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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 28, 2025

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You've predicated your scenario in adversarial terms. Are those the only terms in which you can think about this?

No, and I showed as much by offering post-scarcity as another way of thinking. However scarcity along with defectors and adversaries are perennial elements that don't go away through wishing it were so. You recognise that people can be perverse, greedy, wilful and psychopathic (and worst of all it's often to their limited benefit to be that way). How are we going to stop them depriving others of resources or compel the dispossession of what they have deprived others of without resorting to force or the credible threat thereof?

Like yourself I'd prefer a more humane system, but appeals to humanity pale. Addressing this problem is a prerequisite for forming an alternative.

No, and I showed as much by offering post-scarcity as another way of thinking.

Where? I just looked. Unless you're referring to "gay luxury space communism" which I took as sardonic. I responded to it, though, even so, and I acknowledged it. Obviously, I wasn't referring to that but to your first two paragraphs, which seems clear you think are far more realistic.

However scarcity along with defectors and adversaries are perennial elements that don't go away through wishing it were so.

Bucky disagreed, and that was a long time ago before we have the tech we have today. He disagreed that there was any non-human factor that has ever necessitated scarcity. Scarcity would be a thing of the past forever and ever if there were any desire to end it on the part of those with the means, or if there were any desire to end it on the part of those who could compel those with the means to stop being such murderous assholes.

I recognize that people can be perverse, greedy, willful, and psychopathic. All of those are remediable. How are we going to change that and stop them from depriving others? Your answer seems to be, well, just deprive first. My answer is: stop glorifying it and worshiping predators, for a start. Or even a smaller baby step: start being honest that we've glorified it and worshiped predators. Let's try that and see what happens.

Yeah --appeals to humanity only work with the human. That's why rights are a scam. The only people against whom rights could protect us are the very ones who couldn't give a shit about them. Arguing with the devil whose only interest in reason is how he can use it against you.

The most potent force I've found against liars, bullshitters, psychopaths, etc., is honesty: aggressive, no-holds-barred honesty. Won't change a psychopath, but it definitely changes their followers. And what are they without followers?