• becausechemistry@piefed.social
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    2 days ago

    Just… four quotes deep with zero added information every time. Is this what people enjoy? Someone reporting something, and then three influencers quote-posting saying “this.” or the equivalent? What garbage.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    No. I don’t think so.

    I think the reasoning behind livestreaming this execution is much more esoteric than some kind of formulaic, meta-based strategy to acclimate the American population to violence on television.

    Executions and acts of extreme violence have been circulating in American media for decades. Saddam Hussein’s execution, for example, was widely broadcast after footage of his death circulated in 2006. We’ve also seen footage of American prisoners being beheaded by various extremist groups throughout the world. Moreover, heinous acts of violence can easily be found across the clear net.

    So I don’t buy the argument that this is some kind of long-term strategy to desensitize Americans to violence in preparation for some future expectation that they’ll participate in it. We’re already accustomed to living in a violent society, and we have very little difficulty watching, discussing, and consuming media depicting horrific acts of violence. That doesn’t mean everyone is desensitized, but the idea that the government needs to introduce us to violence through a televised execution seems rather far-fetched.

    I think there are more plausible explanations for why they would want to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution.

    For one, it could be an attempt to demonstrate the consequences of attacking American service members and to project an image of strength and authority. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has explicitly framed the broadcast in terms of deterrence and ensuring that people understand the consequences of such actions.

    Another possibility is that this is political theater. A public execution creates a powerful spectacle, appeals to certain political constituencies, and allows the administration to portray itself as uncompromising in its approach to terrorism and national security.

    There’s also the possibility that the administration genuinely believes the public nature of the execution will serve as a deterrent, despite the questionable assumption that broadcasting someone’s death will meaningfully discourage ideologically motivated violence.

    Ultimately, I think the more interesting question isn’t whether the government is trying to acclimate us to violence, but why it believes making an execution a public spectacle serves its interests. The distinction matters, because demonstrating state authority, appealing to a political base, and attempting to deter future attacks are all very different objectives from conditioning the public to accept violence as a normal part of everyday life.

  • Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 days ago

    Screenshot of a screenshot of a screenshot of a microblog post is a meme now?

    In mah’ d’hais…

  • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I thought extreme violence was already normalised and ritualised in America? Selfishness and the power to coerce are basically sacred in the US… I guess they’re just doing some final touches, lol.

  • SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Your neighbor will kill your dog and run you over because you don’t have a picture of Dear Leader in your window.

  • Pratai@piefed.ca
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    2 days ago

    So a dude shared a screenshot of a woman screenshotting her own post……

    • cannedtuna@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 days ago

      No, I shared a screenshot of a dude sharing a screenshot of a woman sharing a screenshot of herself on a different site replying to another woman.

      We can go deeper. Preferably just not deeper into this current timeline.

  • tigermountain@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I’m sadly not surprised that so many people either don’t know this or they think it’s a good solution.

      • Hueristic_Autistic@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The US government has always been terrorists, they’re just doing what they do.

        I hope they don’t livestream it not even the Mexican cartel or isis does that, they would just send the video with the body part to a family member or post it to an obscure gore site.

        Like, the odd humanity behind the body part and a video sent to a family member by a cartel or a terrorist organization is radiant compared to a US government sponsored televised execution.

        Edit :the lack of humanity behind a livestreamed execution is different and weird.