There's an element that makes me nervous about Trump gathering so many freedom-minded folks, which is that it's a great way to lower their guard on everything from much more subtle (but effective) control of speech to overt control e.g. in the name of addressing what is in fact a serious immigration crisis, how about a national bio surveillance system?
Vance's connection to Palantir is very unsettling.
Plenty to fear in the Harris platform, even for those of us not so enthusiastic about Trump.
I don't think I've ever heard the accusation about Trump and fascism fully explained.
The best I can figure, it's something like this: for many people fascism isn't the corporatism that Mussolini envisioned but rather fanatical racist nationalism.
The tiny group of Americans who are KKK-style white nationalists probably support Trump.
Therefore, Trump is a fascist.
Something like that.
Examples of Trump and fascism? I'm not a fan, and I don't think he did anything like "draining the swamp" the first time around, so if he wins I'm not holding my breath for any of his promises. But I don't understand the fascism accusations.
Harris totalitarian leanings: she advocates controlling the press and speech; she proposes taxes on unrealized gains; she's pro-gun control (which sounds great to many folks until you realize how much local police forces have been militarized, and that she wants to control what citizens use, not what govt can use - so it's effectively a further centralization of tools of violence).
There aren't too many bitcoiners that I see who don't realize that this is a possibility. It's just that one candidate is actively promoting centralization and censorship and another who at least seems to be against them. Not a great choice đ«
I think there's revolution to communism and evolution to communism. The trends in most of the west point to the latter.
But actually I don't think the word "communism" is that helpful here.
We're looking at increased centralization with the rhetoric of "common good" and "consensus" and "equity" to justify censorship, increased taxes, and ever more control by the federal govt. For a lot of folks that looks like we're moving toward communism, but there's no point in arguing over the terminology. Whatever you call it, it's a concentration of power in very few hands and a terrible direction for the vast majority of the citizenry.
To the best of my knowledge, property taxes have been normalized in all US counties. There's a lot to say about how bad they are, but they're based solely on the value of your home and are structured to pay for local schools and local amenities (trash collection, etc). Your other assets don't come into play, and when they get too onerous people can move to a jurisdiction (even within the same state) with more reasonable property tax rates.
Unrealized gains is just the federal govt grabbing a chunk of your asset wealth every year.
When Biden first proposed unrealized gains, it was only for billionaires. In Kamala Harris's proposal, it's for folks who have $100 million in assets. Once the concept has been normalized, that threshold will likely continue to drop just as it did for income taxes after they were introduced in the early 1900s.
At the same time, the people who benefit from those gains also control spending, which means that inflation is great for them - even better than before - because it brings more and more Americans into the pool of folks whose unrealized gains will be taxes.
On a long enough timeline and with those incentives, it effectively wipes out private property.
doubling?! oh dear
and the extra will go to more contracts, more war ... something like that?
oh, thank you! we're going from a completely outdoor kitchen (propane camp stove) to a small building that we will have just plastered (and that has electricity!), and I'm not keen on splashing grease all over the new plaster. Airfryer seemed like a good option. Very glad to know that there are stainless steel options đ
what's the trend? (that people who own second homes can no longer afford to keep them?)
yes, exactly
once the govt starts subsidizing and protecting particular sectors or companies, you've left the free market
yes, exactly
small scale and voluntary
yeah. I'm always surprised this doesn't come up more often. Heat
+ plastic just doesn't seem like a good idea. I use silicone bags for some food storage but even those I probably wouldn't use with heat. I'm betting there will be a headline in a few years: "compounds in food-grade silicone are now tied to ...."
I'm interested in an airfryer but am concerned about teflon and whatever else is in those things.
I think of what you're describing as late-stage communism. She is part of a propaganda machine, is committed to redistribution of wealth (by giving more centralized control over it), proposes "unrealized gains" which is even more egregious theft than usual taxes, and wants to regulate speech. Those are all hallmarks of totalitarianism, but the language and packaging is more left than right leaning.
Both clowns - but when you have the establishment gunning hard for one of them, even the anarchists notice
Yes
That's why I never got into sous vide
It's a way to show appreciation for a post that's more tangible than a like!
Also can be the basis for some Value4Value models.
(Not sure about your second question)
Yes!! I think some of these conversations tend to leave out scale.
Communism within a family? that can work beautifully; may even be the natural state of a family.
Socialism in a small tribe or commune. Lovely, especially if folks can leave freely
Either of those for a nation of hundreds of millions? disaster
There will always be power imbalances in a large society. Centralized systems = increasingly imbalance power
Decentralized = individual potential for rebalancing
Workplaces are not democratic (right - they're not designed to be democratic). It doesn't follow that capitalism creates tyranny.
Unfortunately, capitalism often devolves into corporatism (this has happened very clearly in the US), which is highly centralized, whereas socialism in a large society begins with centralization.
