DocWatts

The current Secretary of Education, Betsey Devos, is a right wing Corporate shill with a huge conflict of interest due to her financial ties to privatized educational institutions. The people who approve education curriculums for k-12 schools, where the aforementioned white washing is inculcated into people at a young age, are often very Conservative in many parts of the country. The 'Cultural Marxism' idea that's being alluded to is little more than a Conspiracy Theory and scare tactic used in Bad Faith arguments to undermine progressive ideas and movements, basically McCarthyism 2.0. The idea was first brought to prominence by fascist ideologues as part of a belief in a world wide Jewish Conspiracy, and today the term is often used as a dog whistle for anti-Semitism and white nationalism.

I wholeheartedly agree with Blade Runner 2049 being an improvement on the original. As for David Lynch, I can absolutely see the glimpses of the brilliance that goes in to his films, thing is though they're just kind of unpleasant to watch. Never felt more uncomfortable watching a movie than I did for Eraserhead and Blue Velvet. And the less said about his Dune adaptation, the better (seems like a really odd choice for that particular movie). Won't begrudge anyone who doesn't have that hangup and loves his films though, and I suppose it's possible that those two examples aren't necessarily representative of his whole filmography.

Well that's a Bold Statement. Sorry nothing in the movie resonated with you at all, aside from maybe the visuals. I think you'll find a lot of people disagree with you on that, and find the film to be both incredibly well made and emotionally moving. I guess maybe I get it though, I suppose I could probably think of an example or two of a film that's very highly regarded that just didn't click with me on a subjective level. David Lynch's films come to mind...

Yeah the original cut is one of the most infamous cases in all of cinema of executive meddling being detrimental to an otherwise great film. I'm just glad that a cut closer to the original vision was eventually released. Also the stylistic aspects that Leo mentioned aren't there just to be eye catching or cool, they're deliberately used for a number of symbolic and thematic purposes that tie directly in to the ideas the movie is trying to convey.

Same! I can understand not liking Blade Runner, similar to how one might have good reasons for not liking Citizen Kane, but to argue that either movie is devoid of depth comes across as not really being well versed in films as an artform.

If you're alluding to monopolistic tech giants like Apple or Google, then no. Despite promoting some Green social attitudes as part of thier company Culture, thier structure and business practices are still solidly Orange. Green businesses do of course exist, but the sort of ruthlessness needed to become a 'filthy rich' monopoly aren't congruent with stage Green values. A stage Green business structure would be more along the lines of something like a worker-owned cooperative, which do exist, but are nowhere near the size of the largest traditionally run corporations. Not pure Green, but I can think of a few large Companies that are more of a blend of Orange and Green. Costco comes to mind for paying its workers a living wage in an industry that's infamous for starvation pay, and for ita business model of buying and selling in bulk being less ecologically wasteful than its competitors. Perhaps Valve as well, for its relatively pro-consumer practices for its digital content distribution platform, Steam.

If you haven't played it already, I'd also recommend 2011 Deus Ex Human Revolution as a very good modernization that stays true to the spirit of the original.

Heresy! I think I might disagree more passionately when it comes to subjective tastes in Cinema than for epistemology or politics Though I'll concede that Blade Runner 2049 built upon the foundation that the Blade Runner built, and used that to make an arguably better movie. Getting back to Cyberpunk, a normal game development cycle for a AAA game is 3 - 4 years. No game spends 8 years in development without having major issues. Glad the CDPR devs aren't getting completely screwed out of thier Bonuses at least, I can't imagine anyone who's poured years of thier lives into the game is happy about the state the game launched at, due to rushing to meet a deadline and an ill advised attempt to squeeze the game onto 7 year old console hardware.

Hey we can have that too in another few decades due to Demographic changes and the Boomers dying off, leaving the GOP without a solid block of Voters that they can rely upon to obstruct Social Reforms that are badly needed.

Speaking of Cartoon Network, how about Adventure Time and the way it explores concepts such as Social Constructs

Considering the fact that a large portion of the country won't put on face masks while in public to prevent the spread of a deadly disease at the government's insistence, any health advocacy information from the government is likely to be greeted with suspicion, and even the most benign information is likely to be politicized and turned into Conspiracy Theories. I don't envy anyone the task, because America is growing more ungovernable by the day with Social Media serving as a platform to spread misinformation and Conspiracy Theories, and with plenty of politicians eager to capitalize on these trends for purely self serving reasons.

Immanuel Kant, one of the central figures of the Enlightenment, is a great example of highly principled Moral Philosopher that serves as a sort of bridge between Blue and Orange. Was groundbreaking for his work in both ethics and metaphysics, and created a system of Universal moral principles (Blue), based upon on a secular, humanistic framework (Orange). Embodied the best aspects of both value systems.

An interesting examination of the philosophy of the Sith from Star Wars, and the way that it draws upon Friedrich Nietzsche's Will to Power as an influence. Almost a perfect encapsulation of Red values in a well known fictional setting.

Portugal basically took this approach to great success, but I fear that a lot of Americans are still too stuck in a retributive mindset to accept something so radically compassionate and open minded.

I don't really disagree with any of this. Yes we want to address the Root Cause, but at the same time that doesn't mean disregarding treatment for the Symptoms, as you recognize. I think a multi-faceted approach is probably the right one to take. I do think that education and media literacy can inculcate people to Conspiratorial thinking, and that there's no reason this can't be combined with the approach you mention.

Calling Social Constructs imaginary is a vast oversimplification in my view, due to the influence they have on Society being very, very real. Also 'Imaginary' brings connotations that whatever its attached to having No Truth, rather than it being a partial or contextual Truth.

Agreed. I think education (specifically media literacy, scientific literacy, and knowledge of basic epistemology) as well as the unmet deficiency needs in one's life are primary factors in how suspectable a person is to Conspiratorial Thinking. Most people who have researched the subject are well aware that feelings of disempowerment and a lack of control are shared psychological traits of people who fall into a Conspiratorial mindset. I also think learned people vastly overestimate the amount of deliberate thought and reflection that most people really put into thier worldview. I don't think we really disagree on there being a deeper cause for why people fall into Conspiratorial Thinking, but I would say that people buy in at different levels for different reasons, and that the deeper metaphysical reasons that you outline aren't always the most appropriate way of addressing the issue for all people. Addressing the deeper concerns you mention is also a much bigger task than educating people on how to consume media in a more conscious and reflective way.

A lot of times it can be that a Conspiracy Theory is presented in a really compelling way that seems to make sense if the person doesn't dig any further into it. A person can come away thinking that the government was hiding the true nature of the JFK assassination, without necessarily going beyond that and using Conspiracy Theories as a lens to look at reality. Believing in a Conspiracy Theory can be much more emotionally gratifying, and takes much less intellectual work, than forming a coherent picture out of the messy and complex nature of reality. Human psychology is highly suspectable to imposing narratives onto events that aren't necessarily connected in any meaningful way, and Conspiracy Theories are able to capitalize on this. Not everyone who unthinkingly shares a post on why the moon landing was a hoax necessarily has a deep, emotional attachment to Conspiracy Theories in the same way that someone whose gone further down that Rabbit Hole does. Unreflective, lazy thinking can explain a lot in this regard.

@Scholar I think it's also important to recognize that people who buy into Conspiracy Theories do so on a spectrum, and not everyone gets involved to the same level. Not everyone who propagates Conspiracy Theories is a hardcore Conspiracy Theorist. Some people just dabble, while others will form a whole identity around it. I'd be willing to bet a lot more get sucked in out of ignorance and a lack of media literacy, as opposed to those who go much further and use it as a lens through which to view the world.

Hence why Media Literacy and basic knowledge of Epistemology are arguably more important now than at any other point in our History. Which in all fairness, are two subjects that our Society does a terrible job of educating people on.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.slashgear.com/fairphone-3-makes-modular-phone-future-a-reality-27635344/amp/ Not like the technology for more Modular consumer electronics doesn't exist, the challenges seem to be economic and market driven in nature, rather than an insoluble engineering hurdle. And it's not like a phone using modular parts couldn't co-exist with a secondhand market, just like how I can go on ebay and a sell/purchase an older Graphics Card or CPU. And yeah that wouldn't extend the shelf life of say a smart phone indefinitely, but it would give these devices potentially a much longer shelf life. And while it's good that many old electronics do get recycled, until our power system is running on %100 green energy, there's still a carbon footprint to recycling. There's no reason that this couldn't work in a market driven distribution system, if this sort of thing was properly incentivized. Wasn't necessarily endorsing a Resource Based Economy, so much as plucking an idea or two from it. And even if I were, Resource Based Economies don't necessarily have to be divorced from markets, or Centrally Planned. A market based system that takes ecological costs into the price of consumer Goods could be considered a form of a Resource Based Economy.

Yeah I think alot of people see ending the War on Drugs as a magic bullet that will end mass incarceration on its own, when in reality it's just one important part of more systemic reforms that are needed.

Not sure how workable of a System it will end up being, but one really good idea I've heard discussed alongside a Resource Based Economy is to design consumer electronics to be more modular in design, so that you could say replace its CPU when it starts to become outdated, rather than tossing the whole unit in the Trash. Of course that would require a much less wasteful economic system than the one we have, but maybe it could become a possibility one day.

I think Oregon is going in the right direction; decriminalize personal possession, and begin to legalize and regulate substances on a case by case basis, at a sustainable rate and in a controlled way so as not to provoke a societal backlash. Portugal is obviously another Case Study to keep in mind for a successful example of drug decriminalization, I do think though that even if it does work in principle, sadly such a humane policy might be a step large far for a big portion of the country. As far as legalization, I think case by case is definitely the way to go, rather than legalizing everything. Certainty some substances are more benign than others, and we should take in to account if it has any medicinal benefits and also its potential for abuse. Show that legalization works with things like weed and psychedelics, then maybe consider legalizing other drugs if it makes sense.