asklemmy

This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Zoboomafoo, in How do you cope with the state of the world today?

How do I cope?

The media sells the idea the world is on fire. By a lot of measures, humanity is the best it’s ever been:

https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/cd14f225-2c08-49b7-864f-d66e76d43643.webp

https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/f5eb0a15-6702-4a9a-ba18-7d4ab586133b.webp

Things do seem bad, things do need fixing. My advice is to pick one singular part of the world you want to improve and figure out how to fix it. Something like abolishing prison labor or environmentalism. It needs to be something you can make a noticeable dent in, where you can see your own contribution to the effort.

Don’t change tack every time something new like Isreal-Hamas or the scuffle at the US-Mexico border happens. You picked that one thing to fix, remember? And unless you plan on going down to the border with a gun, how do you plan on making a real difference? If you can’t make a difference, why let it bother you?

mayo,
@mayo@lemmy.world avatar

This depends on what you’re measuring and where.

Also it’s good to have perspective by comparison but life happens in the moment to moment. If people are reporting feeling worse then that is current state and that is what matters.

Zoboomafoo, (edited )

I’m saying that their moment to moment is being influenced by being bombarded with nothing except negative news.

That leads to an “everything is awful” mentality that bleeds into one’s personal life.

hex_m_hell, (edited ) in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

No, the civil war 2 looks like mass shootings and terrorists attacks. It started with the Oklahoma City Bombing. Liberals just refuse to acknowledge it’s existence.

There’s an argument to be made, though, tha the US has always been in a state of civil war. The Spartans would symbolically declare war on their slaves every year. That’s kind of what slavery is: a constant war on a portion of the population. That’s aside from the whole genocide of native folks. Since the 13th amendment didn’t actually ban slavery, it never ended and if you look at standing rock, you know that whole native genocide thing never ended either.

Then when you contextualize all this with stuff like the Red Summer, you realize the recent violence is just the normal terrorism that white supremacists do every now and then to get control back. There probably won’t be a war with two side, more just escalation violence from one side leading to the systematic murder a huge chunk of the population. The question is if it will be officially sanctioned like the Holocaust, or continue with the ad-hoc stochastic terrorism like the Rwandan genocide and the Serbian ethnic cleansing.

I expected more snipers, bombings, and attacks on infrastructure but if Trump wins it’s definitely gas chambers.

Democrats are too afraid of “real war” to actually do something about this. If they did they might have to deal with the mess for real and open themselves up to political challengers from the left.

go_go_gadget,

A good portion of Democrat voters are boomers who created this reality by selling off everybody’s futures to corporations. It’s not that they’re afraid, this is precisely what they had in mind.

DirigibleProtein, in What software do you wish that existed?

A programming language that reduces bugs by using the Do What I Mean process, instead of Do What I Say.

SloppyPuppy,

I believe chat gpt is able today to produce code for what you mean and not what you say.

threelonmusketeers, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

States right right?

ThrowawayInTheYear23,

To do what again?

threelonmusketeers,
RubberElectrons,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

Not the important part of this.

nieminen, in Whats this on my dog?

Have an appointment for this afternoon. Will update when I know!

nieminen,

Good news, just a benign growth. Vet isn’t concerned. Said some fancy medical terms and said it’s nothing to worry about in the short term, just keep an eye on it monthly to see if it’s growing.

Thanks everyone!

Bakachu,

Thanks for the update OP! Although part of me always welcomes a botfly extraction video, Im glad it’s not that for your doggo.

morphballganon, in Are Americans more prone to conspiracy theories than people in other countries?

We see a lot of efforts to convince suckers of absurdities in the US because there’s a lot of economic value in swinging American votes.

In other countries that either don’t have voting, or don’t have a lot of economic power, there’s less to be gained by befuddling morons.

jaxxed,

There is a hidden assumption in your comment: conspiracy theories are intentionally created or reinforced with specific strategic goals.

tal,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

While I think that it’s probably rare, there have been conspiracy theories that are intentionally crafted to achieve goals.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION

And I am very sure that there have been many efforts to amplify existing conspiracies; you can look at disinformation research.

jaxxed,

I think that the majority of conspiracy theories are asroturfed, even those that actually started as grass roots. The Russians clearly admit that reinforcing propaganda rhat sticks, is a big part of their strategy.

Chocrates, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

I’m an american and an idiot. I thought the National Guard was a Federal organization?
Regardless Governor Abbott is a hateful idiot, along with all of the other leaders in Texas. I just left Texas because I can’t handle paying their salaries anymore, though I went to Louisiana where they are somehow more corrupt but also bigger idiots.

Liz,

It is. It got federalized during World War 1 and later the supreme Court basically ruled that the federal government wasn’t allowed to do that but they weren’t going to make the federal government give control back to the individual states anyway.

These days some states have state guards, but not all do. Of those that do, a significant amount are absolute jokes. It’s fairly logical, of course. What state has needed an army in the last hundred years?

cashews_best_nut,

I thought the National Guard was a Federal organization

I read this shortly after posting and apparently NG is State managed unless it gets “federalized” which means the Federal Government takes over.

yarr, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

I want to know why Texas is putting their children in the river in the first place.

cashews_best_nut,

They’re Mexican children that are drowning so it’s ok.

yarr,

Texas is kidnapping Mexican children and drowning them in the river?

cashews_best_nut,

I heard from others that it’s an invasion. So massed regiments of Mexican children invading the border. That’s why the National Guard are involved. To beat back the masses of child soldiers.

WanderingVentra, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

Hm… I should get a gun. And a passport.

TheInsane42,
@TheInsane42@lemmy.world avatar

Skip the gun. No civilized country will let you have it.

UrPartnerInCrime,
@UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works avatar

Need something for on the way to the airport

bouh,

A car is probably better to go to the airport.

psycho_driver,

A car with guns fastened to it.

naught,

yes but they can shoot behind them the whole time offering small but important time savings from the boost it provides

mnemonicmonkeys,

Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, etc.

The only thing is that they won’t allow you to import guns you already have. You have to buy new ones there

Darkard, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

It’s not a new civil war reason. It’s the same one as last time just packaged up a little different.

Racism

Eldritch,

It’s not even a new civil war. The last civil war only ended technically. In reality it went cold and has still been being waged all this time. It turned from a war of the rural South against the industrialised north. To a war on the industrialized from the rural.

JDubbleu,

I, for one, welcome the formation of the New California Republic. Washington and northern Oregon can join too if they’d like.

kandoh, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

The Governors are unserious idiots playing with fire hoping they won’t get burned by a rando of their idiot base taking it too far.

The real risk for Americans remains a situation like The Troubles, not armed conflict between states and the federal government.

APassenger,

More people need to track to your point about The Troubles. It’s where I’d think things progress.

OpenStars, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

I read how most experts agree that there will be some kind of “constitutional crisis” within the next decade. The impeachment 1, impeachment 2, and January 6 attacks already show the rumblings of what is to come.

Personally I find it doubtful that a full civil war would be the means though bc of the disparity b/t military resources at the federal vs. lower levels. Thus, probably something else, perhaps extremely mundane e.g. Trump runs for President, and bc of the Israeli conflict in Gaza and whatever else Russia manufactures between now and then Biden loses, then Trump simply declares himself Emperor.

Or maybe even that much paperwork will not happen and the government will simply never pass another federal budget again, thus ending the federal level by default of obstruction.

So probably not Civil War, at this time and over this event (no matter how much the clickbait media tries to get its clicks), but even so… something is coming indeed, down the road in some form.

slumlordthanatos,

Honestly, it’ll probably wind up becoming an American version of The Troubles. Republicans are cowards, and I doubt there are very many who are truly willing to fight and die for their cause. However, there are plenty of people willing to commit terrorist bombings and acts of sabotage if they think they can get away with it, and the US is huge. There are still plenty of places to hide if that’s the case.

And if Trump wins reelection, I can’t imagine many blue states putting up with it, and the same thing will happen from the opposite direction.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

I don’t know how liberals will react tbh. Usually they try to work within the system, but if that should ever prove to become impossible… I haven’t studied enough history to get any kind of accurate impression, but it’s worth noting that nothing like it has been needed (within the USA) in the last hundred years or so, so whatever might come seems hard to predict.

I should add that Democrats are also cowards too, as are most individuals - neither side holds a monopoly on that. That’s what makes this all so dangerous: if something could be accomplished behind the scenes, then 99.9999% of Americans will simply go along with the flow. Exactly like within Russia, even the thinnest vernier of respectability would be enough to forestall a large-scale conflict. So the “constitutional crisis” might take the form of a fairly bloodless (in the wider sense) coup.

Or Republicans could just keep turning the ratchet, making steady gains wherever they can, then locking in those gains and turtling, obstructing as best they can whenever they do not hold a majority, as they have been doing for decades now. In one sense that’s even entirely fair - a democracy should reflect the majority will of the people - except Republicans are aware that white people are becoming in the minority now and so have been changing more and more over time who gets to be counted as “people”. e.g. gerrymandering, with the stacked Supreme Court members not opposing it so now it’s “legal”. Though even that is becoming not enough lately thus they are having to adjust the stakes higher, possibly doing away with voting altogether (yes they are literally talking about that, hence all this discussion about Civil War). They have already been allowed to push that far, which leaves fewer options for them to move forward with short of something drastic.

The trick is that to the uninitiated, much of it sounds reasonable at first - e.g. “states rights” means that we all get to choose our own paths, and what is wrong with that, isn’t that “freedom” in the truest sense of the word? The trouble is how the lie is delivered along with the truth: for one, the means by which those gains were achieved has enormous implications, which feeds into two, it was actually always a lie bc they never stop there and always push forward after people accept the first push. i.e., if only appeasement would ever actually work! However, like that famous saying “first they came for…”, where even if you don’t care about those first few that were come for, eventually they will come for YOU too, and if you had been paying attention then there would be no need to be shocked, shocked I tell you, shocked! Leopards eat faces off, and just bc one hasn’t eaten YOUR face off, yet, doesn’t mean that it never will. They tend not to change their spots, only their current targets. Like Brexit, many people in the USA won’t know what’s happening anytime before, during, or somehow even after it has happened.:-(

And some are even joining in with the leopards, neither realizing nor seemingly caring that they are just being saved as future meals for those who are true predators. These “facilitators”, together along with the much more numerous “collaborators”, collectively are bringing literal (neo-)Nazis back into power.

kandoh,

If it does go down, it’ll be rural people driving into cities to shoot them up, plant bombs, or drive people over with their trucks. That’s what it’ll look like.

OpenStars,
@OpenStars@startrek.website avatar

“Will”? Check the news… it’s been happening for awhile, just not terribly successfully. I think we get something like at least one such event every other month.

LovingHippieCat, in So is the US slipping into Civil War?

Highly unlikely this is what the civil war would be like. It’s not a state v state thing necessarily although that might be a small part of it. In the first civil war, the south unified and its people largely supported the war, except their slaves. It’s unlikely something like that will happen again. It’s not impossible but unlikely.

What is much more likely is rural v city. Even in red states, cities are blue and will often vote for blue policies. Rural areas are where things get dicey. They’ve been largely left behind by the surge in industry and general expansion of the capitalist economy we currently have (they’ve had a lot of businesses (including grocery stores) close because more people are leaving, and their rural towns are frequently having their hospitals close leaving large swaths of areas where the nearest hospital is an hour away). As such, they’ve got a grudge against the cities. What’s likely to happen is rural counties and their local governments trying to cut off their food supply, starving the cities to win the battle. There’s tons more possibilities, but this one I think is the one that’s got the highest likelihood.

Another possibility that is scary, but is highly dependent on the party of the people in power, is the government using their power to actually strike the cities, like in Syria where Assad bombed and used chemical weapons on his own people. Syria is actually a pretty good example of what more modern civil wars are like, or can be like. Governments v rebels and militias, and cities v rural (although there’s much less rural land in Syria).

If you’re interested, the podcast It Could Happen Here has a great first season where they go over possible disasters including a civil war and a pandemic (it was actually made in 2019 so before covid). It’s really helpful and can teach a lot, especially for an outsider from across the pond. It also does a lot better job giving an explanation and actual sources.

Hope this helps since it didn’t seem like you were getting a real answer.

NeoNachtwaechter,

What is much more likely is rural v city.

Isn’t it even more likely trump disciples vs reasonable people?

Zoboomafoo,

I also recommend It Could Happen Here

drcobaltjedi,

I had to stop listening to ICHH it gave me way too much anxiety and was just too stressed back when i listened in 2020. I’ve since taken up to instead listen to BTB and cool people who did cool stuff off the same network. Monsters that are usually dead and people who kick ass make me feel better.

prettybunnys,

Another thing the world ought to know is that the folks who are identified by “red” and “right” in America are in the minority.

Significantly so.

However our voting system uses geography / land as a modifier so while there are less of them they occupy a larger land mass and have an outsized vote strength because of that.

When total votes in a state can be split 45-55 but the delegates go 90-10 there is a problem

skulblaka,

Another fun thing about that is that most folks who identify “red” or “right” actually aren’t paying enough attention to know that. Go ask them, they think people like them make up 70% or more of the country. If they do try to activate their little civil war they are going to find themselves very quickly surrounded by folks who do not like them at all, as their expected 200-million strong army ends up actually only being 1.5 million people spread out over 30,000+ square miles. Watching the realization dawn on them might actually even be fun if it weren’t a herald of Troubles for America.

deweydecibel, (edited )

The geographical separation of slave states by an actual border allowed the first Civil War to take place on a stage perfectly suited for traditional warfare. North/South division and the formal joining of the Confederacy by state governments kept it all straightforward. Point South and tell the generals “Go.”

It definitely won’t be that simple again.

AtmaJnana, (edited ) in What software do you wish that existed?

A cross-platform status monitor for gamers to be able to tell what games their friends on other platforms are playing. PlayStation, XBox, PC, etc.

I looked into it and decided that it probably isnt really feasible because each vendor intentionally blocks this kind of thing. It would also be a nightmare to maintain, I am sure.

panic,

Discord already does this somewhat as long as you’re logged in to it on the console

eran_morad, (edited ) in If Trump wins the election

It’s putin’s wet dream, to break the “Atlanticist” alliance and with it, NATO; to reverse the outcome of the Cold War. I think the ramifications would be too complex to game out with any confidence, other than stating the obvious: the world order would become multipolar (as putin prefers), with power centers in the USA, Europe, China, probably India, probably Russia. I could see US foreign policy shifting from its focus in Europe to the Pacific and intensified efforts to thwart China (which faces a demographic calamity that threatens any long-term potential for hegemony).

In reality, the ties that bind Europe to America (& Canada, Australia, etc.) are more resilient than the damage caused by your trumps, orbans, farages, etc. Rational actors will prevail when the stakes are so high.

Kecessa,

en.m.wikipedia.org/…/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

Published in 97

Russia should use its special services within the borders of the United States and Canada to fuel instability and separatism against neoliberal globalist Western hegemony, such as, for instance, provoke “Afro-American racists” to create severe backlash against the rotten political state of affairs in the current present day system of the United States and Canada. Russia should “introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics”.[9]

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • asklemmy@lemmy.world
  • localhost
  • All magazines
  • Loading…
    Loading the web debug toolbar…
    Attempt #