• OhWell [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    his policies won’t have any material effect on most Americans’ lives

    Biden plans to push austerity if he wins. His policies absolutely will have an effect on lowering the material conditions of Americans lives. We are at a point now where the wealth inequality is the highest it has ever been and that divide is only going to increase under him.

    • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
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      4 years ago

      Austerity isn’t a term I’ve heard a bunch before the past few weeks. Is that when government tightens the belt and says, “Welp, we’re all out of money so we need to start cutting services and benefits, soooorrryy” ?

      • OhWell [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        That's the short answer for it, along with "the government has to balance a budget and we are broke."

        Biden's staff has already made comments about "the cupboard is bare, Trump left the government broke."

        One of the first things his admin are going to do is start cutting entitlement programs and defunding services at the expense of raising taxes on the lower class and probably pushing a COVID relief bill that comes at the cost of defunding social security and/or medicaid.

        • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
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          4 years ago

          Defund the military and police first. Not a single social program cut until the military is defunded entirely. Make this a talking point.

      • DasRav [none/use name]
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        4 years ago

        Yes, but the important thing to note is that money would be still there, it's just not flowing to the people any more, it is flowing right up to the rich.

      • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Gotta love when Thatcher did "austerity" but still thought that invading the Falklands was a good use of taxpayer money.

    • anthm17 [he/him]
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      4 years ago

      Do you want a glorious communist revolution, because this sounds like how you ferment a glorious communist revolution.

    • RalphGrenader [comrade/them]
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      4 years ago

      Yeah, but that's no different than under Trump, so your point is mute. These people aren't going to protest a Trump win.

      • OhWell [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Yeah, but that’s no different than under Trump, so your point is mute.

        I didn't dispute this. My comment is not an endorsement for Trump.

        If you really think you are going to see the worst of the right wing this week, you got another thing coming in the next few years when there is a reaction to Biden's austerity. We haven't seen anything yet.

        • RalphGrenader [comrade/them]
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          4 years ago

          They're going to get worse anyway. Nazis got worse under Trump, things are bad and getting worse, and they can only get better after getting monumentally worse. The Republicans are testing their limits with vote stealing, it's harder this election than last, and they have no reason to stop. Trump is advocating for his followers to kill is now, you think if he wins he's going to go "leave those leftists alone"? Game over man, game over. I feel worried about people who go to the protests, because regardless, the risk is going up.

          • OhWell [he/him]
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            4 years ago

            It's not going to get any better under Biden, that was my original point. He'll most likely push for some bipartisanship law to further the PATRIOT Act and NDAA to make protesting illegal.

            I 100% expect Harris to lay the groundwork for our future fascist dictator that will be coming soon. It don't start and end with Trump. Trump is just the beginning. The pandora's box has been opened now and shit is going to get real bad in the next 4-6 years.

        • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
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          4 years ago

          I’m not trying to Orange Man Bad, but isn’t the Republican MO all about looting the coffers and taking away healthcare and women autonomy? I agree that Biden is super conservative and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near social security and Medicare, but if Republicans stay in power wouldn’t most people suffer the same effects?

          • captchaintherye [any]
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            4 years ago

            I’m not trying to Orange Man Bad, but isn’t the Republican MO all about looting the coffers and taking away healthcare and women autonomy?

            I think the austerity aspect would be worse under Biden. Trump isn't any better morally or altruistically, but he's a mess. He's a big tornado of government incompetence.

            They both want to fuck poor people in the ass, but Biden would step out of the way into his senility bunker and let the pros handle it. Trump thinks he's the president, and actually tries to do things, and he's fucking stupid, so it creates government gridlock and public opposition.

            Whereas now, the newspapers are filled with the latest stories about Trump tweeting a rude word at Joy Behar or ranting about the superior flushing capacity of the toilets of yesteryear, under Biden there would be hagiographies daily, tuning half the country to the "everything is OK now, we live in a Democratic-created utopia where the only things wrong are Proud Boys, and Republicans trying to ban abortion" channel, as it was in 2010.

            Even though libs may oppose Trump in a vapid, facile way ("he's orange! he does typoes! he's a Russian! he doesn't respect troops enough!"), at least they are taking a negative posture against the president which is a good thing. Who is going to be our ally in major media under a President Biden? Glenn Beck wheeling out his stupid paranoia blackboard again?

            Anything resembling even the remotest left-leaning opposition to Biden would be banished to Twitter and BreadTube, and the only critiques of Biden that make the major papers and TV shows would be ridiculous stuff like "he's a Marxist, socialist Saul Alinsky-ite who wants to force abortions" on FOX News, and Joy Ann Reid and George Takei and Alyssa Milano then painting those critiques as the only possible critiques of Biden, then dismissing them out of hand, making him flawless (see also: Obama, mustard, tan suit).

            TL;DR: Crippling austerity would happen under both, but there would be much less opposition to austerity under Biden, than under Trump.

            Also please don't misconstrue this posting as an appeal to vote for Trump. On this issue, and some others like Middle East policy, Biden is worse. On lots of others Trump is worse. It's a no-win election.

          • OhWell [he/him]
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            4 years ago

            So what's your solution? Vote Biden? I don't know if you are concern trolling me or not.

            • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
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              4 years ago

              Lol no I’m not trolling. You just seemed to imply that we will suffer more austerity under Biden vs Trump, when I think it’ll be close to the same. That’s why I was engaging you.

              I don’t have a solution, I chose not to vote. The cuts and forced poverty will continue as scheduled, in my opinion.

              • OhWell [he/him]
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                4 years ago

                I think Biden will accelerate us faster to fascism just for the sheer fact that he will push for bipartisanship with a GOP who are going to bully him at every single turn and get what they want. The Dems didn't choose Harris for nothing. She'll further the authoritarianism of the state.

                The main reason I pointed out his austerity is that it's going to inspire a massive rightwing backlash. Trump isn't the end of this. When Biden does nothing about the economy, unemployment or COVID raging through the population, you can bet your ass that this is going to invoke some serious fury from the far right and their next movement will likely be literal brownshirts. It will make the Tea Party look like a joke with how crazy they are going to be.

                Biden has no answer for stuff like that.

                • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
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                  4 years ago

                  I 100% agree. Biden is going to be a milquetoast "unity and bipartisanship" hack who will most likely just flounder through his term. The current state of infrastructure, healthcare, wages, housing/rent prices, and gross inequality is what caused Trump. And when Biden does nothing to address that but offer thoughts and prayers, the right will put up a much more competent fascist who isn't just a conman.