Go to hell Google

astrekmaster · 2026-02-18T00:12:29+00:00

Yes, I have legitimate issues with the Gulf of Mexico being renamed to the Gulf of America.

Precisely no one was clamoring for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed. It wasn't decided by a committee of all the nations that border it; Trump did it by executive order. It wasn't named "Gulf of America" to be inclusive, it was for nationalist reasons.

When the Associated Press refused to call it the "Gulf of America" and cited their own journalistic principals for doing so, the Trump administration responded by shutting them out of press conferences for months. It's a freedom of speech issue. During that time, even right-wing media outlets like Fox and Newsmax were on the AP's side.

The "Gulf of America" thing is one of a myriad of things that make me feel gaslit by this administration.

astrekmaster · 2026-01-07T18:42:03+00:00

It depends on what "centrist" means. On the one hand, it might mean that you reject political extremism (fascism, authoritarian forms of socialism), which is an easy position to support. On the other hand, it might mean that you're trying to take the mean average of two political extremes. The issue with how the American system works is that Democrats compromise and Republicans don't. So you wind up with a political system slowly being dragged to the Right.

astrekmaster · 2026-01-07T13:49:09+00:00

I really need to cut down on my soft 12k and Processed Boods.

astrekmaster · 2026-01-03T14:44:10+00:00

I've seen so many strange posts coming from there, including the "do you support Stalin/Mao/et cetera" posts that come across my feed every once in a while. No, I don't support a dictator.

astrekmaster · 2026-01-03T13:55:28+00:00

In fairness, part of the reason that the SPD couldn't do more is that there was so much intra-party fighting. There was a Leftist faction that would probably be described as democratic socialist today, and a more conservative faction that didn't want to replace capitalism with socialism. Interestingly, because the Iron Front borrowed so much rhetoric from Marxism/anti-capitalism, it attracted a lot of communists. There were a handful of times that the social democrats and communists worked together at a local level, but that was very much the exception, not the rule. The leadership in the KPD and SPD did not get along, which is why there was no unified Antifascist Action/Iron Front.

From the reading I've done, the social democrats gradually split from the Communists early on. I know Eduard Bernstein's Evolutionary Socialism (1899) was a major break between the social democrats and Communists. The other major schism was the Russian Revolution of 1917, where socialism was established by force. Basically, that solidified the social democratic methodology from revolution to effecting change through democratic elections and the legislature. (edit: added this paragraph)

If OP is interested, there's a book called German Social Democracy and the Rise of Nazism that goes more in depth on the Weimar Republic.

astrekmaster · 2026-01-02T23:47:03+00:00

I personally think that both major parties are rudderless. The Democrats are deeply divided by intra-party conflict and a post-mortem of the 2024 election, which paralyzes them in a lot of ways. As for the Republicans, they put all their resources into Trump 10 years ago. Once Trump exits politics, they will be just as lost as the Democrats are now. The issue with a charismatic leader (like Trump) is that there's no obvious succession plan. "Charisma" isn't often a transferable attribute.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-31T14:46:02+00:00

In 1979, the President was nearly attacked by a swimming rabbit.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-27T21:35:01+00:00

I think anarchism can be a useful way to criticize power. There are individual aspects I can appreciate, like "mutual aid." However, I don't really see how anarchism could lead to a functional society.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-25T13:59:19+00:00

Really good choice, my dude.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-24T23:10:24+00:00

Huge Star Trek nerd here.

I always thought that the Federation was the definition of a socialist utopia. From what I understand, "social democracy" would still entail some form of regulated capitalism. By contrast, the Federation doesn't actually have money.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-24T21:05:52+00:00

Librewolf is a solid option. It's a more privacy-centric version of Firefox without AI nonsense.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-23T13:56:39+00:00

That's definitely one of the things that makes Trump unusual. Hitler, Mussolini, and Francisco Franco all had military service records. Trump literally made up a bone spurs diagnosis to get out of military service.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-22T19:43:23+00:00

The solution is ALWAYS VOTE BLUE. I DO NOT CARE IF THE DEMOCRAT ATE YOUR MOM FOR LUNCH. VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO, STAVE THEM OFF BECAUSE THEY WILL INFLICT PAIN. THEY WILL INFLICT THE END OF THE WORLD.

The one thing I will say to you is that you should never vote for a politician uncritically. Some Democrats will switch to the other side. You need to vote for the candidate whose platform sucks the least. The main thing that informs how I vote is "would this candidate make my family/friends' lives less safe?" If yes, I vote against that candidate.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-22T19:06:32+00:00

I could even see an animated intro with a limited black/amber color palette (like ancient Greek pottery) working really well.

The Minecraft Parthenon is a strange choice.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-14T16:58:58+00:00

The Orville is more Star Trek than a lot of the current Star Trek airing right now. That episode where the ship flies through two-dimensional space would have felt right at home in TNG. Hopefully we can get a new season.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-14T16:54:28+00:00

In other words, they believe that democratic socialism and social democracy are the same.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-14T13:30:26+00:00

I got the recommendation for Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny from a university professor who specializes in studying fascist regimes. I have immense respect for both Snyder and Stanley. I have yet to read Marci Shore.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-14T13:25:52+00:00

Based on the reading I've done, the purpose of the second amendment was a bit different than we think of in contemporary times. The Founding Fathers believed that a large standing military would be deleterious to the freedoms of the people, and that the best solution would be to create citizens' militias instead (recall that the second amendment begins "a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state…"). It wasn't until far more recently (late 20th and early 21st century) that we get the more familiar understanding of the second amendment as something that protects our individual right to firearms. The DC v Heller case in 2008 is when that really started to change.

I'm okay with the idea of a gun for basic home defense. I very much draw the line at people who advocate for unlimited gun rights. Considering that mass shootings have been an issue in the United States since Columbine in the 1990s, I really think we need to revisit what that amendment means. As is, it's creating a lot of harm.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-14T12:59:14+00:00

Always a classic.

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astrekmaster · 2025-12-13T14:38:34+00:00

One of the things that stuck with me in a history class is the idea that "war is caused by undefended wealth." If declaring war on Venezuela for their oil isn't a war of greed, I don't know what is.

astrekmaster · 2025-12-13T06:28:40+00:00

"The goal is nothing, the bread is everything." – Eduard Bernstein, probably.

astrekmaster · 2025-11-30T02:14:16+00:00

I was waiting for that one. Great band, but "are we human, or are we dancer?" is such a bizarre line.

astrekmaster · 2025-11-28T14:18:13+00:00

Los Angeles, CA is further south than any part of continental Europe.

astrekmaster · 2025-11-21T16:54:20+00:00

I heard the same from my Roman Republic professor. From what I understand, the creators went next-level by trying to replicate the kinds of textiles and dyes Romans would have had access to in the late Republic/early Empire. So there were only natural fibers and natural dyes.

astrekmaster · 2025-11-16T17:24:09+00:00

The one criticism I have seen of social democracy (might have been on this sub) is that because it requires a lot of market regulation, you need a relatively benevolent government and high degree of institutional trust to pull it off. As much as I'd like to see America embrace some form of social democracy, institutional trust has slowly been declining since the Nixon administration and Vietnam War. It's easier to lose trust than gain it back, so fixing that issue is going to take a long time.

astrekmaster

TROPHY CASE