Archivists Posted the 60 Minutes Cecot Segment Bari Weiss Killed

211 pointsposted 12 hours ago
by m-hodges
(404media.co)

32 Comments

ordinaryradical

10 hours ago

Corruption is not merely something someone in power enacts in their choices; it is a rot that eats out the society from the inside.

As individuals realize that nakedly appeasing the autocrat wins favor, they voluntarily corrupt themselves and others in hopes of advantage.

More and more of the society enters the grip of this force and weakens until the truly valuable things—its resources, minds, institutions—are annihilated, stolen, and displaced by a hierarchy of criminals or warlords. This is how nations sink. It’s the story of many in Africa, South America, Russia—and now it is our own.

throwway262515

2 hours ago

Expanded and unbleakified:

Corruption is not just the immoral acts of an elite few; it is a parasite that hollows out society from within.

When the mainstream realizes that sycophancy toward the autocrat is rewarded, some willingly sacrifice their principles for short-term benefits, burrowing into the system like worms in an apple.

Yet, parasites cannot survive without a compliant host. To kill the infestation, we must cut off the food source: our passiveness. This begins with everyday refusals—denying the petty bribe, rejecting the convenient lie, and defending the honest colleague. By maintaining high ethical standards in our own spheres of influence, we starve the corrupt hierarchy of the dead matter it needs to grow.

We must also make the terrain uninhabitable for them. These organisms thrive in the dark, protected by silence. Therefore, we must actively expose them: documenting abuses, funding media samaritans, and organizing locally to demand transparency. When integrity becomes the standard again, the host becomes hostile to the parasite, isolating the invaders rather than letting them multiply.

Without this resistance however, the society weakens until its greatest assets—its resources, minds, and institutions—are cannibalized by a regime of criminals. This is how nations collapse. We have seen this story in Africa, South America, and Russia. This plague is now upon us. But history is not destiny. We possess the power to stop it. We only need the will to use it.

hshdhdhj4444

an hour ago

Well said.

America isn’t used to corruption. It hasn’t seen societal level rot that corruption can bring since at least WW2.

It’s a deeply damaging phenomenon.

anal_reactor

9 hours ago

> As individuals realize that nakedly appeasing the autocrat wins favor, they voluntarily corrupt themselves and others in hopes of advantage.

When I pointed out that this is the work culture in most American corporations, I was told that is a feature, not a bug, because US government and most big tech at the time preached values in line with average white middle-class Californian. Now that this is no longer the case, the mindset of appeasing the leader is suddenly a problem.

The whole situation was preventable, but everyone was too high on ZIRP to notice. We could've used the good times to establish good cultural values, but we didn't. Freedom of speech and other foundations of democracy were already rotting long ago but nobody cared. We could've used the good times to allow better dialogue between different political fractions, but we didn't. At some point democrats honestly believed they would simply never lose power again, making it seem pointless to talk to republicans. Now that the money dried out, people suddenly start asking questions and talking about "muh big values".

I have zero empathy.

hshdhdhj4444

an hour ago

I’m curious which specific problematic values do you think were being adhered to and preached in the past, that was comparable to what’s happening in CECOT, and wasn’t opposed?

benterix

6 hours ago

> When I pointed out that this is the work culture in most American corporations, I was told that is a feature, not a bug, because US government and most big tech at the time preached values in line with average white middle-class Californian.

It is a bit analogous to many of us worrying about Google and others getting so much power. The arguments were quickly dismissed with: "But these folks are responsible, don't be paranoid". The problem with this kind of thinking is, once the power balance changes, you find yourself in a situation you'd never put yourself now. You cannot make Google unlearn what they know about you. You cannot unsend the photos you privately shared on Messenger and force Meta to untrain their facial recognition models. Now all these things you considered a convenience given to you for free can be used against you, and the extend and direction of the abuse is correlated with who is in power.

frumplestlatz

10 hours ago

If you had a corrupt state like that, one in which the bureaucracy, the media, and the institutions were controlled by a uniparty, what would it look like if they were challenged?

How thoroughly would they unite to destroy that challenger? Would you perhaps see apocalyptic and apoplectic stories published across the media, in sync with the press conferences of the political class?

Would they try to get people like you riled up and angry, and saying exactly the kind of things you’re saying here?

ordinaryradical

9 hours ago

An all-powerful uniparty can do things like this:

    - deport or jail you without due process
    - ignore the law in service of its own ends
    - punish its enemies, pardon its allies
    - ignore the constitution
    - install loyalists in centers of power, oust dissenters
    - suppress media which challenges its hold on power
    - commit crimes
    - enrich its friends
    - declare its "plenary authority" to do the above
Brother, you are looking for the deep state under every rock and it is out in the sunshine, smiling at you.

m4rtink

an hour ago

Yeah, just look at Hungary or Slovakia how that can happen.

bulbar

3 hours ago

They would start to pardon criminals that conducted acts they like and fire the people that investigated those crimes. They would try to bring everybody to jail that oppose or upset them or have opposed them.

They win when challengers become too rare because others are afraid of the consequences to oppose.

What the Trump administration did regarding the Capitol storming on January 6th tells you everything you need to know. They strive for power and nothing else.

czottmann

an hour ago

Here's the magnet URL to the torrent, can't hurt:

    magnet:?xt=urn:btih:734abc77f48d11c78543c52004b6f57db71d6d92&dn=60minutes-cecotsegment&xl=1483256352&tr=http%3A%2F%2Fbt1.archive.org%3A6969%2Fannounce&tr=http%3A%2F%2Fbt2.archive.org%3A6969%2Fannounce&ws=http://ia601703.us.archive.org/32/items/&ws=http://ia801703.us.archive.org/32/items/&ws=https://archive.org/download/

JKCalhoun

11 hours ago

Using the torrent, you should be able to pull it down in a few minutes.

why-o-why

10 hours ago

Too bad the only people that will watch this are people who already understand the terror of what is happening. It might have helped a little if it had aired. My MAGA dad still watches 60 Minutes (no idea why, habit?) This might have penetrated his TDS-addled skull if it had aired. But the takeover of CBS by Trump and Ellison (and his 1980's-college-villain son) with Weiss is complete, and vile.

kristopolous

10 hours ago

In any media, people only see what they want. There's a psychological term for this, Motivated Reasoning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning

If you want to break this you have to know the person and ask key questions afterwards. Their distortion field is held together by beliefs and principles, not empirical analysis.

For instance, for my father, the question "how is this treating people responsibly? How can we expect the behavior of those guards to be held accountable?" would pierce this ... but really you have to know how the person doing motivated reasoning thinks.

mlrtime

4 hours ago

His Dad will be smart enough to know these questions are trying to set him up. Maybe try having a real conversation and not trying to change his mind. After all, there is a good chance you will be that Dad in the future (no matter how hard you tell yourself you won't be). Tell me how I now.

kristopolous

3 hours ago

I'm almost 50. I won't be. I have friends who are becoming grandparents now, still no interest.

I have half a century of talking with my father. If you think this is my first strategy as opposed to one that took years of therapy and personal struggle, I dunno what to tell you.

There's a wide body of social and psychological research on this stuff including multiple university departments (communication, psychology, sociology, management, teaching, etc) because "simply talking to people" doesn't actually work.

cafard

2 hours ago

Real conversations cannot involve one or more persons trying to change another's mind?

why-o-why

10 hours ago

So does this apply to every single person all the time?

kristopolous

8 hours ago

Nothing does.

It's about successful communication of authorial intent.

60 Minutes is not trying to say "Justice Served!" and shake pom-poms here. But, someone could read it that way, and it would be unintended.

suzdude

10 hours ago

Maybe suggest he watch? Maybe he's interested in what CBS's leadership refused to tell him.

Streisand Effect and all.

why-o-why

10 hours ago

I debated asking, but I talk to him only a few times a year and we both work really hard to avoid politics. I realize it is my responsibility if I want to see change, but I just lack the skills.

mlrtime

4 hours ago

Your (positive) relationship with him is way more important than trying to change his mind politically.

g-b-r

10 hours ago

Aaand it's off the front page (despite not having been flagged - 129 points)

jdlshore

9 hours ago

@dang Given the number of times this has posted and the number of votes it’s received, perhaps it should be unflagged as being of interest to HN?

g-b-r

10 hours ago

And now flagged and vanished from any page

nutjob2

10 hours ago

The oligarchy is in full effect. This is exactly how it works, ie you scratch my back I scratch yours. Ellison kills this CBS report, he gets approval on buying WBS, or more to the point NetFlix doesn't. Same with Musk, Middle East dictators and all the others lining up for favors from Trump. Also he and his family is enriched in various ways by all the pardons he hands out.

It's nauseating, but this is where Republicans live these days. The midterms can't come soon enough.