Maybe the time is right for a 3rd party to rise?

They’re just slow to realize.

They’ll have their hands full extracting the lithium from the dead Tesla batteries.

Exactomundo! Choosing the dialogue, choosing the spin, it’s one the major spheres of control.

My ‘breakthrough’ moment was during Covid. Just looking at all the news (from sites I deemed ‘my side’) without any real information, but loaded with emotional phrasing made me realize that I am being used. I love that we have multiple options for news, don’t get me wrong, but I felt betrayed.

Since then, I mostly read comments or watch the video of the event the media is spinning. Comments are pretty awesome, cuz real people help digest (or misinterpret) the harsh tone of the outside world.

Stuff’s happening really quick. Orbán is trying to leave the ICC (proclaimed at the press conference with Netanyahu). We suspect it’s in preparation to host Putin soon.

In these interesting times I urge people against blanket hatred, or any hatred at all. We are all being pumped up emotionally, and it is hard to understand what’s going on if you are blinded by (the justified) rage you’re experiencing. Even having feelings towards Orbán, Putin or Netanyahu helps the media shape you, as when they get that dog whistle in place, we are prone to accept opinion as fact.

Most of us are doing the best we can, and in the rarest of cases (maybe not in politics) do we find actual bad actors instead of misled.

Times can be scary, but if we connect ourselves emotionally to the feed, it only becomes worse.

Do you have any experience with Njalla? This would be my first time purchasing a VPN and I couldn’t imagine a better provider on paper.

I just don’t know anything practical about it besides it’s founded by a member of the swedish pirate party.

reframe the discussion

Simple solution. Mimic what paid online news does. Paywall, but like don’t raise the perimeter anytime someone finds a ladder. Like we have here with the linked archive posts. Definitely a good way to keep out the heavy commies.

Selling ad space

Go for it! But you won’t get me to uninstall my adblocker until I am convinced ads are any good to me. Like not the piece of shit manipulations that treat me as a skinner box. Many good examples of incorporating ads into shows, but with dignity and taste and a clear indication that it is an ad.

Also, if the admin deserves compensation for their time, why don’t I get a pretty penny for this? Sure, the admin hosts and supports the frame, but they could twirl their short hairs all night without the buzz.

“just a hobby”

Love the enthusiasm! If anything gives me faith in the world, it’s that we have the Gnu crowd. I think it’s hard not to fall in love with it in the gloom of the late-freemium era.

Stop rummaging in other people’s wallet. Money as it is, is a very sensitive topic. Also further down in this thread you bring in addiction, alienating further people.

Reddit is having trouble monetizing, yet you blame druggies from this very community for similar problems we’re facing. What is your point? Where are you going? What do you want?

We have no tools against capitalism besides pushing a friggin ‘buy me a coffee’ button anywhere possible. Maybe Copyleft for those who’d proudly piss in the headwind. If you wanna make the system better, that’s great! It just feels like you are lashing out at the community instead of empathizing. Broadcasting ideals is alright if you only want to vent about it and not actually look for solutions.

Can you imagine me not contributing monetarily but wanting the best for all of us? You are definitely underestimating the number of broke people here, but the things you are campaigning for go straight against the spirit of the movement. Work with what we have to make shit better for all (while somehow hardening against capitalism).

What I don’t understand is why some people only want to participate here if it means they can get to free ride on “volunteers”.

On reddit, the picture was pretty clear: admins are being paid, so your average commenter is volunteering the content, not to talk about the free (or power trip sponsored) work the mods are doing. And of course with the way reddit treated it’s contributors, there was huge animosity towards certain admins. I don’t see the participants here riding any more ‘free’ in terms of making this place work. The difference is that the admin is contributing money, instead of getting paid.

I can get behind a campaign for temporarily funding hosting costs, but that probably would not include rent or pay for the admin. It feels the main problem is rooted in our economy somewhere, but this is also something of a ‘put your own oxygen mask on first’ scenarios.

It is frustrating that someone who does such an amazing thing for the common good is struggling to get a fraction of a Zach Braff indiegogo project. You are also doing a good thing by spreading the message, but the pressure on this donation almost alienates me. Without knowing much about server instances, I imagine there are less fortunate alternatives, like moving the hosts to someone close by, outsourcing certain roles to trusted folk while the admin finds the time and money to fund their hobby again.

I hope I’m not coming over as too cold, it just feels like you are trying to solve a way bigger problem than we have. We need the instances run by volunteers. Would the admin be happier if their project died, or temporarily be handed over (if this is possible at all)? What’s better for the thousands of users? Is it fair to the admin? Shit no. Can they get the funding to pay for their hobby? Maybe. Is it fair if they are using the instance as leverage?

Just make it sodium based, and a good crying jag will replenish the battery.

That’s a tough joke.

This is a very hard knot to untangle. Is being a woman political? Feminists for sure, but do you count being ‘not a feminist’ as a political act? Is my attraction to certain sexual characteristics inherently political?

There is definitely a lot to be said on the matter of politics, and while I hate blanket rules/bans in most cases, I can see why the community wants to keep current propaganda out.

But it’s not really impossibile. I just had a gay friend give up on the local pride rally because it has become overpoliticized by my country.

Just because there is a political aspect and assholes are using the whole queer movement as political propaganda doesn’t mean the community wants to discuss it (especially how these can derail almost any conversation).

Of course I don’t know the exact motives behind your issue, but with the info you provided I can still campaign against malevolent intent in this specific case.

Definitely question the source. Even after writing I realized RT is more akin to hollywood propaganda than RFE. On the best of days could we compare RT to AP, I guess.

That leaves my other point standing. I understand we are all people and are emotional about such matters, but you countered the Romanian source with a jab, then drove the point home by attacking their state of mind. An emotional, triggering response to a friggin link. Deepening divide, operating with shame.

Why do you use these tools of shaming when plain truth is on your side? Why did you not go through the romanian sources with a trusted translator service and reply with glaring problems instead of questioning their sobriety?

Hi, sorry to butt in on this thread, but this part almost feels malicious:

I’m supposed to read Romanian now?

Especially in an age of automatic translation, this sentence just broadcasts ill intent. While you cannot know what allegances that specific Romanian outlet has, it feels strangely biased you doing all this under a Russia Today article. Also those jabs, man. ‘Did you drink too much?’

You really gonna call sources into question on an RT thread?? Would I be going too far as stating RT is to Russia what RFE is to the US??

Hey, you’re getting your wish. It will be hard for an already flailing US to stand up from the current havoc. And while it is highly speculative, I have seen some info on how deep Trump is in Putin’s pocket.

But I am playing the antilotto. I really hope I’m wrong!

Lol, I am hearing the glorious odes of the motherland while I read your reply.

Hey, tell me about the successful overthrow of the Nazis in 1956 Hungary. Was Imre Nagy just a legacy nazi that they forgot to clear out during the 40s?

Sorry if I come through a bit aggressive, but this is just cherrypicking data. And as a sidenote, what a thrill this discussion is! The european subreddits are ukranian echochambers, this feels like the opposite.

So, I don’t know if you know, but many countries haven’t really had a chance to digest the second world war collectively. The polish can go from zero to 100 as soon as you bring up national involvement in the holocaust.

If someone is bringing up old skeletons from a neighbouring country instead of working on their million and one problems at home, I get suspicious. Why are the Russians pointing a finger now? How is this not sewing division?

plenty others had their regime changed or couped

While I do appreciate that Maidan brought a regime change and the many Hungarian protests haven’t, so I keep the possibility of CIA intervention open there and can ‘give you’ that much. But which other Eastern European (or Baltic for that matter) had to be coaxed into Nato? Like where were there power grabs before the 2004 wave?

If it is a choice of going from sending troops to weird desert wars or having russian boots on Hungarian land, 10 times out of ten I’d choose the former.

We can disect the harm Soros caused the world, but I feel we see it from an opposing side. He funded Orbán and co. The same group that says it would have let the Russians in in '56 without resistance because that would have saved lives. It feels this is the main argument as well, against Ukraine: ‘Stop hurting yourself’. You can say Orbán got smart and stood up to the old dude, but this part feels like speculation.

I am fairly sure I won’t get convinced otherwise in this thread, but I do appreciate the civil tone. I am also in a lucky situation where things aren’t going my way: if I’m right, I get to say it, if I’m wrong, Ukraine will be denazified and peace will reign in a new Russo-European collaboration of the likes I haven’t seen before. Peace, hegemony.

Thanks for the talk. I’m open to further discussing views if you want/have the energy.