The list is getting pretty long, so I am going to start writing it down.
1. The problems society faces are complicated, nuanced, and typically have no obvious or satisfying solution that benefits everyone. Unfortunately, our ability to compromise is basically dead, and everything about modern communication centers around bite-sized ideas. We are at a rare point in human development where the tools we have developed are exactly the opposite of what we need to solve our problems.
2. Speaking of our tools, we have designed the Internet: a miraculous platform for communication that transcends all historical barriers to the flow of information and ideas. We have then done the eminently Human thing and used this platform to segregate ourselves morally, philosophically, and along every other fault line we can think of, creating new barriers to the flow of ideas. Now we find ourselves in disposable communities, surrounded by people we suspect of not belonging. It's not exactly a recipe for the unity required to take on large systems of oppression or violence.
3. We refuse to face real problems, because we're too busy being righter and louder than everyone else, and being honest about our problems introduces the risk that we might not be as correct as we think we are. We're subconsciously aware that we're full of shit, but are scared of admitting it.
4. The systems we have built to automate society have grown bigger and more powerful than us. They're more complex than our mental models of them, and they are just efficient enough to fool us into thinking we don't need to maintain them. They also rot from the inside out, so by the time we notice a problem, it's way too late to fix it.
5. The lies we used to tell our children about what made civilization work are now the fables grown-ass adults tell themselves they must abide by in order to keep it working. This is ... not advised.
6. We have convinced ourselves that the way things are is the way things must be. We are incapable of dreaming or thinking big about the things we need to change in order to survive as a species. It is absolutely outside the scope of most people's universes to even consider, for example, post-scarcity economics. This is despite the fact that we actually have the technology to make it work, or the fact that we need to make it work if we're to have any hope.
7. Everyone seems to have a collective sense of impending doom. This is not mass delusion, it's a finely-tuned evolutionary mechanism. The alarms are ringing, but we are just monkeys, so our solution is to screech louder than the alarms until they shut up. This is also a finely-tuned evolutionary mechanism. Nobody said natural selection had any particular preference for intelligence.
8. The kinds of progressives who are currently being laughed out of global politics because of their "crazy ideas"... are not nearly progressive enough to do any good, even if they got everything they asked for. Despite half of the planet being consumed with Hollywood blockbuster entertainment about superheroes and spaceships, it turns out nobody actually has any imagination.
:mittens:
9. Humans who do attempt to fix anything are, historically-speaking, murdered or driven off by the other humans.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on December 05, 2017, 05:41:46 PM
9. Humans who do attempt to fix anything are, historically-speaking, murdered or driven off by the other humans.
And even if they manage to succeed somehow, they
become the next problem.
Quote8. The kinds of progressives who are currently being laughed out of global politics because of their "crazy ideas"... are not nearly progressive enough to do any good, even if they got everything they asked for. Despite half of the planet being consumed with Hollywood blockbuster entertainment about superheroes and spaceships, it turns out nobody actually has any imagination.
It's kind of worse than this. In the last 6 months I can't recall hearing a new "progressive" idea. When was the last time you heard one? The next one you're likely to hear about is equal rights for Whatever nominal fetish or sexuality you want to invent. Being progressive is no longer about advancing everyone, just your own tiny and inconsequential agenda. Seriously, hit me with an idea that's not either been talked to death a billion times over for decades. If you can pull out anything more helpful to everyone than "Equal rights for furries" I'm all ears.
I am not implying V3x or Howl are furries. I am insinuating it.
Quote from: Junkenstein on December 05, 2017, 07:59:12 PM
Quote8. The kinds of progressives who are currently being laughed out of global politics because of their "crazy ideas"... are not nearly progressive enough to do any good, even if they got everything they asked for. Despite half of the planet being consumed with Hollywood blockbuster entertainment about superheroes and spaceships, it turns out nobody actually has any imagination.
It's kind of worse than this. In the last 6 months I can't recall hearing a new "progressive" idea. When was the last time you heard one? The next one you're likely to hear about is equal rights for Whatever nominal fetish or sexuality you want to invent. Being progressive is no longer about advancing everyone, just your own tiny and inconsequential agenda. Seriously, hit me with an idea that's not either been talked to death a billion times over for decades. If you can pull out anything more helpful to everyone than "Equal rights for furries" I'm all ears.
I am not implying V3x or Howl are furries. I am insinuating it.
This is why I don't have much use for progressives. They are generally just a fur pile of special pleading.
Quote from: Junkenstein on December 05, 2017, 07:59:12 PM
Quote8. The kinds of progressives who are currently being laughed out of global politics because of their "crazy ideas"... are not nearly progressive enough to do any good, even if they got everything they asked for. Despite half of the planet being consumed with Hollywood blockbuster entertainment about superheroes and spaceships, it turns out nobody actually has any imagination.
It's kind of worse than this. In the last 6 months I can't recall hearing a new "progressive" idea. When was the last time you heard one? The next one you're likely to hear about is equal rights for Whatever nominal fetish or sexuality you want to invent. Being progressive is no longer about advancing everyone, just your own tiny and inconsequential agenda. Seriously, hit me with an idea that's not either been talked to death a billion times over for decades. If you can pull out anything more helpful to everyone than "Equal rights for furries" I'm all ears.
I am not implying V3x or Howl are furries. I am insinuating it.
No, you're right. Identity politics and equality are important of course, but people act like that's all there is left to fix. And everyone sees the world through the prism of whichever persecution most directly affects them. I can't speak to the urgency of these things because I don't encounter much outright persecution. It's possible I am doing the same thing by seeing everything through the prism of economics, but it really seems that the systematic financial repression of "commoners" reinforces every other kind of oppression. But if you talk about economic liberation, you're pinned as someone who doesn't care about identity politics. Everyone thinks we have to choose one or the other, and that's fine for individuals but not when it gets to the point of actively tearing down any movement that isn't *your* movement.
The elite in this country are still straight white "Christian" males, and yes, they do work to keep it that way. But I think they use ethnic, racial, religious, and gender divisions as tools rather than as ends in and of themselves. Our leaders use Fascist tactics, but they aren't really Fascists. They're Feudalists building a system where peasants pay tribute to the new nobility first on economic divisions, and to each other secondarily based on those social divisions.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Once again, Vex nails it.
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 05, 2017, 10:01:05 PM
Our leaders use Fascist tactics, but they aren't really Fascists. They're Feudalists building a system where peasants pay tribute to the new nobility first on economic divisions, and to each other secondarily based on those social divisions.
Well stated!
I became aware of this fairly recently. Unfortunately, I don't know what those few of us who are both aware of
and upset by this political movement can do to stop it.
Quote from: Brother Mythos on December 06, 2017, 01:34:56 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 05, 2017, 10:01:05 PM
Our leaders use Fascist tactics, but they aren't really Fascists. They're Feudalists building a system where peasants pay tribute to the new nobility first on economic divisions, and to each other secondarily based on those social divisions.
Well stated!
I became aware of this fairly recently. Unfortunately, I don't know what those few of us who are both aware of and upset by this political movement can do to stop it.
As for what we can do to stop it, allow me to direct your attention to the title of this thread.
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
They won't, though.
And civilization hasn't been all bad. After all, it gave us Snuggies and internet forums, so at the very least, it made a few lives a little more comfortable than they might have been without it. And there were a few generations in a few places for a while that really got to live it up. That's small comfort to the billions of people who have consistently held the short end of the stick, I know, but statistically it was better than nothing. And if not, don't worry, we'll get to see how nothing compares soon enough.
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:04:59 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
Well, yes, I would. But I'm a terrible person.
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 05:10:52 AM
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:04:59 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
Well, yes, I would. But I'm a terrible person.
I meant to put yourself in the mind of the kind of pinhead that becomes a real head of state
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:17:47 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 05:10:52 AM
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:04:59 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
Well, yes, I would. But I'm a terrible person.
I meant to put yourself in the mind of the kind of pinhead that becomes a real head of state
I imagine they wouldn't, but what do I know about the mind of a legitimately crazy person? I doubt Nebraska makes a very tempting target on its own, but we do have missile silos and airfields all over the place. Plus the flyover states still produce a lot of food, so depending in what kind of death they have in store for us, it might make sense to irradiate them.
Quote from: Junkenstein on December 05, 2017, 07:59:12 PM
Quote8. The kinds of progressives who are currently being laughed out of global politics because of their "crazy ideas"... are not nearly progressive enough to do any good, even if they got everything they asked for. Despite half of the planet being consumed with Hollywood blockbuster entertainment about superheroes and spaceships, it turns out nobody actually has any imagination.
It's kind of worse than this. In the last 6 months I can't recall hearing a new "progressive" idea. When was the last time you heard one? The next one you're likely to hear about is equal rights for Whatever nominal fetish or sexuality you want to invent. Being progressive is no longer about advancing everyone, just your own tiny and inconsequential agenda. Seriously, hit me with an idea that's not either been talked to death a billion times over for decades. If you can pull out anything more helpful to everyone than "Equal rights for furries" I'm all ears.
I am not implying V3x or Howl are furries. I am insinuating it.
I keep hearing about basic income, far more than right for various marginalized groups. I have my doubts about whether universal subsidization of consumption is the best idea, but it is at least an idea.
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 05, 2017, 10:01:05 PM
Our leaders use Fascist tactics, but they aren't really Fascists. They're Feudalists building a system where peasants pay tribute to the new nobility first on economic divisions, and to each other secondarily based on those social divisions.
I wonder if QG could Big Words that.
Quote from: LMNO on December 06, 2017, 01:49:14 PM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 05, 2017, 10:01:05 PM
Our leaders use Fascist tactics, but they aren't really Fascists. They're Feudalists building a system where peasants pay tribute to the new nobility first on economic divisions, and to each other secondarily based on those social divisions.
I wonder if QG could Big Words that.
On it.
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on December 06, 2017, 03:31:11 PM
Quote from: LMNO on December 06, 2017, 01:49:14 PM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 05, 2017, 10:01:05 PM
Our leaders use Fascist tactics, but they aren't really Fascists. They're Feudalists building a system where peasants pay tribute to the new nobility first on economic divisions, and to each other secondarily based on those social divisions.
I wonder if QG could Big Words that.
On it.
awesome! and thanks for the idea, LMNO. QG please feel free to alter context words or clean up as necessary.
(https://i.imgur.com/ks05Lm3.png)
I'll do one with a background later but I'm supposed to be doing work-work.
Now that I'm reading it instead of just formatting blindly, "those social divisions" may need to be reworded...
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:04:59 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
At the height of the cold war, Tucson had 137 nukes aimed at it. True story.
Quote from: Pergamos on December 06, 2017, 01:27:06 PM
Quote from: Junkenstein on December 05, 2017, 07:59:12 PM
Quote8. The kinds of progressives who are currently being laughed out of global politics because of their "crazy ideas"... are not nearly progressive enough to do any good, even if they got everything they asked for. Despite half of the planet being consumed with Hollywood blockbuster entertainment about superheroes and spaceships, it turns out nobody actually has any imagination.
It's kind of worse than this. In the last 6 months I can't recall hearing a new "progressive" idea. When was the last time you heard one? The next one you're likely to hear about is equal rights for Whatever nominal fetish or sexuality you want to invent. Being progressive is no longer about advancing everyone, just your own tiny and inconsequential agenda. Seriously, hit me with an idea that's not either been talked to death a billion times over for decades. If you can pull out anything more helpful to everyone than "Equal rights for furries" I'm all ears.
I am not implying V3x or Howl are furries. I am insinuating it.
I keep hearing about basic income, far more than right for various marginalized groups. I have my doubts about whether universal subsidization of consumption is the best idea, but it is at least an idea.
I like the idea of UBI, or at least I like the idea of solving the problem it's supposed to solve. We know from all kinds of scientific research that people are happier and more productive in their work when they don't have to worry about meeting their families' basic survival needs. UBI is supposed to guarantee everyone a basic standard of living so we don't have to worry about losing our jobs. It's a tidy solution to the problem of technological disruption and the resulting worker displacement. It would also mean simplifying the welfare system, since we wouldn't need unemployment, SSI, or disability income (except as an increase in UBI payments) anymore. And there's more than enough money to pay for it -- if we could just tax it out of the top 5-10% of earners' income.
The "problem" with UBI is that "it's punishing success" and "rewarding laziness". It's actually neither of those things, of course, but that won't stop half the people from believing it is and making the idea dead on arrival, thus forcing us all the hang by a thread that capitalism rewards employers for cutting. This is a plain example of why we are fucked. Free-market capitalism is reaching the limits of what it can do to improve living standards. We're at the point of diminishing returns. But because we have indoctrinated ourselves to believe Absolute Capitalism is basically the economic version of Jesus, we can't even allow ourselves to
consider alternatives like UBI, even when something like that is absolutely necessary to cope with technological advancement as it applies to the workforce. And since, apparently, being wrong hurts more than being hungry, that's where things stand.
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on December 06, 2017, 03:56:46 PM
Now that I'm reading it instead of just formatting blindly, "those social divisions" may need to be reworded...
Agreed... but the format looks amazing!
Here's my offering to the list:
We humans lack the intelligent required for our long-term survival.
Quote from: Brother Mythos on December 07, 2017, 03:06:24 AM
Here's my offering to the list:
We humans lack the intelligent required for our long-term survival.
That's definitely true. All the truly intelligent species had the good sense not to evolve in the first place.
Humans: Poster Species for non-correlation between intelligence and decision making ability.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on December 06, 2017, 03:57:23 PM
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:04:59 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
At the height of the cold war, Tucson had 137 nukes aimed at it. True story.
Sounds like a good idea. Tucson however, is not rural, even if much of Arizona is.
I'm talking about aiming nukes at small god-fearing uneducated inbred communities
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 07, 2017, 03:56:06 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on December 06, 2017, 03:57:23 PM
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 06, 2017, 05:04:59 AM
Quote from: tyrannosaurus vex on December 06, 2017, 03:20:02 AM
Quote from: PoFP on December 06, 2017, 02:33:52 AM
:mittens:
While every word of this is true, Reason 1 explains why having this piece thrown out into the media for public consumption would simply result in "TL;DR"-type responses, or none at all.
I try pointing out shit like this (Although, not nearly as eloquently and thoroughly as you've done, here) all the time, but no one wants to read anything for longer than a few seconds at a time. It's honestly one of the most frustrating aspects of this list, in that it prevents discussion that could solve the other items in the list.
Yeah, this. It's really at the point now where the only "hope" that really exists is that maybe we'll actually have some kind of nuclear Armageddon that wipes out 95% of humanity, and maybe whoever picks up the pieces will do a better job next time around.
Unlikely. The places most likely to avoid being nuked back into the dark ages are those too unimportant to target due to never having exited the dark ages in the first place. Like the bible belt and flyover states; if you were a head of state would you waste a nuke on what is essentially an uninhabited wasteland already?
At the height of the cold war, Tucson had 137 nukes aimed at it. True story.
Sounds like a good idea. Tucson however, is not rural, even if much of Arizona is.
I'm talking about aiming nukes at small god-fearing uneducated inbred communities
What the fuck could you do to Quartzite that they haven't done to themselves? They BEG for nukes.
Why nihilism?
Do you think everyone else here can't also see how fucked things are? What good is hopelessness?
If you truly believe that nothing can be done and there is no hope, why not just kill yourself now (please don't take this the wrong way, I am not telling you to kill yourself) ? Or ignore the hopelessness of the situation and have fun while the world still exists?
We all have our limits of what we can handle, but at what point does pessimism become a self-fulfilling cycle of guaranteed failure? No one knows how this shit is going to pan out. There is no useful precedent to compare to.
Playing down your agency as a human is a safe bet though, because wallowing in your sense of helplessness is the "thoughts and prayers" of the left right now. It exempts your sad sack ass from having to spend energy even imagining what may be within your power to influence, let alone blazing a trail to goddamn victory.
But that's okay. No single person or ideology is going to fix this, and everybody needs a break from time to time.
You Gen-Xers are in love with being jaded pragmatists, which is fine. I find it quite endearing how you cast yourselves as stoic, anti-hero observers that disavow any charges of seeming slightly optimistic about anything, but nonetheless still contribute towards the greater good like the ironic little fuckweasels you are.
I can still see the hope stains on your shoes though.
Quote from: Chucklemaster on December 16, 2017, 06:50:02 AM
Why nihilism?
Do you think everyone else here can't also see how fucked things are? What good is hopelessness?
If you truly believe that nothing can be done and there is no hope, why not just kill yourself now (please don't take this the wrong way, I am not telling you to kill yourself) ? Or ignore the hopelessness of the situation and have fun while the world still exists?
I'm bad at expressing the exact emotions attached to this state of affairs. My outlook isn't one of nihilism, exactly. It's more like frustrated apocalypticism.
Quote from: N E T on December 17, 2017, 03:35:24 AM
We all have our limits of what we can handle, but at what point does pessimism become a self-fulfilling cycle of guaranteed failure? No one knows how this shit is going to pan out. There is no useful precedent to compare to.
Playing down your agency as a human is a safe bet though, because wallowing in your sense of helplessness is the "thoughts and prayers" of the left right now. It exempts your sad sack ass from having to spend energy even imagining what may be within your power to influence, let alone blazing a trail to goddamn victory.
But that's okay. No single person or ideology is going to fix this, and everybody needs a break from time to time.
You Gen-Xers are in love with being jaded pragmatists, which is fine. I find it quite endearing how you cast yourselves as stoic, anti-hero observers that disavow any charges of seeming slightly optimistic about anything, but nonetheless still contribute towards the greater good like the ironic little fuckweasels you are.
I can still see the hope stains on your shoes though.
a ) I'm a millennial, young man.
b ) you're probably right about everything else, but at this point i'd rather see a nuclear apocalypse than put any effort into fixing things.
In case you haven't been paying attention, we're always fucked. There is never any hope and this time it is always different. This time it's usually foreals, as opposed to all the other times before where we were told it was foreals but it turned out not to be, this time it truly is. Just like all those other times.
Worrying about whatever brand of foreals bullshit is being paraded as the end of civilisation this month got old for me some time around my mid 20's. The last one I remember giving a passing fuck about was the nuclear holocaust that failed to materialise, with clockwork regularity, on the hour, every hour for about a decade and a half, thus ruining any shot of passing into adolescence and planning for the future I might have had.
Protip: We are not fucked. We never have been and, to the best of my knowledge, we never will be. Now I know that's not what you might want to hear but, unfortunately for you, that's how it is. And always has been, ever since the first hysterical monkey learned to rub his opposable, panic stricken thumbs together and yell "We're fucked and there is no hope" Primate was wrong then and he's still wrong seven billion years down the line.
In an existential sense, yeah, sure we're fucked. Pretty soon each and every one of us is going to start rotting and dying and, if you manage to avoid being crushed by a falling piano, the best you have to look forward to is trying to remember who your family are and how to piss and shit without it filling up your trousers. Yeah, in this sense we are all fucked. To death. There is no Jesus, Allah or the fucking tooth fairy going to stick you back together again. Couple of years from now - you die. Enjoy.
Meanwhile you got options. You can either worry about how hard you are about to be fucked (foreals this time) or you can choose to not give a shit about the impending dildo apocalypse or, even better, to laugh at all the assholes throwing their life away whining about how it's not fair and how we're all fucked. There are victims on every corner. Corners they mostly painted themselves into and refuse to leave. That shit's funny if you have the stomach to laugh. If you don't then yeah, we're all fucked.
Foreals this time.
Enjoy.
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on December 17, 2017, 06:38:42 PM
In case you haven't been paying attention, we're always fucked. There is never any hope and this time it is always different. This time it's usually foreals, as opposed to all the other times before where we were told it was foreals but it turned out not to be, this time it truly is. Just like all those other times.
Worrying about whatever brand of foreals bullshit is being paraded as the end of civilisation this month got old for me some time around my mid 20's. The last one I remember giving a passing fuck about was the nuclear holocaust that failed to materialise, with clockwork regularity, on the hour, every hour for about a decade and a half, thus ruining any shot of passing into adolescence and planning for the future I might have had.
Protip: We are not fucked. We never have been and, to the best of my knowledge, we never will be. Now I know that's not what you might want to hear but, unfortunately for you, that's how it is. And always has been, ever since the first hysterical monkey learned to rub his opposable, panic stricken thumbs together and yell "We're fucked and there is no hope" Primate was wrong then and he's still wrong seven billion years down the line.
In an existential sense, yeah, sure we're fucked. Pretty soon each and every one of us is going to start rotting and dying and, if you manage to avoid being crushed by a falling piano, the best you have to look forward to is trying to remember who your family are and how to piss and shit without it filling up your trousers. Yeah, in this sense we are all fucked. To death. There is no Jesus, Allah or the fucking tooth fairy going to stick you back together again. Couple of years from now - you die. Enjoy.
Meanwhile you got options. You can either worry about how hard you are about to be fucked (foreals this time) or you can choose to not give a shit about the impending dildo apocalypse or, even better, to laugh at all the assholes throwing their life away whining about how it's not fair and how we're all fucked. There are victims on every corner. Corners they mostly painted themselves into and refuse to leave. That shit's funny if you have the stomach to laugh. If you don't then yeah, we're all fucked.
Foreals this time.
Enjoy.
It's a little more than the usual, this time. The tax bill they're voting on tomorrow, for example, basically makes merit-based grad school a thing of the past. As in, if you can't lay out the $$$, you can't go at all (the tax bill states that the waived tuition and stipend become taxable as income). Zenpatista, here, runs a flock of grad students, and will probably lose the bunch of them. Which cripples the chemistry department at the university here.
The bill also further cripples education from K-12.
So what happens is we suddenly have an outright aristocracy in function as well as form.
A major evil rises to menace America about every 70-90 years. The last one was the Third Reich and Imperial Japan, and before that there was the Confederacy
Quote from: Prelate Diogenes Shandor on December 18, 2017, 10:44:47 PM
A major evil rises to menace America about every 70-90 years. The last one was the Third Reich and Imperial Japan, and before that there was the Confederacy
well, they say the third time's the charm. The thing about the last two times was that the South never
really had a chance. They were outnumbered and outgunned and had no manufacturing base. WWII was a bit closer, but still, America didn't even show up to the fight in Europe until the Nazis were already in an untenable position. The war in the Pacific was harder, but even if we'd lost there it isn't like Japan would have
also invaded and conquered the mainland, at least not without the help of a Europe unified under Nazi Germany. This time around is sort of like the Civil War, except that the Confederates are
already in power.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on December 18, 2017, 07:55:26 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on December 17, 2017, 06:38:42 PM
In case you haven't been paying attention, we're always fucked. There is never any hope and this time it is always different. This time it's usually foreals, as opposed to all the other times before where we were told it was foreals but it turned out not to be, this time it truly is. Just like all those other times.
Worrying about whatever brand of foreals bullshit is being paraded as the end of civilisation this month got old for me some time around my mid 20's. The last one I remember giving a passing fuck about was the nuclear holocaust that failed to materialise, with clockwork regularity, on the hour, every hour for about a decade and a half, thus ruining any shot of passing into adolescence and planning for the future I might have had.
Protip: We are not fucked. We never have been and, to the best of my knowledge, we never will be. Now I know that's not what you might want to hear but, unfortunately for you, that's how it is. And always has been, ever since the first hysterical monkey learned to rub his opposable, panic stricken thumbs together and yell "We're fucked and there is no hope" Primate was wrong then and he's still wrong seven billion years down the line.
In an existential sense, yeah, sure we're fucked. Pretty soon each and every one of us is going to start rotting and dying and, if you manage to avoid being crushed by a falling piano, the best you have to look forward to is trying to remember who your family are and how to piss and shit without it filling up your trousers. Yeah, in this sense we are all fucked. To death. There is no Jesus, Allah or the fucking tooth fairy going to stick you back together again. Couple of years from now - you die. Enjoy.
Meanwhile you got options. You can either worry about how hard you are about to be fucked (foreals this time) or you can choose to not give a shit about the impending dildo apocalypse or, even better, to laugh at all the assholes throwing their life away whining about how it's not fair and how we're all fucked. There are victims on every corner. Corners they mostly painted themselves into and refuse to leave. That shit's funny if you have the stomach to laugh. If you don't then yeah, we're all fucked.
Foreals this time.
Enjoy.
It's a little more than the usual, this time. The tax bill they're voting on tomorrow, for example, basically makes merit-based grad school a thing of the past. As in, if you can't lay out the $$$, you can't go at all (the tax bill states that the waived tuition and stipend become taxable as income). Zenpatista, here, runs a flock of grad students, and will probably lose the bunch of them. Which cripples the chemistry department at the university here.
The bill also further cripples education from K-12.
So what happens is we suddenly have an outright aristocracy in function as well as form.
The funniest thing about this is that by slashing education related crap you're ensuing that this kind of stupidity will happen again, and again and again. And the people elected will just be worse each time too. You'll reminisce over idiot when you're dealing with President shkreli or President Actually The Reanimated Corpse of Reagan.
Quote from: Junkenstein on December 19, 2017, 07:25:54 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on December 18, 2017, 07:55:26 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on December 17, 2017, 06:38:42 PM
In case you haven't been paying attention, we're always fucked. There is never any hope and this time it is always different. This time it's usually foreals, as opposed to all the other times before where we were told it was foreals but it turned out not to be, this time it truly is. Just like all those other times.
Worrying about whatever brand of foreals bullshit is being paraded as the end of civilisation this month got old for me some time around my mid 20's. The last one I remember giving a passing fuck about was the nuclear holocaust that failed to materialise, with clockwork regularity, on the hour, every hour for about a decade and a half, thus ruining any shot of passing into adolescence and planning for the future I might have had.
Protip: We are not fucked. We never have been and, to the best of my knowledge, we never will be. Now I know that's not what you might want to hear but, unfortunately for you, that's how it is. And always has been, ever since the first hysterical monkey learned to rub his opposable, panic stricken thumbs together and yell "We're fucked and there is no hope" Primate was wrong then and he's still wrong seven billion years down the line.
In an existential sense, yeah, sure we're fucked. Pretty soon each and every one of us is going to start rotting and dying and, if you manage to avoid being crushed by a falling piano, the best you have to look forward to is trying to remember who your family are and how to piss and shit without it filling up your trousers. Yeah, in this sense we are all fucked. To death. There is no Jesus, Allah or the fucking tooth fairy going to stick you back together again. Couple of years from now - you die. Enjoy.
Meanwhile you got options. You can either worry about how hard you are about to be fucked (foreals this time) or you can choose to not give a shit about the impending dildo apocalypse or, even better, to laugh at all the assholes throwing their life away whining about how it's not fair and how we're all fucked. There are victims on every corner. Corners they mostly painted themselves into and refuse to leave. That shit's funny if you have the stomach to laugh. If you don't then yeah, we're all fucked.
Foreals this time.
Enjoy.
It's a little more than the usual, this time. The tax bill they're voting on tomorrow, for example, basically makes merit-based grad school a thing of the past. As in, if you can't lay out the $$$, you can't go at all (the tax bill states that the waived tuition and stipend become taxable as income). Zenpatista, here, runs a flock of grad students, and will probably lose the bunch of them. Which cripples the chemistry department at the university here.
The bill also further cripples education from K-12.
So what happens is we suddenly have an outright aristocracy in function as well as form.
The funniest thing about this is that by slashing education related crap you're ensuing that this kind of stupidity will happen again, and again and again. And the people elected will just be worse each time too. You'll reminisce over idiot when you're dealing with President shkreli or President Actually The Reanimated Corpse of Reagan.
(http://menstrait.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/zombie_reagan_revisited_by_olasdcrazy-d3hhncv.jpg)
The American Dream -- George Carlin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsL6mKxtOlQ)
Quote from: Bu☆ns on December 20, 2017, 02:35:12 AM
The American Dream -- George Carlin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsL6mKxtOlQ)
Saved that one for when he was heading out the door. Final performances are a bitch.
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on December 17, 2017, 06:38:42 PM
In case you haven't been paying attention, we're always fucked. There is never any hope and this time it is always different. This time it's usually foreals, as opposed to all the other times before where we were told it was foreals but it turned out not to be, this time it truly is. Just like all those other times.
Worrying about whatever brand of foreals bullshit is being paraded as the end of civilisation this month got old for me some time around my mid 20's. The last one I remember giving a passing fuck about was the nuclear holocaust that failed to materialise, with clockwork regularity, on the hour, every hour for about a decade and a half, thus ruining any shot of passing into adolescence and planning for the future I might have had.
Protip: We are not fucked. We never have been and, to the best of my knowledge, we never will be. Now I know that's not what you might want to hear but, unfortunately for you, that's how it is. And always has been, ever since the first hysterical monkey learned to rub his opposable, panic stricken thumbs together and yell "We're fucked and there is no hope" Primate was wrong then and he's still wrong seven billion years down the line.
In an existential sense, yeah, sure we're fucked. Pretty soon each and every one of us is going to start rotting and dying and, if you manage to avoid being crushed by a falling piano, the best you have to look forward to is trying to remember who your family are and how to piss and shit without it filling up your trousers. Yeah, in this sense we are all fucked. To death. There is no Jesus, Allah or the fucking tooth fairy going to stick you back together again. Couple of years from now - you die. Enjoy.
Meanwhile you got options. You can either worry about how hard you are about to be fucked (foreals this time) or you can choose to not give a shit about the impending dildo apocalypse or, even better, to laugh at all the assholes throwing their life away whining about how it's not fair and how we're all fucked. There are victims on every corner. Corners they mostly painted themselves into and refuse to leave. That shit's funny if you have the stomach to laugh. If you don't then yeah, we're all fucked.
Foreals this time.
Enjoy.
:mittens:
1. We are not fucked, we probably don't get any sex anyway
2. There is no pope, we are all popes
Apparently Putin announced in a supervillain monologue last night that he's restarting the arms race because he's tired of the world not listening to him