Related random long winded thought:
I was watching this interview with Margaret Atwood, after watching an interview by Hasan Minhaj of Pete Buttigieg. And in Hasanās interview he quotes Margaret Thatcher: āwho is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are familiesā
And all that reminded me of the meme āhow did the pandemic radicalize you?ā
And for me it was the realization of how much my literal existence, my life and death, is tied to there being a functioning society. That ārugged individualismā is a fantasy. And in many respects an absolute nightmare.
I came out of the pandemic as a pretty chill introvert who struggled with crowds and loud noises, but who had realized how much I need everyone else to survive myself.
I always believed in democracy, but now I believe in a state, a functioning caring collective in a way I hadnāt fully realized before.
Fascism is the antithesis of that, it is a state that views the population as enemies and tools for hoarding power and resources for the few.
youtu.be/Ta3FaoKgHtA?si=VxD05eā¦
social.vivaldi.net/@Patricia/1ā¦
Margaret Atwood on the Rise of Real World Authoritarians | Offline With Jon Favreau
Margaret Atwood, famed author, poet and ādystopia prophet,ā joins Offline to talk about fighting tyranny and finding hope. Much like her latest book, Old Bab...YouTube
How the hell do these people think āmass deportationā of tens of millions of people will look?You think the tens of millions of collaborators will look up your papers and check your status?
It will be āYou brown, you outā or as we saw here in Europe: āYou got stuff I want I will turn you in and steal your stuffā.
People are so fucking naive it drives me up the wall.
They fucking lost thousands of children. Over thousand are still fucking lost.
social.vivaldi.net/@Patricia/1ā¦Patricia Aas (@Patricia@vivaldi.net)
Yāall lucked out not being occupied by the Nazis for years, but I walk by āStolpersteinsā on my way to work. Iāve seen the sidewalk be relaid many times, each time replacing them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StolpersteinVivaldi Social
Patricia Aas
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •Nicole Parsons
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •Now we know why #KochNetwork & #AtlasNetwork fund university endowments.
The academic corruption of business schools, law schools, & graduate studies pays off.
jacobin.com/2021/02/postwar-ecā¦
bylinetimes.com/2023/06/21/revā¦
exposedbycmd.org/2024/02/23/koā¦
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1ā¦
Ken Griffin believes he & his ilk can buy a presidential win for a fascist, just like they bought a Supreme Court & Jan 6.
nytimes.com/2017/11/01/businesā¦
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicagā¦
washingtonpost.com/news/volokhā¦
publicintegrity.org/politics/wā¦
Koch Injected Nearly $500 Million into Hundreds of Colleges and Universities Between 2018 and 2022 - EXPOSEDbyCMD
Colleen Scerpella (EXPOSEDbyCMD)Nicole Parsons reshared this.
Nicole Parsons
in reply to Nicole Parsons • • •I was introduced to the concept of academic corruption when I watched "Inside Job".
The interviewer skewers the economics academics whose recommendations led to the 2008 financial crash.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insideā¦
A reminder that none of the people who caused the 2008 crash faced any consequences thanks to #MoscowMitch & the GOP.
Moreover #Project2025 hopes to re-install these same policy failure partisan hacks, or their disciples, back in charge under Trump, if he wins.
2010 film directed by Charles Ferguson
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Nicole Parsons reshared this.
Charlie Stross
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •Nit-pick: the Thatcher quote, while much-loved, is very abbreviated and incompleteāin particular it omits her much more nuanced explanation of the role of rights and responsibilities in building a civil society, and the role of a social safety net, because none of that fits the "Thatcher Evil" narrative. (And I really hated Thatcher at the time!) Full interview here, you'll need to search for the relevant section (it's some way down and not bookmarked):
margaretthatcher.org/document/ā¦
Interview for Woman's Own ("no such thing [as society]") | Margaret Thatcher Foundation
www.margaretthatcher.orgPatricia Aas
in reply to Charlie Stross • • •Patricia Aas
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •@cstross I agree with that there is nuance there, but that nuance sounds to me like a condemnation, a condemnation of the āfreeloadersā in society, and that rhetoric of pitting one group against another is fundamentally immoral to me.
The narrative becomes: you feel that youāre strapped for cash? Thatās because [immigants, disabled, etc] are taking your money. Tbh I think thatās in many ways worse than my initial interpretation, because this scapegoating of one group is on the pathway to violence against that group. I think itās dangerous.
Patricia Aas
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •@cstross this is Trumps ātrans illegalsā argument. āYou are paying for reassignment surgeries for illegal immigrantsā.
Itās a precursor to violence against those groups, itās a part of a platform of stochastic terrorism/hate crime.
Charlie Stross
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •Patricia Aas
in reply to Charlie Stross • • •Nicole Parsons
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •@cstross
The AIDS crisis in Africa was worsened by religions that forbade condoms as part of a pandemic strategy.
opendemocracy.net/en/5050/afriā¦
theguardian.com/world/2009/marā¦
Entire families orphaned at scale.
It's no different than the anti-mask & antivaxxer contingent for covid - religious groups with nakedly racist or misogynistic policies on public health.
cnn.com/2021/08/20/politics/teā¦
independent.co.uk/news/world/aā¦
They like pandemics that appear to target the "sinful" but...
theatlantic.com/health/archiveā¦
Pope claims condoms could make African Aids crisis worse
Riazat Butt (The Guardian)Nicole Parsons reshared this.
Sine-NominešµšøFree Palestinešµšø
in reply to Patricia Aas • • •Democracy's worldwide are ALL in trouble from
fake news
social media interference
weak journalistic reporting & interrogation
lack of true opposition to hold govts to account
general public apathy, due to above
what's the answer?
Ban social media in elections?
Ban weak journo's?
Institute scrutiny laws?
My solution?
#sortition
A balanced selection to reflect society
random chosen
limited tenure
No 2nd terms
Proven to work
#sortitionworks