If you haven’t seen them yet: Check out the “Lego Scandal” videos by Reckless Ben.

While some of his methods are certainly questionable, and he does misrepresent certain things to boost the production value, what he experiences seems to me to be indicative of the state of the entire U.S. system.

While all of this happens on a relatively small scale, his observations appear to me to be the rule rather than the exception in this country.

I know that, given all this, it may sound more frustrating than helpful, but don’t let it get you down, and don’t lose hope!

Throughout history, even in the face of massive and violent oppression, people have repeatedly broken free from the powerful - even through nonviolent resistance against horrific atrocities. India’s independence from British colonial rule is a good example.

Either way, all the best!

The latest attempt at chatcontroll was rejected as recently as April 3 mainly due to massive public opposition. They will try again, and someday they will succeed if too many people succumb to defeatism.

So it’s pretty counterproductive to say that it wouldn’t make any sense anyway, because that’s not the case.

That is precisely why regulations such as the GDPR are so important; among other things, they set limits on automated facial recognition at the European level.

As I said, these regulations are under constant attack, especially from the U.S.

Nevertheless, all is not lost here, and these regulations are indeed being enforced, since the European legal system actually still functions quite well. Here, too, it makes no sense to draw a comparison with the U.S.

Just because the U.S. system is so obviously corrupt that it can no longer fulfill its purpose doesn’t mean it’s the same in other parts of the world. U.S. billionaires have a keen interest in this, and they’re supported by the corresponding elite in Europe as well, but the world in Europe is actually quite different. While you can buy a lot of things here too, European nations are not an obvious oligarchy. The US, on the other hand, has been a de facto oligarchy for several decades. The current regime, through its utter unscrupulousness, simply makes this fact much more obvious than previous administrations did.

That is fundamentally true, yet European law and the respective national constitutions set limits on unwarranted mass surveillance. Lobbyists for tech companies—especially American ones, led by Palantir—are working tirelessly to erode these limits, thought.

Under the status quo, however, the scale of surveillance is currently in no way comparable to that in China or the U.S., as there are still legal limits in place—at least for the moment—that are also enforced, albeit only in a basic sense.

This makes it all the more important to preserve these rights and to advocate for them. It is not helpful to equate conditions in Europe with those in the US, as this creates the impression that insisting on existing law is a futile endeavor.

So Meta wants its own army of unsuspecting spies?

I can’t for the life of me imagine that this is legal. Maybe in the U.S., since the legal system there is so completely broken, but in Europe, the mass surveillance of millions of people by a private company seems likely to be a criminal offense.

You’re right, of course, that the billionaires’ all-encompassing power—especially through digital media—makes public resistance very difficult, but I don’t think that such blatant corruption, as the U.S. regime practices it so shamelessly and, above all, so openly, would be tolerated in my home country (Germany). I mean, this is literally organized crime on a scale that’s almost beyond belief.

Corruption exists everywhere, but such blatant criminality in public office seems to me possible on this absurd scale only in the land of superlatives.

I can’t understand how this can be tolerated, especially since it has such negative consequences for the population.

The fact that U.S. authorities are actively covering up the crimes of what appear to be numerous and influential co-conspirators—by unlawfully redacting documents and withholding material they are required to release—is likely a factor. The fact that U.S. law enforcement agencies refuse to investigate this case for the same reason is another factor.

Consequently, there have been no new developments, since it is clear that the investigation has effectively been suspended, even though the case is obviously far from closed.

This in itself is, of course, a scandal that in any reasonably functioning country would inevitably lead to the government’s downfall.

But as many have already said, the media isn’t reporting on this because there is essentially no free press left in the U.S.

However, I simply cannot comprehend the fact that U.S. citizens have apparently resigned themselves to the fact that their system is so obviously corrupt that it not only fails to prevent the most serious crimes but actually enables them in the first place. To me, it is absolutely inexplicable that the current regime remains in office despite its obvious criminality and is not forced to resign through mass civil disobedience.

This regime and its network of oligarchs behind it are the reason why the most serious crimes, including those committed by Epstein’s accomplices, go unpunished.

In short: There is no longer any reporting on Epstein and his network because high-ranking members of the U.S. government are quite obviously involved themselves and are therefore doing everything in their power to suppress coverage. This, however, is only possible because U.S. citizens are not holding them accountable.

That’s frightening, but unfortunately it’s the reality.

Yes, that’s true. After World War II, the Nazis—especially those in powerful economic circles—were unfortunately never held accountable for their crimes, and so even in today’s Germany, there are still a whole lot of die-hard Nazis in positions of power.

It may well be that these monsters continue to hatch anti-Semitic plans, and it is undeniable that there are numerous racists not only among the elites.

Nevertheless, I believe that Germany’s continued support for Israel’s atrocities is more due to the fact that the regime there shares their main values: In the original sense of the word, as coined by Mussolini, they are indeed also fascists, even if their religion, due to the racially based ideology of Nazism, should not allow for cooperation with die-hard Nazis.

I think this point demonstrates that these people actually have no values other than the pursuit of their own advantage.

In Germany, it seems to me that the situation is similar to that in the US: There are also numerous Nazis in the MAGA movement, yet even they act contrary to their own twisted ideology by allying themselves with Israel.

It may well be that they do this because they are pursuing some kind of long-term, anti-Semitic master plan. However, I consider it more likely that they simply do it because it is advantageous for them.

In short: I think that, contrary to their own propaganda, the utterly unscrupulous don’t really care at all what religion someone has or what their skin color is. What seems central to these people is simply that their allies are just as willing to walk over dead bodies as they are. And Israel definitely does that, and it also fits well into these monsters’ worldview: Israel, too, pursues deeply racist plans and denies entire peoples the right to live—I think that is the connecting element.

The way I see it, religion, ideology, and so on are always just a means to an end for these people. They are, above all, opportunists whose defining trait is their ruthless inhumanity—and in this respect, fascists of all stripes are the same.

Given recent events, all cloud-based LLMs should have been included here. In the history of humanity, there has never been a more profitable piracy operation.

I think it’s out of the question that there’s an anti-Semitic conspiracy going on here, as you suspect. The reason: Religion is always just a means to an end for power-hungry politicians. The best example is that orange pedo in the White House—he pretends to be a fundamentalist Christian, but that’s very obviously just a cover to achieve his goals, which are to enrich himself and his cronies as much as possible.

The same applies to Netanyahu, against whom a case involving billions in corruption has been pending for years, a case that has never been prosecuted due to the ongoing state of war.

The two have one thing in common: their absolute ruthlessness—and that is precisely what characterizes their ilk. These people will literally walk over dead bodies. In my opinion, this has not the slightest thing to do with religion.

Edit: The UK is likely the US’s closest ally, and the modern German state was largely established under US occupation (East Germany was under Russian control but collapsed before the Soviet Union did). Both countries therefore have historically particularly close ties to the US. Furthermore, if we’re honest, European criticism of Israel’s crimes comes exclusively from Spain.

I think the much simpler explanation is that corrupt and unscrupulous politicians are lining their own pockets or profiting in other ways.

Germany supplies weapons to Israel, which is a multi-billion-dollar business. Furthermore, Israel is particularly influential in the U.S., which is why a good relationship with Israel is, so to speak, a prerequisite for relations with the U.S.—it is no coincidence that it is precisely those countries that are closely linked to the U.S. that also support Israel.

The fact that Germany doesn’t even shy away from targeting Jewish organizations that call Israel’s actions what they are is simply the same tactic that is always used to silence legitimate criticism. Germany, incidentally in a Bundestag vote that coincidentally took place on the day of a popular soccer match, adopted a definition of anti-Semitism that, for example, brands any comparison of Israeli crimes with those of Nazi Germany as anti-Semitism. Of course, this is absurd, but it is a tool that can also be used against Jewish critics.

This, in turn, is fully in line with Israel’s strategy, which has always used this argument to silence critics. For Jewish critics, Zionism has even developed the completely absurd construct of Jewish self-hatred.

In short: Germany’s support can plausibly be explained by greed and political opportunism. It is simply about money and power.

In Germany, this is indeed still (ostensibly) justified by citing the historical responsibility Germany bears toward the victims of the Holocaust. However, this line of reasoning is obviously completely nonsensical, since Germany’s responsibility naturally does not pertain to the State of Israel, but rather to doing everything in its power to prevent genocide—a goal that is, unfortunately, being thwarted by our politicians.

The fact that the political establishment and the powerful elites continue to support Israel despite its undeniable crimes and inhuman atrocities can, in my view, only be explained by corruption and skillful intelligence work on the part of the Mossad. I can no longer think of any other explanation.

In my opinion, the Epstein documents provide a fairly clear picture of how this works.

As a German, I can say that, unfortunately, nearly every major political party in Germany defends Israel and thereby actively supports its genocide. In my view, this is completely at odds with the general will of the people, as the majority of citizens firmly and decisively reject this criminal policy. They want Israel to finally be held accountable for its crimes, but this is being prevented by the political establishment.

Therefore, in my view, it would only be right to boycott German products as well, so that the pressure on our wretched politicians increases.

I do the same, and as a European, I also boycott all U.S. products, because this country not only participates in Israel’s atrocities but even makes them possible in the first place.

Apparently, the world’s billionaires now see themselves as a kind of global monarchy. Well, unfortunately, this is where unbridled hyper-capitalism has led us.

What else is there to say? This statement is correct: religion has always been misused for political purposes - that’s what the sentence says, not that religion itself is always misused; that’s your interpretation.

Besides, if you’d read a little further, you probably would have figured out what I’m trying to say.

You’re reading into my statement that it somehow implies I’m making some kind of fundamental claim about religion here. I’m sorry, but it’s simply a fact that religion is being misused for political purposes. I can’t help it if you’re turning that into a fundamental claim that isn’t there at all.

What makes you think I’m not fully aware of that?

I’m talking about the dangers of exploiting religion, which remains one of humanity’s most serious problems, as is currently and undeniably illustrated by the monstrous regimes in the U.S. and Israel, for example.

I never said that religion should be rejected outright or that it cannot also do good.

I don’t understand how you came to that conclusion.

Religion certainly plays a regulatory role within society - historically, for a very, very long time. It also promotes values such as charity, empathy, and humility as virtues. The problem, unfortunately, is that this system of order is frequently abused in practice - just like the legal system, whose guidelines are often derived from religious values. So it is not religion itself that is the problem, but the way it is abused.

A good example of this is the ultra-conservative Christians in the U.S.: Since this ideology is being exploited politically to promote a ruthless form of hyper-capitalism that serves only a tiny elite, there is no room for values such as humanity and empathy, which the Bible clearly prescribes as positive values. Thus, inhuman policies are legitimized in the name of God and Jesus, though only those aspects of religion that enable the propagation of “in-groups” and “out-groups” are utilized. On the one hand, this serves to convey a sense of community, and on the other, to deny all rights -including the right to exist - to anyone who does not belong. Of course, this could no longer be reconciled with Christian ethics, but since this is not about ethics but about power, these schizophrenic movements are nevertheless very successful.

This logic is present in nearly all forms of religious extremism - from ultra-Christians to fanatical Muslims and Jews to Hindus and so on. These fundamentalist movements always have one thing in common: they are not interested in good, peaceful coexistence, but solely in the dominance of one group over another, which is because they are political movements whose leaders use religion merely as a means of power to legitimize their inhumane ideology.

But please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here: It is not religion itself that is the problem, but the way it is abused to pit people against one another and distract them from who actually benefits from the corresponding policies.

This effect is by no means limited to religion: the same can be achieved, for example, by emphasizing nationality - in this case, concepts such as “foreign infiltration” serve as a backdrop of fear, so that the corresponding out-group can be denied basic rights, even their humanity.