The political mentality of ATS and its demise

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: projectvxn

How come there is no outrage to the actual, real time slavery that goes into making all these devices and such?

Well that's easily answered, if the product is cheap enough the buyer doesnt care where it's made and by whom.

What terrifies me is the over-confidence by people that Trump has this locked up. Hillary and her supporters thought the same about her. Right now nothing is certain and if the Dems have their way, they will screw up this election like nothing ever has been in our history just to make sure Trump doesn't win.

originally posted by: mtnshredder
It’s difficult to have debate with many here who toe the line of their party to the point of defending anything and everything they say or do, regardless of how insane it is. That # I’m sick of here. The political trolls, shills and anti-trumpers that have infiltrated ATS have done more damage to ATS than anything else. A large majority of the toxic material on this site comes from these people. They don’t care about debate, only invoking reactions and discord.

Such as this post. This was in context to the discussion, not directed at the following poster.

Swallowed whole by the usual suspects too

Following post:

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
You would know, after all nobody knows how to swallow quite like you do.

WTF? This wasn’t even in the pit, which would still violate T&C I believe. This is the kind of troll crap and mentality that’s killing this site.

You see there's this thing called context.

I genuinely dislike that poster, he's my own personal stalker, he never directly addresses anything I say he just posts directly after my posts some whiny dribble about how I'm a kid, haven't left moms basement, leftists low iq yada yada yada. This one line posting with no substance that is always an attack is so lame and normally I ignore it but since the site is on its way out I just let loose. Was it in poor taste, yes it was, do I regret it, no I don't.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder


President Trump has become the American Peoples Mr. " Mojo " , and he will Always be " Risin' " if WE THE PEOPLE have his Back . Make a Stand , and Stand Tall Fellow Citizens........



US ........




OR.........

THEM ..........

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

originally posted by: mtnshredder
It’s difficult to have debate with many here who toe the line of their party to the point of defending anything and everything they say or do, regardless of how insane it is. That # I’m sick of here. The political trolls, shills and anti-trumpers that have infiltrated ATS have done more damage to ATS than anything else. A large majority of the toxic material on this site comes from these people. They don’t care about debate, only invoking reactions and discord.

Such as this post. This was in context to the discussion, not directed at the following poster.

Swallowed whole by the usual suspects too

Following post:

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
You would know, after all nobody knows how to swallow quite like you do.

WTF? This wasn’t even in the pit, which would still violate T&C I believe. This is the kind of troll crap and mentality that’s killing this site.

You see there's this thing called context.

I genuinely dislike that poster, he's my own personal stalker, he never directly addresses anything I say he just posts directly after my posts some whiny dribble about how I'm a kid, haven't left moms basement, leftists low iq yada yada yada. This one line posting with no substance that is always an attack is so lame and normally I ignore it but since the site is on its way out I just let loose. Was it in poor taste, yes it was, do I regret it, no I don't.

We've all said thing we probably shouldn't have, I get it. I certainly think you could've done better is all.

a reply to: JinMI

Or the outrage due to the damage done to the water, air, and soil in the areas where the devices are manufactured or disassembled and scrapped.

There is no outrage until we are programmed to do so. We like to believe that we think for ourselves. We like to think that we control what we do, what we think, and how we respond. But if we are truly honest we are reacting on demand and on script, online on the internet, or in line in the store. We are pawns. We can deny it but it is true. The more I try to cut the strings, the more strings I find. Breaking free may not even be possible.

a reply to: mtnshredder

Pobody is nerfect

originally posted by: awhispersecho
Everything about political events in this country is conspiracy. Everything. Not one bit of info we are told that can be trusted at face value. If this site goes away noone will point out any of those things anywhere.

It may not be the type of conspiracy you want to read about but I would argue that it is more important right now than any of the other types of conspiracies we originally came here for. Whether the economy is being destroyed on purpose and we may lose all our freedoms by design is a hell of a lot more important at this moment than another sighting of Bigfoot.

Very well said. People seem to think if ATS isn't exactly the way they want it to be then that must be why it's dying, yet they participate in these debates just as much as anyone else. They seem to want ATS to be some sort of progressive paradise, and I'm sorry but that's never going to happen because we have a thing called common sense. The majority of the internet is a leftist echo chamber and they're upset because there's one place where we don't all think the exact same way. What they want is conformity which is yet more proof of their authoritarian nature.

originally posted by: Zanti Misfit
a reply to: ChaoticOrder


President Trump has become the American Peoples Mr. " Mojo " , and he will Always be " Risin' " if WE THE PEOPLE have his Back . Make a Stand , and Stand Tall Fellow Citizens........

US ........

OR.........

THEM ..........

I don't know how to choose between to over-expiry-date products. Can't I just get a refund or something?

originally posted by: daaskapital
It's a simple fact that ATS has been infested with US-centered right wing politics since 2016. It's no coincidence that many people subsequently left and the site suffered.

Ah yes, how appropriate that you would label right-wing people as some sort of rodents requiring extermination, then turn around and cry how everyone else is too toxic. How about you take a long hard look in the mirror and stop viewing your political opponents as subhuman scum. Do you actually have any proof that a large number of left-wing people have left and that's why ATS is dying? It seems to me your post and many other leftist posts in this thread have a large number of stars, many have more stars than those posts from right-wing members... so how biased is ATS really? Or do you just not like hearing any opinion that doesn't confirm your biases?

Even if ATS had pushed away most left leaning members, there's more than enough conservatives and centrists like myself who still enjoy ATS, especially considering that ATS is one of the few remaining sites where we are allowed to speak our mind without fear of censorship. Your argument is totally bogus and shows a complete lack of understanding of big tech censorship, and what allows a website to grow its membership. Yes the pro-Trump rhetoric on ATS has probably driven away some members but at the same time we've attracted many new members. It's extremely petty to ignore these complexities and put all blame on people who have a certain political mentality. Just more typical leftist BS shaming people for thinking a certain way.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: projectvxn

How come there is no outrage to the actual, real time slavery that goes into making all these devices and such?

Because it would require global outrage. Literally everyone knows what is happening and exactly zero are complaining about it loud enough to matter. I include myself in that.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
a reply to: LABTECH767

Then, the unthinkable happened...Hillary lost.
With that, a large percentage of the Left ditched ATS in embarrassment at having been proven so wrong about so much.
I remember...I was here.

Sure...some (including even the silly ones) hung on; they stayed around for the RUSSIA-RUSSIA-RUSSIA, KAVANAUGH/FORD, STORMY/AVENATTI and UKRAINE hoax crappola. I remember them being very vociferous and passionate in their belief that these issues were actually legitimate...and their positions on them were backed by fact.

Yep... hoax after hoax in an attempt to remove the duly elected President of the U.S. because "feelings". I was told countless times by many people here how the investigations into Trump would have him removed from office because he definitely broke the law. They got exactly what they deserved imo...

originally posted by: bigsnowman

Republicans launched the War on Drugs. Republicans overwhelmingly supported, and passed, the Patriot Act, effectively abolishing the 4th Amendment. Republicans fraudulently started the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. Less government involvement my ass. Reagan chose the former head of the CIA as his VP. The next two republican presidents were Mr. CIA and his son. An actual, true, fiscal conservative named Ron Paul ran for president twice and was laughed out of the party. Even Fox News treated the man as a joke.

These are what I consider to be legitimate criticisms of Republicans, Trump and his admin are also far too supportive of big brother surveillance imo. I'm also not a fan of mixing religion with government which a lot of Republicans seem to do. I certainly don't agree with everything Trump says and does, I fundementally support him because he represents an opposition to the never ending socialist takeover of society, he represents an opposition to those who would like to abolish police forces, he represents an opposition to political correctness, he represents an opposition to globalism, he represents an opposition to the rise of terrorism in the middle east, etc.

When Ron Paul was running I also staunchly supported him and created several threads on why people should vote for him. I would much rather Ron over Trump but it's clear they are both politicians outside of the mainstream and Ron Paul isn't afraid to criticize the left for their overzealous anti-Trump rhetoric, nor is he afraid to critisize Trump if he does something stupid. Rand Paul also seems to be a very big fan of Trump and has explained many times why he holds that position. People had a thirst for a politician who will work for them rather than for some rich globalists who couldn't care less about their country, and that manifested in Trump being elected.

It's the same lack of regulations that allows the MSM to lie to you on a daily basis with impunity. The same lack of regulations that allows Facebook to sell off millions of Americans' personal info.

But hey, at least they lowered your taxes right? If you support Trump and the modern GOP, fine. But don't your DARE call yourself a conservative. Conservatism has been dead in this country for decades.

Except the law which prevents the MSM from knowingly lying to the public was lifted during the Obama admin, the surveillance state was also established in the U.S. under Obama and in secret. Obama also supplied weapons and funding to rebel groups in the Middle East despite their links to ISIS and other terrorist groups, whereas Trump did what was necessary to defeat them and give the territory back to legitimate governments. I agree Trump isn't really a conservative but his political leaning has little to do with why he was elected, people have explained over and over again what the actual reasons were.

The war on drugs is a good example of why I'm a centrist libertarian, I often see conservatives condemning all drugs but I also see just as many liberals saying things like "think of the children". That's a primary reason why weed is still illegal here in Australia, neither side wants to admit the war on drugs has failed, in fact I see more resistance from the left side which indicates to me they really have very little respect for freedom and liberty, they'll talk a big game about how we should decide what happens to our own bodies, but when it comes down to it they'll try to control every aspect of your life, including taxes on sugar and unhealthy foods in order to socially engineer what people are eating and drinking, all for the "greater good" of society.

a reply to: Dumbass


One Stands for Something , the Other Does Not . Simple Is what Simple Does .....

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Lets be real: politics are THE conspiracy. Always have been. Ask what's left of JFK...he'd be glad to tell you.

And the politics of today amounts to some kind of massive power struggle. Big enough that we seem to be living in a staged nightmare to support a "by means necessary" strategy.

- Take advantage of a pandemic disease to close down the economy in a wholly unprecedented fashion. Use your fear mongering machines in media to drive the point home that we are all gonna die if we don't stay home. Throw an extra $2400/mo into the unemployment coffers to placate the working class who are now jobless
- Release a bunch of prisoners, many with fairly violent histories, in the name of "humanitarianism".
- Once you have a critical mass of people sitting at home doing nothing, getting restless, take advantage of an event to put them to work. Its great, just make sure your branded BLM tshirts and facemasks are disseminated nationally to each of these "individuals" protesting. Its not coordinated at all, right? So when the rioting and looting happen, you can blame the racist president, who actually is provably anything but racist...but facts don't matter, right?
- Once the rioting and looting have started to die down, blame the racist science deniers for not wearing masks for the ensuing flare up, ignoring that mass protests over 2 weeks did anything but observe proper mask wearing or social distancing.

How do you not see the conspiracy unfolding before us? The Russian investigation didn't do it for you?

I get that folks are tired of politics. But the fact is, this isn't 2004 anymore. The Clementine images are rehashed to death. We've seen every rock on the surface of Mars. There isn't a viable UFO video out there that isn't the same grainy BS we've had for decades, despite the advent of quality cameras on every handheld device in the world. I mean, i can see a video of just about any rare occurance, but a UFO video is still grainy specs of light?

What would you suggest?

originally posted by: Zanti Misfit
a reply to: Dumbass


One Stands for Something , the Other Does Not . Simple Is what Simple Does .....

Sure

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

According to me, the reason ATS is going down is because of the lack of creativity. No innovation.

One thing I don't understand, and didn't see explained anywhere in the thread announcing its impending doom...

What is it about ATS that is so costly to run?

I mean - it's a discussion forum? I've been hosting them for eons all by myself. It does cost some, but not that much, even if I wanted to host something with high traffic volume.

a reply to: tanstaafl

Speaking as a layman here, i would assume that the DDoS protection, itself, costs a fortune. I recall without it ATS was barely functional when under (frequent) attack. And I recall it being mentioned that the cost of protection would be a substantial increase in overall costs.

its not just running a forum with a dozen members and a thousand page views a day. There are volumes of well curated material on ATS that serve as official libraries for topics like UFO's. Decades worth. And loads of lurkers. Its a rather large site that is still very popular within its niche. A niche that has had ever increasing demonetization practices thrown at it. All those page views are pure cost now, with no monetary upside.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: tanstaafl

Speaking as a layman here, i would assume that the DDoS protection, itself, costs a fortune. I recall without it ATS was barely functional when under (frequent) attack. And I recall it being mentioned that the cost of protection would be a substantial increase in overall costs.

A paid Cloudflare account should handle that quite nicely, and they are quite inexpensive.

its not just running a forum with a dozen members and a thousand page views a day. There are volumes of well curated material on ATS that serve as official libraries for topics like UFO's. Decades worth. And loads of lurkers. Its a rather large site that is still very popular within its niche. A niche that has had ever increasing demonetization practices thrown at it. All those page views are pure cost now, with no monetary upside.

I'm not suggesting the costs would be the same as a simple shared hosting account, but I just can't see how or why it would cost more than $500/mo, if that... not with the tech available today. Just doesn't make sense.

a reply to: projectvxn

We agree - mostly:

Leftists are constantly looking for racial issues to exploit and the best way to do that is paint your opposition as racist. This is not in the mainstream right-wing playbook, but it is on the left.

This is another version of that same tactic. See it or don't, but all leftists are not the same, but this is part of the rightwing playbook. They both grew in response to each other

What you just said is obviously true, but just as obviously untrue if you really pay attention and don't fall into the trap of treating it like an absolute

I've had my fill of the cartoon left - trust me. As much as of the cartoon right. There are non-thinkers in all categories. Followers, and people who don't trust their own minds, so they adopt a shtick and ride that to it's inevitable conclusion

Some of the things you've just covered really deserve a thread. I wish this was the same place it used to be, where we could have an angry argument about all that - but actually make real arguments. I don't disagree with much of what you said, but I do with some of it

Change doesn't come easily, it's often brutal. Western civilization has become a kind of shorthand for too many things, I agree. The one thing I think is missing from this conversation is that the demands being made and the take it to the streets manifestation of those demands is a result of some of the finer things that came out of western civilization. It feels threatening because it is

I figure you're one of those few people here that objectively realizes what this country is looking at right now

Which brings me to the annoying Happy Hippy portion of our program: We have more in common than any of us are willing to admit. Things will not change until that moment we're finally willing to admit it