You know, fuck this, stream of consciousness coming up. Mute/whatever as you see fit.
Trump didn’t win this election. Kamala lost it. The Democrats lost it. Neoliberalism lost it.
Turns out if you’re on team moderate social injustice and your opponent is team total social injustice, you’re playing the social injustice game with the people who wrote the damn book. Who did you think was going to fucking win?
What I’m trying to say is this: Fuck. Neoliberals. (1/13)
Phone number privacy and usernames are now rolling out to everyone using Signal version 7.0! Update your app to take advantage of these new features 🎇
Signal’s mission and sole focus is private communication. For years, Signal has kept your messages private, your profile information (like your name and profile photo) private, your contacts private, and your groups private – among much else. Now we’re taking that one step further, by making your...
Introducing usernames and phone number privacy on Signal!
We’re making it possible for people to connect with each other without having to share phone numbers. Now launching to beta users, available for everyone soon.
Signal’s mission and sole focus is private communication. For years, Signal has kept your messages private, your profile information (like your name and profile photo) private, your contacts private, and your groups private – among much else. Now we’re taking that one step further, by making your...
When I was in rural Nellore for work in 2019, I was told I could “earn” ₹10k (about SGD 160) if I voted for a party. When I told them i was on the electoral rolls in, ummm, Singapore and not in India, was told that was a “small” matter that could be adjusted away.
But that’s not the point of this tale. The point is: despite pumping in so much money for “buying” votes, the owner of a corporate college chain, and the then ruling party he belonged to, went on to lose the election.
That’s exactly what’s about to happen again in 2023 in neighbouring Telangana. The ruling party is pumping in ₹10k-15k per vote, but is set to lose the elections now.
Then as it is now, parties don’t lose votes despite paying so much. They lose _because_. They pay so much because they know they’ll lose and are desperate. Indian voters may not be educated but can smell desperation from afar. So they’ll take their money… and still vote as they like.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the power of a secret ballot in universal adult franchise.
https://scroll.in/article/1059822/how-cash-for-votes-could-swing-the-telangana-elections
X has taken its stance. Nazis on the platform are allowed. Pro-Hitler posts are allowed. Holocaust denial is allowed.
If you stay on a platform like that, you can't escape this creeping normalization. Even if you think you can.
"Oh, there goes another Holocaust denier. Just part of being online, I guess."
"Oh, another transphobe calling people dehumanizing slurs. Well that's the Internet for you."
Creeping normalization is like advertising. Even if you think it won't influence you, it will.
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Aral Balkan
Signal
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