Roy

It can viewed as cheating if your partner perceives it that way, yes. However it's not that entirely simple, they could just be acting unreasonably jealous for something actually harmless that doesn't involved an interaction with another person. For me and my partner example; I have a higher sex drive than her. So since I'm more available for sex and I can't just force her to have it when I'm horny, I need to find another outlet. Obviously I'm not going to go have sex with other people so my only choice is to masturbate. She knows I'm using either pictures of her, or pornography of other women. We've talked about this early in the relationship and are ok with it. If I don't feel like having sex one day I have no problem with her masturbating either. It doesn't count as cheating because there is no human interaction or emotional involvement with any of the images or videos on the screen. They are simply pixels. When you say this are you talking about a live interaction with another women?????? Because yes that's obviously cheating. Jerking off to a recording of a porn star talking seductively to a general audience in front of a camera isn't cheating. They aren't specifically talking to YOU so it's not an interpersonal relationship; therefore not cheating. Also I'd like to add it could be a very mild form of cheating if you reject sex from your partner in favor of secretly masturbating instead. A healthy sexual relationship means there is complete transparency and nobody is hiding anything. You need to have this conversation with her and she needs to understand if your sexual drives don't align you need to give each other permission for solo-sex.

Let's be honest though, Donald Trump winning would really and truly fit the shitty apocalyptic year 2020 has become. Perhaps right after the election is over it would only be fitting if a 50km wide meteor slammed into the Earth, to top things off.

Kim Jong-Un - "Allow me to reintroduce myself."

One of the biggest examples I can think of is the insecurities men have about being appearing "tough" in front of other men (and women). It holds us back as a gender from becoming more mature and developed. For example as suicide rate statistics show there is an epidemic of poor mental health among many men; However if any man tries to bring up their mental health struggles among a group of other men in a social setting or even in the workplace (that isn't in a public spotlight) - they are laughed at, called a pussy, and told to tough it out. And if those blunt immature attitudes aren't on display most men will simply respond by being passive, dismissive, deliberately ignorant, and denying the problem exists. The only refuge you will find among men socially is if you bring it up in private to someone you're close to, will you be better understood or supported. The reason for this happening of course is because of an attachment to an old traditional patriarchal perspective of what it means to be a man. Men are socially encouraged by one another to desperately try to out-compete each other in the game of pea-cocking strength and stability, admitting any sort of hardship and asking for help is considering a weakness and retreat from this game (as well as an insult to the game). And it's implied without being said that men "should" not be able to emotionally support each other, because that's the woman's role. This probably comes from a place of homophobia and ignorance, the assumption that it's impossible to men to offer each other intimate emotional support without some kind of sexual intention. This is obviously childish and preposterous but hey most men are pretty stupid and insecure about themselves lol, hence why it's such a problem. I worked as a firefighter for 8 years and it astounded me just how little overall development, procedures, and resources there were regarding this issue. These kind of mental health struggles are rampant among emergency services members, yet so many of these suicides, medical leaves, and overall inefficiencies could be prevented if men would just get out of their own way and had the courage and maturity to support each other. It is getting better though as far as I've seen, and there was improvement in just the short time I was there. Anyways the irony in all this is that men would actually display the greatest amount of strength by being vulnerable in front of each other and leading their brothers out of those dark places. As @Leo Gura has talked about Fear is such a pervasive force. Men are so insecure and care what other men think sooooo damn much that it cripples us all as a gender and holds us back. If the attachment to this idea isn't toxic masculinity I don't know what is.

I don't mean for this to sound condescending or as any attack, but you do understand the difference between Communism and Socialism right? I just see people throw around the word "communist" a lot but the modern left that gets grouped together and talked about these days is not communist. At least not the majority of them, I'm sure you can find some radical communists among the general left somewhere. I don't like where it's going either but we have to make the distinction to admit it's still a democratic movement at the core, even if it's happening a little sloppily (Cancel Culture, Political Correctness, etc.). Not that you're doing this too blatantly I think you're a sharp guy, I just think it's a little intellectually dishonest to associate modern progressives with the AK-47 weilding Bolsheviks from 1917 lol. Just as most modern "alt-right/fascists" shouldn't be equated at every opportunity to the Nazis. This kind of hyperbole doesn't do anyone any good and makes discussion nearly impossible.

If there was ever a thing to become addicted to and not have a reason to stop..................

I'm not educated enough to really know the solution, my intuition says higher/more nuanced taxation? I feel like these inequality issues are more of the result of the money cult that our society is, so it's a mentality/cultural problem more than a resource distribution one. For example when you say; I agree in principle. However I think this Libertarian attitude is incomplete and ignorant of considering the possibility that in order to even facilitate the circumstances that lead to people all having an "equality of opportunity", we will need to spread out things and shore up the "Outcomes" prior. It's counter-intuitive which is exactly why people are hesitant to do it.

+1 Extremely well put @mandyjw

There is no such thing as absolute hate. Or hate with a capital H. While love has a greater form of absolute Love. I think that's the distinction and why Leo doesn't use the phrase "infinite hate". Hope this clears things up.

Of course the government uses violence as the final resort! What other tool exists that will make people ultimately comply to laws? By asking nicely or assuming they'll just behave LOL? These same Libertarians criticize violence as if it's some universal malevolent force. Violence is neutral. What we call violence is just the result of the physical universe rearranging some atoms here or there. Whatever justifications you use that is can sometimes be justified and sometimes not is just a selfish perspective. They'll say it's perfectly moral and great to shoot someone in the head when they break into their house to rob them or rape their family, but when the government does it no matter what the case it can't be justified lol? I swear these people have never been outside of their house or ever seen what life is like in a third world country. Spend a week in the DRC as a Libertarian and you'd be fucking BEGGING for a proper democratic government to roll in with their tanks and monopoly of force. "Rules for thee, but not for me." Holy christ I can't believe I ever called myself a Libertarian a couple years ago. Forgive me father for I have sinned @Leo Gura

Peace and no more civil or wars in their proximity. Civilization and infrastructure is developed from peace and not having to spend your countries wealth on stupid shit like bombs.

Oil and protection from the most powerful military on Earth.

You may not like it, but this is what peak male handsomeness looks like. Pic of me and my girlfriend last year.

rofl @tesla Alright cheetoh dust what have you got for us. Since you love being logical and scientific so much the burden of proof is on you, the person making the claim. Show us conclusive proof of one popular known conspiracy theory being proven true to a reasonable degree. And I'll read it.

Watch out to make sure you're watching the right kind of porn videos if you want to learn @iceprincess. The overwhelming majority of porn is completely male centered. That's great if you're learning how to please the guy yourself, but realize that it's a one way street. The girls in those videos aren't under a lot of pleasure and don't orgasm. Imitating them isn't going to get you in touch with your body and your own sensitivities.

Damn that's rough mate. I'm sorry for my language but that's almost comical picturing saying you'd take 99.9% and then get a firm "NO" to the 0.1% lol.

Let's be honest which one is the real reason, because you want to dedicate all your time to your career, or because you want to sleep with different women? You could just explain to her you want more free time to yourself for work. You don't need to cut her out of your life I'm sure she'll understand and give you the space. Besides what do you think is going to happen working all the time on your career? You're going to get stressed, need to vent, and going to need support. Where do you think you're going to get that help from? Your amazing girlfriend that loves you and is already there with you every day? Or some drunk girl that leaves at 7 in the morning, or yourself when you're sitting at home alone.

This bird replaces the eggs of another birds nest with it's own, so it doesn't have to do the work of raising it's young itself. Somewhat analogous to modern relationships with single mothers.

Anyone can date and have a relationship with anyone else regardless of Myers Briggs types or Spiral Dynamics stages. Of course you should screen to some degree for basic compatibility, but don't form limiting beliefs about some crap written on the internet. Love transcends all.

I'm planning to move out there sometime (on the island around Nanaimo/Duncan area somewhere). Covid has kind of thrown a wrench in that for now though. Might have to wait another 1-2 years before it can happen. Seems like the place that resonates with me more than anything else in Canada. Very conducive for how I want to live. I'm just so sick of living in Ontario, there are a lot of nice conveniences and stuff going on here but I feel the need to be removed from it and go someone less busy and more relaxed. Can't stand winter or the extreme seasons anymore and people here are generally conservative leaning, close minded, or completely selfishness and materially driven. I just feel so out of place and have a hard time giving a fuck about all the things everyone cares about here. I've lost all my friends because of it.

Radically accept reality exactly as it is.

Is that not extremely valuable in and of itself? Why so insistent on manipulating physical reality itself?

I had ACL replacement surgery on my knee 8 years ago. I was knocked out for about 3 hours. It was the first time in my life I was "asleep without dreaming". It was exactly like how I imagine death must be, utter peace and absolute absence. It's quite a weird experience waking up having no real sense, or a foreign sense of time having passed. One frame you're counting down trying to make the nurse laugh the next frame you wake up and she won't give you any water even though you're thirsty...............

Look online for local therapists/psychologists. Most of them will be offering video call services and phone call service as always. Some of them might even still be doing in person sessions. If those are too expensive for you look up "community counselling" there are probably some free/discounted options for you. Good luck @Zec

Nice rationalization. Sneaky ego hehe! Yes, it really is. The women Leo was describing in the context he was were bombshells, "crazy hot", top 5% girls. Which common sense tells us statistically aren't going to be extremely developed spiritually or maturity wise. It's incredibly rare to find such people anyways (or be the quality person to be able to pursue them and land them). The people he was taking about wouldn't be tempted to bother pursuing such things as "enlightenment" if their life and survival has been made so convenient to them because of their looks/attractiveness. That's obvious. Therefore as that an advanced "spiritual" person you'd know having sex and messing around is basically "toying" with them, knowing full fucking well you aren't compatible for a long term relationship, and are just wasting everyone's time indulging shallow urges. That isn't to say it's an "absolute" wrong to have casual sex with good looking people, like I'm sure people will rebut. Life is a playground and there are no rules. It's just that the way "enlightenment" is marketed and the way enlightened people carry themselves (and the image they have of themselves whether they're conscious of their maintenance of it or not) within those kinds of communities is to be mature and above such childish flesh chasing. Of course they still have sex and enjoy themselves, but it's usually much more selective and with someone on the same "level" as them let's say. They demonize egoic pleasure seeking within their teachings, saying it doesn't lead to happiness. So that's why I said it's incongruous to be "enlightened" and consider oneself spiritually developed, but simotaneously be chasing "crazy hot girls". See I actually don't personally give a shit what people do or if they're hypocrites or not. Not worried about it, I just wanted to point the inconsistency for other people that might be confused about the message being sent. Instead of giving an elaboration that was honest about the context @Leo Gura responded with a smart ass comment, "So should we have sex with trolls?" So either this indicates he's lying/deluded (I don't think so, but nobody can really know anything about it), about his maturity/"enlightenment" level and rationalizes chasing what is preached about being "egoic pleasures". Or he's sending another hidden message that it doesn't really matter what you do in the end, but not being honest or explicit about this in his language. Either way we have to re-examine the marketing of what an "enlightened" person is because what he's implying takes away from the common understanding of it. Of course this could just be my flawed perception of it and obviously I think I'm right because I'm a selfish little devil who thinks that taking advantage of people is wrong, oh wait..........