People from the U.S. (and even parts of Europe) do not understand how corrupt, stupid, and unstable majority of the world is. It is genuinely unfathomable.

This does not excuse the fascism of the current admin, nor the war-crimes of the U.S. as a whole, but they are nowhere even remotely close to the likes of Moldova.

There is a reason I said this was consistent.

I checked on four different servers (feddit.nl, lemmy.ml, lemmy.world, and sh.itjust.works) and all of them reproduced the automatic download for only this post. Of course, this can be due to an error with lemmy's source itself - which is why I said it isn't necessarily malware.

Secondly, I did a non-trivial check of my network for MITM when the error first occurred - and there was no evidence of MITM. I also highly doubt that the browser itself is compromised, as it is up-to-date and is focused on both privacy and security.

I posted it as a warning for those to check their machines if the browser (or other mechanisms) didn't catch it. I am also not above reproach; it is okay to criticize my claims - but they were not made without reasonable cause.

P.S. The files were blocked from downloading (and I will not be downloading them) so I am unaware of their contents. If it is just PHP, then lemmy itself likely has a edge-case bug triggered by this post (which is bad). But I do doubt it is PHP, considering all other posts do not display this behavior.

[ OFF TOPIC - SECURITY WARNING ]

When opening this lemmy post, it attempts to download content to the user's device. This is consistent behavior. This is not an accusation of malware, but is a tactic often used in drive-by attacks.

It is recommended to check your download folder for strange files, and perform a general security check.

Is America the only country on the planet?

You seem to forget that the EU and China are starting to mingle; and that China is heavily involved in Africa et al via the Belt&Road Initiative.

Obviously everyone gets hurt in it a trade war, that's why it's called a war. But the the long term outlook for China is significantly better than America's - they will win a war of attrition.

China is also doing their due diligence. Tit-for-tat is the most effective negotiation strategy, you will not beat physics, and they understand this.

The craziest part is that both America and China were benefiting immensely off of the status quo, considering they were the #1 and #2 richest countries on the planet. But since the least qualified person on the planet to handle money (Trump) has unregulated power, it has all gone to shit.

This is the most effective form of protest, that every single American should be doing.

It also happens to be extremely efficient where it needs to be.

We should've been calling them this since the 1950s. And even this is too kind - they are terrorists. Their policy platform is (and has been) to oppress, kill, and exploit.

I've noticed that many of these cruel and reactionary ideologies are not based in any historical data nor science. This is used to be called hysteria.

They still haven't answered either; so I can only assume they did not realize the contradiction between accelerationism and paying more taxes. Sad times we live in.

The appropriate sequence of events would be:

Trump starts tariffs > People switch to FOSS > Trump cuts funding to FOSS

This really isn't double-speak and, if anything, clearly shows the hostility of the admin. They are just incompetent, short-sighted, and overall an enemy of the people.

It's not about "hating". It is because you (and the current administration) have no idea what you are talking about and are trying to pass it off as fact.

People really do not like imposters, larpers, and pretenders - and when in positions of power they get people killed. This is not a video game, nor a simulation, educate yourself before you speak.

There are many many expert peer-reviewed studies that show tariffs do not work - especially in the way Trump is using them. Also the U.S. had no "economic failure", they've been the richest country to ever exist. BlackRock and Vanguard also manage a significant amount of U.S. property assets and they are American companies.

The problem was the wealth-gap and no amount of tariffs is going to fix this; people need to pay their taxes. Companies need to be paying the 91% rate they paid in the past, and people need the minimum wage to rise with inflation.

There is more than enough money to do this, but you vote for Trump who actively makes the situation worse. This is not to say Dems would've made it better - but Republicans will always make the problem worse, since that is their whole policy platform.

You're okay with more taxes, but you're an accelerationist...

What does accelerationism mean to you? And what benefits do you believe society gains from this?

P.S. For the sake of transparency, I'm not liberal; but you can call me whatever you like.

You're okay with 50 years of widespread suffering to maybe have any society. But not okay with paying increased monthly taxes to guarantee a stable society.

The Greek were right, democracy doesn't work.

I get what the founders were talking about now. A lot of people really shouldn't be able to vote if you want a functioning society. They just chose the wrong metric.

If you run a market and take a cut of every sale, you will make infinitely more profit than selling items yourself. This is exactly the position the U.S. was in - which is why it became the richest country in human history.

You also argue that the U.S. is getting "exploited" because they aren't the ones doing the selling. But who cares? I'll tell you who, people who don't know wtf they are talking about.

In your infinite wisdom, the better choice is saddling yourself with more risk and less rewards because "the vibe" feels better.

*Serves you right for using your brain without proof-thinking.

Yes, don't look up. Your eyes and ears lie to you. Your egg prices have dropped to 3.99; and if you say otherwise you are a depressed, cringy, 20-something, lemmy user.

Keep living your lie, hope it works out for you.

A lot of people like to play pretend and be arm-chair experts, but in have zero understanding of what's happening around them. This is what's called being a cosplayer, or a larper.

I am simply listening to what the (proven) experts have to say, and their reasoning. They show analysis and historical data and say we are heading for a deep recession - going depression. Yet you, "Donald Musk", are saying they are wrong because of how you feel. Like I said it's quite unfortunate.

Also today is Sunday, there is no market data - but as you've seen the market has undergone historic losses these past few days. And if you've been listening to anyone with a pulse, people have lost the opportunity to retire because of this. But you, "Donald Musk", say it is not happening - so I must be "depressed and cringy".

You say I am "doom scrolling" - but I am simply see trends, where they are going, and what the experts have to say. I'm saying a lot of bad things, because a lot of bad things are happening - your feelings will not change reality.

It becomes obvious who is lost the moment they are pressed on the tangibles. So I will ask, what are the prices of eggs near you? Near me it is 24.99 retail and 18.99 sale - up around 12 from Trump's inauguration. Do you think most Americans can afford this? Do you think Trump has made this situation better or worse? Now tell me, "Donald Musk", am I "doom scrolling" when I say most Americans will not be able to afford to eat normal food by the end of the year?

I will reiterate, disinformation will not change reality. Every objective measure of your life will get worse - this is not "doom scrolling", it's the data. This is what happens when people who have no idea how to govern or strategize take command - this is the consequences of their actions.

The fact that you use terms like "bounce back" means you don't understand the moment we are living in. The fact that you are only taking your situation into account instead of the average-person's means you are lacking empathy. The fact that you think that your opinions weigh more than the research of peer-reviewed experts means arrogance.

Life will get worse, and you will not beat this fact. It's the unfortunate but foreseen conclusion of those who refuse to see the world with any nuance or insight.

Agreed. In every country and in every political party.

Yes, and it can get quite despicable - no matter political leanings. But American Conservative propaganda is on a completely different level. They actively change the definitions of words and have never once argued in good-faith. It is a societal poison that is historical in scale - it is not just "another" disinformation campaign.

Which is why I don't lie to myself.

Big disagree.

Like I said, your words will not change reality. If you had investments, they have been completely wiped. The purchasing power of your dollar has decreased. The diplomatic power of your passport has decreased. Your drinking water is on track to become carcinogenic (if it's not already). Your health access to health-services will be worse (than it already is). Your national parks are going to be flogged and libraries torn apart. There is movement to ban books and destroy sources of knowledge.

There is not a single demographic in the country (other than the extremely corrupt involved with Trump) that benefit from the incoming consequences. Like I said, the country has only had this bad an outlook during the Great Depression.

If you want to cope, whatever. Enjoy living to 45 and having your kids work in Florida sweatshops.

I would hope so. I am not a Dem, so I wouldn't know.

It seems to me that they have learned nothing from their failures, however. Some Dems are trying to enact change but do not understand the level of investment and sacrifice needed to turn this thing around. They just aren't winners.

That being said, the world has more nuance than "dems better strategy = win". There are active disinformation campaigns from foreign nations and internal bad-actors. There is also active voter suppression and the richest people on the planet flooding the government with lobbying money. To think this is a straightforward calculation, is to be incredibly naive.

Republicans are also actively committing said "horrible stuff" (which includes breaking the law) and are not being sent to prison. The general population is also not using their 2A very well either - if they were, a lot of Republican seats would be vacant.

But as I said prior, lying to yourself about your current reality will not help the situation - nor make your life better. The country is objectively worse now than it has been in 100 years. You can cope and rationalize all you want, but your life will get worse and you will die earlier. You are not going to beat reality.

Just a lack of critical-thinking and maturity.

All I'll say is that disinformation and propaganda will not change reality.

No matter how many times you say things are getting cheaper, they will become more expensive. No matter how many times you say you're rich, you'll be poor. No matter how many times you say tariffs work, they won't. No matter how many times you say vaccines don't work, your community will continue to die. I can keep going.

People can lie to themselves and say their quality-of-life is improving but health, life expectancy, and purchasing power will still continue to get worse - no matter. If 53% of daily mail users accept that, then fine. If 49.8% of the voting bloc accept that, then fine. But life will get worse.

This context does not change anything. Not prioritizing health shows a critical misunderstanding of what wealth is, and how to reap its benefits. You are not likely to be a good business person if you do not understand fundamentals.

That being said, if you're willing to cheat/lie/steal you can ignore a lot of the fundamentals - which is the route most of these "cofounders" took