Congratulations to all my US friends on making it to the end of your epic 250 year experiment with democracy! May the subsequent imperial phase be mercifully brief and the aftermath painless.
@cstross it was only ever an oligarchic republic, but it appears we can't even keep that
@cstross oh come now. The experiment ended Dec 12, 2000. Everything after that has just been cleanup.
Jul 4, 2026, 12:10 PM@cstross hmm, waiting on the Vulcans to show up, but I’m told WW3 is a pre-requisite, unfortunately.
@cstross
Americans reading BBC news are probably frantically clicking this button as we speak.
@markotway @cstross
*Rushes over to see if it works*
Jul 4, 2026, 12:42 PMI'm looking forward to the unscheduled premature end of that speech
@markotway @cstross What are the odds on Trump falling asleep part way through his long speech? I also wonder if he is aware that Fidel Castro had a reputed tendency of making 8 hour long speeches.
@aadeacon he wants the 30 minutes standing ovation that Stalin got. @markotway @cstross
@BackFromTheDud @markotway @cstross Well Stalin did have a way with, shali we say, Bullet points.
@aadeacon @BackFromTheDud @markotway @cstross for a while I always put that cartoon in my slides when I was forced to do slides. I stopped because it bothered people (especially "why must he read every slide aloud?")
Jul 4, 2026, 1:27 PM@markotway @cstross I'm personally just looking forward to the president's really long speech. I understand people his age are prone to thermal disregulation, and it would be really funny if that was how it happened
@wotsac @markotway @cstross like the end of That Hideous Strength. That would be epic but I am afraid it is up to people to reclaim their inherent power. For tonight best to celebrate freedom, hard work, families and communities, intellectual curiosity at home with love and avert our eyes from the proffered spectacle.
Jul 4, 2026, 2:01 PMNeither lol nor rofl, precisely, but llal: laughing loud and long.
(Not sure why, exactly, this one was the one to do it, but that's how it was.)
@cstross It wasn’t 250y of democracy though. American democracy basically about as old as you and I.
Jul 4, 2026, 12:49 PM@cstross Man, hoping we can give that shit a pass and head straight to Communism and a planned economy. We should be nationalizing Amazon and Walmart as soon as possible.
@thraeryn @cstross The retail sector isn’t the problem it’s the B to B, the G to B, the B to G, the F to B, and the B to F sectors that are corrupt beyond recognition. Privatizing profits while socializing losses isn't a winning formula.
What happened exactly is that somewhere in the culture #america was consumed by its own dogma. The dogma caught the karma if you will.
@cstross Labelling it the "end" seems cynical in a way that rubs me wrong.
We *have* to believe this is only a hiccup, a setback on the way to better still.
We *have* to believe that the deeds of the more virtuous among us mean something.
@cstross Have to love America. "Justice by jury." "Wait, so all I have to do is corrupt the jury?" "Capitalism." "Accumulation so I don't have to do anything, nor can anyone else?" "Division of labor." "So componentize automation?" Worst nation in the history of history.
@cstross a bit over dramatic don't you think, but okay...
@scottytrees understated if anything!
@cstross it was never a democracy
It was always an imperfect democracy. It still is. Possibly not for much longer, but this isn’t quite over yet. @hiphopheaven @cstross
@cstross The #US government ultimately never stood a chance against corporations and technology. All that's left for older civilizations to wonder is does the greater #Earth stand a chance against the same human fallacies.? It seems as if they're better prepared thus far against gaslighting, save Nigel Farage. Please be on the lookout for Peter Thiel and Elon Musk they have lots of cheddar.
@cstross A few months too soon to declare that. We’ll have a better idea after the mid-term elections. Fingers and toes crossed. Donnie has time to piss of even more folk.
Also, how’re things going over there?
@JamesPadraicR Badly.
@cstross When you go around bombing all over the world, some day those tactics come back to haunt at your own backyard. What ICE, National Guard and Police is doing there is nothing compared to what the US, NATO (that includes 🇦🇺🇳🇿 as well as 🇨🇦 ) did all over the #globalsouth
Doesn't matter what Americans pick, blue or red somebody's always gonna get their asses bombed somewhere in the world !
Jul 4, 2026, 2:44 PM@harib_murshidi @cstross Ah yes, those numerous NATO operations in the Global South
@cstross I really thought I'd be invited to the Foundation. I don't have any useful skills but I'm pleasant company.
@cstross Slightly over half as long as the Roman republic.
@cstross
The continuation of the Civil War (after a 160 year armed truce "with incidents") will be neither short nor any friendlier than civil wars generally are (no exceptionalism here).
Hopefully, they'll use their nukes internally, not externally. (Will the Kingdom of Hawai`i and Seward's Purchase have an outbreak of sanity and secede, so it stays a continental war?)
@WellsiteGeo @cstross The Second American Civil War will not be like the first. It will be more like the Northern Irish Troubles: car bombs, death squads at midnight, and occasional mass-casualty events involving government troops and stone-throwing protestors. #civilwar #usa
@cstross Thanks for the kind words! We hope so too! ☺️
@cstross
The plan is to softly settle in shabby chic comfort, like the European nobility.
Subsequent? Manifest Destiny, slavery, and genocide weren’t imperial enough?
@brett What the USA is getting now is an actual king-emperor (if he gets his way)
We’ve been ruled by capital for centuries. I think it’s dangerous to downplay how corrupt, racist, and imperial the United States has been since its inception.
I mean shit members of the Continental Congress awarded their own companies war contracts!
@michaelgemar @cstross @Npars01
Again, let’s not pretend the founding of the country was not also the project of wealthy men looking to become more wealthy out from under the thumb of the crown.
@cstross I’m wondering if Ireland would consider annexing at least the Northeast?
@cstross for some stupid reason we let a death cult take over the stockpile of doomsday weapons
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all PEOPLE are created equal, And FUCK TRUMP"
@cstross :neocat_laugh_sweat: :neocat_explode:
@cstross
man, this is going to be one hell of a whitepaper though
@cstross This country needs to go through a major restructuring after Dump leaves.
@cstross
This is just setup for the coming Democratic Confederalism phase! ❤️💛💚
@cstross The imperial phase may already be underway. In the same speech, he called for ending the filibuster to pass a bill critics call voter suppression, and said the reason was so his side would not lose an election for 100 years. That is not really a democratic experiment ending gracefully, that is someone trying to make sure it never has to end at all.
