this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2024
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US Authoritarianism

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Brother please learn how to crop

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 months ago

LOL, here I was trying to figure out the significance of the rest of it.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

And get your life and priorities in order. Nobody needs a YouTube notification. Ever.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 3 months ago

Bröthœr there is dark mode for your eyes

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago (3 children)

In Russia they just kill all the opposition leaders. It's much cheaper that way.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago (6 children)

But it doesn’t have the same Valium-like effect on the voting populace when there’s just one dictator. So in the US they like to have two dictators with the exact same goals but different marketing strategies/identities to keep up the charade for those fools that are too comfortable or busy working four jobs to realize it.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (14 children)

If you think USA is like Russia, you're way off. USA is a flawed democracy. Very flawed, but still a democracy, since your votes matter. Russia is an informational autocracy. It's ruled by a spin dictator who lies the country is a democracy whilst killing his real opponents and posing clowns as his real ones. Mind you, I am Russian.

Edit: Now that I'm looking at it again, US may be considered a capitalist oligarchy, I'm fine with that classification. I do, however, disagree about Russia being one, it's informational autocracy (hence "way off" to begin with)

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago (1 children)

since your votes matter

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

your votes do NOT fucking matter

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Believe it or not, would still take what US has over what we have any day.

Is it a bad system? Yes, I hate it as much as the next guy. Is Russia's situation better? Fuck no. It's like what you have in that picture on the right, but nobody actually voted for these people.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

Obviously, I agree. We are not all the way there yet. But we WILL absolutely be just as bad as Russia in only a few short years. Mark my words. Citizen's United is never going away.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

You can't be Russian, you're not on .ml! /s

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

USA is a flawed democracy. Very flawed, but still a democracy, since your votes matter.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained

  • Gerrymandering is deeply undemocratic.

Rather than voters choosing their representatives, gerrymandering empowers politicians to choose their voters. This tends to occur especially when line drawing is left to legislatures and one political party controls the process, as has become increasingly common. When that happens, partisan concerns almost invariably take precedence over all else. That produces maps where electoral results are virtually guaranteed even in years where the party drawing maps has a bad year.

  • Gerrymandering has a real impact on the balance of power in Congress and many state legislatures.

On the state level, gerrymandering has also led to significant partisan bias in maps. For example, in 2018, Democrats in Wisconsin won every statewide office and a majority of the statewide vote, but thanks to gerrymandering, won only 36 of the 99 seats in the state assembly.

  • Gerrymandering affects all Americans, but its most significant costs are borne by communities of color.

Targeting the political power of communities of color is also often a key element of partisan gerrymandering. This is especially the case in the South, where white Democrats are a comparatively small part of the electorate and often live, problematically from the standpoint of a gerrymanderer, very close to white Republicans. Even with slicing and dicing, discriminating against white Democrats only moves the political dial so much. Because of residential segregation, it is much easier for map drawers to pack or crack communities of color to achieve maximum political advantage.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

True that. Yet you still see either party win the elections. In Russia, however? 80% goes to Putin and United Russia. Every. Single. Time.

Even if the people you swap out are corrupt. It's no comparison to how blatantly corrupt a person can be when he knows he'll be in power on practically every election cycle.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yet you still see either party win the elections. In Russia, however? 80% goes to Putin and United Russia. Every. Single. Time.

Russia uses the same tricks to constrain participatory democracy as Florida or Texas. Even when a Democrat can win at the local level, the gerrymandered legislature steps in to gut the local government of authority (as Abbott did when he seized HISD).

Yes, you get to do the thing we call voting. But no, you don't get to participate in government.

It’s no comparison to how blatantly corrupt a person can be when he knows he’ll be in power on practically every election cycle

Tell Ken Paxton. Tell Rick Scott. Tell Tim Moore or Chris Kapenga. These are people in office who literally cannot lose, as the state election system operates.

If Republicans manage to move us to "EC votes by House seats" system, they'll have effectively gerrymandered the Presidency. Then there's no way for a Dem to ever win, shy of some absurd lopsided 70/30 election.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

And even if the Dem DOES win, it’s basically a wash whether it is even a win since those are the same democrats that are in lockstep behind the commodification of healthcare, for profit education, real estate, police militarization, military industrial complex, banking, global shipping, and SO many more industries I failed to mention.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

"Russia uses the same tricks to constrain participatory democracy as Florida or Texas."

Now imagine Texas is the entirety of US, where

  • in some very specific cities you get over 100% participation rate where everybody votes for incumbent whereas the rest of them have like 30-40% with expected vote distribution to boot.
  • Oh, and "electronic voting" (via the internet) where the incumbent always gets 90% of the votes with no way to verify the results.
  • None of the participants are actually independent, and the ones that were are now either jailed or killed.
  • And you have no way to protest the results, because
  1. it's against the law (despite the law contradicting constitution)
  2. the protest will get immediately shut down by the police
  3. every organizer will get jailed

And no, courts will not help. They will always side the government. No matter how ridiculous the accusations are.

That's Russia.

Edit: Forgot to mention that out electoral system is more straightforward, so it doesn't allow for gerrymandering. So it's not even distribution manipulation it's straight up the half of bulletins are fake.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Now imagine Texas is the entirety of US

Over half of Trump's cabinet is from Florida

Forgot to mention that out electoral system is more straightforward, so it doesn’t allow for gerrymandering

That's absolutely false

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Over half of Trump's cabinet is from Florida

That's not the point

That's absolutely false

Explain how.

Gerrymandering is manipulation of electoral results using differently drawn district maps. Russia doesn't use districts to decide winners in each one. Instead, all of the votes are combined. Think of it as a one massive district. Whoever gets majority in that one district wins the elections. In this system votes are always proportionate to electorate, therefore gerrymandering cannot physically happen.

Instead, Russia's incumbent uses other ways of electoral fraud. Main ones I have already listed.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

It’s ruled by a spin dictator who lies the country is a democracy whilst killing his real opponents and posing clowns as his real ones.

Russia needs to defend itself against NATO is not spin. That some corrupt remaining Yeltsin cronies sometimes say Russia should not, is not "useful democracy". Navaltny caught on video soliciting funds from MI6 to diminish Russia is not useful democracy.

That west needs to have war on Russia, Iran, Syria, China is more spin than opposing war.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Russia needs to defend itself against NATO is not spin.

Genuine question: why? Is NATO attacking Russia?

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (7 children)

Yes, absolutely no difference between USA and Russia whatsoever. In fact, I’d move there if I were you. Literally the same thing. Might as well.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago (1 children)

"A tomato isn't a vegetable, it's a fruit. Like apples"

"Yeah dumbass there's no difference between apples and tomatoes. In fact, I'd go ahead and never eat a tomato again. Might as well"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Oh thanks for schooling me on figures of speech, completely missing the point of my comment.

You know sir, you are a man. Just like Trump, Jeffrey dahmer and Hitler. Just saying, food for thought out there. Being very smart here, don’t get upset at my simile if you can.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago

We didn't miss the point of your comment. We thought it was stupid, and his comparison was to highlight why.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

why would anyone get upset that you're bad at language?

despite your sarcastic remark, your attempt once again shows you don't understand how these figures of speech work. your simile doesn't work the same way because Russia is a good example of an oligarchy, and apple is a good example of a fruit. but mangolini, dahmer and hitler aren't good examples of men.

so a better example would be more like "donnie is a fascist, like hitler". hitler is a proper example for a fascist, but the sentence still doesn't mean he's literally the same as hitler with no differences whatsoever.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

the sentence still doesn’t mean he’s literally the same as hitler

For one, Trump doesn't like dogs. For another, Hitler never had access to a nuclear arsenal.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Why does the comparison make you angry?

Is it for literary reasons, meaning OP should learn how to use a simile correctly?

Is it for personal reasons, which are only known to you?

Is it for political reasons?

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

"like" does not mean "identical to"

we have serious issues in the us, ones we need to address. it's about to get way harder than it's ever been to do that

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

If I'm not a fan of america and america is the same as russia why would I moved to russia. Also, it's plain to see that russia is in a war right now with its neighbor. Even if I were to accept they are equivalent one is actively sending conscripts to the battle field.

It's OK, I know what you were trying to do and it's still no appreciated so don't respond.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What OP said is that the US is a capitalist oligarchy like Russia, which is correct. OP did not say or imply that the US is identical to Russia, or similar to Russia in any other way, or that Russia is better than the US. So there’s no need for all the b-b-but in this thread.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

~~We live in a society~~

We live in an oligarchy

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

We were willing to overlook that as long as our elections worked and we could have a peaceful transfer of power.

One party wants to change that. If they’re effective, then we can say we’re like Russia.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Time to clutch those pearls, American Exceptionalists.

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