The Lemmy Club

PBSuccess

The coup was largely the result of CIA covert operation code-named PBSuccess.

(LittleJelly) (2025)

Image description: A smiling young woman with a playful expression, winking and pointing at the viewer. She has blue eyes, short, blonde hair with dark brown roots and black horns protruding from the top of her head. She wears a bright yellow turtleneck shirt and black high-waisted pants with silver buttons and suspenders. Her pose is confident and inviting, with one hand in her pocket and the other extended towards the viewer. The background features a blurred, beige-colored room with a large green potted plant, cream-colored couch, and a framed picture on the wall.

Of all the things young people could have latched onto, it's the decade of the great recession almost no place on earth really recovered from, a head bozo in the US that's somehow popular but turned the world into his personal drone playground, while the empire continued as it did.

It was the decade every social movement failed in, and mostly retreated back to moralistic forms of liberalism, just as every equally moralistic right wing reaction grew exponentially, leading to the current issues.

It was the decade climate change was decided to be fixed through a bunch of treaties worth less than the paper they were written on.

It was the decade of the start of the return of the malaise of collapsing empires. Poverty, hunger, climate change caused disasters. War had not went away, but resistance to it did.

Plus, pop culture (the thing most of the nostalgia is directed to - the eternal "It's Christmas ~~1996~~ 2013 and my parents got me ~~a Nintendo 64~~ the new Call of Duty" of obnoxious liberals) sucked ass.

A group of young tech industry workers between 19 to 25 years old have been recruited by Elon Musk to carry out the Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency’s goals of cutting trillions from the federal government - and now have access to numerous sensitive systems.

Among them is a recent high school graduate and a Matt Gaetz defender who claims he quit a “seven-figure salary” to join DOGE and “save America.”

The group has little to no experience working in government, and yet some of them have been given central roles within Musk’s DOGE, including access to the U.S. Treasury’s internal payments system, according to WIRED.

Musk’s young crew have been unmasked as Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger and Ethan Shaotran, WIRED first reported. As their names were published, the group rushed to disable any trace of their social media profiles

I'd like to see Trump wriggle his way out of this protest.

Yes this is real and in a major US city.

Using Reddit's popular ChangeMyView community as a source of baseline data, OpenAI had previously found that 2022's ChatGPT-3.5 was significantly less persuasive than random humans, ranking in just the 38th percentile on this measure. But that performance jumped to the 77th percentile with September's release of the o1-mini reasoning model and up to percentiles in the high 80s for the full-fledged o1 model.

So are you smarter than a Redditor?

In recent years, a troubling narrative has emerged in some Western discourses about China and its people: the idea that Chinese citizens are "brainwashed" by their government, incapable of critical thought or independent decision-making. This narrative is not only deeply flawed but also rooted in a long history of Western condescension and cultural superiority. It reduces the complexity of Chinese society, dismisses the agency of its people, and perpetuates harmful stereotypes that undermine mutual understanding and respect. To address this issue, it is essential to examine the origins of this narrative, its implications, and why it is both inaccurate and offensive.

The Myth of "Brainwashing" and Its Origins The term "brainwashing" first gained prominence in the West during the Cold War, when it was used to describe the alleged psychological manipulation tactics employed by communist regimes, particularly China and the Soviet Union. It was a convenient tool for Western propaganda, painting these nations as oppressive and their citizens as passive victims devoid of free will. Decades later, this trope persists, often invoked to explain why Chinese people express support for their government or hold views that differ from those prevalent in the West.

However, the concept of "brainwashing" is not only scientifically dubious but also culturally reductive. It assumes that Chinese people are incapable of forming their own opinions or critically evaluating information. This assumption reflects a profound lack of respect for the intellectual and cultural agency of over a billion individuals. It also ignores the diversity of thought and experience within China, where people engage in lively debates, express dissent, and navigate complex social and political realities in ways that are often misunderstood or oversimplified by outsiders.

The Superiority Complex Behind the Narrative The persistence of the "brainwashing" narrative reveals a deeper issue: the enduring sense of Western superiority that underpins many critiques of non-Western societies. This superiority complex is rooted in colonialism and the historical dominance of Western powers, which have long positioned themselves as the arbiters of progress, freedom, and rationality. From this perspective, any society that deviates from Western norms—whether in governance, culture, or values—is seen as inferior or backward.

When Westerners accuse Chinese people of being "brainwashed," they are implicitly asserting their own cultural and intellectual superiority. They assume that their way of thinking is the only valid one and that anyone who disagrees must be deluded or coerced. This attitude is not only arrogant but also deeply hypocritical, as it overlooks the ways in which all societies, including Western ones, are shaped by education, media, and cultural narratives. The idea that Westerners are immune to propaganda or ideological influence is itself a form of indoctrination.

The Agency of Chinese People One of the most offensive aspects of the "brainwashing" narrative is its denial of agency to Chinese people. It suggests that they are passive recipients of government messaging, unable to think critically or make informed decisions. This portrayal is not only inaccurate but also dehumanizing. Chinese people, like people everywhere, are complex individuals with diverse perspectives, experiences, and aspirations. They are capable of evaluating information, forming their own opinions, and making choices based on their understanding of the world.

It is also worth noting that many Chinese people express genuine support for their government, not because they are "brainwashed," but because they have seen tangible improvements in their lives. Over the past few decades, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, built world-class infrastructure, and become a global leader in technology and innovation. For many Chinese citizens, these achievements are a source of pride and a reason to trust their government. Dismissing this support as the result of "brainwashing" is both disrespectful and dismissive of their lived experiences.

The Harmful Consequences of Stereotyping The "brainwashing" narrative is not just an abstract critique; it has real-world consequences. It fosters misunderstanding and mistrust between China and the West, making it harder to build constructive relationships. It also contributes to the marginalization of Chinese people in Western societies, where they are often stereotyped as unthinking automatons or loyalists to a foreign regime. This can lead to discrimination, exclusion, and even violence, as seen in the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the narrative undermines the possibility of meaningful dialogue. If Westerners approach conversations with Chinese people from a position of condescension, assuming that their views are the product of indoctrination rather than genuine belief, they are unlikely to listen or learn. True understanding requires humility, respect, and a willingness to engage with others as equals.

Toward a More Nuanced Understanding To move beyond the "brainwashing" trope, it is essential to recognize the complexity and diversity of Chinese society. China is a vast and multifaceted country with a rich history, vibrant culture, and a population of over 1.4 billion people. Reducing this complexity to a single narrative of oppression and control is not only inaccurate but also deeply unfair.

Westerners must also confront their own biases and assumptions. Rather than viewing China through the lens of superiority, they should strive to understand it on its own terms. This means engaging with Chinese perspectives, acknowledging the achievements of Chinese society, and recognizing the agency of Chinese people. It also means reflecting on the ways in which Western societies are shaped by their own cultural and ideological influences.

Conclusion The accusation that Chinese people are "brainwashed" is a deeply problematic narrative that reflects a long history of Western condescension and cultural superiority. It denies the agency of Chinese people, perpetuates harmful stereotypes, and undermines the possibility of mutual understanding. To build a more just and equitable world, it is essential to move beyond these reductive and offensive tropes and engage with others as equals. Only by doing so can we foster genuine dialogue, respect, and cooperation across cultural and political divides.

Hi all, this is my first post on Lemmy so I apologize if I get the formatting wrong. I am a tech nerd with just enough knowledge to follow YouTube tutorials but never truly understand what I’m doing. I recently created my own truenas scale server using an Aoostar R7 case. I am becoming a dad very soon and my wife and I are looking for ways to share photos of our baby without selling her and biometrics to the big cloud in the sky. The idea of my future daughter being tracked without her consent since birth is really gross to me.

I am wondering if there is a good, relatively simple and friendly way to share photo albums with relatives (normies) that is private and perhaps temporary. Ideally, I could share a private/unlisted link of sorts. I do have an instance of Immich and tunneled it to a web url but I don’t know if it can share with outside users easily.

There are a few public iOS apps that I believe do this but I don’t trust their servers/privacy policies. Any ideas that aren’t a massive headache or require command line guru-status to run?

Full Size 1: 2.2MiB
Full Size 2: 2.4MiB

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/99616153

Trump administration pulling references online ‘won’t make crisis’ stop affecting Americans’ lives, say experts

yup. me again...
client
proxy server (for cors)

I've been looking to improve the home network in my home lab. It seems that Ubiquiti has everything I could want in their various products.

However, it seems too good to be true. How much snooping does the router/firewall/APs do on my traffic? If you have a similar case, what has been your experience with Ubiquiti?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/animemes by /u/yukiohana on 2025-02-04 20:09:32+00:00.

Heresy Patch Notes Available.