It’s completely unrealistic in the short term, more so in the long term. This would require arresting millions of people - there simply isn’t enough jail space. They would have to execute people on sight, and that’s also not realistic because low level soldiers would refuse (there’s a reason the nazis needed to build a system instead of just executing jews on sight). Obviously if this were attempted it would result in extremely violent resistence which would destroy any economic, political, or other incentives for such an action.

Instead we can see what happened in Russia for a more realistic example - there was a slow elimination of dissent. Even today there are some Russians who vocally oppose Putin and don’t get arrested so long as they stay small enough. And that’s in a place where the society never had a culture of freedom to begin with, so here it will probably be much harder and obviously MAGA is much dumber than the Russians too. But regardless that’s why it’s very important to be vocal now and oppose any silencing of dissent, like the removal of pro-Palestine activists here on green cards or even the pardoning of pro-Trump people, as this combined with harsh punishments for others is effectively silencing of speech. It may not affect you now, but if they keep at it for a decade or two it’ll get to you eventually.

Hi, this is really important and has a real and practical solution: ANONYMITY / OPSEC!

for Lemmy this means registering an account over tor, with email made over Tor (like onionmail.org) and only ever use it over tor. Note that some instances like Lemmy.world won’t allow this. Dbzer0 or lem.ee are good bets

It requires learning how this stuff works but it is so worth it. Do not let them intimidate you into censoring yourself, learn to use technology to your benefit so you don’t have to second guess yourself or be afraid to resist.

I recommend using Tor Browser if you want a quick and easy solution or Whonix if you’re technically inclined/willing to learn/want a full anonymous OS instead of just a browser

I’m considering making a detailed guide for Lemmy resistors but these are great resources to get you started

https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/

http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/index.html

^ can only be accessed over tor

If anyone needs help please don’t hesitate to reach out to me

Give it 4 years when we have martial law and elections are suspended because we’re in “wartime” or some kinda shit and the opposite democratic leader is arrested

Right now I think its basically zero chance, BUT we are absolutely hurtling face-first into that exact reality.

It’s our extremely unfortunate job right now to fight these fascist Cunts and do our best to prevent this reality from coming to be. I get that that is downright terrifying, but if we give in to that fear and bury our heads in the sand, doesn’t kinda mean they win?

Listen at some point its time to realize you dont give a fuck about their threats, accept death as a possibility, and keep to your principles.

Like that man who stood in front of the tank during Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Im pretty sure were headed into such an event locally.

All? Unlikely. But some? A lot harder to say. You’re asking for an opinion-based prediction at this point. I think they’ll probably eventually try to get the most outspoken critics, but I also think that’s a good time to not go silent. You get organized.

no. well, not accurately.

which doesn’t mean you’re safe. it means compliance will not protect you-you could do everything right, and get nabbed anyway. shit’s gonna get messy…

the more imaginable scenario is that they always go for the edgiest fuckers, at a certain pace. that’s within their bounds to easily identify without wasting resources they need to fight other state level actors on it, and as long as you’re just a little less than the edgiest fuckers currently posting (oops) you’re probably fine. it will just be a slow ratcheting hand around your neck, that strangles you by millimeters, but you can just think of it as a really really high stakes version of reddit, if you need a familiar frame of reference.

don’t worry though; they’ll also be messy about this, and get a TON of the wrong people.

Same reason the people on 9/11 stayed in their seats - they thought they’d be fine if they waited it out.

I think it’s not feasible to search for anti -trump content and then track down the person, but is much more likely that once they have you they will check your phone to see if you are a dissenter. So any interaction with federal or local authorities will be risky from now on. I just saw a headline of a French scientist being denied entry after immigration searched her phone and found anti Trump messages. If anyone has advice on how to quickly wipe or lockdown a phone, PC, etc. please share. OpSec

It’s more about setting up a system that rewards your neighbour for snitching on you. If that system is practical online, only time will tell. It worked well irl for other fascists.

Please watch this video about dictatorships and what to look out for.

I have the RIGHT to freedom of speech and expression and I will not waive it for Trump or anyone else. Without it, there is no United States.

Fuck Donald Trump. Fuck Elon Musk. Fuck the Republicans. Fuck the oligarchy. Fuck authoritarianism. Fuck this fear, and fuck advance compliance.

I serve no fucking king.

In the long run, shutting up won’t save you from fascism. Every inch you give is a foot they take, and they will take and take and take if you let them.

If you’ve never wondered whether people living under dictatorships regret not exercising their rights more when they still had them, now’s the time to start pondering.

Extremely unlikely. Not for another 20 years or so, worst case scenario, and by then they probably won’t care about now.

First off, there’s way too many people who criticize the government to arrest everyone, secondly it’s completely unnecessary. Complaining about the government doesn’t really do anything other than allowing people to vent their frustrations and feel more content. It’s the same way Trump obviously isn’t going to “end elections forever” like people say, virtually every country in the world has elections, regardless of how actually democratic they are, because they’re a nice little ritual that lets you feel free and in control. It would be like saying that Trump is going to knock down the Statue of Liberty - he doesn’t have to.

Now, there are reasons to establish more secure lines of communication, like if you’re involved in actual organizing or if you’re either helping people do illegal things or planning to help people do things that could potentially become illegal - for example, shipping Plan B or trans hormones to people in red states. Laws in some red states about “pushing transgenderism on minors” could theoretically be interpreted so broadly that if you post information or supportive messages on a public forum and a minor in a red state happens to see it, they could try to come after you for it - but that would probably be found unconstitutional.

Using secure lines of communication for routine, everyday stuff helps keep those lines secure by generating more chaff they’d have to sort through, as well as familiarizing yourself with it and getting more people on board. However, you shouldn’t scatter to the wind preemptively and self-censor, beyond just not fed-posting.

AI is a big help here. Including at current tech level. But why bother the expense or judicially-complaining process of arresting them, if you can arrange their next Amazon electronics order to explode?

Dissenting is the only thing that will actually do anything to make things better.

Rolling over and stopping is giving up before the fight has even started.

Further, pretty sure the entire contents of the internet have been sucked down into that NSA Utah Datacenter since it opened in May 2014.

Not to mention the corporate surveillance systems of Meta, Reddit, Twitter, and so on. If you ever had an account, just because you deleted it doesn’t mean the data got deleted. Even Reddit has been seen restoring comments after they were changed and deleted. Facebook has been known to have “shadow profiles” on people for like fifteen years now.

Also Room 641A implies that the phone companies will happily divulge the history of your text messages to the administration as well. There is and hasn’t been privacy in a long time in any real way in the USA and they’re definitely gonna leverage that.

If Trump is ignoring the law, he’ll ignore any laws that prevent the government from using that data against American citizens. I think it’s healthier to accept it than to try to pretend all that data isn’t already out there for the taking.

If you’ve ever been critical of Trump or Republicans in the last 11 years, just get used to the idea that it’s probably a foregone conclusion and get prepared to be involved.

I don’t mean buy a gun. I mean get involved in community gardens, community support networks and other types of Mutual Aid. We’ll need to support one another and hiding from what is happening and hiding our opinions because we’re scared isn’t going to help.

Do you have respect for the journalism outfits that have already turned tail and given up on seriously criticizing Trump? Do you have respect for every judge who pussed out on holding Trump accountable before the election? Because I doubt you do. Well, history will look at you the same way, if anyone even remembers your name.

Nobody remembers Germans in 1941 as anything but Nazis. The only ones who are remembered for not being Nazis took risks and didn’t lay down and die. It’s different now, the surveillance network is massive, there’s no hiding from it, so it’s pointless to hide from it instead of embrace it and prepare.