The amount of people who died as a result of Brian Thompson’s leadership of united healthcare should be investigated instead
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‘Western style democracy’ has never been truly democratic because of how money influences elections and politicians. True democracy isn’t possible as long as there exists a capital class in society. The capital class will not give up its wealth without a class war.
Hence the need to remove
- money as Free Speach
- corporations are people
- lobbying is legal
But changes to these policies won’t occur because these policies already exist.
And they are self sustaining, as long as money can buy politicians, no politician would ever be able to stop it on their own.
I asked chatgpt for a solution. It’s not promising:-
Even though U.S. policies like equating money with free speech, treating corporations as people, and legalizing lobbying are deeply entrenched, history shows that even long-established systems can change through persistent, multifaceted efforts. Here’s how such changes might occur:
- Constitutional and Judicial Pathways
Constitutional Amendments: The most sweeping change would come from amending the Constitution. For example, an amendment could clarify that money is not a form of free speech or that constitutional protections apply only to human beings, not corporations. Although amending the Constitution is difficult and requires broad political consensus, it would directly override existing legal interpretations.
Judicial Reinterpretation: Change can also occur gradually by influencing judicial interpretations. By electing or appointing judges who are open to rethinking established precedents—such as those set by decisions like Citizens United—legal opinions on campaign finance and corporate rights can slowly evolve.
- Legislative and Regulatory Reforms
Reforming Campaign Finance Laws: Even without a constitutional amendment, Congress and state legislatures can pass new laws to restrict political spending. Measures might include public financing of campaigns, strict spending caps, and full disclosure of contributions to reduce the outsized influence of large donors.
Regulating Corporate Political Activity: Statutory reforms can be introduced to redefine the role of corporations in politics. For instance, laws could ban corporate contributions to political campaigns or limit their lobbying activities, effectively reducing the political clout that comes with corporate personhood.
Tightening Lobbying Regulations: Legislatures can also impose stricter rules on lobbying—such as enhanced disclosure requirements, limits on the “revolving door” between government and private industry, or even temporary bans on certain types of lobbying. These measures would curb the direct influence that special interest groups can wield over lawmakers.
- Grassroots and Electoral Strategies
Building Public Pressure: Change often starts from the bottom up. Grassroots movements, advocacy groups, and citizen coalitions can mobilize public opinion, use social media to raise awareness, and pressure elected officials to prioritize campaign finance and corporate reform.
Electoral Reforms and Voting Engagement: Changes like anti-gerrymandering efforts, ranked-choice voting, and other electoral reforms can help shift political power towards a broader base of citizens. Increased voter participation and support for reform-minded candidates can gradually reshape the political landscape.
State-Level Innovations: States can act as testing grounds for reform. Successful state-level initiatives—such as stricter campaign finance laws or innovative transparency measures—can provide models that encourage national adoption of similar policies.
Summary
Though deeply entrenched, policies like “money as free speech,” corporate personhood, and legal lobbying can change. Through constitutional amendments, new laws to reform campaign finance and corporate influence, and powerful grassroots mobilization, we can reshape our political system to be more democratic and representative.
These avenues illustrate that while the current biases are strong, a combination of legal, legislative, and grassroots actions can pave the way for meaningful political reform.
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Capitalism is an inherently unstable system due to the contradictions that define it. Scapegoats are necessary to prevent working class from rising up, and economic conditions in the US have gotten so bad that most people no longer care about sustaining the status quo. So I don’t think the current rise of fascism could have been prevented without a socialist alternative.
Also Biden had already changed the geopolitical landscape when he openly funded an (even domestically) deeply unpopular genocide.
I might be being a bit daft here, but why western democracy, not just American democracy? I ask cause on USA has privatised healthcare.
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Thank you for this, it’s really well written.
Yeah, I get you. I was being dense.
That’s part of the problem, we don’t have ample hospital beds nor staff resources.
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In the US, the system is overwhelmed in large part thanks to the financial side pushing for ever increasing patient loads and reduced staff. So nurses are saddled with more patients than they can safely take care of because an empty bed is lost profit. This has a cascade effect because staff are leaving the industry as a whole because of the understaffing, stress, and poor pay/life balance.
I don’t know if the ACA has the same tax as your system does, but I know my state also has a tax penalty if you’re not covered by insurance. The upside to this, though, is that the state offers insurance. It’s not a great system (before you even get into the plague of issues with the finer points of the system), but it’s better than just leaving people to fend for themselves.
If the courts had intervened to stop Brian Thompson before his healthcare murder spree then maybe Luigi wouldn’t be being prosecuted right now. This trial isnt about luigi, its about covering up the chain of political failures that led us here.
A single death is a tragedy; A million deaths is a statistic.
Luigi killed a dad, husband, ceo, etc, etc etc.
Brian just inflated some numbers…
I hate how the world works.
A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is record profits for a health insurance company
It’s not a war crime if it makes you money, I’m told.
Love to see it
I have it on good authority from my son that Luigi was in a haunted mansion that day.
Gonna wanna see the source code on that “Pray” button. I don’t think it actually does anything.
on desktop the button has a counter for how many people have pressed it, so it does something :)
Holy crap! Do we now have the technology to quantify thoughts and prayers?
we have the technology!
I just saw it wtf
slow clap
The real uplifting news is bootlickers getting kicked in their metaphorical shins in the comment section.
I’d lick a boot if they payed enough, but they’re not. I get that other people are worse off than me, but seriously, what the fuck? The current regime isn’t paying. period. I’m angry and I don’t know what to do with it.
What makes a bootlicker is that they continue to lick the boot even when it isn’t paying off in the slightest.
But you are right, there is no longer any reward for participating in society. The wealthy have forgotten fear.
Life under Capitalism was better while there was a sizable Communist bloc on the other side of the world. The fear that the commoners might wake up and make their voices heard by force of violence resulted in all manner of concessions. Unions were stronger, public services were estabilished, workers’ rights were signed into law. Then the Soviets showed weakness in the eighties, and the Capitalist class was quick to invent Neoliberalism and begin the slow but assured gutting of all those concessions. While manufacturing consent through the media and convincing people that this was what they actually wanted.
Now we see the end result.
As for what to do about it, I don’t fucking know either. Because the only thing that is known to work would require a mass movement of a size that I don’t think even can be achieved nowadays. Society is too fragmented. People are too propagandised.
I have basically embraced doomer hedonism. Life will not get better, so I make a point to just enjoy myself as much as possible, I have no intention of breeding more slaves for their flesh-mill, and I personally hope to die young. (to a definition of young anyway, I’m this close to being legally considered ‘middle aged’)
Luigi’s Mansion 2
Taking out the leader of an evil (corpo) empire is heroism, not subject to murder charges.
What does this mean, exactly? More resources to hire more lawyers or something?
I don’t want to dampen the good mood, but even if this is sent anonymously, is there any risk of the information of who is the donor being hacked, especially by corporate overlords who have every incentive to see Luigi and his supporters get punished?
Proxy account or donor is outside US, in a suitable country
Edit: There is legal protection, so if that donor doesn’t have any potentially problematic business it’s safe ig.
When the government fails to protect us, and corporations won’t protect us, we must take it upon ourselves to engage in self defense. Luigi did nothing wrong.
A true American hero
Is Luigi winning?
That one will be last against the wall
What are you saying here…?