ben chambers 🏴
@benjaminchambers.bsky.social
dipshit dilettante | og sjw | wokescold | apprentice of the cathedral | acolyte of cthulhu | partisan of the unpopular front | game theoretic moralist | free market communist | evangelist for anarchy | antistemlord aktion | mtm dysphoric | he/him/his
Pinned
remember, fascists are small men who want to feel big, dorks who want to look cool, simpletons who cant handle complexity
theyre losers who embrace a low effort ideology that lets them win, playing on easy mode to feel like theyve conquered something
theyre losers who embrace a low effort ideology that lets them win, playing on easy mode to feel like theyve conquered something
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
gotta revisit TNC's "Fear of A Black President" essay but in historical hindsight i think it's all gonna boil down to complacency & cowardice: "we dare not _trigger_ the neoconfederates, so how bout a nice friendly beer summit?"
January 15, 2026 at 9:33 PM
gotta revisit TNC's "Fear of A Black President" essay but in historical hindsight i think it's all gonna boil down to complacency & cowardice: "we dare not _trigger_ the neoconfederates, so how bout a nice friendly beer summit?"
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
It's almost like, when they are at a power disadvantage, they invoke liberal standards of justice and fair play, but when they gain power, those values go out the window immediately. Like it's all in bad faith or something.
January 15, 2026 at 9:19 PM
It's almost like, when they are at a power disadvantage, they invoke liberal standards of justice and fair play, but when they gain power, those values go out the window immediately. Like it's all in bad faith or something.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
It's similarly "odd" how the right's advancement of colorblindness as the better means of promoting racial justice lasted precisely until they had the political power to unleash widespread explicit race-based oppression.
It's odd, isn't it, how the supposed "woke overreach" that we are told has repulsed all of America & sent Dems into the wilderness coincided, almost perfectly, with final collapse of media gatekeepers & the rise of unrestrained RW media & social media dominance.
January 15, 2026 at 9:15 PM
It's similarly "odd" how the right's advancement of colorblindness as the better means of promoting racial justice lasted precisely until they had the political power to unleash widespread explicit race-based oppression.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Trumpism survives bc of Trump’s Clown Armor: he’s such a clownish buffoon that people who know better refuse to engage him seriously.
When he first ran, HuffPo had a smug post about covering Trump in the ”Entertainment”, not ”Politics” vertical. Mainstream media has just never stopped doing that
When he first ran, HuffPo had a smug post about covering Trump in the ”Entertainment”, not ”Politics” vertical. Mainstream media has just never stopped doing that
January 15, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Trumpism survives bc of Trump’s Clown Armor: he’s such a clownish buffoon that people who know better refuse to engage him seriously.
When he first ran, HuffPo had a smug post about covering Trump in the ”Entertainment”, not ”Politics” vertical. Mainstream media has just never stopped doing that
When he first ran, HuffPo had a smug post about covering Trump in the ”Entertainment”, not ”Politics” vertical. Mainstream media has just never stopped doing that
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
I think trumpism, in absolute terms, is quite weak but has also been largely immune to certain factors that many people assumed would constrain authoritarianism. The key is not to assume trumpism is all-powerful, but to be specific and realistic about the ways in which it is actually vulnerable.
January 15, 2026 at 9:02 PM
I think trumpism, in absolute terms, is quite weak but has also been largely immune to certain factors that many people assumed would constrain authoritarianism. The key is not to assume trumpism is all-powerful, but to be specific and realistic about the ways in which it is actually vulnerable.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Such a nasty thing: the right gets the thrill from hippie punching seeing it while fear is struck in the hearts of decent people. Showing it serves the ends of those who did it, & yet we mustn't hide their crimes.
The perverse spiral of dilemmas we're snarled in overwhelms my mind from time to time
The perverse spiral of dilemmas we're snarled in overwhelms my mind from time to time
January 15, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Such a nasty thing: the right gets the thrill from hippie punching seeing it while fear is struck in the hearts of decent people. Showing it serves the ends of those who did it, & yet we mustn't hide their crimes.
The perverse spiral of dilemmas we're snarled in overwhelms my mind from time to time
The perverse spiral of dilemmas we're snarled in overwhelms my mind from time to time
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
The core truth of the Trump era, and the one that journalism is forbidden from stating out loud, is that Trump has gathered around him a constituency of the country's worst people.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
January 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
The core truth of the Trump era, and the one that journalism is forbidden from stating out loud, is that Trump has gathered around him a constituency of the country's worst people.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
US higher education was a crown jewel, generating knowledge, wealth, prestige, and power unrivaled by anyone.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:01 PM
US higher education was a crown jewel, generating knowledge, wealth, prestige, and power unrivaled by anyone.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
This seems like a maliciously put headline to make people feel a certain way.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia written by volunteers, is embracing artificial intelligence to mark its 25th anniversary.
Wikipedia unveils new AI licensing deals as it marks 25th birthday
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia written by volunteers, is embracing artificial intelligence to mark its 25th anniversary.
bit.ly
January 15, 2026 at 7:08 PM
This seems like a maliciously put headline to make people feel a certain way.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
VO Key begins his unjustly neglected classic, American Democracy and Public Opinion, with an eloquent version of this exact point that even tyrannies are worried about what the people think:
January 15, 2026 at 8:51 PM
VO Key begins his unjustly neglected classic, American Democracy and Public Opinion, with an eloquent version of this exact point that even tyrannies are worried about what the people think:
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
To underline the point that a lot of Americans have a cartoon understanding of dictatorships, consider that even Hitler had to worry about public opinion and in fact one of the key functions of the gestapo was assessing the mood of the country.
January 15, 2026 at 8:41 PM
To underline the point that a lot of Americans have a cartoon understanding of dictatorships, consider that even Hitler had to worry about public opinion and in fact one of the key functions of the gestapo was assessing the mood of the country.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
They basically view alliances and soft power as unecessary dependencies, because they have a very inflated idea of what can be achieved with brute force. And another part of this is that these standard methods *are* more egalitarian and permit some political independence and economic development
January 15, 2026 at 8:09 PM
They basically view alliances and soft power as unecessary dependencies, because they have a very inflated idea of what can be achieved with brute force. And another part of this is that these standard methods *are* more egalitarian and permit some political independence and economic development
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
The US is a hegemon in the way that leftists understand hegemony, not in the way that actual imperialists want it to be a hegemon. Consider Venezuela and dismantling USAID as a singular mission statement about gunboat diplomacy vs soft power. The latter is more effective, but is not what they want.
January 15, 2026 at 8:06 PM
The US is a hegemon in the way that leftists understand hegemony, not in the way that actual imperialists want it to be a hegemon. Consider Venezuela and dismantling USAID as a singular mission statement about gunboat diplomacy vs soft power. The latter is more effective, but is not what they want.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Collapsing NATO *before* a european army is established is part of this strategy, which amounts to a neocolonial project where central, latin american and caribbean countries, Canada, and european countries (at least) are demoted (or returned) to the periphery of the worldsystem.
January 15, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Collapsing NATO *before* a european army is established is part of this strategy, which amounts to a neocolonial project where central, latin american and caribbean countries, Canada, and european countries (at least) are demoted (or returned) to the periphery of the worldsystem.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Trump doesn't want Greenland to station troops (he can) or mine minerals (which he also can) or for future trade routes american shipping will be allowed access to. It's because they want to collapse the EU and divide the world with Russia and he thinks it's in his third.
January 15, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Trump doesn't want Greenland to station troops (he can) or mine minerals (which he also can) or for future trade routes american shipping will be allowed access to. It's because they want to collapse the EU and divide the world with Russia and he thinks it's in his third.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
One thing we really need as a country is to start getting ppl to appreciate MLK & co. as hard-nosed, ruthless political strategists who took on an entire Confederacy’s worth of murderous authoritarian oligarchies and won.
And they actively kicked out doomers and edgy weirdos from their movement.
And they actively kicked out doomers and edgy weirdos from their movement.
so the "leftist" position here is that if the ICE thug tries to intimidate you, you walk away with your head down like charlie brown? is that it?
January 15, 2026 at 7:59 PM
One thing we really need as a country is to start getting ppl to appreciate MLK & co. as hard-nosed, ruthless political strategists who took on an entire Confederacy’s worth of murderous authoritarian oligarchies and won.
And they actively kicked out doomers and edgy weirdos from their movement.
And they actively kicked out doomers and edgy weirdos from their movement.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Incredible that the Lakota Sioux in their homelands, and Black Americans, Hmong, Somalians, and the descendants of Scandinavians have been making the most important stand in modern times about the ideals of the US project / American experiment.
January 15, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Incredible that the Lakota Sioux in their homelands, and Black Americans, Hmong, Somalians, and the descendants of Scandinavians have been making the most important stand in modern times about the ideals of the US project / American experiment.
this piece is newly salient in light of renee good's femicide
if so many men genuinely want to kill women for having the temerity of talking back to them then there needs to be some culture of deterrence to strike fear in the hearts of men
humaniterations.net/2024/06/25/k...
if so many men genuinely want to kill women for having the temerity of talking back to them then there needs to be some culture of deterrence to strike fear in the hearts of men
humaniterations.net/2024/06/25/k...
What’s In A Slogan? “KYLR” and Militant Anarcha-feminism
This text is available as a zine formatted for printing.An anarchist walks out of a punk show to smoke. On her vest are anarchist patches with various standa...
humaniterations.net
January 15, 2026 at 7:56 PM
this piece is newly salient in light of renee good's femicide
if so many men genuinely want to kill women for having the temerity of talking back to them then there needs to be some culture of deterrence to strike fear in the hearts of men
humaniterations.net/2024/06/25/k...
if so many men genuinely want to kill women for having the temerity of talking back to them then there needs to be some culture of deterrence to strike fear in the hearts of men
humaniterations.net/2024/06/25/k...
*taps sign*
fascists do not make falsifiable descriptive statements but affirmative, aspirational declarations; fascist lies are *ecstatic truths*: they say what they *want* to be true, as a ritualistic affirmation of their ideology, and what they *need* to be true to justify their intentions
fascists do not make falsifiable descriptive statements but affirmative, aspirational declarations; fascist lies are *ecstatic truths*: they say what they *want* to be true, as a ritualistic affirmation of their ideology, and what they *need* to be true to justify their intentions
January 15, 2026 at 7:48 PM
*taps sign*
fascists do not make falsifiable descriptive statements but affirmative, aspirational declarations; fascist lies are *ecstatic truths*: they say what they *want* to be true, as a ritualistic affirmation of their ideology, and what they *need* to be true to justify their intentions
fascists do not make falsifiable descriptive statements but affirmative, aspirational declarations; fascist lies are *ecstatic truths*: they say what they *want* to be true, as a ritualistic affirmation of their ideology, and what they *need* to be true to justify their intentions
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
It's always a joke, until all of a sudden it isn't
First you're trolled and gaslit for "taking it so seriously," then you're imprisoned, exiled, or shot, when it's too late
First you're trolled and gaslit for "taking it so seriously," then you're imprisoned, exiled, or shot, when it's too late
Q: Americans for generations have fought and died for democracy. Are you saying the president finds the idea of canceling elections funny?
LEAVITT: Where you in the room? Only someone like you would take that so seriously
LEAVITT: Where you in the room? Only someone like you would take that so seriously
January 15, 2026 at 7:13 PM
It's always a joke, until all of a sudden it isn't
First you're trolled and gaslit for "taking it so seriously," then you're imprisoned, exiled, or shot, when it's too late
First you're trolled and gaslit for "taking it so seriously," then you're imprisoned, exiled, or shot, when it's too late
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
what he, miller, hegseth, noem, and a number of others have in common is a disregard for proportional force and a fetishism of iron fist machismo.
January 15, 2026 at 1:48 PM
what he, miller, hegseth, noem, and a number of others have in common is a disregard for proportional force and a fetishism of iron fist machismo.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
The Trump regime loves badass warrior cosplay, so it just declared war on the rest of society. i really think "what if we just killed all the doctors and teachers and garbage men and had a society that was ALL COPS? that would be badass" is an animating impulse for them
January 15, 2026 at 6:33 PM
The Trump regime loves badass warrior cosplay, so it just declared war on the rest of society. i really think "what if we just killed all the doctors and teachers and garbage men and had a society that was ALL COPS? that would be badass" is an animating impulse for them
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Shit sucks but at least our enemies are miserable while our communities get stronger
January 15, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Shit sucks but at least our enemies are miserable while our communities get stronger
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
Their challenge coin is a laughing skeleton wearing a crown, with vultures on it's shoulders.
Looks less like something you'd give "law enforcement" and more like something you'd give to the death squad of a king.
Looks less like something you'd give "law enforcement" and more like something you'd give to the death squad of a king.
January 15, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Their challenge coin is a laughing skeleton wearing a crown, with vultures on it's shoulders.
Looks less like something you'd give "law enforcement" and more like something you'd give to the death squad of a king.
Looks less like something you'd give "law enforcement" and more like something you'd give to the death squad of a king.
Reposted by ben chambers 🏴
I see we're not even bothering with civil assert forfeiture figleaf for theft anymore
This is 10th-grader Arnoldo Bazan.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
January 15, 2026 at 5:53 AM
I see we're not even bothering with civil assert forfeiture figleaf for theft anymore