The first person to be the 28th President

I saw a video online by an “ex” CIA agent saying that the way the US spies on its citizens isn’t through shady espionage like wire tapping and private investigators. The FBI merely goes to info corporations like Google, AT&T, Facebook, etc. and buys the user’s information. I think that was an underlying goal of Musk’s. He wanted the user info on people that were using Twitter for political purposes worldwide. The value of Twitter wasn’t just it’s monetary value, but the power that came with owning that information.

I think part of the joke is that it seems to me that some people think that even if someone is in a committed romantic relationship, it’s okay to sleep with others until they’re married because a committed romantic relationship is not official; it’s informal. In other words, it’s only cheating if they’re married. Otherwise, it’s fair game because it’s not official.

Why does this person have a gun out??

I can understand when the topic is comparison, but my experience is that it seems that more often than not, the comparison is made even when not part of the topic. It could be some horrible news of a tragedy that occurred in the US, and rather than discuss the matter at hand, the comments are about how Europe is better. Of course they don’t do that with other countries like Brazil, India, or Mexico. That’s the point of the comment: to point out how ridiculous it would be, especially when a lot of the issues in those countries could be traced back to European colonization. But, since the US is a powerhouse with GDP, military, media, and global political power, everyone thinks it’s okay to shit on it. I’d like to point out that the GDP stays at the top. Arguably, the quality of life of the average EU resident is better than the average American resident. Y’all tell us everyday with your medical systems and healthcare access, workers rights, time off, gun control, etc.

If American culture constantly has a delusional state of superiority, then why are the comments on Lemmy about how the EU is superior? Let’s compare the number of comments on Lemmy in which Americans state or imply their superiority to Europe with vice versa. I bet that ratio will easily surpass 1:10. And the American one will more likely than not be downvoted to hell. Yeah, there are Americans and American media that are delusional about their superiority, but that is not the case with Lemmy users. In general, those are conservatives/Republicans and some moderates. Europe has those clowns too. American users on Lemmy tend to be quite left, desire strong leftist policies, and acknowledge the reality of the situation while being humble af, yet they are the ones that have to read all the shit talking about Americans every day on here. It’s annoying af; that’s all.

edit: Btw, despite that everyone may disagree with me, justifiably or not, I appreciate the opportunity to have this discussion.

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/13768084

Why would a Russian jet do that?

those states are violating the law and betting the Fed Govt won’t intervene.

Depending on the details, either “holy fuck that’sbadman” or “holy fuck rich”.

Federal laws supercede state laws already.

Copacetic

Relevant song

They get some dude hammered drunk, then stand him by a pole and ask him to take 100 steps.

/start rant

Europe loves to shit on US. Find another country or continent that Europe contrasts themselves from more than US. Popular contrasts:

• Gun safety
• Medical expenses
• Educational expenses
• Workers rights
• Length of history
• Mass transit
• Police brutality

I can’t go a day on Lemmy without seeing at least one of the above. Yet, you don’t see daily comments on how Europe is better than Brazil, India, Japan, Australia, Canada, Egypt, South Africa, Mexico, etc. Can you imagine if they did that?

News: Man Freezes to Death in Rural Canada

• EU resident: That never happens here because we have have mandatory heater laws or some shit.

News: 5 People Gunned Down and Robbed in Sao Paulo Favela

• EU resident: No idea what that’s like to live in that fear since we don’t have large pockets of extreme poverty and guns are highly controlled here.

News: Mumbai Police Assault Orphaned Girl

• EU resident: I’ve never heard of such a thing. Our police are here to protect us and orphanages are considered sacred.

News: Almost 90% of Egyptians Have Electric Power

• EU resident: What a shame that Egypt isn’t a developed country.

News: Shoot Out between Rival Cartels Kills 13 Adults, 3 Children

• EU Resident: That’s why we don’t share a border with the US or genocided the indigenous inhabitants here.

If 9/11 happened tomorrow, you’d see comments like, “What a tragedy. I’m happy I feel safe in Europe because we aren’t building bases in the Middle East. The worst thing I have to worry about is if people in Dubai think I’m American when I’m on vacation there.”

We get it. You guys are superior. The US has considerable social problems despite its GDP. You’d think you would be a little more grateful about the US helping yall build those fantastic social programs after you guys fucked yourselves up in WWII. Or US subsidizing your military defense, from aircraft carriers, troops, foreign bases, military equipment production, space, to being a nuclear sponge. Y’all be shitting your pants in the Summer and the freezing your asses of in the Winter with Putin if it wasn’t for us.

/end rant

Best October surprise ever.

lmaooooo 🤣🤣

Using heavier weights for my workouts. It makes me feel great and so powerful to help my body fight stored trauma.

Yooooo!!! Me too!! I make sure to piss myself off real good before going to the gym. I’ll be pacing like a madman before I get in the car. I know I’m ready when I don’t even want to go outside because even sunlight is offensive. One time, I pushed it too hard and had to ground myself in the car at the gym parking lot for 15 mins. Between sets, I’m pacing and stimming with my earbuds in. Prolly look like I think I’m in a rap video.

I catch people side-eyeing me often. But, I could tell who gets it because I catch them doing similar and are friendly to me when we’re near each other.

I don’t know if this will work for the trauma eventually or just a mandatory habit now, but it’s made adjusting my weighted blanket a lot easier.

Keep it up!

Congrats!! I loved the little bit I learned. It’s a lot more intertwined with others subjects than I had thought, like physics and math. Feel free to share if you learned anything interesting 🙂

🤣🤣🤣

I gotchu, boo 😉👌

Dear @[email protected],

Anyone that can be funded endlessly by a corporate and capitalist elite can become president.

If billionaires and corporate leaders decided tomorrow that you should be president, they could dump millions of dollars and a few years worth of hired professional help and they’d make you president.

It’s not the will of an individual person or a personality that makes a president … it’s whichever group of wealthy backers who decide to fund the campaign … after that it is j just a matter of how much money they are willing to spend to make it happen.

I think the point of the post is merely to point out that in four decades, at least one of three families has been in each election. Statistically, if candidates were freely chosen at random from the top 0.01% of Americans, that would be insanely improbable. It’s pointing out that presidential elections aren’t the American people picking the best person in the country for the job. There are influential factors other than who-would-be-best at face value. In other words, the people aren’t given a list of American citizens with their characteristics and asked to chose the one they would prefer. The people are told to pick one from a very select few that have already been approved. Whether those candidates have climbed a ladder or been given a silver spoon is irrelevant to that point. The matter is that elections aren’t entirely free in spirit.

It also serves as an argument against social mobility and merit in the USA. Dynasties are government systems in which the ultimate power stays within a family. We’re told that it’s because of whatever bs reason with the family being divine or superior, but the reality is that when the ultimate power rests within the same family, the people that benefit from that also stay in power. It’s a system that maintains those on top on top. Having presidential dynasties shows that social mobility in the USA isn’t as fluid as commonly thought.

Smith, named after George Smith Washington