Summary
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that the Trump is deliberately overwhelming the public with chaotic news to induce passivity.
Citing Steve Bannon’s “flood the zone” strategy and historian Michiko Kakutani’s comparison of Trump to Mussolini and Hitler, she argued that Trump uses the internet to spread disinformation, much like past dictators used film and radio.
Urging people to stay engaged, she emphasized that collective resistance can slow harmful policies and that small acts of opposition make a difference.
Burnout isn’t a bug—it’s the feature. The 24/7 propaganda machinery wants you oscillating between outrage fatigue and performative panic. Bannon’s “flood the zone” isn’t some novel psyop—it’s Mussolini’s playbook photocopied by every regime that figured out chaos is the exhaust fume of control.
But let’s not pretend this is a red-hat exclusive. Blue checkmarks and algorithmic doomscroll peddlers profit from the same emotional hijacking. Your attention isn’t just monetized—it’s militarized.
The antidote? Stop mistaking retweets for resistance. Real defiance is logging off to build parallel systems that render their circus obsolete. Feed your community, not the timeline. Sovereignty begins when you stop letting their clowns dictate your cortisol levels.
I’m super glad that lemmy is here to help with this as much as possible
So did these shitheads forget how many legal shitstorms they were in during the past four years after they were voted out last time after all those shits? Yeah fuck around now and find out later.
I’ve started only reacting to the latest shit he does if it isn’t blocked by a court order within 5 days
You know exactly what AOC wants? For the rail corporation to not have to worry about any union strikes.
I’m sure they appreciated your enthusiastic support AOC.
Donald Trump divides, Luigi Mangione unites, even in such tense times. Not because of violence, because of class war stuff.
Donald Trump, somehow, is the ultimate distraction from the class war. Every time he does something awful, he’s reminding you about the class war he’s trying to distract you from.
When Bernie Sanders brought forward another fervent request for free healthcare for all Americans, and the only retort the R he was addressing could come up with was a completely fabricated lie about Bernie taking money from pharmaceutical companies, I stopped believing anyone sensible could oppose it.
“Ew, Obamacare? I’d rather have the Affordable Care Act!!”
I just now found out Peanut Butter glows in the dark…I don’t have time for this shit!
Yeah. But I’ve felt burned out by the news for a while already. So this is nothing!
So my trick is to only care when people actually do something instead of dead catting.
Threatens Canada? That’s not a thing, let me know when they put a bill.
Praises Bibi? We all know how they feel, not news, let me know when more funding has been approved.
Threatens tariffs? Okay let me know when they start taking effect, cause last time it was a bluff.
Kind of same thing here, AOC (whom I’m a big fan of) isn’t proposing a bill or asking for people to show up on a certain date to protest, not really news.
It works cause news organizations’ whole purpose is to report news, actual events, but they haven’t been doing their job cause they are chasing clicks.
I’ve filtered out Elon and Trump from my news feed and it’s a lot less stressful. I’m no longer jumping at every bloviation
I used to get a lot of news off Instagram, but lately I’ve noticed that a lot of radical stuff like protests have basically disappeared off my feed, and other people I’ve talked to have said that this is happening with Twitter as well. Now it’s mostly just fear-mongering headlines with no reporting on defensive actions, despite there being tons of protests all over the place in the past few days. The 50501 protests were a lot bigger than I thought they’d be, and the fact that there’s barely any reporting on them is extremely concerning and I think is intentional. Meanwhile I’ve seen an increasing amount of radical stuff pop up on RedNote, like protests and pro-Luigi stuff, while at the same time somehow maintaining a calmer and more unifying vibe (also no ads), so it definitely seems like a better platform (compared to other options that are algorithm-driven) and I’ve been browsing it more instead of Instagram lately. Also, I’m trying to look for ways to connect with more people IRL, which I think is one of the most important things people can do right now to fight the isolating and divisive design of capitalism.
There’s a place past burnt out… Waaaay past becoming the homeless vagrant that shouts “answer your telephone!” at migrating birds… Past hearing rushing water in your ears that is actually your blood pressure as you have a full blown meltdown because despite over a decade of hard work in a field you still struggled to make rent, car payment, insurance, and food, let alone a social life… There’s a place past the fight or flight of an extreme anxiety attack… It’s peaceful, bland, and frankly just existing in it fills you with an unspeakable rage. I live there, I have 1 thing, and 1 thing only to lose. My dogs. Anyone dares lay a finger on them and all hell breaks loose. I refuse to stay here. I’m making a cells for all those I will drag here by their short pube hairs. Burnt out is just a stage, if you want to keep living, it gets worse from here.
Here is an interview with PBS Frontline where Bannon describes the strategy of overwhelming the media: (at 1:26:19) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm5xxlajTW0&t=5179s
You know why I’m burnt out? Because I don’t see hardly any Democrats pushing the fuck back.
I see a bunch of Democrat voting for Republican bills knowing they’re fucking horrible. I see and hear a bunch of Democrats voting for his unqualified nominees and then taking about bipartisanship. I see Fetterman slobbing all over Trump’s toadstool supporting ethnic cleansing all fucking day long with not a single move to kick his stroked ass out. I don’t see Democrats doing fuck all.
I can handle bad news, I can’t stand the spinless, enabling Democrats.
controlled opposition, always has been.
the us was never a democracy, and elections are theater.
Honestly, you can’t go by news reporting alone if you want to actually see what democrats are doing, you need to actually look at they do to be transparent from their own sources, the news is avoiding covering anything negative about Trump to an absurd degree.
I burnt out long ago when I saw Democrats being full rightwing and most Americans being “enlightened centrists” doing shit. For me the tipping point was the Supreme Court stealing the election from Al Gore.
But I think what was most frustrating of all was the years of being called am extremist by most when pointing out the Democrats weren’t stopping fascism and later that Trump would be the end of democracy during his first term. I remember so many fucking people saying that taking out Trump by any means possible was “extreme”, only to see some of those same people now wish for the exact same damn thing when it’s much more difficult to do so.
I’m glad I left that country years ago. Ultimately the reason there’s a lack of unions, justice, and more there is because it’s a country full of broken people, ruled by broken people.
Many immigrants thought it was great simply because they weren’t being actively hunted to be killed or no longer dealt with unaffordable food (like my parents). They came from even worse countries at the time and when the USA wasn’t that bad, so they keep quiet and just try to live on, and just accept injustice because it’s all they’ve ever known. And the natively born there either are deluged with propaganda so they never pull the wool out of their eyes and never taught to think critically or are systematically broken down into poverty, injustice, and violence so they lose hope.
I don’t think Americans will do what’s right, even when only one path is now left open. But maybe I’m wrong, and like the old quote they’ll do the right thing at the last moment when they realize they have no more choices.
Either way, it doesn’t directly affect me anymore. I tried fighting back, but a small group can’t fix a broken people. Maybe completely shattering them is what’s needed instead.
In the meantime, I’ll keep helping those seeking help where I can, especially the 🟦🌸⬜🌸🟦 seeking to leave to safety.
Glad you made it out. I did try to get out during Trumps first term but didn’t happen.
Yep, it’s pretty difficult.
If you have spare money tho, and like the cold, anyone is free to move to Svalbard, which Norway owns. They have internet. It’s easier to get housing tho if you start a business which, to be fair, there’s technically very little competition there.
Otherwise honestly at this point there’s some decent South America countries you can go to, and aren’t run by neo Nazis like the states are now.
If you know Spanish. If you know French, you can probably get to France more easily through South American France (/j)
Feel seen, friend, I’ve felt the same since Gore v Bush was given to the republicans by the Democrats and SCOTUS.
But maybe I’m wrong, and like the old quote they’ll do the right thing at the last moment when they realize they have no more choices.
You mean like the German people did?
More like hopefully I’m wrong. I don’t think I am, but I hope to be.
Ugh i thought leaving would save me… more work to do to cut ties …fuck!
And the media! When Musk did a Nazi salute they all fell all over each other to run cover for him and “both sides” the issue. When his obvious government wrecking DOGE agency torches important programs it’s just presented as a “tough efficiency program”. The whole mainstream media is trying to pretend everything is normal.
both sides
Make more sides with state level electoral reform.
Videos on Electoral Reform
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems we can try out.
To be fair, I don’t think the overall USA really cared about nor directly responded to the OG Nazis until… 12/7/1941? Of course, that was just the Nazi allies.
I guess I should have specified I meant whom cared to be against them. Whenever I mention the full NAZI Madison Square rally to others, too many are still unaware. I always appreciate others bringing this shit history event to light!
AOC talked about exactly this in her video (it’s over an hour long, but when you have time, I’d say it’s worth a watch). There was a specific effort to start this madness after Congress adjourned for the week, and there’s been a scramble to get back for continued pushback.
And, even for democrats we presume to fight for these issues, there is complacency where people only whine on social media without making themselves known directly to their representatives. That’s important both for people in Democrat, and Republican districts, to make it known their constituents are not blind to these problems.
Yeah, contacting your rep is always a great idea but come on, do you really think that it needs to take massive amounts of contact in order for Democrats to realize “don’t vote for any Republican neo Nazi cabinet an member” is the right move?
Come on man, do you really think we have to tell them this? This is something that’s just so blatantly obvious, such a low bar, one has to wonder how crappy are Democrats and their leadership.
Yeah actually I think you do. Make it clear that under no uncertain terms that your democratic senator should immediately begin doing everything they can do to grind the capital to a halt that you and other like you will be relentless in ensuring that they’re not re-elected.
The short answer is: Yes.
The long answer is: YEEEEESSSS.
Politicians come in varying types, and most want to hold what power they have. It’s all they have - they’re literally at risk of being fired every few years. Many of them know what the right thing is to do, but worry that more domestic issues are their voter’s real concern. So, if they confirm a whack job in Congress while taking a back room deal to boost employment numbers in their state, they’ll do it - perhaps reluctantly.
But that CHANGES if their office is flooded with calls, or even just signed emails. It is a BIG oh shit moment: “Wait, people actually care about what’s happening in Washington as opposed to here??” The biggest problem reps have had, as repeatedly echoed in interviews, is they don’t know which issues are most significant to their voters. The result may be a matter of trading favors to be given table scraps, etc.
It is OUR problem too - we thought it was a common sense, braindead position not to vote for a diaper grandpa that spends 90% of its time drooling over Fox News, but the active voting population disagreed! So don’t think it is a hard mistake to make!
Every time people with experience judge these issues, they have recommended the same thing. Even if you live in a red state that won by 30 points, even if you live in a blue state that won by 20.
I encourage you to watch the movie Darkest Hour. London Parliament did NOT think it would be an obvious decision to oppose Hitler, AT ALL. They insisted Britain would chew them up for pushing them into a “pointless” war against a legitimate machine of progress and industry. It finally took Churchill going nutso and taking a subway ride in public to get a chance to actually see how people felt.
Well agree to disagree about expecting more/better out of democratic leadership but hard agree on contacting your local rep.
All of my reps are MAGA except for one who had a stroke and visited Mar a Lago. I could call them every day for a year and they wouldn’t care, mainly because the other people calling them are diametrically opposed to me.
Yeah, I had that for quite a while too. Still call them and tell them how shitty of a christian they and pointing out that the bible tells us to take care of the less fortunate. They love that.
If they could feel shame they wouldn’t be Republicans. It’s spitting into the wind to try to reason with them. They don’t care what I think and have told me in no uncertain terms every time I’ve contacted them. So I stopped.
The problem is believing that these “parties” are meaningfully different.
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Great, now I’m burnt out and feeling guilty about it.
“Do what you can. And what you can do is enough,” she said. …Ocasio-Cortez reminded her followers several times that no deed of resistance is too small.
Honestly, continuing to exist/taking a moment to be nice to yourself in an administration that hates you counts. Keep existing.
A lot of these click-baity titles and over-simplified summaries seem to be adding to this very problem of guilting people for being overwhelmed.
Unfortunately that’s the system but please don’t feel guilty for being human. Kindness and compassion is resistance, and starting with yourself is a valid step.
Fuck the forces who are selling a solution to a problem they created but are trying to say is your fault. /endrant
In a world of cruelty, kindness is an act of rebellion.
thank you
Yes. Together we are a non-neutonian liquid. Do what you can, and what you can do is enough.
The first thing she said is to take a breather. If you’re unfocused, tired and afraid you can’t do anything.
The second thing is to learn, educate yourself, figure out that Trump, Musk and billionaires are not stirring up chaos and havoc just because they feel like it. If these were 100 unconnected random actions, tackling them feels impossible. Once you understand that it’s all around the theme of Musk, Trump, media-owning billionaires want maximum money and minimum accountability, their actions simply fit within that and a strategy to tackle it is easier.
Third is to “lock in”, focus your energy on what you can do, big or small. Even if you are too afraid to talk to another soul, knowing your rights is still action. Knowledge is power. Talking to your friends and family is action. Calling and writing to your legislators is action. Joining a protest/rally/meeting is action. Organizing, volunteering leading is action. The point is do it to what level you are capable at the moment. There are far more non-billionaires than billionaires. Every bit of action counts.
Last, make them abuse their power, do not just allow them to or assume they will. They are going to do horrifying things, you don’t have to submit to it in advance. You can slow it down.
The thing the idiot billionaires didn’t realize is that they already had maximum money and minimum accountability.
Money. Which would you rather have, a million dollars or a million rubles? By grinding the US economy to a standstill, they may have more dollars, but they’ll be worth less.
When they complete turning us into a fascist oligarchy, they’ll have more accountability, not less. Nearly every single one of them will have to spend more time worrying about getting thrown out of a window by a “superior” or shot in front of a hotel on their way to a conference.
They’ll have to fear everyone above and below them. They discarded a set of rules that originated from general agreements to help us all get along, and have chosen power and blood as the deciding factor over laws. Well, that goes both ways. Democracy requires some good faith, and we’ve taken that for granted.
The founders understood this. It’s why they invented our system of democracy. It wasn’t just out of the goodness of their hearts. That all happened around 1776, as you know.
Between June 14 and July 27, 1794, hundreds of nobles, shopkeepers, clergy, corset makers, vintners, and other “suspicious” citizens were executed by guillotine at Place de la Nation in Paris.
That sentiment didn’t arise out of the blue. It was around for decades before it got to that point. The founding fathers were very aware of what was happening there. The English civil war happened in the mid 1600s and the king was executed.
It turns out constant power struggles were often not great for those in power.
But we’ve forgotten that. So now, instead of learning from history, we’ll repeat it.
So glad i’m not a rich person who’s betting their families lives on the success of the markets. Lots of finance bros living in populated cities gonna find out the hard way that food doesn’t grow from money.
Another thing the idiots tearing down USAid don’t seem to realize. It’s not just charity; it’s our insurance. We intentionally overproduce food. Because, as you say, food doesn’t grow from dollar bills.
The key is to tune out and organize your resistance with your peers. Find energy in love for others
most people are in denial and carrying on like business as usual, making plans for 5 year projects as if the last remaining shreds of whatever used to pass for “checks and balances” were not being obliterated as we speak
Do your best to dislodge them. Coach them up on growing root vegetables
Coach them on how to install a VPN so we can still inform ourselves.
TailsOS, too
What is TailsOS? Is it easy? I want to reduce the barrier to entry for being safe online. I think a lot of people don’t know where to start, so they get overwhelmed with complex solutions. They end up giving up before they get started. So I’m trying to convince people by helping them do easy things. Maybe TailsOS is a lesson two kinda thing?
lesson 4 or 5 i’d say
something something horse to water…
i’ve tried. it’s decision paralysis in addition to denial. people don’t want to think about living in the new amerikkkan trumpistan. so they don’t. any suggestion to take any action is “overreacting.”
to be honest, you need to be careful about who you talk to about what. everyone has a price, and yes most prices are pretty low. but even with trusted close friends, don’t assume they won’t sell you out to save their own kids, just like you would do
I just saw someone on Lemmy say the other day something along the lines of “he’s only been in there a month”
Hell, at that point it was barely 2 WEEKS.
Wouldn’t say I’m burnt out but sure as shit I’m struggling to keep up.
but sure as shit I’m struggling to keep up
You don’t have to keep up with all of it. That’s a sure road to being overwhelmed. Follow the topics most important to you from multiple sources in hopes of getting the largest view as possible.
Spend time on new sites not based in the US, it helps to know the rest of the world sees what is going on for what it is.
Make sure to keep at your hobbies and interests that aren’t politically related so you get some downtime and recuperation.
2020: 2 - again: 2: the 2nd 2020: the sequel
