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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 16, 2023

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but there are thousands of different field-specific conferences businesses spend millions on,

How many can you name that pull as many high-profile people as the WEF?

the WEF having that doesn't prove some hidden conspiracy.

Yeah, it's not hidden...

More seriously, what do you mean by "conspiracy"? Do you think my Eunuch Archive story counts as a conspiracy theory?

Finally I'm not at all convinced 'the bugs' are unhealthier than much of the current american diet.

That's not even the issue, to be honest. They may be, or they may not be. The point is that there's a clear push to promote them despite their massive unpopularity.


How do you think democracy works?

It's supposed to involve some form of public debate before implementing sweeping social or economic reforms. It's all par for the course when bankers write banking regulations, or whatever, but if you have a goal of changing the diet of an entire continent or whatever, whether they like it or not, and to that end you'll be quietly passing regulations nudging them in the desired direction, I'd say you're circumventing democracy. Passing Obamacare was a debacle, but it was more in accordance to the democratic process than what they're doing with the bugs thing.

It's supposed to involve some form of public debate before implementing sweeping social or economic reforms

Allowing the sale of insect-protein-containing food products and scrapping housing regulation allowing more dense but less comfortable housing are not 'sweeping social or economic reforms'. (and the second one isn't even happening! I'd be happy to live in a pod while traveling, or at least have a windowless hotel room).

but if you have a goal of changing the diet of an entire continent or whatever

If there's a 200% tax on meat or something, that's worth complaining about, but that hasn't happened. So far we just have 'advertising for bug-eating'.

Well, before we get into all that can we clear up whether or the elites trying to get us to eat bugs is a rightoid conspiracy theory, or is it happening, and it's a good thing?

I'm happy to debate the relative advantages and disadvantages of bugs, but I can't stand the Narcissist Prayer framework.

“well, market will decide, I guess”. What’s the problem?

Because the market isn't going to decide, not the way most people understand that term. It's going to decide the same way it decided to ban Parler from hosting infrastructure, and that's without going into things like regulations making one cheaper and the other more expensive.

I don't think Klaus Schwab has, which was my point, and I don't think the WEF is in any way behind this advocacy

The thing I appreciate about the WEF is that it's an old fashioned hierarchical organization. None of this distributed Motte and Bailey nonsense. If bugs are promoted through Novel Food / Food 2030, and these policies are developed at the WEF, and Schwab is chairman of the WEF, then the buck stops with him.

I'm just curious why you think people advocating eating bugs is a bad thing. It doesn't seem to me to be greatly offensive or anything.

Like I was trying to explain, that's not the issue. People aren't taking an issue with it being advocated for, they're taking an issue with the decision being made for them behind their back.

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"Market will decide" would be fine -- but given elite-man's recent interpretation of 'letting the market decide' whether they want their customers vaccinated or not, it does not seem unreasonable to fear that there will be a thumb on the scales?

Uh, if they are better, then a 'push to promote them despite unpopularity' is good? Was the green revolution bad because it was pushed by the elite? (There may be problems wrt unnatural food, pesticides, etc but that goes along with the population increase) There was a push against cigarettes because they were unhealthy, this isn't exactly malicious. Nobody would care if the WEF were pushing for whole grains, food waste reuse, or food safety in africa (which, indeed, they are).

Yeah, it's not hidden...

You're claiming something is, because we're not taking their stated goals at face value, as if they're hiding something. But hiding what?

Uh, if they are better, then a 'push to promote them despite unpopularity' is good?

No. If you're going to claim that let's end the farce, and just come back to feudalism or whatever.

Was the green revolution bad because it was pushed by the elite?

I'd need to read up on it, I probably could find some bad things about it, but the bigger point is about how it was pushed.

You're claiming something is, because we're not taking their stated goals at face value, as if they're hiding something. But hiding what?

Oh, I'm not claiming anything beyond what they're stating publicly. When I said "not taking them at face value" I meant more in the sense you watch ads. Just because they add a whole lot of padding about how awesome everything is going to be, around the bit about eating bugs, doesn't mean you should believe it, the same way you don't assume those Gillette razors are going to turn you into some sexy hunk.