Skip Navigation
www.theguardian.com Can democracy survive now the world’s richest man has it in his sights? | George Monbiot

A vote for Donald Trump next week is also a vote for Elon Musk. He’ll have even greater power than the US president, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

This is what happens when successive US governments fail to tackle inequality. While millions of people live in poverty, a handful grow unimaginably rich. Wealth begets wealth, and they acquire political power to match. It was inevitable that one of them – now the richest man on Earth – would launch what looks like a bid for world domination...

31
Jump
Trump files first election lawsuit in chilling sign of what’s to come
  • While prima facie, that's true, your reply doesn't mention that anything has been uncovered coupled with the fact that Trump has a history with frivolous and vexatious litigation kinda makes me think this is nothing more than pretext. Though the boy that cried wolf is a parable for a reason. So one shouldn't drop their guard. It's just a shame one man can clog up the court to this extent. There are remedies that courts can take against vexatious litigants, though.

    1
  • Jump
    Republicans threaten to punish colleges that allow pro-Palestinian protests
  • Even in their worst excesses, any legislation cannot change a deeply held moral position. Oh they can try, but the best (worst) they can do is legislate action and communication.

    1
  • Jump
    Norwegian government to set 15-year age limit for using social media
  • Not so sure that it can't be tailored to big businesses. Regulations carve out exceptions all the time based on employee count, annual turnover, customer count (hits), etc

    2
  • Jump
    “This Is Just Terrorism”: Israel Bombs World Heritage Site in Lebanon, Threatens Major Hospital
  • Criticising Israel can be antisemitic. Just check out the IHRA definition of antisemitism . Basically you can't say that:

    • Israel is a racist endeavour
    • Comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
    • Say that they use murder (especially of Christians) for ritual purposes.
    -4
  • Jump
    Linus Torvalds affirms expulsion of Russian maintainers
  • Not gonna lie, this is kinda a refutation of the whole open source model. I was led to believe that it shouldn't matter who writes the code, as long the code is able to be interrogated/corrected.

    1
  • Jump
    Trump says if he takes office, he'll fire special counsel Jack Smith 'within 2 seconds'
  • Let me paint a picture that, I think is plausible within the law. Trump directly orders an assassination. With it comes a carrot (a general immunity for the killing). And the stick (a court marshall for disobeying a direct order from your superior, plus your name on a hit list). Then, he just has to go down the line with the same offer until someone bites. Once that happens, he will order them to go down the hit list with the same offer. Hell, he could deputise a militia to do the dirty. Not saying he would, I'm just pointing out the outer bounds of what is perfectly legal. And if the Republicans have a clean sweep nothing can or will stop him. Even without a clean sweep, he could threaten the life of any politician.

    4
  • Jump
    Norwegian government to set 15-year age limit for using social media
  • Well the devil is in the detail. However, what appears is being mooted is it will only affect big social media corporations. A Lemmy instance is hardly big business. Not that I'm discounting creeping regulation moving into the fediverse.

    6
  • Jump
    "I was ashamed": Why women abandon Trump
  • "Again"? While Hilary won the popular vote, Trump won the college. Or are you referring to electoral interference by other state actors? While I don't deny that it happened, I'm not convinced that had a material impact over, say Hillary's unlikability with the electorate, coupled with her dreadful campaign messages, and pissing off likely voters with her high jinx during the primary. Also, she was a target rich environment for oppo research. The whole having a private and public position had real cut through.

    -8
  • Jump
    The Group Translating Project 2025 Into Spanish to Warn Old Latinos About Trump
  • Maybe, but it's like the Brexit referendum. During the run up to the vote, the rightwing government at the time swore that it wasn't binding, instead it was advisory. But, when the opportunity to vote again when it actually became clear what the Brexit deal meant, it was dismissed. We had our vote. Even though there was no way of knowing that people actually voted for the form Brexit they actually got. Instead those that advocate for a final binding vote was castigated for being anti Democratic with vested interests and hidden agendas.

    If they can do that to Brexit skeptics with all the uncertainty and doubt surrounding that decision, imagine what they can do surrounding a much more cut and dried prospect of Project 2025.

    I should imagine the line will be: "you, yourself advertised what Project 2025 will be. You said if you vote us in, we'll implement it. Now we're in, we see that as a democratic mandate to implement it".

    3
  • Jump
    The Group Translating Project 2025 Into Spanish to Warn Old Latinos About Trump
  • Slightly off topic, but I worry that this election has, amongst other things has turned into a referendum on Project 2025. So, the Democratic Party won't have a leg to stand on when it gets implemented in full. They can't really argue that the electorate was ignorant.

    23
  • Jump
    The Redcoats are Coming
  • At the risk of explaining a joke into the ground your comment has more than one reference. The UK's two main parties have their colors flipped. Labour's color is red.

    30
  • Jump
    Netflix raises prices as password boost fades
  • I was shocked about the amount of content when I browsed BBC's Iplayer service. They even have films. If you want to save some well known movies and are in the UK, you could exhaust their selection before even having to put your hand in your pocket to splash out on extra privatised content.

    6
  • www.huffingtonpost.co.uk Jess Phillips Says She Was Given Quicker NHS Treatment Because She Backed Gaza Ceasefire

    The Home Office minister left the Labour frontbench last year over the party's stance on the conflict.

    Jess Phillips Says She Was Given Quicker NHS Treatment Because She Backed Gaza Ceasefire

    6
    www.nottinghampost.com BBC forced to remove Miriam Margolyes' 'shocking' three-word remark

    The BBC has been forced to pull Miriam Margolyes' 'shocking' three-word remarks about a Charles Dickens character from a Radio 4 show

    Kirsty's question about which character had first resonated with her as a child, saying: "Oh, Fagin. Without question. Jewish and vile. I didn't know Jews like that then sadly, I do now."

    Despite laughter from the audience, the BBC decided to remove the remarks from the broadcast.

    12

    I was just thinking, will the Conservative party take the same path as the Republicans and merge with our MAGA? Or, will their encounter with Boris Johnson be enough of our MAGA?

    3

    I guess it's time to vote. I mourn the loss of STV.

    9

    On one hand she says: "No more identity politics." And the other she says: "I am a Christian"... Do they even proof read their copy!?

    5