cjet79
Anarcho Capitalist on moral grounds
Libertarian Minarchist on economic grounds
User ID: 124
cjet79
11mo ago
I'm glad that there is now a communist statue to mirror the situation with confederate statues.
I have ancestors that fought for the south in the civil war. I think slavery was an evil institution, but it probably could have been ended without a very bloody war.
I hate communism, and I've disliked many communists that I've met (the feeling was usually mutual, "You'll be one of the first ones against the wall" they'd tell me).
All of that just to say that I feel the same about this monument and the confederate statues: what a stupid thing to argue about. Building it in the first place seems like a waste of funds when your political group is in power. I'd much rather have "my" politicians setting up some kind of bullshit slush fund project that funnels money to favored people. Its also a waste of money to take it down.
If you are local and it really bothers you that much, just resort to good old minor vandalism. The legal penalties aren't that hefty. If you are a local business person with too much to lose, just bail out a local vandal from a legal situation and point him in the right direction.
There is this general vibe that America seems to be picking up that everything political must be solved through the political process.
No! Terrible thought process! The political process has some pros. Its slow, has a lot of deliberation, optimizes for optics over all other considerations, and requires buy in from the semi-respectable class of people in society. Those are also all the cons.
There are three ways to short circuit the political process:
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Ignoring it. Sometimes political entities like to talk a big game, but they don't have any actual power. I remember seeing this hilariously illustrated when the student governing council at my college would occasionally pass resolutions or support for foreign countries. Fucking idiots. They couldn't even dictate the menu at the school run cafeteria. Their resolutions of support were time wasters for an entirely impotent "governing" body.
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Market solutions. Other times politics finds a problem and claims they can solve it. But unless its a public goods problem, or a tragedy of the commons, we really don't need them. Markets are great at providing goods and services. Hopefully somebody can just provide the product better cheaper and faster than the government can.
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[other options]. I once heard of this guy. He had a tree adjacent to his property. The tree was maybe on land owned by the city. The tree would dump acorns and other annoying detritus in his pool. The city didn't really like removing living trees. Well suddenly the tree died over a very short time period. Some kind of weird ground poisoning. Strange! Anyways, tree is gone now.
cjet79
11mo ago
Killing human garbage of this sort is doing them an act of mercy they do not deserve. Beating them to within an inch of their lives is absolutely the morally correct choice here. Their lives are already not worth living, and making them continue stew in the suffering of their own making is small recompense for the suffering these people inflict upon other human beings. And before I am met with the refrain of "who are you to decide that another human's life is not worth living" know that I have the same conviction in my belief
Your post got some reports of "antagonistic", probably for the first sentence.
I get that you have strong feelings, but assigning people to the category of "human garbage" is antagonistic, and should be treated as a thing that needs to be carefully argued about. I think the post as it is runs afoul of two of the engagement rules:
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Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
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Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
cjet79
11mo ago
Your power fantasies are just that, the revenge fantasies of every bullied nerd ever, the copes of someone telling himself he's smarter and better and "biologically superior" to the jocks picking on him.
This was more antagonistic than it needed to be.
cjet79
11mo ago
fantasies through stereotypical jew Hollywood movie tropes about insecurities
There are Jewish people that use this forum, and writing about "jew Hollywood" is too antagonistic and boo-outgroup to be thrown out as an undefended sentence. And before you go on a rant, this statement is equally applicable to your post:
There are [group] people that use this forum, and writing about "[group] Hollywood" is too antagonistic and boo-outgroup to be thrown out as an undefended sentence.
You are allowed to not like other groups, we don't moderate on beliefs. But trying to carry the flag for that cause in every other discussion is waging the culture war. You are waging the culture war here, and we don't like that.
cjet79
11mo ago
Blues’ violent pets
This is not a term that conforms to our engagement rules. Its antagonistic in its assumptions, and doesn't even seem necessary within the context.
cjet79
11mo ago
which lies in the social realm some very 'fine' jews and Americans have constructed for everyone to enjoy.
I'm getting to this post second, even though I modded a downthread comment of yours. I'll mostly just reiterate my ending point. When you make every other topic about jewish people you are waging the culture war. You probably need to take a personal break from that topic or risk escalating bans.
This is not enough for a top level thread comment. There is a possibility it was just posted in the wrong section, if I didn't have that uncertainty it would be a one day ban. Don't do this.
Edit:
The discussion on this topic last week had some bad posts and bad quality discussion. There was general amnesty for bad posts from that discussion, because I was late to moderating it. That will not be true for this thread. I've already handed out one ban there will be heightened scrutiny on these posts, especially if you are one of the people that received a warning in the thread from last week. If you are already on thin ice and don't trust yourself to avoid culture warring you are better off minimizing this thread and going to one of the other quality discussions taking place.
cjet79
11mo ago
This is not a good post.
I don't know, I think it's illuminating to see how many people on TheMotte both loathe mentally ill homeless people so much and are so authoritarian that their desired solution to the mentally ill homeless problem is to kill them all.
This is a bit of weakmanning.
At this point SneerClub might as well just shut down. TheMotte beclowns itself enough on a regular basis that outside mocking of this place is superfluous. There are some great contributors who rise above the mess, but a large part of this site is just /pol/ but with unnecessary verbosity.
This is antagonism and writing as if you don't want a majority of themotte to participate in the discussion.
1 day ban.
This is a general warning to everyone: I just finished going through the mod-queue for the Jordan Neely post from last week. I did not ban anyone because I was over a day late to modding it, and I didn't feel like handing out 5 or 6 bans. I will be paying attention to this thread, and the general amnesty from last week will not continue.
This is a place for civil discussions. We are not here to wage the culture war. And this is not a place for you to just vent your feelings and frustrations.
@Goodguy is either lucky or unlucky in getting the first ban. If I have to do more bans they will escalate in length.
cjet79
11mo ago
Practically speaking, what measures will gun rights advocates actually tolerate? It seems like the only thing they can countenance is more guns.
There is generally a sense among gun owners that there have always been more concessions to be made. Any "compromise" with gun owners needs to be an actual compromise, not just a "you lose one more inch" style compromise.
I'm not huge into the gun scene, but some of the compromises I've heard could be:
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Easier gun modification, specifically silencers. Its a pain in the ass to get a silencer on a gun right now. And unlike how Hollywood depicts them, silencers do not "silence" a gun. They turn it from instant hearing loss without ear protection to hearing loss under prolonged use. They also require subsonic rounds (otherwise the crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier defeats the purpose).
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Some form of national gun transportation standardization. There are scenarios where you can legally own a gun, have it locked up in your trunk, drive across the wrong state line and suddenly you are violating a law.
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Some form of concealed carry reciprocity. States all have their own versions of concealed carry (or don't allow it).
There are 51 versions of gun laws out there. Standardizing them in a way that doesn't treat California or New York laws as basis for standardization would potentially be appreciated. One way I could see them doing this is create different levels of constitutionally approved gun restrictions. Maybe 5 levels. With level one being the strictest, maybe equivalent to cities in California, New York City, or DC. And level 5 being the least strict, something you might see in rural Alaska. Municipalities are allowed to choose one of these levels of strictness, but they can't keep making up all their own restrictions and bullshit.
One thing I'd personally be interested in seeing it to remove all special exception carve-outs for law enforcement or active military. Instead there is only one category of carve-out: "Militia". The police and military can be assigned to this carve-out. But there is also a path for regular citizens to join the militia (devil would be in the details here).
cjet79
11mo ago
This is not the kind of comment you can throw out without evidence. And if you do point it out with evidence, it should be done as lightly as possible in a non-antagonistic way.
You should know better.
cjet79
11mo ago
The cornerstone of progressive education is that people are, at worst, a disease killing the earth. At least half of them are actively evil. And even the innocent ones who have done nothing yet are completely disposable if a woman finds them inconvenient.
This has many problems:
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Do not weakman in order to show how bad a group is
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Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
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Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
You've also been warned about these type of comments in the past.
5 day ban
cjet79
11mo ago
I mean this sort of thing really does seem like an unequal compromise because it amounts to putting a hard cap on gun control but still allowing very lax states. Why would Democrats agree to that, especially when all polling indicates that gun control is a winning issue for them?
At the national level they could argue to change the specific restrictions in the strictest gun control category. At the state and local level they get to fight over upgrading the strictness level of gun control.
Also the whole attitude of 'we can win, so why compromise ' is part of why gun owners are so "uncompromising".
cjet79
11mo ago
I've been into "intellectual" pursuits for most of my life, since middle school at least since I started consuming all science news articles I could find.
A couple things that might be "wisdom" from me:
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Pursuing intellectual topics does not require anything other than average intelligence and interest. You don't have to be a genius to find history, cool science, or esoteric brain topics fun. I do believe IQ is real, and can have some noticeable real world effects, but most of those effects can become a wash if some other person has more time and interest.
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Speaking of time, you are starting late, but that is not a bad thing at all. In some ways I am jealous. There are many cool things to learn, and you have lots of low hanging fruit. Unlike school this is not a competition. You don't have to be the most learned person in the room. You only have to compare yourself against how much you knew yesterday.
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Romantic partners don't have to share all of your interests. I have a wife who is not intellectually inclined at all. I'd also be pretty confident that she is smarter than me IQ wise. I don't think most people are intellectually inclined. That is fine. You can still connect with them on other areas of shared interest. You can still be attracted to them. You can still enjoy activities with them.
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You can often find the intellectually inclined doing things that work out their brain. It might seem obvious, but its worth pointing. People that care about their body can be found doing things that exercise their body. Same with the mind. There are meetup groups for slatestarcodex, dungeons and dragons groups are about using your imagination and acting skills, and any text-based online community or forum is going to mostly be people using their minds.
I like browsing youtube for interesting science education. There are some very fascinating historical blogs and podcasts out there.
When I asked ChatGPT for advice for you, they gave what I thought was mediocre advice, so I won't repeat it. But when I asked what groups you should join I thought their advice was more helpful (except for item #7, which is a bad suggestion I think):
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Book clubs or reading groups: These groups bring people together to discuss and analyze books on a variety of topics. They can be a great way to meet like-minded people and expand your knowledge.
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Historical societies: Many cities and towns have local historical societies that offer lectures, tours, and other events related to local history.
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Language learning groups: Meetup groups and language exchange programs offer opportunities to practice speaking and learning languages with others.
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Philosophy clubs: These groups discuss philosophical concepts and ideas, often with a focus on applying them to real-world issues.
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Meetup groups for intellectual or academic topics: Meetup.com has a wide variety of groups for people interested in everything from science and technology to social issues and politics.
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Toastmasters International: This organization helps people improve their public speaking and leadership skills through meetings, workshops, and other events.
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Mensa: This organization is open to people with high IQ scores and offers networking opportunities, social events, and other resources for intellectual growth.
cjet79
11mo ago
Nukes actually seem pretty easy to explain to anyone that has a passing familiarity with explosives and poison. Really big bomb that poisons the area for a few decades.
I think ops original point stands pretty well, that could get good mileage out of transferring understanding from existing stuff to explain the danger of AI. Terrorism is one of the easiest goto examples. Really rich terrorist, with top tier talents in all fields.
cjet79
11mo ago
I find the idea of women's sports chuckle-worthy, about the same tier of interest as the Little Leagues. Aww, you poor things, incapable of standing up in absolute terms, let's make a nice carveout for you so that you can say you tried.
As others have pointed out this was not in the spirit of the rules in multiple ways. Usually you are a good poster, but this is a bad enough violation that I'm still going to give you a one day ban for it.
cjet79
11mo ago
I also found the situation disappointing.
The past comments should have probably had censure, the fact that you felt such a comment was within the rules is a problem. That sounds like a mod failing.
It did provide you leeway. If you were a problematic poster I would have given 3-7 days, or maybe that would have been the last straw and it would have been a permaban. A warning is appropriate when someone has just barely crossed the line. When overstepping it too far a harsher response is necessary. The further you cross the line the harsher the response. This is to let you know and other posters know where that line is.
Your comment here makes me think the ban was not harsh enough. I'd never reban you for the same offense. But I want to make it as clear as possible: the comment you made was real bad, and it clearly broke a few of our discussion rules. You need to avoid making these comments or you will quickly blow through any good will you have earned through quality comments.
We have permabanned users with multiple AAQCs to their name. It is sad when it happens, but we will do it if it becomes necessary. In the few cases of this happening that I remember, the users always seemed surprised by their permaban. They had became so accustomed to their good posting being a shield that they lost the habits of avoiding bad posting. I have wondered before if that was a failing on the part of the mods. That we let the bad posting go on long enough unpunished (or lightly punished) that it became a habit.
cjet79
11mo ago
Every time you write about legal stuff I just feel more and more convinced that the rules are made up and the laws barely matter.
What is the point of a statute of limitations if it can be changed after the fact to include things previously protected by that statute?
What is the point of the trial related amendments if you can just have your reputation smeared and ruined by the media without anything vaguely resembling "due process"?
What problem are civil courts solving other than 'how to make lawyers rich'?
Plea deals destroying incentives to get your day in court. Prosecutors seemingly immune to any consequences of malpractice.
An old movie keeps coming up in my mind. It took me an hour of searching to find it based on my vague recollections. Interstate 60. There is a section of the movie where the main character (on a mythical road trip) takes a stop in a town called Morlaw. The entire town is comprised of lawyers that are constantly suing each other for everything (get it, Morlaw -> More Law). Any unlucky idiots that find their way to the town get caught up in the web of suing very quickly.
How does the protagonist escape? Do they make a compelling argument that this is insane? Nope, that doesn't convince any of the lawyers. They just see that as another reason to sue him.
Valerie McCabe: Every adult citizen of Morlaw is a lawyer, so everybody sues everybody else. It doesn't matter if there's a cause. It's how we ensure that everyone makes a living of their profession.
Neal Oliver: Yeah, but that's insane.
Valerie McCabe: I could sue you for that. You just made a defamatory remark about this town. Hey, are you looking at my legs? I could sue you for that too, sexual harassment.
Neal Oliver: Is there anything you can't sue me for?
The way the protagonist escapes is by making a call to a friend he met on the road. An ex-marketer that is dying and decides to go on a personal crusade against lying. This ex-marketer has a bomb vest strapped to him, and seems willing to use it. Yup, that's right, it takes literal terrorism to extricate the main character from a web of lawyers. The ex-marketer decides to stay around Morlaw to keep them in line.
Our legal system increasingly resembles a system of "might makes right" if you have enough powerful people on your side then the law can literally be what you want it to be. It doesn't feel like there is a legible system of rules where an underdog that is correct or in-the-right can beat the system. In the end someone might make the same realization that the ex-marketer makes. "Why play by your rules when I'm always going to lose? Why not bring violence to the table?"
cjet79
11mo ago
I'm about ambivalent between the two options, probably slightly in favor of taco bell. But if someone was talking up Chick-fil-A it would probably change my mind.
cjet79
11mo ago
I was thinking purely about the food. If someone laid down taco bell and chick-fil-a in front of me it would depend on what I was in the mood for.
The experience itself would be a clear win for taco bell. The long lines at chick-fil-a has always been a turnoff for me. I'm fine with either drive through or dine-in.
Chicken taste ok to me, but I like the taste of beef. So Chick-fil-a is serving a good version of food I don't like that much, and taco bell is serving a mediocre version of a food I do like.
cjet79
11mo ago
I am playing Starship Troopers: Extermination, I bought it just yesterday. Overall impression: Very fun.
Buy it now while multiplayer servers are hot. It is a 16 player PvE game. You land in a dropship, complete some objectives, collect some ore, build a base, survive some waves of bugs, and then you scramble back to a dropship to escape as bugs overwhelm your base. If everyone makes it out alive you get some nice point bonuses. There is point collecting and gear unlocking between rounds using the points you made during the round. Pretty standard multiplayer FPS unlock mechanics these days. The moments when I hit some lag wasn't as bad as other multiplayer games. It was less likely to lead to a frustrating death against another human player. Usually I just waste a few bullets shooting at an already dead bug if there was lag. The base defense part is intense, and there is maybe too much camera shake from all the explosions going off. Visually the game looks pretty cool, not the most up to date, but blowing up bugs causes a nice green cloud of blood, and dead bugs look riddled with bullets.
I wish I had friends to play video games with. Sadly most of my current friends want to hang out in real life and do things like fire actual guns, drink nice whiskeys, and hangout to talk about local issues. If anyone wants to get online and try it out with me that would be awesome. I have a new headset coming via Amazon in a day or two. PM me for my steam ID.
A few years ago I made it a habit to just call my parents on any long car drive or commute. The alternative was just mindlessly listening to the radio. We mostly share parts of our day. Having young kids helps the conversation along pretty often. As a parent its hard to stop talking about your kids, but most people don't really care to hear it. However, grandparents love hearing about their grandkids.
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