Prelude to the Apocalypse

[BryanM]

It wouldn't have made any difference if she were AOC or Karl Marx himself. It's all internal bargaining inside the mind trying to make sense of the world, all copium trying to deny the acceptance of the cold uncaring reality of the void.

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy said it best with that one plotline about the xenophobe planet. It was one planet against the entire universe, but in the end, despite how counter-intuitive it was, they would win. Because they just care more.

Hopefully they'll fall short of the gas chambers before the next phase shift in society happens. We're not exactly the Weimar Republic right now, so there's hope enough for that. It's a pity the Palestinian race will be wiped off the face of the earth, and Ukraine is probably fucked, but some humans may survive. Perhaps.

I guess we're coming to the end of the prelude. Roughly ten years remain until it kicks off officially. There'll still be people in denial when the end begins to come, the masses are cattle incapable of foresight after all.

If you want hope or salvation, pray to the machine god I guess.

So Ukraine will no longer exist?

It's a real possibility. The generals and the entire department of defense and the military industrial complex will oppose it, and bear every lever they have to continue providing aid. But god knows the damage his administration could choose to do.

There are probably some lines he can't cross without being removed, like his friend Jeff was. No man rules alone - there's an entire machine he has to bend the knee before.

For Ukraine's sake, I hope that much is at least true.

[Sengoku Strider]

I'm sorry guys, I really thought he had no shot. People really voted in the country's biggest scam artist on economic grounds, as if he's going to tell all these companies to de-inflate prices rather than just getting his own cut. That and the "keep yucky girls out of the treehouse" demographic turned out big for him.

If Trump bails on Ukraine it falls to Germany and Poland and the rest of Europe to step up support. They were always the ones the defence of Ukraine was about anyway, this is their fight more than it ever was America's.

The real question is what happens behind the scenes as his brains continue to get mushier and mushier by the day and Elon & Thiel circle like vultures.

He's gonna try and get his face on Mt Rushmore again isn't he. Except this time he'll just force it to happen.

[orange808]

There you go. Still have faith in rational behavior?

[Lemnear]

So Ukraine will no longer exist?

It's a real possibility. The generals and the entire department of defense and the military industrial complex will oppose it, and bear every lever they have to continue providing aid. But god knows the damage his administration could choose to do.

There are probably some lines he can't cross without being removed, like his friend Jeff was. No man rules alone - there's an entire machine he has to bend the knee before.

For Ukraine's sake, I hope that much is at least true.

Would it be convenient for the U.S. to have such a weakened partner?
Isolationism would only create more ground for the "axis of evil".

The real question is what happens behind the scenes as his brains continue to get mushier and mushier by the day and Elon & Thiel circle like vultures.

So the 2028 election will be something like:
Elon Musk (REP) vs Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (DEM)?

[orange808]

There may not be another election. Not a real one, anyway.

[neorichieb1971]

I am surprised how distant the vote was from the prelude. I moved to the USA in 2000 and since then i cannot remember an election which wasn't "close". Seems ridiculous to think every election is 51 vs 49. Or in some cases 50.1 vs 49.9.

Although foreign affairs are important, cost of living is the voters main agenda. I have never seen a government try to control markets in housing which is the main beef folk have in much of the west. On top of that you have interest rates and energy. I assume energy will be Trumps first agenda since he likes dabbling in that, and that makes profits so its a win win always.

Home prices, they won't touch that. My concern with foreign affairs is the reversal of policies already in place. Going from Republican, Democrat and flipping every 4 years just makes the USA a country that backs out of quite a lot of policies.

Then you have the real agenda of "make USA great again", which is more than a 4 year goal and lets be honest, the USA will be 50 trillion in the hole by the time this next Trump term ends.

A guy online said the Red army (China) are USA tax funded. Which is absolutely true. The USA is paying interest on $800 billion Chinese debt thats quite a lot of USA funded Chinese bullets that could be attacking any nearby state in the next 5 years.

[Sengoku Strider]

There you go. Still have faith in rational behavior?

He's going to put former NFL running back Herschel Walker in charge of missile defence.



So no, not much. His own followers should have been done with him after the FBI/documents thing, the rape thing, the killing their grandparents and uncles with covid denial thing, the porn star thing, the holding hands wih Kim Jong Un thing, the Epstein's best friend thing, the him having no public policy thing, all of the things. I concede that Joe Rogan is now America's leading intellectual and your country has gotten weird in ways I don't understand, and I don't think Americans have a grasp on it either. Even his own campaign spent all last week throwing each other under the bus expecting a loss, but whatever messages are filtering out to the everyday people actually voting have a life all their own.

[orange808]

A guy online said the Red army (China) are USA tax funded. Which is absolutely true. The USA is paying interest on $800 billion Chinese debt thats quite a lot of USA funded Chinese bullets that could be attacking any nearby state in the next 5 years.

A shift to universal health care would free up 5% of American GDP for other expenditures. That's ~$1.3 trillion in 2024 projected adjusted dollars and GDP. Paying the debt down with that money is complicated. A lot of it needs to redirected through the economy and the multiplier as consumption. Ultimately, it would deliver a surplus that could be redirected to paying down debt.

Given that the rest of western civilization already uses the universal model and I'm projecting the largest health expenditures on the planet as a replacement for the current American model: America can slash spending by a third and still spend a little more than Switzerland. The US would still lead the globe in health care spending overall and per capita. The proven results of every other western nation will deliver gains in quality of life and life expectancy for all Americans. It will also cost less.

The savings ($1.3 trillion) would be redirected to other spending. If Americans weren't dirt stupid, they could battle monopolies and regressive taxation. That would transform those dollars (health care savings) into salaries for working people, consumption, funnel the money through the multiplier, and grow the overall economy--offsetting job losses from current predatory health care costs. Ultimately, it would bring in more tax receipts and create a surplus to pay down debt.

Makes too much sense to do it, though. Joe Dirt in his pickup truck doesn't know math. He only knows how to do meth. He's a fucking rube.

Republicans love to talk about waste, but we all know it's bullshit. They don't care.

I'm still scratching my head and trying to figure out how everyone else out there got an efficient system installed and how you're fighting off corruption. You're all human. You're not any smarter. You have your own overwhelmingly stupid army of dummies. How are you keeping them from voting out your health system?

[cj iwakura]

I'm pretty sure this is how Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077 happened. By the time anyone thinks to lament what happened, it'll be too late.

As for the left, well, I think they were too scared to push 'unelectable' candidates like Bernie and instead wanted to go for the moderate swing and reach out to the middle-ground, and we see how well that went.

I guess we can only hope they push for full-on socialism next time, because that's their only realistic course.

"They want SOCIALISM!!1"
"yeah, and?"

[Rob]

Yep, go loonier. Clearly that's what Americans want. Make sure to double down on child sex change, open borders, ACAB, race-based handouts and all of the other D/liberal/prog/commie stuff too. Feels real good to see this stupidity take a big L.

[orange808]

Yep, go loonier. Clearly that's what Americans want. Make sure to double down on child sex change, open borders, ACAB, race-based handouts and all of the other D/liberal/prog/commie stuff too. Feels real good to see this stupidity take a big L.

Nobody here supports child sex change, open borders, race based handout, or any of that shit. I have posts in the thread that prove it.

Koresh was a kid diddler, by the way. Your hero did a rally that supported him.

You're stupid. Fuck off.

I listen to what you say. You invent my point of view or supposedly get my thoughts from some media grifter. If you listened, you'd know what we think. You don't care.

You're stupid.

[orange808]

Fox News is free and it's on 24/7.

[Rob]

You invent my point of view or supposedly get my thoughts from some media grifter.

Well I wasn't talking to you specifically, but the nice thing about today is that none of the talk or whining or name calling matters. Insanity and stupidity lost bigly.

[Sengoku Strider]

Yep, go loonier. Clearly that's what Americans want.

America literally just put conspiracy theorist RFK jr. in charge of public healthcare to stop the chemtrails.

[Rob]

I'm going to miss my fluoride.

[orange808]

You invent my point of view or supposedly get my thoughts from some media grifter.

Well I wasn't talking to you specifically, but the nice thing about today is that none of the talk or whining or name calling matters. Insanity and stupidity lost bigly.

You currently have tea and no tea. Remarkable.

[Sengoku Strider]

Mask off time.



I'm wondering how much of this thing will actually end up implemented. It was box office poison for Trump, but 140 of his own former staffers worked on it so it's kind of baked into his cake.

The anti-DEI stuff is a slam dunk, as is more concentration of power in the executive. The anti-trans and anti-immigrant deportation stuff will probably have to work is way through the courts. Demolishing the dept of education and environmental laws they now have the power in congress to ram through. The pornography bans are fucking lol, they'd never cut off their own supply.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Crossing fingers for Trump's victory, he is the most reasonable candidate for the geopolitical balance in the world.

Could you explain this statement in the context of the Ukraine war and how an end of US support will probably mean that Russia's invasion, which clearly violates international law in the worst way possible, will be successful? Although I have no problem admitting that I think you're a total idiot, this is an honest question.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

You invent my point of view or supposedly get my thoughts from some media grifter.

Well I wasn't talking to you specifically, but the nice thing about today is that none of the talk or whining or name calling matters. Insanity and stupidity lost bigly.

is this some sort of elaborate troll

[lovecraft]

Although I have no problem admitting that I think you're a total idiot, this is an honest question.

You answer yourself, so you have the answer to your question.
And based on this observation, I have no interest in responding to a trepanned asshole who is talking to himself.

[To Far Away Times]

I really like to try to think pretty highly of my average American neighbor, but it’s nearly impossible now.

A convicted felon with 94 criminal counts ran a campaign on pardoning himself and scapegoating immigrants and minorities for everyone’s problems. This was a compelling message for more than half of the US voting base.

It’s really hard not to think of conservatives as lowest common denominator drooling racists now. It’s certainly how their grandkids will remember them.

[orange808]

Deportations are the least of our coming problems.

Trump's rambling doesn't make any sense. He can't do anything. Mexico is America's #1 trade partner and it's not just imports. America exports to Mexico. They buy a lot of American products. Mexico is also a source of cheap labor that benefits Trump and his billionaire friends. Mexico is America's #1 economic partner today.

That's inconvenient. It's also a crying shame how few people know that stone fact. It's true. Sorry if that triggers the right wing fucks. I already said you're stupid. This issue is one reason why; you don't know important details.

South American organized crime is extremely sophisticated and rich. Unless the border is essentially shut down, they will continue to move contraband (including people) across the border. Faced with such a determined and resourceful opponent, only a complete draconian military border blockade could prevent the movement of contraband.

It's not possible to close the border without destroying the economy. Whatever half-assed enterprise Trump attempts at the southern border is going to end in tears. Extreme customs and a military zone at the border would be a defacto blockade. The bureaucracy would slow trade to a crawl--and decimate the American economy in the process. In addition to lost trade, there's also the significant additional expenses of maintaining a military blockade over the entire distance of the US-Mexico border.

It's possible to put on an expensive charade, but it wouldn't have any long term effect on any of the current complaints. When it's all said and done, Biden will have deported more people than Trump did in his first four years. Trump is a liar and you're stupid if you didn't know better. When Obama left office, he held the crown for most deportations ever at that time as well. Once again, Republicans don't know because they're stupid. They can't stop talking about the border, but they don't know shit about it.

[emphatic]

A great victory for free speech. At least for those of us who value it.

[orange808]

After we cede Ukraine to Russia and Taiwan to China, the nuclear arms race and true global nuclear arms proliferation will get underway in a sprint to see who can get them first. Countries with a nuclear deterrent will have safety and the ability to invade unarmed nations at will. Iran will be first.

American deterrent? Ha. Go take your meds, gramps. Nobody is going to gamble on that shit again. That's over when Trump folds.

The Republicans will be surprised and angry later on. Need a clue why? It's starts and ends with "stupid". Of course, they'll find a way to blame people like me. It's stupid, but... you know... Republicans are stupid... so...

I'm sure everyone will be very careful and rational with their nuclear bombs. Nothing to worry about.

And, more free speech I guess. I can't find anyone that was locked up for actual protected free speech in the last four years, but yeah... okay... that's stupid... but... you know...

[Mortificator]

Another meaningless performance ends. The US has been run by a single oligarch class with a singular set of goals for longer than any of us have been alive. If you think there's any policy difference between its elephant and donkey fronts... well, as I think Bryan's said, people are fundamentally out of sync with reality. Who knew being propagandized to day & night could do that?

I smiled when I heard Puppet B gets another turn with the hand up his ass, though, simply because it told me plenty of people were disgusted with the genocide(s) going on while Puppet A's in the booth. I've heard the sentiment that "Ds would have won if they murdering Arabic people for one second," but that misses the fact that they can't, it's a core goal of the rulers.

[orange808]

Another meaningless performance ends. The US has been run by a single oligarch class with a singular set of goals for longer than any of us have been alive. If you think there's any policy difference between its elephant and donkey fronts... well, as I think Bryan's said, people are fundamentally out of sync with reality. Who knew being propagandized to day & night could do that?

I smiled when I heard Puppet B gets another turn with the hand up his ass, though, simply because it told me plenty of people were disgusted with the genocide(s) going on while Puppet A's in the booth. I've heard the sentiment that "Ds would have won if they murdering Arabic people for one second," but that misses the fact that they can't, it's a core goal of the rulers.

Steering down a path of a wide spread nuclear proliferation is a mighty wide swing from before. This is a new epoch.

Hope your Arabic friends enjoy Trump's full complete support for Israel.

[orange808]

Who's voting early?

Exit polls have had Kamala winning women by a significant margin, like 8%.

Not white women.

Hope this helps. Looks like a 6% gain for Trump versus last time. They elected him inside their demographic in three consecutive contests.

[BryanM]

I'm sorry guys, I really thought he had no shot.

I warned ya about the hopium. RCP no toss-up map predicted the winner yet again, more than three times in a row so far.

Your mistake is that you thought of people as people, which is strange since I know you're a history guy. Shit has to be on the brink of fascist dictatorship before those in the positions of power even begin to think about giving the cattle a raise.

One story illustrates who we're dealing with here:

Recently a woman had been feeding a raccoon. This led to the amusing situation years later where a hundred raccoons showed up at her house and she had to call emergency services for help.

Naturally wanting to hear a little more chatter on the situation, I googled for some more content. Where I ended up, was an NRA forum.

These guys.... they didn't just think this woman was silly or dumb. They fucking hated her guts. Because she was altruistic, or because she was giving away free stuff to the 'undeserving'. One man bragged about how he murdered a raccoon with a gun one time, and that his wife remarked it was 'the manliest thing she had ever seen him do.'

A grown man, with a rifle. Versus a small trash varmint. He was proud of this.

These are the kinds of people who'd feel a sense of pride and accomplishment from beating up grade schoolers. They are not human beings: They're sad, pathetic powerless things that feel a sense of power from abusing and controlling people lower on the totem pole than themselves.

The kasuhara epidemic in Japan is another symptom of these things. Makes them feel like a bigshot, like they're somebody despite being a nobody.

You thought things like healthcare, the cost of living, decorum, etc mattered. They don't, not to these people. The misery and the cruelty is the point. Donald Trump isn't a weak candidate, he's the perfect candidate: pathetic and cruel. Just like his supporters.

They've had complete and utter control of the country for the past 40 years, and yet they're still miserable and unhappy for some reason. Jesus on his cross, but they've nailed themselves up there, they are.

He will never lose support, as trying to change minds of nazis using logic is a lost cause.

---

It's time to abandon humanity for they have no humanity, and it's time to put your hopes into something that's real:

Join me in the cult of the machine god.

Sure the paperclip maximizer would probably be used to put people into gas chambers more efficiently, but there's at least a chance of it being a good guy for no reason.

At least it's a rational place to place your hopium.

After we cede Ukraine to Russia and Taiwan to China, the nuclear arms race and true global nuclear arms proliferation will get underway in a sprint to see who can get them first. Countries with a nuclear deterrent will have safety and the ability to invade unarmed nations at will. Iran will be first.

It is pretty bleak.

The technological pressures of World War 3 would do insane things to the already extreme capital investment into AI. I've mentioned that the recently commercialized solid state battery as the most important recent development - please do not ignore what it means to have robots capable of running at least as twice as long as current ones.

Fully automated micro-warfare is the future. You can't use a nuclear bomb against someone else who has a nuclear bomb, but you can sure as shit play Supreme Commander over territories that the nation states with robot armies don't consider to be people.

It'd be like 1984, where we're always at war with absolutely jack shit and fuck all on the line.

And, more free speech I guess. I can't find anyone that was locked up for actual protected free speech in the last four years, but yeah... okay... that's stupid... but... you know...

Please ignore the fash when they say things they don't actually believe. They just want to feel like their violence is justified, and responding to their time-wasting bullshit gives them a mild thrill of having power over you.

Let them stay in their imaginary world in the darkness, looking for enemies to fight and children to beat up. And we'll do our best to stay in the physical real world.

[evil_ash_xero]

I'm trying not to post anything rude.

Anyway, it'll be OK guys. If you don't like who's in now, four years from now you can pick someone else.
It's amazing how that works.

[orange808]

I'm trying not to post anything rude.

Anyway, it'll be OK guys. If you don't like who's in now, four years from now you can pick someone else.
It's amazing how that works.

They vote in Budapest, but do they choose?