They can glean where the absurd amounts of money that our government has been wasting on completely ridiculous things has been going for decades.
Yeah there was a probably a nicer way to do what they are doing but given how slow the cogs of government turn this is probably the "better" way to achieve what they are looking for. By rushing through the door and looking at as many things as possible they are essentially overwhelming the system with speed. By the time the law and due process catch up they will have already reported back all the many, many ways the government has been basically burning our tax dollars on shit we never voted for while telling us there is no money to be had for the things we have been asking for.
I understand the worry that this is coup and I will likely be downvoted for this comment, but if you choose to believe that they are actually trying to trim the fat this was going to be the only way they could get that much data without having to slog through miles of red tape and Democrats trying to block them from digging into financial rec
... show more
They can glean where the absurd amounts of money that our government has been wasting on completely ridiculous things has been going for decades.
Yeah there was a probably a nicer way to do what they are doing but given how slow the cogs of government turn this is probably the "better" way to achieve what they are looking for. By rushing through the door and looking at as many things as possible they are essentially overwhelming the system with speed. By the time the law and due process catch up they will have already reported back all the many, many ways the government has been basically burning our tax dollars on shit we never voted for while telling us there is no money to be had for the things we have been asking for.
I understand the worry that this is coup and I will likely be downvoted for this comment, but if you choose to believe that they are actually trying to trim the fat this was going to be the only way they could get that much data without having to slog through miles of red tape and Democrats trying to block them from digging into financial records the entire time.
They have already uncovered so much insane spending that im actually concerned how bad it's going to get as they dig down further. The Democrats were doing exactly the things they constantly accused the Republicans of doing for years. They were directly paying politico to report what and how they wanted. They were using USAID primarily as a tool for meddling in foreign governments and hiding behind it being a global aid organization (the money spent of being used as a shadow government nearly doubles what I USAID actually spent on giving aid).
Seeing as there is nothing I can do about it as an individual I am choosing to sit back and watch it unfold. Worst case out country folds itself in half and things get spicy for awhile. Best case we cut wasted spending and government bloat significantly while also shining a light into all the dark corners of government that the public has never even been made aware of.
Hmm yesterday you were spouting transphobe shit, today you're spouting maga shit. I'm thinking maybe Lemmy isn't the place for you and you should just delete your account and go back to Reddit.
You will not find friends here. No one wants you here.
I find it fascinating how often you people dig through peoples accounts before you attack them. I literally never look at how old anyone's accounts are or their previous comments or posts.
I'm not gonna delete my account and go back to reddit. Mostly because I'm still banned from the entirety of reddit on all my accounts for "breaking reddit TOS". They immediately denied my appeal asking what rule I broke and still never told me what rule I supposedly broke.
Lemmy is for anyone. Just because you don't like my opinions doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be here. Block me if you want but I'll continue using the site as I please.
You would be wrong that I have not found friends where. You would be right that they are super rare, but I have found a handful of other moderates bouncing around.
You don't want me here. Unfortunately I don't give a shit what you want as I don't know you and I don't owe you anything.
Hopefully your time here opens your eyes to a more realistic understanding of what is going on as right now you seriously are holding on to a ton if really flawed ideas
It's worrying to me that you think Lemmy has a real grasp of what's going on. This entire site and the majority of its users are so far off the left deep end that they haven't been able to see a moderate thought in years.
I'm sure many of my opinions are flawed to you as I am sure many of your opinions are flawed to me.
The difference is I am willing to discuss your opinions without labeling you instantly, downvoting you and then blocking you. You guys seem to be very eager to label me any number of things, downvote immediately (and go downvote all my other comments elsewhere like weirdos) and then either block me or ban me.
I see most of you as well intentioned people. Humans. We might have a different outlook on things but you are still a person. Most of you guys see me as evil and think I deserve to die. It's easier to dismiss people after you demonize them.
I know I'm not perfect. I certainly never claimed to be. I just think it's a very bad idea to immediately dehumanize anyone I disagree with.
Im not the majority of users but what you can find here are some people who are educated in political philosophy/economics and have government experience and some of us do know what we are talking about.
Im not talking about your opinions. You are holding some views that are at odds with objective facts.
While many might insult you I have not. I suspect we are both adults and I treat others as they treat me. You have not attacked me so I will not respond in kind.
The one thing that you should understand is many of us here are not straight so if you support the Trump administration in any way you are supporting making me less equal to you. That is going to understandably be hard for most to get over as how do you treat someone who voted to have people like myself lose equal rights? How should people view the guy who supports fascist candidates and their criminal actions?
Lucky for you I do not support Trump or the right. I was a lifelong Democrat until I switched to independent in 2020. I didn't vote for Kamala or Trump in 2024 though so many people around here have basically lumped me in as a Trump supporter because would not "vote blue no matter who". I live in California so my protest third party vote did exactly what I wanted. My state still went blue, but the deathgrip the Democrats have held in California is clearly slipping and they need to see that.
My stance on the whole gay rights thing is my stance on pretty much everything in a similar vein. I do not care what consenting adults do with other consenting adults and I think the government should have absolutely zero sway over any of that. Marry who you love. Fuck whoever you want. I do not care.
Same goes for abortion. I am staunchly pro choice. I don't agree with pretty much any of the leftist talking points around their pro-choice stances, but I believe the only three people who should have any say on terminating a pregnancy are the two people that caused the pregnancy and w
... show more
Lucky for you I do not support Trump or the right. I was a lifelong Democrat until I switched to independent in 2020. I didn't vote for Kamala or Trump in 2024 though so many people around here have basically lumped me in as a Trump supporter because would not "vote blue no matter who". I live in California so my protest third party vote did exactly what I wanted. My state still went blue, but the deathgrip the Democrats have held in California is clearly slipping and they need to see that.
My stance on the whole gay rights thing is my stance on pretty much everything in a similar vein. I do not care what consenting adults do with other consenting adults and I think the government should have absolutely zero sway over any of that. Marry who you love. Fuck whoever you want. I do not care.
Same goes for abortion. I am staunchly pro choice. I don't agree with pretty much any of the leftist talking points around their pro-choice stances, but I believe the only three people who should have any say on terminating a pregnancy are the two people that caused the pregnancy and whatever doctor they choose to see about it. Nobody else should have a single iota of say over what happens.
I'm an open book. Ask me anything and I'll answer truthfully.
You take a lot of positions that are identical to the "reasonable conservative" who turns out to be either sea-lioning troll ir a closet fascist. Looking through your posts I don't think that's the case with you but if you were familiar with these spaces you might understand the alarms you are setting off.
Not all of Lemmy is hostile but there is a portion whose philosophical education seems to be dependent on youtube/forums and is lacking a lot of the core of political philosophy one gets through academia.
Yeah I get it. Looks like a duck. Quacks like a duck n all that. I am a llama I swear.
I would say only a handful have here been outright hostile towards me. The majority just downvote and leave. Which is fine. I don't care about the fake Internet points but it definitely doesn't help my impression that many people around here are incredibly quick to judge and they make a lot of assumptions about me. Or they hear one opinion that goes against theirs and they automatically assume I am the polar opposite to them on every issue. Which just often isn't the case at all I have a lot of left leaning positions, but it's seems as every day goes by the left are less and less excepting of anyone that doesn't agree with them across the board on everything. It's legitimately concerning to see how little it takes for some of them to turn on each other. Like one position that's a few degrees off and you are completely dead to them. The enemy.
For example there is this chick on my Facebook that I pretty much only pay attention to because she is so far left it's entertaining to watch h
... show more
Yeah I get it. Looks like a duck. Quacks like a duck n all that. I am a llama I swear.
I would say only a handful have here been outright hostile towards me. The majority just downvote and leave. Which is fine. I don't care about the fake Internet points but it definitely doesn't help my impression that many people around here are incredibly quick to judge and they make a lot of assumptions about me. Or they hear one opinion that goes against theirs and they automatically assume I am the polar opposite to them on every issue. Which just often isn't the case at all I have a lot of left leaning positions, but it's seems as every day goes by the left are less and less excepting of anyone that doesn't agree with them across the board on everything. It's legitimately concerning to see how little it takes for some of them to turn on each other. Like one position that's a few degrees off and you are completely dead to them. The enemy.
For example there is this chick on my Facebook that I pretty much only pay attention to because she is so far left it's entertaining to watch her spiral post about the most insane things, but I saw her turn on one of her best friends because her best friend wouldn't date a trans guy. They literally agreed on every other political front as far as I could tell, but because her friend said she wouldn't date a trans person it was over almost immediately. Something like 13 years of friendship gone over one political difference in one afternoon. I watched her leave this huge ranting comment and then unfriend and block her friend. She's 35. Just insane.
There are a LOT of trolls who have come here this week so it's a matter of bad timing and overall the community here is less polite.
Leftists biggest enemies are other leftists. That's because their views are fairly different IRL whereas Western right wingers all more or less fall into support for some version of modern fascism so there's greater agreement. Leftists cannot agree how free people should be whereas the modern rightwing agrees that people should have fewer rights in general. That creates purity tests that make actual progress very difficult. The Marxists would tell you this is intentional and the results of monied interests holding down the working class and IMO that sounds right.
That lady sounds like she has issues. Hopefully she gets help.
Are you sure you aren’t a transphobe? The statements on this screenshot suggest you might be or you have poor logic on this issue (trans people have no greater advantage than women who are naturally stronger and taller as well who you wouldn’t be arguing should be banned).
I wouldn't consider myself a transphobe, but I'm sure you will say I am. I have no problems with trans adults doing their own thing.
I do take issue with the competitive athlete situation. I am not even gonna bother attempting that conversation around here because it is abundantly clear that you guys believe you are both morally and scientifically correct across the board on that topic. I'm not gonna waste my energy even attempting that debate.
I also don't believe kids should be allowed to make permanent and life altering decisions like that. We won't let them do drugs, vote, drive, get tattoos, get piercings, see R rated movies, serve in the military, work, skip school and many other things but sudden they are mature enough to make permanent decisions about their bodies and lives? I know that will also likely make you label me as a transphobe, but frankly I don't care. Kids should never be making those types of permanent choices for themselves when their brains aren't fully developed.
I lost a cousin to the trans movement. She was gay, lonely and depre
... show more
I wouldn't consider myself a transphobe, but I'm sure you will say I am. I have no problems with trans adults doing their own thing.
I do take issue with the competitive athlete situation. I am not even gonna bother attempting that conversation around here because it is abundantly clear that you guys believe you are both morally and scientifically correct across the board on that topic. I'm not gonna waste my energy even attempting that debate.
I also don't believe kids should be allowed to make permanent and life altering decisions like that. We won't let them do drugs, vote, drive, get tattoos, get piercings, see R rated movies, serve in the military, work, skip school and many other things but sudden they are mature enough to make permanent decisions about their bodies and lives? I know that will also likely make you label me as a transphobe, but frankly I don't care. Kids should never be making those types of permanent choices for themselves when their brains aren't fully developed.
I lost a cousin to the trans movement. She was gay, lonely and depressed. The trans community welcomed her with open arms. She eventually came out as a guy. She got top surgery and started hormone treatments, but a few years later she realized it was a mistake and she wanted to detransition. Those same people that had welcomed her with open arms all turned on her and shunned her. She got even more depressed due to losing all her friends and she eventually killed herself a few years ago. Hung herself in her closet with an extension cable. In her note she wrote about how she had been pressured by the community. She had been encouraged by the doctor. She hated that her femininity had been taken from her while she was not of sound mind. She felt taken advantage of by the movement, her old friends and the doctors that cut her body and gave her drugs.
Her mom just killed herself last year because of her daughter killing herself a few years ago. Didn't leave a note but she had been writing about wanting to see her daughter again in her diary. I didn't read the diary myself but my mom read through her sister's diary after we finally cleared out her apartment and storage container. That was a really hard day for my mom and she's still not over having lost her niece and sister.
I genuinely do not have any hatred or fear or anything else that people often assume about me in this context. I just believe that it's not something children should be participating in at all and they never should have been allowed in women's competitive spaces to begin with.
I said I was an open book and I stand by what I believe in. You can believe that makes me a bigoted hateful person if you want. I know what kind of person I am.
yeah idk why they're here lol, truth.social is more appropriate, they just desperately want ppl who don't care for their opinions to have to see them (i get it tho, thats me arguing with republicans in other comment sections)
The big flaw here is you placing any faith and trust that Elon et all are acting in good faith and truly have a desire to do right by the American people.
Shutting down USAID was the richest man in the world deciding the poorest people in the world do not deserve food and medecine. There are people in a famine in Sudan that will starve as a direct consequence of Elon Musk's actions at the behest of Donald Trump.
And you think that man might have an altruistic reason for wanting to access the entirety of the treasury department data.
The big flaw here is you placing any faith and trust that Elon et all are acting in good faith and truly have a desire to do right by the American people.
Shutting down USAID was the richest man in the world deciding the poorest people in the world do not deserve food and medecine. There are people in a famine in Sudan that will starve as a direct consequence of Elon Musk's actions at the behest of Donald Trump.
And you think that man might have an altruistic reason for wanting to access the entirety of the treasury department data.
USAID accounts for 1% of the US government's budget - how is eliminating that at all consequential to reigning in spending?
OSHA accounts for 0.0000537322% of the federal budget at $362,800,000.
The federal spending for 2024 was $6.752 trillion.
The department of defense requested $842 billion for 2024. Want to guess if they got it?
There are obvious places to look for excess goverment spending. Completely gutting agencies that barely amount to a rounding error in the budget is not going to accomplish anything.
They are not acting in good faith. Take the blinders off. These are not good people trying to do the right thing for America.
And just in case you missed this earlier: The richsst man in the world decided the poorest people in the world do not deserve food and medecine.
Edit to add: the budget numbers were the best I could do researching from my cellphone but I am quite confident in the dispropotionate funding for the one department no one is discussing reigning in spending for.
I don't understand how people can be so credulous as to believe efficiency is the motivator rather than grift simply because some notorious liars said another lie. Trump used presidential visits as an excuse to visit his own properties at inflated rates, and Elon who holds Dogecoin personally and through Tesla now 'as a joke' runs a fake department called DOGE (check the coin's price now). I guarantee another $7 trillion+ tax giveaway for billionaires will be the most important bill Trump will sign, yet people who have apparently never in their life taken a math class are stoked about the prospect of taking $50 billion/year away from the poorest people on earth which among other projects treats HIV to mitigate mutation risk, resistance to current treatments, and further spread of the virus.
I mean every single year in their own audit they come back saying they "lost" billions and they "don't know" where it went.
We have known money was going into the government and not going where it was supposed to be going for decades.
It doesn't exactly take a road scholar to see that the people have been asking the government for certain things for ages and they always go "oh we don't have the money". But then they accidentally misplace more than we would have needed to do universal healthcare and other things for ages.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. On the few occasions I've had insights to the scale of government waste it's been eye watering. Of course, that doesn't change anything about my views regarding trump and musk, but I agree with your point... How else could someone tackle a problem of this scale?
Regardless though, it was just nice to read a thoughtful point of view that counters the prevailing emotions on here
The problem is it's not a waste if it's being paid as salaries to Americans.
This is what these people don't understand. If the government is inefficient, and that means that they're employing too many people, that's a good thing. It stops being a good thing when we have a good safety net. But we don't, so making up fake jobs is actually a positive.
I didn't downvote because you're stating your opinion. Question for you: What would have to happen for you to change your mind from "they're trying to reduce costs" to "oh shit, this really is a coup"?
First definition... No. It's hasn't been violent and they didn't overthrow anyone. They were elected (well Trump was) and ran on the promise of doing exactly what they have been doing.
Second definition.... Maybe. It depends on if you think this has been or will be "highly successful". It has definitely been sudden. Some would probably call it brilliant.
Now I know that a coup doesn't require violence so you don't need to mention that.
It's not a self coup (yet) so that one's off the able.
Again if you wanna say it's brilliant and successful sure that coup definition would fit I suppose. It's brilliance has yet to be confirmed and who knows if it'll be successful.
You can remove the word "coup" and just say "overthrow of the government" -- that's really what I'm asking you. Do you think that's happening now? If not, what would signal to you that it is happening?
They have your social security numbers as well as other personal legal information. Time to rig some polls or manufacture reasons for you to get arrested and be out of the regime's hair.
they have census and population data for the entire US. this gives them the ability to map out not only density of citizens but variations of wealth, gender, race, age, skill, education, etc.
for the next phase of DOGE they will need this information to create their network states.
the government will collapse by mid-March or earlier. that's why Trump pushed his "tariffs" out 30 days. it's not tariffs, it's a countdown.
they're going to declare a state of emergency over something within the next two weeks. consolidate the national guards and national police force together to round up citizens. arrest and deport the "undesirables", and institute the formation of their network state.
DOGE doesn't mean Department of Government Efficiency.
Death Of Governments Everywhere
Running will only delay the inevitable. those who are actively pursuing the end of democracy need to be removed from society if we want to continue down the path of a Democratic government.
this is no longer an administration that can be protested or discussed. this i
... show more
they have census and population data for the entire US. this gives them the ability to map out not only density of citizens but variations of wealth, gender, race, age, skill, education, etc.
for the next phase of DOGE they will need this information to create their network states.
the government will collapse by mid-March or earlier. that's why Trump pushed his "tariffs" out 30 days. it's not tariffs, it's a countdown.
they're going to declare a state of emergency over something within the next two weeks. consolidate the national guards and national police force together to round up citizens. arrest and deport the "undesirables", and institute the formation of their network state.
DOGE doesn't mean Department of Government Efficiency.
Death Of Governments Everywhere
Running will only delay the inevitable. those who are actively pursuing the end of democracy need to be removed from society if we want to continue down the path of a Democratic government.
this is no longer an administration that can be protested or discussed. this is a war for the very survival of millions of Americans and the future of our world as we know it. it's about as bad as a nuclear bomb going off.
don't believe me? take 30 minutes to watch this. keep in mind, it's from two months ago.
I spread this video around like a few weeks ago. It wreaks of Lefty q-anon. It's fine if you feel differently but no one wanted to engage on it. I'm not talking about content either. I'm talking how they framed their argument. Would love to really discuss this video in a different setting but like I said I spread it a over and it only made people upset.
I have my doubts but we will see. I don't think you're far off but I think your timeline is a bit drastic. We can already see trump pull back the reigns here or there, why would he if he's getting ready to plunge in feet first?
I think it's a feint. the anger and emotional turmoil of the American public can't boil over yet and he wants to use that as a force for push us towards attacking the government.
they're weakening the established government agencies that protect the public. once all the cards are set he'll push for the public to attack because, "they failed to protect you from me" or "they failed you and now you're suffering because of it".
they already tricked Americans to vote against their own interests, it's not that far to make them attack the only true ally we have in a blind rage.
I don't think it reeks of any left qanon conspiracy. two months ago I would have questioned it, but now I think it makes more sense than "the Nazis are taking over".
I am partial to the rest of what you said but Census data were already publicly available and actually what they did was make it less accessible to data scientists and researchers like me working on the normal kind of regional planning stuff.
but it was generalized. now they have the names, addresses of every American. they need that when they start pumping the police state oppression on the people.
Majorllama
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •They can glean where the absurd amounts of money that our government has been wasting on completely ridiculous things has been going for decades.
Yeah there was a probably a nicer way to do what they are doing but given how slow the cogs of government turn this is probably the "better" way to achieve what they are looking for. By rushing through the door and looking at as many things as possible they are essentially overwhelming the system with speed. By the time the law and due process catch up they will have already reported back all the many, many ways the government has been basically burning our tax dollars on shit we never voted for while telling us there is no money to be had for the things we have been asking for.
I understand the worry that this is coup and I will likely be downvoted for this comment, but if you choose to believe that they are actually trying to trim the fat this was going to be the only way they could get that much data without having to slog through miles of red tape and Democrats trying to block them from digging into financial rec
... show moreThey can glean where the absurd amounts of money that our government has been wasting on completely ridiculous things has been going for decades.
Yeah there was a probably a nicer way to do what they are doing but given how slow the cogs of government turn this is probably the "better" way to achieve what they are looking for. By rushing through the door and looking at as many things as possible they are essentially overwhelming the system with speed. By the time the law and due process catch up they will have already reported back all the many, many ways the government has been basically burning our tax dollars on shit we never voted for while telling us there is no money to be had for the things we have been asking for.
I understand the worry that this is coup and I will likely be downvoted for this comment, but if you choose to believe that they are actually trying to trim the fat this was going to be the only way they could get that much data without having to slog through miles of red tape and Democrats trying to block them from digging into financial records the entire time.
They have already uncovered so much insane spending that im actually concerned how bad it's going to get as they dig down further. The Democrats were doing exactly the things they constantly accused the Republicans of doing for years. They were directly paying politico to report what and how they wanted. They were using USAID primarily as a tool for meddling in foreign governments and hiding behind it being a global aid organization (the money spent of being used as a shadow government nearly doubles what I USAID actually spent on giving aid).
Seeing as there is nothing I can do about it as an individual I am choosing to sit back and watch it unfold. Worst case out country folds itself in half and things get spicy for awhile. Best case we cut wasted spending and government bloat significantly while also shining a light into all the dark corners of government that the public has never even been made aware of.
don't like this
dil doesn't like this.
BigFig
in reply to Majorllama • • •Hmm yesterday you were spouting transphobe shit, today you're spouting maga shit. I'm thinking maybe Lemmy isn't the place for you and you should just delete your account and go back to Reddit.
You will not find friends here. No one wants you here.
Majorllama
in reply to BigFig • • •I find it fascinating how often you people dig through peoples accounts before you attack them. I literally never look at how old anyone's accounts are or their previous comments or posts.
I'm not gonna delete my account and go back to reddit. Mostly because I'm still banned from the entirety of reddit on all my accounts for "breaking reddit TOS". They immediately denied my appeal asking what rule I broke and still never told me what rule I supposedly broke.
Lemmy is for anyone. Just because you don't like my opinions doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be here. Block me if you want but I'll continue using the site as I please.
You would be wrong that I have not found friends where. You would be right that they are super rare, but I have found a handful of other moderates bouncing around.
You don't want me here. Unfortunately I don't give a shit what you want as I don't know you and I don't owe you anything.
Have a nice day.
don't like this
dil doesn't like this.
MothmanDelorian
in reply to Majorllama • • •like this
dil likes this.
Majorllama
in reply to MothmanDelorian • • •It's worrying to me that you think Lemmy has a real grasp of what's going on. This entire site and the majority of its users are so far off the left deep end that they haven't been able to see a moderate thought in years.
I'm sure many of my opinions are flawed to you as I am sure many of your opinions are flawed to me.
The difference is I am willing to discuss your opinions without labeling you instantly, downvoting you and then blocking you. You guys seem to be very eager to label me any number of things, downvote immediately (and go downvote all my other comments elsewhere like weirdos) and then either block me or ban me.
I see most of you as well intentioned people. Humans. We might have a different outlook on things but you are still a person. Most of you guys see me as evil and think I deserve to die. It's easier to dismiss people after you demonize them.
I know I'm not perfect. I certainly never claimed to be. I just think it's a very bad idea to immediately dehumanize anyone I disagree with.
don't like this
dil doesn't like this.
MothmanDelorian
in reply to Majorllama • • •Im not the majority of users but what you can find here are some people who are educated in political philosophy/economics and have government experience and some of us do know what we are talking about.
Im not talking about your opinions. You are holding some views that are at odds with objective facts.
While many might insult you I have not. I suspect we are both adults and I treat others as they treat me. You have not attacked me so I will not respond in kind.
The one thing that you should understand is many of us here are not straight so if you support the Trump administration in any way you are supporting making me less equal to you. That is going to understandably be hard for most to get over as how do you treat someone who voted to have people like myself lose equal rights? How should people view the guy who supports fascist candidates and their criminal actions?
like this
dil likes this.
Majorllama
in reply to MothmanDelorian • • •Lucky for you I do not support Trump or the right. I was a lifelong Democrat until I switched to independent in 2020. I didn't vote for Kamala or Trump in 2024 though so many people around here have basically lumped me in as a Trump supporter because would not "vote blue no matter who". I live in California so my protest third party vote did exactly what I wanted. My state still went blue, but the deathgrip the Democrats have held in California is clearly slipping and they need to see that.
My stance on the whole gay rights thing is my stance on pretty much everything in a similar vein. I do not care what consenting adults do with other consenting adults and I think the government should have absolutely zero sway over any of that. Marry who you love. Fuck whoever you want. I do not care.
Same goes for abortion. I am staunchly pro choice. I don't agree with pretty much any of the leftist talking points around their pro-choice stances, but I believe the only three people who should have any say on terminating a pregnancy are the two people that caused the pregnancy and w
... show moreLucky for you I do not support Trump or the right. I was a lifelong Democrat until I switched to independent in 2020. I didn't vote for Kamala or Trump in 2024 though so many people around here have basically lumped me in as a Trump supporter because would not "vote blue no matter who". I live in California so my protest third party vote did exactly what I wanted. My state still went blue, but the deathgrip the Democrats have held in California is clearly slipping and they need to see that.
My stance on the whole gay rights thing is my stance on pretty much everything in a similar vein. I do not care what consenting adults do with other consenting adults and I think the government should have absolutely zero sway over any of that. Marry who you love. Fuck whoever you want. I do not care.
Same goes for abortion. I am staunchly pro choice. I don't agree with pretty much any of the leftist talking points around their pro-choice stances, but I believe the only three people who should have any say on terminating a pregnancy are the two people that caused the pregnancy and whatever doctor they choose to see about it. Nobody else should have a single iota of say over what happens.
I'm an open book. Ask me anything and I'll answer truthfully.
dil doesn't like this.
MothmanDelorian
in reply to Majorllama • • •You take a lot of positions that are identical to the "reasonable conservative" who turns out to be either sea-lioning troll ir a closet fascist. Looking through your posts I don't think that's the case with you but if you were familiar with these spaces you might understand the alarms you are setting off.
Not all of Lemmy is hostile but there is a portion whose philosophical education seems to be dependent on youtube/forums and is lacking a lot of the core of political philosophy one gets through academia.
like this
dil likes this.
Majorllama
in reply to MothmanDelorian • • •Yeah I get it. Looks like a duck. Quacks like a duck n all that. I am a llama I swear.
I would say only a handful have here been outright hostile towards me. The majority just downvote and leave. Which is fine. I don't care about the fake Internet points but it definitely doesn't help my impression that many people around here are incredibly quick to judge and they make a lot of assumptions about me. Or they hear one opinion that goes against theirs and they automatically assume I am the polar opposite to them on every issue. Which just often isn't the case at all I have a lot of left leaning positions, but it's seems as every day goes by the left are less and less excepting of anyone that doesn't agree with them across the board on everything. It's legitimately concerning to see how little it takes for some of them to turn on each other. Like one position that's a few degrees off and you are completely dead to them. The enemy.
For example there is this chick on my Facebook that I pretty much only pay attention to because she is so far left it's entertaining to watch h
... show moreYeah I get it. Looks like a duck. Quacks like a duck n all that. I am a llama I swear.
I would say only a handful have here been outright hostile towards me. The majority just downvote and leave. Which is fine. I don't care about the fake Internet points but it definitely doesn't help my impression that many people around here are incredibly quick to judge and they make a lot of assumptions about me. Or they hear one opinion that goes against theirs and they automatically assume I am the polar opposite to them on every issue. Which just often isn't the case at all I have a lot of left leaning positions, but it's seems as every day goes by the left are less and less excepting of anyone that doesn't agree with them across the board on everything. It's legitimately concerning to see how little it takes for some of them to turn on each other. Like one position that's a few degrees off and you are completely dead to them. The enemy.
For example there is this chick on my Facebook that I pretty much only pay attention to because she is so far left it's entertaining to watch her spiral post about the most insane things, but I saw her turn on one of her best friends because her best friend wouldn't date a trans guy. They literally agreed on every other political front as far as I could tell, but because her friend said she wouldn't date a trans person it was over almost immediately. Something like 13 years of friendship gone over one political difference in one afternoon. I watched her leave this huge ranting comment and then unfriend and block her friend. She's 35. Just insane.
dil doesn't like this.
MothmanDelorian
in reply to Majorllama • • •There are a LOT of trolls who have come here this week so it's a matter of bad timing and overall the community here is less polite.
Leftists biggest enemies are other leftists. That's because their views are fairly different IRL whereas Western right wingers all more or less fall into support for some version of modern fascism so there's greater agreement. Leftists cannot agree how free people should be whereas the modern rightwing agrees that people should have fewer rights in general. That creates purity tests that make actual progress very difficult. The Marxists would tell you this is intentional and the results of monied interests holding down the working class and IMO that sounds right.
That lady sounds like she has issues. Hopefully she gets help.
MothmanDelorian
in reply to Majorllama • • •lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/37235684
Are you sure you aren’t a transphobe? The statements on this screenshot suggest you might be or you have poor logic on this issue (trans people have no greater advantage than women who are naturally stronger and taller as well who you wouldn’t be arguing should be banned).
Majorllama
in reply to MothmanDelorian • • •I wouldn't consider myself a transphobe, but I'm sure you will say I am. I have no problems with trans adults doing their own thing.
I do take issue with the competitive athlete situation. I am not even gonna bother attempting that conversation around here because it is abundantly clear that you guys believe you are both morally and scientifically correct across the board on that topic. I'm not gonna waste my energy even attempting that debate.
I also don't believe kids should be allowed to make permanent and life altering decisions like that. We won't let them do drugs, vote, drive, get tattoos, get piercings, see R rated movies, serve in the military, work, skip school and many other things but sudden they are mature enough to make permanent decisions about their bodies and lives? I know that will also likely make you label me as a transphobe, but frankly I don't care. Kids should never be making those types of permanent choices for themselves when their brains aren't fully developed.
I lost a cousin to the trans movement. She was gay, lonely and depre
... show moreI wouldn't consider myself a transphobe, but I'm sure you will say I am. I have no problems with trans adults doing their own thing.
I do take issue with the competitive athlete situation. I am not even gonna bother attempting that conversation around here because it is abundantly clear that you guys believe you are both morally and scientifically correct across the board on that topic. I'm not gonna waste my energy even attempting that debate.
I also don't believe kids should be allowed to make permanent and life altering decisions like that. We won't let them do drugs, vote, drive, get tattoos, get piercings, see R rated movies, serve in the military, work, skip school and many other things but sudden they are mature enough to make permanent decisions about their bodies and lives? I know that will also likely make you label me as a transphobe, but frankly I don't care. Kids should never be making those types of permanent choices for themselves when their brains aren't fully developed.
I lost a cousin to the trans movement. She was gay, lonely and depressed. The trans community welcomed her with open arms. She eventually came out as a guy. She got top surgery and started hormone treatments, but a few years later she realized it was a mistake and she wanted to detransition. Those same people that had welcomed her with open arms all turned on her and shunned her. She got even more depressed due to losing all her friends and she eventually killed herself a few years ago. Hung herself in her closet with an extension cable. In her note she wrote about how she had been pressured by the community. She had been encouraged by the doctor. She hated that her femininity had been taken from her while she was not of sound mind. She felt taken advantage of by the movement, her old friends and the doctors that cut her body and gave her drugs.
Her mom just killed herself last year because of her daughter killing herself a few years ago. Didn't leave a note but she had been writing about wanting to see her daughter again in her diary. I didn't read the diary myself but my mom read through her sister's diary after we finally cleared out her apartment and storage container. That was a really hard day for my mom and she's still not over having lost her niece and sister.
I genuinely do not have any hatred or fear or anything else that people often assume about me in this context. I just believe that it's not something children should be participating in at all and they never should have been allowed in women's competitive spaces to begin with.
I said I was an open book and I stand by what I believe in. You can believe that makes me a bigoted hateful person if you want. I know what kind of person I am.
dil
in reply to Majorllama • •Ask Lemmy reshared this.
dil
in reply to BigFig • •Ask Lemmy reshared this.
Branch_Ranch
in reply to Majorllama • • •stringere
in reply to Majorllama • • •The big flaw here is you placing any faith and trust that Elon et all are acting in good faith and truly have a desire to do right by the American people.
Shutting down USAID was the richest man in the world deciding the poorest people in the world do not deserve food and medecine.
There are people in a famine in Sudan that will starve as a direct consequence of Elon Musk's actions at the behest of Donald Trump.
And you think that man might have an altruistic reason for wanting to access the entirety of the treasury department data.
That is confoundingly naive.
The attorney general for USAID was investigating Starlink in the Ukraine.
Elon shut down USAID.
Tesla Received Triple the Amount of OSHA Complaints Than the 10 Largest US Car Factories Combin
... show moreThe big flaw here is you placing any faith and trust that Elon et all are acting in good faith and truly have a desire to do right by the American people.
Shutting down USAID was the richest man in the world deciding the poorest people in the world do not deserve food and medecine.
There are people in a famine in Sudan that will starve as a direct consequence of Elon Musk's actions at the behest of Donald Trump.
And you think that man might have an altruistic reason for wanting to access the entirety of the treasury department data.
That is confoundingly naive.
The attorney general for USAID was investigating Starlink in the Ukraine.
Elon shut down USAID.
Tesla Received Triple the Amount of OSHA Complaints Than the 10 Largest US Car Factories Combined
OSHA is in their sites to dismantle next.
USAID accounts for 1% of the US government's budget - how is eliminating that at all consequential to reigning in spending?
OSHA accounts for 0.0000537322% of the federal budget at $362,800,000.
The federal spending for 2024 was $6.752 trillion.
The department of defense requested $842 billion for 2024. Want to guess if they got it?
There are obvious places to look for excess goverment spending. Completely gutting agencies that barely amount to a rounding error in the budget is not going to accomplish anything.
They are not acting in good faith. Take the blinders off. These are not good people trying to do the right thing for America.
And just in case you missed this earlier:
The richsst man in the world decided the poorest people in the world do not deserve food and medecine.
Edit to add: the budget numbers were the best I could do researching from my cellphone but I am quite confident in the dispropotionate funding for the one department no one is discussing reigning in spending for.
Tesla Received Triple the Amount of OSHA Complaints Than the 10 Largest US Car Factories Combined
Alan Ahdoot (Adamson Ahdoot LLP)Majorllama
in reply to stringere • • •We were talking about the DOD in one of these other comments somewhere.
I doubt they will be thoroughly checking for loose spending in many departments. I'll take some cleaning house vs 0 cleaning house.
elephantium
in reply to Majorllama • • •This is like dusting the china cabinet while ignoring a giant hole in the wall from someone crashing their car through it.
stringere
in reply to elephantium • • •CouncilOfFriends
in reply to Majorllama • • •I don't understand how people can be so credulous as to believe efficiency is the motivator rather than grift simply because some notorious liars said another lie. Trump used presidential visits as an excuse to visit his own properties at inflated rates, and Elon who holds Dogecoin personally and through Tesla now 'as a joke' runs a fake department called DOGE (check the coin's price now). I guarantee another $7 trillion+ tax giveaway for billionaires will be the most important bill Trump will sign, yet people who have apparently never in their life taken a math class are stoked about the prospect of taking $50 billion/year away from the poorest people on earth which among other projects treats HIV to mitigate mutation risk, resistance to current treatments, and further spread of the virus.
Any news on 'efficiency' work for the defense budget, which is $800 billion/year and only expected to increase under Republican plans?
GOP Defense Leaders Pushing Trillion-Dollar Pentagon Budget
Roxana Tiron (news.bgov.com)surewhynotlem
in reply to Majorllama • • •You think the government has been wasting money, but you're saying that they don't know where that money is being wasted until they get access?
Then how did you know they were wasting money in the first place?
It sounds like you're starting with an assumption and trying to build a case around that assumption.
Majorllama
in reply to surewhynotlem • • •I mean every single year in their own audit they come back saying they "lost" billions and they "don't know" where it went.
We have known money was going into the government and not going where it was supposed to be going for decades.
It doesn't exactly take a road scholar to see that the people have been asking the government for certain things for ages and they always go "oh we don't have the money". But then they accidentally misplace more than we would have needed to do universal healthcare and other things for ages.
onion_dude
in reply to Majorllama • • •Thanks for taking the time to write this. On the few occasions I've had insights to the scale of government waste it's been eye watering. Of course, that doesn't change anything about my views regarding trump and musk, but I agree with your point... How else could someone tackle a problem of this scale?
Regardless though, it was just nice to read a thoughtful point of view that counters the prevailing emotions on here
otp
in reply to onion_dude • • •surewhynotlem
in reply to otp • • •The problem is it's not a waste if it's being paid as salaries to Americans.
This is what these people don't understand. If the government is inefficient, and that means that they're employing too many people, that's a good thing. It stops being a good thing when we have a good safety net. But we don't, so making up fake jobs is actually a positive.
otp
in reply to surewhynotlem • • •TechAnon
in reply to Majorllama • • •Majorllama
in reply to TechAnon • • •I mean I guess depending on what definition of coup you are using.
merriam-webster.com/dictionary…
First definition... No. It's hasn't been violent and they didn't overthrow anyone. They were elected (well Trump was) and ran on the promise of doing exactly what they have been doing.
Second definition.... Maybe. It depends on if you think this has been or will be "highly successful". It has definitely been sudden. Some would probably call it brilliant.
Now I know that a coup doesn't require violence so you don't need to mention that.
It's not a self coup (yet) so that one's off the able.
dictionary.cambridge.org/us/di…
Again if you wanna say it's brilliant and successful sure that coup definition would fit I suppose. It's brilliance has yet to be confirmed and who knows if it'll be successful.
Definition of coup
Merriam-Webster DictionaryTechAnon
in reply to Majorllama • • •I'm not trying to argue the definition of a coup.
You can remove the word "coup" and just say "overthrow of the government" -- that's really what I'm asking you. Do you think that's happening now? If not, what would signal to you that it is happening?
Singletona082
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •Clinicallydepressedpoochie
in reply to Singletona082 • • •Singletona082
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •Clinicallydepressedpoochie
in reply to Singletona082 • • •GreenKnight23
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •who hacked them?
did we ever find out who?
tenchiken
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •Clinicallydepressedpoochie
in reply to tenchiken • • •AngryCommieKender
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮
in reply to AngryCommieKender • • •AngryCommieKender
in reply to 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 • • •xmunk
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •glimse
in reply to xmunk • • •xmunk
in reply to glimse • • •daddy32
in reply to xmunk • • •piecat
in reply to daddy32 • • •GreenKnight23
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •they have census and population data for the entire US. this gives them the ability to map out not only density of citizens but variations of wealth, gender, race, age, skill, education, etc.
for the next phase of DOGE they will need this information to create their network states.
the government will collapse by mid-March or earlier. that's why Trump pushed his "tariffs" out 30 days. it's not tariffs, it's a countdown.
they're going to declare a state of emergency over something within the next two weeks. consolidate the national guards and national police force together to round up citizens. arrest and deport the "undesirables", and institute the formation of their network state.
DOGE doesn't mean Department of Government Efficiency.
Death
Of
Governments
Everywhere
Running will only delay the inevitable. those who are actively pursuing the end of democracy need to be removed from society if we want to continue down the path of a Democratic government.
this is no longer an administration that can be protested or discussed. this i
... show morethey have census and population data for the entire US. this gives them the ability to map out not only density of citizens but variations of wealth, gender, race, age, skill, education, etc.
for the next phase of DOGE they will need this information to create their network states.
the government will collapse by mid-March or earlier. that's why Trump pushed his "tariffs" out 30 days. it's not tariffs, it's a countdown.
they're going to declare a state of emergency over something within the next two weeks. consolidate the national guards and national police force together to round up citizens. arrest and deport the "undesirables", and institute the formation of their network state.
DOGE doesn't mean Department of Government Efficiency.
Death
Of
Governments
Everywhere
Running will only delay the inevitable. those who are actively pursuing the end of democracy need to be removed from society if we want to continue down the path of a Democratic government.
this is no longer an administration that can be protested or discussed. this is a war for the very survival of millions of Americans and the future of our world as we know it. it's about as bad as a nuclear bomb going off.
don't believe me? take 30 minutes to watch this. keep in mind, it's from two months ago.
youtube.com/watch?v=5RpPTRcz1n…
- YouTube
www.youtube.comClinicallydepressedpoochie
in reply to GreenKnight23 • • •I spread this video around like a few weeks ago. It wreaks of Lefty q-anon. It's fine if you feel differently but no one wanted to engage on it. I'm not talking about content either. I'm talking how they framed their argument. Would love to really discuss this video in a different setting but like I said I spread it a over and it only made people upset.
I have my doubts but we will see. I don't think you're far off but I think your timeline is a bit drastic. We can already see trump pull back the reigns here or there, why would he if he's getting ready to plunge in feet first?
GreenKnight23
in reply to Clinicallydepressedpoochie • • •I think it's a feint. the anger and emotional turmoil of the American public can't boil over yet and he wants to use that as a force for push us towards attacking the government.
they're weakening the established government agencies that protect the public. once all the cards are set he'll push for the public to attack because, "they failed to protect you from me" or "they failed you and now you're suffering because of it".
they already tricked Americans to vote against their own interests, it's not that far to make them attack the only true ally we have in a blind rage.
I don't think it reeks of any left qanon conspiracy. two months ago I would have questioned it, but now I think it makes more sense than "the Nazis are taking over".
Clinicallydepressedpoochie
in reply to GreenKnight23 • • •mm_maybe
in reply to GreenKnight23 • • •GreenKnight23
in reply to mm_maybe • • •