That’s ridiculous of them.

The problem pre-dated the_donald and we aren’t debating if who is doing it matters/if it’s happening. You’re completely reframing this discussion into something I didn’t say and ignoring the initial claim I took issue with. It has nothing to do with the original discussion.

So it’s speculative? You’re assuming this is happening and have no evidence other than they’re sympathetic to the CCP? Just so we’re clear.

It’s not my problem or fault that you find it difficult to support your claim.

Agreed. Many definitely support it

I see variations of the r-word several times a week. A lot of c-word too whenever women come up.

Are you asking what terms they use?

“Most likely” is not an opinion, it’s stating that it’s more likely than it isn’t which means you need evidence.

Imprecise statements =/= opinions.

I appreciate that and I could definitely do with less snark in my comments. That being said accusing the CCP of astroturfing lemmy instance at scale is a serious claim and it needs real evidence.

A lot of people genuinely feel that way even if I think they’re wrong and it’s unproductive

The big one was a woman protesting holding up a sign showing that but there are many variants. Google image search “keep your government hands out of my Medicare” you’ll see a whole slate of them

World has its own problems. The rampant use of slurs/general ableism is unbelievable. If you say a word about it they shout you down with more vile slurs/insults.

That’s is a lot of words to hand wave away a reasonable expectation as you say “do your own research.”

Stated without evidence dismissed without evidence, etc.

“Keep your filthy government hands out of my Medicare!”

most likely the CCP

Yeah you’re gonna need a source for that one. I don’t like ml but you can’t just throw that out there without evidence

They could but if you work as a salaried employee somewhere it is unlikely you would spend enough individually to exceed standard deduction in a year, so they probably don’t write it off.

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Exceptions can be made just like we make for all kinds of commercial vehicles.

It’s true what folks say: whenever someone mentions a bike path, everyone suddenly has to transport a refrigerator uphill in the rain.

I wouldn’t be so shitty as to grossly mischaracterize you as advocating for state surveillance, don’t worry. My point is you make it sound like a much simpler issue than it is and we should not be shifting the onus onto the general public in a situation like this.

Have you been in a riot or a protest that escalated enough to provoke swift/decisive police response?

I’m not challenging your activism bona fides here to be clear. But i am trying to say that it is very difficult to work through a mental checklist when shit starts to get rowdy and one should never bank on making a series of proactive decisions while under duress/in a time crunch/in really any stressful scenario.

Instead of telling people “just be careful and do X, Y, and Z” you should be pushing back against the laws and practices that make you want to tell people that to begin with.

Re-read it or move on. I’m done. Feel free to have the last word. No desire to get into this endless quoting and telling each other what the other said nonsense.