#despotism — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #despotism, aggregated by home.social.
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Unlimited power is the ideal thing when it is in safe hands. The despotism of heaven is the one absolutely perfect government, and earthly despotism would be the absolute perfect earthly government if the conditions were the same; namely the despot the perfectest individual of the human race, and his lease of life perpetual; but as a perishable, perfect man must die and leave his despotism in the hands of an imperfect successor, an earthly despotism is not merely a bad form of government, it is the worst form that is possible.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 10 “Beginnings of Civilization”More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/85346/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #absolutepower #despotism #dictatorship #humannature #mortality #perfection #succession #tyranny
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A quotation from Hannah Arendt
The chief difference between the despotic and the totalitarian secret police lies in the difference between the “suspect” and the “objective enemy.” The latter is defined by the policy of the government and not by his own desire to overthrow it. He is never an individual whose dangerous thoughts must be provoked or whose past justifies suspicion, but a “carrier of tendences” like the carrier of a disease. Practically speaking, the totalitarian ruler proceeds like a man who persistently insults another man until everybody knows that the latter is his enemy, so that he can, with some plausibility, go and kill him in self-defense.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 12 “Totalitarianism in Power,” sec. 1 (1951)More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/54483/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #aggression #demonization #despotism #enemy #enemyofthestate #insult #ruler #scapegoat #secretpolice #selfdefense #totalitarian
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Judge strikes down #Trump restrictions on #StudentLoan forgiveness for #PublicServants
The #Education Department wants to exclude employers that engage in #DEI or “activities” that the Trump admin “disapproves” of. The rule was set to take effect Wednesday.#law #indoctrination #propaganda #trumpaganda #WhiteSupremacy #heterosexism #misogyny #MaleSupremacy #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #despotism #fascism #tyranny #MafiaState #Nazis
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/06/30/court-strikes-down-trumps-limits-loan-forgiveness-public-servants/ -
A quotation from Madeleine L'Engle
We think because we have words, not the other way around, and the greater our vocabulary, the greater our ability to think conceptually. The first people a dictator puts in jail are the writers, the teachers, the librarians — because these people are dangerous. They have enough vocabulary to recognize injustice and to speak out loudly about it. Let us have the courage to go on being dangerous people.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DCMore about this quote: wist.info/lengle-madeleine/818…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #lengle #madeleinelengle #censorship #communication #concepts #despotism #dictatorship #jailing #librarians #suppression #teachers #tyranny #vocabulary #wellspoken #writers
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This is really messed up stuffs...
I call it despotic overreach via subjugation through state sponsored industrial surveillance systems.... It has nothing to do with capitalism but rather, that thing that Thomas Jefferson gave us... you know, the thing.
Been to a grocery store lately? You've been complaining for decades now, that they artificially inflate the prices of items so that they can offer you steep discounts on a rotating list of them - If, and only if, you consent to being a "club member". Personally, I've consented many a times; Rite-Aid, Albertson's, Wallgreens, CVS,Von's, and many others, as Brittney Spears, Charles Manson, Joseph Stalin, and even John Rambo, another obvious #nom_de_guerre to combat what would follow as spam but worse, industrial surveillance and privacy mining (of course, you also need to use a fake phone number and a /dev/null email addy).
Have you tried to buy things at Jack in the Box or 7/11 or Mcdonald's lately? ... They have an app for that. Why do you suppose that is? They could just as easily and more efficiently deliver their content via PWS/webapps through your regular browser experience (they don't want to be counter-measured with uBlock Origin or integrated anti-tracking measures on the more sensible web browsers).
They're working really hard to deliver you to evil. I walked into a Smart & Final the other day and saw an unbelievable price for a 30 pack of Natural Light Beer - you had to use a "digital coupon" (just like you do at 7/11 to pay the regular, competitive price for an item). I asked the cashier where in their weekly rag the "digital coupon" was located, and she informed me that one needs to install an app to be eligible for the discount. Fuck that noise. Homey don't play dat.
China has WeChat ... Resistance is Futile.
When you install an app, it's a whole different ballpark of invasiveness, intrusions, data farming, and privacy mining, it's like it's your first day in #Pelican_Bay and you announce that you're going to drop the soap as you shower.
So the next time someone says, "Thank you for shopping at Walmart!", or synonymously, "Go Fuck Yourself", just smile, and offer, "Yes, there's an app for that".
What follows below in the #boost I've shared, that so inspired me to address this issue, is not a simple inconvenience - it's a new beginning :p In #Communist_Red_China, you do everything on your #WeChat app - you submit your elementary school homework, you buy stuffs at the local market, you inform on yourself and your friends to their state equivalent of the #Stazi, and you tell them exactly where to come and arrest, perhaps even disappear you. #Falun_Gong? Healthy? awesome! Now your a live organ donor too - you can thank #Meg_Whitman for that one.
You have been assimilated 🖖
All Your Base Are Belong To Us
#tallship #Sunnyvale_Syndrome #Industrial_Surveillance #Privacy_Mining #Data_Farming #Tracking #Despotism #AYBABTU h/t to @gabriel for bringing this to us via his #LibreSolutions_Network
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