@hex@kolektiva.social2026-02-25 06:06:41
This is as good a time as any for a thought experiment.
You're in Nazi Germany. You know about the camps, you know what they do, you see the ash fall, you smell it. People who resist alone are killed, some are sent to the camps too. You're afraid to even talk to people about it for fear that they'll turn you in.
You think back to when the camps were being built. You had all the warning signs, but you didn't know how to interpret them. You could believe it would happen. You thought you'd have a chance to vote him out. You thought there might be another way. You thought maybe things would turn out differently if you just sat tight, kept your head down, kept yourself safe.
You see a family being dragged from their home. You know they will be killed. You want to fight, not just for them but for yourself. You opposed Hitler, and at any point you know you could be on the list... Even if you do nothing.
You wish you could rise up, shoot the SS, open the gates, fight it all. You know you aren't alone, but you don't know how to connect with the people who want the same thing.
Using the knowledge we have now, what should you have done in the preceding months and years to connect, to build a community that would open up all paths of resistance?
There were people who resisted. We know it wasn't enough.
Gun laws in Nazi Germany were very similar to US laws in that Nazis were largely free to own guns and everyone else was not. Unlike the US, where "others" have historically controlled using the fear that they might be randomly executed, Germany did codify it. Red flag laws were one more step in the US towards that codification, and there will be more.
When Nazis were taking away those guns, the social networks didn't exist to make resistance possible for most folks. But some Jews were able to resist.
It wasn't the guns that made the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising possible, though they definitely helped. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was made possible by labor organizing in the precessing years.
If there were more uprisings like that, the Holocaust could have been stopped if not prevented. Social networks make resistance possible. Guns are only useful tools to resist authoritarianism *after* you build a community able to support that resistance, and they are only one of many tools made useful by that community.
Getting guns is easy, and not always necessary. Building community is hard. Guns won't keep you safe. Community will.
Single acts of resistance may slow the machine down, but to actually bring down a monster you need to be able to attack more than once. You need a society of resistance. If you are afraid now, build that. Talk to people while it's still safe to do so. Ask them where their red line is. Talk to neighbors. Figure out your network.
Take the steps you need now to keep your neighbors safe, to keep yourself safe.
#USPol
@elduvelle@neuromatch.social2026-04-24 08:51:02
@thijs_lucas@norden.social2026-02-26 11:57:10
Good News: UK returns to the European #Erasmus Project
Ich war mit Erasmus zwei Semester in Portsmouth, England. Europa war mir danach verständlicher, auch den Brexit konnte ich verstehen - nicht gut finden, aber verstehen, wie so manipulative Lügenkampagnen ein ganzes Land stürzen.
Dass die Grenzen zwischen EU und UK nun wieder etwas schrumpfen, ist ein gutes Zeichen.
@memeorandum@universeodon.com2026-01-26 04:55:38
"He Was a Good Man" -- The federal government murders another American citizen (Mary L Trump/The Good in Us)
https://www.marytrump.org/p/he-was-a-good-man
http://www.memeorandum.com/260125/p95#a260125p95
@wraithe@mastodon.social2026-04-25 17:42:03
I love these posts that confirm my ever expanding cloud of “no, really, I’m going to read it THIS time!” holds on Libby are Good Actually.
😂
@Simone21@mastodon.social2026-01-26 10:08:20
Rechts ist nicht ansteckend!
Wenn wir mit Leuten, die anderer Meinung sind, nicht mehr sprechen, sind wir Teil des Problems, nicht der Lösung.
Wir müssen zusammen im Kontakt bleiben und dem anderen das Gute zutrauen, auch wenn er anders denkt als wir.
Die Spaltung der Gesellschaft macht unsere Demokratie kaputt.
Deshalb werden AfD, SVP und Nigel Farage immer extremer! Wenn sie es schaffen, dass wir uns gegenseitig hassen, kommen sie an die Macht.
@YaleDivinitySchool@mstdn.social2026-02-24 19:43:10
Yale Divinity School contributes powerfully to the nation’s strength and the common good. We do this through the religiously trained leaders we send into churches and communities across America, through the direct provision of educational resources to lay leaders and lifelong learners, and through the creation of deeper knowledge of God and the application of theology to the pressing issues of our day.
Learn more at our newly published impact report.
@cosmos4u@scicomm.xyz2026-03-24 01:22:17
Radio Pulse Power Distribution of Lightning in Jupiter's 2021–2022 Stealth Superstorms: #Lightning bolts on #Jupiter pack more than 100 times the power of Earth’s flashes: #Juno
@gevoel@mastodon.green2026-04-24 08:06:48
Meteorologen: aarde houdt meer warmte vast dan ooit, gevolgen nog eeuwen voelbaar -
https://nos.nl/l/2607472
> De Wereld Meteorologische Organisatie waarschuwt dat de aarde door alle uitgestoten broeikasgassen veel meer energie vasthoudt dan weer uitstraalt, en dus opwarmt.
@cark@social.tchncs.de2026-02-21 22:56:20
Ich finde ja, Online-Petitionen sind ein bislang nur suboptimal genutztes Mittel der #Demokratie. Da geht deutlich mehr!
Das Fediverse (mit seinen überproportional politisch interessierten User:innen) könnte da helfen. Leider ist die Fediverse-Unterstüzung gängiger Petitionsplattformen aber nicht zufriedenstellend (siehe Bilder).
Das ist aber ein lösbares Problem. Z.B. könnte man…
