strangefreeworld
Lou Plummer šHere is 2025 in a nutshell
Numeric Citizen@amerpie wtf is this?
@numericcitizen Irony - pointing out that the poor conservatives struggling to pay medical bills are dumb AF for wasting their energy oppressing trans people while the 1% travel the globe for fun
vepÅ jako pepÅ
Dopes The Frogman@amerpie that sounds about right
GlennMagusHarveyand that one cool restaurant in your town that was run by immigrants has had to close
Rasmus Lindegaard@amerpie what you mean is: so it's well worth it, right? .... Right??
You could also have turned the heat on and stated: you may be choosing between your son's insulin or daughters inhaler
So many dark ways to frame this, that perfectly underlines the point.
Nina Felwitch 
@amerpie Millions of people all over the world looked at each other and went "My life is shit. So instead of voting for someone who could actually make it better, I'll vote for someone who'll make someone else's life even worse!" and then proceeded to vote for their local fascists.
Deb Nam-Krane@ninafelwitch I ask myself every day whether I hate those people more than the ones who just stayed home to "protest" or "be pure", and I can't decide. @amerpie
WesDym@dnkboston I'll confess some uncertainty about the full validity of our last national election, but assuming the numbers are valid, my take is that far too many of us just didn't show up at all. And if those who sat it out HAD shown up, the outcome would have been different.
I have long said that cynicism is dangerously corrosive, and this is an example of that that should serve as a warning to people.
Vote. Even if you hate everyone, decide who you hate MORE, and vote against them.
@wesdym cosign everything you said
Judge Earl P. Thayton@ninafelwitch @amerpie The internet says:
"Shame vs. guilt cultures differ in their moral compass: guilt cultures (often individualistic, Western) focus inward on personal conscience and rules (you broke a rule, feel bad); while shame cultures (often collectivistic, East Asian/Mediterranean) focus outward on societal perception, honor, and "saving face" (you acted dishonorably, bring shame to group)."
I feel like we need to acknowledge SPITE cultures, too... That's what's driving the USA.
@Judge_Earl_P_Thayton I think it's a pathological transference of guilt in this case. We feel guilt about our past, but subconsciously, so we transform that into projected ire towards others who invoke those feelings in us. Racial injustice is wrong, but if we admit that, then we have to address centuries of injustice, and that's painful. So instead, we make THEM the villains, and try to purge our self-loathing through them as effigies of our guilt, like abusive partners. It's ugly and terrible.
EndicottRoad59@amerpie Stupid, isn't it?
Gabriel N@amerpie this happened in Venezuela: resentment is a powerful motivator in the hands of a bully https://www.levelman.com/why-my-black-boys-love-trump/
David H. McCoy@davidhmccoy @amerpie I saw so many āgood peopleā under the caudilloās spell first hand, voting for cruelty many times over.
12 years after his death, with the country in ruins and millions of Venezuelans driven out of it, I still find people that believe that he was āmisguidedā by his entourage.
Fascism is a powerful drug, sometimes I see that our values may not be enough. The social contract also has to be strong and current.
I definitely donāt have all the context. Was thinking about a friend of mind whose child feelsā¦odd about being mixed. Friend was a bit handās off and kid was influenced by a Conservative relative. Looks down on other Hispanics, apparently and has a right-wing bent.
This reminded me of that.
All around, itās tough to see.
@davidhmccoy @amerpie it is indeed: I hope that some other family member can become a better example for him.
Nicole Parsonshttps://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5636808-trump-regime-corruption-wealthy/
At the least we should make an effort to "name & shame" the anti-democracy billionaires who support the regime.
Voting with our wallets might catch their attention, if only briefly.
Elon Musk
Howard Lutnick
Linda McMahon
Steve Witkoff
Kelly Loeffler
Joe Gebbia
Antonio Gracias
Tilman Fertitta
Melinda Hildebrand
Stephen Feinberg
Warren Stephens
Paul Atkins
Michael Dell
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/trump-white-house-billionaires-musk/
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/05/trump-billionaires-dell-investment-accounts
ChloChloaca
Just Bob
Tobias ššš@amerpie and your wedding cake was baked by a straight couple.
(I hate this timeline so much)
Millie
Sherri W (SyntaxSeed)@amerpie I often think about "The Wives" in The Handmaid's Tale. Clearly abused & not free themselves, they have classes of women below them who they can punch down on so that's enough for them to feel powerful.
Keeping people's hatred cast downward is the most powerful blinding to their own sorry status.
Captain Packrat@amerpie "Have you tried not having diabetes?" ā some billionaire probably