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[-] Devadander@lemmy.world 103 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

All of that ignores this is happening intentionally

[-] rocket_dragon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 90 points 6 days ago

I have a very hard time believing that the super wealthy are some mega conspiracy masterminds, and not just some greedy morons who self-destructive because they can't see past next quarter's profits.

[-] monkeyman512@lemmy.world 58 points 6 days ago

The most rational explanation I have heard is that they are just well dressed hoarders. Acquiring more wealthy is an attempt to smother the bad feelings with the pleasure of "success". But the pleasure of success is fleeting and the goal posts move every time. So they keep chasing "success" and hoarding wealth to make the bad feelings go away. But that will never heal their emotional issues, so they will never stop.

[-] sunnie@slrpnk.net 41 points 6 days ago

Oh, it’s absolutely a pretty severe mental illness. The fact that we raise these very damaged people up on a pedestal and celebrate them doesn’t speak very well of our society.

[-] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 44 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

"If a monkey hoarded more bananas than it could eat, while most of the other monkeys starved, scientists would study that monkey to see what is wrong with it. When humans exhibit this same behavior, we put them on the cover of Forbes magazine."

There's a lie they told me: you want the rich people to stay in your country, and that's why we make accommodations for them with reduced taxes and free money. In fact it's the opposite: tax the hell out of them and redistribute their bananas.

[-] Formfiller@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

Yes, but we are at a point where we need to confiscate all wealth over 100million

[-] TheBenCommandments@infosec.pub 4 points 5 days ago

They’re actually quite poorly dressed considering how much time and money they have

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[-] RockBottom@feddit.org 23 points 6 days ago

I recently tend to think they are actually at their wits' end.

[-] owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 19 points 6 days ago

A few of them might be, but politics are like fines--inconsequential to the super rich. The disgustingly wealthy can just bail when things get bad. And if sabotaging an entire nation gets them more money in the next quarter, they'll do it.

[-] logos@sh.itjust.works 17 points 6 days ago

It’s not a mystery at all. It’s dark enlightenment that they proudly espouse whenever they can. Destroy the state and have a bunch of tech bro kings with little kingdoms.

[-] mjhelto@lemm.ee 6 points 6 days ago

The entire prose of their belief is wrong.

Fascism is a mass anti-capitalist movement

Fascism and capitalism are like peas in a pod.

[-] Damage@feddit.it 5 points 6 days ago

I mean, the US can do whatever it wants to itself, people voted for this anyway. Just don't drag the rest of the world down as well, please.

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[-] PartyAt15thAndSummit@lemmy.zip 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Phase 2 - annexation of other countries, or parts thereof - is yet to start. Surely that would serve to quieten the home front, not to mention to make the rich even richer, by an awful lot. Hell, we'll get to see the world's first trillionaire for sure.

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[-] randon31415@lemmy.world 51 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

It's like hijacking a plane pre-9/11. Everyone knew you just followed along because the hijackers wanted something. Then 9/11 happened and hijacking the plane WAS what they wanted.

Tarriffs pre-Trump always were to pressure a change in some policy. Then Trump came along and tarriffs were the policy. But instead of World Trade Center collapsing, it is now just World Trade.

[-] desktop_user 12 points 6 days ago

the only issue I take with this analogy is the comparison of an awful person that will kill millions to some terrorists.

[-] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

It is like 9/11 but in the sense of the entire law book going out the door by using the excuse of "combating terrorism" and ending up where we are now.

Back when the Patriot act was laudly applauded and institutions like ICE were deployed to violate laws people knew this was going to be the end station.

[-] Paddy66@lemmy.ml 6 points 5 days ago

Totally. Never let a crisis go to waste.

And if there's no crisis, invent one.

[-] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

On 9/11 they had all the documents and bills ready to go. Sure was very convenient timing.

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[-] Aqarius@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago

That's, actually, a very insightful way of putting it. It genuinely seems to be like that.

[-] notannpc@lemmy.world 38 points 6 days ago

It’s not even that it wasn’t coupled with a public investment strategy, but it was coupled with trying to get rid of existing investments like the CHIPS act that are desperately needed.

I would say this was sabotage if it didn’t reek of pure incompetence. What else would you expect from a man that bankrupts casinos.

[-] jonne@infosec.pub 19 points 6 days ago

There's a certain type of person that is actually willing to shrink the pie as long as they get the largest part of it. You can criticise neoliberals for a lot (and you should), but their stated goal was to grow the economy and lift all boats that way. Obviously they ended up creating a system where most boats had holes in them, but they did lift the tide.

Trump is going to shrink the world economy, but him and his friends will end up owning an even bigger part (percentage wise) of US assets than anyone before. It's basically going to turn into post-communist Russia. Trump is the Yeltsin figure, the American Putin is waiting in the wings somewhere.

[-] ironcrotch@aussie.zone 4 points 5 days ago

Trump is the Yeltsin figure, the American Putin is waiting in the wings somewhere.

I am pretty sure that hopeful dick bag is wringing his hands in plain sight attempting to dismantle everything already.

[-] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 46 points 6 days ago

Yup that sounds right

Next comes the blue wave reaction in midterms. Trump's policies continue to fail, but MAGA persists. Liberals get suckered into thinking electoral politics will save them.

Then the '28 election gets "stolen" (thanks to their utter failure to govern responsibly), Trump refuses to leave, and things break down from there. He'll probably get talked into actually letting states secede if they try, they've just gotta be the last guy to talk to him before he goes in front of the media (I won't say press anymore because his pool is not journalists). Boom, policy.

Of course, secession would be incredibly stupid of any governor to try. But those are the people he's putting in power while he threatens the rest with the Feds.

Dark times coming people

[-] TheCriticalMember@aussie.zone 35 points 6 days ago

Dark times are already here.

[-] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 27 points 6 days ago

I mean, yes, but not widespread starvation and disease amidst civil war. This is still the early stage of collapse. The overture setting the themes for the rest of the show.

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[-] compostgoblin@slrpnk.net 4 points 6 days ago

If California were somehow allowed to secede peacefully, I think their economy is strong enough that they could survive independently. Pretty much any other state though, I don’t see how it could work.

[-] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

California could. New York could until the city is completely underwater, but it wouldn't have to, New England will band together more or less. They'll do okay, Canada will probably offer to protect them, if they dont join completely. Like I said, I see the Bible Belt turning into Confederacy 2. A Mormon state might erupt around Utah. Hilariously, I'd expect most of the border states to join Mexico, after a good quarrel.

Flyover states... idk but I wish you luck

[-] logos@sh.itjust.works 6 points 6 days ago

China and Russia eat popcorn.

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[-] Rooskie91@discuss.online 22 points 6 days ago

That's what they mean when they say fascism is capitalism in decline.

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[-] sfled@lemm.ee 7 points 5 days ago

What’s wild about the Trump tariffs is that they are not coupled with any industrial policy or public investment strategy that could plausibly deliver US re-industrialization. The result is that the tariffs will likely accelerate US industrial decline and general economic degradation.

It is truly fascinating to watch. Trump has so thoroughly purged socialist ideas from his economics departments, and has ensured such absolute hegemony of neocon principles, that his administration is incapable of conceptualizing and implementing even *basic* industrial policy that could deliver on the Executive Branch’s own stated goals.

Total self-delusion. The billionaire ruling class has no idea what to do, they are completely adrift. And this is dangerous because they are likely to resort to violence and geopolitical bullying in a desperate dying bid to hold onto power.

[-] S_H_K@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 6 days ago

"Fascinating to watch"
Buddy millions will die...

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 15 points 6 days ago

Tragedy is fascinating. Aristotle knew it, every actor since knows it, historians know it.

[-] RockBottom@feddit.org 8 points 6 days ago

Yeah, it's like a traffic accident.

[-] FreakinSteve@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

The right ones will die if everyone ARMS UP and accepts that we are dealing with NAZIS.

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[-] mrslt@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

likely to resort to violence [...] to hold onto power

Oh good, then we can crush them without remorse. I do so love unambiguous villains.

[-] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

I think a better way to "reindustrialize" would be making wages paid to any domestically employed employee's wage, who isn't in the executive class, tax deductible, all coupled with a tax hike on corporations, assuming there's a workplace shortage.

[-] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 14 points 6 days ago

It always makes me so happy to see Jason on here. He was one of the TAs in my anthro program in college.

[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago

Thats so cool actually wtf

[-] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 5 points 5 days ago

Currently the best way to bring back industrial potential is to create state owned enterprises and have your own four year plan to either grow your SOE or establish infrastructure for private companies.

Oh, and, devalue the shit out of the USD if you want any kind of private investment.

[-] FreakinSteve@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

Just like the NAZIS.

Because this regime and all associated with it are NAZIS.

Time to start calling them what they are and preparing to deal with them the only way that NAZIS are to be dealt with.

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 7 points 6 days ago

I feel like even that is giving them too much credit. They're like wannabe Nazis, but not even smart enough to nationalize steel and auto industries.

Not forgiving the Nazis anything, and most of the "nationalization" amounted to confiscation of private (I think frequently Jewish) property. They were a hundred percent anti-socialist, but I guess they had one or two real economists floating around, so they didn't completely shoot themselves in the foot economically, like the Americans under Trump seem to be doing.

[-] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

The nazis privatized a lot of things, save for public healthcare, which is pretty much the only thing the right talks about in case when they need to prove "the national socialists were in fact, socialists" somehow.

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 3 points 5 days ago

The nazis privatized a lot of things …

Oh I wonder why that isn't brought up more, what with right wing governments and their love of privatizing utilities.

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[-] basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 days ago

Nazis did Gleichschaltung, which wasn’t as much about owning, but about control. They centralized stuff, subverted and merged organizations. But indeed they also expropriate a couple of groups and looted other countries. That usually became national or party property. But people also took stuff for themselves. And they also destroyed property … like book burnings. The Nazis didn’t do well economically. It was part of their plan to loot and exploit other countries. German economy became most efficient when there were already fights on German soil, which means they didn’t work as efficiently as possible before that. England did a lot better due to having John Maynard Keynes on their side.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Biden was doing industrial policy to bring in manufacturing, so naturally Trump abandoned it.

(I wonder what the d-d-democrats bad people thought about the post before I said that. It's Republicans that don't want to.)

[-] GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 6 days ago

That "likely" is doing extremely heavy lifting there. That's akin to saying "it's likely the sun will rise in the east in the morning."

[-] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 6 points 6 days ago

There is a lot of damage to industrialization hopes. Tariffs on metals, lumber, gypsum hurts building and manufacturing. Energy (solar and batteries) tariffs not only means higher energy input costs for industry, it's yet another immediate cost of living increase for people, and an unsustainable planet is a worse cost of living increase/quality of life decrease.

There does seem to be an industrial policy to militarize AI, and monopolize data centers to US, through politicized investment funds, but they are not getting the quo pro their quid, and limiting the world to US controlled data centers is certain to make them prefer/wait for Chinese tech to catch up.

Retaliation, undermining, and boycotts is going to mean less production and less jobs and less income to afford consumption at higher prices. War on Universities doesn't help future. Forcing kids to replace immigrant labour instead of school focus is anti-future.

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this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
929 points (100.0% liked)

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