Tell that to people, not to me. And there is a reason as to why there is a push to regulate social media precisely because of algorithms sheep-herding people.

People are already inundated and tired by the hecticness of modern life. They have to think about rent, or mortgage, putting food on the table, and their bills, and their family. They don’t have time to do the necessary research. This fact is exploited by powers-that-be and the more tired a person is, the more susceptible they are to psychological manipulation. They go home tired and want to unwind by scrolling he social media or watch TV to kill time. They are tired, they don’t have time to do due research, and they are easily manipulated. The people are merely exploited. While yes, people deserve what they get for voting against their interest, they are exploited. Would you lay blame squarely to trafficked immigrants who agreed to work undocumented and paid less than the minimum wage because of their predicament, despite already being well known that undocumented work never turns out well?

Yeah the post screams “your dictatorship is bad so we’ll stick with our dictator.”

All this stuff he said in public, live on TV. Using social media as a source of news just shows you are dumb.

The number of people of tuning in to TV are decreasing as time goes. Social media is the new source of information, which sounds paradoxical because you aren’t getting news if the information is curated and corralled depending on your browsing activity. And dismissing the role of social media sounds exactly like what I said in my initial comment that people underestimate its role in polarisation.

Not defending the idiots, but I think social media played a far significant role in brainwashing people than we realise. The stupid social media algorithms corral them to seeing only certain contents and distort their world view. I wonder what social media showed to the non-white people to even support Trump. I hava poc colleagues who seemed to trivialise and have casual approach to Trump, with one stating “some of the things he says makes sense.” I wonder what those things “makes sense” from poc point of view. Even before Trump 2.0 came, I have disliked him for being fascist-adjacent. Now, that the mask is off, people thought that he’d stay with his far-right adjacent policies in his first term, and they lived to regret fucking around and finding out.

Bigger lens is better for wildlife photography and long distance shot. Animals scurry away when you try to get close, so it’s best to take a picture from the distance.

Do you actually asked locals what they think of Russia and China?

I’m not even going to bother replying to the rest of your bootlicking

Trolls and their unoriginal bad faith tactics of saying “not going to reply” when they know they are backed to a corner. At least you’re creative by preemptively pigeon shitting on the chessboard.

When the citizens complain and want them out, they are silenced by coercing the local governments.

Do you have a source? American soldiers who commit crimes do get punished. Crimes of individual soldiers does not mean it’s institutionalised and sanctioned by American policies. Meanwhile, in South China Sea, Chinese vessels waterhose Vietnamese and Filipino fishermen and not letting other nations to traverse and fish in international waters, and claiming an entire body of water despite being well away from their legal zone.

For these countries, US is a lesser evil. But I have to admit, Trump’s shenanigans making these countries decouple from US, which is good.

P.S. Fuck Chinese and Russian governments too

Sure bud. Have a plausible deniability.

Although with Trump’s shenanigans, US dollar is gradually losing its value.

Many countries consciously outsource defense to the US, so that they could invest in their own people instead. A clear evidence of this attitude is when Spain expressed hesitancy to increase their defense budget. Obama has a point that EU has been “free riding”. However, the way Trump makes US allies to “pull their weight” is more coercive than diplomatic.

Contrary to certain narratives, and while it has some merit, US bases are in said countries at the explicit request of host countries because there is a perceived bigger and more existential threat next door. The host country is basically subcontracting the defense to the United States. Trolls would tell you that these countries were “influenced” or “coerced” to let American troops be stationed. Well, the US is not the one claiming the entirety of South China Sea, or invading Ukraine. South East Asia and EU want US troops to stay because of this. Poland is very US friendly, and so are Taiwan, Vietnam and Philippines. The Philippines elected to kick the American soldiers out 34 years ago, but are now regretting it with the benefit of hindsight due to territorrial dispute in South Chins Sea. Certain actors who push for US withdrawal stand to benefit from it for obvious reasons.

Could be bit of both. Sweden has always been more right wing than their Scandinavian brethren. Their far right was strong during World War 2, and they have a far right in a coalition government at the moment. But on the one hand, Sweden allowed too many immigrants who share the same attitude as their own far right.

Two things can both be true at the same time.

I don’t see much difference between here and Reddit tbh. The major difference,however, is the in-fighting amongst the instances here, namely the tankie instances such as .ml and hexbear versus the rest of the fediverse.

I don’t disagree, but if the often excuse of “our hands are tied” in actuality means “we don’t give a fuck about you”, voters feel they might as well vote for the person who never even pretends to care to begin with. It’s a sign of voter apathy and loss of trust in the system.

This is what people voted for, precisely because they are tired of politicians who lie and spin. Wanting those in positions of power to “tell it like it is” comes from a genuine place of frustration to the democratic process.

I laughed when Milton Friedman thinks free market could prevent climate change through climate dividends and carbon tax. Good luck, boyo, your “greed is good” bullshit is what led us to here.

I agree, but US hardware are still top of the line which are essential for any countries to effectively combat Russian, and potential Chinese, aggression. Even part of the deal of EU and Trump is the former investing in the US military. Many countries also do not have the same military industrial complex that the US have, so many are too reliant for de facto protection. Trump is merely formalising and making money from that unwritten rule.