• merc@sh.itjust.works
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    10 hours ago

    Sure, everybody complains. But, half the passengers are complaining about the non-white people on the train. They think the train is going to run off the rails, but it’s because only rural white christian uneducated people know how to ride a train properly. If someone tried to rush the conductor, these passengers would pull out their own guns and shoot them down long before they got near the conductor.

  • BillyClark@piefed.social
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    13 hours ago

    Whining and bitching is the most American thing you can do. It often means that you see something that can be improved, and democracy is supposed to be about eternal vigilance.

    Being proud of your country should mean being proud not of our current laws, but of the constitution that allows us to fix those laws when they are deficient.

      • BillyClark@piefed.social
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        12 hours ago

        If the government still recognizes the authority of the constitution, then you can fix the constitution via amendments.

        Otherwise, it would be time for a new constitution. But of course, in that case, there would truly be nothing to be proud of. It would mean your entire country and government was a complete failure, and that whatever new constitution you ratified would have to make many provisions to protect the government from the overwhelming stupidity of the citizens.

        • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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          8 hours ago

          I feel in the US we are closer to scenario two. Sure, it’s theoretically possible to modify the constitution but people have been trying to decades and the level of political consensus required is quite extreme.

      • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
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        8 hours ago

        You get as many people in the baggage car as you can to coordinate throwing their weight against one side and derail the train. Choo choo motherfuckers.

    • Hapankaali@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      Strange argument. Not only should it be really obvious by now that your constitution isn’t helping you guys “fix those laws,” but you’re also saying that people who live in a society without a constitution shouldn’t be proud of their country. Now, as not-an-ultranationalist I do agree that people shouldn’t be “proud of their country,” but it’s certainly possible to offer a better justification of that position.

  • Jhex@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    I understand all this of course, but I find it curious Americans seem to think everyone else who has gone on a protest, riot or participate in an actual revolution in history were all comfortable, with a large nest egg and able to stop working for as long as the revolution lasted.

    The notion that they may have to actually sacrifice some comfort is completely unreasonable it seems and yet, that is exactly what they constantly accept every single time a politician (usually a Republican but by no means only by Republicans) erodes another right, liberty or opportunity

    • ickplant@lemmy.worldOP
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      14 hours ago

      It’s not about “sacrificing comfort.” It’s about literal survival for a lot of people.

      PERSONAL STORIES:

      Example #1: My nephew needed a heart transplant within days of being born. He is on very expensive drugs for the rest of his life. The only reason his family can afford it is because his dad’s work pays for really good insurance. His dad is basically a prisoner at work.

      Example #2: I have bipolar disorder. My one medicine is $1,500 a month without insurance. I get suicidal without it. The only reason we can afford to pay is because of my husband’s job and related insurance. He is basically a prisoner at work.

      OTHER STORIES - JUST INSULIN:

      • Alec Smith (Age 26, Minnesota, 2017): After turning 26, Alec aged out of his mother’s insurance plan. His monthly insulin costs were estimated at $1,300, prompting him to ration his medication. He was found dead in his apartment from diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) shortly after.

      • Josh Wilkerson (Age 27, Virginia, 2019): After aging out of his stepfather’s insurance, Josh could not afford the $1,200/month cost for his prescription insulin. He switched to a cheaper over-the-counter version, which was less effective and led to fatal complications.

      • Jesse Sheerer-Radcliffe (Age 21, Minnesota, 2019): Jesse died after rationing his insulin due to the high cost, a case his father highlighted as a “ridiculous”, preventable loss.

      • Antavia Lee Worsham (Age 22, Ohio, 2017): Antavia struggled to afford her $1,000/month insulin costs and supplies after turning 18 and losing state coverage, resulting in her death from DKA.

      • Shane Patrick Boyle (Age 48, Arkansas, 2017): A comic book writer who struggled with costs, Shane was $50 short on a GoFundMe campaign for his insulin and died from DKA just days after his mother passed away.

      • Monique Gabriel Moses (Age 26, 2017): After losing her job and insurance, Monique rationed her insulin to make it last, resulting in her death.

      • Jesse Lutgen (Age 32, 2018): After losing his full-time job and insurance, Jesse rationed his insulin, which was later determined to be from a “black market” supply of left-over insulin from a deceased friend.

      Source: https://rightcarealliance.org/activities/insulin/

      • Jhex@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Ok so you’ll just hang on to that scrap until they inevitably come for you later on… good plan

        • erin@piefed.blahaj.zone
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          11 hours ago

          It’s so easy to say things like this when you aren’t living the situation. What would you have them do? Die for no reason? There isn’t some organized revolution to go join.

          • Jhex@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            I have already explained myself plenty… a few hours a week organizing is more than any of them do

            But sure, jump to the absolute extreme of “dying for no reason” so your victim complex is scratched a bit

            • ickplant@lemmy.worldOP
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              11 hours ago

              You come off as someone with zero empathy for fellow human beings, especially if they happen to be born in the USA. You do you, I guess.

              • Jhex@lemmy.world
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                10 hours ago

                oh no… anyways

                I guess I better be nice but do nothing in my community to ensure actual suffering… at least people will think I am nice

            • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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              10 hours ago

              I have already explained myself plenty

              I missed that part. From here it seems that armchair of yours is kinda comfy. No-no, you sit; tell Americans again how protesting in America should be just like your country. Tell us again of the revolution.

            • erin@piefed.blahaj.zone
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              11 hours ago

              Do you know that none of them organize? Have you considered that the slightest mention of union or strike in many places leads to immediate termination, especially in at-will employment states? Loss of a job means loss of healthcare which means death. I’m not trying to play the victim. I am fortunate to be able to organize with local leftist organizations and my healthcare is secure. Most Americans are not so lucky. It’s not some absolute extreme, it happens to people we know and love.

              It’s so easy to make the assertions you do. I’d like to see you choose those actions over your child’s medication. We don’t get a social safety net. If we’re fired, it could mean we go into lifelong debt, homelessness, or simply die. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Those who can should organize. Those who cannot should care for their family and immediate community.

              • Jhex@lemmy.world
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                10 hours ago

                Do you know that none of them organize?

                I do know… hence my bitching

                Have you considered that the slightest mention of union or strike in many places leads to immediate termination, especially in at-will employment states? Loss of a job means loss of healthcare which means death.

                Already covered… they should not have accepted those conditions but they did… just as they accepting these new, lower conditions. As time goes by it will only get harder.

                Case in point, 11 million of their fellow Americans lost access to health care a few months ago… so yes I understand they must risk something, but they will lose everything anyway if they just sit and wait.

                So, exaggerating as everyone is doing here, if you are kidnapped and the kidnapper assures you there is zero chance he will let you live. Do you fight back? or wait in case the kidnapper changes his mind?

                It’s so easy to make the assertions you do…

                Again, you are just waiting for your turn to slaughter

    • TheHighRoad@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      You are asking people to choose homelessness. At some point the tide may rise to the point where community support will allow for this, but it’s just not there yet. I don’t know if it will ever be until it’s too late.

      • Jhex@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Ok first of all, if you are 1 day pay cut (so no pay for 1 day so you can strike) from being homeless, the harm is already done and you now get to enjoy the benefits of showing nothing but apathy for the past 2 decades

        Second, of course I do not mean every single person should be able to do this… but your position is that basically NOBODY could strike either which is laughable

        • TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          Dude, I wasn’t even in the work force 2 decades ago, I went from high school straight into paycheck-to-paycheck survival mode because I couldn’t afford to go to college. I didn’t even have a chance, but people like you go online and act like all Americans are lazy assholes who should just fix their country because you don’t know what it’s like to be locked into wage slavery just to afford the most basic amenities that are provided freely to everyone in your country. If I don’t have a job, I lose access to the medication that makes my life bearable and possible, and in order to keep a job I have to sacrifice most of my time and energy for it.

          • Jhex@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            Ok then… hang on to the scraps they have allowed you to have until they take those away… I am sure you’ll just go down happy you stretched your misery as much as possible without inconveniencing the regime.

            all Americans are lazy assholes

            lazy no, just apathetic… assholes yes, it if does not affect them personally, they could not care their neighbour suffers… “fuck you, got mine” is the most identifiable American Value

            If I don’t have a job, I lose access to the medication that makes my life bearable and possible, and in order to keep a job I have to sacrifice most of my time and energy for it.

            This regime just kicked around 11 million of people in your situation out of health care… I guess it did not hit you this time so you keep chugging away at your self admitted slavery…

            • Glide@lemmy.ca
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              10 hours ago

              Jesus fucking christ, dude. Get some perspective, or shut the fuck up. They don’t “got theirs,” and choosing to “help” is quick suicide for no gain.

              Honestly, it’s disgusting to watch someone like you parade some absurd moral high ground while having absolutely no grasp on the lives others are living.

              • Jhex@lemmy.world
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                10 hours ago

                They don’t “got theirs,” and choosing to “help” is quick suicide for no gain.

                so they’ll just wait their turn to lose health care on the next big beautiful tax cut for the rich?

                I honestly couldn’t care less about them… if Americans do not care about themselves, what do I care.

                The reason I am upset is because their actions (or lack thereof) is causing the World tons of pain… they are afraid of losing their jobs? how about the 150 Iranian little girls they just slaughtered just because their pedophile president doesn’t want people asking about his kiddy diddling days?..

                Honestly, it’s disgusting to watch someone like you parade some absurd moral high ground while having absolutely no grasp on the lives others are living.

                The stop the pearl clutching and block me… you are choosing to engage with me

                • Glide@lemmy.ca
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                  10 hours ago

                  I am choosing to tell you the fuck off. Don’t mistake this for an exchange of ideals. You are behaving in a disgusting fashion, and you need to be told. I respect that it comes from a good place, because we ultimately want the same thing, but to treat people who already feel powerless as morally bankrupt is beyond absurd.

                  You are kicking the powerless while they are down, because you don’t like the outcome. Get some perspective.

            • TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world
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              12 hours ago

              Alright, so what should I do to singlehandedly save my whole country? What do you want from me? Do you feel good about yourself that you’re arguing with people in worse living conditions than you on the internet? I will quit my job and go out into the streets until a cop shoots me to death for sleeping on a park bench in your name, that will save my country!

              • Jhex@lemmy.world
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                12 hours ago

                singlehandedly

                Nothing, do you know what the GENERAL part of General Strike means?

                What do you want from me?

                I would love to America to fuck off… but YOU don’t need to do anything for ME… you should be doing this for YOUR FUCKING SELF

                Do you feel good about yourself that you’re arguing with people in worse living conditions than you on the internet?

                LOL OMG the victim complex… this is another American Value

                I will quit my job and go out into the streets until a cop shoots me to death for sleeping on a park bench in your name, that will save my country!

                Maybe be smarter than the Pedophile you elected as president? maybe just spend a few hours a week organizing from the safety of your home?

                • Triasha@lemmy.world
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                  9 hours ago

                  I work every day to lay the groundwork for a general strike.

                  I speak to everyone I can about it.

                  I have convinced maybe 3 people and I have about 150 million workers left to go.

                  But let’s be more realistic. Maybe 30 million are already convinced. Only 120 million people left to talk to.

                  I’ll update you when I’ve spoken with everybody.

            • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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              12 hours ago

              There’s a lot of fucking problems in the world. For someone so vocal about what others should be doing, what the fuck are YOU doing about all the problems?

              If you have time to post drivel on lemmy, maybe you have time to go make a change in the world.

              • Jhex@lemmy.world
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                12 hours ago

                I can multi task, you know?

                But seriously, how lame is this reply of yours? my country is not speed running towards fascism, yours is.

                • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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                  12 hours ago

                  And we’re fighting it, no thanks to people like you who only attack us.

                  But good to know you’re in a country with no problems whatsoever. So you can sit on your lazy ass and let all the problems keep on happening because they don’t impact you personally.

                  Sure, keep telling me the type of person you are.

    • nutcase2690@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 hours ago

      Another large issue is that America is so large that it is not very feasible for Americans to just go on a 1-3 day road trip to DC to protest/riot/whatever else. They leave the friend and family network that could support them the most at home. Protests in local cities can do work, but it is more impactful if the lawmakers responsible are personally impacted in DC imo

      • Jhex@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        For a General strike, all that is required is that they do not go to work… they can do that from wherever they are.

        You guys love to make up the most ridiculous excuses… who from Minnesota flew to Washington to complain about ICE?! nobody!, you do that were you live