So to you its the state VS who? The rich billionaires + us?
The rich billionaires are the state. We're the ones with no real representation.
The fundamental divide is workers vs capitalists, not simply people vs government.
If it's a Putin-style dictator who has spent a quarter century digging his claws into every facet of the country, there's literally nothing you can do that doesn't involve physical violence to change things.
You are living in a dictatorship right now. The dictatorship of capital. And just because our culture does not draw a line to differentiate capitalists and workers doesnt mean a difference doesnt exist.
Capitalists arent "just another citizen like you or me", but thats what they want us to think. It keeps the dream alive and the story going.
Oh "its us against the government". lol. Really?
Im telling you. The capitalists, the wealthy are the government.
A rich billioneaire is a shareholder.
> If they stop providing shareholder value [...] they have to change.
But we (the small people) don't care about the shareholder value. Shareholder value is often contrary to what we (the small people) value, so expect change for the worse.
> due to mass boycotts or public scandals
Sorry, what?
> has spent a quarter century digging his claws into every facet of the country
Well, capitalists (as a group) spent 100+ years doing the same, so ...
To speak to your examples, the right to repair, farmers vs John Deere, the exodus from X to Bluesky, the rise of alternative messaging platforms, the outright murder of CEOs on the street and the beatification of the primary suspect on social media…just to scratch the surface
These are all headlines straight from HN and the fact that you even know about them is the difference.
The fundamental difference is while we both lack any real power to change this, under an actual dictatorship people get jailed or worse for that expression.
Let’s touch base on this again when Dictatorship from big capital means Disney puts me in prison for dissent against the mouse and then offers me clemency if I go to the front lines in their next special military operation.
that last sentence rung like a bell & will reverberate until Larry Ellison's police drones follow you home because you blocked the drive-in of a Larry-owned fastfood franchise by way of a peaceful sit-in, protesting the mistreatment of human workers by robot overseers at Larry's Lasagna, nation-wide.
orwell it not come to that?