James Shaw⚓
@jameshaw.bsky.social
Literary classics, politics nerd, languages, also some Christianity. Consider following for bad takes on all the items listed and more.
Dictators also need something to legitimise their rule - for Mussolini, it was a strike, which he said was against law and order. For Hitler - the Reichstag fire, which supposedly was done by a communist. For Trump - Kirk's killing, which he's now saying was done by leftists (no evidence).
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September 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Dictators also need something to legitimise their rule - for Mussolini, it was a strike, which he said was against law and order. For Hitler - the Reichstag fire, which supposedly was done by a communist. For Trump - Kirk's killing, which he's now saying was done by leftists (no evidence).
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More so, allowed media outlets received directives on what to say straight from Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda - tends to happen when POTUS is friends with all the media owners. Books not in line with Nazi ideology were burned. Though we're not burning this time... yet. Just banning.
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September 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
More so, allowed media outlets received directives on what to say straight from Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda - tends to happen when POTUS is friends with all the media owners. Books not in line with Nazi ideology were burned. Though we're not burning this time... yet. Just banning.
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Bringing the media under your control: clear parallels with Goebbels in the Third Reich. Any newspapers not touting the party line were shut down - same as in Trump's US, though this time it's through indirect pressure, not laws.
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September 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Bringing the media under your control: clear parallels with Goebbels in the Third Reich. Any newspapers not touting the party line were shut down - same as in Trump's US, though this time it's through indirect pressure, not laws.
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As the saying goes:
Everything new is just something that's been well forgotten.
People have been doodling on the sides of pages as long as pages have existed, people have been graffitiing walls as long as walls have existed etc.
Everything new is just something that's been well forgotten.
People have been doodling on the sides of pages as long as pages have existed, people have been graffitiing walls as long as walls have existed etc.
June 20, 2025 at 11:53 PM
As the saying goes:
Everything new is just something that's been well forgotten.
People have been doodling on the sides of pages as long as pages have existed, people have been graffitiing walls as long as walls have existed etc.
Everything new is just something that's been well forgotten.
People have been doodling on the sides of pages as long as pages have existed, people have been graffitiing walls as long as walls have existed etc.
Americans have a real affinity for flags and wrapping themselves in flags, don't they? Not that that's bad, just observing.
March 1, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Americans have a real affinity for flags and wrapping themselves in flags, don't they? Not that that's bad, just observing.
AI definitely feels like one of those things where companies are going to slap it onto everything, people realise that it's fucking useless in most things, and it'll go to being a chatbot and medical tool. We don't need goddamn AI powered fridges.
January 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
AI definitely feels like one of those things where companies are going to slap it onto everything, people realise that it's fucking useless in most things, and it'll go to being a chatbot and medical tool. We don't need goddamn AI powered fridges.
Wait until you're baking octodecillions, then she'll file the divorce.
January 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Wait until you're baking octodecillions, then she'll file the divorce.
Bro is pretending that the USSR wasn't an oligarchy.
December 28, 2024 at 10:51 PM
Bro is pretending that the USSR wasn't an oligarchy.
Education systems everywhere in the West have been/are being gutted, let's try to elect people who stand against the dumbing down of society, which serves to benefit only people with undeserved money.
December 28, 2024 at 10:49 PM
Education systems everywhere in the West have been/are being gutted, let's try to elect people who stand against the dumbing down of society, which serves to benefit only people with undeserved money.
Ah, excellent question. It's an axis on where you stand when it comes to organising government - so do you want an anarchy, a democracy, an oligarchy or a dictatorship? I'd have to work on a more concrete definition, but an axis anarchy/full democracy against totalitarianism/dictatorship.
December 27, 2024 at 11:08 PM
Ah, excellent question. It's an axis on where you stand when it comes to organising government - so do you want an anarchy, a democracy, an oligarchy or a dictatorship? I'd have to work on a more concrete definition, but an axis anarchy/full democracy against totalitarianism/dictatorship.
To go at this seriously, I've always though that it should be a cube and the three axis should be: economical, social and governmental. These do sometimes overlap, but it would give a much clearer picture.
December 27, 2024 at 10:34 PM
To go at this seriously, I've always though that it should be a cube and the three axis should be: economical, social and governmental. These do sometimes overlap, but it would give a much clearer picture.