this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025

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Would the gutting of entitlement programs actually be what we need to move forward? (beehaw.org)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/politics@beehaw.org

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

You lose the senior vote as the GOP, you're fucked.

Yes, we've another two years, and it's becoming more clear this is why they're speedrunning.

But this is ... I don't know if self-immolation or Ouroboros is more apt.

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[+] ToadOfHypnosis@lemm.ee 22 points 4 months ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

There seems a very high, unconsidered risk of backlash. Like, this sort of shit indicates 2026 is off the table for elections.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Lol at you equating being voted out of office as “real consequences”.

The only thing these people fear is death itself. They need to be more scared.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

For now, voting is still allowed. Keep your powder dry for when it isn't. You'll want the energy.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Who am I supposed to vote for? The fascists or the controlled opposition?

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I would be very surprised if the Dems hold together to 2026 in this environment. They have to take a hard left, or Bernie starts a new party. Remember, there used to be Whigs. Nothing lasts forever, and this sort of environment, where everyone simultaneously realizes they're getting fucked, ends in either authoritarianism or a new order.

I can't personally believe the U.S. military would follow orders to quash dissent given their professionalism. Don't get me wrong: I don't care for a lot of what they've done over the years. National Guard? Sure. (See: Kent State)

As many Republicans as Democrats are about to get screwed without lube, and everyone has their breaking point; this is high-risk, high-reward. What they seem to be forgetting is they encouraged people to arm themselves and stock ammo, and at this accelerated rate, it might even break through to them that maybe, just maybe, it's the rich guys that are the problem, not the poors.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I totally agree with this. They’re fucking around and they’re about to find out. There’s a gun behind every blade of grass in this country. The question is… what will be the last straw? I think we came dangerously close to a revolution during the beginning of covid, with the right wing losing their collective shit over being asked to stay home and wear a mask, and the BLM protests after another black person was shot by the cops. (Note the difference in severity of offense to get a crowd to form. Blacks getting killed vs whites getting inconvenienced)

What’s it going to take? Killing off social security? Medicare? Medicaid? I think SS will do it. My mother (and many others her age) rely on it almost entirely to survive. With nothing left to lose, kids grown and looking at the end of their lifespan, why not revolt? My moms a dem but most her age are trump supporters. Surely it’s the undesirables that trump will hurt and not them. but are they physically fit enough to revolt? Doubtful.

Last year I was in Home Depot looking at tool accessories. A woman dressed in marine officer uniform approached me. I thought she was hitting on me at first. In reality, she was trying to recruit me to the marines. “You look so young and fit! Hard to find these days!” Well unfortunately for her, not young enough.

This woman was casing out the local Home Depot looking for young fit people to recruit. They’re desperate. What does that say about our society and the chances that we even could revolt successfully? What does that say about our national security in general?

As for the whigs… the republicans went that way when trump and the tea party took over. The republicans of my youth (bush 2 and co) are now effectively the democrat party. See Liz Cheney as an example….

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Dems couldn't pour resistance out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the bottom. They've not been what they still sell themselves as since Tip O'Neill.

One of the large questions is whether people finally realize that. I don't think they will. I think however this plays out, Dems are going to come out the other end portraying themselves as trying to right the ship after things have gone so sideways, and people will buy it because they understand neither the Overton window nor the perils of a two-party system.

When you've known nothing but neoliberalism your entire life, everything else looks scary.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I think the right will revolt if pushed hard enough. A lot of trumps support isn’t genuine - it’s a lot of “reverse” lesser evil strategy. Most people I work with in a deep blue state (federally) voted for him. Of those, only two are actual trump supporters. The rest are mostly “apolitical” and don’t like him but saw him as less evil than Harris, who promised a continuation of much of the same failed policy as biden which was economically hurting my coworkers.

I think one of my coworkers - straight, female, 30s, white, seemingly socially liberal - is a perfect microcosm into the average trump voter: Me: I’m surprised you voted for trump. Why? “my paycheck didn’t go as far under biden. I don’t like the guy but I’m struggling now more than ever.” Me: what about women’s reproductive rights? “I’m not worried, our state’s constitution protects it”Me: what would make you regret your vote? “if they went after the states right to abortion”

This woman doesn’t hate minorities, doesn’t really care about immigration, is pro lgbtq, pro women’s rights. And she voted for trump because neoliberalism is bankrupting her. She’s not alone. The rabidly stupid base of trump supporters the media parades around because they act like a ridiculous cult are not the people who put trump in office. My coworker is the type who put trump in office. And if government services they or their loved ones rely on disappear or they’re kicked off of, there’s a real chance they might revolt.

[–] t3rmit3@beehaw.org 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I think you are 100% correct, except for the first and last lines.

And if government services they or their loved ones rely on disappear or they’re kicked off of, there’s a real chance they might revolt.

I know these people as well, and they will never under any circumstances risk harm to themselves. Just as their vote was entirely selfish, so will their avoidance of violence be.

They are the kind of people who would have signed up as a Nazi Party member not because they agreed with it, but because they'd think it would be the best way to stay safe: just keep their heads down and go along quietly. Selfishness and fear can often go hand-in-hand; self-preservation and self-prioritization are divided by only the narrowest of very blurry lines.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 months ago

You’re probably right but I hope you’re wrong.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Keep voting for the democrats and definitely don't ask them to do more than give speeches on MSNBC and write strongly worded letters. It's only a matter of time before the West Wing moment comes where the Republican comes to his senses and does the right thing.

[–] inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Thank you for this glimmer of sanity. I can’t deal with the libs and their vote harder bullshit any longer. We need real leadership and opposition, something the democrats are incapable of because it offends the “good billionaires” (lololol they learned nothing from the loss) aka their controllers.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The other day I said something about how maybe people will rise up, and someone responded with a quote from "they thought they were free"

Go on. Have a read: https://fedia.io/m/history@lemmy.world/t/1432476/An-excerpt-from-They-Thought-They-Were-Free-The-Germans

(Edit: that URL isn't making a nice link for some reason)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Thought_They_Were_Free

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 9 points 4 months ago

If there are still elections.

[–] SpikesOtherDog@ani.social 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm seeing that they are abandoning seniors, possibly in the hope that they die off in the upcoming bird flu and coronavirus outbreak.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Claiming another outbreak from this particular source is disingenuous. The source material literally says:

The study itself noted that the virus has significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, and other suboptimal factors for human adaptation suggest the "risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated."

[–] SpikesOtherDog@ani.social 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Ugh, Reuters, I trusted you.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 3 points 4 months ago

That's the final graf of the story you linked to.

[–] USSMojave@startrek.website 2 points 4 months ago

But you didn't. You didn't even read the article

[–] blakenong@lemmings.world 3 points 4 months ago

The fuck? I don’t wanna die working.

[–] melp@beehaw.org 2 points 4 months ago

Idk... I am so mad at my asshole boomer in-laws, my shitty clueless friends (predominantly white but not completely), and even my partner and his bro friends that I'm just like... whatever. I think it needs to fall hard. These people are beyond rescuing. I am so sick of everyone. I don't wish ill will on the rest of us, though. I've just run out of empathy for the majority.

[–] Thevenin@beehaw.org 1 points 4 months ago

I won't say that they're too smart for that (lol), but this administration has been known to walk back major policy changes after powerful interest groups object. See also: H1B visas.