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Comment by GolfPopper | Hacker News Reader

For anyone who hasn't seen Mitchell and Webb's "Are We the Baddies?"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h242eDB84zY&pp=ygUSYXJlIHdlIHR...

I opened the news and almost threw my phone after reading just the first two headlines - ICC sanctions and televised executions.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-livestream-army-execution-f...

Here's the second news thing mentioned for people that also did go "what??" but do not want to spend 5 extra seconds to Google like me.

Next thing is probably setting up a guillotine in front of the White Hose or the planned Arc de Trump.

Delivery driver showed up early though....

https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/uscp-arrest...

Nah that is not Cyberpunk Tech enough, and also far too close to visuals and ideas of the working class rebelling against the people in power.

I could imagine something _like_ that happen, but it would be a different kind of spectacle, where it is ensured that it projects ideas that _stabilize_ the current structure.

Hmm.. although, if they have a good propaganda guy, they might actually do the Guillotine and annex that symbol as an ultimate power move.

I can see that working out and doing double duty.

Might I suggest Monday Night Rehabilitation from Idiocracy? The Idiocracy playbook has worked pretty well so far.

Oh I have a good idea.

Have some robot surgeon give people neuralink implants that humiliate them in some way. Maybe give the twitch chat some interactivity.

Punch yourself in the face, convict. Do a backflip and fail doing so. Make the guy say things he despises.

There's so much fuel in the cyberpunk dystopia tank.

> I could imagine something _like_ that happen, but it would be a different kind of spectacle, where it is ensured that it projects ideas that _stabilize_ the current structure.

Perhaps the government could hold a lottery for a spot on the firing squad. I’m sure there are plenty of loyal patriots that would be willing to pay* the $500 entry fee. The patriotic non-fake news media could do a human* interest story on the lucky winner, with before and after interviews and maybe a photo-op with SecWar.

* payments to be made in Trump coin.

* for some definition of “human”

The guillotine is too French, too modern and too humane.

America is run by extremist Christians so eventually it will be death by drowning, stoning or whatever else the Bible recommends.

Caring for the poor? Getting money out of the temple? Treating immigrants with respect?

Despite what these "christians" do their book has a few good ideas. Wonder if they've read it.

Nah they just sell signed versions of it for profit.

nailed to a cross

sadly it no longer feels absurd

I mean, they had already set up a gallows in front of the Capitol in 2021, so sounds about right.

Seems like behavior you'd expect from someone who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize though, right?

"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America."

Only the FIFA Peace Prize.

The Peace Prize that can be purchased with blood money.

This isn't as bad as I expected it to be, but there's two more years to go so we'll see.

surprised by this.. the amount of steam rollering, wrecking balling, and pocket-lining is sad and shocking to me.

It should be sad but not shocking. They deliberately campaigned on causing maximum destruction, grief and chaos, and frequently used the phrase "we're going to make so much money." It was totally transparent and out in the open what the plan was, and people voted for that plan.

What I meant is that I expected far more destruction and a lot more domestic authoritarianism.

That's because many laws already in place don't take effect until 2027. They purposely delayed their activation until after the midterms.

They are trying to desensitise the public before moving on to more extreme things.

Only three countries carry out public executions: Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea. I guess there will be four now, with the U.S. joining this "prestigious" group.

It takes some doing to behave even more despicably than Saudi Arabia (which stopped public executions in 2022).

Do something about it. Don't just let it happen. Don't say it's too hard or nothing is going to change. Don't let them win by default. Your government is supposed to be by the people, for the people. Remind them of that.

In Serbia, people protested for two years straight, giant protests, marches all over the country, until the government resigned and new elections were called.

Check out a video here: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1jc29fk/breathtakin...

Be more like Serbia. Change doesn't just happen every four years at the ballot box. Politics is always and everywhere.

You underestimate how powerless the American citizen feels.

Yeah and it's by design.

That is exactly how Putinism works, too. Not necessarily by enthusiastic consent, but by feelings of powerlessness, apathy and checking out.

Do something. Go protest. Block some roads. Occupy some buildings. Don't just let things happen. You're an actor in history, not a spectator to it.

> In Serbia, people protested for two years straight, giant protests, marches all over the country, until the government resigned and new elections were called.

We already reelect the entire Congress every two years, we don't have to do this.

Moreover, we also have set record protests in recent years larger than the ones you cite. Hands Off protest was a million+. No Kings I, II, and III (we protest so much we've started just numbering them) was like 20 million people across those protests.

Furthermore, we did do something about it and we got rid of all these people once already. The problem is about half the country wants this to happen, so they were invited back to do more.

Also genuine question, did the Serbian government execute anyone in the street and label them a terrorist, as the American government did last winter to multiple Americans who were protesting?

This makes me think of all the guys with Punisher logos on their trucks. Very American.

https://www.advocate.com/media-library/pete-hegseth.jpg?id=6...

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