volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
volkris
boosted
@abesamma Blocking a whole network because we don't like one account seems a bit weird to me though. I don't want to be cynical but I get the feeling some people were itching for a reason to block Bluesky and ICE provided that.
I dislike ICE heavily (and this is an understatement), but if nothing else them being on a common network that is *not* X provides many of us an opportunity to tell them they should reconsider their alignment, rot in hell or whatever else we want to communicate.
It's important to realize that Trump's people blindly believe they are on the right side too winning bigly, no matter how many signs there are that they are pretty weak if not already underwater, and they will continue to act like a giant movement for as long as they are legally in power.
A group that realizes that it's failing will alter course. Trump's base is out of touch, though, so they are forging ahead.
As usual we should be emphasizing what losers they are to pierce their echo chambers. No easy task, to be sure, but can be done. Unfortunately, too many of us run around as if the opposite is true, though.
And so we feed their egos.
#PJMedia headline: Democrats Are So Screwed and a Former Obama Advisor Just Proved It(the headline itself is a message, of course)#USPolitics
volkris
boosted
#ClayAndBuck: these gender communists are using jargon against us #USPolitics #SCOTUS
volkris
boosted
#ClayAndBuck: I don't know how there could be a hundred or a thousand protesters against #Trump. Obviously it must be a conspiracy. Obviously somebody is paying these people to oppose him. What other explanation could there be? #USPolitics
volkris
boosted
#ClayAndBuck on the lady shot by ICE: She was honking her horn, you see. #USPolitics #ICE
Oh.
It's always funny how #Trump's biggest supporters laud him as a great communicator and then in their next breath rush to clarify what he just said, at least, as best as they can tell.
#BrianKilmeade: and we're going to make it clear that the United States isn't going to run #Venezula#USPolitics
With analytical brains like this setting US government policy, What could go wrong?
#SeanHannity:I know my show is big in Iran because that time I had a famous Iranian on my show it got big viewership there.#USPolitics
Mainstream #MAGA media today:
"We need to emphasize that #Venezuela isn't going to be like the war in Iraq!"
And then they go on to lay out how they're exactly the same.
These folks don't know their history, not even from a couple of decades ago, so they can't judge the present.
They are making major decisions based on factual inaccuracies, and that's why it's so important to recognize that.
volkris
boosted
Forget your gay apparel; let's pass the mead!
How ‘Deck the Halls’ lost its ...
This kind of thing is worth calling out because it emphasizes how many of these influencers are just mindlessly parroting rhetoric.
I actually think a lot of them are in mental decline at this point, and yet they are setting policy for the country.
At least some of them used to be able to make coherent arguments, even if they might not have been particularly compelling. But at this point, they have more trouble putting sentences together, and they make more mistakes like this.
#LarryKudlow, among others, misspeaking often in the last week:#Affordability is coming down!Recent commentary on the right is missing that afford...
volkris
boosted
In the past month I have received separate complaints that I have been posting too much about politics and cats. So today's Low Quality Ad is for this "Enemy of the State" cat pin. Keep the complaints coming guys.
https://collabs.shop/f0qstf
Sometimes these major #GOP Influencers just jump the shark of crazy.
#ClayAndBuck:Should parents control their kids' access to social media? Well, we don't ask parents to keep kids from driving, now do we? We don't...
Siiiigh
#ClayAndBuck:You see, there are good immigrants, and there are bad immigrants. The good ones were raised in western countries with knowledge of we...
#Trump is spending millions of dollars and wasting the time of special forces teams to sink motorboats and murdering their drivers who are just trying to get drugs to Americans who need cheaper drugs.
We really need to emphasize how absurd that is.
Want to lower drug prices? Stop killing the people trying to bring drugs to the US!
Occasionally #Trump comes right out and admits that his handlers aren't giving him the real picture of what's going on.
It's really important to keep that in mind, that the guy is so sheltered from the outside world. as it clarifies the concern about the administration.
Trump isn't really in charge. The people around him use him.
#Trump, on the double tap boat strike:Hegseth said, he did not say that. And I believe him, I wouldn't have wanted that. Not a second strike. The ...
That's not at all my position.
So when you project that onto me, well, I guess it's something like a mirror for you.
Peace of work indeed.
volkris
boosted
From conservative talk shows last week, referring to Cheney's opposition to #Trump: #DickCheney did do some good stuff before he turned into a far leftist in the end. #USPolitics
Today #Trump supporters are crowing about how he keeps winning over every court that comes after him, he's a force of nature that no one can land a hand on, because he's just so awesome, and a rebuke against politicized use of the courts.
Trump keeps winning!
Meanwhile, outside of that uninformed echo chamber...
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/26/donald-trump-penalty-lawsuit-hillary-clinton-00669616
The controversy surrounding the Senators' ad regarding illegal military orders really distills the state of US politics at the moment.
For example, mainstream conservative influencers are treating the ad as if it really was speaking directly to soldiers, as they are so unsophisticated that they take a political spot at face value.
This kindergarten level of naivety drives so much of the political discourse shaping US politics in this era, and helps shield #Trump from accountability.
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
volkris's choices:
