Joshe

I'm not politically educated so not sure if this question makes sense but is it possible that the American people could/would dictate whether or not they go to war? If Trump puts us in a useless, unnecessary war, I feel like most people would be like "fuck that" and refuse to participate in it and there'd be public backlash the likes of which we've never seen. Would his reign not somehow end if he went that far?

I think it was smart. It signals to MAGA that Canada isn't just "orange man bad" anti-Trumpers. Even if it's false, I think it was a good move. The idiots of America would attack him if he were hostile to Trump but it's hard to attack him now. He seems like "IDK what we did to deserve this and we wish it weren't happening, we don't hate you, but you're forcing us into this position". I think this was a brilliant address and I think we need more like it.

This is great:

This is what we need. World leaders speaking directly to the U.S population.

Damn

Thanks @cetus! I mostly agree with Steve on that one. I still haven't secured financial freedom but when I do, it definitely won't be an end in itself. IMO, the whole point of financial freedom is to spend life pursuing and engaging in the things that bring you happiness/joy. For me, that's working on problems that can help humanity, so that's the point I'm trying to get to.

Yeah, I agree. It's easy to become attached to it. It doesn't seem sustainable to stay in it indefinitely.

I’m not very susceptible to propaganda. I evaluate and consider claims objectively and I use my knowledge of human psychology and devilry in conjunction with logical deduction to arrive at what is likely or possible. If you think the idea that Trump is on Putin’s payroll is insane and has no merit, then you don’t understand the characters in question. First is understanding the characters, but I can tell by the way you talk about Trump that you don’t understand his character, so you likely won’t be able to arrive at this position. A few weeks ago you thought Trump was a well-intentioned, status-quo, merely corrupt—in the way the rest of them are—politician. If you believe that, then yes, this theory would appear absurd. Plus, I detect a cultural/conformist right wing bias in you, which would make it even harder. Means, motive, and opportunity are there. Plug in all the character variables, history, and reporting, and you have a solid theory. Yes, it's conspiratorial, which turns some intelligent people off, but that's a mistake IMO.

Yeah, that's a good point. You could build a good case for both. There's a lot of compelling evidence that points in the opposite direction if you want to look into it. It's all circumstantial from what I've seen, but when you add it all up, it's not easy to dismiss. Also, "puppet" doesn't necessarily mean 100% controlled. It could just mean 25% or 50% controlled or it could mean "in cahoots" or colluding with. So "puppet" isn't the best term. I was just using Lyubov's term. Collusion for power/material gain would be more likely but it's also possible Putin has some dirt or leverage on Trump, which could explain a narcissist taking orders from someone else. Russia is big into spying. Think of the weak security around Trump's properties, especially from the 70s to 2000s. Maybe they recorded Trump fucking a kid and are blackmailing him with it. That might get a narcissist to do your bidding, especially if you promise him unfathomable riches. Remember, when Trump was asked by reporters if he'd release the JFK information, he said absolutely. Then was asked if he'd release the information of some other big thing, and he said absolutely. Right after those two questions, he was asked if he'd release the Epstein files and he said "that I'm not sure about, I probably would". Also, Epstein passed away from "suicide" when the cameras just so happened to be off. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Russians have dirt on Trump. Again, I'm not saying they do, I'm just saying they might.

There's a good amount of compelling circumstantial evidence to support the theory. I'm not saying he's his puppet—I'm just saying it's possible, and I think it's an epistemic mistake to lean too far away from that possibility and an even greater mistake to dispense with it entirely, as many seem to have done.

Trump is a Putin puppet.

Yeah, it's possible it's that simple, but the alternative is also possible. Sounds like you're pretty sure about your position. I'm at 50/50 because I just don't know.

@puporing What it's called isn't important. My point was that I think Russia has spread or at least considered spreading good spiritual teachings as a means of psychological warfare. lol. Are you getting what I'm saying? It's speculative but it's hard not to take seriously after seeing that excerpt in the book.

There are degrees of devilry, and I don't need an authority figure to confirm that.

No, I mean spirituality, not religion. I think Russia has amplified actual spiritual teachings—the kind we're all familiar with—as a means of weakening or destabilizing people. Just think about it. What's more likely, the KGB agents were interested in spirituality or interested in figuring out how to use the information in the best-selling spiritual book for psychological warfare?

lol, yeah, that's probably true. There is no single devil. Putin and Trump are devils.

You aren't the only one who can see the devil. Check this out: Russia/Putin has likely even infiltrated spirituality. This is from a spiritual book called "Love is Letting Go of Fear". The author traveled to Russia as a part of his book tour back in the 70's, and was assigned KGB agents as "translators", but he didn't know they were KGB agents at the time. The agents were asking for lots of copies until eventually, his supply was running low, so he asked the agents where all the books were going and the agent told him they were being used to "teach English to other KGB agents because the concepts were so new and interesting. 😂 Nah, what was happening was they were trying to figure out if they could weaponize spirituality... and who knows how successful they were. It seems this never even occurred to the author.

Take modafinil. It worked for me for a couple of years but it seems everything I get these days is garbage. I gave some of my friends modafinil and it didn't do anything for them cognitively but it did a lot for me. Pattern recognition skyrocketed, spirituality was closer, and my passion for consciousness was amped up to 11.

Musk has been talking a lot about social security lately.

It's hard to have a high-conscious forum when it's open to the public and members aren't vetted. Maybe the best feature would be adding a maturity or conscious meter beside everyone's avatar or something that allows people to vote on a user's post quality. Maybe a simple "like/dislike" feature. That might make people think twice before they post some nonsense and it would eventually weed out the simpletons because they would hate looking at their stats. Adding new features like this isn't as easy as it sounds though. It costs money and introduces potential problems down the road with updates, databases, etc., but I'm thinking 2k should cover it. @Leo Gura Go find a good developer on Upwork and let's get a like/dislike feature.

Sometimes, but I think only if the particular truth is within orbit or has been previously glimpsed or if one is prone to deep contemplation + intellectual integrity. I think silence can serve delusion just as much as it can truth.

Bro, I dare you to run this through ChatGPT and ask it to assess the maturity level of such a statement. You obviously wouldn't listen to anyone here, so ChatGPT is neutral source. Go ahead. I dare you! Fuck it. I'll do it for you. Avoid deflection. Embrace reflection: We're here for you if you need to talk. Seriously. Reflect!