Political Discussion

Joe Mac said:
Tbf Putin despite having been in the KGB is absolutely not a Commie. He’s a fascist and his sympathisers are fascists or fascist sympathisers.
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It’s funny and I’m not sure you get the same narrative over there in Europe for obvious reasons. But over here the right push this narrative that Socialism/communism/fascism are just degrees of governmental control on a slippery slope to the destruction of society.
 
Dtknuckles said:
It’s funny and I’m not sure you get the same narrative over there in Europe for obvious reasons. But over here the right push this narrative that Socialism/communism/fascism are just degrees of governmental control on a slippery slope to the destruction of society.
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Which is ironic given that it was the bandit capitalism that brazenly claimed that society doesn’t exist, only personal interest and family units, that effectively destroyed the social cohesion of the post war period..
 
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Compare & contrast with the US right-wingers:

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism, by Lawrence Britt, Spring 2003

ratical.org

Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine's policy.

The 14 characteristics are:

  1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
    Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

  2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
    Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

  3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
    The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

  4. Supremacy of the Military
    Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

  5. Rampant Sexism
    The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

  6. Controlled Mass Media
    Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

  7. Obsession with National Security
    Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

  8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
    Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

  9. Corporate Power is Protected
    The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

  10. Labor Power is Suppressed
    Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

  11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
    Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

  12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
    Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

  13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
    Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

  14. Fraudulent Elections
    Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
 
djdavedk said:
Compare & contrast with the US right-wingers:

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism, by Lawrence Britt, Spring 2003

ratical.org

Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine's policy.

The 14 characteristics are:

  1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
    Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

  2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
    Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

  3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
    The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

  4. Supremacy of the Military
    Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

  5. Rampant Sexism
    The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

  6. Controlled Mass Media
    Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

  7. Obsession with National Security
    Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

  8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
    Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

  9. Corporate Power is Protected
    The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

  10. Labor Power is Suppressed
    Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

  11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
    Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

  12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
    Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

  13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
    Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

  14. Fraudulent Elections
    Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
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14 is what’s saving you all for now.

Pretty much confirmation Russia is fascist which makes their claims about the war in Ukraine even more facile than they originally were. I’m really fearful that supporting the Israeli genocide in Gaza has pushed supporting Ukraine right down the priorities in Washington when it’s a, if not the, key front in the fight for the future.
 
Joe Mac said:
14 is what’s saving you all for now.

Pretty much confirmation Russia is fascist which makes their claims about the war in Ukraine even more facile than they originally were. I’m really fearful that supporting the Israeli genocide in Gaza has pushed supporting Ukraine right down the priorities in Washington when it’s a, if not the, key front in the fight for the future.
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Is it though? Trumps whole schtick for five years has been the election was a sham and he should be president. It’s sort of an inverse of the same idea and a complete smear campaign.
 
ayayrawn said:
The best part of the writer's strike was no SNL. What the fuck are these people doing letting Nicki Haley appear fun and likeable? She wants to ban abortion nationwide, but haha she can poke fun of herself on tv.

Liberals will be the death of me (and all of us)
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And they're inviting that guy they fired for making homophobic and racist jokes to come host. F' SNL.
 
ayayrawn said:
The best part of the writer's strike was no SNL. What the fuck are these people doing letting Nicki Haley appear fun and likeable? She wants to ban abortion nationwide, but haha she can poke fun of herself on tv.

Liberals will be the death of me (and all of us)
Click to expand...
Hemotep said:
And they're inviting that guy they fired for making homophobic and racist jokes to come host. F' SNL.
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I mean this is the network/producer that had Jimmy Fallon tousle Trump's hair. I don't think they're pushing a specific stance so much as they have a wrestling promoter's business sense. Jesus Christ could be a staff writer and they'd let Satan cameo on Weekend Update if he dropped by 30 Rock.
 
Despite what experts are calling a strong economy, there is an unusual amount of layoffs happen right now. More than would be expected based how wallstreet is performing. Especially in the tech industry.

In the past week we have seen large layoffs at Google, PayPal, iRobot, Okta, Zoom, SNAP, Trend Micro and more.

The Washington Post today had a story about Tech Layoffs, and how many senior level people who were laid off over the last year are unable to find jobs in tech. At least anything with a decent salary and have given up and landed jobs in other fields. Widespread layoffs in tech started at the end of 2022 and continue to rempt up with Q1 of 2024 already being entered into the books for worst quarter for job losses in recent years.

Because layoffs are so widespread, there are more people looking for tech jobs than there are jobs open.

One of the major driving factors of tech layoffs has been salary resets. Corporations feel that salaries for workers are too high and not competitive when compared against the global job market. They are looking to optimize their cost structures. Let someone with a high salary go and replace with someone with a lower salary.

Thus people who were laid off who had good salaries are unlikely to find anything that pays at much again if at all.

Another thing being talked about is a lot of these companies have been utilizing other tools to reduce staffing levels to get the high paid workers out the door. And that biggest tool is requiring workers to return to the office. Workers do not want this, and are being resistant when there is no need for them to be in the office, especially when they have moved to the burbs or further away over the last 3 to 4 years when being allowed to work from home. This is driving many to quit, but perhaps an even larger number to be fired.

Tech companies are indeed firing people who do not following the return to the office mandate. And by going this route, they have cause for termination, which means they don't have to offer any severage package, and in many states, don't have to pay into unemployment because these workers would not be eligible to collect unemployment due to being fired for cause.

It blows my mind that it's like that in most places. Here in MA, employers will never fight a unemployment claim because the state will always give it to them anyways. It's not worth the companies time. But in other states, they will and almost always do. In most states if you were fired for cause or performance you are not eligible to collect unemployment benefits.

Do more with less still seems to be the motto. How many years can we keep asking for this out of employees before everything collapses?
 
Yesterday I was experiencing chest pain exacerbated by breathing. Lacking immediate options beyond the ER (and not entirely sure this was a cardiac event) I went to ZoomCare (a regional urgent care chain). The doc took my symptoms and history, stepped out for a sec, and let me know he'd called an ambulance. After a normal-looking EKG but high blood pressure (hm I wonder why), I elected to have my wife drive me to the ER. After some blood draws, x-rays, and a stint in a bed in the hospital hallway, I was given some meds and discharged.

I'm feeling fine now but am trying to establish a relationship with a Primary Care physician so we can further investigate and, at the least, work on my blood pressure. They're all booking out at least four months; one place said they're free in May but suggested I try their teaching hospital, which may take people sooner; I asked to get on the May date and I'd cancel if the teaching hospital could get me in sooner, but they transferred me asap. After a conversation with a receptionist (who was quick to remind me they had many other calls to get to) at the teaching hospital informing me there's no guarantee the doc I'd see would be an actual Primary Care physician (like they could be a dermatologist but at least they could prescribe or refer), I called the first place back and suddenly they were only booking in June (but other places are booking in October and November).

So I've got the urgent care bill, the EMT bill, the ER bill, no answers, and a whole lot of fear and extra stress.

Great system we've got here. Capitalism truly breeds competition and innovation.
 
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