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As ridiculous as this is, it will still resonate for millions of Americans for whom only their problems are real.

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Something few Americans understand is the degree to which their fucked up politics harms people in other countries. Through its domestic and foreign politics, the US has been the main driving force for lower taxation and deregulation across the Western world. Runaway inequality is the result.

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The last is most important. The parties will resist to the end diluting their duopoly on power by making changes that would allow more choice. And politics in the US requires massive amounts of money, ensuring that the needs of the voters is always secondary to the wants of the wealthy.

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Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 21h

Is that a real question or are you trolling? In the US party affiliation is a core part of many people's identities. The parties gaslight their followers into thinking thev things they want (which are common in other OECD countries) are somehow impossible in the US. And it's a two party system.

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Universal healthcare, minimum wage, background checks for gun ownership, ending the electoral college, teen limits for Congress, taxing billionaires, campaign finance limits, a ban on Congressional stock trading, paid family and medical leave. Is that enough?

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Reposted by Chris

Naheed Nenshi @naheednenshi.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

🇨🇦 Red Deer was packed with proud Canadians last night! It was incredible to see so many people energized and ready to stand up for our future in Canada. If you requested a mail-in ballot, be sure to send it back as soon as possible. Advance voting runs Oct. 13-17, and Election Day is Oct. 19.

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Reposted by Chris

MacScot🇨🇦 @mlm7.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Say no to the Nine

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Utter bullshit. Poll after poll shows that people want things neither party will deliver. Democratic loyalists live in this fantasy bubble where they believe if only their party gets enough super majorities, it will finally deliver. A striking parallel to religion.

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And your carbon emissions are similar to which small nation?

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It probably would have continued longer had Gorbachev not tried to save it by reforming it. The real question is how long will it take Americans?

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It was much easier to control information in the early/middle part of the 20th century and then there was WWII and rebuilding. It takes time for the truth to spread in a totalitarian society and hope to fade. And even after it does, authoritarian states can carry on a long time.

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The guy should be prosecuted for treason.

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Yeah, ok. I see this is a little advanced for you.

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And if you accept that, you have to accept meaningful measures to halt and reverse inequality. Tiny wealth taxes (e.g. 1%) won't do it, nor will California's 1 time tax. The billionaires will fight back so if you want democracy, buckle in.

Nobody has suggested total confiscation BUT idgaf about the Overton window or what's considered"acceptable", I'm about evidence and logic. And all the evidence I've ever seen says that wealth inequality such as exists today is corrosive to democracy.

Yeah. Almost seems too obvious when you put it like that.

You're right, Tom. The USA is a goddamn paradise - which is why ~80 million people voted for an angry hateful narcissistic con artist who told them all their problems were caused by poor immigrants and DEI.

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So when you tell Americans the country has always fought for freedom and democracy or that governments are really trying to keep illegal migrants out of the country or that socialism is bad, they just blindly accept it.

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One of the big differences between the Soviet Union and the US is the Soviet citizens saw through the lies and the legitimacy of the system collapsed. It's not that Soviets were more intelligent (although they were arguably better educated), it's that American propaganda is far more sophisticated.

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Show me counterexamples of healthy thriving democracies and the levels of inequality today exist in the US today.

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I listened to Obama's audio book and he describes how his own Dem Congress made it hard for him to get the ACA passed. And it's not remotely close to universal healthcare. But Obama himself was never the reformer he pretended to be. The government is a wholly owned subsidiary of the billionaires.

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Nobody's chasing it or any of the dozens of other worthy public welfare measures aside from a tiny number of activists who haven't yet figured out the Democratic Party will keep pulling them out of reach like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.

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Extreme inequality or democracy. You can choose only one. Wealth is power.

The wealthiest have the ability to avoid income taxes completely - even though they gain the most from having an organized society.

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Buy, Borrow, Die: How the Rich Avoid Taxes

No. They don't - or at least they have the ability to choose not to. They can borrow money against their stock at extremely low rates, fund lifestyles until they die. And when they die, the massive capital gains on that stock never gets taxed. smartasset.com/investing/bu...

smartasset.com

Paying interest is less expensive than paying taxes, and the rich have found ways to borrow against their assets to avoid capital gains taxes. Here's what to know.

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False. Poll after poll shows most Americans want things not supported by either party. Meanwhile the parties reign in their supporters with fear and identity politics. The trickle of leftist Democrats (many of whom ride identity politics themselves) who slip by party gatekeepers changes little.

"Deluded" is thinking people WANT the vast majority of economic gains to go to the wealthy, WANT to go bankrupt because they got sick, WANT elite education to be reserved for the kids of wealthy people, WANT to have to choose between paying rent or buying groceries.

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"Deluded" is not being able to recognize reality in front of you. Poll after poll say that American people favor policies (e.e. tagging billionaires)that aren't supported by either party. The center is defined by the people not parties controlled for the benefit of billionaires.

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Hazel B. 🇨🇦 @hab3261.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It HAS a centre right party - called the Democratic Party. And it had an extremist right wing party called the Republican Party. What it needs is a party that will prioritize people over wealthy donors. It hasn't had one of those for decades.

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Reposted by Chris

#StAlbert and across the province on Saturday Oct 17th. Bring a Canadian Flag, make a sign, meet some new people. #abpoli

Poster announcing a province-wide day of protest on Saturday, October 17. The top of the poster reads “SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17” followed by “PROVINCE-WIDE DAY OF PROTEST” in large yellow and white lettering on a black background. The poster asks, “OUTRAGED BY THE DIRECTION OF OUR PROVINCE UNDER DANIELLE SMITH AND THE UCP?” with a highlighted message, “YOU’RE NOT ALONE!”

A list of protest demands appears on the left: “NO SEPARATING FROM CANADA,” “NO BECOMING THE 51ST STATE,” “NO AI DATA CENTRES,” “NO TWO-TIER HEALTHCARE,” “NO CORPORATE GREED,” “NO MINING THE ROCKIES,” “NO SCAPEGOATING IMMIGRANTS,” “NO LOW WAGES,” “NO THREATENING PENSIONS,” and “NO TO THE STATUS QUO.”

On the right, large text reads “WE’RE SAYING NO!” with “SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17” underneath, accompanied by a raised-fist graphic and exclamation mark. A yellow banner states, “TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ALBERTANS ARE COMING TOGETHER TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST A ROGUE GOVERNMENT.”

The St. Albert protest details are displayed at the bottom: “ST. ALBERT 11:30 - 1PM,” “PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE,” and “MCKENNEY/BELLEROSE.” A QR code appears at lower right. Text below the location says, “FIND THE PROTEST NEAREST YOU: FightBackNow.ca.” The poster identifies Fight Back Now! as a campaign of the Alberta Federation of Labour, with the email afl@afl.org. The overall design uses black, white, and bright yellow, with bold typography and high-contrast text.

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Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It was for a good cause, then. Heroic, actually.

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Reposted by Chris

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Remember: Wealth cannot be separated from power. We're seeing in real time how the extreme concentration of wealth is distorting our politics, rigging markets, and granting unprecedented power to a handful of people. Taxing the rich isn't just an economic issue, it's a defense of our democracy.

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Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Yeah, I'm sure he'd treat Canada the same way he treats Puerto Rico.

Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Ehhhh, I'm sure it was just a fire started by a faulty toaster.

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Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Sarah is an artist as a writer as well as an expert on authoritarian regimes.

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Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The people he's talking to consider Los Angeles and San Diego expendable.

Chris @reefermadness.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I hope it doesn't come to that. The problem is that democracy is struggling everywhere, not just in the US. In Germany, it's the AfD, in the UK, it's the reform party. Here in Canada, we have lots of "maple MAGA". Anti-Democratic forces are collaborating across borders-we need to do likewise.

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24Hours Ukraine @24hoursukraine.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

🇷🇺An approved Communist Party rally in central Moscow did not go as planned. Protesters chanted “Fair elections,” “We want freedom,” “Freedom for political prisoners” and “Down with the Tsar” — referring to Putin. Police detained around 60 people.

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If this "great president" was the transformative figure he pretended to be when he was campaigning, Trump could have been avoided altogether.

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I've always detested the term "tax dollars". It implies that people who pay more taxes have more right to question how they're spent and people who pay no taxes have no stake in how public funds are spent. The idea is antithetical to democracy.

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ahhhh, Apple's much vaunted customer service.

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I'm not suggesting voting Republican. I'm suggesting that too many Democrats show blind obeisance to the party and its past leaders. They need to start being loud and demanding better policies that are less timid and more focused on them.

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Of course. Trump isn't a leftist or a conservative, he's an authoritarian kleptocrat. I only meant, he's using tools that are traditionally associated with leftist populists and nobody is freaking out that he's a socialist or communist. Dems need to focus on the right thing, not labels.

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I see it a bit differently. Most centrist politicians, IMV, are "pragmatists", meaning they don't have any particularly strong views. They'll look at the political landscape and do what they think they can. What's needed is a transformative agent, an FDR.

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Yes, bringing charges is required. But also, Democrats must actually go to the wall and make structural changes to the economy to stop and reverse inequality; and to make people feel economically secure. It's crazy that the world is richer than ever but people are stressing over the future.