It's not some anonymous force forcing you to act like many of your fellow citizens do on social media. It's what the US believes, I'm affraid. Even on Lemmy. It's all "I don't like Trump" but strangely enough many still agree to some of his key positions when his name is not mentioned. It's weird.

You might want to check out the Patriot act (especially section 215) and how that plays into your believe of your constitutional rights. If there are any questions, just ask Clarence Thomas - he knows his stuff. I really don't get how you could be so blind to issues like that just because this post is about China. This is not a popularity contest - it is not US vs the world. This is about your rights, your data and your democracy. I'm from Europe and I'm kinda getting tired of reminding people from the US that your blind patriotism is just that...a blind spot that is used against the US citizens on every corner.

1984 is already a reality - in every country of the word, especially the US. Apple's famous Superbowl commercial from the same year, which suggested that data privacy (...) was important with regard to their strongest competitor at the time (IBM), does nothing to change this. On the contrary - none of this was even halfway true even back then. I really don't get why people think this is just an issue in China. It is an issue all over the world. For years and years.

That is certainly not wrong. However, I believe that it's not just the Chinese but that the US government (and other states around the world) has very far-reaching access to its citizens' data as well. Among other things, the Patriot Act makes it very easy to demand user data from companies without appropriate checks and balances, if the NSA is not already aware anyway. Without somewhat decent legal regulations such as those that exist in the EU for example, citizens have to trust that the state will not abuse this largely unregulated power. With regard to the question of who will form the next US government, I see a significant problem in this context: I think that Trump's right wing GOP will use this power against their political opponents and also, as a precaution, against ordinary citizens. I don't think they would shy away from setting up a surveillance state based on the Chinese model - the conditions for this are certainly met in the current legal situation.

You can't be serious.

We dine well here in Camelot. We eat ham and jam and spam a lot.

I assume he's trying to lull people who haven't seen the debate. Well, it's going to be tough to keep this going with all these memes of his embarrassing performance. The cat is already out of the bag and there sure is no one to eat it.

At least Harris has policy positions and a corresponding agenda. Trump has none of that, at least nothing that he could talk about in public. Did you not watch the debate? Did you not notice that he made no factual arguments whatsoever, but responded to every question on every topic with the same old empty polemics and unfounded recriminations?

I think he generally has a problem with live debates because everyone involved is in the same room and can respond directly and on equal footing. For this one needs at least some arguments that actually correspond to reality.

On Musk's Twitter, he doesn't need to worry about having to answer the unpleasant question why the moderators (and Harris) have repeatedly corrected his statements. He just talks about people, not to them. This is cowardly, childish and unworthy of any politician, especially a presidential candidate.

It's sad that a considerable proportion of citizens no longer seem to recognize that politics is about more than unfounded accusation and entertainment.

Once again, we see what the debate between Harris and Trump illustrated very clearly: The GOP in its current state is not pursuing any program whatsoever, but merely builds up imaginary enemy stereotypes that they blame for all their problems - without any even halfway factual reasons. Democratic processes are impossible with this tedious kindergarten approach because they are based on factual arguments, cooperation and the willingness to find common ground. I sincerely hope that there are some rational thinking conservatives left who will refuse to vote for this hateful orange moron and his ridiculous henchmen.

He probably remembered his tasteless lie that he owned the tallest building in Manhattan after the Twin Towers collapsed. He said this to a TV station on 9/11/2001. No one asked him for this interview; he found it necessary to call there in order to flatter himself with falsehoods instead of mourning the victims. He hasn't changed a bit since then.

A system that appoints supreme constitutional judges for life and without even halfway serious democratic checks and balances seems to me the perfect recipe for disaster and corruption. But hey, I'm from Europe, so what do I know... ¯_(ツ)_/¯