Listening
8mo ago
This is by far the biggest argument in favor of totally eliminating the welfare state.
Eh... The general thrust of your post is right, but it's at least as much an argument for denying assholes political influence. That's impossible under genuine democracy, but there are other systems.
Indeed. The only reasonable conclusion is that everyone of consequence is driven by an inescapable desire for totality. Side with whoever ends with you on top, or accustom yourself to your position beneath the iron heel of history.
And may the best at executing justice win.
Only if you treat tactics as inherently good or bad.
I believe the traditional phrase is "once you pop, you can't stop." You can socially normalize a direction but not a concrete set of standards.
Nobody's ever in complete control of how trends develop. And only a fool would concern himself with the philosophy of a mob.
The problem with "cancel" as a strategy was always that it was an argument in favor of bringing back blacklisting communists. Which I thought we all agreed was a bad thing, but apparently not, so here we go...
Listening
11mo ago
I have actual, literal, in-real-life dead friends driven to suicide in this mess. "Loss of hegemony" is way down the list. I'll worry about sinking once I'm not drowning.
Listening
11mo ago
"You should go commit suicide, or let us shoot you in the head if we get particularly bored, because if you don't America Will Be Destroyed!" isn't nearly as compelling an argument as you seem to think it is.
(Alternating between "America must be destroyed!" and "you're going to destroy America!" is even less compelling—but that's neither here nor there...)
Listening
11mo ago
I want my politicians moral, I want them virtuous, I want them to at least pretend not to be pigs rolling around in the mud.
And I wish the idea that the enemy are creepy, weird little subhuman freaks who deserve it hadn't been so thoroughly normalized all down the political aisles.
The people most competent to execute Actual Fascism are the fascists. C'est la vie.
I also don't think that column is likely to be motivating outside a small, highly atypical tribe of politics-obsessed weirdos.
I always wonder about that kind of thing. It's certainly why I decided to kick the bastard out of my life. I've heard the same from others. But I'd never risk talking about it.
Who can know? Preference is adversarial, I suppose.
Listening
11mo ago
Hm. That's definitely part of it. But I don't think it's the whole thing.
When the rule was compassion and conversation, I supported the dems as a matter of principle. I didn't personally benefit from most of the work. When the rule became "actually, it's okay to hate people for being born with the wrong immutable characteristics," I just supported whoever was in my own interest. "Do as the Romans do."
I'm not convinced that's a reversible transition. Maybe it's minority enough to say "irrelevant."
Good and evil aren't the same thing as safe and dangerous, are they? And I care more about who's likely to get me killed than about the hope in their hearts while they do it.
People who say "don't judge appearance" and then hate anyone wearing a dress shirt and slacks are dangerous.
Especially when they aren't interested in letting ask questions first.
If I were a god, I would save everyone. They deserve it anyway. But I'm not a god.
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