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2026 Mid-Term Elections

 
 
 
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Good God, man. (DeForest Kelly voice) Don't give Trump ideas.
 
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ZiprHead said:
bilby said:
ZiprHead said:
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This is what happens when you sack middle management and replace them with AI - half the slaves are rowing backwards, and there's an entire oar with nobody pulling on it at all.
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The concept of the photo is the point, not the accuracy of the photo.
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Perhaps, but the latter severely undermines the former, acting as an object lesson in the stupidity of attempting to replace actual artists with AI.

I have many ideas for satirical cartoons, but lack the artistic talent to do them justice, so they remain forever in my head. This is because any effort by me to reproduce them with pen and ink would be embarrassing and awful.

I would be equally embarrassed to produce awful AI slop that illustrated the concepts I have in mind.

Apparently the creator of that image lacked embarrasment. They shouldn't have. Embarrasment is very important - it tells us when we are (perhaps indevertently) harming our society. The whole problem of Donald J Trump is that he (and his surrounding sycophants) is not embarrassed when he really, really, ought to be - Four Seasons Landscaping, anyone?

Indeed, when right-wing idiots complain that "I am not allowed to even say that anymore", what they usually mean is "I feel embarrassed that I said something that turned out to be a faux pas. I hate feeling embarrassed, and have stupidly decided to blame the unwritten rules of politeness in our society, rather than blaming myself".

And when people become trillionaires, it's because they lack the embarrasment that should come from being vastly better off than the vast majority of people without feeling a sufficient moral obligation to help - The entirety of Ayn Rand's philosophy founders on the fact that being selfish is, for mentally healthy people, deeply embarrassing.

Embarrasment, like pain, is a vital signal that you need to stop what you are doing before you do any further damage. Whether that thing is running for President while utterly incompetent, or publishing awful art, or getting a machine to make awful art and publish it.

Lets bring back embarrasment.
 
ZiprHead said:
[stupid meme]
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This is not a good representation of capitalism. Capitalism has allowed a huge increase in overall prosperity over the last 2 centuries or so, and with it the modern notion of the middle class.

That image is more apt as description of actually existing socialism as it was practiced in the eastern block. If you are in the top echelons of the Party, you are on the top deck, otherwise you are in the hull.
 
Inside a Conservative Operation to Hijack Your Social-Media Feed

If you’re short on cash, there is someone in Riga, Latvia, who can help. “You can literally make 100k a month with this campaign,” a young man with blond curls and a thick accent says into a camera. All you have to do is post on social media video clips of “anything that supports Republican.” Unfamiliar with U.S. politics? No problem: “If you’re not from the USA, like, What the fuck is even Republicans? like me,” then simply go to Gemini or ChatGPT, he suggests, “and be like ‘Yo, Gemini, I want some videos promoting Republican values. Give me ideas.’ Go to Gemini. Get ideas. Boom.”

The man, who goes by Serviuos, is promoting a campaign called Elephant Clipping, run by his company, ClipIt. The company pays subcontractors, many from poorer countries in Eastern Europe and the global South, to chop up videos the company provides into bite-size pieces in the hope that the clips will go viral online.
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Derec said:
ZiprHead said:
[stupid meme]
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This is not a good representation of capitalism. Capitalism has allowed a huge increase in overall prosperity over the last 2 centuries or so, and with it the modern notion of the middle class.

That image is more apt as description of actually existing socialism as it was practiced in the eastern block. If you are in the top echelons of the Party, you are on the top deck, otherwise you are in the hull.
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It is descriptive of most economic systems that take advantage of other people. You think The Time Machine was written in a vacuum?

The US was built with the flesh and blood of lots of laborers, a number who died, many who suffered. Capitalism has collapsed twice (1929 and 2008), heck in 2008 it was the end without substantial Government involvement. We want an economic system that allows money to flow freely with as few hands in between as possible. But we know that capitalism clots money and it needs to be monitored closely.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
It is descriptive of most economic systems that take advantage of other people. You think The Time Machine was written in a vacuum?
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Don't be silly. H.G. Wells would not have bene able to breathe in a vacuum.
The US was built with the flesh and blood of lots of laborers, a number who died, many who suffered.
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Far fewer than died or suffered building, say, USSR.
Capitalism has collapsed twice (1929 and 2008), heck in 2008 it was the end without substantial Government involvement.
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Those were crises, but I do not think that "collapse" is the right word. And capitalism is not antithetical to the existence of governments and its involvement in economic affairs. In fact, I would argue that the economic surplus created by capitalism is what allowed the federal government to have sufficient resources to help the economy get back on track.
We want an economic system that allows money to flow freely with as few hands in between as possible. But we know that capitalism clots money and it needs to be monitored closely.
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And it is still leagues ahead of alternatives such as socialism. It also has nothing to do with Zipr's vacuous meme.
 
Derec said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
It is descriptive of most economic systems that take advantage of other people. You think The Time Machine was written in a vacuum?
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Don't be silly. H.G. Wells would not have bene able to breathe in a vacuum.
The US was built with the flesh and blood of lots of laborers, a number who died, many who suffered.
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Far fewer than died or suffered building, say, USSR.
Capitalism has collapsed twice (1929 and 2008), heck in 2008 it was the end without substantial Government involvement.
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Those were crises, but I do not think that "collapse" is the right word. And capitalism is not antithetical to the existence of governments and its involvement in economic affairs. In fact, I would argue that the economic surplus created by capitalism is what allowed the federal government to have sufficient resources to help the economy get back on track.
We want an economic system that allows money to flow freely with as few hands in between as possible. But we know that capitalism clots money and it needs to be monitored closely.
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And it is still leagues ahead of alternatives such as socialism. It also has nothing to do with Zipr's vacuous meme.
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It's all about the mix. There is no system that is pure capitalism or socialism. Unbridled capitalism is destructive. Socialism can stifle innovation.
 
You seem to be arguing with someone who is saying we need to move the US to a socialist form of government. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that capitalism in America is not what you think it apparently is. And when it gets closer to being more "capitalistic" things go bad, terribly bad.
Derec said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
It is descriptive of most economic systems that take advantage of other people. You think The Time Machine was written in a vacuum?
Click to expand...
Don't be silly. H.G. Wells would not have bene able to breathe in a vacuum.
The US was built with the flesh and blood of lots of laborers, a number who died, many who suffered.
Click to expand...
Far fewer than died or suffered building, say, USSR.
Capitalism has collapsed twice (1929 and 2008), heck in 2008 it was the end without substantial Government involvement.
Click to expand...
Those were crises, but I do not think that "collapse" is the right word. And capitalism is not antithetical to the existence of governments and its involvement in economic affairs. In fact, I would argue that the economic surplus created by capitalism is what allowed the federal government to have sufficient resources to help the economy get back on track.
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2008 was the end of the road. Money was about to freeze. You literally were going to be left with what was in your wallet. I'd call that a full blown collapse.
Derec said:
We want an economic system that allows money to flow freely with as few hands in between as possible. But we know that capitalism clots money and it needs to be monitored closely.
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And it is still leagues ahead of alternatives such as socialism.
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No, it isn't remotely well ahead of alternatives such as socialism. Capitalism in the US has been reined in quite a bit since the turn of the 20th Century via socialistic ideals. Public utilities, minimum wage, unions, corporate regulation. Capitalism didn't give in to any of this easily. About the only thing that wasn't was fire departments because private business wanted the people to pay for that, and got what they wanted. The Government has been involved in stabilizing access to money (FDIC) because we can't trust banks to remain solvent.

US expansion came from the US giving away land to people. And then when things got messed up agriculturally, the US Government stepped in and improved agricultural practices. And continue to do so to improve much needed fertilizer and water efficiencies. Then there is the anti-capitalistic sense of trust busting. The Government also used to have very high tax rates for the uber income.

US Capitalism has (had?) a lot of government intervention because of reactions to what happens when we let the system try to work itself out. Our system of economics is teetering set of capitalistic and socialistic ideals, because neither of the two sets of ideals alone is remotely compatible with how people operate.
 
GOP is still running the anti-trans ad in Ohio (about how Brown supports sex changes for children) with a person who was 19 and living Texas when they had surgery there, despite saying otherwise. What I find odd about the add is the woman is dressing and putting on makeup like they still identify as a woman.
 
GOP is now accusing Zelenskyy of interfering with US elections.
WHY?
Because Ukraine has taken out Russian data centers that were home to its Trump-supporting web bots.
How low can these Repugs go? Right now, I have more respect for Putin than for the Johnson pretending to lead the House.
 
As an FYI, Democrats always outperform on early voting in Ohio.
article said:
Like several voters interviewed by Reuters, Ringold also cited Trump's rhetoric. "I wish he would just tone down that rhetoric ... that old New York in-your-face 'I got you sucker'" persona, he said.
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This is right-winger for I'm "holding my nose" and still voting Republican.
 
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