Apparition of Jack

The problem isn’t progressivism, the problem is inequality. LA is one of the most unequal cities on earth, so no wonder there is so much urban decay.

Do you have any friends or connections that might help you move to a (relatively) safer place in the meantime @Mesopotamian? Even if just somewhere else in Iraq for now. Also, do you have any skills that might be favourable if you meet the right person? Even just something like photography or playing an instrument can help open the right doors. I guess I'm asking, do you have any ability to improve your security in the short-term, even if it's not a full solution? Being stuck in Iraq to living in Western Europe / America is a huge leap, so do you have any small-scale plans in the meantime to help you move in that direction further down the line?

Society is an illusion, but you won’t truly realise it’s an illusion unless you grow spiritually. Cultivating love and compassion is one of the key tenets of spiritual growth, so it makes perfect sense that you’d care about it while you’re still stuck in ego. And then, by the time you do evolve enough to see through it, you’ll radiate so much love and compassion that there’ll be no reason not to still care about it even after you’re finished.

Put down the bong, bro

Man, what a waste. JP clearly has a strong intuitive grasp of human psychology and motivations and yet he wastes his understanding on defending some decaying 20th century white liberalism. He could unlock so many secrets of the universe if he could look beyond his biases but alas he entangles himself in samsara due to his petty ego clashes. Sad.

It's a pretty fucked up topic and is a very poignant example of survival and stage red on steroids but the title is a bit insensitive tbh. It's not really a "production company" as if it were some sort of benign profit-seeking enterprise making human body parts.

Here’s a question - what does “freedom of speech” even mean? To me it’s a nonsense term than can be used to justify practically anything. Freedom from government censorship? You could argue that, but then that doesn’t explain why the government bans child porn or info on how to make bombs. These are forms of speech, after all. People hide behind the phrase to hide the fact their tongues are like snakes and their ideas are like poison.

@The Buddha you’re in a cult fam

@vizual the difference is left-wing fundamentalism is still more conscious, loving, non-violent and adaptable than right-wing fundamentalism. A few left-wing radicals might blow up an oil plant or cancel a celebrity for some remarks made 15 years ago - a few right-wing radicals will kill minorities and attempt a political coup to undermine democratic rights and implement a reactionary dictatorship. They are not the same.

@The Buddha lmao, what a load of bullshit

Maybe they have? In fact, there often is protests in SA etc for more freedom of the press etc. The problem is is that it’s still too early for a majority of people to want these things. There are people in these countries alive today who were born when these societies were still tribal nomads. That mindset isn’t so easily shifted, even in societies that experience rapid economic growth. Basically you’re jumping the gun. Yes these societies have become wealthy but only in the span of about 30 years are so. That’s nowhere near long enough for a solid tradition of liberalism to emerge. Give it a few more decades, especially as the young people are exposed to these ideas more, and you’ll see more people wanting democracy, etc.

Lol

This isn’t the right forum for this.

For what it’s worth, the Dalai Lama has received the vaccine and I believe Sadhguru has said people should take it.

How many New Age teachers talk about an eternal hell? Most of this sounds like hogwash. Author just projecting his own fears of Christianity onto a generally more holistic and uplifting religion. Fucking lol.

They did, actually. There were a number of fascist and authoritarian groups in the UK/US during that time period. Some even managed to gain some degree of support. They failed though due to the strength of democratic institutions and the peoples undesire for fascist governments. The economy might have been terrible but people still respected freedom of speech, the right to vote, etc. There was no need to give up democracy. This was unlike Germany and Italy which didn’t have strong cultures of democracy and were a lot more bitter from WWI.

We’re only not having enough babies if you’re stuck in the paradigm of each nation-state being it’s own distinct unit. As globalisation and migration increases though, such a worldview becomes increasingly untenable. The world is having more than enough babies, they’re just being born in the third world instead of the first world. Who’s to say the engineers and architects of tomorrow all have to come from Europe and America? Maybe we should give Africa and India a chance.

I’ve developed heart sores after receiving the Pfizer vaccine. I think there’s a strong correlation.

I want to preface this by saying I am a student of science, believe in vaccines, masks, lockdowns etc and I would never jeopardise my intellectual integrity by falling into right-wing conspiracy nonsense. However, this is just my own personal anecdote, but ever since having two Pfizer jabs (mRNA) in September my life has been considerably worse. My breathing is stunted, my thinking is weak, I have barely any energy, etc. It’s not just me who felt this way, my mother has noticed a severe drop in my activity levels and this is without me even mentioning anything to her. You are free to dismiss my account all you want but I genuinely believe there is something messed up about mRNA technology and that it’s causing way worse issues for people than is currently being reported on. We live in tense times so I understand the desire to not “give an inch” to conspiracy bullshit, but again I have to say I am still on the side of science and this is undeniably what I am going through. This is nothing to say of the stage Orange devilry Pfizer has been engaged in even before Covid was a thing. Interestingly enough, all my friends/family who have had AstraZeneca (a conventional vaccine) haven’t had these bad side effects. I really think I got unlucky and took the screwed up vaccine over the one that’s safer and more reliable. Damn.

The coming troubles might resemble, well, the Troubles of Ireland between the 70s and 90s. It was a constant low-energy civil war between competing ethnic groups, with periods of conflict and violence and periods of relative peace and stability. Some areas were severely damaged during the conflict, some areas saw no trouble at all. I find it hard to imagine a genuine widespread civil war breaking out, but some kind of sporadic violence / craziness / terrorist attacks are possible, alongside a general air of distrust and a cultural Cold War. Stay safe Americans.

@Leo Gura Your ability to constantly let right-wing trolls dominate conversations here is frankly pathetic. You should be ashamed of yourself.

What do you mean?

@something_else he doesn’t have to be outright supporter but he’s doing this weird centrist grit where Trump’s lies are given more credence than they deserve

Everything is always fully conscious but in terms of the mundane, shared physical world we live in Democrats are usually more conscious, yeah

But the difference is there's only one Mona Lisa - sure there are copies, but they're imperfect copies, and the actual, singular Mona Lisa, with all its specific flaws and qualities, can only ever be that one painting in the Louvre. But with NFTs, right-clicking + saving one gives you exactly the same image as whoever "bought" it. In fact, NFTs aren't even the images themselves but rather just the "proof of ownership" token. If someone posted a NFT image here, I could easily just save that image and I'd have the exact same experience and enjoyment of it as whoever paid money for it. It's literally creating scarcity where there is none - an internet image is infinitely repeatable, and yet somehow paying thousands of dollars for a token means you "own" it? How does that follow?