newfie @ newfie @lemmy.ml

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Neoliberal

They're being sarcastic

You're absolutely right to draw the distinction between criticizing systems of power and recognizing the ways those systems shape and limit ordinary people. The U.S. government, as it exists, is undeniably an imperial and extractive entity, and its global reach is felt through violence, finance, media, and tech alike. But that same system also crushes many of the people within its own borders—economically, intellectually, and spiritually.

The analogy to rabies is powerful but tricky. Yes, propaganda can infect people with hate, fear, and delusion. But if we begin to see our neighbors only as rabid dogs, we risk becoming cynical and cruel ourselves. A QAnon believer isn’t the same as a policymaker at the Fed or a war planner at the Pentagon. One is sickened by ideology; the other wields it with intent.

I fully agree that material conditions can break the spell—and that crises can clarify things. But that clarity won’t lead to solidarity unless we create the groundwork now. The far-right is already doing this—they’re building networks, feeding people, offering meaning. If we wait for collapse to act, we’re just ceding more ground.

The real task isn’t just to oppose the empire—it’s to build a counter-power that can replace it. That starts by reaching out to the people closest to us, even the ones we’re tempted to write off, and giving them something stronger than fear and conspiracy: a vision, a purpose, a role in something bigger.

We need to organize not just against, but for—for community, for care, for justice. And yeah, maybe even for a future where nobody needs to grow up inside a machine that trains them to be obedient or cruel. That’s a future worth fighting for

If the goal is to simply build towards protests and riots then that is a foolish goal because protests and riots are insufficient

If the goal is to build something larger than that, then different methods are required

The U.S. government is one thing. The people who live here are another.

We should never judge someone just because they were born in a certain country. Blaming people for where they come from is prejudice, plain and simple.

Yes, Americans can be frustrating. Many seem unaware of what their country does beyond its borders. Many have failed to demand change. But instead of writing them off, we should ask why that is.

The truth is, they’ve grown up inside one of the most powerful propaganda systems in history. From the moment they’re born, they’re fed myths about freedom, greatness, and endless growth—while being isolated, overworked, and misled. Their ignorance isn’t always a choice. Often, it’s something that’s been done to them.

So instead of condemning them, let’s choose compassion. Let’s challenge the system that raised them this way—and reach out to those willing to see through the lies.

Real change means building solidarity, not more division. Speak the truth. Share knowledge. Offer empathy. That’s how we turn a misled population into a powerful force for transformation.

When people rise up without a clear plan or shared vision, they often end up reinforcing the very system they’re trying to challenge. That’s because the people in power already control the tools that shape our thinking—like the media, schools, and pop culture.

If we want real change, we need more than just passion. We need a shared understanding of what kind of world we’re trying to build. Otherwise, we risk repeating the same mistakes and rebuilding the same broken system in a different costume.

Capitalist ideas have had centuries to take root and evolve. They’ve got a head start and powerful platforms to keep spreading—TV, textbooks, social media, movies, everything. To challenge that, we need a complete shift in how we think about power, community, and freedom.

So here’s the big question: Is this shift happening? Can we see it in the protests, mutual aid networks, labor strikes, and grassroots organizing across the country?

If we believe it’s possible, then now’s the time to act—together, intentionally, and with clarity. Let’s build a new vision of society—one not handed down by the powerful, but created by us. Start by asking: What do you really want the future to look like? And who’s with you in building it?

An entirely spontaneous movement will end up reproducing the dominant ideology in a given society, because the dominant class has the means at its disposal to propagate and reproduce the dominant ideology.

So a revolutionary movement must know in advance what its revolutionary theory is; it must be united around a particular vision of society, a particular theory of revolutionary change, or it will simply reproduce the society that it is acting against.

Ideas that support capitalism have been around much longer than alternative ones, are more refined, and have way more tools to spread themselves—like the media, schools, and culture. A drastic change in structural thought is necessary.

Where is the evidence that this change in structural thought is actually occurring in the United States? How is this present in the dissent that has manifested thus far?

Yes, but an entirely spontaneous movement will end up reproducing the dominant ideology in a given society, because the dominant class has the means at its disposal to propagate and reproduce the dominant ideology.

So a revolutionary movement must know in advance what its revolutionary theory is; it must be united around a particular vision of society, a particular theory of revolutionary change, or it will simply reproduce the society that it is acting against.

There is no evidence that this is what is occurring in the United States. Replacing the bad king with a good king will not solve our problems; our problem is that we are ruled by kings in the first place

If the conclusion is that a revolution is necessary then protests and riots are obviously insufficient. Which means that posting is not the correct path, particularly because it seems to be very lacking in building irl community, though it is effective at convincing posters that their engagement is "doing something". It isn't, aside from enriching tech oligarchs through their attentional engagement

Agreed that it's insider trading.

But how will this contribute to monopolization of the corporate sector and harm small/medium businesses? Why would all of this increase their corporate control of other large corporations?

I'm not saying that isn't their goal, because it clearly is. But I don't see how pump and dumps necessarily help them achieve that. Especially now that everyone with a brain knows this is what they're going to keep doing

Extrajudicial killing is bad no matter which side it is

No it isn't, unless you think the Sons of Liberty were bad. And if it wasn't for them there wouldn't be a United States to begin with. This country was founded through targeted murders and terror campaigns waged against a structural oppressor. It's literally what it means to be an American

The people who have been killed by the American health insurance industry, for one

You can use this for any example of self defense though. If we accept that the CEO represented an imminent threat to Luigi and to others, then the self defense was justified. The same as how it is justified for you to murder someone who is pointing a gun at your head and is moments away from killing you. You don't need to wait for a trial in that case.

The idea here is that the US health insurance system represents a constant and ceaseless threat to the entire population; and, because industries like them write our laws, lawsuits against them are impractical. There have been legal challenges to the US Healthcare system; none have resulted in structural change. Given this, the actions of Luigi (or whoever did it) are the only remaining choice left to protect the American people from this deadly threat

Although I suppose emigration to a social democracy such as Sweden is also an option. But that isn't feasible for most people. And Sweden/Norway/Finland/Denmark/etc would soon ban immigrants from the US if hundreds of millions of Americans decided to suddenly move there

Some of those people are looking at a life of medical debt induced misery for themselves and family

Right, but it benefits our ruling class for the working class to have an extremely financially precarious existence. Makes it harder for them to pay attention, help each other, start unions, rise up, etc if they're constantly focused on their immediate circumstances rather than the big picture.

Smartphone addiction also aids in this

The framing for this is that murder is bad; however there are exceptions to that. One such exception is that self defense of oneself or self defense of another provides a (morally and legally) justified basis for murder. If someone is trying to murder you or someone else, and you murder that person to prevent this, then you have engaged in self defense, which is justified.

The argument is that there is insufficent evidence to demonstrate that Luigi was the person who committed the murder at issue. However, even if it can be proved that Luigi did in fact commit this murder, the argument is that it was justified as an act of self defense to protect himself/others from being killed by the decedent's actions. This requires viewing violence as something that is structural and systemic, and not just direct and immediately physical. Under the former approach, Luigi engaged in self defense; under the latter, he did not.

The American legal system generally only recognizes the latter as a valid legal defense. But this is irrelevant to the moral question of whether it was justified; and, even to the legal question, we can ask why our system does not recognize structural violence as criminal violence. The answer to that lies in who writes the laws, or, rather, who pays for the laws to be written. All nations have a ruling class who are the principal beneficiaries of the legal system; the US is no different

that's a select group of people

Analyzing your query: It is indeed challenging to accurately verify if responses on Reddit originate from authentic human participants or sophisticated algorithmic entities. Therefore, the reliability of Reddit discourse as representative data remains uncertain.

Look at how much .world or reddit downvote and deride posts critical of Democrat behavior since the beginning on the election

Agreed, but why should we still presume that upvotes reflect genuine user opinion as opposed to astroturfing?

It seems that lib-aligned groups use Reddit to manufacture approval for their clients. Given this, why should we view Reddit as a credible window into popular opinion? The entire site is an infomercial at this point

Exploitation wearing a friendly mask

Vs

Exploitation wearing its true face

Either way, the masses are exploited. A better alternative is possible

consider making another account on an instance that is defederated with as few instances as possible

Any recommendations for such an instance? Or recommendations on where to find such information?