Find a Lemmy app that has user tagging (I use Voyager, and previously Connect) and when you see these users make a note of each one with a red tag so they stand out when you're browsing.

You'll start to see the bastards turning up in all kinds of conversations as well as posting ridiculous shit. That's what I did with the Russian/American trolls/bots during the american election. Very enlightening to see in a political thread who the repeat offender shit-disturbers are so you can down vote, argue with, or report them instead of blocking them and allowing their infection to spread.

Tagging is handy for nice people as well; the community of people around you on Lemmy starts to look more familiar, smaller, and friendlier than you realize, and dick heads become easier to spot.

Canada gov should ban X, at least for pre-election

This is even more rampant and unchecked on Reddit - the Buy Canadian subreddit is infested with either outright "MURRICA FUKKKIN A BRO" types or the more subtle "concern trolls"

"Won't you miss this product? What will you do when you can't afford things anymore? Don't you realize these companies employ Canadians - why do you want to hurt your neighbours?" Yeah - not here for that noise.

Unfortunately some of them are real people, I've had voice conversations with people who believe the bullshit line that "Canada and Mexico are taking advantage of us" that's coming out of these figureheads they blindly follow.

They have zero critical thinking abilities, and that means they can't be reasoned out of their position by showing them facts or asking them to prove their logic.

Good. Let these idiots be loud. Let every Canadian see what the Fuck Yeah 'Muricans think of us, so that the sting lasts as long as possible. We don't want to get lulled back into business as usual once Asshole Donny bits the bullet.

Not so sure - yes don't feed the trolls but we can't just let them control the narrative. When Elon starts posting made-up polls on Twitter showing Canadians want to join the US, we need to have started the precedent already that that is a lie. I say, don't give up any space for free.

Good thing as a Canadian I don't care what Americans THINK of us too much. They value their independence so do we.

Some of them might be real people.

Scapegoating is an extremely successful technique. Instead of dealing with the complexities of the modern world, the supposed strong man can just give people easy and reassuring answers.

Americans problems are not because of unchecked capitalism and the wilful dismantling of the scientific, legal, economic, and political systems designed to help them. It’s because Canada, led by its Mexican Drug Cartels, are taking advantage of them.

Never mind that it’s patently stupid. Never mind that the system of getting access to our raw materials for cheap so they could process them in their countries and their industries was overwhelming as good for them as it was bad for us.

Never mind reality — what matters is that an easy answer was given. It’s not them, they don’t have to confront any harsh truths, or take any painful looks in the mirror, or have to step out of their comfort zone. The Americans were given the answer to their problems by their King, and that answer is Canada.

So the “strong man” strikes at Canada to show how tough they are. And to no one’s surprise, Canada doesn’t take it lying down. We stand up for ourselves and hit back — saying that surely when they see pain they will stop and reflect.

But no, they don’t. Because our hitting back justifies our already-established status as villain. How dare Canada threaten to levy energy exports, says the King. The Canadians have no decency.

And so, feeling the pain we caused, the Americans listen to their King, and they blame us because that is the easy answer. They don’t have to think, they don’t have to pause the sportsball game or the reality tv marathon. It was Canada all along.

So yes — there may be bots and such, but make no mistake that the vocal opposition to Canada will only grow inside America as the trade war escalates.

Luckily, Lemmy has a fairly effective way to deal with those. Don't block them, instead use the down arrow ⬇️ so the next buddy either doesn't see it, or sees the negative score as a warning. Unlike corporate for-profit social networks, Lemmy won't push those comments to the people that would get triggered most. Instead they'll fade into oblivion as quickly as the downvotes roll in.

I’ll admit that I’m not the most patriotic American (I’m an emigrant, for one), and I’m not from a deep trump area, but I don’t know a single American, except for maybe my fox news addled dad, who doesn’t think Canada’s completely in the right. Even Vermonters who worry about heating their homes want trump to stop, not Canada.

I am convinced our elections were somehow rigged here in the states. At the very least, the bots changed the outcome. But now that the shit-heels are in power, there's fuck-all that can be done about it. I've resigned myself to leave. I've been wanting to at least a decade or more, but I can't rest on my comfort anymore. It's time.

I do hope Canada can overcome this. I fear for the entire world. I am rooting for you, the EU, and general sanity worldwide.

Oh I can enrage americans? Awesome. It's going to be a good day. A not getting banned off reddit day.

LLMs will yell into the void. It's never been simpler.