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Autocracy Now
[Editor's note: The domestic political situation in America is spiraling. This is, I think, an impor
There’s no question we are at that point now. You didn’t even touch on the “settlements” with news organizations, the law firm now offering $40M of pro bono work for the administration, Musk offering money for petitions/threatening primaries for those who don’t fall in line, the $trump memecoin that is literally nothing other than a way to pay the president and his family directly, or a myriad of other blatantly autocratic moves.
Yet somehow the average American is either ignorant of the dangerous path we now traverse, engages in whataboutism, or flat out roots for these outcomes. It’s cliche, but sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
As I’ve said repeatedly, the only way I see out of this is Father Time doing his job and then the Trump cult fracturing into competing camps.
The average American doesn’t care about billion dollar law firms or Ivy League universities, that’s where all the radical leftist are so sticking it to them is a good thing.
Thanks H
Maybe it’s time to see a little bit of Europe.
I would be concerned, too. H, a while back a contributor mentioned getting out of the market, you didn’t give advice, simply suggested staying in might be the best choice. I’m also out of the market, it’s not about money, it’s about not participating. My priority is the concern you just expressed. My life has new decision criteria, right or wrong, guessing for sure. I’m making decisions today I never dreamed I would be making. Thanks for all the risks you are taking!
Afraid – our new watch word. I’m a nobody, but fear has even taken hold in my world. A knock at the door in the middle of the night is one thing, how about Trump leaning on his oligarch buddies to cut me off from amazon shopping and Prime just for starters. If I protest too much, next comes my cable and cellphone providers.
My man, it’s time to cut yourself off from Amazon shopping and prime. Just for starters.
It’s surprisingly easy to live without. Turns out I’d been doing it my whole life up until the pandemic.
A few weeks ago, can’t remember by which piece of yours, I was prompted to start a reply that was in essence a heartfelt thank you and a warning for your personal safety. I sat on it overnight because I felt it might sound too dramatic. On reading it early the next morning it seemed too alarmist and I pulled the plug.
Now that you’ve broached the subject I will say what I was thinking: you are probably squarely
in the crosshairs of the lunatic fringe. If not already, then you will be soon. I mean it figuratively, for now but not sure how much longer before literally. I wish I was smart enough to advise you privately how to keep fighting the good fight, safely, but hope that someone else is, and will, keep you safe and active in your pursuit of truth telling.
The pendulum has swung. It took years getting way left of sensible liberals and rational conservatives and could take years swinging back to the right in over compensation mode. If the momentum already achieved is allowed unabated it’s going to get a lot uglier, and deadlier. All the more reason we need people like you safe, and active.
I keep thinking about the possibility you’ll stop writing, that one day the articles will simply stop coming, and your readers left not knowing if you called it quits or you were disappeared. That’s so crazy to think and actually see in print!!!!! Even if you publicly call it quits some of us are going to wonder if that’s actually coming from you. Of course you don’t owe us a thing. Regardless of our subscription you’ve fulfilled your end of the deal.
I too have been around awhile. I joke to my kids, wife and friends that I’m just older, not old. But for the first time in my life I am fearful for our country and the people in the way of the scythe’s swing. I’ve long worried about the house of cards we’ve built, fractional reserves, ponzification, and how we borrow with impunity. It seemed a global war would one day be fought to make others truly pay, again, for our way of life in the US. Nothing like goading for a fight by threatening not to pay others back what we’ve borrowed. Or actually not paying them back. Maybe this was always the plan.
We certainly have to demonize groups before we can wage war, right? At the tiller now, previously feeling marginalized but now exultant white nationalist Christians are steering our ship “back home”. They are exceptionally good at demonizing, what with having god in their corner and all.
Things will get worse before, hopefully better. Resistance will be required. Something tells me you couldn’t stop writing if you wanted to. That might just be wishful thinking. Regardless H, thanks for writing and I wish you the very best of luck in your endeavors.
In my last comment under the article “Duck duck goose step” I drew a circle from the collapse of the Soviet Union to Walter’s stories of his past to contemporary US.
I would regret not to share this new interview with Vladislav Sourkov in L’express:
“Vladislav Sourkov: Yes, in recent weeks, the United States has unleashed a verbal storm on Europe. But for the moment it’s just provocation and trash talk. The main thing is yet to come. Washington is emerging from stagnation. They still have to go through perestroika [reconstruction], glasnost [transparency] and new thinking. Soviet perestroika led to the collapse of the Eastern bloc. Will Nato and the European Union collapse in the wake of American perestroika? The question remains. It will be up to you to decide.”
(url: https://www.lexpress.fr/monde/europe/exclusive-vladislav-sourkov-the-kremlins-wizard-russia-will-expand-in-all-directions-as-far-as-god-WWIE5OJMPVHJ5KTTAHNLE4WPME/)
I believe you’ve taken some steps in your publishing to make it more difficult for other outlets to steal/lift your content. You could also make it a lot harder to track the text of your writing by posting images of the text rather than the text itself. It is not a failsafe, but one method people are using to protect content, either from theft or monitoring, whether by competitors, media platforms or government Thinkpols. Might be something to consider until you can up your own self-Crimestop game.
I can confirm that it is still possible to copy the content on this site, I won’t explain how, but I admit I have copied quotes to share with others.
Unfortunately AI is very good at image to text, given enough motivation, even images of this content will be able to be lifted.
Wherever you are sitting, I will still gladly and proudly subscribe to your writings.
Don’t let them intimidate you (or any of you other guys out there). This is their first step to control.
Be strong!
Have you considered how this authoritarian turn might impact the future of this publication?
That is to say, because you are speaking the truth in a society that rejects uncomfortable truths, is this publication at risk of being shut down? Either to protect yourself from persecution or because the authoritarian government has in its powers mechanisms to force the site offline.
This is how I apply long-term focus in the current moment. What is, will not continue to be and, how will I have to adapt to protect myself and my family.