This is a frightening scenario

[Hardkill]

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/31/1068930675/us-election-coup-january-6-military-constitution

What if numerous members of the US military decide to go against the chain of command to instigate a military coup after the 2024 election?

[vizual]

Republicans are going to win 2024 anyway. Democratic party is a mess

[Gregory1]

4 hours ago, vizual said:

Republicans are going to win 2024 anyway. Democratic party is a mess

@vizual your mind is a mess.

Republican party is a pile of shit now. Which doesn't mean that there won't be enough stupid people to vote for it, unfortunatly..

[Opo]

@Gregory1  Though it was Leo at first. 

Using his picture is against the guidelines. 

[Gregory1]

@Opo

Are u sure?

[Opo]

1 hour ago, Gregory1 said:

@Opo

Are u sure?

Yup. 

[Hardkill]

So, none of you guys are scared about this possibility?

Honestly, I think that everyone in America who is either a liberal or a moderate should seriously consider stocking up on all kind of equipment such as guns, knives, bulletproof vests, etc. in order to protect themselves from some kind of right wing domestic terrorist attack that probably will happen one day at a nationwide scale in the future. I am thinking about building a panic room for myself when I get the chance.

[vladorion]

17 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

So, none of you guys are scared about this possibility?

Honestly, I think that everyone in America who is either a liberal or a moderate should seriously consider stocking up on all kind of equipment such as guns, knives, bulletproof vests, etc. in order to protect themselves from some kind of right wing domestic terrorist attack that probably will happen one day at a nationwide scale in the future. I am thinking about building a panic room for myself when I get the chance.

Turn off the TV/news. You're feeding your mind garbage and then freaking out.

[Hardkill]

2 hours ago, vladorion said:

Turn off the TV/news. You're feeding your mind garbage and then freaking out.

You're right. I probably should, but I don't want to miss out on important current events.

[Preety_India]

55 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

You're right. I probably should, but I don't want to miss out on important current events.

Do you watch YouTube? 

 

[Hardkill]

1 hour ago, Preety_India said:

Do you watch YouTube? 

 

Oh yeah, I watch a lot of it including TYT, Majority Report, David Parkman, Leo's channel, CNN, Geekdom101, and other miscellaneous vids on there.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Hardkill

[Hardkill]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blWALPdF2Gc&t=334s

[Space Lizard]

You sound like a victim of mass media propaganda and hysteria. Haven't you noticed that every week they are hyping up some new threat to keep you tuned in? That's how they operate; it's all about keeping you in constant fear--the real epidemic of our society. Don't be a sucker.

Here's a challenge for you: turn off all mass media for a month and see if you feel like you've missed out on anything. I did that 13 years ago and haven't missed it for a second. It's like breaking a toxic drug habit. Seriously, try it.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Space Lizard

[happyhappy]

@Space Lizard yh man. same here

we like to think we might be missed out by skipping news. #that was really sound advice

[sholomar]

On 1/1/2022 at 11:08 AM, Gregory1 said:

@vizual your mind is a mess.

Republican party is a pile of shit now. Which doesn't mean that there won't be enough stupid people to vote for it, unfortunatly..

There's a lot wrong with the democrat party here that people aren't seeing because they choose not to see it. I'm still in the process of taking space lizards advice. I don't pine over the state of the world like who I dub the "Reddit lefties" who want to keep society masked up for the next 100 years or the righties afraid a vaccine will give them a heart attack or AIDS...I just find the whole game quite stimulating...watching human nature play itself out in the global political arena fascinates me... I'm much more stimulated by intelligent persuits than mindless work gossip about fishing and hunting which is all people in my area like to discuss.

Im much more interested in watching the game play out than the outcome of the game, though my one core belief is anti authoritarian in nature, the title I use on the city data forums under this name... More checks and balances to keep human nature in check. No one individual or group of people should have too much power over another...it doesn't matter how good their intentions or how right they think their world view is (like the spiral dynamics greenies that frequent this place.  

I'm still trying to break my political forum addiction...pointless waste of time...I spent 5 hours yesterday on musical theory, 90 minutes of those practicing guitar. Baby steps... I want to make this forum the only one I visit in time, though I will never be as left leaning as many here.

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by sholomar

[Thought Art]

Uh oh…. 

[DocWatts]

Just because the Republican Party is packed with amoral grifters and fascist sympathizers doesn't mean that they're dumb. Trying to institute a military coup would be bad strategy because it would make what they're doing incredibly obvious (more so than it is now), and it's not at all clear that the military would support them.

Rather, the more likely scenario is that they're going to use legal and legislative mechanisms to end democracy, ala Russia, Poland, and Hungary. Really all that would have to happen is to place Trump sycophants in key positions when it comes to certifying the 2024 elections, and to have future GOP lead federal and state legislatures enact structural barriers that make it impossible for other political parties to win elections.

When democracies collapse, it tends to be the culmination of a lengthy period of societal decline where democracy isn't meeting the needs of the society, opening a space for Bad Faith demagogues to use societal feelings of alienation and resentment for the purposes of amassing political Power.

Thank forty years of neoliberal austerity politics under both political parties, and a well oiled Right Wing propaganda machine which benefits by exacerbating cultural divisions, for bringing us to this point.

With the incentive structures of Democracy and Capitalism being at cross purposes, political institutions being captured by oligarchs sets the stage for the decline of democracy under Late Stage Capitalism. Add to that easily exploitable cultural divisions during a paradigm shift from Blue/Orange to Green, and this gives Bad Actors who wish to end democracy plenty of opportunities to do so.

Without addressing the systemic failures that brought us to this point, the best we can do is try to forestall the collapse of democracy. Addressing these systemic failures would require a broad coalition focused on democratization politics, something that unfortunately our current institutions are inadequate for (the fact that Democratic majorities can't pass something as basic as Voting Rights legislation is a good indicator of this).

Edited January 5, 2022 by DocWatts

[Fleetinglife]

40 minutes ago, DocWatts said:

Just because the Republican Party is packed with amoral grifters and fascist sympathizers doesn't mean that they're dumb. Trying to institute a military coup would be bad strategy because it would make what they're doing incredibly obvious (more so than it is now), and it's not at all clear that the military would support them.

Rather, the more likely scenario is that they're going to use legal and legislative mechanisms to end democracy, ala Russia, Poland, and Hungary. Really all that would have to happen is to place Trump sycophants in key positions when it comes to certifying the 2024 elections, and to have future GOP lead federal and state legislatures enact structural barriers that make it impossible for other political parties to win elections.

When democracies collapse, it tends to be the culmination of a lengthy period of societal decline where democracy isn't meeting the needs of the society, opening a space for Bad Faith demagogues to use societal feelings of alienation and resentment for the purposes of amassing political Power.

Thank forty years of neoliberal austerity politics under both political parties, and a well oiled Right Wing propaganda machine which benefits by exacerbating cultural divisions, for bringing us to this point.

With the incentive structures of Democracy and Capitalism being at cross purposes, political institutions being captured by oligarchs sets the stage for the decline of democracy under Late Stage Capitalism. Add to that easily exploitable cultural divisions during a paradigm shift from Blue/Orange to Green, and this gives Bad Actors who wish to end democracy plenty of opportunities to do so.

Without addressing the systemic failures that brought us to this point, the best we can do is try to forestall the collapse of democracy. Addressing these systemic failures would require a broad coalition focused on democratization politics, something that unfortunately our current institutions are inadequate for (the fact that Democratic majorities can't pass something as basic as Voting Rights legislation is a good indicator of this).

If I was one of these autocrats and dictators together with their oligarchic cabal which props up and promotes their rule economically and in the media, especially in one of the countries that I live in and others adjacent and allied to it in terms of their similarities in the constellations and functioning of their political systems, I thought to myself last night, I would launch a war or would more likely do a military intervention I would have planned when adequate conditions or excuses arise for it once again immediately or during a term, a Republican seizes office, ideally, if it happens in 2024 and then during 2025 and 2026 years perhaps, simply by the fact of the domestic uproar again that would cause and focus back at home for domestic issues, I feel that they would have felt that they would get away with less severe punishments, focus on them and sanctions that it would cause them, especially if I am anyone other than China. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Fleetinglife

[Hardkill]

Perhaps, I have become a victim of mass media propaganda and hysteria. However,@DocWatts doesn't seem so optimistic about American democracy.

Then again, this is Leo's forecast on the democracy of USA: 

On 12/14/2021 at 3:56 AM, Leo Gura said:

No, I think there is serious threat of right-wing ideologues grabbing control. It's a troubling situation. But it certainly will not hold. It would be an act of devilry and it would eventually defeat itself. But it can cause plenty of damage. Trump has done serious damage to democracy which will take decades to heal.

It's not good. The transition from Orange to Green is looking very rocky and drawn out.

[Space Lizard]

What is modern democracy without mass media propaganda? Read Edward Bernays' book "Propaganda" to see how the two go together. I'm all for democracy meaning decentralized rule, where local communities decide their own fate, but that's not how modern democracies operate. What we have are centralized systems of propaganda, money and law, dominated by oligarchs. When you hear elites promoting "democracy", what they really mean is: "spreading our centralized systems of propaganda, finance and law into your community or country so we have de facto control". And leaders who oppose this are called "dictators" and "populists", for the crime of not wanting their money, media, culture, etc. dominated by foreign oligarchs. Once you understand this, all the elite rhetoric we hear about democracy looks very different. The last thing these people want is for local populations to control their own destinies. You think George Soros wants democracy if it means people reject his globalist ideology? It's all about centralized power and control, imo; democracy is just a ruse for the rubes.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Space Lizard