Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
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@pixie @quinn Personally I think one of the challenges of this moment is getting people to see how these struggles are related. But the responsibility there is on white people, leftists, elites, etc--those with privilege--to educate themselves on this struggle that so many people in the "peripheral" have been engaging in for so long already.
@pixie @quinn Also I'm seeing now that I've written this out how I'm still using these "center" and "peripheral" concepts myself. Honestly it's like I need to flip it on its head to think about what is the "center" for this struggle against empire and capitalism? And what is the "peripheral" of the struggle? And it's completely opposite.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn
35 years ago, in June of 1991, my wife and I honeymooned in Orlando and I recall being struck by the disparity across a single road.On one side, a walled suburb with fairly new 3000+ square foot houses, on the other, very old 400 sq ft homes, a fair percentage of which were dilapidated or boarded up.
I recall thinking it was an odd mix of 1st world and 3rd world in stark contrast.
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@NickSchwanck @nazokiyoubinbou @quinn
I blame "the American Dream" convincing folk from birth they might be President, that they could be rich (even though virtually none will) as a means to convince them not to demand that the rich should be fairly taxed
And not forgetting the brainwashing of getting them all to swear allegiance to the flag at school every day....
Mind we're getting as bad here with demands from some that everyone has to buy and wear a poppy these days to be on Tele etc
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@NickSchwanck @nazokiyoubinbou @quinn
I blame "the American Dream" convincing folk from birth they might be President, that they could be rich (even though virtually none will) as a means to convince them not to demand that the rich should be fairly taxed
And not forgetting the brainwashing of getting them all to swear allegiance to the flag at school every day....
Mind we're getting as bad here with demands from some that everyone has to buy and wear a poppy these days to be on Tele etc
@NickSchwanck @nazokiyoubinbou @quinn
That and allowing racist thugs to hang flags off lamppostsAnd paint red crosses on zebra crossings and mini roundabouts!!
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn don't worry about it. Europeans variously conquered the world and extinguished cultures and ecosystems, the US has simply taken over the lead in systematic oppression. We should change that system, navel-gazing won't do that.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
indeed in Europe it's the same, they take all the money and cut every public-services...
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@quinn What's a "food desert"? My wife has on business trips to the USA stayed in neighbourhoods where it's impossible to buy what we in Europe would regard as real food - the only thing on offer is (extremely) junk "food" that is completely incapable of sustaining normal life. Is that what "food desert" means?
@TimWardCam @quinn AIUI a "food desert" is a place where it's impossible to get to a place to buy basic grocery items without long distance drive by a car you may not have.
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@TimWardCam @quinn AIUI a "food desert" is a place where it's impossible to get to a place to buy basic grocery items without long distance drive by a car you may not have.
@dalias @TimWardCam @quinn yep. There are some maps of this in the US but here’s an explainer for it https://gisportal.ers.usda.gov/portal/apps/experiencebuilder/experience?id=a53ebd7396cd4ac3a3ed09137676fd40
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@quinn What's a "food desert"? My wife has on business trips to the USA stayed in neighbourhoods where it's impossible to buy what we in Europe would regard as real food - the only thing on offer is (extremely) junk "food" that is completely incapable of sustaining normal life. Is that what "food desert" means?
@TimWardCam @quinn I've heard it used in uk for eg estates where the local supermarket has no fresh fruit or vegetables.
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@TimWardCam @quinn AIUI a "food desert" is a place where it's impossible to get to a place to buy basic grocery items without long distance drive by a car you may not have.
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The rest of world never sees the poor and desperate America, they mostly stay in the decently rich bits of New York or California, and have no idea what a "food desert" is.
@quinn for decades your TV overwhelmingly presented an affluent white suburban middle class to be the normal way everyone lives. It took a very long time for media with a different perspective to reach us in any volume
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@quinn I've been saying this forever; the defining characteristic of Americans for a while now has been fear.
It only dawned on me after a conversation between a bunch of photographers talking about equipment when shooting solo at night. Little old English ladies talking about tea flasks and 30 year old ex military in the USA talking about how many guns.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn
began with the murder of social movement leaders in the 60's (MLK, JFK, X)
then,systematic dismantling of unions and shipping of blue collar and manufacturing jobs overseas by the investor class. then piss on you from above is sold as trickle down econ omics while social and educational programs get gutted... -
Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn @quinn Many of us do, at least to a degree. Singing national anthems at school never seemed healthy to me.
And the USA has invented the “taking systemic faults and say they’re individual failures” that our (EU) neocon parties have so successfully copied.
The American Dream has always been pointing to the top 10% to make the 90% feel bad (‘motivated’). Say unions are for stupid people, then job insecurity and low wages will keep people from organizing.
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@quinn Americans also often don't travel within our own country.
One of my current neighbors thinks she would need pepper spray to travel abroad and she's disinterested in traveling more than a state or two away from home. She's so extremely angry but the other neighbors are so sweet to her. The fear has her trapped in this small corner of life and the smallness of her life has her angry, resentful, and clingy.
Folks have ideas about the other states informed by tv and news.
@clarablackink @quinn I had a friend who lived in a major city in Texas who was afraid of NYC and convinced you'd be immediately mugged or pickpocketed if you went there. The man has traveled to many places including tourist destinations in Mexico but somehow had NYC framed as a boogie man...
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn oh I totally understand. Especially the opiate part. I don't think I'd be doing anything different if I was in your position.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@TheQuinbox @quinn I suppose it's no different then then what most europeans felt between 1958 and 1993?
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@floe there's not really a moment like that. Recall that we leaned in on slavery until it caused one of, if not the, most bloody pre modern wars. Poverty and enslavement are our original sins.
@quinn @floe Great points on this thread, but I think there sort of was such a moment. In the 70s you get a lof of thinktanks worried about the "democratic surge" and "democratic distemper". For example:
Al Smith once remarked that "the only cure for the evils
of democracy is more democracy." Our analysis suggests that
applying that cure at the present time could well be adding
fuel to the flames. Instead, some of the problems of
governance in the United States today stem from an excess of
democracy— an "excess of democracy" in much the same
sense in which David Donald used the term to refer to the
consequences of the Jacksonian revolution which helped to
precipitate the Civil War. Needed, instead, is a greater degree
of moderation in democracy.
In practice, this moderation has two major areas of
application. First, democracy is only one way of constituting
authority, and it is not necessarily a universally applicable
one. In many situations the claims of expertise, seniority,
experience, and special talents may override the claims of
democracy as a way of constituting authority. During the
surge of the 1960s, however, the democratic principle was
extended to many institutions where it can, in the long run,
only frustrate the purposes of those institutions. A university
where teaching appointments are subject to approval by
students may be a more democratic university but it is not
likely to be a better university. In similar fashion, armies in
which the commands of officers have been subject to veto by
the collective wisdom of their subordinates have almost invariably
come to disaster on the battlefield. The arenas where
democratic procedures are appropriate are, in short, limited.
Second, the effective operation of a democratic political
system usually requires some measure of apathy and
noninvolvement on the part of some individuals and groups.
In the past, every democratic society has had a marginal
population, of greater or lesser size, which has not actively
participated in politics. In itself, this marginality on the part
of some groups is inherently undemocratic, but it has also
been one of the factors which has enabled democracy to
function effectively. Marginal social groups, as in the case of
the blacks, are now becoming full participants in the political
system. Yet the danger of overloading the political system
with demands which extend its functions and undermine its
authority still remains. Less marginality on the part of some
groups thus needs to be replaced by more self-restraint on the
part of all groups. -
@TimWardCam @dalias @quinn Most neighborhoods in the US don't even have walkable shops anymore. They've been squeezed out by ridiculous zoning laws, mostly created at the behest of large chains like Walmart and Costco. If I want a loaf of bread, I have to travel a minimum of three miles to pay $7.50 for a small loaf, or go five miles to get a decent loaf at a decent price. And what we call "bread" here is mostly fillers and preservatives, effectively poisoning us.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn being from abroad, it's easy to despise the country. But, if choosing to get outside the trodden road, it's easier to feel empathy with the people while hating the system oppressing most of them.
