See, you WILL become an evil SJW, resistance is futile!Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed
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- Sep 2006
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- Moorhead, MN, USA
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See, you WILL become an evil SJW, resistance is futile!
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.
-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism
Not really, I just have Arab friends. I reserve the right to be close-minded, bigoted, and reactionary whenever I chose to be.See, you WILL become an evil SJW, resistance is futile!
Check my privilege? I did, it's still there.
They can be. The Soviet ruling class were conservatives and at least claimed to be Marxists-Leninists, which is a philosophy usually considered to be on the Left.
Speaking as a possible "sand nagger" myself (I'm not entirely sure what the criteria are) ...
In light of recent discussions about safe spaces and secret fb groups, I think people should be allowed to spew whatever crap like that they want. At least then you know what you're dealing with.
That said, I also think people should be allowed to call those folks a cunt in return.
Nobody ever got to a single truth without talking nonsense fourteen times first.
- Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
Free speech all around.
Exactly!Free speech all around.
As long as it doesn't escalate into threats of physical violence, stalking, etc, it's all good.
Nobody ever got to a single truth without talking nonsense fourteen times first.
- Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
I'm not either. A Bedouin termagant?
Too oblique. A silica shrew?
My "rug back" tells of my own "sand nagger" ancestors! We're talking a Saddam-like back, LOL!Speaking as a possible "sand nagger" myself (I'm not entirely sure what the criteria are) ...
In light of recent discussions about safe spaces and secret fb groups, I think people should be allowed to spew whatever crap like that they want. At least then you know what you're dealing with.
That said, I also think people should be allowed to call those folks a cunt in return.
Agreed on both counts. Trying to stifle views, even if they are bigoted, offensive, or unflattering, does not make those views go away but apparently this is beyond the ability of many special snowflakes to handle today.In light of recent discussions about safe spaces and secret fb groups, I think people should be allowed to spew whatever crap like that they want. At least then you know what you're dealing with. That said, I also think people should be allowed to call those folks a cunt in return.
I contend that it's (yet again) govt that creates an environment where corporations can become dangerous. The claim is that govt regulates; but what actually happens is regulatory capture, barriers to entry, and perverse incentives. So basically I agree with you.
1966|Gen-X|INTJ
No, it's not gov't that creates an environment where corporations can become dangerous. It would help if people learn history. How did this start? Business got a free hand after the aristocratic heads were chopped off or otherwise declawed. Hard times in satanic mills followed. Then the robber barons and monopolies. Only with the progressive movement did government get involved-- to restrain the robber barons. They did, very well; which resulted in the creation of a middle class society for a while. It is amazing for a boomer like me to realize that middle class America only existed for 40 years. Since then, it's been open season on the people again thanks to the Reaganoids. The middle class needs to be re-created now, and that means action by a government controlled by the people and serving the people, not corrupt corporations. That means activism by the people, which is the only way to achieve this.
There is no need for the USA to be like Nigeria. But that means the people have to be involved. Nigeria has embarked on a reform path. Will we become more corrupt than Nigeria? We will, IF we keep electing Republicans on the poor excuse that we can never trust Democrats or the Left, and that voting and activism don't matter.
I agree that people should learn history. Private land ownership was progressive for it's time, replacing feudalism. Private ownership of land lead to self-ownership of work. And we can STILL own our work if we choose to. It's personal greed that makes the decision to join the corporate armies so appealing. You can join the corp, work very little, make money, and then go home and watch television. All you have to give in return is your time (which is your life). Perfect solution for a country of pitiful robots. Others take the harder road and create their own small companies, in the face of govt hostility.
I suppose I agree that a middle class needs to be recreated. I believe what you mean is that we now have a "barbell" culture...large number of poor, large number of wealthy (depending of definition) and the fewer middle. Now of course you have to ask...which direction did those in the middle go? did they join the lower classes or did they join the nouveau riche. No idea what the ratios are there but it would be interesting to know. I suspect that upper-middle moved up due to valuing early education, while the lower-middle went down, due to valuing lotto tickets, porn, and coors lite. I personally have no desire to be middle class, because it usually means working for someone else...a foolish thing to be doing. Now if you mean middle class business owner, then sure I'd agree that type of middle class is desirable!
1966|Gen-X|INTJ
You still have to assign primary and secondary blame. If you see the problem as regulatory capture, then the active players are in the private sphere and the passive player is "the public" or government.
Both are guilty, but one is guilty of more than the other.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.
Feudalism was private ownership of land by the few, who worked the land in exchange for permission to live there and protection from the other owners and brigands.
And market hostility. The corporations try to limit competition from new entrants. But it's still possible for those who have the skills and the resources.Private ownership of land led to self-ownership of work. And we can STILL own our work if we choose to. It's personal greed that makes the decision to join the corporate armies so appealing. You can join the corp, work very little, make money, and then go home and watch television. All you have to give in return is your time (which is your life). Perfect solution for a country of pitiful robots. Others take the harder road and create their own small companies, in the face of govt hostility.
I don't see that private ownership of land led to self-ownership of work. The former are peasants.
Sure it's desirable, although it's not a lifestyle we can impose on those who would rather work for others. I suspect that the lower class has grown faster than the upper class, since the latter really refers to the upper 1%, but some claim that some folks have become more wealthy in this barbell or hourglass society.I suppose I agree that a middle class needs to be recreated. I believe what you mean is that we now have a "barbell" culture...large number of poor, large number of wealthy (depending of definition) and the fewer middle. Now of course you have to ask...which direction did those in the middle go? did they join the lower classes or did they join the nouveau riche. No idea what the ratios are there but it would be interesting to know. I suspect that upper-middle moved up due to valuing early education, while the lower-middle went down, due to valuing lotto tickets, porn, and coors lite. I personally have no desire to be middle class, because it usually means working for someone else...a foolish thing to be doing. Now if you mean middle class business owner, then sure I'd agree that type of middle class is desirable!
I think what we have today is a symbiotic / parasitic relationship with the two feeding off of each other, generally in a bad way. Yes, I think we agree, at least on a lot of principles.
19 dead and 101 wounded so far for 2016 (that's 12 days!) in the Liberal bastion of enlightenment known as Obama's gun-free Chicago.
1966|Gen-X|INTJ
And I agreed with your original statement before Dboy's reply.
1. What on earth is a "rug back" ?
2.Yeah, I don't know what that means as well. 23and me has this:
"Broadly Middle Eastern & North African 0.2%". OK, there's lots of sand there, but I don't think I'm a nag.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
A silicon shrew is a troller.
Anywhoooo, back to "The Future". I thought this prediction by Hedges was very much on target. America is living in an illusion of freedom. You are free...to do what they tell you. Now for most Americans, perhaps that's enough. They are hypnotized by fake news and porn. Most have no idea what a good film can be, so they watch crap movies like "Ted 2". They have fake elections for fake candidates, to assert their fake freedoms. But there is a truth: that which cannot go on forever will eventually stop.
Here's "The Future", through the the lens of Chris Hedges:
"No vote we cast will alter the configurations of the corporate state. The wars will go on. Our national resources will continue to be diverted to militarism. The corporate fleecing of the country will get worse. Poor people of color will still be gunned down by militarized police in our streets. The eradication of our civil liberties will accelerate. The economic misery inflicted on over half the population will expand. Our environment will be ruthlessly exploited by fossil fuel and animal agriculture corporations and we will careen toward ecological collapse. We are “free” only as long as we play our assigned parts. Once we call out power for what it is, once we assert our rights and resist, the chimera of freedom will vanish. The iron fist of the most sophisticated security and surveillance apparatus in human history will assert itself with a terrifying fury."
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_illusion_of_freedom_20151227
1966|Gen-X|INTJ
Nobody ever said Chicago was gun- or violence-free. Especially those of us who live here and have lived here for years. There has been intense gang-violence and drug-war violence, brought to us by Rahm-the-douche's policies.
Chicago sure as hell is NOT a "liberal bastion of emlightenment." Never has been. It's a Dem town, but that doesn't mean it's liberal.
Those are good points. I think voting has had minimal results over the years. However, there have been some results when the people have decided to vote correctly. We saw poverty reduced and rights expand during the sixties and seventies, because the people voted Democratic. The air and water got cleaner and toxics were cleaned up, thanks to the peoples' activism and votes in the 1970s. Obama has put into effect regulations on power plants and auto emissions that will reduce pollution and global warming if they are kept in place; that is, if the people vote, and vote correctly. When Democrats are in office, economic boosts are given to the people such as earned income credits, and the middle class expands; when Republicans are in office, minimum wages are flat and income for average Americans falls. Government policies make a difference.
So incremental improvement happens when the people vote correctly; regression and inequality happens when they don't. But voting and policy changes depend on activism by the people. Earth Day April 22 1970 was the greatest demonstration ever, and anti-war protests ended the War in Vietnam. Civil rights protests helped make the Democrats act, and rights have expanded for women and gays because they rose up and demanded them. The black rights matter movement is forcing Democratic officials to investigate and arrest more police for misconduct, although there's a long way to go in this regard.
But violent revolution is the least likely way for progress to happen. The iron fist of the most sophisticated security and surveillance apparatus and the greatest military in human history will assert itself with a terrifying fury to put down any such violent revolution. That route is just like a lot of the loud-noise, cynical "music" that many younger people like today; sound and fury without substance; mere fruitless, suicidal self-destruction. Frustration acted out to no avail.
There IS NO "correctly"...that's the whole point. You are "free" to vote for whichever establishment candidate they offer you. Elections are an illusion..a sham. The point of elections is for the population to feel like they are included in the process, when they are actually not. You can get buy-in, with no political effort. If you control the choices, you control the outcome. And if you are controlling outcomes, then democracy is nothing but a sad joke played on people who believe they are free.
Now eventually, even the stupid will figure that out. Sure, most will not take up arms just-like-that. What you will begin to see is passive non-compliance, cynicism, holding back of full work effort, rise of black markets, decline in voting, "tuning out" by many. --Oh wait, we already do. And you'll see those who can, begin to spend more of their time overseas. Not only will people take "vacations", so will their money; which will be stored at places like the Singapore Freeport. ---Oh wait, we already see that too. AND you will see a very small percent...perhaps III%, begin to do what must be done in order to create a better future. Most will be passive idiots...just like they were during the First American Revolution.
1966|Gen-X|INTJ
