Depending on where we look, the universe is expanding at different rates. Now, scientists using the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have confirmed that the observation is not down to a measurement error.
John Oliver would be so proud:-). You will support him in other ways - e.g. by spreading the message in your own country. He makes a TON of money, so truly I believe that he will be fine, and would rather the message be not so artificially limited as that corporation has made it.
Now the real question: what did you think of it? And it’s okay if you’d rather not answer right away, but if you wanted to, then I would enjoy hearing about it from you:-). After all, I cannot ever travel back in time to re-watch that video for the first time, but I can enjoy that feeling vicariously through you perhaps!?:-P
Hahah I will be back with some comments on it once I’ve had a chance to actually watch it. Gimme a couple hours, I haven’t been up for long enough my brain is still a foggy maze :3
I might’ve also already seen it, but my memory is ummm… Well it’s something.
Anyway I’m sure John would be happy that I’ve pirated his show, especially as a last resort. With the offer he’s made to Clarence Thomas, I also don’t think he really needs the pennies. I would rather support him but it is what it is.
I’ve also added it to my media server so all my friends will see it in their feed. They all also love John.
Edit: Also, I made the mistake of watching Noah Samsen’s video on the starvation of the Palestinian people first thing after I woke up. I need a break 😭
Yeah this stuff is so tangled and difficult. I watched one of John Olivier’s recent videos on chocolate production in places like Africa and it likewise messed me up a little - like, should I buy less chocolate, or more, which is doing less harm vs. good? Btw the answer, as you may have guessed it, is “yes”. Yes buying chocolates helps the poor farmers, while also yes it supports their near-slave-labor conditions, both. And fair-trade seems to mean little if anything at all. :-(
Ultimately I came down on the side that since they are doing this to themselves, the alternatives to cacao farming must be even worse? e.g. hunting in the wilds, or farming something to sell locally. And while the corpo execs seem to me to be greedy MFers just doing hunting of their own, for profits, they nonetheless are doing some amount of service, if they are offering this option to the farmers that they would not otherwise have.
The sticking point is the price: regardless of intention, does lowering that cause more chocolate to be sold, thus help the farmers more than raising it would? (I have no idea btw, that’s just what pops up in my mind) Also, I am so very far away from the situation that it is impossible to accurately judge anything - like John’s video shows another video showing children walking through the fields harvesting cacao and “not wearing safety gear”, but what is that gear, who actually needs it, is it always needed or only during certain seasons, so really how bad is it that these children, who importantly do this for fun, should have been wearing it?
It is good to ask these questions, but yes, dayum it is exhausting. Especially for every tiny little matter.
Though the authoritarianism video is a fairly central one in my mind, fwiw. Even your country, which we want to “escape” to when things go bad in the States, may turn to it, as seems to be the global trend.:-( Anyway, enjoy!:-)
Oh for sure. These things are complicated and it’s really hard to come up with a simple conclusion.
Authoritarianism definitely seems to be on the rise everywhere, although I still believe that most people are against it. You can’t really trust online sentiment and personally I haven’t encountered that many people IRL that would support something like that. My fear is that some people might not realize what they’re voting for and what it really means but I still believe that most people are good and that we can get out of this mess before it is too late.
We are definitely not safe from it here in Canada so yeah, your escape plan might not work out. Things that happen down south often end up happening up here as well, with a little bit of delay. Canadians aren’t really that different from Americans and we consume the same type of media. Hopefully if shit does hit the fan, even the dumbest of voters will be smart enough to see that it is not something that they want and we can stop it before it runs rampant here.
I am curious: after having watched that video, do you still think most people are against it?
I think the opposite - people in cities tend to be, but a good 40-49% of this nation supported Trump in the last Presidential election, despite Biden ultimately winning and despite Trump having been impeached twice before that.
Countering that, the younger generations are more liberal, but we tend to eat our own, and e.g. the Gaza situation may generate a lot of “protest voting”, the same as when Hillary Clinton was running and therefore while Trump did not “win” so much as she lost, it could all end up happening again.
Americans are fat and lazy - that’s just our brand:-) - and to some extent the entire Western world is that way, but we do it to excess. By that same virtue, we are likely to convert into authoritarianism, possibly not even with a bang but with a whimper - not b/c of what we believe, but b/c we just don’t fight back against those who do have firmer convictions (right or wrong).
Thus, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope that you lose your hope that “if shit does hit the fan, even the dumbest of voters will be smart enough to see that it is not something that they want and we can stop it before it runs rampant here”, and start learning from our mistakes, by shoring up protections against it getting as far along with you. Which I guess you are doing, so I will hope that it works!:-)
Well that’s where we differ, Americans and Canadians. Canadians are on average much more liberal than Americans. We also have a very different political system. We actually have more than two options to chose from! Crazy, I know! The political system doesn’t control general sentiment of the population so things can still get hairy but nobody has started dismantling our checks and balances yet so at least we’ve got that?
Our conservative party isn’t usually as bad as the American conservatives either. Although Bitcoin Milhouse and a couple other Conservative leaders are starting to spew some of the same ignorant bullshit, trying to get reactionary votes, I am way less scared about my future here than I would be in the US. We do have a part of the population that are getting sucked into it but it’s really nowhere near as bad (yet, hopefully never). We’ve got Alberta that’s very conservative and very loud, they’re basically Little Texas but whatever, they’ve always been that way. They’ve never changed and they never will. Business as usual. Ontario is a bit scary with what Doug Ford is doing and even in my little province we have our own little conservative pissbaby, who is absolutely wrecking havoc but even other conservatives hate his ass so there’s a decent chance he gets booted out next provincial election.
I’m from French Canada, not Quebec but still French. I’m probably sheltered from it a bit as we are super liberal, much more than English Canada. I don’t really see that much insanity here, even in my tiny little fisherman village. Not to say everybody is cool. I have noticed a change in the way some people look at me in the past couple years, being a transwoman in such a small place where people have never really left their backyards and seen anything. Before it was mostly curiosity, surprise, whatever. Now I see people look at me in disgust and anger. I’ve seen a mother grab her kid and scuttle away to the other side of a store as if I could give them the trans. I’ve had someone spit in my sandwich at a fast food restaurant, although that happened in a neighbouring English city (Risky to do something like that here, I probably know your dad 😉).
Nothing anywhere near that kind of shit happened to me even just 2 years ago and I’ve been loudly trans here for over 7 years now. I 100% attribute that to the hateful and ignorant shit that’s being spewed out by the right and the crazy religious folk being picked up here by people who don’t know any better.
Shit, that was a rant. I don’t even remember what we were talking about. Sorry hahah.
Sorry but I did lolz at this - as if!:-P Part of the funny is that the Bible says “Judge not, lest you be judged”, even though it also has a whole list of judgements for leaders, who were supposed to be held to a much higher standard. So to ignore the latter - letting leaders touch little children who would rather not - while also ignoring the former… they aren’t even reading their own book.:-(
Though I guess you see that it is not just Christianity. In some parts of the world it is Muslim, in others it is Hindu, in still others it could be Buddhism, or whatever. One day there will even be fundamentalist atheists I believe, despite how it promotes skeptical thought and so that is fairly rare for now, human nature is just that lazy!
Anyway I am proud of you. Stand up for yourself! That is definitely not my situation but who the fuq cares, b/c you need to be (free to) be you. And that’s the problem with Authoritarianism (here’s a another link to a whole other series on that if you want - this Innuendo Studies should have nothing whatsoever to do with HBO, and therefore you probably have seen it already:-P): they lack empathy and allow - even perform - the judgement onto others (except their leaders, who they conveniently exempt from all proper consequences of their actions), never dreaming that one day it will wrap back around to themselves. “First they came for…” That process demeans us all, and yeah, one day it may be too late to reverse course. How ironic that you are showing compassion to them even while they spit at you (as Jesus would, hehe:-P). Stay strong, my sister in empathy!:-)
Speaking of, I hope you never catch up to us:-). Though as you say, the English speaking part is a bit closer to us in that regard, highly unfortunately:-(. Though, you still having a somewhat functional government does mean that you should be alright:-).
Though I guess you see that it is not just Christianity.
Nah, it is absolutely not just Christianity. I see all religion as the same thing. It’s the same people, just different stories. I include some atheists in there hahah. Fervent atheists and “believers” share many of the same traits. I don’t think the particular religion has anything to do with it, it’s probably that people who are susceptible to following a religion are more susceptible to fall for tricks and support authoritarianism. I don’t wanna sound like I think I’m better than anyone who follows a religion. I think having some kind of belief system is essential and that we all have that built in us so it’s kinda natural for people to gravitate towards religions. I have my own whacky belief system that I’m sure some people would scoff at but it’s mine and it has served me well so far. I just think beliefs are a very personal thing and that’s how it should’ve stayed. Religions are more about control than they are about beliefs and values.
Anyway I am proud of you. Stand up for yourself! That is definitely not my situation but who the fuq cares, b/c you need to be (free to) be you. And that’s the problem with Authoritarianism
Thank you! I am and I will continue doing so. I will not live in an authoritarian society. If you have but one ally in this fight against authoritarianism, it’ll be us trans folk hahah. We will not be shoved back into the closet peacefully, this I can promise.
this Innuendo Studies should have nothing whatsoever to do with HBO, and therefore you probably have seen it already:-P)
I don’t remember it but apparently at some point I’ve watched the first two videos of the series. I’ll try to give it another shot hahah
they lack empathy and allow - even perform - the judgement onto others (except their leaders, who they conveniently exempt from all proper consequences of their actions)
Yeah those are the ones that really scare me. Some people are just sociopaths and sycophants, they need to be recognized for what they are but people can’t even tell what’s real and what’s not anymore. We’ve propped up these kinds of people for decades on TV and in the media and now people think that’s normal. Today I look at some of your politicians bickering and I feel like I’m watching an episode of Jersey Shore. Similar thing is happening with the current conservatives in Canada, it’s actually painfully cringy to see. It’s like high school type of shit all over again. Not something we should be seeing in parliament.
How ironic that you are showing compassion to them even while they spit at you (as Jesus would, hehe:-P). Stay strong, my sister in empathy!:-)
HAHAH, yeah I am very far from being a Christ figure but many people have called me Jesus during my life. Mostly because of my hair, I did kinda look like your classic White Jesus™ 😂. I just have a really hard time abandoning anyone and I can’t stay mad at anyone because it absolutely eats me inside if I do. I always try to find excuses for peoples behaviours. My compassion might also come from a bit of a selfish place as there was a time where I could’ve probably fallen for shit like that, hell, I have. I’ve been a piece of shit in the past but it all stemmed from a combination personal issues and growing up in a very secluded environment. I don’t think I could’ve fallen as deep into hatred and ignorance as some seem to be these days but still, we’re not that different. I know why I was that way, I may not know why others are but I know why I was, and in the end I was “redeemable”. I think most people are and it’s hard for me not to give everyone a chance.
Though, you still having a somewhat functional government does mean that you should be alright:-)
For what it’s worth, I think you guys will be alright too. Have some faith :3 (But don’t stop doing what you do)
Spot on! Jesus Himself hated the religious hypocrites (“Karens”) of His day, calling them vipers and white-washed tombs, full of rot and decay even if slapped with a fresh coat of paint on the outside. Some people hear that and say “naw, I think I, as a Bishop or Pope or whatever, know far better than Jesus what ‘Christianity’ should mean”, and then proceed to fondle little humans, but others think the latter is detestable and enormously gross:-(. Humans gonna human I guess, but it’s not all equally good or bad - some of it is INSANE, and inside of us all we know what’s what. Like if it happened to us or to someone we care about and we get mad, then we KNOW WTF is up. So those rich old white dudes (or equivalent thereof) are not even consistent with themselves, in that the walk does not match the talk, ergo it is false.
Ngl though, controlling the masses may have had a use, back in the day, before most people could read, by providing incentives for them to not kill and rape and steal and such. Even so, who can blame people then for being angry at finding out that their leaders don’t even belief the crap that they’re preaching? Which ironically doesn’t even mean that it is false, just that I am agreeing with you about the need to dissect the issue by separating the “belief system” from the “authoritarian religion” components. In any case, here in the USA the latter got hijacked and evangelical christians especially seem to almost equate “God = vote for guns & conservatism”. I almost just said conservatism there except that itself is too bland for many of them, who want to continue pushing to ever more far-right schemes. “God” for them is in-group selection.
Switching topics a bit, most of my friends online have been gay men. I am a cis het male btw, not that it matters but I am saying that I am friends with them not b/c of those shared aspects but more, I think, b/c they have empathy. People who have been through some shit end up having more “character” than those who do not. Entitled/spoiled people are the types to spit in your food, never dreaming of what else you have been through, and then they go and add to that burden. THEY would not want that done to THEM, yet they do it to you. On the other hand, people who are heavily bullied may end up broken and mean to others, so I am not saying that exposure to trauma causes empathy, but I am saying that it is a necessary if not sufficient component, it seems to me. So you have had that opportunity that they did not, and chose to do something with it. And that is indeed something worth being proud of!:-)
If you like the videos then I am glad that I sent the link to remind you of them. They are not light fare, but I did so enjoy pouring through them slowly, digesting each one in turn. It’s like a college course in the material!:-)
As for the media on the other side, well, let’s just say that Russia works in mysterious ways. Sometimes it is poisoning, but other times far more subtle. These days they are not even trying to be subtle anymore - Republican conventions are held in literal Moscow, as well as places such as Hungary. They are like minds, and Russia would be a fool not to partner with them, e.g. in that recent Tucker Carlson video interviewing Putin, if it would help speed the conversion of the USA from a foe to an ally. People do not spot it through b/c they are GOOD at what they do! Like, they poin ted out how Hillary Clinton was “corrupt” - b/c she WAS! The Supreme Court asked her to send all of her emails to them, and she told them “lolz no, Im gonna delete the ones that I do not want you to see first”. Nobody can say that the optics surrounding that are anything remotely close to good. In fact, I gotta be careful here or I will go full-on rant on you, but remember that Trump did not win that election so much as she lost it (likewise, he did not win the Republican nomination either, so much as Ted Cruz lost it, after JEB botched the job). Whoever leaked her emails did the real work in that election - but then it was her actual words that she actually said and her actual actions that doomed her. Trump was outright shocked to have won - he never planned on it, did not really want it even, and gave some very serious thoughts to turning it down even! And even when he took it, he still just wanted to do the TV show that he had planned previously, on top of the job of being president. He is like a child - it is the situation that put him there, not (so much) his own intentions. In fact, I even have a little empathy for him too - he didn’t want it, but he did try, despite the job being well beyond his capacity, and that’s actually the tiniest shadow of a little light there (1 out of 1000 but still… it is worth noting and giving him that much credit at least; along with the blame for you know, the actual genocide of Americans by e.g. telling them that the virus was not airbone when he KNEW that it was).
Anyway, it is not “just” the people that are broken, I agree, it is the SYSTEM. Although the system is made up out of people so… that’s where I get lost. But that is also why I think what you are saying is good, about not abandoning people: b/c if enough people did THAT, then the system would not be the way it is today. Somewhere in there I do think that the carrot needs to be set down and the stick picked up, and I acknowledge that I have never figured out that the line that should distinguish between them, but I think that when you KNOW that the carrot is the thing to be done and you do it ANYWAY despite the cost, that is integrity. Which some few authoritarians that I have met personally I feel like also have, in that they turn to the stick too readily and without understanding it, but most - e.g. those who showed up at the capitol - do not, b/c how can you “protect” the Constitution if you haven’t even so much as read it? A “coup” to overturn something is NOT the same thing as “saving” it, dummies!!!:-(
Which is why I have to admit that I have lost the faith: with ~80% of Americans being somewhere in the middle between the extreme left and right sides, and with good-hearted and honest people with some amount of integrity on both sides, yes and some child-like mindsets too, this isn’t something that most of us even seem to want to fight about? However, our media sells fear and extremism, and our politicians too, and with all these parasites sucking up our attention, how then is someone supposed to rise up and actually GOVERN? As ironically Biden has been doing, or at least trying to, though Congress and the Supreme Court seem more responsible for a goodly fraction of the issues that most average Americans are experiencing right now (not Gaza, but that’s a whole other thing, and frankly that doesn’t directly affect most “average” Americans either). I hope something will restore my faith, but I am not optimistic about that:-(. Therefore I believe that I am living in a dying country, but I do whatever I can to help others in my vicinity and abroad nonetheless, not b/c I think I will necessarily accomplish anything truly great there, but simply b/c it is who I am and how I want to be. We all need to live out our authentic lives, being our true selves:-).
Well. I just finished watching the episode on authoritarianism. It was pretty scary and frustrating to hear some of the people who support these things, as it usually is. I think John Oliver summed it up pretty well at the end. Saying how he understands that democracy can be frustrating with all the checks and balances but that removing those opens up the door for things that are much worse. These people really need to understand exactly what they are toying with.
Unfortunately people have a hard time seeing much further than the tip of their own noses and don’t see the harm that they are causing as long as it doesn’t directly affect them, which it won’t until it is too late and the damage has been done.
I think the the problem we are having these days is an empathy problem. People have a really hard time feeling empathy for “others” and who can really blame them? There is so much wrong everywhere you look and everybody is struggling. Everybody is trying to survive and look out for their loved ones just like everybody else but they’ve been sold lies, given scapegoats and promised solutions to fictional problems.
Whatever happens next, it’ll be interesting that’s for sure.
really need to understand exactly what they are toying with
They do not. They will not. They refuse to contemplate doing so - they want a fix NOW and that is all that they will entertain.
And actually, very often they DO have empathy - their hearts are quite often in the right place, it is their set of FACTS that they believe in that are incorrect. e.g. people who take the vaccine b/c they do not want it? Fine, I mean it is not ideal but it is your choice… but then they send their kids to school and that affects immuno-compromised children, and far more than that, they vote sometimes against allowing you to take the vaccine too!!
Or abortion: if you do not want one then do not get one, but to stop others from receiving proper medical care? That is the sickening part. They do it “for the children”, except ofc refuse to lift a finger to actually adopt a child themselves.
So often those lies are sold using empathy as the very vehicle by which they enter the brain. Except ofc it is not “true empathy”, in the sense of actions and especially for those actions to match the words used.
The people choosing those lies are quite good at what they do, actually. And if they fail, they focus-test their messages and try again, and again, and they’ve been doing this for decades now so… they got good at it. And since I don’t really see anyone at all standing up against it - I mean, is Biden? did Obama? is Trudeau, or Sunak? - I think they have a good chance of winning. It is just a matter of time.
Either way, outside of Europe and especially Germany, I do not see people standing up to climate change. More than nuclear weapons, THAT has the potential to end all life on earth - or at least human and possibly most of the animal life as well. The true “Pro-Life” agenda would be to do whatever it takes to stop that… but instead, Trump spitefully withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, just b/c Obama supported it. Biden put us back in it, on his very first day in office actually, but that’s a lot of time lost, and there’s a goodly chance at Trump winning again.
All this bipolar disorder, coupled with the lackluster performance even when conservatives do not win, has made me lose all faith in the democratic processes. Just like George Carlin in the past, except now it REALLY matters which side wins!! :-|
So yeah, I expect a bumpy and quite… “interesting” ride. Even in Canada, most likely, though as you say on a delayed basis.
Therefore I watch videos on how chocolate is made, and I recycle even though I know it will not make one tiniest difference, etc. It is something that I can do, therefore I offer that, at least.
John Oliver would be so proud:-). You will support him in other ways - e.g. by spreading the message in your own country. He makes a TON of money, so truly I believe that he will be fine, and would rather the message be not so artificially limited as that corporation has made it.
Now the real question: what did you think of it? And it’s okay if you’d rather not answer right away, but if you wanted to, then I would enjoy hearing about it from you:-). After all, I cannot ever travel back in time to re-watch that video for the first time, but I can enjoy that feeling vicariously through you perhaps!?:-P
Hahah I will be back with some comments on it once I’ve had a chance to actually watch it. Gimme a couple hours, I haven’t been up for long enough my brain is still a foggy maze :3
I might’ve also already seen it, but my memory is ummm… Well it’s something.
Anyway I’m sure John would be happy that I’ve pirated his show, especially as a last resort. With the offer he’s made to Clarence Thomas, I also don’t think he really needs the pennies. I would rather support him but it is what it is.
I’ve also added it to my media server so all my friends will see it in their feed. They all also love John.
Edit: Also, I made the mistake of watching Noah Samsen’s video on the starvation of the Palestinian people first thing after I woke up. I need a break 😭
Yeah this stuff is so tangled and difficult. I watched one of John Olivier’s recent videos on chocolate production in places like Africa and it likewise messed me up a little - like, should I buy less chocolate, or more, which is doing less harm vs. good? Btw the answer, as you may have guessed it, is “yes”. Yes buying chocolates helps the poor farmers, while also yes it supports their near-slave-labor conditions, both. And fair-trade seems to mean little if anything at all. :-(
Ultimately I came down on the side that since they are doing this to themselves, the alternatives to cacao farming must be even worse? e.g. hunting in the wilds, or farming something to sell locally. And while the corpo execs seem to me to be greedy MFers just doing hunting of their own, for profits, they nonetheless are doing some amount of service, if they are offering this option to the farmers that they would not otherwise have.
The sticking point is the price: regardless of intention, does lowering that cause more chocolate to be sold, thus help the farmers more than raising it would? (I have no idea btw, that’s just what pops up in my mind) Also, I am so very far away from the situation that it is impossible to accurately judge anything - like John’s video shows another video showing children walking through the fields harvesting cacao and “not wearing safety gear”, but what is that gear, who actually needs it, is it always needed or only during certain seasons, so really how bad is it that these children, who importantly do this for fun, should have been wearing it?
It is good to ask these questions, but yes, dayum it is exhausting. Especially for every tiny little matter.
Though the authoritarianism video is a fairly central one in my mind, fwiw. Even your country, which we want to “escape” to when things go bad in the States, may turn to it, as seems to be the global trend.:-( Anyway, enjoy!:-)
Oh for sure. These things are complicated and it’s really hard to come up with a simple conclusion.
Authoritarianism definitely seems to be on the rise everywhere, although I still believe that most people are against it. You can’t really trust online sentiment and personally I haven’t encountered that many people IRL that would support something like that. My fear is that some people might not realize what they’re voting for and what it really means but I still believe that most people are good and that we can get out of this mess before it is too late.
We are definitely not safe from it here in Canada so yeah, your escape plan might not work out. Things that happen down south often end up happening up here as well, with a little bit of delay. Canadians aren’t really that different from Americans and we consume the same type of media. Hopefully if shit does hit the fan, even the dumbest of voters will be smart enough to see that it is not something that they want and we can stop it before it runs rampant here.
I am curious: after having watched that video, do you still think most people are against it?
I think the opposite - people in cities tend to be, but a good 40-49% of this nation supported Trump in the last Presidential election, despite Biden ultimately winning and despite Trump having been impeached twice before that.
Countering that, the younger generations are more liberal, but we tend to eat our own, and e.g. the Gaza situation may generate a lot of “protest voting”, the same as when Hillary Clinton was running and therefore while Trump did not “win” so much as she lost, it could all end up happening again.
Americans are fat and lazy - that’s just our brand:-) - and to some extent the entire Western world is that way, but we do it to excess. By that same virtue, we are likely to convert into authoritarianism, possibly not even with a bang but with a whimper - not b/c of what we believe, but b/c we just don’t fight back against those who do have firmer convictions (right or wrong).
Thus, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope that you lose your hope that “if shit does hit the fan, even the dumbest of voters will be smart enough to see that it is not something that they want and we can stop it before it runs rampant here”, and start learning from our mistakes, by shoring up protections against it getting as far along with you. Which I guess you are doing, so I will hope that it works!:-)
Well that’s where we differ, Americans and Canadians. Canadians are on average much more liberal than Americans. We also have a very different political system. We actually have more than two options to chose from! Crazy, I know! The political system doesn’t control general sentiment of the population so things can still get hairy but nobody has started dismantling our checks and balances yet so at least we’ve got that?
Our conservative party isn’t usually as bad as the American conservatives either. Although Bitcoin Milhouse and a couple other Conservative leaders are starting to spew some of the same ignorant bullshit, trying to get reactionary votes, I am way less scared about my future here than I would be in the US. We do have a part of the population that are getting sucked into it but it’s really nowhere near as bad (yet, hopefully never). We’ve got Alberta that’s very conservative and very loud, they’re basically Little Texas but whatever, they’ve always been that way. They’ve never changed and they never will. Business as usual. Ontario is a bit scary with what Doug Ford is doing and even in my little province we have our own little conservative pissbaby, who is absolutely wrecking havoc but even other conservatives hate his ass so there’s a decent chance he gets booted out next provincial election.
I’m from French Canada, not Quebec but still French. I’m probably sheltered from it a bit as we are super liberal, much more than English Canada. I don’t really see that much insanity here, even in my tiny little fisherman village. Not to say everybody is cool. I have noticed a change in the way some people look at me in the past couple years, being a transwoman in such a small place where people have never really left their backyards and seen anything. Before it was mostly curiosity, surprise, whatever. Now I see people look at me in disgust and anger. I’ve seen a mother grab her kid and scuttle away to the other side of a store as if I could give them the trans. I’ve had someone spit in my sandwich at a fast food restaurant, although that happened in a neighbouring English city (Risky to do something like that here, I probably know your dad 😉).
Nothing anywhere near that kind of shit happened to me even just 2 years ago and I’ve been loudly trans here for over 7 years now. I 100% attribute that to the hateful and ignorant shit that’s being spewed out by the right and the crazy religious folk being picked up here by people who don’t know any better.
Shit, that was a rant. I don’t even remember what we were talking about. Sorry hahah.
Sorry but I did lolz at this - as if!:-P Part of the funny is that the Bible says “Judge not, lest you be judged”, even though it also has a whole list of judgements for leaders, who were supposed to be held to a much higher standard. So to ignore the latter - letting leaders touch little children who would rather not - while also ignoring the former… they aren’t even reading their own book.:-(
Though I guess you see that it is not just Christianity. In some parts of the world it is Muslim, in others it is Hindu, in still others it could be Buddhism, or whatever. One day there will even be fundamentalist atheists I believe, despite how it promotes skeptical thought and so that is fairly rare for now, human nature is just that lazy!
Anyway I am proud of you. Stand up for yourself! That is definitely not my situation but who the fuq cares, b/c you need to be (free to) be you. And that’s the problem with Authoritarianism (here’s a another link to a whole other series on that if you want - this Innuendo Studies should have nothing whatsoever to do with HBO, and therefore you probably have seen it already:-P): they lack empathy and allow - even perform - the judgement onto others (except their leaders, who they conveniently exempt from all proper consequences of their actions), never dreaming that one day it will wrap back around to themselves. “First they came for…” That process demeans us all, and yeah, one day it may be too late to reverse course. How ironic that you are showing compassion to them even while they spit at you (as Jesus would, hehe:-P). Stay strong, my sister in empathy!:-)
Speaking of, I hope you never catch up to us:-). Though as you say, the English speaking part is a bit closer to us in that regard, highly unfortunately:-(. Though, you still having a somewhat functional government does mean that you should be alright:-).
Nah, it is absolutely not just Christianity. I see all religion as the same thing. It’s the same people, just different stories. I include some atheists in there hahah. Fervent atheists and “believers” share many of the same traits. I don’t think the particular religion has anything to do with it, it’s probably that people who are susceptible to following a religion are more susceptible to fall for tricks and support authoritarianism. I don’t wanna sound like I think I’m better than anyone who follows a religion. I think having some kind of belief system is essential and that we all have that built in us so it’s kinda natural for people to gravitate towards religions. I have my own whacky belief system that I’m sure some people would scoff at but it’s mine and it has served me well so far. I just think beliefs are a very personal thing and that’s how it should’ve stayed. Religions are more about control than they are about beliefs and values.
Thank you! I am and I will continue doing so. I will not live in an authoritarian society. If you have but one ally in this fight against authoritarianism, it’ll be us trans folk hahah. We will not be shoved back into the closet peacefully, this I can promise.
I don’t remember it but apparently at some point I’ve watched the first two videos of the series. I’ll try to give it another shot hahah
Yeah those are the ones that really scare me. Some people are just sociopaths and sycophants, they need to be recognized for what they are but people can’t even tell what’s real and what’s not anymore. We’ve propped up these kinds of people for decades on TV and in the media and now people think that’s normal. Today I look at some of your politicians bickering and I feel like I’m watching an episode of Jersey Shore. Similar thing is happening with the current conservatives in Canada, it’s actually painfully cringy to see. It’s like high school type of shit all over again. Not something we should be seeing in parliament.
HAHAH, yeah I am very far from being a Christ figure but many people have called me Jesus during my life. Mostly because of my hair, I did kinda look like your classic White Jesus™ 😂. I just have a really hard time abandoning anyone and I can’t stay mad at anyone because it absolutely eats me inside if I do. I always try to find excuses for peoples behaviours. My compassion might also come from a bit of a selfish place as there was a time where I could’ve probably fallen for shit like that, hell, I have. I’ve been a piece of shit in the past but it all stemmed from a combination personal issues and growing up in a very secluded environment. I don’t think I could’ve fallen as deep into hatred and ignorance as some seem to be these days but still, we’re not that different. I know why I was that way, I may not know why others are but I know why I was, and in the end I was “redeemable”. I think most people are and it’s hard for me not to give everyone a chance.
For what it’s worth, I think you guys will be alright too. Have some faith :3 (But don’t stop doing what you do)
Spot on! Jesus Himself hated the religious hypocrites (“Karens”) of His day, calling them vipers and white-washed tombs, full of rot and decay even if slapped with a fresh coat of paint on the outside. Some people hear that and say “naw, I think I, as a Bishop or Pope or whatever, know far better than Jesus what ‘Christianity’ should mean”, and then proceed to fondle little humans, but others think the latter is detestable and enormously gross:-(. Humans gonna human I guess, but it’s not all equally good or bad - some of it is INSANE, and inside of us all we know what’s what. Like if it happened to us or to someone we care about and we get mad, then we KNOW WTF is up. So those rich old white dudes (or equivalent thereof) are not even consistent with themselves, in that the walk does not match the talk, ergo it is false.
Ngl though, controlling the masses may have had a use, back in the day, before most people could read, by providing incentives for them to not kill and rape and steal and such. Even so, who can blame people then for being angry at finding out that their leaders don’t even belief the crap that they’re preaching? Which ironically doesn’t even mean that it is false, just that I am agreeing with you about the need to dissect the issue by separating the “belief system” from the “authoritarian religion” components. In any case, here in the USA the latter got hijacked and evangelical christians especially seem to almost equate “God = vote for guns & conservatism”. I almost just said conservatism there except that itself is too bland for many of them, who want to continue pushing to ever more far-right schemes. “God” for them is in-group selection.
Switching topics a bit, most of my friends online have been gay men. I am a cis het male btw, not that it matters but I am saying that I am friends with them not b/c of those shared aspects but more, I think, b/c they have empathy. People who have been through some shit end up having more “character” than those who do not. Entitled/spoiled people are the types to spit in your food, never dreaming of what else you have been through, and then they go and add to that burden. THEY would not want that done to THEM, yet they do it to you. On the other hand, people who are heavily bullied may end up broken and mean to others, so I am not saying that exposure to trauma causes empathy, but I am saying that it is a necessary if not sufficient component, it seems to me. So you have had that opportunity that they did not, and chose to do something with it. And that is indeed something worth being proud of!:-)
If you like the videos then I am glad that I sent the link to remind you of them. They are not light fare, but I did so enjoy pouring through them slowly, digesting each one in turn. It’s like a college course in the material!:-)
As for the media on the other side, well, let’s just say that Russia works in mysterious ways. Sometimes it is poisoning, but other times far more subtle. These days they are not even trying to be subtle anymore - Republican conventions are held in literal Moscow, as well as places such as Hungary. They are like minds, and Russia would be a fool not to partner with them, e.g. in that recent Tucker Carlson video interviewing Putin, if it would help speed the conversion of the USA from a foe to an ally. People do not spot it through b/c they are GOOD at what they do! Like, they poin ted out how Hillary Clinton was “corrupt” - b/c she WAS! The Supreme Court asked her to send all of her emails to them, and she told them “lolz no, Im gonna delete the ones that I do not want you to see first”. Nobody can say that the optics surrounding that are anything remotely close to good. In fact, I gotta be careful here or I will go full-on rant on you, but remember that Trump did not win that election so much as she lost it (likewise, he did not win the Republican nomination either, so much as Ted Cruz lost it, after JEB botched the job). Whoever leaked her emails did the real work in that election - but then it was her actual words that she actually said and her actual actions that doomed her. Trump was outright shocked to have won - he never planned on it, did not really want it even, and gave some very serious thoughts to turning it down even! And even when he took it, he still just wanted to do the TV show that he had planned previously, on top of the job of being president. He is like a child - it is the situation that put him there, not (so much) his own intentions. In fact, I even have a little empathy for him too - he didn’t want it, but he did try, despite the job being well beyond his capacity, and that’s actually the tiniest shadow of a little light there (1 out of 1000 but still… it is worth noting and giving him that much credit at least; along with the blame for you know, the actual genocide of Americans by e.g. telling them that the virus was not airbone when he KNEW that it was).
Anyway, it is not “just” the people that are broken, I agree, it is the SYSTEM. Although the system is made up out of people so… that’s where I get lost. But that is also why I think what you are saying is good, about not abandoning people: b/c if enough people did THAT, then the system would not be the way it is today. Somewhere in there I do think that the carrot needs to be set down and the stick picked up, and I acknowledge that I have never figured out that the line that should distinguish between them, but I think that when you KNOW that the carrot is the thing to be done and you do it ANYWAY despite the cost, that is integrity. Which some few authoritarians that I have met personally I feel like also have, in that they turn to the stick too readily and without understanding it, but most - e.g. those who showed up at the capitol - do not, b/c how can you “protect” the Constitution if you haven’t even so much as read it? A “coup” to overturn something is NOT the same thing as “saving” it, dummies!!!:-(
Which is why I have to admit that I have lost the faith: with ~80% of Americans being somewhere in the middle between the extreme left and right sides, and with good-hearted and honest people with some amount of integrity on both sides, yes and some child-like mindsets too, this isn’t something that most of us even seem to want to fight about? However, our media sells fear and extremism, and our politicians too, and with all these parasites sucking up our attention, how then is someone supposed to rise up and actually GOVERN? As ironically Biden has been doing, or at least trying to, though Congress and the Supreme Court seem more responsible for a goodly fraction of the issues that most average Americans are experiencing right now (not Gaza, but that’s a whole other thing, and frankly that doesn’t directly affect most “average” Americans either). I hope something will restore my faith, but I am not optimistic about that:-(. Therefore I believe that I am living in a dying country, but I do whatever I can to help others in my vicinity and abroad nonetheless, not b/c I think I will necessarily accomplish anything truly great there, but simply b/c it is who I am and how I want to be. We all need to live out our authentic lives, being our true selves:-).
Well. I just finished watching the episode on authoritarianism. It was pretty scary and frustrating to hear some of the people who support these things, as it usually is. I think John Oliver summed it up pretty well at the end. Saying how he understands that democracy can be frustrating with all the checks and balances but that removing those opens up the door for things that are much worse. These people really need to understand exactly what they are toying with.
Unfortunately people have a hard time seeing much further than the tip of their own noses and don’t see the harm that they are causing as long as it doesn’t directly affect them, which it won’t until it is too late and the damage has been done.
I think the the problem we are having these days is an empathy problem. People have a really hard time feeling empathy for “others” and who can really blame them? There is so much wrong everywhere you look and everybody is struggling. Everybody is trying to survive and look out for their loved ones just like everybody else but they’ve been sold lies, given scapegoats and promised solutions to fictional problems.
Whatever happens next, it’ll be interesting that’s for sure.
They do not. They will not. They refuse to contemplate doing so - they want a fix NOW and that is all that they will entertain.
And actually, very often they DO have empathy - their hearts are quite often in the right place, it is their set of FACTS that they believe in that are incorrect. e.g. people who take the vaccine b/c they do not want it? Fine, I mean it is not ideal but it is your choice… but then they send their kids to school and that affects immuno-compromised children, and far more than that, they vote sometimes against allowing you to take the vaccine too!!
Or abortion: if you do not want one then do not get one, but to stop others from receiving proper medical care? That is the sickening part. They do it “for the children”, except ofc refuse to lift a finger to actually adopt a child themselves.
So often those lies are sold using empathy as the very vehicle by which they enter the brain. Except ofc it is not “true empathy”, in the sense of actions and especially for those actions to match the words used.
The people choosing those lies are quite good at what they do, actually. And if they fail, they focus-test their messages and try again, and again, and they’ve been doing this for decades now so… they got good at it. And since I don’t really see anyone at all standing up against it - I mean, is Biden? did Obama? is Trudeau, or Sunak? - I think they have a good chance of winning. It is just a matter of time.
Either way, outside of Europe and especially Germany, I do not see people standing up to climate change. More than nuclear weapons, THAT has the potential to end all life on earth - or at least human and possibly most of the animal life as well. The true “Pro-Life” agenda would be to do whatever it takes to stop that… but instead, Trump spitefully withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, just b/c Obama supported it. Biden put us back in it, on his very first day in office actually, but that’s a lot of time lost, and there’s a goodly chance at Trump winning again.
All this bipolar disorder, coupled with the lackluster performance even when conservatives do not win, has made me lose all faith in the democratic processes. Just like George Carlin in the past, except now it REALLY matters which side wins!! :-|
So yeah, I expect a bumpy and quite… “interesting” ride. Even in Canada, most likely, though as you say on a delayed basis.
Therefore I watch videos on how chocolate is made, and I recycle even though I know it will not make one tiniest difference, etc. It is something that I can do, therefore I offer that, at least.