So his version of HitlerPig’s John Baron?

They did teach Critical Thinking Skills back then, but students back then were EXACTLY like students today. Some are smart, and it sticks, some are stupid, and it doesn’t, and most are in between, with mixed results. Some get it, and some don’t. Then there are those with good Critical Thinking Skills, who choose to use them to commit evil. That seems to be common among politicians and business people. They often seem to believe their own propaganda, but they know better, they are just selling it to the rubes, who weren’t trained in school to use their brains properly.

Instead of thinking about age, think about educational level. Studies have shown that the more education a person gets, the more liberal they tend to be. College grads are more liberal than HS grads, Masters grads are more liberal, and PhDs, are even more liberal. The more intelligent a person gets, the more they reject illogical and/or disproven conservative propaganda.

The difference between yesterday and today, is that current Conservatives are actively trying to avoid teaching Critical Thinking Skills that give future adult citizens the tools to question and reject their propaganda. In 2012, Texas Republicans even added it to their official party platform:

We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

They literally said that they don’t want students learning to think for themselves, and “undermining parental authority.” So how are they supposed to become parents themselves someday? Will they always have to consult with their old parents on everything (who, ironically, were educated when Critical Thinking Skills weren’t literally banned in schools).

The answer, of course, is that they don’t give a rat’s ass about parental authority, they just don’t want the next generation growing up to question their POLITICAL authority.

Imagine opposing something that they themselves call “Higher Order Thinking Skills?” Why would you not want every citizen of your country thinking on a higher level, unless you prefer a stupid nation over an intelligent one? And why would that be? The only possible answet is because stupid citizens are far easier to manipulate.

Also remember that Texas is such a huge state, and buys so many textbooks, that most textbook companies write their textbooks to be acceptable in Texas. That means that textbooks will avoid any use of Critical Thinking to appease Texas, but then schools all over America will be using those same intellectually compromised textbooks.

The problem is that schools no longer teach Critical Thinking Skills, which help people recognize and reject propaganda. Republicans have even openly disparaged Critical Thinking Skills, and their gullible followers go aling with it, and parrot it.

They dont think about money like we do. I remember a situation in a TV show where a successful actor lost half his money to a crooked financial advisor, and he was commiserating with his normal friends.

“I lost $30 million!”

“Wow, thats awful, how much of your money was that?”

“About 50%.”

“So you still have $30 million?”

“Yeah, but I lost $30 million.”

“Yeah, but you still have $30 million!”

“Yeah, but I LOST $30 million!”

Rich people often focus on how much they DON’T have, rather than how much they do have. That’s why they are always grasping for more, despite having no use for it at all. It’s a mental illness like hoarding, except it’s money instead of old newspapers or cats.

When a Sociopathic Oligarch like The MuskRat loses half his fortune, he isn’t thinking “Who cares? I’ve still got more than I’ll ever need.” All they can think about is how much they lost. This Tesla crash will haunt him until the day he dies, even if it recovers, which I increasingly doubt it will. 50/50 it ends in bankruptcy within a couple of years.

That’s why we should double and triple down and make it really hurt. I’ve taken to actually asking Tesla owners what made them turn into a Nazi. I don’t bother to stand around waiting for an answer, I don’t care. I just want them to hear how people are judging them harshly for their choice of vehicle.

The MuskRat should get Big Ballz and the boys to program a video game, so he can have a new revenue stream to replace Tesla when it goes bankrupt, which sure looks like the future of that company.

I was a 12 year member with nearly a million karma. I was permabannef right after the inauguration, for repeating an anti-HitlerPig opinion I’d repeating numerous times before he was elected.

I came to Lemmy and found out I wasnt alone, i was part of a bloodbath. I’ve seen posts from many people with 10+ year accounts who were banned. We’re the people who built that site, and made it what it was. Somehow we managed to be active for over a decade without a problem, but suddenly we all became violators in the same month, and need to be banned.

Now we find out Spaz wants to buy TikTok, AND The MuskRat threatened him. No doubt the threat was that if he had a prayer of being awarded the privilege of buying TikTok, he was going to have to obey, and violate Reddit’s foundational free speech mission. The classic Reddit is dead.

Billionaires have to be fought in their wallets. Use their precious “free market” against them.

So far, Tesla stock is down about 60%, sales are tanking, the company image and brand is badly damaged, recovery seems far away, and frankly bankruptcy seems closer. If Tesla dies, Musk loses billions, AND his most lucrative division.

It will also hurt the wallets of many other Sociopathic Oligarchs, who are also heavily invested in Tesla. Destroy a few other companies like that, and they may start to listen a bit harder.

I habent seen anything like the bot action on Reddit.

I miss some great subreddits, especially a lot of cool guitar subs. I still look at them, but it does bother me that Im not able to give advice to new guitarists, or even tell luthiers how beautiful I think their guitars are.

Don’t feel bad, Reddit has been sliding for a long time. Lately, every thread started with dozens of bad puns, followed by Russian bots.

I used to visit certain subs just to out the Russian Karma Farmers. I got so good at finding them that finding them became almost a game. When I identified them, I would address them directly, I would identify them for everyone else in the thread, and make fun of their lame propaganda.

Then I would address their supervisor, and tell them that this guy was terrible at his job, that I clocked him within a few hours of his registration, and hed be better off at the beet processing factory. They would disappear almost immediately, with no pushback, confirmation they were frauds.

Lemmy has fewer people, but so far all we’re really missing is the worst of Reddit.

I was on Reddit for 12 years with nearly a million Karma, and I got permabanned soon after the Inauguration for repeating an anti-MAGA opinion I had posted numerous times before he was elected.

I came over to Lemmy, and discovered that I was only one victim of a bloodbath, demonstrating that Reddit had decided to forego their free speech mission, and grovel for their new masters. Pathetic punk ass corporation.

I never wore a Reddit shirt, but I’d happily wear a Lemmy shirt.

Excellent list.