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Texas is freedom land

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joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC 

				
User ID: 647


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
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Texas is freedom land

				
				
				

				

					6 followers  

					follows 3 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 647


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
That cuts both ways, though.


I think @coffee_enjoyer has principles which discourage affirmative action, reparations, and otherwise favoring most ethnicities over others. Is it not fair to demand he apply those rules fairly even when Jews are involved?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				ACX: Galton, Ehrlich, Buck
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The one child policy article suggests that China mimicked the Western trend of scientific doomerism. Allegedly, it put a missile engineer in charge of population policy, so he tried to apply controls theory. It’s a cute story—“haha, China thought people were electronics!”—which leaves me a little suspicious. It also really leans on one source.


Another article suggests that this was cultural memory of the last century’s horrific famines. It had been 20 years since Mao fucked up the entire economy and caused the deaths of millions. I find it plausible that any middle-aged bureaucrats who came of age around that time were quite determined to avoid a repeat. The fact that lots of Mao-era collectivization policies were torn down around this time supports it. Keep in mind that this is the era of denouncing the Gang of Four and distancing party leadership from the Cultural Revolution.


I would argue that “population=power” didn’t make sense in the 50s. Mao’s attempts to turn that peasant population into industrial capacity were an abject disaster. Subsistence farmers did not provide the surplus needed to support such a population. Any benefit which arose from raising another 10 million farmers was immediately shredded by the inefficiencies of their command economy.


Today an individual farmer can produce a massive surplus, supporting a much larger pool of potential factory workers, scientists, and soldiers. But there are still bounds on how well that population can be exploited! Land usage. Equipment. Training time. Double the size of China’s army, but don’t double their fuel supply, and you get far less than double the return on investment. Population >= power.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It definitely was.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I’d guess




Getting someone to pick Taco Bell over Chikfila, ceteris paribus, is clearly a deeply intrusive warping of preferences.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Uh, of course.


The “girlboss” has the right to keep the pregnancy, too. If her boss was demanding that she yeet that fetus to get promoted, it would be offensive.  (As well as a central example of a Title IX violation!)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I was hoping for a funnier apology than a picture of a photoshopped road sign. Ah well.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 14, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes. Roko is still pretty prominent, right? :)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 14, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Whether or not the audience is more astute than people with an actual financial stake…they’re vulnerable to persuasion, too. Get enough momentum, and your fans will handle the apologetics for you.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 14, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Whoops, best I can do is give percentages of claims found true/false/etc.. Good luck with your summary stats!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah, but several of those things aren’t gendered. Mary Sues, despite the name, are universal, as is deconstruction. I have faith in Disney’s ability to dumb down a story using those two alone.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Add me to the list of those taken in by (not so) bad history.


I encountered GG&S in AP world history. I don’t think it was presented very critically. Was that because the teacher bought in, or because he was more interested in training us little shits to write a decent essay?


Other assigned books for that year included Dee Goong An and a Clive Cussler novel. You may take this as evidence GG&S is also a work of fiction. Or that it’s plausible enough to serve as good teaching material whether or not the teacher agrees.


I was hoping to find an official book list for the course, but had no luck. Apparently it’s been split into pre- and post-1200 CE classes, now.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Chick-fil-a has significantly improved their line experience, for what it’s worth. I think it was when they redesigned drive-thru infrastructure to run double lanes, but it might have just been a training update.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 19, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Rdrama?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 19, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Right, it’s not like an older guy can’t make an action movie work. Look at Looper. They just have to lean into it more


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 19, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
For another Moby Dick concept album, try The Call of the Wretched Sea. It’s more funeral or doom than anything like thrash.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 19, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
AAQCs aren’t culture-war specifi!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 22, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You know, every time I see your username, I involuntarily scan ahead to see where you make the turn. Sure, equate a few months of lockdownism to the Holocaust. Remember that time they gassed the antivaxxers?


@The_Nybbler has the right of it. Do you think a Holocaust film is trying to downplay the evil? Pointing out banality is a reminder not to assume something is good, or even okay, just because it is pedestrian. One must engage with the actual merits and flaws. In that sense, there’s no irony to the Guardian’s coverage. They will tell you with a straight face that lockdowns were good.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Golly. It’s almost like hanging is a common method of suicide. Much harder to police the materials than firearms or even poisons. Psychologically, might be easier than jumping off a bridge. Has plenty of cultural cachet.


Also, I think a world where socialites can learn how to talk people into suicide looks pretty different than this one. As would a world where they need “intelligence service tactics” to chat with reddit admins.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


an uncrewed space capsule had indeed been orbiting the Earth since 1960, as it had become jammed into its booster rocket.




Derelict spacecraft already give off a powerfully lonely impression. If there’s a corpse in there…damn.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Crazy how much lower res the continents get as you go out. Hopefully some day cartography will advance enough that we can see the truth.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I guess that’s a corollary to people thinking the peak of Renaissance artisanal armor was perfectly normal for the year 900.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Wait, this is a conspiracy theory?


I think it’s the most reasonable—and interesting—reading of the Bible. The books are clearly laden with meaning, partly from the enormous weight of history, partly from the composition process. It says things that are obviously, literally false, but have reasonable interpretations or poetic license.  Biblical aesthetics are so strong that they have dominated Western cultural products. I don’t think you get that without some layers of narrative and allegory.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No. In fact, I’m enjoying your apparent confusion right now.


In all seriousness, yes, I feel it sometimes. There’s this guy with whom I worked once or twice in college. We absolutely did not get along. I found myself unreasonably pleased when hearing other people admit they don’t like working with him. I feel no shame about this; it’s more like validation of my judgment. Now, I also felt smug when hearing he’d gone back to school as an early midlife crisis. That I’m not so proud of, because I can see it’s objectively…wrong. But I did feel it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 21, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The hijackers' decision to wait an additional 46 minutes to launch their assault meant that the people being held hostage on the flight very quickly found out that suicide attacks had already been made by hijacked airliners…




I think that turns it from heroic to…well, still heroic, but desperate. Winning wasn’t just a gamble, it was the only way for them to live.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 19, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How does it compare to the MOBA autochess entries? I tried a bit of TFT and didn’t care for it.


Anyway, in the spirit of “games made out of hating one aspect of another,” check out Your Only Move Is Hustle. It’s a turn-based fighting game. Each player selects a move, and then the game plays out until one of the players is ready to act again. As in normal fighting games, this depends on the choice of move—and you certainly can’t act while getting hit. The end result is all the flair of fighting games, but emphasizing the thinky mind games and anime bullshit instead of mechanical execution.


Also, it feels crispy as hell.