Has anyone else heard about debt collectors going into homes to take things of value to sell?

I'm scared that the next step is debtors prison to work off our debts.

James and Margaret did an episode of live like the world is dying with Inman about steps to take to prep for it happening here. It's great. Check it out.

I know this is my opinion, but I think a lot of us are great thinkers, organizers, protesters, and all have talents that can help in whatever the future brings us. Others might want to know what to do when they can't protest or be around those we want to support.

I suggest looking at community colleges or Maker establishments to learn a hands-on vocation. I work at the computer most of the day and my job is a stationary job. I can tell you since living in a rural environment that learning to weld was one of the best things I learned, and it is simple and not that expensive. There are other things can help us in the future.

Learning how to work outside, mechanical, basic auto repair, home repair (even if you don't have one), another language, First Aid, heck just learn something to do with your hands. Other things that will help is map reading, communication via signals, it is endless.

The fact is that the internet is going to be one of the first things that will be censored or turned off, so make sure you get as many emergency first aid PHYSICAL BOOKS you can. Nooks, kindles and PDFs are useless if the phones or tablets are bricked or damaged. Make a phone tree and remember the numbers, don't write it down if you don't have to or use simple encryption if you are up to it (example a phone number 213-876-5555, could be wrote down as 102-765-4444, just subtracting the number 1 to all digits).

Good luck and be safe.

Soooooooooo after the election I was pretty relieved with the "Trumps getting really annoyed with Elon Musk" stories... But then they just got written again and again and it was like a collective "we want this to happen so therefore it is" and since i have been following a lot of /other/ topics and not the love between trump and musk.

Then I saw a... Politician?? Refer to trump as "vice president trump", and was like okay whatever, annoying gunna annoy. Then i saw that somehow a budget bill has seemingly been shot down solely because Musk (and that other "DOGE" guy??) demanded it to be so.

And now its like ive turned around and im looking at a damn house fire. What the heck is going on?? I know we only get like, one episode a day, and todays episode was a good one from Mia about post-coup south korea (a little sparse on details but i appreciated keeping it in our minds because as she said, its 51 million people who have no clue who is running the govt) but im really /really/ hoping this gets hopped onto.

It almost reminds me when i was getting really nervous about russia and ukraine and Robert was saying "I have so many friends over there, I just. I dont want it to happen, I just cant think Putin would pull the trigger" and I was relieved and then shocking (to us all obviously) russia invaded and im like... Did this just happen again? Pretty much social media was pretty banging on about dont worry about Musk he is annoying trump he is "first buddy" haha its fine and now Musk is saying "until jan 20 the govt should not pass a single thing. Not one single item." And it unironically looks like republicans are going to go for that, for one, im sure its beneficial to them, obv, but also, are they looking over their shoulder at the /actual/ billionare being Musk knowing he could primary them with infinite money and also censure them on social media?

Like. I thought the conclusion was going to be 'scaramuchi'(spelling, sorry), not just... Scary

This episode it a bit strange to me, Mia was a bit stuck on the question of "who was running South Korea after the coup??" and "Why aren't they following the legally outlined plan??"

I think this points to something anarchists have been saying for a long time: Laws are only text, and enforcement is based completely on the feels of those in power, not what the text says.

This has always been the case? Why is she surprised about it now?

Maybe this is fearmongering, but I'm looking at the things Trump wants to do and I legitimately don't see any way this ends without civil war or some kind of major collapse if he does what he plans. Obviously, I don't want war to happen, but it seems inevitable if he follows through.

The mass deportations are going to be tremendously violent and it's certain some will fight back, which could easily spiral into a major conflict. Mass deportations were specifically mentioned by Robert in a scenario that leads to war.

The mayor of Denver already is talking about using law enforcement go fight the government. If other mayors and even governors follow suit, that could do it. And if they don't, there could easily be militias that do fight back.

Trump wants to use the military on protestors. That, again, is another situation that could easily spiral into war depending on what happens.

Trump is likely to cause a major recession, mainly through the tariffs. If there is one, that's another situation that could cause unrest, especially given that Trump was elected specifically because of the economy.

The courts are packed in his favor, and district level courts could probably just be ignored. They have no real means of enforcement, especially if Trump has the military on his side. "The system" I keep being told will stop Trump is based on gentleman's oaths and what little that isn't is likely to be in Trump's pocket.

And that's just a few things. This feels like a house with the ground level flooded with gasoline and someone's about to walk in with a sparkler. At least one spark is gonna ignite the gasoline, it's just a matter of which one. I'm not so much panicking because that won't do any good, but I just don't see any way this ends without a war unless he and his cabinet just sit on their asses and do nothing for four years. Am I acting like a nutcase or is anyone else feeling this?

Planning a summer road trip with teens. Lots of camping and tourist stuff but if a protest pops up where we are then we will likely attend. It's quite possible this summer will be historic.

I'm not going to put my family in danger or engage with police but if it goes to shit I would not want a little tear gas to keep us from observing the activity from a safe distance.

I have a few masks for painting and I would just get a couple more if they are adequate.

EDIT: I found my answer in Margret's Podcast . S1E7 Gas Masks and Goggles. My half mask paint respirators along with goggles will do the trick for the most part.

I for one really enjoyed both of them. Honestly it felt like the vignettes that happen at some episodes and they always grip me so intensely whenenver they happen.

What are your thoughts on DINO-D and the role of dinosaurs in the fighting? I think they're, to put it lightly, reductive and downplays the free will of the dinosaurs. If they didn't want to serve alongside us, they wouldn't.

And just for fun: Probably none of us ARE but if you were a dino rider which one of them would you want to be? Being atop a heavily armored Ankylosaurus very intense.

Pteradactyl Jockey Ankylosaurus Brigade Red Riders Mother Hens Amazons Dreadnaughts

So many amazing lines in this one. "And [I] started off towards the biggest monsters. I know we're not supposed to call them monsters, but dear listener, I have been a trans woman for a long time now and I think: Like recognizes like. Dinos and trans people, we've got a lot in common: There's a whole 50% of the world population that wasnt to deextinct us both, but we've got too many teeth and claws and allies, and uh riders depnding on what you're into, for that 50% to succeed."

Am I the only one who thinks this satanic panic style mass hysteria?

More and more we see discussions about how globalization is collapsing and how we should focus more on the local. But what about those who tried building a life somewhere else? I left my home country (Portugal) as soon as I started working and bounced around Europe and keep getting yelled at by both my family and even places like this sub that I should engage more with "my people". About that:

I hate my country. I don't care about its people, the culture is quite irrelevant. The only thing I like about them is the food. The people on the other hand are both docile towards those in power and kick those below or different from them when they are down. All the educated flee from the country for a reason: the work culture is terrible, micromanaging, abusive and low paying. My family keeps trying to get me to engage with the Portuguese community here but I refuse because I don't care about going to a party where the only common thread I have with people is my nationality. Give me a book club any day.

Yet I often feel that with growing tensions there is an increased sense of "well you should have stayed and improved things back home". Hell, I have even seen a lot of leftists argue that skilled migration should be heavily limited to "both preserve our country's citizens and also avoid draining poorer nations of talent". So does that mean that because you are born in a certain place to a certain family you should be doomed by that forever more? To take away the few mobility that still exists? To go back to literal serfdom? All because of some sense of "nationhood"?

Town, country, ethnicity, even family at times, they feel to me like concepts we should get rid of. We are all human. We should focus on shared values. And if the people around you don't share your values, then are we supposed to suppress them? It's like how my (borderline abusive) family likes to say "we can say whatever hurtful things we want to each other because we know we will always be forgiven. Because we are family. And that's what families do". Is that what we are going back to? Having this abstract concept be used as a cudgel for and against you to hurt and abuse?

I really thought the stuff Mia said about prices and men with guns was really poetic and so I thought I’d do my own take on it!

Wow, this guy gives me Alex Jones x Oliver North vibes.

Given the December 8 episode, in particular the subject's background with Benghazigate, I can't help but feel like Patel wanted to start a war with his Nigeria incursion stunt. The line about how nobody will care because nobody got hurt... It could be read as disappointment rather than minimizing what he'd done.

I posit if Seal Team 6 got shot out of the sky in Nigeria, it would give Trump license to ramp up hostilities in Africa, something I'm sure Putin wouldn't hate. Trump constantly talks about being anti-interventionist, but he's also a compulsive liar. Getting out of an unpopular war, sticking Obama and Biden with all the unpopularity for it, then getting us right back into another with a much clearer mandate seems to me like it would suit the interests of Trump & Co. rather nicely, especially in the god-king epoch they envision. I think China's interests in Africa are part of it. After all, who doesn't love a proxy war in the former colonies?

I feel like one of the less examined signs of the crumbles might be more cars broken down on the side of the highway. I live on the Eastern edge of the Pacific Northwest and pretty much weekly I make a 2 hour round trip drive on the freeway. Seeing the occasional vehicle broken down is normal, but lately I see at least one every time, and usually more than one. I had a conversation with my daughters about it, and we were discussing whether we could expect to see a lot more breakdowns as things get worse. Cars are increasingly expensive to own and the infrastructure provided is no more friendly to the poor, with a lack of trains and reduction in service of buses. I wonder at what point will it begin to make news. In Argentina when they privatize the train system the private owners found it wasn't profitable to extend the train lines beyond the more densely populated areas, so they cut off service to rural communities. The result was and influx of people to the city, increasing population density in those places beyond what could be borne by the housing markets or the infrastructure. In Victorian Britain when the greens were fenced in and it was no longer plausible to live a rural lifestyle people condensed into the cities providing cheap impoverished labor for the industrialists to take advantage of. What are we going to see now? In a lot of ways the rural poor already are ceasing to exist, and the urban poor are decreasingly mobile. I wonder if other people have seen this or other signs of crumbles in their area. Have you seen any of the same things I have?

Was looking to get in touch with the ICHH cats. I know Mia’s beat is labor. And I know her & the rest are busy af with the incoming administration’s shenanigans.

But I thought there was an email address/contact info. And I can’t seem to find it.

An excellent episode IMHO. I think "mutual aid" is just a fancy term to describe what most rural (and often, very not leftist) folks have done for centuries. It's seeing that your neighbor needs a shirt and giving them one; hearing that a coworker just had a baby and bringing a casserole... remote communities know how to organize because it's the only way they've survived.

I was really inspired by Mia and James today! I’ve been in activist spaces only the last 5 or 6 years and organizing has always had its challenges. But today they really got me thinking about my skills!

My skills are: *Sewing! (Thank you for acknowledging this skill btw) *Baking & cooking *Spreadsheets *Putting on a show! I can’t do the performance but I can help set up the stage and find you all the lighting and sound techs you need!

What are your organizing skills?

Hey friends, enemies, and co-conspirators. As we move into a new year of likely terrible things, we want your input on what it is that you want from this subreddit. First and foremost, the subreddit is dedicated to the Cool Zone Media show It Could Happen Here. But it has become clear than many members of the community see it as more than that, and perhaps need it to be more than that. For a long time we've had a policy of relaxing the relevancy rule on the weekend to allow for more open and off topic discussion, but it seems like maybe that isn't what folks want as a whole.

Obviously we can't please everyone, but we want to find a compromise. We are looking to broaden the scope of the subreddit, while hoping to avoid the sub becoming just another dumping ground for leftist news/memes and losing sight of its original purpose. One policy we have in place to mitigate that is requiring a submission statement on all non-text posts so the poster can explain why they feel the submission fits the community. The idea being to promote actual participation and deter karma farmers. We're glad to take into consideration more ideas.

Rather than autocratically making a decision on the matter ourselves, we'd love to hear from all of you on what you want and don't want from this community.

ETA:Off the top, I’m adding that I am choosing to think of this list as one of people requiring education and outreach rather than a “shame” list at the moment. Text of list at end.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/81-democrats-voted-to-pull-care-from

I made special note of NY for some reason. If it isn’t the minority leader who also supports apartheid and genocide, I may owe him an apology but …

I am heartened to (not) see some, like Seth Moulton from MA, who didn’t vote yes despite dumb, ill informed & “my daughters’ sports” comments.

IOW, the words matter but the actions matter much more. Not that I’m defending he who rarely speaks on the floor.

He used to rep my district so I checked one time after I saw he had actually spoken on the floor in 2018 or so. Ha

ETA Names: from ErinInTheMorning Substack. Edit2: tried to fix copypasta formatting but …

Democrats that voted for the NDAA:

From the state of Alabama

• Sewell (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Alaska

• Peltola (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Arizona

• Gallego (Democrat) votes Yea
• Stanton (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of California

• Aguilar (Democrat) votes Yea
• Carbajal (Democrat) votes Yea
• Costa (Democrat) votes Yea
• Eshoo (Democrat) votes Yea
• Harder (Democrat) votes Yea
• Levin (Democrat) votes Yea
• Lieu (Democrat) votes Yea
• Lofgren (Democrat) votes Yea
• Panetta (Democrat) votes Yea
• Peters (Democrat) votes Yea
• Ruiz (Democrat) votes Yea
• Thompson (Democrat) votes Yea
• Torres (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Colorado

• Caraveo (Democrat) votes Yea
• Crow (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Connecticut

• Courtney (Democrat) votes Yea
• DeLauro (Democrat) votes Yea
• Hayes (Democrat) votes Yea
• Himes (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Florida

• Castor (Democrat) votes Yea
• Cherfilus-McCormick (Democrat) votes Yea
• Frankel, Lois (Democrat) votes Yea
• Moskowitz (Democrat) votes Yea
• Soto (Democrat) votes Yea
• Wilson (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Georgia

• Bishop (Democrat) votes Yea
• McBath (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Hawaii

• Case (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Illinois

• Budzinski (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Indiana

• Mrvan (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Maine

• Golden (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Maryland

• Hoyer (Democrat) votes Yea
• Ivey (Democrat) votes Yea
• Mfume (Democrat) votes Yea
• Ruppersberger (Democrat) votes Yea
• Trone (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Michigan

• Scholten (Democrat) votes Yea
• Slotkin (Democrat) votes Yea
• Thanedar (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Minnesota

• Phillips (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Mississippi

• Thompson (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Nevada

• Horsford (Democrat) votes Yea
• Lee (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of New Hampshire

• Pappas (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of New Jersey

• Gottheimer (Democrat) votes Yea
• Sherrill (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of New Mexico

• Vasquez (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of New York

• Jeffries (Democrat) votes Yea
• Kennedy (Democrat) votes Yea
• Meeks (Democrat) votes Yea
• Morelle (Democrat) votes Yea
• Ryan (Democrat) votes Yea
• Suozzi (Democrat) votes Yea
• Tonko (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of North Carolina

• Davis (Democrat) votes Yea
• Jackson (Democrat) votes Yea
• Manning (Democrat) votes Yea
• Nickel (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Ohio

• Kaptur (Democrat) votes Yea
• Landsman (Democrat) votes Yea
• Sykes (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Pennsylvania

• Cartwright (Democrat) votes Yea
• Dean (Democrat) votes Yea
• Houlahan (Democrat) votes Yea
• Wild (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Rhode Island

• Magaziner (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of South Carolina

• Clyburn (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Texas

• Allred (Democrat) votes Yea
• Cuellar (Democrat) votes Yea
• Escobar (Democrat) votes Yea
• Gonzalez, V. (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Virginia

• McClellan (Democrat) votes Yea
• Scott (Democrat) votes Yea

From the state of Washington

• Larsen (Democrat) votes Yea
• Perez (Democrat) votes Yea
• Schrier (Democrat) votes Yea
• Strickland (Democrat) votes Yea

I’m in no way trying to make light of the terrible things actual refugees endure that lead them to fleeing their homes. I’m also aware that my white maleness will protect me from much of what may be coming but I know eventually my being autistic and physically disabled will make me a target. As someone who can’t run or really do much of anything combat related well I ask this question in sincerity.

To start, I will acknowledge my bias in that I think Mia’s episodes are the weakest from an analytical standpoint, but I found this “moral economy is the explanation of all things” episode really odd.

Everything from the discussion of how pricing works to how the market punishes high prices was just bizarre. We’re dismissing the supply demand curve and basing our entire economic theory off of bread riots in early industrial England? It’s a non-traditional approach I will grant you.

For example, M Shkreli was cited as how there is nothing “the market” can do about high prices…. But isn’t the fact that insulin is now capped at low rates an example of market outcry motivating the govt to prevent predation of consumers? (A fact so popular that Trump falsely claims his administration did)

Choosing to end with a vacillating call for a future where nothing has a price….? I apologize if I misunderstood the premise of the episode but I thought we discussing how perceptions of inflation motivated voters?

So a fair while ago I stumbled across https://www.coolzonemedia.com/buy/, and the page wasn't working properly. I figured it was still being set up and would be announced on the various feeds when it was ready. But nothing was said, and I had kind of forgotten about it.

I was reminded again by someone posting a link in a different thread, so I went through and tried to subscribe using my credit card. I got told my transaction was declined almost immediately. I have a card that's linked to an app on my phone, and I would usually get a notification and be able to see the attempted transaction if my card had really been declined, so I don't think any attempt at payment has been taken.

My assumption is that this still just hasn't been officially rolled out yet, so some crucial part of the system just isn't turned on. But has anyone else actually tried to subscribe? If so did you manage to pay successfully and did you get the link to the ad-free feeds?

Today's ICHH episode "Luigi Mangione Was Radicalized By Pain" was hosted by Robert Evans and covered the motives and online presence of the recently arrested shooter of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

The public reaction to this event has been one of nearly unified focus on the cruelty and inhumanity of the American private health insurance system and widespread support for the shooter.

While details continue to emerge, online discourse has come to rest on the digital footprint of Luigi Mangione, the 26 year old assassin. Robert goes over many of the things Luigi wrote and comes to the conclusion that this act was carried out by a man whose behavior is deeply influenced by his experience of chronic back pain. Additionally, the political writings and leanings of Mangione continue to draw attention.

What impacts do you think this shooting will have both publicly as well as related to Luigi's future case?

Is the American public's reaction to this event likely to influence policy decisions going forward or will healthcare continue business-as-usual?

Does the significance and coverage of this event mean there may be more propaganda of the deed events in the future?

Then 2-3 several minute long interspersed ad breaks to really hammer home how a good 30% of what you listen to during an episode of this podcast is not the podcast.
Cool Zone Media is really cool, amirite.

I feel like I died a decade ago. Ever since I realized just how screwed we were about the climate everything seems to be accelerating with nothing I can do. I thought the end would come in 2050, then it was revised to 2030 and now it honestly feels like next year.

I have literally tried everything but I genuinely cannot see the point. People told me to read Man’s Search For Meaning but I gave up when Franks’s reason to keep going was to write a book. Now we’re reaching a stage where there will be no one to read it or care.

That old adage of “focus on you and yours” I don’t care about EITHER. Fact of the matter is I don’t CARE about people. I find most of them boring. They put so much emphasis on talking for the sake of talking, being around each other for the sake of company. I don’t care about any of that. I care about learning, I care about the activity itself. There is literally nothing I like doing that is enhanced with other people other than discussion. And this has somehow become the end all be all of all of human life. We are drilled from early childhood that knowledge and work are what matters and then as you get older you are supposed to come to this realization that people are all that matters? Maybe they should have told me that as a child. I would have done things differently then.

All I ever wanted was to be smart and be rewarded for it. Make something useful. Change the world from the safety of my desk. Another lie. All that’s needed is boring maintenance. It’s like the beginning of Interstellar. That’s the best case scenario for our species and it terrifies me. Just farming forever.

Therapy does nothing. My multiple therapists don’t even give me homework. They just devolve into listening to me complain. I wonder if they give up on me.

I’m breaking and no one can help me. I’m desperate.

Today's ICHH episode "What's Next for Syria?" covered reactions and discourse related to the end of the Assad regime in Syria.

The ongoing Syrian Civil War rose out of the Arab Spring in 2011 and has involved a number of groups as well as involvement by external state and non-state actors.

With the end of Assad's Ba'athist regime, the future of Syria is on the minds of many people in the world. Numerous entrenched interests vie for control; with the intervention of Israel in the Golan Heights being a particularly notable example, as mentioned on the show. Another is the question of what role Turkey will play in the days and weeks to come. Of course, the existing groups in Syria have their own goals, as well.

I wanted to make this post to get folks thoughts on the matter. What will the following stages of the conflict look like? Is the end of the Syrian Civil War finally approaching after over a decade? What short term and long term prospects are there for the Syrian people as well as the considerable diaspora abroad?

In short, what do you think is next for Syria?

She read part of this on one of the earlier Book Club episodes. It was about a young woman who is out in the wilderness by herself, she is injured, and she slowly, painfully, makes her way over to a source of water. Where can I find the rest of this story?

Until I can listen to Garrison's "Why Are All The Pterodactyl Jockeys Gay As Hell" episode.

This is a cruel tease, Margaret.