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by rocqua 499 days ago
China supresses information because they fear the anger of the oppressed.

This censorship is much more petty. "My child hates me, and it can't be my fault. Let's call some modern progress ideology, and stomp all over it".

This isn't about repression, it's a show of force. Both for intimidation, and to gather admiration. Because it is cool if you can be above the law. It takes strength to be above the law, so we should respect it. Scary thing is, it seems to be working.
2 comments
spuz 499 days ago
Honestly this is in some ways worse to me. The US government already know their people will not rebel. Somehow, despite the higher consequences this time around, far fewer people have been willing to protest. In 2017, millions demonstrated across the country, this year it was only a few thousand:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/18/womens-march...

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rocqua 499 days ago
Does it matter that this election was won with a clear margin, also in the popular vote? I feel like it does.

Rebellion and protest wil require those who supported Trump to change their mind. Democracy demands it. Which shows that things get weird if a majority of people favor the dissolution of rule of law within a democracy. A point it seems the US has reached, but I would give it another few months to give people time to really see what they voted for.

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spuz 499 days ago
If everyone who supported a shift towards facism protested against everyone who did not, I believe you'd see much lower proportion than the 49% of voters who voted for Trump. In fact, you'd probably see a much lower proportion than the 31% of eligible voters who voted for Trump. I'd estimate maybe only half of people who voted for Trump actually support most of his policies. That puts it at just 11% of the population of the US and I think that's already far too generous. You are right, we should be democratic and allow people's views to be represented. But I don't think as many people support these policies as a simple count of the number of votes Trump received might suggest.
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rocqua 498 days ago
Yes, not half of America supports the slide into facism. But I think some of those who supported trump need to publicly disavow this slide in order for opposition to be viable. Resistance to facism make a lot more sense if people believe a new, fair, election would actually help.
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JumpCrisscross 499 days ago
> This censorship is much more petty

It’s in the same vein. The government is removing information so it can act impunitively against certain people. The people getting harmed by these policies are, in the end, poor and marginal. If you’re already lucky enough to be rich in America, you’re probably getting much richer in the next four years.

ALL THAT SAID, if I were advising Trump (I’m not) and asked to be Machiavellian, I’d say his single priority right now is the budget. Create as much confusion in the public space as possible so your surrogates in the House have the room they need to manoeuvre. (Also keep an eye out for CBO’s gutting. It’s a real check on Trump inasmuch as it lives outside the executive and determines what can be passed on party lines with reconciliation.)

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rocqua 499 days ago
This isn't something done to enable harm. It's meant to be directly harmful, and to signal an immediate win. It is 'follow up' on promises made and it signals to others "hating trans people is acceptable now".

It is barely about suppressing this information. But about what the act signals to supporters, bigots, and 'targets'.

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