Posted by /u/Theory_of_Time
Our democracy is at immediate risk, and history is repeating itself. What Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing mirrors the actions of past authoritarian regimes. It took just 53 days for Hitler to dismantle Germany’s democracy. 53 days. He used executive orders, erased marginalized groups, and silenced opposition—while too many stood by and did nothing.
Trump’s executive order erases transgender and intersex people from legal recognition—just like Hitler erased Jewish and trans people from legal records before persecution began.
Elon Musk now has access to the U.S. Treasury’s financial system—just like Putin’s oligarchs seized control of Russia’s wealth to consolidate power.
Trump is erasing vital medical information from our government and silencing opposition—just like Hitler suppressed science and banned opposing views.
Trump is dismantling government agencies, firing oversight officials, and gutting institutions like USAID and the Department of Education—just like Hitler replaced government officials with loyalists to eliminate accountability.
We are on day 15, and we are running out of time. We have to make change, or our democracy will be gone.
https://generalstrikeus.com/ sign the strike card. Calls for action will occur when critical mass is achieved.
Don’t read Reddit. Lemmy should block links to that shitty place.
I copied the entire post so nobody would have to go there. I linked the source because it would be disrespectful not to. Best I can do.
Want to point out what part of the post was incorrect?
Democracy was at immediate risk last November. You’re looking at a tangled mess of metal and meat after an 80mph head on collision and saying “we need to swerve or there might be a wreck”
Congress is under sole Republican control. There will be no impeachments. The presidency is under sole Trump control. There will be no restraint. The Supreme Court is under sole theological control. There will only be partisan rulings to further a Christian nationalist state.
Our only hope is to hunker down and make them work for every inch, and then flip Congress in 2 years. Which probably won’t happen because…I dunno, something going on with Syria will cause people to protest vote or abstain from voting out the fucking fascists that are here.
Congress wont flip in 2 years because by then Musk will have replaced voting with some cyrpto scam bull shit claiming its “more secure and accountable” and all voting will be on X polls and like “magic” every election will go to some member of the Nazi Maga cult.
A lot of those people are pro-facist, they just want a leftist facist regime instead of the right facism we got.
oh look! here’s yet another person who is blabbering about fascism despite the fact that they obviously don’t even know what it is.
Fascism is a far right-wing ideology. Like, literally always. By definition.
left fascist regime
Please, enlighten us all on what exactly this even means.
Free health care and education I guess?
What do you call a person that is pro-universal healthcare, pro separation of church and state, pro individual liberty, pro LGBTQ, pro education, pro women’s rights, and pro-government accountability?
You’d call them a fascist I guess, but you’re diluting the term.
Let’s not forget the GOP. They could easily stop any of this as they have majorities. They could have stopped this in the past (impeachment) but they felt it was the best chance for their party.
Those spineless cowards love power and will rubber stamp anything if it helps them.
And how is this mildly infuriating? Again, post the stuff where it belongs.
This is not mildly infuriating. It’s devastating.
Home to all things “Mildly Infuriating” Not infuriating, not enraging. Mildly Infuriating. All posts should reflect that.
So lucky this is only mild. Imagine if it was anything really really bad.
We are on day 15, and we are running out of time. We have to make change, or our democracy will be gone.
Our “democracy” has been dead since 2008, when Americans gave the liberal wing of the capitalist party a super majority and full control over the government on the promise that they would give us universal healthcare. But instead they came up with endless excuses not to help us.
A representative democracy that does not represent and help the people who elect them ceases to be a democracy.
Also, having a two headed capitalist party is not a democracy. If we cannot vote for communists or socialists that will actually fight for the proletariat then that isn’t a democracy
Ah yes, a “Thanks Obama” meme.
Maybe it was over when Citizens United was ruled on? Maybe it was over when Reganomics set in? Maybe it was over when we failed to hold Nixon accountable for his crimes? Maybe it was over last November when people decided that allowing a twice impeached fascist felon dictator to hold the highest office was an acceptable result as long as a thousand+ year turf scrabble between two theologically opposed peoples on the other side of the fucking planet remained unresolved?
maybe, it goes back to the civil war when instead of handling the losers we let them continue to exist. They never stopped trying to get their slaves back. They have never had an alliance with the union.
Maybe it was over last November when people decided that allowing a twice impeached fascist felon dictator to hold the highest office was an acceptable result as long as a thousand+ year turf scrabble between two theologically opposed peoples on the other side of the fucking planet remained unresolved?
Its even funnier because trump made the Gaza situation even worse, and back when the elections hadn’t started I posted a meme about it on hexbear and everyone went “muh Gaza” (i tried writing shit but it gets deleted by the mods immediatly, so much for “free speech” and anarchism lmao)
Agreed.
Trump and his partners are clearly trying to rip down the current government. I personally am not opposed to that. What we’ve had in place was a dumpster fire. What they want to replace it with is what concerns me.
I don’t think anyone should be posting this defeatist ass shit from Reddit. For all we know it could have been posted by AI. Yes, shit is bad. It’s probably going to get A LOT worse. But we shouldn’t take it lying down.
Posts like this that just point out how bad things are without offering ANY action are exactly what Trump and Musk want. They want us to look at this crap, feel overwhelmed, and give up. Instead those who want to resist fascism should be planning ahead.
Every single little act of resistance counts.
I know it’s hard. I’m fucking stressed out, anxious, overwhelmed, and just TIRED but I’m working out the little things I’m going to do to push back and it’s making me feel slightly better.
Go watch AOCs video on YouTube about things you can do: https://youtu.be/CVgNJf6CsBA
Read and print this zine: https://itsgoingdown.org/dont-just-do-nothing-20-things-you-can-do-to-counter-fascism/
Download and read the simple sabotage field manual: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184
Get someone you know to quit Twitter and/or Facebook. Get the fuck off those apps if you’re not already.
Start saving books, papers, information, etc.
Go to a protest if you can.
Support independent journalism.
Limit your spending. Stop buying anything but the essentials.
Most importantly, talk with the people you care about and trust and build a support network.
This was from /r/50501 It’s not intended to be defeatist. It’s intended to lite a fire under people’s asses and get them motivated. Very good points otherwise!
Expect congress to be set on fire, and DNC blamed then outlawed, soon?
There is some disinformation included in post.
Putin’s oligarchs seized control of Russia’s wealth to consolidate power.
It is Yeltsin who sold off Russia to western financed oligarchs. Putin has reversed much of this, and is far more hostile to oligarchs than west is. In Russia, large firms obey government instead of owning government. He has conducted war with voluntary high paid military where wage growth is very high and higher than inflation due to competition from military pay. You would never see in US an export ban on diesel to keep prices down for domestic consumers, as another example.
The US would be better off today, including its democracy, if Trump and Zionist mega donors had fallen out of windows. At start of Ukraine war, high LNG priced purchases are claimed to have mostly profited the EU importer oligarchs than US producers. Cheering on a war on Russia is a deeply pro oligarchy self destruction. Adding disinformation that our governments a few weeks ago were less oligarchist than Russia, is more warmongering propaganda, that we just started saying when our BFF Yeltsin created it.
I agree with most of what you say, but you’re really talking up Putin, who is worse than Trump so far. How do you believe the Ukraine war should be resolved?
The war should have never been provoked. Russia’s red lines (No NATO in Ukraine, neutrality, no banderite hostility in rulership) were every bit as reasonable as JFK’s red lines of no nuclear missiles in Cuba. Every non treasonous Russian understands the necessity. NATO’s intervention in Kosovo also had weaker justification that protecting objectively oppressed ethnic Russians.
How do you believe the Ukraine war should be resolved?
Russia’s red lines were simply autonomy for persecuted regions of Ukraine. The people who’ve been liberated by Russia legitimately do not want to be ruled by a Ukrainian regime that hates them and wants to control them under apartheid laws. The Ukrainian proposal of allowing “diplomatic but not violent/military change of territory” should also be extended to Russia. ie. Odessa/Kherson could freely choose Russian federation over Ukraine. By far the best outcomes for the people affected are based on “liberalism” and economic investment of west vs Russia, and the relative thriving of each part of Ukraine/former Ukraine.
The most recent act of Trump extortion is the gift of a trickle of aid in exchange for “free” mineral rights in Ukraine. This can make Trump, take the Biden maximalist to the last Ukrainian, view on perpetuating the war for weapons and oil profits. It is a massive extortion win, from a puppet desperate to stay a puppet. NATO has objected to deal saying that resource revenue will be needed for reconstruction, but reconstruction only matters to west if Banderites still rule Ukraine for purposes of terrorizing Russians. Trump’s initial position of “end the war first 24 hours of Presidency” can shift to “how much free minerals can we export to China, because US will be all in on oil”, or keep weapons and oil profits higher for longer as Biden wanted.
Ending the war will always be on Russia’s generous and reasonable terms. That this means less territory every day, is Ukraine’s choice.
but you’re really talking up Putin,
Instigating the war was a corrupt NATO talking down Putin. And disinformation that exposing any lie they/media say must be pro Putin. Just intended to counter this single point of disinformation. Yeltsin was the one to use the western oligarch model of supportive power consolidation, not Putin. NATO and other US colonies have suffered from the war, and disinformation supporting sycophancy to US a direct result of their suffering. It furthermore contributed to Trump win through “inflation complaints” that cognitive capable people would understand to be due to war on Russia, and far right EU parties suggesting a lesser slave relationship to NATO as the only option that doesn’t devote itself to complete sycophancy, means they have good electoral chances only because the moderates are “just different nazi supporters” dedicated to US supremacy over their countries.
Propaganda that propaganda can defeat Russia, and cause a civil war in Russia, or more “western corrupt” ruler of Russia, is propaganda for wester audience. Any replacement to Putin will nuke US bases in Europe the next day. Putin is the moderate leader of Russia. Russians understand necessity of SMO. Putin/Russia strategy of preparing for long war is the theater that Biden/US agreed to: After the last Ukrainian is dead, Russia will achieve peace. Gnashing of teeth in west will keep their anti-Russia stance, which is the only reason NATO countries need US protection. NATO is a purely demonic evil organization that exists only to make NATO necessary in our minds.
Wow. That’s a take. Thanks for responding in depth, I certainly learned something from our interaction today.
I keep trying to explain this to people I’m in direct contact with. I’ve been trying to explain this to them since March of last year when it was clear that Biden wasn’t capable of winning. We got a glimmer of hope in August before the convention when Harris was the assumed nominee and she hadn’t actually campaigned yet.
IF you’ve ever got your ass beat. Or if you’ve ever, like, really fucked up doing something physical in the wilderness or in an extreme situation…
Keep… your… feet… moving.
The power of the darkness is overwhelming. Its debilitating. It freezes you in your tracks.
You have got to keep your feet moving. We can’t do this alone. No one knows where we are headed. But don’t let anyone diminish or blunt your pain. We need that pain raw.
Pain tells us something is wrong. It reminds us that we are still alive, that we are still fighting. Pain is the clearest proof that we haven’t given up, that we haven’t accepted the inevitable.
But you have to keep your feet moving. You can’t stand still. If you’ve broken your arm falling down the slope and woke up in a debris field. Its not the fall that killed you. You woke up didnt you? Its the hypothermia that sets in from wallowing or panicking.
And if your feet aren’t moving yet, consider this a kick in the ass, and get going. Buy a drone. Get a P100. If you are out of shape, start the process of getting to the point of being able to run at least one mile (2000m), without stopping. I’m sorry team, we’re not going to be able to garden or shit post our way out of this. Its time to get moving.
Started out thinking this was a motivational metaphor, but then it kind of looked like your answer for the woes of the world is personal fitness? Do you, like own a gym or something?
Have you never seen Zombieland?
Rule#1: Cardio!
The cops will not be on our side. It’s going to be hard to fight them, and harder if we’re unprepared.
Edit: I don’t mind being downvoted, but I am surprised someone disagrees. Let me ask you something: can you name one civil rights movement where the cops were on the right side of history?
I’m struggling bro. But unlike most of lemmy, I make up some of the 5% of people in the US who actually have served in the US military. I know a path that leads through, in some small way, difficult.
And yes, just being physically capable makes a huge difference. It makes a difference to your mental well being. Its something you can do, tonight, tomorrow, this morning. Being physically capable of just… things. Of standing for long periods of time. Of lifting heavy things. Of running from, or into danger: being physically fit can make all of the difference.
Functionally, I’m trying to empower people with things that are accessible, that they can do right now. There are those privileged enough to have safe havens where they think they can run for cover. For most Americans, thats not an option. There is more, far more that I do advocate for. But I’m not going to do that here. Not out loud, and not right now, and probably only in person. I need you to interpret what I’m saying now as code.
But in lieu of that? Bruh you can run. You, or any one else reading this, you can run. Or walk, or crawl, or wheel yourself. You can become stronger than you are. You can read things, now. Important things. Things we might now have access to in a week. You can learn basic electronics. You can learn basic chemistry. YOU, reading these words now, are a capable and worthy individual.
And what these fucking spineless fuckers convince you of, is that you can’t. That you are too weak. That you aren’t enough… And that is what I’m here to oppose.
Well said man well said!
Did you attend today’s 50501 protests at your state capitol?
I did not unfortunately, however, my partner did.
I stayed at home and am in the process of panic-downloading all of the relevant data for 4 grant/ research projects I’m associated with, maybe 60 million dollars in funding total.
In an alternative timeline, I could just expect these data to “be there” and would be able to access them at our leisure. In light of whatever fuckery this shit tsunami represents, well… we might lose access at any point.
I wasn’t able to either because the state capital is so far away and I have kids in school, work so I don’t starve, etc. These are the differences between us and Europe I feel. The population is so scattered and has no safety net.
Yeah, my state capital is a 4 hour drive away. Frankfurt to Berlin is a 3 hour train where you can get work done or read a book. You also can’t get fired in Germany for calling out sick to protest.
The US working class has very little power left. No unions, no solidarity, almost no rights, and no one in government that actually fights for us
Look the last time this shit went down, being in a small down didn’t mean you escape it.
As important as protest can be (especially in getting people involved), its ultimately performative. There are however things you can do. Do something, anything.
What are we supposed to do? We’ve passed the point of peaceful protest. We can no longer organize quickly or effectively. The popular forums have all been taken, and while new ones are emerging, it may be too late by the time they grow. Maybe if TikTok hadn’t bent the knee, but it was always going to. Calls for violence will be quickly dismissed, as they always are, by rational, hopeful people. I’m not saying that violence is the answer, anyway. Any violence now would lead to disorganization, be crushed, and ultimately just fuel the system.
You can’t talk your way out of this. You can’t legislate your way out of it. What needs to happen can no longer happen. So what will happen is what always happens…the changing of power. My trans friend is desperately trying to reach out to our state representative, and I wish there was something I could do. Another friend just got his dream job as a librarian, but it’s a shame how things are going.
I often wonder what the SS or the KGB would have been like with today’s data networks. What can we do? Wipe your social media presence, or sterilize it. My opinion is you’re better off deleting it until the window for them to legally delete your data has passed and then rejoining. Who knows what long gone chats or deleted posts might hit you in the future. Consider who you’re connected to, and get them to do the same. Every time I hear my roommate say, “Okay, Google,” my anxiety spikes. She’s gay.
What are we supposed to do now? The government, the media, and social platforms have all been captured. We’re conquered, caged, and trapped in the net. And the net is only going to shrink. We still need our circuses, but they’ve got everything they need to track and monitor us, our phones, computers, ISPs, social media, apps, even our friends’ apps and browsers.
If you’re staying and not actively fighting, scrub your data while you still can. Find a phone you can install a secure OS on (one that isn’t locked by verizon or ATT and) Get rid of Google, get a VPN, remove everything from your main computer, invest in an encrypted hard drive, and download your favorite shows and books. Tomorrow, they might be wiped. VPNs could even be outlawed for personal use. Get what you can while you can, but keep it off your Windows hard drives. Think about deleting your streaming services. (I’m serious) What you have watched could be used to profile you. If you plan to protest, leave your phone at home. Don’t discuss these things, even jokingly, on any platform that isn’t encrypted—not even Discord. You don’t know how bad this will get. No one can know. We were taught ONE major genocide event in schools for the most part. We found our own lessons on fascism. There were dozen if not hundreds of genocides and power changes that just get forgotten.
There’s so much, and maybe I am over reacting
The first revolutions weren’t fought on social media. Imagine how our ancestors must have felt going days or weeks without any sort of information. It might have actually been helpful by forcing them to orginize themselves.
The key thing to remember is you have to be decerning in who you listen to. You don’t have to engage with people who are there solely to drag you down. If you can ignore the noise and make the connections you need that should be your focus. That will build unity, and it won’t matter how many bots or bad actors are thrown your way because the connections you make should be like a net, strong enough to support your cause but also letting the disorganized opposition slip through.
TBH dude, data privacy only exists when you destroy your technology. If you are on a cellular network, or drive a car, you are tracked. Your home is registered with the state, the traffic cameras know where you go, your phone sends signals that can track you, and they can since 9/11 get your call data.
The trick here is to simply learn how to protest in a world where you are tracked. Your ideas are as good as mine to figure out how to do that. I genuinely don’t believe you can anymore.
Did you attend today’s 50501 protests at your state capitol?
I’m sorry but if nobody within the establishment steps up we have about two weeks until an armed resistance would probably be necessary. At 53 days we will be failing and shody Network States.
Armed resistance became necessary as soon as Trump won the election. All that is left is to find out if it comes from within the government or from outside it.
we have about two weeks until an armed resistance
Bruh you need to be on it today.
We were protesting. I am just a wage slave. I’m not Congress, who would be the people to do something but they are in on it.
Sounds like you are on it. I am too. We’re in this together.
Make sure your stuff us encrypted. I estimate we have at most 2 months before it is beyond repair.
I thought we’d have two months or maybe more to get this far.
I’m banking on hours/ days, not weeks/ months.
We need a guide for helping people de-google, de-big-tech, encrypt, VPN, and to secure themselves.
Here’s your guide: hit your cellphone and laptop with a hammer until it’s a fine paste. Then dump it randomly into 3-4 different trashcans. Drive a beater.
We honestly just need a guide for kicking Musk and his DOGE teens to the curb yesterday.
Bruh. We were given one. It had none-stop coverage for weeks and completely dominated the news cycle.
At the end of the day, all are flesh and bone.
Armed resistance, as it always has, can only actually come from the military. They are bound by oath to constitutional defense. So… maybe?
But IRL, if you look at history, civil unrest does not stop these things. They are stopped ultimately by wars with foreign militaries. All successful revolutions have monied and powerful interests backing them. You and I aren’t doing anything without joining a state sponsored militia. That’s just how the game of history is played. I opt out. I’d rather live in the woods than fight in a civil war.
I was there with my fellow veterans watching the capitol get stormed (on live stream). At the time the only thing we thought that could stop it, should it go any further, was the joint chiefs.
You and I aren’t doing anything without joining a state sponsored militia. That’s just how the game of history is played. I opt out. I’d rather live in the woods than fight in a civil war.
You make the decisions you feel like you need to live with.
No war ever fought was fought for or benefited the working class. It was always to benefit someone else. Even when the socialists did it, they did it as a vanguard party, and that vanguard ultimately did it to benefit themselves. Sometimes they have the ancillary benefit of redeeming some horror in our past, like slavery, but people are naive if they think the north went to war with the south to eliminate slavery, or that the Americans won against the British without French help, who mostly had victory against the British on their mind, not American independence.
Instead, society changes when material conditions change. It rarely changes through ideologically motivated struggle. It changes overnight because someone invented the lightbulb, discovered a new continent, or a new farming technique, etc. Entire empires have fallen practically overnight because of the switch from peasantry to steam powered industry. Nothing can prevent it, and barely a drop of blood need be spilt, because it’s inevitable.
Trump CANT stop green energy development, because now it’s cheaper than coal. That’s a material condition change. That’s the best kind of resistance you can do.
The people : Waking up exponentially
Presidency : Rogue and evil
Congress : Lethargic and corrupt
Army : Serving the Constitution
So, act swiftly, wisely, things will change, a lot.This is it. Definitely not all veterans, but all the veterans I personally know still remember that they took an oath to defend and uphold the constitution against all threats, foreign and domestic.
Holy crap. Online democrats are so dramatic lol
