seriously - it becomes very, very obvious who’s actually dealt with modern fascist governments before and who hasn’t whenever these conversations happen
If you'll permit a shitpost that's really an opportunity for you to respond and clarify why I'm wrong, I'm going to ask it. Here's the shitpost question:
So what you're saying is, if fascism is coming, comply in advance?
it’s not complying to avoid posting violent stuff online in public and to follow basic cybersecurity best practices, and it is in fact a good idea to do these things even when fascists aren’t in charge
I notice that you’ve been getting an awful lot of stick for recommending people take a little bit of care. Just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the warning and deleted all my even borderline posts and reposts. I’ve probably got a file from eons ago and shouldn’t be borrowing extra trouble.
you do realize I was explicitly saying the gotcha was *not* going to land - but it was what a reader might well be thinking - and I wanted to give Faine the opportunity to respond to it.
Sorry. It's just that saying "don't say things on social media that will attract trouble from the jackboots once they're in power" bears at least a little similarity to someone saying "make sure to comply in advance with the upcoming restrictions on freedom of expression".
you should always avoid saying things in public online that might get the feds interested in you and that becomes even more important when dealing with fascist regimes
A while back a Cracked writer wrote a hilarious book about how to win a fight with each president. He definitely got a visit from the secret service about his search history. He ended up writing the book about only the already deceased presidents.
Al, you are only making it hard for yourself which renders you practically useless in the future
you shouldn't get yourself arrested for stupid shit, it just makes them easier to take you away
Yes - that's the clarifying point; what they are saying is that making threats of violence is stupid under any circumstances, and more likely to be prosecuted under a jackboot.
"Fools who run their mouths off end up dead" - Burr was, after all, not wrong.
The other part is that I'm heading towards becoming an old man, and presumably the jackboots would have to spend *some* resources per person they eliminate.
If my little jibes here and there mean they pay attention to me instead of to an actual effective resister, then I performed some service.
