CuriousCat Archive Page 82 of 202

  1. have you ever heard of Healthy Gamer GG

    I've heard the name before but I don't know anything about them

  2. Seen any new films lately?

    in response to Get any new games recently?

    new? no. very little of interest makes it to the movie theaters these days and new releases cost too much on streaming.

  3. Do you ever think that a Homer hair style will be seen as a sexy feature

    define "style"

  4. Favorite swear words?

    my swears are too dangerous and powerful to put in print

  5. I was in a Discord channel the other day where someone referred to you and your work as 'the Edward R Murrow of LeftTube'.
    Do you have any thoughts or opinions on this?

    I wouldn't mind being played by David Strathairn in the movie

  6. Hello Mr Studios, if that IS your real name
    Anarchist here: genuinely boggles the mind how anyone can look at the non stop clown show at the top of either government or industry and think "yes these are just and reasonable systems"

    if capitalism gave power to those who are "creative, disciplined or intelligent" then work-to-rule strikes wouldn't work (and in fact they are often devastatingly effective) oh and also hobbyist fanfic writers would be the richest people on the planet

    in response to Hello Mr. Innuendo, Libertarian here with feedback on your video on conservatism, I cannot speak to the conservative mindset as I am not a conservative, not white and most importantly not a US citizen, but in so far as libertarian policy and conservative policy merge, I feel the need to respond. A part of what you are missing is that in the same way democrats distrust the meritocracy of capitalism in dimensions of gender and race, libertarians and to an extent conservatives distrust the democratic model in its ability to elect effective leaders who truly work for the betterment of others, make the wisest decisions and do not attempt to bring power into themselves overtime. The alternate capitalist hierarchy is another division of power. I say this as a citizen of a small country that began as fairly democratic but over a 50 year period, increasing government market control, declining personal freedoms and increased internal and external stress, led to an extremely weak democracy where currently our prime minister and president are brothers, unpersecuted war criminals, steal money from the state, and put their family into various positions of power. From this position it does appear that equalizing society and shifting power over to the state, even with the best intentions, does simply lead to an empowered overbearing state. Also, you mentioned that conservatives believe that society will go into anarchy if the social order is not upheld, I don't think fear is the exact root of it. For me, it is simply that if someone is smarter, more creative, more disciplined, creates more value for others etc. They should be rewarded for that with greater influence on the world around them than people who are not creative, disciplined or intelligent etc etc. Then, reasonably, if those creative, intelligent, disciplined people have more influence, they will influence the world to be more like them and slowly the world improves. I think that's a bit more optimistic than a system driven by fear of some great chaos.

  7. What if change the poverty wages part? Make the few who do it get a heap out of it maybe?

    in response to I find it hard to conceive of a greater waste of time and resources for both teacher and student, then of training 150 million people to do a task that they don't want to learn/do and to have knowledge that they will only use once every 7 years. If we could only train a tiny fraction of people that then of the trained people trade their knowledge and time waitaminute

    the issue here is this:

    if that's such a good and effective idea, why do so few capitalist nations do it? why, in CENTURIES of capitalism, practiced in HUNDREDS of nations, do sanitation workers usually get paid horribly?

    the answer is complicated, but the gist of it is: because capitalism functions more optimally when the most workers are economically precarious and take awful jobs rather than starve to death than when it pays masses of workers well for doing things everyone else would rather not. under capitalism, employees work for bosses, and it is in every single boss's best interest to pay workers less rather than more. it is more profitable for the boss and the company for workers to be motivated by the threat of starvation than the promise of good pay.

    this is why well-paid, highly-unionized masses of workers are the exception rather than the rule in capitalist economies.

  8. As an Atheist Jew who worked at a synagogue for years, from a Reform perspective at least, there is no general disconnect between being Secular or Atheist and Jewish. A lot of us are one or both of those things, even among clergy. Most of the staff I worked with were Atheist. What tends to be most important is following Jewish values and advocating equity. Promoting Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, and completing mitzvot, good deeds. Acting ethically, promoting social justice and building a community. Beliefs are secondary to actions. (A very simplified version)

    in response to As a secular atheist Jew, I sometimes feel disconnected from my identity because I don't believe in the religion. Which is a shame because I'm really proud of being Jewish. How do you deal with this problem? Is advocating equity and justice a way of practicing Judaism even if you aren't religious?

    I have a friend who's a Hellenistic pantheist but he's also still a Jew.

  10. What does the surname Danskin mean, and do you get discounts at www.danskin.com?

    Danskin means "from Danzig," and, no, I don't get discount leotards, but the company did have to ask my dad whether he was going to sue them when they wanted to open a store in the same city as his business.

  11. dude can you imagine the job satisfaction you get from seeing literal human shit go in one end of a pipe and clean drinking water come out the other? my city has a cutting edge water treatment plant and tbh I'd work there

    in response to Also there's definitely no reason why people couldn't personally choose to spend more time and labor on sanitation than this bare minimum suggested if they wanted to. People dedicate their careers to being wastewater engineers in this world right now. If anything a program like you're suggesting would embolden more people to go into that or similar fields.

    people are freaking weird! there's this guy in an Errol Morris doc who's just 100% THRILLED that he gets to study naked mole rats. I promise there are people who think sewage treatment is interesting.

    like... let's just put the scat fetishists to work.

  12. this is getting out of hand, now there are two of them!

    in response to nice fallacy fallacy lol

    I'm seeing double! Four fallacies!

  14. Hello Mr. Innuendo,
    Libertarian here with feedback on your video on conservatism, I cannot speak to the conservative mindset as I am not a conservative, not white and most importantly not a US citizen, but in so far as libertarian policy and conservative policy merge, I feel the need to respond.

    A part of what you are missing is that in the same way democrats distrust the meritocracy of capitalism in dimensions of gender and race, libertarians and to an extent conservatives distrust the democratic model in its ability to elect effective leaders who truly work for the betterment of others, make the wisest decisions and do not attempt to bring power into themselves overtime. The alternate capitalist hierarchy is another division of power. I say this as a citizen of a small country that began as fairly democratic but over a 50 year period, increasing government market control, declining personal freedoms and increased internal and external stress, led to an extremely weak democracy where currently our prime minister and president are brothers, unpersecuted war criminals, steal money from the state, and put their family into various positions of power.

    From this position it does appear that equalizing society and shifting power over to the state, even with the best intentions, does simply lead to an empowered overbearing state.

    Also, you mentioned that conservatives believe that society will go into anarchy if the social order is not upheld, I don't think fear is the exact root of it. For me, it is simply that if someone is smarter, more creative, more disciplined, creates more value for others etc. They should be rewarded for that with greater influence on the world around them than people who are not creative, disciplined or intelligent etc etc. Then, reasonably, if those creative, intelligent, disciplined people have more influence, they will influence the world to be more like them and slowly the world improves. I think that's a bit more optimistic than a system driven by fear of some great chaos.

    it's interesting, because, from the first 2/3 or so of your commentary, I would say "you make some solid points, maybe the safest option is a stateless society," but then you return to hierarchy in the final third. because I would far sooner support anarchism than libertarianism.

    I have never seen any evidence that the people who succeed and gain power in a hierarchical system are the most creative/intelligent/disciplined. it is, consistently, only the ones who are best and manipulating the system. I also don't believe intelligence, creativity, or discipline are rare traits that only a small number of people will possess. the most incredible things society has created were done collectively, and the most powerful people tend to be those who contributed very little to those efforts but took all the credit.

    you describe your belief in meritocracy as optimistic, but you preceded it by talking about how many awful things happen when the wrong people are put on top. so I can't help but point out that your optimism is still undergirded with fear.

  15. Thoughts on moviebob?

    why, did he do something?

  16. Also there's definitely no reason why people couldn't personally choose to spend more time and labor on sanitation than this bare minimum suggested if they wanted to. People dedicate their careers to being wastewater engineers in this world right now. If anything a program like you're suggesting would embolden more people to go into that or similar fields.

    in response to Who's going to clean the septic tanks and work the fields and do all the other shit jobs in a post-capitalism anarcho-communist utopia?

  17. Different anon. I think the main confusion here is why everybody has to do a little of everything. Why can't this communist utopia exists with people who each primarily do one or two things society needs, rather than constantly train and retrain everyone to do everything on repeat?

    in response to I find it hard to conceive of a greater waste of time and resources for both teacher and student, then of training 150 million people to do a task that they don't want to learn/do and to have knowledge that they will only use once every 7 years. If we could only train a tiny fraction of people that then of the trained people trade their knowledge and time waitaminute

    people don't have to do a little bit of everything. and if someone wants to spend MORE time in the sewer than others they're welcome to. this whole argument is predicated on the idea that not enough people WANT to work in the sewers to keep them in service, in which case the work should be divvied up. most work isn't so unpleasant that nobody will do it.

  19. nice fallacy fallacy lol

    in response to nice ad hominem lol

    nice fallacy fallacy lol

  20. I find it hard to conceive of a greater waste of time and resources for both teacher and student, then of training 150 million people to do a task that they don't want to learn/do and to have knowledge that they will only use once every 7 years.

    If we could only train a tiny fraction of people that then of the trained people trade their knowledge and time waitaminute

    in response to Who's going to clean the septic tanks and work the fields and do all the other shit jobs in a post-capitalism anarcho-communist utopia?

    I don't know what to say to someone who thinks paying people poverty wages to clean shit for their entire lives isn't a waste

  21. As a secular atheist Jew, I sometimes feel disconnected from my identity because I don't believe in the religion. Which is a shame because I'm really proud of being Jewish. How do you deal with this problem? Is advocating equity and justice a way of practicing Judaism even if you aren't religious?

    I mean, I'm not Jewish, but to my understanding, Judaism has a greater tradition of secularism than just about any religion I know. You can be an atheist and still be a Jew to a degree that doesn't exist in any sect of Christianity.

  23. Polyamory Puns?

    if at first you don't succeed, try triad again

  24. I'm unclear on what the ad hominem had been? Looks to mw closer to "you're dumb because you're wrong" than other way around,,,

    in response to nice ad hominem lol

    people who declare "you've used a fallacy" as an entire argument seemingly think they're magic spells that win arguments

  25. When are YouTube folks gonna revisit the Daily Show and the Colbert Report as liberal political touchstones

    if you do it, I'll link it

  27. So you don't see any chance for leftists in elections?

    in response to That's been exactly my opinion on it since the whole thing started - with the added thoughts that just a few days before the whole thing exploded there had been some discussions about the Sanders campaign sending some emails slighting Warren a bit and the Warren campaign reacting - so it seems to me that media outlets finally had found a crack and worked to expand it - and I almost can't believe to this day how well it worked (and also there was some stuff about Sanders' heart attack a few days or weeks before or after, I don't recall) Which leads to: how is there to be any hope for a powerful political leftist movement when this absolute non-story started SO MUCH infighting which people are still rumbling about a year after?

    I think leftists can win elections, but I'm not convinced leftists can create a leftist system by way of electoral politics. ideally, progress would happen through direct action in concert with elected officials, but the former is going to do the lion's share of the work.

    happy to be proven wrong, though!

  28. I like some of your ideas but it's hard to respect you when you're clearly so uneducated on economics

    this is a fun sentence to type because you provide no new information but get to sound like you know what you're talking about

  29. In your opinion who’s worse: Trump or Robert Moses?

    too early to say. Robert Moses has a long, long legacy, with decades of awfulness built on what he started. it's too early to call how destructive Trumpism will be over the next 50 years.

  30. During each decade since the 60s, in which direction would you say America's political center has moved?

    in response to Would you still say you have a *relatively* positive opinion of politicans like Bernie Sanders for pushing the boundaries of mainstream American politics *relatively* much further left?

    this is one of those things where reducing politics to a unidirectional line just isn't that useful. society as a whole has moved left in many ways since the 60's. but liberal politicians have started fetishizing centrism in a way they didn't before Reagan. there are many material ways things have improved for minorities, but bigots have found all kinds of new ways to oppress them. I'm not trying to sum this all together to say "center has moved left/right." it's just not helpful.

  32. Who's going to clean the septic tanks and work the fields and do all the other shit jobs in a post-capitalism anarcho-communist utopia?

    in response to How do we build a society whose citizens do things because they feel doing those things is worthwhile instead of because doing the thing is profitable?

    there are ~58,500 sanitation workers in the US. there are there are ~157,500,000 workers in the US. this means sanitation work makes up ~0.04% of the workforce. if you train everyone in high school on how to do sanitation, and divvy the work up between the whole population, then each of us would have to do sanitation work for about one day every seven years.

    the fact that y'all think the true nightmare scenario is having to pick your own food and clean your own shit rather than paying someone poverty wages to pick EVERYONE'S food and clean EVERYONE'S shit is really showing your ass.

  34. Would you still say you have a *relatively* positive opinion of politicans like Bernie Sanders for pushing the boundaries of mainstream American politics *relatively* much further left?

    in response to I mean, not to say that either Warren or Sanders were perfect, but I really didn't like the road a lot of leftist publications went down where they'd say Bernie is practically the second coming of Jesus and Warren is a traitor and did kind of what you're describing about questioning someone's leftism for throwing a wrench in that narrative.

    I have a *complicated* opinion on what Sanders' effect on politics has been. I think he's a genuinely good politician who has said and done a lot of good things. He is probably the best candidate I've ever had the privilege of voting for. I think his brand of politics have done much to drag the American center towards the Left. But I also thing his popularity among leftists has draft the Left toward the center. I think he's done a lot to move people away from revolutionary politics and fixate on liberals with DSA endorsements. I think we should have a healthy skepticism of anyone who calls voting for reform a "revolution" and uses leftist language in support of a set of policies that are, if we're being honest, still to the right of Europe and even to the right of America in the 60's. But for the boldness of his healthcare plan - which I doubt Congress would've passed - there was nothing remotely leftist about his platform.

    Given the field at the time, it would've been foolish to vote for anybody else. But the lack of skepticism among leftists was distressing.

  35. Would you say it's also important to participate in electoral politics *at the very least* to keep fascist representatives in check at the same time?

    in response to That's been exactly my opinion on it since the whole thing started - with the added thoughts that just a few days before the whole thing exploded there had been some discussions about the Sanders campaign sending some emails slighting Warren a bit and the Warren campaign reacting - so it seems to me that media outlets finally had found a crack and worked to expand it - and I almost can't believe to this day how well it worked (and also there was some stuff about Sanders' heart attack a few days or weeks before or after, I don't recall) Which leads to: how is there to be any hope for a powerful political leftist movement when this absolute non-story started SO MUCH infighting which people are still rumbling about a year after?

    of course

  36. Soooooo, about the whole Chappelle vs Gadsby debacle, have you been keeping track? Do you have thoughts on what constitutes good or bad comedy?

    whether or not Cheppelle's comments are good or bad comedy is irrelevant to me. it is wrong to say transphobic things in any context. the fact that you can get some transphobes in the audience to laugh at it is irrelevant.

  37. Why can’t leftists attempt both electoral politics and direct action? Why must we cede the ground of governance to our opponents?

    in response to That's been exactly my opinion on it since the whole thing started - with the added thoughts that just a few days before the whole thing exploded there had been some discussions about the Sanders campaign sending some emails slighting Warren a bit and the Warren campaign reacting - so it seems to me that media outlets finally had found a crack and worked to expand it - and I almost can't believe to this day how well it worked (and also there was some stuff about Sanders' heart attack a few days or weeks before or after, I don't recall) Which leads to: how is there to be any hope for a powerful political leftist movement when this absolute non-story started SO MUCH infighting which people are still rumbling about a year after?

    I'm not saying don't vote. I yell at leftists all the time for saying we shouldn't vote. But we should treat elections like what they are: damage control. The idea that any leftist would get so caught up in the horse race that they're questioning someone's leftist based on WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE VOTING FOR A LIBERAL is nonsense.

  38. How do we build a society whose citizens do things because they feel doing those things is worthwhile instead of because doing the thing is profitable?

    we already live in that society. most of the important things we do in this life we don't do for profit. we don't get paid to fall in love, get married, or raise kids. we generate BILLIONS of hours of content on social media every day and maybe 0.01% of us get paid for it. the most valuable jobs in society - teaching, activism, sanitation, sheltering the unhoused, growing/preparing/serving food - pay the least. everyone working a 9-5 wishes they had more time to do the things they find meaningful.

    my parents raised me in the local community theatre; they worked desk jobs and spent every spare hour of their lives there. my dad directed shows and built sets and designed the lighting; my mom acted. my sister and I both acted, and sometimes worked crew. my senior year of high school, there wasn't a single show I wasn't onstage, backstage, or in the tech booth for. not a single person in the theatre got paid.

    the idea that we only do things to make profit is a lie told to us by the people who make the most. we don't work jobs for profit, we do it because, if we don't, we starve to death.

    the way to solve that is to eliminate profit.

  39. What is “No Nut November?”

    in response to So when and how early should it be?

    you can google it, but you might not like what you find

  40. Get any new games recently?

    just grabbed Huntdown because it looks like a really pretty Contra-like, but I haven't played it yet

  41. Why are people so obsessed with abstaining from eating nuts during the month of November?

    maybe they have an allergy

  42. That's been exactly my opinion on it since the whole thing started - with the added thoughts that just a few days before the whole thing exploded there had been some discussions about the Sanders campaign sending some emails slighting Warren a bit and the Warren campaign reacting - so it seems to me that media outlets finally had found a crack and worked to expand it - and I almost can't believe to this day how well it worked (and also there was some stuff about Sanders' heart attack a few days or weeks before or after, I don't recall)

    Which leads to: how is there to be any hope for a powerful political leftist movement when this absolute non-story started SO MUCH infighting which people are still rumbling about a year after?

    in response to I think that criticism of Warren originates not from a policy perspective, but rather from (whether it is true or not) political decisions considered to be a betrayal of Sanders (such as refusing to resign, and calling Sanders sexist at some point).

    I think we should point leftists away from electoral politics and toward direct action

  43. I mean, not to say that either Warren or Sanders were perfect, but I really didn't like the road a lot of leftist publications went down where they'd say Bernie is practically the second coming of Jesus and Warren is a traitor and did kind of what you're describing about questioning someone's leftism for throwing a wrench in that narrative.

    in response to Apologies if you get asked this question a lot but what do you think about the Nordic socio-economic model?

    yeah, same. don't get me wrong: by the end of the campaign, I was very disappointed in Warren. but the degree of vitriol for her is utterly unfounded. I keep getting in hot water for saying there's no substantive difference in the ideologies of Warren and Sanders; what people don't realize is that I'm not complimenting Warren when I say that.

  44. Do you think it would have been smart or dumb if Sanders had announced Warren as his VP candidate and Warren had chosen Sanders as her VP candidate at the same time

    you don't announce VPs until after you get the nomination

  45. So when and how early should it be?

    in response to No Nut November?

    mmm, maybe a No Nut Friday sometime in February, so long as we agree that any time after sundown doesn't count

  46. I think that criticism of Warren originates not from a policy perspective, but rather from (whether it is true or not) political decisions considered to be a betrayal of Sanders (such as refusing to resign, and calling Sanders sexist at some point).

    in response to Apologies if you get asked this question a lot but what do you think about the Nordic socio-economic model?

    she didn't call Sanders sexist, a campaigner leaked a story that Sanders had once told her he didn't think a woman could win the Presidency and, after being hounded by journalists for weeks, she confirmed it happened. both camps confirmed it did happen, though they disagreed on the phrasing. it was pretty clear Sanders meant "I worry the electorate is too sexist for a woman to win," and it's unclear whether Warren took it differently or understood what he meant but still found it (understandably) hurtful.

    people don't leap to "SHE CALLED SANDERS - AN OLD WHITE MAN - A SEXIST AND THAT CANNOT POSSIBLY BE TRUE SO LET'S CALL HER A SNAKE FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS" unless they've already made their mind up about someone.

  47. Thoughts on Noam Chomsky?

    I like how clearly he talks

  48. It's pretty dishonest that you live in one of the whitest cities in America

    53% white is nowhere near the whitest city in America

  49. No Nut November?

    too late

  52. Apologies if you get asked this question a lot but what do you think about the Nordic socio-economic model?

    I mean... the Nordic model is far superior to what we have in the States, but it's still capitalism. I'm in favor of social democratic policies as a means of improving lives in the short term, but I don't believe they should be the end goal. and some American leftists can be really hypocritical about social democracy: by any rational measure, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are both Nordic model social democrats, and, while I'd consider Sanders the more progressive of the two, the fact that he was held up as the icon of leftism - to the point where your leftism would be called into question if you criticized him AT ALL - while they considered her a liberal snake is frustrating as hell. there is no deep, substantive difference between their policy goals, both are just "nicer capitalism."

  53. I just saw you mention a desire to look at the Spanish Civil War, without ruining that video do you think you'd look at the Stalinist side or the Anarchist? The Catalan Commune's one of my special interests right now so I'd love to hear your thoughts in general.

    probably both? I dunno! the collaboration of anarchists and socialists, and the existence of a non-hierarchical army, is very interesting to me, and it's worth looking at the way these alliances can turn on each other as soon as a modicum of power is gained.

  55. Why do you think reactionaries will get a wake up call when they see that the world by and large does not agree with them? They will never accept that and will always invent a conspiracy as to why it’s not true.

    because I've researched it fairly intensively and that's typically what happens. yes, conspiracism is a way to continue denying reality, to keep insisting that they are, in fact, the normal ones, but the hardcore conspiracists are a small-but-loud contingent. the average reactionary abandons their ideology quickly when it starts to feel abnormal.

  57. I think a better explanation is the fear is not that Trump was wrong but that Trump was wrong AND liberals were RIGHT and if we were the only ones right about this then they have to listen to us when we talk and honestly consider our opinions and they REALLY don't want to do that

    in response to why do you think there was so much politicisation of masks and vaccines? i feel like "stay healthy" isnt really a very divisive issue, yet here we are

    there is an incredible power in the willingness to deny reality

  59. why do you think there was so much politicisation of masks and vaccines? i feel like "stay healthy" isnt really a very divisive issue, yet here we are

    because if masks and vaccines work then Trump was wrong when he did nothing and claimed it would go away on its own. that's it.

  60. Falcon Dair into Fair, amirite?

    depends on percentage, stage position, and what part of the combo you're in. dair can be a good opener, and I *think* (if I remember correctly) it combos into fair pretty well and low-to-medium percentages, but a higher percentages you might just go to knee. and if you're offstage, you might wanna go for a nipple spike and skip the follow-up entirely. falcon is great because there are so many options once you get something started!

  61. Have you listened to Against Me or Laura Jane Grace’s music? If so, what do you think of it? For that matter, do you recommend any transfem focused/authored media?

    Against me was modestly popular in my high school, but I don't think I ever listened to them. For transfemme media, I love listening to Sarah and the Safe Word and adored Charlie Jane Anders' The City in the Middle of the Night.

  62. Thinks on poly"gamy"? Rumor has it it has some odd implications now and again?

    the "odd implications" are Mormon sister-wives. I am not in favor of polygamy in the form of men having harems who are not allowed to date anyone else. but, like, it's not like the government saying "those relationships are not legally recognized" stops it from happening. and, as a polyamorous person. I don't like the government saying only one of my long-term relationships is valid, nor that my partners can't have valid relationships with their other partners.

  63. In your “The Card Says Moops” video, you touched on trolling conservatives and said that while it’s easy, it might cause them to kill someone. If you are somewhere with a comments section and a conservative comes on says something obnoxious, do you think it would be harmful to troll them back a little? Or is the old saying “Don’t feed the trolls” the best course of action?

    It depends. Mockery can be a useful tool. Reactionaries are DEEPLY concerned with being seen as "normal" - it's why they insist they are a "silent majority" and always refer to themselves as "real Americans" and assume every famous person they disagree with cheated their way to the top instead of being legitimately popular. If they get the sense that, outside of their echo chamber, the world at large not only disagrees with them but is LAUGHING at them? It can have a big effect.

    That said, understand that they are VERY fond of taking their anger out on whoever's at hand. Like, if you get gamer's mad about feminism, they may not attack YOU, but they may start dogpiling Anita Sarkeesian again just because she's the avatar of Feminism Ruining Games. A lot of people online talk about getting spikes in harassment for things they have nothing to do with, just because they're the person folks take their frustrations out on.

    So you have to play by ear. If you're dunking on someone, how upset do you think they're going to get? How wound up are they already? If you see any red flags, you might want to look through their post history and see if there's anything scary there. Or you might want to mock-and-block: make fun of them, give them enough time to see it, but then block them before they can escalate further.

    There aren't any rules that are 100% effective at all times. It's just a balancing act of trying to guess the likelihood that mocking them will have a positive effect (hard to assess) and the likelihood that they will react by attacking someone less privileged than you (even harder to assess). Myself, I'll still rip a reactionary apart from time to time, but I've gotten A LOT more judicious lately.

  65. The only problem is that many of these groups will inevitably have needs, demands and expectations that directly conflict with one another. The idea that all of these disparate could find some goldilocks zone of compromise sounds frankly utopian.

    in response to ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh "dictatorship of the proletariat," singular, seems to imply the continued existence of a single state within the territory currently governed by the United States, which imo is very definitely in tension with land back demands so long as the United States exists in some form or another, including a hypothetical so-called workers' state, you won't have returned all that was stolen

    okay but that's literally already true and we just say "fuck everyone but those in power"

    no, it won't be utopian, but it doesn't need to be. it just has to be a) better than the bullshit we're doing now, and b) easier for the group not getting their needs met to change things such that they can meet them. I don't see either of those things happening in any broad or sustainable ways under capitalism.

    I am not a utopian socialist. I don't believe leftism will cure all our problems. it will simply confront our problems more freely and honestly and let us address them with cooperation instead of competition. there will be compromises out the wazoo, but a compromise is better than "fuck you got mine."

  66. Look, whatever they want, just please don't make me move again. Moving sucks.

    in response to ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh "dictatorship of the proletariat," singular, seems to imply the continued existence of a single state within the territory currently governed by the United States, which imo is very definitely in tension with land back demands so long as the United States exists in some form or another, including a hypothetical so-called workers' state, you won't have returned all that was stolen

    it's not up to me, fam. but "let's not right a centuries-old wrong because it would be inconvenient to the colonizers" is exactly what we've been doing wrong.

  67. any recommendations on Desk Chairs

    get something ergonomic, sciatica SUCKS

  68. Why is religion bad from a Marxist perspective? Answer using quotes from Marx along with your own words.

    it's not. "religion is the opiate of the masses" was, in Marx's time, a commendation. opiates were used as painkillers. he was religion is what made life under capitalism bearable.

  69. I'm a Nazi. What would happen to me after the revolution?

    historically? y'all take your swastikas off, repent everything you've done, and squeal on your friends.

  70. Thoughts on walruses?

    STRONGLY IN FAVOR

  71. Is Queen Elizabeth II about to die?

    I mean, she's 95. She's always near death.

  72. How do you feel about spoilers for media? Do you feel that it has ever disrupted your ability to enjoy a piece of fiction, or do you think people take it too seriously? Do you ever actively make efforts to avoid spoilers? Have there been any pieces of media you don't intend to consume for the first time anymore because you've been spoiled for them?

    I have never had difficulty avoiding spoilers for media I don't want to be spoiled on, so I think the weird fixation with spoilers is silly. People get mad at me for spoiling games and movies when I make video essays. Like, buddy, if you don't want spoilers, don't watch video essays on movies you haven't seen! You can survive a couple weeks without #content until you've seen it, it's not like these tweets and videos and TikToks are going anywhere. Mute a couple words in your feed and get on with your life.

  73. What progressive or leftist political activists do you recommend people seek advice or inspiration from?

    me

  74. ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    "dictatorship of the proletariat," singular, seems to imply the continued existence of a single state within the territory currently governed by the United States, which imo is very definitely in tension with land back demands

    so long as the United States exists in some form or another, including a hypothetical so-called workers' state, you won't have returned all that was stolen

    in response to Isn’t there tension between a dictatorship of the proletariat and achieving the goals of returning all indigenous land to natives?

    any political entity that gains control of the US without the consent and cooperation of Native Americans is, definitionally, not a dictatorship of the proletariat, because Native Americans are of the proletariat.

    this is not an insurmountable tension if you treat it as a problem to be solved. the question is, DO Indigenous Peoples want a revolution of the proletariat, and would they be willing to share their land with the rest of the American proles if it meant deposing the existing power structure? what would their terms of participation be? Natives are not a monolith, so there might be different terms from different tribes. maybe some land is considered public and some is considered to belong to certain tribes, and there is a redistribution of the non-Native population. or maybe the idea of "owning land" is radically reconceived once Native Americans have a say in the discussion.

    this is what leftism *is*. Native Americans won't be the only group with their own needs, demands, and expectations, nor the only one with a massive debt owed to them by the colonizers (hello, descendants of slaves, Chinese railworkers, and interned Japanese). this is how communal efforts work. we take seriously how other members of the proletariat want to be treated and what their needs are, and try to find a way of meeting those needs within the possibility space available to us. because we *do not have* a dictatorship of the proletariat without them. everything is negotiated, everything is a collaborative.

    frankly, I don't see reparations being made to *anyone* without this kind of radical change.

  75. You get to overturn one legal precendent of your choosing, how confident you are that you won't screw something up bad?

    100% confident, because it would be one of those recent ones like Citizens United or the erosion of abortion rights, and we know damn well what the country looked like before those rulings.

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