Invertedouroboros

@Invertedouroboros@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why do some Americans "feel ashamed" for being American even when it's not their fault?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Part of the social contract in America (at least… this is what I believed growing up here) is that we all kinda share in this thing we all have going. Like, let’s say we get into a war. The government can (and does) ask citizens to join the military and fight and the reason that works is because we all kinda implicitly signed off on it. Yeah, sure, you had nothing to do with the country getting into a war. But because you participated in government, in the system, because we run this thing (nominally) by the standard of democracy and consent of the governed, everyone owns at least a small part of the responsibility for the country’s actions. In the case of a war, that might look like joining the military and “doing your part”. More commonly it looks like paying your taxes and still “respecting” the government, even if it’s not the one you voted for.

  Now, like I said, that’s more than anything what I felt when I was a kid. Speaking personally, I’m in a very different headspace now as it relates to governance. I also feel like generally speaking all that’s shifting, though I’ve very little to back that up save… gestures at the past couple of decades of American politics.

  More to your question however, I think that the kind of social contract I laid out above kinda explains some of what you’ve asked. Even if you want to say it’s purely performative, that’s fine. But the fact that Americans are “asked” about how they should be governed implicitly puts the idea in our heads that we’re responsible for what our country is doing. It’s not just “some dottering old idiot at the top of the org chart decided this thing”, it’s we. America is doing this thing. Even if the truth really is that some dottering old fool made a decision out of personal ambition or greed. We get it drilled into our heads from a very young age that this is our government. And no matter how much you try to distance yourself from that… it still irks you, somewhere in the back of your head.

  Maybe, at some point before I was born, that was expressed as a point of pride. I could see some folks being proud of what America was or what it stood for, once upon a time. Now though? I find it hard to believe that that mindset could find any other expression but shame. And weirdly, I believe that’s true regardless of what your politics are. Different reasons are at play there depending on what your politics are, of course. But lately it feels like everyone’s got some grievance against the government. Some reason to feel ashamed about what “our” government, what “we” are doing. Whatever that thing is for you, you don’t want it being done in your name. But the central trick of American “democracy” is that you don’t get to just walk away. Whatever is being done is being done “in your name” whether you want it or not. And it’s been that way since before you were born.

  A tangentially related correlate here is that I feel like a lot of Americans don’t feel represented by their government anymore. I certainly don’t feel that way, and I haven’t since Obama was president. That was roughly back when I was young enough to uncritically believe some of the views I’ve expressed here. Things have changed a little bit. Anyways, the reason I bring this up is because part of what I think is going on is that the social contract is breaking down along the lines of nobody feeling like the government they have is actually representing their interests. Maybe, if this goes on for long enough, the social contract will change into something different entirely. Maybe this “shame” we all seem to feel will turn American society into something different than what it currently is, if it’s given the time to do so. But, I can’t really read the tea leaves on that one. All I know is things just can’t keep going the way their going. Something’s gonna break eventually.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨bingo⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  As a rimworld player I fear sims players. Rimworld has a certain degree of violence inherent to it, it’s part of the game. The Sims though? Particularly unmodified Sims? It inspires creativity. Horrifying, horrifing, creativity.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨At this point who in the world could stop Trump over doing something totally illegal? Like lets say using bunker buster bombs to destroy DEM cities? Or is USA communially FUCKED?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah, I know. Just leaving room for miracles I guess.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨At this point who in the world could stop Trump over doing something totally illegal? Like lets say using bunker buster bombs to destroy DEM cities? Or is USA communially FUCKED?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  On paper there’s plenty that could. The Supreme Court could have stepped in to stop a lot of this. Executive orders only stand in places where a full fledged law from congress doesn’t cover the issue. The military is theoretically as obligated to disobey an unlawful order as they are to obey a lawful one and states are theoretically pretty insulated from federal interference except in a few explicit areas.

  But, we don’t live on paper and none of those protections exist unless there are people out there who are ready, willing, and able, to act on them. What happens if the Supreme Court somehow manages to rule against the administration and they just flagrantly disregard the order? What happens if Trump orders the military to start attacking US citizens openly or starts an illegal war without congressional approval? What happens if Trump runs for president again in 2028? Or just says he’s president for life and we’re not doing elections anymore?

  The answer is nothing, unless people stand up against him. And… so far… we haven’t seen much of that. Not from people in government at any rate. We’ve seen a bit from normal folks on the ground in places like LA, but our government’s been working to neuter the power of popular protest since the civil rights protests, perhaps even earlier. So reasonable people can disagree on the efficacy of that.

  I really don’t want to echo the doomer line I’ve seen written here a lot, but yeah, we’re probably fucked. Like maybe if something was done like… a decade ago? Two? Maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation. But… as things stand? I don’t even know if the damage from the first Trump presidency can ever truly be repaired and more damage is being done on a weekly, almost a daily basis. Personally? I think it’s only a matter of time before this man breaks the global economy irreparably. In a way that simply can’t be swept under the rug again. Domestically? Who the fuck knows at this point? I have to resist the urge to laugh out loud whenever people ask where I see myself in five years because at this point I’ve got no idea what the next two weeks are gonna hold.

  So… yeah. Fun times in the ol US of A.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Did this scare you when you were a kid as much as it scared me?⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Walking through the streets of soho in the rain.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨DnD⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Probably fudges his rolls when playing with AI too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It was rigged?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  You can have a little bit of CTE, as a treat.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are peole hating on .world?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I was simply telling a joke, but point well taken.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are peole hating on .world?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  To be fair, considering the right wing hellscape our (US) Overton window overlooks the bias bot might actually have a point.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What happens if Biden dies before the next inauguration (see inside)?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I think it’d also count as a full term in office so far as the rule against running more than twice goes. So you could run for reelection, but that isn’t a “one werid trick” to getting three terms in office.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stay Mad⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m gonna be honest, I was thinking of Dracula flow when I posted this.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Stay Mad⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Mother fucker could be Dracula for all I care. Still voting for him.