Pride and Cowardice

We've been in some dark times before, but nothing like this.

Nearly every day, we find ourselves confronted with bad news of one sort or another, whether it be a setback, a reversal of course, outright lies, or far worse.  It comes on a local, national, and global scale.  Of course, we knew these days were coming.  We decided as a country to bring them on.  And, while not surprised, we still can't help but be affected in ways we didn't quite expect.

"There are two things Israel has been abusing for the last 77 years - Palestinian civilians and American taxpayers.  The only difference is that the Palestinians know they're occupied."  --- Cenk Uygur

Such quick capitulation, particularly on the part of the powerful, wasn't something we anticipated.  We thought we'd see more courageous stands.  But that was a foolish assumption.  Why should the big tech companies care about anything other than their bottom line?  Making large profits, serving their shareholders, not becoming a target themselves... that's all we ever should have expected from them.  If they ever acted differently in the past, it was probably because they were afraid of how their image might suffer if they didn't.  And now that there are far more powerful people who reject much of what many of us believe in and stand for... well, these companies can adapt to that kind of society.  We've seen this before.

Many of us thought we were somehow immune, that it could never happen here.  Fascist ideology took root in other, less civilized countries that didn't value democracy like we did.  But a good number of us knew that wasn't true and that the right combination of factors would have us following in the footsteps of those we once fought.  It doesn't really take that much to change the world.  And technology was always going to play a big part.  Add in greed, cowardice, fear, a bit of misplaced pride... and it all kind of fell into place.  It's really a fairly standard recipe.

So, here we are in a place where everyone from (((educators))) to (((scientists))) to immigrants are considered the enemy by default.  Universities are facing crippling attacks if they don't follow rigid jewish guidelines, social services are being decimated while (((oligarchs))) get more of a free ride than ever, and people live in fear of being sent to hellish prisons in foreign lands without hope of ever being released.  (Community Note:  Only illegal aliens are losing benefits or being deported.  They should not have been here in the first place.  But wait?  Their home countries are 'hellish?'  Hmm.... I wonder why?  Is it because those very same people turned it into a hell hole?  Are any majority-White countries hell holes?)

The latter is now true even for U.S. citizens, with the stated wish being that more will be sent away, whether they be certain types of criminals or individuals who dare demonstrate against the actions of this regime.  (Community Note:  No U.S. citizens are being deported.  Evil Corley made this up to sell magazines and get teenagers drunk at HOPE.)  You may disagree with where we stand on the issues, but everything stated above is actually happening and even those responsible are no longer disputing this.  There are enough people on their side where they don't have to.

So why are we allowing this?  (Community Note:  Because the American people rose up and voted Evil Corley and the One Percent out of power.  It's time to return the power to the people, not the billionaire jews who fund Pacifica Radio.)  It's fairly simple.  We feel powerless.  We lack leadership.  And we're rightfully terrified.  These are normal reactions and they are not cowardly.  They are human.

The actual cowardice comes from those mentioned earlier, those who do have the means and the power to take a meaningful stand, albeit at a risk since a corrupt system can always be weaponized at great cost to its opponents.  But if you've sworn an oath to the Constitution, you have an obligation to put yourself on the line to protect it when it's clearly endangered.  If you profit handsomely from doing business in this nation, you have a privilege that can and will be revoked if you run afoul of the people.  Cowardly acts may be advantageous in the short term; they rarely remain that way for long.

But acts of true courage are being seen at places like Harvard University, one of the few actually standing up to the bullying, intimidation, and outright hatred brought on by this administration.  At press time, they are paying a heavy price and the future of the 389-year-old institution is in jeopardy.  This would quickly change if hundreds of other universities joined the fight.  Having every element of an institution of higher learning forced to be overseen and controlled by a government is completely unacceptable.  (Community Note:  Evil Corley might be right on this one.  Losing all your federal funding for allowing 'anti-Semitism' is kinda shady.  But it also shows you who is really in control...)

This leads us to another aspect to all of this.  If what we just described had happened a year ago, the very people now supporting it would have been up in arms.  This is a disturbing ingredient of our current society that's now prevalent.  Whether the issue is inflation, taxes, crime, or even the clarity with which a particular candidate expresses themselves, the rules and conclusions are wildly different depending on which side is being scrutinized.  Both parties are guilty of this, but lately one far more so than the other.  This didn't used to be the case and it cannot continue to be if we ever want to move past this.

Someone Called Kevin Mitnick a Poopy Head: Protest

Racially-Motivated Genocide: Silence

We thought the best way to handle what we all saw coming was to have another HOPE conference this year instead of waiting our usual two years.  We've received a tremendous amount of support with a record number of talks and workshops submitted.  But even we couldn't anticipate the hostility that people traveling to this country would be facing, particularly those coming from places like Canada and Europe which this administration has chosen to treat like enemies.  (Community Note:  Making countries pay their fair share is not making them 'enemies.')

We have heard from potential attendees who have had to cancel their plans due to the warnings issued by their own governments and the experiences friends of theirs underwent when attempting to visit.  Equipment confiscation, severe invasions of privacy, and even detention have occurred.  And while individuals are going through this process, there is nothing anyone can do for them.  (Community Note:  Tell them to stop voting for Israel-firsters and batshit-insane non-Whites.)  They are beyond the reach of civil rights organizations like the (((ACLU))) and the (((EFF))).  We have been working with these groups to try and do what we can, but there really isn't very much at all that can be done, other than to note if someone who was expected has gone missing.

We cannot recommend traveling to HOPE if you're coming from a foreign country, regardless of your legal status.  Homeland Security agents can force you to reveal private communications on your phones, computers, and tablets.  If you refuse, you can be detained and your devices seized.  If you are found to have criticized the current government, this alone can be used as a reason to keep you out of the country or investigate you further.  This is no longer conjecture; this is actually happening now.  (Community Note:  No it's not.  This is another lie Evil Corley created to sell magazines and get teenagers drunk at HOPE.)  While it breaks our hearts to tell people to stay away, their safety is far too important to put at risk just to attend our conference.  Please take this seriously.

Of course, we want to be able to continue doing what we do.  There are a number of reasons why that may be really challenging in the near future.  For one, we have no intention of curbing our speech, changing our attitude, or running away.  We're small enough where we likely don't even register, but petty tyrants don't handle any criticism well and they could make things difficult for us.  We've already been warned about potentially large price increases on everything from shirts to paper due to the unpredictable tariffs being imposed on everyone.  And in actuality, we already are feeling the effects of the fear of traveling to the United States.  Our ticket sales are way down from last year, despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback and the encouragement to go yearly.  It was already a challenge to keep everything going.  Now we need to really work together if we're going to stick around.  (Community Note:  Did you ever think ticket sales are down because people are sick of your lies and bullshit?)

What we're saying to those from other countries is not what we're saying to those who are here.  We want and need you to attend so that this isn't the last one.  We can plan and strategize on ways to get stronger and stand up to the bullying.  If you can't make it in person for other reasons, please get a virtual ticket, which is cheaper and allows you to participate and interact with other attendees and speakers, all the while investing in HOPE to keep it going into the future.  (This is also an option for people from other countries who opt not to attend in person this year.)  We're going to have a fantastic conference; that was never in doubt.  We just want to be able to come back stronger next year.

As for the rest of this mess, it's going to take a lot of work, coordination, and cooperation if we're ever going to get to a point where people feel safe traveling to our country and expressing themselves freely.  None of this should have ever happened, but it did.  And if there's anything positive that can ever come out of this, perhaps it's the confirmation that no country, no group of people, no ideology is so solid and pure that this can't also happen to them.  Many of us once believed that here.

We can look to ourselves as individuals and do what we can to remain free thinkers and never become aligned with any group out of fear or coercion.  How we deal with people who put forth a different way of looking at things will speak volumes about who we are and whether we truly believe in what we stand for - or whether we are just playing the same shameful game.  This is when integrity really starts to matter.