I can certainly relate to the people who are still saying they "can't quit Twitter" or "can't quit yet" but if you're only staying on Twitter to criticize Joe and Mika for going to Mar-a-Lago or to mock Don Jr. for rubbing cocaine into his gums on live TV, maybe today's the day to finally face that deep dark truthful mirror.
As I've repeated daily since the election, this really is the time to get off X once and for all. (Also: Please find me on Bluesky and these other places.)
Now's a good time to find and follow and subscribe to other sources of content you wish to support.
Here are a three new articles from people and sites I like to plug into:
This is Jason Sattler (aka LOLGOP) writing in his I Know How Much You Care newsletter:
"Just 400 mega-donors outspent every other contributor to the Republican Party... Elon Musk alone appears to have outspent every small donor to the Trump campaign. And that’s if you don’t count the multiple billions of dollars he put into the $44 billion he wrangled to purchase Twitter and turn it into a Trump campaign website. In return, Tesla has skyrocketed 40% since Trump’s election, making Elon about $70 billion he can blow on future elections. And the way that Elon spent degraded democracy itself. His PAC drowned targeted voters with disinformation of the sort tens of millions are now fleeing from on Twitter... We need to take our own side against the billionaires... There are more of us than there will ever be of them. But that only matters if we have a democracy where it’s even possible for us to fight for our interests."
A Declaration of Independence from the Billionaires
We can have democracy, or we can have billionaires. Not both. At least with these campaign finance laws. When in the course of human events, it becomes undeniable that the billionaires are kicking our ass and would prefer fascism over slight tax increases, we have to do something. Look at
Jason Sattler
In 2024, the tech fascists have made their move. And they've made it clear that, for all their talk of a future world that offers "abundance" for all, they're hedging their bets. Abundance would be nice. But if that rocket explodes on the launchpad, their plans B, C and D will ensure that they've protected their own wealth and locked in the existing power structure so they can enjoy life for as long as possible, whether it's in new, exclusive (and anti-woke) societies for crypto bros, a Christian Nationalist Gilead, or their deluxe "family and friends" doomsday bunkers.
This is from a new article by Brian Jonathan Chen, Policy Director at Data & Society, for Tech Policy Press:
"Come inauguration day, President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a techno-security architecture primed to militarize new technologies, jettison AI protections, fast-track fossil fuel drilling, and champion the concentrated power of America’s tech oligarchy.... Big Tech firms and venture capitalists are well positioned to exploit the techno-nationalist mood. During the campaign, Silicon Valley figures like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen helped shape the President-elect’s tech policy agenda. To 'take the lead over China' on AI, campaign allies said the new administration will discard Biden’s AI guardrails and go full steam ahead on autonomous weapons, intelligence, and cybersecurity. To meet the vast energy demands of data centers, Trump has called for a boom in fossil fuel production..."
And it's not just Elon Musk.
The likes of "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.... will continue to cloud the abuses of their products—from the abysmal working conditions of data workers to the climate damage wrought by data centers—by legitimating an assumed tech competition between the US and its rivals. The jingoism only gets louder in MAGA world."
Full article on Tech Policy Press:
Silicon Valley’s Embrace of National Security Will be All-Encompassing Under Trump | TechPolicy.Press
Data & Society policy director Brian Chen writes that President-elect Trump will inherit a techno-security architecture primed to militarize new technologies.
Brian Chen
Meanwhile, a lot of left-wing "influencers" are predicting with confidence that Trump will f**k up bigly because he's picking clowns for his cabinet and he's just too lazy and stupid to get anything done.
But if you think that, you haven't been paying attention.
It's now obvious that Elon's skulduggery, lies, disinformation, and data-driven manipulations made a huge difference in tipping the scales toward Trump in this election. In the same way, we should expect the architects of Project 2025 to be as ruthlessly efficient in carrying out their agenda as they have promised to be.
This is from Oliver Willis's latest in his "Oliver Willis Explains" newsletter:
"The best version of America is one with a strong centralized government administering to the massive needs of a giant country with a huge population. The Trump-Musk vision is doomed to failure. The notion that America can be run with anything resembling competence with Musk’s 'DOGE' committee hounding federal bureaucrats is insanely dumb, but they own this now... People are going to be hurt, and they are going to die. Liberalism tried to avert this situation but thanks to docility by the Democratic Party, dishonesty by the mainstream media, and thuggery from the right, we are here anyway. Our role? To tell everyone involved, including the public who went along with it, that we told you so.
... Failure is coming to America. As a movement, liberalism must be ready to address and brand the coming failure as powered by conservatism.... this coming nightmare isn’t good for America or the world. But it is a unique opportunity in the midst of chaos to beat the hell out of the idea that is the underpinning of conservatism."
The Right Is About To Destroy One Of Its Core Beliefs, Lets Help Them
They Broke It They Own It
Oliver Willis
In summary:
We have to fight back against the billionaires—before the coming AI-powered fascist surveillance state makes that completely impossible.
But we also have to make sure we communicate to every Trump voter in every way possible just how much their vote has contributed to the pain and suffering they and the nation will be experiencing. And we should also point out—repeatedly—Trump's failures to do the simple stuff like reduce the price of eggs.
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P.S. This really is the time to get off X once and for all. Please find me on Bluesky and these other places.
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