Burnwinter yep that's the entire West in a nutshell really.

Past Sunday was the first time in my adult life I didn't vote. Never believed this country was an actual democracy at any point but there were literally zero options this time round. Felt liberating not partaking in this shitshow

    JazzG Problem is a lot of Europeans talk the big talk

    I despise Macron running round for photo ops in an armoured vest like anyone, but I reckon the average US citizen has less idea what war means than the average European, much less people living in Warsaw Pact countries.

    The US is now imploding on the European stage because its two major parties have kicked off a categorical disagreement on NATO while there's an extremely bloody war on Europe's border, a war that the US has hurried along at every step. It's a grotesque situation.

      Interesting seeing blokes with beards dressed up as women dancing, has Trump gone woke?

      I gotta start seriously looking into self exile.

      Qwiss what’s crazy is from the outside it looks like it’s collapsing on its own rotten core, but the natives I talk to don’t have a full appreciation of how wretched things are

          jones Why does this look like GTA 6.

          Claudius Americas digital, cultural and physical borders are vast - it's nearly impossible to seek out another perspective unless you're deliberately looking for it

              jones ha I posted about Potra on Monday, he got arrested today lol. He made 7 mil euros in 6 years to guard mines in Sierra Leon for a romanian piece of shit called Frank Timis and for some Chinese company. He made over 1 mil peryear, the owner made hundreds of millions while the african workers made 50$ per month.

                  jones that's just how gentrification works bro. If you don't know, now you know.

                    Claudius I think there's a way to get through. I tried to paint the picture to my Uncle from the perspective of an American. One who had lost their home and neighborhood and livelihood and family members in a war against an imaginary militarily and economically superior neighbor. This neighbor had occupied your land, fenced you in, controlled every aspect of your economy, and your life basically. Turned you into a second class citizen, you know, the whole apartheid bit. And recently they'd banished you and what's left of your family into a rotten refugee camp in Utah. And then, this country's sponsor, the ones that create and supply their money, weapons of war and destruction and death and the associated technology, comes into the picture and says he wants to do all that on your sisters blood. Luxury hotel and resort development. On the blood of the hundreds of thousands that have died/injured in this struggle. I asked if he would think this person is a genius visionary?

                      Claudius there's still an overriding sense of 'we'll just vote them out if things don't work out'. not sure it will pan out quite as smoothly as that. I'm sure there's some vague 'abuses' going on at the FEC that musk and co will be sorting out in the coming months

                        jones How do you feel now if you supported this? It would've been far better if that useless spook on the roof had put a bullet in him.

                          editorial section will now be focused on free markets and personal freedoms? what does that even look like? such capitalist gobbledygook

                            Gazza M poor Bezos is upset because he’s the only mega billionaire without his own social media platform so has to make do with bullying a newspaper instead like the old days

                                Mirth didn't think of it that way. the most perverse of pissing contests

                                  Honest question: do we think it's that Zuck, Bezos and Musk have drunk the techno-futurist Kool-Aid?

                                  If they reckon there's going to be a total social and economic revolution caused by AGI, then they might think they're going to need full vertical integration of US government, military, media and manufacturing to "beat China" as it unfolds.

                                  This is an existential threat to them, because if they didn't "beat China" then they'd rapidly fall into a second tier of wealth and status. And it'd make sense for the "disruptors" to be hugely paranoid about getting "disrupted".