I prefer my doomerism to be vague.

Precise doomerism is just too depressing.

If every pro-GameStop post on r/WSB and r/Superstonk was actually a joke then they have achieved levels of sarcasm far beyond what I thought possible.

Everything you mentioned is an NRA talking point.

The NRA started out as a well respected advocacy group for hunters rights and environmental protection. Then they were captured by the arms manufacturing industry, so now their only goal is to sell more guns.

And after every major mass shooting there is a significant uptick in sales of guns and ammo, so the arms industry is financially motivated to contribute to the culture of gun rampage.

I think you are right, at the start they had noble intentions hidden behind a get rich quick scheme.

But then they all became GME holders, they had a vested interest. So now they act like the shitty video game store in the mall is actually cool and innovative and soon some management changes and NFT nonsense will turn the company around.

In some small way, they became what they sought to destroy.

Sadly your comment could equally apply to both sides.

Great question!

I would have held onto the moral high ground instead of instantly bombing civilians.

I would do everything I could to rescue the hostages, instead of ignoring them and bombing them.

I would negotiate with Palestinian leadership, offering them a path towards autonomy and freedom from their open air prison in return for handing over every single Hamas terrorist that attacked on Oct 7th.

Of course there is no magic solution. Even if we find the best possible course there will still be bloodshed and deep resentment. But with the current Israeli strategy, for every Hamas terrorist that they kill, they are creating 2 more to take their place.

It’s not complicated at all. Bombing a residential building is a terrorist act.

It doesn’t matter what you claim is hiding underneath.

In American presidential elections we only get to choose from 2 shitty candidates. Many well intentioned voters view it as a zero-sum game; thus any criticism of Biden is seen as pro-Trump rhetoric.

I agree that Trump is worse than Biden, bit this politics-as-teamsports mentality is a race to the bottom.

Judging by policy, I believe the last left-of-center president was Nixon. He finalized the Civil Rights Act and created the Environmental Protection Agency. He didn’t do it because he was a leftist (he wasnt) or because he was a good guy (he wasnt). He did it because he was afraid of the massive protest movement happening at the time.

I wish we could apply this same broad based, mass protest energy to every president including Biden. But America(and Israel) has written the modern anti-protest playbook, and it’s super effective. Anti-Iraq war, Occupy Wall Street, George Floyd, etc. were all marginalized and crushed.

It sure feels like things will have to get much worse before they start getting better.

Remember when Biden said he saw “confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading babies”? Then his office had to clarify that actually no, he didn’t. What a horrific and oddly specific thing to lie about.

I was pretty shocked when he said the Oct 7th attacks were “like 15 9/11s”. When did we become so sycophantic to Israel that a president could downplay the most sacred American date and receive so little criticism?

Now he wants to give away another $100 billion for war, and I can’t afford healthcare. Remember Bidens campaign when “public option” was his #1 talking point? Maybe Grandpa Joe forgot about it, or maybe he was lying the whole time.

Mate, the US is directly funding all of Ukraine’s civil service. We pay for their police, firefighters, ambulances, etc.

If an uninsured person in America needs an ambulance ride, they will get a $1300 bill (on average).

If any person in Ukraine needs an ambulance ride, dont worry it’s free of charge, Uncle Sam got you covered.

“Look out for civilians” Blinken says, as he travels the world selling billions of dollars of weapons to the Israelis and Saudis.