BrotherL0v3

I first played this game at a really emotionally raw point in my life, and it was a real gut punch. $2.50 is a great price for it.

For RFK Jr in particular: I honestly think the man is a true believer. He is, among other things, a dangerous idiot who doesn't understand how much harm he's causing.

For conservatives in general: Republican policies broadly fall into two categories.

1. Things that further the interests of the ownership class.

2. Horrible slop to appeal to the most stupid and evil single issue voters imaginable.

You want me to make sure they teach the Bible in public schools? Yeah, sure. Whatever. As long as I get to privatize, de-regulate, and cut corporate taxes.

I've seen this before, but I have to wonder: has anyone actually tested it? Like sure, you can imagine what licking asphalt would feel like, but have you ever just done it to make sure your imagination is right?

This has a permanent spot on my workout playlist.

Yep. Witches cursed our crops! Jews lost us the war! Immigrants are violent criminals!

I would cut off both my arms if it meant I could kick a billionaire to death.

Stellaris has the federation builders and violent imperialists! And humans that have delegated all high-level decision making to robots that pamper them. And sometimes humans that nuked themselves out of existence before ever leaving Earth.

Folks. Publicly traded companies will ALWAYS compare the expected value of breaking the law with compliance.

Say it costs $100 million to follow the law. Breaking it comes with a $300 million fine, but only a 20% chance of getting caught.

They compare a 100% chance of paying $100 million to a 20% chance of paying $300 million.

Average cost of following the law: $100 million

Average cost of breaking it: $60 million

If we're gonna do capitalism (which I would rather we not, for the record!), we have to make that expected value calculation break in favor of following regulations. If it is cheaper to break the law than to follow it, you're not just losing money by complying: you're giving ground to your competition. Fines need to be massive. Infractions need to get caught and punished. Executives need to be held personally accountable. Corporations need to be dissolved. Fines cannot be just the cost of doing business.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’ve got to protect the children. We have to be able to disrupt intruders,” West said at the demo. “We saw what happened in Uvalde. School resource officers were hesitant to go into that room, and so what you’ve got to recognize is, there’s a danger for them also, but they are there on the front line.”

But it wasn't just the school resource officers not going in, was it?

The cops had assault rifles and ballistic shields and flashbangs and body armor. What makes you think one more toy is gonna make a difference?

Fuck that defeatist bullshit!

Of the top 10 largest protests in US history, two have happened this year, and they were both largely in response to Trump.

Movements are being built, organization is happening, people are pissed. Excuse us for not jumping straight to violence without a plan like the J6ers.

God. The "Americans Bad" circlejerk on Lemmy is so lame.

I think you're exactly right.

A few years ago, we saw a huge amount of mobilization for George Floyd. People fighting cops and winning.

After that, we saw a submarine full of billionaires implode & people cheered.

Recently, a health insurance CEO was shot to death in the street, and people rallied around the shooter as a hero.

Trump has been a uniquely effective vehicle for the ownership class to launch bullshit distractions at a population of Americans who are showing signs of class consciousness. Keep 40 or 50% of people mad at trans people and immigrants and DEI, and the rest busy trying to minimize the damage being done. Motherfucker said Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs in a presidential debate, and people somehow still take him seriously.

But he's not long for this world. Dennis Prager has all the charisma of a bad case of trench foot. Rupert Murdoch is ancient, we're already down a Koch brother, everything Elon Musk touches turns to shit, and I'm crossing my fingers that all the HGH gives Peter Thiel a heart attack.

The ownership class has got to make hay while the sun shines. Things are primed to turn around on them quickly.

For context: Carrier is one of two (2) PhD scholars with relevant credentials who believe in full-throated Jesus mythicism. The other is Robert Price, who Bart once debated here.

Jesus mythicism is kind of a fringe theory, even among atheist Bible scholars. Yes, consensus =/= evidence and authority does not a sound argument make.

That being said, a trend I see a lot (especially in the earlier days of r/atheism) is atheists who are new to historical studies latch onto Carrier without looking at the whole picture, and then write off the rest of critical Bible scholarship as a sham propped up by Christians.

I think anytime you're getting into a new field in history / science / economics / etc., it's best to learn the fundamentals & understand what the mainstream is and why before entertaining the more fringe ideas.