The non-voters had nothing to do with this. They literally did not participate.

Any real democracy would count the non-voters as part of the results. 20M not voting? OK then, any policies that affect everyone can no longer be enacted. No new laws. No new wars. Government can then maintain plumbing and provide public services, that's it.

Why isn't that the case? Why is it not a requirement for people to vote for government to have power?

Democracy...? Sure. Whatever hope you need to feel, friend, see you in the streets I hope.

FTP?

Nowadays the main question is whether it's open source or not. Anything closed source sucks, or will imminently suck. The more open source it is, the more modular, the more repairable, etc.

Yes this goes for hardware too.

Another point: Avoid 'smart' devices at all costs. They are hardware spyware, full stop, and will stop working whenever it is deemed you need to buy a new one.

What we're avoiding is capitalist opportuism hidden in tech and the solution for that is not to find a good provider. The solution is to find a provider that has a 'business model' that protects against the brunt of this extractive BS.

YES YES YES. Some linguistic part of my mind just had an orgasm.

Anarchy is. Period.

The rulers of 'God', laws, police, military, and so on, all know this. There is nothing 'out there' that somehow magically 'govern us'. It's all in your head, taught to you while you were young enough to make all that life-long beliefs. And it is rare for adults to then question those beliefs because that's the way childhood and adulthood works, across species.

There's nothing to the foundation of of our current society but ideas. And so it's fragile AF - and what remains real underneath those stories is anarchy: people want to help each other and they know how to take care of themselves. Give them space, and they'll be happy.

That's why the folks who lord it over you come and beat the shit out of you, put you in a cage, or shoot you in the head if you get out of line.

Or even if you simply wish to opt out! Sure, you can go into the forest. But try to bring too many people with you and we'll punch you and YOUR funny ideas into the pavement.

Anarchism is the act of always trying to throw the Ring into Mount Doom. Our 'systems' of rule, political machines, laws, police, borders, bla bla bla, are just different versions Sauron's ring. They all want to use the Ring to help in some way, and all inevitably become his servants.

I think people care, we're just trained into patterns of learned helplessness and isolation over generations.

There were large swathes of people who resisted during the 19th and 20th centuries, they were systematically murdered en masse. I bet it has happened many times over the centuries.

Sometimes I wonder if we've bred ourselves into either loyal obedience or dispassionate compliance because everyone else was always killed by the first group while being ignored by the second.

Or maybe it's just me 🤷‍♂️

But WHY? Seriously, are these cops brainwashed? Have they no children?

I know, I know, 1312 - but really? How much of a bastard can you be?

Does anyone know a goddamn cop who can explain what the fuck is going on in their minds?

LOSE YOUR JOB! DO WHATEVER ELSE! PICK UP EMPTY CANS ON THE STREET! Isn't anything better than doing this??

They just need to become non-profit and cap wage differentials within the company to 5x, then donate the surplus to the IPCC.

Big Oil doesn't need to advertise. They do lobbying instead.

Tolkien warned us. Nobody can carry the ring, it must be destroyed. But nobody wants to destroy it.

Except a few anar.. ehm, some hobbits.

How do you destroy power without creating a power vacuum ready to be filled by someone else?

It would be like overthrowing the government/corporates and then placing hidden snipers around the government/corporate building, shooting down anyone staying there for too long.

TL;DR - it's getting hotter due to climate change, so trees are dying. This will likely make things hotter.

Yes, let's enjoy the coolest year we'll ever experience in our lifetimes.