CuriousCat Archive Page 64 of 202

  1. Almost?

    in response to And then they got a king, again.

    there are many parliamentary monarchies that have kings/queens in mostly ceremonial roles, and ~6 absolute monarchies remaining

  2. Did you just "Yeah, but" the Reign of Terror and over half a century of political upheaval because it resulted in *technically* fewer monarchies? Because I have to tell you, modern authoritatian dictatorships (Putin's Russia springs to mind) aren't *better* just because they no longer use that word. And just because a country techically has some kind of parliamentary system and a heavily skewed "vote" for its leader every few years doesnt make it a democracy.

    in response to Wow! I wonder what happened to the people who did that? Surely they died happily in their beds, of old age?

    Okay, let's take a a breath.

    I'm not trying to downplay the horrors of the Reign of Terror or exaggerate how "democratic" many modern democracies are. This thread began with someone asking why socialism hasn't spread around the world if it's so great, and then someone asking how it could possibly come to be if the people in power won't allow it. And I alluded to the French Revolution getting all choppy-choppy with their monarchs because it's a punchy shorthand for how to depose a king.

    The more nuanced and complex truth is, following the French Revolution - EVEN THOUGH IT LED TO THE REIGN OF TERROR - democracy began spreading across the world. Absolute monarchy was the primary means of government before the French Revolution, and democracy was that thing Ancient Athens tried. And now almost every government in the world is some form of democracy, either representative or a parliamentary government with a monarchist figurehead holding little actual power. How democratic are they? I mean, y'all know my stance on capitalism, i.e. it is fundamentally antidemocratic, so, yeah, I don't think any government is fully democratic so long as it's capitalist, and that's not even getting into the various despots and dictators that still exist.

    But this isn't a discussion of the relative quality of these governments. We're talking about whether or not one power structure can be replaced by another. And the French Revolution fundamentally changed the way governments operated across the entire world, even though it was, itself, a failure. Out of two hundred(ish) nations, there are only six absolute monarchies in existence.

    So, yes, a ground-up movement led by the people can fundamentally change the way society operates the entire world over. And, if we believe that democracy hasn't been as successful as it claims, all the more reason to change it again.

  5. How can you possibly change the world when the only thing you do is preach to your choir?

    I always find this phrase funny. The choir is part of the congregation! They're here for the sermon same as everyone! The preaching serves a vital function for adherents! The idea that preaching only exists for conversion is a weirdly evangelical way of conceiving religion.

  6. Do you collect anything?

    Opinions

  7. Thoughts on pirates? (The yohoho black beard jolly roger pirates not the movie and video game downloader pirates)

    I appreciate that they had healthcare and gay marriage, not so much the slaving

  8. I like the Chronotrigger reference, you a big fan of it?

    yuh

  10. Scientologists are also opposed to like 99% for cults

    in response to why‎ ㅤ

    yeah all cults oppose other cults

  11. Wow! I wonder what happened to the people who did that? Surely they died happily in their beds, of old age?

    in response to So why do you consider this pursuit worthwhile? Seems like for the same reason there's never going to be nuclear war, there's never going to be a successful socialist nation because whoever is in power won't allow it.

    The French Revolution was the beginning of a process that led to democracy replacing monarchy as the dominant model of government worldwide and y'all are taking some weird steps to frame it as a failure.

    Yeah, the Revolution itself led to over 60 years of political tumult in France, but, like... monarchs did not come out on top at the end of it, not there or anywhere.

  13. Thoughts on HollowKnight?

    Game of the Decade

  14. how does it feel to watch everyone you love age

    I'm not fond of the inexorable march towards death, but at least all my peeps are getting more beautiful. lotta gracefully agers in my life.

  15. What do you think you cared about the most in late August, early September 2012

    you

  16. You should reach out to Keffals and be like “here are a bunch of tactics they are going to use and here are some strategies to combat them.”

    I don't need to harassmentsplain to Keffals

  18. what is it about William Eggleston's works that you really liked?

    in response to Thoughts on street photography and their muses like Alex Webb, Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand, William Eggleston (the list goes on)

    I really like his use of vibrant colors and managing to capture spontaneous moments with really good framing. he didn't have Photoshop when he got started, so he used a lot color processing techniques taken from advertising to make the colors pop, and doing that with images of every day life was kinda novel. today, I just find it aesthetically pleasurable.

  19. Lol, you are what, the four other socialists in merica are going to change the world? LOL.

    yeah, right after knitting circle

  20. OP here, I finally got caught up with your amount of progress! You can see how our stats ended up comparing here: https://imgur.com/Zrd2cr9

    I have not tried the Summit C-side though. Wish me luck!

    in response to You completed all the B-sides, nice! I just finished Farewell for the first time yesterday. Here is my save file: https://imgur.com/12q2Op0

    I have over 900 deaths on the Summit C-side, the third screen is RIDICULOUS! this thread actually encouraged me to go back to it, and, for the first time ever, I've turned on Assist Mode. even at 70% game speed it's still SO FLIPPING HARD.

  21. Hottest manlet

    modest Hamlet

  22. Any thoughts on the Keffals situation?

    this is a pro-Keffals space

  23. This is a fascinating perspective but I'm a bit perplexed by the implications of the last paragraph. Should socialists be more staunchly standing against those bigotries, then? Is a rise in fascist sympathy just a necessary hurdle to overcome in the growing pains of socialism?

    in response to Why do socialist and anti-imperialist/anti-colonial movements intersect so frequently? What do they have in common?

    Yes and yes. Fascism pops up to fight the Left; that doesn't mean it always succeeds. It, in fact, fails to gain traction more often than not, and the stronger the Left the harder it is for fascists to get footing.

  26. Are you in favor of the legalization of recreational drugs?

    I'm in favor of the DECRIMINALIZATION of recreational drugs

  27. "fascism only ever appears in places where socialists have made strides" - but isn't American fascism right now happening in a country that's notable for its lack of a successful socialist movement?

    in response to Why do socialist and anti-imperialist/anti-colonial movements intersect so frequently? What do they have in common?

    Fascism in the modern age is interesting because it depends so much on mass media manipulation. Does it matter that there's not much organized socialism in the US if basically the entire Right BELIEVES Obama was a socialist? If that's the world that is presented to them? I suspect this is why the Alt-Right is so disorganized and chaotic compared with the early 20th century movements, because the Left it's fighting is also disorganized and decentralized.

    But I'll note the Alt-Right popped into existence shortly after Occupy.

  29. Do you have any friends who are politically right-leaning?

    do I look like a bitch who has friends?

  30. why‎ ㅤ

    in response to What do you think about Scientology?

    so far as such things go it's not the worst but I'm generally opposed to cults

  31. Do you know anyone who’s never had Covid?

    Yeah

  32. Why do socialist and anti-imperialist/anti-colonial movements intersect so frequently? What do they have in common?

    Oh, I know this one! I'm reading Paxton's The Anatomy of Fascism and his observations got me thinking along these lines.

    Socialism is not, as a rule, anti-imperialist or anti-racist. In fact, the history of socialism is rife with unchecked bigotries and love of "The State" so long as the state is socialist. But, ideologically, the tenets of socialism trend away from hierarchies.

    Socialism was going strong all over Europe at the end of the 19th century, to the degree that Engels himself figured revolutions wouldn't even be needed; the whole continent was gonna reform its way into communism. And the primacy of The Worker, and whole movement looking to emulate Russia after the revolution, led to a very internationalist mentality. I mean, how can you have a movement that considers classes across all nations, and throughout history, as bonded in the same struggle against the wealthy, and NOT feel a kinship with workers everywhere, even those in a different nation, even those of a different race? "The working class" is a lens that leads people to look past borders and social divisions.

    Again, this was not some magical cure for bigotry and nationalism, they were still endemic to the movements (NONE of the leftists' "universal suffrage" efforts tried to give votes to women, for instance). But it nudged people in that direction. Most anti-colonial, feminist, and anti-racist movements of the time were also socialist.

    This is precisely why fascism only ever appears in places where socialists have made strides. There's a lot of bigotry and nationalism left on the table by the leftists; even if they aren't expressly opposing either, their ideology doesn't capitalize on them very well. So that's what the fascists invariably grab onto.

  33. Thoughts on street photography and their muses like Alex Webb, Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand, William Eggleston (the list goes on)

    The only one I know is Eggleston but I really like his stuff.

  35. What do you think about Scientology?

    it bad

  36. Do you like metal music?

    Yup

  38. Should we normalize men wearing dresses?

    Sure! Skirts at the very least, we are missing out.

  39. Do you think social media companies wouldn't make their products so addictive if it weren't for capitalism?

    I'm not sure how to answer that. I don't know that a post-capitalist society would have such a thing as a "company" or a "product," at least not in the sense that we have them now. But, however social media happens, I suppose there will still be incentives to make the most addictive one, if only for bragging rights. But addictiveness wouldn't be a necessary evil in order to succeed, so, no, I don't think it would be nearly as pervasive.

  43. Considering the insane depths of fascist depravity that Ron Desantis is commited to, would you have any moral objection to Biden taking the nuclear option and arresting Desantis as a traitor to the nation?

    I mean I'd rather he start with Trump

  44. can you drop any reverse blackpills right about now, I need my brain to receive a serotonin boost

    here's me with a kitten

  45. Ian, the fact that you keep shit talking debating because you're shit at it and can't defend your ideas is pathetic. I genuinely respect altrighters more than you at this point.

    People who like Nazis more than anti-fascist because they have the better pageantry are not people I'm interested in converting. You are useless to the Left. We are going to fix the world without you.

  46. Unlike monarchy, where the selection is limited to the royal bloodline, even if you put every single CEO in prison, you'll still have millions of replacements who could act the exact same way.

    in response to So why do you consider this pursuit worthwhile? Seems like for the same reason there's never going to be nuclear war, there's never going to be a successful socialist nation because whoever is in power won't allow it.

    Let's see how eager they are to take the CEO's job when the last one got decapitated.

  47. Have you played Papers, Please? That game is pretty dang stressful.

    in response to What's the most stressful video game you can think of?

    No, but that reminds me! Cart Life was so stressful I never finished it.

  48. What's the most stressful video game you can think of?

    in response to What's the most relaxing video game you can think of?

    Post Void

    there are probably way more stressful games out there but that's the most stressful one I've put real time into

  49. So why do you consider this pursuit worthwhile? Seems like for the same reason there's never going to be nuclear war, there's never going to be a successful socialist nation because whoever is in power won't allow it.

    in response to If socialism works so well why don't we see it all over the place around the world, or at least as common as capitalist countries tend to be?

    that's what they said about monarchy until folks chopped the man in power's head off

  50. were you a channer when you were younger like a lot of folks your age or did your adolescence never lead you to that corner of the web

    my teen years predate chan boards by a bit

  51. favorite greg?

  52. Different anon, but I think the poster’s second point is that debates might help someone come up with arguments to counter right-wing propaganda. These are useful in settings besides debates, like when you are de-radicalizing someone.

    in response to I think that debates against reactionaries have two specific utilities that other debunking formats lack: 1. They expose the existing audience of the reactionary figure to leftist viewpoints that they might otherwise be isolated from. This can help pull people away from the alt-right before they get in too deep. 2. They help people already on the left to sharpen their rhetorical techniques by showing how to respond to right-wing talking points in real time. I've noticed that a lot of internet lefties are really bad at advocating for leftist policies and positions when engaging with people who disagree. Right-wing talking points are sometimes repeated by liberals or politically uninformed people, and it's good to know how to counter them. Also, I think it's worth noting how a lot of prominent right wing pundits avoid engaging with leftist figures whenever possible. Remember how Steven Crowder was terrified of Sam Seder?

    Being presented with a conservative argument helps you come up with counters to right-wing propaganda. It's not like it's so hard to find conservative arguments that you need to hear it from the horse's mouth in real time. You can also just find a conservative who wants to argue with you and do it in private, it doesn't need to have an audience.

    Y'all are starting from the premise that debate is defensible and they backfilling the reasoning for it. But if you STARTED with any of these arguments, you would naturally conclude that public debate is not a particularly good way to accomplish the things you say you want to accomplish.

  53. I think that debates against reactionaries have two specific utilities that other debunking formats lack:

    1. They expose the existing audience of the reactionary figure to leftist viewpoints that they might otherwise be isolated from. This can help pull people away from the alt-right before they get in too deep.

    2. They help people already on the left to sharpen their rhetorical techniques by showing how to respond to right-wing talking points in real time. I've noticed that a lot of internet lefties are really bad at advocating for leftist policies and positions when engaging with people who disagree. Right-wing talking points are sometimes repeated by liberals or politically uninformed people, and it's good to know how to counter them.

    Also, I think it's worth noting how a lot of prominent right wing pundits avoid engaging with leftist figures whenever possible. Remember how Steven Crowder was terrified of Sam Seder?

    1. Okay, but imagine your aim is to reach people on the Right. Debate is *a* way of doing that, but is it even a particularly good way? Compared with posting on their forums, using promotion and metadata to put content in their feeds, talking to them individually one-on-one. Hell, I don't like response videos, but even THAT is more effective than a debate.

    2. Saying that debating is valuable because it gives you the skills to hold debates is tautology.

    I think it's also worth noting how many conservative pundits have built their careers on holding debates, like Ben Shapiro.

  54. If socialism works so well why don't we see it all over the place around the world, or at least as common as capitalist countries tend to be?

    because the most common way for socialism to fail is for the US to shoot their leader in the head

  55. Would you accept $100,000,000 per month by someone with the condition that you'll get anally probed/ f*cked everyday? (and that if you reject the offer, you'll get executed)

    what's the catch?

  56. Thoughts on the orange line shutdown?

    I would've much preferred they maintain the trains to prevent this from happening, cuz my bike isn't out of the shop yet so this is most inconvenient

  57. Ah, so it's typically corporations and not hateful randos who maliciously and purposely dox folks?

    in response to A Thought: What if, when a hate mob started doxxing someone, a buncha folks would make fake doxxes, replacing the real info with fake, like swapping the home address for a police station or a military base, switching out real names for those of obscure fictional characters, so on? Make every attempt at doxxing ths target suspect as to accurracy, fuck up people's ability to learn someone's secrets by adding in fake secrers that contradict the real ones?

    no it's that the hateful randos make use of the corporations who buy your identifying data

  59. saw a post calling anything written by Stephen King implicitly racist, any idea why they would say that? any good reason?

    I wouldn't know, I've never read King

  61. Are you a fan of Westerns?

    They're not one of my pet genres but they're fine!

  62. A Thought: What if, when a hate mob started doxxing someone, a buncha folks would make fake doxxes, replacing the real info with fake, like swapping the home address for a police station or a military base, switching out real names for those of obscure fictional characters, so on? Make every attempt at doxxing ths target suspect as to accurracy, fuck up people's ability to learn someone's secrets by adding in fake secrers that contradict the real ones?

    I like the idea! There are logistical hurdles. Most dox are scraped from data collection companies that get it from things like voter rolls and phone companies. You can't vote or use a cell phone if those companies don't have a verified address. So you'd have to find a way to give the government a real address but somehow get the company that scrapes that info to post an incorrect one. I wonder how many have submission forms where you can "correct" info? I know sometimes they post incorrect data, so maybe there's a way to force that...

  63. So just time, then? Just the fact the process is ongoing and not complet3?

    in response to what's stopping you from getting swole af

    Yup. PB is 125 on barbell bench press.

  64. three most interesting movies youve seen this year?

    I'm Your Man
    Passing
    Memoria

  66. You claimed in your "control the conversation" video that no leftist can win a debate with a right-winger without falling into their traps or becoming as bad as them (as far as I can tell)
    I think that a format where a leftist can personally confront an opponent who has an inarguably incorrect factual claim, an action I believe would easily sway any neutral audience, would be a useful tool not to be quickly discarded
    Do you still hold your belief? If so, in what other ways do you think leftists should counter unethical or incorrect right-wing talking points?

    I think that's a bit reductive of my argument, it's more that there is a lot to lose for the Left in such a debate and not much to gain. To me, winning a debate with a reactionary conservative is sort of like getting an ethical outcome under capitalism; yes, it's POSSIBLE, but it's systemically designed to be rare and to still reinforce the system that overwhelmingly produces unethical outcomes.

    If a leftist has the opportunity to speak about issues to a neutral audience, why does the reactionary conservative need to be there? How does it benefit that audience to hear bullshit alongside reasoned argument?

  67. For what it's worth, in Germany, socialism is still used as a boogeyman by many politicians. When one of the more prominent young politicians mentioned just the thought of socializing a big car manufacturer a couple of years ago, it was a pretty big deal with lots of outcries and criticism, even from his own party - the social democratic party, which has democratic socialism technically in their party manifesto but is far, far away from enacting actual socialist policies.

    There was a major referendum in Berlin recently about expropriating one of the biggest commercial housing companies to try and curb the explosion of rent prices. The referendum was won, but the social democrat mayor basically killed it, with even the left-most party not really lifting a finger. At the same time, said left-most party is even considered by many to be out of the "spectrum of democratic parties", alongside the far right AfD, because they sometimes advocate for some vague system change. German media coverage of socialist movements in other countries is often highly sceptical at best, too.

    I know there are other countries where socialism may be more mainstream, but it's not like it's just a cool and accepted concept over here.

    in response to (Different anon) Something to keep in mind is that, though there’s a lot of parties in Europe with socialism in the name, most of them are center-left liberals or Social Democrats.

    Yeah, not claiming it's cool and accepted. Mostly just stressing that it carries different connotations in different parts of the world.

  69. You completed all the B-sides, nice! I just finished Farewell for the first time yesterday. Here is my save file: https://imgur.com/12q2Op0

    in response to Can you show us how many deaths you have on your Celeste save file?

    you'd best acknowledge I've completed most of the C-sides

  70. You’re a fan of Chrono Trigger? Have you also played Secret of Mana?

    in response to favorite Queen of the Stone Age

    only a tiny bit. it didn't click with me, but I was in high school and abandoned things very quickly. I've actually played a decent chunk of Seiken Densetsu 3 on emulator but crapped out on one of the bosses.

  71. why do i keep asking you questions? is this parasociality? i don't think i actually care about what fonts you like, i just think it's a question you might have an interesting answer to.

    was it interesting?

  72. got any fonts you're particularly fond of?

    I'm very devoted to Avenir

  73. Do you like visiting old battlefields (in your case, like from the American Revolutionary War)?

    I live in Boston so I walk through a lot of them just getting around

  74. what's stopping you from getting swole af

    I'm in the process

  75. Can you show us how many deaths you have on your Celeste save file?

Anon commented:
Ian replied: