News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says by AnimalMuppet on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @04:42PM (#42955619)
Sure they do. And to do that, they need a functioning society, at least functioning well enough to produce the things that the military and the police need and want. (And that means that the police can't steal too much from people.)

A dictatorship can't be just a thugocracy. It has to keep society running, perhaps not up to western capitalist standards, but at least above the point of collapse.

Re:20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says by scarface_74 on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @05:39PM (#42956386)
How do you explain North Korea?

And there is always prison labor that you can depend on. Especially with private prisons. Prison labor is already being used to fight wildfires in LA for instance and we have the highest incarceration rate in the world. That’s cheap labor and another benefit it’s all those “drug dealing thugs” anyway.

Re:20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says by AnimalMuppet on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @06:18PM (#42956765)
Fair point. North Korea is the one that I can't explain.
Re:20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says by skinnymuch on Sunday February 09, 2025 @12:03AM (#42988592)
Maybe looking at North Korea through the eyes of western propaganda is the issue. Not that North Korea isn’t explainable.
Re:20k federal workers take "buyout" so far, official says by skinnymuch on Sunday February 09, 2025 @12:04AM (#42988596)
North Korea functions fine for the constraints it is in. The people (rightfully imo) don’t view their government the way western propaganda states.