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Questions and Answers

  1. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 10:03 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Apparently Natalie met Hillary Clinton in September, and she didn’t call Hillary a genocidal warmonger so that proves Natalie is a fascist now.

    in response to Is people complaining about contrapoints doing an interview with Hilary Clinton more bullshit drama or is the criticism valid?

    Ian replied:

    has anyone actually watched this show? does anyone have Apple+?

  2. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 10:02 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Thoughts on Libs of TikTok?

    Ian replied:

    bad!

  3. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 10:01 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Why is it not given more attention that the vast majority of mass shooters and political extremists come from fatherless homes?

    Ian replied:

    fam, they won't even admit that the vast majority of mass shooters are conservative white men

  4. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 10:01 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    how much vitamin D do you get daily

    Ian replied:

    that's a weird question. how do you measure sunlight?

  5. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 10:00 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Are you excited for Tears of the Kingdom?

    Ian replied:

    I guess! I'm very certain I will fall in love with it when I start playing, but the hype I felt at the first trailer has died down and now it's just a thing that's gonna happen.

  6. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 9:57 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Why do you hate conservatives?

    Ian replied:

    I've been pretty vocal about my reasons for hating conservatism. what do you need elaboration on?

  7. Published on Jan 10, 2023, 9:41 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    What's your opinion on the Bible as an atheist?

    Ian replied:

    I mean, I haven't exactly cracked it open as a recreational read, but there's some interesting philosophy in there. it's a collection of religious tales recorded CENTURIES apart, so it's all over the place and sometimes self-contradictory, but there's a lot of good stuff. Jesus' gospel, when you read it straight, is still pretty radical.

  8. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:12 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Is people complaining about contrapoints doing an interview with Hilary Clinton more bullshit drama or is the criticism valid?

    Ian replied:

    wait what

  9. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:12 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Is competition in the market generally good or bad?

    Ian replied:

    markets are generally bad

  10. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:12 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Do your partners' sexual history matter to you?

    Ian replied:

    sure, it's interesting!

  11. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:11 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Were America's founding fathers capitalists? If they were, why didn’t they see the contradictions in how the free market sorts people and the ethos of "all men are created equal?"

    Ian replied:

    the tensions between capitalism and representative democracy weren't clear because they were literally the first people to try it

    (also despite being very progressive for their day they were still racist classist misogynists)

  12. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:09 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Gamer culture isn't a monolith. There are tons of games with very wholesome fanbases, such as numerous indie games. I'm been a gamer for over two decades and have never so much as touched a CoD game or most multiplayer games for that matter.

    in response to What game(s) would you recommend for non-gamers to get into gaming?

    Ian replied:

    yeah and if you're part of a wholesome indie community then the toxic parts of gaming might just create a yearslong harassment campaign to gatekeep you out of the culture

    you either generate the discourse or the discourse happens to you

  13. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:07 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Is Weird Al Yankovic a good example of positive masculinity? (please say yes)

    Ian replied:

    sure

  14. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:06 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Where do you stick the banana on a police Tesla?

    Ian replied:

    Teslas blow up on their own

  15. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 10:05 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    they WHAT

    in response to if we imagine a future where the government accepts trans people, what's gonna be the next queer thing that gets banned

    Ian replied:

    this was terminally-online tweeters, not necessarily conservatives! but the cons will jump on anything they think will work for them.

  16. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 3:26 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    What game(s) would you recommend for non-gamers to get into gaming?

    Ian replied:

    you sure you wanna get into gaming? like, games are pretty rad but the culture... yeesh.

  17. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 3:26 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    How shit?

    in response to What do you honestly think about the Joe Rogan show?

    Ian replied:

    have you seen Babylon? the scene with the elephant.

  18. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 3:25 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    How many comments did you get? So far my high score is three people remarking on my "I'm Vaccinated" sticker.

    in response to Glad to see someone other than me (a bald man) advocating for the practice of putting "I Voted" stickers on the forehead.

    Ian replied:

    I lived about 2 blocks from my polling place and I work from home. not a lot of people saw it.

    this is Boston, people don't comment on your I Voted sticker. at least, not in the parts normies like me hang out.

  19. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 3:24 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    if we imagine a future where the government accepts trans people, what's gonna be the next queer thing that gets banned

    Ian replied:

    maybe the furries? honestly, the way internet discourse works nowadays, it could be anything. remember when they tried to argue dating short people was pedophilia?

  20. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 3:20 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Is class the main stratification that divides humans?

    Ian replied:

    power is the stratification. it plays out many ways. I feel like attempts to rank them, seems like we always end up ignoring someone's struggle when we do that. if you're getting screwed, your struggle is part of mine, and it's my job to understand your needs and join your fight.

  21. Published on Jan 9, 2023, 1:38 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Why is it that when socialist countries go through a crisis, their economies tend to liberalize, but when capitalist countries have a recession (like they do every few years), their capitalist economies just get rebuilt?

    Ian replied:

    I too am curious about this

  22. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 11:20 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Do you wipe sitting down or standing up?

    Ian replied:

    I usually wipe my kitchen counters standing up but sometimes I'll get wild and sit in a chair while wiping the table

  23. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 11:19 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    And are tailpipes the only police equipment bananas can go in?

    in response to Can we stuff other things in the tailpipes?

    Ian replied:

    bananas are deformable, they can fit into lotsa stuff. walkie talkies. teargas cannons. nostrils.

  24. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 11:18 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    (none of these anons) This is kind of out-of-body fun to read (back and forth) because im about to start MS treatment in a few days, a few facts for people:

    We don't know what the cause of MS is (we know what it does, but not what makes the immune system do it)
    We don't know WHY the treatment i'm about to start works (we know the drug kills off the "right" cells, but not how or why that works)
    We don't know why sometimes it causes new problems, like, sometimes the cells grow back only now they hate my thyroid or my liver, or if it's likely to in my case

    I have spoken to several doctors, a host of specialist nurses, and watched a cartoon about the drug i am about to take, no expert here has been able to answer these questions, and they have to administer the drug over several days because just taking it as a shot might well kill me, absolutely nobody involved has suggested that i should wait to start treatment, even with all this unanswered stuff, because the disease is literally going to degrade my nervous system until it kills me: Treating the illness NOW, with the best methods we have found to work, will add years to my life and even if we discover a cure 5 minutes after im done with treatment it will still do that

    Capitalism needs to go, it has shown it is unable to compromise socially with any other values, up to and including continued human existence unless it is given priority over them, while there may be many avenues to overcoming capitalism, we should also remain clearheaded that avenues proven to be limited in their value in overcoming capitalism should be considered "in addition" to treating the disease
    Much like capitalism, all of this is besides the point because i have rapidly worsening loss of my nervous system and eventually my brain,

    in response to In general I think it would be nice for it to be some Explicit Societal Goal for lack of better words to try and better equip people to figure out at least some of the stuff they get sick with without needing a full degree in order to mostly be accurate.

  25. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 7:19 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    In general I think it would be nice for it to be some Explicit Societal Goal for lack of better words to try and better equip people to figure out at least some of the stuff they get sick with without needing a full degree in order to mostly be accurate.

    in response to (diff anon) Your analogy is flawed. In order to properly diagnose a disease in the first place, you have to *be* a doctor. How does declaring that capitalism is inherently immoral and *must* be torn down with no idea how to actually accomplish it or what the consequences might be actually help accomplish anything?

    Ian replied:

    that'd be nice, yeah! but getting people to agree on treatment when they have only self-taught understanding of the disease is difficult.

  26. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 6:58 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    While there are figures who believe in advocating inequality in that sense (mostly fascists ala Ivan Ilyin or Mussolini and their followers), I don't think most people are advocating for neither equality or inequality in this , this is all just a recognition that people aren't all made the same. In the middle of your comment you started listing ways in which people are interconnected with one another, but should equalness be the standard to focus on? Think about it, since no one person is entirely identical to anyone else, the logical conclusion it will leave you is that by adding enough groups and differentiating traits among people, it results in ''groups'' of one; with the smallest minority being the individual. And also, at the end of the comment you started asking 'why should some have more freedom than others?', I don't really get what you're refering to. Are we talking about natural rights? Property rights? I'm not trying to deny anything, just need some more clarity.

    in response to How are people equal?

    Ian replied:

    the question was about hierarchy. if there is a hierarchy, then there are people with more power and people with less power. call the people low on the hierarchy A and the people higher B - A gets B's will imposed on them but cannot impose their will on B. so B has rights that A does not. these can be natural rights, property rights, whatever - it plays out a lot of different ways. the point is, within a hierarchy, the higher you are, the more freedoms you experience.

    you have demonstrated that there is difference between humans, but not why power and freedom should be accorded based on those differences. nor, indeed, why one set of differences should qualify a "group" and why other differences should be ignored. why do hierarchies separate people based on skin color but not height, or wingspan, or hand-eye coordination? a decision is being made as to which differences to focus on, and, to justify a hierarchy, I'd need to hear a logic for why THESE differences matter more than the millions of others, and why the things that make us different are so important compared to the overwhelmingly larger number of things that make us the same.

  27. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 6:57 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Can we stuff other things in the tailpipes?

    in response to Is it ethical to sabotage the equipment of the police if it spares vulnerable groups from being assaulted, unjustly incarcerated, and murdered?

    Ian replied:

    yeah, just like a wad of cooked couscous

  28. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 4:37 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Why is it, in your estimation, that so many leftists keep falling for red-brown BS?

    Ian replied:

    are there so many? or are they just loud?

  29. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 11:38 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    (diff anon) Your analogy is flawed. In order to properly diagnose a disease in the first place, you have to *be* a doctor. How does declaring that capitalism is inherently immoral and *must* be torn down with no idea how to actually accomplish it or what the consequences might be actually help accomplish anything?

    in response to Do leftists have institutional avenues for ending capitalism? Other than some vague call for revolution, I haven’t been able to get a straight answer as to what ending capitalism would entail. And then building a system where the means of production are held in common is another matter entirely.

    Ian replied:

    fam, we are currently living in a pandemic where the onset symptoms of COVID are widely known and people self-diagnose and quarantine literally every day. obviously you can self-diagnose without a doctor. but you can't homebrew paxlovid.

  30. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 4:23 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    How are people equal?

    in response to Serious question to know how to argue against conservative beliefs: why favor egalitarianism over hierarchy?

    Ian replied:

    hmm. I would question why the burden of proof is on equality rather than inequality. people are of the same species, their organic components form the same way, even the most different of people resemble each other far more than they resemble anything else in the known universe. why would they be unequal? why would some deserve more rights and freedoms than others? I see no sensible argument for inequality.

  31. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 4:20 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    What's a non-moral, non-legal argument to not do a thing of your choice that is illegal and that you would call immoral?

    Ian replied:

    why do you ask?

  32. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 2:40 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Do leftists have institutional avenues for ending capitalism? Other than some vague call for revolution, I haven’t been able to get a straight answer as to what ending capitalism would entail. And then building a system where the means of production are held in common is another matter entirely.

    in response to The two largest "liberal" caucuses in the House of Representatives are the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the New Democrats The Congressional Progressive Caucus has the agenda of Medicare for All, a $15 per hour minimum wage, the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and lowered drug costs The New Democrat Caucus has the agenda of supporting minority rights, but also helping large corporations as much as possible Because neither of these blocs could ever hold power individually, they often lump themselves together under the umbrella of "Democrats" Progressives and New Democrats often have very little in common, and as a result, "Democrats" may seem to have no coherent agenda Both of these groups, both "liberals", do in fact have a coherent agenda - it is only when "Democrats" as a whole attempt to represent both of them that "liberals" seem to have no coherent agenda

    Ian replied:

    I mean, there is no *official* method of ending capitalism internally. like, liberal democracy doesn't have procedures for abandoning liberal democracy for socialist collectivism. that's not a thing. there is precedent for societies swinging hard left through reforms and rewritten constitutions! most of these have resulted in social democracies more than the full overthrow of capitalism - northern Europe's "Great Compromise" and such - but they generally result from there being an incredibly active and mobilized left flank gain massive amounts of power. the compromise occurs to prevent an overthrow.

    I don't know any examples of reform leading to full-on socialism/communism/anarchism. maybe I have a blindspot, but I haven't come across it so far.

    there are also examples of leftist societies coming into existence without revolution when unique opportunities present themselves - MAREZ creating a kind of anarcho-collectivist society that just exists within a capitalist nation, the Korean People's Association in Manchuria declaring sovereignty during a tumultuous time where neither China nor Japan could control the region, the Paris Commune just kind of grabbing the city during the Franco-Prussian War by refusing to relinquish the city after the Germans defeated the French, and stuff like that. these are all areas I want to study further, as I have only a cursory knowledge of them at the moment!

    the reason you can't get a straight answer is because it has come about a lot of different ways throughout history, and nobody's entirely sure how it would come about here. it's no easy task! and there's not a lot of consensus on the Left about where to begin, and what the costs of trying would be. and, if we're being honest, it takes a LOT of research to even understand how it happened before, and most of us haven't made time to do all the reading.

    the point where you know capitalism is not only a failure and immoral, but that it is also literally killing us, usually precedes the moment when you know what to do about it by a long while. I'd ask you for a little grace on that front - this is not just "you have to diagnose the disease before you can offer treatment," but "you have diagnosed a disease and before you can provide treatment you have to become a doctor." and we need to be able to talk about the disease in the interim.

  33. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 2:21 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Is it ethical to sabotage the equipment of the police if it spares vulnerable groups from being assaulted, unjustly incarcerated, and murdered?

    Ian replied:

    it is always ethical to sabotage the equipment of the police. stick a banana in all their tailpipes just cuz you feel like it and you happen to have some bananas. fuck cops.

  34. Published on Jan 8, 2023, 2:19 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Why did collectivizing agriculture in the Soviet Union and China cause so many deaths? Both countries were primarily agrarian before their revolutions, so there weren’t many other industries to be nationalized by the socialists. What else could they have done to stop the famines from occurring?

    Ian replied:

    well, point of clarification: low crop yields mean people going hungry, not famines. to quote Dr. David Marples on the Ukrainian famine: “There is no such thing as a ‘natural’ famine, no matter the size of the harvest. A famine requires some form of state or human input. There is no doubt residents of Russia went hungry in 1932 as they did during most of that decade. But they did not die in millions. Thus, it appears that the ‘massive program of rationing and relief’ was selective.”

    I don't know what all Stalin's state-run, industrialized farming program was supposed to be, but the reason Ukrainians starved is because they resisted his changes, trying to stick to the practices they were familiar with. and so he punished them by taking all their food and distributing it throughout Russia and letting millions of people starve to death. my sense is that a lot of things were tried because they sounded particularly communist on paper but were less effective or just too big a change in too short a period a time to work effectively. they may have been functional in some form or other, but they were pushed through for political reasons, and their failure was downplayed when it wasn't covered up completely.

    I don't know much about what happened in China, but famines are always political.

  35. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 8:10 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    does your polycule make sure that every member has a weapon for a different combat niche?

    a polyarmory, if you will

    Ian replied:

    come to think of it, yes

  36. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 8:10 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Serious question to know how to argue against conservative beliefs: why favor egalitarianism over hierarchy?

    Ian replied:

    because people are equal and any system that denies this truth is a tyranny

  37. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 8:09 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Wasn’t the point of Moops that the right doesn’t believe in anything, they only think they do?

    Ian replied:

    the point of Moops was that a terminally-online subset of the Right thinks it doesn't believe in anything but it actually does

  38. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:42 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Why has transphobia become so mainstream lately?

    Ian replied:

    because the Right lost the battle against gay marriage, so trans people are the new wedge issue

  39. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:41 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    What are they imagining

    in response to You have any strong opinions one way or the other on if a "true singularity"/"general intelligence" sentient A, I, thing could be a thing?

    Ian replied:

    that an AI hyperintelligence will solve all humanity's problems, and/or make us live forever in a simulation, and/or punish for eternity the people who don't dedicate their lives to bringing the singularity about

    atheists hypothesizing a sci-fi God

  40. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:38 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    But she was so lazy.

    in response to Who do you think is the most influential person in history?

    Ian replied:

    but she spins me right round, baby

  41. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:38 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Glad to see someone other than me (a bald man) advocating for the practice of putting "I Voted" stickers on the forehead.

    in response to Why do you have a Kubrick stare as your Curiouscat profile pic?

    Ian replied:

    as of last year I am balding as well, but I wasn't when I put that sticker on my forehead

  42. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:38 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    What do you honestly think about the Joe Rogan show?

    Ian replied:

    it's shit

  43. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:37 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    The two largest "liberal" caucuses in the House of Representatives are the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the New Democrats

    The Congressional Progressive Caucus has the agenda of Medicare for All, a $15 per hour minimum wage, the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and lowered drug costs

    The New Democrat Caucus has the agenda of supporting minority rights, but also helping large corporations as much as possible

    Because neither of these blocs could ever hold power individually, they often lump themselves together under the umbrella of "Democrats"
    Progressives and New Democrats often have very little in common, and as a result, "Democrats" may seem to have no coherent agenda
    Both of these groups, both "liberals", do in fact have a coherent agenda - it is only when "Democrats" as a whole attempt to represent both of them that "liberals" seem to have no coherent agenda

    in response to In your videos “They go low, We go high” and “The Card says Moops” and a couple others, you mention how liberals fall hook line and sinker for accusations of hypocrisy and conservatives are completely immune to them. You talked a lot about why liberals fall for them, but why are conservatives so able to be hypocritical without batting an eye? Are they so convinced by the righteousness of their ends that they can justify any means?

    Ian replied:

    the progressives believe in treating the effects of capitalism but cannot reject capitalism outright; the new democrats think they can support minority rights while also supporting the corporations that exploit minority labor and keep them in poverty. neither of these positions are coherent.

    to some extent this is the name of the game: many would LIKE to truly defend minorities, but need the corporations to fund their campaigns or they can't help minorities at all; many would like to oppose capitalism explicitly but have no institutional avenues for ending capitalism outright, only for reigning in its excesses. they may BE more ideologically consistent in their hearts but they cannot PERFORM that consistency because the system doesn't allow for it.

    but trying to treat the symptoms of capitalism while preserving its causes will always lead to ideological doolally.

  44. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:31 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    has it always been this way or is this exclusive to neoconservatives and neoliberals?

    in response to In your videos “They go low, We go high” and “The Card says Moops” and a couple others, you mention how liberals fall hook line and sinker for accusations of hypocrisy and conservatives are completely immune to them. You talked a lot about why liberals fall for them, but why are conservatives so able to be hypocritical without batting an eye? Are they so convinced by the righteousness of their ends that they can justify any means?

    Ian replied:

    I argued in Always a Bigger Fish that both liberalism and conservatism are trying to square the impossible circle of believing in democracy (an egalitarian philosophy) and capitalism (a hierarchical philosophy) at the same time. the tensions between the two cannot be resolved rationally. conservatives favor the hierarchical and liberals favor the egalitarian, but neither can give the other up without drifting fully into leftism or fascism. the rhetoric and the ideology are incompatible.

    I think, as the Right drifts further fascist, the incoherency gets more pronounced, and the liberal attempts to insist that everything is fine and the rules will save us makes their supposed beliefs even more muddled. I get the sense New Deal liberalism was a bit more ideologically consistent than Clintonian neoliberalism. but the tension has always been there.

  45. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:25 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Is mythos the same thing as pathos?

    Ian replied:

    no

  46. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:24 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    What’s your type?

    Ian replied:

    O positive

  47. Published on Jan 7, 2023, 3:24 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    In my experience this actually isn't it

    As far as I can tell, you're correct that conservatives know what they want and know what they believe - but these beliefs don't cause them to be knowingly hypocritical

    Rather, these beliefs blind them to reality; they're so locked into their dogma that they are unable to perceive their own self-deception

    For the most part (not entirely, but for the most part), I think they're oblivious to their hypocrisy, not aware of it

    And from our perspective, that can seem laughably absurd, because the hypocrisy is so glaring - but my whole point is that yes, they're deeply delusional; this is how dogma works in everyone; how else could climate denial persist?

    in response to In your videos “They go low, We go high” and “The Card says Moops” and a couple others, you mention how liberals fall hook line and sinker for accusations of hypocrisy and conservatives are completely immune to them. You talked a lot about why liberals fall for them, but why are conservatives so able to be hypocritical without batting an eye? Are they so convinced by the righteousness of their ends that they can justify any means?

    Ian replied:

    that's what I said. I said the hypocrisy doesn't register.

  48. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 9:16 PM

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    Anonymous commented:

    In your videos “They go low, We go high” and “The Card says Moops” and a couple others, you mention how liberals fall hook line and sinker for accusations of hypocrisy and conservatives are completely immune to them. You talked a lot about why liberals fall for them, but why are conservatives so able to be hypocritical without batting an eye? Are they so convinced by the righteousness of their ends that they can justify any means?

    Ian replied:

    it's important to understand that conservatives are rhetorically incoherent but ideologically consistent, while liberals are rhetorically consistent but ideologically incoherent

    conservatives make hypocritical arguments because arguments aren't very important to them. they know what they want and they know what they believe; the argument is just a means to an end. if they say they the states should have a right to choose whether or not abortion is legal, and later say they want a federal ban that would disallow liberal states from performing them, they see no contradiction there. they don't think a little hypocrisy is defensible for a righteous cause - the hypocrisy doesn't even REGISTER. because, to them, they are being perfectly consistent: they are opposing abortion. the REASONING behind their opposition is a detail. reasoning doesn't matter. only commitment to your beliefs matters. it's a matter of faith, not facts. all mythos, no logos.

    liberals, conversely, have no coherent agenda other than that their arguments be internally consistent.

  49. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 6:18 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    You think if it were outright achiveved you would personally be affected much?

    in response to You have any strong opinions one way or the other on if a "true singularity"/"general intelligence" sentient A, I, thing could be a thing?

    Ian replied:

    I don't see the value in hypothesizing how I would be affected

  50. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 5:50 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    You have any strong opinions one way or the other on if a "true singularity"/"general intelligence" sentient A, I, thing could be a thing?

    Ian replied:

    I can't say whether true computer intelligence is possible, but I can assure you everything people who talk about "the singularity" imagine is probably wrong

  51. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 5:49 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    When was the last time anyone you knew got COVID?

    Ian replied:

    my boo's sister just got it

  52. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 5:49 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    Think Olsen and Burch are mixed up by anyone?

    in response to Are the two of you frequently confused?

    Ian replied:

    no, they mix me up with Burch because we're both poly (and therefore cucks) and they mix me up with Olsen because we make similar-ish stuff and his first name is part of my last name

    Olsen is not poly and Burch isn't named Danthony so there's no reason to confuse them with each other

  53. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 3:11 AM

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    Anonymous commented:

    are there any lesser-known non-white creators you'd like to recommend?

    in response to Different anon, but as a fellow white person it sucks that Black content creators don't get recommended to me much by the algorithm. I have to intentionally seek them out, like they've been put into a filter bubble that white creators aren't. You ever notice that?

    Ian replied:

    Yes!

    Broey Deschanel is a Latina YouTuber doing very classic, Chez Apocalypse-style "pop culture through sociological lens" video essays, but longer, with more explicit class analysis, and keyed into a LOT of my very specific interests. Her vid on homoeroticism in Point Break is a great place to start.

    I've already sung the praises of Carlos Maza, and his recent video on "how are you gonna pay for it?" rhetoric was excellent.

    And I don't even know where to begin with how shockingly good Yhara Zayd is. Her video on the prison-industrial complex through the lens of Shia Labeouf film Holes? Her phenomenal breakdown of how culture continues to horribly misinterpret Lolita? Her love letter to Aubrey Plaza? She's so fucking good.

    Broey Deschanel: https://youtube.com/@BroeyDeschanel

    Carlos Maza: https://youtube.com/@CarlosMazaTube

    Yhara Zayd: https://youtube.com/@Yharazayd

  54. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 3:09 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Who do you think is the most influential person in history?

    Ian replied:

    Susan

  55. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 3:09 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Are the two of you frequently confused?

    in response to This is a very weird, specific question: Have you ever used the word "homoousion" in one of your videos?

    Ian replied:

    not THAT frequently, but I'm probably confused with Dan more than any other YouTuber. (well, except for the right-wingers who mix me up with Anthony Burch.)

  56. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 3:07 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Is "small dick energy" really bodyshaming? I feel like, especially when it's directed at someone like Tate, it's just a snappy way to say "wow, your macho rhetoric and materialism surely looks like an attempt to overplay bad/lacking personality or insecurities" or something like that, using an old cliché. It's not meant as "you probably have a small dick, which is a bad thing", right? Or is the fact that the expression references a specific body characteristic while being meant to be derogatory enough? Although, thinking about it, something like "fat boy energy" would be pretty harsh, even if used as shorthand for something else and not criticizing someone for being fat. Do you have any thoughts on this?

    in response to (different anon) I'd never heard of this guy before today, and if he was involved in human trafficking I'm glad he got pinched. But the thing about this that really gets under my skin is that the insult everyone's celebrating was a fairly obvious example of body-shaming.

    Ian replied:

    Yes, I think it's body shaming. Properly speaking, shame around dick size is mostly men shaming other men, so a girl using to ridicule a guy who DEFINITELY buys into the "size matters" mentality is kiiiiind of beating him at his own game? But it's still enforcing it, and it does cause real pain for a lot of men.

    That said, Greta is 19 and expecting her to be perfect on this front is pretty silly? And, while cis-male cock-policing is a real thing, it's not top of my list of unacceptable insults. Like, don't body shame anyone, but, as far as mistakes go, there are worse ones. I would be madder about fat shaming, for instance.

  57. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 3:00 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    What song would you use as an alternative to Rick-rolling?

    Ian replied:

    https://youtu.be/wvKGIF3D6q0

  58. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 2:43 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Why do you have a Kubrick stare as your Curiouscat profile pic?

    Ian replied:

    I took a selfie with an I Voted sticker on my forehead and then Sketch made a drawing of it that removed the sticker and I liked it

  59. Published on Jan 6, 2023, 2:37 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    This is a very weird, specific question: Have you ever used the word "homoousion" in one of your videos?

    Ian replied:

    no, that was Dan Olson

  60. Published on Jan 5, 2023, 2:33 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    How are Video Games?

    Ian replied:

    gonna be honest with you: they're pretty good.

  61. Published on Jan 5, 2023, 2:33 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    What do you think would happen if folks made videos for mutual aid groups for the Project 4 Awesome this year rather than just charities

    Ian replied:

    I like to think the Brothers Green would go with any group that got enough support and was doing work they agreed with. I don't know if their audience would throw weight behind mutual aid the way they do charity.

    I have seriously considered doing a P4A video in support of a prison abolition group and just seeing what happens.

  62. Published on Jan 5, 2023, 2:31 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Do people really spend 90 dollars on haircuts? You mentioned that in your last video when talking about the "gentrification" of white supremacy.

    Ian replied:

    a man's haircut can be up to $100 on the high end. the average is much lower - like $30 - but that part of the video was talking about men who adopt upper-class signifiers. they go to salons.

  63. Published on Jan 5, 2023, 2:01 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Different anon, but as a fellow white person it sucks that Black content creators don't get recommended to me much by the algorithm. I have to intentionally seek them out, like they've been put into a filter bubble that white creators aren't. You ever notice that?

    in response to how much effort do you put into staying out of or breaking out of filter bubbles?

    Ian replied:

    oh yes. women, too.

  64. Published on Jan 4, 2023, 4:20 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Thoughts on Muammar Gaddafi?

    Ian replied:

    I remember a conservative guy in high school who, when 9/11 happened, said the proper response was to bomb Gaddafi

    this was before Al Qaeda took credit for it, but no one was claiming Gaddafi did 9/11, but Zack was like "we know where Gaddafi is, so"

    anyway, not a fan of Gaddafi, but also feel like questions about him are usually gotchas

  65. Published on Jan 4, 2023, 4:17 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    god, choosing between playing this or citizen sleeper first is gonna kill me

    in response to holy shit, amped up smart pistol is a bigger hook for me than chainsaw leg. thank you for giving me this information

    Ian replied:

    they are very different vibes

  66. Published on Jan 4, 2023, 12:48 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Still don't get it, love Nabokov though.

    in response to Bro why

    Ian replied:

    She was the architect of a philosophy of pure selfishness, a massive racist, and an incredibly clunky writer.

  67. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 3:51 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    holy shit, amped up smart pistol is a bigger hook for me than chainsaw leg. thank you for giving me this information

    in response to favorite pistol(s) in an fps?

    Ian replied:

    chainsaw leg is also fun! it's like Tony Hawk except everything you run into dies.

  68. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 3:51 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Thoughts on Guns, Germs, and Steel?

    in response to Is The Bell Curve book racist?

    Ian replied:

    The basic premise of it is compelling, but it's supposed to be a pretty dense 500 pages, isn't it? Haven't read it cuz I'm daunted.

  69. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 3:44 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Bro why

    in response to Please elaborate

    Ian replied:

    "Saint Petersburg in revolt gave us Vladimir Nabakov, Isaiah Berlin, and Ayn Rand. The first was a novelist, the second a philosopher. The third was neither but thought she was both."
    - Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind

  70. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 3:42 PM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Do you think the anons asking this are really leftists who see no issue with Mike Pence being killed by a reactionary mob for failing to install Donald Trump as a dictator or are they just right-wingers asking in bad faith?

    in response to Take seems like an awfully liberal take "just trust the process"

    Ian replied:

    you can never tell

  71. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 4:28 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Could it have been moreso?

    in response to Is The Bell Curve book racist?

    Ian replied:

    that question does not concern me, it's bad enough

  72. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 2:18 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Is The Bell Curve book racist?

    Ian replied:

    extremely

  73. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 2:16 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Any thoughts on Don Hertzfeldt's stuff?

    Ian replied:

    he's one of my favorite filmmakers

  74. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 2:15 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    favorite pistol(s) in an fps?

    Ian replied:

    Turbo Overkill! it's an amped up version of the homing pistol from Titanfall. very fun to use.

  75. Published on Jan 3, 2023, 2:14 AM

    A

    Anonymous commented:

    Have you ever played a video game randomizer?

    Ian replied:

    I played this old jam game by farbs from before he made Captain Forever called ROM Check Fail where it would take the music, core mechanics, levels, and characters from like 7 old games and randomize them every 30 seconds. so you'd be playing as Mario fighting Space Invaders on a Gauntlet level and then it would scramble them again.

    I know that's not what you're talking about, but it's kinda cool! no, I've never played a randomizer.

Anon commented:
Ian replied:

CuriousCat is an anonymous Q&A social networking site. It is set to be discontinued on Oct 7, 2024.

This is an archive of the 15094 questions and answers from my CuriousCat page.

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