Have the hard conversations about this. Reject this.
We're facing a fascistic movement that's backed by the wealthy and powerful who want to dismantle government, an administration and party desperate to cling to power, a racist evangelical base, and a mob lost in weaponized conspiracy
Have the hard conversations about this. Reject this.
The only we way we're going to escape this is to expose what it is and fight against it.
It can happen here. It IS happening here.
We're not immune to fascism. In fact, we're especially vulnerable to it. And it is growing in strength and size and ambition.
Don't be silent anymore.
Don't live in these mythologies anymore.
The coup attempt is only the beginning of something larger.
We are not safe until we address the fundamental crisis at the heart of American society.
This radicalism is only going to grow, and as it does the powerful will use the anger as a weapon.
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The People's Twitter.
And it would definitely not selectively censor unfashionable opinions if it were run by a government bureaucracy.
Because public sector bodies only ever maximise The Common Good.
Could even call it The International Common Good Association, just to make sure
"I don't like the fact that Twitter is so subservient to the woke elites. Let's create a massive state regulator, so that the woke elites, which have a stranglehold on most institutions... oh no, wait..."
(I mean, he's not entirely wrong. His solution may be rubbish, but there is an issue here. Twitter really does have a substantial amount of market power.
Still: There are people who I just will not ever side with, even when they have a point. And that includes Communitarians.)
As far as I can see, there are no good solutions here.
5 years ago, I would have said "Lol, Twitter is just a private company, like any other. The Guardian wouldn't publish anything by me, but that's not "censorship". They're just not letting me use their platform."
However...
...Twitter really does benefit from substantial network effects. We are on Twitter, because everyone else is also on Twitter. You can set up a rival platform, but that would be like being the only person who has a telephone: not very useful, because there's no one you can call.
And it would definitely not selectively censor unfashionable opinions if it were run by a government bureaucracy.
Because public sector bodies only ever maximise The Common Good.
Could even call it The International Common Good Association, just to make sure
As Twitter is the virtual equivalent of a natural monopoly both left & right should agree that it needs to be nationalised as a public utility & subordinated & regulated as a public good but as it is a global phenomenon perhaps it could be governed by an international regulator?
— Phillip Blond (@Phillip_Blond) January 9, 2021
"I don't like the fact that Twitter is so subservient to the woke elites. Let's create a massive state regulator, so that the woke elites, which have a stranglehold on most institutions... oh no, wait..."
(I mean, he's not entirely wrong. His solution may be rubbish, but there is an issue here. Twitter really does have a substantial amount of market power.
Still: There are people who I just will not ever side with, even when they have a point. And that includes Communitarians.)
As far as I can see, there are no good solutions here.
5 years ago, I would have said "Lol, Twitter is just a private company, like any other. The Guardian wouldn't publish anything by me, but that's not "censorship". They're just not letting me use their platform."
However...
...Twitter really does benefit from substantial network effects. We are on Twitter, because everyone else is also on Twitter. You can set up a rival platform, but that would be like being the only person who has a telephone: not very useful, because there's no one you can call.
They shouldn't be.
The pattern is:
GOP in power - GOP dictates policy
Dems in power - GOP dictates policy
The Dems shouldn't legislate toward the GOP.
The GOP doesn't represent its constituents.
The GOP can push it's agenda on its own time.
If Dems push an agenda that actually helps people, it'll also actually help the GOP constituency.
The GOP won't. So give them nothing.
The Dems should ignore the GOP just like the GOP ignores the Dems.
Make them pay for every moment of obstruction.
Just a hard press on legislation that is unassailable and shine a light on the GOP.
Constant. Relentless. Unyielding.
Shut them out and shut them down.
The GOP is not a legitimate political party. It is an anti-democratic, fascist criminal syndicate with no interest whatsoever in governance.
Nobody should give them the slightest bit of credit or legitimacy ever again.
Not a fucking ounce.
Nobody should engage them in legitimate debate in Congress.
They should be pariahs and treated as unserious occupants of Congress.
Because these people were totally ok with their colleagues being killed in furtherance of the destruction of the insitution.
The pattern is:
GOP in power - GOP dictates policy
Dems in power - GOP dictates policy
Soooooooo what\u2019s the problem. The statement I responded to read as it they haven\u2019t been trying to work together.. but they have so..?
— Othello (@BurberryKid11) February 2, 2021
The Dems shouldn't legislate toward the GOP.
The GOP doesn't represent its constituents.
The GOP can push it's agenda on its own time.
If Dems push an agenda that actually helps people, it'll also actually help the GOP constituency.
The GOP won't. So give them nothing.
The Dems should ignore the GOP just like the GOP ignores the Dems.
Make them pay for every moment of obstruction.
Just a hard press on legislation that is unassailable and shine a light on the GOP.
Constant. Relentless. Unyielding.
Shut them out and shut them down.
The GOP is not a legitimate political party. It is an anti-democratic, fascist criminal syndicate with no interest whatsoever in governance.
Nobody should give them the slightest bit of credit or legitimacy ever again.
Not a fucking ounce.
Nobody should engage them in legitimate debate in Congress.
They should be pariahs and treated as unserious occupants of Congress.
Because these people were totally ok with their colleagues being killed in furtherance of the destruction of the insitution.