ALL HAIL PRESIDENT TRUMP

Someone suggested I could make a lot more money on my farm by training cows and goats to be hugged. I said, nah, I’d rather just feed people.

"

CanHasPants wrote:

Someone suggested I could make a lot more money on my farm by training cows and goats to be hugged. I said, nah, I’d rather just feed people.

So, somebody suggested that you pimp out your livestock for the embraces of others? That's just cowstitution, man! ='[.]'=

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

It's not like Trump and Trump supporters never do this. Consider Mike Cernovich's recent and successful charge to get Guardians of the Galaxy director and anti-Trumper James Gunn fired for dozens of "pedophile" tweets, utilizing by an army of politically conservative meme farmers. This is a clear example of right-wingers using SJW tactics against a left-winger. Is this a horrible thing in your eyes, or justice?

Medusa's Mirror - the right is now using Saul Alinsky's rules against the left. The biggest difference however, is using it in ways that still tend to be more moral. The elites of the left find racism more concerning than pedophilia. They find deporting someone for illegal immigration more worrisome than whether that person has raped, killed or committed violent crime. In any case, using a tactic is not the same as having the same goals. Tribalism isn't a tactic, it's a goal, part of collectivism/socialism - where the group needs outweigh consideration of the individuals.

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

Also, you're getting annoyed at a Japanese citizen for "finding virtues in his conquerers habits." First, he's a very distant observer; radical leftism doesn't have that kind of influence on Japanese politics. Second, emulating the winner is part of their culture, and not illogically so: if you lose, there must be something the winner is doing better.

Winning you say? What was the biggest prize? The presidency. Did they win or lose with their tactic? He'd do far better to emulate Trump than losing leftists.

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

When was this? If you ask me, political identity has always been a thing

To a lesser degree, yes. The civil war gave it a boost. Post WWII it got a significant organized boost and some national cohesion. The 1960's saw some concerted effort both to infiltrate the govt and to tear it down via anti Vietnam identity. Regan's dominance put a lot of fear into the DNC/Socialists that their days might be numbered, and that's when they began serious efforts to stack the schools with leftist teachers. The Contract with America's success (in terms of wining back Congressional seats) lit a fire under the DNC to begin finding new ways to demonize the GOP - which led to an increasing use of conservative Christians as the demons. Obama's time in office was a catalyst in which the govt itself began persecuting and prosecuting conservative groups. (The FBI's collusion with the SPLC is the latest example)

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

Also, what do you think of this if libertarianism is supposedly far-right?

https://www.politicalcompass.org

Is "authoritarian right" a contradiction in terms? What about "libertarian left?"

The Blue Corner and the Green Corner are artificial constructs. There are people that hold conflicting views, but being "right" is anti-authoritarian. The only authority is divine in nature. Hence, the following of some rules which leftists find stifling. The strong stance against abortion is prevalent amongst libertarians, for instance, when they would have the government not legislate anything else on their bodies.

The appeal to the divine nature - whether Judeo-Christian or Deist is where the "right" found and expanded freedom in the first place - As the Catholic Church fought with the various Monarchies for power - both had to appeal to divine authority, and increasingly that authority was rooted in the "goodness" or "virtue" of the person, or directly from God. The people found they could more rightfully claim that authority themselves.

Our Declaration of Independence echoes this cry for liberty based on divine authority:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

(Here again, you have the sole source of authority, and the sole source of liberty)


"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

The duty to abolish destructive government - THAT is the FAR Right. It is the end of a bad government, and the time to create a new safer government that values what the original did.

The leftists are terrified that if they pushed too far left, the people would overthrow the government. They would rather see the US destroyed like Venezuela. The founding fathers knew government was not the goal, but a tool for the people. A necessary evil, that at times would have to be eliminated like a pet with rabies.

We haven't reached that stage yet, but we were headed that way with more Obama and Clintonesque style government.

"

MrSmiley21 wrote:

Gonna have to put my 2 cents in on individualism vs collectivism.

Either one can be good, or bad, to some degree. Extremes of either are equally bad, IMO.

I've no disagreement with that. It is a matter of finding the balancing points for various things that is difficult. Sitting down and examining what has worked and hasn't worked and why is the starting point. Until we can get our elected leaders to actually discuss things based on their actual merits, we will continue to have mud slinging fests instead of progress.

IQ means nothing. Like edison said 1% inspiration 99% perspiration. OK, next to nothing ringing in at 1%.

Oldest story in the book is unclaimed genius. Prisons and skid row full of them. Marlin Brando made a movie summed up as "I coulda been a contender"

Real problem is left whether smart or stupid wants you to perspire for them. No thanks.

"

MrSmiley21 wrote:

Report: US Therapists See Increase in Patients With 'Trump Anxiety Disorder'

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/07/29/us-therapists-see-increase-patients-trump-anxiety-disorder

"

Therapists say there's been a rise in anxiety stemming from the country's politics, and it is being called "Trump Anxiety Disorder."

A report from CBC News in Canada says that since President Trump was elected, mental health professionals in the United States have seen an increase in patients whose stress has come from politics.

A prevalent "symptom" of the "disorder" is feeling as though the world is going to end.

Aw, what a shame. These poor little snowflakes should find some therapy animals, and coloring books.

Back in the day there used to be a casual encounters craigs list...I played a bit in my teens and when I went into bathrooms of liberal chicks was full of meds... Long story short - it's not trump - they need them.

I wonder why all that 'leftism that is ruining America' used to build Finland such a nice country during the cold war era. In fact, now it seems government here is trying to achieve everything via markets, even if it isn't truly feasible. Funny thing is, all the experts have pretty much turned against government plans on setting up market-based health care. Nobody up there is listening to any evidence-based reason. Too bad.

So much sadness. I'd put a link to an american (!) paper which compared US health care with UK central-planned version to illustrate specifically what I mean here, but last time posting an external link at the forums resulted in locking my forum account. I wonder how many people actually read peer-reviewed papers on such issues and how many just rely on their gut feeling.

So tell me: how can there be two completely contrary perceptions on what is going wrong in politics at macro level? To me it seems west learnt all the wrong lessons when Soviet Union fell apart. But it's not the Soviet Union that is defining western values -or lack of values- post cold war. It's the US. This to me is part of the conundrum. What was supposed to be the world leader is failing ideologically after its grand rival, because there was no ideology that could be put to practice. People are left with political delusion. Many will think: if the other side stepped aside, the right ideology would triumph. And there is your recipe to a disaster.

I don't believe there is any way to make blind people see their political blindness. Homo Sapiens didn't quite make past such point in their history yet, even if our specimen masterfully convinced itself of its mental capabilities. You know, they did find out a dunning-krueger effect, which basically translates to simple people not knowing they are simple themselves. It is an epistemological question without a pragmatically sound answer.

"

DalaiLama wrote:

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

https://www.politicalcompass.org

Is "authoritarian right" a contradiction in terms? What about "libertarian left?"

The Blue Corner and the Green Corner are artificial constructs. There are people that hold conflicting views, but being "right" is anti-authoritarian. The only authority is divine in nature.

You're simply abusing the language. "Authoritarian" and "left" are not synonymous; neither are "libertarian" and "right."

"

DalaiLama wrote:

The strong stance against abortion is prevalent amongst libertarians, for instance, when they would have the government not legislate anything else on their bodies.

Prevalent? Is this an example of you using a 40% survey result as evidence for consensus?

The most popular form of libertarianism these days is anarchocapitalism. If I survey anarchocapitalists whether the government should forbid abortions, you and I both know the vast majority opinion will be "no, they shouldn't." I think many, perhaps most, would be opposed to the practice, but they wouldn't be inclined to force that decision on others, because that would contradict their ideology. Generally, libertarians are pro-choice even if they're privately anti-abortion.

Which brings me to my main point. If you truly believe that using the threat of violence to influence behavior is always wrong, if you believe in true lawlessness, then you don't believe in government pushing any particular agenda. You can't be pro-abortion or anti-abortion under such conditions. You can't be pro-immigration or anti-immigration. You can't even be anti-theft, because self-defense against theft requires the credible threat of violence against thieves -- that is, a law against theft.

Libertarianism taken to its purest form is an infinitely permissive pacifism and thus the purest form of fencesitting centrism possible.

Not that I'm strawmanning any mainstream libertarian group as such ultrapacifists. The "anarcho-"capitalist argument for personal self-defense implies individual sovereignty, and a fair number of libertarians support laws against abortion. I'm just pointing out that they're walking away from the purest forms of their ideology when they do so. As they should.

So yes, there is an area that is logically inconsistent on that Political Compass chart, but it's not as simple as two whole quadrants. Instead, draw a line from the bottom center (where Libertarian Left meets Libertarian Right) to the top left corner of the chart; then draw another from the bottom center to the top right corner, making a V. Anything below those lines is not feasible, because it expects a certain degree of social leftism or rightism without the requisite government power to enforce such conditions.

"

MrSmiley21 wrote:

Gonna have to put my 2 cents in on individualism vs collectivism.

Either one can be good, or bad, to some degree. Extremes of either are equally bad, IMO.

Hypothetical here, suppose I'm in a guild, and don't ever share anything with other members, "because they're supposed to earn their own shit and make their own way", and I'm gonna just vendor/delete stuff for orb fractions, just because. Even though someone leveling up a new character might be able to use these items.

Hypothetical here, suppose I'm in a guild, and I'm constantly begging for free gibs, with the attitude of "You're supposed to help me, or what's the point of this guild?".

In extreme cases, individualism leads to greed, and collectivism leads to entitlement.

Collectivism is fine so long as its localized and you get something in return. The problem is liberal welfare state - they expect no behavior mods as in stop substance abuse, wake up early, show up on time, behave, and so on. You actually have drug dealers on welfare and section 8 housing. SS disability has increase 5 fold since last 20 years - mainly on BS like back hurts, anxiety disorders and so forth - point is it's become a free for all and people take advantage. Give an inch they take miles. Human nature and why socialism fails. Path of least resistance 101 shit.

How it's prevented is not with a effete/brain dead/bureaucratic welfare state but with private charity as happened for millennias before.

"

vmt80 wrote:

I wonder why all that 'leftism that is ruining America' used to build Finland such a nice country during the cold war era. In fact, now it seems government here is trying to achieve everything via markets, even if it isn't truly feasible. Funny thing is, all the experts have pretty much turned against government plans on setting up market-based health care. Nobody up there is listening to any evidence-based reason. Too bad.

So much sadness. I'd put a link to an american (!) paper which compared US health care with UK central-planned version to illustrate specifically what I mean here, but last time posting an external link at the forums resulted in locking my forum account. I wonder how many people actually read peer-reviewed papers on such issues and how many just rely on their gut feeling.

So tell me: how can there be two completely contrary perceptions on what is going wrong in politics at macro level? To me it seems west learnt all the wrong lessons when Soviet Union fell apart. But it's not the Soviet Union that is defining western values -or lack of values- post cold war. It's the US. This to me is part of the conundrum. What was supposed to be the world leader is failing ideologically after its grand rival, because there was no ideology that could be put to practice. People are left with political delusion. Many will think: if the other side stepped aside, the right ideology would triumph. And there is your recipe to a disaster.

I don't believe there is any way to make blind people see their political blindness. Homo Sapiens didn't quite make past such point in their history yet, even if our specimen masterfully convinced itself of its mental capabilities. You know, they did find out a dunning-krueger effect, which basically translates to simple people not knowing they are simple themselves. It is an epistemological question without a pragmatically sound answer.

I dont know how you can compare Finland to the USA. Might as well compare Saudi Arabia which has about similar population. But since you ask you guys are living on 500+ years of free market legacy like most of west but up to eyeballs in debt trying this socialist experience. Been a long time since y'all were warriors/free market...probably after winter war you started to die. The soviets won in reality.


BTW I love my Suunto running watch made in Finland.
https://www.suunto.com/en-US/Products/Sports-Watches/suunto-9/suunto-9-baro-black/

One of the few watches I found that tack good HR when doing even weight lifting. I think it's because they use the best tracker their invention (vallen cell). Garmin, and expecially chinese cant compare. Anyway...