PS. With all the Discord stuff, in case you wonder why you never see me promoting Matrix, it’s not because it’s a usability nightmare (which it is) but because it’s made by the kind of people who’d be happy to call ICE a customer.

@Stomata @aral @element @precariousmind What kind of hardware are you posting from?

@freediverx @MisuseCase @aral @element We won't become independent if we keep treating anything that happens in the US as some kind of the only possible future for ourselves.

And that is what I advocate even in this thread.

@mpsi @aral @element
Can you cite some larger countries where that isn’t the case? And can we agree that capital can become controlled by either oligarchs or an authoritarian government?

@freediverx @aral @element Capital is just one of the resources that are controlled by the political elite (or political body of citizens in actually democratic countries), and which can be used by them for their gains. At least this is my point of view.

@freediverx @aral @element Let's talk some more about China - I happen to know a little bit about this country from my personal experience of living there for quite a long time. Capital in China is clearly subordinated to the decisions of the Communist Party. There is simply no way that pure "capital" will give anyone political power there. In the contrary, there are many examples of successful "capitalists" being removed from any political influence just because the Party said so.

@kravietz @aral @element
Fascists and fascist enablers should be judged by their actions, not by their race or gender.

You seem to approach this subject from the neoliberal perspective that is just thinly veiled colonialism and authoritarianism.

@freediverx @aral @element Let's talk some more about China - I happen to know a little bit about this country from my personal experience of living there for quite a long time. Capital in China is clearly subordinated to the decisions of the Communist Party. There is simply no way that pure "capital" will give anyone political power there. In the contrary, there are many examples of successful "capitalists" being removed from any political influence just because the Party said so.

@MisuseCase@twit.social @aral@mastodon.ar.al @element@mastodon.matrix.org @precariousmind@neopaquita.es a laptop

@kravietz
those alternatives make no sense, but I guess you already know it
TBH I don't know when you can start saying france is fascist (US is falling more blattantly, even though our gov follow them at every step)
what france is though is plain and simple : colonialist and white supremacist (or tries to be at least), and I can't see how taking their money isn't helping crushing humanitarian views, from domestic or international point of view (think palestine...)

@aral @element @ahltorp

@kravietz @couscous @aral @element @ahltorp

I see it that opponents view it as "blood money" that poisons the project, and supporters see it as "the police/military have these fuckloads of money, might as well have them go to some commons"

now, is "tapping MIC budgets for a good cause" enough to outweigh "selling your services to the oppressor"?

two things can be true at once, and there's an (at least perceived) risk of the project getting too chummy with the violence-dispensing institutions

@freediverx@mastodon.social

Lots of insults, zero facts or arguments

@aral@mastodon.ar.al @element@mastodon.matrix.org

@Stomata @aral @element @precariousmind Who made your laptop? Who made the parts in your laptop?

@mpsi @MisuseCase @aral @element
One’s intentions can be noble while still adopting the wrong strategies to achieve them.

I used to use Western Europe as a good example of the many ways we could be better but now that example is fading.

@MisuseCase@twit.social @aral@mastodon.ar.al @element@mastodon.matrix.org @precariousmind@neopaquita.es let's pay Amazon for our servers!

@freediverx @MisuseCase @aral @element I think we all everywhere in the world need to find new ways of organizing ourselves politically and socially. All old models require a revision. And I am deeply convinced that any working solutions must be democratic.

@mpsi @aral @element
Something they should be commended for. I don’t support any degree of authoritarianism or suppression of civil liberties, but the Chinese people seem to have enjoyed enormous improvements to their standard of living and quality of life. And I don’t recall China employing gunboat diplomacy like the US.

@kravietz @aral @element
I don’t recall insulting you, unless perhaps you self-identify as a fascist.