Llamalitmus

Aristocrats!

You've misapplied progressive language in such a way as to make me suspect this comment is an example of astroturfing. I almost hope that is the case, because the alternative is that you have allowed ignorance and implicit bias to lead you down a path of self justified racism/bigotry. As the dominant culture, it is not our place to decide to exclude groups of people based on a preconception. Every culture has blindspots. But none of them are absolutes. You tolerate the culture, and try to discourage behavior that is detrimental to the whole. Otherwise we'd ban most religions. Even western ones.

This response feels like it was written by AI. Or maybe someone who has indulged in psychedelics too much and too frequently to be able to communicate ideas in a clear or concise manner.

Fuck Trump. But also, I think with divisions the way they are, we have to be careful how we engage with our criticisms. And my problem with calling Trump "white trash" is layered. First, white trash has classically been used to denigrate lower class white folks. There's more to unpack there than I want to tackle, but to oversimplify, I feel like it is unnecessarily classist and brings in race at the same time. I'm sure there are plenty of people who you could call white trash that aren't racist, traitorous, scam artists. Also, I would consider Trump either not lower class, or a class traitor. And on top of that, it kind of seems like the least concerning thing about him. Him being cringe or gross or just generally repugnant is so 2016. We're now in the midst of several global catastrophes that this animated blob of greed and hatred will almost certainly pour rocketfuel on.

Because capitalism.
The less glib answer, though a bit of an over simplification, is that the current trend of neoliberalism discourages self limitation and collective collaboration. If regulation is not put in place and enforced by forces (government, social contract, etc) then people are incentivize to push and make use of any advantage available. Not doing it risks being displaced by those who do. Competition becomes toxic and self perpetuating

Defining it as a feature would dispel the myth of there being an ethical way to incarcerate/indefinitely detain people. The "bad apples" argument tries to put forward an idea that something bad is actually fine. It's only bad in 'this instance' because these people are bad/immoral/incompetent.

It's almost like it is in the best interests of one of the political parties to have a less informed populace and that party tends to limit or dismantle that educational infrastructure

"It sets a shitty precedence.." is a gross minimalization to attach to effectively making the US be a dictatorship. And saying you're ok with a dictatorship because you happen to agree with the dictator is the kind of sentiment that cannot be left unchallenged/unexamined

Some people act like non-monogamy is easy. That it's just cheating or promiscuity disguised. But, if you're doing it right, it requires emotional intelligence and endurance, the self knowledge to be able to set good boundaries and the maturity and empathy to respect others'. It requires a good amount of time, effort, and resources. Negotiating schedules, balancing the needs and wants of each involved, etc. Even those who do it selfishly (or worst case, abusively) would need to expend energy hiding their ways from the community at large (which honestly seems more exhausting). And it's not like monogamy let's you avoid those types of people.

If there is anything the last 3 years has taught me, it can always get worse.

I get what you're saying. And might even agree with elements. But it is easy to say it's futile to fight when you aren't in a position to need to. Doing nothing in this case means resigning not just yourself to being under their oppression, and not even just your friends and family. It is resigning your entire culture to a slow painful death by attrition. They are losing more and more land, rights, and any hope of progress. Like... if someone is strangling you, do you fight back, or just resign yourself to it? And that's before we even get into the fact that those complying and not fighting are still being killed. Those not fighting and wanting to leave were lured to slaughter. Not fighting is an illusory choice.

I think that way of thinking is why it is so difficult to deal with colonialism. We can commit atrocities, and as long at the people who committed them have died of old age, their descendants are free and clear. I don't really know where ixstand on this. But I can't not acknowledge that I have benefited from the misery of others. Whether it is slave wage labor, the crimes against indigenous peoples, patriarchy, or these proxy wars around the world. I think that pushing back against these injustices when seeing the harm it is causes makes obvious sense. But I think it also makes sense to do it selfishly. These people are making us culpable. Doesn't matter if it was someone we voted for who made these decisions, or even if it's someone we didn't vote for. These decisions are being made in our names and with our money. Idk man. Shit's complicated

I think Bev Keane was based off this woman

From everything I've read/heard about this, it does sound like a bit of a nothing burger. Overblown for political ends. But I think saying "coworker" is a bit intellectually dishonest. A big part of the allegation is that they were involved, and then she hires him. Concerns of abuse of power, misuse of funds, and conflicts of interest. The judge's ruling seems fair. To opponents, dismissing it in this way has the appearance of strawmanning. If you already have a strong argument, you only hurt your position long run

Sounds like she could do with more bran in her diet >_>

You just gotta take that line of thought one step further. I believe in you.

I think provisional measures ("bandaid" solutions) should always come with an "until ____ is passed". Because yes, it shouldn't be how we have to do things. But while there isn't the political will to do/get the thing that would actually help the situation, something needs to be done to mitigate the harm that already exists. For example, I don't want to have to drink water from a dirty stream. That shouldn't be the standard. But if I find myself in a situation where it's that or to die of dehydration... restricting/denying the Band-Aid is essentially condemning them to the original harm

Look at the US. They thought there were all these rules restricting a variety of things relating to governmental powers. Trump ignored a bunch of them, and it turns out there weren't laws in place to prevent or enforce repercussions. Just conventions that most politicians abided by. Now they've got that cluster fuck. Or more directly related, there were laws regulating the stock market. Those regulations have been eroded over time by those who would benefit. We let them, and now inequality is off the charts. Systems this big and intertwined need structure. You can argue about whether you want it centralized or decentralized, but it needs structure. Letting people decide what is right for themselves leads to what we have now. Those with money have the power, and they are free to keep taking from those at the bottom.

And let's not fool ourselves. I'm sure that at least some, if not most, of these signatories aren't doing this out of some altruistic streak. Doesn't take morals to see that we're headed for class war. That or economic collapse. They are giving up some money/power/control so they don't risk losing it all.

What if... she made those comments knowing her son was going to be arrested, so she could say to her base that it was a set up/retaliation for what she had said? (Too conspiratorial? )

Do you think the West is that far off?

If Hamas had the same capabilities, there would likely be less violence because Israel would not be able to oppress, occupy, or encroach on Palestinian life. The one with more power doesn't need to use all of their strength, whereas the one struggling under the boot of the other will fight with all of their strength and use whatever is available to them