CuriousCat Archive Page 156 of 202

  1. is ecofascism preferable to extinction?

    fascism will not protect you from extinction, it will lead you to it

  2. what if video games were good?

    play Tales from the Borderlands you coward

  3. What is the discourse around the joker movie? I'm not paying tons of attention, and I know it's a super hero movie so naturally it's got the worst possible fans.

    But like? What is going on?

    I'm only vaguely aware. People are saying it has the Fight Club problem of ostensibly being critical of something but also clearly being enamored with what it's criticizing. Also that putting clown makeup on Taxi Driver is kinda pointless when we already have Taxi Driver.

    But I'm not paying attention because I so completely do not care.

  4. So, Natalie made some tweets that some people find to be enbyphobic. My opinion is simply that those tweets are badly-worded and more critical of how some cis people act in an overly-woke way that makes trans people comfortable , but my question isn't about those tweets, but about how quickly quite a few number of people are already calling for her head on a spike, claim that she's a transmed, she's a grifter, etc etc. I know that gender identities is a hot button subject for people for a good reason (and I'm a cis man, so obviously I don't have much experience in that), but is it too much to expect people (even folks who are trans/non-binary) to not be so hostile all the time and assume the worst?

    I'm not sure how valuable the opinions of a cis dude are in this case, but my feelings are as follows:

    On the one hand, hypervigilance is entirely understandable for a community that is used to being persecuted from without and also periodically sold out by their allies. A lot of NB people have been thrown under the bus by binary trans folks, and it makes sense to be on alert so you don't get screwed over again.

    On the other hand, this is lateral violence, and "I'm going to sell you out before you sell me out" leaves a lot of people in shambles. Nat has, in the past, expressed difficulty understanding NB people, but has spent A LOT MORE TIME explaining how her understanding has evolved, thanking NB people who have talked to her, and apologizing for making NB folks feel devalued. And it's hard to ask people to drop their defenses when they feel those defenses are the only things keeping them safe. But I don't see how pillorying Nat is helping anyone, and I can sure as shit see that it's hurting people.

    It's not my place to tell people how to solve this, and I wouldn't know how anyway, but it's bad.

  5. I understand the value of the Me Too movement and feel like it's probably one of the few ways we could see productive measures to combat abuse and reform abusers, do you think that maybe it'd be smarter for people to start organizing more formally for to pursue those goals rather than just relying on people yelling about how shitty things that happened to them. If this is happening already could we try to prop up those voices?

    What would this organization look like? If you're talking about advocacy groups for victims of abuse, those exist. If you're talking about legal counsel, that exists. If you're talking about in-person or online crisis centers, those exist (Zoe co-founded one).

    The problem is, there are two kinds of justice we can seek: legal justice, and communal justice. No matter how organized we are, dealing with the legal system is slow, expensive, and often favors men over their accusers, so it's often not worth it to victims to go through the courts. So they may seek communal justice by at least warning other people about the abuser, making space for other victims to come forward, and possibly getting the abuser removed from the community. And I'm not sure how organizing helps with that. The things that need to change there are the companies and events that allow abusers to stay in the community, and the army of goons who harass people who come forward. Maybe if you had an advocacy group large enough you could lobby companies, events, and social media platforms to modify their behavior, but, again, those exist, and they're working on the problem, but I don't think it should fall on the accusers to reform Twitter's harassment policies, you know?

  6. Okay so here's the pitch: You start with the top 100 most popular recipes of all time and in each episode you try to make one completely vegan, and completely ethically, and at the end of every episode the result is the same. It's not as good because there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Either the amount of work it would take is wholly undoable for the average person, or it's flat out impossible. But also you also have guests and make TGBBS like jokes and it's fun despite the impending doom of reality! <3 <3 <3

    in response to When can I look for the innuendo Studios cooking show?

    thanks but YOU were supposed to ask for MY pitch

  9. ideal horse?

    stop asking this!

  10. Do you think any one element of a film can be both misogynistic and feminism?

    I don't mean a film overall — I think that's definitely pretty normal to have both. But a single element

    I think a single element can be read multiple ways. A misogynist reading would necessarily reject the feminist one, but the element may still make sense through either lens.

  12. I don't have a question but I love your videos so I hope you're having a really good labor day!!!

    The Steven Universe movie comes out today, of course it's gonna be great!

    (And thank you!)

  13. The "discussion" surrounding alec death and the never-ending backlash towards any developer that tries to make their game more inclusive or varied makes me feel like gaming as a subculture didn't improve a lot since gamergate. Do you feel the same or maybe I'm to pessimistic?

    It's still too early to tell. The Discourse hasn't improved much, and neither have representation or hiring rates in games. But the fact that gaming was having a #MeToo moment and, until yesterday, it was kiiiiiiind of being tolerated was encouraging. The fact that Alec's death has led to this intense backlash against his accusers is awful and disgusting, but it remains to be seen whether people stop outing abusers now because of backlash (plausible), whether this will gain traction among reactionaries outside of gaming (iffy), and whether it will lead to another sustained harassment campaign against women (big question mark).

    If it doesn't do all three, then things have improved, while still being objectively terrible.

  15. God, I fucking dread seeing all the “HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE PPL/FIRE THEM/MAKE THEM FEEL ANY KIND OF REPERCUSSIONS REMEMBER ALEC HOLOWKA YOU EVIL MURDER PERSON” every time an abuse victim shares their experiences from now on.

    in response to Is it bad to feel nothing for Alec but being genuinly sad and worried on behalf of zoe?

    It was the worst possible thing Alec could have done for everyone, including himself. We all wish he were still alive.

  16. What's something good that has happened for you recently?

    I got to go to a big, queer, polyamorous commitment ceremony with tons of delicious vegan food and everyone was happy and pretty, and then I spent four days babysitting the coolest kid I know and got paid really well for it.

  17. philosophically speaking, does the world as I/you know it end when I/you die?

    it's a moot point as I plan to live forever

  18. Hey gamers what's up it's ya boy Vladimir Lenin here and today I want to talk about how the Tsar is ruining Fortnite

    in response to Wow pressure much?

  19. Is it bad to feel nothing for Alec but being genuinly sad and worried on behalf of zoe?

    Having empathy for people who've done awful things is a virtue, but not a requirement.

  21. What do you think about the moderate right? the part of the right that strictly ISNT apart of the Alt-Right? sorry if you answered this already in a video before.

    enablers

  22. When can I look for the innuendo Studios cooking show?

    in response to Any tasty but healthy lunch ideas that can be prepared at home?

    Heh, ask me for my pitch sometime on a reality cooking webseries loosely in the vein of The Great British Baking Show but vegan.

  23. Any tasty but healthy lunch ideas that can be prepared at home?

    Alright, so

    - cook a bunch of polenta on the stove, stirring regularly (I believe it's a 3:1 water ratio, but doublecheck beforehand)
    - when it's absorbed the water, add a bunch of basil, sundried tomatoes, and black beans; salt to taste
    - pour into a big baking pan, cover with foil, and stick in the fridge to set up
    - whenever you need a fast, tasty lunch, cut a square of the polenta, fry it in a skillet with some vegan butter, and eat with fresh spinach and/or marinara

  24. What’s your overall least favorite type of question?

    "why haven't you led the revolution yet?"

  25. What's the sequel/spinoff you were convinced was a terrible idea and shouldn't be made, but actually ended up being pretty good?

    Convinced was a terrible idea and ended up pretty good? Blade Runner 2049.

    Thought might be pretty good and was better than it had any goddamn right to be? Fury Road.

  26. Do we live in a society?

    not for much longer it seems

  27. Did you ever quit an online game because the community was so toxic or full of "angry jacks" that it made you excessively uncomfortable?

    I'm about to quit another game because of this and I'm conaidering giving up multiplayer games altogether.

    Sorry, I've never been part of a multiplayer community.

  28. when i was a child i thought that in america they put blu efood dye in the water to make it seem more american

    this is not a question

  29. Opinions of Long Egg

    bigger than before

  31. I'd like to ask this question of you again, but using "cancelled" not as in "shamed by the media/general population" and rather "not given another run by the networks/other involved parties." for instance, what sort of game that you like that would never get a sequel greenlit by a major studio, if it even got made in the first place, or what sort of show that would never get a second season, or be taken off the air partway through its first, etc

    in response to What thing do you enjoy the most that would get you cancelled the fastest

    I still want those two LOOM sequels, and Brian Moriarty wants to make them, but Disney owns all of LucasArts' properties, and they clearly have no reason to think LOOM would be profitable. If, by some miracle, they let Moriarty make the first sequel, they'd probably scrap the project before the second, and we'd have to wait ANOTHER 30 years.

  32. i dont know if you're trolling or serious, but if serious, how would you marry the concept of the ideal Sonic game as Fast, quick thinking and almost instinctive, and point and click games which are instead slow, require you to think and find solutions and are story heavy, which is always sonic's games weakest point? (ps: the fact that most sonic games are not fast at all doesnt matter, I'm specifically talking about how the public perceive the brand. Also what kind of social media protection would you use for the inevitable outcry your game announcement would spark lol)

    in response to Video Game franchise you wish would get reincarnated as a point and click adventure the most

    do it Telltale style

    fast bits are quicktime action scenes

  35. Finish (if you will) the following sentence:

    The new Joker movie is...

    118 minutes

  36. What thing do you enjoy the most that would get you cancelled the fastest

    Believe it or not, I don't really consume much ~~problematic~~ media. I just don't find it entertaining.

  37. When did we culturally stop engaging with Monkeys as a form of humor

    trochees with a "ck" sound in the middle were big in the 90's - monkey, chicken, pickle - and I guess we got sick of them around the time Invader Zim went off the air

  38. Video Game franchise you wish would get reincarnated as a point and click adventure the most

    Sonic the Hedgehog

  39. Favorite Sauce to Pour

    blood

  40. Genuine ask: are you aware of what kinds of laws ought to be in place to allow for justice to occur? Even just small examples, but ideally something more specific beyond "victims should be believed more." What actions should be adopted to ensure this outcome occurs consistently? I can understand if this is just a blind spot in terms of information, and I know you're not a prophet on high with all the answers, I'm curious if you've seen or read anybody who discusses this topic or know of models or examples to strive or campaign for

    in response to Do you feel like it was weird that HBomb did a stream watching ProJared's subscriber count fall, even if Jared did the things he did? Like, it's one thing to be like "bad behavior is bad and the victims need support" but it feels like another thing to capitalize on a controversy for entertainment purposes. Unless if like he was raising money for another charity and I didn't realize, then I guess at least something helpful was made in the wake of unfortunate events.

    The laws are already in place, they're just selectively enforced. I'm sure you've heard the statistics that only a small fraction of sexual assailants even go to trial, and an even tinier fraction see jail time. Jared traded nudes with underaged women, which is child pornography, which is a federal crime. But we all know no one's going to prosecute him, because odds are they'll get harassed into oblivion and he'd probably get acquitted if he even saw trial because juries like charismatic white guys more than they like female victims of sexual predation.

    This is setting aside the ethics of criminal justice system itself, of rehabilitation vs. incarceration, which I think are valid conversations but I am not equipped to wade into. If we're talking about making the system that already exists better approximate justice: prosecutions should be much faster and much more affordable. But, yeah, when we say "victims should be believed more," we're not just talking about culturally - we're also talking about JURIES.

  41. If I say viable is not the right word to use for that statement, will you answer the question?

    in response to I sometimes debate myself whether or not I am a Centrist. This is mostly due to the fact that I find most Notions of both sides to be hysterical to an extent as well as just not ideal, especially when I see the flaws pointed out more and more. Though granted, I suppose I could say I'm more lenient on left despite this. I hear about stigma from all sides about all sides of the spectrum, but centrism is the one I have the most trouble properly identifying. On one hand, it sounds like a neutral force that does nothing but abstain from having any views outside of the extremes, but on the other hand, it sounds like a viable third option that isn't given as much Limelight because that's just not how our politics work. My question is what exactly, in your perspective at least, makes a Centrist? And is it good or bad?

    I feel it's unclear what the question is otherwise. Are you asking whether centrism is *moral* or whether it's *effective*?

  42. I sometimes debate myself whether or not I am a Centrist. This is mostly due to the fact that I find most Notions of both sides to be hysterical to an extent as well as just not ideal, especially when I see the flaws pointed out more and more. Though granted, I suppose I could say I'm more lenient on left despite this. I hear about stigma from all sides about all sides of the spectrum, but centrism is the one I have the most trouble properly identifying. On one hand, it sounds like a neutral force that does nothing but abstain from having any views outside of the extremes, but on the other hand, it sounds like a viable third option that isn't given as much Limelight because that's just not how our politics work. My question is what exactly, in your perspective at least, makes a Centrist? And is it good or bad?

    please tell me what is "viable" about centrism.

  43. Do you feel like it was weird that HBomb did a stream watching ProJared's subscriber count fall, even if Jared did the things he did? Like, it's one thing to be like "bad behavior is bad and the victims need support" but it feels like another thing to capitalize on a controversy for entertainment purposes. Unless if like he was raising money for another charity and I didn't realize, then I guess at least something helpful was made in the wake of unfortunate events.

    You're allowed to feel however you want about it, but that's not something I need an opinion on. Since Jared will probably never face any legal consequences for his actions, losing subs and getting publicly ridiculed are the closest things to justice we're likely to get. You feel uncomfortable will Harry mocking him on stream; I'd feel uncomfortable saying he shouldn't.

  44. What was the first game you ever owned? Did you buy it yourself or was it given to you? Do you still like it today?

    That depends. We had an Atari 2600 in my house and I have no memory of when we got it or the games I played on it. So I can't say whether *I* owned them; my family owned them, and I got to play them. There was a dogfighting game and a copy of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade adventure game that were given to us as a gift, and I was probably the only one who played either, but, again, I don't know if they were "mine."

    The first game that was ever purchased *for me* was The Secret of Monkey Island. I played the demo at CompUSA and was clearly transfixed, so my dad got me the game. Originally I was going to talk about this in my Monkey Island video, about how the first game that's ever *yours* is not a game you can possibly be objective about, and how starting with Monkey Island is probably why adventure games are my favorite genre to this day, and how that deep love of a game means you see things in it that "objective" people don't. I hacked it down for time until it was just a couple of sentences at the very end, but that feeling of being fascinated by a demo and then, soon after, coming home with the game itself, and it being the entryway to other games like it, was at least the VIBE I tried to keep for the video.

  45. What are your thoughts on backing the kickstarter of someone credibly accused of abusive and predatory behaviour? Separate the art from the artist? Don't support the kickstarter because that is that person's project?

    That's a line you have to draw for yourself.

    Personally, I wouldn't do it, but I know a boycott of one person isn't praxis.

  46. The youtubers who don't mess up their apologies don't tend toget that much attention

    Somebody says something unintentionally offensive, realises what they've done, and apologises properly isn't a news story. It isn't a meme

    in response to well, I'm specifically asking because of the trend of apology videos that fail to apologize and just make a YouTuber's reputation undeniably worse to the point that it's become a meme. Every apology video for every blunder is, generally, just a long manifesto of "why everyone except me is the problem here." So I wonder, if such YouTubers are so incapable of producing a genuine apology, then perhaps they should not try? Though I suppose that this framing assumes that they are sincerely trying to apologize in the first place, and not to simply, as you say, improve optics. So perhaps my approach to thinking about this was inherently flawed. Thanks for guiding me to answer my own follow-up question before I had finished asking it.

    Well yeah, because the kinds of people who apologize tend to be the people who don't fuck up that hard in he first place. Like, the context here is ProJared, who didn't say "something unintentionally offensive," he cheated on his wife and sent dick pics to minors. That's not the behavior of a person who's going to make a quick and sincere apology.

  47. What is your favorite dead meme mine is Gangnam Style

  48. well, I'm specifically asking because of the trend of apology videos that fail to apologize and just make a YouTuber's reputation undeniably worse to the point that it's become a meme. Every apology video for every blunder is, generally, just a long manifesto of "why everyone except me is the problem here."

    So I wonder, if such YouTubers are so incapable of producing a genuine apology, then perhaps they should not try? Though I suppose that this framing assumes that they are sincerely trying to apologize in the first place, and not to simply, as you say, improve optics. So perhaps my approach to thinking about this was inherently flawed.

    Thanks for guiding me to answer my own follow-up question before I had finished asking it.

    in response to If YouTubers can't apologize for their mistakes properly, is it better for them to just not apologize at all and ignore the hit to their reputation while they continue on making their content business as usual?

    :D

  49. Is there anything I can find about GamerGate that details the events leading and during what was happening? Are there any books I can find?

    I don't know that anyone's done a proper chronology. The sources that covered it best were speaking up in the thick of it, when things were still happening and you could safely assume the audience's awareness. My video and Dan Olson's video are *pretty* good rundowns, as is the chapter on GG in Neoreaction a Basilisk by Elizabeth Sandifer. Anything else you're still sketchy on, RationalWiki probably has a decent article on.

  50. If YouTubers can't apologize for their mistakes properly, is it better for them to just not apologize at all and ignore the hit to their reputation while they continue on making their content business as usual?

    Your question really only makes sense if you think the purpose of apology is to improve optics. The fact that some people won't respect your apology doesn't mean you shouldn't apologize when you fuck up.

  51. Y'know, literally yesterday, I was trawling through your tumblr, read your capsule review of NitW, and thought "I should get around to buying that". And today... Fuck's sake. It is literally a fucking lottery at this point whether you're unintentionally supporting a rapist, or any other misogynist/racist/LGBTQ-phobe sociopath shitheel, be it in huge productions or tiny indie stuff. I feel like, at this point, I need a 3 year waiting period before purchasing anything, just to see if any of the creators turn out to be toxic monsters.

    I realize the above is utterly, utterly trivial compared to the trauma these fuckers have inflicted on their victims. Just... Fuck, man.

    I guess that's a rant, not a question. Sorry. Maybe use it as a springboard if you wanted to say anything about it anyway, or just put it in the 'ignore' pile.

    Well, hey, look: the primary writers on NITW were Scott and Bethany, and so far they seem to be taking the allegations *very* seriously. And also, like... this is why "your fave is problematic" is such a mantra. We need to leave room to love what we love while knowing the world is an often-shitty place full of shitty people, and very few things we love haven't been touched by monsters.

    I've been planning a replay of NITW ever since Weird Autumn came out, and I don't know if I feel up to it now. But what it meant to you at the time you first played it is still your experience, and no serial abuser can take that away from you. Alec Holowka does not own your relationship to the art he made.

    But I'm very glad Scott isn't working with him anymore, and have no interest in buying anything else he works on.

  52. You say you feel you don't have enough media you feel interested in exploring. Are you interested in hearing recommendations?

    in response to Are you ever taken by a burst of existential despair when you think that the list of books to read/shows to watch/games to play will one day be unfinishable ? The time it would take to go through that list, even without adding things in, would be longer than the time you would have left to live and you'd probably not even know. Or maybe it's just me ?

    not at the moment, but thank you!

  53. So I just re-watched your video about art (and tomatoes) while drawing, and it reminded me of how I always describe the new Lion King as a tomato, since it's technically animated, but pretty much serves the same purpose as a live-action remake.

    Forgive me if this has been asked before, but is the new Lion King live-action, or animation? Or a tomato?

    it is a cucumber

  56. Do you think it would be useful in any way for an game studio (probably a small indie) to make a mascot sidescroller about beating up Union Busters to rescue your Union Rep/Worker's Rights?

    in response to There isn't a lot of media that illustrates leftist organizational hierarchies in simplistic entertaining ways. Like, Mario has to save Princess Peach, and there are tons of Princesses in media, but there's not a mascot sidescroller about beating up Union Busters to rescue your Union Rep/Worker's Rights. What gives?

    while I think a sprite-swap of Streets of Rage with union busters instead of thugs would be fun, it's not exactly a deep exploration of workers' rights, so I think its impact would be marginal

  57. Are you ever taken by a burst of existential despair when you think that the list of books to read/shows to watch/games to play will one day be unfinishable ? The time it would take to go through that list, even without adding things in, would be longer than the time you would have left to live and you'd probably not even know.

    Or maybe it's just me ?

    These days I feel like I don't have *enough* media I'm interested in getting through. The existential despair comes in when I think of all the projects I'll never complete or interests I'll never pursue. I realized once that the number of years of study it would take to properly understand string theory was probably more good years than I have left, and it's not like I was dying to understand string theory, but it was very depressing to know it was probably now impossible.

  58. Do you think art and media would be able to make a more significant impact on society if it were not limited by capitalism and the relevant subsystems that both make creative/intellectual labor difficult to live off of, and certain kinds of art more difficult to make and/or seek out than others? (including but not limited to: copyright, ease of access, cost, the whims of the companies that distribute it, a culture that downplays the significance of art, a lack of government funding for artistic and educational ventures, etc)

    as a general rule, I think "less capitalism" will always make things better

  59. There seems to be a lot of lefty support for China against the Hong Kong protestors. What are your positions on the HK protests? Are you for the protestors or pro-Chinese government?

    I don't know a ton about the situation or Chinese history, but Hong Kong deserves its independence.

  60. Sounds like these boys need way, way more than just celebrity daddies for them to look up too. That sucks. Any chance you might start writing a self-help book answering all those questions and be their lobster daddy instead?

    in response to Finished watching Natalie's new video and a question occurred: Do you think white cishet men currently lack role models? Cause I can't think of anyone seemingly universally deemed fit to be "role models" on the Internet that are *not* white cishet men: Bob Ross, Tom Hanks, Fred Rogers, Stan Lee, Keneau Reeves, etc etc (and that's not getting into the fictional world)

    yeah, I'll call it Get Cucked and sell a million copies

  61. You reading any fiction atm, or have any recommendations? :D

    I'm reading The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi right now, and I'm enjoying it, but it's got a *lot* of problems in the way it writes women, to the point where I don't feel comfortable recommending it. The book I read before this was The City & The City by China Mieville, which I would recommend wholeheartedly.

    I've got The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison lined up next.

  62. How often have people jumped to naming you Skin Danian first to do this joke

    in response to What do you think of your evil twin, Dan Ianskin?

    they never start with that, but they make their way to it when all the more obvious iterations have been done

  63. Any chance you'll be watching Bong Joon Ho's movie, Parasite when it's out in theatres nearby you?

    Yeah prob'ly.

    I sure did love Snowpiercer.

  64. Finished watching Natalie's new video and a question occurred: Do you think white cishet men currently lack role models? Cause I can't think of anyone seemingly universally deemed fit to be "role models" on the Internet that are *not* white cishet men: Bob Ross, Tom Hanks, Fred Rogers, Stan Lee, Keneau Reeves, etc etc (and that's not getting into the fictional world)

    These are role models who are cishet white men (except Keanu who is mixed race and white-passing), but are they role models FOR cishet white men? Most exemplify a kind of softness and sensitivity that flies in the face of the patriarchy, but do they talk about how they relate to women in a feminist age? Do they talk about how men can safely question their gender or orientation without becoming lesser in each other's eyes? Do they talk about when white men should use their privilege for good and when they should be quiet and let others speak? Do any of them talk about sexuality, about how to be respectful, how to negotiate consent, how often to get tested, how to set and adhere to boundaries, how to talk to potential partners without being aggressive or creepy?

    These are the anxieties cishet white men have in the modern world. And it's hard to imagine Fred Rogers or Bob Ross having bad answers to these questions, but they never actually answered them. You can imagine the things they might have said, but men will imagine different answers if they bother to imagine anything. It's not a map to the community and sense of purpose boys crave, which is exactly what misogyny and white supremacy provide.

  65. Would you consider making a video on how to apply the findings from the alt right playbook? For example, I'm not sure how I can use the knowledge that Englebert will probably end up making a Charlemagne argument, an example of this approach in practice could be very useful.

    when I figure it out I'll tell you

  66. I don't feel like you really believe that last sentence, right? Like — their worldview can change. It just takes time and exposure to awareness of systemic issues. Not saying this across the board, of course: some people are irredeemable fascists, but deradicalisation wouldn't be working in hundreds of cases if this was a holistic truism.

    My best experience converting budding alt-right types is to approach it with patience and empathy. Your difficulty with that approach, I think, is the medium: it's quite formal and doesn't speak to the disenfranchisement or alienation that's driving these people to these groups.

    I enjoy your videos mainly because they offer a very comprehensive overview of tactics, and awareness of these tactics contributes positively to the discourse, but I don't think it's actively converting the same percentage of viewers as someone like Natalie Wynn purely because of the approach.

    This isn't me trying to throw ANY shade. I love your work. I just think it has a different use, and I'm wondering if that's why your work targets their methods and doesn't really try to win people over, but reinforce the knowledge base of those ALREADY opposed to fascism

    in response to Does it ever feel like, to you, that users asking questions in bad faith completely lack the ability to coat their questions in nuance because that would be acknowledging the nuance? That's how it feels to me. That said: I think there ARE genuine issues about the (small) subset of leftists using some kinds of imagery. The hammer and sickle, I think, isn't really one of those images, though. It isn't comparable to right wing people using the damn Iron Cross. That said, the question is: why do you think bad faith questions are always so transparently bad faith? I'm sure you get a subset of "we covertly want you to advocate violence!!!" questions too, but they're... the same. Still transparent.

    Someone asked me why the Right is bad at impersonating the Left and I said it's because their worldview depends on not understanding ours. I don't know why you'd interpret that as "and therefore their worldview cannot be changed." Nothing in my answer or any of my work has said people don't change worldviews; one of the best ways to deradicalize people is to get them interacting with minoritized people and demystify what the Left actually believes. Since their worldview cannot safely incorporate this information, the worldview often starts to change.

    You are correct that my channel is not trying to do that work. I am not there to talk to the Right; I'm here to talk to the Left *about* the Right.

  67. Game World You'd Most Enjoy Owning a Timeshare in

    Mario 64 Wing Cap Zone

  68. Does it ever feel like, to you, that users asking questions in bad faith completely lack the ability to coat their questions in nuance because that would be acknowledging the nuance? That's how it feels to me.

    That said: I think there ARE genuine issues about the (small) subset of leftists using some kinds of imagery. The hammer and sickle, I think, isn't really one of those images, though. It isn't comparable to right wing people using the damn Iron Cross.

    That said, the question is: why do you think bad faith questions are always so transparently bad faith? I'm sure you get a subset of "we covertly want you to advocate violence!!!" questions too, but they're... the same. Still transparent.

    in response to Think we should condemn the use of soviet imagery by our fellow leftists? I mean, Stalin was a bit of an asshole.

    I don't know if it's so much that they don't want to acknowledge the nuance as that they don't understand the nuance. Like, this is why their fake feminist or fake liberal or fake Black man sock puppet accounts never work; they can't speak our language convincingly because they can only parrot the caricatured version the Right gives them. Their worldview doesn't leave room for understand ours.

  69. cut me some slack, I wasn't alive 30 years ago

    in response to What do you think of your evil twin, Dan Ianskin?

    that just means this joke has been repeated at steady intervals for your entire life

    not much of a defense

  70. What do you think of the mandalorian trailer?

    haven't watched it

    I don't really care

  71. What will the world be with David Koch out of the way?

    still bad, but no longer getting worse on one, small, specific vector

  72. There are a couple Rs either attempting or thinking about running to challenge the primary, is there a benefit to trying to covertly promote their campaigns or potentially voting for them in the primary (should they get that far) just to unseat Trump that isn't offset by simply voting for any of the top 10 Dems

    It can't hurt, and maybe it'll divide Trump's base a bit.

  73. There isn't a lot of media that illustrates leftist organizational hierarchies in simplistic entertaining ways. Like, Mario has to save Princess Peach, and there are tons of Princesses in media, but there's not a mascot sidescroller about beating up Union Busters to rescue your Union Rep/Worker's Rights. What gives?

    We live under capitalism...?

    I feel like this is a no-brainer.

  74. Wait, is this actually something you'd be willing to do? I've watched one Destiny debate* and I'd love to see someone whose content I genuinely admire talk with him.

    *The debate I watched was Sargon, by the way, and it genuinely approaches unwatchable. The man has no fixed positions and it convinced me that he doesn't believe what he's saying. When you launch a compelling argument against him, he acknowledges it, and then tries to use it again. The saying about debating a gull; it doesn't know it's lost and then shits on the table anyway.

    Still, I'd really love to watch you engage in that!

    in response to Have you had a public debate before? If not, Destiny’s not a good place to start. Even when leftists like Burgis are able to put forward good arguments against him they still come across as very uncharismatic.

    I don't want to get people too invested in this happening, because it's not like Destiny invited me or anything. Someone just asked and I said "maybe there's a way to do that productively." I would treat it like an actual project, and I am not long on free time for extra projects.

Anon commented:
Ian replied: