CuriousCat Archive Page 10 of 202

  2. I can't believe I have to say this, but we're not at war with Donald Trump.

    in response to (diff anon) Political violence is political violence.

    "political violence is political violence until it's not"

  4. Does "All cops are bastards" apply to not just police that protect capital in countries like the U.S., but also police in the Soviet Union, East Germany, modern China, etc.

    yes, the stasi were bastards

  6. if there's anyone who can somehow fumble using the good PR generated from an assassination attempt, it's Trump

    in response to So... exactly how big is Trump's landslide victory gonna be now?

    they're already going hard on conspiracism, which is great for mobilizing their base but hardly a means of enticing moderates and undecideds. I think it increases the risk of violent repercussions and another coup attempt if he loses, but I don't see it helping him win.

  7. Oh the short sightedness of being glib about political assassination attempts

    Surely if a lefty got an unlicensed piercing you would react in the same way right? RIGHT?!

    in response to So... exactly how big is Trump's landslide victory gonna be now?

    different things are different

  8. Diff anon
    While I'd like to share your optimism, the difference is obvious. A heart attack paints a picture of an infirm old man, who can die at any moment. Surviving an assassination attempt builds a narrative of a tough badass hero

    in response to So... exactly how big is Trump's landslide victory gonna be now?

    Bernie's heart attack made his numbers soar, they started flagging when he got better.

  9. So... exactly how big is Trump's landslide victory gonna be now?

    Bernie had a heart attack and still couldn't win the primary, Trump isn't guaranteed anything from an unlicensed piercing

  11. Do you ever watch your old concert videos?

    my concert videos?

  12. Story aside, do you like the combat of the Kingdom Hearts games?

    I don't actually play KH I just watch videos/listen to podcasts where people lose their minds trying to explain the lore

  13. Diff Anon:
    I'm not sure that this is actually in evidence though. Maybe there is Something Else about European social democracies that make Capitalists, whose hierarchy uses white supremacy to justify itself, reluctant to do this?

    in response to Sure, social democracy resembles socialism. But the ways in which it is distinct from socialism make it more viable and sustainable as a system of government.

    you make a fine point but I remind you the USSR was full of white people

  14. Do you happen to know who *is* the boss of socialism? Seems like all these questions would be better suited for them to answer than you.

    in response to Is Venezuela even socialist?

    oooh, Karen over hear asking to speak to the manager

  15. Is it just me, or are there a lot of people using the term "fascism" to describe governments in place of terms like "authoritarianism" or "totalitarianism"? I'm not saying that (for instance) Venezuela or Cuba are authoritarian/totalitarian states, just that if you asked one of these people what makes those governments fascist they'd probably list a bunch of qualities that are better suited to those terms.

    YEP

  16. Is Ian Danskin anarchist?

    in response to Is Ian Danskin socialist?

    ask me again in a few years

  17. Are most Americans racist?

    America is an institution that has racism built into it, so most Americans must participate in white supremacy in order to function. most do this willingly, few do it innocently.

  18. have you ever gotten into any other roguelikes (apart from nuclear throne)?

    yeah, NT was the last in a line of procedurally-generated games I sunk hundreds of hours into. first it was the freeware version of Spelunky, then the Flash version of The Binding of Isaac (which, not to brag, I 100%ed, including the Wrath of the Lamb expansion). I flirted briefly with Dead Cells after putting NT to bed but it lost me after 2 BSC.

  19. In your opinion is AI art art?

    sure, and it even has some compelling applications as an art tool. but AI evangelists are using it to make incredibly bad art.

  20. do you have any family members named dan? can you truly claim to be ian, dan's kin?

    according to Twitter, the member of my family named Dan is me

  21. What's the best argument against the Great Men of history theory?

    every Great Man is an argument against the Great Man Theory. dig a little into any one of them and you will find either a) he was not actually great, or b) he was the most famous part of a mass effort.

  22. Has time felt faster as you've gotten older?

    Also, do you think happiness is harder as you get older?

    yes. I remember when an hour felt like an enormous length of time. now years flash by.

    no. the period of my life where I was young and the period of my life where I was happy have very little overlap.

  23. Do you buy the argument that nuclear weapons have been a net good for the world as it prevented a conventional war between the USA and USSR that would have killed many more than WW2.

    that's a no from me boss

  24. Do you think Epstein did [REDACTED] himself?

    I don't think anything, I'm just saying if it came out someone [REDACTED] him, I will not be surprised.

  25. Am I socialist?

    in response to Is Ian Danskin socialist?

    hopefully!

  26. Is Ian Danskin socialist?

    in response to Is Venezuela even socialist?

    according to some

  28. why does
    Jordan Peterson
    tweet like he’s a poet

    god, he would probably say free verse isn't poetry

  33. (diff anon) Whereas the worst socialism better resembles fascism...so I'd say the best capitalism (that being social democracy) wins out.

    in response to Is the worst socialism better than the best capitalism?

    the worst capitalism is literally fascism

    if you're going to say that the best capitalism is the one that resembles socialism, I feel something should click in your brain...

  34. (different anon) I share the affection for 3, but I do wonder how much of that is due to Pumpkin Spice Hoffman's excellent turn as a villain.

    in response to How would you rank the Mission Impossible movies?

    3 is everything I hate about JJ Abrams but for some reason it WORKS

  35. What do you think when someone brings up "the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust"?

    I ask what they think of the biggest massacre of the Palestinians since the last time Israel massacred Palestinians

  37. favorite Simpsons joke

    "is it about my cube?"

  38. Diff Anon:
    Well, at least you're not being Basic and picking a...
    Wtf Is mdash on this stupid virtual board‽

    in response to favorite punctuation mark

    emdashes are devils

  39. favorite punctuation mark

    ‽

  40. How would you rank the Mission Impossible movies?

    4 & 6 are top tier
    3 is a personal favorite
    5 & 7 are decent but unsatisfying
    1 has great sequences but is not my taste
    2 used to be "bad-but-fun" but doesn't even hold up as that anymore

  41. Is the worst socialism better than the best capitalism?

    that's hard to answer, because, historically, the best capitalism better resembles socialism than the worst socialism.

  42. did you laugh at the john green tumblr posts about penis

    I do not delight in John Green's discomfort, which seems to be what people like about it? as a joke, it's mid. tetries choclay ornage is the same idea but way funnier.

  43. If Biden got replaced as the nominee with 4 months to the election, would the replacement have a viable path to victory? Is it worth it to try even if the answer might be no?

    I don't know about viability, all I can say is Biden isn't polling well and I don't think it's gonna get BETTER. and this is an opportunity to try something else.

  45. Would you play a horror game made by Nintendo?

    you mean Luigi's Mansion?

  46. Any scary experiences from the Tenderloin when you lived in SF?

    lol, no, just bad standup

  47. So you'd rather let it happen *next* year unimpeded? Because that's what happens if Biden loses.

    in response to But they *can* win *this* election, and prevent Project 2025 from being implemented.

    I understand you want to turn any discussion about the endemic flaws of the Democratic Party into one about the election, but we're not actually taking about whether you should vote for Joe

  48. (Diff anon) Regarding 2, isn't irresponsible consumption of alcohol already illegal? There are usually already things like minimum age before you are allowed to drink or laws against drunk driving.

    in response to (Diff anon) Besides: 1. drinking bleach isn't illegal but anyone will tell you you shouldn't do it. 2. being drunk isn't illegal, either, but society generally frowns upon irresponsible consumption of alcohol. You don't need the law to codify social acceptance. 3. You cannot solve a public health issue (drug usage) by throwing Police and the Law at it.

    there are laws about what you can and can't do drunk, but no laws saying how drunk you can get

  49. Is Marxism-Leninism just a form of Stalinism?

    I dunno how the philosophy has evolved, but its origins are just "Stalinism"

  51. Even before agriculture?

    in response to Since when has this been true?

    on the planet? yeah, human population was small then. definitely some allocation problems...

  53. But they *can* win *this* election, and prevent Project 2025 from being implemented.

    in response to The Democrats aren't going to implement Project 2025.

    Republicans spent fifty years setting themselves up to overturn Roe v Wade, they're not gonna scrap Project 2025 after one loss

  55. (Diff anon) Besides:
    1. drinking bleach isn't illegal but anyone will tell you you shouldn't do it.
    2. being drunk isn't illegal, either, but society generally frowns upon irresponsible consumption of alcohol. You don't need the law to codify social acceptance.
    3. You cannot solve a public health issue (drug usage) by throwing Police and the Law at it.

    in response to So Fentanyl? Cocaine? Meth? Black tar heroin? Should huffing paint fumes to get high be legal? For the love of God, why?

  56. Diff Anon:
    Oh, don't worry my peer! Those bystanders are "not so innocent". Some of them may even be starving children! And we all know childhood hunger is an absolute blight.
    Actually!! Have you heard of this Modest Proposal?

    in response to If every time police intervened in a hostage situation, they ended up killing the hostage and all of the bystanders, then yes I would expect the police to stop intervening. Of course, in what world is that acceptable?!?

    mm, starving children are gamey

  57. How do nonprofits get their funding?

    depends on what they do, but pretty much all of them apply for grants

  58. What do you think when leftists say that the Democrats are barely different from Republicans or are even fundamentally the same?

    in response to What do you think of leftists that call folks like Bernie and AOC “liberal opportunists”?

    they are... correct from a certain point of view? like, when your political awareness includes anarchism, socialism, neoliberalism, and fascism, having the two parties be "which flavor of capitalism do you want?" doesn't seem like much difference! there are more significant differences on social issues, but, even then, when you look at gender or race or sexuality from a radical perspective, the differences still aren't very impressive.

    saying they're "the same" is often reductive and unhelpful, but it's closer to true than false.

  59. If you could turn any drugs into any other drugs what if anything would you use this power for?

    I would turn aspirin into ADHD meds

  62. I see this argument applied to a lot of things, from drugs to prostitution. But if criminalizing a practice "doesn't work" to disincentivize people from doing it, why would DEcriminalization work any better? How can making it *easier* to do a thing make people do it *less*?

    in response to So Fentanyl? Cocaine? Meth? Black tar heroin? Should huffing paint fumes to get high be legal? For the love of God, why?

    this is not a hypothetical question! in the States, we just lived through the legalization of marijuana in many states: has it led to greater marijuana usage? are rates of addiction higher in Amsterdam than in countries where drugs are outlawed? you can look these things up! as with policing, treating addiction as a public health issue yields better results than policing.

    the issue for people is: decrim means giving up on what policing is SUPPOSED to do; you're not going to "win" the drug war. you're going to accept that people will continue to do drugs, and you're going to treat those people as citizens with rights and offer them support structures and help more of them than you would with police, but many will still NOT go straight. that's already the case, but decrim means you accept them, and treat them with baseline respect under the law.

  63. Favorite rom-com?

    answer might be different tomorrow, but: My Best Friend's Wedding

  64. If every time police intervened in a hostage situation, they ended up killing the hostage and all of the bystanders, then yes I would expect the police to stop intervening. Of course, in what world is that acceptable?!?

    in response to Well it does explain why Israel is bombing schools/hospitals and why children get killed in the crossfire. Do you expect soldiers to do absolutely nothing? If someone is holding you hostage at gunpoint, do you expect a police officer to not intervene because they risk shooting you instead?

  66. So Fentanyl? Cocaine? Meth? Black tar heroin? Should huffing paint fumes to get high be legal? For the love of God, why?

    in response to (diff anon) You don't think *any* drugs should be illegal?

    ok so you're asking an ideological question: why would we allow people access to these horrible things? why would we encourage destructive behavior? I don't know if my answer will satisfy you on those terms, because mine is about pragmatics:

    criminalizing drugs doesn't work. at best, people just buy the drugs illegally from friends; at worst it's a dangerous criminal enterprise with lots of violence and death, where addicts can't get help without admitting to a crime.

    if what you want is for society to condemn drugs, that means nothing to you. but if you want fewer people to be addicted to them, die from them, be preyed on by a violent and unregulated market, you should support decrim.

  68. What about onions, scallions, garlic, leeks, and chives?

    in response to Do you think that aliems exist?

    falsehoods

  69. Diff Anon:
    You needn't say it aloud, but I am implying that my peers who don't understand why fascism should be opposed and/or have the "temerity" to imply that it is selfish are reacting this way because they're "curious" about fascism and maybe being fascist themselves. And that this disposition is not one of "heroic self-sacrifice" but is instead predicated on being selfish and/or wanting to belong to he "Us" punishing the "Them" for their many crimes.

    I may be very cranky today.

    in response to Diff Anon: Maybe I'm just a sicko, but I think it bears repeating: No matter how much "work" you do for your fascist cause, you're never "safe". There is no amount of performing "us-ness" that can keep you from suddenly becoming one of the many, ever growing "them" who must be destroyed to protect "us". It's not the only problem with fascists, but for a person considering fascism it might be the material concern that's most persuasive.

    I do love that people keep saying "communism always fails" using funky arguments for how four currently-existing communist states are all failures, meanwhile folks are flirting with fascism which has, unambiguously, failed 100% of its attempts

    so tell your friends that every fascist government has not only failed but the all-powerful "Us" was HUMILIATED on the world stage

  70. could you spare me a crumb of serotonin pls

    when I was in middle school one of the books for English class - the ones full of random essays and short stories you may be assigned to read - had a story about hiking/rock climbing called Thunder Butte. whoever had the book before me had drawn over the E on every page, making it the dot under a big ol' exclamation point, so the story was called Thunder Butt!

  71. This is why it bugs me when the media talks about "immigration issues" without acknowledging that right and left have very different opinions on what's wrong with the system.

    in response to Why don't you think illegal immigration is a problem?

    well... parts of the left. liberals and even a lot of leftists are pro-borders, wanting a "nicer" version of the immigration process. but, yeah, the only "fuck off with your border laws" folks are on the Left.

  74. Diff Anon:
    Maybe I'm just a sicko, but I think it bears repeating:
    No matter how much "work" you do for your fascist cause, you're never "safe". There is no amount of performing "us-ness" that can keep you from suddenly becoming one of the many, ever growing "them" who must be destroyed to protect "us".

    It's not the only problem with fascists, but for a person considering fascism it might be the material concern that's most persuasive.

    in response to I could agree with that take but like it's not narcissism. Acting in one's self interest is healthy and reasonable when your self interest is making your community's life better

    yeah but that pivots back to the "selfishness" argument

    basically fascism sucks from pretty much every philosophical position: from selfish, moral, or pragmatic perspectives, it's a bad time!

  75. What's the Citizen Kane of films?

    The Last Jedi

Anon commented:
Ian replied: