Mastodawn

BoneHouseWasps🔶🇬🇧🇪🇺Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum It's not a distraction, it's never a distraction because they're not strategic thinkers. They're just doing the thing. The thing being fascism.

Bebadefabo Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum NIMBY liberal Boomerism will be the death of us all.

#ItsLuigiTime
#OpenFire

Toni Aittoniemi Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum Isn’t the job of the US Democratic Party to merely stop the extremism of the far-right of the republican party, and to pretend and dilute down left politics to prevent any genuine left movements from ever gaining traction in the country? 😃

Violet Madder Aug 28, 2025

@gimulnautti @HeavenlyPossum

No. Common misconception, but NO, no they are NOT here to stop the extremism of far right Republicans. Remember the Pied Piper Strategy?? They explicitly WANT the GOP more and more extreme. They'll platform, amplify, and even outright fund that shit.

Hamstringing the left is their only job.

martin lentink 🇪🇺 🇺🇦📎Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum My parents lived under Nazi occupation, and told us about it. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, messaging sure as hell won't make it a lawnmower.

I was young when the west started crowing about the “End of History” which seemed to me then to be rather over the top (even for those heady days as millions of people were free to move and choose as they hadn’t been before).

But it appears that a great many people took it quite seriously, perhaps because they never really believed in history in the first place, instead living in a close and cozy world peopled only by themselves, perhaps a supporting character or two, some distant heroes or villains, and millions (billions) of vague disposable NPC spear-carriers.

It takes a specific and purposeful kind of effort to imagine a world full of real, vibrant, exciting people as fully realized as oneself, and to then extend that to centuries or millennia more of equally rich, vibrant, and varied people.

The End of History (TM) gave those with poor imagination the excuse they needed to settle into a deep and selfish rut of self-serving, unexamined consumerism and avarice.

Robert Link Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum Wrong. We're focusing on #Epstein because that's the issue most likely to bring down Trump and his complicit enablers. MAGAts love the militarization and pwoning lib cities. But they just might turn on Trump and Vance and Johnson and McConnell over raping 13 year olds.

Violet Madder Aug 28, 2025

@phaedral @HeavenlyPossum

And all of that is a moot dead end anyhow, because we all ought to realize by now that list has gotta be packed with prominent Democrats and people from Wall Street etc and all kinds of shit that NEITHER party wants to ever see the light of day.

And tolerating sexual assault and child abuse is an INTEGRAL PART of right-wing culture, just look at their churches. Total nonstarter, somehow, despite the volume of all the pizzagate noise.

The Great Llama

Aug 28, 2025

@violetmadder @phaedral @HeavenlyPossum
No, no... THIS is going to he the time they finally have enough. For real this time. 🙃

Jason von Nieda 🐀Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb What exactly do you think people should be doing that they aren’t? I see so many takes like this and they never say anything useful. Do you mean violence? Is there something besides voting, protesting, preparing, protecting, suing, supporting allies, etc. that I am failing to do as a US democrat that can make a difference?

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda

Buy guns

@vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum and train. No one’s born knowing how to shoot.

@vonnieda @thomasjwebb

Yes. Find a local socialist gun club or similar organization and learn how to handle and responsibly discharge firearms.

Jason von Nieda 🐀Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb And then what? Wait? Do you think the people being scooped up off the street right now don’t have guns?

@vonnieda @thomasjwebb

Don’t ask the question and then cry at me when I give you an answer.

Jason von Nieda 🐀Aug 27, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb Not crying, and not an answer. Took my first firearm safety course 25 years ago. I’ve had plenty of time to think about what it would take for me to use a gun to defend myself. My point is that if you think guns are the solution then why aren’t you out there shooting? You are sitting and waiting just like everyone else, just like the people you are complaining about.

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda

I don’t live in the US

@HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb @vonnieda We just saw innocent children murdered today. And you post this? You are just as hateful as every single 2nd amendment right winger. Shame on you.

@mls14 @thomasjwebb @vonnieda

Are you worried Jason here is going to shoot children if he buys guns?

@vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb

Levka Aug 27, 2025

#GeneralStrike

@vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb I hope the responses to this show you the types of clowns you will encounter on Kolektiva. I’m not sure if it’s a Russian troll farm, the biggest collection of idiots this side of a Trump rally, or a combination of both.

They tell people not to vote… then when that leads to fascists taking power, they say violence is the only solution. Self-fulfilling prophecy from keyboard warriors that will never take up arms in a rebellion of any kind. An absolute clown show, and not the funny kind of clowns.

@mls14 @vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum “violence is the only solution” said no one in this thread. The op is criticizing the “voting is the only solution” contingent.

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum “buy guns” was the post. You’re ascribing imagined nuance where none exists.

@mls14 @vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum no, this was the post https://kolektiva.social/@HeavenlyPossum/115099971946314206

HeavenlyPossum (@[email protected])

US Democrats are so enamored with the idea that Trump is “distracting” because a fundamental pillar of US liberalism is that nothing real can ever happen. It’s just not allowed. So when real things do happen, like a fascist takeover and military occupation of the US capital, they can only conceive of it in terms of messaging, of signs and symbols. The real world ended in 1992, after the Soviet Union collapsed and Bill Clinton became President and neoliberalism settled in as The End of History. The first real thing that will ever happen to many of these people will be their own deaths. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dem-strategists-urged-party-trump-military-takeover-1235415635/

kolektiva.social

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum Scroll the thread. You will see the post I’m talking about. It’s from the OP, it’s only two words, and a response to somebody asking what the OP’s solution to this problem is. Don’t gaslight when people can literally read the thread and see that you’re lying.

@HeavenlyPossum @mls14 @vonnieda I scrolled the thread… all the way to the top. Or maybe you’re confused what “OP” means. It doesn’t mean “reply-to-reply I took out of context and got mad at”

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda OP means original poster. Which is the “heavenly possum,” who did post “buy guns” in the thread, in response to a question of what Democrats should do.

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda @mls14

You should buy some too.

@mls14 @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda you claimed that people here are saying "violence is the only solution" I pointed out that nowhere in the thread has anyone suggested that. A thorough reading of the thread proves what I said to be true - no one said that. Someone mentioning guns in response to a fairly comprehensive list of non-violent strategies is clearly not an endorsement of violence to the exclusion of everything else (also "buy guns" doesn't mean "do violence").

@vonnieda @thomasjwebb @mls14

I didn’t say that buying guns was a solution to the fascist takeover of the US. That’s a problem that’s wildly outside the scope of individual action to solve. Someone asked me what they should do and I answered, wisely and correctly, that they should buy guns.

Maybe you should try reading what I actually wrote before misportraying my words and accusing other people of gaslighting.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/debunking-the-guns-make-us-safer-myth/

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @thomasjwebb @mls14 Buying guns is extremely unwise. The risk of death by gun violence increases massively when somebody in your household owns one.

I oppose anybody who tells others to buy guns.

Debunking the ‘Guns Make Us Safer’ Myth

Despite arguments from the gun lobby and its allies, guns used for self-defense are not common, beneficial for society, or efficient in deterring mass shootings or criminal victimization.

Center for American Progress

@vonnieda @thomasjwebb @mls14

The risk of death by gun violence when fascists take over your country is pretty high too, whether you have a gun or not.

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 guns aren't for everyone. This article is addressing different points than were made here. Key things to consider:

A) arithmetic fallacy
B) the dynamic world

Throwing all guns, people and deaths into a bucket and saying things about the bucket gives us important info but can't speak to your situation. Self-harm is contingent on your mental state. Safety is contingent on your measures such as safes and regular training.

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda Having a gun in your home substantially increases your risk of death from a gun. People with guns are at higher risk of being harmed by a gun than those without guns.

That’s why I know those pushing for people to “buy guns” do not care about others’ well-being.

It’s a smart-ass response from people that gave up on the idea of self-government and think everybody else should too. Sorry, but the adults in the room are CURRENTLY working on ways to solve this without violence. And the Kolektiva Keyboard Klowns (KKK for short?) are cowering and clowning telling others to buy guns while they sit back and hope to pleasure themselves watching the ensuing violence.

@mls14 @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda none of your responses indicate that you've read anything anyone here has actually written but instead are just mad at some guy you made up in your head.

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda I really do wish that “buy guns” in response to “what should Democrats do?” was made up in my head. I really do. But there are actual people in the world typing that nonsense into their computer and posting it for everybody to read. And others are defending it.

This is the crappy world I live in; believe me, the imaginary world in my head doesn’t have anything like this in it.

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda @mls14

Just think, every gun you buy is one less available on the shelf for some MAGAt to buy.

@vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum @mls14 the well-armed government needs to… have its stockpile reduced somehow.

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 I really wished that all you did was honestly register your distaste about mere mention of self-defense instead of making up a story - wholly from your head - that this constitutes “giving up” on any other means of resistance, a claim you repeatedly made and never honestly tried to defend. Reasonable people can have honest disagreements about the specifics of resistance. Unfortunately you’re not being honest.

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda Heavenly Possum is not being honest. They don’t live in the US. But they are telling Americans to buy more guns and shoot each other.

This is not acceptable behavior, period. Nobody should be defending this person, who is probably on Putin’s payroll and posting from somewhere in Russia.

@thomasjwebb @vonnieda @mls14

I didn’t tell anyone to shoot anyone. I suggested my interlocutor buy guns and learn how to safely handle and discharge them.

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 "But they are telling Americans to buy more guns and shoot each other."
"this person, who is probably on Putin’s payroll"

Once again this person is just absolutely making shit up. All he can do is reply to points that were never even made, not even implied in the thread. Again, making up someone in his head and getting mad at them. Maybe the fact that no one's swooping down to safe us upsets him so much that he distracts himself from the horror by lashing out.

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 a common thing I see though is people conflating self-defense and violent escalation. Like one can lead to another. That's what I don't like about open carry and most of the US's gun culture. But it's a whole other thing to pretend that someone who called for one thing called for the other thing. But these people who believe that Dems will swoop in can't fathom how much self-defense (armed or not) is an unavoidable part of even non-violent resistance.

Violet Madder Aug 28, 2025

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14

You're recognizing some very insidious and significant patterns here-- the unruly leftist strawman is a stereotyped scapegoat they've villainized very thoroughly, it's what they expect and what they tend to see and hear no matter WHAT we actually do or say.

Anytime we point out corruption in electoralism for instance, they tend to jump straight to "how dare you (tell people to) not vote!" even if we never actually said that or even explicitly noted otherwise.

Another example, when we point out how nasty the fascism is they react as if we just gave a treatise promoting defeatism-- even if we're advocating enthusiastic struggle, there's this bizarrely persistent assumption we want everyone to give up, because that's the story they've been sold about us.

So a lot of these debates are marked very distinctly by moments of them shouting "aha I knew it, you XX and YY!" and us saying "uhhhh nobody here said that" and them carrying on regardless as if our posts are going through some kind of funhouse filter.

https://mastodon.social/@thomasjwebb/115101825576138003

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda You also joined in on the call for violence…

Not enough to have the guns. You want people trained up and ready to shoot. Shoot who? You and your marsupial friend really seem to like violence.

@mls14 @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda

"shoot who?"

armed agents of the state who broke into your home to murder you. Clearly, I'm against violence. I just don't kid myself into thinking that my nonviolence will compel my enemies to adopt nonviolence.

@thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda LOL you think armed agents of the state are gonna just walk in and you will be able to defend yourself?

If you’re the target of a fascist dictator, a bomb is gonna wipe your neighborhood from the map while you’re sleeping. They won’t give you a chance to fight back. Wake up.

@mls14 @thomasjwebb @vonnieda

Who are these adults and what’s the status of their plan?

Ciggy Bringer of Smoke Aug 28, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum @mls14 @thomasjwebb @vonnieda

He isnt in the room with them, but constantly associates with them aspirationally, like Renfield. Why they can never tell us what the plan from Democrat is, because Democrats dont functionally tell their partisans to do anything but vote and give money.

Ciggy Bringer of Smoke Aug 28, 2025

@mls14 @thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda

So can I straw purchase you a gun and one for your missus?

@mls14 @thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda

RD Aug 28, 2025

Anyone who considers themselves one of the "adults in the room" (and especially those who publicly assert this while explicitly denigrating others with a ridiculously broad brush) are just as bad as fascists and I cordially invite them to eat shit and die.

HeavenlyPossum Aug 28, 2025

@mls14 @RD4Anarchy @thomasjwebb @vonnieda

Noooo you don’t get it, they’re working on a plan but it’s also secret but also please don’t think about the fact that these are mostly the same people who did nothing at all to stop Trump or his consolidation of power.

@HeavenlyPossum @mls14 @thomasjwebb @vonnieda

RD Aug 28, 2025

You're right, silly me. Nor should I compare them to the adults who advised kids to stay put when the water was rising at camp mystic.

The Great Llama

Aug 28, 2025

@mls14 @thomasjwebb @HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda
So, if we're all such clowns, why are you continuing to talk to us? I don't need an answer because you're headed for my blocklist, but you might consider answering it for yourself.

Incidentally, there was a point where American democracy (MASSIVE warts and all) might have been "saved" by voting, but it was somewhere before the supreme court was packed with stooges. Y'know, around the time the DNC was making a huge mistake, focus testing how finely they could shave the margins that would please the corporate money but still beat fascism. All the people you're busy calling clowns were screaming it as loud as we could by the way.

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 looking backwards in time comparing self-defense rate vs. deaths becomes less relevant the more dynamic the situation. For an extreme example to illustrate, the judiciousness of arming oneself changes substantially if your country is getting invaded. Guns aren't useful in stopping mass shootings and mass shootings are too rare to be a good reason to arm oneself even if they were. We're not talking about that

The US is being invaded by its own federal government.

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 basically, we're saying that if you expect one and only one approach to save you and don't think you need to have backup plans for the worst, you're being foolish. And your response is to pretend that we're guilty of the thing the pundits are actually guilty of - only having one approach, one ineffective approach.

@vonnieda @mls14 @thomasjwebb

You heard it here: Kolektiva anarchists threw the election for Trump by persuading millions of people not to vote. We are immensely powerful. Do not trifle with us.

Ciggy Bringer of Smoke Aug 28, 2025

@HeavenlyPossum @vonnieda @mls14 @thomasjwebb

But also, do the opposite of anything we suggest like 'get to know your neighbors to maybe germinate some community defense and community support.'

Heck, the best true believer Liberals who GOTV by dragging their whole community to the polls already mostly have this, but you dont catch them getting heckled on Mastodon while they stomp their foot about voting and guns and how to fight the fascism we got now .

@vonnieda @HeavenlyPossum @thomasjwebb

Paw-1|426 Aug 28, 2025

@mls14

You hate kolektiva? Block the instance...

I think we both know you will not accomplish anything here. Just save yourself the headache and leave...