Florida State Seminoles

[Saint]

Whats really sad about this is it pitted two billionaires against each other which is where it seems our politics are going.

Um...

[eCat]

This is talking to Hedge on here

[innocentbystander]

Bill Maher has been making the same "Insurrection Barbie" arguments to any democrat who would listen. Likely, none are listening. You stop listening when you go insane.

[hedge]

George Soros is worth like $7 billion, Charles Koch is worth 10x that...

[innocentbystander]

So? There is no real change in lifestyle or political influence if you are worth 1 billion or 100 billion. There really isn't. Jeffrey Epstein had a mysterious, unexplained fortune of just $700 million and look at all the political influence, damage, and ruin he could do?

I actually worked for Koch (indirectly) for 6 weeks back in 2014, indirectly as I was billing for my employer. Lived in Wichita for that time. I spun up some "service bus" .NET code to track beams and spools of copper thread at their East Coast plants and warehouses.

[hedge]

I'd like to see some copper thread spooled around your throat...

[hedge]

From IC:

If you're a little confused about what Musk is trying to achieve with DOGE, here's the breakdown:

Elon Musk and Peter Thiel cofounded a company that became PayPal.

Other executives at PayPal went on to found or lead other huge tech companies including YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Affirm, and many VC firms.

This group became known as the PayPal mafia because they exerted an outsized influence on Silicon Valley.

Peter Thiel mentored a young JD Vance and helped him get set up in his first VC firm.

Peter Thiel and the PayPal mafia funded JD Vance's successful Senate run. Amazing because he had absolutely zero political experience.

Thiel and Musk all but forced Trump to choose JD Vance as VP in exchange for funding his presidential campaign.

The three of them, plus a lot of other tech billionaires subscribe to an ideology called the Dark Enlightenment espoused by this super weird, creepy dude: Curtis Yarvin aka Mencius Moldbug.

Yarvin preaches that the media and academia represent "The Cathedral" that secretly controls power and must be dismantled.

He advocates for a corporate run, monarchy, led by a CEO-Dictator.

Says that Democracy is an "outdated software" and openly opposes it and that:
- Government agencies should be dismantled and The U.S. should be broken up into "patchworks" controlled by tech oligarchs.
- That the elite tech billionaires should rule because they have the intelligence to "fix" society
- That the "masses are asses" too dumb to govern themselves.

The strategy is to gut the government via R.A.G.E - Retire All Govt Employees to make government incapable of operating.

Then to replace government with private corporations.

To eliminate elections because they are "obsolete"

To use distraction and chaos to prevent public resistance.

Trump is their useful tool to be disposed of as soon as they can wrest control.

This is why Elon wears a black MAGA hat. They are not Trump supporters, they are "Dark MAGA"

This isn't a hypothetical. The plan is already in motion:
- Musk, Thiel, and their network are actively dismantling democratic institutions.
- JD Vance, the “MAGA heir,” is being positioned to help implement this transition.
- The public is too distracted to realize what’s happening.
- If successful, democracy in America will be permanently replaced by a corporate-run authoritarian state.
-----------------------------------
That's it. Now that you understand that you can see how everything that's happening fits within that lens.

Now the only question is what do we do about it?

[innocentbystander]

I will answer that question. We are not going to do anything about it.

The people who once worked at the fed, will not be replaced by private corporations or by robots. The work they were doing will not be replaced by anyone or anything. That is because we do not need these people to do any of whatever work they were doing anymore. This article says it best by not saying anything; it doesn't mention any fired government employees who are actually needed because it doesn't define exactly what they do.

We do need federal government workers. But these people need to be enforcing regulations on 21st century companies of the future, regulations that are not created because our congress people are like Rashid Talib, Bobert, and AOC, not sophisticated enough to even know what it is these companies do or what should be regulated. That is the problem. We are electing all the wrong house reps.

[Saint]

My plan is to slaughter people in their beds

[hedge]

[innocentbystander]

The most polite passive-aggressive conversation that has ever happened, ever

[Saint]

Charlie Kirk has too much margin around his face. His features are crammed in the middle of his head, like a drawing on a pool cueball. He probably should stick with audio podcasts.

[Tree]

The only vids I’ve seen of Kirk involve him owning stupid college libs who have no idea how to debate. Always reminds me of Kramer fighting kids at the karate dojo.

[innocentbystander]

The only vids I’ve seen of Kirk involve him owning stupid college libs who have no idea how to debate. Always reminds me of Kramer fighting kids at the karate dojo.

One of those kids who did not know how to debate was a young female co-ed who was trying to "shame" Charlie for him spending his time debating college kids who lack the wit or debate skills that he has. And the whole time she was shaming him she was flashing her titty to try and get Charlie booted off youtube and de-monetized.

[Tree]

Can you link this?

[hedge]

“The only vids I’ve seen of Kirk involve him owning stupid college libs who have no idea how to debate.”

Sounds like you in here. And you’re the college kid…

[Dave23]

A

[innocentbystander]

Can you link this?

Of course

[hedge]

Atlas Shrugged in reverse. Hopefully that Russian cunt Ayn Rand is rolling over in her grave...

The Great Rejection: What Happens When Consumer Frustration Boils Over

Meanwhile, shoppers are continuing last year’s trend of trading down. The luxury market is sputtering and Walmart has been a beneficiary, attracting high-income shoppers with its value pricing on brands and growing reputation for quality private label goods.

Grocery shoppers have been trading down as well, with discount chain Aldi the leading beneficiary. The company has been booming, aggressively growing its fleet of stores to nearly 2,500, surpassing its nearest rival, Albertsons, with foot traffic surging in 2024’s fourth quarter by 12.3%, according to eMarketer.com.

If the economy feels wobbly to consumers, it feels even more out of kilter to veteran investors like Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, whose investment decisions are widely followed for clues as to his thinking about where the stock market is going next. Buffett doesn’t predict, but he has been hoarding cash and, after five years of rising stock prices, recently explained, “Often, nothing looks compelling.” In other words, the stock market is overvalued.

It makes no sense, for example, that the market capitalization of Tesla is $825 billion while Toyota, which sold six times as many cars last year as Tesla, is $295 billion. Meanwhile, the housing market—the repository of personal wealth for many Americans—has remained hobbled by high prices and mortgage rates.

While The Great Rejection is not a real thing yet, it is an idea that consumers are warming to—spend less and save more—that could be with us for some time to come.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/ ... oils-over/

[innocentbystander]

Hedge, Atlas Shrugged in reverse is just workers striking instead of what Ayn Rand wrote about, management and the C-suite executives going on strike. Anyone who read and understands Atlas Shrugged would understand that Ayn’s book had nothing to do with purchasing decisions made by ordinary people.