AlexSFCA
AlexSFCA's JournalLearn From Europe
I came across this valuable guide: www.learnfromeurope.org
One important suggestion to ALL of us, when protesting and in daily and online life is to always use American symbols before they are reclaimed by trump supporters. Double down on those flags! Add American symbols to your profile pics, covers, etc. Add those flags to your pussyhats, accessorize!
It is very important for America and the world to see that WE are the true american patriots. WE are the ones who defend American values and not treasonous anti-amrican president.
How to engage trump supporters?
I wanna start this thread by sharing which talking points or discussions have you found useful when talking to trump supporters (if you know any). I have some on my facebook. And, as you all know, they do not respond to facts. We are not talking about perharps 30M lunatics but the other 30M that hopefully are not hooked on breitbart.
I beleive I found a breakthrough today. My response had at least a couple of them start engaging and researching a bit. It's a big start!
Here is what I said. Please DO NOT copy and paste if you wanna use something among those lines:
"unfortunately, it is near useless to engage with trump supporters because they don't respond to facts. They still do not understand how Duginist Putin's machine has been trying to undermine democracy in Europe and the US by supporting far-right parties. They do not understand how 'liberalism' threatens his authoritarian regime and that breaking down EU, UN and US is essential for Russia to regain power. They do not understand that islamophobia is intentionally being used to bring down liberal democracies across the globe. They do not understand who is Bannon and what he is trying to achieve and that Trump is merely a puppet towards a new global order which will benefit ONLY Russia. They do no understand how Citizens United ruling allowed foreign adversarial power to pump enormous amount of dark money into the US with the goal to destabilize our government; they do not understand that Trump is provoking a major conflict which will lead to a war; they do not understand why Trump wants to remove all sanctions on Russia, etc."
The beginning of the end?
This is my first thread. It is a long thread but I am asking you to please read it.
I have absolutely no doubt we are witnessing the beginning of the end of our democracy and I have no idea if and how it can be stopped.
I am saying this as someone who have lived through Soviet Union, through the fall of Soviet Union and a birth of a democracy, and through the end of a democracy. I have lived in a deep red southern state, I live in deep blue California.
While it is true that numerous right wing radios, fox news and right wing conspiracy websites have been conditioning the public for years, Trump was not possible before Citizens United ruling. The decision had allowed Putin's machine to pump unlimited amount of dark money to weaken our country. We were not at all prepared for this.
He did the same for Brexit and now is agressively financing Le Pen in France and Wilders in Netherlands. They will stop at nothing to 'elect' Le Pen and both will withdraw from EU. They are using the same technique of fake news, propaganda, gaslighting, etc. In a few short years we will no longer have EU, NATO and UN.
Germany is one of his bigger targets trying to destroy Merkel. But, somehow, I have a slight beacon of hope that Germany may withstand this dangerous populist wave because of its unique history. If true, she will become the leader of the free world because there is no doubt, the war is coming. Even Gorbachev broke his silence yesterday warning us.
Going back to Trump, which is really a coordinated effort with Bannon and Flynn. They are following Alexander Dugin playbook (Putin's political advisor) but also Hitler's philosophy that Trump knows by heart.
1. Delegitimize independent press
2. Delegitimize integrity of election results
3. Deligitimize courts
Both are being aggressively worked on. On this forum, I am seeing folks obsessing over Trump's bizzare behavior claiming the largest inauguration crowd and voter fraud. Unfortunatey, it is not necessarily his beliefs, but intentional gaslighting. Voter fraud accusation is classic and is needed to selectively supress voting rights but also to gain access to voting machines by federal government ('investigation'). They will 'find' fraud, don't worry.
What you all have to understand is that once Attorney General, Jeff Sessions is confirmed, he will stop enforcing civil liberties and not even SC can stop him cause they don't have enforcement capabilities. This is needed to proceed with mass deportations and, more importabtly, quick deportations (Law and Order). This is coming any day now.
You could not be more naive if you think there will be fair elections in 2018 - the world will be different.
Some of you like to calm themselves down by thinking that we still have SC and even with Scalia replacement it is still ok. Think again. Trump has his CIA, NSA, FBI, AG, etc. at his disposal. They will 'find' a clean way to remove Ginsburg ("died of natural causes"
.
If you think we are golden in California, think again. California is #1 enemy of the new administration. This is a war on 'liberalism'. Do not take for granted that our state is solidly blue. The lines between blue and red are being deliberately blurred and a social unrest may fundamentally change the political climate leading to brutal gubernatorial campaign next year. I expect a populist challenger to Newsom with broad appeal, perharps even 'Independent' since we have open primaries.
They will NOT allow California to be an example of success.
All mainstream media is owned by 24 corporations. Expect upcoming mergers, changing CEOs, acquisitions by billionaires. It will be under control sooner than you think.
And finally, due to an extreme social unrest in the country and a possible war abroad; the administration will push very hard for traditional values (Judeo-Christian). That is when Roe v Wade followed by same-sex marriage rulings will be overturned. They will not allow those laws to exist at federal level.
I would also add that immigration and Islamophobia are merely wedge issues - means to an end. Immigration enforcement (vs. reform) attracts most conservatives and some independents. While islamophobia is used to attract many liberals, including gays, to further divide and conquer. Do not take the bait.
To conclude, we are currently in transition from a liberal democracy to an authoritarian oligarchy and I don't know if and how we can stop it.
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Member since: Fri Dec 9, 2016, 03:29 PMNumber of posts: 6,137