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[parent] [thread] 22 comments
1. Univer+(OP)[view] [source] 2025-01-22 00:39:39
Trump went around to a huge number of niche communities and promised to fix their core concerns in exchange for their support. The crypto and libertarian communities are obsessed with freeing Ulbricht. It was honestly a brilliant strategy, and probably the reason he won. Ironic that an authoritarian fascist was able to get elected by enlisting the help of anti-authoritarian communities with a single issue promise.
replies(4): >>llamai+v4 >>exover+A9 >>Spooky+8m >>nptelj+w51
2. llamai+v4[view] [source] 2025-01-22 01:17:30
>>Univer+(OP)
> Ironic that an authoritarian fascist was able to get elected by enlisting the help of anti-authoritarian communities with a single issue promise.

Ironic? It's the oldest trick in the book bro

3. exover+A9[view] [source] 2025-01-22 01:50:02
>>Univer+(OP)
Unfortunately you could level the same type of name calling towards Democrats. It's now public record they colluded with all the major media outlets, coerced big tech to censor and debank opponents, imprisoned whistleblowers, violated bodily autonomy with unconstitutional mandates, weaponized the courts to conduct lawfare, and now issued an unprecedented number of pre-emptive pardons for unspecified crimes committed by Fauci, Hunter Biden, et al.

I remember when the Democrats were the anti-war party, but Biden was escalating the Ukraine war in the final days of his presidency, and celebrated Dick Cheney's endorsement of Kamala Harris. Crazy how things have changed so much. The left unanimously viewed Bush and Cheney as obviously psychopathic war criminals, and now almost all the Neocons have jumped over to the Democrats. The left used to be extremely skeptical of globalization as evident by the Seattle WTO Protests, mass immigration as evident by Bernie Sanders' comments on its effect on workers' wages, and Big Pharma's perverse incentives to keep people sick and regularly consuming drugs. Yet the media has utterly psyop'd the progressives... it's kinda disturbing.

replies(3): >>Univer+Ge >>Spooky+Um >>tomber+tv2
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4. Univer+Ge[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 02:23:08
>>exover+A9
Authoritarianism is also popular with the democrats right now, but I don’t see how anything I said is name calling: I used terms with a specific meaning appropriate for the context- the only reason they have a negative connotation is because of what they actually mean. Do you know of other terms with the same meaning and more neutral connotations?
replies(1): >>exover+9U1
5. Spooky+8m[view] [source] 2025-01-22 03:23:46
>>Univer+(OP)
It’s not ironic at all. The MAGA movement is really similar to how Mussolini came to power.

The campaign against barbarians (Steve Miller’s) crusade, Elons “not enough white babies” stuff, sucking up to the church (Vatican City is a Mussolini scheme), aspirations for conquest of Greenland and Panama, etc are all analogous to the maga playbook.

Most people are clueless. There are idiots who think they are getting $1 eggs next week. Riling up weirdos like libertarians lets the movement punch above their weight.

replies(2): >>popcal+Un1 >>2024us+Mr1
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6. Spooky+Um[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 03:32:18
>>exover+A9
People in power in this era do that.

The democrats are broken. They keep running women, and not getting messages out that appeal to the average voter. They lost their core reliable voters (old people, Catholics, unions) and are alienating more traditional voting blocs like African Americans and some Hispanic populations with the constant drama over trans issues. Nobody heard about anything this election cycle other than abortion and transgender issues. It’s a big tent party, but when progressives steal all the oxygen, the wheels fall off the train.

They need to run a tall white dude with good hair who talks about economic opportunity, fair play and protecting the future.

My parents live in the country. A farmer (whose father was the county Democratic Party chair) has a massive sign “Trump. I don’t like him, but we need him”. That’s the 2024 election unfortunately.

replies(2): >>dralle+Zp >>NekkoD+FD
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7. dralle+Zp[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 03:57:58
>>Spooky+Um
Old people actually leaned bluer this year relative to past elections.
replies(1): >>exover+rN1
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8. NekkoD+FD[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 06:22:26
>>Spooky+Um
> Nobody heard about anything this election cycle other than abortion and transgender issues.

The only place I've seen anything about "transgender issues" is from the Republicans saying that that is the only thing Democrats are running on.

replies(1): >>Spooky+mh1
9. nptelj+w51[view] [source] 2025-01-22 10:53:48
>>Univer+(OP)
>Trump went around to a huge number of niche communities and promised to fix their core concerns in exchange for their support

Very interesting insight, thank you for sharing it. Do you happen to know other examples as well?

replies(1): >>Univer+UD1
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10. Spooky+mh1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 12:38:22
>>NekkoD+FD
Ask the swing voters. The republicans seized the narrative.

I bet you 100% of democratic voters could accurately describe the maga platform. The number who could describe the democratic platform would be far less.

replies(1): >>exover+qQ1
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11. popcal+Un1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 13:25:33
>>Spooky+8m
>$1 eggs next week

Should just move to Belarus and you can have that today.

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12. 2024us+Mr1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 13:48:38
>>Spooky+8m
Why are libertarians weridos?
replies(1): >>Spooky+5t1
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13. Spooky+5t1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 13:57:57
>>2024us+Mr1
Go talk to one.
replies(1): >>2024us+fT2
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14. Univer+UD1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 15:02:43
>>nptelj+w51
There were a few articles on this in the media a day or two after the election that had lists in them, but I can't find them anymore because this new news overwhelmed the search terms I remember.

Many of the promises were directly conflicting, and/or upsetting to other groups that also had promises made to them. One example would be he promised some groups to push for the death penalty for anyone involved in selling drugs, in conflict with his pardon of Ulbricht here.

replies(1): >>nptelj+7V3
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15. exover+rN1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 15:57:43
>>dralle+Zp
True, much of that is because old people are the only ones still watching legacy media like cable news, which have repeatedly torched their credibility. Young people tend to get their news from podcasts and social media, which tends to not be as blatantly controlled.
replies(1): >>dralle+gX1
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16. exover+qQ1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 16:15:15
>>Spooky+mh1
That's because the Democrats are corrupt and have no platform beyond managed decline. We just had sickly king Theoden in office with a coven of Grima Wormtongues controlling the executive. Kamala Harris is an empty suit devoid of original thought, and quite obviously only selected for her identity. When asked how she would be any different, she said Biden was an old white man and she was not. She couldn't speak even in the most favorable venues like Oprah, and refused to go on Joe Rogan's podcast because she would have obviously imploded and humiliated herself.

It's stunning how far the Democrats have fallen. They've been completely co-opted by the PMC class and simply use identity politics to distract from their utter inability to deliver on anything. One need only look at the sad state of California, its massively delayed and over-budget high speed rail to nowhere, homelessness and decay, over-regulation inhibiting everything including the beloved green energy projects, etc. Texas literally has more green energy and cheaper electricity than California because they let people build, which can even be seen in their falling rents. Progressives can't allow that because it might 'change the character of a neighborhood', which is ironically one of the most conservative and anti-progress positions you could take.

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17. exover+9U1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 16:30:31
>>Univer+Ge
If you go by Trump's actions in his first term he was a pretty standard Republican, and mostly just cut taxes, with a lot of wild rhetoric which is part of his deal making shtick. In real terms I don't see Trump as uniquely authoritarian, probably less so than Biden, Obama and Bush. He seems to support free speech far more, which is the foundation for all other freedoms. He makes his money from the leisure industry, so his interests are aligned with Americans doing well and having disposable income. And he supports decentralization, so liberal states can adopt liberal policies, and so forth.

It seems people forget about the insane infringements of civil rights through the Patriot Act, NDAA, mass surveillance, lockdowns, firing people over vaccine mandates, etc. A poll showed about half of Democrats supported putting Americans into camps if they didn't take the vaccine, and a third supported seizing custody of their children. Democrats supported mass censorship and state control over media, which is far more authoritarian and fascist than anything the Republicans were doing.

replies(1): >>recipr+Yq2
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18. dralle+gX1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 16:48:25
>>exover+rN1
>Young people tend to get their news from podcasts and social media, which tends to not be as blatantly controlled.

This is a bad joke.

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19. recipr+Yq2[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 19:30:57
>>exover+9U1
I'll leave the authoritarianism aspect to someone else but I'll point out that the part of your comment where "he makes his money from the leisure industry, so his interests are aligned with Americans doing well and having disposable income" is not representative of his ability let alone judgement in planning/making decisions that reflect those interests. You can be in favor of something and completely botch the execution.

The PATRIOT Act was introduced by a Republican and signed into law by a Republican and had wide support from both parties. 62 Democrats and 3 Republicans voted against it in the House (there was only a single senate vote against it), and you can't have a discussion about the Patriot Act's introduction without bringing up the fact that it was enacted at the height of the post-9/11 fear. It has always been a controversial and flawed bill.

Most of today's social issues aren't about left versus right, they are about class.

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20. tomber+tv2[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 19:58:36
>>exover+A9
Trump has said he might take Greenland "by force". That doesn't sound "anti-war" to me.

I think the Ukraine stuff is more complicated than you're making it out.

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21. 2024us+fT2[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-22 22:46:17
>>Spooky+5t1
I don't think I know one or will come across one.
replies(1): >>Univer+0K4
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22. nptelj+7V3[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-23 09:24:01
>>Univer+UD1
Wouldn't surprise me the slightest. Politicians' promises are weak signals to begin with, and we're talking about a politician here who's explicitly labeled as populist. I found a similar inability with search.
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23. Univer+0K4[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-01-23 16:31:19
>>2024us+fT2
'Left-libertarianism' and 'classical liberalism' as a philosophy (not as a party affiliation) are arguably the dominant perspectives on HN. You've been on here for more than a year, you've been talking to them the entire time.

However, most of them wouldn't ever use the term libertarian, for not wanting to be associated with right wing libertarians.

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