niknoble
3yr ago
"Literally" has never been used to mean "figuratively." This is a misunderstanding of hyperbole.
I agree with you about "fascist," though.
niknoble
3yr ago
I don't think this is the best objection because smart people are far more likely to care about money.
If you were to exactly follow the cultural pressures, taking all the cliches to heart, then you would place a low value on money but a very high value on things that money can buy. This describes most people who say they are not motivated by money. However, since smart people have consistent preferences, they don't fall into this trap.
niknoble
3yr ago
It's wrong because there are so many other things that can sabotage wealth. Energy levels, social anxiety, obsession with something unproductive.
Conversely, there are ways to become rich without using intelligence. A person who is extremely energetic and wants to be rich will eventually hit the jackpot by immersing himself in opportunities and following up on them.
niknoble
3yr ago
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. The setting is depressing, but the writing has been top-tier so far.
niknoble
3yr ago
My theory is that the recent deepening of the left-right divide is partly because people have different responses to peer pressure. Some people prefer to fit in and others prefer to stand out. As the pressure to adopt left-wing ideology increases, the fit-in types are pushed further to the left, and the stand-out types are pushed further to the right. When I introspect, I can see that this is the primary force driving my own move rightward over the last 2 years. I have also observed this motive throughout the right-wing spaces that I frequent online.
Of course, this explanation works best for my narrow demographic: upper-middle class young people who are plugged into the internet. I doubt this explains why steelworkers in the rust belt voted for Trump. It also doesn't explain how the left-right divide came to exist in the first place.
One question I've had throughout the ICE saga is why arresting illegals is even necessary. It seems like it would be easier to just cut off their access to American resources. For example, require employers, landlords, DMV, doctors, insurance providers, etc. to verify immigration status, and make a strong example of the first ones that don't. Then the country becomes like a desert to illegals and they just go home on their own. This would also hugely reduce the need for border security.
I guess part of the reason this isn't being done is that some of it would require changes to the law, which Trump can't implement on his own. But at least with employers, they're already legally obligated to check work authorization, so why isn't Trump just aggressively enforcing that law?
Is there a reason I'm missing why this kind of approach wouldn't work? Or, does Trump not really want to deport all illegals?
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