While it’s very unlikely that someone has a definitive answer, this question popped into my head after the assassination of the UHC CEO and it’s been bothering me that I can’t shake off this feeling that more is likely to happen (maybe not in higher frequency but potential).
Usually I could provide counter-arguments to myself in a realism/(should I buy apples or oranges comparison) kind-of sense but this one I feel more unsure about.
I wish I had more diverse exp in systems analysis as these kinds of questions that linger in my head really irritates my OCD brain as I just want to know what’s the most likely answer.
Nah it looks like they’re just throwing them back on the streets.
Excuse me while I have a good laugh.
The problem is that it hasn’t been happening enough. Don’t get too ahead of yourself.
No
The system is extremely flawed but works just well enough for a plurality of people to feel like they are getting something out of it. I think it would need to collapse in such a way as to affect more people if there was a chance it would be replaced
I think it would need to collapse in such a way as to affect more people if there was a chance it would be replaced
Reading the tea leaves on this incoming administration, I’d wager that’s a rather large possibility…
Yeah that could happen but we were all predicting total collapse last time and things were mostly just bad as opposed to apocalyptic. Obviously the insurrection is unforgivable but the dude spends most of his time playing golf.
It would be awful if the USA elected someone who was the same amount of evil but actually competent. Like president Xi in China type of person.
Last time, Trump stumbled and fell into the Whitehouse. They weren’t prepared to fuck shit up like they wanted. That’s not the case this time around. Trump was just a Trojan horse to get the fascists in office. My prediction is Trump is getting 25th amendment treatment before the first year is out, and we’ll have a Vance administration that’s beholden to the Thiels of the world.
Really hope I’m wrong.
Yeah it’s not irrational to believe that things can always get worse
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
And that’s how you get fascism!
Edit: from the backlash, I guess my contribution was misunderstood :-/. I meant that the top trying to hold on to its power against an increasly conscious base is how you get fascism. I’ll try to make myself clearer next time
From my point of view; death at the top of the pyramid is more of a symptom/resultant of fascism rather than it being the source.
I could be wrong though
I wouldn’t even say it’s a symptom of fascism, more just a symptom of the same things that give rise to fascism
Robin Hood, famous fascist.
Nuh uh. Oppressing and brutalising the bottom layer of society is how you get fascism. Assasinations of the rich and powerful is how you get freedom.
I doubt it. There’s a good chance that we will see copycat killers. That’s a well known phenomenon, but it is not a change in society.
High-profile events can catalyze changes. Violence has been committed. A person died. That creates a sense of urgency. Americans have discovered that there is a broad consensus that something ought to be done about health care. We’ll see.
But I do not see any appetite for a societal change. Americans look at individuals, not at systemic factors. The USA has, by far, the highest incarceration rate in the world. It costs the taxpayer a lot of money to feed and house all those people, not to mention that the rest of society misses out on all the productive labor they could do. The US likes to punish individuals for perceived wrong-doing, but it does not look at systemic factors.
US society now wants more bad guy CEOs punished. That’s not a change and it will not lead to a change. People aren’t even thinking about how the law could be changed to punish these bad guys, or what they personally could do alone or by collective action. They are waiting for heroes.
Americans want V (for Vendetta) to save them while they watch the show. Many think that Elon Musk is Ironman. That’s part of the malaise.
People want individuals to take care of things and so individuals need the power to do so. Well, billionaires are people who have been given the power to take care of business (excuse the pun). And if they don’t do it right, it’s because they are greedy or have some other individual flaw.
Hopefully we will move towards a more equitable society, but Fascists also have a track record of exploiting the sort of instability American society has been faced with during this century so far. If we don’t handle this carefully, it could go badly. Which is saying a lot, given the last decade.
You know the saying, “death and taxes”? Well, they stopped paying taxes.
The rich have exceptional resources to protect themselves. Money is just another form of power.
For instance, even in a doomsday scenario (for them) of the French Revolution, the rich will have personal security guards. These people will be paid very well (relative to the general population), which will keep them loyal enough. They will eat at secure restaurants (similar deal), and enjoy activities in secure locations.
Beyond that, you already see the rich buying private islands (Larry Ellison) and preparing for an uprising (Peter Thiel).
But if you let your imagination run wild, they can even distort the blame, and set up patsies. Owning the media and controlling the narrative (propaganda) is highly effective and already happening in earnest. Plenty of blame is being shifted to immigrants and (because it works, somehow) LGBT+ groups.
I would even say the UHC CEO is himself a fall guy. The buck doesn’t stop at the CEO. There is a step above him. The board of directors is responsible, and they will replace him with another just like him. They are the ones that ultimately choose the direction.
I don’t think the guy making 12 million dollars a year off the suffering of the poor counts as a fall guy.
He’s a willing participant, for sure. But the board and shareholders make even more than that.
It’s hard to defend yourself from guns. Considering Trump, with the resources, intelligence and defense of the entire state still had 2 close calls with assassinations being an example of this.
The second time was in a secure, exclusive, golf resort.
Rifles can reliably hit a target within 200 meters in a single shot with practice. They maintain an effective range from 500 to even 800 meters.
Unless CEOs are okay with living and working in extreme solitude and isolation, there will always remain the possibility of assassination.
200 yards is nothing for a rifle, I shoot at 500 yards on my range for fun. There are schools and ranges for 1mile shots which you can do in a few days learning from long range shooters.
A $1k AR10 or even a 700 will do 750 without breaking the bank.
Small arms are why we have lost basically every war the USA has been in since Vietnam. It’s basically impossible to stop gorilla warfare.
The first “attempt” was just a staged fire into the crowd event. Trump’s ear got injured when a SS guard bumped his holster into him.
It’s mostly irrelevant to your point, but I’m pretty sure the second one at his golf course was an unrelated shooting where someone else got shot. I guess it could be a cover story where they shot the attacker and didn’t want to make it seem like a trend for the media, but I don’t think we have any confirmation that the was indeed a second attempt
For instance, even in a doomsday scenario (for them) of the French Revolution, the rich will have personal security guards. These people will be paid very well (relative to the general population), which will keep them loyal enough. They will eat at secure restaurants (similar deal), and enjoy activities in secure locations.
In a collapse scenario, their money will be worthless.
🍽🍽🍽🍽🍽🍽
No
If we are it’s the rich’s own fault, which is what that phrase actually means.
Probably not, but it’s nice to see that the assassination of just one executive, and the widespread support and praise the assassin has received, has other parasites terrified. My optimistic side says that maybe this will get the attention of lawmakers. My realistic side foresees private militias funded by megacorporations, but without rockerboy Keanu Reeves leading the resistance against them.
Never underestimate the laziness of a disaffected but mostly not quite yet starving population.
tl;dr: Patience, grasshopper.
Maybe not eat. Most of them are old and probably way to tough to chew.
