DocWatts

In my mind I separate Conservatism from the modern Republican Party, whose operating philosophy seems to be : "How do we make life more difficult for as many people as possible?" Granted this probably isn't intentional, so much as an unconscious byproduct of an extremely selfish and unreflective worldview.

Beat me to it So are reality TV Stars running for political Office just going to be a thing now that we're resigned to?

Interesting how he just assumes that the lowering of Living Standards in Western Democracies will lead to working class solidarity and a rejection of exploitative Capitalism, rather than to Right Wing authoritarian populism (ie a resurgence in Fascism), which is pretty much exactly what we've been seeing over the past decade or so. I have to wonder whether those who are waiting for The Revolution to come along and fix the world's problems are engaging in Magical Thinking akin to Christians waiting for the Rapture, or whether they're just being willfully obtuse to unintended consequences of Revolution as a means to enact social change. While I'm glad the issue of International exploitation is being discussed and taken seriously, it really is incredible how naive some on the Left are to the unintended consequences of the course of events they opine for... There's just not going to be a 'quick fix' to the issue of exploitation; a developmental approach is the only realistic avenue I've seen articulated that would address this issue.

Sure, life is going to be synonymous with suffering to some degree, but that's not all that life is. I do wonder if this misguided view is restricted to humans, or if in thier utilitarian calculus it would be better if life in general didn't exist, since the natural world is full of suffering. Hell, maybe by extension it would have been better if there were Nothing rather than Something, and there was no Cosmos to speak of...

While I do think that for people living in developed nations with access to contraceptives, it's incredibly irresponsible to have more than 2 or 3 kids, considering the impact that each additional person who lives a first world lifestyle has on the planet. I doubt that most thoughtful people would object to every single one of the more limited (and defensible) claims that 'weak' versions of anti-natalism propose. That said, the stronger claim that it's unethical to bring any new people in to this world seems incomprehensible to the point of being dishonest.

With events moving quickly amid a national crisis, I figured it might be useful to create a Thread to help keep us up to date on Joe Biden's actions during his first 100 days in office. To kick things off, here's a list of the Executive Actions that Biden has signed as of 1/26: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1255564 Highlights include the US rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, and halting withdrawal from the World Health Organization. In addition: Biden plans to limit private prisons and transfer of military equipment to police https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden/biden-plans-to-limit-private-prisons-and-transfer-of-military-equipment-to-police-idUSKBN29V15H President Biden will make entire 645k federal vehicle fleet electric https://electrek.co/2021/01/25/president-biden-will-make-entire-645k-vehicle-federal-fleet-electric/

Ishmael - Daniel Quinn Though I can see some of the flaws in this work now, as a late teenager it was an excellent introduction to Social Construct Theory, and was the first work to force me to seriously consider the myriad ways that we're Culturally conditioned to fit into a larger narrative or mythology.

@Opo If you want a more generalized take, my sense is that Bernie would probably come across as more of a Centrist in the political environment of the other wealthy Democracies. As @roopepa pointed out, things that Bernie advocates for (such as Universal Health Care, free College, more equitable Labor Laws that protect the rights of Unions) are relatively uncontroversial among the Social Democracies of the world.

Just out of curiosity, where would you place someone like Bernie if he were a political candidate within Finland? Centrist? Slightly right or left of Center?

@Opo Granted that comparing one person's policy positions to that of an entire country is really imprecise, I'll make my best attempt at it. Bernie's Drug Policy is not as Progressive as Portugal, which famously decriminalized basically all Drugs and adopted a Harm Reduction approach to dealing with Substance Abuse. While Bernie supports national legalization for marajuana, he's more measured about decriminalizing or legalizing other 'Hard' drugs. He's cautious about the potential downsides of pushing too fast on this issue. Countries such as Bolivia that have adopted actual Socialism (as opposed to Social Democracy) are to the Left of him. He's not willing to push quite as far to scale back the Military as Green Parties in several countries. Because he's embedded into the two Party apparatus (a pragmatic reality of actually getting anything done in America), he hasn't pushed hard to adopt a more parliamentarian style system that would allow for more than two political parties. The Scandanavian Democracies are probably to the Left of him. Less because he doesn't see the wisdom in thier model (he does), but more because making Social Democracy workable in America requires moderating his approach. A %70 income tax on wealthy people would pretty much be dead on arrival in the States.

@Opo I won't dispute that Bernie is to the left of some political parties / candidates in some other countries. But on a pragmatic level what he is advocating for is for the US to become more of a Social Democracy akin to the ones in Western Europe.

@Opo Sorry if I came across as snarky in my reply, I should try and be more mindful that some of the things that are obvious to people familiar with the US Political landscape, aren't so obvious to people in other parts of the world (or to Americans who don't pay close attention to politics). The Capitol Rioters were unsuccessful in overturning the results of the 2020 election (though in many ways it was more of a show of force by the far right), with the result that the US Capitol Building was looted and a handful of people lost thier lives. A small handful of rioters were planning on either kidnapping or murdering the US Vice President, plus a handful of Progressive US Congress people (men broke into the office of US Representative Alexandria Ocassio Cortez with the intent of harming her). The US Capitol Police which were supposed to ve protecting thr building while the election results were being certified, was caught completely unprepared. This is almost certainly due to institutional biases within the organization, which didn't take the high likelihood of violence breaking out as a serious possibility, despite plenty of warning signs and months of mounting violence from Trump's Cult like followers.

Is this a serious question? I would have that that the Jan. 6 Insurrection attempt by MAGA Cultists would have made that clear.... A few months before that the FBI foiled the plans of a Right Wing Militia to kidnap and execute the governor of the state I live in (Michigan). Are people already forgetting about the Caravan of vehicles with Trump flags trying to run Biden's campaign bus off the road? In addition to all that, the FBI has been warning for years of the inroads that far right extremists (up to and including literal Nazis) have been making in to Law Enforcement agencies across the country.

@Opo That is incorrect. You're conflating ending Private Health Insurance with ending all Private Medicine. They are not the same thing. What Bernie is specifically in favor of is Medicare for All, which would expand the scope of Medicare to cover everyone in the entire country. While is true that Private Insurance companies would not participate in such a system, private Practitioners would still exist under Medicare for All. It's not like your family Doctor would all of a sudden be working for the Government under such a system: Medicare would pay for Services rendered. Pharmaceutical companies would still exist under Medicare for All, but would be much more tightly regulated, and unable to charge whatever they want for medications. Conditions in the US are such that Medicare for All could not co-exist within the current system of Private Health Insurance, so significant disruptions to the private Insurance Industry are %100 a pragmatic necessity, because Private Insurance companies drive up costs to the insane levels that exist within the US.

The 'radical Left' is something that exists in the imagination of low conscious people that have been indoctrinated into Right Wing propaganda, rather than as an actual thing that exists within contemporary US Politics. Bernie and the progressive Wing of the Democratic Party are in actuality Social Democrats, and would be considered either Centrists and just slightly Left of Center in most other Industrialized Democracies. None of them are seeking to spark a revolutionary movement to bring down the United States government or have the aim of overthrowing Capitalism. If you want to contrast that with a Historical example of an actual Radical Leftist, you'd have to look back as far as someone like Vladimir Lennon; whose aim was to build a Revolutionary Vanguard with the goal of overthrowing the government and installing something radically different in its place. While someone like Martin Luther King was a socialist, his aims were to work within Civil Society to advocate for substantial reforms towards a far more just and humane socio-economic system. He wasn't trying to spark a Revolutionary movement. While inclinations towards Revolutionary action did exist within some factions of the later Black Power movement that emerged after MLK's murder, these sort of movements have always been extremely fringe within the US political environment, and none have been successful at attracting large numbers of followers; most tending to fizzle out once thier activities began being monitored and infiltrated by Law Enforcement agencies like the FBI. In fact, right Wing militias and movements (such as Trump's MAGA Cult) have been far more destabilizing and dangerous than any Left wing groups...

No more of a mystery than why there's more people who've read Harry Potter than a dense literary text like Ulysses. While I commend Leo for trying to make the topics of his videos as accessible as he can, fact of the matter is that things like metaphysics and ontology are dense, challenging subjects of discussion whose relevance to most people's day to day lives isn't immediately obvious. Considering the depth of the subject matter, I'm honestly a bit more surprised that some of his videos have gotten as many views as they have.

So it looks like we're 100 days in, and I'd be interested to hear what everyone's overall impressions are so far. For myself, my overall impression is that Biden has (so far) exceeded my expectations. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he might be the best President I've seen during my life; which might sound like a backhanded compliment since the US hasn't exactly been gifted with extraordinary leadership over the last 3 to 4 decades. But there's something to be said about someone competent successfully pushing for incremental Reforms. Seems like he's taken to heart a number of lessons that held back the Obama administration. He hasn't wasted much time trying to negotiate with Bad Faith Republicans. He's been willing to be ambitious with Policy Proposals in the midst of a National Crisis. He's been willing to use Tools like Budget Reconciliation to bypass partisan gridlock and actually get Legislation passed. Obviously this overall positive assessment is highly tentative and subject to change; but so far I gotta say the Biden administration has been knocking it out of the park so far.

Biden Proposes $1.8 Trillion Family Care Package, which includes: Child care : $225 billion Universal Pre-Kindergarten : $200 billion Paid Family Leave (up to 12 weeks) : $225 billion Free Community College : $100 billion Extension of Child Tax Credits Doubles the Capital Gains Tax from %20 to %40 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/04/24/biden-families-plan-tax/%3foutputType=amp Overall this looks to be a great bill, though of course I'm waiting to hear rebuttals by Conservatives as to why it's a bad idea to invest in the American people, or to pass Legislation that improves people's lives. I guess providing support to struggling families must not be part of those cherished 'family values' right wingers like to drone on about.

@Scholar While I don't disagree with the idea that corporations do reflect the overall development of the society, I would counter that many of our consumption habits aren't a 'choice' (in the strong sense of the word), so much as a constrained set of options for meeting our Survival needs, which are inextricably tied to one's socio-economic and material circumstances. It's also worth pointing out that organizations such as Corporations are not democracies, and while they can be influenced to some degree by public opinion, they can and do use their degree of influence to shape public perceptions. And in places like the United States, they have a proven track record of successfully corrupting public institutions and propagandizing large portions of society. Not because corporations are Evil, but because on a basic Game-Theoretical level, that's what the existing socio-economic system incentivizes. If the society is set up in a way that a person has to be something approaching a saint to live an ethical life, then that's best addressed at a societal and systemic (rather than an individual) level.

This ^^^ While people should be encouraged to adopt more healthy and sustainable diets (which include much lower levels of meat consumption), placing the burden of climate change on individuals as a matter of 'consumer choice' distracts from the systemic nature of the problem. It also shifts the burden of responsibly away from the organizations that are contributing most to the problem. The US Military being an excellent case study of this, as it's one of the largest polluters on the planet. If the US military were a country, it would be the 47th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. And that's leaving aside the enormous disinformation campaign enacted by the private fossil fuel industry that successfully misled the public and delayed action on climate change; something that will be looked back at as a crime against humanity.

@trenton I can empathize, as someone who's naturally very introverted, I tend to find socializing somewhat draining, and not at all something that I have a natural affinity for. Rather, it's something I've had to work on over the years. Whoever said that socialization is like a Muscle was %100 on point. I think Vaush gives some good advice in his follow up video on the subject.

The fact that increasing numbers of young men are having difficulty attracting romantic partners and forming meaningful social relationships. This is affecting something like 1 in 4 men under the age of 40, and has increased markedly since it began trending upward in 2008. Obviously this leads to social problems such as widespread feelings of sadness and alienation. It also provides fuel for toxic ideologies such as Incels, and other forms of destructive and unhealthy masculinity. Vaush did an excellent video on the subject a while back. Considering the large number of people that this ultimately effects, I do find it a bit surprising that it isn't discussed more often than it is.

Here are some loose recommendations, somewhat in the vein of Fear and Loathing: Ken Kesey fits somewhat alongside the works you mention: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion being his most notable works. William S. Burroughs might also fit that bill, with books such as Junkie or Naked Lunch. The real life Jim Jones is a fascinating character that is worth reading up on if you're interested in understanding how the counter culture ethos can become corrupted and lead to a Cult.

Don't necessarily think of populism as a pejorative, but the last five to ten years has made it abundantly clear how ugly things can get when populism runs off the rails. Perhaps it's just my pragmatism speaking, but my sense is populism on its own is neutral, and whatever value judgements we attach to it are going to ultimately depend on who's wielding it and for what purposes it's being used. Is the person using it for the purposes of pushing for Universal Healthcare and a $15 minimum wage? Or are they using it to put children into cages? You don't have to dive into conspiracy land to see that many needed reforms in America are blocked by moneyed interests who use thier influence and power to work against the public good (take your pick: the Health Care Industry, the Private Prison Industry, etc). I'll agree that both right wing and left wing populism have thier shortcomings, but at least in the US there are a limited number of avenues that can realistically be used to reform aspects of our system that are badly in need of fixing.

Guilty on all counts it seems. Color me surprised, guess I'd just gotten used to police being able to get away with gross misconduct up to and including murder. Of course the decision will almost certainly appealed, but fantastic news nonetheless. Moral of the story is that recording devices (ie body cam footage) are an indispensable tool in making sure that police are held accountable for thier actions. Let's use this momentum to continue to push for efforts to increase transparency and public accountability for these institutions.