Kamala Harris promised similar bullshit. It’s pretty clear that the voters were not impressed with the idea of a one-time coupon you can file along with your tax return. They want to see structural measures taken to rebalance the economy so that ordinary people can live in dignity even if that means that the phantasmagorically wealthy will have to get downgraded to fantabulously wealthy.
Well la de da. Swish!
I share your frustration. There are many narratives on Lemmy that you’re supposed to just know and parrot. Asking questions, even just for more information, is blasphemy. It’s plain pathetic.
I believe all of that is happening with or without the results of this election. Some problems are bigger than red vs blue. We are failing en toto on this one. True, the in-flight movie on the Trump plane to hell is suckier than the one on the Harris plane to hell, but they land in the same place.
Their wishes and promises are not the only thing involved here.
Even as someone who fully accepts trans people and has trans friends and family, it’s still an adjustment to some really old, deeply-seated habits and mental structures. I’m over 50 so I was set in my ways when I learned about “they” pronouns and it still takes work for me to get it right. If I didn’t care about the people involved, it would be very easy to see it as a burden or annoyance.
Hell we used to genocide and enslave the people we looked down on. Talking ill of them on Fox News is a step up, my friend.
Yeah I was wondering that myself. If the people are any part of what’s desired, they don’t seem to want to contribute to Russia, especially in the task of absorbing others.
I share your broader view and cautious optimism. In fact I think that some of what we are seeing are death spasms of that white hegemony that used to lynch blacks at will. They lost their “hard” power long ago with the end of Jim Crow. And they have been losing their “soft” power ever since. Demographic trends point to white people in America eventually becoming a minority. Religion is also dying out. So much of what we see is a panic of a dying group that was once dominant. There is no way that’s ever going to be pretty, anywhere, at any time. But look at the trend behind it and it’s an encouraging one, even if the death spasms are incredibly difficult. TBH if the Democrats could just provide some real leadership into this future, America could flip into a totally different country, much like the liberal democracies of Europe (but way stronger) inside of 20 years. This is the reality that the old guard are scared shitless of, and why they are pulling out all the stops to go the other way.
The way they’re struggling in Ukraine. 3 years for what they thought would be 3 days, and they haven’t accomplished their goal.
Plus, several of the former USSR states are formal NATO members: the Baltics. With Russia struggling to hold the worst 1/3 of Ukraine, what on Earth makes you think they could sustain a war with NATO, proper?
Okay your pooh poohing of AI has been noted.
What’s the key value of Ukraine that turns Russia into a superpower? Agriculture? Ports?
There was a vociferous but somehow under the radar outcry about this back in 2018 and an incredibly simple solution was widely suggested: demonetize the video.
However, the highly viewed video is a significant source of royalty revenue for Mr. Astley, which, as he well argued at the time in a series of tweets, is only just compensation for the way his image has been turned into a joke literally hundreds of millions of times now.
Mr. Astley implored YT not to bow to pressure and demonetize the video. YT famously replied “don’t worry, we’re never going to give you up, never going to let you down.”
English is idiosyncratic as hell. Didn’t someone famous call it “not a language but 3 languages in an overcoat.”
Adding to this specific instance is that even native speakers spell things wrong. They loose their keys, etc.
I would lohz my shit if we had to pronounce it that way.
The Baltics are NATO members. No matter what they do, it won’t be “the same strategy.”
And while we’re at it, here are the NATO members or aspirants:
Here’s a breakdown of the former USSR states that are now NATO members or are actively considering NATO membership:
Former USSR States That Are NATO Members
These countries joined NATO after gaining independence from the Soviet Union:
1. Estonia
• Joined NATO: 2004
• Strong NATO ally with significant defense investments.
2. Latvia
• Joined NATO: 2004
• Works closely with NATO on Baltic security.
3. Lithuania
• Joined NATO: 2004
• Actively contributes to NATO missions.
4. Poland
• Although not a USSR republic, it was part of the Warsaw Pact (Soviet-aligned).
• Joined NATO: 1999.
Former USSR States Considering or Applying for NATO Membership
1. Ukraine
• Officially applied for NATO membership in 2022.
• Has intensified cooperation with NATO since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
2. Georgia
• Has declared aspirations to join NATO since 2008.
• NATO has an ongoing partnership with Georgia, but membership has been delayed due to territorial disputes (Abkhazia and South Ossetia).
3. Moldova (Debate, but no formal application)
• While officially neutral, there are internal discussions about strengthening ties with NATO due to regional threats.
• No formal application has been made yet.
Key Context
• NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia remains controversial, partly due to ongoing conflicts with Russia and territorial disputes.
• Other former USSR states, like Belarus and the Central Asian countries, are either neutral or aligned with Russia.
Let me know if you’d like a deeper dive into any of these countries!
That seemed like a good task for AI so here’s what got back:
The former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) included 15 republics, many of which became independent countries after its dissolution in 1991. Here’s a list of former Soviet states that are not NATO members or actively applying for NATO membership (as of now):
1. Belarus
• A close ally of Russia, with strong political, military, and economic ties to Moscow.
• No indications of pursuing NATO membership.
2. Moldova
• Officially neutral according to its constitution.
• While there is some public debate about closer ties with NATO, it has not formally applied for membership.
3. Armenia
• Member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
• While cooperating with NATO on some levels, it is not pursuing membership.
4. Azerbaijan
• Maintains a policy of balanced diplomacy between Russia, NATO, and other powers.
• No NATO membership aspirations have been officially declared.
5. Uzbekistan
• Pursues a policy of neutrality.
• Not a member or applicant of NATO.
6. Turkmenistan
• Officially neutral (recognized by the UN in 1995).
• No NATO ties or aspirations.
7. Tajikistan
• Member of the CSTO, closely aligned with Russia.
• Not pursuing NATO membership.
8. Kyrgyzstan
• Also a member of the CSTO.
• No active NATO membership aspirations.
These countries generally maintain neutrality or align more closely with Russia and its sphere of influence, either through treaties like the CSTO or their foreign policies. Let me know if you’d like more specific information about any of them!
Because everyone thinks of themselves as a potential rich person. Or in other words: people think that being rich is the ideal state, so let’s align everything around that.
If we truly put a yoke on the rich and contained them, we would also be reining in the smallfolks dreams.
By contrast, rich people don’t sit around dreaming about being smallfolk and planning aspirationally for the day that will happen.
“That’s $288. Would you like to take advantage of today’s half off promotion, and pay just $144, sir?”
(Slaps cashier in the face)
“How dare you!”