if you wanted Democrats out of power: congratulations.
Now, having gotten your wish, you have NO right to complain to me about him for the next 4 years.
This is a bare minimum courtesy. I am not going to indulge anyone’s little hypocrisies, and I will be ending friendships over this.
corollary to the above: if you wanted Democrats out of power, you got your wish, so fucking stop with the concern-trolling “why won’t Democrats stop this thing [that obviously started the instant when they lost power]” and “why won’t Democrats do this thing [that they were obviously doing when they had power]”
You are not stupid. You know how power works. I wanted Democrats in power, you wanted Democrats out of power, and you won. We both knew what that would mean.
I lost, you won, but you still want to unload your hysteria onto me? FUCK. OFF. You got what you wanted, at my direct expense! Go enjoy it!
it’s been two days, I’ve already cut a few more shameless ~progressive~ hypocrites out of my life, & I am looking forward to cutting out more. I am not listening to ORANGE MAN BAD!!! daily hysterics from the same people who mocked Democrats for ~only focusing on Orange Man Bad~
1. Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about – a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union – and take its side.
3. Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multiple-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world. The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.
5. Remember professional ethics. When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.
6. Be wary of paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.
7. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you carry a weapon in public service, may God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.
8. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.
9. Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.
10. Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
11. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.
12. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
13. Practice corporeal politics. Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.
14. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.
15. Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.
16. Learn from peers in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
17. Listen for dangerous words. Be alert to use of the words “extremism” and “terrorism.” Be alive to the fatal notions of “emergency” and “exception.” Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.
19. Be a patriot. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.
20. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.
So it turns out that for much of my academic career I focused on the question of how conservatives rationalize “loving the Constitution” and “backing the blue” while endorsing the anti-government militia and, more recently, the Jan 6th insurrectionists. QAnon and the Proud Boys stand on similar grounds.
My focus was on the political right, so I am NOT arguing leftists aren’t inconsistent hypocrites; I’m just discussing right wingers because that’s what I focused on.
Elevator pitch version? Conservatives and radicals have a picture in their heads of the “real” Constitution and the “real” legitimate powers of government that – to turn a phrase – trumps the *actual* Constitution and the legitimate *actual* powers of government. Since they know the “real” Constitution and powers of government, they are free to reject abuses of them (as they define abuse). The 14th amendment is illegitimate because it isn’t the “real” Constitution. So birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. And the officers at the Capitol on January 6th needed to be gotten out of the way to protect the “real” Constitution.
Admittedly, it was a long elevator ride. But I think I’m pretty much right.
Serbia has been engaged in the biggest student anti-government protests since the 90’s, when the students demanded the end to the terror regime of Slobodan Milosevic. Today, they are demanding official government accountability for many things, but the start of it was the tragedy of November 1st, when a railway station that was supposed to have been renovated collapsed and killed 15 people. Almost all the universities in Serbia are blocked by students, who have overtaken the buildings of their universities and faculties and are sleeping there as a part of student blocades. In the past couple of weeks, high schools all over Serbia joined the blockades, as have the agricultural workers. This is HUGE, because this is a product of decades of Aleksandar Vucic and SNS’s terror government that has stolen, murdered, robbed, and opressed the people of Serbia since they came in power. The government is lying about fulfilling the students’ demands, they have been sending paid thugs to beat on the protesters and to drive their cars into the masses, they’ve intimidated and arrested peaceful protesters and still the protests continue, because students are not giving up now as they didn’t give up in the 90s.
Today, on the 22.12.2024, at 16h, there is a huge protest planned in the centre of Belgrade. What’s enough is enough, and people have spoken. This corrupt government cannot and should not stand, not anymore. I know this site is notoriously “western”-centric, but this is important and monumental, and I need you to know it. This is important for all of the Balkans, all of the ex-Yu countries, and to every one of us who has watched and despaired over the situation in the Balkans since the war.
No pasaran!
Guys. Guys. Students are still blocking the universities all across Serbia. But it’s not just that. From today, all the lawyers have stopped working for this week in protest of an incident that happened last week, when a car (suspected to be someone paid or working for the corrupt system and the fascist autocratic SNS political party) hit a 20yo girl from Kraljevo who was standing on the sidewalk during the ongojng peaceful protests in Belgrade. High schools and primary schools are also not working. Also, today, 20/1/25, teachers and all who work in education have voted for a general strike!! I can’t even explain to you all how huge all of this is!!! (Also, massive protests happened on friday because of the corrupt state broadcaster and the way they’ve been “covering” the protests, basically they were covering SNS’s ass!)
I’m sick right now so I’m too tired to find the links for all of this that whow how many people are protesting and all that’s happeni g but plese feel free to add to this post – what’s happening in Serbia now is incredible on so many levels!!
i listen to this podcast by two priests who talk about what life as a priest is like because I find their stories interesting, and one of the best moments was when the younger priest, baby priest we shall call him, absolutely lost it on the podcast because he had been preaching, then he saw someone do a full body sigh, shoulders up and down, then look at their watch, and then shoot baby priest a dirty look. Because priests are human too, this priest found it irritating on a human level, which, okay, I can see that–and then, he spent several minutes vehemently (and jokingly, but also, vehemently) proposing that Catholicism should update its rules so if anyone does that, the priest is allowed to come down from the altar and challenge the person to hand-to-hand combat. He argued that more people would come back to church if there was a chance of seeing the priest getting in a fistfight and in fact they might go to church multiple times a day. He stubbornly refused to allow exemptions for little old ladies. he was fully and passionately committed to the idea of Catholicism allowing priests to fistfight parishioners in the middle of mass, and I’m going to say it: i think he was right
amhrancas 