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Cake day: June 20th, 2024

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  • once these assholes are dead by whatever means necessary, we can solve the whole Social Security problem (and many others) by restoring top marginal rates to the levels that built a strong safety net and prevented runaway wealth accumulation in the 1%

    during WWII the wealthiest paid between 80-95%. from the New Deal until Reagan destroyed the country in the 80s, top rates were well above 50 percent.

    Taxing the ultra rich is how America funded higher education, built the highway system, funded social welfare, uplifted 2 generations, built a global manufacturing and technology economy, and created a prosperous middle class. we did it by keeping oligarchs in check. in a strictly enforced progressively tiered system, top marginal tax prevents the obscene accumulation of wealth


  • you’re right, unfortunately, we live in a time when people won’t take action until they either experience the consequences personally or they’re pushed beyond a breaking point.

    perpetual gradual harm reduction and backsliding is imperceptible and slow enough to be normalized. but sudden changes cannot be ignored and often radicalizes people in response (or at least forces them to ‘take sides’ in a battle).

    one of the major challenges of liberatory movements is not enough people join the cause and instead wait things out. these so-called centrists and moderates only have this option because they have socioeconomic privilege compared the most oppressed groups.

    therefore we must then consider strategies to capture their support, including shocking their sensibilities with outrage, or even potentially stoking fears that they could be next. “what if they close my alma mater too or what if my kids’ college gets shutdown also?” etc etc


  • I have a different view. he had two bad choices available and he chose the worse one.

    he and the establishment Dems (hehem, Biden) as well as turncoats like Lieberman/Sinema/Machin/Fetterman who were inexplicably allowed to caucus with the party) are precisely why we’re here today watching the rise of fascism and oligarchy. from failing to seat a supreme court justice under Obama, sabotaging Bernie (twice), fielding awful presidential candidate after candidate, allowing the military to expand endlessly, not codifying Roe (and doing nothing in response to it’s overturning), to censoring Al Motherfucking Green…

    the entire “opposition party” looks weak and disorganized and incapable of fighting every time a crisis arises. the party needs more progressive leadership and they need to realize that sometimes it’s appropriate to break a few rules and take risks on big power plays. and forward popular plans that will actually energize the base.

    these ‘play it safe’ supposedly harm reducing tactics are why we’re here today. they had 8 years since 2016 to come up with ways to combat trumpism and the best they could do, after flopping on the election and then peacefully handing over power to a sociopath and a nazi billionaire - was… write an op ed in the New York Times.

    I’m done with this group of shit heads. there are better senators who should be in charge. we need people getting mad and breaking shit, not another patronizing speech about having patience until the next midterm.







  • federal workers are terrified right now that if they make one wrong step, they’ll be on their asses, with families and mortgages depending on them to be perfect.

    this email alone resulted in thousands of unplanned mandatory meetings with supervisors, checking with coworkers, asking PR and internal communications experts, consulting with division directors, on and on up the chain of command.

    trust me, they spent way more than 10 minutes, more like hours and hours per employee across the whole govt.







  • I believe people who study public opinion about science have noted that confidence drops during outbreaks and epidemics… if that’s the case, Covid does stand out to me as the first time in my life when laypeople began misusing and misunderstanding science at scale, loudly and as part of their proclaimed identity.

    makes sense that when a story of global 24/7 proportions eclipses all other news for 2+years straight, that it would become politicized and weaponized in the culture. our winner-takes-all first-past-the-post lesser-of-two-evils duopoly political system, combined with news as entertainment, and now we have folks that have made anti science their entire fucking identity.

    Carl Sagan refered to it as The Demon Haunted World (good book btw). Goya criticized it in his paintings. the Catholics burned people at the stakes because of it.

    History repeats; reactionary political/theological movements help ensure that it does.


  • As much as I agree, it will take things getting a lot worse before people do anything like that.

    agree completely. we are as a nation and as a community too desperate or complacent to ‘take to the streets’ at this point. until fascism and austerity reaches one’s own doorsteps, most will wait and see and carry on with their boring daily routines.

    that said, it will gradually change though, already has. it’s reached the doorstep of more people today than it did 10 years ago. what will be your personal breaking point? what is your neighbors breaking point? no one knows. I for one won’t be sitting back doing nothing until then. it’s time to talk to the neighbors friends and family and decide in advance as a community what we’re going to do before they drain us dry or drag off grandpa for re-education at Guantanamo.

    A lot of the most heavily armed

    sounds to me like we shouldn’t wait around for those guys to wake up. maybe some of us on the left should arm ourselves instead?