domain:alakasa.substack.com
johnfabian
8hr ago
It sort of comes from a period of time (1860s and 1870s) where the immediate success of the theory of evolution in providing an overarching material explanation for diversity of life on Earth engendered great enthusiasm in discovering similar sorts of grand theories that explained fully other disciplines. And while we eventually got some for certain of the "harder" scientific fields, obviously the softer sciences have resisted such attempts. Marx attempted to provide a grand theory of politics; it has clearly been about as successful as grand theories for history, criminality, economics, poverty, etc.
Stefferi
Chief Suomiposter
8hr ago
She is by far the most significant female political leader in the US to date.
I'd say Eleanor Roosevelt, depending on the definition of "political leader", for her work on UDHR, which has had humongous effect on global politics and ideology ever since its declaration.
anti_dan
8hr ago
*Alive
And Israeli leadership does not coordinate direct attacks on civilians. There was enough direct evidence to tie this particular fellow to 5 deaths directly.
If you are me, you think he is a terrorist because he and his minions are consistently too cowardly to wear uniforms.
Others might call his operations war activities. Sure, wear uniforms or you are just committing war crimes, again, with intentionality imputed to leadership.
If you think international law is a fiction, then he's just a loser who lost.
yofuckreddit
8hr ago
Sorry, you're correct, it's endnotes. It makes the Kindle edition of the book really the only readable one. I'm curious if DFW was sending a message of contempt to his readers with the approach. A lot of artists hate the people who consume what they create. I've specifically isolated myself from reading his interviews etc. because I suspect it may have been the case here.
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
8hr ago
I feel like the definition of the term "proportionality" as a military/conflict term was one of the major casualties of this war
"Proportionality" never meant that death counts had to be close or that an ineffective attack has to be met with an ineffective response. That's just something Palestine supporters claim or imply because it's useful for them. Proportionality means that the collateral damage of an attack has to be proportional to its military objective.
hydroacetylene
8hr ago
No, it seems pretty clear ESOL for teaching kids that don’t live up to their potential- despite how low that potential is.
hydroacetylene
8hr ago
I’m not black, but it’s difficult to use her for political shitflinging and pilots licenses seem worth celebrating so no one will mind overcelebrating the black woman- and her being a black woman makes the ‘we need a literally who’ crowd happy.
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
8hr ago
but even a literal apartheid in terms of voting rights would still likely produce better economic and lifestyle outcomes for the average Palestinian Arab Israeli than the current status quo.
Yes, at least until they got tired of the apartheid, agitated for full voting rights, got the "international community" including the US to support them, and took over. At that point your best case is South Africa.
Corvos
8hr ago
A 'dunce' is an idiot or a slow learner. See also the 'dunce's cap' which was used to shame and humiliate children who were disruptive or did not learn.
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
8hr ago
A one state solution is plainly genocidal, once you count up numbers and birthrates.
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
8hr ago
I think a State of Palestine would be a lot less likely to just start a war then stateless terrorist groups.
Gaza was a test of that. It failed.
Tanista
8hr ago
Handing over the territory without a deal might have ended up like Gaza (which is criticized even by pro-Pals as a way to freeze the peace process*). Worse maybe.
So we have to go back to why a deal didn't happen.
* Pretty damning when you think about it tbh.
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
8hr ago
It's tough to have all 5 of the psychiatric diagnoses in a single individual. I think Schizophrenia, Bipolar, and Depression are exclusive.
yunyun333
8hr ago
But I will also point out that what you demand was on offer in 47 and rather than accept them the surrounding Arabs went to war with Israel and lost.
Setting aside the question of whether it was a smart decision to reject the partition plan, it's easy to see why they didn't view it as legitimate. Imagine if Mexican immigrants petitioned the UN to split the American Southwest into a new Hispanic state because they (illegally) immigrated there in sufficient numbers.
BahRamYou
8hr ago
There have been many instances of palestinian settlements in the west bank being demolished and the people being evicted: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164971
MayorofOysterville
8hr ago
That's why the West Bank is such a millstone though. They won it in war but now they need to either integrate it or give it up. Keeping it in limbo is the source of all their problems. If Israel could actually enunciate their borders they wouldn't need to negotiate or accept anything from the Palestinians at all. The haven't needed Syria to agree to them having the Golan Heights for example. Maintaining this quasi sovereignty indefinitely is the source of essentially all their problems both internal and external.
And now yes because of Hamas handing over anything is tricky. But they had decades where they could have handed whatever rump state they wanted to the PLO. And they wouldn't have needed their agreement anymore than they need Syria's for the Golan。
orthoxerox
If you can read this, you're using a custom theme
8hr ago
It's not a typo.
FiveHourMarathon
Wawa Nationalist
9hr ago
Where has it been done successfully and without significant atrocities performed?
People mostly point to Europe, while ignoring the significant violent ethnic cleansing operations against Germans et al post WWII, and the whole context of WWII preceding it, and the EU framework that followed. India-Pakistan certainly wasn't peacefully, and still not entirely successfully. So, where?
aqouta
9hr ago
There is no realistic two state solution that does not involve ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Jews both. The remaining areas allotted and allowed to Palestinians are so marginal and split up by settlers that there is no contiguous state possible without expelling large numbers of Jews. Otherwise a Palestinian state is unworkable and unviable, certainly not prosperous.
The term for this when it's done as a deal and mutually agreed upon is population transfers and has been done successfully in the past in other contexts. Realistically there would be a Gaza and separate west bank state. The west bank would ideally just have jewish citizens if they don't want to transfer back to Israel although in practice I expect most of them to.
Botond173
9hr ago
Family size has also become smaller on average. Compared to 1995, the long-term consequences of demographic implosion are surely starting to bite by now.
Soteriologian
9hr ago
I did not enjoy Infinite Jest. The author is a gifted wordcel: he has nothing worthwhile to say, but he is very good at saying it. It's just Reddit philosophy, dressed well.
FiveHourMarathon
Wawa Nationalist
9hr ago
There is no realistic two state solution that does not involve ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Jews both. The remaining areas allotted and allowed to Palestinians are so marginal and split up by settlers that there is no contiguous state possible without expelling large numbers of Jews. Otherwise a Palestinian state is unworkable and unviable, certainly not prosperous.
A one state solution is the only non-genocidal solution on offer. Recognize Palestine all they want, the West will lack the stomach to murder the Jewish settlers who drive wedges through any possible Palestine.
ControlsFreak
9hr ago
Yeah, it was brought up pretty much immediately in the prior (linked) discussion. I haven't read it, so I don't have much to add besides that it generated a little bit of discussion last time, and I wasn't strongly persuaded either way from what I saw. I'll probably just have to read it sometime to see if I find it or parts of it convincing.
My impression was that the pure Jewish birth rate was actually stronger than the Israeli Arab birthrate these days, though then you zoom in closer and it gets into different categories of Jew, though then there's an intra Jewish genocide question, idk it all gets pretty complicated and I'm not sure what we're talking about at a certain point.
But there's no viable contiguous Palestinian state that can be drawn without evicting large numbers of Jews, who show no evidence of wanting to go peacefully. The resources and transit aren't there. You can make a retarded botched abortion of a statelet, but I'm not sure that will really solve the problem anymore.
So you're left with somebody getting kicked out of the place they live.
More options
Context Copy link