@hex@kolektiva.social2026-02-28 10:20:01
As salty as I am about it, there's also another way to think about this. For anyone who still has connections to folks on the right (which is perhaps unlikely for anyone on this server, I digress), the cult that has consumed them thrives on isolation and grievance.
The words "you were right" have the potential to cut through the programming and open up an opportunity for reconnection. The modern conspiratorial cult of the Right has been built partially around people who were told they were wrong or were crazy. In the vast majority of cases, they were wrong and even when they were right they completely misunderstood why, but we'll skip that for now. Liberals making fun of them (even the times when they definitely earned it) has pushed them further and further into their ideological hole.
The thing about those words, "you were right," in this context is that the way they offer reconnection also requires them to take one little step of betraying their ideology to accept them. So they must choose between maintaining allegiance to a pedophile or finally getting to feel superior after years of living in an illusion of persecution.
Under the ideology of the Right, admitting one is wrong is a weakness. It is admitting defeat. They have to "own the libs" by saying things, things that they know aren't true, in order to feel dominant. But these things are often so absurd that they end up being made fun of, feeling even more weak and pathetic, reinforcing their fear and alienation.
Offering what they're looking for can offer a way out, but only if they're willing to start to recognize the thing they've supported for what it is.
And they were right about some things. They were right that Bill Gates was a terrible person. I've had plenty of liberals defend him based on his philanthropy washing, but he's awful and always has been. The Epstein links make that blatant. They intuitively recognized him and didn't trust him, even if they were wildly off base about *how and why* he shouldn't be trusted... Even if their correct mistrust was leveraged into one of the most destructive conspiracy theories ever (vaccine denial and COVID vaccine avoidance).
They were right about Bill Clinton. He was always shady as fuck. Sure, the people who attacked him at the time turned out to be even more shady but that's not the point right now. He was connected to Epstein and that was always creepy as fuck.
And the Epstein thing was an open secret that liberals ignored for a long time. It was seen as some weird thing that right wing nutjobs believed about the Clintons. But it was true. Not all of it, and there has always been an antisemitic element to the right wing interpretation or Epstein stuff, but his whole pedophile conspiracy was always kind of real.
The whole "Illuminati"/deep state thing is a vast oversimplification, an attempt to make comprehensible an incredibly complex set of interlocking and emergent behaviors. But Epstein did very much want to remake the world, to create a new world order, and he absolutely played a part in it.
The Right wing nutjobs talked about global authoritarianism, Blackhawks flying over American cities, masked men with guns disarming and executing legal gun owners in the streets. That's all happening right now.
The "FEMA concentration camps" are not actually that far off. ICE and FEMA are sister agencies, both under DHS. I'd be more than happy to call that one "close enough" in order to hear some MAGA admit that ICE is, in fact, building concentration camps.
There was always a huge millennialist element to these things. They tended to be connected to "the antichrist." It was absurd, especially for me as someone who no longer identifies as a Christian. But I'll even acquiess that to a degree. The "the number of the Beast" is 666. That's just the sum of the Hebrew spelling of "Nero." Revelations focuses a lot on Nero coming back to life after his death. His death that involved a head wound, thus the line from Revelation 13:3:
> And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
The parallels between Trump and Nero are easy to draw, and Trump's ear wound feels pretty on-the-nose for this. I don't believe in "prophecy" in this way. I think that there are patterns, and useful patterns can become encoded in beleif systems. But I will, again, happily call this one "close enough" for anyone on that side willing to also acknowledge it. I'm happy to meet on that common ground, because anyone who accepts it must recognize that their duty is to fight against it.
A lot of these correct nuggets are embedded in a framework of religious extremism and antisemitism. The vast majority of the beliefs holding these together are wildly wrong and incredibly toxic. But by giving some room to feel validated, listened to, understood, can give some room to admit things that were wrong.
Cult de-programming starts with an opening. People have to talk through their own thoughts, hear their own inconsistencies. Guiding questions can help them untangle these things for themselves. And it all starts by having enough room to feel safe, to not feel cornered, to not feel stupid. Admitting mistakes means being vulnerable, and the MAGA cult is built on fear. It's built on exploiting vulnerability and locking it away.
De-programming takes a long time. It's not easy. It takes patience. But every person who comes out does so with a powerful perspective, a deep understanding, that can be turned back against it. The best people at getting people out of cults are former members. Some of the most dedicated antifa are former fascists who understood their mistakes and dedicate their lives to fixing them.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-02-01 23:26:12
Donald Trump said the United States was beginning to talk with Cuban leaders
as his administration puts greater pressure on the communist-run island and cuts off key oil supplies.
This comes in the wake of his moves in recent weeks to cut off supplies of oil from Venezuela and Mexico,
which he suggested Saturday would force Cuba to the negotiating table.
@adulau@infosec.exchange2026-02-01 17:34:35
Huge thanks to Cédric @… and Jerry Gamblin @… and the #FOSDEM participants for the great construc…
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-01-01 20:01:10
How AI automation can fulfill Thomas Piketty's predictions on rising economic inequality, and why highly progressive taxes on capital can help slow the spiral (Philosopher Count)
https://philiptrammell.substack.com/p/capital-in-the-22nd-century
@aredridel@kolektiva.social2026-02-01 17:36:59
So y'all who complain about the democratic party: I've got a friend who works (very hard I might add!) as a consultant and campaigner for campaigns. There's a special election primary going on where he is, and he's trying to get the leftmost candidate elected. Guess who didn't show up to help get the candidate elected?
The progressives and leftists.
This is the problem. The party is whoever's left. It's not us, because we're not showing up.
@deprogrammaticaipsum@mas.to2026-02-02 04:48:35
The 89th edition of De Programmatica Ipsum is out!
We are thrilled to welcome @… back to the newsroom!
This month, Graham describes the patterns that explain the rise and popularity of Ruby; Adrian raises a warning against the putrefaction of the Ruby community; in our Vidéothèque section, we watch Eileen Uchitelle explain the magic behind Ruby on Rails; and …
@boris@cosocial.ca2026-01-01 17:31:23
On compute as a commodity “people might be open to a new bespoke pickle vendor. So we're pickling some compute and selling that.”
And
“Our mission is to spread the joy of programming, both in people's personal lives and at work.”
[contains quote post or other embedded content] https://bsky.app/pro…
@cdarwin@c.im2026-03-02 15:07:16
“Of all the possible Middle East scenarios, 🔥the current state of play is one of the worst for the global economy,”
says the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s head of global economics, Joseph Capurso.
He added: 💥“We expect the situation to escalate before it de-escalates.
“Iran’s leadership and military capabilities have been significantly degraded.
However, what is unknown is their intent and capability to block the
@deprogrammaticaipsum@mas.to2026-03-02 04:48:57
The 90th edition of De Programmatica Ipsum is out!
This month, Graham analyzes how startups could evolve in our world of AI and agents; Adrian ponders whether working as a software engineer in a fast-paced startup is worth the effort; in our Vidéothèque section, we watch "The AI Startup Grift is Getting Worse" on the futureform channel; and in the Library section, we review "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries, and "Founders at Work" by Jessica Livingston.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-03-02 02:40:49
A vow to end wars is left in the dust
For a decade, Trump promised to end what he calls forever wars,
casting himself as a leader opposed to prolonged conflicts in the Middle East and who would rather pursue peace in the world.
Now, early in his second term, Trump is taking military action against Iran that could expand well beyond a limited effort to halt the country’s nuclear program.
In a video posted on Truth Social, the commander-in-chief said American forces also…