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SkookumTree


				

				

				

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joined 2023 January 21 01:36:22 UTC
				

				

				

				

				

				

					
				

				

				
				
				

				
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SkookumTree


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2023 January 21 01:36:22 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah. Catholicism's failure mode is centralized hucksterism: selling indulgences. Protestantism's failure mode is distributed hucksterism: some dude opens up a Church of the Revered Huckster and starts fleecing the hell out of people.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
A Second US Civil War or something close, with the government in shambles, both sides have nukes, at least one side is getting foreign aid and lots of it? Yeah, that could do it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah - John Smith, the guy with a cushy union factory job, isn't exactly a bad dude. Maybe the union's played hardball, maybe it didn't.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It also didn't help that COVID was compared to the 1918 flu; while it was worse than a typical flu season, it's more comparable to the 1957 or 1968 flu pandemics than 1918, which took out a lot of healthy young people. Our public health institutions and memes are in a very real way coasting and riding on the mind-boggling gains we got from the discovery of germ theory to the advent of cheap and readily available antibiotics. COVID's bad, but smallpox it is not.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 10, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Uncle Sam doesn't take autists.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I'm happy that he's trying to think through the problem, and I don't want to discourage him, so I'll entertain it; but my actual hope is that someday he grows up.




Hell, he might grow up, earn a degree in mechanical engineering, and...build racecars.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 10, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Unironically, I have a lot of female friends. I am reasonably sure that most women would be OK dancing with Quasimodo but not going on a date with him...


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 10, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've heard it said that if Hocks worked, Hocking would be normal. I believe instead that Hocks work...but that the cost of Hocks, in blood and treasure, is too damn high. Hocks are like a yacht: if you have to ask, you can't afford it. I've seen drug-addicted combat veterans dying of liver failure that had girlfriends; I haven't seen non-veterans with those kinds of medical conditions and girlfriends. The Hock is an imperfect, poor man's substitute for war.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 10, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'll post a longer reply later: but the unhealthiness is a feature, not a bug. The point is to endure great suffering for no good reason and, if you survive, know for the rest of your life that you are a conscientious and determined individual. Lazy, weak willed chumps do not survive the Hock.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 10, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Do you think that surviving life and death struggle will make me less neurotic and more attractive? I'm seriously training for the Hock, and it's making me look at life a little differently. The idea that I might wind up dead in six months or so certainly makes me evaluate what is important in my life, and the act of training causes me to look at my faults and my strengths in a new light. Perhaps the pale sun of the tundra shines a powerful light indeed on us...


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 3, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't think it's anti-inductive so much as it is about class. Wearing a pair of chinos and a dress shirt with dress shoes is generally more than enough: look like you just got off work at your white-collar office job.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Maybe, but I'm only 28 - perhaps too old to gain many of the benefits of the Hock, but not too old to successfully complete the Hock.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In 1912 Joe Average couldn't afford to buy a shit ton of Oreos and also did a lot more physical activity.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Holy balls. You might want to talk to your doctor about MODY - maturity-onset diabetes of the young. Is there a strong family history of diabetes? 28 is very young to wind up with diabetes, poor dietary habits or no. I've seen it, at 25...but that person had a BMI of 70.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You also had fucking cancer and still struggle with chronic pain; your fatness had rather more to do with bad luck than the median fat person's. Still: I appreciate your story. Respect.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 31, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


caning




I honestly think that beating/flogging petty criminals and then releasing them would be better than the jail/prison revolving door that petty criminals wind up in. People that fuck up once or twice learn not to do that and can go back to work reasonably fast; even the hardened criminals at least don't spend a bunch of time in Criminal School.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 31, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


make transit expensive, especially as a high fixed cost imposing a barrier to entry to non-conscientious people




That sounds like it would be a pretty valuable thing...$500/year sounds like it might honestly be fairly generous for the average transit user. They're going to work 200 days/year, taking 400 trips...so it'd be $1.25/trip. Maybe have some kind of sweat equity program for the "deserving poor"/students/basically the kinds of people that can't afford $500 cash but also aren't aggressive fucked up mentally ill hobos. Accumulate 50 or 100 or whatever volunteer hours with (agency) picking up trash or building houses with Habitat for Humanity or whatever and you've got your pass for the year. The goal is basically to keep the hobos out, at least the ones that aren't able to be decently well-behaved and wear clean clothes. In some cities - Seattle, c. 2015 comes to mind - there are people that are homeless by choice, living in tents on the street and sometimes selling handicrafts. These people were wearing clean clothes and could hold civil conversations with you. They're just eccentrics; I wouldn't mind riding the bus with them...although I'd appreciate it if they didn't bring their samurai swords and whatnot with them on the bus, or at least concealed them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 14, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'd say that it's maybe closer to 40k. Treatment resistant schizophrenia is a big one. Also intellectual disability. Of course you have drug addicts, but they can at least in theory get clean.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Mmm...more like: how about this.


There isn't an exact one-to-one correspondence here. Women generally are more sensitive to disgust than guys are. I don't know about sex differences in habituation to disgust, but it's plausible that guys can get used to nasty shit easier, too. Sex is a hell of a lot riskier for women, so it makes sense that it'd be harder and more painful/difficult for women to have sex with guys they were disgusted by. It's a contrived and very unlikely hypothetical here - I'm aware of that. On the other hand, it could easily be argued that women find autism straight up disgusting, and for a number of relatively good reasons; other men aren't as grossed out by it. That's why I'm making our wealthy hero pretty goddamn gross.


This being said...you personally might be OK with this obese, smelly, gross trust-fund transman if they're saving your family of origin from crushing poverty or paying for your brother's lifesaving cancer treatment or something like that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Okay, they're a trans man. They're also 450 pounds with atrocious personal hygiene. And they're a trust fund baby.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'll also add that being a good public speaker matters far less than you think it does socially. I've got the hyperlexic flavor of autism. I'm a decent writer and an excellent public speaker - probably top one percent or so if you're looking at a general population sample. In college, I moved my speech professor to tears with an impromptu speech on love, of all things. This buys me a tiny bit of social inclusion, but a 400lb deadlift would get me as much or more.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It's romantic, IMHO. I like the idea of man vs. wild. Since I was 12, I always wanted to see what I was made of in a survival situation. I now realize that I'd probably suck a bit at it - but still admire the romanticism of it all. Chris McCandless was a hero. Even if he was also a dumbass.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Unless the survival rate is very high (which it would be IMO, there'd just be an industry that preps kids for success)




Early Hocks would probably look a lot like the early UFC. I'm no martial arts fan or anything like that, but as I understand it there were all kinds of guys fighting each other in the early days. There were boxers fighting wrestlers, karate guys fighting sumo dudes, and no weight classes. Now that guys have been beating on each other in the UFC ring for long enough, we've mostly figured out what strategies work (and which are shit). So now, MMA looks to be mostly pretty standardized. Twenty years after the first Hock, you'd just have people Hockmaxxing by following a fairly standard Hock prep course, just like (overly simplified) MMA guys get good at fighting MMA by doing most of the same shit - training boxing, BJJ and cardio. Not practicing karate or sumo or some shit like that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I might agree with the job analogy but you're missing a major piece about abusive relationships. They tend to emotionally damage both people and their inner reasoning to a degree that leads to future dysfunction. As opposed to the other examples, it leaves a lasting decreased ability to succeed in relationships in the future.




Being injured on the job may leave you with a lasting decreased ability to succeed in jobs in the future. That is more or less certain if the injury is permanent. Our hero, after having had his arm shattered after working for Unsafe Ulm's Garage Door Company and tensioning a torsion spring with a goddamn screwdriver and piece of rebar, might be dealing with some mental trauma from that as well as potentially limited use of his arm for life. Same if he gets his lung run through with a piece of flying metal on the job instead of a samurai sword from his girlfriend - there may be lasting physical and mental trauma there.


So too, our shanked hero also has a responsibility to report what's going on, so that Unsafe Ulm or Crazy Carrie don't fuck up any more dudes. They are cannon fodder: it's an honorable niche. They'll fill the emergency rooms and operating tables and yes, the graves as well as better men.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 28, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah - although she was too young to remember the fire, about a third of her face looked like Freddy Kreuger. She was fit, liked mountain biking, very nerdy and wrote a lot of fanfiction. She was interested in me; at the time, when we were in high school, I found her sadness to be a turn-off. I didn't mind her face. If she'd been confident and not cared what people thought I would have found that extremely attractive. Now...I'd date her and be happy about it. Time has altered my worldview to be more like hers.


She was not a bad person. She was instead a smart, kind individual who had met an unfortunate fate that was in no way her fault. I suspect that a lot of gifted but awkward people - or just awkward people in general - think that they're OK to good on the inside but that their presentation sucks donkey balls. Hell - that's what my aspie nerd friend thinks: he's awkward as fuck, but thinks he's a decent enough guy. Not god tier by any means but he's a decent guy.