what does trump want?

[Mr. Tea]

There was one called satnav who claimed hed never had a job and would never need one thanks to bitcoin but hes the only one i think

Well people here claim all sorts of things, don't they.

Most of my friends have matured from liking some music to not seeming to listen to anything any more. Apart from going to the odd gig. I also know people who have never liked any music; they make me feel like a damn fool for bothering with any of it.

 

[shakahislop]

have been thinking about twitter a bit recently. people were saying that musk's purchase was dumb and that he's lost a lot of money coz he's an idiot. but obviously having control of such a massive platform has helped him get to his current position of making moves which are changing america forever. not only having control of it to push his bullshit, but also having comprehensively taken out the previous iteration of twitter. which was in retrospect a pretty powerful platform that formed subjectivities, worldviews, affects among overall quite an elite slice of the population. nothing has emerged to replace that. it reminds me of the murdoch purchase of the sun. it's not such a small shift in the balance of forces

 

[version]

have been thinking about twitter a bit recently. people were saying that musk's purchase was dumb and that he's lost a lot of money coz he's an idiot. but obviously having control of such a massive platform has helped him get to his current position of making moves which are changing america forever. not only having control of it to push his bullshit, but also having comprehensively taken out the previous iteration of twitter. which was in retrospect a pretty powerful platform that formed subjectivities, worldviews, affects among overall quite an elite slice of the population. nothing has emerged to replace that. it reminds me of the murdoch purchase of the sun. it's not such a small shift in the balance of forces

I was talking to a few people about this the other night. I thought it was quite damning of liberals, people on the left, anyone else opposed to Trump, Musk, etc. that so many of them have such a negative view of the site yet seem unable, or unwilling, to leave, either because it's too inconvenient or because Bluesky and Mastodon are too embarrassing. These social media companies are so embedded in people's lives they just can't bear to part with them, even when they're convinced they're being run by Nazis.

 

[shakahislop]

what i notice at the moment speaking to people is that all of this is provoking this feeling of instability. i can feel it too (but then my industry is pretty much collapsing so you know, am likely to feel it). mad shit is happening every day. which ok has been the case for a while and was to some extent the case for trump the last time around. but for everyone in europe this is the first time i think that it's directly affected us. i think people are a bit worried about what's going to happen to them directly with the twin things of suddenly needing to fund a conflict that we probably won't win and with the US actively supporting the european far right. things really are looking materially worse for anyone in europe. there's a difference between experiencing the trump thing as a viewer and experiencing it as something which is happening to you.

 

[shakahislop]

the first month has been a blitzkrieg. its really worked. everyone is reeling. does that still count as affect? it's a media experience at least. beyond the actions and policies there's the tone. which is very much: we are ruthless, rude and obnoxious, and we are going to use force. it provokes fear i think, when you see it. it's unsettling.

 

[Murphy]

If Germany is spending on arming up, fairly central effect in policy shift

 

[version]

Farage seems to have been temporarily hobbled by the Ukraine stuff as he's being pulled in two directions and can't commit to either. He was getting it from all sides in parliament the other day and he was on LBC stumbling over his words trying not to go against Trump but also not to look too sympathetic to Putin.

 

[Murphy]

p45 coming

 

[IdleRich]

Yes, but the 'kayfabe president' angle is also very obvious and has been done to death by now, too.

What does kayfabe mean?

 

[IdleRich]

have been thinking about twitter a bit recently. people were saying that musk's purchase was dumb and that he's lost a lot of money coz he's an idiot. but obviously having control of such a massive platform has helped him get to his current position of making moves which are changing america forever. not only having control of it to push his bullshit, but also having comprehensively taken out the previous iteration of twitter. which was in retrospect a pretty powerful platform that formed subjectivities, worldviews, affects among overall quite an elite slice of the population. nothing has emerged to replace that. it reminds me of the murdoch purchase of the sun. it's not such a small shift in the balance of forces

Yeah it's exactly the 21st Century version of buying The Sun or BSkyB etc

 

[IdleRich]

Farage seems to have been temporarily hobbled by the Ukraine stuff as he's being pulled in two directions and can't commit to either. He was getting it from all sides in parliament the other day and he was on LBC stumbling over his words trying not to go against Trump but also not to look too sympathetic to Putin.

He's really confused yeah, there's no position he can take

 

[version]

What does kayfabe mean?

It's a wrestling term. It's the narrative they weave, all the staged feuds and rivalries, the supposedly real events backstage.

 

[IdleRich]

You learn something everyday eh

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Overall I think there's a credulousness toward Trump's bluster, persona, windbagging. I don't love all the policy decisions, but I think it will be interesting to watch the actual longterm effects and policies develop. The US has always wanted the EU to take a much more active role in Ukraine, for instance, and post-Zelensky summit, they are. That's interesting to me.

Wait a minute, that's exactly what I said.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

It's much more interesting to me to wonder why middle aged Brits are obsessed with Trump. Four simultaneous threads top of the charts. It displays a real impoverishment of a once-great culture to have its headspace so colonized by an ex-province

You may not have noticed but the US is the world's most powerful country and its President the most influential person in the world. Think of all the things that have changed already over in Europe only a month and a half in.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

"When America sneezes Britain catches a cold". To avoid catching this cold we would have to pursue an Amish like level of isolationism.

 

[IdleRich]

Interesting how many Trump supporters I'm seeing saying stuff like this

Yeah, this is going to increase prices. Hopefully, tax breaks can help offset this or most people will complain soon. On the bright side, they will learn to live with minimal lifestyle.

In other words pretending to celebrate the worsening standard of living that Trump is bringing in as it will usher in 'minimal living'.

Yesterday they said Trump was going to improve standards of living...

 

[IdleRich]

You may not have noticed but the US is the world's most powerful country and its President the most influential person in the world. Think of all the things that have changed already over in Europe only a month and a half in.

Yes but I think they are finding out thst they are not lore powerful than the rest of the world put together

 

[IdleRich]

Their enemies see the weakness, sharks are circling...

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Stomach-churningly bad conversation. Exiting immediately with clearer understanding of why I stayed clear to begin with.

Someone needs to check up on him. He seems properly triggered and we're not clear why. It's certainly not anything in this thread.