I’m not counting on Trump for anything. I’m expecting other member states of the UN and especially the EU to act as the actual hard line for Israel, as they have for the past five decades. It’s already starting to happen, and once sanctions are in place Bibi will finally start to become unpopular and can finally be replaced.

It’d be very nice if those sanctions started with the U.S., but it was never going to happen under either party. The number of lives lost will be the same. The U.S. has never been what has stopped Israel, it has always been global perception.

You know there’s an entire rest of the world that exists right? A rest of the world that has already started preparing sanctions against Israel if the conflict continues to escalate?

Realistically, we’ve seen this all beat for beat before. Israel treats Palestine as an apartheid state, eventually a group forms to try and resist Israel, Israel crushes that group’s bones into dust for a few years, and then once they can offer no more resistance, Israel returns Palestine to an apartheid state. The pattern has repeated itself several times now.

To start, we have to understand that the genocide of Palestine started before the October 7th attacks. Israel’s rampant illegal settlements in the Gaza strip may have been the final straw that provoked Hamas to make a move, but Palestinians have been abused, forced into ghettos, and murdered by private citizens for decades. All of this, and nobody in the West ever really batted an eye at the suffering except for a handful of informed leftists.

If Harris had won, the most likely outcome is that the immediate conflict would eventually be paused, just like it paused after the second intifadas. No land would be returned, no settlements removed, but Hamas’ forces would be decimated to the point they could not fight back and Israel would return to their quiet slow genocide until the stars align to renew their attack once more.

Now that Trump has won, the most likely outcome is…that the immediate conflict will eventually pause, just like it paused after the second intifadas. Israel isn’t an island, if they ramp up their aggression ever further, eventually other parts of the world will push for sanctions on Israel. A Trump win doesn’t suddenly give Israel carte blanch to build the gas chambers, they still have to pay lip service to international law. Israel will inflict a grievous wound on Hamas, deep enough that it will take another generation before conflict resumes, and go back to expanding their settlements.

This genocide has been happening since before I was born, and multiple Democrat presidents have had an opportunity to say something or work towards curbing Israeli aggression. They’ve all vaguely promised to work towards a two-state solution, knowing that the current two states are what they want. If Kamala Harris couldn’t even call it a genocide, then she was no different, and it would be foolish to think she would actually take any steps towards meaningfully stopping Israel.

This post is my reminder that I should probably upgrade my graphics card this December, rather than waiting for any other time.

It’s not a war, it’s a genocide. The UN is able to call it a genocide. The Hague is able to call it a genocide. The fact that Harris refused to acknowledge it as a genocide meant that nothing further would actually be done.

So why was Harris’ answer to adopt a strong anti-immigration stance?

Everything the right was harping on about was a lie, but the Dems response was to amplify those lies and say “We hear you and will crack down on illegal immigration,” fully knowing there was nothing to crack down on.

Not that you’re wrong with your conclusion, but you picked a bad issue to go on. Democrats won’t solve immigration because there’s nothing to solve. Immigrants are not committing crimes at a higher rate than the rest of the population, and while America gets a lot of migrants, we also have a collapsing birthrate and need a growing populace for infinite shareholder growth.

The problem is that Republicans keep making up lies about immigration, even nonsensical lies like “they’re eating the dogs,” and the Democrats do nothing to dispel these lies. They don’t sit down with the charts that verifiably disprove the Republican bullshit. Instead, they pick it up, and promise they’ll be tougher on immigration next time, giving legitimacy to the lies.

I’d never take that bet, they already started today You can find them in threads across the fediverse.

It was such an easy lay-up to fumble. Hell, she raised millions in personal donations compared to a Trump campaign that ended up stiffing locations on payment because they’re so broke, it was the rare election where the Dems didn’t need their corporate donors. They could have accepted some long-term financial losses in the face of potential greater long-term gains if they could maintain similar levels of personal donations from energized progressives. I remember the energy in the air when Harris/Walz was revealed, it seemed like a progressive ticket could seriously exist.

And then it all vanished. Thanks for taking my $20, assholes. Wouldn’t have bothered if I knew they’d just dance to their owners demands anyway.

between this and the enshittification of big tech and gaming, it feels like 2024 has been one big argument in support of gatekeeping.

Because the Democrats picked it up and used it as an issue as well. Instead of dispelling the myths of “Bigrant Crime,” as if that would be a challenge, they took an anti-immigration stance as well. Honestly, Trump had a rare master class attack on the Dems with the whole “they’ve been in power for four years, why haven’t they already done everything,” because it called out just how shallow the Dems bending to conservative anti-immigrant policy was. It was almost certainly an accident on his part, especially since his party was the reason Dems couldn’t be as hard on immigration as they wanted, but it turned into effective messaging.

Technically two I guess, though one of them was just a shitty kid looking for 15 seconds of fame. I’m not gonna tell you no, but maybe make sure you follow through if you try, because Vance is just as bad if not worse.

Also, not helpful for someone who wants safety. Go stoke a revolution on a different post.

There are none, as far as I am aware. I’m closest to Canada, and it’s where I plan to flee. I’m pretty certain Justin Trudeau is going to repeat Biden’s blunder beat for beat, except he won’t pull out and will just lose, but I don’t think the fate of Canada hinges on the next election. There is still time to fight back at least. I don’t think there is any time left for the U.S.

And again, that’s the shitty part, it requires a lot of fucking work. I have worked for independent leftist campaigns. It was incredibly long hours for weeks on end. Canvassing is gruelling work, cold calls are fucking miserable. Do you know how much money I typically made? None, not a single dime. The independents don’t have the support of big donors. In fact, I typically end up losing a few thousand dollars if I work for a campaign.

You have to make the reality you want with your own hands. You have to grab your friends and say “Hey, let’s all go to the town hall meeting tonight,” and double the attendance for the night. You have to make a hundred calls a day, getting laughed at all the time, just hoping to get your message out. Hell, depending on where you live and what options you have, you might have to run for office yourself. It’s hard, and it’s shitty and awful, but it’s the only option left when your leaders consistently fail you.

I will say though, it was a clear mistake to call 2020 a win for Biden. 2020 was a loss for Trump. Biden’s approval ratings were ass, he barely beat out Trump, and his approval just dropped further the second he entered office. If the DNC saw that and made the conclusion they could demand progressive votes for nothing a second time, then they’re incompetent.

Okay, what country has decided to militarize against their growing fascist threat?

You can talk about bashin’ fashes all you want, but nobody is doing it right now. I really thought it would be France or Germany, but both have growing far-right populist parties. Hell, just find me a single European country that does not have a far-right populist party that is currently growing in popularity.

If the question is “Where can I move right now that will be safe for the next decade,” the answer is “It is unknowable.”

You simply can’t do anything for the Republicans. There is no hope for them. You have to assume that moving forward, at least half of voting Americans will go for a fascist. Ignore them completely. Sure, they clearly have the largest part of the blame, but none of them care and will laugh at you for trying to change their minds. The only option is to aim for independents, undecideds, and uncommitteds. Progressive policies remain overwhelming popular in the United States, you do not need conservatives to help you win elections.

As for what these leftists politicians should do once elected, the answer immediately is to caucus with the Dems and try to work with them on progressive issues like wage stagnation. It will fail, but it will identify which members of the Dems are willing to work with a new movement and which will not. Once a base of candidates is built in Dem strongholds, we can start working to replace the Dems who refuse to work with the new movement, even if they’re in battleground states.

again, I’m not inventing anything here. This is how the Tea Party killed the GOP from inside. There’s nothing stopping us from doing the same, but it takes a lot of participation in local races. The Tea Party started with state governments and House Representatives, and it took them nearly a decade to realize their dreams in the form of Donald Trump. It will likely take time we no longer have, but look at the last three elections and ask yourself this; do we have any other option?

It’s fair to be tired, it’s exhausting having to do the same shit every four years.

but the reason we have to do it every four years is because everyone lets their civic duty end with voting. Whether or not you’re tired doesn’t mean the responsibilities end. Believe me, I know trying to get people to politically organize is an exercise in misery, but the Democratic Party is never going to change. People have to start supporting third parties in their local elections, and start forcing out Democrat politicians who have historically had safe seats.

The one and only good news I can provide is that we have the playbook the Tea Party left. Cannibalizing a party is possible, I watched it happen and have tried to oust my local Dems with independent leftist candidates ever since. Maybe if more people had realized the Dems were going to let them down forever sooner, we could have avoided all of this. Maybe we’ll never have elections again, and it’s all a moot point now anyway. but trying the same shit election after election is just not going to create change.

solely because Harris didn’t give them perfect solutions

Let’s be very clear about this, Harris gave them no solutions. Harris said “I will support the existing status quo, the economy is great, there are no problems.” Try and remember that these are people who are actively struggling and desperate for anyone who will tell them things will improve, and Harris openly told these people that things are fine and do not need to improve. Are you really surprised that they do not listen to her?

Blithely shutting down dissent and ignoring people is what got us into this mess. Maybe instead of making a bunch of people into scapegoats, there could just be an acknowledgement that the Harris campaign fucked up a ton and failed.

Or, instead of just continually repeating easily disputable strawman arguments, you could try listening to the issues these people are saying affect them? Overwhelming, the reason these groups voted for Trump is because Kamala was not offering them economic change, and Trump is. It doesn’t matter that he’s lying, they’re just desperate. If you just don’t want to believe them, maybe check your own biases first.

Why would you blame and attack the people who tried their best to prevent Trump?