I can't even get the government to take masked federal agents off my streets, how the hell am I going to rein (not reign) in the military industrial complex?
Indeed, it may be too late for you to do anything effective about it.
What the war criminals that have run your country for decades have done to other nations, they are now going to do to yours.
Protest, inform yourself, demand that your peers are informed, and do not for one instance just let apathy rule. Get out there on the streets every single time, write your representatives, use whatever tepid remains of your ‘democracy’ you have left. Divest yourself of any investments in the military industrial complex - and be damned sure you don’t support it, in any way whatsoever.
Demand justice for your own war criminals at a higher pitch and tempo than the call to eradicate cultures deemed inferior by those very war criminals.
What they do to other nations they will do to yours. Never forget this.
Given all the gun owners who yearn for authoritarians, and the advocates for a CEO-type leader whom only a landed and monied few should be allowed to vote for, I think the guns will actually be brought to bear on those of us who wish to protect what remains of our democracy.
I was in NYC during a no king protest, it was the lamest public demonstration I ever experienced given how bad the circumstances are. On a weekend, everything was done after ~2-3h, then back to work as usual on Monday. If you miss that short period of time you wouldn’t even notice something happened.
If there is one thing you can all learn from Europe is how to do a protest that cannot be ignored by your administration
Trump wants the violence. There's a difference between protesting a government that will follow the rules even if the people don't, and protesting a government that won't follow the rules even if the people do.
Get involved with your local dems at a grassroots level, and help break the incumbents that are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo. You need fresh faces in congress that don't believe it's all just a game.
You can still vote this government out and organize your community to help with that. Remember the three boxes - soap, ballot, and ammo. You still haven't exhausted box #1 and should use box #2 really well this year.
You individually are powerless. It's the American people, not you, that can shut down the industrial military complex. That means talking to people - this is genuinely the only thing I can think of to do.
> how the hell am I going to rein (not reign) in the military industrial complex?
Make sure to vote in this November! Encourage your friends and family to do so as well. Start a YouTube channel; get yourself heard. Reach out to DNC, obviously red party is not an option, tell them you want to help with outreach.
> Exactly who decides what constitutes "excellent" condition?
In my country, some people have decided that a Homeowner's Association (HOA) is the body that decides, and for those who don't want to live subject to an HOA, their city, county, and/or an AI make that decision. And of course the companies insuring the homes also have a say in the condition of the properties they insure.
Right now, for example, a city in my area has decided to place cameras on all the municipal and trash vehicles. Those cameras take pictures of everybody's house at least once a month, and AI flags any pictures that it decides appear to show a property to be in less than excellent condition. A human at city hall is allegedly tasked with reviewing all those flagged pictures, and notices and fines get sent to the homeowners that the human decides needs to be notified and fined for the condition of their property.
I suspect that someone will be able to chime in that insurance companies are buying overhead and satellite imagery of all the homes that they insure, and that they also have AI inspecting the properties they insure for roof damage, debris surrounding the property, and checking that branches aren't encroaching on roofs, and flagging any images that would indicate that the policy should be cancelled for non-compliance.
I imagine that this system or something resembling it would be carried over to ensure that the properties are kept in "excellent" condition.
> what actually are the benefits of all this peptide ingestion ?
50 years ago it was cocaine, 40 years ago there was crack, 30 years ago it was heroin, 20 years ago we had bath salts, 10 years ago it was gas station drugs and meth, 5 years ago it was Ivermectin, this year it's SF techies doing their own research into peptides and taking some. Taking the latest drug (or peptide in 2026) is its own benefit.
Ah yes... Ivermectin, very much like the crack epidemic.
"It's for horses!!1!" "They do their own research!"
As with any substance, there can be use, and abuse. If you would have told people 30 years ago you use creatine, you would be stared at as if you inject steroids or growth hormone. Today it is in the supermarket, literally next to the protein bars. Throwing Ivermectin on the same pile as crack and heroin though.. :D
I am sure there are dozens (dozens!) of idiots who inject whatever they think it is for whatever reason, valid or not. Peptides is a craze, and it is also emerging here in the Netherlands, but as people have pointed out, lots of things are peptides, and lots of them seem to have significant health benefits, when used properly. Give it another 30 years... they will be next to the protein bars as well, once someone has figured out how to capture the profits.
Considering how the tech industry's foundation is made in no small part with government money, support, and approval, I don't know that you can really separate tech from politics. Arpanet, Facebook's funding through In-Q-Tel, SpaceX's entire business, and the ongoing public outrage surrounding Flock cameras and hyperscalers are all stories that lie at the intersection of politics and tech.
This alone has helped me immensely. Avoiding the latest ragebait that spills over into other subs from r/mildlyinfuriating alone has reduced my stress level.
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