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Why we should all consider MeWe as an alternative to Meta

sgrouples logoWhat with X turning into a cesspool, and now Meta's properties apparently evolving into playgrounds for MAGA, many people have been turning to BlueSky as their preferred social media platform.

I like BlueSky, and have an account, but I really don't post there for the same reason I was never a big fan of Twitter. It has limitations when compared to Facebook.

However, there's another alternative which sort of rose up a few years ago, but then disappeared from public awareness. It's called MeWe, and is much more like Facebook than X.

Like BlueSky, MeWe runs on a Web3-based decentralized server system, so it can't be controlled by a dilettante oligarch. They also don't aggregate and sell your personal information for profit, or use it for other nefarious purposes like X and Meta do. They also neither sell nor allow the posting of ads.

One major advantage of using MeWe over BlueSky is that MeWe enables the creation of private groups, of which I currently manage two on Facebook, and belong to a few others.

Back when DJT got himself kicked off Twitter and Facebook, and before he created Truth Social, MeWe dug themselves into a hole from which they have yet to extract themselves. They made the mistake of promoting themselves to DJT's minions as a safe alternative free from oppressive control (which was true), and in the process, unfortunately managed to alienate everyone else.

Consequently, many right-wingers and conspiracy theorists at that time gravitated to MeWe, but fast forward, and most of the right-wingers are now on X, Truth Social, or Parler. However, MeWe is still chugging along, albeit with a much lower profile than it perhaps should have.

I don't think there's any platform that can be completely free of crazies. Had MeWe not mistakenly reached out to DJT and his supporters several years ago in pursuit of users, they might very well be a dominant platform today. They undoubtedly regret doing that. 

Like myself, I suspect that most people still on Facebook are there because that's where their friends are. I wish I could get all my friends to open a MeWe account and start socializing there instead. I would say sayonara to all things Meta and never look back...

Ironically, if you go to my MeWe page, what you'll see is what I posted when I created the account four or five years ago, along with a link to a The Hill article talking about a possible Facebook boycott back in 2020. I haven't posted on MeWe since then, but I would if anyone was there to read it.

This is the main link to MeWe: https://mewe.com

...and this is my account: https://mewe.com/fishhawk.61/

I hope to interact with you there...

The Democrats Are in Trouble. This Man Can Save Them.


(This originally ran in the New York Times and is republished under Fair Use)

Nov. 24, 2024

By Daniel Chandler
Mr. Chandler is an economist at the London School of Economics.

The election victory by Donald Trump and his Republican Party was a rebuke of a Democratic Party that has positioned itself as protector of a despised status quo, rendering it unable to connect with an electorate desperate for change. Defeating Mr. Trump in the future will require liberals, progressives and others on the left to articulate a positive vision that can capture the imagination of a broad majority of Americans.

But where can they find the inspiration for such a vision?

The answer lies in the work of the towering 20th century political philosopher John Rawls.

In his epoch-defining treatise “A Theory of Justice,” published in 1971, Rawls set out a humane and egalitarian vision of a liberal society, an alternative both to the toxic blend of neoliberal economics and identity politics that has dominated Democratic thinking in recent decades and the pessimistic anti-liberalism that holds sway among some more radical parts of the left. In this time of crisis for liberalism, it offers an unparalleled, and as yet largely untapped, resource for shaping a broad-based and genuinely transformational progressive politics — not just for Democrats but for center-left parties internationally.

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The Fallacy of the Self-made Individual and their Self-centered Ideology

(Note: This essay originally ran in AltDaily )

I want to explore one of the great myths being perpetuated in America today - particularly by folks who describe themselves as Libertarians. It’s the idea that any of us achieves success in life by ourselves.

I like small government. It’s just easier to manage. But where so-called Libertarians and I differ is in our identification of the problem. They say eliminate government, whereas I say eliminate the need for it by taking on more personal responsibility.

So you want to eliminate the EPA? Fine. All you have to do is get everyone so hell bound and determined to ignore the ramifications of polluting our air and water to increase profit (No - you may NOT have permission to poison my children so you can make more money) to behave responsibly.

I believe Ayn Rand espoused some of the most evil ideas of the 20th century, and the effluent of it is rampant today. Rand believed that there’s a natural ruling class (in fact, intimating a natural ruling race) and that everyone not deemed a member should supplicate themselves to their “betters.” She said that the poor were parasites and implied that they should just die off. She believed that charity was a fool’s endeavor. She believed people who had any religious beliefs were idiots.

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The gun control conversation shouldn’t be led by extremists

(Note: This essay originally ran in AltDaily. I wrote it in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre.)

I want to talk about guns. Why should be obvious.

Let’s begin with this basic observation: Guns are unique enablers. They give people the means to commit violence in a much less personal, detached manner than any other weapon (OK - maybe a bow and arrow). They efficiently create large amounts of tissue damage quickly and easily. They generate a false sense of power that can encourage violence in an individual already prone to act that way.

Their purpose as designed is to kill. We shouldn't be surprised that the unregulated and unscrutinized proliferation of firearms in America is leading to such extreme death and carnage.

I believe that beyond the usual boilerplate platitudes that emanate from both sides of the debate, there are complexities to the issue of gun violence in America that are being drowned out and need to be part of the discussion. So with a degree of acquiescence that what I’ve written here will make many folks unhappy and angry, here we go.

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Republicans who opposed DJT

Former Trump administration officials:

U.S. vice president

  • Mike Pence, U.S. Vice President (2017–2021) under Trump, Governor of Indiana (2013–2017), U.S. Representative from IN-06 (2003–2013), U.S. Representative from IN-02 (2001–2003)

Cabinet-level officials:

  • John Bolton, U.S. National Security Advisor (2018–2019), Ambassador to the United Nations (2005–2006)[3][4]
  • Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence (2017–2019), U.S. Senator from Indiana (1989–1999; 2011–2017) (endorsed Mike Pence)[5][6]
  • Mark Esper, U.S. Secretary of Defense (2019–2020), U.S. Secretary of the Army (2017–2019)[7][8]
  • John F. Kelly, White House Chief of Staff (2017–2019), U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (2017) (Independent)[9][10]
  • H. R. McMaster, U.S. National Security Advisor (2017–2018)[11]
  • Only half of Trump's cabinet officials endorse his 2024 campaign.[12][13]

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