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@pluralistic@mamot.fr now I want to turn this into a questionnaire and send it to my representatives.

• did you personally sign up?
• do you want to be surveilled
• we're you involved in this Etc

@babaq@mastodonczech.cz @MostlyHarmless@thecanadian.social That's taxing expenditure instead of income. Rich people don't even spend money. They borrow. So they keep accumulating stock. They spend so little of their income compared to low income people spending almost all. That's every rich asshole's dream.

@QasimRashid he gave more money to Russia and used it as an excuse to lift some sanctions.

@pluralistic@mamot.fr good morning, Cory. This whole piece assumes that trump wants to help people. He's the ultimate enshittification example He is a con man. His brand is all about stiffing and bullying. He , like every enshittification instance, locked in the followers/crowds to his brand and that helped him get the support of big business and authoritarian govs all over the world. His next move is extracting value from those people/businesses. He'll get his cut. He doesn't want to help. That's it. And because those followers structured their world around their attachment to Trump brand they will not be able to give up on it just like any cult. They'll blame anyone else no matter how irrational it is.

@birkenator@mastodon.social @babaq@mastodonczech.cz @MostlyHarmless@thecanadian.social That's not the part that matters most. (They borrow to avoid income). That lower income people spend all their income to make it through the month. Rich people spend a fraction of their income. If you can't tax them for the money they make they'll sit on more and more money.

@paninid@mastodon.world There was a movie a few years ago; Leave the World Behind. At the end they find a house with a bunker whose owners couldn't even make it there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@cdarwin@c.im see Reagan for the answer.

@SmudgeTheInsultCat Yet they broke many laws too

@SmudgeTheInsultCat this "Jesus and his sheep" thing always irritated me. He's not herding them so they live a long good life and die peacefully. They will be butchered and until then they are told to be good sheep. So odd.

@msbellows @Alice @ellesaurus Same here. My mother-in-law's best friend suggested Kinn (at a strip mall) 7 years ago after failing to find a decent place to get a haircut for my first 2 years in this country. She's amazing.

@cdarwin@c.im I'm 50+. I've seen my first country lost to very similar people and methods. Institutions crushed, knowledge, resources, nature lost and still being plundered. I now can see the core of it is what it is built upon. You can't inherit a Mafia empire and turn it into a charity. Look at every country that fell into this (or every country period) there's an original sin. Everything is built on top of it. It will never be healthy, sane or moral. Because to be able to accumulate power you MUST commit atrocities. No way out. I'm sorry. We can mitigate to a certain extent but they'll keep coming to take control of the accumulated power. Power accumulation is for people that abuse it not for people who want to share a world in peace.

@babaq@mastodonczech.cz @birkenator@mastodon.social @MostlyHarmless@thecanadian.social We don't even need that. Just proper income tax and closing the loopholes created over decades over assets will be enough, mostly. But the problem snowballed into them beginning to want everything, including their own fiefdom. So they became rich enough to think they can act like little feudal lords that deserve their sovereign lands to rule. Historically the only cure seems to be guillotine.

@Bubotomy@mastodon.social it's not stuck. It's hiding.

@cvvhrn@sfba.social to clarify; there was no gift/bribe to begin with. The gift recipient decided that it was a gift. Mafia style. So he can keep it after his term The repetition of "gift" narrative deletes the reality from common memory. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/did-qatar-really-gift-plane-to-us-president-donald-trump-reports-say-otherwise-8467955

@jeffjarvis He's using the same con. Remember "high speed rail is irrelevant, hyperloop will do that"?

@tzimmer_history It doesn't change the results though. Erdogan did exactly the same things. He'd argue all sides of an argument. Flip a day later etc. Genius or not. He's still holding on to the power and putting more and more people in prison that he feels are a threat to him. He changed his coalition members multiple times. Being intelligent or smart or coherent has nothing to do with their situation. Simply irrelevant. So understanding that they are stupid doesn't necessarily mean you get rid of them.

@wtrmt@mastodon.social @rk@mastodon.well.com @futurebird@sauropods.win Very. It felt good coming from an unusually cold northern California. My 5th visit. Beautiful country.

@Vonskinnback@mastodon.social @birkenator@mastodon.social @babaq@mastodonczech.cz @MostlyHarmless@thecanadian.social VAT is a method of collecting sales tax. It's indirect. So no sales made or value added/created then you don't pay the money you didn't make. Simple: If money is made you tax it. If not you don't. VAT inflates the price of something to create an extra margin for the government. It says "you made a transaction, bought a good/service and sold it for a bit more. Apart from the tax you'll pay for your income I want 10% (or whatever) paid by the last person. The only difference from sales tax is everyone including the last person adds the VAT to their price. Only the final buyer cannot deduct the VAT they paid from the vat they got from the next sale since there isn't one. This is what VAT is. But if you understand or mean something different let me know.

@donhawkins @tzimmer_history I think you need to read it again. "...this dark mirror narrative views the nation as inherently incapable of anything but hierarchical violence: There never was democracy in America – and there never will be."

@QasimRashid@mastodon.social the biggest though is USSR-Russia. Winds of change and all that BS with only extracting resources in mind created the oligarchs and gave Putin the opportunity.

@wtrmt@mastodon.social @rk@mastodon.well.com @futurebird@sauropods.win my French friend is living in Chile (for now). In fact I was in Chile for the last 10 days. Just got back to SF.

@juergen_hubert@mementomori.social folklore like religion evolved over centuries to keep the parts that worked. I'm not surprised. Mostly fascinated. Thank you. I'll follow you for that blog post you may (or may not) write.

@aral@mastodon.ar.al ok. Time to wrap it up folks. Been an OK ride. "China 27” . Millions are going to die. They are getting ready means when they think they are ready they'll make it happen. Better prepare.

@SmudgeTheInsultCat Apple is listening too. Just not selling, rather using for its own benefit

@OptimisticMoron@mastodon.xyz @stux@mstdn.social he'd charge X100 for the ice as he does with the SS agents he technically forces to stay at his resorts.

@w_b @SmudgeTheInsultCat a pardon avoids consequences but takes away legitimacy forever.

@pluralistic@mamot.fr I'm not sure. Even saner ones like Erdogan doesn't care. Once you get to full control it doesn't matter. He's trying to get there. And when he disappoints his followers they find a way to justify it themselves just like any cult follower. People even blame the people around him when it is a one man rule. So far parallels are uncanny.

@cdarwin@c.im https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop

@Rgsharpe@sfba.social and kiddos? ANY interest?

@dogiedog64 @prietschka@mastodon.social @timnitGebru@dair-community.social 50 sounds that old to you huh!?!

@aeva Idiocracy is a masterpiece

@inthehands@hachyderm.io incredible. They are selling the bubble.

@cdarwin Now watch FBI releasing new information about credible threats to them and their families. Not offering help or catching the people that issued those threats. And then the votes turn to a yes.

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social @pl@social.hackerspace.pl @wikiyu@infosec.exchange And unfortunately none of these will stop them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@futurebird@sauropods.win vote blue no matter Kirsten Sinema!