politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
Smithsonian used to be a very prestigious brand of science.
Too bad that’s now been ruined.
I’d really hoped they’d stand up to the fascism, but apparently no. That was too much to ask.
Nearly a century later, people still bring up how Hugo Boss designed the SS uniform, Fanta was made by coke to sell to the Nazis and Volkswagen was founded by Nazis and used slave labour to build military jeeps and prison transports.
Now, I'm not saying this is directly equivalent to those instances, but a lot of these American organisations think people are going to forget their capitulations quickly.
People don't forget, but also those are three successful brands that don't seem to be suffering from their history.
Hugo Boss didn't design shit, as he wasn't a designer and his company wasn't in fashion design until after his death.
You’re right. Back in the day, brands could endure. Nowadays, we can see through them, and people aren’t brand-loyal like we used to be.
If corporations want to be people, we can treat them as people. And when they show us their cowardice in the face of fascism, we can ostracise them just like we do that intolerable uncle.
People are extremely brand loyal nowadays and I'd even argue it's the worst it's been in recent history. Just look how addicted people are to the MAGA cult identity and Elon Musk's products and branding.
Your comment prompted me to look this up and, yeah, people aren’t really brand loyal anymore.
Perhaps it’s an age thing? When I was younger, nearly everything we used was tied tightly to a brand, and I can’t tell you how many jingles I’ll never forget. Now there are a few very strong brands, but otherwise people shop around more and are swayed more by reviews and influencers than because ‘it’s the best part of waking up’.
This is a Forbes contributor article. You've functionally linked to a blog post.
Unrelated side note.....why is it always the uncle thats used as the personification of the asshole in the family???
I'm an uncle. I don't get drunk and ruin thanksgiving. I don't molest my niece. I don't berate people into listening to alex jones podcasts.
But it's always the uncle used in those descriptions. Maybe we should start admitting that sisters, and brothers, and moms, and dads, and even cats can be the asshole of the family! Not saying uncles can't be....just why is it ALWAYS uncles???
Uncles: Close enough to be an obligation invite, distant enough that they aren't around and doing that stuff all the time. Perfect scapegoat.
Have you considered you might be able to get away with a bit of dastardliness given the stereotype?
Knick an extra slice of pie at Thanksgiving; get your niece an exciting gift that outshines all the rest; start your own podcast about the different bowling alley oiling techniques and berate your family to be on an episode!
Embrace your inner uncle - in moderation.
Mainly because people hear something that tickles them and they mindlessly repeat it.
Boss didn't design any Nazi uniform. His company was one of thousands to at some point hold a contract to manufacture clothing for the military. The Boss contract wasn’t even that large, a few tens of thousands of units. The SS uniforms were designed in-house , most notably by SS-Oberführer Karl Diebitsch and Walter Heck. Neither of them has the celebrity value however.
Meanwhile, people quickly forgot that the dispatch system for railway transportation in the Holocaust was supplied by IBM.
Eh, IBM did just fine
Read up on Ford and Hitler... People forgot about that one quick enough! BUILT FORD TOUGH!
Sometimes I like to think these types of things are being implemented by people that expect to revert them if there's ever a next administration, with the underlying intent being that this act of capitulation will prevent the current administration from taking aim at their entire organization.
If I were asked to make a decision between making this change or having the Smithsonian's very existence threatened, I would grit my teeth, make the change, and put the correct plaque in storage ready for the next inauguration day.
I'm not saying this is the case here, or that it's ever happened, only that this thin thread of optimism helps retain my sanity.
Well the thing about that is that is not how history is supposed to fucking work. If history seriously is just whatever politician thinks it was then the whole enterprise is worthless.
The victor's have always written history, or at least influenced the details of how it was remembered. There are museums in the south today that don't paint a clear picture as to which side won the American Civil War.
If the decision were yours to make, would you hold to your principles and have the Smithsonian disregard the executive order from last year and risk being disbanded entirely? Or would you alter a plaque to omit some details in order to save the rest of what the museum has?
As a followup question, if you choose your principles, do you feel regret if the jackboots march in with orders to destroy the collections? I know I would. Which is why I would bend in the first place - to avoid being broken.
Why wait? Capitulate today!
That's alright, I understand it's usually easier to make a witty remark instead of giving a complicated issue consideration. How I wish things were cut and dry.
How much of history do you alter before your museum is a farce? How much truth can you change to lies for the sake of funding before your museum is just a propaganda program for an authoritarian regime?