there were a lot more victims of nazis than just 'the jews." They killed unionists, socialists, communists, gypsies/roma, the mentally ill, homosexuals, leftists, political opponents, and so forth.

          They matter as well, we repeat casualty figures of the nazis like jews were the only victims, and it’s not true, and gives people a false impression that if they aren’t a member of the out group they will be fine.

          • AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world
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            19 hours ago

            I wasn’t trying to say jews were the only victims, just trying to show a real-world example of how it took about 1 person per 100 to subjugate a group of people. Yes the concentration camps were different but I would still say those people were subjugated.

            • hector@lemmy.today
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              19 hours ago

              I just made the point because the media does that all the time they never mention other victims, and it’s left the population with a very inaccurate view of the nazis, their victims, and whom their victims would be if they got in power.

              Not all immigrants it’s an ever expanding list, especially when they will need a lot of scapegoats to cover for their stealing and corruption. People won’t risk their neck if their neck isn’t on the chopping block and all, I think it’s a on purpose of them.

              It also feeds into the victim mentality that is used by some groups to commit their own abuses and force their own others into ghettos they control, about 6 million of them in fact, coincidentally.