CuriousCat Archive Page 33 of 202

  1. Why can’t conservatism fulfill this libertarian ideal by having a small government for only absolute necessities like having the EPA?

    in response to Why wouldn't land & property being owned by private individuals who's best interest is to take care of it be better for the environment than a government of a few individuals having to take care of the entire country's ecological needs?

    I mean, in theory they could, I guess, but they don't do that. part of that is philosophical: the EPA is just ideologically opposed to what they think government is for. it's a big, expansive project that tells businesses what they can and can't do, which limits their ability to make profit. they are the pro-capitalism party, so they want the market unregulated, and don't consider the public's health to be their problem.

    but, more to the point: conservatives don't actually want small government? like, all the things they say they're against because "small government! small government!" are, in fact, comparatively minor parts of government. they want a massive surveillance state, the biggest military on Earth, and a heavily armed police force telling people what they can say, how they can dress, where they can pee, what medical care they can receive. gutting the EPA won't make the government much smaller if you're keeping all of that.

    conservatives believe in authority, so long as they have it. the logical endpoint of that is the largest form of government possible. "we should have a limited government" is just what they say at any policy that shifts the power to the people they think shouldn't have any.

  2. when is the last time you heard someone call someone else a Hipster

    fairly recently, and the person using the word was me. I think I was talking about music?

  3. GOTY 2023?

    oh, I dunno, haven't been keeping up. Turbo Overkill maybe!

  4. I can't help but feel like I only come here to procrastinate whilst pooping. If curious cat goes down and never gets up again what will that be like

    you'll get very constipated

  5. Apart from the slightly transphobic Alfred/Alexia Ashford arc, I think Code Veronica is pretty misunderstood. It does some really cool stuff with merging gameplay and story.

    in response to Have you played any Resident Evil game?

    if you say so! I remember the writing being very funny but not on purpose, and the gameplay being janky.

  6. Any tips on how to NOT start Youtube channels? How to avoid doing that thing?

    having a crushing fear of failure kept me from doing it for many years, have you tried one of those?

  7. Have you played any Resident Evil game?

    somehow I ended up with a copy of Code Veronica back in the Dreamcast days, played it with a friend. it's not very good!

  8. Is the pandemic still going?

    sure is, in the US at least

  9. do you plan to/would you make a video about polyamory? not in terms of personal experience, but politically.

    no plans. no topic is off-limits but I have to have something I genuinely want to say, and so far I haven't felt like talking about polyamory more than I have. the response to The Semiotics of "Cuck" was very kind but also very parasocial and I wasn't comfortable with that.

  11. No, it isn't.

    in response to Is this answer sarcasm?

    or you're just committing to the bit

  15. Did you celebrate when he freezed up?

    in response to Would he be going to hell?

    well I sure as shit didn't cry

  16. Why wouldn't land & property being owned by private individuals who's best interest is to take care of it be better for the environment than a government of a few individuals having to take care of the entire country's ecological needs?

    because maybe the best way to take care of YOUR land is to toss your trash in the river, because it floats downstream and you get your water from upstream. but, oh no, the person's whose land is downstream? the best way for THEM to take care of their land is to burn their trash, which poisons the air that blows TOWARDS your land! what a pickle! in fact, you CANNOT keep your land as clean as the EPA can because the EPA can make sure NOBODY pollutes your land. now, there are a lot of reasons to distrust the EPA, and government agencies in general, and maybe we can make those arrangements without the state, or with radically different kinds of states. but you definitely CAN'T make those arrangements if everyone is just master of their own domain and unaccountable to anyone but themselves, which seems to be the libertarian ideal.

  17. Absolutely love that a They Might Be Giants song has become such a thing 'round here. Same folks behind Triangle Man.

    in response to What's in an Ayn Rand sandwich? Can i get it with no mayo?

    I have been approached at TMBG concerts and told I new more lyrics by heart than anyone there

  18. What's in an Ayn Rand sandwich? Can i get it with no mayo?

    you can't make alterations, it comes in a can

  19. What do you think Israel should do to fight Hamas if not this?

    they could accept any of the peace arrangements that have been offered them over the last fifty years. Hamas is a militant terrorist organization but their power would dry up if Israel was, you know, not an occupying apartheid government? which is, no matter how brutal the retaliation, a bad thing to be.

    it's similar to how the best thing the US could've done to fight al Qaeda was stop bombing the Middle East.

  20. Who will you vote for in the 2024 election? considering your position on lesser of two evils and the lack of progress from a leftist perspective will you still vote for Biden?

    I'm in a blue state so it doesn't SUPER matter. Trump is still the greater evil and I think one has a moral obligation to keep the greater evil out of power, but GODDAMN Biden is trash.

  21. Is "decolonizing school curriculum" just code for destroying Western values?

    if your definition of "Western Values" is colonialism, then yes? in which case it needs to be destroyed.

  22. for thanksgiving are you a mashed potatoes kinda guy or a pumpkin pie kinda guy

    I'm a both kinda guy, who eats only one thing at thanksgiving?

  24. Even though you think that it’s impossible for a true statement to be shorter and quippier than a false statement, don’t you think that it’s still better for a true statement to have as little a gap in regards to shortness and quippiness against a false statement as reasonably possible? Not focusing on something at all just because you can’t win kind of feels like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

    I mean, yeah, being succinct is generally good. didn't mean to imply otherwise! my channel is at its best when I can summarize a complex idea with a killer quip. I just caution against thinking brevity and memeability are, in and of themselves, the solution.

  25. How do you think we can know what morals to have without religion? Beyond the obvious ones like "don't murder".

    I feel like, if "don't murder" is obvious, than you accept the premise that each human life is equally valuable. rather a lot of morality logically extends from there. I get a little uneasy when people act like they're only good to each other cuz God said to be. I don't need God to tell me to be kind.

  26. (Different anon) A number of rabbis would say organized religion is evil or they'd say it's antisemitic to say organized religion is evil?

    in response to Is it antisemitic to say organized religion is evil?

    the first thing

  27. Do you like going ice climbing in Mexico?

    go tend the garden, Ramón

  28. Is it antisemitic to say organized religion is evil?

    I'm not the judge of that, but a number of rabbis would agree with you

  30. lolcow

    copium

  31. play pikmin you pussy

    I play pussy, you pikmin

  32. Are u still down to give interviews? Journalism student here lol

    about what?

  33. Why do you feel the need to have answers to those questions in order to have faith?

    in response to How do you think math constitutes the universe if there wasn't a divine creator to come up with its rules?

    I don't need answers to them! I accept I will only ever have more questions. but "God" has yet to prove a satisfactory answer to any question I've asked, so I don't move on with that hypothesis.

    not here to dictate how anyone else should feel about it as an answer, or when and how others should ask questions or stop asking them. I'm just answering a question about me. :3

  34. I've never heard a good argument against voting Democrat by leftists - yes, Dems are horrendously inadequate to doing what we need done, Biden's committing genocide and war crimes, etc., but when I talk to fellow leftists who say there's no point in voting Dem, I just keep thinking that the Republicans are worse on EVERY LEVEL. They seem to think "if I don't vote Democrat than the Democrats will have to go further left to court my vote in the future, after years of Republican rule" but no, instead the Democrats will go for the most centrist candidate they can find.

    Especially since my partner is an advocate for affordable housing and public transportation, issues that are decided by downballot local elections! Plus the even more immediate and critical decisions about abortions and LBTQA rights!

    It's just extremely frustrating, especially when many of these people are better read and more eloquent in their arguments than I am, but none ever make sense.

    Not saying you're one of these people or not - but if you are, can you explain to me why, and if not, what do you think about their prevalence?

    Appreciate all the work and insight, thanks!

    no, I keep saying the Dems are the lesser evil and, morally, you should vote for them. (keep getting yelled at for it, too.) but, like... it's the Dems jobs to earn our votes, you know? and they're failing at it. people don't vote for Dems because they don't want to vote for Dems. they may rationalize it by saying "Dems are just as bad as Republicans" or "if we refuse to vote for them they'll run leftier candidates" or "if Republicans win it'll make things worse and that'll WAKE PEOPLE UP," and those are all, like, really, REALLY bad arguments. they're not true, we can look at history and see what happens when Dems lose elections and it's NOT swinging to the left! people are just rationalizing the fact that they don't want to vote for Dems because Dems suck.

    but the Dems DO suck, and all the reasons lefties don't want to vote for them are correct. I disagree with their conclusion, but, like... it's fuckin' Biden's job to make people want to vote for him. it's his job to represent his constituency. it's his job to run a good campaign and do worthwhile things when in office. he's fucked ALL OF THAT up. my expectations were very low for him, and he's managed to be EVEN WORSE than I imagined. liberals are still preferable to conservatives, but the margins get worse every election. and the consequences are people are gonna wanna vote for them less.

    we can spend energy yelling at people for not voting Biden, but, if Biden loses re-election to one of the most-hated politicians in the world, it'll be his own fucking fault. so let's keep the blame where it should be, you know?

  35. How concerned should we be about Trump winning again in November?

    I don't predict the future

  36. What do you mean hundreds? I'm only aware of SCOTUS ones

    in response to He seems to me just a run-of-the-mill conservative. He didn't incite an insurrection like Trump did, nor did he even support the idea that the election was stolen. The worst thing he's done from my knowledge is confirm SCOTUS judges that eventually led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I just want to know, do you think conservatives as a body are bad people? Like, I can understand that "not all conservatives are bad people, but most bad people tend to be conservative".

    he did the same thing with ALL the lower courts

  37. He seems to me just a run-of-the-mill conservative. He didn't incite an insurrection like Trump did, nor did he even support the idea that the election was stolen. The worst thing he's done from my knowledge is confirm SCOTUS judges that eventually led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I just want to know, do you think conservatives as a body are bad people? Like, I can understand that "not all conservatives are bad people, but most bad people tend to be conservative".

    in response to What has he said or done to make you think that?

    Mitch stole HUNDREDS of court appointments and then laughed about it in interviews. just flagrantly broke democracy for his own gain. I generally focus on the impact of behaviors and don't get muddied up with "good person/bad person," but Mitch is an exception.

    most conservatives are complicit in harm, which means I have a problem with them. I won't weigh in on whether they are bad people, but they are people doing bad things.

    at the same time: FUCK Mitch McConnell.

  38. You advocate for the violent overthrow of the government if reform isn't possible.

    in response to Let's start with Marxism.

    "Marxist" just means you look at economics and society through the lens of Marxist theory. it is not a requirement to support revolution.

    but, yes, I do support revolution. I would not say I pose and active danger of launching one, I'm not even in a union.

  39. Big Joel or little Joel?

    Billy Joel

  41. It’s not respect from the right I’m concerned with, it’s respect from the normies I’m worried about. I know that normies hear from the right and center that ANY criticism of capitalism as an endorsement of Stalinism. I know the right will make that accusation no matter what, but if the right has a real person to point too, normies will be more inclined to believe this. To use your analogy, it lets them to put all criticism of corporate and capital power in the “gulags and purges” box so they don’t engage with it. Christopher Rufo openly admits that is their strategy.

    in response to I think the biggest threat from tankies is that the right accuses everyone to the left of center of actually believing what tankies believe. See how they accuse all “liberals” of supporting Hamas? So the fact that someone actually believes what tankies believe gives the right someone to point to.

    yes, but they do that because they DON'T WANT TO LISTEN. you take a box away, they pick another box.

  42. How are you gonna use the extra hour when Daylight Savings ends?

    I got more sleep, it ruled

  43. What's the difference between ; and ,

    semicolon is a comma with a little hat

  44. Was fascism not realistically possible in prior autocracies because of material conditions, or was fascism just very unlikely because certain cultural developments hadn't yet occurred?

    in response to Did Mussolini invent fascism, or did he just give a name to a set of practices that were already common among reactionary governments throughout history?

    fascism could not exist before the era of mass politics, and came about in reaction to the spread of socialism, which was also fairly new. it is how authoritarianism adapted to a post-monarchial, post-October Revolution world.

  45. If I haven't read anything by Samuel Delany before, where should I start?

    60's sci-fi paperback: Nova
    Latterday heady sci-fi: Trouble on Triton
    Autobiographical nonfiction: The Motion of Light in Water
    Literary Pornography: Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders (maybe?)

    All four at once: Dhalgren

  46. Him, he could have easily stopped himself.

    in response to And why?

    could, yes. would? never.

  47. If one day you awoke to find there's two of you, and neither of you can tell how or why, what might you two then do?

    three words: Proclaimers Cover Band

  48. What has he said or done to make you think that?

    in response to Do you think Mitch McConnell is a bad person?

    is there a reason you're asking? it's hard to imagine knowing who Mitch McConnell is and NOT knowing what the Left's grievances with him are. so it feels like a leading question, and I'm curious where you're leading.

  49. I just want to know that I wasn't a scumbag for what I did. I was a stupid high schooler who's only slightly less stupid now. But I was always shy and awkward growing up, and I read online that if I didn't push myself to interact with girls when I had the chance, I would regret not taking action and would always look back thinking "what if" in respect to those missed opportunities. For example, I knew that I wouldn't see those girls at the waterpark again since they were visiting from the opposite side of the country. I also asked out three girls in high school that all turned me down (albeit indirectly). I feel like if I wasn't brave to try out those things I had never tried before, I would have even less experience now and would possibly commit those same mistakes when I was an adult, which would have been even more unacceptable at that age. Now that I'm an adult I feel like I'm able to hold conservations much better and am no longer afraid to talk to the opposite sex, and I fear that I would still have that fear if it wasn't for the things I tried out of my comfort zone in high school.

    in response to How bad is it that I bought into some pick-up artist stuff when I was a teen and tried to do "kino" on some girls, and asked to kiss one who I had just met at a water park in front of her friends?

    I cannot absolve you. I'm a YouTuber with a Curious Cat page. forgiveness is not mine to give! consider the possibilities: either your were a scumbag, or you weren't. I can't answer that for you. if you weren't, great. if you were, you don't have to be one now. how do you want to grow from this? what do you want to do with the knowledge that you may have been a scumbag to these girls? who do you want to be NOW?

    you feel guilt. I can't take it from you. but I believe you are strong enough to carry it. you feel it because the person you are today gives a shit. that's something to be glad of.

    good luck.

  50. And why?

    in response to What killed the dinosaurs?

    because who was gonna stop him?

  51. How do you think math constitutes the universe if there wasn't a divine creator to come up with its rules?

    it's more that the "divine creator" answer doesn't solve the problem of "why universe?" for me.

    with any scientific inquiry, you're going to run into the problem of "why, though?" every answer prompts the next question. what is the smallest thing? the atom. ok, what are atoms made of? oh, shit, guess there's smaller stuff, particles. and what are particles made of? shit, something even smaller: quarks. but THOSE have to be made of something too, right? and you go down that ladder long enough, you're gonna get daunted by the infinitude: is it just smaller and smaller stuff FOREVER? why???! where does it all come from? everything started with the Big Bang, but what caused the Big Bang? the universe is expanding but into WHAT? what's outside of it? other universes? what's outside of THEM? why are we governed by math and physics? are other universes governed by different laws? why are they different?! where did THEY come from???!?

    the endlessness of it feels incomprehensible, but the alternative answer is no better: the smallest thing is the quark. wait, what? HOW?! it's gotta be made of SOMETHING? why would there be only one universe? why would there be nothing outside of it? why would there be nothing before the Big Bang?

    you're still stuck with the question of "why, though?" why ANYTHING? and, yeah, you can answer any of those questions with "because God made it that way." it can make God seem like the best answer - the ONLY rational answer.

    but, for me, it just prompts the next question: ok, where did God come from? how can He do these things? what came before Him? and all religion can answer with is: you don't need to ask that. God is all-powerful, so that's where the questions end.

    it's like a cheat code. and, if your goal is to stop asking questions, great. it works. it's like saying "the highest number is seventy quintillion." you picked a number to stop counting, now you don't have to worry about infinity. but I'm just gonna ask "what happens if you add one to it?" my goal is to understand things, and "because God" does not increase my understanding. an answer whose follow-up questions you're not supposed to ask is not useful to me.

  52. Did Mussolini invent fascism, or did he just give a name to a set of practices that were already common among reactionary governments throughout history?

    invented. or, at least, formalized something that was very new.

  53. Daryl Hall or John Oates?

    which one's Kate Micucci?

  54. What killed the dinosaurs?

    Chuck Norris

  55. What do you think about libertarianism?

    shitty anarchists

  57. I think the biggest threat from tankies is that the right accuses everyone to the left of center of actually believing what tankies believe. See how they accuse all “liberals” of supporting Hamas? So the fact that someone actually believes what tankies believe gives the right someone to point to.

    in response to Do you think tankies are a threat to the left?

    I would encourage you to let go of the idea that, without tankies, the Right would have a harder time smearing us. if they don't have someone to point to they make someone up. they said Black Lives Matter implied white lives didn't matter; they never had anyone in BLM to point to who said that, but yelled about it anyway.

    don't tell yourself being a model leftist will get you respect. the Right hates you. it's not because they've confused you with someone else, and, if they act like they have, it's because they want you obsessing over tankies instead of organizing with demsocs and anarchists.

  58. I won't be able to find it because CuriousCat doesn't have a search function, but shortly after she was swatted I believe you made a comment here about "we stan Keffals" or something. Maybe it was a joke? Idk.

    in response to Do you still support Keffals?

    hmm, sounds plausible. welp! my opinion at the time was positive! at the very least, defensive. she didn't deserve to be swatted.

    opinion has cooled.

  59. How dangerous do you think the far-left is?

    in response to Do you think tankies are a threat to the left?

    who are you referring to? "Far Right" has some fairly clear referents - the Alt-Right, InfoWars, the Proud Boys, etc. but who "Far Left" is referring to has always seemed pretty vague, and pretty broad. Antifa? Bernie Sanders? Black Lives Matter? I've heard all of them referred to as "Far Left," and that's... quite the range.

    I can answer about whomever you want, just help me narrow it down?

  60. Diff anon but I think they are asking if A: US Worker Strikes meaningfully affect the Israel Palenstine conflict, B: the Israel Palenstine conflict meaningfully effects US Worker Strikes, C: both, or D: neither.

    Or maybe they're asking if there's any shared root caises between the two?

    in response to how much coincidence this isreal palestine stuff is happening to this degree when there were so many big worker strikes in the US this year

    I'm pretty sure they're suggesting the Israel-Palestine conflict is in the news to "distract us" from labor uprisings, akin to the suspicions around Reagan's invasion of Grenada. which is tinfoil as fuck.

  61. Do you think tankies are a threat to the left?

    philosophically? maybe.

    logistically? not so sure. I don't know how much meaningful influence tankies have on American leftism. maybe I'm sheltered, but, where I am, most actual WORK is being done be demsocs and anarchists. tankies just type a lot online.

    but iunno, maybe they're a bigger problem than I think.

  62. How do you feel about the West?

    it's where I keep all my stuff

  63. What do you think about the phrase "no one can love you unless you love yourself first"?

    oh, that's false. lots of people can love you if you don't love yourself! they'll see all the good things about you that you ignore. but you probably can't maintain a healthy relationship with them. you can't really accept love if, on some deep level, you don't believe you're lovable.

  64. Were you a skateboarder?

    uh... I had a skateboard, and I rode it sometimes, but... no, not really.

  65. how much coincidence this isreal palestine stuff is happening to this degree when there were so many big worker strikes in the US this year

    what

  66. You were supposed to respond with an alliteration

    in response to Play Pikmin pls

    you, damn dastardly dolt, deign to dictate my declarations? you daren't.

  68. How bad is it that I bought into some pick-up artist stuff when I was a teen and tried to do "kino" on some girls, and asked to kiss one who I had just met at a water park in front of her friends?

    I mean, that's not great! but, like, okay? you did it. it happened. how do you want to move forward from there?

  69. When was the last time you’ve gone to church?

    couple years ago while visiting family in the Midwest

  70. Do you still support Keffals?

    did I ever "support" Keffals? I was glad she (temporarily) took down KiwiFarms. that was a good thing she did. I don't think I have expressed any opinion on her as a human/personality. I'm not up to date on what she's been doing since, but what I've heard is... not good.

  71. Do you think dating is harder now than when you grew up?

    logistically, no. in my day, you had to go out and meet people and chat them up in person and ask for a phone number and then CALL THEM on a LANDLINE. now there are apps, but, if you prefer the old method, there are still bars and clubs and parties and mixers. so the options have just expanded.

    I gather it's harder for some in that, ah... women have higher standards now? and... I don't mean to brag, but that has helped me more than it's hindered.

  72. How am I supposed to be privileged as a man?

    that's a big question! if you're aware of the concept of male privilege, I would guess you've heard examples before. can I ask how, specifically, you found the answers confusing or unsatisfying?

    for a quickie example: have you ever had to cover your glass with a coaster at a bar for fear someone would slip a date rape drug in your drink? not having to do that is a privilege.

  73. Play Pikmin pls

    in response to Least favorite video game genre?

    I was not issuing a challenge

  74. Which is more important to abolish: class society or the state?

    hmm, compelling question. let's abolish both and see which one makes the biggest difference! #science

  75. Least favorite video game genre?

    I don't have a problem with it or anything, but I've never gelled with real-time strategy

Anon commented:
Ian replied: