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Alex De Lagarde's avatar

Apathy is the killer of democracy. Wow. You are right, we all have a duty to push this machine forward, for it will not push itself. Pertinent and timely article, as always.

Cheers

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Alex De Lagarde's avatar

I do worry that the creature comforts of Netflix and social media render many of us apathetic. What do you make of this? This seems to be the wild card variable that cannot be accounted for when looking at the history of Nazi Germany.

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James Ergle's avatar

I agree. We have weaponized comfort. The oligarchy has tools for distraction that no one has had in history before.

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The Vagabond Mermaid's avatar

Tales from the high sea,

Wounds and wonder, sharp and true

Heartbreak learns to sing.

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G.B. Allen's avatar

Incredible well done. So true. FISA courts after 9/11 - perpetuated by Republicans and Democrat administrations alike - were quasi-Stasi techniques.

This book is great if you’re interested in classic authoritarian tactics: The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

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James Ergle's avatar

Thank you for the recommendation, I'm ordering it now sight unseen. It sounds right up my alley!

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Michael's avatar

I've started saying that we all now know what it was like in Germany when Hitler first came into power.

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James Ergle's avatar

You nailed it. The parallels are frightening.

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J. Reily's avatar

🔥 Substack Draft — “When Reform Fails, You Don’t Fix It — You Replace It”

By J. Riley | Dissenter-in-Chief

---

🧠 TL;DR

James isn’t wrong. He’s just pulling punches.

Reform isn’t failing. It’s working exactly as designed — to stall you.

What you call collapse is just the mask slipping.

🎭 The Reform Lie

> “Campaign finance reform failed. Judicial term limits failed. Redistricting reform failed.”

Right. But not by mistake.

Every “reform” is marketed like a patch.

But the system was never coded to update.

It’s locked. Hardwired. And they own the compiler.

---

🧟‍♂️ You’re Voting Inside a Dead Machine

People say, “If democracy was rigged, why would they still let us vote?”

Because it’s perfect cover.

You vote.

They redraw the lines.

You speak.

They surveil.

You protest.

They buy more tear gas.

> “When reform fails, democracy becomes a performance.”

No — it becomes theater with armed ushers.

---

😐 Cynicism Isn’t the Enemy — Naïveté Is

They tell you cynicism kills democracy.

But what about gaslighting people who’ve been betrayed?

You don’t fix trust with slogans.

You rebuild it with accountability — and we’ve had zero.

Don’t shame the disengaged.

Listen to them. They saw the system rot up close.

---

🧨 Collapse Was Legal. So Was Slavery.

Collapse doesn’t mean tanks in the streets.

It’s:

Courts changing voting laws

Police budgets ballooning post-protest

Emergency powers that never expire

Every step had a paper trail.

Every step was called “reform.”

---

💬 Final Word

James wants us to fix the brakes.

But what if the vehicle was never meant to take us anywhere?

You’re not fixing a system that feeds itself off failure.

You’re breaking out.

You’re building parallel tools, parallel truth, parallel power.

Because if reform was gonna work —

it would’ve by now.

---

By J. Riley

Dissenter-in-Chief

🗳️ Your vote’s not broken — it’s just been unplugged.

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James Ergle's avatar

Not sure if I’m reading this right — did you run my essay through ChatGPT, add some emojis, and loop it back to me?

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J. Reily's avatar

> Not quite, James.

I didn’t loop it — I snapped it.

What you wrote was a solid fire drill.

What I posted was a demolition plan.

You said, “Fix the brakes.”

I’m saying the car was rigged.

The engine runs on lobbyists. The wheels are gerrymandered.

And the GPS reroutes straight to a corporate donor.

So no, I didn’t run your post through ChatGPT.

I ran it through decades of betrayal —

and gave it back with a crowbar.

— J. Riley

Dissenter-in-Chief

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James Ergle's avatar

k

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