CuriousCat Archive Page 134 of 202

  1. Would you rather have money or fame?

    I would *pay* money to not be famous

  2. From a consequentialist point of view, what do you think is the best strategy for us to opress gamers? This is one of the greatest issues of our day and nobody on the left is proposing any solutions.

    obviously we're going to ban video games, no one's bothered to say it because it's such a given

  3. Is calling out antihumanistic features of contemporary religious beliefs in no way religion-phobic or civilization-clashing?

    I think Religions are just ideas and don't have rights.

    So is criticizing the ideas of religions no more bigoted than criticizing the ideas of neoliberalism?

    it is perfectly reasonable to have an ethical discussion about the tenets of religion and even religion itself, but if you're saying "what, I'm not allowed to talk about IDEAS anymore?" I kinda think that's not what you've been doing

    in this world, people are discriminated against on the basis of religion, so discussing it has stakes and needs to be done with care

    that's all, just care

  4. Do you mean in the sense of "if the Republican is really bad then a primary against a sitting president might be a bad idea"?

    in response to What do you make of the notion that if we elect Biden in 2020, we should get a left-populist alternative to primary him in 2024?

    Potentially, but also maybe not? Like, it would really depend on how the primary candidate ran their campaign and how they responded to losing if that's what happens. If they undermine Biden's electability, then I'll have to feel pretty confident they're going to win the primary. If they seem like a longshot that's mostly about making people feel better, I'm unenthused. But there are ways to provide people on the left a better option than Biden without running the risk of someone worse taking winning. I'd like to see someone do it well!

  7. You say to vote for Biden because it will be worse with Trump. Which is true but that assumes Trump will step down if he loses. He won't.
    If there was a massive majority for the democratic nominee, maybe he would step down from intimidation but that would require a massive coalition of non democrats to vote, and with Bernie out that chance is gone. This will be along party lines which means the vote will be close and, if say Fox says Trump won while everyone else says he lost, Trump will dispute it. His followers will follow him and this will go badly. Which means the only chance for this to go correctly, even if Biden wins, is for Trump to step down gracefully, Fox news to show integrity, or Trump supporters to be as respectful of democracy as we were when we didn't dispute/overturn Trump or Bush's elections. And those should be obvious pipe dreams at this point.
    So, in regards to the Biden votes, I really think you are focusing on a battle when, now that Bernie is gone, we have lost the war.
    Please tell me if my logic is flawed......seriously. i am legitimately terrified of November now that we have just Biden.

    I envy your ability to predict the future with such certainty that you will take risks that affect the lives of the most marginal people in our society. I was not born with this gift, unfortunately.

    Also, I don't say "vote for Biden," I interrogate the ethics of voting vs. not voting for him. I'm not expending effort telling people what to do. I don't believe my platform large enough, nor the #NeverBiden crowd big enough, to sway the election; if Biden loses, it will be because he is a trash candidate whom most can tolerate but does not inspire anyone, and if he loses it will be blamed on Bernie or Busters but will be his own damn fault.

    But I care about the long-term health of the American Left, and the ethical framework people use to justify staying home is, I feel, a dangerous one, and I think we would be healthier if we thought more consequentially about our goals.

  8. Do you like plants?

    yes, steamed with lemon and slivered almonds

  9. Do you personally identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community?

    No, I'm tragically straight in most senses of the word. Some people consider polyamory to be under the queer umbrella, and I respect that, but it's not something I've personally felt any claim to.

  11. What do you make of the notion that if we elect Biden in 2020, we should get a left-populist alternative to primary him in 2024?

    I'd be down for someone to try, but how enthusiastic I am is gonna depend on how bad the Republican candidate is.

  12. If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create?

    a museum of selfies

  13. You said earlier that voting third party in a red state wouldn't accomplish anything besides making you feel better, but would voting for biden accomplish anything either?

    yeah, I've quoted Chomsky elsewhere that, if you're not in a swing state, you can do whatever you want

  14. Do you have any strong opinions about Fallout 76 coming to Steam?

    absolutely none

  15. If you had to spend a million dollars, what is the first thing you would buy?

    assuming "buy" means not just paying off debts but actually purchasing something, I think I'd buy a house and stop renting

  16. One question I did have about your research was whether your master list includes all primary sources when you're talking about historical developments (for instance, did you read Burke for your piece on conservatism or just a summary)?

    I confess I am usually reading broad overviews rather than primary sources. I have not slogged through Burke to check if Corey Robin portrayed him accurately. So far none of the economists I know have watched that video have disputed anything.

  17. Do you think inheritance is bad? It seems like whatever capital is passed between generations serves to enforce conservative power structures.

    I mean, I don't know if inheritance would be a problem under a different system, but it sure is fucked up under capitalism.

  18. What “old person” things do you do?

    throw my back out

  19. Is it a viable strategy to pressure democrats to get Biden to drop out by threatening to vote third party, even if we know we’d go for Biden if it came down to it?

    Dems have made it clear they'd rather lose on their own terms than move left, so I don't think it would work

  20. So as a democratic socialist,

    Do YOU hate liberals more than fascists?

    in response to Do socialists hate liberals more than fascists?

    no, but their failings can feel more like betrayals

  21. Do you draw your own illustrations for your videos? If so, is it weird that so many of those drawings are of grumpy people?

    I do 98% of the drawings. Occasionally I hire someone to draw something that's outside my skills.

    I don't think they're grumpy so much as kinda blank. Ambivalent, maybe. It's a good Kuleshov effect, come to think of it; their expressions can read many ways depending on what they're reacting to.

  22. Is getting the Green Party to 5% a morally superior stance to Joe, even if that costs him the race? Ignoring the likelihood this will ever happen, even if Hawkins suddenly matched Bernie's donations by the end of April that'd still be pie in the sky

    in response to I was thinking about your consequentialist argument from your recent video, and I saw a comment somewhere pointing out how similar arguments in the 90s in the UK and US put people like Blair in charge. Once they got there not only did they enact bad policy (such as the Iraq war), but more importantly they created an apparatus and recruited people whose main goal was to deplatform and destroy left-wing movements. The most obvious result of this was the 2017 GE for Corbyn, which he lost by a few thousand votes and which it has come out that he was undermined by that party apparatus. I'm not saying John Mayor would've been better than Blair, but long-term, it hobbled the left-wing. Aren't you worried that by electing people like Biden, long-term we're ensuring that things can never get better?

    If you strategized with people in solidly blue or red states, you could get a Green Party candidate to 5% *without* costing Biden the election, and, given there's no chance of getting the 5% without coordination, I see no reason not to do both

  23. Do you recall which of your videos contains the aside about Kingdom Hearts and Mickey Mouse with his shirt off? Sorry for the random question, I've just been trying to find it for hours and it's driving me up the wall.

    Always a Bigger Fish

  24. Biden and trump aren't the only candidates, and since I live in a red state a vote for a third party has the same impact on the result of the election as a vote for Biden. If you live in a swing state I'd absolutely recommend voting for Biden but I'd much rather throw my support behind a genuinely good candidate if the only thing my vote will ever do is be a statistic.

    you can do what you want, but you're doing that because it feels better, not because it accomplishes anything

  25. Iirc you've mentioned the His Dark Materials trilogy a couple times in answers here & I'm wondering, what is the appeal of those books? I'm part way through book 3 and even the critique of religion feels really muddled (& I'm an atheist, so I'm primed to agree). I have a history of not "getting" acclaimed books, so what am I missing here?

    For me, personally, it's just a very enjoyable story. If it's not doing it for you by book three, it's not gonna.

  26. Do socialists hate liberals more than fascists?

    there aren't rules for that. becoming a socialist doesn't mean you are forced to have the same feelings as other socialists. Karl Marx is not E.T.

  27. Is there any potential VP candidate that could make you a tiny bit less pessimistic, or would even the most progressive pick feel like just pandering window dressing? Do you think Biden's the kind of president that could be pushed around a bit by a stronger VP (a la Bush/Cheney - obviously in this example "stronger" isn't a compliment).

    in response to I was thinking about your consequentialist argument from your recent video, and I saw a comment somewhere pointing out how similar arguments in the 90s in the UK and US put people like Blair in charge. Once they got there not only did they enact bad policy (such as the Iraq war), but more importantly they created an apparatus and recruited people whose main goal was to deplatform and destroy left-wing movements. The most obvious result of this was the 2017 GE for Corbyn, which he lost by a few thousand votes and which it has come out that he was undermined by that party apparatus. I'm not saying John Mayor would've been better than Blair, but long-term, it hobbled the left-wing. Aren't you worried that by electing people like Biden, long-term we're ensuring that things can never get better?

    outside of Cheney, the VP has been pretty much a ceremonial position without much influence

    the only reason I'd get excited about a VP is because Biden is very old and could conceivably die in office, and it would be a game-changer if Stacey Abrams was suddenly President

  28. I was thinking about your consequentialist argument from your recent video, and I saw a comment somewhere pointing out how similar arguments in the 90s in the UK and US put people like Blair in charge. Once they got there not only did they enact bad policy (such as the Iraq war), but more importantly they created an apparatus and recruited people whose main goal was to deplatform and destroy left-wing movements. The most obvious result of this was the 2017 GE for Corbyn, which he lost by a few thousand votes and which it has come out that he was undermined by that party apparatus.

    I'm not saying John Mayor would've been better than Blair, but long-term, it hobbled the left-wing. Aren't you worried that by electing people like Biden, long-term we're ensuring that things can never get better?

    Look, I get that you're asking in good faith, I get that you're actually curious and concerned, and I've just been dealing with this line of thinking a lot lately and am frustrated for reasons that have nothing to do with you. I'm not mad *at you*. But I just hate, hate, hate, hate this argument. I feel like it doesn't matter how many ways I respond to it, in a day or two someone's gonna throw it at me again like I've never said it before.

    But let's try it one more time:

    You are correct that Biden's victory will reinforce all the Democrats' worst failings, will keep the Party clinging to the center, will further their rejection of leftism, will continue their concessions to conservatives, and will lay the groundwork for the cleaner, more articulate, more explicitly fascist version of Trump to take the baton from Biden.

    Now tell me how letting Trump stay President makes anything better.

    The moment Sanders dropped out of the race, "things get better" went off the table. Some of Trump's worst excesses will probably alleviate under Biden, but these will only be buying time. Biden will probably relax the Muslim ban, but I doubt he'll leave the Middle East; he probably won't end detentions at the border but will probably let the kids out of cages; and while he's not an active participant in the Republicans' long-term plan to stuff the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v Wade, he'll likely appoint centrists to the bench or roll over for Republicans when they hold the seat hostage just like Obama did.

    The worst-case scenario with Biden - which is, frankly, pretty likely - is that he's a doddering, ineffectual stooge to the fascists. Trump is an *actual fascist*.

    Please understand, as long as you have a vote, you carry responsibility for who wins. Staying home doesn't change that: if you could have voted one way but didn't and the other guy won, you are just as responsible as if you'd cast a ballot. I understand it doesn't *feel* that way, like how pulling the lever in the trolley problem *feels* more culpable than just letting it ride, but there is no ethical argument I can find for how you escape this. Whatever happens, you are guilty. We are all guilty.

    So decide what you want to be guilty of, because we have a lot of fucking work to do and it's going to be easier to do it with the doddering stooge than the wannabe dictator.

  29. Got any favorite music videos for songs that you otherwise wouldn't consider all that interesting?

    like every OK Go video

  30. What does the term “shitlib” mean?

    when you want to call someone a liberal and make sure they know it's an insult

  31. Not to mention that, even in the west, there's a fairly long and documented history of Christian Socialism; the idea that a. fighting inequality, of all kinds, is inherently doing Christ's work, and b. capitalism is inherently idolatrous, and therefore sinful, because it is, if we're looking at it from a sort of spiritual sense, basically worshiping money/the market/capitalism itself (as well as the people at the top of the hierarchy). (If it wasn't obvious, this is basically where I place myself)

    in response to Can you be religious and left wing ?

    Yeah, I mean, the early Christian church was basically a socialist commune.

  32. That is significantly less dirty (on both a figurative and literal level) than what I thought the answer was.

    in response to I don't know, what's brown and sticky?

    your dirty mind failed to solve my riddle, I think I'm the king of Thebes now

  33. I don't know, what's brown and sticky?

    a stick!

  34. Where do you like to go when you eat out?

    your mom's house

  35. What’s the most historic thing that has happened in your lifetime?

    I guess either the fall of the Berlin Wall or 9/11, less for the events themselves but how the world changed in reaction

  36. What was ruined because it became popular?

    things aren't ruined by popularity, they're ruined by capitalism

  37. What’s the dumbest thing someone has argued with you about?

    so years and years ago, I watched a video on YouTube that was uncut footage from a game, but it was labeled a "montage." there was no editing. and, being more of a dick in those days, I left a comment saying "someone doesn't know what montage means."

    and some guy... some guy thought I was trying to ménage à trois joke? and left me this furious and profane comment, like, "don't attempt jokes you can't pull off, fuckwit, it's spelled MANAGE GE TWA."

    it is the funniest thing I've ever seen on YouTube.

  38. If you could speak to any animal, which would you pick?

    dolphin

  39. why didn't you answer my question?

    didn't like the cut of your jib

  40. Did you ever use Usenet? Alternatively, what’s the oldest bit of internet you’ve ever used?

    bit too young for usenet

    aol chatrooms

  41. What do you think of Sam Raimi directing Doctor Strange 2?

    whatever

  42. Any small-l liberals I should be listening to?

    in response to Any conservatives worth listening to?

    there are a number of folks in... in the universe... who have not, to my knowledge, professed any leftist sentiments but are clearly not conservative, so they're probably liberals

    I like those Radiolab boys, for instance

  43. Any conservatives worth listening to?

    lol no

  44. I'm a little late, but I think the essence of your Tape Over Mouth photo is comparable to how sometimes people put tape on their mouths during protests to show that they are being silenced. But it's like a brazen-faced, cheeky version of that. [Maybe expressing overcoming being silenced?] Almost like you're saying "Deal with it. I'm analyzing a piece of culture and showing some of its deeper, less-considered, and 'secret' meanings, and 'exposing' the Innuendo. OOPS. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" Just my two cents.

  45. Is the problem with prisons that the institution doesn't behave morally or is the concept of prison itself amoral

    I can only tell you the system we have is fucked; there's a case to be made that all such systems suck, but I haven't done the reading on prison abilitionism

  46. Can you be religious and left wing ?

    um, yeah, a driving force of Latin American socialism is liberation theology

  47. I don't like that I'm not incredibly hot, what do

    talk to your therapist about self-image

  48. What interesting books, videos, podcasts, have you come across lately?

    book: Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

    video: https://youtu.be/CameSDK-2m8

    podcast: recently gave Out of the Past a listen, not sure if I like it yet http://outofthepast.libsyn.com/

  49. What riddles do you know?

    what's brown and sticky

  50. What was the most important appointment or deadline you missed?

    I missed a doctor's appointment last month and a pandemic was declared before I rescheduled it :-/

  51. What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having?

    The frontman for a local band in Oakland was named Melford Skipper Witset Allums

    dunno if it's funny so much as fuckin awesome

  52. Oh there is?? Which one?

    in response to can you imagine an ursula k le guin or samuel r delany feature-length film or tv series?

    there was some terrible Earthsea adaptation, Dan-O did a video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETVdtRvfhvQ

    I seem to remember there being a Lathe of Heaven TV movie with Lukas Haas a while back, too, and apparently there was a proper theatrical film in 1980

    Hainish Cycle Cinematic Universe when?

  53. Is "Karen" a slur?

    if you're asking, you're Karen

  54. What could you spend the whole day talking about?

    adventure games

  57. https://twitter.com/cuckradecora/status/1249855449563881478?s=21

    Now you’re a libertarian centrist to the right of Fantano.

    it's nice to be included at least

  58. Want to test what happens? I can create an account for you to block.

    in response to Can you block an anon (I know I'm tempting fate here)?

    anons don't have accounts, if the block works at all it blocks IP addresses

  59. can you imagine an ursula k le guin or samuel r delany feature-length film or tv series?

    There have been some le Guin adaptations.

  61. Why is that? Shouldn't there be room for diversity of tactics?

    in response to somehow lefty people are saying AOC is bad now

    Because even people who believe in collectivist movements are susceptible to hero worship.

  62. favourite pokemon?

    Stevonnie

  65. Thank you for always answering my questions. You're the closest thing I have to a friend. That is to say, I don't have any.

    blocked

  70. somehow lefty people are saying AOC is bad now

    to some lefties the only good lefty is Bernie Sanders

  71. In a fundamentally unjust society, to what extent is it unethical to pursue your own happiness, success, and peace of mind? At what point does it become immoral to divert energy to yourself instead of attempting to help the underprivileged?

    can we acknowledge that fully sacrificing your own wellbeing for the wellbeing of others actually makes you less productive and therefore less able to help others?

  72. Have you played the IF game Counterfeit Monkey by Emily Short? If so, thoughts?

    I've played Floatpoint but not Counterfeit Monkey.

  73. So basically ThoughtSlime put out a video criticizing the actions of Nathan Mazri, the owner of the Garfield themed Canada-based food service known as GarfieldEats. This video received some criticisms from viewers for reasons that aren't entirely clear to me (I saw the video before it was taken down but am not sure what was wrong with it) and Matt ultimately elected to remove it at the suggestion of his fiance.

    He is adamant in saying that it was his discussion with his fiance, and not any YouTube commenters, which motivated the removal. However, some observers, such as this person, have decided to construe a fantasy in which he cowtowed to the demands of anti-SJW weirdos, or something.

    I don't know why you're being asked to get involved, but that's basically what happened.

    in response to https://twitter.com/ThoughtSlime/status/1248744377721270272 Thought Slime decided to take down his video when he received criticism.

    fascinating

  74. We often talk about movies that are better experiences when watched with a crowd - but do you think there are movies that work best when watched alone?

    p... porn?

  75. What would you consider to be your favorite turn-based strategy game (besides chrono trigger)?

    Um. Shining Force II was ok?

Anon commented:
Ian replied: