• 19 Posts
  • 461 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
cake
Cake day: July 4th, 2023

help-circle

  • DandomRude@lemmy.worldtoLemmy Shitpost@lemmy.worldLort
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    10 days ago

    If you haven’t seen them yet: Check out the “Lego Scandal” videos by Reckless Ben.

    While some of his methods are certainly questionable, and he does misrepresent certain things to boost the production value, what he experiences seems to me to be indicative of the state of the entire U.S. system.

    While all of this happens on a relatively small scale, his observations appear to me to be the rule rather than the exception in this country.



  • That is precisely why regulations such as the GDPR are so important; among other things, they set limits on automated facial recognition at the European level.

    As I said, these regulations are under constant attack, especially from the U.S.

    Nevertheless, all is not lost here, and these regulations are indeed being enforced, since the European legal system actually still functions quite well. Here, too, it makes no sense to draw a comparison with the U.S.

    Just because the U.S. system is so obviously corrupt that it can no longer fulfill its purpose doesn’t mean it’s the same in other parts of the world. U.S. billionaires have a keen interest in this, and they’re supported by the corresponding elite in Europe as well, but the world in Europe is actually quite different. While you can buy a lot of things here too, European nations are not an obvious oligarchy. The US, on the other hand, has been a de facto oligarchy for several decades. The current regime, through its utter unscrupulousness, simply makes this fact much more obvious than previous administrations did.


  • That is fundamentally true, yet European law and the respective national constitutions set limits on unwarranted mass surveillance. Lobbyists for tech companies—especially American ones, led by Palantir—are working tirelessly to erode these limits, thought.

    Under the status quo, however, the scale of surveillance is currently in no way comparable to that in China or the U.S., as there are still legal limits in place—at least for the moment—that are also enforced, albeit only in a basic sense.

    This makes it all the more important to preserve these rights and to advocate for them. It is not helpful to equate conditions in Europe with those in the US, as this creates the impression that insisting on existing law is a futile endeavor.




  • That in no way contradicts what I’m saying: People don’t want to be confronted with reality.

    The problem with that, however, is that burying their heads in the sand instead of joining forces to change the situation doesn’t help anyone—it actually hurts anyone.

    An excellent example of what happens when people don’t band together to put a stop to those who harm everyone out of ruthless self-interest is the U.S.

    It is simply wrong to resign oneself to injustice. People can change things together—there are more than enough examples of this in history.

    To say, “That’s just the way it is,” is the worst thing you can do, because that is exactly what the powerful of this world want—and they want it because they are so vastly outnumbered.

    I say this myself above, and unfortunately, it’s because I’ve pretty much given up hope— because even on the most niche platforms, you’re still confronted with people’s hedonism.


  • Well, unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. If people would sacrifice their own entertainment just a few times for the greater good, organizations like FIFA wouldn’t exist. Unfortunately, though, they don’t—not even when it comes to things as utterly dispensable as sporting events. The result is the world we live in today.

    Edit: On a smaller scale, you can actually observe this effect even on Lemmy as well: just look at how many large communities have imposed the absurd “no politics” rule on themselves. Obviously, this rule is so broadly defined that it opens the door to arbitrary censorship and can only lead to arbitrariness, since there is nothing that isn’t political in one way or another. Yet people insist they don’t want to be confronted with reality—not on showerthoughts, not on asklemmy, and not on many other communities. They then say, “Post in a political community,” meaning somewhere where no one will see it. That’s just how the world is, that’s how the majority of people are, and that’s why we have to live the way we do.

    Sorry for the rant.



  • Yes, that’s true. After World War II, the Nazis—especially those in powerful economic circles—were unfortunately never held accountable for their crimes, and so even in today’s Germany, there are still a whole lot of die-hard Nazis in positions of power.

    It may well be that these monsters continue to hatch anti-Semitic plans, and it is undeniable that there are numerous racists not only among the elites.

    Nevertheless, I believe that Germany’s continued support for Israel’s atrocities is more due to the fact that the regime there shares their main values: In the original sense of the word, as coined by Mussolini, they are indeed also fascists, even if their religion, due to the racially based ideology of Nazism, should not allow for cooperation with die-hard Nazis.

    I think this point demonstrates that these people actually have no values other than the pursuit of their own advantage.

    In Germany, it seems to me that the situation is similar to that in the US: There are also numerous Nazis in the MAGA movement, yet even they act contrary to their own twisted ideology by allying themselves with Israel.

    It may well be that they do this because they are pursuing some kind of long-term, anti-Semitic master plan. However, I consider it more likely that they simply do it because it is advantageous for them.

    In short: I think that, contrary to their own propaganda, the utterly unscrupulous don’t really care at all what religion someone has or what their skin color is. What seems central to these people is simply that their allies are just as willing to walk over dead bodies as they are. And Israel definitely does that, and it also fits well into these monsters’ worldview: Israel, too, pursues deeply racist plans and denies entire peoples the right to live—I think that is the connecting element.

    The way I see it, religion, ideology, and so on are always just a means to an end for these people. They are, above all, opportunists whose defining trait is their ruthless inhumanity—and in this respect, fascists of all stripes are the same.



  • I think it’s out of the question that there’s an anti-Semitic conspiracy going on here, as you suspect. The reason: Religion is always just a means to an end for power-hungry politicians. The best example is that orange pedo in the White House—he pretends to be a fundamentalist Christian, but that’s very obviously just a cover to achieve his goals, which are to enrich himself and his cronies as much as possible.

    The same applies to Netanyahu, against whom a case involving billions in corruption has been pending for years, a case that has never been prosecuted due to the ongoing state of war.

    The two have one thing in common: their absolute ruthlessness—and that is precisely what characterizes their ilk. These people will literally walk over dead bodies. In my opinion, this has not the slightest thing to do with religion.

    Edit: The UK is likely the US’s closest ally, and the modern German state was largely established under US occupation (East Germany was under Russian control but collapsed before the Soviet Union did). Both countries therefore have historically particularly close ties to the US. Furthermore, if we’re honest, European criticism of Israel’s crimes comes exclusively from Spain.


  • I think the much simpler explanation is that corrupt and unscrupulous politicians are lining their own pockets or profiting in other ways.

    Germany supplies weapons to Israel, which is a multi-billion-dollar business. Furthermore, Israel is particularly influential in the U.S., which is why a good relationship with Israel is, so to speak, a prerequisite for relations with the U.S.—it is no coincidence that it is precisely those countries that are closely linked to the U.S. that also support Israel.

    The fact that Germany doesn’t even shy away from targeting Jewish organizations that call Israel’s actions what they are is simply the same tactic that is always used to silence legitimate criticism. Germany, incidentally in a Bundestag vote that coincidentally took place on the day of a popular soccer match, adopted a definition of anti-Semitism that, for example, brands any comparison of Israeli crimes with those of Nazi Germany as anti-Semitism. Of course, this is absurd, but it is a tool that can also be used against Jewish critics.

    This, in turn, is fully in line with Israel’s strategy, which has always used this argument to silence critics. For Jewish critics, Zionism has even developed the completely absurd construct of Jewish self-hatred.

    In short: Germany’s support can plausibly be explained by greed and political opportunism. It is simply about money and power.


  • In Germany, this is indeed still (ostensibly) justified by citing the historical responsibility Germany bears toward the victims of the Holocaust. However, this line of reasoning is obviously completely nonsensical, since Germany’s responsibility naturally does not pertain to the State of Israel, but rather to doing everything in its power to prevent genocide—a goal that is, unfortunately, being thwarted by our politicians.

    The fact that the political establishment and the powerful elites continue to support Israel despite its undeniable crimes and inhuman atrocities can, in my view, only be explained by corruption and skillful intelligence work on the part of the Mossad. I can no longer think of any other explanation.

    In my opinion, the Epstein documents provide a fairly clear picture of how this works.


  • As a German, I can say that, unfortunately, nearly every major political party in Germany defends Israel and thereby actively supports its genocide. In my view, this is completely at odds with the general will of the people, as the majority of citizens firmly and decisively reject this criminal policy. They want Israel to finally be held accountable for its crimes, but this is being prevented by the political establishment.

    Therefore, in my view, it would only be right to boycott German products as well, so that the pressure on our wretched politicians increases.