#American Oligarchy

[tomorrowusa]

There's only so much room in a cartoon. But I would have included the outfit worn by The Eyes – the secret police in Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale.

J.D. Vance is a radical extremist. Don't let anybody attempt to normalize him.

J.D. Vance’s Extreme Political Positions on Everything From Abortion to Staying in a Violent Marriage for the Sake of the Kids

[itsbeardedcollectorwolfme]

Why do you think he said we were too smart to fall for this? Why they shut him up as fast as they could? Why he's in solitary confinement? So he can't talk to folk.

This is to the claims adjuster. Don't do anything stupid because of the Luigi situation. This is not your fault. You did something good for the whole god's damned world, don't let the NYPD, worthless pieces of shit that they are, trick you into revealing yourself. If you truly want to help Luigi shoot another CEO. Or even better take out the NYPD's chief of police and or the mayor of New York. They are both corrupt traitors and deserve to die screaming.

Reminder.

This is what the shooter looks like.

Gray jacket. Light gray backpack.

This is what the apparent suspect looked like the same day at Starbucks.

Green/brown jacket and black back pack

Notice lack of unibrow.

Luigi day of arrest.

Unibrow present and stubble on face/neck.

Why is this important? Because Starbucks guy doesn't have those.

Which leads me to perp walk luigi.

"Oh they must have a great barber lmaooo" no. Stop joking for a second. No one gets this treatment so why him? Because they are trying to make him look like the Starbucks perp. They think we are dumb and will forget shooter Mcgee doesn't look anything like Starbuck boy.

Luigi said evidence was planted on him like the gun and the manifesto.

I believe this because the manifesto praises the efforts of the policemen on like page one. Like they couldn't even not suck their own dicks for 3 seconds to plant compelling evidence.

Do not let these people fool you. Luigi did not do this. Even though it's funny, even though he's hot even though <insert myriad of excuses I've heard here>. Do not let them get away with brainwashing you into believing he did it even if you agree with what happened.

I'm pro UHC shooter.

I'm pro luigi being released because hes innocent.

[thedearlydepart]

America started with the best of intentions. “Jefferson sought to establish a federal government of limited powers” (Library of Congress, n.d.), and even though a form of capitalism has always existed in America, I don’t think Jefferson or anyone at the time could have predicted the growth it would have and how dependent upon it we would become. I don’t think it was by design, but due to the inherent exploitative nature of capitalism and more to the point, the influence of wealth and corporations, America now functions more like an oligarchy..

Well, you may ask why we are having the conversation. Why does it matter how we classify or define the structure of our government? Psychology Today tells us, “Our frames of reference are extremely important for making decisions that are consistent with our values, aligned with our preferences, and relevant to our past experiences.” (Grawitch, 2021). If we think that our government is a democracy, a democratic republic, or anything of that ilk, it sets us up to make decisions that, in the best-case scenario, have no effect and, in the worst, have an opposite effect.

We have known it for a long time but haven’t had the words to explain it. Many people wouldn’t even understand what an oligarchy is. So, if you ask a regular person what kind of government we have, They have only been told that we are a democracy, that we are the only country with freedom and other patriotic epithets. In the Oxford Union Video, Cenk Uygur cites a study that says 93% of Americans say money corrupts politics. Coming to terms with the reality that it’s not and not understanding completely what that means is a scary thought. It’s even more terrifying when you realize you are already in it, and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Uygur also states that the most significant impact on policy and politics was donor contribution, NOT VOTING. So much so, according to Uygur (and substantiated by Politico), in 2008, Citigroup, via ex-exec Michael Froman, handed Obama’s team a list of people who would eventually become his cabinet members. (Wheaton, 2016).

As the video from our required readings suggests, We have a style of government in which we still vote, and that vote indirectly decides who will be our next executive. To some degree, one could argue that that means democracy still exists. However, the same video suggests that only the person who spends the most money (special interest groups and billionaires) essentially determines who will win a given election. (Counter Arguments, 2019). So, I feel it’s safe to say that We are an Oligarch.

References

Counter Arguments. (2019, April 1). America Is A Democracy. YouTube. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://youtu.be/lJUQKcnWzIg?si=u-BmxYU4YHmqnqEv&t=539

Grawitch, M. (2021, June 28). Your Frame of Reference Influences Your Decision Making. Psychology Today. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hovercraft-full-eels/202106/your-frame-reference-influences-your-decision-making

Library of Congress. (n.d.). Establishing A Federal Republic - Thomas Jefferson | Exhibitions. Library of Congress. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html

Oxford Union & Uygur, C. (2017, June 27). Democracy Is For Sale | Cenk Uygur | Part 5 of 6. Youtube. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://youtu.be/YrKeseMRABs?si=8JCu9dCmUulaQTTL&t=280

Wheaton, S. (2016, October 20). WikiLeaks trove shows Obama in 2008 prepping to move into the White House. Politico. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/wikileaks-obama-white-house-230114

[itsbeardedcollectorwolfme]

The media has NOT been trying to humanize Luigi. They've been trying to humanize the fucking mass murderer.

They're trying so hard to make this a culture war thing instead of a class consciousness moment.

[itsallpoliticsstupid]

This is a soon to be US Government official indicating he believes that an ally should be attacked because they don’t hold the same political beliefs as him. Have you all woken up to what this man really is yet? He wants the world subjugated and will use his supporters in an attempt to do it.

The man is dangerous.

[solarbird]

I just want to get it out there that Elon Musk keeps saying – in words – that the Trump plan is to crash the economy. He keeps saying it, because he thinks it’s a good thing. Ordinary Americans will have to “embrace the pain.” People like him won’t have to do that, of course not!

But, you know.

You.

The little people.

Then and only then, after a big crash, will the economy be allowed to recover under what one supposes would be a new hyper-austerity regime.

From all historical experience, this “austerity” regime would really be a looter regime. It’d also be deflationary, which is great if you’re a billionaire and terrible if you’re everyone else, since most people will make less and less over time, while the billionaires will keep more and more since the rich won’t be paying any taxes, and the value of their stored wealth – their idle, uninvested, non-productive money caches – will increase all on its own.

The MAGA government would be gambling on the idea that American memory is so short that they’ll forget before the collapse.

Well, that, and…

And I give this credence because, well, one, yeah, Trump’s plans will crash the economy. But I also give it credence because of something Trump said before even running for office. He said this:

When the economy crashes, when the country goes to total hell and everything is a disaster, then you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great. – Donald J. Trump on Fox and Friends, 2014

Because Elon’s saying that’s the plan this time. It wasn’t the plan last time maybe, but it’s the plan this time. And “go back to where we used to be” was white supremacy with women as men’s property. That’s what he wants.

Trump’s Director of Whitehouse Personnel just today called to end voting rights for women, saying that women shouldn’t vote and that the 19th Amendment “might have to go.”

I mean really, at this point in the campaign, what people generally need to be focusing on is getting out the vote. But sometimes things happen that are big enough to talk about, like the explosion of race hate coming out of the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. And that raw hatred – and their doubling down on it on Monday and Tuesday – is the most important item this week, absolutely.

But for the “fuck you I got mine” crowd amongst your friends, particularly the ones who are perfectly happy to laugh at racial hate jokes and really kinda like it since hey, it’s not their problem, well…

I would think that intentionally crashing the economy might give them something to care about.

Just maybe.

Because Elon keeps saying it, out loud. Elon, who would be in a Trump administration, who would be the one doing the broad strokes of fiscal planning, keeps saying that they will crash the economy, and that they will do it on purpose.

That might be something to tell your more racist family and friends.

Maybe – just maybe – they’ll care about that.

5 days remain.

[beauty-funny-trippy]

⠀ Economists have repeatedly warned that the second Trump administration will be a boon to the ultra wealthy and a backslide for everyone else. Elon Musk is in agreement, and he wants regular Americans to just suck it up. Under Trump, Musk will not only be granted a tax boon, but a position in the federal government where his decisions would — by his own admission — steamroll Americans desperate for economic stability.

[aspiringbelle]

It is worth noting that there are candidates not on that list. While not being on the list does not necessarily make one a good person, it does show that any supporters you have are genuine.

Source

Source

Year after year and just keeps going

[saywhat-politics]

Jimmy Carter in 2015 on the role of money in American politics: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery."

[etherealhoneypie]

me placing my vote today

[tilbageidanmark]

America: See it before it ends.

(All the other memes I’ve made..)

[bookwyrmonastring]

I have good news!

There's so many hardships and tragedies in the world. Too bad no one's found the warlock that's causing this

[shinobicyrus]

I love when un-elected billionaires try to shut down the government. Real sign of a stable democracy.

[davidaugust]

“Space N*zi [redaction by me for algo] wanted to shut down the government, because governments are inconvenient things that keep him from doing everything he wants. Donny wanted the debt ceiling shitcanned, so he could give economy-destroying tax cuts to his plutocrat pals. neither of them got their way, and all they have to show for their efforts is a huge crack in their autocratic bromance.”

https://substack.com/home/post/p-153435572