Benevolent dictator is an oxymoron. The most benevolent thing a dictator can do is dismantle their dictatorship.

Honestly I’ve always hated this. An early example of the awful trend where there has to be a “lore reason” for every little detail.

Star Trek aliens are mostly humanoids because its a human TV show telling stories that have to be relatable to humans and also has a limited budget. There is no need for a lore explanation.

At least in this case it’s a one off that’s never really referenced again.

This. Expect to see feminist, environmentalist, Communism, and queer coded characters make a big comeback as movie villains. It’s the 80s all over again!

Trek is dead. It’s legacy will be what it inspires in us.

It’s also established that’s he’s an accelerationist. He’s intentionally baiting the Empire to crackdown more brutally on dissent in an effort to forment rebellion among the common people of the galaxy. He fears that if he does not do this, there will be a day when the Empires grip is too tight to escape.

“It will burn… Very brightly”

In the end, he was right. The Death Star vindicates his methods. Without Luthen laying the groundwork for the Rebel Alliance, the Galaxy would have been a boiling frog and the Death Star would have led to its brutal oppression for generations.

Community organizers and vocal opposition are at the top of the list Palentir is making right now. Scrub your social media and start taking your data privacy seriously if you aren’t already. Degoogle and take your opinions off Meta and Reddit at the very least.

They’re going to test the waters by going after some brown protestors first, but the end game is all political opponents and uncontrolled opposition.

I think (and hope) that one key difference here is that the US is much more divided politically and culturally then Nazi Germany was. At least right now, there is no way the US declares a war of aggression against a former Ally and doesn’t fall into Civil War. It will take a hell of a lot of internal suppression for that to change, the act of which will likely ignite the Civil War itself.

My hope is that the next few years will be less “What if the Nazi’s controlled the most powerful nation in history?” and more “What if Francisco Franco controlled the most powerful nation is history?”

Europe and China likely have time to prepare, and they really fucking need to. If they’re smart they’re already covertly looking into ways to arm and fund internal opposition in America.

Even where there is viable public transport, there’s a stigma against using it. The city I live in has a decent and cheap Metro system. It’s reasonably clean, mostly runs on time, and you only have to deal with the occasional crazy. I took it for a summer after a car got totaled and it was fine.

Yet I work with a bunch of impoverished young people who spend $30-$40 on Ubers every day getting to work. I’ve suggested taking the bus to many of them, there’s even a stop right outside our workplace, and they are always dismissive and disgusted by the idea.

Humanity stands on the brink of self-destruction because we have yet to overcome the primitive, selfish aspects of our nature. I have to believe that any civilization advanced enough for interstellar travel—without having destroyed itself along the way—must have achieved a certain level of cooperative enlightenment.

Pressing the mustard stain on Steve’s shirt to hear him say “Chicken Jockey” would be peak.

Man, I fucking wish.

“We have middle aged overweight man action figure at home”

At home “Harrier Du Bois action figure”

It took me a minute to realize that little emoji wasn’t just a stain on his shirt, because honestly it fits.

I think they’re starting with foreign prisons until the process becomes more normalized. Right now it would be too risky, the victims would have too many pesky rights. Need lawyers and journalist afraid of being sent to the El Salvador Death Camps before we can open the American ones.

I mean… kinda? Its no excuse, but Trump, Musk and the lot of them seem to all have deep insecurities rooted in childhood trauma. A toxic culture that encourages abusive behavior and discourages self-reflection and accountability certainly doesn’t help.

The memes about it how these men would rather destroy America then see a therapist are pretty real.

I daresay he almost looks… Stately in the portrait. It’s like a look into an alternate reality where Trump was loved by his father and got into politics out a desire to serve his country, and were he’s also done the bare minimum to care for himself for the past 79 years.

I mean, it could be a shitty disfunctional country with a very poor QoL, but still an independent country.

Small states will likely form coalitions with neighbouring states with whom they share culture and values. Texas, California, Florida, and New York might be independent, with nearby coilitions of states falling into their spheres of influence, or they may be the dominant power in a coalition of states.

It would be interesting to see what becomes of the states in the Midwest and the Great Basin. None of them have the economic power to stand on their own, and they will be reliant on having good relations with States that have ports.

Border disputes and tensions will be widespread, and the state-lines we know today will likely be completely redrawn. It’s likely too that many States will be facing their own internal succession movements from regions on the other end of the culture wars. Not to mention foreign powers pursuing their interests in the remains of the United States. The only certainty in this hypothetical future is that is will be a big, bloody, mess.

A chilling look into what could be the first real steps towards the Balkanization of the United States. It’s sad that it’s gotten to this point, but realistically I don’t see another path forward. It may be unconstitutional, but unfortunatly that founding document has lost its legitimately as the current administration wipes it’s ass with it on a daily basis.

A rare moment of honesty