Random political thought thread.

[Virtual ghost]

Pence won’t endorse Trump

 

[Virtual ghost]

Republicans are worried as the Ohio Senate primary breaks out into an all-out brawl


Divisive primaries always bring problems into the general election.

Trump rallies for Moreno during final days of heated Ohio Senate GOP primary

In other words this is the race that is quite likely to determine the control of the senate in November.

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Is it weird to be a leftist with a cynical/pessimistic attitude towards human nature/society?

 

[SensEye]

Is it weird to be a leftist with a cynical/pessimistic attitude towards human nature/society?

I would say yes. If one thinks the general populace are idiots (an accurate assessment in my view) one usually doesn't think incompetence should be rewarded. Yet free handouts are generally the bastion of the left.

 

[The Cat]

Is it weird to be a leftist with a cynical/pessimistic attitude towards human nature/society?

Not Online for sure. Easiest thing to manipulate in the world apart from an alt righter with a book allergy.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I would say yes. If one thinks the general populace are idiots (an accurate assessment in my view) one usually doesn't think incompetence should be rewarded. Yet free handouts are generally the bastion of the left.

There are a few reasons I can think of off the top of my head that would explain how someone with a dim view of people could believe in handouts.

1. People deserve security by virtue of being people, and their competence has nothing to do with it. There should be a social basis for security by something other than the boom and bust of the market.
2. Disability shouldn't be regarded as equivalent to a crime (akin to vagrancy) simply because it might come into question with capitalist notions of productivity.
3. Society is better off if people have handouts; for instance, if they have a steady income, it is probably less likely that they will rob others.
4. An extension of the above: this would probably reduce extremism. I have a cousin who I think is a smart guy, but he got into InfoWars and RT and we can all imagine what happened next. I think if my cousin had a stipend, maybe he'd stop blaming everything on Mexicans and perhaps not even vote for Donald Trump at all.

Not Online for sure. Easiest thing to manipulate in the world apart from an alt righter with a book allergy.

People can also be manipulated by optimism and upbeat feelings.

I'd say the alt-righters are optimists in some sense. Driven by hate, probably, but I imagine they think the world they want to see is a likely possibility. I doubt they are cynics in either sense of the word.

My emotional constitution is not usually driven by optimism. It has happened to me at times, but it often means something else is wrong (trust me, it's not good). I also don't want to take the leap of faith and land on the other side surrounded by bags of flaming turds instead of the Holy Grail.

Sometimes, I have encountered a compelling individual or vision that has given me positive feelings. For instance, I related to "not me, us". I liked the implication of individuals at state, city, and local levels (perhaps even outside of government) being involved in change. I liked the deemphasis of "me"; this wasn't about venerating a charismatic figure. I wish I could have been in my early twenties for that; it would have been great.

 

[The Cat]

There are a few reasons I can think of off the top of my head that would explain how someone with a dim view of people could believe in handouts.

1. People deserve security by virtue of being people, and their competence has nothing to do with it. There should be a social basis for security by something other than the boom and bust of the market.
2. Disability shouldn't be regarded as equivalent to a crime simply because it might come into question with capitalist notions of productivity.
3. Society is better off if people have handouts; for instance, if they have a steady income, it is probably less likely that they will rob others.
4. An extension of the above: this would probably reduce extremism. I have a cousin who I think is a smart guy, but he got into InfoWars and RT and we can all imagine what happened next. I think if my cousin had a stipend, maybe he'd stop blaming everything on Mexicans and perhaps not even vote for Donald Trump at all.

People can also be manipulated by optimism and upbeat feelings.

I'd say the alt-righters are optimists in some sense. Driven by hate, probably, but I imagine they think the world they want to see is a likely possibility. I doubt they are cynics in either sense of the word.

My emotional constitution is not usually driven by optimism. It has happened to me at times, but it often means something else is wrong (trust me, it's not good). I also don't want to take the leap of faith and land on the other side surrounded by bags of flaming turds instead of the Holy Grail.

Sometimes, I have encountered a compelling individual or vision that has given me positive feelings. For instance, I related to "not me, us". I liked the implication of individuals at state, city, and local levels (perhaps even outside of government) being involved in change. I liked the deemphasis of "me"; this wasn't about venerating a charismatic figure. I wish I could have been in my early twenties for that; it would have been great.

Us implies the communal existence with other humans. No man is an island. No Island is an island either, everything is connected to everything else.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Us implies the communal existence with other humans. No man is an island. No Island is an island either, everything is connected to everything else.

First, other than Beau, what do you suggest I should read, write or listen to?

I'm afraid of people. Why shouldn't I be? I think people don't learn from history, because they always think they are "exceptional" in some way and have special norms that mean bad things can't happen. This is a fiction to make people feel better about themselves; it has nothing to do with reality. Any country can become tyrannical and any country can become genocidal, given the right circumstances. I already know that the average American would do nothing in the face of injustice, which means they are exactly the same as the average German in the 30s and 40s. If Trump put Mexicans into concentration camps, most Americans wouldn't care.

I am not afraid of people to the extent of cutting off all contact with them. I make friendships (if only a few). I hold the elevator door open for people. Someone taught me once that sometimes it's a good idea to give other people a chance, and they were right. This has made me more willing to reach out to others. I have learned that perhaps things could be different, and I have appreciated the lesson.

This suggests a loophole here. Yes, people are terrible. Yes, society is terrible. But maybe it doesn't have to be. Maybe we actually could become better. The challenge is that most people are intransigent with regards to thinking about these issues, and this is where I get stuck. People prefer to keep things as they are as long as they still have the have freedom to drink a liter of Sprite every day. This is not just Republicans, many Democrats are like this as well.

 

[The Cat]

First, other than Beau, what do you suggest I should read, write or listen to?

I'm afraid of people. Why shouldn't I be? I think people don't learn from history, because they always think they are "exceptional" in some way and have special norms that mean bad things can't happen. This is a fiction to make people feel better about themselves; it has nothing to do with reality. Any country can become tyrannical and any country can become genocidal, given the right circumstances. I already know that the average American would do nothing in the face of injustice, which means they are exactly the same as the average German in the 30s and 40s. If Trump put Mexicans into concentration camps, most Americans wouldn't care.

I am not afraid of people to the extent of cutting off all contact with them. I make friendships (if only a few). I hold the elevator door open for people. Someone taught me once that sometimes it's a good idea to give other people a chance, and they were right. This has made me more willing to reach out to others. I have learned that perhaps things could be different, and I have appreciated the lesson.

This suggests a loophole here. Yes, people are terrible. Yes, society is terrible. But maybe it doesn't have to be. Maybe we actually could become better. The challenge is that most people are intransigent with regards to thinking about these issues, and this is where I get stuck. People prefer to keep things as they are as long as they still have the have freedom to drink a liter of Sprite every day. This is not just Republicans, many Democrats are like this as well.

I have a healthy respect for people, like everything else in nature any number of things can go awry and they'll turn on you and eat you. That being said I'm restless in social situations and I always expect some shit to pop off because wrong place wrong time is coming to represent more places and times than I enjoy personally, but these are...interesting times.

People for the most part aren't terrible. They're just desperate. People do terribly dramatic things when they're desperate. The human brain likes patterns and people take time to adjust to things. Otherwise they tend to panic. There is on this side of life, no accounting for taste. Caterpillars eat a lot of figurative shit on their way to the chrysalis, so what can you do? Just relax with an ice cold beer my guy, because you might as well y'know? Don't get so caught up in the mythical land of should that you cant find a place in the keystone world, where time only moves in one direction and the world is moving on.

As to what to read, watch, or listen to, Get your Square pants Patrick, because it's time to be a Sponge. The world is a library my friend. Study Religion, Spirituality, Humanities, Mythology, history, and philosophy. Psychology if you like to people watch. The trick is to not miss the forest for the trees. There's lots of stuff out there, too much to just ramble off a list. Read everything you can fiction and non, all of it will give you more perspective and at the end of the day, the wider the perspective, the more you can see for yourself. Given that this life is a scavenger hunt in a labyrinth, I'll tell you this, in any quest you undertake when you go a'seekin' You tend to find what you search for. So my prodigiously perspicatious parakeet pilgrim...What makes you seek the Tower? So to speak? Sometimes what you hope to find and why your searching plays a part in what you find to study pon the way...in other words. Please state the desired outcome of your research, and I'm certain we can find you some touchstones that you find speak to you, because at the end of the day, the external has to get past the guard of the internal. But for now Ive had five hours of sleep in the last 48 and the last thing I ate was spicy pickle slices before noon, so I bid you good evening for now Jules of House Vanderbeek. I await your reply, and remain as always complicatedly yours, RF.

 

[Virtual ghost]

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

 

[Virtual ghost]

What the IVF fight means for the battle for control of Congress

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

It also shows that the Republicans aren't screwing around. We know what to expect if they win the White House.

 

[Virtual ghost]

France’s war on woke, from the salons to the cinemas

 

[Virtual ghost]

First human case of avian flu in Texas raises alarm

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I have a healthy respect for people, like everything else in nature any number of things can go awry and they'll turn on you and eat you. That being said I'm restless in social situations and I always expect some shit to pop off because wrong place wrong time is coming to represent more places and times than I enjoy personally, but these are...interesting times.

People for the most part aren't terrible. They're just desperate. People do terribly dramatic things when they're desperate. The human brain likes patterns and people take time to adjust to things. Otherwise they tend to panic. There is on this side of life, no accounting for taste. Caterpillars eat a lot of figurative shit on their way to the chrysalis, so what can you do? Just relax with an ice cold beer my guy, because you might as well y'know? Don't get so caught up in the mythical land of should that you cant find a place in the keystone world, where time only moves in one direction and the world is moving on.

As to what to read, watch, or listen to, Get your Square pants Patrick, because it's time to be a Sponge. The world is a library my friend. Study Religion, Spirituality, Humanities, Mythology, history, and philosophy. Psychology if you like to people watch. The trick is to not miss the forest for the trees. There's lots of stuff out there, too much to just ramble off a list. Read everything you can fiction and non, all of it will give you more perspective and at the end of the day, the wider the perspective, the more you can see for yourself. Given that this life is a scavenger hunt in a labyrinth, I'll tell you this, in any quest you undertake when you go a'seekin' You tend to find what you search for. So my prodigiously perspicatious parakeet pilgrim...What makes you seek the Tower? So to speak? Sometimes what you hope to find and why your searching plays a part in what you find to study pon the way...in other words. Please state the desired outcome of your research, and I'm certain we can find you some touchstones that you find speak to you, because at the end of the day, the external has to get past the guard of the internal. But for now Ive had five hours of sleep in the last 48 and the last thing I ate was spicy pickle slices before noon, so I bid you good evening for now Jules of House Vanderbeek. I await your reply, and remain as always complicatedly yours, RF.

I would like to be able to devise powerful protections against black magic. The archives are incomplete. What I call "black magic", could also be described as "social wizardry." There are
many manifestations, but it is best summarized as the ability to command the attention of the crowd, and direct others where desired. It's using words to turn people against other people, or for just attacking them outright.

It doesn't have to be large scale, either; it could be on a web forum, or at a workplace.

The other thing I'd like to find is love, but that is even harder to find.

 

[The Cat]

I would like to be able to devise powerful protections against black magic. The archives are incomplete. What I call "black magic", could also be described as "social wizardry." There are
many manifestations, but it is best summarized as the ability to command the attention of the crowd, and direct others where desired. It's using words to turn people against other people, or for just attacking them outright.

It doesn't have to be large scale, either; it could be on a web forum, or at a workplace.

The other thing I'd like to find is love, but that is even harder to find.

I am the entertainer
And I know just where I stand
Another serenader
And another long-haired band
Today I am your champion
I may have won your hearts
But I know the game, you'll forget my name
And I won't be here in another year
If I don't stay on the charts, oh.

What you call social wizardry is just charisma unchained without proper perspective or due bounds. Remember that every crowd is just an audience without a director.

Never forget that adults are still just a bunch of children who got lucky. Understand this, and you begin to understand how we got here.​

Finding love is one of those things that gets easier to do the more of it you put out there. Relationships of any depth are a lot of work. More work if everyone is out for themselves.